#anyway can we talk about how lydia was instantly protective of both of them in this scene

[aaronwarner]

Maxton Hall: The World Between Us

S01E03: Exposed

[lovelucybradford]

I Pretend You’re Mine (5)

A/N: Back with the promised continuation chapter! 

Not sure if you’re interested, but when I was writing, in my head I pictured:

Betty White as Grandma Rose

Richard Madden as Levi

Peter Gallagher as Jason Martin

Scott Eastwood as Drew

Masterlist

Tags: @empath-bunny

@ityagirljay

@wolfarrowepz​

@supernatural-crazed-girl

Five: You Were Romeo (I Was a Scarlet Letter)

Day 1: Thursday, June 13th

7:00 pm- Welcome Cocktails in the Stardust Lounge, Deck 6

“Champagne, miss?” The formally dressed waiter offered a flute of sparkling wine, a raspberry garnish floating in the glass. Rosalie took it from his hands with no hesitation, sending the attendant a silent smile of thanks. She put the glass to her lips, then paused and looked up at Derek.

“Will people judge me if I chug this whole thing right now?” she voiced, loving the amused smile that lit up her partner’s face at the innocent question.

“I thought we didn’t care anymore what people thought of us,” Derek reminded her, though she knew that when he was referring to ‘we’, he really meant her. Derek never was one to care what people thought of him.

Rosalie weighed her options, then decided that her family judged her anyways so why not have a good time?

In order to get through this hellish night, she’d have to be tipsy. Best start now.

Without a word of affirmation, she forewent her instilled manners and chugged the glass down in one long sip. Rosalie wasn’t normally a fan of champagne, unless it was Dom Perignon, which she realized made her sound like a total snob. It was the one thing that she’d inherited from her father, her expensive taste in food and drink. It seemed by the familiar, rich, and delicious taste of the bubbly that the cruise ship staff had only provided the very best for their VIP guests.

Rosalie searched for a place to set her glass, finding a nearby unoccupied table and gently depositing it there. She, quite literally, couldn’t afford to even chip one of the crystal goblets.  She stumbled back to Derek, who was waiting for her with an open arm.

“You ready for this?” he whispered in her ear, his breath hot on her neck. It caused unvoluntary goosebumps to crawl up her arms, which she prayed he didn’t notice.

Was she ready?

A part of her never would be. She’d purposely left this part of her life behind, knowing all too well how toxic it was for her mental health. But Rosalie knew if she backed out now, then the family would know that they finally got to her. They would think that she was still strung up and heartbroken about Drew, or jealous of her stepsister for getting the diamond that was meant for Rosalie.

And sure, she had been… once upon a time.

Moving back to Beacon Hills, reconnecting with normal people, people she loved more than her own blood relatives… it had put everything into perspective for her again.

Rosalie could once again be herself, be that strong woman that Talia Hale had raised to be when Rosalie’s own mother had fallen short. The strong, kind, generous, goofy, compassionate, empathetic woman with a mind of her own and a head on her shoulders. Not the ice queen, the submissive and serious woman that her father had tried to warp her into.

And for that, Rose was forever thankful.

She was different now, but exactly the same. And this version of her, with her closest confidantes by her side, wouldn’t cower in a corner.

Rosalie held her head high, meeting Derek’s gaze with a confident look in her blue eyes.

“Yes,” she declared, feeling her confidence rise.

“Good.”

“Lead the way, Prince Charming.”

Derek snorted and shook his head at the nickname, but complied and escorted Rosalie further into the room. She searched for a friendly face among the crowd. Normally, she’d be able to find Lydia by her head of bright red hair, but nearly half of the people in the room had some shade of red hair.

Thankfully, Rosalie didn’t have to look all that hard, as Charlotte came bounding up to her aunt, screaming, “Auntie Rosie! Uncle Derek!”

And suddenly, as the child wrapped her arms around one of Derek’s legs and one of Rosalie’s, all of the attention in the room shifted to the couple.

“Is that Rosalie?” her cousin Noah commented to the man next to him.

“Who the hell is that with her? Because dayum, I’d like to tap that ass,” Noah’s twin, Nick, said back.

“That has to be her friend,” Uncle Alex said to his wife, his lips around a glass of Scotch.

“Not with the way he’s holding her. Besides, did you hear her niece call him Uncle? How she managed that is beyond me,” Aunt Sarah replied, looking Rose’s companion up and down with hungry eyes.

Rosalie ignored all the talk, even though it seemed as if the crowd wasn’t even attempting to be discreet in their conversations.

She reached down to pat Charlotte’s blonde head. “Hey, honey! I missed you!”

Derek ruffled Charlotte’s curls playfully, to which the little girl pretended to be angry with him. But Rosalie could see the smile that she was hiding as Charlotte clutched the adults’ legs even harder.

“All right, all right, Charlie. Let’s let Auntie Rosalie and Uncle Derek breathe, yeah?” Rosalie’s brother, Levi, broke through the crowd, detaching his daughter from the couple and telling her to go on and play with her cousins.

As soon as the little girl was out of sight, Levi enveloping his sister in a hug. Derek held out his hand for a friendly shake, but Levi pulled him into an embrace as well, the two men patting each other fondly on the back.

“I’m digging the beard,” Derek approved, gesturing to Levi’s newly grown beard while rubbing his own.

“What can I say? I was inspired by yours. Although I have to say, mine looks a little better. Y’know, because it’s still all one color,” Levi joked, comparing his solid red scruff to Derek’s salt-and-pepper look.

Rosalie elbowed Derek in the side teasingly. “Yeah, you old man!”

Derek raised one brow and stepped away from Rosalie, crossing his arms. “Oh sure, call me old man one more time.”

Rosalie beamed up at him, wagging her own brows. “What would you rather me call you? Sugar daddy?”

With one fell swoop, Derek was pressed against her, fingers tickling the small expanse of visible skin on her waist. Rose squealed with laughter, trying in vain to pull away from him and begging for mercy.

Levi cleared his throat loudly, causing the couple to separate. Rosalie’s cheeks burned red at the embarrassing scene that she had been a part of. Surely her brother would tease her about it.

Instead, Levi looked a bit pissed.

“So, I guess my daughter didn’t dream up your engagement, then. This,” Levi gestured to Rosalie and Derek, “is really happening?”

Derek shifted his weight on both feet. Rosalie bit her lip and looked to the floor guiltily. She loved her brother. She really did. But she knew that Levi had loose lips, and he’d surely have one too many and (unintentionally) let slip the whole ruse. That, and Rose couldn’t take the disappointment from him.

“It’s about fucking time,” Levi added, sounding a lot more jovial. Rosalie’s and Derek’s heads shot up instantly, shocked at his comment.

Levi slapped Derek on the shoulder. “Bro, I am so glad you didn’t listen to me.”

“What’s he talking about?” Rosalie interrogated Derek.

Derek scratched the back of his neck and turned his head towards the large window next to them. Before he could explain, Jess, Levi’s wife, snaked her arms around her husband’s waist, resting her chin on his shoulder. “Lee was telling me all about how he’d threatened Derek with his guns if he even put his hands on you.”

Rosalie’s jaw dropped. Derek stayed unusually silent. “You gave Der the boyfriend talk?! When was this, big brother?”

Levi raised both hands in surrender. “In my defense, Derek was a horny college kid back then, and I was only trying to protect my little sister. You know the, um, milestones that come with prom night.”

The tapping of a mic interrupted their conversation, which Rosalie was thankful for since she was at a loss for words.

She’d remembered that night in question, fondly. It was the night that she’d realized that she’d had feelings for Derek. Rosalie’s then-boyfriend, Ryan, had dumped her a week before prom for another, more sexy, more experienced, girl. Rosalie was heartbroken, and had sworn off prom, until Derek had shown up on her doorstep in a suit with a pink corsage and a sparkling silver tiara.

She’d laughed, of course, at the reference to the childhood nickname. Then, she’d excitedly rushed upstairs to ready herself, leaving Derek at the mercy of one Levi Martin. Levi Martin, who had, apparently, threatened to cut off Derek’s balls and feed them to the family dog if he had even touched his baby sister in an inappropriate way.

(Levi was always… poetic when it came to his threats.)

Rosalie had hoped, prayed, that as Derek had driven her home in his black Camaro, that he would kiss her, to put a fairytale ending on a perfect night. Sure, he’d kissed her when he dropped her off at her front door… on the cheek, like a brother, or a best friend, might.

Rosalie had dreamt about that night for years afterwards, of what it would be like if he had actually kissed her.

_______________

“I’m sorry, Grandma Rose. I have to go rescue my fiancé from your dear grandson.”

Rosalie stood from the table, feeling a rush in her head for a few seconds. She was definitely tipsier than she thought.

Once Rose got her bearings, she strutted, barefoot, to Derek, who looked highly uncomfortable. With every inch that Nick advanced on Derek, the man backed a considerable distance away.

“Has anyone ever told you that you have an amazing ass?” Rosalie heard Nick flirt from paces away. The way that Nick was looking at Derek, the way that he was blatantly hitting on the man when Nick knew that Derek was taken, it unsettled something in Rosalie. Her vision turned red as she approached the two from behind, wrapping an arm around Derek’s waist.

“Hi Nick. Sorry, this amazing ass is mine.” Rosalie didn’t know what she was saying, didn’t really think through what she was doing. All she knew was that she was grabbing Derek’s right butt cheek with her hand, smiling smugly as Nick’s eyes widened.

Derek waited until Rose’s cousin scurried away before stiffly asking, “Rosalie, why are you grabbing my ass?”

Rosalie let go of Derek immediately, feeling as if she’d spontaneously combust in mortification. “I am, so, so sorry. I just kind of… he was ogling you and it made me mad. Like you’re gorgeous but you’re more than just a pretty face and an incredible ass.” Rosalie’s eyes widened at her word vomit, and now she definitely wanted to throw herself from the nearest balcony and test her drunken theory that she was secretly a mermaid.

“I… I need a drink.”

Derek turned to face her, a hint of a forming chuckle on his lips. “I think you’ve had enough of those, babe.”

Rosalie wished that she could slink away. She wished that someone would hit her in the head, and she’d wake up with amnesia. Maybe she could change her name and move to Antarctica? Yeah, that would be good.

Derek rolled his eyes, grabbing his best friend by the elbow and latching her hand back onto his arm. “I’m not mad at you, Rosalie. Feel free to grab my ass anytime if it makes you feel better.”

Rosalie tried to scowl, but the frown was turning upward with every second. “I hate you so much.”

Derek escorted the two back to Rosalie’s table, where Grandma Rose looked completely unimpressed with the whole shindig. Before they sat, he pulled Rose close and whispered, “I’ll let you grab my ass as long as I can grab yours.”

At that, he pulled out Rosalie’s chair and plopped her down, taking the one next to her. Rose was speechless. Did that actually come out of his mouth? Wait, did he actually want to grab her behind? Yep. Those were his words. Exactly.

Rose’s cheeks flushed a healthy shade of pink. Derek laughed at her slowly coloring face, to which she smacked him on the thigh under the table. Before she could remove her hand, Derek grabbed it and held it between the two of them.

“I always knew the two of you would end up together.” Grandma Rose said wistfully, looking at the couple with soft eyes.

You and everyone else, apparently. Everyone but Derek, Rosalie thought sadly, and tried to shove the painful pang in her heart.

“You know how I knew, Rosalie?” Grandma Rose shakily reached for her flute of champagne, taking a long sip. “I knew it when this one, this big, strong, handsome man,” the old woman reached for Derek’s free hand and patted it kindly, “punched my idiot son in the face at that party, after you got your master’s degree.”

Rosalie snickered at the memory. Jason and Derek had never gotten along. Jason thought Derek was ‘some jock who was too concerned with an unlikely career in basketball instead of his studies’. Derek thought Jason was a ‘pompous, cheating, scumbag, son of a bitch’. (Both quotes were their words exactly)

All of the building tension exploded when Jason had chosen to make a below-the-belt comparison between Rose and Ashleigh’s accomplishments. As if they weren’t celebrating Rosalie graduating from Columbia University, an ivy league, with a master’s degree, with the highest honors.

Derek had broken Jason’s nose. Jason had gotten a restraining order (his favorite defense tactic; it expired last year).

“I’m so sorry,” Derek told Rosalie’s grandmother, though he didn’t sound the least bit remorseful.

“Oh, sweetheart. It wasn’t like every sane person at that party wasn’t thinking the same thing. You were the only one brave enough to do it. Rose’s knight in shining armor.”

Derek’s face flushed red, a rare sight for a man with so much confidence.

“Rosalie, dear. I do have to warn you, Drew and Ashleigh are here.”

Rosalie sighed. She knew that they would be here. The pair had done a very good job at avoiding them; Rose wondered when they’d finally make it around her and Derek’s way. If Rose were lucky, maybe they’d just avoid her the whole trip. Only in her dreams…

“I know, Grandma. I—have you seen them yet?”

“Yes, I had the misfortune of running into both of them while yelling at your father for dragging his ninety-two-year-old mother on an extravagant trip. Do you know how long the plane flight was? Anyways, Drew called me ‘grandma’. You know what I told him, loves?”

Derek and Rosalie looked to each other, both knowing that it was probably something rude. Grandma Rose was Rosalie’s favorite relative, outside of her brother and Lydia. She was the most real of all of them. She spoke her mind and wasn’t afraid to let anyone know how she felt.

“I told him to go fuck himself.”

Derek choked on his glass of white wine. Rosalie smacked him on the back a few times, unable to hold in her shaking laughter.

“Yes, I told dear old Drew to go fuck himself. The only man that’s allowed to call me that is Derek. He doesn’t have his head up his ass. He sees how beautiful, wonderful, and deserving of love my real granddaughter is.”

All jokes aside, Grandma Rose’s words warmed Rosalie’s heart. At least one of the extended family members didn’t think she was a disgrace.

“Well, kids. Would you look at that? The pompous son of a bitch wants to go blab about himself. Someone should go tell him to shut up.”

Rosalie looked to the small stage at the front of the lounge. Sure enough, there was her father, Jason, dressed to the nines in a likely customized Hugo Boss suit, a pink Hibiscus sticking out of his breast pocket. Jason looked around at the crowd, clearing his throat to get the attention of his guests.

“Welcome, everyone! I’m so glad that you’re here and could join me on this fantastic excursion…”

Jason continued his schpeal and Rosalie tuned him out. He was likely talking about how great he was for paying for everyone’s accommodations, or how lucky they were to be spending time with him on this 1K-a-night cruise. Rosalie had heard it all before, multiple times, and she was sick of it, frankly.

What was it about rich people’s money that made them think that they were gods and should be treated as such?

Derek squeezed Rosalie’s hand hard, his nails digging into the back of her hand.

She looked to him in explanation, but he only nodded his head towards the stage.

Where Drew was shepherding Ashleigh up the steps, his hand resting on her backside.

“Yes, as I said, we have two exciting announcements that Evelyn and I could not wait to share with you tonight.”

 Jason looked fondly towards Ashleigh and Drew, who were now hobbling towards him. There were resounding gasps and excited squeals, but Rosalie could only focus on Drew.

Drew was still as handsome as the day that she had first met him. His blue eyes sparkled with confidence and charm. He’d grown a beard since Rosalie had seen him last, wafts of brown hair covering his strong jaw. He stood behind Ashleigh, his hands moving to rest on her stomach, and that’s when time stood still.

Because, under Drew’s lithe fingers, was a protruding bump. Rosalie, despite herself, couldn’t help the gasp that formed around her lips, nor the shaking of her hands.

Drew, when he was with her, had told Rosalie that he didn’t want kids. He’d had daddy issues too and didn’t want his offspring to grow up with a messed-up dad. Even though Rosalie desperately wanted a family, she was so in love with Drew that she’d put those dreams aside, for him.

Now, Drew stood proudly cradling his pregnant fiancée’s stomach as he spoke sweet nothings into her ear, looking thrilled to become a dad.

Derek squeezed Rosalie’s hand tightly, then removed it to wrap around her shoulders instead, nestling her into him. Derek’s lips brushed the top of Rose’s head, then her forehead.

“Fuck, Rosie. I’m so sorry. I… he didn’t deserve you. You’re better off without him. Do you want to go?” Derek whispered huskily in Rosalie’s ear, breaths coming out shallowly.

Rosalie didn’t need to feel the tenseness of his arm around her to know that he was pissed. She could tell just by the tone of his voice that he wanted to kill Drew.

Rosalie turned her head so that now her lips would be close to his ear. “I… I should have known. I—No, we need to stay. If I leave now, then Ashleigh and Evelyn will know that they’ve won, and I can’t let that happen.”

Rosalie rested her head on Derek’s shoulder, finding comfort in his embrace.

Someone kicked her leg under the table. Rosalie raised her head to look at Derek questioningly. His expression matched her own.

“Rosalie? Dear, are you here?” Jason called from the stage, his snake-like grey eyes checking the crowd for his daughter.

“She’s here, you pompous prick!” Grandma Rose yelled to her son, shoving Rosalie gently with a hand to her back. From a distance, Rosalie heard Stiles guffaw. She imagined that Lydia smacked him in the head while trying to control her own laughter.

Jason scowled, but ignored his mother, watching with a forced smile as his daughter and her ‘fiancé’ ascended the stairs. Derek had a tight hold around Rosalie, who had forgone her shoes in the shock of the moment. She leaned on him, both physically and metaphorically, for strength.

“Some more good news for my daughters. Somehow, someone managed to put a ring on my dear little Rosalie. Yes, it shocked us, too. Good on you, Derek!” Jason looked to Rosalie’s bare feet. “And it seems he doesn’t mind her habit for walking around barefoot. Welcome to the family, Derek Hale!”

Most of the crowd laughed, Evelyn and Ashleigh’s shrill merriment sticking out the most. Derek held Rosalie tighter. She bit the inside of her lip in an attempt to stay strong.

From Jason’s other side, Drew asked, “Wait. Isn’t that the guy who broke your nose?”

Derek rested his forehead on the side of Rose’s head, huffing into her ear “Yes. That was me. And if you don’t shut up, I’ll break your nose, too, you douche”.

That made her chuckle, and with his arms securely around her, Rose knew that she’d be alright as long as Derek was by her side.

[teenwolffanclub-me]

Season 1, Episode 9: Wolf’s Bane

Hey there beautiful reader! If you’re new here, this is a series I’m writing where each chapter is an episode from the first season of Teen Wolf. If you’ve been here before, hey! I missed you! Previous and future chapters are linked at the end of each part if you want to catch up.

Pairing: Stiles x Psychic! Reader (eventually)

Notes: This ended up being way longer than I anticipated, but I lost all self control while writing. Someone please stop me before this turns into an entire full length novel about Teen Wolf...

P.S. Derek is resurrected just long enough to be helpful, Y/N gets a lesson in seeing the future, and we finally identify the alpha (which is, of course, groundbreaking information for us all)

                                                      ————————

My fingers tightened around the strap of my bag as I walked through the doors of the high school. My stomach was in knots. It had been for days, actually. It’d gotten all twisted up last Friday, after I drove Allison and Jackson home, somehow managing to only get worse with each passing day.

To say that I was dreading today would be the worlds most massive understatement.

I wasn’t looking forward to seeing anyone. Not Allison, because the guilt I felt every time I looked at her was starting to eat me alive. Not Lydia or Jackson, because they’re both way too self-absorbed to be around when you’re feeling down. And I absolutely, definitely, one hundred percent would not be talking to Scott or Stiles.

As if on cue, my eyes landed on Scott’s dejected frame as I neared my locker. He was leaning against it, his arms crossed tightly over his chest. His eyes rose from the tiled floor to meet mine, and I stopped.

Nope.

I turned on my heel and speed walked the other way. I would gladly carry my things around all day over talking to him right now. He called my name, but I continued as if I hadn’t heard him. Within seconds, he was at my side. 

I let out a frustrated huff. I thought I could outrun him longer than that.

“Hey! You can’t just ignore me for an entire weekend.” He hissed the words out in a rush, as if he had any right to be angry with me.

He’d been ridiculously persistent about apologizing. I’d gotten so many texts and calls from him that I had to eventually just turn my phone off. When I did that, he showed up at my house. I was pretty sure he stayed out there for a couple hours on Saturday, but I locked myself in my room upstairs, so I wasn’t positive.

My jaw clenched as I forced my gaze to stay on the hall in front of me. He kept up with my quick pace easily, unrelenting. I felt his eyes boring into the side of my head, urging me to respond.

I had so much to say, but no idea how to get the words out. I was still furious with him. He’d ruined whatever I had with Stiles in the most spectacularly dickish way and, to top it off, nearly killed me. Like, how the fuck do you even begin talking about that?

“Will you at least tell me if you’re okay? Y/N!” At the harsh snap of my name, I spun around to face him with a glare.

He staggered back a step, an arm raising defensively, and stared at me with wide eyes.

“You want me to talk to you? Then tell me what the hell is going on.” My voice was hard with days-long built up anger.

“What do you mean?” He just blinked, trying to look innocent, and I scoffed.

“You’ve been keeping things from me.” I crossed my arms and raised my eyebrows expectantly.

It was absurdly obvious at this point. He and Stiles both knew way more about well, everything, than I did. The alpha. The full moon. Jackson. I could just feel it. I was being kept out of the loop, despite them constantly roping me into their supernatural problems.

They either needed to start giving me all the information, or just leave me out of it entirely.

He looked like he was about to argue, his mouth opening and closing a few times before he thought better of it with a heavy sigh. He glanced away briefly to scan the bustling hallway before finding my eyes again. “To protect you.”

A rush of air left my lungs in a harsh scoff. Was he actually serious right now?

“I don’t need protection.” I snapped, appalled that he would even try that excuse. I didn’t need him deciding what was best for me, or what information was safe to tell me. “I need to know what’s happening!”

“I can’t...” His voice broke regretfully, his eyes rounding with sadness. There was an internal conflict raging behind them, but the wrong side was winning.

My heart tugged painfully as I blinked back a few frustrated tears. I didn’t let myself get emotional over the weekend. I don’t know why, I just couldn’t. There was still too much to process. It was like I was being forced to complete a puzzle for my life with only a third of the pieces available.

Ultimately, it felt like he didn’t trust me. After everything I’d helped him and Stiles with, I deserved to be an equal partner. Not someone they call when no one else can help because they don’t know he’s a werewolf. Not someone they keep at arms length.

“Then maybe we can’t be friends.” My voice was barely above a whisper as I choked the words out.

I didn’t want to believe that it’d already come to that. He and Stiles were the first people in all the places I’ve lived that never judged me. Our friendship had been surprisingly organic, despite the way it started. I’d never felt like an outsider.

Well, until they started keeping secrets from me.

I stuck around just long enough to catch the crestfallen look on his face before I turned and walked away.

I tugged a hand through my hair and tried to collect myself as I neared my first period class. The break from my problems was short lived, since I share it with him, Stiles, and Allison. My eyes immediately found Stiles as soon as I walked through the classroom door. He was leaning back in his seat, balancing a pencil between his two pointer fingers.

His eyes slowly rose to meet mine and he perked up with a jolt, the pencil clattering to the floor. I looked away, already feeling my resolve crumble at the sight of his big, honey eyes. I slid into my desk which was, unfortunately, right behind him.

I bent down to place my bag onto the tiles beside my feet, taking my time rummaging through its contents to find my English folder. When I eventually sat upright, I reeled back at the sight of Stiles turned around to face me.

One of his plaid covered arms was slung across the back of his chair, his fingers tapping anxiously on the corner of my desk. He looked at me with rounded, hopeful eyes. I swallowed as my heart skipped a beat at the sight. I needed to hold it together. I was mad at him.

“Can we talk?” He murmured timidly as his eyes swept over my face.

I’d gotten a handful of messages from him over the weekend, too, but he’d given me more room to breathe than Scott. Before I could even fully process his question, a harsh voice drew my attention away from him. 

“Y/N, what the hell?” Allison plopped into her seat beside me, her eyes narrowed in annoyance. “You didn’t answer me all weekend. How are you doing?”

Shit. I’d honestly forgotten about the few texts she’d sent after I turned my phone off. A moment later, Scott walked into the room, eyes firmly planted on the floor. I sunk down into my chair, feeling like the walls were closing in around me. I couldn’t face them all at once right now.

Allison threw a hand up in exasperation and I chewed on my bottom lip anxiously. I had to say something.

“I’m...fine.” Yeah, that didn’t sound remotely close to believable, even to my own ears.

I was fine, though. Mostly. The pain in my leg had dissipated enough that some Advil in the morning made it bearable throughout the day. Emotionally, though? I hadn’t even began working through everything. Scott slowly sat at his desk right in front of Allison, shoulders slumped.

“Are you sure? You literally flew like twenty feet in the air.” Her eyes were wide with concern as she watched me closely. Man, I really am the worst friend in the world for ignoring her. If something like that happened to her, I’d be worried sick.

I saw Scott stiffen from the corner of my eye. 

“Whoa, wait a minute. Back up. What are we talking about here?” Stiles’ eyes twitched before jumping back and forth between us.

I let my gaze flicker back to him, surprised. He didn’t know? I glanced at Scott, chest tightening at his guilt ridden expression. Well, I guess there’s my answer.

“Sorry.” Allison mouthed the word silently with a grimace before turning toward the front of the room.

“Hey. Yeah. Stiles talking. What the hell?” I rested my elbows on my desk and rubbed at my temples, letting my eyes fall closed.

It was way too early for all of this. It wasn’t my job to tell him that his best friend almost killed me. We weren’t even on speaking terms right now. Plus, I couldn’t say anything in front of Allison anyway. I was stuck, and I could feel his eyes watching me closely.

“Alright everyone, let’s get started.” Our teacher walked into the room and threw his stuff onto his desk loudly.

I peaked up through my arms, watching as Stiles’ eyes narrowed and lingered on mine for a long moment. He pursed his lips and hesitated before finally turning his back to me. I let out a relieved breath I hadn’t realized I was holding.

This was going to be such a long day.

                                                         ————————

I walked into the cafeteria, feeling emotionally exhausted. I’d spent the first half of the day avoiding anyone who tried talking to me. After class this morning, I was even more aware of the fact that I didn't have the mental capacity to deal with my problems right now. 

My eyes instantly landed on Scott and Stiles, who were sitting by themselves. I let my gaze wander over the room until I found Allison and Lydia. They were sitting clear on the opposite end, which was a little overkill, if you ask me.

It was weird to see our friend group so separated, but Allison and Scott were still barely speaking, and Jackson was M.I.A because he decided to break up with Lydia via text this morning. 

While I wasn't the least bit surprised, and honestly glad to be rid of him, she was still devastated. I headed in their direction, not looking forward to repairing another broken heart, when I heard something that made me stop. 

“Scott. Can you hear me? You can, can’t you?” It was Jackson, standing in a corner by the vending machines. 

My brows furrowed as I followed his intense gaze to where Scott and Stiles sat. Scott was whispering something frantically, looking panicked. 

“Are you trying to pretend not to hear me?” Jackson sounded way too smug for his own good, which honestly wasn’t unusual. 

Scott snapped at Stiles across the room, who just threw his hands up with a shrug.

“So what else can you do? Huh? Can you see better? Are you stronger? More powerful? I knew there was no way you suddenly got that good at lacrosse. Which means you’re actually a cheater, aren't you? I mean, can you even play lacrosse?”

I watched as Scott’s jaw clenched angrily, my heart dropping into my stomach at his words. His fingers tightened around the water bottle he was holding, his entire arm trembling with barely contained rage. 

“I bet my new co-captain is going to score a bunch of shots tonight. Aren’t you? And while you’re pretending you’re not a lying cheat, I’m gonna ruin your life if you don't give me what I want. You know what I’m going to start with? Her.”

My eyes flickered toward Allison, who was laughing at something Lydia said, blissfully unaware of what was happening. “I’m going to destroy any chance you have left with her. And when I’m done with that, I’m going to get her alone, and get my hands all over that tight little body...”

Oh, my God. Okay. I did not need to hear anymore of that. I started walking toward Scott and Stiles briskly, my heart racing. 

Jackson knows. How the hell does he know? Why didn't they tell me he knows?

A few seconds later, I stumbled to a halt in front of their table. Stiles looked up at me with wide eyes, lips parting mid-chew. I ignored him, putting a hand on the table and leaning down so there were only a few inches between Scott and I. 

“Did you tell Jackson?” I hissed quietly, sounding way more freaked out than I meant to. 

He sat there for a few moments, his jaw tensing repeatedly as he tried to tune him out. His eyes flickered up to mine, intense anger swirling inside them. “No. How do you even—it doesn’t matter. That’s the least of my worries right now.”

“That’s the least of your worries?” My voice rose with surprise. Just how much had they been keeping from me?

He squeezed his eyes shut and leaned back in his chair with a heavy sigh. I turned my head and saw that Jackson had disappeared. 

“So...are you talking to me again?” His tone had lost some of it’s edge, but I could tell he was still fuming internally. 

I stood up straight and squared my shoulders. I’d nearly forgotten that I was supposed to be ignoring them. “No. I just...” 

