The Bite

2: Noises

Stiles decided to simply ignore what had happened in the woods.

He was alive. His arm wasn't broken. The bite didn't seem infected. So what was the point of bringing it up?

That's what he told himself as he waited outside the school for his best friend. He hoped that Scott hadn't texted him, asking to be picked up. Stiles would have to go back after school to retrieve his phone from the woods.

He was brought out of his thoughts when he saw Scott pedal into the parking lot. He moved against the crowd and over to the bike rack to greet him as he locked up the bike.

"Stiles!" Scott beamed, acting as though he hadn't seen Stiles all Summer as opposed to a few hours ago. Stiles thought his smile felt like a breath of fresh air.

Everything suddenly got quieter when he heard Scott speak. He hadn't realised how unusually loud everything around him had been. It was like the universe had turned the volume up on everything. He could've sworn he had heard someone's heartbeat when he had strolled past them earlier.

He assumed he had been unconsciously panicking, nervous for their first day.

It was the only logical explanation.

"Dude, are you okay?" Scott's voice was laced with concern, his brows furrowed. Stiles was unusually calm and quiet which could only mean something was wrong.

"Huh? Oh, yeah." Stiles grinned, shaking himself out a bit and wrapping his arm around Scott's shoulders, guiding him towards the school. All thoughts of weird glowing eyes and bitemarks vanished the second he came into contact with his best friend.

"You'll never believe what I found last night, Scotty-boy." Stiles grinning smugly.

Scott's frown didn't falter, it actually deepened. "You still went? Stiles, what if something had happened?" He worried, always the more rational of the two.

Stiles scoffed, choosing not to bring up the fact that something had happened. "To the great Stiles Stilinski? I think not."

He could see the way Scott was fighting back a smile, trying to be stern but failing. "Whatever, man. You found the body?"

"Sure did. It was gruesome, Scott. It's lucky you weren't there, you wouldn't be able to handle it."

Scott laughed, shoving his cocky friend in the side and rolling his eyes. For some reason it hadn't hurt Stiles' wound.

"You literally faint at the sight of blood."

"You know what, Scott?"

"What? Ah! Stiles!" Scott laughed when Stiles moved his arm to grab his friend in a headlock and ruffle his long hair.

Scott quickly fixed his hair once he had been set free, not caring about the other students watching them. They were already outcasts. "So, was your dad able to identify the body?" Scott asked curiously, fixing the strap of his backpack on his shoulder.

Stiles cleared his throat a little awkwardly. "No actually. They didn't find it."

Scott stopped walking, causing Stiles to stop and turn to face him.

"They didn't find it?"

"Nope."

"Well, did you say anything?"

Stiles scoffed, shoving his hands in his pockets to avoid fidgeting. "And get caught?"

"Stiles." Scott fixed him with one of his reproachful looks, complete with puppy dog eyes. Stiles averted his gaze quickly before he spilled everything.

"They'll find it, Scott. Don't worry. They won't stop until they do. This is the most exciting thing to happen to Beacon Hills since- since the birth of Lydia Martin." Stiles grinned, catching sight of his childhood crush.

From the corner of his eye he swore he saw Scott frown again.

Stiles sighed when Lydia firmly ignored him, a skill she had mastered over the years. He shrugged it off quickly and turned back to face Scott. For some reason he didn't feel as put out as he usually did.

"C'mon then, nerd. Don't wanna be late."

Scott rolled his eyes again but smiled at his best friend and let him lead the way into the school.

It wasn't until they had separated to find their lockers (that were conveniently placed very far apart, fuck you, Mr. Harris) that Stiles began to get antsy again. Without Scott distracting him, it was like someone had turned the volume up once again.

He could suddenly hear everything ten times louder than normal; lockers slamming, students talking about their holidays, and heartbeats. Stiles didn't understand, he wasn't even nervous. Definitely not nervous enough to hear his own heartbeat pounding against his skull.

Stiles quickly located his locker and shoved his things inside haphazardly. It wasn't like his locker was going to be organised anyway. He flinched when the metal door shut with a clanging sound, the noise ringing in his ears. He glanced around for any sign of Scott before rushing to the bathroom. He held back from covering his ears, not wanting people to think he was weird right off the bat. They could find out for themselves later.

Stiles rushed into a stall and clicked the lock shut. It was quieter, thankfully, the heavy door isolating the bathroom. He was currently the only person in there. He took a few deep breaths before frowning.

"There's no way it's related." He told himself but yet he couldn't stop himself from lifting his shirt and peeling off the gauze.

He choked on his own spit and ran a hand over his smooth skin to check if it was real. There was no bitemark, not even a faint red tinge to his skin.

"What the hell...?" Stiles mumbled.

The door of the bathroom creaked open, letting the noise from the hallway in. It made his head pound. He gasped in pain, this time reaching his hands up to cover his ears.

"Stiles?"

And once again everything quietened down.

Stiles balled up the bloody gauze in his hand, hoping he could bin it on his way out. He glanced down at it before deciding to just throw it in the toilet, janitor be damned. He unlocked the stall door and smiled at his friend.

"Hey, Scotty." His gut twisted in guilt seeing Scott's face screwed up in concern.

"What's wrong?" Scott asked, reaching out to put a reassuring hand on Stiles' shoulder. They always had been affectionate with each other, a side affect of growing up together.

Stiles' breath hitched. His skin felt like it was burning under Scott's touch but not in a painful way, he couldn't describe it. It only added to his list of questions. He was going to be up all night researching. He shook his head and tried to look convincing.

"Nothing, you worry too much. Was just taking a breather."

Scott's hand left his shoulder, his fingers brushing down Stiles' arm as though the boy wasn't ready to give up the contact just yet.

"I texted you."

"Oh, yeah, I may have lost my phone in the woods last night." Stiles told the other boy sheepishly, scratching the back of his neck. He lead them out of the bathroom with a light blush on his face.

"Wanna come with me after school to find it?"

Scott looked conflicted. Truth be told he was scared to go out into the woods with a dead body and a killer on the loose, but those were also the reasons he didn't want Stiles to go alone.

"Yeah, after practice." Scott nodded his head. "You're still coming aren't you?"

"Totally, man. If you're gonna try out for first line, so am I. You're not getting rid of me." Stiles joked, watching the smile bloom on his best friends face.

He couldn't tell him anything that had happened. It was either; nothing, a trick of the mind in his fit of exhaustion, or something bigger that he refused to get Scott caught up in.