Ten Reasons Why

Summary: An algebra assignment, a three leaf clover, an air freshener, a prescription bottle, a Star Wars trading card, a bottle cap, a tube of lip balm, a toy car, a photograph and a roll of candy. These are the ten reasons why…

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters of Teen Wolf, London however is all mine.

Bonus:

The first day that London hadn't shown up for school didn't really ring any alarm bells for Stiles. People got sick, they took time off from school to recuperate, they got better, that's how it worked, right? London wasn't exempt from this process simply because she suffered from depression- okay maybe suffered wasn't exactly the right word in Stiles' head.

He hated the idea that London was suffering, she was such a kind person, she didn't deserve to suffer, plus, she was getting better, she had told him so. She had gone to see a counselor, she had gotten put on medication for it, she smiled more now, so yes, on the first day that she wasn't at school, Stiles hadn't really worried about her.

On the second day she was missing, he figured that she was still just getting over whatever ailment she was dealing with. Maybe she had a bad cold, maybe she had the flu, maybe she had been up all night coughing or sneezing, or worse…maybe she was still just plain old sick. Stiles could deal with her being sick, so long as she came back to school soon.

Scott just wasn't doing it for him, no, Stiles missed talking to her, he missed having discussions with her and working through their homework together. He missed sitting with her at lunch and sharing what they had done the night before, or what their plans were for the weekend, which was coming up rather soon.

So maybe the second day that London was absent, Stiles found himself concerned about her, but he could still justify it, he could calm his thoughts by telling himself that she was still sick. And when his texts went unanswered, he figured that she was resting, ignoring her phone all together. He could give her the time she needed, she deserved it.

It was the third day that she wasn't in class that he really started to think about all the bad things that could be wrong with London Parker. What if she had some fatal disease that she was battling, what if she needed blood or a transplant, or what if she was throwing up so much that her stomach was raw and she simply needed a little more time to get better?

Three days off sick, okay, Stiles could let her have that, but if she missed any more school, he was going to start to really worry, and he might even do something about it. Three days, three days wasn't uncommon though, one day to suffer, one night to rest and the third day to make sure that there weren't any residual effects from the illness.

When Stiles had walked into homeroom on day four though and London still wasn't there, he immediately pulled his phone out and sent her a text, asking her where the hell she was. She didn't respond, not right away, and it wasn't until after lunch that she texted him back with one simple word: sick.

Okay, okay no, this wasn't cool, it was actually starting to worry Stiles. He needed her to come back to school, he needed to talk to her, to see her, to witness for himself that she was going to make it through whatever it was she was dealing with.

If it was a cold, surely she could suffer through one day just to let him know that she was still alive. If it was the flu, certainly she could stop barfing long enough to show up in front of him and assure him that she was going to be just fine. Was that too much to ask?

And what about her homework? She'd have to stop by and get that at some point, right? Or would her mom come to the school? Would Lynn Parker show up at Beacon Hills High School in order to pick up all the work that London had missed while she had been 'sick'?

Ha, maybe Stiles could scope out the parking lot, maybe he could wait a little longer after school than he usually would with the hopes that London's mom would show up to get her sick daughter the homework she would need. Oh wait, oh no, no he couldn't, not today, today he had lacrosse practice.

Okay, fine, he'd give her one more day, one more day to show up and then he was going to call her, or do something a little more drastic- yes, he would go over to see her. He would make his way over to London's house and make sure that he got to see her alive and in front of his very eyes. He didn't care if what she had was contagious, he didn't care if he'd get sick too, he just needed to see for himself that she was doing alright.

He missed her, more and more with each passing day, and he wasn't going to bother her with texts, not when all he got back in response were one word answers. If London wanted to be left alone to get better, then he'd let her, for one more day anyways.

When day five rolled around and London was still nowhere to be seen, he shot her another text, asking her if she was still breathing. He meant it to be joking but part of him wondered if she was way more seriously ill than he first believed. This wasn't just some quick flu, or a lousy cold, no, she had been off for five days of school, an entire week, Monday right through until Friday, so what the hell was wrong with her?

