LETHAL
CHAPTER FOUR
( THE BENEFACTOR )
— ☾ —
Alex and Stiles walked into Scott's house, following their best friend.
"Like I said, we told my dad everything we could." Stiles spoke, gesturing to himself and Alex.
"But you didn't tell him about Liam?" Scott asked.
"You barely told us about Liam." Alex frowned. "What did you do with him anyway?"
"He's upstairs." Scott replied.
"Doing what?" Stiles asked with a frown.
"Uh, lying down." Scott responded.
••••
Scott pulled the shower curtains back to reveal Liam, tied up in the bathtub.
Alex raised her eyebrows, releasing a breath, Stiles frowning.
Liam began to grunt against the duct-tape as Stiles closed the shower curtains.
••••
"So you bit him." Alex started as her, Stiles, and Scott sat on Scott's bed.
"Yeah." Scott spoke quietly.
"And you kidnapped him." Stiles frowned.
"Yeah." Scott replied quietly.
"And you brought him here." Alex added with raised eyebrows.
"I panicked." Scott responded.
"Yup." Stiles breathed as he glanced between Alex and Scott. "This isn't gonna end with us burying the pieces of his body in the desert, is it?"
Liam began to cry against the tape, his voice muffled.
"As a reminder, this is why I always come up with the plans." Stiles spoke. "Your plans suck."
"I know." Scott breathed. "Which is why I called you guys. So what do we do?"
••••
Stiles and Scott placed Liam on a chair, Liam grunting as he glanced between the boys and Alex angrily. Alex crossed her arms.
"Liam, we're gonna take the tape off your mouth. If you scream, it goes right back on. If you talk quietly, it stays off, got it?" Stiles started.
"Guys, come on, give this kid a break." Alex frowned as she glanced between her two best friends, Liam frowning in confusion.
He was expecting her to be a bitch.
Stiles took off the tape off Liam's mouth, Liam grunting painfully.
"Okay, Liam. Now you've seen a lot of confusing things tonight. And more confusing things are gonna happen because of the confusing things that happened tonight." Stiles spoke, Alex frowning at him. "Do you understand?"
"Not really." Liam replied.
"Good. That's good." Stiles sighed.
"I don't understand either." Scott frowned at Stiles.
"Maybe you should tell him." Alex said, glancing at Scott.
"Tell me what?" Liam frowned, glancing between the three.
"Liam. What happened to you, what I did to you, which I had to do in order to save you, it's going to change you." Scott started.
"Unless it kills you." Stiles added, Alex and Scott frowning as they glanced at him. "Shouldn't have said that..." He spoke quietly.
"Yeah, I'm done, I'm out." Alex raised her eyebrows. She glanced at Liam. "Liam, on behalf of these idiots and myself, I'm sorry we're doing this to you."
She turned to face Stiles and Scott again.
"I'm not getting involved in this." Alex spoke. "Call me later." With that, Alex walked out, leaving Stiles and Scott with Liam.
••••
Alex glanced outside her window, only to find Liam walking past her house.
The girl stood up and quickly walked outside, approaching him. "Liam?"
Liam glanced at her and widened his eyes, about to run, however, Alex held his shoulders. "Hey, it's okay."
"Promise you won't take me back to them?" Liam asked with raised eyebrows.
Alex frowned. "Liam, you know we're just trying to help."
"Promise me." Liam spoke. Alex sighed. She knew if she promised Liam, then he would talk to her.
"Okay. I promise." Alex spoke.
"Thank you." Liam nodded. He then frowned. "Why are you even dating Stiles? He doesn't seem nice."
Alex raised her eyebrows. "Okay, first of all, what does that have to with anything, second of all, that's another story for another time."
"I'm sorry." Liam sighed. "I just want to know why you're being so nice to me when your friends are the opposite."
Alex sighed. "Because you deserve something positive right now. You're confused, and I get that entirely."
Liam glanced at the ground as Alex continued. "Look, Liam, we just want to help you."
Liam frowned at her. "Help me? Scott biting into my arm isn't helping me, in fact, that's the complete opposite."
