Lydia laid Jackson down as the last of his scales vanished.
"Where's Gerard?" Allison asked. All that was left was Gerard's suit jacket and the black blood.
"He can't be far," Argent said. Lydia stood, wiping her eyes as she walked to us. Stiles brushed past me to meet her halfway, and I stared at his back, feeling my heart break a little in my chest. I glanced at Scott when I felt his pity expression staring at me.
Stiles stopped when Jackson's claws scratched against the concrete. Lydia smiled and turned to look at him, and Stiles backed up to us. Jackson's wounds sealed up, and his eyes snapped open. They were blue. Not like his normal blue, but like old-Derek blue. He stood slowly in the Jeep's headlights, his spine showing as he rolled up. Werewolf claws sprouted from his fingers as he growled at the roof, his face now transformed. His claws and fangs retracted as he panted, changing back into a human.
He looked at Lydia with confusion and she sprang into his arms. They embraced lovingly, holding each other as close as possible. Stiles sniffled and started to walk past me, but stopped when he noticed me staring at him.
"Uh, he scratched my jeep," Stiles lied, walking away. I knew he was really crying because he was now even further on Lydia's list of probable prospects. I swallowed down the lump of realization as I looked over to see Scott staring at me like I had been staring at Stiles.
"Uh, it was a beautiful moment," I lied. I left the building, denying Stiles' request to drive me home. I'd rather walk. Besides, he was taking Lydia and Jackson home and I really didn't want to be there to hear him complain about it. It would hurt too much.
Plus, I had school tomorrow and I needed a run.
--------------------------------
I closed my textbook when the bell rang, sighing thankfully that I'd get to see Stiles and Scott next period. I didn't have anything to say, but I did miss the crap out of them. It felt like it'd been go-go-go forever, and friend time had been pushed under the supernatural rug.
As a solution, I made up my family room into a home theater. I set up a projector on the floor, making sure it hit the white blank wall just right for the perfectly comfortable position any of them might choose. The large couch against the opposite wall, the two lazy boys on either side, or the bed of pillows and blankets I created on the floor on either side of the projector. My personal favorite was laying on the back of the couch where no one else was so I could stretch out all I wanted.
There was popcorn (to be made later), a heck ton of deliciously unhealthy snacks to gorge on, and an ice chest filled with any kind of soda (and water, but ugh) they could want. I was going to get Scott's entire pack there, because all of them had, oddly enough, become close friends of mine. And I wasn't going to take no for an answer. We all needed a night where we could just...chill.
I saw Scott and Stiles waiting for me at my locker, but they were whispering. Sort of. Scott's body and face looked like he was yelling at a thoroughly confused Stiles, but I couldn't hear anything Scott said with my normal hearing. I stood behind the wall of the stairs, ignoring all the angry and annoyed huffs from people behind me that I was blocking. There was more room, they could go around.
Every time someone passed too close, Scott would look at them and quiet down until they passed. Curious, I tucked my hair behind my ear and listened in, staring at the floor, but not really seeing it. Okay, so I eavesdropped. Again, what good were powers if I couldn't use them?
"Are you kidding me? You don't even see it because all you care about is Lydia!" Scott said.
"Have you seen Lydia?"
"Look, all I'm trying to say is maybe try looking closer for a girlfriend." My eyes snapped up to look at them. Scott said he wouldn't tell, what the hell was he doing?
"Dude, what are you talking about?"
"Oh, my god, I'm talking about Y/N! You can't hear it, but I can. Her heart races every time she sees you, dude," Scott revealed. I wanted to stop the conversation right there, but silly me, I just had to know how Stiles would respond. Also, reminder: Tell Scott to stop listening to my heart.
It was a minute of silence before Stiles said, "Y/N?" The way he said my name sounded... What was that? Dare I even say it, but it sounded disgusted. I felt my chest constrict in the early signs of tears, so I pulled my lips into a knot and raced back up the stairs, pushing everyone else out of my way. I found a new set of stairs that wouldn't lead back to the same hallway they were in and ran down those. Then I ran straight out the front doors.
I didn't let go of my book as I rushed home because I wasn't willing to pay $130 to replace it. Didn't mean I wasn't going to cry on it, though. My tears dropped from my cheeks onto the top of the book, driven down by the wind I caused with the speed at which my legs ran.