When his phone vibrated in his pocket, while he was sitting in class, he discretely pulled it out and looked at the screen, studying the reply that he got.

Yeah, still breathing.

That was it, that was all that she had said to him. Okay, if she was going to play it that way, then he was going to call her on lunch, he was going to call her when he had some time and make sure that she didn't sound like she was dying. He had to know that she was okay, he wouldn't be able to relax if he didn't know that she was just fine.

The bell for lunch sounded out in the hallways and Stiles made a mad dash for the parking lot, heading right for his jeep. He wanted to call her somewhere private, somewhere quiet and what better place than his very own vehicle. As he fumbled with his keys, he managed to unlock the door and hopped in, freeing his phone from his pocket.

As quickly as he could, Stiles dialed London's number and held the phone up to his ear, holding his breath as he listened to it ring…and ring…and ring.

On the fifth ring, much later than he was expecting, she came on the line. Her voice was soft and barely audible but nonetheless it was London. He let out the breath he had been holding and gently set his forehead against the top of the steering wheel.

"Oh my god London, I have been waiting and waiting and waiting for you to show up at school for the last week." Stiles jumped right in, not hesitating for a second. He loved the sound of her voice, he loved seeing her every single day at school, god, he loved London, he loved her so much.

He just wished that she knew how much he really did love her. He wasn't going to admit it to her though, he didn't want to scare her off. After everything they had been through, after all the things she had dealt with since he met her, he wasn't going to throw something like 'I love you' in her direction.

She was fragile, she had enough to deal with, she didn't need that on top of everything. Stiles could keep quiet, as long as he knew that she was okay.

"I'm sick, that's all." London replied slowly, as if she was picking and choosing her words carefully. She had to know that he wasn't going to let her get away without details, he was the kind of person who needed to know everything, down to the nitty gritty.

"Are you throwing up?" He asked.

"What?" She seemed taken aback by his question. "No."

"Are you…do you…is it the runs?" Stiles pressed and he couldn't help but smile at the sound of her scoffing on the other end of the line.

"No Stiles, I do not have the runs." London countered, her voice much more firm than it had been seconds ago. In all honesty, it didn't sound like there was anything really wrong with her, not from a voice perspective, but maybe she really did have the runs and she was just too proud to admit it.

"You don't sound like you have a cold." He pointed out and London sighed at his observation.

"That's because I don't." London replied. "Look, you shouldn't worry about me."

"Why?" Stiles had the word out before he could even realize what he was saying. London was an amazing person, he adored her to pieces, she was one of his best friends, why wouldn't he worry about her, and why would she say that he shouldn't?

"I'm tired, okay, I'm going to go lie down."

"London, what's wrong?"

"I'll see you when I see you, okay?" She said softly. "Bye Stiles."

Without giving him a chance to respond, she ended the phone call, and he pulled the phone away from his ear, staring at the screen. He shook his head and tried to gather his thoughts, wondering what his next move was going to be. He wasn't going to just let her get away with not telling him more.

He had to know that she was okay, he just had to.

By the time the end of the school day rolled around, Stiles had convinced himself that he was going to show up at London's house and find her looking a lot sicker than he was anticipating. Just because she didn't sound sick, didn't mean she wasn't sick.

Ignoring Scott, and all of his other friends, Stiles made a break for the parking lot and hopped into his jeep. He threw his bag and textbooks into the passenger seat and cranked the ignition, praying that the old jeep would start without giving him grief. Today of all days he just needed it to start, he needed to get to London.

He wasn't going to let her hide away from him, he wasn't going to let her be sick without seeing for himself that she was decent.

Peeling down the roads, he made quick work of getting from the school to her house. He pulled into the driveway behind her mother's car and turned the jeep off, staring at the front of her house. Okay, her mom was home, but that didn't mean anything, she worked shifts anyways, shifts that changed times from week to week. Maybe today she was either already done work, or she had yet to go in, it didn't mean it had anything to do with London.