“If you were...would you help me with something?” He looked hopeful, and I took a moment to consider it. 

“No.” Stiles interjected before I had a chance to respond. He glared at Scott before his hard eyes moved to me. “No. You’re not getting involved.” 

My mouth dropped open in surprise. Who the hell did he think he was? He had no right to tell me what to do. In fact, his dismissal only made me want to do it more.

“I’ll help.” I narrowed my eyes at Stiles angrily before moving my attention to Scott. “If you tell me everything that’s going on.”

He pursed his lips, looking thoughtful. A jolt of hope rose through my chest. 

“No way. Not gonna happen.” Stiles scoffed, his tray clattering against the table as he slammed his water bottle down onto it. 

My eyes jerked back to him, my jaw clenching. “Stilinski, I swear to—”

“Y/N.” Scott interrupted, his voice soft. “He’s actually right. It’s better this way.”

I stood there for a moment, my hands clenching into fists at my sides. I couldn't believe they were being so stubborn about this. It seemed like things had shifted so suddenly. One day, I was helping them with everything and the next, I’m being left out entirely. 

“Fine. I’ll find out myself.” I huffed and turned on my heel, stalking away from them and right through the doors. 

I didn't stop until I stomped my way out into the parking lot. I was beyond over their secrets and lies. I wanted answers, and I knew where to get them. I wasn’t exactly jumping at the chance to do what I was about to do, but this person said they’d help me once before. 

I just hoped the offer was still good. 

                                                             ———————

I looked up at the house and let out a long sigh, shaking my arms at my sides to get rid of some of the nerves vibrating through me. I can do this. 

It’s not scary. It’s not scary. It’s not—

I nearly jumped out of my skin as something rustled in a nearby tree, but felt my shoulders sag with relief as a squirrel ran across the ground in front of me. I squeezed my eyes shut and tried to gather enough courage to get closer. 

I forced myself up the rickety porch steps, one foot in front of the other. My hand came up and lightly rapped on the front door. The second my knuckles connected with the chipped wood, it swung open with a loud squeal. 

I peaked my head inside, squinting through the darkness that blanketed the entrance despite it being the middle of the day. “Derek?”

It didn’t look like he was here. It didn't look like anything living had been here for awhile, actually. Almost every surface in the house was covered by a thin layer of dust, broken furniture cluttering the space. I took a tentative step inside, my heartbeat rising as I glanced around. Truthfully, I was still terrified of the guy, but he’d saved me from Scott a few days ago. I knew he couldn't be all bad. 

The floorboards creaked at the top of the stairs, and my head whipped in that direction. My eyes scanned the area as best they could through the dark, but didn’t find anything. I tried to steady my breathing as I continued forward. Another sound made me whirl around, but once again, I was alone. Okay. Maybe this was a bad idea. I should just leave. 

I turned toward the door, and immediately let out a startled scream at the sight of a tall figure standing right in front of me. 

“Y/N.” Derek greeted, his voice entirely too level. 

I put a hand on my chest and tried to catch my breath. “Goddamn. Do you always have to do that?”

His eyes wandered over my face skeptically, his lips pressed into a firm line. I took a small step back, my shoulders tensing. Even if I knew he wasn’t completely evil, he was still scary as shit. 

“What exactly are you doing here?” 

“You’ve been helping Scott, right?” I wheezed out, deciding to get right to business. He just stared at me blankly, so I continued. “Well he hasn't really been honest with me lately, and I want answers.”

His thick brows pulled together as he took a slow step toward me. “And you thought I would give them to you?” 

I scrambled back again, watching him closely. I wasn't even sure if he was trying to be intimidating. His whole aura was just...a lot. It was the leather jacket he always wore, and the scowl that seemed permanently etched into his face. Not to mention the fact that he somehow always found a way to emerge from the shadows. 

“I...I don't know.” I stammered, losing the small bit of confidence I had. 

“I would say, if Scott doesn't want you involved, it’s probably for a good reason.” His hazel eyes stayed locked onto mine. They were almost impossible to read. 

It was obvious he wasn't going to tell me anything. I couldn’t even pretend to be surprised. I knew it was a long shot. I figured, though, that while I was here I should bring up something else that’d been nagging at me...

“A few weeks ago, you said you could help me learn control.” I rushed the words out, my skin prickling with anxiety.

He studied me for a moment, his eyes narrowing slowly. “So?”

“So...” I drawled, squaring my shoulders in an effort to look confident. “Help me.”

                                                          ———————

“Y/N, just concentrate.” 

I blew out a frustrated huff and let my eyes pop open. 

“What do you think I’ve been doing for the last hour?” I snapped, sagging back into the dilapidated couch we sat on. 

Derek had been trying to help me “vision”, as he called it, for what felt like an eternity. I wasn’t getting anywhere despite his advice. He apparently knew a lot about almost every supernatural creature there was. Not that I fell into that category. I was more like...supernatural adjacent. 

He’d made sure I knew that I was still human, but I was already well aware. There’s no super strength or heightened reflexes going on here. Just bad dreams and occasional sleepwalking. 

“You need to find something that helps you get control. We call it an anchor.” He insisted from beside me, resting his elbows on his knees and gesturing with his hands. 

“An anchor.” I said slowly, trying the word out for myself.

He nodded and rose to his feet suddenly. “It can be a feeling, a memory, an object...even a person. It’s just something that helps you concentrate and focus your power.”

I watched as he walked across the room and crouched down a few feet away. He inspected the floor for a few moments before picking something up and striding back to where I sat. He held his hand out, palm facing the ceiling, and my face scrunched in confusion. 

“Why are you giving me a rock?” My gaze flickered back up to his face and he rolled his eyes impatiently. It was the first actual emotion—other than anger—I’d ever seen him express.

“It’s just a physical object to help you. Try to think about something that makes you feel a strong emotion.” I studied the small stone skeptically, but eventually took it from him.

I rolled it around in my palm, trying to wrack my brain for anything that could cause a reaction. I went over the past few weeks, letting my eyes fall closed. 

I thought about mom, and how she’d packed up her entire life several times just so I could have a chance at a normal life. I thought about how quickly Allison and I had become friends, and how horrible it was that I was still keeping everything from her. I thought about Lydia, and wondered if she would ever stop pretending to be a moron. And Jackson, well, I was pretty sure there were no redeeming qualities beneath his superficial exterior. 

Then, my mind wandered to Scott. Ever since that first night I moved into the house next to his, he’d been a constant in my life. For better or worse. I’d helped him through so many ridiculous situations. Digging up Derek’s sister, avoiding death at the hands of Allison’s family, and running from the alpha to name a few. He’d been there for me countless times, too. 

And lastly...there was Stiles. My heart twisted painfully at the thought of him, my face falling into a grimace. 

“There.” Derek spoke up suddenly, making me jump. My eyes fluttered open to look at him in question. “Whatever you just did was working.”

My skin exploded with heat as embarrassment rushed through me, even though he had no idea what I’d been thinking about. Great. My anchor is a spastic teenage boy who spends most of his time lying to me. 

“Try again.” Derek insisted and sat back down on the other end of the couch. I let out a long sigh. 

Here goes nothing.

My eyes slipped closed and I let my mind wander back to Stiles. I replayed our most significant moments together. Like all the times he protected me at the school that night we were trapped, and the way he’d kissed me out of relief when I didn't get eaten alive. Then there were the two times we’d shared a bed. Those were the only nights I’d managed to escape my vivid, and sometimes terrifying dreams since moving here. 

I thought back to last week and felt my lips pull into a frown. All my recent memories of him had been tarnished by the secrets he was keeping. 

My fingers clenched around the rock. It suddenly felt like my senses were dulling. My brows furrowed as I started to drift off. It didn’t feel like I was falling asleep, just that I wasn’t fully conscious in the present. My mind was going somewhere else. 

My skin slowly went numb. My ears rang as the sound of Derek’s shuffling beside me drifted into nothingness. The ground shifted beneath me and my eyes jerked open.

I froze, my breath catching in my throat as shock surged through me. I was standing in the middle of a field. It was dark, the only illumination coming from the massive overhead spotlights. My head whipped from side to side as I tried to figure out exactly where I was.

It was...the lacrosse field? At school? I took a few tentative steps forward, arms wrapping around myself as the frigid air bit into my skin. 

What the hell was this? I was just in Derek’s house a second ago. Was I hallucinating or something?

I let out a shuddering breath, a cloud of condensed air fanning my face. Just then, a bloodcurdling scream sounded from behind me. I spun on my heel painfully fast, but immediately stiffened at the sight on the other end of the field.

There was someone crumpled on the turf, covered in blood. I moved forward slowly, feeling a strong urge to see who it was. The only thing I could hear was the hammering of my own heart in my ears. There wasn’t a single other soul around, adding to the eerie emptiness.

It felt like it took days to reach the body. When I got close enough to see their face, though, I broke out into a sprint.

It was Lydia.

She was wearing what looked like a formal dress, blood splattered across her torso. I fell onto my knees beside her, hands shaking as they gripped her shoulders. I turned her onto her back and brushed big clumps of strawberry blonde hair away from her face.

I couldn’t tell if she was breathing. My eyes flickered down to her side and I reeled back at the sight of deep bite marks just above her hip. With a grimace, I bent over her body and placed my ear against her chest to try and hear a heartbeat.

Oh, God. Please have a heartbeat.

I froze at the sound of rustling from the tree line nearby. My gaze slowly lifted, landing on two glowing red eyes in the shadows.

Only this time, they were attached to a man.

With a harsh gasp, my eyes popped open. I sputtered out a few coughs and felt a steadying hand at my back, pulling me up into a sitting position. My eyes moved around frantically as I tried to get my bearings.

My shoulders sagged as I realized I was back in Derek’s house. Had I even left? What the hell was that? When did I lay down?

He leaned close, his eyes searching mine. “What did you see?”

I blinked, trying to process what the hell just happened. I’d never experienced anything like that in my life. It felt so real. 

“Lydia.” I gasped, my chest heaving with labored breaths.

I put a hand over my heart, trying to steady it. My head jerked from side to side as I took in the dusty floors and broken walls around me. I wasn’t fully convinced that I was actually here. 

“Okay, good.” Derek nodded encouragingly, and my eyes snapped back to his. “What was she doing?”

My mouth opened and closed a few times as I tried to gather my thoughts. I finally got my breathing under control, but my heart was still clattering in my chest painfully. It felt like I’d just been in a dream, but it wasn't like any dream I’d ever had before. My stomach twisted painfully. I knew exactly what it was, but that meant...

“Y/N.” He urged, eyes still studying my every move. 

“I—” I swallowed, trying to collect myself. “I think she was dead.”

                                                          ———————

This plan was beyond stupid. 

I was sitting in the passenger seat of Derek’s car, which was parked in front of the long term care section of the hospital. Since he’d helped me earlier, I agreed to do him a favor. Apparently that meant I’d be talking to his comatose uncle’s nurse. 

He told me that Stiles had traced the weird text Allison got that night we were stuck in the school, and it came from a computer here while logged into Ms. McCall’s account. The fact that I knew nothing about any of this made me ten times angrier with him. 

“And what is Scott doing again?” I sighed, unbuckling my seatbelt. 

“Stealing Allison’s necklace.” Derek deadpanned, as if it should’ve been obvious. 

“Right. Of course, because it has a symbol on it that your sister left as a clue for you...”

I glanced over at him and he nodded slowly, face as stoic as ever. I swear this guy has never smiled a day in his life. “Okay. I’ll be right back.”

I popped the car door open and stepped outside, letting my eyes slowly scan the building. I swallowed nervously and stole one last glance at Derek over my shoulder. His eyebrows rose expectantly and I forced myself to turn back around.

I had a bad feeling deep in my gut, but tried to ignore it as I hesitantly stepped toward the door. I wrapped my fingers around the handle and let out a long breath. This was fine. Just because I was doing a favor for a slightly terrifying werewolf, didn’t mean I was going to get hurt.

I pulled the door open and took a few tentative steps inside. When I noticed a moment later that the place was completely deserted, I froze. There wasn’t a single other person around, nothing but eerie silence filling the space. It was late, yeah, but there should be someone here. 

“Uh...hello?” I called, hoping the nurses were just on break nearby or something.

When I got no response, I continued forward slowly. I scanned the area quickly, trying to find any signs of life. The unusual stillness made the hairs on my arms stand up straight with apprehension. I peered through the glass above the welcome desk to my left, trying to find anything useful.

Well, as long as no one is around...

I jogged around the desk and jiggled the mouse beside the computer. The screen hummed to life and I glanced up quickly to make sure I was still alone, before clicking through the open tabs until I found the patient database.

I hastily typed Peter Hale—the name of Derek’s uncle—and quickly scanned his file. I found his room number easily and shut the computer down before going on my way.

As soon as I turned the corner, though, I ran smack into a hard chest. I let out a surprised yelp and stumbled over my own feet, the other person rearing back with a dramatic flail of their arms.

“Jesus! What are you doing here?” Stiles practically yelled, his voice a mixture of anger and shock as he looked at me with wide eyes.

Well, damn. I wasn’t expecting that. 

“What are you doing here?” I leaned toward him and hissed, my voice a harsh whisper despite us being the only people around. “You’re supposed to be starting tonight.”

His eyes lit up with surprise and I felt a blush creep up my neck. I’d heard from Lydia that he’d been promoted to first line on the lacrosse team. It wasn’t like I was keeping tabs on him or anything, but he’d been hoping for this all year, so I was confused to see him here instead. The game should be starting any minute.

“I’m just...checking something out.” He stuttered, one of his hands coming up to scratch at the back of his head.

I rolled my eyes and turned on my heel, ready to walk away from him. He just couldn’t stop lying to me. It didn’t matter anyway. I had a mission to accomplish and I shouldn’t be wasting time by talking to him.

I only made it a few steps before a gentle hand gripped my elbow.

“Hey,” He called softly, and I hesitated a moment before turning to face him. “Scott told me what happened. Are you okay?”

I let my eyes trail over him slowly. He still wore the white undershirt and blue plaid button-up he’d had on at school, but had added his black jacket on top. The same one he’d let me borrow a few times before. He was studying me with his big, caramel eyes.

He looked and sounded like the same Stiles, but something felt different between us. After the events of the last few days, it was like there was a roadblock whenever we tried talking. We were more distant than we’d ever been, and it didn’t sit right in my chest.

I opened my mouth to respond, but paused when my phone started ringing loudly in my back pocket. I tugged my arm out of his hold and quickly pulled it out of my back pocket, scoffing when I saw Derek’s name on the screen.

“What?” I sighed, hoping he didn’t need me to do anything else. I wanted to get out of here as quickly as possible.

“Did you find her?” He rushed the words out quickly, sounding anxious.

My eyes flickered to Stiles, who was watching me closely, his brows pinched in confusion. I just walked around him and started toward Peter’s room. I heard his quick footsteps as he trailed after me, but tried my best to ignore him.

“No one is here.” I finally made it to his room and stopped in the doorway. It was empty, too.

“What?” Derek barked, voice rising.

“What do you mean, what? His nurse isn’t here, and he’s gone too. Are you sure this—”

“Y/N, you have to get out of there. Right now. It’s him. He’s the alpha! Get out!”

I staggered back a step at his frantic yelling and let my arm fall down to my side, ending the call. My heart lurched in my chest as I heard shuffling from around the corner.

“Was that Derek?” Stiles snapped anxiously behind me. “Did he just say—”

“Well, hello there.” My head jerked to the side at the sudden voice, my eyes widening as they landed on a man who was leaning against the wall a few feet away.

He was partially cloaked in darkness, but I could make out that he was tall and had shaggy brown hair. His lips twitched up into a slow smirk and I noticed that half of his face was covered in nasty looking scars. I could only assume that it was Peter.

Stiles suddenly gripped my hand and tugged me down the hall with him as he started running away. We only made it a few steps before a nurse appeared out of nowhere, stepping into our path. We stumbled back, nearly crashing right into her.

“What are you doing here? Visiting hours are over.” She practically snarled with a sinister smile.

“You...” Stiles pointed at her with a shaky hand, looking between her and Peter frantically. “And him...you’re the one...oh my—and he’s the...oh my God, we’re gonna die.”

Just then, Derek stepped around the corner and smashed his elbow into the nurse’s face. I staggered back with a gasp, not expecting the violent move. She crumpled to the floor in a heap, passed out cold. I just stared at her body with wide eyes.

“Oh, that’s not nice...” My head whipped around as Peter drawled lazily. “That’s my nurse.”

“She’s a psychotic bitch helping you kill people.” Derek took a threatening step forward, his face a hardened mask of anger. “Get out of the way.”

He hadn’t even so much as glanced at us as he muttered the words, but it was obvious who he was talking to. Stiles wrapped an arm around my waist and pulled me against his chest before sliding us to the floor. I pressed my back into the wall, my body trembling with fear.

“You think I killed Laura on purpose? One of my own family?” Peter strode toward Derek quickly, hands clenching into fists at his sides.

“Hey, it’s okay.” Stiles murmured, causing my eyes to snap up toward him. He had one arm wrapped around me, the other propped up against the wall caging me in safely. His eyes flickered over me quickly as if surveying for signs of damage. 

Derek suddenly growled loudly, and I peered around Stiles’ shoulder just in time to see his eyes flashing bright blue as he snarled, his canines extending. He jumped up, using a wall as leverage, and pounced on Peter. He easily shook him off, spinning around to slam his back into the wall next to where we were still crouched.

A chunk of the molding snapped off, dust and drywall sprinkling down onto us. Stiles and I instantly scrambled away as fast as possible. He grabbed my hand tightly, our fingers weaving together as he hauled me to my feet. We nearly trampled over the nurse’s body, but stumbled back just in time to step around her.

Peter leaned down and gripped Derek by the throat before pulling him up off the tiled floor. He strode forward, pulling Derek along with him as he made his way down the hall toward us. Stiles and I stumbled backward with each quick step he took. 

My heart was pounding in my throat as I tried to get control over my breathing. Derek’s hands came up to claw at Peter’s arm as his legs kicked wildly, looking for any leverage to escape.  

“My mind, my personality, were literally burned out of me. I was acting on pure instinct.” He suddenly released his hand and Derek slammed to the floor with a pained groan. 

“You want forgiveness?” Derek roared, jumping to his feet and landing a hard punch to Peter’s jaw. 

He easily deflected his next attempt and headbutted Derek harshly. He stumbled back a few steps, and Peter used this to his advantage as he kicked him harshly in the chest. “I want understanding.”

Derek flew several feet in the air before crashing to the floor and sliding all the way down the hall until he lay crumpled at our feet. He pushed himself up onto his elbows and spit out a mouthful of blood. I suddenly realized we were back in the main waiting area, and pulled Stiles by his hand that was still entwined with mine. We kneeled down behind the desk as the two werewolves continued fighting in front of us.

“Do you have any idea what it was like for me during those years? Slowly healing, cell by cell, even more slowly coming back to consciousness.” Peter wandered his way forward slowly, menacingly. “Yes, becoming an alpha, taking that from Laura pushed me over a plateau in the healing process. I can’t help that.”

Derek rose to his feet and swung his arms wildly. It was obvious that Peter’s words had struck a cord in him. He easily blocked each punch before gripping Derek’s wrist tightly and effortlessly snapping the bone. He let out a pained roar and I flinched as the sound echoed through the room. 

“I tried to tell you what was happening. I tried to warn you.” Peter released Derek’s arm before fisting the sides of his leather jacket and throwing him over the desk. 

He smashed through the glass barrier, pointed shards raining down on us as he landed harshly on the floor beside our crouched position. Stiles spazzed out next to me, wrapping an arm around my shoulders frantically and tucking my head into his chest before leaning his body over mine. My chest swelled at the protective gesture. 

Heavy silence blanketed the room for a long moment. I let out a shaky breath, trying to stay as still as possible. Stiles shifted over me and I peeked around him to see what was going on. Derek started crawling away from us slowly, looking seriously injured.

“We have to do something.” I gasped, heart racing painfully in my chest. 

Stiles looked down at me with wide eyes, like I’d lost my mind. “Yeah. We’re getting the hell out of here.”

Before I could protest, he pulled me to my feet. Neither werewolf even spared us a glance as we bolted out the front doors. I didn’t want to leave Derek in there. It didn’t feel right. I wasn’t sure what I could do to help, but there had to be something. 

Stiles dragged me all the way to his Jeep and wrenched the passenger door open. I just stood there, frozen. 

“Y/N. Get in!” He yelled, his eyes wide with urgency. 

“He’s gonna die in there.” My voice quivered as I looked back toward the hospital.

Stiles tilted his head up to the sky in exasperation before looking at me with narrowed eyes. “He’ll be fine. He’s surprisingly hard to kill.”

He jerked his arm forward, gesturing for me to get in, and I chewed on my bottom lip nervously. I knew there was nothing I could do, but I wanted so badly to help. I stole one last glance at the building and let out a heavy sigh, sliding into the car begrudgingly. Stiles slammed the door closed behind me and ran around the hood before jumping into the driver’s seat. 

A moment later, he sped out of the parking lot. We didn’t say a single word the entire ride home. 

We’d been sitting here, in front of my house, for the last several minutes. Thick tension crackled in the air between us, but we were both too stubborn to be the first one to break. I sat there for a few more seconds, indecision clawing at my insides. I wasn't exactly jumping to talk to him, but part of me didn't want to leave him, either. 

Something about his presence was calming. Even as we sat here in tense silence, I knew it was better than being alone. But we couldn’t stay like this all night. With a dejected sigh, I reached for my seatbelt, but paused when he spoke up unexpectedly.

“You know, I’ve been trying my best to keep you out of this stuff.” His words were sharp as his fingers tightened around the steering wheel until his knuckles went white.

I turned toward him slowly, relaxing back into my seat. “I never asked you to do that.”

“Do you know how many times I’ve almost died in the last couple months?” His jaw clenched as his eyes swept in my direction. Their normal amber color had darkened as several intense emotions swirled inside them. Frustration, anger, worry. “Everyone who’s involved with the supernatural keeps almost dying. We aren’t going to stay this lucky.”

“Then let’s not rely on luck anymore. We can learn to take care of ourselves.” I insisted, leaning toward him slightly. 

I was tired of taking a backseat in all of this. Today, for the first time, I felt like I was truly a part of the team. Even though I had to go through Derek to get here, it was so much better than being kept in the dark. 

“I’m too busy worrying about you to take care of anything else.” His voice was barely above a whisper as his eyes flickered around my face before looking away.

I just stared at him in confusion. “Why would you worry about me?” 

Out of all the people in his life, I should be at the bottom of the list. Hell, I shouldn't even be on the list. 

“You’re joking, right? You keep showing up in places you shouldn’t be. You’re constantly almost getting hurt. You sleepwalk into the woods half the time and—and I’m terrified that one of these days I’m gonna be too late to help.” 

He rushed the words out, his eyes wide and intense. He was giving me this look, like I was the most important person in the world. My heart tugged uncomfortably in my chest and I swallowed. 

“I haven't even done that in—” My words caught in my throat at the way his head tilted incredulously and I sighed. “You don’t always have to be there, Stiles. You don’t always have to look after everyone else.” 

His eyes twitched and his lips rolled into a thin line. “You’re not gonna stay out of this, are you?”

I shook my head slowly. “I know I can help somehow. I can feel it. And if I know that, and don’t...then I don’t think I can call myself one of the good guys.”

Silence fell over the car again, but this time it wasn't awkward or tense. I studied the way the streetlights illuminated his freckled face. Shadows created hard lines around his jaw that contrasted the soft gaze of his eyes as they bored into mine. My stomach fluttered with a foreign emotion and I chewed on my bottom lip as I fidgeted in my seat, suddenly feeling nervous. Something had shifted in the air between us, but I couldn’t quite place it.

“Is it obvious yet how much I like you?” His gaze flickered down to my mouth quickly and my breath hitched at his words. 

“Painfully.” I felt myself leaning closer to him without actually meaning to. Yes, I was still mad at him, but right now that didn’t seem to matter so much. 

He met me halfway, our lips molding together instantly. My eyes slipped shut as one of his hands came up to gently tuck a few strands of hair behind my ear. His slender fingers wrapped around the side of my neck as his head tilted, his lips slanting over mine. My mouth parted against his and our tongues explored each other almost urgently. 

This wasn’t anything like the kisses we’d shared before. It was intense, and rushed, like we couldn’t close the distance between us fast enough. I could practically taste everything he felt for me, all the things he wanted to say but didn’t know how. Without breaking away, I blindly undid my seatbelt and fisted the sides of his jacket to pull him against me. 

One of his arms slid around my waist and my hands flattened against his chest before gliding up to rest on the sides of his head. His buzzed hair poked at my skin as he tugged me forward. I fumbled across the gearshift until I landed in his lap, my knees resting on either side of his hips. 

He hummed against my lips in satisfaction as his fingers tangled themselves in the hair at the back of my head. His other hand pressed me impossibly closer, and I arched up into him. He pulled away unexpectedly, and I felt my eyes flutter open to look at him in question. 

“Can—can I...?” He murmured breathlessly, his gaze flickering between my neck and eyes. I nodded a little too eagerly, but couldn’t find it within myself to feel embarrassed. 

He tilted his head down cautiously and I let out a shuddering sigh as his warm breath fanned my skin. My head fell back, a quiet whimper leaving me as he began peppering delicate kisses down my throat. 

A sudden, low whistle had my eyes popping open again. 

Stiles didn't seem to notice—or maybe he just didn't care—as his lips maintained their slow pace against me. I squinted into the darkness, my gaze almost immediately landing on Scott as he practically hung out of his bedroom window with a teasing grin. 

I pushed against Stiles’ chest with a breathy laugh. He groaned lowly in protest, but didn't put up a fight as he sagged back in his seat. His big eyes shined up at me with confusion and I jerked my head toward the houses. He looked over and scoffed in annoyance as he realized we had an audience, before his head slowly lulled back in my direction. 

“Goodnight, Stiles.” I couldn't control the smile tugging at my lips as I cupped his freckled cheeks and placed a gentle kiss just beside his mouth. 

I popped the door open and jumped down, straightening out my shirt with my palms. Stiles shut the door after me and leaned an elbow out the window before letting his chin rest on his forearm. He just stared at me with a small smile on his face, his eyes shining under the streetlights. My heart fluttered at his awe-struck expression and I forced myself to turn around. 

If I didn’t go now, I might never be able to walk away from him. 

“Night, Scott!” I called up to his room as I unlocked my front door. 

His muffled reply came just before I let the door close behind me. I sagged against it, a big grin slowly taking over my face. Being with Stiles had given me a chance to forget about all the crazy shit that happened today, if only for a few minutes.

I knew our problems were really just beginning. Yeah, we identified Peter as the alpha, but something told me being exposed wouldn’t faze him. He was clearly a deranged psychopath that wouldn’t stop until he got what he wanted. And what he wanted was a pack. I felt like we had a chance to fight back, though. Despite the challenges that were undoubtedly ahead, I was more confident than ever before. 

It finally felt like I had all the puzzle pieces. 

Episode 8                       Episode 10

[fandomrewrites]

Season 3a; Episode 12: Lunar Eclipse

Hello all! Please read this note because it’s important! 

This is the last chapter of season 3a! I’m not sure when I will begin season 3b since the story is now at the same place it is on my Wattpad. So if you are enjoying the story make sure to ask me to be added to the taglist so you know when I begin posting again. Also please answer my pinned post and feel free to send in imagine and/or ship requests. And let me know if you want to send (Y/N) questions so she can answer (I think that would be fun to do in between seasons). As always constructive criticism is appreciated and I hope you all enjoy this chapter.

Season 3a; Episode 12: Lunar Eclipse

Pairings: Scott McCall x Twin Sister, Lydia Martin x Best Friend

Warnings: Violence, character death

Word Count: 3,299

Season 3a masterlist

Lydia, Isaac, and Dr. Deaton watch as I nervously pace the room waiting for my twin, Stiles, and Allison to wake up. 

Suddenly, almost simultaneously, the three teeangers burst up from the freezing tubs, gasping for breath. I quickly grab towels and rush over to the person closest to me - Allison. I help her out and wrap the towel around her to help her get warm. 

As Isaac and Lydia hand Scott and Stiles towels, Scott rushes out, "I saw it- I know where it is."

"We passed it - there's a stump - this huge tree -  not huge now - it was cut down - but big. Very big." Stiles continues.

"It was the night we were looking for the body-" Scott says looking at his best friend.

"The night you were bit by Peter." Stiles replies.

"I was there too. In the car with my mother. We almost hit someone." Allison says, bringing the attention to her.

"It was me - you almost hit me." Scott states.

The three then turn their attention to the others around them, "We can find it." Scott says to Deaton.

The rest of us stay silent though, looking on with perplexed faces. "What?" Allison asks.

"You guys were out a long time." Isaac answers.

"How long is a long time?" Stiles questions.

"Sixteen hours." I say.

"We were out for sixteen hours?" Scott asks in disbelief. 

"And the full moon rises in less than four." Deaton adds.

There is another brief moment of silence as the three teenagers try to warm up and Scott announces that he needs to go back to Deucalion and that I need to go too.