"He did it to save you." Alex frowned. "If you didn't notice, you were hanging off the side of a building about to literally fall to your death."
"What the hell is happening to me?" Liam asked after a moment.
"That's why you have to let us help you." Alex replied.
"I don't need your help." Liam responded as he began to walk away.
"Fine. You may not need mine or Stiles' help, but consider Scott's." Alex spoke, stopping Liam briefly.
"Thanks for being nice to me." Liam spoke simply, not turning to face Alex as he walked away, Alex releasing a breath and crossing her arms.
••••
Stiles pulled out chains from a bag, Alex raising her eyebrows. The chains were for Malia.
"These'll work." Alex shrugged. "They don't look like they'll hold up for long though."
"Well, hopefully this is the last time Malia needs to use these." Stiles blew out a breath. "Besides, we might need them for Liam."
Alex held out her arm, Stiles beginning to tie the chain around her arm, as a tester.
Just then, Noah walked in the room, frowning at the sight.
Alex and Stiles noticed him.
"Hey, um..." Stiles spoke. "That's- this is not what you think at all."
"Yeah, we're not- this isn't..." Alex added.
"I don't even wanna know." Noah sighed as he walked off, Stiles and Alex sharing a glance.
"There's nothing to know!" Stiles called after his father.
"Oh god." Alex blew out a breath as she raised her eyebrows at Stiles.
••••
Alex and Scott approached Liam, Stiles approaching him from the other side so he couldn't run away.
"We need to talk." Scott spoke.
"No, you need to back the hell off, okay? All of you." Liam glanced between the three.
"Can you just listen for one second? Please." Alex spoke, Liam glancing at her and nodding.
"Liam." Scott started. "We're brothers now."
"What?" Liam frowned in confusion.
Alex closed her eyes and inhaled a breath.
"Oh god. That's..." Stiles let his voice trail off.
"What are you talking about? We just met and you bit me." Liam's frown deepened.
"The bite." Scott spoke again. "The bite is a gift."
"Oh my lord." Alex breathed.
"Scott, stop." Stiles spoke, cringing. "Please stop." He glanced at Liam. "You- you, we're trying to help you, you little runt."
Liam raised his eyebrows. "By kidnapping me?"
"Okay, just to clarify, Scott kidnapped you." Alex frowned. "And I had nothing to do with that at all."
"I aided and abetted with...the kidnapping..." Stiles blew out a breath.
"Liam, Alex and I have gone through this before." Scott changed the subject, Liam glancing between Alex and Scott. "Something's happening to you. Something big."
"No." Liam shook his head. "Nothing's happening to me." He ripped off his bandage, revealing his arm, which was now perfectly healed. "Nothing."
With that, Liam walked away, Scott, Stiles, and Alex sharing glances.
••••
"I'm not sharing my basement." Malia frowned, Alex crossing her arms from her place next to Stiles and Malia.
"Actually, it's my basement." Lydia replied. "And my mom noticed how you tore it up last time."
"Alright, she's still learning." Stiles spoke, defending Malia.
"But we're gonna use the boathouse for Liam. It's got support beams. We can chain him up to one of them." Scott changed the subject.
"But how do we get him out to the lake house if he doesn't trust us?" Kira frowned.
"I say if it keeps him from murdering someone, we just chloroform the little bastard and throw him in the lake." Stiles added.
"I'm in." Malia spoke.
"Okay, we are definitely not throwing Liam in the lake." Alex frowned.
"Then let's be smarter." Lydia spoke. "We tell him there's a party and invite him."
"So, you're gonna ask out a freshman?" Stiles raised his eyebrows.
"No, I'm done with teenage boys." Lydia responded.
"I'll do it." Alex spoke, Stiles frowning at her. "He likes me, so why not?"
"Um, because your boyfriend is right here, that's why not." Stiles frowned, Alex glancing at him.
"I'm not actually going to ask him out, Stiles." Alex frowned.
"Yeah, well, I don't care." Stiles scoffed.
