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mrsstruggle · 1 year

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The Lost Child - Chapter 34 // Teen Wolf x Marvel AU

Summary: Y/N Stark was taken from her family when she was three years old. It's fifteen years later and her family believes she is dead. Then how is she living in Beacon Hills?

Warnings: Language, Mentions of Death/Injury/Grief/Torture, Possible Grammar Mistakes (please let me know if there is anything else)

Pairings: Derek Hale x Reader, Steve Rodgers x Bucky Barnes, Bruce Banner x Natasha Romanoff, Vision x Wanda Maximoff, & More To Come

Previous Pairings: Tony Stark x Pepper Potts, Scott McCall x Allison Argent

Words: 5.5k

Note: Sorry this is so late!

Additional Note: While this is a Teen Wolf x Marvel AU, not everything is true to the shows/movies/comics. I had to change things for the story.

One Last Note: Y/N was adopted by Tony Stark and Pepper Potts. I did this so more people can see themselves in this story.

***I do not own Teen Wolf or Marvel or any related characters. This is a work of fanfiction and is meant for entertainment purposes only.***

Masterlist

The Lost Child Masterlist

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Everyone was quiet as they made their way through the woods toward the hunter's safe house. The only sound that could be heard was the crunching of leaves and sticks beneath their feet. Y/N knows it's wrong, but she wishes she was Allison right now so she wouldn't have to deal with everything.

Stiles doesn't like the silence but it's taking everything in him to break it. He's worried that if he starts talking then he won't be able to stop. He's also not sure if he wants to accidentally piss off anyone who's in charge of protecting his life.

As much as he's annoyed at everything that has happened and that has come to light, he also can't help but have a little fanboy moment inside his head. He's about to head into battle with the Avengers. The last time they stormed a place he had been sidelined. Now, he's walking through the woods, about to go into a little war with the hunters, with the Avengers suited up next to him. It's like a dream he always had but also mixed with a nightmare he always had.

He watches Y/N from the back of the group as she and Chris lead them to the safe house. He doesn't like that he's been paired with Liam and Peter, but it could be worse. He could be paired up with Peter Hale. He wouldn’t make it out alive if that were the case.

"Are we almost there?" Peter Hale asks.

"Why? Do you have somewhere better to be?" Scott questions.

"Yes. I was thinking about asking your mother out again."

"Wait, what?" Sam looks between Scott and Peter, confused about what he just heard. How old is this guy and why does it seem like he only hangs out with teenagers? He knows Peter is Derek's uncle, but he also dated one of these kids' mothers?

"Ignore him." Derek rolls his eyes at his uncle. He just wants to get this over with. He's tired of having to deal with the Argents and the Avengers. He wants to go home, wrap Y/N up in a warm blanket, and not leave their bedroom until they have to. This past week has caused him too much stress and he's over it.

Y/N comes to a stop and waits for the others to stand around her, "We'll split up here. Remember, Sam, Bucky, and Malia, you'll take the right side. Kira, Natasha, and Wanda, you'll follow them but then split off to the north side. Scott and Steve, you're going to the left side. Stiles, Liam, and Peter, you'll follow them. You're in charge of killing the Anuk-Ite, so good luck with that."

Chris takes off his backpack before unzipping it and holding it out to everyone, "Everyone take a walkie-talkie. I'm sure these aren't as advanced as some of you are used to, but they'll do. I've already set them to the correct channel but it's channel 7 if you mess it up."

"Radio in if you feel the Anuk-Ite so Stiles and them know where to go. He has the mountain ash to kill it so don't try killing it yourself," Y/N says while everyone grabs a walkie-talkie. "Also, radio if you need help. While we have an idea of what we're up against, there could be more and some of you have never had to fight these types of creatures before. They are very different from your space aliens."

"Anything else?" Stiles asks.

"Yeah, don't die."

"How are you not a motivational speaker?"

"Okay, let's go before they do this for another twenty minutes," Scott says, walking away from the group to the left where Y/N told him to go. Steve presses a quick kiss to Bucky's lips and murmurs something under his breath to him before following Scott.

"Radio in when you're in place!" Y/N yells out to Scott.

The rest of the Avengers watch as Y/N and Stiles lock their pinky fingers and promise each other they won't die. Y/N doesn't know it, but she's done that since before Pepper gave her away. Anytime they'd go on a mission she'd make them promise they were going to come back. She believed that pinky promises were a binding promise and that there was no way you could break them. It's little things like that that let them know that the girl they knew is still there, just a bit different.

"One last thing," Y/N sticks out her hand toward Chris. Chris pulls out a bulletproof vest from his backpack and hands it to Y/N. She quickly pulls it over Stiles' head and straps it around him before he has a chance to protest. "Just in case."

"Why have I never been given one of these before?" Stiles scoffs.

"Just be grateful you're getting one now. Now go."

Chris, Derek, Peter Hale, Tony, and Y/N watch as the others run off to where they're supposed to be.

"What else do you have in that bag?" Derek asks, eyeing the backpack in Chris' hand.

"You don't want to know," Chris zips his backpack up and puts it back on his back.

"We're in place." Scott's voice rings out of their walkie-talkies.

Y/N sighs as she tries to mentally prepare herself for the fight ahead, "I think I could sleep for a week after this. I'm surprised I haven't gotten a call from my boss yet saying I'm fired for being gone for so long. I swear I didn't have this many vacation days."

Derek moves to stand in front of Y/N to meet her eyes, "I'm sure they've seen the news and will understand why you haven't been in for a while. Scott said Melissa was covering for you so I'm sure it's fine."

"I'll have to get her something nice for covering for me this long."

"And she'll tell you that you don't owe her anything." Derek pulls Y/N close and presses a kiss against her forehead. He knows how stressed she is about everything because he's also stressed about everything.

"We're in place." Bucky's voice rings out from the walkie-talkies.

"How do you want us to get into the house?" Y/N turns to Tony at his question. She almost forgot the others were there with her and Derek.

"We need to wait until everyone has lured out as many hunters as possible then we fly in," Y/N says.

"You can fly as well?" Tony's eyebrows shoot up in shock. Did he miss something in the files Hydra made about her? Can werewolves fly?

"No, you'll have to either carry me or I can get on your back."

Tony goes to respond but Kira's voice cuts him off as it rings out through the walkie-talkies, "We're in place."

"Okay," Y/N looks around at Chris, Derek, Peter, and Tony, "you ready?"

Chris tightens the knife holders on his thighs and double-checks the gun in his hand, "Ready."

"Ready," Tony says as his suit builds around him.

"Can we finally get this over with?" Peter asks, inspecting his claws.

"I'm going to climb up into a tree until I think it's time for us to hit the house. You should do the same." Y/N says, looking at Tony. "I'm their biggest target and if they know where I am then they'll forget about the others. We've got to hide a bit first."

"I'll follow you," Tony replies.

Y/N looks back at Derek, "Be safe and kick some hunter ass. I love you."

"I love you too," Derek says before pressing a hard kiss on her lips, as if he's scared he won't see her again.

Y/N pulls away and walks over to the nearest tree, "You know what to do babe!"

Derek, Chris, and Peter watch as Y/N starts to climb up the tree and Tony flies up into the one next to her. Derek waits until he can no longer see her figure before transforming into his beta form.

"Now we can get this over with," Derek says, letting out a loud roar to let everyone know it's time to go and to let the hunters know they're here.

---

Steve tightens the shield around his arm before looking up at the sound of a roar.

"What was that?" Peter asks, looking around making sure nothing is coming at them. He's dealt with a lot of weird things being in the Avengers, but he's never heard something like that before.

"That was Derek," Stiles states.

"You stay here and wait for someone to radio you," Scott tells Stiles, Liam, and Peter.

"Where are you going?" Liam asks.

"We're going straight towards them. Let's go." Scott nods at Steve to follow him.

Steve huffs a bit in frustration as he follows Scott. He doesn't enjoy being told what to do from a teenager. If it was Y/N here, he would follow without question. She might have been gone for 15 years, but he'd still trust her with his life.

Scott slows as he gets closer to the safe house. He can already hear a few hunters loading their guns and sharpening their knives. He listens to their panicked voices as they talk about the roar they heard and how they know they're being attacked. If he focuses hard enough, he can also hear Stiles, Liam, and Peter bickering behind them.

"Let's stop here. We don't want to get too close." Scott says. "We need to lure them out here." Scott tries to count the number of hunters standing outside of the house in front of them.

"I got it," Steve states, throwing his shield out toward the hunters. The shield hits three hunters, knocking them to the ground, before coming back to Steve.

"That's one way to do it," Scott mumbles, watching as the hunters look their way. He quickly ducts behind a tree as the hunters slowly make their way towards them.

Steve ducts behind another tree as they wait for the hunters to come closer. He can hear the ground crunch behind him letting him know where they are. He waits until he can see the end of a gun before jumping out and knocking the hunter back into two others.

That's when all hell breaks loose.

Scott jumps out from where he's hiding as all eyes are on Steve, throwing the hunter closest to him into a tree—knocking him out. Bullets start to fly as Steve and Scott attack. Scott is surprised he hasn't been hit by any bullets yet as he knocks out another hunter.

Steve throws his shield toward the hunter's legs, the vibranium metal breaking their knees and shins as it hits them. He quickly knocks them out as they hit the ground one by one. It's not long until they've taken out all the hunters that attacked them.

"Is that it?" Steve asks, knocking out the last hunter.

"I doubt it. The others must have the rest of the hunters distracted or the rest of them haven't left the safe house." Scott says, looking around for other hunters.

"We should move in," Steve says, moving towards the safehouse before Scott sticks out an arm to stop him.

"Not until we're told too."

"There's no one over here. We should move in."

"Not until Y/N tells us too."

Steve doesn't understand why they can't just move in. They easily took out the hunters. He doesn't understand why they were acting like they were going to be a challenge. The hunters are down on their side, and they have a clear shot toward the safe house.

Scott's head quickly turns as he starts to smell something in the air, "Do you smell that?"

"What?" Steve doesn't know what Scott's talking about.

"It smells like..." Scott's voice trails off as his eyes widen as he looks behind Steve.

Steve quickly turns around to see four large creatures standing behind him. They look like men wearing bones and an animal skull for a mask. "What am I looking at?"

"Berserkers."

---

Sam and Bucky are standing back-to-back as they fight off the hunters around them while Malia holds off more of them.

"How many of these guys are there?" Sam asks, slamming another hunter onto the ground.

"I don't know but they're pissing me off," Bucky says. His arm comes up to block the bullets being shot at him from a hunter on the ground. He rips the gun out of the hunter's hand and knocks him out with a quick kick to the face.

Bucky turns to find another hunter to attack to see the hunters fleeing from them.

"Why are they running?" Sam asks.

"Something's coming," Malia states, her eyes closed while trying to listen to her surroundings.

Bucky tries to listen and see if he can hear what she hears. He closes his eyes for a second. It sounds like something is running toward them. He opens his eyes and stares into the woods in front of him. Something is charging at them.

"Get down!" Bucky tackles Sam to the ground as a deer jumps out from the trees and almost tramples over them. It runs past them almost as quickly as it appeared. It looked rabid.

"What the hell?" Sam mutters, staring at where the deer ran off.

Bucky looks down to where Sam is in his arms from when he tackled him. Disgusted, he scrambles up off the ground and away from Sam.

"Did you smell that?" Malia asks.

"Robo boy's cheap cologne? Yeah, I smelled it." Sam says, wiping the dirt off his suit as he stands up from the ground.

"No, the deer. It smelled like fear."

"Fear?" Bucky asks. He thought that something was running at them but what if it was running away from something? He slowly pulls out his walkie-talkie while his eyes dart around. "We found the Anuk-Ite."

"On our way," Stiles' voice rings out from the walkie-talkies.

"Are you sure?" Sam questions Bucky.

"Yeah, I'm su–" a pained scream from the woods cuts him off. He pauses, his head whipping toward the sound.

"Bucky! Buck!" someone is screaming out for him. He moves to run into the woods, but Malia moves in front of him to stop him.

"What are you doing?" Malia asks.

"Do you not hear someone screaming?!" Bucky yells, angry that she's preventing him from finding whoever's yelling for him. He swears it almost sounded like Steve.

"The only person screaming right now is you," Sam says.

"What?" Bucky looks between Sam and Malia. Can they not hear what he's hearing?

Sam stares at Bucky for a second before realizing what's happening, "Close your eyes! Close your eyes now!"

"Why am I closing my eyes?!" Malia yells, her eyes now shut tight.

"It's the Anuk-Ite. Whatever happens, don't open your eyes."

Sam, Bucky, and Malia stand still as they wait for something to happen. They're hoping Stiles gets here soon to kill the thing.

"How could you?" Bucky quickly whips his head around, his eyes still shut tight, as Steve's voice whispers in his ear. "Why?"

"I don't understand..." Bucky whispers, confused about what's happening.

"I told you to finish him." Bucky's head whips around again. He knows that voice. It belongs to the man responsible for turning him into the Winter Soldier, Arnim Zola.

"Buck...no," Steve's voice whimpers. "This isn't you."

"You have your orders, soldier! Kill him!"

"No!"

"You can't stop him, Steve. He's no longer the boy you used to know. He never will be. He has always been the Winter Soldier, and he always will be."

Bucky's closed eyes tighten as he repeatedly mutters to himself, "This isn't real. It's not real."

"Buck..." Steve's voice is quiet. Bucky can feel a soft hand caress his cheek. It feels like Steve.

"I'll do it." That sounds like Y/N's voice but harsher. It sounds like when she was pretending to be under the hunter's and Hydra's control.

"Ah, my perfect soldier. Always ready to do what you're told." Zola's voice sounds closer than it was before.

"She's not your soldier," Bucky growls. Y/N will never be Hydra's soldier.

"I think you're forgetting who you are. Let me remind you. Longing. Rusted. Seventeen. Daybrea–"

"Shut up!"

"It's who you are! Now, finish your mission!"

"No!" Bucky is trying to remind himself that this isn't real but it's getting harder too.

"Let me." Y/N's voice is now coming from in front of him. "Just admit it. You couldn't save yourself, you couldn't save me, and you couldn't save Steve."

"Wh-what are you talking about?"

It goes quiet. Maybe it's over?

As Bucky brings a hand up to his face to wipe away the overwhelmed tears that were slowly falling from his eyes, he hears someone being stabbed in front of him. His body goes rigid as he hears someone start to choke—possibly on their own blood.

"Hail Hydra," Y/N's voice whispers in his ear.

Bucky quickly opens his eyes toward the ground in shock and confusion. His eyes move slightly in front of him to a knife sticking out of someone. Not just someone. He'd recognize that uniform anywhere. Steve.

Bucky's eyes shoot up to Steve's face only to be met with the glowing purple eyes of the Anuk-Ite. His body immediately turned to stone.

"Buck, you still good?!" Sam calls out, unaware of what just happened. He can't hear Bucky, but he can hear Malia. She sounds like she's apologizing to someone until she goes quiet. "Malia?"

"Malia?!" Sam can hear someone yelling for her.

"Uncle Sam?! Uncle B?!" Peter rushes into the area where Sam, Bucky, and Malia are. Liam and Stiles run in behind him.

"Oh my god..." Stiles stares at Malia's frozen figure. She looks like a statue from Medusa's lair in the Percy Jackson movie.

"Please tell me you're real?" Sam asks.

"The Anuk-Ite's gone," Liam says.

Sam opens his eyes to see Peter staring at a Bucky statue. Stiles and Liam are also crouched down next to a Malia statue.

"What happened?" Peter turns to look at Sam.

"I-I don't know. One second it was here and now it's not. I'm not even sure when this happened." Sam gestures to Bucky. Why didn't the Anuk-Ite go for him? He could hear Bucky talking to someone—most likely whoever the Anuk-Ite wanted him to talk to—and he could hear Malia, but nothing ever happened to him.

"Now what?" Liam asks.

"They still need people attacking on this side," Stiles says. They need people to weaken the hunters from every side.

"I can still do it but I don't know if I can do it alone," Sam states.

"I'll stay," Liam volunteers. "I can help on this side while you two get the Anuk-Ite."

Stiles looks hesitant but agrees, "Make sure nothing happens to them." Stiles looks between Malia and Bucky and wonders how much longer he has before their current state is permanent.

"Where do you think it went?" Peter asks.

"I don't know."

---

"What the hell are these people?!" Nat yells out, barely missing the edge of the blade that swipes at her.

"They're Oni!" Kira yells back. She's trying to hold off four Oni while Natasha and Wanda fight the other three.

"I thought we're supposed to be fighting hunters?!"

"I thought the same thing!" Wanda yells.

Natasha ducks as one of the Oni swings their sword at her. She's able to remove the sword from the Oni's hand as the sword lodges itself in the tree next to her. Nat quickly pulls the sword away from the tree and watches as the Oni pulls another sword out of nowhere.

"We're going to die here." Nat mumbles, readying herself to continue fighting.

As Kira blocks the Oni's swings, she can see the glint of a weapon coming from within the trees behind them. "I think the hunters have finally decided to join them!" She hears something firing.

Wanda and Natasha turn to see several hunters running toward them. Most of them seem to be carrying guns while the others seem to be holding knives. Nat can count about thirty hunters.

"You guys take the hunters! I've got these guys!" Kira yells at them, her eyes starting to glow.

"You sure?!" Nat asks.

"Go!"

Wanda and Natasha break away from the Oni and charge toward the hunters. Nat throws the sword in her hand on the ground and pulls out her Glock 26s. As the hunters start to shoot at them, Wanda uses her powers to rip a tree out of the ground and throw it through the group of hunters — knocking several to the ground.

Nat ducks behind a tree as bullets fly past her. The bullets slowly come to halt as she reloads her guns. She can hear footsteps getting closer to her. It sounds like five different people are coming toward her. Nat puts one of her guns back in its holster as she takes a deep breath.

As the tip of a hunter's gun comes into view, she grabs the front of the assault rifle while throwing her elbow into the hunter's face. He lets go of the gun as she knocks him out with the butt of her Glock. Adjusting the assault rifle in her grip, she turns and shoots down the other four hunters.

"I thought we weren't supposed to kill any of them?!" Wanda yells out to Nat.

"I don't remember agreeing to that!" Natasha yells back.

Wanda throws another hunter back as she watches Nat take down more as well. Looking back at Kira, she notices a glowing figure around the young girl as she fights off the Oni.

Kira can feel her anger and frustration growing as she continues to fight. She can also feel her control starting to slip. The fox spirit around grows bigger and bigger the longer she fights.

As she feels a blade cut through her right thigh, her fox quickly grows before launching itself at the seven Oni. A blinding light shoots out as the Oni are killed, hindering the hunters. Kira can feel her fox getting more powerful with each Oni it takes out.

With her back facing the light, Natasha uses the distraction to shoot down the rest of the hunters. Looking over at Wanda, she can see her crouched behind a tree blocking the light with her hands. As the light disappears, she turns around to find Kira kneeling on the ground and no Oni around her.

"What happened?!" Nat yelled toward Kira.

"I killed them!" Kira yells back, pressing down on the wound on her leg as it starts to slowly heal.

"Why didn't you do that earlier?!"

"I don't really have control of it!"

"Did you have to kill all of them?" Wanda asks Natasha, looking at all the dead hunters behind them.

"Did you want me to wait until they killed one of us?"

Wanda rolls her eyes at Nat's response. She could've put them all to sleep but it's too late for that now. She walks over to where Kira is now sitting on the ground.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. My leg should be good in just a minute." Kira replies.

"I wonder if everybody else also has to deal with more than just hunters?" Nat mumbles, sitting down next to Kira.

---

Sitting up high in a tree, Y/N watches as Derek, Peter, and Chris battle the hunters down below. She can hear her radio go off and Scott's voice asking for help. It takes everything in her to not jump down and help after one hunter's knife gets a little too close to Derek's throat.

"Is this what you deal with here in Beacon Hills?" Tony questions, watching as more hunters seem to come out of nowhere.

"Yeah, but hunters have always been the least of our worries," Y/N replies, her grip tightening on the tree in anger as more hunters appear. She could easily use her powers from here and take them out but then Kate would know where she is.

Tony feels at a loss for words. Watching the hunters down below, he can't believe this is what his daughter has been with. He doesn't know why this didn't hit him before. He was so caught up in everything else, he hasn't taken a step back to notice how calm she and her friends seem to be about everything.

Since the Avengers have been in Beacon Hills, they've dealt with hunters, Hydra, and more. He knows to an extent what Y/N dealt with when she was with Hydra, but what else has she dealt with?

Friends of hers have apparently died and he has no idea why. Was it because of hunters? Was it because of something else they've faced? Or was it something that has nothing to do with this little world she lives in?

Tony stares at Y/N as he thinks of something to say. He has so many things that he wants to say and so many questions he wants to ask but now is not the time.

"I can practically hear you thinking from here," Y/N looks up and locks eyes with Tony. "I know you have a lot of questions and so do I. I don't really know how long you're going to be here in Beacon Hills, but I'd like to start over after all of this is done."

"We can stay as long as you want. You can come back with us too...i-if you want. I-I mean I know you're a lot older now, but we kept your rooms the same as you left them. Well, we have a cleaner that cleans them once every two weeks."

"Rooms?"

"Yeah, one at the compound and one in our old home. We haven't lived there since you...disappeared. I still kept it though just in case."

"Even after you thought I was dead?"

"You're not the only person we've known to be presumed dead to still very much be alive. I didn't want to give up hope. No matter how little it became."

Y/N doesn't know what to say to that. She looks back down to watch the others fight off the hunters. Most of the hunters are down so now is a good time to get to Kate.

"We should go now," Y/N looks back at Tony.

"How are we doing this?" Tony asks, not sure how to carry Y/N.

"Can I just get on your back?"

Tony flies off the tree and hovers in front of Y/N with his back turned toward her, "Let's go."

Y/N pulls herself away from the tree and climbs onto Tony's back. A small smile appears on her face as it reminds her of the piggyback rides her dad, the sheriff, used to give her all the time as a kid before they lost her mom. As Tony takes off toward the safe house, she wonders if Tony or the others ever used to carry her like this when she was younger.

Y/N holds on tighter to Tony as he crashes into the middle of the house. Once Tony has landed on the ground, she hops off his back and surveys her surroundings. They landed in what appeared to be the living room but there was no one around. There's no one shooting at them, charging at them, or even watching them. They are completely alone.

"Why is no one here?" Tony asks, his blasters ready just in case.

"I don't know..." Looking around Y/N can see weapons and ammo everywhere. On the wall, she can see pictures of herself and all her friends. There's even some of the Avengers. There's a large blood stain on the floor but there is nobody. Whose blood is it?

It's also quiet. Too quiet. If she listens in, she can hear the others fighting, but it's quiet in the house. Kate must be hiding somewhere. If there's one thing Y/N knows about the Argents, it's that they love a good basement moment. That's probably where Kate is hiding out. And if she's hiding then she knows she's outmatched. She knows they're losing.

As she turns to look at Tony, a body flies through the living room window. Y/N jumps back and is ready to attack until she notices who it is.

"Isaac?"

Isaac groans in pain but makes no move to get up off the floor, "Hey Y/N."

"H-how? What?"

"Scott told me everything so we came to help."

"We?"

As Isaac goes to answer, a girl with a crossbow steps through the broken window, "Isaac?!" She starts shooting toward something Y/N can't see.

"Braeden?"

"Who are these people?" Tony asks Y/N.

"He's a friend and she's..." Y/N pauses as she thinks of a way to describe who Braeden is, "she's a friend of Derek."

Isaac snorts, "Yeah, a friend."

Y/N kicks Isaac's arm at his comment, "What's happening out there? How'd you go through the window? Why haven't you got up?"

"I can't really move."

"What do you mean?" Y/N crouches down next to Isaac in concern.

"We aren't the only ones who know a kanima apparently."

Y/N rolls Isaac onto his side and looks at the scratch on his neck. She can see some of the venom still dripping from the wound.

"Who else has been affected by it?" Y/N asks, laying Isaac back down on his back.

"Scott was protecting a guy on the ground with a shield when I found them," Braeden replies, walking over to them.

Tony curses under his breath, "Should we help them?"

"Kira and two other girls are currently helping Scott."

Y/N turns her head to the broken window as she hears a loud roar. It sounded like Scott but she's not sure.

"Is it just the kanima they're fighting?" Y/N asks.

"No, there's Berserkers as well. Four of them."

Y/N stands up and looks at Tony, "Stay here and help them. I've got Kate."

"You're not going alone," Tony states. He's not going to abandon his daughter. He's here to protect her.

"They need your help more than I do. If the kanima takes more of them down, they will all be dead. Help them."

Tony hesitates for a moment before agreeing, "Fine, but then I'm coming back to help you."

"Fine. I'll probably be in the basement. At least that's where I'm assuming she is."

Tony looks like he's going to hug her for a moment before flying out through the broken window. Y/N can hear when he finds the others.

"So that's your dad huh?" Isaac says with a small smirk on his face.

Y/N rolls her eyes and huffs, "Shut up." Her radio sparks to life and she can hear Chris Argent calling for Stiles. The Anuk-Ite must be near them. Y/N turns to Braeden, "I've got Kate. Make sure he stays alive."

Y/N flicks her claws out as she checks all the doors to see if any lead into the basement. When she opens the fourth door, she sees stairs leading down into another room. She walks down slowly until she reaches the bottom.

Looking around, the stairs seemed to have led her to a hallway instead of a room. There are four different doors, and she doesn't know what's behind any of them. There's a long ugly rug that runs throughout the middle of the hallway. It looks out of place in the modern-looking hallway.

She's about to open the first door when she notices the end of the rug is flipped up as if someone tripped over it. That's when she notices something behind it. Moving the rug with her foot, she finds an escape hatch.

Y/N bends down and opens the hatch. Not seeing anything dangerous, she jumps down into what seems to be a tunnel. Looking down at the ground, she can see a single set of footprints leading away from her.

She follows the footsteps until she gets to the end of the tunnel. She notices a small ladder leading up to another hatch. Y/N climbs up the ladder and slowly opens the hatch. It takes her a second to realize where she is. She's next to an old lake her mom used to take her and Stiles to during the summer.

Climbing out of the tunnel, she looks around for Kate. She knows she's here, but she can't seem to see her.

"Kate! I know you're here!" Y/N yells out.

As she moves to look around, a bear trap snaps around her right ankle. Screaming out in pain, Y/N falls to the ground.

"I was wondering when you would show up, but I'm surprised you showed up alone." Y/N whips her head around to see Kate slowly walking up to her with twenty other hunters and two Berserkers behind her.

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strangerstilinski · 1 year

Text

𝐒𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐍𝐎𝐏𝐇𝐈𝐋𝐄𝐒 𝐕𝐎𝐋𝐔𝐌𝐄 𝐈𝐈 ✶ Teen Wolf Rewrite

Stiles Stilinski / Original Female Character

TW | S2

chapter five

summary; as if the last month and a half hadn't been stressful enough – now there were a few more werewolves, a kanima, and a seriously disturbed old man added into the mix. but amber, stiles, and scott could totally handle this. it would be fine. everything was great.

word count; 20k

warnings; explicit sexual content, first time oral sex, car shenanigans, amber and stiles being annoyingly sweet on one another

chapter notes; stiles tries his hand at being romantic and roscoe sees some action. mayhem erupts when derek and his pack decide that the kanima has to be lydia.

masterlist

c h a p t e r f i v e

venomous

There was a quiet *tink* from her left and Amber's head snapped up in surprise from where she'd been laying on her bed reading a book for English. She blinked in the silence that followed before the soft noise sounded again and she pushed herself to sit up, abandoning the worn paperback on the bedspread beside her.

Still unsure where the sound was coming from, she dropped her feet to the floor at the edge of the bed and waited. She was just about to stand when there was a louder, more aggressive version of the noise as something smacked sharply against her window.