"No, dude. You're not going back to them. And (Y/N) isn't going either." Stiles says.

"I made a deal with Deucalion. I need to go, and I told him I would get (Y/N/N) to go too."

"Anybody else thinks that sounded a lot like 'deal with the Devil.' I don't know about you guys, but I've heard that situation doesn't usually come with a happy ending." Stiles tries to argue.

"Why's it matter anyway?" Isaac asks.

"Because I still don't think we can beat Jennifer without their help." Scott states.

Allison turns to Deaton, "He trusts you more than any of us. Tell him he's wrong."

"I'm not so sure he is." Deaton says, surprising us all. "Circumstances like this sometimes require you to align yourself with people you'd normally consider enemies."

"Keep your friends close and your enemies closer." I mumble under my breath.

"We're supposed to trust him? The guy who calls himself Death, destroyer of worlds." Isaac says.

"I wouldn't trust him, no. But you could certainly use him to your advantage." Deaton answers.

"If we find our parents and Jennifer's there waiting for us, no one's getting out alive. We need help." Scott says, trying to explain his reasoning.

"What if we distract her?" Lydia suggests.

"She wants Deucalion. Nothing's going to distract her from that." 

"Then let's use him." I say making everyone's head turn towards me. "He makes the perfect distraction if she wants him so bad. If our plan involves using him as bait, it's sure to work."

"Okay. Then we better come up with a really good plan. Really fast." 

The sound of the front door opening stops us from continuing the conversation. We all step out of the exam room to see who came in. "I'm looking for Lydia." Ethan says, standing in the doorway.

"What do you want?" Lydia asks.

"I need your help."

I take a protective stance in front of Lydia and clench my jaw, "With what?" I question.

"Stopping my brother and Kali... From killing Derek."

"I'm coming too." I speak up.

"(Y/N/N)-" Scott starts.

"I can meet you later. Just text me where you are." I say, making Scott nod in response.

*_*_*_*_*_*

Ethan, Lydia, and I make our way to Derek's loft. Once inside, my eyes immediately find Cora's, who is now standing up and looking a lot healthier than before. "Cora, you're alright." I sigh in relief. 

She gives me a nod and a tight lipped smile then brings her attention to the Alpha by my side. I turn back around and start walking towards Derek, Ethan and Lydia following closely behind.

"And you look like shit, Der." I say, narrowing my eyes.

He sends me a weak glare, "Thanks, (Y/N/N)."

Finally, Ethan speaks up, "We know about the lunar eclipse. So don't think Kali's going to sit around waiting for it to level the playing field. She's coming. And my brother's coming with her."

"Good enough for me. Derek, let's get you out of here." Peter says from behind us.

"You want me to run?" Derek asks his uncle.

"No, I want you to stay and get slaughtered by an Alpha with a psychotic foot fetish. Of course, I want you to run. Sprint, gallop, leap your way the hell out of this town."

Derek turns his attention to his sister, "If you want to fight and die for something, fine with me. But do it for something meaningful." She says.

"How do you know I'm going to lose?" Derek asks.

"We don't." Peter answers. He then looks towards Lydia and I, "But I bet they have an idea. Don't you girls?"

"I don't know anything." Lydia instantly replies.

"But you feel something, don't you?"

She hesitates but slowly nods. "What do you feel?" Derek wearily asks.

"I feel like... Like I'm standing in a graveyard."

Derek then turns his attention to me, "What about you, (Y/N/N)? What do you feel?"

I sigh, "I think you should listen to Peter. God, I never thought those words would come out of my mouth. Seriously though, my danger sense has been weird because there has been so much going on, right now I kinda just feel numb. Like something is wrong but it might not be what we think it is."

"Still though, we better be safe. You three need to leave." I continue after a brief pause.

*_*_*_*_*_*

Kali's clawed foot smashes the blinking red security light on the alarm panel as she steps foot into Derek's loft. Aiden is behind her, a glare on his face. 

Kali locks her gaze on Ethan, Lydia and I and asks, "Where is he?"

"I think he said he was heading out to do some shopping. Run a few errands. The usual werewolf afternoon." Lydia answers.

Kali threateningly steps closer to Lydia. I take a protective step in front of her. "Who do you think you're talking to?" Kali asks, gaze still locked on the strawberry blonde.

"Someone desperately in need of a pedicure? I'd be happy to give you a referral." 

Kali's eyes begin to glow red as she takes another step forward. "Oh really?"

My eyes glow white in return and a low growl escapes my mouth. Aiden also is starting to grow more concerned and takes a step forward to interfere. 

The movement catches Kali's eye. She turns her attention towards Aiden and asks, "Did someone take their little assignment too seriously?"

Aiden eyes Lydia and answers, "She's not the problem. And you know Deucalion wants (Y/N) alive."

"Maybe the problem is where your loyalties lie." Kali replies.

Lydia then whispers, "Oh God, is this about to get really violent?"

"Probably." Ethan and I answer together.

Before Kali or Aiden can start fighting, a body crashes through the glass. I instinctively wrap my arms around Lydia and push her towards the stairs to protect her from the shards.

Arms still wrapped tightly around Lydia, we both turn our heads to the person who entered the loft, "So. Who wants to be first?" Jennifer asks, looking between the twins and Kali.

In the blink of an eye Kali starts trying to fight Jennifer, though the woman seems untouchable with every advance. In the meantime, Ethan and Aiden rush towards each other to connect but Jennifer pulls them apart before they are fully formed.

Lydia and I watch in shock, my arms still wrapped around her to protect her from any flying debris. She sends the twins flying into opposite walls and turns back to face Kali. 

"That's right, Kali. Look at me. Look at my face. Do you know what it takes to be able to look like this? To be able to look normal." Jennifer says, taking slow steps towards the Alpha.

"I don't care." Kali spits out.

"It takes power like this.." Jennifer trails off as she raises her arms. Kali takes slow steps back, realizing that she wasn't going to win this battle. The glass shards start to raise from the ground each point turning to face Kali.

When the shards move rapidly in Kali's direction I once again wrap my body around Lydia as we both squeeze our eyes shut, not wanting to see what happens next.

At the sound of something snapping I peel my face away from Lydia and we both slowly turn in Jennifer's direction. We look just in time to see Aiden and Ethan in their combined Alpha form, falling to the ground.

Jennifer turns toward us, "What's that line Coach likes to say? The bigger they are..." She slowly approaches us, making me maneuver my body in front of Lydia, though I know it won't do any good.

"What do you want from us?" Lydia asks from behind me.

"Nothing from (Y/N), in fact maybe I'll kill her too. But you Lydia, I want you to do what you do best. I want you to scream."

"Don't do it Lyds." I say, my glare never leaving Jennifer.

"Do it Lydia. And if I were you I wouldn't be barking orders. I could snap you like a twig."

"No you won't. Because I know you want Deucalion. And if you keep me alive, I'll help you get him. Scott told me he was going to be with him, he's going to text me where they are."

Jennifer's eyes narrow, probably wondering if I'm telling the truth or trying to fool her.

"No games." I say, "I want Deucalion dead. He won't leave my brother or I alone and I need your help to defeat him."

"Fine, but I still want Derek here and to get him here, I need Lydia to scream."

Lydia looks at me with wide eyes, unsure of what to do. I give her a slight nod, telling her to listen. Not waiting any longer, Lydia let's out a powerful shriek. I reach up to block my ears and wait for it to be over.

*_*_*_*_*_*

A few minutes later, Derek and Cora enter the loft. Both of their eyes find Jennifer first, then they land on Lydia and I, followed by a quick sweep of the room. 

Cora makes her way around Jennifer to put a protective arm around Lydia, who looks distraught. "You did this for me?" Derek asks Jennifer.

"For us. For anyone who's ever been their victim." Jennifer answers.

"Stop talking to me like a politician. Stop trying to convince me of your cause."

"Fine. I'll convince you of someone else's. Scott and (Y/N). You can save their mother. Stiles' father-"

Derek cuts her off, "How?"

"I need a Guardian. That's a role that can either be filled by the three parents I was forced to take or by you."

I knit my eyebrows in confusion at Jennifer's words. "I can't help you. I'm not even an Alpha anymore." 

"All I need is for you to help me get Deucalion in the right place at the right time. (Y/N) said she would help already."

Derek's eyes move to me and I give him a quick nod, hoping that he realizes there is a plan in motion. He moves his eyes back to Jennifer, "You just killed three of them on your own. What do you need us for?"

"You've never seen him at his strongest. I have. And if he's got Scott with him, I don't stand a chance. Unless I have you two."

"We are not hurting Scott. That's not part of the deal." I say.

Without sparing me a glance Jennifer continues, "I have the eclipse in my favor. But the moon's only going to be in the Earth's umbral shadow for fifteen minutes. That's the extent of my window. There's no decision to struggle with. Help me kill him and the others live. Just help me."

*_*_*_*_*_*

Derek and I walk behind Jennifer as we make our way inside the distillery. Scott's eyes widen when he sees Derek and I with Jennifer.

"What are you two doing?" Scott asks, eyes sweeping between the former Alpha and me.

"This might be hard to believe, but I'm actually trying to help you." Derek says.

Deucalion's eyes never stray from Jennifer, "Are you ready Jennifer?" He asks. He takes a step forward and drops his jacket. His voice becomes more demonic with every step in our direction. 

"Did you gather your herbs? Pray to your ancient Gods and your oak trees? Slit a baby's throat, perhaps? Should we show them why you needed to sacrifice nine innocent people just to face me? Or is it twelve now?"

Derek steps in front of Deucalion to protect Jennifer from the attack. He is quickly overpowered though, and slammed into the side of the building. 

I stand back, not getting in the way of the demon wolf and his prey. In an instant he is on Jennifer. He defeats them so quickly I barely had time to breathe properly. His red eyes turn to lock onto Scott, "Kill her."

We watch as Scott looks down at Jennifer, "Do it." Deucalion snaps.

With Scott hesitating, Deucalion lets out a roar, forcing Scott to change. "Now kill her. Your parents are dying. That storm you hear? She's burying them alive. It's her connection to the Telluric Currents. Kill her and it ends."

"It won't end. Not with me. He'll have you kill everyone you love. It's what he does." Jennifer chokes out.

"They're dying, Scott. Your mother and the parents of your best friends. Kill her now and it's over. Become the Alpha you're meant to be. Become a killer."

"Kill her yourself if you want her dead so bad. You have her right there. You can do it. You don't need me or my brother." I say, bringing Deucalion's attention to me for the first time.

Before he can speak, I continue, "The only reason you want him to do it is so he doesn't become a True Alpha. The Alpha he is destined to be. You're afraid of him and you want control over him. The only way to do that is to make him a killer. But you underestimate him. You underestimate both of us. And that's bad for you."

Scott then begins speaking, bringing the Alpha's attention back to him, "I forgot to tell you something. Something Gerard told me." There is a brief pause, "One of the last things he said to me. Deucalion isn't always blind."

At his words I throw my arm up and squeeze my eyes shut to protect myself from the flash bolt that Scott pulls out of his pocket and throws to the ground.

Deucalion frantically waves his hands in front of his face, trying to regain his eyesight. I slowly put my arm down and open my eyes just as Deucalion speaks, "The eclipse... It's started."

Me and the three other werewolves begin to look around, not being able to spot Jennifer anywhere, in Deucalion's case not being able to hear her. "Oh no..." Scott whispers. 

Suddenly, no longer using her power to disguise her face, Jennifer reappears.  She growls out, "My turn." and advances on Deucalion.

We watch as Jennifer slams Deucalion's head into the cement. She is close to killing him until Derek calls out, "Jennifer." Her eyes snap to him. "He doesn't know."

"Know what?" She questions.

"What you really look like. He knows the cost of bringing Kali into his pack. But he's never seen the price you paid."

Jennifer looks down at Deucalion who is struggling to breathe. In a quiet voice she mumbles, "No... No, he hasn't." I watch on in confusion as she lifts her hand to cover Deucalion's eyes. 

Jennifer's eyes begin to glow white and Deucalion cries out in pain. Finally releasing him, Jennifer steps back. "Turn to me." She says to the Alpha.

Slowly, Deucalion lifts his head and turns to the sound of her voice. Jennifer stumbles back, now returning to her human face. "What... what is this?" She asks.

Derek catches her, "Healing him made you weak. Just like healing Cora did to me. You won't have your strength for at least a few minutes."

"Then you do it. Kill him."

"No." Derek answers without hesitation.

"What?" Jennifer asks, stunned.

"Like my mother used to say, I'm a predator. I don't have to be a killer." He then grabs her by the throat, "But I will if it saves their lives."

She starts to gasp as his grip tightens, "Let them go."

Regaining her strength she throws Derek against the wall. But her time is up, the eclipse is over. She slams his head against the wall one more time but Scott and I are rising and changing into our werewolf forms.

Derek growls out, "Your fifteen minutes are up." He then proceeds to shove Jennifer off of him. She scrambles back in a panic as the three of us approach. Desperate, Jennifer throws her hand up. 

Scott slams into a barrier as he tries to reach her. She throws mountain ash around her. "Like I told you, Derek. Either you or the parents. And I guess I'll just have to take them. A few more minutes, they'll be dead and I won't need a lunar eclipse even to kill a Demon-Wolf."

Scott pulls himself up and approaches the barrier once more. Jennifer's head turns in his direction, "You've tried this before Scott. I don't remember you having much success."

Instead of answering Scott raises his hands to the barrier and slowly pushes his way through. After about 30 seconds the barrier breaks, Jennifer takes a step back in shock, "How... how did you do that?"

"I'm an Alpha now." Scott says, I smirk as I watch my twin be a complete badass. "Whatever you're doing to cause the storm, make it stop or I'll kill you myself. And I don't care what it does to the color of my eyes."

"It won't change the color of mine. So allow me." Deucalion says, he charges past slashing her throat. Her body changes from the Darach to Jennifer to back again as she falls backwards, a hand pressed to her throat.

I reach into my pocket, quickly grabbing my phone to call Lydia as Scott calls Stiles. "Are you okay?" I ask as soon as she answers.

"Yeah, Cora and I brought the twins to Deaton. They're still alive. We're all good."

"Good. Scott, Derek, and I are alright too. Scott's talking to Stiles right now." I pause to listen in on his conversation, "Everyone's alright." I say when I hear Stiles tell Scott to bring a ladder to get them out.

Once we hang up, Derek, Scott, Deucalion and I step outside the distillery. "My mother told me you were a man of vision once. We're letting you go because we hope you can be that man again." Derek says to the Alpha.

"But if you're not, having your eyes back won't matter." Scott says.

