CHAPTER TWELVE: More Important Things To Worry About
"How many kisses until we go insane?
I don't know, let's find out."
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When Argent and Luna finally pulled up to the school, both Isaac and Scott were already there waiting with their hands buried deep within their pockets.
"Sometimes I forget just how fast werewolves are," Luna mumbled, unclipping her seatbelt and slamming the door shut behind her to join them. Whatever emotional turmoil she'd experienced during her conversation with Argent was carefully pushed to the side. The last thing she needed was to be distracted and have her heart ripped out because of it. Only determination was at the forefront.
Still, both boys gave her a particularly questioning look, most likely able to scent the various chemosignals, but she just smiled reassuringly at them. She wasn't sure if she even wanted to say anything to anybody about what Argent had revealed, nor did she know if she wanted to involve them in her newfound goal of uncovering her dad's killer. It was something she didn't want to burden anyone with, considering the Alpha pack situation, and something that should be done herself.
Scott nodded at her assurance and looked away, his gaze landing on Argent who'd suddenly walked toward a tree. Meanwhile, Isaac narrowed a suspicious eye at the man, a look that had Luna punching him in the shoulder as a reprimand.
Isaac was her number-one defender, but sometimes he was a little too trigger-happy. He scowled at her but listened to the silent plea to let it go, walking away to scope out the other side of the school.
Luna just shook her head and went to join Scott and Argent.
"Do you see that?" Argent asked them, none the wiser as he crouched down to inspect what looked like a firefly hovering over the roots of a tree.
"It's a firefly," Scott stated awkwardly. He didn't need to say it out loud, but Argent looked as though he'd never seen or heard about one before, staring at the thing with his eyebrows furrowed. Luna also stared, somewhat enamoured by the small insect. She crouched down next to Argent to get a closer look since she'd never actually seen one in real life before, but as soon as she reached out to gently touch it with her fingertips, it darted away.
"No, no. I know, it's–" Argent paused, standing up. "It's just, very unusual. California fireflies aren't bio-luminescent. They don't glow."
"Does that mean something?" Scott asked cluelessly. But before Argent could respond, a wolf howl sounded off in the distance, and all of their heads snapped towards it. The whole firefly situation was disregarded entirely in light of the sound.
It was a signal; as if Cora and Boyd were simultaneously taunting them to come out and play, and warning them of their arrival.
As quick as the little stop they made was, all three of them moved in tandem for cover. Scott gave them one last glance before running toward the sound, and Luna joined Argent back in the car.
They pulled up to Isaac in less than a minute, who appeared to be cornered by both Cora and Boyd. Each of them looked just about as feral as they'd last seen them. Luna was sure that, if they could, they'd be frothing at the mouths in sheer anger. The headlights of the car managed to blind both crazed werewolves, and it forced them to run toward the school entrance and away from Isaac.
The brakes slammed to a stop, and once again Argent and Luna came flying out of the car to join Scott and Isaac who were already there waiting. It was then that they realized that their plan didn't seem to work.
"They're not going to the school." Luna breathed out, watching with worried eyes as the two wolves ran at what seemed like full speed toward the doors before suddenly leaping up.
"They're going over it." Scott finished for her.
Derek came running out from the entrance, craning his head up to look at where they went.
"The rear doors, someone has to get them open," Argent called out quickly. He was right after all, about how there were still smart humans inside of the wolves. They seemed to know on a certain level that they were being hunted down, and they had enough survival instincts to outmaneuver them.
"Someone has to drive them inside."
"I'll go," Argent told them.
"No. I'm faster." Isaac announced immediately, cutting them all off and running away before anyone could protest.
Derek glanced over at Luna and Scott. There was no time to come up with a good plan anymore, it was either they succeeded in trapping the two wolves or they dealt with the repercussions of a rampage in town. They had to trust that Isaac would fulfill his part, there was no room for any other option. "We'll lead them to the boiler room." He said finally, nodding to them to follow him inside the school.
All four of them ran inside and Argent lagged behind to shut the entrance they'd come through by jamming the handlebars to at least buy all of them some time if their plan didn't end up working.
Luna followed Derek closely, while Scott veered toward a different hallway that would hopefully cut the wolves off if they tried to go down a different route. But it became evident early on that the pair were going in the right direction because as soon as they turned the corner, they were met with Cora and Boyd staggering right in through the rear door of the school while it slammed shut behind them, effectively trapping them inside.