She rushed over to peer out through the glass and into the backyard. Squinting into the darkness below, she could just make out the shape of someone squatting beneath her window with their hood up, their hands digging around in the garden before blindly tossing another rock up at the window where it smacked aggressively against the glass in front of her.

Amber slid the slightly creaky window open and laughed when Stiles' head snapped up at the sound. He got to his feet quickly and brushed his hands off on his jeans before waving up at her with a sweet smile.

"Can I ask why exactly you're trying to break my window?" She laughed, leaning onto her elbows on the windowsill.

Stiles spluttered quietly below, "Wh- I'm not trying to- I'm throwing pebbles!" He told her, as if the simple correction explained everything.

"I think a couple of those might've been too big to be considered pebbles-"

"It is not my fault your backyard is significantly lacking in appropriately tiny rocks-" He interrupted.

"Sorry, sorry. Why exactly are you throwing pebbles at my window?" She amended, an amused smile pulling at her lips, "Y'know, instead of using the front door.."

"I- I'm being romantic!" He called up defensively.

"You know what would be really romantic?" She asked playfully, "If you weren't fifteen feet away and I could give you a kiss."

"Good call!" Stiles shouted as he scrambled away, his feet slipping in the damp grass beneath him as he ran out of the backyard.

She shook her head fondly as she watched him go before sliding the window shut again. She skipped down the stairs quickly, catching Jason raising his eyebrows at her curiously as he headed up the steps with a glass of water, the two of them meeting halfway on the staircase.

"Hey, did I hear the Jeep pull in a minute ago?" Her brother asked.

"You did." Amber paused in her path down the stairs.

"Knew it," Jason nodded, "That engine's got a very distinct and mildly concerning rumble-"

Amber laughed and went to continue her descent down the staircase but her brother's hand on her shoulder made her pause again.

"You two.. You're being safe, right?" Jason asked, looking painfully embarrassed as he forced question out of his mouth, "Because I, uh.. Well I noticed the box of condoms in the bathroom hasn't been opened and I want to be relieved but-"

"Wh- Jase, I promised I'd tell you if we moved past friendship and- and I did that. I mean.. Do- do we have to have this talk right now?" She muttered weakly, eyes flicking to the hallway that led to the front door.

"Yeah, we kinda do, bud," Her brother winced, "I just would feel a whole lot better if I knew you were at least prepared if you decide to-"

"If I open the box of condoms and promise to keep one on me, can we end this conversation?" Amber questioned frantically.

Her brother frowned with a sigh, "Yeah.. Yeah, I guess so."

"Good! Great!" She ran back up the stairs, tearing open the cardboard package in the bathroom and stuffing one of the foil wrappers into her pocket.

In the upstairs hallway, the siblings shared equally embarrassed looks as Amber shoved past him and ran back downstairs again. Stiles was standing patiently at the open front door as she stepped into the entryway and she took a calming breath at the sight of him.

"Well, hey there, Romeo." She greeted with a teasing grin as she met him the open doorway.

"Throwing pebbles is romantic," Stiles defended his actions immediately, "It's a staple in thousands of romance books, songs, movies, plays-"

"You are very romantic, Stiles." She pulled gently at the unbuttoned edges of the flannel beneath his sweatshirt until his chest was pressed against hers.

"Yes. I am. Thank you." His voice dropped into something quieter as his eyes flicked between hers, "I, um.. I was under the impression that I'd get a kiss if I used the front door."

"Oh, really?" She asked, leaning back just a little, "Who told you that?"

"Most beautiful girl in the world." He answered without hesitation, his hands resting softly on her elbows.

"Who is she? I hate her." She joked, already leaning in to brush their lips together.

He met her mouth halfway, slotting his lips between hers for a wonderfully long kiss. When he leaned back to catch his breath, Amber licked her lips in thought.

"What're you doing here?" She questioned after a second, "Did I forget we were supposed to-"

"I have an outing of sorts planned." He told her with a grin, "I know that things have been kind of crazy-"

"Mm, I hadn't noticed that-"

He ignored her interruption, "-and I wanted to do something to show you that I still very much want to take you out on dates and things. Despite the crap with the kanima."

"Dates and things," She repeated slowly, "Am I being courted, Stilinski?" His face broke out in a grin and he nodded, "What did you have in mind?"

"Well-" He started, turning to gesture toward the driveway where a familiar powder blue Jeep was parked with a wrapped bundle of flowers on the hood, "If you really wanna find out you'll just have to get your cute little ass in the car."

Amber bent over immediately to pull on a pair of shoes before pushing past him, "My ass is getting in the car!" She called out over her shoulder.

Stiles laughed as he followed but when she went to pull the passenger door open, a hand reached past her to grip the handle before she could move to do it herself. She spun around as the door swung open and her heart fluttered at the sight of Stiles holding up the bundle of white flowers behind her.

"You got me a bouquet of baby's breath?" She asked with a soft smile, reaching for the flowers and poking at the tiny buds delicately with the tip of her finger.

"I did," He smiled at her reaction, "You should've seen the florist's face when I asked for them, though. I guess they're normally only used as a filler for bigger flowers or something-? I'm pretty sure that she thought me asking for a bouquet of only baby's breath was, like, sacrilegious. The lady was not happy with me."

She brought a hand up to his cheek and brought their lips together again in a chaste kiss, "Well thank you for your sacrifice, because I love them. They're my favorite."

"Got a few more favorites waiting if you ever get your ass in the Jeep." Stiles urged playfully.

She rolled her eyes and turned to haul herself up into the vehicle, yelling out in surprise at the sharp smack of Stiles' hand against her backside as she climbed in.

"Sorry," He apologized quickly, "I don't know why I-"

She laughed loudly and sat down in the seat so she could turn to look at him, "Did you just slap my ass?" She questioned in amusement.

"I did," He admitted, cheeks flushing adorably pink, "I dunno what happened.. It was right there and I just-"

"Spanked me?" She asked, barely containing her gleeful laughter.

"I was trying to be a gentleman by opening your door and then I ruined it by- By spanking.. you." Stiles shook his head, an endearing flush still rising on his face.

"You're adorable. And you didn't ruin anything." She assured him.

He laughed weakly, "Okay.. Okay, we're moving on."

He closed the passenger door and rounded the vehicle quickly before climbing in on the other side. Once he was seated he leaned into the backseat and returned with a large styrofoam cup that Amber already knew came from the diner downtown.

"You got me a milkshake from Mal's?" She asked excitedly, placing her bouquet of flowers onto the dashboard to take the cup from his outstretched hand.

"I did," He confirmed before leaning into the back again and digging around, "I also got you this-" He sat back down in the driver's seat with a large paper shopping bag in his lap and Amber's eyebrows furrowed as she watched him set the bag down beside him on the seat, "But I'm not giving it to you until we get there."

She pouted and Stiles spun in his seat to turn the key determinedly in the ignition a couple of times. The engine rumbled to life and Amber perked up where she had her lips already wrapped around the straw of her drink.

"Where are we going?" She asked eagerly, placing her styrofoam cup between her legs in lieu of a cupholder.

"It's a really clear night tonight, so.. I was thinking driving out to the lookout might be nice?" Stiles asked more than told her, "We'll probably be able to see a lot of stars and stuff and I just thought it might be kinda cool. If you want, I mean."

Her stomach tangled in knots in a sort of nervous anticipation, "Yeah, yeah that would be cool."

It wouldn't be the first time they'd been to the preserve lookout together, or even the tenth. They'd gone there to camp out, picnic, stargaze, and spend countless lazy afternoons in the sun. But Amber wasn't entirely sure if they'd ever gone without Scott's company. On a night like this, the spot was practically calling out to be a romantic destination and the insinuation sparked anxious excitement deep in her bones.

Stiles navigated the dark evening roads through town and as her excited nerves grew, her fingers gravitated to pick mindlessly at a loose thread on the seam of her jeans. After a few minutes, her gaze drifted down to the paper bag still sitting temptingly in between them and she leaned over curiously in an attempt to peek inside.

"Nope," Stiles said as soon as he noticed what she was doing, pulling the bag protectively against his side and scowling at her, "I already told you.. You don't get the rest until we get there."

She pouted but settled back into her seat dutifully, bringing the straw of drink back to her lips and sipping on it as she watched buildings pass in a blur that eventually gave way to trees outside the window.

When her straw finally slurped obnoxiously at the bottom of the cup, her eyes dropped down to the milkshake in her hands in surprise and she found herself frowning and poking the straw around at the bottom as she searched for the final dregs of the beverage.

They were less than five minutes away from the preserve entrance when she tucked the empty cup away in the backseat to be dealt with later.

When Stiles finally parked the Jeep at the lookout and cut the engine, she turned in her seat to face him expectantly, eyeing the paper bag against his side.

"Okay, okay." He caved with a laugh, handing over the bag.

She peeked inside excitedly, surprised to find not just one thing, but several smaller items hidden away inside the bag. The first thing she pulled out was a package of sour gummy worms and her eyes rose to meet Stiles' gaze with a pleased smile.

"Your favorite candy." He supplied, gesturing for her to keep going.

The next item she found was a bottle of nail polish in a beautifully bright, sunflower yellow hue.

"Your favorite color." Stiles said slowly.

She looked back inside the bag and spotted a tiny bundle of green fabric and she reached for it in confusion. She fingered the soft material in her hand and her lips pulled into a surprised smile as she toyed with the stretchy material.

"You got me a scrunchie?" She asked, looking between the puffy elastic in her hands and the boy sitting across from her.

"I did," He said, "I know it's not technically a 'favorite' but, in my defense, I didn't really go out looking for it. I was just kinda browsing and then I saw that color and it made me think of the green in your eyes and so- And, uh, yeah.." He trailed off.

She pinched her lower lip between her teeth to stop her face from showing just how breathtakingly perfect of a human being she thought Stiles Stilinski truly was. The utterly endearing image of him plucking a large scrunchie from the shelf at a department store. And then paying for it at the register, where a middle aged woman had likely checked his purchase with a knowing look-

"Thank you," She told him softly, "I love it. It's a really nice color."

He looked slightly relieved at her reaction and he gave her a nod in indication to keep going. When she dove back in, it was to pull out a crisp, newly purchased paperback that she quickly flipped around to skim over the summary on the back cover, an excited smile taking over her face.

"Your favorite.. Genre, I guess?" He told her, "I know you're really into the whole 'whodunit' trope, so I asked the person at the bookstore and they recommended this one. I read the description and thought it sounded kinda cool-"

"It looks great. I'm really excited to read it." She assured him quickly, "Sti, this.. Is so sweet.. And so unbelievably unfair. You asshole. I cannot believe you're upstaging me by getting me such a thoughtful gift one month before your own birthday. Now I have to come up with something mind-blowingly perfect-"

"Anything you get me will be mind-blowingly perfect," Stiles shrugged easily, "Now open up that package of gummy worms because I've been thinking about them for the last hour and I really want one."

With a laugh, she returned all but the candy into the bag and placed it in the backseat before tearing the package open and poking around curiously at the different colors.

"I can never remember, is your favorite the one with the blue?" She questioned, pausing in deliberation.

"Yeah, the blue and red one." Stiles confirmed, scrambling to open his mouth when she immediately tossed one his way and he just managed to do so in time to catch it with his tongue.

"Too bad the blue isn't with the orange," She commented as she chewed on her own sour candy. Stiles furrowed his brows and she elaborated, "Y'know, because Mets."

He grinned, looking pleased with her reference, but before he could say anything she spoke again.

"Oh! Oh, wait, I have an idea!" She announced, picking through the bag excitedly.

She grabbed an orange and green worm as well as a blue and red one and bit off the unwanted colors. Pressing the remaining blue and orange pieces together, she held the new franken-worm up in display proudly.

"Mets!" She declared, handing the pieces of candy to the boy across the car.

"Perfect," Stiles agreed, taking the broken worm from her and tossing the pieces into his mouth, "You are perfect."

Amber's cheeks heated as she munched on her candy, her eyes drifting to the windshield to look out at the stunning view of the starry sky and the flickering distant lights of the lit up town over the cliffside.

"This is really, really nice." She commented after a few minutes of silence as they shared the bag of candy, "You didn't need to do all this, but I'm really glad you did."

He blushed lightly and readjusted in his seat, "Yeah, I just, um. I wanted to do something special."

He reached up to rub at the back of his neck and his shirt rose along his stomach with the action just enough to expose a bit of his happy trail. Her jaw slackened as she was drawn to the movement, eyes glued to the dark patch of hair as she attempted to swallow the candy in her mouth with a heavy tongue.

"I, uh. I actually-"

"Stiles?" She interrupted, licking her lips and dragging her gaze up to his face, "Can I come over there and kiss you?"

He blinked in surprise but nodded, "Yeah, yeah definitely. I- How could I say no to that?"

She slid across the leather bench seat and found herself simply staring at his lips for a moment before Stiles brought a hand to her cheek and drew their mouths together in impatience. She sighed against his lips contentedly as his fingers tangled in her hair and she sunk into the embrace, tilting her head in an attempt to seal their mouths together more firmly as his lips parted against hers. Their tongues brushed despite the awkward angle and she held back a groan at the taste of the candy that lingered on his tongue. She pulled herself away to kick her shoes off on the floor beneath the passenger seat and he frowned at the sudden loss of contact.

"What're you-"

His question was cut off as she climbed into his lap, thighs spread as she knelt over him, the steering wheel at her back.

"Is this okay?" She questioned, suddenly nervous as her fingertips skimmed along the soft fabric of his sleeves. Her weight pressed down against him more firmly as she settled into a comfortable position and Stiles nodded quickly in the dimly lit vehicle. At his approval, she leaned down to reconnect their mouths and he kissed her back eagerly, their lips moving against one another in a smooth rhythm.

She pulled back after another minute and huffed a quiet laugh against his lips when he gazed up at her in confusion.

"Stiles," She said, running her hands down his arms at their sides until she could take his hands into hers, "You're not even touching me." She pointed out gently.

"Sorry," He apologized immediately, "I'm sorry. I'm being really weird, aren't I? God."

At his admission, she leaned back a little further, thumbs rubbing softly along the backs of his hands, "Are you okay?" She asked, pushing herself up on her knees and making a small move to climb off of him, "Do you want me to-"

"No!" Stiles said quickly, reaching up to grip at the sides of her thighs and tugging her back down into his lap, "No, I'm sorry. I just-" He swallowed, "I'm really nervous." He admitted quietly.

She huffed in disbelief, trailing her hands up his chest and pressing her palms lightly over his pecks beneath the open edges of his flannel. As if emphasizing his words, she could feel the heavy thumping of his heart beneath her right hand.

"Did I do something wrong? Am I doing something that's making you nerv-"

"No." Stiles repeated, "I'm kind of- I'm terrified I'm gonna do something wrong and screw this up monumentally."

"So instead you thought the right move was to just.. Lie there like a corpse underneath me?" She questioned in amusement, "Stiles, you've given me a bloody nose with your elbow on two different occasions-"

"Both of which were accidents. And not at all relevant because it's not that I'm worried I'm going to injure you-"

"My point is that I'm not gonna run away if you don't put your hands in just the right-"

"I know, okay. I- Logically I know that." Stiles conceded, his fingertips drumming on the sides of her thighs anxiously, "I'm sorry. I- Did I completely ruin the mood?"

She shook her head, her hair whipping around between their faces as she did so.

"Stiles." She said firmly, watching him blink at her in question before she leaned down to press a quick kiss to his lips, "I'm still very much in the mood." She punctuated her words by rolling her hips down softly over his and was rewarded with a soft groan from him, "How about you?"

"Yeah, yes. Still very interested." He assured her quickly.

She tilted her head down to bring their mouths together again but separated their lips after a only moment to tug her shirt over her head, tossing it into the backseat. Stiles brought his hands up to skim the fabric of her bra seemingly without thought, his tongue poking out to wet his lips as his fingers twitched along her ribcage distractedly.

"You're doing it again." She scolded softly when he made no move to either grope nor kiss her, simply letting his thumbs rest along the underwire as he eyed her chest with interest.

"I- It is not entirely my fault-" Stiles defended quietly, "I mean, your tits are seriously-" He cut himself off with a wince, eyes rising to meet her own, "I mean- I- Your.. Breasts-?"

"Stiles, you can call them whatever you want. You seriously don't need to worry so much about offending me." She laughed, "I've been your best friend for eight years. I'm pretty sure I've heard you say things a lot more vulgar than 'tits'."

"Right, you're right." He nodded, gaze dropping back down to the plushness of her breasts displayed in front of him, "So, anyway- Your tits. Perfect. Freakin' amazing. And very, very distracting."

She blushed at the comment, settling her ass firmly over the tops of his thighs and arching her back, her chest canting toward him enticingly as she watched for his reaction.

"They are?" She questioned, reaching up to readjust the thin fabric of her bra over herself casually.

"When I slammed Scott's locker on his hand last week, it was because I was staring at your tits." Stiles admitted in a rush.

"You broke his fingers," She recalled before her eyes widened in both shock and amusement, "You broke Scott's fingers because you were looking at my boobs?"

"Listen, that bra was criminal. I mean, come on.. The lace?" Stiles defended, his thumbs drifting up to rub lightly over the bottom of her breast, "And besides, Scott was fully healed in like two minutes. He was being kind of a baby about it if you ask me-"

"I could wear that one next time," She offered breathlessly, "There's no padding, so I kinda feel like it makes my boobs look small but-"

"I can confidently say that your boobs would look incredible in absolutely anything." Stiles commented quickly.

"If you wanted to stop talking about my boobs and maybe start touching them for real.. I wouldn't complain-"

He wasted no time before palming both of his hands over her chest, his long fingers gripping the roundness of each breast as he dusted them over the material of her bra. He tightened his hands to squeeze softly and she let out a breathy exhale at the feeling, her hips rolling unconsciously against the slowly growing bulge in his jeans as she gripped the loose lapels of his over-shirt.

Stiles dropped his hands to her hips for half a second, his head dipping down to press a soft kiss in the space between her breasts before he slid his hands back to cup her ass. He pressed more gentle kisses to her chest, the tenderness contradicted by the tightening of his grip on her backside as he pulled her against him to help roll her hips rhythmically.

"You're wearing too many clothes." She breathed quietly after a few minutes, pinching his offending shirt between her fingers.

Stiles nodded in agreement and she leaned back as he sat up straighter and began to slip out of his sweatshirt and flannel. He threw both articles behind himself uncaringly before reaching behind his neck for the collar of his tshirt and pulling that over his head and from his body as well, letting it land over the steering wheel behind the girl in his lap.

She eyed his chest slowly, trailing down the subtle muscles as he nervously tensed his stomach under her attention. When her eyes caught on the dark patch of hair under his belly button that led beneath the waistband of his pants, she let out a shaky breath at the arousal that flooded her.

Her hands came out to follow the same path her eyes had taken only a moment before, fingers dragging slowly down his stomach until her thumbs met in the tiny trail of hair above his groin. She licked her lips and ran her thumbs softly over the dark hairs, the tip of her finger catching on the waistband of his boxers where they came up just above his jeans.

Stiles huffed out a quiet breath as he tried to keep still under her attention, his hands returning to grip tightly at her thighs as he steadied himself.

She leaned back down in a quick movement to recapture his lips hungrily. Her fingers pressed into his abdomen as his mouth opened beneath her own, lips parting and rejoining as they traded deep kisses.

His hand made a slow trail along her thigh until he could reach between them, his fingers pressing firmly between her legs over her jeans. She moaned against his lips and when he rubbed at the denim covering her crotch again, she detached their mouths to lean back and frantically undo her jeans. Stiles watched her with a dazed look for a few seconds before he moved to assist her, hooking his thumbs into her belt loops and tugging her jeans down over her ass.

"I- Fuck, just- Hold on-" She muttered, climbing off his lap to pull her jeans off entirely and throw them into the backseat with a frustrated huff.

As soon as she returned to his lap in her underwear, his hands settled back underneath her ass without prompting. The long length of his fingers squeezed at the exposed flesh and she groaned, leaning down to kiss him deeply again with her hands at his neck.

After only a minute, Stiles' hand found it's way between them again and his fingers skimmed lightly over the front of her underwear. Their mouths separated as he peeked down between them, hesitating as he debated how to approach things from a new angle.

"Don't second guess yourself, okay?" She whispered against his lips, "I'm pretty sure that you severely underestimate how much literally everything that you do turns me on."

"Yeah?" He questioned, fingers easing down between her thighs to press softly into her entrance through her underwear.

"Uh-huh." She whined with a nod, eyes drifting shut and fingers tightening around the back of his neck.

He tilted his chin back up to kiss her as his fingers hooked around the fabric between her thighs, one of his long digits slipping inside of her in a slow movement. She groaned into his mouth and ground down against his hand weakly, pushing his finger deeper. He thrust in and out only a few times before easily sliding a second finger in alongside the first, earning a quiet whine from the girl above him. He thrust his fingers in and out again with deep movements, her hips rolling down to meet each thrust.

Hands trailing down his chest again, she let the fingers of her right hand dip beneath his elastic waistband to rub lightly at the hidden patch of hair that trailed underneath. Stiles groaned into her mouth, hips bucking up into her touch and his fingers stilling inside of her distractedly for a second.

She fumbled unseeingly with the button on his jeans single-handedly but managed to get it undone, tugging the zipper down to give her more space to work with. Their mouths continued the hot rhythm of give and take and she finally followed the trail of dark hairs beneath his underwear until she could wrap a hand around his erection.

A loud groan erupted from Stiles' throat and her stomach flipped at the sound. She tightened her left hand around the back of his neck, fingertips pressing into his skin as she dropped her forehead against his to break the kiss.

"Off," She demanded vaguely, her hand making a retreat from beneath his pants. Stiles made a small noise of objection into the space between their lips before she continued, "Your pants. Underwear. Off."

"Yeah," He agreed quickly. He pulled his fingers from between her legs and began frantically working to help her shove his jeans down his hips as he toed his shoes off. "Yeah, okay. Taking them off-"

She rolled off of his lap as he clumsily stripped out of his remaining clothes, hunching forward while he kicked and pulled his pants from his legs completely before sliding his boxers off as well.

Once he was naked, he didn't give her even a second to look down at him in the dark car before his mouth found hers again in a heated kiss. She allowed him to control the pace for a long minute, her hands cautiously groping his naked hips until she couldn't wait any longer. She dragged her mouth from his and she pushed him away just enough that she could peer down into the space between them.

She stared for a long moment, transfixed with a confusing mix of arousal and fear as she looked at his dick for the first time. He was nearly fully hard already and she couldn't help the quiet noise that squeaked from her throat at the sight of him. Long and thick and flushed with arousal — so much nicer than anything she'd ever seen in amateur porn.

She shifted back to get a better look and her teeth caught her lower lip distractedly, eyes unable to focus on anything but the long length of Stiles' cock.

"God. Y're so hot." He said quietly, reaching out in the short space between them to slowly free her lip from between her teeth with his thumb.

Their lips met again frantically. He licked into her mouth without preamble and they both groaned at the hunger in the kiss. It was only a minute before she pulled back again, her eyes drawn back to where his hard cock bobbed untouched between them.

She shook her head, attempting to sort through her thoughts before any words could spill out of her mouth. She finally brought her eyes back up to his face, but the words that tumbled from her lips after a moment still managed to be wholly unfiltered.

"You've gotta be kidding me."

Stiles dropped his hand from her face and frowned as he looked down self-consciously, "What's wrong?"

"I- Sti, you're huge. Like really, really-" She whispered nervously, eyes flicking between his slowly before dropping down to his erection again for just a second. When she looked back up, she watched an embarrassed flush rise on his cheeks and she swallowed before speaking again, "I just. I've never.. I mean, you are a lot bigger than what's currently stowed away in my underwear drawer and I don't know if I-"

"Wh- We don't have to-" He paused, eyes flicking between her panicked ones quickly, "We're not having sex right now.." He told her quickly before seeming to hesitate with wide eyes, "W- Are we?"

She looked at him in stunned silence for a second, "Oh. I just assumed you-" She took a shaky breath, "Okay. No, yeah, okay, that's kind of a relief."

"Hell. You just- You looked at it and then you-" Stiles breathed out harshly, "I-I thought something was wrong with-"

"There is absolutely nothing wrong with your dick." She interrupted quickly. Her hand twitched at her side and her eyes bounced between his nervously, "Can I-"

"Yes." He interrupted with wide, pleading eyes.

She shifted beside him in the seat and took his right hand in her left one as she slowly wrapped her right around his length once again and Stiles made a choked-off noise, leaning closer and bracing himself with a hand on the steering wheel. She tightened her grip and jerked her hand back and forth in slow motions, watching the way his face seemed to both tighten and go slack at the same time.

"Is this okay?" She checked quietly after a few pulls, continuing to jerk him slowly.

"Uh huh," He articulated with a nod, "Okay. Very, very okay."

"Okay." She whispered.

Her hazel eyes trailed back and forth between his brown ones slowly until he released another small noise and pinched his eyes shut. Her heart was pounding nervously in her ears as she focused determinedly on the movement of her hand around him.

As if he could feel her attentive gaze, Stiles' eyes blinked open slowly as he lifted his head to look at the girl in front of him. She pulled her lower lip back into her mouth anxiously at him watching her and he groaned, leaning forward to capture her lips with his own in a quick motion.

A soft sound escaped her mouth and she moved a hand to cup the side of his face, pulling his mouth against hers more firmly. She readjusted, throwing a leg over him to straddle his left thigh. Stiles made a sharp noise when the tip of his cock nudged against her stomach on the upstroke, his mouth falling open against hers as his jaw slackened in pleasure.

She wasn't sure if she'd ever felt so nervous, turned on, and frantic all at once before.

"C'you, uh, maybe-" His words were choked as he pulled her hand from his cock and brought it up between them, "Just, um, spit?"

"In my hand?" She questioned.

He nodded, cheeks managing to flush further with the request and she wasted no time in following the order, spitting into the palm of her hand before returning it to his length and resuming her movements.

Her hand slipped along his cock more smoothly with the added lubrication and drew a weak sound from his throat. The head of his cock prodded against her waist again lightly on the upstroke and his moan melted into an even more desperate noise.

"Gotta. Back. Lay back." Stiles pleaded against her lips, pushing on her shoulder to guide her back just enough that he could begin to change their position.

She didn't slow her hand as he attempted to guide her back to lay across the seats but she determinedly forced him to stay upright in the cab of the vehicle. Taking in a nervous breath, she gave him a demanding nudge, her free hand pressing into his chest firmly as she pushed him to sit back on the passenger side of the car.

The moment he complied, she dropped to her knees in the narrow space on the floor between his legs. Stiles looked down at her in awe as her own gaze lowered back to the slow slide of her hand over his cock. She flipped her hand, adjusting her grip and licking her lips in nervous anticipation.

"Okay, so I- Do you mind if I-?" She left the question hanging in the air, looking up at him with wide eyes.

"Sure," He agreed immediately, "Wha'd'you-"

His words cut off sharply when she licked softly at his tip, having already leaned forward determinedly at his initial approval.

"Jesus, fucking-" Stiles exclaimed quietly, head thumping back against the seat and hand shooting out to grip at her shoulder in a frantic motion.

She slowly took the head between her lips and into her mouth. She eased down cautiously until she could suck lightly at just the first couple inches, continuing the motions of her hand over the parts her mouth didn't reach. She pulled back off to lick the length of his cock again and ran her tongue in a slow drag from the base to the tip before wrapping her lips around the end once more.

The next time she eased back to lick at the head, her mouth watered at the taste of Stiles' precome that began to coat her tongue.

Not entirely confident in how she was doing after thirty or so seconds of simply replicating what she'd seen in porn, she peered up to find Stiles already watching her with rapt attention, his mouth hanging slightly open as he pulled in choppy breaths. When she took the end back into her mouth again, her gaze caught on the tight fist that he was making with the hand not currently gripping at her shoulder, his knuckles pinched white.

