Okay, I'm really sorry this took so long. After I asked for prompts, life got hectic.

This was requested by jazzy1324 on tumblr: "Stiles and Lydia stuck in an elevator"

I got a little angsty, but I hope you like it!

I don't own Teen Wolf.

"Hey, wait up!"

Lydia pushed the 'open door' button as Stiles slid in.

"Hey," she said. "Did Allison text you?"

"Yeah," he replied. "She said her dad might've found something about what's going on with the mask people."

She nodded. "Scott's not with you?"

"No, but I saw his bike outside."

The numbers lit up as they passed the floors.

"So…how've you been?" Lydia asked him. She knew about the hallucinations that he, Scott, and Allison had been having, and it worried her.

"Good," he said simply.

But she knew better. She saw the dark circles, she saw the change in his eyes. The light slowly draining from them, taking away the Stiles she knew bit by bit.

She opened her mouth to tell him so, and the elevator jolted to a stop, the lights going out.

Instinctively, she reached out for Stiles and found his arm reaching for her. She didn't like the dark, not anymore.

Before she could freak out too much, the dim back-up lights came on. It wasn't much, but it was enough that she could see her hand in front of her face, and more importantly, Stiles.

"You okay?" he asked.

"I'm fine," she said, pulling out her phone to call Allison.

"Lydia," she answered. "Where are you?"

"In the elevator," Lydia replied.

"Why are you calling if you're less than a minute away?" Allison said. "Is everything okay?"

"Supernaturally, yes," she answered. "But Stiles and I are both stuck in here."

"Are you guys okay?" her best friend asked.

She glanced at Stiles, who was looking at her expectantly. "Yeah, we're fine, just annoyed."

"Understandable," Allison said. "I'll get the maintenance on it."

"Alright, hurry." Lydia hung up and turned to Stiles. "She's getting the maintenance people."

"So we just wait?" he asked.

She shrugged. "Basically."

She sat down against the back wall and Stiles joined her, his thumb tapping against his thigh.

"So how long is it supposed to be?" he asked.

"I don't know," she said. "Probably not that long."

Stiles nodded. "I hope not."

She looked at him, and he was biting his lip anxiously, and his leg started bouncing.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"I'm fine," he said way too quickly. He stood up and started pacing. "I, uh, just can't stay still for too long. You know that. ADHD and all."

She let him pace in the small elevator for a while, knowing he was trying to keep calm.

"Are you sure you're okay?" she asked again after a few minutes. "You're not claustrophobic or anything, are you?"

"No," he replied. "I just…I don't know. It's kinda dark, and I don't really like the dark much, and I read that you can run out of oxygen in an elevator ,and I really don't wanna die that way, because, I mean, after all the crap we've gone through, I die in a freaking elevator? Come on, how pathetic is that?"

"Stiles," she said, rising an eyebrow. "We're not gonna die in the elevator. They're going to get us out soon."

"How soon is soon?" he asked, throwing his hands up. "How long have we been here already, huh?"

She looked at her phone. "Ten minutes."

"Still!" he exclaimed. "What if it's not a simple fix? What if we're stuck in here for hours?"

"Then we'll be stuck for hours," she replied. "Just calm down."

Though she was nervous about being stuck in a small, dark place for that long, she was trying to stay calm. I would do no good to freak out – well both of them anyway.

He kept pacing the small area, and she swore that he was going to walk a hole in the elevator floor. It was really grating on her nerves.

"Could you please stop?" she finally asked after Allison texted her. "They're working on it as fast as they can."

"Well it's not fast enough!" he snapped at her. He took a deep breath, running his hand through his hair.

Lydia stood up and stood in front of him, grabbing his arms to stop him from moving.

"Stiles," she started, "I know this is hard for you, but you have to calm down. Freaking out is not going to change anything or make the time go by faster."

"I'm trying to stay calm, Lydia!" he said. "It's not working!"

"Why are you freaking out so much?" she asked. "You're not claustrophobic, you said that."

