Word Count: 3106
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It was the time of year that didn't matter too much to most people. Yes, there were probably a few birthdays around the world and whatnot, but to Stiles Stilinski and Barry Allen this time of year was, simply put, heartbreaking. Stiles was getting better at controlling his panic attacks when the day came around, but he was still struggling. Barry, being the caring friend he is, always wanted to help his best friend get through the tough time. But it was just as hard, if not harder, for Barry to get through the day without something tearing him apart even in the slightest way. Sometimes it would be a picture that reminded him, or it would be one of the small, solemn smiles that Joe or Iris would give him. Whatever it was, it hurt him; like cutting into an open wound with a dull blade.
Stiles would usually spend the day with his father as Barry would with Joe. The pair, Barry, and Stiles, never really spent the day together. Although both tragedies happened on the same day, 14 years ago, Barry always felt responsible for Stiles' heartbreak. It wasn't technically anyone's fault except that cop that came speeding out of nowhere. Claudia was on the way to the Allen household after Joe had rung about what had happened to Nora. Barry needed somewhere to stay and the Stilinski's offered to take him in, for however long they needed to. That was when the police car came speeding out from a side street and crashed into the side of Claudia's car. Though the cop was slightly injured, the cuts weren't nearly as bad Claudia's.
Although all odds seemed to be against Claudia, Melissa McCall just so happened to be in the car with the cop; the detective. She was in Central City doing an operation on one of Mercury Lab's staff members who had been injured in an incident. She had just finished her shift at the hospital when she was called out to a murder at the Allen property. Of course, she said she wanted to help, even though she was tired she wouldn't, couldn't, say no.
It was like karma had screwed up and was targeting any and every kind person. On tonight's list was Nora Allen and Claudia Stilinski; two of the nicest mothers to walk the planet were dead and in the short span of 2 hours.
An ambulance was called in straight away as Melissa started doing the routine CPR and cleaning the cuts and gashes as well as she could. When the ambulance arrived, Claudia was taken directly to the hospital. Melissa stayed with Claudia as the detective made his way back to the scratched up police car and got in. He promised Melissa that Claudia would be okay. And that as soon as he returned to the station and told the captain what had happened, he would come to the hospital to see them.
"Joe West, you better damn hope she's okay." Melissa scolded the detective, her eyes narrowed slightly, as he started to walk away. He turned around to face her with tear stained cheeks and dry, cracked lips. His mouth was slightly opened as he stood there, still in shock. She opened her mouth as if to say something else but closed it almost as quickly as she opened it. Enough damage had been done tonight, and she was more than positive that Joe had been through more than enough already.
In the end, Joe went back to the crime scene to find Barry sitting, alone and waiting for Claudia to arrive. His face was pale and his cheeks were a light crimson colour from the cold air. When the young boy saw how bad Joe looked, he knew something else was wrong. Joe had told Barry that Claudia would be there to pick him up over half an hour ago, and when Joe turned up instead of Claudia, Barry got seriously worried. If it was even humanly possible to be more worried and devastated than he already was.
Joe walked towards the boy who slowly got up to greet him. "Come on Bear, we're going home. Claudia..." Joe paused and looked away from the boy and up at the many stars that laced the sky. He so desperately hoped that he wouldn't have to tell Noah that Stiles' mother was possibly among the stars. "She couldn't make it," Joe said and swallowed hard, the lump in his throat making his breath hitch. Barry's extremely small smile dropped and he looked down at his shoes, playing with his hands. "You'll be staying with me and Iris now." Barry looked up and gave a half-hearted smile to Joe.
The pair got into the police car that Joe had scratched up. Barry questioned why there were so many dents and scratches on the front of the car, and why the headlight was flickering. Joe simply brushed it off and told Barry that his partner was in a car chase and he had the car they were sitting in. Joe looked uncomfortable and Barry didn't want to push it any further so he checked the time, 1:29 am, then laid his head on the inside of the car door and faded to sleep.
That same morning, a couple of hours after the Allen incident and before the sun had even thought about rising, Stiles was awoken by his father violently shaking him. Noah had cracked lips and his eyes were threatening to let tears escape, but Stiles could see he was trying to be strong for his son. Noah left his son to get changed and gave him five minutes to wake up properly. Stiles climbed out of bed and threw a hoodie and jeans on after almost ripping his pajamas off. Noah was by the front door, waiting for Stiles to come down the stairs. When Stiles finally came down he was holding his favourite stuffed animal, a wolf that his mother gifted him for his birthday, close to his heart. He shuffled out to the car trying to shield himself from the rain that was bucketing down on him and his wolf.