"Amber, I-" He cut off with a quiet groan, "'m not gonna last very- Your mouth.. Is-"

She hummed in acknowledgment due to her mouth being otherwise occupied and he moaned loudly, his whole body twitching at the vibration that the noise made around his dick. His fingertips dug into her skin as his grip tightened unconsciously around her shoulder.

She pushed her mouth down another fraction of an inch, the head of his dick rubbing softly along the roof of her mouth as she experimentally eased her mouth a tiny bit farther down the length of him. His hips twitched suddenly in an upward thrust and the head of his cock prodded at the back of her throat, causing her to gag and pull back with a quiet cough.

"Sorry," Stiles apologized quickly, "Shit. Sorry. 'm so sorry-"

"'s okay." She assured him quickly, already leaning into the space between his thighs again.

She took a small breath in through her nose before determinedly sliding him into her mouth again. This time, when she pushed the first few inches in her mouth, she allowed the tip to softly nudge the back of her throat. She took a deep breath through her nose and fought determinedly against the instinct to gag.

Stiles moaned loudly and she reached her free hand up from where it had been resting on the leather seat beside him and nudged at his knuckles until he loosened his fist. She tangled their fingers together as she moved her mouth up and down the end of his shaft, letting the tip hit the back of her throat gently a couple of times and continuing to work her other hand along the base of his long length. His fingers tightened around hers almost painfully as he fought to remain still while she sucked and bobbed her head.

"You sh- You should-" Stiles slid the hand on her shoulder to fist into her hair and gently tugged her mouth off of him, "'Cause I'm-" He finished eloquently.

She nodded and allowed herself to be guided back, his fingers remaining clenched in the hair at the back of her head even after she'd pulled away.

In the absence of her mouth, she slid her fist lower along his length to collect some of the spit that now coated the end, jerking him using the newly acquired lubrication in a smooth glide.

Stiles moaned loudly at the slick feeling of her hand working him as she continued. It was only a couple more strokes of her hand before his fingers tightened in her hair and he tensed with a loud moan, warm come shooting out onto the center of her chest.

She watched his face as she worked him through it, her gaze avidly glued to his slack jaw, the way his eyes pinched shut tightly, the dark flush of his orgasm on his cheeks.

She couldn't help the curiosity that had her leaning back in-between his legs after a moment to taste the come-soaked tip. A surprised noise left his mouth as she sucked softly at the head of his cock. His thighs were still trembling against the seat and she pulled her left hand from his grip to run her fingertips gently along his waist in a soothing motion.

When Stiles finally released her hair and nudged her arm weakly a few seconds later, she leaned back to lift her gaze to his face again. She let her hand fall from his dick and watched as he took a shaky breath, looking down at her with red-flushed cheeks before his focus seemed to pause on her chest.

He released a slightly pained noise and she followed his gaze self-consciously, her own eyes locking on the long stripes of come that had already begun to drip down in a shiny trail between the valley of her breasts and down the center of her stomach.

She wiped at the bottom of the mess in a weak attempt to clean herself but only succeeded in getting the fingers of her right hand covered in come as well. She had collected a small amount of the mess onto her fingers and she looked up at Stiles for assistance.

"What should I- Do you have a-"

He simply stared at her in a daze for a moment as she spoke, his jaw slack, before he blinked and jumped into action, leaning around her to dig through the glove box and returning seconds later with a couple of napkins.

He immediately pulled her up by her forearms and she straddled his lap, settling over his thighs easily. Stiles spread a hand over her thigh and used the other to wipe gently at the long stripes of his release, starting at her belly button and following the trail up to her chest. His fingers slowed as he wiped her cleavage clean, his touch more deliberate as he brought the napkin over the softness of her breasts and beneath the band of her bra.

She found her heart fluttering in her chest at the gentleness of his touch, her eyes glued to his face as he focused intently his task. He continued to clean her with a shaking hand and once he was finished, he grabbed the second napkin and took her hand into his own, carefully clearing away the residue from her fingers.

Once he was done, Stiles sat back and took a deep breath before speaking.

"That was-" He finally panted, "I- You-"

An awkward blush colored her cheeks. She couldn't comprehend how it was possible to suddenly feel so unbelievably nervous after having had someone's dick in your mouth for three minutes, but that was precisely where she found herself.

"Was it okay?" She asked seriously, leaning back until her back rested against the dashboard, "Obviously I've never given a blowjob before, so. I know I couldn't, like, take all of it because, well- I mean, you're-"

Her words cut off when his gripped roughly at her biceps and manhandled her in the close quarters of the vehicle. She landed on her butt in the opposite seat with a small huff, the breath whooshing from her lungs as she fell back against the driver's side door.

Stiles was on top of her before she could blink.

"Wha-" Her words were cut off once again, this time by his mouth descending on hers.

"That was.. Amazing. Phenomenal. Easily the single greatest experience of my entire life." Stiles praised against her lips between quick, sloppy kisses before sealing his mouth with hers again.

His tongue broke through the seam of her lips almost immediately and she tilted her head in acceptance, feeling him groan into her mouth. Her arms wrapped around his neck, fingertips of one hand digging into his shoulder while the other scratched gently at the short buzzed hair at the base of his neck.

After a minute, he pulled back just enough to take a much needed breath, nose dragging softly against hers as his gaze flicked between her eyes.

"You taste kinda like-" He paused for a fraction of a second, "Like come. A little bit."

She flushed at the comment, "Sorry."

Stiles blinked at her in confusion, rising up onto his arms to put another few inches of distance between their faces, "Are you.. Apologizing for sucking my dick right now?"

"Well I- You said-"

"Oh god. I wasn't complaining." Stiles told her earnestly.

"Oh, okay," She felt relief wash over her, "Good, because I really wanna-" She completed the thought nonverbally by drawing his lips back down to hers roughly.

The kiss was returned with enthusiasm and Stiles leaned over her, holding himself up with his left arm propped up on the back of the seat and his other on the door behind her.

Though she couldn't see it from their close proximity, his naked body on top of her had her brain fuzzy with arousal. Her legs fell open unthinkingly and when Stiles readjusted to settle into the space, his dick pressed intoxicatingly against the skin of her thigh.

Stiles trailed his mouth across her cheek and down under her jaw, her head tipping back against the window easily to give him access to her throat. He took to the invitation quickly and sucked featherlight at the skin below her jawline, moving lower in a line of gentle kisses until he was at her collarbones. He nibbled at the skin, just light enough to not leave any marks. He continued on quickly, lips dragging lower still until his mouth found her breast.

She hummed, hand around the back of his neck tightening, as he mouthed at the softness of her bra-clad chest in a series of open mouthed kisses, tongue poking out through the seam of his lips to brush against her skin. He tugged the thin fabric down to wrap his lips around her nipple in a soft suck and she gasped, spine arching away from where she was pressed back the door.

At her vocal approval, Stiles moved his mouth over to her other breast and repeated the series of motions. Her bra straps were tugged down her shoulders as he kissed and sucked and bit lightly at her chest, his large hands coming up to softly squeeze at whatever flesh his mouth wasn't focused on.

Stiles leaned back after a few minutes and she took a shaky breath, lifting her head from the window to look down at him, stunned by the pause in his barrage of kisses.

"Can I- Is it okay if I return the favor?" He asked quietly, tongue darting out to lick at his already spit soaked lips.

"Uh-huh, yeah. Yes." She nodded quickly.

She watched him slide further down the seat between her knees, her heart stuttering nervously in her chest as her arms fell away from his neck.

Hands trailed down her sides and his lips pressed softly into the small, three week old slice of pink scar tissue over her abdomen seemingly without thought. As he leaned back, his fingers tucked into the waistband on either side of her hips and tugged her underwear away, tossing them to the dashboard beside the abandoned bouquet of flowers before he continued lower.

She was taken by a sudden flash of a memory. Just a quick burst in her head to the distant memory of Stiles between her thighs that she'd dreamt up over two months ago. With a blink, the image was in front of her, clearer than ever as he settled down between her legs with an anxious wide-eyed look on his face.

At the sight of his nerves, she was about to reassure him that it was okay, that he didn't need to return that favor, but just as soon as she opened her mouth to say the words, Stiles dropped down to lick at her experimentally and her head lolled back against the metal frame of the Jeep's door with a loud thump.

Her legs fell open further and he took the invitation in kind, moving the warm wetness of his tongue softly over her newly-exposed clit. She gasped out a high pitched noise at the warm caress over the sensitive nerves and he immediately licked over the same spot again in a slower, more sure motion.

"Holy shit, Stiles-" She moaned quietly, gasping when he continued to move his tongue softly over the sensitive bud, "This- This is so much better-" She had to break off to suck in a shaky breath as her thighs jerked around his shoulders, "S'much better than it is in my dream-"

The motion of his tongue stopped as he pulled back and she whined in protest at the loss of contact.

"'M sorry, can we back up-"

"No," She objected quickly, "No, no. We cannot back up-" Her head lifted from the window frame and she looked down at him in wide-eyed distress, "I-I don't remember taking your dick out of my mouth to.. To talk-"

"You have dreams about being eaten out?" Stiles asked quickly in interest, ignoring her protests, "Because that is.. That is so hot. You-You have sex dreams where just, like- Someone's tongue-"

"You're tongue, Stiles." She corrected in a huff, "I've had numerous, painfully repetitive dreams about your tongue so please, I am actually begging you-"

He ducked back down in a surprisingly fast motion, but instead of focusing on her clit, he gripped her thighs and spread her legs further, delving lower this time, his tongue licking into her in an agonizingly gentle motion. A choked off whine sounded in her throat and he repeated the movement, pushing further until the muscle actually poked past her entrance.

She scrambled to reach down, desperate for some sort of tether to him, and gripped tightly at the muscles of his upper back. He shimmied his right shoulder further beneath her left knee and she spread her thighs for him that much more, calf draped over his bicep just as his tongue began to lick deeper inside of her with purpose.

"Oh, god-" She gasped, throwing her head back against the window with another painful thump as she scraped her fingertips lightly over his shoulders and neck.

Stiles wrapped his arms around the backs of her thighs and dug his fingers into her flesh, gripping tightly as he worked his tongue in and out. He alternated between pushing in as deep as he could reach and then licking shallowly at her entrance before delving back in again.

He fucked her with his tongue for several long minutes, maybe ten, maybe thirty, it was hard to tell when her brain was so hazy with arousal. Her throat felt dry from the heavy, slack-jawed breaths she'd been pulling in between soft moans of pleasure as he worked his tongue inside of her.

"Stiles," She called out in a breathless whisper feeling truly desperate, "C'you, fingers-? Please?" She begged inarticulately.

The warmth of his mouth pulled away and two of his fingers immediately pressed against her entrance, pushing inside in a gentle motion that had her moaning loudly. The thick firmness of his fingers after the softness of his tongue was incredible. He curled his fingers up immediately to massage at the sensitive spot she'd instructed him toward before and another high gasp left her mouth at the feeling.

As soon as his fingers settled into a rhythm, he lowered his head to lick at her clit again. The combination of his mouth and his fingers had an embarrassing stream of moans rushing past her lips. Her own fingers scraped against his shoulders as she scrambled for some control under the all-encompassing pleasure.

"God-" She moaned softly, voice cracking as his lips closed around her clit entirely, sucking lightly before he continued to roll his tongue over the bundle of nerves, "Stiles-"

Her hips were starting to grind up against him unconsciously as she neared her peak, his name slipping past her lips in a constant stream of quiet, high-pitched pleas.

"Sti, 'm.. Stiles-"

He straightened his fingers out inside of her without prompt and began to thrust them in and out experimentally. She finally managed to pull in a deep albeit shaky breath with the change of pace, but the reprieve was short lived as Stiles studied her reaction and immediately changed tactics, attentively and earnestly trying to learn what made her tick, moan, writhe.

The air she'd only just pulled in was knocked back from her lungs when his fingers curled again but continued the hard in and out movement of his fingers. His hooked fingertips caught against the bundle of nerves behind her pelvis with each thrust and on each slightly rough press of the pads of his fingers against the sensitive spot, she was dragged down just slightly toward him, her ass sliding along the worn leather of the seat and incidentally pressing his tongue more firmly against her clit.

His name spilled past her lips in weak gasps as her fingers dug into his shoulders, shaking thighs straining against the grip of his free hand, and suddenly her whole body was tightening with her release.

The only thing she was aware of was the slow waves of warm white fog in her brain through panted breaths as he continued to wring her climax out of her with his fingers and mouth.

An indeterminate amount of time passed before her vision settled back into a semi-clear image as she looked up at the roof of the Jeep above her. Thighs trembling, she smacked her lips quietly at the dryness in her mouth from her moans, reaching down to unseeingly swat at Stiles where he was still tonguing at her gently with unmoving fingers.

He pulled back in response to the soft slap of her hands against his shoulders and face. Instead of immediately crawling back up her body like she'd anticipated, Stiles moved in a slow trail back up toward her. Soft kisses were pressed along the inside of her thigh, and then her stomach, trailing up along her ribs, her chest, the valley between her breasts. He tugged her bra straps back up over her shoulders as his lips dragged up slowly across her sternum and collar bones. He pressed a gentle line of kisses into the curve of her neck. There was just one soft press of his mouth against her jawbone before finally he paused, lips stopping to hover just above hers.

Her heart was still pounding loudly in her ears from her orgasm, brain feeling pleasantly mushy from a culmination of both her climax and the gentleness of his kisses as he'd moved up along her body. She found herself looking between his deep brown eyes for a slow moment, her gaze drifting across the long line of his eyebrows and his sharp cheekbones before settling on his swollen lips.

"God." She said softly, reaching up to drag his mouth down against hers desperately.

Her fingertips rubbed softly through the smooth, close-cropped hair at the back of his head and her tongue broke through the seam of his lips with a sense of urgency. She finally understood what he'd been talking about before when she absently realized that she could taste herself on his mouth.

"That was amazing." She murmured against his lips when she finally pulled back just a fraction, "Phenomenal, even. Quite possibly the greatest experience of my life." She returned his earlier sentiment.

He grinned and pecked her lips as he blindly reached out to feel around for his boxers. He located them on the floor and pulled back to tug them on before snatching her panties from the dashboard, turning to hand them to her with an unbearably soft look.

She thanked him quietly and pulled them on before leaning into the backseat to snatch his discarded flannel and tug it onto her own body, clumsily doing up a couple of the buttons. When she settled back in the front with her jeans in hand, Stiles had already managed to get his pants on and was just finishing pulling his shirt down over his chest.

She quickly finished getting re-dressed and spotted the abandoned package of gummy worms on the floor beside the gear shift. Grabbing the bag, she dug around in search of one of the red and blue candies. Upon locating one, she held it out in front of Stiles' face wordlessly and grinned when he automatically opened his mouth to accept the offering.

"Hey, um. I kind of wanted to ask you something." Stiles said after a moment as he swallowed the candy, voice quiet.

She frowned, pulling her legs up onto the seat underneath her and turning to face him, "Yeah, of course. What is it?"

She watched his long fingers rub along the steering wheel while he took a nervous breath.

"I just- I wanted to ask if you'd be my girlfriend?" His eyes didn't flick up to look at her until the question hung between them.

"I kinda thought I already was." She admitted, smiling admiringly at the boy in front of her.

"Oh," Stiles gaped, "Okay! Cool. Sweet."

"But, just to be very clear.. Yes, I would love to be your girlfriend, Stiles." She leaned across the car to kiss the sour sugar from his lips before slipping underneath his arm, settling into his side and picking out a candy for herself, "Did you do all of this because you were planning on asking me to be your girlfriend?" She asked, gesturing around them with her gummy worm.

"Yeah," He admitted sheepishly, reaching up to rub at the back of his neck and tightening his other arm around her shoulders, "I was supposed to get your attention with the pebbles and then ask as soon as you opened your window. And- and then I told myself I'd definitely do it by the time you were finished with your milkshake. And then I swore that I'd ask when we got to the lookout-"

"It doesn't matter how many times you didn't ask me, it just matters that you did," She told him gently, "And I said yes, and now we're boyfriend and girlfriend and we're both, y'know, aware of it."

"Yeah," He agreed, reaching into the package in her hands to pull out another couple pieces of candy for himself, "Yeah, you're absolutely right."

Amber chewed happily on a gummy worm and tipped her head back against the leather seats to stare at her boyfriend.

"Thank you." She told him after a quiet moment.

"For what?" He asked in confusion through a mouthful of candy.

"For being sweet, and adorable, and romantic, and stupidly perfect despite everything that's going on." She explained.

He blinked and shrugged in an attempt to hide the blush that colored his cheeks in response to her words.

"Anytime, babe." He choked out after a moment as he swallowed the candy in his mouth, a pleased smile pulling at his lips.

The next morning, Amber skipped up to Lydia's locker with a wide grin, feeling on top of the world. She leaned against the locker beside her friend and gave the strawberry blonde a dopey smile as she watched Lydia pull books from her bag and tuck them away.

Lydia's eyes shifted to Amber and she merely blinked at her once in silent irritation before looking back into her locker.

"I have so much to tell you-" Amber said in a daze, pulling at her backpack straps and dropping her head against the locker she was bracing herself on.

"Do you?" Lydia questioned indifferently, "That sounds like something friends do. I wasn't sure if we still were friends considering you haven't texted me back in two days-"

"Oh. Yeah, I think I dropped my phone at the lacrosse game and I haven't been able to find it." Amber explained apologetically, "I'm gonna ask Coach if he's seen it later on, but that is so not what I wanna talk to you about right now."

Lydia seemed to accept her excuse and finally turned to give her friend her full attention, "Fine, what's up?"

She sighed gratefully, "So, Stiles picked me up last night, right? Totally out of the blue. And he was being so romantic and sweet.. We drove out to the lookout and-"

Lydia's locker slammed shut and Amber flinched in surprise.

"Are you telling me that you punched your v-card last night?" Lydia asked in excitement.

"No!" She denied immediately, "No.. I mean, I thought maybe we might but he said we didn't have to and, honestly, I was kinda relieved because I'm not sure if I'm ready t-"

"Well if you didn't have mind-blowing car sex then why on earth do you have that stupidly sexed-up look on your face?" Lydia questioned, smacking her fingertips against Amber's forehead playfully to emphasize her words.

"Oral." Amber said simply as a dopey smile pulled at her lips again.

"Giving or receiving?" Lydia followed up quickly.

"Both," Amber sighed happily, "And it was.. So good. Like, so good. I swear to god his mouth is-"

"Did you ask him to do it?" Lydia questioned curiously.

She shook her head, "No, he offered."

"Huh," Lydia's eyebrows raised as if she were slightly impressed before shaking her head, "How was his you-know-what? Was it average? Small? Uncut?" She asked the last one with a wince and Amber laughed.

"Nope."

"No to what?" Lydia frowned.

"No to all of them." Amber grinned when Lydia's face morphed into surprise, "Seriously. I- I never thought I would think a dick is pretty, but good god, Lyds-"

"It wasn't small or average?" Lydia asked in confusion.

"I know I'm not exactly an expert on the matter but.. No."

Lydia shook her head in disbelief, "So, Stilinski is packing.. And he goes down willingly? Who would've thought."

The first bell signaling only five minutes until classes started rang out in the hall with a loud trill as Amber nodded at her friend.

"He's perfect." She sighed contentedly.

Lydia rolled her eyes and patted the brunette on her shoulder as she moved past her, "Congrats, hon."

The redhead left to get to first period and Amber pushed off of the lockers to make her way to her own class.

As she walked into the English classroom, she slid into her usual empty desk. She pulled her class-issued paperback and her notebook out of her bag and dug around in search of a writing utensil. Finally managing to locate one at the bottom of her bag, Amber pulled it out in a quick movement and it slipped from her fingers to roll down the row between desks before stopping just beyond the desk in front of her.

The boot-clad foot of the boy sitting ahead of her in the next row kicked out and rolled the pencil closer before he bent over to pick it up and turned around in his seat.

"Isaac!" Amber exclaimed in surprise, looking around the classroom in slow confusion, "Wait, you- You're back in school? And, like, no longer in hiding?"

Isaac handed over her pencil, "Jackson decided to recant his statement to the police."

"Did he now?" Amber asked curiously, "That seems uncharacteristically helpful of him. How come?"

Isaac shrugged noncommittally in response.

"Okay, well, cool." Amber told him, "Congrats, I guess. Welcome back to the joys of high school."

"Thanks." Isaac smirked before turning back around in his seat.

It was only another minute before Scott dropped into the seat across the aisle from her. The boy sat down, pulling out his books and spreading them across his desktop before looking up. His gaze focused on Amber for only a second before his attention seemed to snap over to where Isaac was sitting in front of him, his eyes widening in disbelief.

"What's he doing here?" Scott hissed at her across the aisle, his voice loud enough that it was borderline amusing, a harsh whisper that Isaac had to have been able to hear clearly from just a foot away.

She sat up in her seat, eager to fill her friend in, "Oh! So apparently-"

Stiles suddenly stumbled into the English classroom in a mess of flailing limbs. He dropped into the empty seat behind Amber and she peeked back at him with a frown, regarding her boyfriend's haste with curiosity.

"I just talked to my dad, who just talked to Jackson, and I've got really terrible, horrible, very, very bad news-" Stiles whispered frantically.

"I think we already know." Scott mumbled in response, nodding toward the seat in front of him.

The girl's brows furrowed as she too looked at the side of Isaac's head, unable to piece together whatever problem the other two were seeing with the innocent werewolf being back at school. She turned toward her friends again as Stiles leaned back into his seat with a nervous look.

"What-" She started, only to be cut off by Mr. Anderson's booming voice from the front of the room as he began his lecture, "Nevermind."

As soon as class was dismissed by the bell, Amber shot up from her seat to approach Scott and Stiles as the three of them rushed from the classroom and spilled out into the hallway.

Stiles adjusted his backpack strap on his shoulder and took Amber's own bag from her hands before she could pull it on herself. He tugged the strap over that of his own bookbag on his shoulder and dropped his free arm to curl around the back of her neck.

Her mouth dropped open to comment on his endearing display of chivalry but he spoke before she got the chance, his own gaze locked on Scott.

"Alright," Stiles started slowly, "So I only found one thing online called a Kanima. It's a werejaguar from South America that goes after murderers."

"That thing running around is not a jaguar." Amber stated obviously, slipping her hand around Stiles' waist as they walked.

"Yeah, obviously. And you and I aren't exactly murderers." Stiles emphasized.

Scott frowned in thought, "Yeah, but you guys did see it kill somebody.. Which is probably why it tried to kill you," He added quickly before continuing, "And it's still trying to kill you.. And it probably won't stop until you're both dead-"

Stiles pulled Amber to a stop and they both glared at the back of Scott's head. Scott continued a few steps down the hallway distractedly before he noticed their absence beside him. He turned around to face them and Stiles' glare only intensified.

Stiles dropped his arm from her shoulder with a huff to gesture with his hands wildly as he spoke, "Y'know, sometimes I really begin to question our 'friendship'."

"Come on," Amber shook her head and moved behind Stiles to grab his hips, urging him forward with her own body glued to his back. She pushed until they'd caught up to Scott again and then released her boyfriend to pinch the soft flesh of Scott's hip between her fingers as she stepped beside him, "You need to work on that brain-to-mouth filter of yours."

Scott frowned and reached up to rub at his side, "Ow."

"Oh, did that hurt the big bad werewolf?" Stiles scoffed, "You poor thing."

They moved through the hallways and headed to Economics where Amber threw her things down into the empty desk behind Stiles as Scott dropped into the chair beside him.

The girl pulled out her notes and a pencil, beginning to flip through her textbook to get ready for the start of class. Her left arm draped across her desk so that her fingertips could toy idly with the collar at the back of Stiles' shirt as she skimmed over the section she'd read the previous evening. There was a loud slam as Jackson dropped down into the desk beside her, smacking his books onto the tabletop and forcing her gaze to cut over to him in surprise.

"Hey. Taint and testicles left and right." Jackson hissed quietly, looking between the three of them. Stiles and Scott both snapped their heads up but refused to turn around and Amber rolled her eyes at the boy beside her just before he spoke again, "What the hell is a kanima?"

Amber's eyes widened in surprise and her friends both turned around in their seats in a flash. Before any of them could speak, Coach Finstock slapped a folder down onto the mess on his desk with a loud smack to garner everybody's attention.

"Alright everyone! Listen up. A quick warning before we begin our review," The teacher said loudly, "Some of you, like McCall, might want to start their own study groups.. Because tomorrow's mid-term is so profoundly difficult.. I-I'm not even sure I could pass it."

Amber let out a breath of despair in time with her classmate's groans and wordlessly held her notebook out across the aisle. Scott reached out automatically to accept it and flipped it open it over the top of his textbook so that he could copy some of her notes down for himself.

"Okay! I need a volunteer to come up to the board and answer the first question!" Coach demanded, grabbing a piece of chalk and looking out at the class expectantly. "Who's got it? Huh?"

Finstock called on a boy from the opposite side of the room and Jackson pitched forward in his seat again at the moment of distraction, "I just heard Derek's little pets talking in the hallway. Something about a kanima and Lydia and-"

"What exactly were they saying?" Amber was quick to ask.

"Look. Could someone just tell me why the hell Derek and his band of freaks kidnapped and tested me last night? Why they thought I was this thing called a kanima? Huh?" Jackson demanded as he looked between the three of them.

"What? Why would he think it's you?" She asked in confusion.

"He spouted some crap about a snake not being poisoned by its own venom and forced this absolutely vile slime into my mouth and I was paralyzed." Jackson recounted in a hiss, "Paralyzed. From the neck down. Do you have any idea what that feels like?" He snapped rhetorically.

"Uh, yeah, kinda." She muttered bitterly, tapping her pencil eraser against the top of her desk restlessly.

Stiles turned in his seat and instinctively wrapped his hand around Amber's fidgeting one as he glared at Jackson, "We're familiar with the sensation."

"Wait, back up-" Scott turned in confusion, "Seriously, why would Derek test you? Why would he think that it's you?"

"How should I know?" Jackson shot back.

"Wait, wait, wait," Amber whispered frantically, leaning out further into the aisle to hiss another question at Jackson, "Do they think it's Lydia?"

He shrugged with indifference, "I don't know. All I heard was her name and something about Chemistry-"

"Jackson! Callisto!" Coach yelled suddenly. All four teens flinched and Stiles and Scott spin back around in their seats again to face the front of the room as their teacher continued, "Do either of you have something you want to share with the rest of the class?"

"Um.." Jackson said slowly, drawing out the word as his eyes met Amber's across the aisle.

"We were just.. Discussing our, um, undying admiration for our favorite teacher and coach.." She said slowly, heart still pounding with adrenaline at being called out.

"That's really kind of you," Coach smiled, insincerity bleeding out from beneath his expression as he looked between them, "Now shut up! Shut it!" He yelled before turning back to the rest of the class in search of another volunteer to answer a review question up at the board.

The moment their teacher turned around, Scott reached over to grab ahold of Stiles' sweatshirt and Amber's wrist, yanking them both toward him with a little too much force. Amber's ribs smacked down against her desk painfully as she pitched forward while Stiles nearly fell out of his seat and into the aisle.

"How do we know it's not Lydia?" Scott whispered quietly, oblivious to the matching winces from his best friends in response to his display of strength.

"Because. We've looked into the eyes of that thing, okay? And what we saw was pure evil." Stiles explained, turning to look at Amber's frowning face for a second before continuing, "And, y'know, when I look into Lydia's eyes, I only see like 50% evil."

Amber slapped him on the back of his head aggressively and he flinched, turning to shoot her an irritated look before returning his attention to Scott.

