CHAPTER TWO:
WOLF MOON, PART TWO
The school week flew by in a blur for Brooke. While Lydia and Jackson were consumed with excitement for the upcoming lacrosse scrimmage, Brooke's thoughts were swarmed with images of Laura Hale's dead body and the news that Scott McCall was indeed a werewolf.
After she saw Scott and Stiles in the woods, she went to the Hale house and met with Derek. While she was excited to see him, her heart broke when she discovered his return was because of Laura's death. Her heart broke even more when she learned whatever killed Laura had bit Scott. As much as she loved her family, she wouldn't wish this world on to anyone outside of it.
Nevertheless, Brooke found herself attending lacrosse practice all week, keeping an eye on Scott and avoiding conversation with his best friend. Luckily, practices and the scrimmage passed without any major injuries, and Brooke found herself exhaling for the first time all week as she got ready for Jackson's party.
However, her anxiety soon flared up again when she remembered that it was a full moon. And that Scott was going to be attending the party. With Allison.
"So, are you going to the party with anyone?" Lydia asked, distracting Brooke from the makeup she was currently applying to her face. She internally groaned at Lydia's question. Ever since her last boyfriend (Drew, they met at the summer camp she attended every summer) broke up with her, Brooke had been avoiding the male gender. All they did was cause drama.
"No, Lydia, we're driving there together," Brooke reminded her best friend.
"You're not even meeting anyone there?"
"No, Lydia."
"If you want I could set you up with someone on the team."
"I don't want to be set up with anyone!" Brooke snapped. She huffed and turned back the vanity mirror in front of her.
"I'm sorry, B," Lydia said quietly after a moment had passed. "I just want to see you happy."
"No, I'm sorry, Lyds." Brooke sighed. "I know you have good intentions, but I don't need a boy to be happy. I shouldn't have snapped, I'm just a little irritated."
"It's okay. Is it that time of the month?" Lydia asked sympathetically.
Brooke glanced out the window and at the full moon. "Yeah. It's that time of the month."
******
An hour later, the two girls arrived at the party. It was already in full-swing with teens dancing in the backyard and cars covering the street. Brooke and Lydia confidently walked through the front door without knocking, and were soon greeted by the host himself.
"There you are! Finally," Jackson said, mostly to Lydia.
"Ever heard of being fashionably late?" Lydia scoffed.
"Yeah, who do you think we are? Freshmen?" Brooke teased him.
"Whatever," he said, but she could see a smirk forming at his mouth. "Drinks are in the kitchen, music in the backyard."
Brooke nodded her head, familiar with the layout of Jackson's parties. She quickly escaped the couple and made herself a very strong drink before heading into the backyard.
Her eyes scanned the yard for Scott McCall, and she easily found him dancing with Allison in the middle of the crowd. Her eyes trailed off the couple and she found herself looking at Derek, hidden in the shadows from the house. Brooke rolled her eyes. She told him she'd be able to handle everything herself.
"Brooke!" someone yelled, catching her attention. She turned to see Stiles Stilinski pushing his way through the crowd and walking towards her.
"Oh, god," she muttered to herself. "Hey, Stilinski," she said louder once he was closer.
"Y-you remember my name?" He asked, sounding as if he was out of breath.
"We've gone to school together since the fourth grade," she reminded him, quoting what he told her in the preserve.
"Right, right! Duh. Cause I wouldn't blame you if you didn't remember it," Stiles began. Brooke hardly paid attention though, her eyes finding Scott and Allison again. "I mean, you're like super popular and everything and I bet you have loads of friends which means you probably have loads of friends' names to remember. And sure, we've known each other a long time but we've never really been friends, you know?"
"Uh-huh," Brooke nodded. He's still talking?
"Not that I didn't want to be your friend or anything!" He exclaimed loudly. Brooke recoiled at the volume of his voice. "It's just that you're friends with Lydia and your clique already seemed pretty tight and I wouldn't want to intrude. Even though you seemed to make room for Allison. Allison is dancing with Scott, did you know that? I guess he'll be joining your little group if he dates Allison. Speaking of dancing, do you want to?"
Brooke realized he had stopped talking and turned to look at him. "What?"
"Do you want to dance? With me?" He blushed.
"Um," Brooke said, trying to find out how to say no. However, she didn't have to because she noticed Scott holding his head tightly. "Oh, shit."
"What?"
"Your friend. Something's wrong with your friend!" Brooked harshly grabbed Stiles' hoodie and pulled him along with her as she chased after Scott.
The two of them were quickly joined by Allison, and the three teens stood in the front yard as they watched Scott get in his car and quickly drive away. Brooke let go of Stiles' hoodie and walked to Allison. "What happened?"
"I don't know," Allison muttered. "We were just dancing, and I thought everything was going okay, but he just ran off."
"Hey, I'm sure everything's okay. He's probably just sick or something," Brooke reassured her the girl.
"Allison," a voice called from the side of the house. Brooke turned to see Derek walking towards them. "I'm a friend of Scott's. My name's Derek."
Allison turned to Brooke and shook her head. "Scott never mentioned a Derek," she quietly said.
"No, it's okay, Allison. I know Derek too." Brooke turned to Derek and looked at him with a what the hell? face. Why did he have to get involved? She was handling it fine. He should be out looking for Scott.
"You do?" Allison asked.