They seemed disoriented, pawing at there eyes and squinting. But before they could gather their bearings, Derek too the opportunity they had to grab at Cora and slam her into the nearby locker, creating a huge dent in the metal as he did so. But like brother like sister, she shoved back just as hard. It was enough for Derek to stagger and for her to shift her attention toward Luna. Immediately, Luna's hand flew out as the girl ran and her fingertips pressed against Cora's neck. Five touchpoints connected them, and a surge of controlled power sent her flying away against the tile floor. But just as fast as Cora had surged away, Luna stumbled on her feet. Small black spots flooded her vision and she was too disoriented to notice when Boyd made a move to stalk towards her.
He swung out a large hand and his razor-sharp claws sliced through the air with a woosh. But before they could hit its mark across her throat, Scott flew down the staircase and took Luna with him, wrapping his arms around her and spinning them away. Just as swiftly, Argent moved in from the other side, brandishing a stun baton. Bolts of electricity rippled up the side with a threatening crackle, and Boyd was forced to step away. He growled low in his throat as three men formed a wall blocking all of their exits.
With his teeth bared, Derek sneered, "Come and get us." It was taunting enough for then to follow as he reached for the boiler room door and threw it open. It made a loud bang as it slammed back into the wall, immediately capturing Cora and Boyd's attention. Scott moved fast to follow Derek down and, off to the side, Luna shook her head to rid the black spots and made a move to do the same.
But before she could take a step, a hand on her arm yanked her out of the way and the feral werewolves flew right past her.
"What are you doing?" She hissed at the culprit, turning a sharp glare at Argent who didn't flinch at all at the glowing purple eyes threatening him. Just as quickly though, her gaze shifted to the two rabid werewolves clawing at the walls as they bounded down the stairs after Scott and Derek like a game of cat and mouse. She couldn't follow them down anymore, not without compromising the plan and having both of them turn back to the exit.
"I'm a hunter. I'm trained to look for weaknesses in everyone and everything around me and, right now, you're a liability." Argent told her swiftly, looking her over.
Luna wanted to protest. She wanted to snap at the man and go down anyway, even if it was stupid and petulant, and she knew it wouldn't help anybody. But her chest was heaving too hard, and her fists were shaking too much at her sides where she was trying her best to control the trembling. It seemed like whatever rush of luck she'd had back at the vault was dwindling the longer the night passed by. It was infuriating to be left behind, to leave Scott and Derek without any more backup when anything could go wrong. There was something good about being useful for once, and after helping Isaac through the ice bath situation, she never wanted to sit out ever again. But at the same time, Argent was right; she would have been a liability if she joined them now.
She wasn't going to admit it to the man, though, not over her dead body. "Don't get used to it," She grumbled instead, still out of breath but hiding it by turning away. "Once I have a juice box, I'll be back to kicking ass."
Argent gave her a somewhat exasperated look, resisting the urge to roll his eyes. "I wouldn't doubt it." He tossed her the stun baton and she caught it with a yelp. Luna was just scared she'd accidentally hit the button and turn herself into bacon. "Come on."
Without any further discussion, Argent took off down the hallway and Luna stumbled after him, waving the baton like a lightsaber as she caught up. "Hey, I could get used to this! You think I can have one? Think of it as a sorry gift for letting my dad get killed!"
Argent shot her a look, and she just smiled cheekily back at him. It wasn't like she could blame him about it anyway seeing as it was so long ago and he's saved her ass more than once now, but she might as well have some fun. A little teasing never hurt anybody before.
"You can have it if you stop trying to electrocute yourself," Argent replied dryly. She rolled her eyes because, what a dad thing to say, but not even a moment later he was right.
Argent gave her a pointed look when a strand of her precious blonde hair somehow touched the baton when she lit it up. There was a sizzling sound that seems extra loud in the empty hallways, and she yanked it away immediately, but the damage was already done. It had singed right through the hair. She looked at him with wide eyes, then looked down at the sad burnt remains on the ground.
He just sighed.
Somehow, giving Luna, a sixteen-year-old girl, a weapon was more dangerous than when he first tried to teach Allison how to properly shoot a gun back when she was twelve. And that's saying something considering Allison almost shot her own foot had she not missed by four inches.
But he did owe her one, as she so kindly put it.
They spent the next little while walking down the hallways together in silence. Every so often, Luna would whip out the stun baton and swing it around, but soon that got tiring too.
Just when she leaned back against a locker to take a break from the night after constantly moving around, one loud snarl escaped from the boiler room and echoed throughout the halls. The sound turned her and Argent around on their heels.
"Was that–" Argent started.
"Derek." Luna gasped, her breath becoming short as fear spread through her. She didn't spare Argent a backward glance before she took off sprinting toward the sound.