"Honestly, maybe 60%," He amended in retaliation, easily catching Amber's wrist when she reached out to smack him again. Stiles sighed and refused to release her arm as he continued, "But, y'know, no more than 40 on a good day." He added reassuringly in a weak attempt to appease the girl behind him.

"Stiles!" Amber hissed, entirely unpacified as she kicked a foot out to thump against the bottom of his chair.

"Yeah.. Dude, that's not a very good argument." Scott pointed out quietly.

"I swear it's not her," Amber cut in, "It- It can't be, alright? Lydia's.. Lydia's fine." She said weakly, her mind spiraling with the long list of issues regarding her friend's current mental state.

The words hung in the air for not twenty seconds before the redhead in question let out a soft cry from the front of the room where she had been answering a question on the blackboard. Amber looked up to find Lydia no longer facing the board, though she still held chalk in a tight grasp between her fingers as tears ran down her face.

Amber's heart dropped. "Lyds?" She called out softly, dropping her pencil down on her desk.

"Lydia?" Coach Finstock questioned in confusion as he moved toward the board, "Lydia?" He said again — louder this time.

Lydia merely whimpered, eyes still pinched shut. Another stream of tears trailed down her cheeks, pulling mascara from her lashes as they fell and leaving tiny black smudges along her face in their wake.

Amber pushed out of her seat and Stiles finally dropped his hold on her wrist as she hurried down the row toward the front of the room.

"Lydia?" She stepped in front of her friend to block her off from as many of their classmates' curious stares as she could before calling out again more firmly, "Lydia!"

Lydia's eyes snapped open and they cut sharply around her in surprise and confusion.

"Okay, then.." Coach said loudly, turning back toward the class, "Anyone else want to try answering? This time in English?" He joked.

Lydia spun around in a flash and she and Amber both blinked in confusion at what the redhead had written on the board in her daze. It was English. But the letters had all been written backwards, the words mirrored and jumbled together curiously.

SOMEONEHELPME

Amber was spiraling.

Her heart had felt on the verge of beating out of her chest for the last hour and a half and she was beginning to genuinely worry about what kind of an effect the stress might have on her body long term.

"God, what if it is Lydia?" She whined, "It's not, right? I- I don't- And Derek won't actually kill her, will he? He wouldn't, right? I mean, he couldn't have meant that-"

Stiles had his fingers locked tightly with hers and Scott dropped a hand over the back of her neck to give her a reassuring squeeze as they stepped into the classroom for their weekly Chemistry Lab.

"Derek's not gonna kill her without proof." Scott attempted to reassure her.

"Alright. So, then, he tests her like he did with Jackson, right?" Stiles reasoned.

"But where?" Amber questioned, "When?"

Scott sighed as he looked around the classroom in search of empty seats, his eyes widening as Erica and Isaac stepped through the door at the opposite end of the room.

"I think here and now." He realized suddenly.

Their gazes all flicked over to the empty lab chair beside Lydia in a panic.

Isaac and Erica began to determinedly make their way down the row between tables and the three friends jumped into action. Amber sprinted to claim the seat beside Lydia, Scott sat at the table just behind them, and Stiles simply pulled an extra chair from the side of the room to settle in at the corner on Lydia's other side, even though the table was only meant to seat two.

Amber sighed in relief and gave Lydia a weak smile when the other girl looked between her and Stiles in confusion. Stiles grinned awkwardly at the redhead in greeting and she returned her gaze to Amber with a slow blink to convey her annoyance.

As the room filled, Mr. Harris stood from his desk to address the class, "Einstein once said, 'Two things are infinite: The universe and human stupidity.'" He recited, "And I'm not sure about the universe, but I, myself have encountered.. Infinite stupidity."

As if emphasizing his words, the teacher dropped a hand heavily onto Stiles' shoulder as he stepped up to their table. Mr. Harris thumped his hand against the boy's back with enough force that Stiles' body rocked forward with each pat as his face pinched in irritation.

"So," Mr. Harris continued, "To combat the plague of ignorance in my class, you're going to combine efforts through a round of group experiments. Let's see if two heads are indeed better than one." His gaze dropped to Stiles again with a frown of distaste and Amber's jaw clenched in anticipation, "Or in Mr. Stilinski's case, less than one."

Amber huffed in annoyance. When she caught Stiles' eye, she quickly pulled her face into what she hoped was a bright smile while he grimaced at their teacher singling him out yet again.

"Erica," Mr. Harris called, "You'll take the first station with-"

Hands around the classroom shot up eagerly, mostly boys but a couple of girls as well, all hoping to be partnered with the blonde.

"I didn't ask for volunteers. Put your hormonal little hands down." Mr. Harris snapped, shifting his eyes over the room, "Erica, you'll start with McCall."

He paired off the rest of the class for the start of the experiment. Half of the class would move stations and switch partners between reactions, starting the first half of the experiment before finishing the second half of someone else's.

Amber found herself partnered with Isaac for the first round, able to work with Stiles for the final half. She'd normally be relieved, were it not for the fact that when Isaac left her, he was set join Lydia, of all people.

Isaac dropped into the seat beside Amber with a wink, shooting Stiles a smug grin when he noticed the boy hesitating before leaving his girlfriend's station.

"Stiles, it's fine." Amber reassured him softly.

His face pinched in frustration but he gathered his backpack into his arms, intentionally bumping Isaac's shoulder as he passed by with a parting glare.

"A little clingy, isn't he?" Isaac observed, unscrewing the cap from the solution they needed to start measuring to begin the experiment.

"You think so?" Amber questioned, "I think his protectiveness is pretty justified, all things considered." She narrowed her eyes at her current lab partner in consideration for a moment, "Didn't you used to be nice? What happened to that guy?"

She used a small scoop to measure out the sucrose they would eventually need to add the liquid currently coming to a boil over their flame.

"That guy was a loser." Isaac muttered, voice so quiet that Amber almost didn't catch it.

"Says who?" She countered, continuing to scoop the granules from one container to the other.

"Lydia said so," Isaac shrugged, watching her work, "What, you don't remember? You were right there. Always a loyal friend, even when it's to a cold-hearted bitch."

"Hey!" She snapped sharply, spilling some of her next scoop over the tabletop.

"It was the first day of Freshman year," He continued at if she hadn't spoken, "I asked her out."

"I definitely don't remember this." She told him.

"She laughed at me," Isaac recounted, "Said she didn't date losers and I should come back when the bike I rode to school had an engine, not a chain."

"Okay, so that wasn't very nice of her," She agreed, "But that doesn't make her a bad person, alright? I mean, you're still upset about this? It was like a year and a half ago, Lahey. We've all changed and grown-"

"Some of us more than others." He interrupted with a smug grin, cutting the flame so that she could start pouring the sucrose into the beaker.

"If you're really so heartbroken and you want to do something about it, take a creative writing class or something. Channel all that anger and negative energy into something that might actually be useful." Amber muttered.

She poured out the granules slowly and watched them dissolve as Isaac swirled the liquid around with a stirrer.

"Nah," He shot down the idea casually, "I'm not very good at writing. I was thinking I'd just channel it into killing her-"

His words caused her to flinch, the glass container she was pouring the sucrose from slipping from her hand and shattering against the tabletop with a loud crash as Mr. Harris rang the tiny bell on his desk in signal for them to change of stations.

"Switch." The teacher called out.

Mr. Harris stood from his desk to grab a small dustpan from the side of the filing cabinet and dropped it gingerly over the pile of glass at Amber's station. She wordlessly began to sweep the mess away, watching with wide eyes as Isaac stood and began to move over to Lydia's table.

Stiles bumped his shoulder against Isaac's again and the werewolf looked down at the human in amusement as Stiles' face tightened in anger.

"Mr. Stilinski," Their teacher's voice snapped, "If you're trying to test my patience, I guarantee it'll lead to a failing grade."

Stiles made a small noise of frustration but dropped into the abandoned seat beside Amber wordlessly. He took the dustpan from her hands and dumped it into the trash before leaning close.

"What happened? You okay?" He asked quickly, "Because I swear to god if he did something, I'll turn his little werewolf ass into a fur coat and I'll give it to you for your birthday."

She raised her eyebrows, "My birthday is in August."

"You can wear it in the fall." Stiles countered quickly, "I'm serious. Are you okay?"

"Yeah, just-" She nodded her head to where Isaac was working with Lydia and Stiles followed her gaze with a frown.

The pair distractedly finished the second half of the experiment, fumbling to mix things together while attempting to keep an eye on the station beside them where Isaac seemed to be working dutifully with Lydia.

Mr. Harris finally rang the tiny bell at the front of the room again and everyone looked up in response to the sudden sound.

"Time," The teacher announced, "If you've catalyzed the reaction correctly, you should be looking at a crystal."

Stiles and Amber both let their gaze drop to the yellow mush at the bottom of their beaker with a wince.

"Now for the part of the experiment you'll enjoy," Mr. Harris told the class, "You can eat it."

Stiles held the beaker out toward Amber as if daring her to try their failed concoction of ingredients and she pulled a face of disgust as she pushed his hand away with a gag. When her eyes drifted to the front of the room, Mr. Harris had his eyebrows raised judgmentally, his gaze locked on the beaker that Stiles was setting down on the tabletop.

"Lydia!" Scott shouted in sudden alarm, gaining everyone's attention.

Amber flinched and sat up in her seat, looking over at Lydia worriedly, but the other girl seemed to be fine. Lydia was giving Scott a look of annoyed confusion, a perfectly concocted crystal held between her parted lips.

"What?" Lydia asked in irritation.

"Nothing." Scott slowly righted his chair from where he'd kicked it out in his haste a moment before.

Amber looked over at her best friend in confusion and he tilted his head in Lydia's direction pointedly, mouth silently moving as he tried to tell her what was going on, 'Kanima.'

Her eyes snapped back to Lydia and Amber only now spotted the familiar shiny substance coating the crystal in the girl's mouth. Lydia's tongue caught on the kanima venom as she moved to take another bite from her experiment and all of the supernaturally aware teens in the room watched on in alarm.

Lydia's teeth crunched down on the crystal and Amber found herself flinching in response to the quiet sound, heart pounding in her chest. A few slow seconds passed but nothing happened to the redhead.

It seemed the venom didn't affect her.

"Derek's waiting outside for Lydia." Scott told Allison, Amber, and Stiles as they hid away in Coach Finstock's office around lunchtime.

"Waiting to kill her?" Allison questioned.

The knots in Amber's stomach tied themselves that much tighter and she looked to Scott with wide eyes.

"If he thinks she's the Kanima, then yes." He told them, "Especially after what happened at the pool."

"But it's not her. I mean, it- it can't be!" Amber told them resolutely.

"She didn't pass the test, Amber. Nothing happened." Scott reminded her.

"But she left!" She assured them, "That night at the pool, she left before I even went inside and she wouldn't have come back-"

"You can't really know that for sure, though. Can you?" Stiles asked gently.

"It doesn't matter," Allison interrupted slowly, leaning back to sit over the edge of Coach's desk, "Because Derek thinks it's her. So.. Either we convince him that he's wrong, or we've got to figure out a way to protect her."

Amber found herself nodding wildly in agreement.

"Well I don't think he's gonna do anything here," Scott said quickly, "Not at school."

"Okay, but what about after school?" Amber questioned worriedly.

Allison threw her head back in distress before looking back at them slowly, "What if we can prove that Derek's wrong?"

"By three o'clock?" Stiles questioned incredulously.

"Th- There could be something in the bestiary-" Allison started.

"The nine hundred page digital book that's apparently written in Archaic Latin?" Amber clarified in barely concealed irritation, "The one that none of us can read? That bestiary?"

"Yeah, good luck with that." Stiles added with a shake of his head.

Allison didn't seem to be affected by their negativity, her gaze drawn to Scott as she seemed to get an idea, "Actually, I think I know someone who might be able to translate it."

Amber let out a breath, "Okay.. So Allison gets the translation and uh, I can.. I'll go out and talk to Derek. Maybe if I-"

"No." Scott disagreed quickly. Amber's eyebrows pulled together at his immediate dismissal but he shook his head at her firmly, "No, you stay away from him for now, alright? I mean it-" Amber frowned and Scott gave her a serious look, "I'll talk to Derek. See if I can get him to give us a chance to prove that it's not her. But you guys.. Look, if anything happens, you guys let me handle it, okay?"

"What does that even mean?" Amber stepped closer to Scott in confusion.

"It means that you guys can't heal like I do." He said, eyes drifting over all three of them slowly, "I just- I don't want you getting hurt." His gaze paused on Allison at the tail end of his statement, a worried look on his face.

Allison pushed off from the desk quickly, turning to rifle through her shoulder bag for a moment and Amber lifted up onto her tiptoes to see what the other girl was doing with interest. When Allison turned to face them again, she was holding a tiny, handheld crossbow, arrow already sheathed and ready to be fired.

"I can protect myself." Allison told Scott with narrowed eyes.

"Is that, like, a pocket-sized crossbow?" Amber asked curiously, catching sight of Stiles as he also eyed the device with clear interest.

"Wh- Did something else happen?" Allison asked Scott softly after a moment passed without response, setting her weapon on top of Coach's desk to take a step closer to where he and Amber were standing.

Amber's mind flashed briefly to the image of Scott standing in her bedroom late on Tuesday night. She recalled the small tear at the bottom of his shirt that had been overtaken with a dark bloodstain. When she'd frantically lifted his shirt, it was to find the skin of his abdomen unmarred and already healed. He'd told her how Allison's grandfather had thrust a knife into his gut when he'd gone to pick his mom up from work, the threatening words the old man had spit at him as he twisted the blade to drive his point home.

Amber remembered the way Scott had pleaded with her not to tell Allison what had transpired. How he'd encouraged his friend to be more careful around their new principal, confiding in her the worries he had that even Allison wasn't entirely safe from him.

Looking at Scott now, Amber could make out the terror behind his eyes, the deep-rooted worry he was carrying that something awful might happen and he'd be unable to protect them.

"I just don't want you getting hurt." Scott repeated, his eyes bouncing back and forth between the two girls in front of him, "Seriously, if anything goes wrong, you let me handle it. Okay?" He looked to Allison, his expression pleading, "I- I don't care if your dad finds out. Call, text, scream, yell, whatever. I'll hear you and I'll find you as fast as I can."

Amber swallowed nervously at the sobering weight of his words, watching as Allison nodded at him in silent agreement.

Scott sighed, "We have until three."

He looked between Amber and Allison again with a small nod of his own before turning toward the door of the office and making to leave. Amber followed close behind but only narrowly avoided running into his back when he stopped suddenly and spun around to face her. Scott's hand shot out behind her and she turned around beneath his arm in surprise and confusion. Her eyes widened at the sight of the arrow clutched in his hand, the object snatched just an inch beyond where the back of her head had been only a moment before.

"Ah, Sorry! Sorry-" Stiles rushed out with wide eyes, giving the crossbow in his hands back to Allison quickly, "It's a sensitive trigger on that-" He told them awkwardly.

Amber's heart was thumping loudly in her chest, eyes bouncing between the arrow in Scott's hand and her boyfriend across the room, "Wh- Why were you aiming it at me at all?" She squeaked.

"I wasn't! I wasn't aiming it at you!" Stiles defended. Everyone blinked at him in disbelief and he clarified immediately, "I mean, I was just holding it! And it happened to be pointed.. In- in your general direction.."

"Stiles. You almost shot her, dude." Scott scolded, handing the arrow back to Allison as well.

"I- I am aware of that. Thank you, Scott." Stiles snapped.

Amber huffed quietly, heart stammering beneath the ebbing adrenaline in her veins, "Look, I-I really need to go and talk to Danny before free period ends."

"Wh- Babe, just hold up-" Stiles called out, stepping toward her.

"I'll see you guys later." She told the group quickly before slipping out the door.

"Amber. Hey, c'mon, wait a sec-!"

She didn't wait, already hurrying down the hallway in the hopes of catching Danny working in the library the way he so often did during the free period. When she stepped through the doors, the boy in question was sitting at a table with Jackson and Matt Daehler, the latter standing at the back of Danny's seat as they conversed.

"-hey. We could've done it together." Matt laughed, nudging Danny playfully.

"Hey, sorry to interrupt." Amber cut in, moving to stand at Danny's other side.

"Then why are you?" Jackson asked in clear annoyance.

Danny punched him in the arm, turning toward the girl with a grin, "Not interrupting, what's up?"

"I, uh- I talked to Coach and he said you helped with cleanup after the game on Tuesday?" She started, continuing at Danny's nod, "Okay, good. So, I lost my phone and I was hoping-"

"Oh, hey!" Matt cut in, moving around the table to stand beside her and pulling his bag off of his shoulder to dig through its contents, "Is this yours?" He asked, pulling his arm from the depths of the bag with her cell phone in hand.

"Oh my god!" She squealed excitedly, "Yes!"

She took the phone from his hand quickly and wrapped him into a quick hug in thanks.

"I found it under the bleachers at the end of the game," Matt explained, "But by the time I thought to check it to see whose it was, the thing was dead. And my charger doesn't fit it."

"No, no, don't worry about it-" She told him in a rush, brushing her fingers over the device gratefully, "I'm just glad it's not gone forever. I have so many pictures on here that I haven't gotten around to backing up on my computer-"

"That's a pretty bad habit." Matt grinned playfully.

"God, I know." She agreed, "And one I will never do again. I am.. So relieved, right now. Seriously, thank you so much for finding it."

"No problem," He shrugged, zipping his bag back up, "Sorry I didn't get it back to you sooner."

The bell rang out signaling the end of the period and the group collectively sighed at the knowledge that they needed to get to their next class. They all split off and as Amber walked down the hall, she fingered at the power button on her phone thoughtlessly.

The screen lit up suddenly and her steps faltered in surprise, eyes narrowing as she watched her phone power back up slowly.

Her eyes focussed on the wallpaper displayed on the device as it booted up, gaze scanning the cropped image she'd snapped of one of the photostrips she and Stiles had posed for on their date at the ice rink. The top picture displayed Stiles looking down at her in feigned surprise, their fingers laced together in front of the camera as Amber bit down playfully on his wrist. She was slightly blurry in the bottom picture, head thrown back against Stiles shoulder in hysterics from the tickling of his fingers in her sides while he laughed with a big smile directed straight at the camera. The pictures had a warmth blossoming in her chest despite the stresses that had unfolded throughout the day.

The device finally booted up enough for her to unlock it and her eyes went to the display of the battery life in the corner of the screen. She squinted at it and her eyebrows furrowed further in confusion. It was still at 62%.

"Huh."

Amber's leg was bouncing anxiously and she knew it was starting to irk the girl beside her but she couldn't stop the frantic movement.

"Why exactly can't we start studying yet?" Lydia asked, using all of her willpower to not snap at her friend when Amber began to drum her hand against the tabletop as well.

"We have to wait for everybody else." She explained, eyes still glued to the library doors.

Lydia sighed quietly, "Who exactly are we waiting on?"

Amber's eyes cut over to the redhead for a second before fixing themselves on the doors again, "What d'you, uh.. Y'know, everybody. Allison, Stiles, um-"

The library doors burst open and Amber jumped so hard she nearly fell from her seat as Stiles approached their table with fast steps.

"C'mon, time to go." He urged quickly, pulling his girlfriend up with a hand in hers and ushering both girls toward the side doors.

"Where are we going?" Lydia asked in confusion.

"Study group," Amber supplied brightly, pulling her hand from her boyfriend's to urge Lydia to move faster as they headed into the hallway, "At Scott's house."

Lydia looked the couple beside her over in confusion as they walked abnormally quick steps, "If we're doing study group, why didn't we just stay in the library?" She questioned obviously.

"Because we're meeting up with somebody else." Stiles explained, frowning at Amber as she stepped to Lydia's other side and away from him.

"Hm," Lydia hummed, "Well, why don't they just meet us in the library?"

"Oh, that would've been a great idea!" Stiles acknowledged, "Too late."

Lydia paused, slowing her steps, "Okay, wait-"

Jackson suddenly pushed between Amber and Lydia to pull the redhead forward with a firm hand wrapped around her bicep.

"Lydia, shut up and walk." He snapped quietly, pleasant as ever. His fingers were pried from their place around Lydia's arm as quickly as they'd appeared, Amber squeezing his hand in a shockingly tight grip as they continued to walk.

"Jackson, if you want to keep your hand, then I suggest you don't grab her like that again." She whispered darkly.

Jackson rolled his eyes in response to the threat and ripped his hand away, making a show of gently dropping it onto Lydia's shoulder as he continued to urge her forward.

Stiles stepped up behind Amber and put his own hand on his girlfriend's back, face pressed close to hers as he spoke quietly into her ear, "Hey, so I wanted to tell you again how sorry I am for-"

"Stiles, now's really not the time." She told him in an equally hushed voice.

"I know it's not the best time but-"

"Stiles," She whispered sharply, shooting Lydia a smile when the other girl flicked her gaze over curiously as they rounded a corner, "I know it was an accident, okay? It's fine. It just- It scared me, is all."

"Scared the crap outta me too, if it's any consolation." Stiles muttered under his breath.

She reached to take his opposite hand into hers and gave it a quick squeeze, "It's okay. I'm fine. No harm done, right? I forgive you." She promised in a soft whisper.

They pushed through the main doors of the building and quickly made their way down into the parking lot toward Stiles' Jeep. Lydia's steps faltered when she spotted Allison leaning against the blue vehicle in wait and Amber bumped into her back before pushing her to keep moving.

"Wait, wait- We're riding in that?" Lydia asked with a frown, voice high.

It took a moment longer than it should have for Amber to realize that Lydia's thoughts were focused on what she'd divulged that morning detailing the events that had taken place in the Jeep the night before.

"Yes, Lydia. We're riding in that." She said in exasperation, "It has the most room."

Stiles caught sight of Lydia's pinched face as they stepped up to the vehicle and he blinked in confusion, "The Jeep comfortably rides six, I.. Why're we dissing the Jeep? What's wrong with the Jeep?" His attention focused solely on his girlfriend as he asked the last question.

She pulled open the passenger door and threw the seats forward so that Jackson and Lydia could climb into the back.

"Nothing is wrong with the Jeep. Absolutely nothing. Right, Lydia?" Amber asked pointedly.

"It's fine," Lydia agreed begrudgingly, still pouting as she began climbing into the vehicle, "Even though there is no way this thing has had enough time to properly air out-" She muttered to herself as she crawled into the back seat.

The tires of the Jeep practically squealed when Stiles slammed on the breaks outside of the McCall house. As soon as Allison and Amber were out of the vehicle at the passenger side, the latter threw the back of the seats down again to let Jackson and Lydia climb out onto the sidewalk.

When Lydia moved to close the passenger side door, Amber automatically took over to slam the door firmly, habitually holding it steady with her hand pressed firmly against the left corner for half a second in a practiced move to ensure that the heavy door latched and remained shut.

"If we're studying at Scott's house, then where's Scott?" Lydia asked determinedly, giving Amber a sharp look to convey that she knew something was up.

"Meeting us here," Stiles interjected quickly as he rounded the vehicle, "I think. I hope.."

"He'll be here." Amber assured Lydia before turning to give Stiles a disbelieving look at his lack of composure.

When they stepped inside the house, Stiles didn't waste a second before he was throwing the front door closed and working at the many locks and latches up and down the wooden doorframe. The metal clang of the deadbolt and the tinkling of the door chain as he slid it into the track rang out loudly in the otherwise quiet house.

Lydia was distrustfully eyeing the way Stiles secured the door, but she wasn't the only one focussed on his movements, the whole group watching in disbelief as he frantically locked them inside the house. When he finally spun around to face them, he faltered at the amount of attention focussed on him.

"Uh.. There's been a few break-ins in the area." Stiles supplied after a moment.

His eyes drifted to something behind Amber and he moved around her in a flash to grab the wooden entryway chair and prop the tall back of it firmly beneath the doorknob as an extra precaution.

"And a, um.. A murder." Amber added when Lydia's eyes moved to her in a silent question.

Jackson huffed a quiet snort of annoyance and Allison looked as if she were desperately trying not to laugh, but neither one of them interjected to add anything helpful.

"Yeah, it was bad." Stiles agreed immediately, the backs of his fingers brushing against Amber's with how close he was now standing beside her.

She slipped her palm into his and gave his slightly clammy hand a supportive squeeze while Allison nodded her head at Jackson in a gesture for him to do something.

Jackson sighed, "Lydia, follow me. I need to talk to you for a minute."

Lydia huffed in annoyance but moved to follow him when he turned, "Seriously?" She muttered under her breath, "What is going on with everyone?"

Amber watched them go with a frown, making sure to shoot Jackson a sharp glare in warning that he merely rolled his eyes at as they moved to climb the staircase toward the upstairs bedrooms.

In their absence, Amber turned to drop her forehead against her boyfriend's shoulder with a shaky sigh. She felt his free hand come up to tangle softly into her hair and her heart continued to pound with anxiety despite the soothing scrape of his fingers against her scalp.

"I had Mrs. Morrell look at some pages from the bestiary." Allison told them after a moment.

Amber lifted her head, "Our French teacher slash guidance counselor knows Archaic Latin?" She asked in disbelief.

"Well, not exactly," Allison admitted, "But she knows a lot of languages and Latin is one of them."

"Latin isn't Archaic Latin." Amber pointed out.

"I know," Allison agreed, "But she did manage to translate one thing.. 'The kanima seeks a friend'."

"Seeks a friend?" Stiles repeated incredulously, "It killed two people. Amber and I were there for one of 'em.. It didn't exactly look like it was on a quest for friendship."

"How does this help Lydia?" Amber asked Allison quickly.

The other girl shook her head, "I don't know."

After a drawn out stretch of silence, Amber spoke again in a weak voice, "How long d'you guys think we have before Derek to figures out where we took her?"

"Not long." Allison responded quietly, "How are we supposed to protect her from a whole pack of werewolves without getting killed ourselves?" She asked, finally admitting her concern to the fellow humans.

"I'm not sure about Erica, Isaac, or Boyd.. But I know Derek wouldn't hurt me. I-I'm not afraid of him." Amber told them, turning around again but keeping herself firmly pressed against the warmth of Stiles' body with their fingers tangled together, "He doesn't want to hurt any of us.. But he's scared of Lydia-"

"Scared?" Stiles scoffed, "You think Derek Hale is scared?"

"Yes," Amber frowned, "He is. All he wants is to protect the people he cares about and- And I know he doesn't go about it in the best way but-"

"You can say that again." Stiles muttered.

Amber tightened her hand around his and continued, "He's afraid that the kanima is gonna kill someone he cares about. He's lost so much already, you guys. He's lost everyone." Her voice cracked with emotion and Allison blinked at her in surprise.

"He wants to kill Lydia," Allison reminded her firmly, "Amber.. You can't be on both sides when one is trying to kill the other."

"I'm not on both sides," She disagreed quickly, "I'm just saying I don't think that the three of us are in serious danger from Derek specifically, okay? It's the others we need to be worried about.. I'm not convinced that they have control yet over their emotions or their new wolfy instincts."

"Well, then, I think we might need to start worrying," Stiles announced from where he was peeking out of the curtain covering the window beside the front door, "Because they're here."

Amber cursed quietly as she leaned close to peer out of the window, finding the pack of werewolves crowded onto the sidewalk.

"One of you give me your phone so I can call Scott." Allison demanded quickly.

Amber pulled her phone out of her pocket and handed it over easily, her eyes flicking back and forth between Derek and where Allison was bringing the phone up to her ear as it rang out.

"It's me." She said into the phone as soon as Scott picked up, "You need to get here. Right now." She told him quickly before ending the call.

Erica grinned as her eyes bounced between her packmates and where Amber and Stiles still were peeking out underneath the curtain.

"Oh, jeez." Stiles muttered quietly when Erica raised her eyebrows at them smugly, a silent but somehow obvious threat lurking in the purse of her lips.

