I'm not safe, Scott. I never will be. "Me too," she says instead. Lacy manages a smile. "You can't get rid of me that easily."
Scott's crooked smile returns.














When Lacy hears a tap on her bedroom window, she has about a ten second panic attack until she sees that it's Stiles. Her dad's asleep by now and she had locked herself in her bedroom to study. He's standing there smiling and waving at her. She raises the window with shaking hands. "Stiles, what are you doing here?" She doesn't see his blue Jeep in her driveway or on the street. "Where's your Jeep?"
"Oh, I parked it around the block," Stiles responded, jerking his thumb over his shoulder. "I figured Sam might kill me if I try using the front door."
"And you thought sneaking through my window was better?"
"It's not sneaking if you haven't let me in yet," he points.
Lacy rolled her eyes. She steps back to let him. Stiles crawled into her room and almost fell to the floor. He rested his hands on his hips and smiled. "Hi."
"Hi," she says back oddly. "Exactly why are you here, Stiles? You haven't climbed through my window since seventh grade."
"Oh, uhhh," he searches for an excuse. "I just wanted to, uh, check on you."
"Check on me."
"Yeah. . ." He said with a convincing grin. "Yeah."
Lacy moved away from the window. "Why do I need to be checked on?" She asked and sat on her bed. She gathered her books and stuff up and moved them out of the way.
"Well, uh. . ." Stiles paused again. He anxiously twiddled his thumbs like he was playing video games. "I haven't really seen you in a couple days. I've been a little busy, so. . .I kind of felt obligated to make sure you're okay."
"Uh huh," she muttered, still not convinced, but she smiled anyway. "Stiles, I'm fine. I'm just staying for this midterms," she tells him, dragging her hand along her braided plait. 
Stiles narrowed his eyes. "But I thought you don't have to take them? You got cleared by the teachers."
"Yeah, well, I don't really feel like repeating my sophomore year of high school."
"Why not? Scott probably has to. You two can be together."
Fortunately, she doesn't ask to elaborate on that statement, and instead she laughs. Stiles smiled. "I don't want to be different from everyone else. I'm trying to get my life back on track."
The energy shifts. "No, yeah. Of course. I get it." He looks around her bedroom. "You literally haven't changed a thing in here."
Lacy half grinned. "It's too good to change."
Stiles eyes the posters and photographs on her walls. Seeing the pictures of her with Daphne and Kayla before they died makes him frown. "You miss 'em?"
She doesn't even ask for clarification. "Every day," she answered wholeheartedly.
He moves to her desk and grazes his hand along the covers of her books and her computer. "I know I haven't asked you about what happened," he says without looking at her. "Sorry about that."
Lacy shakes her head. "It's okay. I, uh," she brings her knees to her chest. "I don't think I can tell you anyway."
Stiles does look at her that time. Her arms are wrapped around her legs like a child waking up from a nightmare. That's exactly what she is. He remembers being in that position after his mom died. "You can tell me anything, Lacy. You know that." He states.