Screw school, screw Stiles, and screw Scott for telling Stiles. And screw Stiles!
That's when I realized I forgot my bag at school. The very bag that had my house keys in it. Crap. So I stood in front of my door trying desperately to remember where my mom hid the house key and wiping away any and all tears. I was done crying.
Screw it.
I climbed up the roof and checked all the windows, even know I knew they were locked. When my window wouldn't open, I threw my textbook at the brick wall and huffed angrily, then slammed my fist against the brick. It cracked in half, bowing inward. Bits of brick and brick dust trickled down the roof, and it felt good. I looked at my knuckles and they were bloody and split. Oh, well. They'd heal.
Screw Stiles. Screw Scott. I turned around to look out onto my street to see old Mrs. Piper staring out her window at me. She always had been nosy. I scowled at her and jumped down from my roof, landing in a crouched position. When I raised my head, she was gone.
So I ran again, unsure of where my feet were taking me, but content to let them. My heart felt like it had been ripped from my chest, stomped on, ran over by Stiles' jeep, grilled, then picked up and shoved right back into my body.
Before I knew it, I was in the woods. I slowed to a walk and forced my mind to go blank as I aimlessly wandered around the trees. My phone vibrated in my pocket, so I grabbed it. There were 17 messages from Stiles and Scott, all saying pretty much the same thing. I must not have felt my phone vibrating when I was running. I read Scott's first.
Hey where are you?
Class has started.
Y/N?
Are you okay?
I covered for you with the teacher.
Y/N!
Answer me
I sighed and switched over to Stiles' messages without replying.
Where are you?
Hello?
You there?
Scott told the teacher you were at the nurse. Where are you?!
I need to talk to you.
Y/N, please answer me
I'm getting worried
Y/N, text me back!!!!
At least tell me you're safe.
Please, Y/N, I need to know you're okay.
I knew I shouldn't, but I was still getting messages that I didn't want to see and they were starting to call now as well, so I turned off my phone and shoved it back into my pocket. I was going to use this small amount of time to feel sorry for myself, then I was going to brush it off and continue on with my life. My lonely, action-filled, supernatural life.
I was giving Scott and Stiles heart palpitations, no doubt. They probably thought I was being murdered or kidnapped. Did they deserve to be scared out of their minds because I needed some air? Probably not, but right now, I couldn't care less.
The fallen twigs snapped beneath my feet as I got deeper into the woods. I stopped, turning to see where I was, but I didn't recognize anything.
"Oh, no," I whined. I'd never been lost in my life, and now I was, all because of stupid Stiles and stupid Scott. Even worse, every direction I turned looked the same. Not that it mattered because I hadn't even been paying attention to what I was seeing. I heard a steady heart beat near behind me. I felt my claws appear then swung my arm around to the person behind me.
They stopped my arm by wrapping their hand around my wrist with one hand easily. My eyes focused and I realized I'd swung at Derek. He seemed unphased by the attack. I stared at him, not moving and with a hundred thoughts running through my mind. For some reason, staring at him made me furious.
I growled and swung with my other arm at his stomach. He jumped back so my arm passed by him harmlessly. The look in his eyes seemed like shock, but it quickly turned blank as he let go of my other hand. I jumped up and kicked him in the chest, using it to catapult myself onto my hands to flip back onto my feet. He quickly got up off the ground and watched me as if waiting for the next attack.
I bent and swung my leg at him to knock his feet out from under him, but he jumped over my leg, so I spun left and attempted to claw back at him. He blocked my arm using his forearm, so I spun the other way and elbowed his nose. He groaned and stumbled backwards. I didn't let him focus on the pain as I ran at him. His eyes widened and he stepped out of my way, so I turned towards him and tried to slash at him. He blocked my first two slashes, until I clawed his side. I felt his skin split around my nails while he winced. I knew it wasn't deep, so it'd heal quickly, but it sure would hurt. Derek groaned and touched the blood on his slashed shirt, then looked up at me and growled, teeth and claws out and his eyes glowing red.