Her shoes skid on the tile floor as she raced down the hallways, nearly sliding ride into a row of lockers in her haste. She threw open the boiler door and practically jumped down the stairs and through the second door, prepared to fight and help. But to her surprise, it was only Scott who was standing on the other side of a closed door. He was leaning against it with a pinched expression of worry but he didn't seem to be making any move to intervene in what was happening inside.
Another pained yelp came from the room, and realization set in of what exactly was going on.
Derek was inside getting torn apart by the two wolves.
"What the hell are you doing?" She hissed, attempting to shove past Scott so she could unlock the door. But he was a werewolf, and her push did nothing to move him. It was like trying to push over a building.
"You can't go in there! I know you want to, but he went in alone for a reason. They'll kill you." Scott protested, grabbing hold her her wrists when she tried to push him to the side again. He seemed to realize only then that she was holding a stun baton and a small bit of worry flashed across his face, but Luna would never use it on him. Ever. She dropped it to the ground and fought Scott with her fists.
"You can't be serious, they'll kill him!" She tried to twist her way out of his grip, but the longer she fought, the more the dizzy spots from before started to cloud her vision and the weaker her attempts were.
"It's okay. He's okay, I can hear his heartbeat." Scott reassured her, quickly realizing the sudden weakness in her motions and pulling them both down to sit on the ground, still holding on to her. Together they listened to the constant growls and struggles inside, praying for the sounds to continue even if it just meant more pain for Derek.
At least he wouldn't be dead.
Not long after, Isaac came bounding down the steps behind them yelling about the sun being up, and that was all the confirmation they needed to unlatch the door and rip it open. The first thing that came to sight was Boyd and Cora unconscious on the floor with Derek knelt between them. His clothes were slashed with what seemed like an endless waterfall of blood pouring out of the wounds.
In less than a second, Luna dropped to her knees beside him, looking him over to see if there were any more wounds besides the gaping ones on his chest. And there sure was. Bruises littered his back, and she didn't even wanna know the extent of them. She reached forward to help him up, but he put a hand up to stop her.
"There's a teacher. I'll take care of her. Get them out of here." Derek ground out in a painful hiss. Part of her wanted to stay anyway and let Isaac and Scott handle the pair of wolves on the ground, but the other part of her knew that if there really was a teacher that witnessed it all, they couldn't risk them finding out that there was anybody else supernatural in the school.
Right now, she trusted Derek enough to step away. Whether or not that trust was reciprocated would be a question for later.
____
"So, Boyd and Cora might not have killed anyone?"
Scott asked the question cautiously as he stood next to Stiles. After getting Boyd and Cora out of the school and letting them rest in Derek's loft, Scott got a call from Stiles to meet him at the Hospital Morgue. And it wasn't like he could just leave Luna, who still seemed somewhat weak after the whole night. Derek wasn't able to be there for her, and Isaac seemed equally ready to pass out for the rest of the day. The only reason Scott was able to be functional himself at the moment was because of the adrenaline of the night, and having to look over Luna helped because it was a responsibility he couldn't cast aside. Now, together, they joined Stiles at the hospital morgue for something he deemed more important than something he could say over a phone call.
Stiles swallowed hard, trying his best to ignore how terrible both his friends looked. Instead of wasting any more time, he pulled the sheet back over Heather's body. "You're gonna wish they did."
"Why?" Luna asked, nausea from the sight of the dead body making her want to pass out. She just looked away though, staring at a random spot of blood on Scott's shirt to focus on instead. It didn't help much, but it was better than a dead body that's for sure.
"I'm not exactly sure yet. The other girl who was out in the woods, Emily? Eventually, they're gonna find her. She's one of them. Emily, Heather, that guy Lydia found in the pool. All three were virgins. And they all have the same three injuries: strangled, throat slashed, heads bashed in. It's called the threefold death."
"So, if these aren't random killings, what are they?"
"Sacrifices," Stiles said firmly, gesturing to the body of Heather. "Human sacrifices."
"As if the Alpha pack wasn't bad enough," Luna muttered morosely. She grabbed the edge of the sheet and pulled it back over Heather. The girl did kiss her Stiles, but now she was dead. What a fate.
Morbidly, Luna hoped her powers didn't extend to her internal monologues. If she'd somehow managed to accident manifest Heather's death—in the split second of jealousy she was only admitting to feeling now—that would make her a murderer.
She didn't want to be a murderer.
She also didn't know why she was thinking about this when Stiles' mouth was moving and she was supposed to be listening to his theories.
"I've got to go tell my mom," Scott told them, shaking his head to clear the webs of exhaustion forming inside of his mind. His voice made Luna look up, since he was literally her ride, and he turned to her with an apologetic smile, "I'll try to be quick. Just sit down somewhere and I'll take you home afterwards."