Amber took a shaky breath and squeezed her boyfriend's hand once again before letting her gaze drift over to Allison. The other girl was fiddling with the phone in her hands, but it was no longer the touchscreen of Amber's phone that she was tapping her fingertips against.

"What are you doing?" Amber asked as Allison flicked through her own cell phone.

"I think.." Allison sighed anxiously and wiped at her sniffling nose with her shirtsleeve, "I think I have to call my dad."

Stiles turned toward her immediately, "But if he finds you here, you and Scott-"

"I know." Allison said quietly. She licked her lips and looked between them and the windows in distress, "But what are we supposed to do? They're not here to scare us, okay? They're here to kill Lydia."

"Your dad wanted to kill Lydia too." Amber was quick to remind her.

"Not anymore," Allison defended, "He- I think he'd help-"

"Are you sure about that?" Stiles questioned.

Allison frowned, seeming to seriously mull over the question.

"Jesus. If you honestly have to think about it, then you are not calling him." Amber told her firmly.

Allison sighed but nodded with a murmured agreement before dropping down to dig through her bag. She pulled out the small crossbow that had nearly killed Amber that afternoon and held it in a tight grip.

Stiles had pulled the curtain to the side again and was peering outside once more. When he looked back at the girls beside him, his gaze fell to the weapon in Allison's hands and his eyebrows rose as he frowned in thought.

"I got an idea," He told them suddenly in a hushed whisper, "Just shoot one of 'em."

"Stiles!" Amber hissed, releasing his hand to smack his arm with a look of disbelief.

"Are you serious?" Allison whispered back.

"We told Scott we could protect ourselves, so let's do it," Stiles whispered in quiet determination, looking between them, "Or at least give it a shot, right?"

"Okay." Allison agreed quickly in a barely detectable breath.

"Look, they don't think we're gonna fight," Stiles continued quickly, "So if one of them gets hit, I guarantee they'll take off. So just shoot one of 'em."

"You guys are serious?" Amber whispered in surprise.

"Which one?" Allison asked Stiles as she squinted out the window, the hand wrapped around the crossbow raising just a hair in anticipation.

"Uh.. Derek," Stiles said quickly, "Yeah, shoot him. Preferably in the head."

Amber punched her boyfriend in the arm with as much force as she could manage and he turned to her with a wide-eyed look of surprise and betrayal that matched her own.

"First of all, we are not doing that," She hissed, "And second, if Scott can catch an arrow flying through the air, then I guarantee that Derek can too."

"Okay," Stiles conceded quickly, raising his hands in submission and turning to Allison, "Uh.. Shoot one of the other three then."

"You mean two." Allison corrected quickly as she looked outside.

"I mean three." Stiles disagreed firmly.

Amber moved to look out the window again and her eyes raked over the group outside frantically, but Allison was right. One of them was missing.

"Where the hell is Isaac?" Stiles asked nervously as he looked out over her shoulder.

There was a sudden scuffle of feet across the wooden floor and Amber spun around to find that the boy in question had ripped the small crossbow from Allison's hands and tossed her roughly onto the floor of the living room.

Isaac growled lowly as he approached, shoving Stiles to the ground with one hand and throwing Amber into the kitchen with his other. Her back smacked painfully against the kitchen island and she fell to her hands and knees with a pained groan.

As she pushed herself up and moved to stand, Allison was already stepping into the kitchen to help her to her feet, supporting Amber with a firm grip on her arms.

"Go make sure Lydia is safe," Amber ordered as she got her feet underneath herself again, "Tell her that someone broke in and she needs to hide or- Or something. Just- Protect her."

"I will." Allison promised before dashing upstairs.

The wooden block on the countertop was one knife short as Amber clutched it in her fist with trembling fingers and moved back toward the main room. Just as she stepped through the doorway, Stiles was shoved into the adjoining wall with a loud thump. Isaac was quick to abandon Stiles as he noticed Amber's approach, turning his attention toward the threat who was wielding a weapon instead.

Stiles fell to his knees the moment he was released and Amber watched him suck in a pained breath as her eyes bounced between him and werewolf stalking toward her.

"C'mon Isaac, don't be a dick, okay?" She pleaded, raising the knife in her hands defensively, "We- We don't have to fight-"

"Not much of a fight, if I'm being honest." Isaac shrugged, ripping the knife from her fingers in an easy move and tossing it over her shoulder into the kitchen behind her.

At the sight of Erica rushing toward the staircase, Amber moved to follow after the blonde on immediate instinct but was yanked back by a hand in her hair. A yelp slipped past her lips at the painful tug, the side of her head bashed against the wood that framed the archway between rooms before she was released. She fell to her knees and gripped at the side of her head with a another groan, mildly relieved when she didn't feel the warm wetness that would indicate she was bleeding.

A loud thump sounded behind her and she heard Stiles release another pained noise. She gripped the table along the wall and pulled herself to her feet unsteadily. Amber turned around and, at the sight of Isaac's hand fisted in the front of her boyfriend's shirt, she rushed forward without a thought.

Isaac was pulling his right hand back to deliver a punch but Amber jumped up onto the taller boy's back and grabbed at his arm before he could make contact.

"Hair pulling, Isaac? Really?" She grunted, tightening the grip of her arms and legs around him further when the boy tried to throw her off of himself, "I'd expect that shit from Erica, but you?"

"'s a bitch move." Stiles agreed weakly, only to be thrown down onto the ground at the other side of the room.

With Stiles temporarily out of the fight, Isaac spun around to slam himself back against the wall in the living room, crushing Amber between the wall and himself. The girl groaned in pain but refused to release her hold, instead tangling her own fingers into the dark blonde curls on Isaac's head and tugging aggressively in retaliation.

Isaac let out a rumbling growl in response and pressed back against her that much more, "I'm trying not to hurt you guys-" He grunted through his fangs as he pushed the air out of Amber's lungs.

"Well you're doing-" She huffed breathlessly, "A terrible job-"

Stiles had crawled his way back across the room and he kicked his foot out suddenly into Isaac's ankles, sending the pair crashing to the ground as the werewolf's feet were knocked out from underneath him.

Another growl sounded out, but this time it hadn't come from the werewolf tangled up between Amber and Stiles. Instead, the threatening sound came from the back of the room where Scott was standing with bright, glowing eyes. In a flash, he was in front of them, slamming his fist into Isaac's face with enough force that the other boy slumped back against the floor unconscious.

"We totally had that," Stiles groaned quietly, "Y'know, just.. For the record-"

"Mhm. Didn't need your help at all," Amber agreed weakly as they climbed to their feet, "Thanks though."

Scott gave them both a weary look as he grabbed Isaac by the back of his jacket and dragged his body over to the front door, where he dropped him unceremoniously before heading upstairs without a word.

In the aftermath of the fight, Amber turned to face her boyfriend worriedly. Her hands moved over his chest and up his neck, fingers skimming softly over his cheeks as she checked him for any sort of visible injury. He brought his own hands to her waist but his grip was light in contrast to her desperate touch, as if he were worried he might cause her pain if he applied too much pressure.

"You.. Are such a badass, y'know that? I cannot believe you just pounced on Isaac like that," Stiles flicked his eyes between her own with a soft look, "But please, don't throw yourself into danger for me ever again.. Literally or figuratively."

"Yeah.. There is no way in hell I'm promising that." She scoffed quietly, rubbing the pad of her thumb lightly across his cheek.

Stiles shook his head, knowing it was useless to fight her on it, "You hurt?" He asked gently.

"I'll be fine." She promised, dragging her fingertips over the back of his head as she unsubtly checked for any bumps he might've received from being thrown around.

Scott and Allison's heavy footsteps began to descend the stairs and Amber pressed her forehead to Stiles' in a quick nudge before pulling away. Scott came into view with Erica thrown over his shoulder and he ripped the front door open before tossing her and Isaac outside and onto the front lawn.

The four teens stepped out onto the porch as Derek looked at his incapacitated Betas with a disappointed huff. There was a moment of silence in which Stiles tangled his fingers with Amber's while she reached out to rest a hand against Scott's back supportively.

Derek pursed his lips and slowly looked between the four of them, "I think I know why you both refused me," He announced as his eyes flicked between Scott and Amber, "You're not an omega, Scott. You're already an Alpha.. Of your own pack. And Amber, you're a part of that pack."

She blinked in surprise and her eyes gravitated toward Scott, who had stiffened beneath her hand at Derek's words.

"I thought you.. But, you said you couldn't be a part of a pack unless you were a werewolf." She questioned in confusion.

"I never said that," Derek disagreed, "I told you I didn't want you to be a part of my pack if you wanted to stay human." He corrected easily.

She felt the heavy weight of her friend's gazes fall to her after the admission, but her eyes remained focussed on Derek, unable to help the small pang of hurt that shot through her at his words.

"You know you can't beat me, Scott." Derek said after a moment, his eyes moving to the younger werewolf.

Scott swallowed and reluctantly pulled his gaze away from his best friend to look at Derek again, "I can hold you off until the cops get here-" He retorted.

No sooner had he spoken when the quiet trilling of sirens rose loud enough to be noticeable even to the humans of the group.

Derek's eyes narrowed, head tilting as he determined the distance of the emergency vehicles. His assessment was cut short at an all too familiar hiss from the roof.

The teens rushed down the porch steps to stand in the grass beside Derek and look up at the house, finding the kanima crawling across the roof. The dark, scaly creature turned its head to look at them, as if feeling the weight of their stares, releasing a threatening shriek in response to the attention.

Amber flinched at the shrill sound and Stiles' grip around her hand tightened as he protectively dragged her a small step backwards.

The creature looked the group over with its slitted yellow eyes for a moment before turning and scurrying away, tail flicking in the air behind it as it scaled the side of the house and disappeared from sight.

Stomping footsteps came from inside the house and they all turned their heads toward the open front door as the footfalls drew closer. Amber readied herself for Jackson to step outside with some sort of typically dick-ish remark, but it wasn't him who rushed out onto the front porch.

"Would someone please tell me what the hell is going on!" Lydia demanded sharply as her eyes flicked around the group in wide-eyed confusion.

"Lydia." Amber breathed in surprise.

"The kanima.. Is Jackson." Scott whispered in sudden realization.

Amber's eyes dropped to the unmoving werewolves laying in the grass that Lydia had somehow not yet noticed and Amber nudged Scott in distress. He turned, following her gaze, eyes bouncing to Lydia and then back down again a few times.

"Um. Why don't I take you home, Lydia-" Allison said suddenly, "Scott, can you give us a ride back to the school to get my car?"

Lydia blinked, "But-"

"Uh, yeah. Yeah, sure." Scott agreed quickly as Allison dragged him to stand in front of where Erica and Isaac were laying.

Amber released Stiles' hand to rush up onto the porch, snatching Lydia's backpack from the entryway inside the house and dragging the redhead down the porch steps quickly and toward the sidewalk.

"Amber-" Lydia huffed in annoyance when her heel caught in a groove in the pavement as she was dragged along.

"C'mon, Lyds. This has been really stressful and scary and we should all just go home and get some rest." She pleaded as they reached Scott's mom's car.

"Shouldn't we wait until the police get here and give them our statements about the break-in?" Lydia asked smartly.

"Stiles and I can handle it," She promised, "Get in."

Lydia frowned and shot her friend a glare before turning and climbing into the back of the car without another word.

Amber leaned down as she readied to close the door, "Text me when you get home safe?" She asked gently.

Lydia rolled her eyes and buckled her seatbelt, refusing to look at her friend as Scott and Allison also climbed into the car.

"Fine," Lydia said with a huff, "Whatever."

Amber accepted the weak promise and finally closed the car door. When she turned back to Stiles with wide eyes, she found that Derek and Boyd had already managed to disappear with Erica and Isaac's unconscious bodies. She was back up the sidewalk in a rush, coming to a stop in front of Stiles and looking around with wide eyes.

"Where the hell did they go?" She asked in disbelief.

"Y'know, it's funny. Derek didn't give me his itinerary for the evening before he left." Stiles shot back easily.

Amber narrowed her eyes at her boyfriend's sarcasm and had opened her mouth to speak when suddenly the sirens approaching them grew louder.

"Right! Time to go." Stiles urged quickly. He guided her down to the Jeep in a rush and sped off down the street in the opposite direction of the sirens before Amber had even managed to buckle her seatbelt.

"Where are we going?" She asked as she fought to remain calm.

"Right now? Nowhere. When we meet up with Scott again? We're gonna go find Jackson." Stiles said, eyes flicking over to her for a moment as he spoke.

"How exactly are we gonna do that?" She questioned.

"Our best friend is a werewolf," Stiles looked at her incredulously, "We're gonna track him down by scent or something and we're gonna get Whittemore's lizard ass."

She sighed, sliding across the seats to sit beside him and tipping her head onto his shoulder, suddenly desperate for the comfort his touch provided. Stiles moved his hand from the gear shift automatically to squeeze tightly over her thigh in reassurance.

"Great," She agreed weakly, "Sounds like a plan."

#pls pls don't be afraid to leave comments or questions or just a keysmash of emojis that i'll be forced to decipher #selenophiles #stiles stilinski x oc #stiles smut #stiles stilinski fanfiction #stiles stilinksi smut #teen wolf fic #stiles stilinski fic #stilesfanfiction #2x05 #*#stiles x reader #stiles stilinski x reader

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sugareey-makes-stuff · 3 months

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Writing Patterns

Thanks for the tag, @quackquackcey (x)! It's been a hot minute since I've posted something (because I'm going at my own pace and self care is a nice thing), so this going to be me mainly dipping into a mix of drabbles and fics from last year and early this year. Rules: List the first line of your last 10 (posted) fics and see if there's a pattern! >> xiii. I’ll Surrender (Sterek; T, 100, from Darkness was before the light drabble series)

A shiver runs down his spine as soft lips kiss his neck.

>> xxii. Simply Because (Sterek; G, 100, from Darkness was before the light drabble series)

Derek finishes up with the Jeep when the bell in the reception area jingles.

>> xi. A Quiet Truce (Sterek; T, 100, from Darkness was before the light drabble series)

Living in his blanket cocoon seems like an awesome idea right now.

>> x. Back Again (Sterek; G, 100, from from Darkness was before the light drabble series)

He’s never been crazy about holiday events.

>> Closer to the Edge (Stackson, M, 2k)

When Isaac finally found everyone next to the tree near the back entrance, Stiles wasted no time sliding off of a low branch and jumping onto the grass.

>> Dancing Shadows From Behind (Sterek, T, 500 w/ art)

There’s no way they can escape the warehouse alive.

>> The Walls Came Crashing Down (Sterek, T, 4.2k)

He really should have asked for more backup.

>> Feel You Breathing (Sterek, E, 8.4k)

You still up?

>> Should Have Known (Cho/Padma, G, 200)

"You didn’t have to get me anything."

>> What It Takes (Daphne/Padma, E, 200)

It’s a beautiful sight.

My conclusions: Teen Wolf took over the second half of last year, and I guess deductions, observations or dialogue are what I like to start with for opening lines. It also makes sense that drabbles have short lines, because WCs are precious! Also, my preference is to usually start things ambiguously in the first line before tapping into character mention and PoV right after. Of course, case by case. Huh...interesting!

Tagging (no pressure, this is just for funsies): @sinnabon-cosplay , @serenaew , @shealynn88 , @elisedonut , @siriusly-sapphic , @outtoshatter , @raisesomehale , @zaharya , @coffeedrgn87 , @lumosatnight , @hey-flynn , and anyone else who wants to join in!

#writing patterns #tag game #sterek #cho/padma #daphne/padma #teen wolf fanfiction #hp fanfic #fanfic #drabbles #my fic #self recs #writing #ask meme #ask game

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liliaeth · 1 year

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Watched the Teen Wolf movie and loved it.

Sure it wasn't perfect, there were some issues I had with it, mostly that they should have put more focus on Mason...

But the plot was interesting, I loved Scott and Allison's storyline being at the center, along with Derek and his son's relationship.

I loved how Derek got to complete his character arc, and got the heroic sacrifice, instead of just getting killed off as a sidenote.

(and in a way that fanfic wise should be fixable, already got ideas on that for a possible future scerek fic)

I didn't mind Malia and Parrish too much, as it's clearly set over a decade in the future. So they're both adults.

Loved Lydia's love for Allison and how her and Scott shared that grief and hope.

I didn't even mind Jackson being there, his presence actually had a point and he had some good lines.

I love how they passed on the mantle to Eli, and how he was written as a mix of Scott and Stiles. And I'm curious how if there will be following movies, they'll probably have Scott as Eli's mentor figure, the way Deaton and Derek were for Scott.

#teen wolf #teen wolf movie #scott mccall #eli hale #derek hale #lydia martin #allison argent #mason hewitt #liam dunbar #hikari

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stereknation · 22 days

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Coureurs de bois by Footloose

Summary: All Stiles wanted to do was set out on his own, just him and Scott. But Scott met the girl of his dreams and got them both mixed up with the special brand of crazy that was the fur-trapping Argent Trading Company. The last thing Stiles expected on the journey into the wilderness was to find out that the Argents weren't crazy after all, that the wolf-spirits his mom taught him about as a child were real, or that he'd fall in love with one.

Rating: Teen

Main Character(s): Stiles Stilinski

Additional Character(s): Derek Hale, Laura Hale, Peter Hale, Scott McCall, Melissa McCall, Sheriff Stilinski, Gerard Argent, Kate Argent (mentioned), Allison Argent, Greenberg, Original Male Characters

Pairing(s): Stiles Stilinski/ Derek Hale, Allison Argent/ Scott McCall, Melissa McCall/ Sheriff Stilinski

Tags: Alternate Universe - Historical, Canada, Hunters & Hunting, Wolf Derek, Full Shift Werewolves, Non-Graphic Violence, Light Angst, Pining

Words: 25,389

Chapter: 1/1

#i love historical AUs #this one is so well thought out and well written #my only complaint is that Scott is kind of a douche #sterek #sterek fanfic rec #stiles/derek #sterek fanficiton #teenwolffanfictionrecs #sterek recs #sterek fic #sterek fic recs #sterek fanfic recs #stiles x derek #derek x stiles #derek/stiles

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vmures · 2 months

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23. Has your favourite character/ship changed over time?

ö-ö

Oh, most definitely! I've been in online fandoms for 25+ years now. Sometimes my favorite character or ship in a fandom shifted and sometimes it didn't. In a lot of fandoms, I am a multishipper, so I don't tend to have solid favorite ships (though I do often have NoTPs). I'll often end up adding new partners for a favorite character, but never moving away from the original ships I enjoyed.

Here some examples of tastes that shifted:

For NCIS, my favorite character is still Tony DiNozzo. However, my favorite pairing for him went from Tony/Gibbs to Tony/just about anyone other than other MCRT members (I particularly love him with crossover love interests).

For Buffy, I went from Willow being my favorite character to read fics for to Xander being my fave. For both I love seeing them with lots of different potential partners, though Spike was a major one for either as he's another favorite character in that fandom.

For Teen Wolf, Stiles is my absolute favorite, but I love the Hales in general, and Peter and Derek in particular. I'm also fond of Bobby Finstock, Kira, Erica, Boyd, and so many others even if they aren't usually my focus in writing. The story that got me into the fandom was Stiles/Derek, but it didn't take too long before Stiles/Peter entered my world and quickly became a preferred pairing.

Now that I think about it, outside of Buffy, I can't think of a fandom where my favorite character shifted. What is far more likely for me is that I will go from being ambivalent about a character in a fandom to outright disliking them. Sometimes it's because of the character's actions in canon (which is why I went from pairing Tony and Gibbs to pairing Tony with anyone else). Other times it's a mix of the character's actions in canon combined with how fans of a character act in fandom.

Otherwise, I'm more likely to just add characters and pairings to my interest than anything else. The nice thing about that habit is that it means I'm unlikely to ever run out of things to read. lol

#asks answered #fandom interests #v's musings

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fiction-justanotherstateofmind · 10 months

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Teen Wolf meets How to get away with murder

I just finished season 2 of How to get away with murder. I'm in love. It has some of my favorite things: found family and blind loyalty.

Idk how I ended up here, I finished the last episode and the next thing I know I was looking for the correspondence between the characters of HTGAWM and those of Teen Wolf. So here I am.

N.B.: it's not always a canon equivalence. Sometimes it's just my favorite headcanon dynamic.

Annalise: Stiles

Frank: Peter; Boyd; (Malia)

Bonnie: Lydia

Nate: Derek

Wes: Scott

Laurel: Allison

Connor: Jackson

Oliver: Danny

Asher: Erica

Michaela: Isaac

Now I'm gonna explain why.

Stiles is the mastermind behind the pack plans, has a different moral compass than the norm and would definitely kill, lie and harm to protect the ones he loves, and -if that was the case- he would feel no remorse. In other words, Annalise. He also has a soft spot for Scott (and Annalise for Wes) and often finds himself making up for the mistakes his friend made in good faith. Furthermore, BAMF Stiles.

Frank is the muscle of the group and so are Peter and Boyd. Both are the kind of people who don't ask questions and would have no problem killing for a person they trust. Frank, like Peter, would sometimes be prone to violence right away and needs to be restrained. Plus Peter would love Frank's sense of style. (We could put Malia here as well, even if I don't feel exactly the same about her).

Bonnie is Annalise's right hand man. She's similar to Annalise: not enough but she understands her better than the others. I live for Lydia as Stiles' best friend. They are also both very stylish.

Nate is Annalise's lover, has a strong personality and doesn't trust very easily. He's also more than "the muscle" but less than "the brain" of the group. Annalise trusts him enough to let him act on his own, but still always goes out of her way to protect him. I love when Stiles is so protective of Derek (sterek of course).

Wes and Scott. Do i really have to explain it? I switch from like to dislike every 10 minutes when both of them are on screen. Great loyalty which, however, is undermined by a moral compass different from that of the group. They always see the good in others and this sometimes leads to problems.

Laurel is the one with the coldest mind of all the young adults. She is able to remain lucid even in stressful situations and is the one most inclined to lead (excluding Annalise). She has a darker mind than she appears to be and has no problem killing if necessary. She also has a dangerous family behind her. Allison is canonically all of these things too.

Connor is the suspicious one, the only one who maintains real contact with the "outside world" and who is not entirely devoted to the cause. When necessary, he plays his part and participates actively, even if he apparently tends to freak out. He also always makes piqued comments and is not ashamed to use his body to get what he wants or needs. Jackson fits perfectly the role.

Oliver is Danny in so many ways: sweet, gets involved with others but underneath he's eager for adventure, computer technician and hacker, canonically gay.

Asher is the perfet mix between an himbo and a very intelligent person. He's loyal and actually caring, even if it might not seem like it at first. He also makes sex jokes and somehow won the heart of a reserved person (lots of grumpy/sunshine dynamics). Erica is very similar to him (in this house we believe in the canonicity of Erica/Boyd).

Michaela is the one with family problems. She has trouble trusting and sometimes ends up trusting just because she's tired of always looking over her shoulder. However, if you show her that she can trust you and that you will protect her, she's very loyal. She likes to be independent, but in times of need she needs the guidance of someone she deems more capable. The same goes for Isaac.

Let me know what you think but NO SPOILER: I haven't seen season 3 yet.

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ao3feed-peterstiles · 9 months

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Mix Mikaelson

Read it on AO3 at https://archiveofourown.org/works/49991254 by Logan_readss After the Nogitsune, Stiles' father packed them both up and they moved somewhere new - New Orleans. Stiles couldn't have guessed how his life would turn out. Words: 4177, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English Series: Part 7 of Teen Wolf Fanfics Fandoms: Teen Wolf (TV), The Originals (TV) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Categories: F/M, M/M Characters: Stiles Stilinski, Klaus Mikaelson, Davina Claire, Kol Mikaelson, Hayley Marshall, Peter Hale, Derek Hale, Scott McCall (Teen Wolf), Lydia Martin Relationships: Peter Hale/Stiles Stilinski, Minor or Background Relationship(s), Davina Claire/Kol Mikaelson, Klaus Mikaelson/Camille O'Connell Additional Tags: Stiles is a Mikaelson, Stiles is a vampire, Werewolf Mates, I opened obsidian and just started writing idk Read it on AO3 at https://archiveofourown.org/works/49991254

#ao3feed #fanfic #teen wolf #steter #peterstiles

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sterek-ao3feed-archive · 3 months

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Reasons Not to Kiss Him

https://archiveofourown.org/works/54257917 by RiotFalling ”With you staring at me like that, I gotta ask, are you planning to kiss me or not?“ Stiles asks, that perfect mix of warm and teasing that he seems to reserve exclusively for Derek. Words: 781, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English Fandoms: Teen Wolf (TV) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Categories: M/M Characters: Derek Hale, Stiles Stilinski Relationships: Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski Additional Tags: Romance, Snippet, introspective, First Kiss read it on AO3 at https://archiveofourown.org/works/54257917

#Sterek #Stiles Stilinski/Derek Hale #Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski #IFTTT #ao3feed #ao3feed Sterek #fanfic

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loganwritesprobably · 2 years

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Teen Wolf sexuality and gender headcanons

Because that show is more queer than a gay bar

These are just my favourites but honestly and ones I often come back to when writing but sometimes I slap a random different label on them for funsies because it’s fun to mix things up and it pisses people off so (Particularly, I like making random characters trans just to spice it up) Peter Hale Bisexual (male lean), cisgender, polyamorous Derek Hale Biromantic, demisexual, cisgender Cora Hale I bounce between bisexual and lesbian, cisgender Laura Hale Bisexual (female lean), cisgender Malia Tate (Hale) Malia is the character I bounce around for the most but if I had to choose, I’d say panromantic, aspec, agender (any pronouns, she used to be a coyote, she doesn’t care) Stiles Stilinski Bisexual, trans male Noah Stilinski Bisexual, cisgender Claudia Stilinski Pansexual, cisgender Scott McCall Pansexual, cisgender Melissa McCall Fuck it, she’s bisexual too. Get her a nice wife. Cisgender Rafael McCall One of the only cishet people on the list Allison Argent Pansexual, cisgender Chris Argent Bisexual (male lean, he ignores that), cisgender

Lydia Martin Here I bounce between pansexual and lesbian, cisgender Don’t really have an opinion on the rest of the Martins Jackson Whittemore People say that he’s canonically bi which.. I didn’t catch that bit tbh I always thought he was gay but if it’s canon I ain’t stepping on any toes. No bi erasure in my house.. also he’s cis Danny Mahealani Gay, very gay, trans male Isaac Lahey Pansexual, he/they but no real label Erica Reyes Again, here I bounce between pansexual and lesbian, she/they without a label. Solidarity with her and Isaac Vernon Boyd Bisexual, cisgender (but loves his he/they and she/they besties) Kira Yukimura Pansexual, she/they, non-binary Aiden Steiner The only specified heterosexual character, love that for him, he is trans tho he told me himself Ethan Steiner Gay, and they’re identical so whoops he’s also trans

Liam Dunbar Bisexual, he/they, non-binary Theo Raeken Gay, trans male Corey Bryant Gay, he/they but no label Mason Hewitt Gay, cisgender (and very in love with his boyfriend) Brett Talbot Gay, cisgender Lori Rohr Lesbian, they/she Hayden Romero Lesbian, cisgender Alec Hillsworth Gay, cisgender Nolan Holloway Bisexual, cisgender

Jordan Parrish Bisexual, cisgender Coach Finstock He doesn’t like labels, he doesn’t really get it, he just likes what he likes (which happens to be everyone, if he’s honest) Deucalion Blackwood Gay, cisgender Pretty sure that covers everyone I care about and even some that I don’t. Nice

#lgbt #teen wolf #headcanons #teen wolf headcanons #they're all gay #this show is so queer #people get so mad for what #it's not my fault they're blind #queer #loganwritesheadcanons

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whitedahlia13 · 1 year

Text

Some things you just can't speak about

Fandom: Teen Wolf

Characters: Stiles + Lydia

Words: 6407

Summary: Aftermath of 3x07. Lydia wants Stiles to know everything, but the words never leave her mouth.

