Heliophobia (Teen Wolf/Vampire Diaries) [2]

15-The Bennett Bloodline

I follow the crowd and burst through the doors of Beacon Hills High. I spot Scott and Stiles standing near the school sign and veer in their direction. My head is pounding, and I look over my shoulder, positive that Gerard is watching us.

Gerard. Allison's psychotic grandfather. And Mr. Saltzman...the new history teacher...with him. What was he doing at the high school? Whatever it was, it can't be good. I feel sick. Too much has happened in the course of one school day.

"Hey." Scott greets me when I approach them. "You okay?"

I shake my head. "Nope. But that's not an issue right now."

Stiles rubs my arm, and I not-so-casually move it away. He frowns at the gesture.

"Let's just go." I say, ignoring Stiles. I can't help it, but I'm still annoyed at his comments about Erica.

Scott frowns, looking between the two of us, but he nods. "Okay. You two call me if Boyd isn't home."

I shake my head. "I'm coming to the rink with you, Scott." Stiles opens his mouth to protest but I quickly continue. "Boyd might listen if both of us are there. I can be persuasive, and we might have a better shot of getting through to him."

It's a total crap reason, but Scott accepts it anyways. I can tell he doesn't like it, but he can also sense my irritation with Stiles. He also knows that he can't argue with me.

"Fine. Let's just go." He shakes his head and walks off towards the direction of our truck.

I turn to follow, but Stiles grabs my arm. "Hey, what's going on?"

I pull my arm out of his grasp. "It doesn't matter right now, Stiles. We'll talk about it later."

He frowns, but nods and lets me go.

I hurry to the truck and wrench open the passenger door. Scott peels out of the parking lot, en route to the ice-rink.

"What was that about?" Scott asks, giving me a questioning look.

I shake my head. "It doesn't matter."

"Of course it matters, Emma."

I sigh. "I'm just being stupid."

"Now, or..." I reach over and punch Scott. He laughs and rubs his arm. "Seriously though, I thought things were great between you two."

I give my brother a weird look. "You really want to hear about this?"

He shrugs. "I guess so. I mean, it is weird hearing about your best friend and your sister."

I laugh a little. "Uh, yeah. Like I said, it's stupid. I'm just annoyed with comments about Erica. The other day when she first appeared at school, and before." I shake my head. "Stupid."

"No, it's not stupid. I really don't know why he said that."

"Cause he's a guy." I say flatly.

"Not necessarily." He shakes his head. "That doesn't matter. Look, for months, he tried to get me to reconcile with you. To get me to stop hating you. Then when I finally did, he would still talk about you." Scott laughs. "He used to be so in love with Lydia. Then you showed up, and it's like his eyes opened. Sometimes I still don't understand it. He likes you, so much. So much he doesn't even know how to show it sometimes."

That shuts me up. I've never actually asked Scott about Stiles in that way. We've never talked about it. I just assumed it's too weird for the both of us. Maybe it still is. But what Scott says calms me, and ignites something inside me.