Stiles raised a hand, "I'll take her home." He seemed to realize what he said because he shot her a sheepish look. "If you want to, of course. I wasn't trying to, like, control you or anything."
"I didn't think you were, Stiles," Luna couldn't help the amused smile from creeping up her face even through the copious amounts of exhaustion making even her facial muscles hurt from the effort of it. She gave Scott a pat on the head as a goodbye, and he returned the notion, reaching over and patting her head with a smile before leaving the room. When he was gone, the atmosphere shifted into something a lot more melancholy, with no other theory to discuss or task to complete left. It was a long day, and Luna just wanted to flop in bed and rot for the next five business days.
She walked to Stiles and linked their arms together, something that was starting to feel like their signature go-to thing, and pushed him to hurry it up so they could get the hell out of there.
Luna didn't say much during the ride, too tired to really formulate any more words let alone have a conversation. But Stiles made up for the silence, talking about everything and anything the entire time. He talked about how much he hated the new streetlights when it should have stayed a 4-way, about a recent recipe he saw on Master Chef the other night and how he thinks he could pull it off, about his everyday morning routine step-by-step. It was all nonsensical, but it was nice to listen to whilst she closed her eyes and relaxed in the passenger seat.
She didn't know how, but Stiles' voice was soothing to listen to. His presence next to her was comforting to have. And the jeep had somehow become almost like a second home in a way with the engine rumbling like a lullaby and the whir of the broken AC like a familiar friend. It was enough for her to almost drift off.
When they arrived at the house, Stiles drummed his fingers on her shoulder and Luna blinked her eyes back open. "Thanks, Stiles." She mumbled, rubbing the sleep from her eyes which suddenly felt like lead was weighing down on down.
She didn't want to even imagine the raccoon eyes she probably had going on from her mascara and eyeliner. And if Stiles noticed it, he didn't comment, something she was grateful for.
Absentmindedly, she turned back to Stiles.
"Of course, you don't have to thank–" Before he could even finish the sentence, Luna leaned over the console between them and pecked a kiss on the corner of his lips. His mouth parted in surprise, but just as quick as the kiss was, she unbuckled her seat and opened the car door, ready to get out as if she hadn't just made his entire mind go blank in the span of seconds. Something that never seemed remotely possible before considering his thoughts were on a perpetual cycle every waking moment.
Stiles watched numbly as she moved as slow as a literal sloth trying to climb out of the vehicle. He wanted to both laugh and scream, because what? What just happened? What did it mean? Did she really just kiss him? But once his brain rebooted, and his mind seemed to catch up with his pounding heart rate, he couldn't just let the moment go.
He was moving before he could even register what he was doing. With a steady arm, he reached over and lay a hand on her jaw to turn her head toward him.
Without overthinking it, Stiles did the one thing he couldn't seem to get out of his mind since the very first time it happened.
He kissed her.
He kissed her without the excuse of playing it up for an audience, and without any real reason aside from the fact that it felt right in the moment. He never knew how much he wanted her before the fake dating thing, but if he did he would have scrapped the whole idea in the first place.
It wasn't fake anymore. And his body seemed to be trying to tell him all along just how much it needed her. Maybe it was before there kiss at the party, maybe it was after, but all he knew was that he needed to touch her. It was like a compulsion, the way his hand always seemed to reach out whenever they were near each other. The way he'd never felt as relieved as he did when he saw Luna's face after she'd hung up on him at the bank.
Even if it was behind the wheel of a car almost running him over.
At first, for a heart-dropping moment, Luna didn't respond to the kiss. She stayed motionless, frozen in place as he pressed his lips to hers and tangled her hair between his fingers. But just when he was about to pull away and apologize, she turned fully in her seat to grab a fistful of his shirt and pull him back to slot their mouths together again and deepen the kiss.
Stiles made a sound of surprise, and then sighed heavily out of his nose, leaning further into her space until the console between them was digging uncomfortably into his side.
It was much rougher than any of the other (plural!) kisses they'd shared before. Even the one at the party couldn't compare because that one was done to prove the point that they were dating. This kiss, alone in the Jeep together, was a culmination of all of the internal torment they'd both faced for the past two weeks. The torture of not being able to get the other person off of their minds.
Luna pulled back only when her lungs felt like they'd disintegrate and her heart felt like it would explode. However, she would have much rather continued and found out what else would happen.
She hadn't meant to kiss him first, it was such a thoughtless motion to just peck his lips as a goodbye. In truth, she'd thought she was dreaming.
But, god, was she happy she wasn't.