Some things you just can't speak about.

Lydia thinks maybe five minutes have passed. Ten at most. Ten minutes standing in the doorway of Derek Hale’s loft, him kneeling with his head in his hands while his sister’s sobs echoed in the cavernous space, the two inches of water flooding the floor not just amplifying the sound but making it a tangible thing—intermittent ripples spreading outward in every direction.

Now, there’s a hand at her back and a soft voice against her ear. “I’ll take you home.”

Her fingernails dig into the doorframe as another wave of grief hits. Cora’s mixed with her own and everyone else’s.

They were too late. Again.

Their plan failed. Again.

And now…

Boyd is dead.

“Come on, Lydia,” Stiles nudges. “There’s nothing else we can do here.”

We didn’t do anything, she thinks, but she lets him lead her towards the stairs.

Read More: ao3 & ffnet

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strangerstilinski · 1 year

Text

𝐒𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐍𝐎𝐏𝐇𝐈𝐋𝐄𝐒 𝐕𝐎𝐋𝐔𝐌𝐄 𝐈𝐈 ✶ Teen Wolf Rewrite

Stiles Stilinksi/Original Female Character

TW | S2

chapter one

summary; as if the last month and a half hadn't been stressful enough — now there were a few more werewolves, a kanima, and a seriously disturbed old man added into the mix. but amber, stiles, and scott could totally handle this. it would be fine. everything was great.

word count; 17,160

chapter notes; lydia takes an ill-advised field trip from the hospital. a newly alpha-ed up derek begins recruiting for his pack. stiles and amber try to get used to their recent upgrade to ‘more-than-friends’.

masterlist

c h a p t e r o n e

omega

"Do we really need to do this right now?" Amber asked impatiently, "I want to go-"

Stiles gave her a sharp look.

"If you'd rather I drop you off at your house so your brother can patch you up.." Stiles began slowly, "Y'know, then you can tell him all about rescuing Derek from werewolf hunters, and how an Alpha got you with one of his claws just a few hours before he was violently murdered.. Which you were also witness to," He was still looking up at her from his place on the floor between her knees, "And while you're explaining all that, Scott and I can go to the hospital to check on Lydia without you-"

"Okay, okay." She settled quickly, "Just, hurry up. Please."

She watched his determined focus return to the task at hand as he wrapped a band-aid tightly around the deep cut on her freshly cleaned middle finger.

"How did you even get this one?" He questioned as he finished applying the covering.

"Trying to get the latch undone on one of Derek's ankle cuffs," She explained, "My hand slipped and it just kind of-"

Stiles looked up at her with a frown, "You've had your tetanus shot, right?"

She snorted in amusement at his concern, "Yes, Stiles. I'm up to date on all my shots." She told him with a shake of her head, "Now, are we done? Can we go?"

As she pulled her hand out of his grip and moved to stand, she looked down at her outfit with a small frown and pinched the fabric of Stiles' borrowed sweatpants between her fingers.

To avoid being subjected to a full interrogation in regards to her dirty, bruised, and bloody condition following the events of the evening, when Jackson had dropped them off at her house, she'd slipped inside only to grab her car keys from the hook just inside the front door and Stiles and Amber had driven her vehicle back to the blessedly empty Stilinski house.

They'd both gotten cleaned up and Stiles had given her a pair of sweats and a tshirt to wear until they could sneak back into her house to get some of her own clothes. Only now, with the intention of going out into public, she found herself feeling self-conscious in the borrowed items.

"I look kind of ridiculous." She muttered quietly as she looked down at her baggy outfit.

Stiles had already stood and begun making his way to the bedroom door, but turned back at her with an exasperated shake of his head, "Hey, you were more than welcome to put your dress back on after your shower." Stiles reminded her.

She turned her head to look over at the dirt and blood covered heap of fabric in the corner of the room and frowned.

"Would you like to go back to your house?" He asked with a sigh after a moment.

"No," She said quickly, "Sorry. I'll stop complaining."

Stiles took a step back into the room and reached up to slide his hands underneath the hem of her borrowed tshirt. He rested them lightly over her bare hips, his fingers pressing into her skin as he dragged her a step closer.

"For the record, I don't think you look ridiculous." He said softly.

"No?" She licked her lips and took an anxious breath at the familiar yet completely unfamiliar warmth of his body so close to hers.

His thumbs rubbed featherlight up and down over her abdomen, and her stomach tightened at the gentleness of the touch. Stiles shook his head in response but didn't verbalize an answer as he looked down at her body. Her own gaze flicked over his face in a slow trail and when her eyes caught the way his lips parted distractedly as he breathed, she was spurred on.

"You-" She licked her lips again and took another nervous breath, "You like it? Me.. In your clothes?"

He nodded quickly and his eyes snapped up to meet hers while he continued to bob his head up and down.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and raised up onto her toes to bring their lips together. His hands tightened over her hips as he returned the kiss and she allowed him to press slow, deep kisses against her mouth for a long minute before she pulled away. She leaned forward to press their cheeks together as she lifted her mouth to rest over the shell of his ear.

"Just wait 'til you see me out of them." She whispered softly, hoping that the words came out sounding more confident than she felt. She took a step back just as Stiles let out a quiet noise of distress and she grinned triumphantly, "Alright. We better get going! Still have to pick up Scott and he's probably been waiting a while already."

"No-" He whined quietly, stumbling after her in a daze and grabbing ahold of her hand as she exited the room and started down the hallway, "Why would you do that to me? That wasn't nice-"

She rolled her eyes and tightened her grip on his hand as they made their way down the stairs toward the front door.

"If I wasn't being nice, I would've pointed out that your wardrobe is severely lacking in underwear in my size-" She told him innocently, "Also, bras."

"Believe me, I noticed the absence of a bra on your body." He muttered quietly as he grabbed her car keys from the bowl by the door, "The underwear, though.. I definitely could've done without that reminder, because now, quite frankly, there's no way in hell I'm gonna be able to think about anything else. So, thanks for that. Scott can smell arousal, y'know."

That gave her pause. She turned to face him as they stepped outside and gave him a disbelieving look.

"I'm sorry-? He can do what?" She questioned.

Stiles grinned, looking pleasantly surprised at her obliviousness as they walked to the tiny yellow car. He dropped her keys into her hand and watched her settle behind the wheel, his arm propped up on the driver's side door.

"Oh? Did you not know that?" He asked in poorly disguised glee.

Her grip on her car keys tightened as she looked up at him, trying to determine whether or not he was telling the truth, "You're seriously telling me he can- That he can smell it when I-"

Her mind raced as she thought about all of the times in the last month and a half she'd been sandwiched between her two best friends with her thoughts solely focused on Stiles. All of the moments she'd been glued to Scott's side while thinking about Stiles' hands, and kissing him, and touching him, and him touching her-

She squeaked in distress, "Has he been able to do this the whole time?"

Stiles shrugged, "I think he only really picked up on it around the last full moon," His eyes flicked over her excitedly, "Why? You been aroused a lot?"

"I mean.. Yeah." She told him plainly, eyes wide.

His arm slipped from the doorframe and he stumbled in surprise at her blatant honesty. He blinked at her for a moment with a slack jaw before shaking his head and moving to close the door.

He looked down into the car with a grimace of understanding, "Right, well, can't keep him waiting."

Amber pouted, still feeling nauseatingly embarrassed as she leaned forward to turn the key in the ignition and start her car with a pitiful sigh.

It was totally fine. Scott was her best friend. It was totally not weird that he could sense it whenever she was turned on. Not weird at all.

Definitely not.

Except it really, really was.

Amber stayed back to talk to Lydia's doctor while Scott and Stiles headed in the direction of her hospital room. Her stomach was in knots during the duration of the conversation, but she felt overall relief as she listened to the doctor explain that Lydia was going to be okay.

The woman assured her that Lydia's body had stabilized over the last several hours and that now it was simply a waiting game. The redhead would wake up whenever her body felt well enough.

With a shaky sigh as her stress alleviated slightly, Amber made her way over to the closed door of Lydia's hospital room. She pushed it open and Scott and Stiles both flinched from where they were standing beside Lydia's bed, turning to face the door in alarm.

"Oh, it's just you," Stiles breathed out in relief, motioning for her to come into the room faster, "Hurry up and close the door-"

She frowned but did as she was told, both boys wincing again as the door creaked shut loudly and prompting her to frown in apology before walking over to stand in between them.

"Why did I need to close the door?" She asked quietly.

"Because we need to check the bite-" Scott explained, "See how it's healing."

He reached out, beginning to pull the blankets down, but as his fingers brushed against the fabric of Lydia's hospital gown, Amber smacked his hand away and took a protective step closer to the unconscious girl in the bed. The boys both frowned at her in confusion and she glared between them darkly.

"If anyone is about to touch the unconscious girl without her permission and violate her nearly naked body, it is not going to be one of you." She berated quietly, smacking Scott's hand away again from where it was still resting on the bedside, "Thank you." She huffed.

She took a steadying breath and reached her own hand out, trembling fingers pulling the gown to the side just enough to reveal the large bandage covering the skin on Lydia's hip. She gently peeled back the covering to reveal the bloody wound beneath and looked at Scott worriedly.

"What does this mean?" She whispered anxiously.

"Is it completely healed?" Stiles questioned, his gaze still locked on the far wall after having averted his eyes when Amber lifted the fabric of Lydia's hospital gown.

"No." Scott told him, "Not at all."

Stiles finally turned his attention back to the girl in the hospital bed and he dropped a hand over Amber's shoulder as he leaned closer to peer down at the bloody bite in the flesh of Lydia's hip.

"I- I don't get it," Amber said quietly, her thumb dropping down to trace softly over the unmarred skin beside the wound, "The doctor said she'd be fine."

"But.. The bite's not healing like it did with me." Scott stated.

"Right.." She prompted, "So, what does that mean?"

"It means.. She's not a werewolf."

She looked back up at Scott nervously and Stiles' grip on her shoulder tightened comfortingly.

"Then what the hell is she?" Stiles asked in a whisper.

"Maybe.. Maybe werewolf or death aren't the only two options after being bitten, y'know?" Amber suggested quietly, "I mean, maybe some people are like.. Immune-?"

"I don't know. Maybe." Scott shrugged, still frowning in confusion, "I-I'm gonna go meet Allison before it gets too late." He told them before moving toward the door.

"You don't need a ride?" Stiles asked.

"I'm good." Scott assured, cracking the door open just enough to slip through before closing it behind himself.

Amber gently laid the bandage back down over the bite, re-securing it with delicate fingers before covering Lydia back up again and tucking the blanket in around her. She looked up at the redhead's beautiful sleeping face and swallowed guiltily.

"This-" She let out a shaky breath in realization, "Is all my fault."

"Hey, no, what?" Stiles protested softly, he spun her around to face him and frowned at her, "This isn't your fault," He told her firmly, "Why would you say that?"

Her lip quivered and she felt her eyes prickle with heat as they welled with tears, "Because it is," She said, "I told her to go find Jackson and I let her go alone. I- I should've gone with her and-" A small sob cut her off when she took her next breath, "And Scott had already told me he thought he'd seen Peter." She disclosed, eyes filling with more tears when she saw the look of surprise on Stiles' face, "He told me he saw Peter and I didn't believe him. I told him he was being paranoid and- And then I told Lydia to go off and look for Jackson and I-"

Another choked sob cut off her words and Stiles wrapped his arms around her shoulders and pulled her in as the first of her tears fell. He directed her to burrow her face into the curve of his neck and she went easily, reaching up to fist her hands into his shirt as she did so.

"None of this is your fault," He told her, mouth pressed into her still slightly shower-damp hair as he spoke softly into her ear, "You're wrong, okay? It's not your fault."

His arms tightened around her shoulders and the firmness of his grip settled just a little bit of the tightness in her chest.

Mrs. Martin had approved Amber as an overnight guest for her daughter and Amber spent the next forty-some hours at the hospital. Whenever Lydia's mother was away, Amber was glued to Lydia's bedside, alternating between holding her friend's hand while napping with her head pillowed on the edge of the mattress, and turning the television to the docuseries on the Discovery Channel that she knew her friend secretly loved.

Lydia finally woke on Saturday afternoon, confused and groggy, only a few hours after Amber's brother had visited to drop off a bag of things from their house to last her through the weekend.

By Sunday evening, Amber had taken up residence in an armchair on the far side of the hospital room, reading through a new crime-thriller as she kept her bed-bound friend company. Amber was still lounging in the comfort of Stiles' oversized sweats, grateful for the clean underwear bra that her brother had dropped off for her.

Lydia dozed off and on throughout the afternoon and while Mr. Martin had been hovering somewhat awkwardly at the doorway for several hours, Amber had remained in the room all day at Lydia's insistence. The brunette spent the evening reading through her crime novel and sticking tiny post-it notes inside, using different colored tabs in the pages as new clues and possible leads cropped up in the story.

She was two-thirds of the way through her book when Lydia finally stirred after several hours of fitful rest. The redhead sat up in her hospital bed slowly, immediately garnering the undivided attention of both her father and Amber.

"What?" Lydia snapped in annoyance at their sudden scrutiny.

"D'you need any help getting to the bathroom?" Amber asked gently.

"No." Lydia said quickly, "And I'm going to take a shower, if that's all right with the two of you."

Amber closed her book with a frown and watched Lydia's father take another nervous step toward his daughter as she threw her legs over the side of the bed and went to stand.

"You want help getting into the shower?" He asked.

"Maybe," Lydia started with a withering glare, "-If I was still four and taking bubble baths."

Amber snorted quietly despite herself, holding her hands up in surrender as she walked over to the door to the hallway, "I'll wait out in the hall."

"I'll be outside too," Mr. Martin assured his daughter, "Where it's slightly less sarcastic." He finished quietly as they stepped out of the room and left Lydia to her own devices.

When Amber stepped out into the hallway, she spotted Stiles sleeping sprawled across a row of the uncomfortable waiting chairs, and she found herself smiling softly at the sight of him.

"How long has he been here?" She asked quietly when she spotted Scott's mom in her scrubs at the nursing station just outside of the room.

"Since this afternoon," Ms. McCall revealed, "He said he brought you some lunch. I told him you'd already eaten but he just.. Didn't leave."

Amber's heart warmed and she watched Stiles murmur something quietly under his breath in his sleep, his mouth hanging open cutely where it was pillowed against the back of his arm. She approached with slow steps and squatted down in front of him, reaching out to cup his cheek softly.

"Stiles.." She spoke quietly in an attempt to wake him, rubbing her thumb lightly over the dark mole decorating his left cheek.

"Mm," Stiles hummed quietly, eyes still closed, "'S good."

Her eyebrows furrowed and she tilted her head in amusement as she watched at the sleeping boy in front of her. His body shifted slightly as he readjusted over the row of chairs and she swept her thumb over his cheek again softly.

"Stiles, c'mon." She spoke gently.

"Feels good," He murmured into the back of his arm as his eyebrows furrowed softly. His leg twitched, kicking out into the chair at the end of the row and he groaned quietly in the back of his throat, "Ngh, Amber.. Like that."

She blinked and her thumb paused its movements as the dots connected in her mind slowly, her stomach fluttering wildly at the realization that Stiles was having an erotic dream. About her.

Before the boy could say anything truly vulgar, she leaned in somewhat nervously, covering his parted lips with her own and sliding her fingers back behind his ear. It only took a moment before his lips began to press back against hers, his head lifting up off of his arm slightly as he leaned up and tried instinctively to chase her mouth.

She sat back, still squatting down in front of him and smiled softly as he finally blinked his eyes open to look at her in befuddlement.

"Hey, sleepyhead." She said quietly, looking between his dream-dazed brown eyes.

"Hey," He responded in a sleepy grumble, "Was having a dream 'bout you."

She grinned, "So I heard."

Her comment seemed to startle him into alertness and he shot up startlingly fast, no longer looking remotely sleepy. She leaned back when his arms flailed in his attempt to sit upright and she laughed at him quietly as she dodged his waving limbs.

"Heard what?" Stiles asked as he settled finally into the chair, trying his best to look casual, "Did- Did I say anything?"

She rose to her knees and looked up at him with a small smile, "No. Nothing really." She fibbed easily.

He seemed to relax at the simple lie and she shook her head at him fondly as he sighed in relief. His gaze dropped down momentarily to the low neckline of her tank top before he took a slow breath, reaching down to grab her hand as he stood from his seat. She frowned in confusion as he began to drag her down the hallway but she went easily, trailing a step behind him and making a small noise of confusion.

"C'mon, I'm gonna get you something from the vending machine. You haven't eaten since before I got here, and that was at one-" He explained over his shoulder.

They stopped in front of the snack dispenser around the corner and her eyes flicked over the options for a moment, her hand still trapped in his. She watched out of the corner of her eye as Stiles dug around in the pocket of his jeans and pulled out a few quarters. Once the coins were cupped in his hand, he looked over at her in anticipation.

She turned her head slightly and was caught by surprise under his expectant stare, "What?" She asked slowly.

"D'you know what you want?" He lifted his hand and hovered just over the coin slot, fingers ready to drop the quarters into the small opening.

Her gaze drifted back to look behind the glass once again and she gnawed on her bottom lip indecisively, "Hmm, J." She told him finally, finger tapping against the glass to point to the item with the corresponding letter.

Stiles dropped the quarters into the slot and each one landed with a loud clink inside of the machine.

"You want the Reese's?" He verified before daring to press anything, his finger hovering over the buttons in wait.

She nodded her assent and he pressed his finger over the letter J on the keypad, the arm holding on to the candy spinning backwards slowly but stopping before the item could fall down from the shelf.

Stiles made a small noise of distress and slammed his finger against the button on the keypad again a few times in frustration. When nothing happened, he slapped the glass with an annoyed frown and released her hand with a huff, reaching out to put his arms on either side of the machine and jostling it as he threw his body weight against the glass. He groaned in exertion and continued to shake the machine angrily.

Amber laughed at him quietly as she watched on in amusement, "Stiles, it's no big deal," She reached out to rest a hand over his shoulder blade, "It did this to one of the nurses yesterday. We just need to-"

Before she could finish, the machine tipped toward them precariously. In a quick motion, Stiles reached out to grip her biceps and he crowded her back out of the way with, his chest against hers, just as the vending machine fell forward and hit the ground where they'd been standing a moment before with a loud crash.

"Stiles!" She scolded in a whisper, her eyes wide in surprise. Her pulled gaze from the fallen machine behind him to his face, his chest still pressed flush to hers, "Why did you-"

"I- Sorry! I just-" He stammered, "It- It wouldn't give you your candy."

"Well, that was very sweet of you.. But now there definitely won't be any candy." She reached up to pat his cheek consolingly.

"Sure there will," He told her, stepping back and attempting to stick his fingertips beneath the machine as he squatted down beside it, "Help me get it back up."

"Stiles, that thing is at least five-hundred pounds," She said incredulously, "There's no way-"

A piercing scream rang out through the hospital unit and drowned out her voice. Her head snapped up, looking down the hallway and stomach turning with a cold sense of dread as she realized she recognized the scream.

"Lydia!" She yelled, her legs already carrying her down the hallway.

"What the hell was that?" She heard Ms. McCall ask loudly as Amber ran past her.

She ran around the corner and pushed through Lydia's empty hospital room until she skidded to a stop in the middle of the bathroom. She looked at the small, painfully deserted room as Lydia's dad and Ms. McCall came to crowd in the doorway behind her.

Amber felt sick as Ms. McCall reached around her to turn the running water off in the empty shower. Lydia was nowhere to be seen. Her discarded hospital gown was still lying on the bench beside the shower and the window along the wall had been pushed wide open to let in a cool breeze from outside.

"Where's Lydia?" Amber asked the room at large, heart pounding violently in her chest.

The adults both seemed to be a mix of confused and alarmed, looking between one another slowly, but neither knew how to answer the question.

Lydia was gone.

Amber took a shaky breath and spun around frantically, bumping into Stiles where he had been standing directly behind her as she did so. He was quick to wrap his arms around her shoulders pull her into a hug, whispering into her ear so that no one around them would overhear his words.

"It's gonna be okay. We'll call Scott and he can track her before she gets too far, alright?" He said softly. Amber nodded against the side of his face, "Okay." He repeated again, brushing his lips across her cheekbone in an barely there kiss before releasing her.

After a few minutes of hushed conversation and phone calls to the appropriate authorities, the adults in the room slowly trailed out into the hallway to meet the police and try to figure out a plan of action.

As soon as the bathroom was empty, Stiles rushed to grab a clean garbage bag from underneath the sink and stuffed Lydia's dirty hospital gown inside.

"What-" Amber started quietly.

"Scott can use it to get her scent." He explained, rolling up the trash bag and stuffing it into the waistband of his jeans beneath the back of his sweatshirt.

Amber pulled her phone out of the pocket of the sweats she was wearing to send Scott a frantic text message as she allowed Stiles to guide her slowly out into the hallway. She could already hear Sheriff Stilinski's voice as he spoke with Ms. McCall and Mr. Martin, another uniformed deputy trailing only a step behind the group.

Stiles urged Amber to walk closer so that they could listen in on what was being said.

"Alright," Sheriff Stilinski said, turning to face the deputy, "Let's get an APB out on a sixteen year old redhead. Any other descriptors?" He asked, turning toward Lydia's dad.

Amber pushed forward into the throng of adults aggressively, "She's five-foot three, has green eyes, wears a size seven to a seven and a half shoe — depending on the type, she's fair skinned, and her hair actually isn't red, it's strawberry blonde-" She listed off quickly, lifting a finger to count as she listed off each descriptor.

"Is that so?" The Sheriff asked her, looking between her and where Stiles was standing behind her slowly, the man's eyes flicking between them with a slightly aggravated look. He reached around Amber's shoulder to grab a hold of his son with a hand at the back of the boy's neck, leading him a couple of steps away as Amber trailed close behind. "Why is it that you somehow manage to be present for everything that goes wrong in this town, huh? What the hell are you still doing here?" The Sheriff asked his son in a hushed whisper.

Stiles looked at him with wide eyes, flicking his gaze to Amber over his dad's shoulder as she came to stand beside them, "Um. I was providing moral support?" He said quietly, sounding unsure.

Amber stepped up behind Stiles and placed her hand at the small of his back, pressing against the garbage bag tucked into his waistband to ensure it wouldn't slip during the conversation.

"How about you provide your ass back home, where you should be." The Sheriff suggested quietly, attention flicking over to Amber for a brief second, "And take Amber home while you're at it."

"I- I can do that too." Stiles agreed quickly.

"Yeah." The Sheriff said slowly, releasing his son and keeping his eyes on them determinedly.

Amber readjusted Stiles' hoodie over his back and led him back down the hallway where they could grab her duffle bag from Lydia's hospital room. When she got to the bag, she unzipped it quickly, stuffing her abandoned book and sticky notes into the bottom before reaching into the back of Stiles' jeans to grab the garbage bag. He made a small noise of surprise but didn't fight her as she pulled out the gown-filled plastic bag and stuffed it into her duffel.

As she zipped the bag closed, her phone buzzed in her pocket and she pulled it out to skim over the new message from Scott.

"Scott's here," She relayed quickly as they headed down the hallway toward the elevators, "He heard her scream. Said he was already on his way here when I texted."

Stiles let out a breath and reached up to grab a hold of her shoulder as the elevator brought them back down to the main floor. Her stomach was turning with anxious worry and when the elevator doors slid open, Stiles' hand slipped from her shoulder when she didn't immediately move to step out with him.

He paused just one step across the threshold of the elevator and did a slow spin, turning to face her when he realized she was no longer beside him.

"Hey, what-"

"Stiles. I'm freaking out." She admitted quietly.

He grabbed her hand and pulled her out of the elevator to stand in front of him. He frowned as his eyes scanned the panic on her face, reaching up to brush her hair back out of her face gently.

"Look, d'you trust Scott?" He prompted.

"I mean.. I love him. But-" She started honestly.

Stiles rolled his eyes lightly, "Do you trust him?" He repeated firmly.

"Yeah." She said finally in a small voice.

"Alright. Then trust that he'll be able to find her, 'kay?" He reassured gently.

She nodded and took a determined breath, "Okay."

Without another word, Stiles gripped her hand in his and rushed out of the building in the direction of where he'd parked his Jeep that afternoon. Scott was already sitting in the passenger seat, so Amber crawled in from the driver's side and settled beside him as Stiles climbed in after her.

She unzipped her duffel bag and pulled out Lydia's hospital gown, handing it over to Scott quickly as she tossed her bag uncaringly into the backseat.

Scott examined the fabric in his hand, flipping it over slowly between his fingers, "This is the one she was just wearing?" He verified.

"Obviously." She confirmed quietly, looking at her friend with wide eyes as she waited for him to do something with the bundle of cloth.

Scott looked up at her with a small frown, lifting a hand to squeeze her shoulder, "I'm not gonna let anything happen to her," He promised, "Not again."

She swallowed and nodded, taking a shaky breath.

"Just shove the thing in your face and let's find her." Stiles said impatiently, going to start the car, "Ho- Wow-!" He exclaimed when the headlights clicked on as the engine turned over, the glow illuminating Allison standing directly in front of the car.

"Jesus." Amber whispered in surprise, her own heart beating quick in her chest as Allison rushed over to the passenger side of the Jeep.

"What are you doing?" Scott asked out the open window, "Someone's going to see us-" He worried, knowing that he and Allison were very much no longer allowed to be seen together, given her family's profession of choice.

"I don't care." Allison told him, "She is my best friend and we need to find her before they do-"

"I'm sorry-" Amber cut in quickly, "They who?"

"I can find her before the cops can." Scott said to Allison, ignoring his best friends interruption.

"How about before my father does?" Allison questioned.

"What?!" Amber squeaked nervously.

"He knows?" Stiles asked from behind her.

"Yeah," Allison confirmed, "I just saw him and three other guys leave my house in two SUVs."

Scott turned his head to look between Stiles and Amber, "A search party-" He supplied nervously.

"It's more like a hunting party." Allison corrected.

Scott turned back to the girl outside of the vehicle and his hand fumbled on the door handle, "Get in."

Amber frowned as Allison climbed into the car past Scott and tumbled into the mess in the backseat. Amber took a slow breath, not thrilled about having Allison sitting directly behind her unsuspecting back, but fighting the nervous feeling of distrust in her gut for the sake of Lydia's safety.

She crossed her arms over her stomach and pinched the corner of Stiles' outer-layered sweatshirt tightly between her fingers to settle her anxiety as they pulled out of the parking lot and onto the road.

"Alright," Stiles started as he sped down the main road in town and headed west at Scott's command, "But if she's turning, would they actually kill her?"

"I don't know," Allison said, leaning forward in her seat and putting her face over Amber's shoulder beside Scott, "They won't tell me anything."

Amber turned in her seat to squint at Allison in the dark car skeptically.

"Okay.." Allison backtracked when she caught the other girl's gaze, "All they say is, 'We'll talk after Kate's funeral. When the others get here.'"

"What others?" Amber asked quickly.

"I don't know. They won't tell me that either." Allison replied.

"Okay, your family's got some serious communication issues to work on." Stiles observed.

Amber turned in her seat to look over at where Scott had his head stuck out the window to search for Lydia's scent, "Scott! Are we going the right way?" She asked loudly.

His head tilted as he took a breath into his nose through the breeze outside of the moving vehicle, "Take the next right!" He called back.

They were already coming up on the turn as he spoke and Stiles reached out automatically to brace his arm over Amber's chest as they veered sharply onto a road that would lead them out toward the preserve.

Scott directed them to take several turns over the next ten minutes as they headed down the winding roads out into the more wooded area of town. When he finally directed them to take a left onto a familiar long gravel driveway, Amber frowned in confusion.