Noah locked the front door and got into the car alongside his son. He put the keys in the ignition and drove like there was no tomorrow. A few times he ran a red light but that didn't matter to him, and Stiles was too sleepy and scared to even notice. He just laid his head on his arm which rested on the inside of the door. He held his wolf close to him, cuddling it and promising it that everything would be okay. A few incoherent mumbles were heard from his father who sat next to him. Stiles was worried for his father's sake but didn't bother questioning him about it as he knew something was wrong and if he needed to know, his father would tell him.
The car stopped abruptly and Stiles knew they had reached their destination. He knew this place all too well and he was seriously panicked now. "Dad, what are we doing here?" Stiles asked, worry and curiosity flashed through his eyes as he looked his father in the eyes. Noah simply sighed in response and got out the car, the rain not as heavy anymore. Stiles, following his dad out the car, held his wolf and shoved it into the pocket of his hoodie once they were inside the hospital.
The moment they stepped inside the hospital, Stiles and his father both caught sight of Melissa. Noah stalked over to her, leaving a very scared Stiles alone. He wasn't stupid or uncaring in his actions, he knew that Stiles would follow him, slowly but surely he would end up by his father's side once again. Stiles could hear the pair, Melissa and his father, bickering and almost shouting at each other. Noah was demanding to see his wife but Melissa was arguing that she was in too bad of a condition for anyone to see her. Not giving up, Noah started following Melissa around as she worked and constantly argued things in her ear to convince her, but she didn't give in.
Stiles, being the curious little boy he was, decided that he would wander off and try to find Scott. He assumed that his best friend would be there if his mother was, which probably wasn't what happened most nights, but that was Stiles' logic. He walked a few corridors and turned a few corners before finally coming across a room. Stiles knew Scott wouldn't be there but to his confusion the name, 'Stilinski, Claudia' was. On a notepad were the name, some random numbers and letters that didn't mean anything to Stiles, and the time of the accident.
Stiles pushed the door open to the room after checking both ways to see if anyone was coming; no one. He saw his mother lying on the bed with machines hooked up to every part of her. There were no nurses or doctors in the room at the time so Stiles took his chance and walked up to his mother. He felt his heart shatter at the sight; his mother was so helpless, just laying there. It was all too much for such a little and innocent boy to take in. He was about to leave when he felt a light hand touch his wrist as he turned away. Turning back, he saw his mother with her eyes open and attempting to smile as much as she could. Stiles knew she was trying to be strong in front of him but he could see how much pain she was in.
"Stiles, baby boy, where is your father?" Claudia spoke softly which proved Stiles' suspicions about how much pain she was in. Stiles only shook his head, his voice not working for him. He mumbled a small, 'he's fine' before reaching to hold his mother's hand in his. A tear slipped from her right eye and left a trail along her cheek, cleaning the dirt and dried blood off.
"Stiles, take this." With her free arm she reached up to her neck and took the necklace off that she was wearing; a locket. It was in the shape of a heart and contained on one side was a photo of the Allen family and on the other side was a photo of the Stilinski's'. Between the two photos, was another small picture of Barry and Stiles, together.
"Darling, promise me that you'll look after your father. He needs you, Stiles. So does Barry. His mother just passed away too. He's going to need you, Stiles. I can tell you two will be friends until you both grow old together." Claudia paused to reach her hand up and brush a stray piece of hair out of Stiles' face. Stiles was too upset to even notice, but he leaned into her warm and gentle touch. Her hand returned to rest in his.
Claudia coughed and blood came up, trickled out her mouth and down her chin, making a small pool of droplets on her chest. They both noticed and Stiles started crying, hard. He finally realized what was happening and it was too late; she was dying.
"Stiles, darling I love you. I will always love you. If you ever need me, I'll be there, just look up to the stars and I will be there. You'll always be my baby boy, Stiles, I love you, and tell your father I love him." Claudia breathed out, little did Stiles know that that would be his mother's last breath. He felt her hand go limp in his and as if in slow motion, fall from his grip. The heart rate monitor flatlined and Stiles felt his world collapse in on itself. His mother had just died, in his own, innocent hands and he couldn't do anything about it. He didn't know what to do, he honestly just felt like he wanted to scre-.
An ear-splitting scream rang shrill through the halls of the hospital. Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked to where it came from. Melissa and Noah both stopped their arguing and turned to look where everyone else was looking. They turned back to each other and nodded. Noah followed Melissa to Claudia's room where they saw Stiles leaning over the bed and Claudia. Everything was silent for Noah until the piercing sound of the heart rate monitor that had flatlined pulled him back to reality and away from the visual of Stiles crying onto Claudia's dead body.