"What are we doing?" She said softly, her lips barely an inch away from his. Her eyes opened to watch him, and her eyelashes brushed against his cheek as she blinked away the daze of contentment. She couldn't tell what Stiles was thinking, nor did she want to really know in case it would ruin the precious moment and cause her entire world to go up into dramatic flames. "What did we just do?"
"We kissed," Stiles whispered. Although he hadn't moved an inch and his eyes were stuck watching her lips. Was this the feeling Scott had with Allison? Why he was so insufferable when he was dating her. If so, he'd have to remember to apologize to him because wow was it addicting. He tilted his head closer and wanted to grab the stupid console separating them and throw it out the damn window. He didn't though, instead he just pushed closer. "Which I think we should do again. And again. And maybe again because third times the charm, right?"
And, well, who was she to say otherwise? Sure, there are about a million unanswered concerns and questions floating around between them, but why not ignore them and hope for just a moment that things would magically resolve themselves somehow? Maybe after the night they had, some good karma would make its way around. Maybe there good karma would manifest into their very own god fairy and fix everything they were about to ruin in their friendship.
In a world of supernatural, anything was possible.
Maybe she could manifest a god fairy.
They kissed, and kissed some more, and kissed again. And then, she finally let go of Stiles' crumpled-up shirt.
"It's late. We should probably go."
She didn't want to go. But she couldn't just make out with Stiles forever.
Unless...
Stiles pulled back before she could change her mind, pressing one last soft kiss to her lips. "Fine."
He pulled away and watched as Luna, who was too busy watching him, reached out to try and open the passenger door. Only, instead of finding the handle, her hand grabbed at nothing and she almost went toppling right out on her face.
The door was already wide open from before she randomly decided to plant a kiss on Stiles.
She wanted to die of embarrassment but, instead, she picked herself up with as much dignity as she could and waved an awkward hand at him before stumbling her way to the house. Once she managed to fumble the key into the lock, she slammed the door behind her and leaned back on the solid wood with a sight.
Luna took a breath before slowly climbing up the stairs and going to the bedroom. She grabbed a pair of sweatpants and a hoodie. She changed, forgoing her skincare routine to instead just grab a makeup wipe. She took her makeup off in careful motions, and then laid back in her bed.
Luna lay there, stared up at the ceiling, and knew she was fully and absolutely fucked.
And when the morning rolled around, and she thought about the kisses again, it didn't matter anymore in the grand scale of things. And it wasn't like Stiles mentioned it either the next day when he showed up to her house with a box of donuts and a long monologue about his dream which involved her being the first astronaut to land on the moon. He finished his monologue, talked right over her, and then demanded they continue watching their latest show.
He didn't mention the kisses then, and he didn't mention it any other day during the weekend. He was completely and irrevocably normal. And that was saying something considering the word 'normal' had never before been a term Luna would ever use to describe someone like Stiles. At that point, she couldn't tell if she imagined the night or not with the way he was acting. But maybe that was the point. Maybe Stiles didn't want to talk about it, so he was trying to distract her.
She didn't know whether she liked that scenario or not. She'd already dealt with her stupid delusional crush on Scott last year, the last thing she needed was to go through the heartbreak again with Stiles. It made her want to both explode in a firey ball of fury and cry her eyes out into an ocean of tears large enough to drown in. Maybe then she'd be rid of the misery that was delusion.
Luna technically kissed him first, the least he could have done was bring it up afterwards.
But again, something as stupid as Stiles thinking the kisses were meaningless shouldn't bother her. Because not only had they found out Derek's sister was alive, but they were all back to square one; taking down the Alpha pack, which they now knew killed Erica. It was unforgivable, and something they'd have to avenge no matter what. It didn't matter that Luna was never that close to her compared to the others, Erica was still just a teenager. She was still someone that Luna and everyone else grew up with, and someone who didn't deserve to die.
It was weird to walk around school and watch people who made fun of her put flowers and notes on and around her locker. Erica could be living a normal life without the supernatural if they didn't bully her.
Since when was that type of thing just normal, anyway? When did Beacon Hills turn into a shit storm of supernatural, and what other terrible thing would happen next? It felt like Luna had to constantly look over her shoulder now. Last year it was the Kanima and Derek's pack, and this year it was the Alpha pack.
It didn't help that she was suddenly becoming all too aware of eyes on her. Throughout the entire day there was this feeling of someone watching that itched at her, but it was only when she glanced back over her shoulder as she was tying her laces for track did she finally discover the culprits.
The boy she'd bumped into a little while back, Aiden, with his identical twin whom Luna had no idea he even had. Both of them were staring at her, tracking her every movement as if they were suspicious of something.
