Hope Andrea Argent

Lunatic (Part 1)

It's been a week since what happened at the school. Jackson's face was already mostly healed, just slight bruising on the side of his eye and a cut on his lip. Nobody knew what happened that would cause Hope to have such a severe reaction, they kept her in the hospital overnight to make sure she was still okay. Stiles' hands were healing quickly too, only a few scabs left, he didn't even need the bandages anymore.

Under the light of an almost full moon, Scott follows Stiles down a dark path through the woods.

"Can you at least tell me what we're doing out here?" Scott asks his best friend.

"When your best friend gets dumped--"

"I didn't get dumped. We're taking a break," Scott corrects, but without even talking to Allison, he wasn't sure what was happening between each other.

"When your best friend gets told by his girlfriend that they're taking a break..." Stiles said, reaching into his backpack and pulling out a bottle of Jack Daniels whiskey,"You get your best friend drunk."

When Stiles finally puts the bottle down, he's lounging against a rock, the bottle half empty, each word that Stiles said slurred.

The two friends sit by a steel trash can fire, keeping warm from the cool fall air.

"Dude, she's one girl. There are plenty more girls in the sea," Stiles slurred, looking up at the night sky.

"Fish in the sea," Scott replied.

"What? Why are you talking about fish? I'm talking about girls. I love girls. I love 'em. Especially ones with auburn hair, big beautiful blue eyes, five foot three..." Stiles slurs, those same blue eyes filling his mind.

"Like Hope?"

"Exactly. How did you know I was talking about..." Stiles pauses, and a grin suddenly spreads across his face,"What was I talking about? You don't look happy. Drink," He orders, shoving the bottle a little closer to Scott.

"I don't want anymore," Scott replies.

"You're not drunk?"

"I'm not anything," Scott said, staring into the fire, the glow from the flames flickering over his face.

"Maybe it's like not needing your inhaler anymore. Maybe you can't get drunk," Stiles said,"Am I drunk?"

"You're wasted."

"Yeaaahhh," Stiles said giddily, holding his hand out for a fist bump. Gets nothing in return,"Dude, I know it feels bad. But you gotta' remember. As much as being broken up hurts... Being alone is even worse. Wait a minute. That didn't come out right. I need another drink."

He reaches for the bottle again, but a hand grabs it first. Stiles steps back, looking up in surprise at two guys in their twenties. The larger is Reddick, an unfortunate combination of muscle and antisocial behavior. His friend is a troll named Unger.

"Well, look at the little bitches getting their drink on," Reddick said, smirking down at the two teenagers.

Unger laughs with an obnoxious tittering. Scott keeps his gaze leveled on Reddick.

"Give it back," Scott says, glaring at him.

"What's that, little man?" Reddick says, looking at Scott for the first time.

"I think he wants a drink," Unger tells his friend, amused.

"I want the bottle," Scott states, not moving an inch, not a trace of fear in his unblinking eyes.

Unger laughs again.

"Scott, let's just go," Stiles mumbles, but he was listening.

Scott's voice has an unnerving calm to it,"You brought me here to get me drunk, Stiles," He says, not taking his eyes off of Reddick,"I'm not drunk yet."