"Because you won't see us coming." I finished. The three of us walk off, leaving Deucalion behind.

~~~~~~~~~~

Taglist:  @crazy-fan-101 @rogershoe @judayyyw

[nearlymanaged]

5. Dreaming of Hogsmeade

During the couple of days leading up to Hogsmeade Saturday, James, Remus, and Peter had been talking about Sirius’ birthday whenever he wasn’t around to overhear them. They had decided to throw him a huge surprise party in the Gryffindor common room since he was turning seventeen and they knew that there was no better gift that they could give him than a whole bunch of people celebrating his existence. 

They had put up a charmed poster on the notice board, letting other Gryffindors know about it (if Sirius ever looked at it, it appeared to be a Wizard Card Collectors' Club poster; Remus had also added ‘anyone who tries to talk to Sirius about this SURPRISE party will instantly break out in most painful boils’, which was completely untrue, only because he couldn’t find a jinx like that).

The three boys had been planning on smuggling in some Fire Whiskey and butterbeer, which they were going to pick up in Hogsmeade. So far, it was looking like Peter would be in charge of that, since he was going to spend the day apart from the rest of them anyway, so James had given him his invisibility cloak to hide the contraband from Filch. 

James and Peter, who had just climbed in through the portrait hole after their last lesson that Friday, joined Remus and Sirius in front of the fire. “Nice weather, eh?” James nodded his head towards the tall, narrow windows being mercilessly lashed by the rainstorm. 

“Better put an Impervius charm on that impeccable mess of a hairdo tomorrow,” Remus quipped lazily. 

“So about that,” James started loudly and nonchalantly. “I can’t go, I have detention.”

“What? Since when?” Remus gaped at him while Sirius murmured ‘nice’ with an approving bob of his head. 

“Prongs here tried to jinx Snivellus in the middle of Potions today,” Peter answered and Sirius gave him another ‘niceee’.

“Oh for fuck’s sake,” Remus rolled his eyes. 

“It’s not my fault Snape always has to poke his annoying nose into other people’s business!”

“What, did he overhear one of your ludicrous attempts at asking Lily out?” Remus drawled, straight-faced, and Sirius barked out a laugh before catching James’ eye and pretending to cough immediately. “Why did you even keep Potions this year? Not like you really need it?”

“But Evans, obviously,” Sirius explained cheerfully. “The rather more mind boggling question here is why Wormtail still has Potions?”

“Better than history of magic,” the boy shrugged. 

“Fair enough.”

“Speaking of Potions, you mind picking up some newt spleens for me? I used all of the ones I had to mess up Snape’s potion last week.”

“Sure. Well I guess it’s just the three of us then,” Sirius looked at Peter and Remus.

“No! I’m meeting Lydia Rooks at Three Broomsticks, remember?”

“Oh that’s right, how very sweet. We can go chaperone them, Remus.”

“I’d really rather you didn’t,” Peter whined with a definite note of panic rising in his voice. “For once, just let me live.” 

“And go get a drink at Hog’s Head instead? Fat chance,” snarled Sirius. “I don’t much fancy running into half of my extended family.”

“How am I supposed to have more confidence with you two sniggering behind my back!?”

“We don’t snigger!” Sirius exclaimed, apparently shocked by this accusation.

“You can go to Madam Puddifoot’s Tea Shop!”

“Madam Puddifoot's? That place is always packed to the brim with lovey dovey couples. Matter of fact, why aren’t you and Lydia going there?” Remus raised his eyebrows at his friend. 

“We’re not a lovey dovey couple...yet...”

“Nor Sirius and I,” Remus laughed out.

James could have sworn he heard Sirius mumble something that sounded a lot like ‘yet’, ever so quietly. 

“Please don’t ruin this for me,” Peter looked from one of the boys to the other. 

“Fine,” Remus sighed. “Maybe it will stop raining and we won’t have to be cooped up in there, listening to the smacking and slurping of people sucking each other’s faces.”

“You’re acting like it’s the end of the world,” Sirius momentarily scrunched his eyebrows with an ever present smile playing on his lips. “Cheer up, Moony! We’re going to have a splendid time!” He grabbed Remus’ hand with both of his and clumsily interlaced their fingers, now grinning at him. 

Neither him, nor Remus noticed their two friends exchange looks. 

* * *

“Look, that’s new!” Sirius pointed at the front of a pub a little ways down the road; he knew every square inch of Hogsmeade like the back of his hand, but he’d never seen this place. “Let’s check it out, shall we?”

“I’ve heard about this place. That’s where all the couples go,” Moony said vaguely and led the way.

It was indeed a pub but the inside of it looked eerily a lot like Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop. They found themselves a booth with a little table by the window, where they had a surprisingly good view of the main street of the village bathed in sunlight.

Sirius didn’t even notice a waiter approach them but within moments, there were two bottles of butterbeer on their table. “Sirius…” Moony’s breath caught.

“Yes?”

“I…” Remus paused again and rested both of his forearms on the table, almost as if reaching for him. “I wanted to tell you something…”

“Do I have food in my teeth?”

“What? No… I’m glad that James and Peter couldn’t come with us.”

“Oh?” Sirius felt his heart speed up. “How come?”

“It’s obvious, isn’t it?” Moony smiled at him, jumping up, and switched seats so that now, instead of sitting across the table from Sirius, they were side by side.

“I’m afraid I’ll need you to elaborate a bit more on this,” Sirius smirked.

“I like you, Sirius. Do I really have to spell it out?” Moony rolled his eyes in feigned annoyance, all while inching closer and closer.

“Fuck, Moony, I thought you’d never say it…” Sirius’ hand found Remus’ waist and pulled him even closer. He could smell him, sweet like chocolate; feel his breath on his own lips. There was just another inch left between them and Sirius pulled Moony into a kiss, unable to resist anymore. Just then, some loud, nondescript noise made him pull away and blink...into his pillow?

Sirius was in his four-poster bed, hugging his pillow. Someone had drawn his curtains open, which was probably the source of that loud noise. He blinked a few times until the two shapes moving in front of him came into focus - it was James and Peter.

“Why’d’you have to wake me?” Sirius grumbled groggily. “It was almost the best part of the dream…”

“What did you dream about?” Asked the subject of the dream himself, walking out of the bathroom, brushing his teeth.

For the briefest of moments, sleep still clinging to Sirius’ brain, he wanted to just come out and say it. “I was at a Queen concert…” He said instead, gazing at Remus with a giddy smile.

“Ugh, why did you wake him, Prongs?” Moony glared at James.

“Because I can’t find any fake blood capsules and I have detention in ten minutes!”

“I like your jumper,” Sirius tugged on Remus’ green sleeve on his way to the bathroom. “Is it new?”

“Is anything I own, really?” Moony asked with a resigned smirk. “I bought it at a charity shop this summer.”

“Well, regardless, I like it.”

“I’ll know where it went when it goes missing from my trunk,” Remus said, referring to Sirius’ tendency to borrow his friends’ clothes without asking.

“Nah, I like it on you,” Black cast a hungry look at Remus through the open door.

Still relishing the memory of his dream, Sirius was in no need for improving his mood. But he grinned to himself even wider, remembering that it was going to be just him and Moony going to Hogsmeade together in a little bit. Not that he expected the dream to come true, but...what better way to spend a whole day? In fact, he had to admit, he was enjoying all this pining in a weird way. He didn’t even care that the weather was absolutely dreadful.

* * *

It was raining cats and dogs the whole way to the village, and by the time Remus and Sirius reached Honeydukes, they were completely drenched. Somehow, the charm they’d put on themselves, that was supposed to protect them against the pelt of icy drops, wore off halfway there. Remus took his time examining all the different flavoured and shaped chocolates, carefully weighing his options between tried and tested, and brand new ones. As usual, the shop was filled with Hogwarts students, some of whom were girls that, despite all the magical sweets surrounding them, only had eyes for Sirius (and now a couple of boys too, since the news of Sirius sexuality had spread throughout the school within hours).

Remus was trying to not pay too much attention to it; he had been doing that for over a year and there was no reason to change his tactics now. But, he noticed pretty soon, Sirius kept telling his flirty admirers that he needed to go help his friend, only to silently follow Lupin around as he worked his way through shelves and stacks of chocolate. Very dog-like, Remus thought to himself with a small smile. But then he wondered if Sirius’ behaviour was linked to him running away from home. It seemed like that made sense - he had a lot going on in his life, maybe that’s why he’d slowed down with the flirting and the snogging since they’ve been back at Hogwarts. Sirius didn’t talk much about it at all, acting as though everything was fine, but Remus wondered if his friend was okay every now and then. 

After Honeydukes, they went to Zonko’s, where they spent another half hour, again surrounded by Hogwarts students. The last stop before they could hide out of the damp cold somewhere and hopefully wait for the rain to stop was J. Pippin’s Potions.

A little bell rang above the door as they walked in, causing the only customer in the shop to turn around.

“Snivellus,” Sirius nodded his head and Snape mumbled something in return that most definitely wasn’t a compliment. “What was that?” Sirius’ body leaned forward, either about to walk over to Snape or hex him, but Remus grabbed his forearm warningly. He was the first one to admit that he did a terrible job at stepping in and putting a stop to things like that, like any other prefects would have done. But it wasn’t for lack of understanding that he should have. And it was certainly easier to practice when it was just one of his troublemaker friends.

“Come on, we’re not on school grounds,” Sirius whined like a child asking for another scoop of ice cream.

“All the same, this git is not worth our time or energy.”

“Better listen to your boyfriend, Black.” Snape sneered, noticing Remus’ movement. “Nasty-tempered monsters, these werewolves.”

This time, Remus distinctly felt Sirius plunge his hand into his wand pocket and squeezed his arm again, a little rougher this time. “Bog off, Snape,” Lupin scoffed at him, but all he could think about is that he had just referred to him as Sirius’ boyfriend. He felt embarrassed for thinking about it, what with the given context, and yet, he couldn’t help it.

“Is that what your parents said to you?” Snape was looking at Sirius again, evidently overcome by some sort of feelings of unfounded courage.

“Didn’t you hear what my werewolf boyfriend said? Bog off, Snivellus.”

“I’m just curious. I mean, that has to sting. When your own family can’t stand your ugly face so much, they kick you out before you’re even of age.”

“Shut the fuck up, Snivellus.” Remus enunciated calmly; before he knew it, he was standing right in front of Snape, the tip of his wand no more than an inch away from his greasy nose. And yet, his mind was dragging behind, stuck in the moment when Sirius referred to him as his boyfriend. Of course, contextually, it did not mean anything, but just hearing him say it made Moony giddy.

Before Snape could make up his mind about whether he really was willing to test his luck, the shopkeeper reappeared from the back room. “Oi! What in the name of Merlin is going on here?!”

“Just friendly banter,” Remus gave him a polite smile, putting his wand away. 

Snape paid for his stuff and scrambled out of the shop faster than you could say Quidditch. Sirius and Remus got James’ supplies and, as soon as they stepped out into the pouring rain, decided it was time for Madam Puddifoot’s. All the while, once the ‘boyfriend’ induced daze wore off, Remus was thinking about Sirius’ predicament with his family. He knew that Sirius’ parents were rotten people, and Sirius had openly rejoiced about never having to go back to their home ever again at least ten times in the few letters they had exchanged over the summer. But Remus knew better than to assume that it was as simple as that.

Once they were out of the rain, sitting at a table, hot drinks in hand (black coffee in Sirius’ and green tea in Remus’), Moony decided that this was as good a time as any to check in on his friend. “Padfoot, I’ve been meaning to talk to you about something.” 

At these words, Sirius perked up with an alarmed look rearranging his face. “You have? About what?”

“Well, I know that you say you’re fine - and I am happy for you, I am - but I also know that given the choice, you’d rather be on speaking terms with your brother…” Remus trailed off, allowing Sirius to pick up where he left off.

“Oh. That. Yeah…”

“We haven’t really talked about it, and I guess I just want to make sure that you know that I’m here for you.”

“I know, Moony. You’re not wrong, I would choose to not have Regulus change direction whenever he sees me in the hallways. But it’s always been an uphill battle. He takes pride in being his parents' son and getting tangled in all that Dark shit,” Sirius scrunched his nose, as if smelling something foul right under it. “They’re all like bowtruckles on doxy eggs, they’re a family. And, to be honest, Mr. and Mrs. Potters’ house feels a hundred times more like a home to me than that dreadful place ever did. I’m not just saying it, I am happy...er. Happier.” Sirius flashed him an eerily dog-like grin and Remus nodded.

“Good.”

“Have you got any other inquiries or is this the end of the interview?”

“Just one: why are you such an obnoxious prick?” Remus rolled his eyes with an involuntary smile.

“Don’t act like you don’t love my obnoxious prickness.”

“That wasn’t the question. Regardless, whenever you’re feeling less happy...er, you don’t have to sulk by yourself. It’s very unbecoming.”

“Thanks, Moony.” Sirius grinned, an unbridled smile on his face. “So do they have any food here? I could eat a hippogriff!”

It never did stop raining and eventually, the two Marauders decided to head back to the castle. Given the weather, it was no surprise that more and more people were filing into the shop, so before Remus could lead the way out, he stopped by the door to let a little old lady walk inside first. A dirty white poodle, just as old as its owner, by the looks of it, was trailing behind her very slowly, swaying slightly. Unable to resist a mixture between pity and kinship, Remus bent down to give the dog a scratch behind its ear, and then finally dove out into the rain.

“You never pet me when I’m a dog.”

Remus raised an eyebrow at Sirius’ odd statement. “You never pet me when I’m a werewolf.”

“Kinky.”

[spitefulinamillionways]

headcanon requests, you say? can i get some uhhh charles going Full Dad on beej? i love that dynamic sm!

hskshdjsfb yes!!! i love that dynamic too it’s just 💞💓💕💘💖💗

just letting you know this is long as fuck because i have so many ideas for this

when beej was brought back by lydia him and charles didn’t really have much of a relationship other than ‘please don’t disturb me while i’m trying to birdwatch thanks’

lydia has tried talking to him about charles but bj usually got bored

but everything changed when the fire nation attacked when he spotted betelgeuse trying his absolute best to help lydia with some homework (let’s just say it was english or something)

so he comes into her room all ‘hey what’s going on here?’ and offers to help

lydia agrees obviously

the two are uncomfortable at first constantly interrupting eachother and doing that thing where they’re like ‘no you can go first’ ‘no you were talking first’ and then being silent for a second before talking at the same time but they eventually work it out and find how well they can work together

it all ended with lydia finally finishing her homework after a whole hour and a half even with help because they kept getting distracted and talked about stuff until one of them (never betelgeuse) were like ‘okay guys we need to do the homework’

after that charles tries his best to get closer with betelgeuse and it works

it’s actually scary how much they get along dispite being almost polar opposites but being scary as we all know is betelgeuse’s thing so don’t worry it’s ok

one day betelgeuse and lydia did a weird little art project they found online and show it to charles

lydia explains everything about it and betelgeuse ends it with ‘and i did that part!’ and he points to a couple scribbly drawings of random things

charles is all ‘that’s so good! i’m really impressed with you two!’ and beej’s hair instantly turns a bright green because he’d never had a father figure, hell even a normal parental figure, in his life

from then on beej showed everything he (and sometimes lydia) made and charles was always equally, if not more, impressed everytime

he also was glad it gave bj a hobby and something to do other than drink or wreck the house

he was surprised at how much of a pushover bj could be if you were just nice to him (i don’t know if pushover is the right word, i was thinking sweetheart but that sounded weird)

charles started inviting bj to do things with him and lydia that would usually just be, yknow, him and lydia

of course bj would accept and be overjoyed the whole time

fast forward to maybe a couple weeks and he’s gotten really used to this, both bj and charles, so after hearing lydia call charles dad so many times you can imagine what eventually happened

‘hiya, dad! h-‘ he stopped after realising what he had said, after basically everyone was staring at him

‘dad? am i a father figure to you?’

‘obviouslynotthat’sweird, it was just an accident’

‘alright, whatever you say, son’ he couldn’t help but smile at how happy betelgeuse got whenever he said things like that

betelgeuse started calling charles dad a bit more, feeling as if it was okay (which it was) but it got kinda awkward after delia mentioned it reminded her of the wedding, but that was in the past and bj had proven he wasn’t completely an asshole

lydia didn’t feel jealous while bj was getting affection, she felt happy for him and was excited that he was basically her brother now

ok i know this is a bit of a tangent and it’s not about charles and bj like you asked but betelgeuse goes full Protective Older Brother on anyone who even LOOKS at lydia in a bad way at school or anywhere. he’s said multiple times how he’s willing to kill lydias bullies but she always says the same thing about how ‘it’s wrong’ and stuff. but what a shock to her when she finds one of her worst bullies has gone missing right after they had talked some absolute sHIT and spread a rumour about her. she obviously knew who did it and was all ‘you can’t do this beej, i don’t know where they are but-‘ ‘lyds i’m just gonna be real with you i doubt they’ll ever find the body’

lydia didn’t know what the fuck to say

anyway back to charles and bj

yeah like i was saying she wasn’t jealous at all, in fact she was glad about how bj was being included more and wouldn’t just have to leave him on his own when some family gathering was happening with everyone (including the maitlands)

bj didn’t do the best on those days

after telling this to charles he felt really bad and apologised way too many times even though bj insisted it was okay and he didn’t really care anymore

bj is invited to everything now as long as he doesn’t make a mess (which he doesn’t, apart from on april fools which, oh god, was hell for everyone including himself)

of course there were times where bj couldn’t be invited as it was ‘Deetzes Only Please We Have Something Serious To Talk About Thank You Sorry’ but he would just vibe with the maitlands a bit

charles once overheard a (pretty depressing and obviously meant to be private) conversation between bj and lydia where he was talking about juno and how horrible she was, it was filled with many tears from beej and hugs from lydia

charles was really to fucking destroy a bitch!!!!!

he knocked on the door to lydias room and asked if he could come in

bj said yeah but lydia said no

he said it was okay and he’ll just ‘clean himself up a bit’ so he tried to change his hair colour on demand, something he had once learnt to do when he was with juno, but it only worked a little bit

charles asked what was wrong and bj insisted nothing and that everything was fine but charles already knew that was a lie

‘i want you to tell me everything she did to you.’

‘what?’

‘your mom. what did she do to you?’

‘ah, it’s fine, dad, really it wasn’t-‘

‘just talk about it. let it all out, okay?’

that night was uh

a lot

for all three of them

but it helped beej a lot and he was back to his normal self the next day which is good!!

i’m gonna try and wrap this up because this is extremely long and i don’t think you were expecting this much, but this is literally the first ask i’ve ever gotten in all my time on tumblr, even on my older blogs lol so i wanted to make the most of it

beej and charles have the best father to son dynamic you can’t change my mind because i am correct ok thank you my name is matylda thank you for coming to my ted talk

no but seriously thank you for being my first ask!! this was so much fun to write and i hope it’s not too bad, it’s pretty early in the uk and i’m kinda tired so if there are any mistakes i didn’t find i’ll try my best to fix them later! 🤍🖤🤍🖤

[imaginesbyem]

Prom Queen - Stiles Stilinski

Summary: (Y/N) struggles with feeling invisible when compared to her best friend. 

Loosely based off of the song Prom Queen by Caitlin Turner. 

“Can you hold this for a sec?” Allison asks me as she passes me her bag, not waiting for a response. I hold onto it while she slides her jacket on, even though the weather was way too hot to be wearing leather.

“Super cute Al!” I hear a voice shout out, only for my gaze to meet Lydia Martin’s. Well, the side of her face at least. “Totally ties in the boots. Scott will go crazy for it!” She laughs. I stand there awkwardly, still holding onto Allison’s bag. I feel like some weird doorman who spies in on his client’s personal lives. “Oh! Also, I haven’t heard back from you about this Friday!” 

“Sorry Lydia! I’ve been flat out studying.”

“What’s this Friday?” I ask, trying to join into the conversation. Lydia looks at me as if I’m pulling her leg.

“Lydia’s Annual Halloween Party!”

“I thought we were watching reruns of the It Tele Series?” I asked, genuinely confused. 

“Oh, I completely forgot! Sorry Lyds.”

“Why don’t you just come along too, (Y/N)?” Lydia asks nonchalant but is met with laughter from both the girls. “What?”

“Parties just aren’t really my scene.” I giggle. 

“Could’ve fooled me.” She jokes resulting in a frown finding it’s way to my face. “But, if you change you’re mind, the invitation is still extended. I just had a plan ready to finally get Scott and Allison together!” She smiles. I’m instantly hit with a pang of guilt. “See you in 4th.” She nods to Allison and leaves.

“You should go.” I spit out quickly before I change my mind. 

“What? No. We have plans.” 

“Yeah, but I don’t want to be the reason you and Scott don’t get together.” 

“(Y/N), if Scott and I are meant to be together then it’ll work out. I’m sure there will be another ‘Annual Lydia Martin Party’ soon enough, anyway.” she chuckles

“I know but I feel like I’m holding you back.”

“Don’t be silly. You know I only chose to move to this school so we could hang out more!” I’m stumped. I don’t know how to respond and Allison knows it’s going to eat me up inside. “Come with me.” 

“What?”

“Come on, it’ll be fun! We can just drink and talk shit all night!” 

“I don’t know...”

“Think about it. Please?” I just sigh and finally hand back her bag which I realised I had been anxiously clutching onto. 

--------------------

“I can’t believe you roped me into this.” I say as I try on yet another outfit of Allison’s. The party was costume, so naturally I brought a hockey mask and a flannel and called it a day. But, apparently that wasn’t what the girls would be wearing. Allison tried to explain that Lydia’s parties are different to our ones. When it’s Halloween, its really how slutty can you dress. When its Christmas, again, how slutty can you dress. Basically every party is a frat boys dream in disguise. 

“That looks awesome!” I stare down at the sexy Poison Ivy costume she had ordered online. 

“I look like I’m trying to get arrested for drug possession.” Allison groans. “Forget it. I shouldn’t even be going.” 

“No, no, no! I’m sorry! I just want you to grab the attention of a special someone tonight!”

“Who?”

“Oh, come on. You basically drool every time Stilinski walks in the same room as you.” 

“You make me sound like I have severe mental issues.”

“Well....” She jokes and I grab a pillow, throwing it at her. We laugh as we continue throwing things at one another. “And you thought dressing up was the only frat boy dream we’d be acting out tonight.” She laughed as we realised how cliche a pillow fight was.

“Okay. I think I’m gonna wear the vampire costume then. It’s the only one with a portable blanket I can wrap around myself.” I laugh as I pick up the cloak. 

“Fair enough. I’ll go for the witch then!” Allison says as she grabs the mini dress.

“That’ll definitely put Scott under some kind of spell.” I laugh.

“That’s the plan.” She winks.

-------------

“Allison! You came!” Lydia squeals as we walk through the door to the backyard. Eyes turn towards us and I feel my cheeks heating up and Lydia hugs Allison, and goes into some conversation about boys. I stand there, not knowing how to contribute whatsoever to the conversation, but  from the looks of it, no one really notices me awkwardly standing around, waiting. So a bit of a plus side I guess. 

“(Y/N/N), I’ll be back in a sec. Lydia’s gonna introduce me to one of her guy friends. I’m guessing to try to make Scott jealous.” She giggles. “I’ll meet you by the drinks table in 20.” She calls out as Lydia drags her away. Great.

I look around and realise the people here are all complete strangers. Yeah, I may have spoken to a couple of them once or twice, but never for more than a few minutes at a time, and never about anything other than school or homework. I sigh and help myself to the drinks table, skulling a drink and then pouring another. 

“Woah. Tough night for you too?” I hear a voice behind me chuckle. 

“You wouldn’t believe.” I muttered only to turn around and be met with the brown eyes belonging to Stiles. Somehow, he’s the only guy that doesn’t look straight through me. I feel like when he talks to me, he is actually listening and intrigued in what I have to say. “Stiles!” I say in surprise.

“(Y/N)!” He repeats, imitating my shock. “What’s up?” He says, motioning to the drink.

“Trying to forget I exist.” I laugh but a slight frown settles on his face. 

“And why’s that?”

“Just wanna be like everyone else I suppose.” I try to joke. The words flew out of my mouth before I had the chance to catch them in my throat.

“Don’t I know how that feels.” Stiles says as he stares off, drinking from a freshly poured cup. 

“You’re kidding. Stiles, you’re impossible not to notice!” I laugh.

“Not so sure about that. Don’t forget, it wasn’t until Scott became the ‘True Alpha’ that people even started looking somewhat in my direction. I followed Lydia like a lost puppy. She probably doesn’t even remember me doing it.”

“Don’t be stupid Stiles. I loved listening to the snarky comments you made back in class.” Stiles smiles softly at me before being bumped into by some strange guy running past. I feel my white shirt get doused with the red liquid.

“Shit, I’m so sorry!” Stiles says, reaching to wipe the drink off of my shirt.

“Stiles!” I shout and he quickly realises what he’s doing. 

“Fuck. Sorry, (Y/N).”

“It’s okay! Now it just looks like I’ve been feasting on blood” I say, motioning to my vampire outfit. Stiles laughs slightly, shaking his head.

“It looks like you’re going to freeze. Here, come with me.” Stiles says as he grabs my hand. I feel my heart flutter slightly as he protectively leads me towards the stairs, pushing through the crowd that pays us no attention. 

Stiles pushes open a door which leads to Lydia’s bedroom. “Sit down, I’ll grab a wet towel.” As Stiles runs off, I look around her room. Photos featuring Lydia and her many friends litter the room. But my eyes stop on one. Lydia’s arms are thrown around Stiles as she smiles widely. 

“What ya looking at?” I jump, hearing Stiles so close behind me that I could almost feel his breath on my neck.

“Jesus! Scared the hell out of me!” I say, holding my hand to my chest. “Just admiring all of Lydia’s photos.”

“Yeah, she has a lot of friends.” Stiles says matter-of-factly. “Here’s your towel.” He says as he holds up a damp cloth, obviously wanting to avoid what happened only a few moments ago. 

“Cheers.” I sit down on the bed and begin trying to wipe down the mark. Stiles sits next to me and watches on, not knowing what to say. “You know whats funny? I’m sitting here, trying to get punch out of my shirt, and it’s still more fun than what I was expecting.”

“What do you mean?” Stiles chuckles at my hopelessness. 

“I mean, every time I’ve ever gone to one of these stupid parties I just stand around waiting for my friend to be ready to leave.”

“If I knew thats how you felt I would have kept you company.”

“Nah, it’s okay. You were probably too busy running after Lydia anyway.” I giggled.

“Don’t remind me.” He sighs. 

“Don’t worry Stiles. It’s every guys dream to be with the hot popular girl. You’re not breaking any barriers.” I roll my eyes, teasing him.

“It wasn’t even that though. I guess it just felt like that’s what I should want. I always struggled with feeling invisible so I thought that the perfect solution would be to have the girl that everyone loves, love me. I don’t know, it sounds kinda stupid when I say it out loud. Must be all the punch” Stiles forced out a chuckle.

“It’s not stupid!” I place my hand on his leg, comforting him. He smiles softly up at me, but it doesn’t reach his eyes. “I didn’t realise you felt that way.”

“Yeah, well I’ve kind of gotten used to being in the background I suppose.”

“Trust me I know how you feel.”

“What?” Stiles turns his head towards me in confusion.

“It’s not that surprising. The only time people look at me is when Allison introduces me to them.” I laugh.

“That’s not true. I watch you all the time!.. Wait- that sounded creepy.” He laughs.

“Not wrong there.” I chuckle.

“I just meant, you’re so interesting to watch. You’re always pulling that weird face when you get confused in class, and your reactions when Scott and Allison attempt to flirt is priceless.”

“What can I say, it’s horrific. Like, just ask her out to dinner if you want to date. Stop circling around it.” I laugh, thinking back to every class with Scott trying to get Allison’s attention.

“That easy, huh?” The right side of Stiles’ face widens into a smile.

“Well I mean, I think sometimes you just have to make the leap and not be worried about falling.” I say, looking straight into Stiles’ eyes. 

“That’s a really interesting opinion. I’d love to hear you discuss it more. Maybe over dinner?” 

“I-. I’d love to.” I giggle at his poor attempt to ask me out.

“Wow. I guess it really was that easy.” Stiles half-mutters to himself.

“Hold your horses, Stilinski. You could always ruin it by trying to share my desert or something.” I giggle.

“Well, I guess we’ll see if it looks worthwhile wasting a couple years of mustering up the courage to ask you out. Probably not. Unless it’s passionfruit. Then you’re a goner.” He jokes with a slight smile on his face, struggling to maintain his seriousness. 

“Ha. Ha.” I smile, looking deeply into his eyes as I feel his thumb brush over my hand. “We should probably head back downstairs. Allison will be wondering where I am.”

“Let her wonder.” He smiles, convincing me to linger in this moment of bliss a minute more.

(A/N: I haven’t proof read, so sorry if there’s a couple of mistakes. I’ve been putting off posting for a bit so I know I just need to stop second guessing or it’ll never make it’s way out of my drafts :P ).

[ask-the-crimson-king]

Tales from D&D: Skin to Bone

[Hello. Have not done a Tales from D&D in a hot minute. Thought I’d do one now.

This one is from the Icewind Dale campaign that I am playing, and because of it, there may be SPOILERS FOR ICEWIND DALE below the cut. 

I am also going to be tagging @luwupercal because I think they may enjoy hearing about the fate of Barnaby and the fucking feels train this campaign has become. 

Before I get into it, this is the cast:

LYDIA - Vampire spawn warlock. Chill as fuck. Just wants to be able to either cure herself or stop having to run from her new self.

RHOZAL - Hobgoblin Artificer with a lot of emotional baggage. Blacksmith and feelsy baby. Protect him. Has a crush on Lydia. [The feelings are mutual on both ends, however the characters are being COWARDS-]

BARNABY BUSSELTON - Anarcho-capitalist gnome wizard. No longer a PC. Relevant to the beginning of this tale. Will explain.

CHARLES NOLAND - Halfling druid. Was vibing in the snow for 2 months. New to the gang. 

AND FINALLY, MY DUMB ASS AS-

Hakkerskaldyr Strigr, but known as FREYR - Goliath Paladin who worships the Allfather. Lost an eye. And a character that I’ve lost interest in playing. We’ll get into that.

We begin our tale with a TPK in some caverns.  Note: The party is Level 3.

The enemies were a frost giant skeleton, a hag, and a wil-o-wisp. 

Lydia makes it to the hag first. Rhozal and I, Freyr, try to follow her to provide assistance while Barnaby tries to kite the skeleton away from us. 

We get to the room with the hag. Lydia isn’t doing too good. 

The giant stops following Barnaby and comes for us.

Rhozal is put down in one blow from the giant’s axe. Freyr is able to use the final spell slot and put down a smite on the hag, killing it. Lydia, who had been grappled by it, is now free.

Freyr was at 5 hp. The giant needed to do 35 damage for Freyr to be killed instantaneously.

The DM rolled a 7, an 8, and an 11. The giant had a +6 to the attack.

The giant had done 34 damage. One more and I would have been out. BUT THAT WASN’T THE END! Because on the next turn, the wisp used its ability where a creature put down to 0 needs to make a DC 10 con save or die instantly. 

Made the save.

Lydia flees, and now the giant skeleton is fighting this wisp. Barnaby is hanging back, letting them fight it out. Lydia does her Form of Dread and finds Barnaby, takes out a shadowblade, and kills him. Freyr’s axebeak, Ishe, is on her way to try and retrieve Freyr. Lydia tries to mount her, but is bucked off. 

Barnaby’s turn is next and he gets a NAT 20 TO THE SAVE, POPS UP, SAYS “SURPRISE MOTHERFUCKER” AND DOWNS LYDIA WITH A LEVEL 2 MAGIC MISSILE.

Ishe then pecks his ass and puts him back on death saves. Which he got another nat 20 to in two turns. 

SO, TPK. Wonderful. Rhozal then releases a snake called Xipecoatl unto the world in exchange for his life. The snake kills the skeleton, and Ishe comes in to grab Freyr and run. Barnaby gets up and makes a deal with the snake.

Freyr goes to the nearest city with Ishe, once he comes to, for help from the guard. With a nat 20 to persuasion, he gets it.

Barnaby starts making traps around the caves, including alchemist’s fire and rockfall traps. I am sent into secrets corner, alone, FOR 45 FUCKING MINUTES while Barnaby talks. 

Finally, I’m able to get back into the main call, and Freyr takes up his weapons, and the guards, and he makes his way into the caverns. Man checked for traps all the while, but they were disarmed. Barnaby left a note. Rhozal is fucking worried and wants to pursue him now. Barnaby has captured Lydia. 

We resolve to fucking kill him.

Thanks to Lydia being a fucking madlad, we’re able to locate him hiding out in the snow. He hears the sled dogs that are with us. Rhozal is given a scroll of fireball (reward for the quest we were on), and he uses it to cast fireball on Barnaby. Takes 11 fire damage.

I go, and I try to Vow of Emnity his ass. Can’t. Fucking illusion. GREAT. 

Turns progress and the guards can’t hit him because of this illusion. Lydia is not doing well on death saves. She needs to be saved now.

On Barnaby’s turn, he takes out a fang, and teleports away.

“Let this be known as the day you almost caught Barnaby Busselton!”