"If I tell Coach I'm deathly allergic to running, do you think he'd believe me?"
Luna jumped and turned to find both Stiles and Scott right next to her. When she glanced back to the twins, they were gone.
"You're on the lacrosse team, Stiles. He knows you can run." Scott rolled his eyes, exasperated with the millionth suggestion he'd been forced to hear all the way from the locker room when they were changing to now when they were standing with the rest of the track team warming up. He didn't know what was worse between hearing the excuses or hearing Stiles rave about how he was still a virgin and could be the next possible sacrifice.
On one hand, he did not want to be involved in Luna and Stiles' relationship dilemmas, thank you very much. But on the other, he's heard the same complaints about physical activity from Stiles since grade one gym class. It's gotten repetitive now.
"Okay, fine. I'll say that I'm sick." Stiles attempted another excuse, stretching his leg and leaning forward to touch his toes. He only managed halfway but it was enough for him to pant out a strenuous breath and throw himself down on a nearby rock to rest. "I'll say that I'm so sick, that I'm actually contagious! Wouldn't it be terrible if my disgusting germs spread and infected the rest of the team before the big competition? He'd listen then."
"Except in economics, you started a thirty-minute debate while literally bouncing around the room." Luna couldn't stop herself from saying even though she wanted to smack herself. She tried—keyword, tried—to distance herself from him the entire day but for some unexplainable reason she couldn't seem to stop herself from interacting with him. Stiles was like a magnet, pulling her in whenever they were in the same room together.
When he turned to look at her after she spoke, she got nervous and punched his shoulder, watching as he dramatically flinched back. "I highly doubt he's gonna think you're sick after that. And I don't think the headache he got trying to wrangle you down will help your cause either."
"I have no idea what you're talking about, Coach is fine!" Stiles gestured over to the man in question. Except, instead of bursting a vein yelling at a kid like he'd usually could be found doing, Coach was knocking back a handful of Advil with shades on blocking out the sunlight.
"I mean, it could be worse. We're just running." Scott shrugged, moving to tie his shoes.
"Just running? Yeah, that's easy to say as a literal werewolf." Stiles grumbled right back. He stuck out a hand toward Luna for her to help him up, and with surprising strength, she pulled him up hard enough for him to stumble forward. He glanced down at her arms suspiciously, "I could have sworn you were just as noodle-armed as me, what kind of insane training is Derek making you do?"
Luna let go of him to lift an arm and shove the small sleeve of her t-shirt all the way up. Once her arm was exposed to the cool air, she flexed her bicep.
Immediately, Stiles, always one for the dramatics, had his face scrunched up in complete and utter shock.
"You want me to carry you, Stiles?" Luna taunted, flexing again. "Will you be my damsel in distress, baby?" She wiggled an eyebrow suggestively, finding amusement in the way he spluttered and his entire face seemed to turn an interesting shade of red. In truth, her bicep was quite literally barely existent, but her arms were toned enough with Derek's help to look like they were deceptively strong.
She could now do two-hundred push-ups perfectly, thank you very much. Which was about a two-hundred percent increase from last year!
"You could bench-press me any day, Carson! Say the word and I'm yours!" A random senior shouted from the group of freshmen congregating nearby. Luna rolled her eyes but didn't spare them any further attention, instead stepping into Stiles' space to link their arms together.
If Stiles was okay acting like they never made out in his Jeep for fifteen minutes, then fine! She too would act as if everything was normal. In fact, Luna would be so normal that Stiles' normal would be suspicion.
She was going to be the most normal normal person there ever was.
"We'll be running buddies. I'll literally drag your ass to the end if I have to." She told him seriously, to which he groaned and mouthed an exaggerated 'Help me!' to Scott, who just smiled at them and shook his head, mouthing back 'Good luck!'.
Little did Luna know, Stiles himself was also trying his best to be as normal as he could possibly be as well. In fact, he was somehow also under the impression that Luna was ignoring the kiss and, as a result, he was only acting in accordance with her.
When he showed up at her house the next day with donuts, he didn't anticipate her to just open the door and not say anything. In fact, he had this whole dramatic scene on the porch envisioned in his head where they'd both confess there undying love to one another and kiss again to seal the deal. But when he knocked, with his heart pounding out of his chest with nerves and his grin so wide it hurt, Luna couldn't seem to look him in the eyes for more than a second and she took the box of donuts without sparing him a glance.
Luna was the one who kissed him first, so shouldn't she be the one to also mention it afterwards as well?
The message was clear; Luna didn't want the kisses to mean anything. And Stiles always was a great liar, so acting as if he didn't want to jump off the nearest building was easy. He just started rambling to distract himself from the feeling of dread manifesting inside of his chest, and she seemed to go along with it.