"My issue is that I'm trapped!" he yelled. Lydia took a step back. "I'm just tired of feeing trapped okay? I feel trapped enough as it is, and this is not helping!"

"What do you mean you feel trapped?"

He blew out a deep breath before answering. "You know why. All the crap we've been through, everything that's come at us, I've felt helpless, like I couldn't do anything."

He paused, looking at her, pleading for her to understand. She did.

"And after the sacrifices," he continued, "it's only gotten worse. Even when there wasn't anything coming, I felt trapped – I feel trapped – because there's just this overwhelming feeling all the time." He turned away from her, taking a couple of steps before continuing. "It started just in my dreams, but now it's starting to bleed over when I'm awake, and it getting the point where…I don't know when I'm awake or asleep."

She put a hand on his arm. "Stiles – "

"I'm losing my mind, Lydia," he said, his voice cracking, "and I can't do anything to help it."

"Hey," she said, pulling lightly on his arm to turn him around. "We're going to figure this out. You're gonna be okay."

"No, I'm not, Lydia," he countered. "I am not going to be okay. I'm scared."

She looked in his eyes, and saw the fear and the pain. There were tears threatening to spill over, and as the blinked, some escaped. Without even thinking, she wiped them away with her thumb.

"I know you're scared," she said. "Believe me, I know. You feel like you don't have control over your own body or mind. That's terrifying. But we can get through it, and we can get through being stuck in an elevator."

He closed his eyes and nodded before pulling her into a hug. She hugged him back tightly, and she though he wasn't ever going to let go. She wouldn't mind that at all. She would hug him for as long as he needed it, because there were times when all she needed was a hug, but wouldn't let anyone close enough to get one.

After a minute, she felt his body start to shake, and he let out a small sob. She held him even tighter as he cried, easing then down onto the floor. She let him cry, running her hands gently through his hair.

They had all been through a lot. Way too much for someone who's lived a hundred years, much less someone who hadn't even graduated high school. Everyone had had their time to break down, to say 'I've had enough'. Everyone except Stiles.

Stiles was the one who kept it together when everyone else was falling apart, and while it was scary to see him like that, she knew that he had to break down. He had to fall apart, because sometimes it's worse if you try to keep yourself together. To try and force the fissures back together before they even finished cracking.

That was something she knew well.

Finally, he stopped crying, and pulled out of the hug to wipe off his face.

"I'm sorry," he said thickly.

"Don't apologize," she answered. "Don't ever apologize."

He took in her hand in his. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," she replied with a smile. "Just know that I'm here if you ever need to talk."

He nodded as her phone went off. It was another text from Allison.

They got it fixed. They're about to flip the switch.

Just as she finished reading it, the lights came back on, and they were jarred back into movement. They both shot up and Stiles hit the button for Allison's floor. Relief was clear on both of their faces as they looked at each other, and Lydia smiled reassuringly.

"See?" she said. "I told you we were gonna be alright."

"Yeah," he nodded. "Thanks."

The doors opened, and Scott, Allison, Isaac, and Mr. Argent were standing there waiting for them.

"Are you guys alright?" Allison asked as she pulled Lydia into a hug.

"We're okay," Stiles said, pulling out of his hug with Scott.

Lydia looked at him, and he gave her a slight nod. He was okay, atleast for now.

"Yeah," she nodded. "We're okay."

Isaac shook his head. "Scott and I were in there just a couple minutes before you guys. If I got stuck in there…" He trailed off, obviously not wanting to think about that.

Lydia knew what had happened last time he was trapped in a small space, and she was glad the elevator had waited a few minutes more to break down.

"So," Stiles said, looking at Mr. Argent. "You had something to tell us?"

The older man nodded. "Yeah, let's go back to the apartment."

They made their way back, and Lydia walked with Stiles. They didn't say anything, but she caught his eye and smiled. He nodded, taking her hand briefly before they walked into the apartment.

Stiles would be okay, she would make sure of it. She didn't know how, but she would.

He hadn't given up on her, and she wasn't giving up on him.

Tell me what you think!