He also ignites the oil he had planted around Lydia. Due to a Secret, Freyr has fire resistance, so he was literally thrown into the fires to help her. After cutting himself so Lydia could be stable/healed, he hauls her up and out of the flames.

Barnaby is now a DMPC, and will eventually be hunted.

We all leave and get a room in the nearby city of Easthaven. We spent the night there, we had some very nice heart to heart moments. Rhozal now feels empty. But we all cement our bonds with each other, and Rhozal and Lydia become very cute and adorable. I don’t want this post to be a million miles long, so I’ll leave it at that.

I will try to summarize the next few sessions. Essentially, we found a magic cauldron in those caves (its a Cauldron of Plenty) and the Speaker (mayor) of Easthaven was willing to pay 3500gp for it. So we planned to give it to him, but it was stolen in the time period the speaker had told us it would take for us to be paid. We find Charles in the Speaker’s town hall, and we ask him if he knew anything. The answer was ‘no’. So we head downstairs and we find the Speaker beat to shit, along with his guards. 

It is at this point we find out who stole the cauldron, a dwarf woman named Torgga, and we head out as soon as possible. The Speaker offers 1000 more gp for its retrieval.

So we head off to Targos, the last town that we knew Torgga frequented. We go to Luskan Arms, a Tavern, and we find her sleds. But the cauldron is gone. We head inside and we see her heading up to speak with someone. Lydia turns invisible and leaves her familiar, a pseudodragon named Signum (who is also constantly pointing in the direction Lydia is in), with us. When Signum squeaks, it means she’s in danger. 

Lydia is able to eavesdrop on a situation. The Speaker of Targos plans to starve out Easthaven. GREAT. POLITICS. Makes Torgga fear him. He is a corrupted cunt, essentially. 

Torgga is let out, and Lydia remains in the room with the Speaker. 

She then decides to attack. Signum starts squeaking. Me and Rhozal’s player are aggressively signing (because we had been muted for this entire altercation) that we are FUCKIN GONE, we are DASHING AWAY-

But Lydia CRITS ON THE BITE. C R I T. NATURAL. T W E N T Y.

Combat ensues. It takes Freyr and Rhozal forever to try and get to her. Rhozal is able to just yeet his ass upstairs, but then there’s a locked door in the way. Freyr is being pulled back by a tiefling (one of the Speaker’s lot), and even with a FUCKING 21 TO ATHLETICS, I couldn’t break free. FOR LIKE FIVE FUCKING ROUNDS. NO, I did not hit this person, BECAUSE MY PALLY BOY WAS JUST THINKING “don’t hurt more people than you have to, that’s just going to cause more trouble”. 

But anyway he gets upstairs but Lydia is unconscious. Rhozal cannot pick the door. So we start breaking it down.

We break it down.

The Speaker ties up Lydia with manacles. We break into his room (after Rhozal gets poisoned by a Cone Snail doorknob), see Lydia is awake (nat 20 to death saves baBY), and that the Speaker is missing.

He escaped through a hidden door. Freyr watched him do it. So he tries to find the exit, but fails. 

His next turn, this motherfucker opens the door and says “Hello!”. Makes 3 attacks.

Misses 2.

CRITS. ON THE THIRD. FOR FUCK SAKE-

Freyr is down. AND. AND. HE HAS THREE SPELL SLOTS THAT HE CAN USE. AND ALL OF HIS LAY ON HANDS POINTS. BUT HE IS DOWN. FUCK.

Rhozal is also downed, but Signum arrives to save the day! Signum stings him. Speaker rolls a nat 1 to his con save, so he is now unconscious for an hour. Freyr gets healing potion’d, then he res’s Rhozal, and then Rhozal starts tying up the Speaker. Charles had been kinda holding back the tide downstairs (Dire Wolf wild shaping is fucking insane at level 3), so he hauls ass to come help us. 

However, about 5 other people are following. FUCK.

We try to find a way to escape. We also need proof the Speaker is a corrupt fuckhead. Which we THOUGHT we had, because the Speaker wrote a letter that essentially said “Ah yes, I am Evil and Corrupt, muah ha ha.” However. The DM then proceeded to reveal that he didn’t have the letter on him, when he told Lydia that she saw him take it.

Fucking. Damn. It.

We headed into his secret hallway and we try to find a way out. 

The hallway is trapped, however, and nearly takes us out because of those traps. How fucking LOVELY. 

We hear the guards calling for someone, who finds the oTHER END OF THIS HALLWAY AND THEN SNIPES FREYR. Down. AGAIN. 

Then Rhozal is put down. 

Charles and Lydia are able to flee. 

Rhozal and Freyr are taken captive. 

We awake to find ourselves imprisoned. Manacled, in nothing but ragged clothing. The Speaker wants to make a deal. He literally says “Ah yes, I am corrupt and power hungry. Work for me.”

Look. Freyr is not about that life. It’s complicated but it has ties to his backstory.

Rhozal wants to say yes. Freyr is a vehement no. This guy thinks of him, Rhozal, and Lydia as precious pieces on his board. Weapons he can turn against the people of Targos and Ten Towns. Things for his own gain. Freyr would rather choose death before dishonor.

The Speaker then says that Freyr would be imprisoned, and let out once he became more useful. 

Rhozal fears he will be killed. 

It is at this point that I and Rhozal’s player go into the Secrets chat so Rhozal and Freyr can argue their points. 

Meanwhile, Charles and Lydia go to find some acquaintances the party made in Targos. Marianne, a Changeling healer, and Mimosa Halfglass, the chief healer in Targos. They start planning a prison break.

In our bickering and imprisonment, Marianne comes to us. We tell her to sneak out our things. She’s disguising herself as a guard. She then leaves. 

Rhozal’s player and I are then brought into the general vc and muted. 

Lydia ends up speaking with the Speaker alone, offers a counter-offer, and also offers to try and convince Rhozal and Freyr to take his deal. He allows her to try and do so. Lydia is shackled and put into the same cell we are. 

The session ends here. However, in the background, Lydia, Rhozal, and Freyr all end up talking. 

I will say this now. I am feeling... stuck with my boy. I love Freyr. I really do. However, I don’t feel... inspired to play him anymore. So the DM has told us we need to make a decision -- take the Speaker’s offer, or don’t. And in this decision, I have a second one, that being; do I continue playing Freyr, or do I introduce a new character. 

I feel like, while the others have ideas and plans, Freyr doesn’t have many. Not many plot things that he feels relevant to or connected by, outside of this prophecy he was given to by Odin in the session he lost his eye. However, that feels like a very late game thing, and I feel like I’m kinda... twiddling my thumbs while the others have things to do. 

My next character I have basically planned out. I know how he talks, how he thinks, his mannerisms, everything. And I really like him. Haven’t quite decided on a name yet, but I incorporated that aspect itself into his character. 

I already know that Freyr is a vehement ‘no’. Lydia and Rhozal tried to convince him otherwise, but my boy is stubborn. But the DM told me that things do not have to end there. 

So my decision by Wednesday is now -- who’s story do I play? Freyr’s, or this new character?

I’m still torn. But I am leaning more and more towards this new character. He feels dynamic, and the character is a class I’ve never played before. Plus I think he’ll get along well with Lydia, Rhozal, and Charles. 

It’ll be a heartfelt goodbye if he leaves. But I feel like his chapter has come to a close. Besides, I feel like he’s a bit too... third wheel-y for what Rhozal and Lydia have going on. He feels too awkward. I don’t like his dynamic too much anymore. 

But who knows, maybe I’ll regret the decision either way. However, I do believe it’s time for my paladin to say goodbye. At least at the time of writing. I’ll provide updates when the fateful day comes.]

[stilinskishit]

Too Long (A Stiles Stilinski Fanfic) - Chapter 13

**First couple of posts have a different title but I changed it because I didn’t like it :)**

Summary: Teen Wolf with a female main character alongside Scott and Stiles? Here it is. Ramie McCall is Scott’s twin sister and best friends with both her twin and Stiles. The trio’s friendship means the world to all three of them, so what happens when there are more than friend type of feelings present?

Tags: @multi-madison​​ @purple286 @multifandxm353​ @bralessandflawless @5secondsofmoxley

A/N: Before reading this, please take the time to utilize the link below and sign some petitions and donate if you can! It’ll only take a few minutes :) Also, I start working full time again this week, so it will be harder for me to find time to write, but I will do my best! Had to add in snapback Stiles for this chapter because I just love him in a hat so much. 

https://blacklivesmatters.carrd.co/

MASTERLIST

Chapter 13 - Snapback

Season 2, Episode 6, 7 + 8

When Stiles and Ramie made it back to the woods to take their shift watching Jackson that night, they only found a sleeping Scott and Allison, and an empty prison van. Stiles was pissed, but Ramie couldn’t help but giggle at the fact that they found Scott and Allison naked together. However, with Jackson gone, Stiles decided he needed to tell his Dad the truth about everything, so they could make sure Jackson didn’t kill anymore people. However, when Scott and Stiles went to tell Noah the truth, they were only met with Jackson being at the police station, with his parents.

This led to Jackson filing a restraining order against Scott and Stiles. Ramie wasn’t sure why he left her out of the kidnapping story, but she was thankful she wasn’t in trouble with the police like her brother and best friend. Melissa was extremely mad at Scott, but Scott played if off like he was upset about their Dad never being around, so he got out of her angry wrath pretty easily. The next day at school Allison and Ramie met Scott and Stiles in the library to let them know what Lydia had translated for them from the beastiary. Ramie and Allison hid on one side of a library stack while Scott and Stiles stood on the other side, Allison handing the tablet through and empty space with no books.

Stiles and Ramie hadn’t talked about their fight the night before. However, things definitely weren’t normal between the two of them. Ramie was still upset about what Stiles had said and Stiles seemed like he wanted to say something to her, but kept quiet instead.

“What’d you tell her?” Scott asked Allison when she mentioned Lydia being confused about what she was translating.

“I told her we were part of an online gaming community that battles mythical creatures,” Allison said, not looking towards Scott and Stiles and pretending to be talking to just Ramie, who let out a snicker.

“I am part of an online gaming community that battles mythical creatures,” Stiles’ voice came from the other side of the shelf.

“Oh… great,” Allison said, sending Ramie a smirk. Stiles smiled at first then it faded when he realized everyone was holding back a laugh. Ramie rolled her eyes. Of course Allison knew about her previous crush on Stiles, but she was with Isaac now, so she wasn’t sure why Allison was still giving her looks like that.

“So does this say how to find out who’s controlling him?” Scott changed the subject.

“No, not really. But Stiles was right about the murders,” Ramie said, giving Stiles a quick glance. He exclaimed a small “yes” and clenched his fist. “It calls the kanima a weapon of vengeance. There’s a story about a South American priest who uses the kanima to execute murders in his village.”

“See? Maybe it’s not that bad,” Stiles said.

“Until the bond grew strong enough that it killed whoever he wanted it to,” Allison finished Ramie’s story from before.

“All bad, all very very bad,” Stiles shook his head. Ramie let out a small breath of air, almost a laugh and Stiles’ eyes shot to hers. He looked like he might smile for a second, but she looked away before he got the chance.

“The thing is, the kanima is actually supposed to be,” Allison paused, a teacher returning a book at the end of the stack they were in. Ramie nodded slightly when she was gone, letting Allison know it was okay to continue. “A werewolf. But it can’t be-“

“Until it resolves that in its past that manifest it,” Scott finished, reading from the tablet.

“Okay if that means Jackson could use a few thousand hours of therapy I could’ve told you that myself,” Stiles deadpanned.

“You got that right,” Ramie agreed. “Maybe it has something to do with his parents, his real parents.”

“Yeah, does anyone know what actually happened to them?” Scott asked.

“Lydia might,” Stiles said instantly, and Ramie fought the urge to roll her eyes.

“But what if she doesn’t,” Scott looked at Stiles.

“Well he doesn’t have a restraining order against me so I’ll ask him myself,” Allison said, putting the book she was pretending to look at back on the shelf.

“What should I do?” Scott asked.

“You have a makeup exam,” Ramie told him, sounding a lot like their mother. Scott looked at Stiles, who tilted his head, agreeing with Ramie.

“Promise me you’ll go,” Allison said, grabbing Scott’s hand through the stacks. Ramie watched as Stiles looked away awkwardly.

“If he does anything you run as fast as you can away from him,” Scott said protectively.

“I know how to take care of myself,” Allison told him.

“Allison if you get hurt while I’m taking care of some stupid test someone’s going to have to take care of me,” Scott said quickly. Ramie made eye contact with Stiles and pointed at him. Stiles pointed to himself and shook his head, pointing back at her. Allison snickered at them and Scott glared. “If he does anything weird, bizarre, anything-“

“Anything evil,” Stiles said suddenly, sticking his head through the hole in the stacks. Ramie put a hand on his face, shoving him back as he groaned. He flailed and nearly dropped the book he was holding, looking around to see if anyone saw him.

“She’ll be fine,” Ramie told the two boys.

…

Ramie didn’t have any classes with Scott, Stiles or Allison for the rest of the day, but Allison texted her towards the end of the day saying that she couldn’t bring her home anymore because somehow they had all gotten detention. Allison said it was a long story that she would explain later. Ramie was waiting outside for Lydia to get a ride with instead, when she saw Derek pull up to get Isaac. After thinking on it for a minute, Ramie walked over to his car, leaning in the window.

“I still need to be trained,” she told him. He raised his eyebrows. “I thought you hated me,” he asked, smirk clear on his face.

“I do,” Ramie sighed. “But now we have hunters and werewolves and kanimas and who knows what else, I need to be able to protect myself."

“Get in,” Derek said simply. Ramie huffed, just as Isaac made it to the car.

“Ramie, what are you-“

“Just get in you two, before an Argent or your brother sees,” Derek said, and the two teens listened.

Ramie spent the afternoon training with Isaac and Derek. Derek went much harder with Isaac, obviously, trying to get him better at fighting and controlling his shift. He continued hand to hand stuff with Ramie, and definitely forgot she was completely human a few times, leaving her with some intense scrapes and bruises. Derek was in the middle of telling her for the third time that they should take a break when they heard yelling from a distance.

“Derek!” Ramie recognized the voice as her brother. She looked around for something to wipe off her bloody fists, but Scott, Stiles and Erica came into view too soon. Scott was running and carrying Erica, who looked like she was seizing, and Stiles was following close behind. Ramie watched as Stiles and Scott exchanged a glance when they noticed her there. Derek ran forward, grabbing Erica from Scott’s arms.

“What the hell happened?” he asked, placing Erica on the ground.

“Jackson,” Scott said, stepping behind Erica to hold her up.

“Is she dying?” Isaac asked, moving closer.

“She might,” Derek said grabbing her arm. “Which is why this is gonna hurt.”

Derek grabbed Erica’s arm, breaking it to trigger the healing process. He then sunk his claws into her arm, to get the kanima venom out. Erica screamed and Ramie stepped back, clinging to Isaac’s arm. After a minute, Erica passed out. Derek said she was okay, just exhausted from what her body went through. He laid her on the couch and told Isaac to keep an eye on her. Scott, Stiles and Ramie followed Derek into a corner away from the other two.

“So you know who it is,” Scott said to Derek.

“Jackson.”

“I’m gonna help you stop him, as part of your pack.” Scott said. “If you want me in, fine, but we’re doing this my way. He won’t die. We’ll catch him, not kill him.”

“Fine,” Derek sighed. Scott was quiet for a minute, then spoke up again.

“And whatever it is you’re doing here with my sister, stop.” Ramie went to speak but Derek cut her off.

“You’re her brother, not her father.”

“Yeah well their father is a piece of shit so,” Stiles butted in, stepping closer to Derek.

“Both of you relax,” Ramie said, glaring at Scott and Stiles. “Derek has been helping me for months now, since you got turned Scott. He’s been teaching me how to fight, how to defend myself. I can’t be caught in the middle of all of this completely helpless. I came to him and asked for help. And Isaac has nowhere else to be, so if I want to see him I have to come here anyways.”

Scott and Stiles started talking at the same time.

“I’m not letting you try to fight against anyone.”

“You’re still dating him?” Ramie held up a hand to silence them both.

“You can’t always protect me Scott, there are going to be times where I need to be able to fend for myself. And I’d rather know how to defend myself so I can at least have a fighting chance,” she said, arms crossed over her chest. She pointed at Stiles “And you need to relax about Isaac. If Scott can sit here and tell Derek he’ll be part of his pack then I can date Issac. I don’t know why it matters so much to you anyways. Go worry about Lydia.”

Ramie turned and walked back over to Issac before anyone could say anything more.

…

Later that night, Ramie found herself tagging along with Scott to go see Deaton’s to try and figure out how they were going to trap Jackson without killing him. Stiles had called Scott and told them that his Dad had figured out that all of the kanima’s victims were the same age and all in Harris’ class when they were in high school. He couldn’t yet figure out where Isaac’s dad came into the mix, but they did find out that Isaac’s brother, who had died in combat, would’ve been the same age as the rest of the victims if he was still alive. But they still couldn’t figure out who was controlling Jackson.

“What’s he doing here?” Scott nodded his head towards Isaac as Derek walked through the front door of the vet clinic. Isaac rolled his eyes and grabbed Ramie’s waist, placing a kiss on the top of her head.

“I need him,” Derek said, walking past Scott.

“I don’t trust him,” Scott said plainly. Ramie glared at her brother.

“Yeah well, he doesn’t trust you either,” Isaac said, playing off the fact that Scott was acting like he wasn’t right there.

“You know what, Derek doesn’t care,” Derek looked between the two boys. Ramie scoffed and leaned onto Isaac’s side, who had sat down on Deaton’s desk, an arm wrapping lazily around her waist. “Now where’s the vet, is he going to help us or not?”

“That depends,” Deaton said from the doorway. “Jackson, are we going to kill him, or save him?”

“Kill him,”  Derek said, at the same time Scott said, “Save him.”

“Save him,” Scott said again, glaring at Derek. Derek rolled his eyes, following Deaton further into the clinic. Scott, Ramie and Isaac followed, gathering around the examination table as Deaton placed a wooden box on top of it, filled with small jars with various symbols on the lids. Isaac reached his hand out to grab at one of them, but Derek grabbed his wrist before he had the chance.

“Watch what you touch,” Derek told him, giving the younger boy an annoyed look. Scott scoffed next to Ramie and she elbowed him in the ribs.

“So,” Isaac leaned down, putting his elbows on the table and looking up a Deaton. “What are you, some kind of witch?”

“No, I’m a veterinarian,” Deaton said simply. Isaac nodded curtly and stepped back. Ramie sat herself up on the counter behind the table and Isaac leaned next to her, his arm resting on her thigh as Deaton continued. “I don’t see anything here that’s going to be an effective defense against a paralytic toxin.”

“We’re open to suggestions,” Derek said.

“What about an effective offense,” Isaac suggested, but Derek cut him off quickly, not looking back towards his beta.

“We already tried, I nearly took his head off, and Argent emptied an entire clip into it. This thing just gets back up.”

“Has it shown any weaknesses?” Deaton asked.

“It can’t swim,” Ramie said, remembering what Stiles had told her about he and Derek’s incident in the pool with the kanima. “But Jackson is the captain of the swim team.”

“Essentially you’re trying to catch two people,” Deaton said. “A puppet, and a puppeteer. One killed the husband, but the other had to take care of the wife, do we know why?”

“I don’t think Jackson could do it,” Scott said after a second of silence. “His mother died pregnant too. I think he couldn’t let the same thing happen to someone else.”

“How do you know it’s not part of the rules,” Isaac asked, looking up from his hand, which had been absentmindedly drawing shapes on Ramie’s thigh. “The kanima kills murders. If Jackson killed the wife the baby would’ve died too.”

“Does that mean your father was a murder?” Scott asked, turning back to look at Isaac, who shrugged.

“Wouldn’t surprise me if he was.”

“Hold on, the book says they’re bonded, right?” Deaton cut in. “What if the fear of water doesn’t come from Jackson, but comes from whoever is controlling him? What if something that affects the kanima also affects it’s master?”

“Meaning what,” Isaac deadpanned.

“Meaning we can catch them,” Ramie said, and Deaton nodded. “Both of them.”

…

Deaton helped them come up with a plan that night, which they relayed to everyone else involved by the next day. They planned on using ketamine to take out Jackson at the rave that everyone was going to. Stiles and Ramie, being the only humans in the group, were to spread mountain ash around the whole club that the rave was at, so that not only would Jackson be trapped inside, but they would also trap whoever was controlling it.

“How did you even get tickets to this thing,” Ramie asked as she, Scott and Stiles pulled into the rave the next night.

“Your psychotic boyfriend beat some kids up for them,” Stiles mumbled. He was unusually quiet the whole ride there.

“Not very nice of you to call him psychotic when he got the tickets for you,” Ramie shot back. She heard Stiles huff from the front seat before getting out of the car. Scott suddenly took off into the club, saying something about Allison, leaving Stiles and Ramie alone.

“This plan sucks,” Stiles sighed, throwing the bags of mountain ash at the ground angrily.  Ramie was quiet for a minute, leaning against the jeep.

“Are you okay?” she asked, looking towards Stiles, who pulled the snapback off his head, rubbing a hand over his buzzcut before placing it back on, backwards like before. Ramie thought about how if she still had a crush on Stiles, the snapback would’ve been extremely attractive. She also thought that her acknowledging that it was extremely attractive could be a slight problem. She shook her head, trying to clear her mind.

“I’m fine,” Stiles huffed, picking up the bags off the ground. “Let’s just do this.”

Ramie walked next to Stiles as he let the mountain ash out of his hand slowly, making a trail behind them. He still hadn’t said another word since she asked him if he was okay.

“Sti, come on,” Ramie said, not being able to take his silence any longer. “Most of the time I have to beg you to stop talking and now I feel like I have to beg you to say anything. What’s going on?”

Stiles let out a sigh, and Ramie continued.

“You’re my best friend Stiles, you can tell me.” Stiles glanced up at her, his golden brown eyes meeting hers. She could see sadness in his eyes.

“My Dad got fired,” he said after a second. Ramie’s eyes widened.

“Wh- why? Stiles, why didn’t you say anything?” Ramie stammered, taken aback.

“Doesn’t look good for the Sheriff’s son to have a restraining order against him. And there’s too much is going on, I didn’t want to burden anyone right now,” he shrugged, not looking at her. She stopped walking and grabbed his arm so he would stop as well.

“Mieczyslaw Stilinski look at me right now,” Ramie said sternly. Stiles stopped, looking at her after a second. “You are never a burden to me. I always want to hear what you have to say.”

Stiles’ eyes softened. Ramie could swear it almost looked like he was about to cry. He looked away, looking down at the mountain ash in his hand.

“Raim,” he said quietly. “We have a problem.”

Ramie looked down at the mountain ash in his hand, and the distance they had left. There was no way they could make it.

“Remember what Deaton told us?” Ramie said after a minute.  “When he gave us the mountain ash he said we have to believe it was going to work.”

“It’s not going to work, there’s not enough,” Stiles stammered, his hands beginning to shake.

“Hey, Stiles,” Ramie grabbed his hands, holding them steady. His eyes met hers. “You can do this. You always make things work, Sti. You can do this.”

Stiles nodded, shakily, not taking his eyes off hers. She slowly dropped his hands, realizing she was still holding them.

“Just look at me,” she said, beginning to walk again. “I know you can do this. You’re the smartest person I know Stiles. You’ll make this work.”

She looked down for a second, and Stiles did too. They had made it back to where they started, the mountain ash making a full circle around the club.

“I did it,” Stiles said slowly, looking up at Ramie.

“You did it!” She yelled. Stiles jumped forward, wrapping his arms around her in a hug.

“We did it!” He said, spinning her around in a circle. They both laughed, and Stiles set her down slowly, his arms still wrapped around her.

“We should uh,” Stiles stuttered, dropping his arms. “Go check on things inside.”

Ramie nodded and followed after the boy in the flannel, her cheeks feeling hot.

…

Ramie followed Stiles though the back entrance to the club, down a hall to the room where Isaac and Erica were supposed to be keeping Jackson. Stiles pushed opened the door and Erica lunged towards them, Stiles jumping back and nearly taking out Ramie.

“Woah woah woah, it’s just us!” Stiles put his hands up, and Erica took a step back. “Freaks.” Stiles mumbled as they entered the room and Ramie followed, closing the door behind them. Jackson was sitting on a chair in the middle of the room, looking like he was out cold.

“Is he okay?” Ramie asked as Isaac stepped towards Jackson.

“Well, let’s find out,” Isaac held up his hand, putting out his claws. He reached towards him, but before he could get close Jackson, eyes still closed, grabbed Isaac’s arm, twisting it in a way that definitely caused something to break. Ramie moved forward to grab him but Stiles grabbed her wrist, pulling her back. Isaac yanked his arm away from Jackson, groaning and leaning against the wall, holding his wrist. Ramie went over to him, wincing at the sight of his mangled arm.

“Alright, no one does anything like that again,” Stiles pointed at Erica and Isaac as the latter snapped his own arm back into place, groaning as it healed.

“The ketamine was supposed to put him out,” Isaac groaned as Ramie rubbed his back.

“Yeah well apparently this is all we’re going to get,” Stiles pointed towards Jackson.

“So let’s just hope whoever is controlling him showed up tonight,” Ramie added. Stiles looked over at her with Isaac, looking slightly concerned for a second. Before anyone could say anything else, a voice came from Jackson. It wasn’t his normal voice, it sounded almost robotic.

“I’m here,” he said, his eyes now open. “I’m right here with you.”

Stiles narrowed his eyes at Jackson, then looked at everyone else, who was just as lost as he was. He slowly stepped forward, squatting down in front of him.

“Stiles, be careful,” Ramie said, stepping behind him. Stiles held up a hand, cutting her off.

“Jackson is that you?”

“Us, we’re all here,” Jackson said simply. Stiles turned, looking at Ramie, who shrugged, at a loss.

“Are you the one killing people?” Stiles asked.

“We are the ones killing murderers,” Jackson said back.

“So all the people you’ve killed so far,” Ramie started.

“They deserved it,” Jackson cut her off.

“We’ve got a little rule book that says you only go after murderers,” Stiles said.

“Anything can break if enough pressure’s applied,” Jackson deadpanned.

“A fucking riddle?” Isaac said from behind them. Ramie and Stiles shushed him at the same time, and he held his hands up defensively.

“So all the people you killed are murderers,” Ramie clarified.

“All,” Jackson’s robotic voice said. “Each. Every. One.”

“Who did they murder?” Stiles asked.

“Me, they murdered me,” Jackson said, his hand slowly moving. Ramie noticed immediately.

“Stiles,” she grabbed his shoulder, pulling him back, away from Jackson.

“Okay, alright more ketamine, the man needs ketamine, come on,” Stiles stammered.

“We don’t have any more,” Isaac said, holding up the empty vial. Stiles eyes closed slowly, hanging his head.

“You used the whole bottle?” He turned his head to Isaac, who raised his shoulders sheepishly. Ramie hit both of them on the arms, as Jackson stood up slowly, then screeched at them.

“Okay, out, everybody out,” Stiles pushed Ramie towards the door, all of them running out it. Isaac slammed it shut, leaning against it with Stiles and Erica. “Find something to put in front of the door.”

Ramie turned to look for something, but it was too late. Jackson, or kanima Jackson burst straight through the wall, running away from them. Stiles took off after him, Ramie close behind. They lost him somewhere along the way as he jumped up into the ceiling, but Stiles continued to run outside, to see if he had made it out there somehow. As they made it out there Derek ran up, meeting them on the other side of the mountain ash.

“Hey, so we kind of lost Jackson but,” Stiles stopped as Isaac and Erica walked out of the club, unable to pass the line of mountain ash. “Ohmygod it’s working! We did it!”

Ramie grinned at Stiles for a second, until Derek grabbed his arm.

“Scott,” Derek murmured.

“Nope, I’m Stiles,” Stiles grinned.

“Break it,” Derek pointed to the mountain ash, ignoring Stiles’ joke.

“What, no!” Stiles exclaimed.

“Scotts dying!” Derek nearly yelled.

“What? How do you know that?” Ramie asked, stepping towards Derek.

“Ohmygod, Ramie, I just know, break it,” Derek yelled. Stiles reached down, brushing a section of the mountain ash away and Derek took off into the club, leaving Ramie and Stiles confused on the sidewalk.

[takeiteasypeasybaby]

Save Me: Chapter 52 - Family

~Hey guys! Chapter 52 is out today :) This is an emotional chapter that builds to the climax in the next. As Save Me falls in line with the timeline of the tv series and some parts of the comics, the fair is a crucial part leading up to the pikes which will feature in the following chapter...I hope everyone can wait until Wednesday to find out whose fate is met!~

The Trade Fair is finally here. Everyone Molly loves comes together as one large community that protects and cares for each other. But what happens when an outside threat appears?

Smiles and giggles erupted all around me as I loaded the last few gifts to the Kingdom into the truck.

Everyone was filled with joy and positivity to be travelling to the Kingdom, of course some would stay behind to guard our home but it was the first time the residents had ever been there.

As I was talking to Luke, telling him our protocol if anything went wrong and how he could reach me, Tara came running over and asked breathlessly 'I wanna come with'.

I shook my head and said sadly 'I know you wanna go but I need you here'.

She held my hand, smiling and in a high pitched voice she whined 'please'.

I sighed heavily and turned to Luke.

'Would you be okay with that?' I asked softly.

'Sure thing boss, we can manage' he replied happily.

I nodded as Tara squealed, 'yes!' and hopped into the truck and sat next to Lydia.

I rolled my eyes, knowing that I would regret that decision.

I said bye to everyone staying behind and drove out in front of the other vehicles as they followed me to the Kingdom.

The road was pretty clear, Tara used her silenced pistol to clear a couple in the middle of the road but other than that there was no hassle.

Being the leader, I remained as calm and collected as I could be while everyone else was overwhelmed with excitement.

Though I wouldn't admit it, even I was jumping with joy on the inside.

After everything with the whisperers, we needed a distraction to calm everyone or as Negan liked to tell me, give them a couple 'white lies' to ease them and if that protects them then what's the harm?

Even though he was no longer a leader, he was still smart as hell and he knew it.

I think that's what first attracted me to him.

I broke out of my thoughts and turned briefly to Lydia and then back onto the road.

'Are you excited?' I asked her happily.

'Yeah, it would be nice to see-' Lydia started until Tara interrupted her.

'Henry! God, I knew it! You two are so cute together' she said excitedly.

'I meant the Kingdom' Lydia said softly, embarrassed by Tara's comment.

'Tara' I said faux warningly as I raised and eyebrow which made her laugh.

'I'm sorry, but you have to admit, you two are cute as hell' she continued.

I just sighed and shook my head while Lydia remained silent and just snacked on an apple.

When we rolled up to the gates, we could hear the happy bustle and commotion from within the walls.

We pulled up by the abandoned school buses and all stepped out.

We walked to the gates which swung open immediately when I waved up to Jerry and Diane.

'Hey Molly!' Jerry said happily as I replied, 'Hey Jer! It's good to see you!'.

The gates opened to reveal a magnificent splendour of colour, multicoloured stalls, paintings, a statue of Shiva, a band and of course the King himself, Ezekiel.

'Molly, people of the Hilltop colony, we welcome you to our fair! Please, come in and rejoice in our splendour!' he announced enthusiastically before us.

I smiled and hugged him.

'Ezekiel, how've you been?' I asked smiling at him.

'Very well, my Queen and I have been busy but Hilltop has made a great contribution' he said happily as Carol walked over to us.

'Hi Carol' I said as she came over and stood beside him.

'Is that Judith?' she asked tearfully as Judith came running over to us.

Michonne walked over hesitantly, knowing the relationship would be somewhat strained.

'You're Carol and you're the King' she said happily which made them both smile.

Michonne stood beside us and greeted them with a nod and smile, not sure about how she would be received.

But, she was pleasantly surprised when Ezekiel and Carol pulled her in for a hug.

'We've missed you' Ezekiel spoke sadly.

'I'm sorry for my behaviour, I had to realise that family comes first, always' Michonne said smiling down at Judith.

It was so heartwarming to see us all together again like a team, like a family.

With Tara by my side, it reminded me of the prison where we first met Rick and Michonne and how we could instantly feel that bond that they all had with each other and eventually with us.

'Hey Lydia!' Jerry said excitedly as she hopped out of the truck.

She seemed nervous but was instantly relieved when people welcomed her to the Kingdom with waves and smiles.

'Hi' she said quietly back to Jerry.

Ezekiel must have told him about her and the way he looked at Henry, he must have mentioned that too.

Henry walked with Lydia towards us and whispered something to her which she smiled at.

She came bounding over, less nervous than before and asked, 'uh Molly, can I go with Henry to explore?'.

I smiled down at her and said 'of course, but stay close and don't go outside the compound okay?'.

She nodded in response and hand in hand, they ran off towards the stalls.

Ezekiel ushered me to walk with him through the fair as we talked about Lydia.

'She's a good kid, Henry speaks of her often, often meaning all the time' he said softly.

We laughed together at that.

'Yeah, she is. I know what it's like to be presumed to be someone that you're not. Tara and I both do, we weren't always on the right side of things, me even less so because of...well, you know' I said seriously.