Sucking in a breath, Stiles climbed out of his jeep and walked up to the front door, lifting his hand up and pausing with his fist in the air. If he knocked, would they answer? If London truly was sick, would her mother answer the door, would Stiles have to explain to Lynn Parker that he just wanted to see for himself that London was actually sick?

God, how weird would that sound? How crazy would he look?

Whatever, Stiles didn't care. He shrugged off the idea of London's mom thinking he was weird- hell, she probably already thought he was weird- and brought his knuckles down against the door, knocking loudly and firmly.

He waited and at the sound of footsteps coming from inside the house, Stiles tensed up. Should he have just let London get better on her own?

When Lynn pulled the door open, he threw a smile onto his face and looked right back at her, standing his ground. She gave him a quick once over and rolled her eyes, but in the end, she smiled at him too.

"London's not feeling that great." Lynn stated.

"She's sick?" Stiles asked, tipping his head slightly sideways.

"Maybe…look, don't tell anyone else this, but she's…well she's not doing that good lately." Lynn whispered, even leaning forward so that the chances of London hearing were severely lessened.

"She's dying?" Stiles shot back, eyes widening with fear.

"What?" Lynn straightened up and shook her head. "No, no that's not what I meant. She's…she's trying so hard to put on a brave face but it's not hard to see that she's having a lot of trouble fighting with her depression. She's not sleeping at night and when she finally does fall asleep, it's after hours of crying."

"Oh." Stiles dropped his gaze downwards and looked at his feet. When Lynn let out a sigh, he carefully lifted his head up and met her eyes, wondering how often the woman in front of him had to watch her child suffer without be able to do much about it.

"She's not really up for company but I think she'd benefit greatly from seeing you, that is, if you want to come in?" Lynn looked at him expectantly and stepped off to the side, giving him a wave forward.

Stiles stole a quick look back at his jeep but crossed over the threshold, pausing once he was inside to glance at Lynn for direction. He didn't know where she'd be and he wasn't going to go traipsing around the house looking for her, okay, maybe if it was a normal day he might, but this was different. Stiles had to put on his serious face, he had to be there for London and show her that she was important to him

Lynn shut the front door behind him and stepped around him, pausing to cross her arms over her chest before letting out another soft sigh.

"She's in the living room."

"Okay, uh, thanks Miss Parker." Stiles gave her a nod and she shook her head at him, a smile tugging at her lips.

"Miss Parker is too much Stiles, calling me Lynn is just fine."

Stiles forced a smile onto his face to match hers before walking further into the house, leaving the older woman behind as he ventured towards the living room. Stiles hesitated just inside the entryway and looked over at the couch, taking in the sight of London sitting on one end of the couch, a pair of plaid flannel pajama bottoms adorning her bottom half while a loose-fitting black t-shirt covered her top half.

She didn't look sick, in fact, she looked rather clean and ready for the day, but Stiles knew better than to assume that just become someone looked like they were ready to head outside and face the world, didn't mean they actually were. When she spotted him, she lifted her head up from the book that was open and resting on the arm of the couch and she took her bottom lip in between her teeth.

"You're mom let me in." Stiles announced, and immediately scolded himself internally for sounding so lame. Of course her mom would've let him in, it wasn't like he had a key to the Parker residence, as much as he would've liked, she wasn't quite ready for something like that.

"Oh." She bowed her head and grabbed a piece of paper off the end table, stuffing it in her book before shutting it. She kept it on her lap though and stared at him from across the room, not entirely sure what to say.

"I was getting worried." Stiles stated, his voice soft and laced with nervousness. God, what was wrong with him, he hardly ever got nervous, but this was London, and her mom had informed him that she wasn't doing that good.

"It's…I'm…Stiles you shouldn't worry about me." London seemed to have trouble choosing her words, and it didn't go unnoticed by Stiles.

"Well I do." He said in response.

