To Better The Shattered; Scott McCall [2] ✔

1.70 In Which They Rave (part one)

Chris' face hardened. "You know, the question I had after Gerard first told me about our family was 'why us?' In reply, he quoted Winston Churchill." The hunter snorted, "'The price of greatness is responsibility'. But, personally, I think it's more about knowledge. What we know – the truth we know about the world – that makes us responsible; for a young couple, their new-born daughter – anyone who doesn't have the power to defend themselves. Are you starting to get it?"

"I get that this isn't a lecture," she scowled. "This is an interrogation." He was totally on to her.

"That depends on what you know, Ellie," her uncle narrowed his eyes. "Gerard showed me what happened in the library. The cameras didn't catch everything, but did you really think that a little high school fight can explain that amount of damage. We know you're trying to protect your friends, but people are dying. A child was orphaned. What you know makes you responsible."

"But –"

"It makes you responsible," the sheet over one of the bodies was ripped away, "For this."

Ellie looked away. She couldn't believe her uncle was trying to make her feel like she was at fault in this situation. "And what do you want me to tell you?"

"Anything you know! Anything that can lead us to answering the one question that might mean everything!" His voice rose to a shout, "Who is controlling the kanima?!"

A laugh – a borderline hysterical one – tore its' way out of her mouth. "You think if I knew that I wouldn't tell you? Because I don't know. I understand that the kanima is killing people, and that his 'master' has some serious issues that you want to talk to him about. You want to protect the normal humans in this town, and if I could help you with that, I would, I promise. You're not the bad guy, Uncle Chris, I'm aware of that."

"So you don't know anything?"

"Not any more than you do, at least," she said carefully. That was mostly true, though she was sure that he didn't know that the kanima was Jackson. "Can I go now? I have, like, four essays due tomorrow and a project to finish by Tuesday."

"Fine," Chris nodded. "Let's get back to the house before Victoria starts to worry."

"I didn't know she was capable of that level of human emotion," she muttered.

;

 The next day, Ellie slipped a note into Scott's locker telling him to meet her in the chemistry classroom that lunch. She didn't know what to tell him about her conversation with her uncle, or about her sort-of date with Matt.

Honestly, Ellie could hardly make sense of everything herself. Everything that her uncle said... it made a lot of sense. She hated her grandfather, she was sure of that much, but everything that the hunters were trying to do, their philosophy, seemed pretty decent. If they weren't going around and killing werewolves that didn't deserve it, Ellie might even have joined up with them when they gave her the choice.

Sighing, she hopped onto one of the tables in the classroom. Surely Scott got her note? Why was he late? The door shut a second later, and she glanced behind her to see her boyfriend walking to her with worried eyes.

He stopped in front of her, hands reaching out to grab hers. "What is it you wanted to talk about?" he asked.

"I know you said we shouldn't talk like this anymore because of Gerard and everything, but..." Ellie stopped, closing her eyes. Why did she feel like she was being crushed under the weight of all of this?

"Hey," Scott said softly, squeezing her hands. "Are you alright? What is it?"

"My uncle knows about the last two murders," she looked down, refusing to meet his eyes. "He knows that there are two killers, and he and Gerard are going to do anything to find out who they are. He brought me to..." She trailed off, not really wanting to remember the smell of embalmed corpses and lifeless eyes.

"Ellie, it's okay," he moved his hands to cup her face. "That doesn't matter. If he knows, then fine. I'm really more worried about your aunt."

"Victoria?" Ellie frowned, "What about her?"

"Uh, you know I got called out of detention?" When she nodded, he continued. "Well, um, she was the one who wanted to talk to me, not Gerard, and she asked me a bunch of questions about us. Like really specific questions. There were threats being made and pencils being sharpened, it was... intimidating, you know?"

Ellie smile slightly. "Pencils?"

"She's a scary woman," he defended, laughing. "Um, it was bad, and I think that, in light of this new situation, we should do something like... be seen with other people."

"You mean be seen dating?" she tried not to let him see how much of a punch in the face that was.

"Or more than that," Scott suggested.

Maybe now would be the right time to tell him about Matt, then. "Actually, uh, about that..."

"What?"

"I'm not entirely sure what happened, you know, but, well, the other day..." She floundered, "Before I talked to Jackson in the locker room, I ran into Matt. You know Matt, right? He's on the team. Uh, so, we were talking, and he mentioned this rave that's happening soon, and he asked me to go with him." Grimacing, she added, "And I sort of, maybe, said yes."

"Oh!" Scott said in surprise, before he smiled, "That's perfect. Great, good, go out with him!"

"Are you being serious?"

He wasn't upset at all? Was him suggesting that they see other people... was that his way of breaking up with her?

"Yeah! And make sure to make a huge deal out of it in front of your aunt, okay?" He shrugged, "Even kiss him if you have to."

Ellie breathed out a laugh, hopping down from the table and backing away from him. "Kiss him? Like proper kissing?"

"That depends," the werewolf grinned. "What's a proper kiss?"

And for the first time since meeting Scott, she hesitated before kissing him. She loved him, of course she loved him, but things had changed so much, and... why did he suddenly feel like someone she hardly knew? It was like contemplating kissing a stranger instead of the boy she'd been dating for half a year.

But Ellie pushed away those thoughts, lifting her face to brush her lips against his. He grinned, wrapping his arms around her in the familiar way that made her heart race. What was she worrying about again?

"Don't..." he said when they pulled away. "Don't do that."

She stared at his face for a moment, "Do you love me?"

Scott balked, "What? Of course I love you, Ellie. I thought you... I thought you knew that. You know that, right?" Something in her expression must have been off, because he whispered, "Are you okay? What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong, Scott," Ellie pulled back completely, plastering on a wide smile. "I, uh, I love you, too." Her tone lacked conviction, but neither of them commented on it. "I'll see you later, okay?" She gently pecked his lips once more, but she was gone before Scott had a chance to respond.

a/n I AM SO SORRY IT'S LATE!

I know I was supposed to update last week, but when I started writing (and I did) all of my effort just disappeared. I'd just gotten home and I really just wanted to play MarioKart and watch Veronica Mars until the early hours of the morning (neither of which I did, unfortunately).

I hope you guys liked this.

Ellie's starting to have doubts now and there isn't going to be much more 'happy!Scellie' moments for a while. Don't worry though! I live for happy endings!

Thanks for reading! Update this Sunday, I swear.

xoxoxo