'Yes, I do and yet I smile. We have all done things to survive but that is the past. We have so much to be grateful for now and Lydia coming into our lives is one of them. I just know it' he said smiling.

I nodded, not wanting to mention that Negan wasn't just my past, but my present and my future.

I knew that would be too much for him for right now.

After all, he lost most of his people because of them when the ambushed them at an outpost.

Ezekiel excused himself as he had parade business to attend to, so I just walked around admiring all the wares on display.

Judith was happily playing with Jerry at the dunking game, Michonne was chatting to Carol, Tara was chatting to Diane and out of the corner of my eye I saw Lydia and Henry holding hands as they strolled down the path.

I sat at a bench and smiled as I saw how happy she looked, like she was finally becoming one of us, not because we wanted her to but because she wanted it.

Daryl came to join me at the bench with Connie and Kelly as we all sat to watch the band play.

I could tell that Daryl thought this whole thing was ridiculous, but because Carol believed in it, he gave it a shot.

He hacked at pieces of wood with his knife, making them into a point for arrows rather than watch the parade.

Connie smiled as they marched through, Kelly signing to her the song they were playing and that she wanted to go to the ring toss.

I looked around to see Enid and Alden practicing their singing on the outdoor stage when Daryl grumbled 'this is a damn distraction, we should be out there looking for the problem'.

I shot him an annoyed look.

'We will, but right now, we're gonna act like everything is fine because that's what people need right now. It's what Carol needs right now' I said warningly as I jumped up and walked off.

'Molly!' Tara shouted as she came over to me.

'Come look at this shit, they have a freaking cinema in this place!' she said as she dragged me towards the auditorium.

I giggled, saying 'of course Ezekiel has a cinema' as we walked inside.

Jerry was setting up a movie which they'd found while out on a supply run as people flooded in and took their seats.

The sun was going down now, so it was best the everyone was inside anyway.

Even though the Kingdom was very secure, Ezekiel didn't want to take any chances, this fair had to be perfect.

Lydia and Henry were sitting in the back row, holding hands and smiling sweetly to each other.

I felt like my heart could burst, I was so happy for them.

Seeing Henry grow into a young man and seeing Lydia be truly happy was such a blessing to me.

'Come, sit with me' Tara said as she patted the chair next to her in the front row.

I sat next to her and got comfortable until Tara remembered the snacks in the truck.

'Ah shit, I left the snacks in the truck' she said as she started to get up.

'No, It's cool. I'll get them' I replied as she got up and walked out of the darkening room.

I saw Ezekiel enter the auditorium, followed by Jerry as they talked about some woman from Alexandria who was in awe of the Kingdom.

I smiled at them both as I made my way to the truck.

I frowned confusedly when I saw Carol arming up.

'Whatcha doin? Are you not gonna go and enjoy the movie?' I asked as I also saw Daryl come round with his bike.

'What's going on?' I added suspiciously.

'We're going after them, you comin?' Daryl asked as he got on his bike.

I sighed when I knew I couldn't stop or persuade either of them to stay.

I knew them well enough to know that if I didn't come, they would go anyway.

I thought about it and just as I did so, Michonne and Yumiko came out of the auditorium and grabbed their weapons.

'We're coming too' they said as they stood next to Daryl and Carol.

'Judith is with Jerry and Nabila' Michonne said confidently as they all suited up.

'Siddiq is already out there, he scoped out the area a couple weeks back and found their camp. That's where we're headed' Michonne continued.

I nodded.

'Alright fine, we go, but only a couple hours' I said as I grabbed a rucksack and we walked out of the gate.

I looked back once at the auditorium, knowing that Tara would be waiting for me to come back.

But, I knew she would understand and Ezekiel would tell her where we had gone.

Lydia's POV//

Ezekiel came over to ask Henry if he could help a woman with some boxes outside and he hesitantly left.

'I'll be back in two minutes' he said as he kissed me.

I nodded and smiled, getting comfortable in my chair as I watched the movie.

I started to giggle until I saw a shadow sit in the chair next to me and a hand crossed over my own.

I gasped and turned to see my mother, she put a finger over her lips and said 'shh'.

She was dressed with a blonde wig and a green floral dress, she looked almost unrecognisable to anyone but me.

I scowled and shook in fright as she pulled me out of my seat and out into the courtyard.

She shoved me harshly against the old school bus and said 'you betrayed our values, you're coming with me!' as she tried to drag me with her.

I just managed to pull myself out of her grasp.

'No! I believe in these people! They care about each other here! They care about me, to keep me safe they'd kill you, all I'd have to do is scream' I said nervously.

'I risked everything for you, you're my bug' she said sadly as she tried to stroke my face.

'I was just doing what mothers do to protect their young' she said tearfully.

I raised up my arm and showed her the scars, saying 'I know what you've done, that's not love'.

'I just want you to go and I'm giving you a choice which is more than you ever gave me' I said angrily.

She scowled and got real close, whispering 'you're not one of us, you never were'.

'You'll be sorry' she said angrily as she let go of me and walked away as I gasped for breath, tears rolling down my face as I crouched down.

Molly's POV//

We walked through the woods for about an hour until we came across what Siddiq had told us.

It wasn't the spot where we had rescued Lydia and Henry but it looked extremely similar.

We all crouched in the bushes, silence all around us as we saw smoke from fires extinguished not too long ago and skins strewn across branches of trees.

Daryl signalled for us to move closer and when we did so, whisperers emerged all around us.

They encircled us and moved in closer silently.

We pointed our weapons at them and were ready to fire when more whisperers came up behind us and bagged our heads.

They took our weapons off us and tied our hands as we struggled frantically.

'She only wants her' one whispered as I felt someone move me forward and only took the bag off my head when I was out of the camp.

I looked around frantically to see none of my family, only a group of whisperers circling me as we moved.

I remained silent, knowing that if I spoke one of them would just kill me.

We walked for hours until we came closer to what looked to be a rocky ledge between the trees.

They let go of me as Lydia's mother came through the trees and whispered 'follow me' as she untied my hands.

I looked at her in confusion as she walked ahead, none of the whisperers following us.

She had my gun and aimed it at me as we walked.

'Where are you taking me?' I asked softly.

She stayed silent until we reached the ledge.

The sound was overwhelming, like a large crowd of screeching and snarling.

She pushed me forwards to the edge of the ledge until I saw it.

The largest hoard I'd ever seen, walkers coating the ground for miles.

My heart raced and it felt like it beat out of my chest as all I could see was death.

'My people are among them, steering them' she whispered.

'The only reason you and your friends are alive is because I let you live' she said quietly.

I inhaled and turned to her, she was now unmasked and I said angrily 'what do you want?.

'Nothin'. You haven't got a single thing to offer me. I've seen how you live, I've walked your streets, its a joke. Your communities are a shrine to a long dead world. My people, the whisperers, we live as nature intended' she whispered.

I scoffed and smiled sinisterly.

She was at the Kingdom, she was at the Fair.

My mind flickered to Tara and to Lydia. I was panicking but I would never show her that.

'That's just the bullshit you feed your sheep so they'll follow you' I said mockingly.

'They follow me because I am the Alpha and if the Alpha doesn't assert herself then there's chaos' she said with annoyance at my comment.

I knew I was getting to her now.

'So that is what I've done' she sniffed as she said it nonchalantly.

'What did you do?' I asked angrily.

'Your friends back at the camp are fine. Tell them, the next time they cross into my land, my hoard will cross into theirs' she said sternly.

I felt my heart beat slow as she said my family were okay.

'I'll mark the border to the North, you'll see it as you leave' she said looking away from my eyes.

'The hell's that supposed to mean, if this is about Lydia-' I said sternly.

'You'll see it as you leave' she interrupted.

'Go, your friends are waiting for you in the field due North' she said quietly.

I got closer and asked sternly, 'did you kill Lydia?' as tears rose to my eyes.

'I don't think you can protect my daughter, but I hope I'm wrong' she said as her eyes reddened.

I grit my teeth angrily and said 'you are' as I left towards the field where my family would be waiting.

[stilessdylanobae-ddixonlove]

Surviving The Walking Dead - You’re Out (Chapter 15)

Author: @stilessdylanobae-ddixonlove

Characters: Daryl Dixon, Lydia, Carol Peletier, Negan, Aaron, Michonne, Siddiq, Dog and Reader.

Summary: Y/n helps Negan escape and then leaves Alexandria alone before suffering the consequences. Later, Daryl makes a decision.

Note: Negan vs. Daryl <3

This chapter is special to me because Daryl will always be number one in my heart. And probably yours:P

Warning: Cursing, violence, death, graphic content, FLUFF, lots of fluff (Seriously, it’s cheesy) and sexual content.

Chapter Fifteen - Chapter Sixteen

Daryl laid in yet another borrowed bed. This one at Carol’s house since he was looking after Lydia there. He was buried in blankets up to his scruffy chin and rested on his left side, facing the window where the morning sunshine peered into his eyes. He was randomly thinking about his brother. He let everything Merle did wrong in his life cross his mind and how there were many things that were very difficult to accept. He grunted to himself, having tried not to think about his older brother much over the years. But also because he realized in the end, he protected and defended Merle because he loved him. And because it was the right thing. He thought about you and how, despite everything, he wished you were laying there beside him. After several more minutes, he let himself finally drift back to sleep. He’d been unable to stay asleep for long, which was a normal occurrence anyway.

Daryl found himself in a dream. He knew it was a dream; it felt fuzzy and uncertain. He was walking alone in the cold, damp woods when it began to feel like someone was following him. He turned and reached for his crossbow that wasn’t there. He then saw someone slowly begin to appear through the trees but the sun was blocking whoever it was. He squinted his eyes, trying to make out the approaching figure.

Daryl recognized him now.

The man waved his right hand, the one that shouldn’t have been there. The one he’d lost. Then he gave Daryl a devious smile. “Merle.” Daryl said his name, startled in the best way.

“What are you doing out here? What are you doing all alone?” His older brother questioned. 

“I ain’t alone.” Daryl stated.

“You look pretty damn alone to me.” Merle noted.

“Are you really here?” Daryl changed the subject.

“Course I am, idiot. What, have you gone and lost your mind since I left?” He hounded. Daryl slightly smirked. 

“Maybe.” He replied. 

“What are you doing out here?” Merle asked again, stepping closer.

“I’m lost.” Daryl looked around questionably.

“You don’t get lost!” Merle hollered. 

“But I am.” He looked around the area some more.

“Well you better figure it out, little brother.” Merle enforced.

“Daryl!” Someone unseen yelled. “Daryl!” He heard it again and suddenly sat up in bed, awake. He was quickly brought back to reality by someone knocking and yelling his name again. He got up and opened his bedroom door. It was Carol. 

“Sorry to wake you. But, he’s gone.” She sighed.

“What? Who’s gone?” He rubbed his eyes.

“Negan. He’s gone.” She confirmed.

~ Three hours earlier ~

You successfully jumped down and onto the other side of Alexandria’s tall fence, where it was quiet and away from the main entrance. Negan already stood behind you, waiting. He placed his hands on his hips, still a little in shock of you helping him escape. 

“Damn.” He huffed, catching his breath. “You know you’re definitely screwed now.” He gestured to the community that you were obviously giving up. But to you, it was so much more than that. Yet you figured it would be better to go before the others found out about your past. You brushed your hands off against your tight jeans and shook the hair from your face. 

“Yeah I know.” You replied. He watched you take the lead, guiding him through the field. As you marched through it, kicking dirt up behind your tall boots, Negan followed you questionably. 

“I get it, I mean you leave before they kick you out but what if they don’t? Shit, they let me stay.” 

“In a cell.” You taunted. He nodded in sudden agreement with you, unseen to you. You both had reached the woods rather quickly. It was mostly quiet, all you could hear were the early birds chirping off in the distance somewhere and Negan’s footsteps behind you. “Anyway, I’ll go back one more time; say goodbye.” 

“Then what?” Negan shouted to you, having stopped walking while you went on. You turned to him and threw your arms down in wonder. 

“I’ll hang around. See this plan through.” You noted. Negan scratched his forehead. 

“And why can’t you do it?” He questioned. 

“Because she knows me. She’d never buy it.” You explained. “And you owe them.” You added. He sighed heavily as you looked to the ground, finally spotting a shoe print off to the right of your path. You were far enough out now and close enough to the river that you could assume it might be one of theirs; one of the Whisperers. “Alright, this is it.” You pointed down. “You still wanna do this, right?” Negan stepped closer and you instantly grew a tad more uncomfortable. 

“Yeah. It’s a good plan.” He complimented.

“Okay then.” You said, walking passed where he stood. But he grabbed your upper arm, stopping you. Your breathing increased.

“Y/n.” He eyed you. “What about your part of the deal?” He asked. 

“When it’s done, I told you that.” You said, swallowing harshly. 

“Why do you act like you’re afraid of me?” He suspiciously asked.

“You were right before. You’re not a good person.” He frowned. “Maybe I’m not either. Maybe none of us are. We all wanna protect what’s ours, right? That’s what it comes down to.” You licked your lips and he watched them closely as you spoke. “I know what you did. All of it.” You leaned in closer. He let go of your arm and looked to the ground, feeling somewhat ashamed. 

“I don’t want you to come with me forcefully, Y/n. I’m not like that anymore and I’m certainly not like that with you. But I gotta say, I want you back.”

“You wanna own me. Just like Will did.” You scowled. 

“No.” He shook. “See, even after all this time it still feels like you are mine. And you need to know, you were also right just now. I’m very protective over what’s mine.” He leaned in and caressed your cheek with the back of his hand. “I sort of lost it when you left, I always tried to do right by you. I cared for you, you know that.” 

“I’m not afraid of you. I don’t think you’ll hurt me.” You snarled. “But I am afraid of what you might do to others. You’ll hurt them. This is me making you leave before that happens.” You hissed as you turned and finally walked away, displeased.

By standing up to Negan, by making him help, you were owning your past and you were taking back control.

~ Present time ~

Daryl came downstairs with Lydia to see Carol, Aaron, Siddiq and Michonne hanging out in the living room. 

“Are we going to go after him?” Aaron questioned, having his own reasons for hating Negan. Reasons that had to do with the death of his boyfriend several years ago. “How did this even happen?” Aaron went on. Siddiq couldn’t help but look directly at Lydia and everyone noticed. 

“She didn’t do it. She was here all night.” Daryl defended her. 

“How do you know?” Lydia asked, raising alarm.

“Because I was up all night and I checked on you.” He admitted. “Don’t let them think it was you.”

The room sighed. 

“I think that right now, Negan isn’t our biggest problem. He may not even be an enemy. We have plenty of other definite ones to worry about. That’s what we focus on.” Michonne stated. Siddiq nodded, willing to go along with her decision. Everyone could tell that Aaron however, was unhappy. Michonne left the house, frustrated and unsure what the correct thing to do was. She desperately wished Rick was here to help. Siddiq followed her while Aaron turned to Daryl one last time.

“This is wrong. We can’t just let him go.” He said. Daryl stared but remained silent until Aaron too headed for the front door. As he left, you entered. Daryl’s eyes met yours now, surprised. 

“Where have you been?” Carol asked curiously. You stepped into the living room further and looked around at it closely, thinking this may be the last time you see it. 

“Lydia didn’t do anything. I let Negan out.” You quickly admitted. Daryl shifted his stance uncomfortably while Carol’s mouth fell open. 

“You what?” Carol spoke, gritting her teeth.

“Lydia was right. And I needed him alive.”

“What are you talking about?” Daryl asked. 

“If you all wanted him dead, all of you, he’d be dead. Now none of you have to worry about it anymore. Win, win.” You spoke, emotionless. “You can tell Michonne but please wait until I’m gone.”

“What?” Daryl stepped closer. Lydia looked to you fearfully. 

“You can’t leave!” Lydia screeched. 

“I can’t stay.” You countered. Carol looked to Daryl and sighed. “For what it’s worth, the three of you have been the closest thing to family I’ve had in a very long time. And I am sorry, but I had to do what was right here. Please don’t take it as me being on his side. Plus, I figured I was already on the road to getting kicked out of here, might as well have been me. This way, no one will have to worry about me either.” You pressed your lips together. Carol stepped forward to hug you and you pulled her in first. You rested your chin on her shoulder and held her tight. “Will you do one thing for me though?” You asked them. “Please make sure that Will and Evan get to stay.” Carol nodded as you let go of her. Lydia angrily crossed her arms and Daryl remained frozen, staring at you. He was raging inside, incapable of expressing any one feeling correctly. He looked to the ceiling and turned away from you while Carol guided Lydia outside to give the two of you a moment alone. “Daryl.” You said his name, it slightly catching in your throat. “Daryl, no one will get passed this.” 

“Seems like you saw to that.” He said angrily, still facing away from you.

“It was already like that.” You corrected. “Right?” You sighed. “Everything is going to be okay.” He turned and faced you now. “Trust me.”

“None of this is okay, Y/n!” He yelled. “None of it.” His body shook. 

“Well, I’m sorry.”

“What about the Whisperers?” He worried.

“I can handle them.”

“Are you leaving with him?” He angrily threw his arm out in front of him. “Is that it?”

“No.” You simply said. He shook his head in defiance. “But I could I guess, make sure he stays away.” You added. He was fuming. 

“You want to?” He asked, dismayed. 

“No.” You cried, something you told yourself you weren’t going to do. 

“Then I’ll come with.” His voice cracked.

“You can’t do that. Then you’ll be out, same as me. You’ll be partial to blame in their eyes. Besides, these people are your family. You’ve left them enough times.”

“You’re family too.” He immediately replied.

“Am I?” You let slip out. “There’s a reason you can’t let go of my past.”

“What do you mean?” He sniffled.

“It doesn’t matter to me what you’ve done in your lifetime. I’ve never questioned you about anything. I’ve never made you feel like a bad person because regardless of whatever you’ve done or haven’t done, I know you aren’t. And I don’t care!” You yelled. “I didn’t care...” Daryl swallowed harshly in realization of what you were trying to say. “I accepted you, no matter what. Nothing would’ve changed my mind and there’s a reason for that too.” You cried, softly. “A big reason that I wanted to tell you in three words so many times. But I was scared. I was scared of something like this. I was scared of rejection, I guess. And if you’d felt it too, the way I did then we wouldn’t be here right now.” Suddenly, it was all too much and you had to get out of there. You stepped closer and kissed Daryl on the cheek as another tear fell down yours. You blinked it away and turned to leave. “I’ll see you again when things are better.” You said before you quickly exited the room. 

“What does that mean?” Daryl hollered after you. 

You hugged Lydia on the porch and thanked her. You told her you’d come back for her one day but she was confused and felt slightly abandoned. She felt angry at you for leaving and angry at Daryl and Carol for letting you. But they couldn’t have stopped you if they tried. 

Daryl was crushed.

Carol and Lydia re-entered to recognize that on his face and they all had that feeling in common. Lydia scowled and shook her head angrily before running upstairs. Carol sat on the couch in front of where Daryl still stood.

“She loves you.” Carol said, placing her hands in her lap. Daryl’s heart jumped to his throat by her words. “What are you going to do about that?” She asked. Daryl looked back to the front door for a moment. 

“She helped him.” He spoke angrily.

“I don’t think that has anything to do with you and her.” She sighed.

Daryl tried to make his feet move. He realized in that moment that he had a decision to make. One involving this community versus you. His chest began to rise and fall heavily with anxiety as he paced a short distance of the room. Then he stopped, placed his hand against the wall and peered out the window. 

“Will you tell Lydia-”

“I’ll tell her.” Carol interrupted with a sincere understanding of his decision. She stood up from the couch and hugged her old friend tightly, then looked to his worried face and pressed her lips together with a nod. 

“You ain’t never let something like this go in the past. Not for anyone, you’d fight her with everything you had.” He questioned her. 

“Maybe I’m going soft again.” She shrugged. He grinned. 

“Nah.” He said, kissing the top of her head and swinging his arm out and around her as he left to chase after you. 

_______________

You had packed a small bag. One that fit one of your fuzzy blankets and a few snack items. You reattached your favorite knife to hang below your belt loop and zipped your hoodie. You wondered where you would sleep, hoping it to be inside somewhere. You still hated dark, quiet nights of nothing but crickets and possible approaching walker moans. It had been awhile since you had to face it alone. You wanted to stay near the area, keeping an eye on Negan and the Whisperers, yet never close enough to be seen by them. You remembered a barn, the one you had helped find Eugene in when this all started. It was still outside of Alpha’s claimed territory even after she’d taken more. 

You ultimately found your way back there just before sunset. Lucky for you, it wasn’t overrun with walkers. 

You creaked the rickety door open and closed it quietly behind you, careful not to make too much noise. You pulled a lighter from your jean pocket and flicked it on for some light as you placed your other hand on your knife. You slowly roamed the open area, listening and waiting for a possible attack. 

It was agonizingly quiet.

You had slowly and safely made your way to the back of the barn and to a single wide open window inside a horse stall. The bright moon lightly shown through it, illuminating a small part of your cheek as you glanced outside. You watched the wind blow through the tall grass. Then you spotted two dark figures, very slowly making their way through the field. You let them get a little closer, waiting to make sure there wasn’t any more and that they were in fact, only the dead. You knelt down just below the window and once they were close enough to confirm, once you could hear their raspy cries, you jumped out the window and raised your knife. Only they were shot down before you could reach them. You jumped back in fear and surprise, then noticed a single arrow in each of their heads. 

You recognized those arrows.

You spun around, searching the area. 

“Daryl!” You quietly called, knowing he was there. Sure enough, a minute later he appeared through the trees with Dog nearly attached to his outer thigh. Your chest instantly ached. He stopped in front of you but remained silent. “What are you doing? How did you know I was here?” 

“Barn.” He simply replied, knowing you too well. You nodded and sighed. You leaned down and retrieved his arrows from the fallen walkers and handed them back to him as Dog circled you both happily. You stared into his wounded eyes and then headed back inside. He soon followed, closing the door behind him. 

“You shouldn’t be here.” You said. 

“I take off on my own all the time, they ain’t gotta know I’m with you.” He fiddled with the arrows still in his hand. 

“They will.” You lectured.  “I don’t care.” He said. 

You swallowed harshly in realization as he stepped closer to where you stood. “What about Lydia?” 

“She’s in the safest place she could be.” He reminded you. You hesitantly nodded. “Y/n, I’m sorry.” 

“Why are you here Daryl?” You asked. 

“Because me and you...” He pointed back and forth. “We’re supposed to stick together. We’ve known that since day one.” He said, getting even closer. “Because I chose you over them. Like I should’ve a long time ago. Even if you are a pain in the ass.” 

“Oh.” Your voice barely worked and a tear left your right eye as he placed his hand on your cheek and wiped it away, smearing the dirt on your face and trying to wipe it all clean. “And?” You choked back more tears.

“I wanna understand why you did what you did. I wanna know more about your past and I don’t want to judge you for it.” He stated. You sighed, knowing you had to tell him the whole truth. And you expected him to leave. Your truth would keep him safe, keep him a part of the community you lost because he would be too angry to stay out here with you. You grabbed his hand and removed it from your face. 

“Daryl, Negan kissed me.” You said, ashamed. His blue eyes grew startled and he kept his hand down but he didn’t move away. “He said he wants me back.”

“What are you trying to say?” He feared what you might say next. 

“Just wanted you to know, that’s all.” You said. “I let him out because Lydia was right. Because I’ve seen a side of him that cares.” You admitted. “So have you, with Lydia and Judith.” Daryl huffed and his fear grew. “I don’t think he deserves a pass on anything he’s done, he probably does deserve to die.” You shook your head. “But thinking like that, like him...I don’t want that for myself. Or for you. Or for Lydia. We have to show her there’s a better way, after everything she’s been through and how she grew up, we have to Daryl.” You slightly raised your voice at him and he listened, intrigued. “We’ve all killed. We all probably deserve to die in someones eyes.” He gulped loudly, respecting your views. “He needs to show you all he can be better, even if it gets him killed I believe he wants to. I need you to trust me.” You urged. Daryl’s expression lightened and his stiffened stance relaxed. He nodded. 

“Okay.” He said sincerly. There was a short pause.

“Also, with all that being said, I’ve only ever wanted you. I’ve been in fake, unhealthy relationships. There was a time, I wondered if that’s all there was. But it was never like that with you. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about him but I honestly never thought I’d see him again. And you’ve kept things from me and seriously, that’s okay.” You added. He nodded. 

“Okay.” He said again. “I’m not very good at the whole talking thing, but I promise I will try with you.” 

“One last thing.” You began before letting what he said sink in. “You can’t give up what you have back there.” You shrugged. “Lydia deserves to stay there and she needs you.” 

“So what do you want? You want me to leave?” He calmly asked you. 

“What do you want?” You redirected.

“You.” He quickly replied, without hesitation. “You.” He repeated. Your breathing increased but your chest felt lighter. 

“Really?” You asked, letting more tears fall. He nodded and brought his face in to kiss you. His bottom lip slowly and lightly grazed yours, desperately only wanting you for himself and deciding he would have to make that happen. You eagerly leaned into him, massaging his tongue with yours. He placed a hand on each side of your face to fully embrace you, then quickly removed your jacket and shirt in between quick pecks while you bit your lip, initiating the nights amazing ending.

__________________

@jodiereedus22 @dashesoflipstick @theunofficialduke @dixonluvv @nikki082489 @jordangdelacruz​ @lunatheumbreon @dbtvluv​I

So you got Daryl back. Yay! But what’s to come then with Negan? 

Thanks for reading!

<<Chapter 14, >>Chapter 16

[teenwolffanclub-me]

Season 1, Episode 5: The Tell (Part One)

Hey there beautiful reader! If you’re new here, this is a series I’m writing where each chapter is an episode from the first season of Teen Wolf. If you’ve been here before, hey! I missed you! Previous and future chapters are linked at the end of each part if you want to catch up.

Pairing: Stiles x Psychic! Reader (eventually)

P.S. Stiles and Y/N have a sleepover (things are happening!!) and Jackson just got on the struggle bus.

                                                    ----------------

“Whoa, whoa. Slow down.” I sat forward in the passenger seat and put a calming hand on Allison’s arm. 

She took a deep breath and slowly relaxed her iron grip on the steering wheel. If she kept freaking out the way she was, we’d be laying in a ditch instead of making it to school.

“I’m telling you, Y/N. Something is really not right.” Her voice trembled as she spoke, clearly very upset. 

“Just...start over.” I shook my head, not even clear about what she was trying to tell me.

She let out a slow sigh. “Last night, I found broken glass on the window of my aunt’s car.”

“Okay?” I prodded, glancing at the road to make sure she was driving straight again. 

“So they both lied! My dad said she needed a jump, and she said she ran out of gas. Clearly something else happened if her window was broken. But...that isn't even the worst part.”

I nodded encouragingly so she would continue. She needed to just spit it out already. I really wanted to know if this freak out was supernatural related or not. After helping save Derek’s life and learning that the Argents are werewolf hunters, it was hard for me to believe that anything in this town wasn't supernatural related. 

“I heard her and my dad talking.” Her knuckles turned white again as her grip tightened on the wheel. “She said she was attacked by something. And...and that she shot Derek Hale.”

I choked on my own spit and began coughing aggressively, but she didn't seem to notice beyond her growing hysterics. 

“They were talking about packs, and an alpha, and some code...and I sound crazy, don't I?” Tears were streaming down her face now and my chest tightened uncomfortably. 

I wanted to tell her everything. She was so close to figuring it out on her own, anyway, but Scott and Stiles had made me swear not to tell anyone the things I’d learned. I knew it would be dangerous for Scott, but what about Allison? She was caught up in this too, she just had no idea. How would she protect herself if she didn't even know what was going on half the time?

“Hey, no, no. You don't sound crazy at all.” I soothed, placing my hand back on her arm. She let out a quiet sob and sniffled, wiping her nose with her sleeve. “That’s definitely weird. What do you think it means?”

She threw her hands up, suddenly angry. The tears were gone. “I don't know.” She looked my way, determination swimming behind her eyes. “But I’m going to find out.”

                                                      -----------------

“Hoosiers is not only the best basketball movie ever, it’s the best sports movie ever made.”

“No.”

“It’s got Gene Hackman and Dennis Hopper.”

“No.”

“Lydia, I swear to God, you’re gonna like it!”

“No.”

“I am not watching The Notebook again.”

The car fell into silence. I just rolled my eyes at Jackson and Lydia’s bickering. It was all you could do, really. The two of them fought so much, I was honestly surprised they were still together. They had quite possibly the most toxic relationship I’d ever seen. 

Lydia turned and looked at him expectantly, and he folded. Like he always did. Allison snickered from beside me, enjoying his pain way too much. It was bad enough the poor guy had to have a movie night with his girlfriend and her two best friends. The least we could do was pick a movie everyone would enjoy.

He moved to get out of the car, and a sudden wave of nausea hit me. I clutched at my stomach and winced. 

“You okay?” Allison turned to me, her brow furrowing in concern. 

As he walked toward the store, my uneasy feeling only got worse. I knew I had to go with him, or something terrible was going to happen. 

“I’m gonna go help him.” I huffed and popped my door open. 

Lydia rolled her eyes and pulled her phone out, opening the camera to take selfies under the florescent lights. “Suit yourself.”

Once inside, Jackson and I walked through the narrow isles. The shelves were small, only coming up to my shoulder, so we got a clear view of the entire store. It was completely deserted, which only added to my anxiety. It was a week night, sure, but there was no way we should be the only people in here. 

“Can someone help me find The Notebook?” Jackson called, only to be met with eerie silence. “Hello?”

“Is anybody even working here?” I asked, my eyes shifting up to one of the lights that was flickering above us. There was a ladder beneath it, suggesting that someone was here at one point. On the other side of the store, the phone began ringing. 

“You’ve gotta be kidding me.” Jackson muttered, clearly annoyed by the whole situation. 

I got the impression that he wasn’t picking up the weird energy in here the way I was. Something just wasn't right. I could feel it. 

Just then, I caught sight of a pair of shoes at the end of an isle in front of us. But they weren't standing there browsing like us. No, they were laying down, almost as if they were...

“Jackson.” I breathed, and he stopped beside me. “We should go.”

He just scoffed and continued walking. “You know Lydia will kill me if I don't get this movie.”

I couldn't take my eyes off the shoes. My heart began racing in my chest. He seemed to finally take notice as his quick steps faltered.

“What the hell is that?” He kept moving toward it, so I had no choice but to follow. 

I didn't want to be alone in here, even if he was only a few feet away. I shuffled close to his back and peered around his shoulder as we approached the shoes. A gasp tore through me as the sight of a dead man came into view. He was slumped over against the shelf, his throat slashed open. Blood coated every nearby surface. I staggered back a step, horrified. 

Jackson did the same, accidentally knocking over the ladder that was just behind him. The lights flickered and sparks shot out of the ceiling panel as the whole thing came crashing down. A deep, animalistic growl sounded from the other end of the store and we both froze. 

We weren't alone. 

We shared a wide-eyed look, both of our breathing labored. I turned and, through the darkness, saw two glowing red eyes. The thing growled again and I shoved Jackson behind a nearby shelf, choosing the one next to it for myself. I pressed my back against the hard surface, trying to slow my rapid breathing. This was so not the time to have a panic attack. 

Jackson’s terrified eyes met mine before he slowly leaned around to see what was going on. At the sound of shuffling, he whipped back into place. I swallowed thickly, my body beginning to tremble with fear. A few movies were knocked off a nearby shelf and I stiffened. It was close.

Then, each shelf in the line Jackson was hiding in began tumbling down. I called his name in a panic, but it was too late. Within seconds, he was trapped beneath the heavy pile. He tried to jump out of the way, so only his lower half ended up caught. But he still couldn't move. 