Alex sighed as she glanced between the group. "Two seconds everyone, we'll be back."
She grabbed Stiles' hand and led him a little further away from the group. "What is your problem?"
"Problem? What problem? Me have a problem?" Stiles scoffed.
Alex raised an eyebrow. "So you'd be fine with me asking Liam to the party?"
"No, are you kidding?" Stiles frowned.
"Stiles, what's wrong?" Alex sighed.
"Nothing, I'm fine." Stiles replied.
"Wait, you're jealous, aren't you?" Alex teased, a small smirk appearing on her face.
"What? Me? Jealous? No way." Stiles scoffed.
"Stiles, it's okay if you are." Alex chuckled. "But you really don't have to be jealous. He's definitely not my type. And he's fifteen. I'm not going to date a fifteen year old boy, trust me. Or any 'year old' boy, for that matter, because I'm dating you."
Stiles glanced between their intertwined fingers and Alex's eyes.
"Besides, I love you." Alex smiled. She suddenly realised what she just said as Stiles' eyes widened.
It was the first time any of them had said I love you to the other.
"Did you just say...?" Stiles asked, his voice trailing off.
Alex nodded, chuckling. "I think I just did."
"Thank god." Stiles smiled. "Because I love you too."
Alex grinned as she leaned in and connected their lips, Stiles releasing her hand to cup her cheeks.
The two pulled away.
"Wow, I can't believe I just said that." Stiles blew out a breath. "I've wanted to say that for years."
"Me too." Alex chuckled.
"Hey, lovebirds!" Lydia called. "Wanna come back so we can actually make a plan?"
"Alright, we're coming!" Alex called back as the two walked back to the group.
"If we're playing a trick on someone, we'll have to use the trickster." Lydia spoke as she glanced at Kira.
"Who, me?" Kira raised her eyebrows. "No way, not me."
"Well, since I'm not doing it, yes you." Alex spoke as she crossed her arms. "Do you know what they call a female fox? A vixen."
"Me?" Kira frowned.
"You can do it, Kira." Lydia added. "Be a vixen."
••••
"I just talked to Kira, she's on her way, she said it's all going fine." Scott spoke to Stiles, Alex, Malia, and Lydia.
"It's not that, I have to tell you something." Stiles replied. "I asked around about Liam. I know why he got kicked out of his last school."
"This is going to be bad, isn't it?" Scott glanced between Alex and Stiles. Alex nodded.
"He kinda got into it with one of his teachers, and uh...the kid's got some serious anger issues." Stiles started.
"How serious?" Scott asked.
"Well, that is his teacher's car. After he took a crowbar to it..." Stiles sighed, showing Scott his phone, which had a picture of Liam's old teacher's car with spray paint on it that said 'this is your fault'.
••••
"What the hell is this?" Liam frowned, glancing between Scott, Stiles, Alex, Malia, Kira, and Lydia.
"Think of it as an intervention. You have a problem, Liam." Stiles spoke.
"And we're the only ones that can help." Scott added.
••••
"Werewolf." Liam spoke, pointing to Scott, then pointing to Alex too. "Another werewolf." Alex nodded.
"Werecoyote." Liam spoke and glanced at Malia, who nodded. "Banshee." He glanced at Lydia with raised eyebrows. He turned to glance at Kira. "Fox?"
"Kitsune." Kira corrected. "But fox works."
"What are you?" Liam glanced at Stiles.
"Uh, for a little while, I was possessed by an evil spirit." Stiles replied. "It was very evil."
"What are you now?" Liam asked with raised eyebrows.
"Better..." Stiles responded, letting his voice trail off.
"Those for me?" Liam glanced at the chains.
"No, they're for me." Malia replied, her blue werecoyote eyes glowing.
"How did you do that?" Liam frowned.
"You'll learn." Scott responded.
"But first, you need to get through the full moon." Alex finished.
"The moon's already out." Liam responded.
"And you're starting to feel something, aren't you?" Scott asked.