Hissing and barring my teeth, I watched him run at me then I jumped over him, using his shoulders to jump up and cling onto the branch hanging above me. He looked up at me, his large teeth and deep growl threatening me to come down. So I did. The second my feet hit the ground, I jumped at him.
Derek's hand wrapped around my throat and he forced me down until my back slammed against the ground. I wrapped my hands around his arm, digging my claws into his wrist accidentally. My claws and teeth retracted as I groaned, feeling the slight pain shoot up and down my spine. It lasted a second, and I opened my eyes. His fangs were gone and he wasn't glaring at me like I thought he would be. His eyes were squinted at me, but he wasn't angry, though I would've completely understood if he had been. I literally just attacked him out of nowhere. His fingers were clawless around my throat and I couldn't decide whether I should be annoyed that he beat me, scared that I was in such a vulnerable position or utterly turned on for that same reason. He was bent on one knee, staring down at me and breathing heavily.
Before I could do something stupid, I tapped his arm and said, "Okay, okay. Get off." I sighed as he released my throat, but didn't move to get up as he sat down next to me. His arms hugged his knees up and his ankles were crossed as he looked at me. His side had already healed and now the only evidence that I'd hurt him were the four tears on the left side of his shirt and the blood on it. Though his shirt was black, so I couldn't see the blood, but I could smell it. It smelled like dog. I stared up at the trees and the bits of sky poking through the leaves. My knees were bent and my arms spread out next to me, palms facing up as I panted.
"Wanna talk about it?" Derek asked. I shook my head slowly, not looking anywhere but the patch of sky above me. It was blue and cloudless and uninteresting, yet I couldn't look away from it.
"Are you okay?" he said.
"I will be," I replied, my voice emotionless. "I didn't hurt you, did I?"
Derek pulled the shirt from his side to see if he'd healed and chuckled. "No, I'll survive."
I turned my head to him and forced a joking smirk on my lips. "That's too bad." One side of his mouth quirked up in a half smile as he looked at me and laughed through his nose. He stood and held out his hand.
"Come on, let me take you home," he said. I groaned but took his hand, letting him help me up. I wiped the twigs and dirt from my butt and shook out my hair. I may have come to the woods, but I wasn't going to take the woods with me.
We walked silently to his car, then he drove me to my house in complete silence. It wasn't awkward or uncomfortable, just full of thought. As I was about to get out, he stopped me.
"You sure you'll be okay?"
"Yeah. I'll be fine. Thanks for the ride." I got out, but before I closed the door, I leaned down to look at him. "And the fight."
His jaw clenched as his lips jerked into an amused smirk. "Anytime."
"Right," I laughed and closed the door. My dad's car was in the driveway, so I knew the door was unlocked. "Hi, Dad!" He greeted me back, and I went up the stairs to my room. Setting my phone on the desk, I stared at it. Do I turn it on and read the messages that were no doubt cluttering my phone or do I shower and do it later?
Later.
I sighed and stripped then covered myself with my robe so I could walk down the hall to my bathroom.
The water was perfectly warm and my vanilla coconut body wash smelled heavenly on my skin, and I was happy that something was going right today. After my shower and little bit of self-pampering, I dreaded turning on my phone. I knew whatever was on it would only worsen my mood.
Message after message dinged onto my phone as it booted up. Then the notifications of 23 missed calls signaled itself.
The messages from Scott and Stiles all said the same thing. Where are you, what are you doing, do you need help, I'm worried, blah blah blah.
I sent them back the same message.
I'm fine. See you in school tomorrow.
The reply from Stiles was next to immediate. For a human, sometimes his speed surprised me.
Where the hell were you? I texted you like 50 times. I need to talk to you.
I rolled my eyes.
Just out. I'm fine.
I gotta talk to you. Come over.
My heart squeezed with hurt as I texted out my reply.
No.
Then I'm coming over.
No!
Y/N what's going on? Please, it's important.
No. I'm busy. I said I'll see you tomorrow.
I didn't get a reply, so I took that as an end to the conversation. He was either getting in his jeep right now to come over against my word, or he was throwing a book at the wall in frustration.
When he didn't show up in the next ten minutes, I figured it had been option number two. I didn't eat that night and I couldn't focus on my studies, so I ended up going to bed two hours earlier than normal. That is, after I got my textbook from my roof.