London hesitated but waved him forward, then she patted the vacant patch of couch next to her. Stiles strode across the room and flopped down next to her, turning his head sideways to meet her eyes. As soon as he was situated, he took note that her eyes were filling up with tears and her lip was starting to quiver.

Okay, what the hell had he done wrong? It wasn't like he had ample opportunity to screw things up, not when all he did was walk across the carpet. Great, now she was crying and it was all because of him.

"Sorry." She murmured and lifted her hand up, swiping at the tears that managed to escape her eyes.

"Why?"

"Why?" She echoed his word and sucked in a breath. "I'm crying in front of you, I hate crying, especially in front of people."

"You can cry in front of me." Stiles stated. "I'm not here to judge you."

"Why do you have to be so nice?" She quipped and let out a strained laugh. "I'm a mess."

"You don't look like a mess."

"I can't pull myself together enough to make it to school Stiles." London forced the words out. "I don't sleep at night, not really."

"But why? London, you can talk to me, about anything, literally anything. I'm your friend-"

"Whenever I go to bed I just get these overwhelming thoughts that scare the crap out of me." She cut him off, blurting it all out.

Stiles cocked his head sideways and lifted his arm up, setting it around her shoulders in a gesture of comfort. She leaned into his side and brought her legs up closer to her body, giving her eyes another swipe in a sad attempt to rid herself of the tears that continued to well up in her eyes.

"Like what?" Stiles asked.

"Mostly…I get so scared of dying, well no, not dying, more…it's so hard to explain. It's like a fear of the unknown, what happens after we die, where do we go, and then I just start freaking out and thinking that I'm wasting my life. What happens to me if I die tomorrow, I've done nothing with my life-"

"Not true." Stiles broke in and gave her shoulder a gentle, reassuring squeeze. "You mean so much to me, I just…maybe I'm not good at letting you see how much you really do mean to me."

"Stiles." She shied away from his gaze and tucked her head under his chin instead. Her body jerked once and she blew out a breath, trying desperately to remain calm. "I'm supposed to go to the doctor tomorrow, my mom thinks maybe if I talk to him then he can help me."

"How?"

"Medication, a stronger medication. This isn't anything new to me, I've felt like this before." She explained. "I just can't go to school right now because I don't sleep at night. I'm so tired but every time I lay down, all the thoughts, all the bad things in my head just take over."

"You could've talked to me." Stiles remarked and relaxed against the couch, sinking down into the cushions and forcing his body to be on the same level as hers. He looked right into her eyes and she blinked, tears running down her cheeks, tears that he knew he wouldn't be able to stop. "I'm here for you, no matter what, no matter how silly you might think it is, I will always be here for you."

"You don't have to be."

"I know that London, but I want to be." Stiles countered. "You're such an amazing person, you're one of my best friends, and I don't like seeing you like this."

"I don't like feeling like this." London murmured. "I should've…I should've told you sooner."

"No worries." Stiles shook his head and forced a smile onto his face. "I'm glad you're mom let me in though."

She nodded her agreement and nabbed a blanket off the back of the couch, spreading it out over their legs and curling even further into his side. Stiles gently readjusted the hold he had on her and let her relax into his chest, getting a little more comfortable against him.

"Thanks."

"No problem. I can stay here for a while." Stiles offered. "Maybe you can try to have a nap, I promise I won't move."

"Yeah?" She seemed to perk up at his offer. "You'd do that?"

"London cuddles are the best kind of cuddles." Stiles teased and she blinked her eyes a few more times, the tears seeming to disappear. When she let her eyes fall shut, he let out a soft sigh of relief and shut his own eyes too.

When he felt her entire body melt against his, he knew that this was good for her, he would be good for her, and if it was up to him, she'd never hurt like this again.

He just wanted London to be okay, and if that meant he'd spend a couple of hours curled up with her on her couch napping, then that's what he'd do. London deserved it, she deserved to be happy, and Stiles hoped that one day she'd realize that on her own.