He didn't even have to hide the fact that he had a crush on her, not when Scott and everyone else were already under the impression that they were dating. It was easy to live his life with unreciprocated feelings anyway, Lydia's been training him for it for the past million years.
And Luna sure seemed to be doing well in the ignoring department if the way she joked and linked their arms meant anything at all.
The shrill sound of the whistle pierced through his thoughts, and rude snarks were being shouted at them all to get a move on it.
"Pace yourselves! Come on!" Coach shouted out at them. The Advil must have worked, because he was having a field day (literally) blowing his whistle loud and sporadically. He seemed to somehow sense Stiles' internal commentary because he jogged up to both him and Luna to whistle extra loud in their ears. "Stilinski! You better not bring my star player down into your depths of failure!" He stopped blowing the whistle to give Luna a particularly pitying look, "Seriously, Carson, you and I both know you can do better. Do you really wanna be stuck with a Cheeto in the back when the whole Burger is up front!"
Stiles leaned past her to give Coach an indignant glare, "That doesn't even make sense!"
"That's something a Cheeto would say!"
"But it—"
"Cheeto!"
"You can't just—"
The sharp sound of the whistle cut off Stiles' second complaint and before he could open his mouth and try and wage a war with their Coach about whatever the hell a Cheeto and Burger meant in that context, Luna ran faster and forced him to keep in step with her by their linked arms.
They ran for about thirty seconds, all of which Stiles kept grumbling during, before the twins barreled past them with Isaac hot in pursuit. Isaac looked about ready to explode, and Luna was able to detect a beta temper tantrum before it could happen. She grabbed his arm and pulled him back, "What's going on?"
"Isaac?" Scott called after him, noticing the anger as well and quickly joining them.
"It's them," he ground out, his eyes burning a scathing yellow. He shook off Luna's hand with a sharp jerk and ran again.
"Isaac, wait—Isaac!" Scott called after him again, but the boy was off, vanishing into the woods ahead. With a frustrated breath, Scott charged right after him.
Stiles and Luna shared a single wide-eyed look before he nodded toward the two wolves for her to go ahead and follow. Luna gave him a pat on the shoulder before chasing after Scott, who was chasing after Isaac, who in turn was chasing after the twins. And, all things considered, she was able to keep up with the wolves.
After all, she was the new star pupil of Coach's for a reason, and with Derek's intense training, she was an exact match for Isaac's speed.
Trampling leaves underfoot, Luna sprinted after them, tracking Scott with her eyes as she went. She kept in line with him, using him as her literal guide dog as he tracked Isaac and the twins who were much further ahead.
"Ethan, I always forget. How many bones in the human body?"
"I don't know, let's count."
Scott and Luna rounded the corner at the same time Aiden raised a fist. Scott lurched for him, while Luna did the same at Ethan.
Scott's fist connected with Aiden's face, all of his enhanced strength going into the blow. Meanwhile, Luna skidded to a stop, her feet sliding for grip on the leaves just when he reached a clawed hand out at her to strike.
Luna stopped before she could get in his range of motion, and instead focused her powers into her hand. She made a sharp twisting motion in the air and Ethan's arm outstretched towards her snapped with a loud crack right in half.
"That's two," Scott smirked.
Aiden popped his jaw back into place whilst Ethan did the same to his arm, both with a painful-sounding crunch that seemed to only echo in the open area outside. Isaac retreated back to Luna and Scott, and the five of them circled each other. The wolves had their claws unsheathed, fangs out, and Luna almost wanted to laugh over the concept of having a full-on brawl in the middle of track practice of all times and places. But before anyone could attack, a loud scream of a girl had everyone's head snapping in the other direction.
Two runners hurried past them, barely even noticing the weird formation they were standing in.
Scott pulled both Isaac and Luna with him toward the scream and they emerged into a clearing where the rest of the team had gathered. They pushed their way past a couple of them to get to where Stiles was in the front. There, tied to a tree by a rope around the neck, was a teenage boy. His clothes dripped with blood down to the ground beneath his dirtied shoes, creating a small pool of it that only seemed to grow
. The wound was identical to the murder victim Lydia found at the pool.
Another sacrifice.
Stiles glanced over at Scott, "It's him, isn't it."
"Yeah," Scott agreed, his voice full of emotion. "That's him."
"Hey! Get out of the way, get back! Get this area cordoned off before they trample every piece of evidence." Sheriff Stilinski shouted, no doubt alerted by a quick-witted student calling the station as soon as the petrified scream was heard. It was better safe than sorry in a place like Beacon Hills, especially with the recent murders airing in the news.