"How the hell would Lydia have gotten all the way out here so quickly?" She asked as Scott pulled his head back into the vehicle.

Scott shrugged, "The roads out here aren't as direct. If she ran through the woods it wouldn't have taken her long."

Stiles parked the Jeep around the final turn of the drive and they all slowly climbed out of the car before making their way to the edge of the treeline surrounding what was left of the large burned house.

After no more than a minute, Amber huffed quietly as she shivered, her exhale releasing a foggy cloud into the air. She reached up in an attempt to rub some warmth into her bare arms as they walked and Stiles seemed to catch sight of her movement, quickly beginning to strip off one of the two zip-up hoodies he had layered over his tshirt.

"Here, sorry," He apologized quickly, draping one of the sweatshirts around her shoulders as he readjusted the other over his torso, "I should've given you this before-"

"Thank you." She told him softly as she stuck her arms through the sleeves.

Once she had the sweatshirt pulled on over her tank top, she pinched his chin between her thumb and forefinger and leaned in to press a small appreciative kiss to his lips.

"Hold- Wh- When did this-" Scott looked between his best friends with wide eyes, "When did you guys-?"

Amber leaned back and frowned, "I- Friday.. At formal-"

"There's no way I didn't mention that." Stiles told Scott.

Scott shook his head, "You definitely did not mention that." He disagreed, looking between them again, "I mean, it's great! I'm happy for you guys-"

"Scott this is.. Really sweet but can we please focus on looking for Lydia?" Amber interrupted, playing with the sleeves hanging down over the palms of her hands.

Allison stepped up beside her and laughed awkwardly, "Thank god. I didn't want to interrupt but-"

"Okay, alright." Scott agreed, "C'mon."

They began to move through the trees again and Amber frowned in thought as her gaze trailed over to the Hale house beside them. Stiles followed her eyeline and seemed to catch on to her confused train of thought.

"Lydia came here?" He asked, looking over his shoulder toward Scott, "You're sure?"

"Yeah," Scott shrugged, looking around slowly, "This is where the scent leads."

"Alright," Stiles said, "But has Lydia ever been here?" He asked, both he and Scott turning to Amber in anticipation of her response.

She shook her head, "No, I never brought her here." She let her own gaze drift over to Allison skeptically and the other girl's eyes widened.

"She didn't come here with me either," Allison defended, "Maybe she came here on instinct.. Like she was looking for Derek."

"You mean looking for an Alpha." Scott clarified.

"I- Wolves need a pack, right?" Allison asked.

"Not all of them." Scott said after a moment of hesitation.

"But would she have been drawn to an Alpha?" Allison questioned, "Is it an instinct to be part of a pack?"

"Yeah, we're-" Scott paused, "We're stronger in packs."

Allison nodded, "Like strength in numbers."

Scott shook his head, looking between Allison and Amber for a moment before he spoke, "No. Like- Like literally. Stronger, faster, better in every way-"

Amber huffed in annoyance at the amount of information Scott was willingly imparting on the other girl and she turned to step away from the conversation. She spotted Stiles standing a few yards away, brushing leaves around on the ground where he was squatted down, his head tilted as he examined something.

"What is it?" She asked quietly, settling a hand on his back as she squatted down beside him.

"Woah, it's- Hold on," He said softly before raising his voice to call out to the two still behind them, "Hey! Look at this. Y'see this?" He pinched a dark piece of wire strung out along the ground between his fingers lightly.

Amber reached out to softly run her fingers over it as well as she examined the thick strand of garotte wire that ran just a few inches above the forest floor. She heard footsteps come up behind them as someone followed to see what they were looking at and she turned her head to find Allison squatting down beside her.

"I think it's a tripwire." Stiles explained to the girls quietly, pulling up on the wire with his index finger.

There was a quiet noise in the leaves behind them and Amber turned to find Scott hanging upside down by his ankle.

"Stiles." She whispered, nudging his shoulder with her hand.

"Hm?" He hummed distractedly, still looking down at the wire in his hands.

"Stiles." Scott said from behind them, his louder than Amber's had been.

"Yeah, buddy?" Stiles asked, finally turning around to look behind them, "-Oh."

"Next time you see a tripwire," Scott started, his momentum carrying him back and forth through the air like a pendulum, "Don't trip it."

Amber immediately went to see if she could help Scott, reaching out to stay him and stop him from swinging back and forth quite so much.

"Noted." Stiles told Scott from behind her.

"Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait!" Scott said frantically, reaching his hands out from where they had been dangling over his head to grab Amber's waist and shove her a step away.

"Wha-" She started before he cut her off.

"Someone's coming." Scott whispered aggressively, looking between his three friends, "Hide!" They all looked around the dark treeline curiously for a moment and Scott huffed, "Go!"

Amber was tugged backwards by Stiles' hand wrapped around her shoulder as he urgently pulled her and Allison back down the slope a few hundred feet. They ducked down close to the ground, peering around the cover of a tree as a group of four figures approached Scott slowly.

One of them squatted down to eye-level with the dangling boy and Amber frowned, entirely unsurprised when she heard Allison's dad's voice.

"Scott." He greeted simply.

"Mr. Argent." Scott greeted back weakly.

"How are you doing?" Chris Argent asked slowly.

Scott shrugged awkwardly from his upside down position, still swinging back and forth through the air slightly.

"Good, y'know. Just hangin' out." Scott joked, looking up at his trapped ankle, "This one of yours?" He questioned, "It's uh, good. Nice design. Very constricting-"

"What are you doing out here, Scott?" Allison's dad asked, unamused.

"Looking for my friend." Scott told him seriously.

"Ah, that's right," Mr. Argent sighed, "Lydia's in your group now, isn't she? A part of your clique? Is that the word you'd use? Or is there another way you'd put it?" He prompted slowly, "Part of your pack?"

"Actually, clique sounds about right to me." Scott answered.

Mr. Argent hummed, "I hope so. Because I know she's a friend of Allison's, and one special circumstance, such as yourself.. One I can handle." He said, "Not two."

There was a silent pause and Amber reached out to nudge her pinky against Stiles' nervously. She let out a small breath when he silently hooked his own finger around hers and locked them together.

"Scott, do you know what a hemicorporectomy is?" Chris Argent asked.

"I have a feeling I don't want to." Scott answered honestly.

"A medical term for amputating somebody at the waist-" The man explained, "Cutting them in half."

Amber's stomach tightened and she let out a shaky breath at the reminder of Laura Hale. Stiles' finger tightened around hers as if he could somehow feel her sudden anxiety and she locked her jaw to keep it from trembling.

"It takes a tremendous amount of strength to cut through tissue and bone like that-" Mr. Argent continued slowly.

She felt like she was going to be sick, the image of the gaping wound at Laura's hips flashing in her mind as clearly as the day she'd stumbled across it on the trail in the woods. She could vividly remember the long smooth cut in the flesh, the lack of hesitation where the blade had torn through her cleanly. She remembered the way she'd so easily been able to see all of the bones and muscles where the lower half of the body had been sliced open.

She was distracted by the memory, her blood pounding so loudly in her ears that she didn't even notice when the group of men left. She was pulled to her feet by Stiles' hands in hers and she blinked as her eyes finally refocused to find him standing in front of her.

"Y'okay?" He asked her quietly.

She nodded slowly, pulling in a deep breath through her nose, "Yeah," She said finally, "Sorry. I- I'm fine."

As she came back to herself, she tugged on his hand and jogged back up to where Scott was still caught in the trap. Stiles released her hand and he and Allison moved over to where he'd tripped the wire in the first place.

"Help me with this." Allison told him as they worked at where the trap was hooked up to a tree trunk.

Amber reached up to pull uselessly at the thick wire around Scott's ankle but he bent at the waist, leaning up, claws sprouting from his fingertips. He sliced them through the wire under her fingers easily and fell down to the ground, landing smoothly on his feet beside her.

"I think I got it." Scott announced with a goofy grin.

She rolled her eyes and reached up to punch him in the shoulder, "Show off." She scoffed.

Scott grinned wider and shrugged at her, reaching up to grab her shoulder and push her back in the direction of their friends.

"How long can we look for Lydia until we, like, desperately need to go home and get to bed for school tomorrow?" Amber asked the group at large.

Scott shrugged, "Maybe eleven?"

"Eleven?" Allison repeated in disbelief, "If I'm not home by nine, my parents will ground me for life."

"Nine?" Amber repeated this time, pulling out her phone to check the time anxiously, "Are you kidding? It's already almost eight!"

Stiles' arm dropped around Amber's shoulders and he pulled her into his side as they walked, "So, we'll look for another hour. My dad has the whole Sheriff's department looking for her, alright?"

She sighed, burrowing further into the warmth of Stiles' torso. A heavy feeling of worry settled deeper into her gut as she realized that if she was cold in sweats and a hoodie, then she couldn't even imagine how Lydia must be feeling.

They needed to find her.

On Monday night, Amber was typing up a search party sign-up sheet to distribute to the teachers at school the following day. She was desperate to find Lydia, but evidently four teenagers and the entire Sheriff's Department just wasn't enough bodies to cover the sheer amount of densely wooded territory that Beacon Hills was home to.

She was shutting down her laptop and stuffing it into her backpack when she noticed a dark figure in the corner of her eye.

"Jesus fucking Christ-" She whispered, flinching and knocking a cup full of pencils and highlighters to the ground with a small crash, "Derek!"

The older werewolf was sitting on the edge of her bed casually, flipping through the book that she'd been reading over the weekend at the hospital. His gaze lifted from the book when he heard her exclamation and he raised his eyebrows with an unimpressed look.

She huffed and bent down to pick up the spilled writing utensils, shoving them back into their cup aggressively, "You need a freaking bell or something." She muttered quietly under her breath as she got to her feet again and placed the cup back onto her desk.

"Or you need better hearing." Derek suggested, "I've been here for five minutes."

"You've-" She spun around to face him and scrunched her face up in irritation, "You could've said something, then. Instead of just lingering around quietly and waiting to give me a heart attack."

"You're not in a very good mood." He observed, closing the book in his hands and setting it back on the nightstand where Amber knew she'd initially left it.

"No. I'm not." She snapped quietly, turning back to her desk to finish putting her school books into her bag. "In case you forgot, I was present for, not one, but two murders a couple of days ago, one of my best friends was bitten by a werewolf and is now missing, and I've had an overall shitty weekend. I'm so very sorry if my mood isn't up to your standards."

"Okay.." Derek said slowly, "Well, I have a proposition for you-"

"Yeah? Well, I have a proposition for you too," She interrupted, spinning back around to face him, "How about you go back in time and not murder the only chance Scott had at being human again. How about that?"

Derek looked taken aback at her hostility, "What?"

"You said yourself that Peter was the only way Scott could be cured," Amber explained, huffing in frustration, "And you still went ahead and ruined it! You- you ripped your own uncle's throat out! I mean, sure, he was a total nut job but-" She took a shaky breath as the image of Derek's bloody clawed hand re-emerged in her mind.

"There is no cure." Derek said simply.

"Yeah, I know!" She snapped, "Because you killed-"

"No," He interrupted sounding wholly exasperated, "There was never a cure, Amber. There's nothing that can reverse the effects of the bite. Ever."

"But-" She faltered, eyebrows furrowing, "But you told Scott-"

Derek sighed a long suffering sigh, "I know what I told Scott. But he was being an idiot and I needed him to focus in order to help me find the Alpha," He explained, "I told him what he wanted to hear. That there was a way to fix everything and that the Alpha was the answer."

"You.. You lied?" She said slowly.

Derek reached up to pinch the bridge of his nose and sighed again, "Yes. I lied."

"There's no cure.. And there never was?" She asked, feeling like she needed clarification one last time.

"There never was." He confirmed.

She moved across the room slowly and sat down on her bed a few feet away from him as the information processed. Derek allowed her to sit silently for a long minute before he stood and crossed the room, moving over to the space in front of the desk that she'd only just vacated. He leaned back against the surface and crossed his arms over his chest, frowning in thought.

"Wasn't there something you wanted to say before?" She realized, watching his behavior with a confused frown.

"I was going to get right into it but now I feel like I should explain things a little first." He said quietly.

"Explaining is good." She nodded slowly, urging him to continue.

He sighed and pinched his face in a tight frown, "All werewolves are drawn with the instinct to be a part of a pack," He started, watching her closely to be sure she was following, "But the instinct is different for Alphas. Stronger."

"That's why Peter bit Scott that night in the woods." She deduced.

Derek nodded, "Even out of his mind, he knew he needed a Beta to take up a pack bond with. Needed it in order to lessen some of that instinct- To make it bearable."

"And now.." She started slowly, "Now that you're the Alpha, you're feeling that instinct?"

"Yes."

She nodded, pulling her legs up underneath herself on the mattress and toying with her fingers in her lap as she thought, "What does it feel like?" She asked curiously, "The instinct to build a pack."

"It feels like shit." He said simply, "It's like- It's like a hollow feeling of loneliness. I felt it, when Laura died.. When I was a Beta and on my own for the first time, but-"

"But?" Amber prompted after a second of silence.

"But it's a hundred times worse as an Alpha," He explained, "Borderline painful. Just, this stabbing longing in your gut for something you don't have."

"But don't you have a Beta?" She asked, "I mean, Scott's a part of your pack now, right?"

Derek shook his head, "I'd feel it if he was. Scott doesn't want to be a part of my pack."

She frowned and Derek continued.

"-But I thought maybe you might."

"That I might what?" She questioned in confusion.

"Want to be a part of my pack." He finished, uncrossing his arms and placing his hands back to rest on the desk on either side of him.

"Like-" She blinked in shock, "Like, as a werewolf?"

"Yes. As a werewolf."

"I don't want to be a werewolf." She said quickly.

Derek frowned like he was truly perplexed, "You don't?"

"No!" She told him, "Wh- Why would I want to become a werewolf? Are you joking?"

"Why wouldn't you?" He prompted, "I mean, you'll be as strong as Scott. You'll be able to hear, see, and smell better. You'll be able to protect yourself-"

"While also attacking my best friends?" She finished incredulously, "No way."

Derek shook his head, "I'd help you control that. We could wait until after Wednesday and then we'd have a whole month before the next full moon-"

"No." She said again, "I- I don't want to be a werewolf."

His shoulders seemed to slump a fraction when he realized her decision had been made, "Fine."

She rose from the bed and approached him with a frown, "I'm sorry, Derek."

"It's fine." He told her again.

"We- We can figure something else out, though. I mean, I could help you find someone and then by the next full moon-"

"I already have someone else." He told her.

"I- You what?" She asked, looking up at him in alarm.

"I'm going to do it tomorrow." He said easily, "I watched him over the weekend to make sure he was the right choice for the pack. I'm going to talk to him tonight so he has some time to think about it and then tomorrow I'm going to give him the bite."

"Wh- He? He who?" She prodded, "And.. You're going to bite him a day before the full moon? Have you actually lost your mind?"

"I wasn't initially planning on doing it so soon, but circumstances-"

"Circumstances?" She repeated in disbelief, "What kind of circumstances could possibly justify turning someone into a werewolf with only twenty-four hours to prepare before the full moon?"

"The kid needs to be able to defend himself or there's a pretty good chance his piece of shit dad's gonna kill him." Derek explained after a moment of hesitation.

"'Kid'?" She questioned after he finished, "How old qualifies as 'kid'?"

"He's sixteen." Derek said, "Goes to your school. Isaac Lahey."

"Isaac Lahey?" She repeated slowly, her eyes drifting to the wall behind the werewolf as she pictured the outrageously tall boy on the lacrosse team.

"Yes."

Her eyes snapped back to Derek with a glare, "And how exactly are you planning on stopping Isaac from attacking and killing someone at school if he gets a little angry? Huh?"

"Isaac doesn't get angry." He said simply.

"Wh- Everybody gets angry." She argued.

"Not Isaac." Derek replied, "Kid's too scared to get angry."

"Scared of what?" She asked quietly.

"His dad. Himself. Everyone and everything around him." Derek listed off easily.

Amber shook her head and took a small step back, "His dad's that bad?" She asked softly, "You really aren't sure if Isaac will be dead in the next couple of days.. Because of his dad?"

Derek nodded.

"Okay.." She sighed, shaking her hands out at her sides, "Okay, we can figure this out-"

"We don't need to figure anything out," He interrupted, "You don't want to be a part of the pack and I don't need your help."

"You don't need my-?" She stammered, "Wh- Of course you need my help."

Derek's eyes narrowed, "I don't need any help controlling my pack. Especially not from a sixteen year old little girl."

"I- You came to me." She pointed out.

There was a moment of silence before he responded, "Yeah. Clearly that was a mistake."

He turned to leave and she followed after him in distress, "Wh- Derek don't be like that-"

"You want to stay human. That's fine." He told her without looking back, "But if you stay human, then stay out of things."

She opened her mouth to respond but he was already gone.

Amber got to the school on Tuesday morning early with the intent of getting the fliers printed out and distributed between the teachers before the start of first period at eight o'clock. She was surprised when she climbed out of her car at six forty-five to see Stiles and Scott tumbling out of the Jeep and heading toward the building already.

"Hey!" She called out, jogging to catch up with them as they walked up the path to the school, "Guys, wait up!"

Scott and Stiles both turned to her in confusion.

"What are you doing here so early?" Stiles asked curiously.

"I'm printing out the fliers for the search party tonight and then I was gonna work on my World History project in the Library until English." She explained, shivering when the breeze blew across her bare legs beneath the thick woven fabric of her sweater dress, "Do you guys have a morning practice or something?"

They both nodded.

"Every day this week." Scott told her.

She looked over at Stiles and watched him readjust his backpack over his shoulder awkwardly.

Amber's posture slumped as she regarded him, "Uh, what- What were you guys talking about?"

"Lydia." Scott supplied easily, flinching when Stiles elbowed him in the side aggressively.

"Why?" She asked quickly, "What happened now?"

Stiles shook his head with a sigh, "We think she raided a casket at the graveyard at like three o'clock this morning."

"'Raided a casket'?" She repeated, "What does that mean? What would she want from a dead person?"

"Apparently their liver." Stiles supplied.

"What?" Amber squeaked in surprise. "What would she do with a liver?"

"Eat it." Scott said with a disgusted wince.

"I never said she ate it. I just said that's what was missing." Stiles disagreed, wrapping an arm around Amber's shoulders over her backpack straps as he started walking toward the school building again, "And y'know what? Even if she did, so what? It's the most nutritious part of the body."

Amber gagged at the thought.

"I never ate anyone's liver." Scott pointed out.

Amber scoffed, "Yeah, because when it comes to werewolves, you're a real model of self-control." She said sarcastically.

"Actually, wait." Stiles stopped walking suddenly, his arm tightening around Amber's shoulder as he looked over at Scott, "Hold on. You're the test case for this," Stiles told Scott, "So, we should be going over what happened to you."

"What d'you mean?" Scott asked in confusion.

"I mean, like, what was going through your mind when you were turning, y'know? What were you drawn to?" Stiles asked.

Scott shrugged, "Allison."

Amber rolled her eyes with a deep sigh as she let her head fall back to rest over Stiles' arm, reaching up to fist her hand in the soft material of the heavy brown flannel he was wearing.

"God. Nothing else?" She asked Scott, "Seriously?"

Scott shrugged at his best friends, "Nothing else mattered. But- No. That's good though, right?" He asked, looking between them slowly, "'Cause the night that Lydia was bit, she was with the two of you."

Stiles sighed, his fingers gripping Amber's shoulder tight, "Yeah, but.. She was looking for Jackson."

They all frowned in thought and after a few moments, Amber reached up to pull Stiles' arm from around her back.

"Alright. We'll talk more about this later," She told them both, "But I need to go print off a bunch of sign-up sheets and you guys need to go get changed for practice."

Scott nodded and took a step toward the side entrance near the locker rooms, pausing in confusion and looking back at them when Stiles didn't immediately follow behind him.

"I'll be right there." Stiles promised, making a face at Scott over Amber's shoulder that she couldn't decipher the meaning of.

"Alright, dude." Scott agreed with a quiet laugh, "See you in there."

"What was that about?" Amber asked as she turned her head to watch Scott walk inside alone.

Her gaze drifted back over to Stiles and he had his lips pulled together nervously, his hand gripping the strap of his backpack tight, "I, uh, I wanted to say goodbye. Y'know, privately."

"Goodbye?" She chuckled, "I'm gonna see you in like an hour in English. I sit right in front of you, remember? Just like I have all year.. And, what-? Privately?"

"Nevermind."

Stiles huffed in annoyance and his gaze dropped to the sidewalk under their feet for a moment before he took a step to follow after Scott.

"Ohh.. Oh!" She realized suddenly, reaching out to grab his arm, "No, no! Wait, I'm sorry. You meant like-" She swallowed, continuing more quietly, "Like, a romantic goodbye?"

He shrugged, "Yeah."

She smiled at how cute he was, standing in front of her, looking adorably nervous. She bit down on her lower lip in an attempt to hide how ridiculously giddy she felt at having his thoughts focussed on her romantically.

"Okay." She told him softly.

"Okay?" He repeated.

"Okay. I'd like my romantic goodbye, now." She grinned.

"Oh, I- Okay." He said nervously, looking at the other students loitering around them for a moment before his eyes went back to her.

He took a small step closer, reaching up to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear as he leaned in painfully slow and she lifted onto her toes, gripping the loose lapels of his flannel between her fingers as she met his lips halfway.

She got lost in the feeling of his mouth on hers after a moment and when he parted his lips slightly on one of his slow, soft, repetitive kisses, she tugged at his flannel and unconsciously licked her tongue into the small opening of his mouth to quickly brush against his.

His hand spread out over the side of her face and he guided her to tilt her head so that his own tongue could follow on the next deeper kiss. Her fingers tightened further around the thick fabric of his overshirt, head hazy and unable to focus on anything except the points of contact between them.

She reeled back, flinching in surprise, as someone wolf-whistled at them from a few feet away.

"Oops." Stiles said quietly, a small smile on his lips as he dropped his hand down over the top of her shoulder.

"You should go get changed for practice." She told him breathlessly, eyes still focussed on the soft shine their kiss had left over his lips.

"Yeah." He agreed, making no move to put any distance between them, continuing to look at her with a goofy grin on his face.

"I think that'll require going to the locker room and y'know.. Getting changed." She prompted gently.

He sighed dramatically in feigned annoyance, "Yeah, okay-" He pressed his lips to her cheekbone in a quick kiss and dashed off toward the school's side entrance.

Amber stood in place for a few seconds, stunned. She lifted her fingers to brush delicately over the place where his mouth had left a clumsy kiss over her cheek, biting down on her lip to contain her smile. She laughed quietly to herself before shaking her head and walking down the path toward the main entrance of the building.

Once she was inside, she headed into the Library to print off several copies of the sign-up fliers she'd drafted the night before.

With a large stack of the fliers printed and ready, she pulled out a notebook and settled into one of the tables to jot down bits and pieces of information she needed to finish her project for World History. She worked on her assignment for just under an hour before she hurriedly put away the books she'd been using and packed her things back up, dashing out of the Library with the stack of sign-up sheets in her hands.

She rushed around to all of the classrooms to get a copy on each teacher's desk before taking off in the direction of the boy's locker room, hoping to catch Coach Finstock before he let the boys shower and get changed for classes.

She was nearly there when she spotted the back of Isaac Lahey's tall frame, still wearing his jersey from their morning practice and carrying his lacrosse bag over his shoulder, clearly the last one to come back inside from the field.

"Isaac!" She called, running up behind him.

The boy flinched at the volume of her voice and turned to face her in surprise. She frowned when her gaze caught on the dark purpling bruise over his left eye and her steps faltered momentarily before she regained her focus.

"Hi, Isaac." She greeted with what she hoped was a reassuring smile, fighting the urge to look at his injured eye.

"Um, hi." He said slowly, looking around as if he was unsure why she was speaking to him.

"What's up?" She asked casually.

"Uh," He slowed his steps to match her shorter stride and readjusted his bag over his shoulder, "I'm heading to the locker room. Lacrosse team had a morning practice."

"Yeah, me too!" She told him. Isaac looked at her in confusion and she continued, "I mean, not 'me too' like I had morning practice too. I'm just heading to the locker room. Gotta give this flier to Finstock." She supplied, waving the paper in her hands in show.

"Okay." He said slowly.

"I, um, I also wanted to talk to you." She said carefully.

"What about?" Isaac asked in confusion.

"I, um-" She paused, "I know Derek. Derek Hale."

Isaac's eyes widened and he looked around them quickly before his eyes drifted over her in scrutiny, "Are- Are you-?"

"No," She told him quickly, "But I know that Derek offered to-"

"I, uh, I should get in there. Gotta get changed or I'll end up being late for first period." Isaac interrupted, pushing the locker room door open and slipping inside before she could respond.

She looked at the empty space where he'd been standing a moment before and sighed before cautiously going through the door after him. She made her way through the changing room toward Coach Finstock's office at the back, where she handed him the flier as she explained the plan she'd gone over with the principal and Stiles' dad the day before.

He yanked the paper from her hands and stepped out of his office, "I have an announcement!" He yelled, pulling the attention of the teenage boys around him, "Gather 'round! Quicker!"

Coach nodded for her to step up beside him as the team slowly made their way to huddle in the area in front of his office. The teacher held his hand up to block her eyes for a moment and she blinked in surprise at the fingers in front of her face.

"Danny, put a shirt on." Coach berated quickly before dropping his hand, "Let's go! Gather 'round." He repeated, waiting until the boys in front of him gave him their full attention urging Amber to speak.

"Um, right." She said awkwardly, looking around at the lacrosse team, "So, the police are asking for help on a missing child advisory.. It's a, um, a sick girl roaming around.. It's my friend Lydia-"

"She's totally naked." Coach Finstock interrupted.

There was a small round of chuckles among the team members and someone at the back of the group whistled. Amber glared as she looked over the group of boys in front of her, meeting Stiles' gaze where he was giving her a reassuring smile as Coach continued.

"Now, it's supposed to get down to forty degrees tonight. I don't know about you, but the last time it was that cold and I was running around naked, I lost a testicle to exposure." He paused, seemingly lost in thought, and Amber frowned and reached up to give their teacher an awkward pat on his shoulder. He shook his head and the action seemed to refocus him quickly, "Now, I don't want the same thing happening to some innocent girl. So, police are organizing search parties for tonight."

He held up the flier in his hand and made a show of taping it to the outside of his office door.

"You sign up-" He told the group, "And you get an automatic 'A' in my classes."

The team cheered excitedly and rushed toward the sign up sheet, pushed past Amber and Coach Finstock as they hurried to write their names on the piece of paper.

She moved through the crowd of boys to look for Stiles and Scott and found them at the back of the room talking quietly. She brushed her hand over the back of Stiles' practice jersey as she stepped up beside them.

"What's up?" She asked curiously.

"We're gonna ask for Jackson's help finding Lydia," Scott told her quietly, peering behind himself at where Jackson was standing a few feet away, "If she's drawn to him, then maybe-"

"Jackson!" Amber called immediately, stepping around Scott and heading toward the other boy as her best friends both made quiet noises of dissent behind her. Jackson scowled at her as she approached and she continued toward him with a sharp look, "You're going to help us find Lydia." She told him.

"That- That's not exactly how we were planning on proposing the idea-" Stiles said quietly, stepping up behind her and resting a hand on her shoulder.

Jackson looked between the three of them with an unimpressed frown, "If Lydia wants to take a naked hike in the woods, why should I care?"

"Because a normal human being with feelings would be worried about her." She said sharply.

"-Also, because we have a pretty good idea that she might be-" Scott paused, looking around them cautiously before finishing in a quiet voice, "Y'know.. Turning."

"Turning?" Jackson repeated blankly.

"Yeah, turning." Scott replied slowly.

Jackson looked between the three of them again in confusion, "Into-?"