"I feel like I'm surrounded by psychotic nutjobs. You guys are out of your freaking minds." Liam replied, his tone rising as he progressively got angrier. "I don't know how you did that eye thing, and I don't care! I'm walking out the door right now! And if any of you try to stop me, I swear to god I'm gonna-"
He cut himself off as he began to gasp, covering his ears.
"What's wrong? Liam?" Scott frowned.
"You don't hear that?" Liam asked between breaths.
It was the sound of cars pulling up to the driveway.
"Did you tell someone about this?" Lydia asked Liam.
"My friend Mason." Liam breathed. "You said it was a party."
"And who did Mason invite?" Alex frowned.
"Everyone." Kira answered as she looked out the window, glancing at Alex.
Liam growled, his claws scratching the floor.
"The floors- get him off the floors." Lydia spoke, walking up to Liam, but Liam growled at her, stopping the girl in her tracks.
"We need to get to the boathouse now!" Scott exclaimed, grabbing Liam, Scott and Kira running out to the boathouse.
"Alex, Stiles." Malia groaned.
"Yeah?" Stiles asked, Malia turning to face the two, growling.
"Basement, now." Alex spoke, glancing at Stiles as her and Stiles began to help Malia up.
"What am I supposed to do with the hoard of people outside?" Lydia frowned.
"Lydia, who throws the best parties in Beacon Hills?" Stiles asked.
"What? Me, obviously." Lydia spoke.
"So throw a party." Alex finished, helping Malia into the basement, Stiles helping as well.
••••
Malia stopped growling as she turned back to normal, Alex and Stiles releasing relived breaths. Malia engulfed Alex in a tight hug, Alex hugging her back.
It had taken hours for Malia to control her transformation, but she did it in the end. She got through the full moon.
Alex pulled away from Malia and sent her a small smile. "You did it."
"I did." Malia breathed. Stiles began to unchain Malia as Alex walked out of the basement, walking out of the house and sitting on the grass.
"Hey, two seconds, Malia." Stiles spoke to Malia as he unchained her. "I'll let you calm down for a bit, okay?"
Malia nodded. "Go talk to her." She referred to Alex.
Stiles sent her a small smile. "Thanks. Hey, we'll be back to drop you off at your place soon, okay?"
Malia nodded as Stiles left the basement, finding Alex outside and walking over to sit next to her. "A basement's not exactly the most romantic place to be in after we said 'I love you' to each other for the first time, huh?"
Alex glanced at him, huffing a chuckle. "Well, the good thing about tonight is that we helped Malia."
"Yeah." Stiles nodded, then intertwined his fingers with Alex's, Alex glancing down at them before glancing back up at his face. "I don't know why I didn't tell I loved you sooner. I mean, I waited all those years to say something, but I didn't. I had thousands of times to. For some reason, I waited..."
"I did too." Alex responded. "I mean, maybe it was better that we waited, Sti." Stiles frowned, glancing at her in question.
"I think if we told each other before, it wouldn't have meant as much it does now." Alex spoke, glancing at their intertwined fingers.
Stiles nodded softly, his eyes flickering between Alex's. "You're right."
"Can I try it again?" Alex asked, her own eyes flickering between Stiles'.
Stiles huffed a chuckle as he smiled. "Only if I get to as well."
Alex smiled, nodding. "I can't imagine being with anyone else. No one else has made me feel as happy as I am when I'm with you, and I can't ever repay you for that. I love you, Stiles. I love you, so much."
Stiles' smile grew as he glanced between her eyes. "I remember the first time I saw you. How my heart wouldn't stop aggressively beating." Alex chuckled as Stiles went on. "And I remember our first kiss in the locker room. How surprised I was that my favourite person in the whole world was kissing me. And now, we're finally together. And I couldn't be happier. I love you, Alex Carter."
Alex grinned as she leaned in, Stiles leaning in too as they connected their lips softly, Stiles cupping the girl's cheeks as the kiss deepened.
"I'm never gonna get used to that, wow." Stiles breathed as they pulled away, Alex chuckling as she kissed Stiles again.