He struggled for a few seconds before I stood to help. At the sound of heavy breathing, I froze. I was completely paralyzed by fear. I couldn't have moved even if I wanted to. All I could do was watch as the most terrifying monster I’d ever seen hovered over him. 

It was all black, and huge. It looked like it was covered in fur, but I couldn't see very well under the low lighting. It huffed out harsh breaths as it inspected Jackson, it’s head tilting back and forth as it did. It had a long snout, like a dog, and razor sharp teeth. It lifted a giant paw and delicately peeled back the collar of Jackson’s leather jacket with its long claws. It’s head lifted slowly, it’s bright red eyes locking on mine. 

And then, it was gone. It bolted toward the entrance and jumped through one of the windows, which shattered instantly. A high pitched scream echoed through the night as the thing fled the scene. 

I jumped to my feet to help Jackson, who seemed frozen in shock. He had no idea what the hell just happened, but I had a guess.

It was the alpha. It had to be.

                                                   ------------------

I sat beside Lydia, my arm wrapped around her shoulders comfortingly. She was still shaking twenty minutes later. After the alpha ran off, she and Allison had come barreling into the store. They saw the dead body, rightfully freaked out, and helped me free Jackson. 

An ambulance arrived shortly after, which is where we all sat now. I was shaken up, yes, but I more so just wanted my questions answered. I wanted to know who the alpha was, and why they were running around murdering innocent people in Beacon Hills.

Sirens sounded close by and the Sheriff’s car pulled up. My eyes instantly found Stiles through the passenger window. His lips parted in shock and he moved to take his seatbelt off, but his dad put an arm across his chest. He said something, and Stiles sagged against his seat looking defeated. 

As soon as the Sheriff stepped out, he practically smooshed his face against the window to get a closer look at the scene. 

“Paul, let’s get this area locked up.” The Sheriff called, putting on a pair of back gloves as he walked our way. 

A crowd had gathered, too, which only raised my anxiety. There was a chance the alpha could come back, and I didn't think it would stop at just one victim this time. 

“Why the hell can’t I just go home? I’m fine.” Jackson barked at Sheriff Stilinski the second he joined us. 

“I hear ya, but the EMT says you hit your head pretty hard. They just wanna make sure you don't have a concussion.” The Sheriff tried to reason with him, something I’d learned was almost always a losing effort. 

“What part of I’m fine are you not grasping? Okay? I want to go home.” Jackson took a step into his personal space and raised his voice. 

Lydia frowned and laid her head into my chest, so I pulled her in tighter. The small glimpse she’d gotten of the alpha had really scared her, and now Jackson was making it worse by refusing to cooperate.

“And I understand—”

“No, you don't understand!” Jackson only got louder. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Stiles slowly getting out of his dads car. “Which kind of blows my mind because it should be a pretty basic concept to grasp for a minimum wage rent-a-cop like you! Now, I want to go home!”

A beat of tense silence passed before two paramedics rolled a gurney out of the store. I grimaced, knowing exactly what was under the white sheet. 

“Oh, whoa! Is that a dead body?” Stiles called, drawing everyone’s attention to him. 

His dad sent him a disappointed glare and he awkwardly slithered back into the car, his cheeks turning pink.

“Everybody back up.” The Sheriff sighed. “Back up.”

                                                   ------------------

I turned onto my right side, squeezing my eyes shut tightly. With a huff, I flipped onto my back and tugged my blanket over my head. I forced my eyes to remain closed despite the horrible images flashing behind them. I’d been trying to sleep for hours, but I couldn't stop thinking about the alpha. 

I’d been so close to dying. I mean, it had looked right at me. But it didn't hurt me or Jackson. I wanted to know why. It didn't make any sense. The thing hadn't hesitated to kill the movie store employee, so why let us go?

I froze as the sound of rustling outside my window caught my attention. Slowly, I lowered the blanket and swept my eyes across the room. I was still alone. I was completely alone, actually. Mom was working the night shift again. I chewed on my bottom lip as I realized I still hadn't told her what happened. What would I even say?

Hey, mom. I ran into a homicidal werewolf tonight, but it’s all good. It let me go for some reason.

She would definitely make us move again, and I couldn't let that happen. I was starting to really like it here, despite the weird and dangerous situations I kept getting thrown into. 

Just then, my window was shoved open and something thumped to the hardwood floors. I bolted upright and shoved my back against my bedroom wall, trying to get as far away from whatever it was as possible. My breath hitched and my throat constricted painfully. 

My mind was racing. It could be the alpha coming back to kill me, or a random burglar, or maybe something worse. The thing moved around on my floor with a groan. 

With trembling fingers I fished for my phone in my heap of blankets. Once I found it, I slowly turned the flashlight on, making sure it wasn't visible yet. I took a deep breath and prepared myself for the worst before jerking it upward. 

A scream tore through me as the light illuminated a very startled looking Stiles, who was standing at the edge of my bed. He squinted and covered his eyes before smiling sheepishly. I put a hand on my chest and let my phone fall onto the bed. My heart was still pounding as I leaned across my mattress to flick on the lamp. 

“God, Stiles. What the hell are you doing?” My voice sounded angry and breathless, even to my own ears. 

He played with his fingers and raised his eyebrows. “Checking on you.” 

A few beats of silence passed between us, and I realized that tears had gathered in my eyes. That was so unnecessarily terrifying. 

“In the middle of the night.” I deadpanned, trying to calm my racing heart. 

“Yeah.” He smiled his charming lopsided smile, as if he didn't realize how that was so majorly not okay. 

“You can’t just sneak into my house to check on me.” I insisted, despite the way my chest swelled at the thought of him worrying about me. 

“Well, I couldn't just knock. It's the middle of the night.” He chuckled quietly at his own joke. 

I sent him a glare and an unwanted tear escaped the corner of my eye. I internally cursed myself for not wiping them away earlier. His face softened at the sight and I looked away from him, embarrassed. He quickly closed the distance between us, kneeling on my bed with one knee. 

“Hey, I’m sorry.” His voice dropped to a whisper as he cupped my cheek and caught my tear with his thumb. “I wasn't thinking. I’ll go.”

My hand wrapped around his wrist before he could fully pull away. “Will you stay?” 

Now that he was here, I realized how much I didn't want to be alone right now. My overaction just now showed me how much I was actually worked up over this whole thing. I’d pushed it away earlier, but I was still really scared. 

Stiles nodded with a small smile. His warm caramel eyes flickered over my face and he cleared his throat before releasing his hold on me and pushing himself up off my bed. He rubbed at the back of his neck awkwardly and glanced around my room. 

I chewed on my bottom lip and fiddled with the blankets at my waist. “You can sit, you know.”

His eyes widened. “Uh. Yeah. I was just, you know...um.”

“Relax, Stilinski. I’m not gonna take advantage of you.” I rolled my eyes with a chuckle. I’d never seen him so uncomfortable. 

“Right. Obviously. Okay. Um...how do you...where should I...?” He scratched at the side of his head and didn't look any closer to moving, so I grabbed one of his hands and pulled him down.

He flailed at the unexpected movement and flopped onto the bed next to me. He scrambled up instantly and pushed his back up against my headboard. He sat there, stiff as a board, his legs crossed and his hands at his sides. 

I laughed at his frenzied state. “You’re the one that climbed into my window. Why are you being such a spaz?”

“I didn’t think I’d get this far.” He muttered and started playing with his hands again. “I’ve never, uh...been in a girls bed before.”

My eyebrows rose in surprise. He was an attractive guy, so I found that a little hard to believe. “Seriously?”

“Yes, I know. My lack of sexual experience is laughable.” He finally looked at me and rolled his eyes in annoyance. 

I shifted into a more comfortable position, letting my legs stretch out in front of me. I leaned back on my hands, now facing Stiles. Our feet were almost touching. 

“It’s not that. I haven’t either. Been in a guys bed, I mean.” I stammered, suddenly feeling nervous. I hadn't been alone with a guy in a long time. And it was Stiles. He always made me just a little flustered. 

His gaze lifted from his hands slowly, his eyes moving across my legs, then my torso, before finally stopping on my face. I swallowed under his intense stare, unable to look away from his eyes. They were so beautiful, and expressive. When he was happy, they shimmered with a light honey color. If he was scared or angry, they dulled just a little into more of a burnt caramel. Right now there was an unreadable emotion swirling in them. 

I decided to go out on a limb. “Have you ever...kissed a girl?”

I watched his breath catch in his throat as his lips parted. He stammered, looking shocked by my question, and I could’ve sworn he started hyperventilating. “A c-couple.”

“Then you’re not a lost cause.” I sighed. That meant he had me beat. I’d never stayed in one place long enough to have a boyfriend. I hadn't even had my first kiss yet. It was pretty pathetic, actually. 

“Have you?” He asked, sounding breathless. 

I chuckled, deciding it couldn't hurt to mess with him a bit. “Kissed a girl?” 

His cocked his head in annoyance and looked at me expectantly. 

“Um.” I was back to chewing on my lip uncomfortably. “No. I haven't.”

“Nice.” He let out a relieved huff with a small smile, but backtracked at the sight of my glare. “I mean, it’s just good to know I’m not the only one who sucks at that stuff.”

I rolled my eyes. “Whatever.”

Feeling a sudden wave of tiredness wash over me, I pushed myself up onto my knees and leaned across the bed to flick my light off. I realized too late, after my arm was already outstretched toward the switch, that I had gotten myself way too close to Stiles. Our faces were only inches apart, and I was practically sitting on top of him. 

His throat bobbed as he gulped. His eyes trailed over my form slowly, starting with my bare legs that rested on either side of his. Oh yeah, I’d completely forgotten that I was only wearing an oversized t-shirt. Up until now, my lower half had been covered up by my blankets, but they’d fallen away when I moved. 

Stiles’ eyes met mine and my breath caught. I only had a split second to study the mix of emotions in them before he glanced down at my lips. 

Oh, God. Is this really about to happen?

My eyes fluttered shut as we inched closer together. I wasn't even trying to. It was like my body had developed a mind of it’s own. His nose brushed against mine, then his lips in a feather light touch, just as thunder suddenly cracked in the distance. 

We bolted away from each other, both breathing heavily. We shared a long, wide-eyed look while trying to collect ourselves. 

“Um—” I started, my heart going right back to beating erratically. 

I can’t believe I just almost kissed Stiles. My friend. What the hell am I thinking?

“I...” He looked petrified by what had just happened. His eyes were wide and his whole face was beet red.  

“Sorry.” We both muttered in unison. 

A long beat of silence passed between us, and I cleared my throat, feeling incredibly awkward.

“That was...um...”

“I can go.” Stiles interrupted, but didn't move a muscle. “If you want.”

I chewed on my bottom lip, surely about to break the skin this time, and shook my head. I still didn't want to be alone. “It’s okay. Just turn off the light.”

He nodded in understanding and complied, blanketing us in darkness instantly. I crawled beneath my comforter, silently offering him to do the same. Within minutes I was fast asleep, surprised by how peaceful it felt to lay beside him. 

And, for the first time since moving here, I didn't have a single dream. 

Episode 4       Episode 5, Part Two

[afterglowwritings]

Tied Together With A Smile | Stiles Stilinski

A/N: Please don’t read this if any of the dark themes trigger you. I love all of you and I really don’t want y’all to. This was previously posted on my main @beemysunshinex​ .

Pairing: Stiles Stilinski x Reader x Appearance from Scott McCall

Word Count: 1.9k+

Warning(s): some fluff, angst, swearing, comforting!stiles, insecure and depressed reader, mentions of self-harm, mention of cheating bastard.

“Please pick up, Stiles..” I whisper under my breath while holding the phone to my ear.  I wipe my nose with the sleeve of my sweater and the phone rings a couple more times but then goes to voicemail. I hang up and put my face in my hands. I let the tears run down my cheeks because honestly, I didn’t know what else to do. I knew getting in a relationship again was a bad idea but my friends coaxed me into giving him a chance. Why was I so fucking stupid for trusting him?

My phone starts to ring and I jump at the sudden vibration in my lap. I look down at my phone and saw Stiles picture pop up on the screen. I click the accept button and put the call on speaker.

“Hey, Stiles…” I said sniffling. 

“Hey, Y/N/N, you alright? You seem upset…” He said worriedly. I sighed and started to tear up again.

“Are you busy r-right now?” My voice falters and I just let my tears fall because he’ll eventually find out anyway.

“I’m on my way, I’ll be there in 5.” He says quickly and hangs up.

I get up from my bedroom floor and walk to the kitchen. I stop in the hallway and wipe my eyes so hopefully, he doesn’t notice that I was crying just a few seconds ago. I enter the kitchen and see my dad, sitting on a stool at the island with a cola in his hand. I sit down across from him and he looks up at me, furrowing his eyebrows.

“What’s wrong Y/N/N?” He tilts his head while setting down his cola can on the marble counter. I sigh and run my finger through my hair. I try my best not to show that I was upset or heartbroken because he already has enough on his plate.

“Stiles is coming over to talk to me and help me with a project I’m struggling with…” I lie. I look at my dad trying to get him to believe me. He has a way of figuring out when I’m lying. He squints his eyes a bit but nods. I mentally sighed in relief. “We are going to be on the porch, which means I need to go get my textbook out of my car. I’ll be right back.” I get up from the stool and grab my keys from the hanger by the front door. As I was about to walk out the front door, my dad grabs my arm gently and pulls me into a hug.

“I’m here to talk if you need me Y/N/N...whatever you’re going through it’s going to get better.” He hugs me for a minute and let’s go of me. I give him a small smile and a nod. Just then I hear a vehicle pull into our driveway, I look out the screen door and sure enough, there is Stiles already halfway up our driveway. I walk out and my dad is right behind me.

“Hey, Stiles!” my dad calls to him as he is getting in his police cruiser. Stiles waves and smiles at him. I turn and sit down on one of the porch chairs while watching my dad turn on his radio. Stiles walks up the porch steps and sits down next to me in a white rocking chair. I wait until my dad is out of the driveway and halfway down the road before I break down again. I let all my emotions come out. Stiles was in front of me in seconds making the rocking chair rock back and forth so hard it was hitting the siding of the house. I cover my face but he removed them seconds later, making me look at him.

“Y/N/N, what happened?” He says softly, still holding my hands in his. The memory comes back in flashes and I shake my head, trying to remove the scene in my head.

“He cheated on me, Stiles…” My voice trails away back into the scene in my mind. Stiles makes a noise between a growl and a sigh. He wipes my tears away with the sleeve of his navy blue jacket.

“Scott and I had a bad feeling about him from the start, but we didn’t tell you because you looked happy and cheerful, that’s something we haven’t seen in a while since your mom passed. We just wanted you to be happy.” He pulls me into his arms and holds me. I wrap my arms around his torso and bury my face into the crook of his neck.

“He cheated on me with some girl in the same Biology class as us. I don’t remember her name…” I sniffled and Stiles started rubbing my back. He smooths down my hair and leans his head against the side of mine.

“How did you find out, Y/N?” He pulls away and looks into my eyes. I take a shaky breath and sigh.

“I walked in on them, you know..” I lowered my gaze to my hands, thinking back to seeing her on her knees in front of Dylan, naked and his pants pulled down to his ankles. A few tears escape down my face. Stiles face turns a crimson red and his eyes get darker.

“He is a dead man.” He looks at you once again and some of the anger subsides but is still enraged. My tears start to slow down and my mind is going in 50 different places. I look up at Stiles and he is texting someone, most likely Scott, telling him to get his ass over at my place.

“You texting Scott?” I said softly, my nerves calming down. I pull my sweater sleeves over my hands and sniffle. Stiles looks up from me and nods. The anger in his face disappeared but the disappointment set in. Stiles really wanted you to find happiness because you deserved it and he knew that. I get up from the chair, heading towards the front door about to get some water until I heard a Mustang drive into my driveway. Stiles stands up and is glaring at the car that just pulled in. Scott pulls in just after the Mustang and Stiles stands in front of me, as Dylan gets out of his car. Scott slams his car door and walks up to Dylan, ready for a fight. Dylan was standing his ground when him and Scott got in his face.

“What makes you think you can just go sleep with some random girl while dating Y/N!? Are you fucking kidding me?” That is when I decided to intervene because I knew if I didn’t then it will end very badly. 

“Dylan, you need to leave right now!” I stood next to Stiles, holding onto his jacket so he doesn’t go charging after Dylan. “Scott! Back down!” I yelled at both of the boys. 

“Y/N, he deserves his face beat into the concrete!” He was looking at me in disbelief but I motioned him to come here. Scott backs up first and walks up to the porch where Stiles and I am.

“You heard her! Leave! You fucking prick!” Stiles yelled, his face going back to that color, crimson red. His fists were balled up, waiting for me to let him go. I pull Stiles inside the house and I have Scott come in too. Dylan yells after us but I slam the door before he could say anymore.

“You two need to calm down, I know he cheated on me but you two do not need to be getting in fights outside of my house! My dad would kill both of you and then me!” I plopped down on the couch and ran my hand through my hair. I hear Scott get into the fridge and then sit down next to me along with Stiles sitting on my left side of me.

“How are you handling this better than we are?” Scott says and looks at me curiously. I shrugged and thought about it for a second.

“Honestly, I don’t know but what I do know is that I appreciate both of you coming to comfort me and help me through it. Oh and willing to kick a guys ass for me. That was really sweet…” I smile and side glance at Scott and then at Stiles.

“You know, I can’t tell if you’re being sarcastic right now or if you’re being honest..” Scott chuckles and Stiles chimes in laughing also. I roll my eyes and smile.

“I’m being honest. That was very sweet of you two to want to protect me and I really appreciate that from you. It made me feel like I wasn’t alone.” I sigh and take a sip of my cola that I left on the coffee table earlier.

~little while later~

“Well I have to get home or my mother will have my head…literally.” Scott sighs and stands up. I nod and give him a hug. “Call me if you need anything, Y/N/N. Okay?” I nod and smile at him. Stiles sits up and looks at me. I raise an eyebrow at him and I sit down slowly.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” He pulls me close to him and holds me.

“Stiles? What is going on?” I pull away and look at him. I furrow my eyebrows, trying to figure out what he is doing.

“Y/N/N, I saw your arm when your sleeve was raised a little bit. I just want to make you feel loved because you are. I don’t want you to ever think you’re alone. You’re an amazing girl and you deserve someone who is going to treat you right and I hope maybe you find him or her soon.” He smiles softly at me and lifts my sleeve, exposing the scratches on my forearm. He gets up and gets the first aid kit from under the kitchen sink. He comes back and has it already open getting band-aids and some triple-antibiotic.

“I love you, Stiles.” I blurt out, instantly my face turning red. He smiles and looks at me.

“Wow. That took you long enough to figure out.” He chuckles. I playfully punch his arm and smile.

“Oh, shut up Stiles, it probably took Scott smacking you up the back of your head for you to realize you didn’t actually like Lydia…” I rolled my eyes and turned my head to the tv. I could see him smirking out of the corner of my eye.

“Well, now that you have that prick out of your life...want to go to the movies?” He said nonchalantly. I give him my arm for him to clean and put bandages on, I smile at him.

“Wow. Already trying to get a date with me.” I laugh and he glares at me, then smirks. He smears the triple-antibiotic on my forearm gently and placing band-aids on my arm. 

“You’re the one who said I love you first..you can’t just blurt that out and then expect the guy not to ask you out…it doesn’t work like that.” He grins.

“Whatever, Stiles…”  I smirk.

“So is that a yes…?” He wiggles his eyebrows at me and I let out a small giggle and nod. “By the way, I love you too.”

[thedeviltohisangel]

He’s A God, He’s A Man: 12

I’ve got her forever.

masterlist is my url/writing.

It was difficult for Lydia to sneak away from Tommy after the events with the car. Luckily, she had had the help of Polly. Polly was beginning to get nervous for the safety of Ada and her unborn child if she kept down the path of trusting Freddie and not looking out for herself first and foremost. Which is why Polly had slipped Lydia a piece of information. The address of Stanley Chapman.

“I could use this for a bargain perhaps,” Lydia murmured around her teacup of whisky. She thinks that is what Polly was getting at but she wanted to make sure before she went to pass it along.

“I think that is what any woman with a head on her shoulders would do,” Polly hummed in agreement. So it was settled. Polly created a crisis at the betting shop big enough to pull Tommy from his current role of nurse to Lydia, then she quietly slipped away to meet with Campbell.

“Your message said you have an address for me,” Campbell stated without any warmth behind his voice as he watched Lydia appear in the statue hall.

“The address of Stanley Chapman.” Lydia pulled the piece of paper from her purse and handed it to the Inspector. He merely looked at it.

“I asked for Freddie Thorne.”

“This is instead of Freddie Thorne.” Campbell rolled his eyes and walked ahead of her by a few steps.

“No deal.”

“He’s a bigger fish than Freddie. He has cash on him right this moment that is a gift from the Russian Government.” That got his attention. Lydia leaned into. “If he talks, you’ll have proof.”

“Have you dirtied yourself so much in Tommy Shelby’s sheets that you are now risking yourself to protect that nasty family?” Campbell reached for the paper but Lydia quickly pulled it back from his reach.

“You let Ada and Freddie leave the city.”

“Very well.” Lydia let him grab the paper. “You should know, Miss Wilson, that Mr. Churchill is getting quite impatient. If the guns take any longer to materialize, then I fear I may be replaced. And my replacement may not be as amenable to your requests.” She held his stare unwavering.

“And you say this for my sake?” She felt safe in Birmingham now. She knew what Tommy and his family were capable. If she lost the protection of Campbell, Tommy would protect her better than he ever could anyways.

“I would do things that would shame the devil on my last day. Starting by making sure that scum lover of yours has his head stoved in with a shovel or mallet. His sister and her unborn child wouldn’t be spared. I’d spare the littlest one. Shove him into an adult prison where men have an appetite for little boys like him. Don’t make it so my decision comes before yours,” he finished. Lydia tightened her hand around the handle of the pistol in her purse but didn’t pull it out.

“Need I remind you, Mr. Campbell, how far over even Winston Churchill’s head my stepfather can go?” she whispered back menacingly. He merely held her gaze until she got sick of looking at him, Lydia turning around and holding her head high as she left the scene. Polly would handle delivering the news of the deal to Ada and Freddie along with the funds for them to take a train out of Birmingham and far, far away. If she could leverage this horrid deal with Campbell to the benefit of her newfound family, then that is what she was going to do.

----

“Gentleman and my lady,” Tommy said with a nod and smile in the direction of Lydia, “I have in my hand the first legal betting license for the Shelby family.” He offered the crowd one of his most genuine smiles as they erupted into cheers and applause. Lydia giggled against his lips as he wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her in for a happy, celebratory kiss.

“You’re a real business, Thomas,” she whispered with a smile. They pulled their faces away but kept their bodies close. “Congratulations.” She hadn’t been there physically every step of the way but she had always been in the back of Tommy’s mind. He was always working to honor her memory in some way. Honor the sacrifice he thought she had made at the hospital in France.

“A man deserving of meeting your mother?” Lydia looked at him quizzically.

“Where did that come from?”

“Turning parts of the business legitimate, it’s not for me. It’s for you. It’s for us. I know this isn’t the world you grew up in. Probably isn’t the world you imagined yourself living in but I want to change that if I can. Make my life a place you feel like you belong. Make my company feel like something you can support and be a part of.” Tommy knew having one piece of his business being honest did not make him an honest man. But it was a step in that direction. He didn’t want his future with Lydia to have to operate underground. She deserved to be able to stand proudly in the light.

“Oh, Tommy, I am sorry if I ever made you feel like you needed to change in order for me to be proud of you or to show you off.” If only she had known he was harboring these feelings about not being adequate enough to meet her family and take a place officially in her life. She would have quelled those fears instantly.

“When I reach the top of the mountain, I want you standing there beside me.”

“There is no place I would rather be.” They sealed their promise with a kiss.

----

“Arthur these cigarettes smell like they’ve gone rotten in transit,” Lydia said as her face scrunched up at the odor. “They have bite marks too like rats have gotten to them.” She carried the box she had opened over to the bar where the newest owner of The Garrison sat looking through papers.

“All the wharves have rats,” he replied simply.

“Can we find a better way to transit our products then? So we can spend money on better quality items?” Arthur didn’t answer her, just continuing to tap against the paper. “Tommy mentioned taking more of the business legal. Starting small, here in The Garrison, seems like a good plan.”

“Tommy also doesn’t want you involved in the operations of the Shelby family that aren’t legal so keep your questions about the cigarettes to yourself.” Lydia rolled her eyes in frustration. Of course Tommy was now spreading his over protective nature to his brothers. He was creating a shield around her that she did not ask for.

“I just want to help where I can. Not feel like dead weight around here.” Ever since she was old enough to, Lydia had been striving for independence. She worked when she didn’t have to. Abandoned the comforts of the posh, upper class life that had been offered to her and forged a path on her own. Tommy Shelby was not going to be an obstacle in her way.

“If you want to help, you can check my adding up.” Arthur turned the papers towards her. “He doesn’t do it because he wants to stifle you but because he wants to protect you. Tommy doesn’t know any other way.” Lydia’s hand paused where she was correcting one of Arthur’s mathematical errors.

“He doesn’t obey the law but he has rules. Tommy is a very precise man who doesn’t do anything by accident.” Lydia turned the paper back to Arthur and grabbed a bottle of whisky from behind the bar and two glasses, one for her and one for Arthur.

“Tommy is the reason for our family’s success. I fight him once in awhile but without him, we wouldn’t all be together.” Lydia thought about the future her and Tommy had planned for themselves back in France. How they would buy a house in the countryside. Plenty of grass and rolling hills for the horses Tommy was going to train. Plenty of room for her to have a flower garden and some vegetables. They’d have little ones running between their legs. Desperate to help weed or ride horses or go exploring with the dogs. She hopes there was still a life out there for her that resembled such a dream.

“He shoulders all of it. I just want to share in that burden with him. Be a true partner.” Both of them drained their glasses in one gulp.

“If he lets you, you’ll be the luckiest person in the world.”

“And why is that?”

“Because Tommy doesn’t let anyone in. He’s tougher to crack than No Man’s Land. You’d have the keys to the kingdom.” She thought about what he said for the moment.

“Do you trust me to protect him?” she asked. So much was made about Tommy protecting her but she was just as protective of him.

“You can hold your whisky so that’s a good sign.” Lydia smiled at him, grateful for at least that. “You know I love you like a sister, Lydia, but Tommy is my blood. I will always have one eye looking out for him.” It was his polite way of saying that he would never fully trust her. That Tommy would always take precedent and he would always be watching to make sure she stayed in line.

“I can respect that,” she said as she refilled their glasses and clinked them together.

“Was my math correct?” Arthur asked as he finally returned his attention to the paper she had given back to him.

“It is now that I’ve redone it,” she giggled. Arthur just shook his head with a smile.

----

After the ups and downs of the past few days, Lydia felt like she needed to center herself. She had been forced to make religion a big part of her life when she was younger, her belief fading a bit as she spent time on the battlefield in France. But something inside of her was telling her to light a candle and say a prayer. That remembering the lighter parts of her past and reconnecting with her spirituality would do her good in this new and confusing world she found herself living in. She found her mother’s prayer veil tucked in a drawer of her flat and made her way to the church down the street. At first Lydia had been nervous she would now know what to say. That it had been so long she had forgotten how to do it. But the thoughts wouldn’t stop coming once she let the first one out. She started by praying that her mother was okay. That she would forgive Lydia for leaving for England. She prayed for Thomas. That he would be protected as he embarked on his war against Kimber. She didn’t pray for victory, only his well being once it was all said and done. Finally, she prayed for herself. That she would be able to entangle herself from the web of Campbell. That there was a happy future for her no matter who was in it. That would day she would feel fulfilled.

“Arthur said you’ve been asking questions.” The serenity of the church was interrupted as Tommy came strolling in.

“I was just trying to help,” she replied with a defeated sigh. “You’re wasting money on product that is being destroyed before you have the chance to sell it.” Tommy scoffed.

“And what do you know about running a business?”

“Nothing. I’m just a barmaid.” She stood and turned to face him. His breath caught in his throat at the sight of her in her veil. The lace was dainty as it draped across her face, the shadows and light of the candles flickering across her cheeks. She looked like the angel he already knew she was. He had dreamt about her in the veil of a bride before. This felt like the forbidden fruit being dangled in front of him.

“I’ve actually been meaning to talk to you about the future of your employment at The Garrison. I’m firing you.”

“Thomas-” He held up a hand to stop her.

“This came in the mail for you today.” In the top corner was the Bellevue Hospital School of Nursing. Her name was on the front. She had a feeling what it was before she opened it, tears pricking at the corner of her eyes. 

“What did you do?” she warbled as she finally slid the paper from the envelope. She read just enough to see that she had been accepted into their nursing program.

“I sent in your application. Paid your first year up front. You don’t belong here as a barmaid in a rundown pub. You belong somewhere you can save lives. Do what it is you’ve always wanted. I won’t let myself be the reason you hold yourself back.” He had been thinking about this ever since the incident at Kimber’s house. Lydia was so much more than that. Deserved so much more than him and this life. He’d force her out if he had to.

“Tommy I don’t know how I ended up finding you in France, how I ended up finding you again here, but I know I am meant to be with you. This school is all the way in New York-”

“I know. I’ve booked your passage on a ship.” She shook her head.

“I can’t go. Not knowing what I’m leaving behind.” Lydia stepped closer to him, Tommy reaching up to wipe the tears from under her eyes.

“You have to. You have to get out of here. Away from me and my business. It’s safer that way. You’ll be happier.”

“I can’t accept this. Not unless you come with me.” She thinks that would be a fair compromise. Tommy would get his wish of her pursuing nursing school, getting out of Birmingham and she would get her wish of Tommy by her side forever. “You can meet my family like we’ve been talking about. See Lady Liberty, the Empire State Building. We can travel to Boston and see all the sights of America.”

“You would want me to go with you? I can’t leave the business.”

“It’ll only be for two years. Until I graduate. You can make the trip back a few times during then. Trust Polly and John and Arthur to keep everything in line. You could use a breath of fresh air. We can be happy and safe in New York. Together.” He looked at her wide eyes that were full of love and hope.

“Heads, I go. Tails, I stay.” 

“You’re trusting this decision to a coin?”

“It’s what I’ve done my whole life. I won’t change now.” He released her waist and pulled a coin from his pocket. “Whichever it is, I love you.” Lydia frantically pulled him in for a kiss, trying not to think about how the coin his end would decided if this was their last kiss or not. She held her breath as he flicked it into the air.

@flecksphoenix​ @girl-w-a-quill​ @odetostep​ @itsilvermorny​ @shadow-of-wonder​ @lemmyjelly​ @blues022​

[wolf-in-a-suit]

How to feed your new teenager

Show: Teen Wolf

Summary: Coach Finstock just wanted to pop open a beer and watch the game: Loafing on his couch late into the night. Little did he know that Sheriff Stilinski would swoop in and leave him with an odd teenager to take care of, namely you! Now the question is: Will both of you make it through the weekend without killing each other?

Can be read as the second part 2 of A gift for coach or as a stand-alone.