"Yeah, he's an old family friend. And like he said, he's a friend of Scott's too."
"How about I give you two a ride home?" Derek offered. Allison looked at Brooke nervously and she sighed. Nodding her head, Brooke grabbed Allison's hand and led her to Derek's black Camaro.
The ride to Allison's house was short and silent. Awkwardness filled the air as the three sat silently. While Allison scrolled through her phone after she gave Derek her address, Brooke was trying to telepathically communicate with him.
It wasn't working, obviously, but Derek noticed the looks she was giving him after a few minutes. "Later," he muttered quietly, eyes nervously glancing at Allison in the rear-view mirror. Shortly after, the car came to a stop in front of the Argent home. Brooke got out of the car to let Allison out of the back seat, and was about to get back in when Allison stopped her.
"Would you maybe want to sleep over?" She asked. "I could really use a girl's night right now."
Brooke glanced quickly to Derek and she noticed the discreet shake of his head. "I'm sorry, I can't. My dad wants me home early tonight."
Allison nodded and headed inside after wishing Brooke a good night. Brooke got back in the car and turned to Derek, an eyebrow raised expectantly. He let out a large sigh and shifted the car back into drive.
"The Argents are hunters." He broke the silence. Brooke felt her eyes nearly pop out of her head.
"What?" She asked. Now that she thought of it, she remembered why the name sounded familiar. Her mother had definitely mentioned them before. "Well, what are you going to do?"
"Lay low, try not to get killed," Derek answered casually. "You shouldn't be friends with her."
"Friends close, enemies closer?" Brooke offered. She didn't want to stop being friends with Allison, the girl was incredibly sweet.
Derek shook his head. "I still don't think it's a good idea." He turned onto Brooke's street.
"I can take care of myself," she reassured him. "Why were you even there tonight? I told you I'd handle it."
"I was worried Scott would shift, Brooke. You've never actually dealt with a werewolf before and I didn't want you to get hurt."
"While I appreciate the sentiment, I still could've handled it. My dad and I train every night he's home and my mom left me dozens of books on the subject."
"Books and reality are two different things, B," Derek chuckled. He pulled into Brooke's driveway and put his car in park.
"Whatever," Brooke said bitterly. "I was trying to be inconspicuous, Der. Ever heard of the concept? Standing around in the shadows and being creepy isn't going to make them trust you."
"I don't need them to trust me."
"Yes, you do," Brooke said. She opened the car door. "If they don't trust you, you can't help Scott during the full moons, and he's going to kill somebody. I know you're still hurting from Laura, and I am too, but this dramatic, brooding thing you have going on isn't going to work in the long run."
Brooke climbed out of the car and leaned down to make eye contact with Derek. "Stay safe?" she asked.
"Stay safe," he agreed, a small smile tugging at his lips. Brooke closed the door and headed inside. Her father was sitting on the couch, watching a movie on the TV. She smiled at him, going to hug him from behind.
"How was the party?" Bryan asked his daughter. Brooke bit her lip, debating whether or not to let her dad know of the recent events.
"Uneventful."
She walked past the living room and into her bedroom. Brooke sat on her bed, pulling out her phone and seeing a missed text from Lydia. She texted her back, letting her know that she got a ride home.
Just as Brooke was about to change out of her clothes from the party, frantic ringing of the doorbell filled the house. Sitting up quickly, she got out of bed and sped-walked to the front door.
Her dad was already answering it, and Brooke couldn't see who was at the door. "Brooke, it's for you." Bryan stepped out of the way, and Brooke couldn't help but be shocked when she saw Stiles Stilinski on the other side.
"Stilinski?" she asked. She made her way to the door and shot her dad a reassuring look. He nodded his head and made his way back to the couch. Brooke joined Stiles on her front porch, closing the front door behind her. "What are you doing here?"
"Just wanted to make sure you got home safe," he said quickly, his voice a few octaves higher than normal.
"And why wouldn't I be?" Brooke asked.
"Well, I, uh," Stiles stuttered. "I saw you get a ride home with Derek Hale."
"So?" Brooke asked. "I know Derek, he's nothing to worry about."
"No, you don't understand, Brooke," Stiles argued. "Derek... he isn't a good guy, okay? He's—"
"A werewolf?" Brooke interrupted him. Stiles froze. While Brooke knew she shouldn't have said anything, she couldn't help herself. "Yeah, I know. Scott's a werewolf too."
"Wha-wha, what?" Stiles stuttered out. "How, how do you know?"
"That's a long story for another day," Brooke answered him. "Just trust me when I say you don't need to worry about Derek. He isn't the bad guy here."
"Well then who is?" Stiles asked. Brooke sighed. She had been wondering the same question all week. Who killed Laura and turned Scott? Why would they want to? It seemed as if no matter how many times Brooke asked herself these question, her mind still ended up blank.
She shrugged. "I don't know. Get home safe, Stilinski."
Stiles didn't respond, so Brooke just turned around and reentered her home. She could hear the quick beat of his heart as she closed the door. Her heartbeat matched his, but for different reasons. While Stiles was internally freaking out that he just had a full conversation with the girl of his dreams, Brooke's mind was concerned with the supernatural problems that were suddenly invading her life.
Laura was dead, Scott McCall was a werewolf, the Argents were hunters, and Brooke Moore was totally and completely fucked.