Silly Little Love Songs • Teen Wolf

➥ Prologue

"I'll stay here." Stiles said pouting with her arms crossed.

"You'll get invited next time." Sydney said with a teasing smile. "Loser."

Stiles stuck his tongue out at his sister as she gave their mom a hug. Sydney returned the gesture as she walked backwards out of the room, Claudia saying one more thing from behind her.

"Don't cause too much trouble, Miroslava." That was the last thing her mother had ever said to her.

Sydney remembers that day like it was yesterday. She remembers how the grass smelt as she walked away from the hospital. She remembers what she was going to bake, a chocolate chip cookie recipe that had been passed down for generations in her family. She remembers when she found out.

Sydney was walking on the grass because the side of the street she was walking on didn't have a sidewalk. Vivians house wasn't that far from the hospital and Beacon Hills was a safe place. They hadn't had a murder in like 70 years. Have they? Sydney was too young to understand it at the time.

Sydney remembers the fear that she might be the first in that 70 years when she heard a car start to slow next to her. She remembers the confusion when she saw it was her father's car. How sad he looked. How she immediately knew what it meant.

"No, she was fine." Sydney had repeated over and over again. How the only thought in her mind was that she was never going to hear her mom's voice again, or see her face. She fell into her father's arms, shaking with tears running down her face.

"She was getting better."

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Baking with Vivian was always fun but after hearing the good news about Claudia, Tara knew she had to make something different. She made a casserole. It was one of the first things Claudia had taught her to cook.

Even though she'd really only known Stiles and Sydney for about a year, she has known Noah and Claudia a while longer. When her parents yelling got a little too loud and the neighbors called in a noise complaint, or even when Tara herself called when they left her alone and she has almost set her house on fire.

Claudia had become almost like a second mother to her, Naomi being the first. Claudia had taught her a few things about cooking and told her a story or two. It had devastated Tara when she heard about the illness. But she remembered what Naomi had told her. That she just has to hope and be patient.

So Tara had, and it had paid off. Claudia was getting better. So Tara had brought over food to celebrate.

She had rung the doorbell and it took a few minutes longer than it usually did for someone to answer. When the door opened, Noah looked around for a moment before his eyes finally looked down at Tara, with her glass dish full of casserole. 

He was swaying slightly and had an empty glass in his hand. "Tara?"

"Noah." Tara said with a bright smile. "I brought casserole, I heard the good news."

Noah's face went from confused to sad and filled with pity. He sighed as if 100 pound weights were placed on his shoulders. He herded Tara inside and to the kitchen table.

Taras smile faltered slightly when she saw the almost empty whiskey bottle, the darkness of the house, and the absence of.. well anything happy. She didn't see Stiles or Sydney but wanted to write that off as them being with their mother.

"I'm sorry that I have to be the one to tell you this.." Noah's voice turned to static as Tara put the pieces together. Everything numbed. Everything fit together. The dark atmosphere, the absence of Stiles and Sydney, everything made sense. 

Tara snapped back into focus when she heard a crash. The casserole had fallen on the floor, making a huge mess. First Tara had intruded on Noah mourning and now she had made a mess on his floor. She could feel the tears falling quicker when she realized that she had also broken Naomi's good casserole.

"I'll- I'll- I'm sorry." Tara stuttered quickly bending to the ground. "I'll clean it."

Tara couldn't focus on Noah telling her to stop until his voice got sharper. "Tara."

She froze where she was and took a deep breath. She stood up and straightened her posture before looking back down at the mess. "I-I'm so sorry."

Tara walked as fast as she could out the door, her reaction seemed to sober Noah up but she was gone before he could say anything. He just sighed and got to work cleaning the casserole.

Tara was almost running by the time she was outside the house. She stopped after a few minutes and sunk to the ground. She knew exactly whose house she was in front of. She knew everyone at these houses. She knew this neighborhood more than her own.

She tucked her face into her knees as she sobbed. She could only imagine how Stiles and Sydney feel. That's probably why Vivian hadn't talked to her in a few hours. Vivian was always good at comforting those two, she's probably with them now. 

Tara took a shuddering breath as she heard someone come to a stop right next to her. She looked up and was met with the softest blue eyes she'd ever seen.

Issac Lahey stood next to her with a bag of trash in his hands, he looked worried as he stared down at the girl sobbing in front of his house.

"Are you okay?" Issac asked squatting down next to her.

"Um.. no." Tara said looking over at Issac with watery eyes.

"Is there anyth-" Issac started to say but was interrupted by someone yelling from inside his house.

"ISSAC! HURRY UP!" A manly voice yelled causing them both to flinch, they met each others eyes and a level of understanding ran through them.

"I should get going." Tara said standing up and brushing off her pants.

"Are you sure I can't help?" Issac asked reminding Tara the reason he had started talking to her. She tried to hold back the tears as she shook her head.

"No, but thank you for asking." Tara said softly looking down at the ground. "Bye Issac."

"You know my name?" Issac asked as Tara started to walk away.

"Of course I do." Tara said giving him a half-hearted smile before she walked faster away from his house. She didn't really know where to go. She wanted desperately to go to Naomi but she's probably busy with her own grieving. All the parents were close, I mean their kids had become best friends in a matter of months.

Before she knew it she was in front of a familiar house. With a person she couldn't even talk to without stuttering a year ago inside. But now she could talk to him for hours without getting bored. The door opened.

"Is Scott here?"