rest of our lives

Watching as Amelia looked over to Nancy, Scott frowned, finding himself concerned about them both - more so Amelia. "Hey," he spoke gently, hoping that he didn't seem too full on. "We're not here to judge you, and if you're not ready to talk, you don't have to." He promised, his eyes meeting Amelia's, offering her a gentle smile, offering her his hand across the table, being subtle about it. The pull he felt towards her strengthened at that moment, and the need to protect her made it's way to the surface.

Nancy blinked in surprise to Stiles' kindness, the warmth of his hand making her relax, making her realise she wanted to feel his hand in hers all the time. Turning her hand so she could entwine their fingers, Nancy looked to Amelia, wondering if it was okay to say anything. Figuring she could give off a small bit of information and give Amelia the opportunity to add to it if she wanted, Nancy cleared her throat. "We uh," she frowned. "We were adopted at a young age by our Alpha." She explained. "He turned us."

Amelia lifted her gaze to Scott when she heard him talk and she watched him for a long moment, her gaze dropping to his hand before she shifted, finding herself reaching to take his hand, though she didn’t really know why. Hearing Nancy talk about what happened, she dropped her gaze, shifting a bit. “He’s, uh… Pretty awful… Abusive,” she said quietly, swallowing a bit, “But, the worst part of it all is that not everybody takes the bite, you know? Their bodies fight it and it kills them and we had to watch that… And we only recently got the courage to leave.”

Stiles watched Nancy, his expression softening when she told them they’d been turned when they were young, and he frowned deeply, giving her hand a gentle squeeze, rubbing his thumb over the back of her hand in hopes of comforting her. Hearing Amelia’s addition to the explanation, he felt an anger build up in him with knowing that this guy had been abusive to them, and he settled his gaze fully on Nancy. “We won’t let him hurt you ever again,” he told her gently as he watched her, “We’ll protect you, if he comes looking for you. You don’t have to be afraid. I promise.”

Scott took Amelia's hand, gently running his thumb along the back of her hand, wanting to provide comfort in any way he could, trying to ignore the electric jolt he felt crawling up his arm just from touching her. He felt his heart clench angrily when Amelia told him and Stiles that their Alpha was abusive, and how he'd claimed innocent lives, exploited children to be a big pack. Scott frowned, tensing at the thought, but still, Scott nodded. "And where do you stay now?" Nodding along to Stiles' words about keeping the girls safe. "We'll do whatever we can to protect you both."

Nancy focused on the table, unable to quite face Stiles now that he knew things, afraid of judgement, despite his reassuring words. "We - we were orphans." She elaborated. "All of us were. And he took us in. The social services in that area thought he was some humanitarian." She blinked slowly. "He turned us. All of us. And there are some who were lucky enough to get this curse, and the unlucky ones who died once the fever from the bite kicked in." She bit her lip. "But, we're staying at a motel." She explained.

Amelia paused when she felt Scott take her hand and she watched him for a few long moments, surprised that it actually provided comfort to her, when she wasn’t used to feeling any real sort of comfort. But, more than that, it sent so much warmth through her. “We, uh, we stay at a motel nearby,” she murmured in agreement to Nancy, “The owner lets us crash there.”

Stiles listened to Nancy quietly, his expression softening with concern, and he shifted, taking her hands to give them a gentle squeeze. “Your Alpha is an ass,” he told her gently as he watched her, not bothering to keep his words to himself. “And you didn’t deserve that. But, we will do absolutely everything it takes to help you through what you’re going through, I swear.”

"But why should you care?" Nancy frowned, suddenly feeling defensive, knowing she was awful for putting her walls up. Still, Nancy sighed, focusing everywhere apart from Stiles, not wanting to focus on the adorable nerd sat in front of her.

Scott frowned. "It's not safe for you in a motel." His frown deepened. "What if your Alpha finds you there?" He asked, the concern a genuine one, knowing that Alphas could track down their pack with no problem, but Scott looked to Stiles with the mention of it. "You could stay with Stiles and I." Scott offered, not even letting Stiles have a say in the matter as he ran his thumb across the back of Amelia's hand. "I mean, it's not ideal, but you'd be a lot safer."

Stiles watched Nancy for a moment, blinking at her defensiveness, but he knew that it meant she’d been through a lot; she probably couldn’t bring herself to trust easily, and he didn’t dare blame her for that. “I don’t need a reason to care,” he told her gently, “But I want to help, I really do. I just want you to know that much, okay? You don’t have to trust me or have faith in me or believe me, but just… Let me help.”

Amelia listened quietly, and she could hear the concern in his voice, and she sank in her seat a bit. “But, if we stayed with you two, he could still find us,” she pointed out quietly, despite the comfort Scott was giving her, “And that would put you both in trouble.” And, she didn’t want that. She didn’t want anybody else getting hurt.

Nancy shifted as she felt Stiles' eyes on her, and when he spoke, she gathered her courage to look at him once more, and despite every atom in her body telling her to run, Nancy nodded, exhaling in defeat. "Okay." She murmured, nodding eventually. Reaching to place a gentle hand on Stiles' arm, Nancy looked to the amber eyed boy. "Fine." She nodded her head. "But I kinda have to trust you if this is gonna work."

Scott listened to Amelia's concerns, wanting to take her seriously, wanting her to know he cared, and that he was listening. Continuing to run his thumb along the soft skin of Amelia's hand, Scott studied her carefully. "Listen to me," Scott spoke with a gentle authority. "We can keep you safe, but I need you both to trust me. To trust Stiles. We always have a plan, and we won't let him get to you if he comes searching. He might know it's a big risk, he might not even try." Scott pointed out. "Do you think you can trust me?"

Stiles watched Nancy quietly, his heart easing a bit when he felt her hand on his arm, and he offered a smile as he watched her, swearing she had such an amazing effect on him that he didn’t think he would ever be able to put it into words, that he’d ever be able to describe it. “Well, do you think you can do that?” he asked her gently as he watched her, his gaze softening as he took her in for a few moments, “Find it in yourself to trust me, I mean?”

Amelia listened quietly to Scott, watching him, listening to him, though it was the way his thumb ran along her skin that soothed her, that had her focusing and wanting to believe him, to trust him. She shifted a bit, rolling his words over in her mind, taking it all in, surprised that he cared so much. “I…” she started before clearing her throat a bit. “I, um… I can try…”

Nancy watched Stiles carefully as he watched her, and she offered him a weak, pursed lip smile, nodding. "Yeah, I think I can." She ducked her head a little bit, exhaling her anxieties away. "You just gotta be patient, okay? We've... it's been hard, Stiles, okay? I can't tell you much right now, but I can tell you that we're hurting."

Scott nodded with Amelia's words, his thumb continuing to run across her skin, wanting her to know that he was no harm to her, that he would do all in his power to comfort her during what was obviously a very scary time for the two of them. "Try is all I ask." Scott spoke in a calm voice, knowing that he had so much more to do; so much more to learn, and he wanted to learn it all to keep Amelia safe.

Stiles watched her for a few long moments but he nodded slightly in understanding. “Yeah, yeah, of course, okay,” he told her quietly, nodding as he took her in, “Just… Know that we’re here when you’re ready to talk about, whenever you what, for whatever you need, okay?”

Amelia found herself focusing on the feeling of Scott’s thumb running across her skin, and she peered over at him, listening to his words, to hs voice, and she found herself nodding without even realizing it. “I’ll try,” she murmured quietly.