Melissa was the one who had to rip Stiles off Claudia and drag him out of the room. He cried out and thrashed his arms around which made Noah help to get him out the room. Stiles eventually calmed and fell asleep by tiring himself out, or by crying himself to sleep. No one really knows, but whatever happened, he was sprawled out across the seats outside Claudia's room, asleep. Noah and Melissa took the chance to talk in the room while Stiles was sleeping. They talked about Claudia and what happened to her. There was also quite a lot of apologies being said back and forth about different things, but none of that really mattered. Claudia was dead, so was Nora and there was nothing that Barry, Stiles, Noah nor Joe could do to bring them back. They were gone, forever.
That was 14 years ago when they were both only nine years old; now Stiles and Barry are 23. They both have jobs working in the police department, they both still live at home with their parent and they're both still giant, freaking nerds. At least, that's how Iris put it.
Usually, when a parent dies, the child becomes distant from friends, family, and people in general. But the death of Nora and Claudia brought both Joe and Noah closer as it did with Stiles and Barry. The two boys could both relate to each other and they wouldn't judge each other for crying and bringing flowers when visiting the cemetery on the anniversary of their mothers' deaths.
They were friends, brothers almost, but when Stiles was 14, he and his father moved back to Beacon Hills. Barry was distraught. He locked himself in his room and wouldn't come out for days. That was unless he needed the bathroom or food. He would make a quick dash to the kitchen to grab a few bits of bread and a bottle of water then run back to his room and lock it again before Joe or Iris could catch him. He always was faster than them, even though he was small, that boy could run.
This only lasted a few months, fortunately, as Barry eventually had to go back to school as Joe did with work. The two boys stayed in touch and tried to meet up as often as possible, but that was hard when Beacon Hills was at least a 10-hour car drive away from Central City. It was guaranteed that they'd see each other at least once a year, at the cemetery on the day of their mother's deaths. The tombstones for Claudia and Nora were next to each other. Henry and Noah had asked if they could be buried next to each other and the request was granted, Joe had made sure of it.
A few years passed and the boys had lost contact; it was eventual, but it happened. Neither said anything to the other about how much it upset them both.
It was a Friday night when Barry got a call. The call that changed everything. Stiles' name popped up on the bright screen. He answered, hoping and praying for it not to be a call from Stiles' father saying that something bad had happened to his son.
"Hey, Bear." Stiles' smooth voice rang in his ears. Oh, how Barry had missed that gentle voice. He stood, staring at the wall almost not believing what he was hearing but secretly praying to any Gods that were out there, that this was real. "Barry? You there?" Stiles asked once again as Barry hadn't answered him the first time and that was over ten seconds ago.
There was another long pause before Stiles spoke again. "Uh, I suppose you're busy..." He trailed off, scratching the back of his neck and leaving his hand there, cupping the back of his neck.
"No! No. Sorry... Hey Stiles. It's just- it's been a long time since I've heard your voice." Barry said with a sigh, remembering how long it really had been since Stiles left Central City. He remembered waving goodbye to a teary-eyed Stiles who was driving away and off to Beacon Hills.
"Yeah. Yeah, you too." Stiles replied, breathing a laugh. "You don't sound like a nine-year-old girl anymore." He continued, hoping that Barry would laugh and not think that Stiles was trying to be rude, especially after leaving him all alone in Central City. Stiles had one friend in Beacon Hills and that was Melissa McCall's son, Scott.
Scott and Stiles were introduced to each other by their parents who were good friends at the time. The pair were always like brothers, and after a few years, they became actual brothers! Not entirely, but step-brothers was pretty close, and in their books, they became brothers the moment they met. Noah and Melissa married but didn't have any other children. The two pesky brats that they already had was enough for them.
They've been married for at least 5 years now, and Melissa and Noah decided it was time for a change of scenery. After all of the events that had happened in Beacon Hills, they just wanted to get their children out. Stiles had been possessed by an evil Japanese spirit for crying out loud! Of course, Barry didn't know about that though. That would be something that they'd have to catch up on.
"So, you're probably wondering why I've called." Stiles paused and Barry nodded, forgetting that Stiles couldn't see him. "Well, I'm coming back to Central City!" Stiles exclaimed, a little too loud making Barry hold the phone away from his ear. Then it finally hit him.
Stiles was coming home! Back to Central City; to Barry.
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I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. It took quite a while to write and it's probably the longest chapter of a book that I've ever wrote haha! Leave some feedback! :)
Until next time,
Natasha xx