Once in a Lifetime

20

Lydia glanced back at Corey. "You could have hurt him, Scott. Really hurt him."

Scott ignored her and began walking away, followed by Malia and Corey. "I have to find Liam."

Stiles grabbed Tabitha's hand. "Hey, text me. For anything."

Tabitha nodded. "I got it."

"Anything at all, okay?"

"Stiles, I promise."

The group made their way to the water treatment plant. They slowly walked down the hallway, surrounded by pipes. Malia and Tabitha kept themselves a short distance from the boys and looked around.

"Liam!" Malia called.

"Can you catch a scent?" Mason asked.

Scott shook his head. "There's too many chemicals."

"Then this might take awhile."

Tabitha let out an frustrated sigh and followed Scott and Mason down the hallway, grasping onto Malia's arm for reassurance.

The teens called out their names over and over.

Scott turned to the others and said in a breathless voice, "Okay, we need to make sure that we're not covering the same area."

"Scott, do you have your inhaler?" Tabitha asked.

"Quiet," Scott told her. "I think I hear something."

"Could've been nicer. What do you hear?"

Malia heard the same noise and questioned, "It's the lights, isn't it?"

Scott motioned for the others to follow. "Come on. This way."

Mason let out a loud sigh. "I'm telling you guys, we've been down this one before."

Scott stopped as he stared at the end of the tunnel. "What the hell are we doing? We're running up and down this place. Up and down the tunnels. And there's no way..." He took a moment to catch his breath. "There's no way that we're gonna find..." His breaths became more rapid.

"Scott, you need your inhaler," Malia said. "Scott, use it. Use your inhaler."

He began wheezing and pulled out his inhaler. He took a puff of air and his breath returned to normal. "This is all my fault. We're never going to find them. It's my fault."

"Scott," Mason began as he offered a hand, which Scott accepted. "We should keep looking. We should keep trying."

Scott glanced to Tabitha and Malia for confirmation and the girls nodded.

Their search proved to be a failure, but Theo had found them. Tabitha wiped at some dust on her jeans only spreading it further. She let out a quiet groan, silently telling herself to use water to wash away the dust. Malia, Scott and Mason were covered in the same sweat and dust.

Tabitha saw Liam and Hayden cuddling on the couch and smiled lightly. Theo hugged Scott and the witch stood in front of Liam and asked, "You guys okay?"

He nodded. "Yeah, thanks to Theo."

"You two are safe now. We just have to hope this doesn't happen again."

As Tabitha was getting ready to leave, she heard Theo say, "I know what you're doing." Instantly, she hid behind a corner and listened in.

"What are you talking about?" Stiles retorted.

"Tabitha. You really think she's going to want to be with you? Why would she choose you when she could be with a werewolf? A werewolf with more power than you could ever have."

Stiles narrowed his eyes. "She's free to make her own choice."

"Do she and Scott know about what you did? You know it's only a matter of time before they find out."

Stiles voice cracked slightly. "Stop it. You have no idea how they'll react. How she'll react."

Theo sighed. "Enjoy the moments you have now, Stiles. Things are only going to get worse from here on out. Tabitha's quite a pretty little thing. And incredibly powerful as well."

"You tell them, then!" Stiles snapped. "Stop taunting me and leave Tabitha alone!"

"They deserve to know; that's all. And if a pack member is keeping something from his alpha, I think Scott should know."

"Whatever. Bye, Theo," Stiles answered angrily.

As soon as Theo walked away, Tabitha stepped out from her corner and said, "What was he talking about?"

"What do you mean?"

"Stiles, don't play dumb. What was Theo talking about?"

He shook his head. "Tabi, I'm sorry."

"For what? Why can't you tell me?!"

"Because I don't want you to hate me!"

"Hate you? I could never hate you, Stiles. Please tell me whatever it is you're hiding."

Stiles stared at her and as much as he wanted to tell her, but couldn't.

Tabitha scoffed and walked away. " I wish you trusted me, Stiles."

"I do trust you!"

"Not enough." She stared at him with both sadness and anger before walking away.

---

Tabitha made her way home and immediately threw her arms around her mother.

Robin frowned as she returned her daughter's hug. "Tabitha? What happened?"

In between sniffles and trying to keep from breaking down, Tabitha said, "Stiles doesn't trust me."

"Of course he does."

She shook her head. "No, Mom, you don't understand. Stiles is hiding something from me and Scott and he won't tell me what it is! What if he cheated on me?"

"Sweetheart, Stiles is insanely in love with you. He wouldn't hurt you like that. I'm sure he has reason. Give him time, and I'm sure he'll explain everything. You know, your father didn't tell me about his family's secret for several months."

"Really?"

Robin nodded. "Really. I swore he was seeing another woman, but when he told me the truth, I felt pretty dumb for assuming the worst."

"Dad would never hurt you like that."

"No, he wouldn't. Nor would Stiles. So whatever your boyfriend is keeping to himself, trust that he has good reason for now and that he'll tell you when he's ready."

Tabitha nodded slowly. "Okay." She dried her eyes and smiled shakily. "Thanks, Mom."

Robin kissed the top of her head. "That's what I'm here for; motherly reassurance. Now, get some rest, okay?"

"Okay." She walked up the stairs, wiping her eyes again and entered her room.

Tabitha laid on her back on her bed and stared up at the ceiling, silently thinking about the events of the night.