"A unicorn." Stiles snapped sarcastically after a moment of silence, "What do you think, dumbass?"

"Well, I think if Lydia's turning, she's not the one who's gonna need help." Jackson told them.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Amber asked, annoyed with his vagueness.

Jackson sighed, "You've got it all backwards. When I was with Lydia, you should've seen the scratch marks she left on me." He said with a smug grin, "What do you think she's gonna do with a set of real claws?" He laughed at the stunned look on their faces quietly and pushed past them.

Amber to a step to follow after him, angry at the derogatory comment within the implication, but Scott and Stiles both pulled her back with hands on her arms. She turned to face her best friends with a dark look still clouding her features.

"Y'know, for the record, he's completely full of shit because I know for a fact he isn't even that good in bed-" She revealed quietly. Stiles and Scott both looked at her in shock and she shook her head, "Not- Gross, not like that. Just- Girls talk about those things, so y'know-"

"They do?" Scott and Stiles both asked, sounding equal parts nervous.

"Yeah?" She told them in confusion.

"Girls.. They talk to each other about, like-" Scott stammered with wide eyes, "Whether it was good, or- Or average, or terrible, or whatever?"

She shrugged, "Yeah.. Do guys not do that?"

They both shook their heads and Scott spoke in a hushed voice, "It's more just like, 'hey, dude, I had sex', y'know? It's.. We don't really go into detail."

"Huh." Amber said as she processed the information. Her mind flashed with the in depth analyses Lydia had given her over the last seven months of her and Jackson's different sexual encounters, "Yeah.. Girls definitely go into detail."

"That's.. Terrifying." Stiles stated.

Scott nodded in agreement and they settled into a small lapse of silence as all three of them processed the new information they'd been given.

When third period rolled around, Amber entered the Chemistry classroom and moved toward the empty space beside Stiles, leaning down to press an enthusiastic kiss to the back of his head as she passed by. She dropped her books down on the table and settled onto the stool beside the window, turning her head to look at the boy beside her.

Stiles had a barely-there flush on his cheeks and he was already looking over at her with a dopey grin, his left cheek dimpling cutely.

"Hi." She greeted quietly.

"Hey." He replied.

"You guys are disgusting." Scott's voice announced from the table in front of them.

They both flinched in surprise and turned their heads to look at Scott.

Amber recovered quickly and leaned onto her elbows on the table, "Thanks." She grinned at Scott.

He shook his head with a small smile, "It wasn't a compliment."

She pulled out a pencil and her smile faded into a frown as Mr. Harris stood from his desk at the front of the room with a stack of papers just as the final bell rang out in the hallway.

"Alright." Mr. Harris said loudly, dropping small stacks of paper onto the tables at the front of the room, "You're going to do a pop quiz on chapters seven and eight so that I can monitor just how little you all are truly retaining." He told the class, looking around the room with a blank stare as everyone groaned quietly, "Once you have a quiz, you may begin."

Amber frowned as the papers were passed back slowly. Scott turned around to drop the quizzes on her and Stiles' table and he gave them a wide-eyed look of panic at the surprise assessment.

"You've got this, Scott." She whispered reassuringly, tapping her pencil eraser rhythmically on the tabletop as she lied.

He nodded at her with a quiet sigh and turned back around.

When she reached over to grab a paper from the stack, her gaze caught Stiles' and he raised his eyebrows in reference to the admittedly unrealistic comment of reassurance she'd made to Scott. She pouted at him with a small shrug before pointedly turning her attention to the quiz on the table in front of her.

She was halfway through the questions on the paper when Stiles leaned forward onto his elbows over the table to whisper between her and Scott.

"Alright, it's causing me severe mental anguish to say this, but.. I think Jackson's right." He told them quietly, his mind evidently on Lydia instead of Chemistry.

"I know." Scott responded in a hushed voice, angling his head back toward them slightly as he spoke.

"What if the next body part she steals is from someone who's still alive?" Stiles whispered again.

Amber's stomach clenched painfully at the thought, but it faded quick when Mr. Harris' sharp voice filled the quiet room and made her flinch in surprise.

"This is a pop quiz, Mr. Stilinski." Their teacher said, glaring toward the back of the room over the brim of his small glasses, "If I hear your voice again, I might be tempted to give you detention for the rest of your high school career."

"Can you do that?" Stiles questioned immediately with wide eyes.

Amber reached out under the table to wrap her hand around his knee that was jutting toward her, squeezing in a silent plea for him to keep quiet.

"There it is again. Your voice-" Mr. Harris said with an irritated scowl, "Triggering the only impulse I've ever had to strike a student.. Repeatedly. And violently."

Amber bit down painfully on her lip in an effort to remain silent as Stiles' jaw dropped in disbelief beside her.

"I'll see you at three for detention." Mr. Harris stated, eyes drifting over to where Amber's face was pinched in frustration beside Stiles, "You too, Miss Callisto?"

She shook her head as she continued to bite down on her lower lip and Mr. Harris nodded in support of her decision to remain silent before he turned his attention back down to something on the desk in front of him.

She huffed a quiet breath of frustration through her nose and squeezed Stiles' knee reassuringly one final time before returning to her quiz.

"Dude.. Your nose." She heard Danny whisper from behind them after only a few seconds had passed, "You okay?"

She turned her head curiously to peer back toward Danny's table, watching as Jackson lifted a hand up to his face to cover what appeared to be a bad bloody nose. The boy pushed up from his chair quickly and rushed from the classroom and Amber watched him go with a small frown before shaking her head and turning her attention back to her quiz yet again.

At the end of the school day, Amber stood at her locker, clumsily stuffing her books into the backpack she had clenched between her knees as she hurriedly tried to collect her things. The sooner she got out into the woods to look for Lydia, the sooner she could actually find her friend.

And she wanted to find Lydia.. Like, yesterday.

"Here, let me help-" A voice said from just behind the door of her locker.

Her eyes snapped up in surprise and she watched the boy who had a locker three doors down from hers approach her. They'd never spoken, but he was on the lacrosse team and currently had his hand held out in an offering to take her bag. She hesitated in surprise for a moment and he gave her a friendly smile, raising his eyebrows in question as he reached toward her bag cautiously.

"Oh," She jumped, pulling the bag from between her legs and handing it over, "Thanks, Matt."

"No problem," He smiled, "You looked like you were struggling."

She laughed quietly and pulled a few notebooks she needed from her locker, "I was, actually. It's a lot easier when I'm wearing jeans and I can just squat down or prop my bag up on my knee or whatever."

He held her backpack open for her when she turned to tuck the notebooks inside and she heard him take a small nervous breath, "That.. That's a really nice dress." He complimented quietly, nodding his head in a gesture to her outfit.

"Oh," She blinked in surprise as she closed her locker, "I- Thanks." Her eyes caught on the large expensive looking wide-lens camera hanging around his neck as she turned and zipped her bag closed, "That's a nice camera. Are you a photographer for the paper, or yearbook, or something?"

Matt shook his head, relinquishing the bag to her as he responded, "Nah, I just take pictures for pleasure. It's more of a hobby than anything else."

"Oh, that's cool. Are you any good?" She commented conversationally, "Or- Is that a really annoying question?" She laughed, pulling her backpack straps over her shoulders.

Matt looked pleased, his posture seeming to straighten up a little at her curiosity, "Yeah, I think I'm alright." He smiled, "Maybe- Maybe I could show you some of my stuff sometime?"

"Yeah, sure. Sounds cool." She agreed, taking a small step to the side and pointing down the hallway, "I actually really need to get going, but- It was nice talking to you."

"Oh, yeah," Matt grinned, "You too."

She gave him another small smile before she moved toward the front entrance of the school. She needed to find Lydia before something terrible inevitably happened.

Amber hiked through the woods for nearly three and a half hours with absolutely no sign of Lydia. By nightfall, the temperature had already dropped significantly and she huffed out a foggy breath into the air as she finally clicked on her flashlight.

As the evening grew colder, she found herself feeling like an idiot for wearing a dress, even if it was a thick knit sweater that normally left her feeling a touch too warm, because while her torso was a comfortable temperature, her bare legs were covered in goosebumps.

She continued hiking in the dark for another thirty minutes before she heard a twig snap quietly in the distance. Her heart stuttered in her chest nervously and she took a shaky breath before making the decision to call out for her friend.

"Lydia?" She asked cautiously, continuing through the trees and shining her flashlight out into the darkness.

The beam of light caught on something pale white behind a tree and she took a few more quick steps forward to get a better look. The glow from the flashlight illuminated Lydia's naked body and Amber stumbled, scraping her knee roughly on the bark of the tree as she hurriedly ran toward her friend.

"Lydia!" Amber cried out in relief, watching the redhead take a small step over a rock with her arms wrapped tightly around herself.

Amber dropped her flashlight to the ground as she stepped in front of her friend and reached up to grip Lydia's arms. Amber looked into her friend's empty distant gaze and she tightened her hands around the other girl's cold arms.

"Lydia?" She asked softly, reaching up gently to move a knotted lock of her strawberry blonde hair out of her face, "You're okay. I'm gonna get you home, okay, Lyds?"

Lydia's eyes locked on hers for a second and the redhead nodded distractedly.

"Okay." Amber said softly in relief. Her hand on Lydia's arm tightened over her icy skin and Amber's heart stuttered anxiously, "Okay, we- We'll need to warm you up slowly, right?" She asked quietly, not really expecting an answer.

She quickly dropped her hands from Lydia to pull off her dress, stripping down to her underwear without a second thought. Amber righted the thick knitted material now in her hands and slowly reached up to tug the fabric down over Lydia's head, untangling her friends arms slowly from where they were hugging her own chest to help guide her hands through the thick sleeves.

Lydia's body shivered at the sudden warmth enveloping her and Amber rubbed her hands up and down Lydia's arms worriedly.

"Is that a little better?" Amber asked quickly, "A little warmer?"

Lydia nodded minutely again and Amber looked down at her friend's bare feet nervously. Without hesitation, she pulled off her socks and sneakers, kneeling down in the dirt to help Lydia slide them both onto her freezing feet.

After she was done, Amber retrieved her abandoned flashlight from the ground and stood back up. She looked Lydia over and nodded to herself once she determined that she'd done the best she could until they made it out of the preserve.

She held out her hand toward her friend and Lydia looked at with a hollow gaze it for a few slow seconds before lacing their fingers together. Amber tightened her grip around Lydia's cold hand and pulled on her arm gently to lead her back toward the path she'd been following earlier.

As they walked, Amber's whole body erupted into goosebumps, dressed now in only the thin dark lace of her bra and underwear. She led Lydia as quickly as she could manage while still being careful not to rush her fragile-looking friend.

"Lydia, you have no idea how glad I am that you're okay," Amber admitted quietly as they walked, "We've been looking for you for days, you know. I was so worried that-" Her words cut off just before she could bring up the hunters who were also searching for her, "Just- I was really worried about you."

Lydia remained silent again but her fingers tightened a fraction around Amber's hand and that was as good of a response as anything she could've verbalized.

Amber's teeth were beginning to chatter and her toes were going numb as the cold earth seeped into her feet with every step. The numbness in her toes began to make it confusingly difficult to watch her step over twigs, and rocks, and tree roots when she couldn't even feel them beneath her.

They were only halfway down toward the trail entrance when she caught sight of flashing emergency lights through the trees and she made a quick decision to pull Lydia off of the path to head in that direction instead.

As they got closer, she could make out the different colors flashing of both an ambulance and a police vehicle. She reached out to move a large branch that was obstructing their path to the road. She clicked off her flashlight as she pulled the branch to the side, releasing Lydia's hand and urging her to go ahead of her through the narrow treeline.

"Lydia?" A voice said quietly as the redhead exited the woods and stepped out into the open, "Lydia!"

It was only when she heard his shout that Amber realized it was Stiles' voice. She stepped out from behind Lydia and continued to urge her friend forward. Her gaze lifted up to find Stiles and his dad standing a few yards away, staring at the two girls in astonishment.

Amber shivered violently and Lydia seemed to catch sight of it in the corner of her eye. The redhead blinked as she seemed to finally come back to herself and looked at the two Stilinski's with an unimpressed frown.

"Well?" Lydia asked, holding an arm out to gesture toward her friend's nearly naked body, "Is anyone gonna to get her a coat?"

Amber laughed quietly at her friend's typical snark but it came out as more of a trembling gasp as her body shuddered from the cold. Her eyes found Stiles but he was seemingly focused on her distinct lack of clothing, staring with his mouth open in awe.

He wasn't able to meet her gaze, struck dumb as his eyes drank in every blissful inch of bare skin on her shivering body. The only remaining thought in his head was dedicated to memorizing each and every curve adorning her nearly naked body. Until this very moment, the sight was one that he'd only ever been graced with in swimsuits — that, while perfect and incredible and had worked as fuel for many of Stiles' late night fantasies — couldn't possibly hold a candle to the thin lace weakly attempting to conceal her goosebump-ridden skin now.

His eyes found the unlined cups of her bra, the painfully hard buds poking through the material in the cold air and practically begging to break free, the dark lace pulled tight over the curves of her breasts.

He's nearly high with the static in his brain, blood rapidly rushing south and rendering him mildly dizzy as he reached up to grab ahold of the Sheriff's uniform jacket, pulling distractedly at the shoulder as he tugged the material down his dad's back without tearing his hungry eyes from what might very well be the most important thing he'd ever set sight on.

He yanked at the coat while stepping toward the two girls, head spinning and managing to trip over his own feet, hands slipping from the fabric when he fell and was forced to try to catch himself before he could hit the ground.

"Jesus." Sheriff Stilinski muttered, shaking his head at his son and stepping around the fallen boy to approach the girls, "Yep, here y'go." He said, pulling his coat off the rest of the way and draping it around Amber's shoulders.

She gasped a shaky breath at the warmth inside of the heavy jacket and couldn't help but shiver again.

The Sheriff's gaze drifted over the other deputies surrounding them and his eyes narrowed at the way they were blatantly staring. He turned back toward Amber and stepped in front of her protectively, instructing her to slide her arms through the sleeves and then tugging the coat closed around her. He zipped it up to the girl's neck before he stepped back and allowed his son to approach.

The Sheriff led Lydia away toward the ambulance that was already present while Stiles stumbled to stand in front of Amber.

"I found her." She stated obviously, shivering again.

Stiles nodded, eyes dropping to the long expanse of her bare legs beneath his dad's jacket before he dragged his gaze back up to her face.

"Did- did you just check me out?" She laughed quietly, "Because it wasn't subtle, like, at all."

"I- you're in your underwear." He observed, licking his lips nervously.

"Lydia was in the nude." She countered easily, "It was a pretty easy decision."

"Right." He nodded, blinking at her distractedly like he wasn't really seeing her.

"You're still just picturing me in my underwear?" She questioned slowly.

"Yeah." He told her honestly.

She shook her head with a fond smile, stepping forward to wrap her arms around his neck. She burrowed her cold nose into the warmth of his neck and sighed contentedly against his skin.

"I can't feel my toes." She admitted in a muffled voice against the collar of his flannel.

He reached up to rest his hands on her back, "Where's your car?"

"At the bottom of the trail on route 5." She told him as the tip of her nose began to warm back to a normal temperature.

"I'll give you a ride." He told her immediately, rubbing one of his hands up and down her spine as if he were trying to rub some warmth into her body.

She nodded against his neck before pulling back slightly in his arms. Her eyes flicked slowly over his face and she was pleasantly surprised when he tilted his head to press his lips against her cold mouth.

When he pulled back, she sighed happily as her eyes fluttered open again, "Lemme just go say goodbye to Lydia real quick."

Stiles agreed and jogged down the road to where he'd hidden his own vehicle when he and Scott had snuck onto the scene earlier.

She turned to the other side of the street and stepped around the side of the ambulance, her gaze locked on Sheriff Stilinski standing beside his patrol car. He waved her over and she followed his command easily, stepping past the ambulance and walking toward where Lydia was sitting in the open door of the police vehicle.

A paramedic was shining a small penlight into the redhead's eyes as he checked the dilation of her pupils, he apparently approved of whatever he saw because he tucked the light away and stepped back from the vehicle. The man nodded his head and said something quietly to the Sheriff as Amber stepped into space he'd vacated at the side of the car.

"Hey, Lyds." She said softly, squatting down in front of her friend, "You okay?"

Lydia huffed and pulled at the hem of her borrowed sweater, "You don't need to speak to me like I'm a child."

"Sorry." She apologized quickly, "I didn't mean to. I just.. I was really worried about you."

"I'm fine now." Lydia told her simply, still looking down at her own lap.

Amber reached up to tuck a strand of tangled strawberry blonde hair behind her ear, "You don't have to say that to try to appease me." She told her, "I want you to be okay, but if you're not, that's alright, y'know?"

Lydia sighed and locked her eyes with Amber's determinedly, "I'm fine."

She frowned but nodded, "Okay.. I just, I came over to tell you Stiles is driving me back to where I left my car down the road."

"Okay." Lydia shrugged, "You don't need my permission to run off with your boytoy."

"Gross. My boytoy?" Amber laughed quietly.

Lydia cracked a smile and rolled her eyes, "Yep."

Amber shook her head, "Okay, well.. D'you mind if I swing by to see you after school tomorrow?"

Lydia frowned in confusion, "I'll be at school tomorrow." She stated.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Amber questioned worriedly.

"What did I say about speaking to me like I'm a child?" Lydia huffed quietly in annoyance.

"I- Sorry, I just- That seems so soon after.. Everything."

"I am going to school tomorrow." Lydia repeated sternly.

"Alright." Amber sighed, rising to stand, "Then I'll see you tomorrow. Do- Do you maybe want a ride in the morning?"

Lydia pulled her lips back in thought, "Sure, that would be nice."

Amber nodded before leaning into the car to wrap her arms tightly around Lydia's shoulders, pressing her mouth against the mess of her hair in a soft kiss, "I'm so glad you're okay." She repeated softly one final time.

When she leaned back out of the doorway, her throat felt stupidly tight with affection and relief but she managed to give Lydia a pained smile anyway.

Lydia returned her smile softly when she saw the influx of emotion on her friend's face, "See you tomorrow."

Amber nodded, focusing intently on not sniffling before she spoke, "See you." She said quickly before turning to rush over toward Stiles.

When the Jeep pulled up along the road, Amber climbed into the passenger side quickly, immediately pulling her legs up to her chest inside of the heavy jacket she was wearing.

"I've literally never been this cold." She muttered as she reached to buckle her seat belt around her legs awkwardly.

"Yeah, that can happen if you're hiking through the woods naked when it's thirty-eight degrees outside." Stiles told her, glancing over at her worriedly as he drove down the road.

"Right, yeah. That makes sense." She laughed, bending to blow a puff of warm breath into the opening of the jacket around her chest.

"I- Is your brother home tonight?" He asked after a moment.

She looked across the dark car at him as her brows furrowed, "No.. Why?" She asked skeptically.

"I just- I don't really want to leave you alone." He admitted softly.

"I'm cold, Stiles. I'm not concussed." She laughed quietly. There were a few short seconds of silence before she continued, "I really wanna use my own shower, but if you- I mean, you don't need to try and convince me. If you wanna stay the night, you can."

Stiles let out what looked like a relieved breath and she laughed quietly again as he turned into the small dirt turnoff where her little yellow Pacer was parked.

"Did you think I wouldn't let you sleep over?" She questioned curiously.

He shrugged, "I mean- I don't know. Maybe."

She frowned, "We sleep over at each other's houses all the time."

"I didn't know if maybe it would be, I don't know- Different.. Now." He admitted quietly.

Her frown deepened, "I- D'you think it should?" She asked, "Should it be different now that we're-"

"No." Stiles said quickly, "I mean, I don't want it to be different. Well, I want it to be different, what with the kissing and- Y'know. But I don't want the other stuff to be different."

She sighed in relief, "Good. I- Same." She agreed, "Because, I mean, no matter what, you and Scott will always be my best friends in the world."

"Same." He repeated easily.

"Okay." She nodded, straightening her legs back out from beneath the jacket and unbuckling her seatbelt. "So, I'll meet you at my place then? D'you just need to run home to get your stuff?"

He nodded, "Yeah. Lacrosse practice at seven again." He reminded her, "But I shouldn't be long, maybe fifteen minutes."

"Okay, cool." She smiled, "I'll see you then."

She turned to reach for the door handle but Stiles leaned across the vehicle and turned her face back toward him gently with a hand on her cheek. She made a quiet noise of surprise but before she could really question his intentions, his mouth was pressed softly against hers.

He leaned back quickly and nodded his head toward the door behind her with a small smile, permitting her to leave now that he'd given her a kiss goodbye.

"See you." Stiles finally responded softly.

Her stomach erupted with butterflies and she bit down on a smile as she pulled on the door handle that was still under her hand.

When she climbed into the shower ten minutes later, Amber had to actively fight against the instinct to climb in underneath a spray of scalding hot water. Instead, she turned the water to a sad lukewarm temperature that still managed to feel blessedly warm when it ran over her frozen skin.

She cleaned her hair and body while the water slowly raised her body temperature and only after she'd scrubbed away any remnants of the forest and shaved her legs, did she finally let herself crank the temperature up.

The spray of water began to steam around her and the heat caused her body to erupt into pleasant goosebumps from the shock of it. She tipped her head back under the spray, letting the hot stream of water run down over her face as she blew out a relieved breath.

There was a sudden, loud knocking at the bathroom door and she flinched with a gasp, knocking her elbow painfully against the tiled shower wall as she heard Stiles' voice from the hallway.

"Hey, I'm here." He called out through the closed door.

She spit out a small bit of water that had gotten into her mouth and reached to shut off the water, "Okay, sorry! I'll be out in a minute!"

Stiles gave her his assent before presumably leaving to head toward the bedroom while she climbed out of the shower and pulled on a pair of pajama shorts and a short-cropped tshirt.

When she stepped into her bedroom, Stiles was already changed into sweats, laying on his stomach on the bed and doing homework. She moved to her own backpack to pull out her phone, her Algebra II notebook, and calculator before flopping down onto the mattress beside him.

"What're you working on?" She asked curiously, leaning close and peering over his shoulder to look at the page in front of him, instantly recognizing the Chemistry problems that she'd already finished in class that morning.

"Chem." He supplied distractedly as his pencil moved across the paper.

She flipped open her own notebook and finished up the math problems her AP class had been assigned, gnawing absentmindedly on her lower lip as she worked. It took her about thirty minutes to finish her assignment and she flipped her notebook closed once she was done, turning her head to look at Stiles and finding his gaze already focused on her.

A small smile pulled at her lips, "Wh-"

He leaned in and cut off her words with a kiss.

The way his lips pressed against hers was more firm and intentional than the last several quick kisses they'd shared. She found herself leaning in enthusiastically as his mouth moved against hers, her arms readjusting to support herself on the mattress as she chased his lips and pushed further into his space.

They were awkwardly meeting halfway while sprawled on their stomachs and Stiles moved up onto his knees without breaking the kiss, leaning over her until she rolled onto her back. He repositioned himself to kneel between her spread thighs and she dropped back onto the mattress beside her abandoned notebook.

As soon as they settled into the more comfortable position, she reached up to cup the side of his face, thumb rubbing along the smooth skin of his cheek. He tilted his head on the next open-mouthed kiss and his tongue slipped into the space between her lips to brush against hers smoothly.

Time moved in a blur. They kissed languidly for a long stint of time, tongues meeting sensually with each slow drag of their lips. Stiles hovered above her, his arms pressed into the mattress on either side of her with a palpable gap of space between their bodies.

She wanted to tug him down until he was pressed against her, but she worried that she wouldn't be able to make herself slow down once they'd made it that far. She felt painfully aware that the two of them had never even been on an official date and as much as she desperately wanted to go further with him, she wanted to do other things first.

There was a slight lightheadedness creeping into her brain from the length of time they'd been kissing without pause and she separated their mouths to pull in a much needed deep breath.

When she looked up at him, his eyes were fluttering open to meet hers and he leaned forward just enough to brush his nose tenderly against her own. Her thumb stroked over his cheek again and she looked between the warm brown pools of his eyes as she continued to catch her breath.

"We should probably go to sleep." She murmured quietly, the pull in her gut contrasting sharply with her words.

He nodded in response, his nose caressing hers again softly as he did so, "Okay."

"I don't want to," She told him honestly, "But we definitely should."

He nodded in agreement again and leaned down to press one more lingering kiss to her lips before rolling off of her all at once. She sat up on her elbows and watched him collect his books from the opposite side of the bed and stuff them into his backpack.

Her eyes caught on the unmistakable tent in the crotch of his sweatpants and she swallowed painfully, averting her eyes and collecting her own school supplies to put away.

Once she was finished, she pulled the blankets down the bed and crawled underneath, looking up at Stiles expectantly as she waited for him to climb in after her.

He moved across the room to flick off the light before he finally followed suit and slid under the blankets, settling onto his side on the mattress next to her.

She laid down beside him and situated herself in a position mirroring his own before scooting backwards to press her back against his front. He made a small noise of surprise and she let out a nervous breath.

"Sorry. Is this okay?" She asked quietly, "Like, cuddling or whatever?"

"Yeah," He said quickly, dropping his hand over her waist and tightening his arm to pull her back against him more firmly, "Yeah, cuddling's good."

She sighed in relief and tangled her fingers with his where they were resting over her stomach, her eyes drifting shut. A few minutes passed in silence and she was just on the brink of sleep when Stiles squirmed uncomfortably behind her. He let out a quiet huff of frustration and wiggled gently, readjusting his body while trying not to jostle her too much in the process.

"Stiles?" She asked sleepily, "You good?"

"Yeah." He froze in his movements, "Sorry."

She tipped her head back and tried to peer up at him in the dark, "Are you uncomfortable?" She asked obviously.

"No." He denied quickly, "Well, kind of- But it's not-"

She rolled over underneath his arm and propped herself up onto her elbow, squinting at him in the dark.

"How would you be comfortable laying?" She asked quietly after a moment.

"I'm not sure," He admitted, "I mean, I've never really-"

"No, that's not what I meant." She interrupted softly, "I mean, if we weren't touching at all, if you weren't worried about the snuggling part, what position would you be the most comfortable sleeping in? Right now?"

He was silent for a few seconds as he thought about her question, "Uh, maybe.. Maybe on my back?"

"So, lay on your back."

He shuffled around in the dark and flopped onto his back, holding himself stiffly in position.

She snorted, "Yeah you look very comfortable."

Stiles huffed in frustration, "Well, I don't- I don't know. I just, I don't know what to do with my arm if you're here. Do I- Does it go underneath you? Or, it'll fall asleep, right? And I can't imagine it would be comfortable for you-"

"Stiles. You're thinking about this way too hard, okay?" She laughed quietly, "Pretend I'm not here. Just move around until you're comfortable."

She heard him let out another quiet sigh and he shifted around again underneath the blankets, bending his arm at the elbow to reach one hand up underneath his pillow. He wiggled around for a few seconds before the movement ceased.

"Okay," He said determinedly, "I'm comfortable."

"Okay," She repeated softly, "I'm gonna lay down too, but if it's not comfortable anymore, just tell me."

"Okay." He promised quietly.

She grabbed her pillow and moved it into the small space under his armpit to position it over his bent elbow. She scooted down the mattress slightly and rested her head on the pillow over his arm, stretching her own arm across his stomach and rolling onto her side. Her leg came up to drape over his thighs and she burrowed her face into his shoulder as she tightened her limbs around him slightly.

When he remained silent for a short stretch of time, she looked up at the side of his jaw again in the dark.

"Is this okay?" She asked quietly.

"Yeah." He admitted, turning his head to the side on his pillow and pressing his chin into the top of her hair, "Yeah, this is nice."

"Okay. Good." She laughed quietly and snuggled into his side, her thumb tracing along his ribs softly through his shirt, "Now, go to sleep."

"'Kay."

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