Stiles brushed past all the deputies and entered the cordoned-off area with ease. "Dad, just come here. Look, look. It's the same as the others, you see?"
"Yeah, I see. Do me a favour and go back to school, okay?" his dad pleaded, more focused on the bloody murder and the crowd of impressionable students surrounding it. He turned towards Coach Finstock, who seemed at a loss for words. "Coach, can you give us a hand here?"
Coach blew the whistle literally right in Luna's ear, gaining everyone's attention in a second. "You heard the man! Nothing to see here! Probably just some homeless kid." He shouted as if that would reassure the teenagers around him.
"Coach," Scott whispered.
"Yeah?"
"He was a senior." Luna finished for him, somewhat angry. She didn't know him personally, but it was pretty unsettling how Coach was disregarding the guy's life entirely.
Stiles' hand brushed against hers in sympathy, and without overthinking it she linked there pinkies together.
"He wasn't on the team, was he?" Coach asked suddenly as if that was the reason she was glaring at him. Of course, lacrosse came first. It always came first for him, and before Luna could snap at him again, Stiles small gesture of comfort be damned, another shrill scream rang through the air.
"Kyle! Oh, God!" A woman screamed, and everyone turned to see a blonde girl crying out, desperately trying to push the deputies holding her back out of the way so she could get to him. He must have been her boyfriend, and the revelation only made Luna's heart ache for her.
Isaac didn't even register the girl and her cries, his entire focus was on the twins and the twins alone. "You see the way the twins looked at him?"
"Yeah, you mean like they had no idea what happened?" Stiles retorted after begrudgingly walking away from the crime scene.
"No, they knew."
Luna met a pair of eyes amid the chaos. Aiden and Ethan were standing off to the side, and both of their faces were contorted into confusion over the entire scene. "I don't know about that. The kid was strangled with a garrote." She told them all, watching them closely for any hint of recognition.
"Exactly!" Stiles agreed, "Am I the only one recognizing the lack of werewolfitude in these murders? No claws or bites."
"Oh, you think it's a coincidence they turn up and then people start dying?"
"Well, no." Stiles denied, shaking his head. "But I still don't think it's them." He argued back, turning his head towards Scott and Luna for confirmation. "What do you guys think?"
"I don't know yet," Scott answered, being a martyr. Without proof, there was no solid lead they could follow yet.
"I'm with Stiles," Luna insisted, squeezing his pinkie.
Stiles looked pointedly at Isaac who just glared back. "Of course you are," He muttered under his breath, and Luna shot him an annoyed look. She did not always side with Stiles, and she resented that being a thing he even thought.
"Seriously? Human sacrifices?" Scott stared at them both, unsure about it all, and Stiles immediately deadpanned.
"Scott, your eyes turn into yellow glow sticks, okay? Hair literally grows from your cheeks and then will immediately disappear, and if I were to stab you right now, it would magically heal. And you're telling me you have trouble grasping human sacrifices?"
"Come on, we all know Stiles is insane, but he actually has a point this time." Luna agreed, eyes boring into Scott's. She ignored the betrayed expression Stiles was giving her at the insult.
Isaac just scowled. "I don't care. They killed that kid, they killed the girl that saved me. I'm gonna kill them too."
And with those last words, he was gone.
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Not edited
Merry Christmas everyone! I hope this chapter was somewhat nice to have as a little present. Going forward, I might be changing the format of past chapters and adding in my own little picture edits for each one (like I've done with my hp and hg fics). I've added one to this chapter to feel it out, so someone please let me know if you prefer regular gifs or this new format going forward. Hopefully, I'll have everything done in the coming week if you guys like the little edits :)
Right now I'm having an issue with this book regarding how I previously split the chapters up. For some reason, past me completely skipped writing s3ep4 and got right into the motel episode (arguably the best ep btw! Fight me!). This means that now, sixish years later as I'm rewriting this, I'm facing the repercussions of my laziness and I'm stuck somehow trying to fit that entire episode into one big one for the next update. I hate my life.
But enough complaining, let's talk about this chapter. It looks like Stiles and Luna are currently trapped in a weird limbo between friends fake dating to friends with weird benefits AND hidden feelings. Very weird. Very complicated. Very fun to write! It's a classic case of miscommunication with them both assuming the worst-case scenarios. It's very in character, in my opinion, for them to overthink themselves into a grave. If one of them just confessed then things would be fine, but both of them spiralled before they even had the chance.
Don't worry though, I'm not going to make this stretch out for too long. We've already had book one full of unreciprocated feelings, I don't want to make this book slow burn as well.