A low growl pierced the darkening evening sky. Your head hung low, obscuring the flashing yellow eyes and fangs that your rage awoke. For the spectators of the Lacrosse game, against St Hart, you were doubled over; clutching your stomach after the heavy tackle you received. "I'm sorry little girl, but that's how the big boys play!" The player that committed the foul boasted, blocking the glow of the floodlights and casting your form in shadow. That's it! Scott's ‘no-murder-policy’ wasn't worth this; you would teach that ass a lesson! The next growl shaking your frame stopped the still grinning douche in his tracks. Here was his chance: ‘Let it go, run home to mummy!’

Human instinct was astonishing: It could warn your clueless brain from things you weren’t even aware of existed; it was the last remain of a time before our evolutionary advancement. In this case: Douche felt his hairs stand up, and he took an involuntarily step back. But then his highly developed brain, registered that his buddies were watching; and his action could be interpreted as weakness. So his advanced brain decided on the only logical approach in this situation:

"Are you gonna cry now, little one?" That's it! The beast inside you took over and you started advancing. Just a few more steps, your claws now fully extracted. You raised your hand, ready to tear through red flesh and bones. Just three more steps, two… one. Suddenly the weight of two persons crashed into your side. Tumbling down you found yourself, face in the mud, for the second time, since you had replaced Greenberg-what a heroic image you must project! The concerned faces of Scott and Stiles appeared in your vision, blocking your murderous stare to your-soon-to-be-victim. "Okay, ___ just as we practiced." Stiles voice was unusual high and rushed. "Breathe in and out. In and out!" Your unnatural eyes now focused on his pale face, irises shrinking to needles.

"Stiles if you make this sound like a pregnancy course: I'm gonna kill you instead!" But you felt the wolf receding, the glow of your eyes losing their intensity. The jittery boy raised his eyebrows. "Yeah, seems like she's back to threatening me again… so: Totally rational and normal state of mind, apparently."

Scott ignored the exchange and waved for a replacement. "You best get out of the game for now." He pulled you up and patted your back. "You did well! You'll get the hang of it soon enough." Like hell, you did! You messed up and let the impostor inside you gain control again. "What the hell are you doing? Get your butt off the field! Are your planning on having a tea party there?" Dejected you jogged of the field, Coach Finstock already hollering at the top of his lungs. "Look here: This isn't one of these ‘I'm-to-posh-to-get-my-hands-dirty-sports’, so until you can take a hit: You're not gonna make first line! Understood?" Somehow, due to his warm and nurturing personality, the man always managed to make letting the wolf loose seem like a perfectly justified action. You just gave an aggressive ruck of your head indicating you understood and put as much distance between the two of you as the bleachers allowed. Thump. With too much force you threw yourself into a seat, sporting an expression that promised a slow and painful death for anyone having the suicidal idea of talking to you.

A hand on your shoulder made you startle and turn, eyes flashing yellow for a brief moment again. That was until you saw Lydia’s sympathetic face. „ Don't blame yourself; your instincts are just a little bit harder to fight than those of Scott and the others." You crossed your arms and growled: "Yeah, but I shouldn't mess up like this. I hate that thing inside me." Lydia cocked her head and seemed to come to conclusion: "Maybe that's exactly the problem: You don't accept the wolf as part of you: … so the two of you are caught in a tug of war." "Yeah your right! I'll never accept this thing as a part of me. It's a curse! ... When did you become the werewolf therapist anyway?" You pressed through clenched teeth. "Oh honey, its kind of part of the job description, being friends with you lot." She smiled when this received a snort from you, but the worried look haunting her brown eyes never vanished.

"So what’s the new drama, that can’t wait till the weekend to kick our asses?" You’re drawled strolling into the McCall home. "Somebody is in a great mood." Stiles greeted you with thumbs up. "I love that lifting spirit of yours, it's just so… motivating."

"What can I say: Fighting supernatural monsters with you and getting yelled at by Coach just formed me into that beautiful flower I am today." A few seconds later the door opened to reveal Parrish and Mr. Stilinski. "Wow, must be worse than I thought if you two are involved as well." When your look fell to the bandaged arm of Parrish you couldn’t help but chuckle.

Which resulted in everyone starring at you like you had lost your last marbles. As usual Lydia was the first going off. "What is wrong with you? Parrish could have been seriously hurt by that monster!" You held up your hands in what hopefully resembled a nonthreatening pose: Bad enough you didn't had the beast under control- god help if they thought you were a psychopath too! Being an apologetic murder machine was simply a faux pas in this town, being a dick was what drove people away. "No I... I just thought about how that thing can't be a Marley fan."

Now that, was an awkward pause! Obviously you were good with punching people: With a punchline- you looked at the vacant stares-not so much. A throaty laugh cut through the heavy air. Sheriff Stilinski rapped his knuckles on the kitchen table. "Good one kid." The weirded out expressions now turned to him, he just said. "It's a song: 'I shot the sheriff'." From across the room you shyly sang "but I didn't shoot the deputy..."

Lydia’s expression turned from weirded out, to angry, to confused and at your singing: Yep! There was the anger again- you really knew how to calm a situation. "We have a skin changer on our hands, targeting Finstock and you are making song references?" You shrank back because no power in the world, not even a werewolf, would cross Lydia Martin when angry. "Sorry, so what’s a skin changer and what does it want from Coach?" Here Scott, grateful for the change in topic, chimed in: "It can transform into any person, if it had long enough skin to skin contact with it." Gagging sounds drifted through the living room, Stiles and your vivid imagination gracing you with disturbing pictures. Scott ignored this: "All we know is that they seem prone to obsess about a potential victim and then... well... kill it..."

"Gut it… to be precise, and you wouldn't believe the pictures you find researching that. There was this one where…" "Stiles!" A chorus of voices interrupted his rambling with urgency. "So how do we hunt this thing and protect Coach at the same time?" All eyes drifted to you. "Guys I don't like it when you do that! You still owe my car a cleanup, and it makes me nervous!" Lydia smiled "Well, we wouldn’t want that now, would we?" ‘She’s just sore because she didn't get the Dylan reference’, shot through your head when they started their plan of hell. Throwing you into the deep end, once more.

Robert Finstock was many things: An econ teacher, coach... well perhaps not that many things, but the point was no one would believe that he willingly accepted to put up with teens, in his free time. The call had come late into the night. The Sheriff’s department having the audacity of asking if he could house a troubled teen for a few nights. Of course, he said yes instantly, because he was just that great of a guy.

"Are you nuts? First calling so late at night and then asking me something like this? Who am I, mother Teresa?"  A deep suffering sigh drifted through the receiver. Sheriff Stilinski was too old for this. "Look Mr. Finstock we don’t have any other options at our hands, at such a short notice and you have the trust building certificate for troubled teens." Damn, Bobby knew this would come to haunt him some day. Back then it seemed like a good way to skip school, for the seminar, for a week- well… that turned out great! After what felt like hours of a snarky Phone battle, Finstock caved. "Alright bring them over." The annoying shrill of his door bell tore through the divine quiet, reigning over his small house. Bobby sighed once more, putting his head in his hands he lowly chanted to himself:" You're a responsible adult! You can do this!" He taught those little sacks of hormones each day, taking care of a teen at home couldn't be that much harder, right!? He opened the door. Well, scratch the last thought: Before him stood ___, his most stubborn and defensive student. Her emotional stability was always up for debate. Perfectly civil in one moment, ‘don’t speak to me or I’ll count your intestines’ in the other. Plus he still hadn't forgotten her crying over her B, in econ for heaven’s sake! She didn't seem too happy with the arrangement either, or the glaring-making the girl from the exorcist seem cute in comparison- was just her way of saying hello. Sheriff Stilistiki watched the starring battle taking place on the front porch. Somehow he questioned if this really was a solid plan. Finstock needed protection and ___ needed a home, for Christ’s sake, the girl slept in the woods and refused help from anybody. So making her Finstocks bodyguard would kill two birds with one stone. Although seeing these two looking at each other, he was questioning if he should have brought chalk along, for the outline of one…, perhaps two bodies. ‘Just roll with it and see what happens.’ He shoved the girl over the threshold- forceful nurturing pedagogy was in vogue these days- and unloaded a stack of paperwork in Robert Finstock’s arms. "I need these signed by you and..." here he leaned in "please keep an eye on her... she's prone to wandering off." Then the Sheriff scurried off in the fastest possible way that still his dignity as law enforcer allowed. Both victims staring after him with a similar mindset: ‘My hero!’.

And that was how Bobby’s Friday night suddenly blessed him with the presence of a teenager, he was supposed to take care of. The awkward silence stretching over the unvacuumed floor was truly unnerving. ‘Come on Bobby, give her a chance, be the bigger man.’

"So I'm not actually sure what to, ..." a sudden cheering erupted from the television. Great now he missed a goal! But his newly acquired charge seemed to perk up at the sound. "You're watching the World Cup?" "Yeah I'm a coach, so not a long stretch from lacrosse to soccer." For a few seconds she regarded him with an unreadable expression and then nodded to herself, flopped down on his couch and watched the game. Bobby had the sudden feeling he had passed some kind of test... That was his freaking home! He should be the one to test her! Right!? Shrugging he entered the kitchen. "You want something to drink?"

"Yeah a whiskey would be great." When the man whipped his head around, a reprimanding speech already on his lips, the girl threw him a cocky grin over the couch. "Relax Coach, just a joke. Anything is fine." This would be one, hella long week! "Damn it, pass the ball, you bastard!" "That's what you call dribbling? My ma can do better than that!" Two voices competing with the sport reporter’s, were the only thing filling the darkened house for the next two hours. The final seconds ticked, number 21 passed to 10, who stretched his foot and... "GOAL!" Four arms flew into the air as the pair howled. The blue glow of the TV painting shadows on their excited faces. "YES! That means we're in the next round!" The excitement still lingered in ___’s voice. Bobby grinned "Damn right, these croissant lovers don't stand a chance!”

When the rush of victory ebbed away, some of the awkwardness crept back to take its place. "I suppose I should show you to your room then..." "Yeah, that would be... a good idea." The rays of the dawning of a new day illuminated Finstocks room and greeted him with a soft caress on his face. "Motha fuckin' light… „Was the only greeting grumbled back. He stumbled out of bed and into the kitchen. Everything was as it had been: Half eaten back of chips: Check; Decaying fruit- so his mother, visiting him last week, couldn't screech at his unhealthy life style: Check; Teen looking like the living dead, chewing on something: Check. Wait, what?

Ah, now that explained why he was in a worse mood than usual, and his brain already asked if 9 pm was an appropriate time to start with drinking. "What are you even eating there? I don't remember having anything remotely looking like nourishment in my freezer?" He poured himself from the already brewing coffee-at least she had a grasp on the most basic survival skills. The girl in question shrugged and answered around a mouthful of, only god knew what: "There was some toast. Most of it had mold all over it, but this one seemed alright."

"Jesus, spit that out! What is wrong with you?" The old glare was finally back, and she resumed munching aggravating slowly, making it a point to swallow audibly- and here he thought they had made progress. "Kid, I don't want the Sheriff on my ass, because you died due to some biological hazard in my fridge! So let's get dressed." ‘That,... probably wasn't the best idea.’ Bobby thought as the waitress taking their order started gushing: "It's so cute to see a father treating his daughter to a big breakfast." He watched the teen eye the sunshine of a woman with distrust in her eyes and... was she sniffing her!? What was wrong with that kid? When their orders finally arrived, ___ went at it with gusto: Almost inhaling a whole stack of pancakes, at once. "What is up with you eating everything put before you, like a vacuum cleaner?" At this, the kid faced him and said. "Well you get used to just grabbing what you can when you live outdoors." "Outdoors?" Now he was concerned. That was a reason to be concerned, right? "Yeah I mostly just crash in the woods at night. It's kind of nice there." Coach Finstock’s brain had to take a few seconds to reboot. When the system was running again he leaned in and for the first time wore something that sure felt like a ‘responsible caretaker expression’: "You can't tell me that you lived in the WOODS, since you started at the school this year? That's dangerous! And where do you shower?" "It's not that bad... campers do it all the time and I just sneak into my friends home to shower." At this she grinned "Stiles almost fell down the stairs in shock, when he finally caught me."

What was he going to do with that girl? He couldn't even handle a normal teenager, but this... he wasn't the right one for this. Bobby was sure someone was required here, who was good with that ‘touchy-feely-let's-talk-about-it-stuff’. After they left the dinner, a small mumbled thanks almost made him stop in his tracks. "What for?" "For not asking more about my family." Everyone in Beacon High would testify to their Coach not having a slither of compassion: He was the trainer of warriors, proud Spartans, but here he felt the small admission tugging at his heart strings. "Sure thing." He tried to sound nonchalant. It wasn't as bad as he initially thought it would be. It was kind of like having a German shepherd, with the kid’s demeanor: Sniffing the air, or her general protectiveness, no one could blame him for making that comparison. While buying groceries- Bobby didn’t need a repeat of the ‘toast incident’- the girl even tackled a guy to the ground, who simply bumped shoulders with him. For that he set her straight in front of the whole store. Now, if he just could get her to show such a tackle on the Lacrosse field- but it probably wouldn’t fasten his stance, mentioning it now. The poor tackled fella had run straight out of the shop.

Then there was the incident with the mail. Finstock opened the door in order to accept the package and in an instant ___ was next to him. Mustering the mail guy and doing that weird sniffing thing again. He had never seen a postman be on his way so fast. That was it! "Now look here Buster! If I wanted a freaking dog, I would have bought one! So, what's your deal with attacking random strangers and scaring away the postman?" Her eyebrows rose in question:" Buster?" Two could play that game. "Why, you prefer Lassie?" She huffed and crossed her arms. "Just looking out for you coach! There are strange people in Beacon Hills." Now that was just cute: One day with him, and she already attacked strangers. He wondered what would happen after a week. You were beat. First a guy had walked into Finstock. Not unusual but you smelled it, before you saw the long clawed hands making a grab for Coaches throat. Your body had acted, before any coherent thought could be formed. You barreled straight into the skin changer. Both of you skidding into the row of baking goods. Scrambling up, a cloud of flour wavering over the ground, you felt the wolf fight for control. ‘Not here, what if you go nuts and hurt somebody?’ The ‘skin thing’ saw his chance in your hesitation and bailed. 'Prey! Hunt it!' The beast inside growled. Before you could come to any kind of decision, Coach had moved into your line of sight and started a hollering fest, right then and there. The vein on his forehead, becoming more prominent with each shout. "What do you have to say for yourself?"

Scott used exactly this moment to be flung against the store’s window, sliding down slowly, so before Finstock could turn at the sound, you had to grasp his attention anew: "I'm... eh..." Now Derek Hale joined the fight, proud and erect he stood his ground- and two seconds later he joined Scott in an undignified heap, on the sidewalk. "I'm having anger management issues! “ The man before you sported a confused look, regarding your smaller than normal frame, but than his eyes settled on the place you had barreled head first into the mountain of a guy. "Great... anything else you wanna share?" "Well..." "THAT WAS A RETHORICAL QUESTION!" So here we go again: While coach was at it, your unwanted house guest raised its head. 'Can we kill him now?' So you made it out of the grocery store with maximal embarrassment, and empty hands skin-changer wise: So that had been a productive day! Two hours later the mail showed up and something smelled fishy about the guy, so you stood behind Coach threatening. It turned out that the mail guy just forgot to use body spray... ugh. At the end of the day you were exhausted lounging on the couch. Your eyelids were getting heavier, until darkness engulfed you. The slow, almost silent creaking of a door, footsteps inching closer to the stairwell were the only harbingers of the intrusion. Your bleary eyes opened to blackness, where were you? Tap, tap. Ah, at Coach's. You felt a warm fabric tucked around you, he must have thrown a blanket over you. A rare smile graced your face. Tap, Tap. Wait what was that? You strained your ears. The creaking of the staircase. ‘Coach?’ No, far too heavy. The metallic ring of clawed hands grabbing the doorknob to Finstock's room send you barreling from the couch. In three strides you were up the staircase and grabbed the skin-changer. Both of you struggled. There was no way you could beat that thing. Strong hands crushed your arms. So in a desperate attempt to get it away from the room, you grabbed the not quite right face of the creature and plunged yourself down the stairs, pulling it along. The weight of your bodies making a hollow sound, with each stair’s stinging impact. Claws scratched at your face. You fought back with everything but the thing was gaining the upper hand easily!

"I swear to god, if this isn't super important I'm going to degrade you in school... or something!“ With a flick the lights overhead flared to live, illuminating you fighting the mountain of a guy. "What the HELL! Leave her alone!" Finstock hastily made his way downstairs. 'Let me out' the wolf screams resonated inside your very bones. 'I'll kill it!'

Deadly scratches and punches flew through the air. You felt it pushing you back into the direction of Coach. With one strong whip it sent you flying across the room like a rag doll, crashing into the TV. "You son of a bitch!" Finstock screamed and swung his fist. The skin-changer made a cackling sound that was anything but human. The not man caught the humans fist with ease and grabbed his neck. Squeezing. Waking from your stupor, to the sound of Coach gasping for air, wheezing and struggling you pleaded "Please don't hurt Coach!" The thing with a shape only mocking a human laughed at your cries for mercy. "You think pleading will deter me from killing my trophy, you foolish girl?" It mocked. Your head whipped up revealing a set of blazing yellow eyes, piercing through the darkened room. "I wasn't talking to you!" With an impossible lunge you and the monster flew into the wall. Bobby Finstock tumbled down, gasping for air. Your strikes were fast as lightning, your senses in overdrive: Smelling an incoming punch, hearing the shifting in the stance of your opponent and the increasing rustling of his lungs.

When the spinning room started to slow down Bobby startled at the crash of his front door being broken down. A brigade of teenagers as well as adults stormed in. With his hazy vision he could make out Scott McCall, Sheriff Stilinski, the Deputy-what’s-his-name and the two Hale brothers. The sounds of fighting and screaming cut through the cotton laced around his consciousness. The kid! He tried to scramble back up but two sets of hands held him down. “Let me go dammit!” The scared faces of his students, Stiles- the bane of his existence- and Lydia Martin, the smarty pants, hovered near him. “Coach, everything is going to be alright. The others are helping ___.” The girl knew how to calm someone down. “Yeah, she’s going to be alright… probably.” The curse of his teacher life: not so much.

With the splintering sound of his backdoor and the thumping of feet being swallowed by the night, the house was engulfed in a silence once again. However, for Robert Finstock it couldn’t be further from the former peaceful atmosphere. Dread clawed form his gut and grabbed his throat in a vice grip. Once more he had the feeling of being chocked to death. Shoving Lydia and Stiles to the side he scrambled to the kitchen. The kid was slumped against a counter holding her bleeding side, eyes closed in pain. The Sheriff tried to hold him back. “She’s dangerous now.” But he couldn’t care less. He rushed to the girl’s side and was taken aback when she opened one eye, acknowledging his presence. The yellow hue hadn’t been there before had it? He could have sworn her eye color was… He became aware of the Sheriff Stilinski hovering behind him with a shotgun, trained on her.

At this Bobby whirled around, unleashing all the fury of a Coach ascended from the fiery abyss: “What the hell is wrong with you!? Training that thing on a teenager?”

Sheriff Stilinski regarded the man, positioning himself between his gun and the werewolf probably ready to kill him. Every fiber of his body clenched, ready for doing the unthinkable. But he admired the other man’s bravery. “It’s alright Dad. I think we’re good for now.” Stiles piped up behind him, watching the scene unfold over the Sheriff’s shoulder. Father and son exchanged a look and the gun was lowered hesitatingly. There was a triumphant look flashing trough the coaches brown orbs. “What are you waiting for: Call an ambulance! God, you suck at your job!” And with that, the man fell in his esteem once again.

Hazy figures and shades passed around your hazy vision. When you regained some form of lucidity Lydia and Stiles sat next to you holding a makeshift bandage, consisting of Finstock’s favorite Soccer Jersey, to your wound. Deep red stains covered the soft white fabric- boy, Coach would be happy about this. “Hey.” Lydia’s soft voice was a faint, refreshing breeze on a hot summer day. “How are you holding up?” Chuckling let an intense wave of pain wash over you. “Got almost killed by a monster; Destroyed Coach’s house: You know the usual, just peachy.”

“On the bright side: …” She ignored your sarcasm. “You seem to have found your anchor.” At your questioning gaze she rummaged in her pocket and held a small mirror in front of you. Yellow eyes stared back. “I’m… still…?” The old excitement took hold of Stiles again. “One hundred percent werewolf, but still not tearing us to shreds, yes! To think that of all the people Coach would be your anchor.” He threw a look over his shoulder seeing said man approaching with urgency, paramedics in tow, all the while berating them for their ‘slow assed work ethic’. “On the other hand, the two of you are just such lovely and deeply understanding people: So, maybe that’s it.” The punch Stiles received lacked all its usual strength.

Under the sharp eyes of Finstock you were put on a stretcher and carried out. He followed, the at this point really annoyed, medics to the ambulance. “Don’t worry kid. You’ll be alright.” Straining your neck to look at him you replied: “Shame that I’ll miss the match against France.” “What the hell are you talking about?” His eyes narrowed. “No sissing out now! Once your back home, there is no way I’m letting you miss it!” Your eyes widened. “Home?!”

“Well, don’t think I’m going to let you leave, before you paid all those repairs for everything you trashed!” At your groan the scowl, normally coming so easy to his face wavered. “By the way, you irresponsible brat destroyed my TV, so I guess I’ll have to suffer you, while watching it in the hospital!”

[nellie-elizabeth]

The Walking Dead: The Calm Before (9x15)

Oh, for fuck's sake.

Cons:

I'm going to start with some personal context here: when I watched this episode, my DVR recording for some reason cut it off early, at the cliffhanger moment when Alpha sits next to Lydia in the movie theatre. I wasn't paying much attention to how long the episode had been, so I thought that was the final moment of the episode. I was all geared up to write a quite favorable review - lots of tense moments, good character buildup, etc. etc. But then I realized there was still fifteen minutes to go, and now I have to deal with this bullshit.

The problem with The Walking Dead is they have this huge over-bloated cast of people, most of whom we don't really care about, and then periodically in order to make us understand how evil a villain is, some of these characters will get killed off. But there's always some problem with the way they pull off the deaths: either they are way too built up and foreshadowed, and every ounce of drama is wrung out of the moment (Glenn, Carl), or else it's a character we kind of care about, and they're given a bunch of attention and more character development suddenly, and it becomes obvious they're about to die (Jesus), or they're someone I barely know at all and I'm not sure why I'm supposed to be so devastated about it (several of the deaths in this episode).

Really, we should talk about the Big Three Deaths.

Enid. She falls into the "Jesus" category for me, in that we suddenly get all these moments with her being all cute with her boyfriend, and I instantly thought she was going to get killed off. Or he was. One of them, anyway. It's hard to care about this, because I don't really feel like I know Enid at all, especially post time-jump. She's just another random Hilltop community member at this point.

Tara. I'm too exhausted to repeat my tirade about this show killing off all its queer characters. At least there are still those two girls whose names I don't know yet. Or whatever. And at least there's still Aaron. The thing with a big ensemble cast like this is that it's not necessarily the end of the world if some queer characters die, as long as there are plenty of other ones on the show, and that kind-of-sort-of is what's going on here, so I won't repeat myself on explaining why it sucks to kill off queer characters. Instead, let's just talk about how stupid it is to kill off Tara specifically. Hilltop just lost Jesus, and now it's lost Tara, and it all feels so pointless. And I don't mean pointless in the way it's supposed to feel pointless. It feels narratively pointless. Tara has been around for a really long time, and she never really came into her own as a character. I've never disliked her, but I've never felt all that invested in her either. Maybe she was somewhat superfluous to the story that this show wants to be telling. But instead of constantly bringing in new characters and over-extending the cast, and then killing off people who have been around for years to make room for newbies, why not take the time to actually develop these characters? Why not make us care about Tara the way we care about Daryl or Carol or Michonne, so that if she dies, it means something?

Finally, Henry. I will admit, there are some aspects to Henry dying here that I'm going to put in the "pros" section too, because I genuinely did not see it coming, and there are some interesting possibilities coming off of this. But on the other hand... why now? Henry was an annoying brat when this season started, and I had just started to get a bit invested in him... and then he's dead. It would have meant a hell of a lot more if we'd had a whole additional season with him, if we'd seen him grow, if I came to care about him the way I once cared about Carl. This show has this problem of dragging some things out waaaayyyy too far, and then cutting other things off before they've had a chance to develop and mature. It's annoying. I'm always feeling robbed of the better show that we could have had if certain plot threads could be disposed of, and different characters could be given the limelight.

The frustrating thing about this dramatic mass-killing is that so many people had to make mistakes in order for it to happen. It was just so contrived that when various groups started splitting up, Carol, Michonne, and Daryl would be the three together, along with one of the new-ish characters whose name I still don't know. They're idiots to let themselves get surrounded by the Whisperers. After all these years, do they not have any tactical common sense? And also, not to put too fine a point on it, Alpha is an idiot for not killing Daryl, Michonne, and Carol when she had the chance. If she really wanted to punish the various communities for their defiance, that would have been the way to do it. These three characters are protected because they're the most popular characters on the show (they're certainly the only three that I personally care about at this point), not because it makes sense in-universe for them to be the ones to always survive.

Pros:

One of the reasons that I found the deaths to be so unsatisfying is that the rest of this episode was doing some really good work. I was completely drawn in, loving the suspense, enjoying the happiness of the Fair, dreading Alpha's retaliation... it was all great stuff, and even the setup for the deaths, seeing the heads on spikes, would have worked really well for me if it weren't for the buildup resulting in those specific characters' deaths.

The first thing that was awesome about this episode? The Fair. I resisted Carol being a part of the Kingdom for a long time because I didn't like how it separated her from the rest of the group, and I was skeptical of Ezekiel. He just seemed too goofy to me, even though I know that's sort of the whole point. But now? I understand their relationship, I understand the Kingdom, and I believe in it. That scene where the leaders of the various communities signed the Constitution was incredibly moving. I think it's important in a show like this for the characters to have something they're fighting for. Despite all of the loss and pain, they have to remain strong for something bigger than any one person. The Fair was a great symbol of that, and I like the fact that we lingered on it long enough to understand what's really at stake here.

This episode did a great job being genuinely scary, too. As predictable as some of the deaths were, in terms of the character set-up as I've described above, I'll admit I wasn't expecting the slaughter in this episode. I thought maybe it would wait until next week. Everyone thought that Hilltop would be the target of the Whisperer's wrath, and I'll admit that I got caught up in that assumption as well, even though the Kingdom made more sense in terms of the narrative. And when the groups went out to go defend Hilltop, I was scanning their numbers, wondering which among them were going to die, so it was a doubly effective twist that the victims were people supposedly safe at the Fair. When we first see Alpha in that dress, with the wig, just wandering among the people, it genuinely startled me and made me very nervous. That tension kept escalating throughout the whole rest of the episode. The whole scene in the movie theatre freaked me out. I kept waiting for a mass attack to happen, and when it didn't, the tension stayed with me as we saw Lydia and Alpha talking. Great pacing, great acting, great score, all in service of a very frightening atmosphere.

Lydia has really grown on me. Obviously there will be some people who are livid that so much was lost because of her, but I think we're seeing that these communities don't want to give up their values, no matter the cost. They've offered Lydia asylum, and even though the consequences of that decision were devastating, it was still the right thing to do, and I believe that Daryl, Michonne, and the others will continue to protect her, in honor of the people who lost their lives, especially Henry. Lydia has a great moment where she stands up to Alpha. It's important to remember the degree to which this poor girl has been brainwashed throughout her entire life. Escaping an abusive parent is no easy task, and I think we're going to see the trauma play out in interesting ways. Or at least I hope that's where this is going. Lydia could be a really cool and interesting character to explore more deeply.

Oh, Daryl. He was killing it in this episode. I loved the little nod he gave to Carol when Alpha led him away at gunpoint. It was him saying "it's okay" and "goodbye" and everything else all at once. We get two Carol and Daryl hugs, once when Daryl, Lydia, Henry, and Connie show up at the Kingdom, and once again when Daryl returns after his one-on-one with Alpha. He just loves Carol and Michonne both so much. When we see the heads on spikes moment, Daryl notices Henry first and runs to Carol, desperate to save her this pain. He holds her and tells her to just look at him. My heart broke for the both of them. I also liked the little detail of Daryl taking Lydia to the spikes (heads removed, of course), so that Lydia can say goodbye to Henry. Daryl has been isolating himself since losing Rick, but we can see how community-oriented he really is, how much he cares about the people around him and how much he wants to nurture them.

A few other little details that I enjoyed: I surprisingly didn't mind Rosita and Eugene's little moment, even if the whole plot scenario is still a little eye-roll worthy. I liked seeing Judith playing with other kids, enjoying the freedom and fun of the Fair, and I loved when she and Carol had their little moment. It's so sad to think of Carol not being a big part of Rick's daughter's life, but we see that Judith still remembers her, and I'm sure they'll be together again now. Ezekiel's opening speech at the Fair about Rick and Carl was really great, and helped to tie together the themes of this season. Connie and Daryl's goodbye, with Daryl asking Connie to watch the dog... I could see a real friendship developing between those two. Connie and her sister's conversation, hinting at some backstory stuff that I'd be interested to get back to. Luke being buddies with Enid's boyfriend, excited to play music at the Fair. I actually really like Luke and I hope we get to spend more time with him.

Finally, Siddiq's speech at the end. It's taken a whole season to unpack the reasons for Michonne's fear and isolation. It's taken all season to start getting some answers about the communities being estranged from each other, and we still don't have all the pieces of the puzzle. When I saw those heads on those spikes, one of my first reactions was to be worried that we'd backslide on all that character development. Michonne and Aaron would pull back and stay in Alexandria, Ezekiel's dreams of union and trade would collapse, and we'd be back to square one. It's possible that that's where we're going with all of this, but I actually doubt it. We can see how devastated everyone is, obviously, but hopefully this latest challenge will bring them even closer together, and when the Whisperers are gone, harmony can continue to grow.

So yeah. I liked so much of this episode. I liked the build-up and the atmosphere and several of the character beats. And yet here we are with another slaughter, a bunch of characters that were only just getting interesting, suddenly killed off so that we're clear on the fact that the Whisperers are bad guys. Yeesh. Annoying.

7.5/10