Scarlet Stilinski couldn't be more different from her twin brother Stiles. They were twins there was no denying that though. It drove their friends, well friend, Scott crazy that they could basically communicate with one another with just a look. They also spoke in half sentences that Scott frequently didn't follow because the twins could complete one another's sentences as they were happening.
They were different though, Stiles was on the lacrosse team, though he didn't play very often, and Scarlet was involved in the arts. She sang, played piano, and painted. The music teacher at the high school was determined to get Scarlet a full ride to college on a music scholarship, which kind of freaked Scarlet out being that she was only a sophomore.
Despite their differences, Stiles and Scarlet were close, they were twins afterall, born exactly 10 minutes apart. Stiles was older, which he never let her forget. Being twins meant that when one twin was in trouble or had an idea the other got dragged into it immediately. Which was why Scarlet was sitting in Stiles' jeep waiting for him to return with his best friend Scott McCall so they could go look for the dead body that their dad had joined the search for.
Scarlet was convinced this was a terrible idea. She didn't want to wander around the woods in the dark looking for a dead body. Granted this was the most exciting thing to happen in Beacon Hills in a long time, but it wasn't her idea of a good time. Screams suddenly erupted from Scott's front porch and she glanced out to see Scott preparing to hit her brother with a baseball bat. Scarlet heaved a sigh and rolled her eyes. She had told him to use the front door, but no, that would have been too easy.
Scarlet leaned across the jeep and rolled down the window. "Will you please get in here before he loses his mind in excitement, he took too much aderol today," she called to Scott.
"Thank you for your support sister," Stiles called back over his shoulder. He exchanged a few words with Scott before they both headed over to the jeep and got in. "This is going to be so cool."
"What are we supposed to do if someone finds us," Scarlet asked. Her phone rang suddenly and she picked it up without checking the caller id. "Hello?"
"What are you doing right now," the guy immediately asked.
"Um, I'm with my brother," Scarlet said glancing out the window to avoid the look that Stiles was giving her. Scott twisted in his seat to look at her as well, but quickly shook his head and turned back around.
"I want to see you, come over," he insisted.
"I can't, I'm busy, besides it late."
"Like that ever stopped you before," he countered.
"Look, we'll talk later ok? I can't right now," Scarlet said again.
"Your loss babe, I'll see you tomorrow." With that he hung up, Scarlet shook her head and put her phone back in her pocket.
"You going to tell me who the mystery man is," Stiles asked from the front seat.
"Nope," Scarlet said with a smirk. She hadn't told him because she knew it would just upset him.
"You've been seeing this guy all summer, and yet he's never been to the house, I've never seen you anywhere with him and you refuse to tell me, your twin, and Scott, our best friend, who he is," Stiles pointed out.
"I didn't know she was seeing anyone," Scott replied. He glanced in the rearview mirror at Scarlet who looked down guiltily. There had been something between them last summer, but they had decided, well Scott had decided, that it would be best to stop before they messed up their friendship and before Stiles found out. There were still some feelings between them, but most of the time they just ignored them in favor of pretending everything was fine and dandy.
Stiles shot his twin a pointed look before returning his attention to the road. Scarlet sighed again and ran a hand through her messy waves. "I didn't tell you because its not a big deal, I'm not marrying the guy, we are just... hanging out," she explained.
"Do you mean hanging out or do you mean hanging out," Stiles quipped.
Scarlet blushed at his statement, suddenly grateful that it was dark in the jeep. In all reality they weren't hanging out as much as they were hooking up, but her brother and Scott didn't need to know that. "I mean that you need to mind your own buisness, despite being twins I don't have to tell you everything," Scarlet shot back.
The jeep rolled to a stop as they arrived at the preserve where the body had been found. The guys immediately climbed out of the car and she followed a moment later. She ignored their conversation as she trailed behind them. She smiled slightly when the conversation turned to lacrosse though.
"No, because I'm playing this year, in fact I'm making first line," Scott told Stiles.
"Hey that's the spirit, everyone should have a dream even a patheticly unrealistic one," Stiles replied.
"Leave him alone Stiles, he worked really hard all summer, he deserves to be on first line," Scarlet called. She heard her twin scoff at her statement but Scott shot her a grateful look.
"Just out of curiousity, which half of the body are we looking for," Scott asked.
"Huh, I didn't even think about that," Stiles admitted.
"And this is why we let me make the plans," Scarlet said with a roll of her eyes.
"And what if whoever killed the body is still out here," Scott asked.
"Also something I didn't think about," Stiles replied. He glanced back at Scarlet and saw that this turn in conversation was freaking her out. "In reality though the woods are crawling with cops, so we're more likely to run into them than a killer."
"Its comforting to know you planned this out with your usual attention to detail," Scott said as he reached back to help Scarlet up the hill they were climbing. She slipped on some leaves falling foward, Scott steadied her for a moment a look of concern on his face.
"I'm good, just lots of leaves," she said before continuing up the hill. She noticed that Scott was starting to weaze. "Did you bring your inhaler?"
"Yeah," he said as he pulled it from his pocket. He offered her his other hand and pulled her the rest of the way up the hill. As soon as they reached the top, Stiles dropped to the gournd seeing cops with dogs. Scott pulled Scarlet down with him never letting go of her hand.
Stiles glanced around nervously before jumping up and taking off running. "Stiles wait up," Scott cried before taking a puff of his inhaler. Scott dragged Scarlet behind him as they darted after her twin.
A dog suddenly started barking and Scarlet gasped loudly as her twin hit the ground. She could tell from the glow of the flashlight that their dad had found him. She ducked behind a tree, pulling Scott with her.
"Hang on, hang on, this little delinquent belongs to me," their dad announced.
"Dad, how are you doing," Stiles asked.
"So do you listen in to all of my phone calls?"
"No, not the boring ones," Stiles offered.
"And where are your sister and your usual partner in crime?"
"Scott? Scott's home, said he wanted to get a good nights sleep for the first day back at school tomorrow. I haven't seen Scarlet, its just me in the woods. Alone," Stiles said quickly, it was much too quickly for their father to actually believe though.
"Scarlet, Scott, you out there," their dad called as he scanned the trees with his flashlight. Scott and Scarlet ducked behind their tree, huddling together to stay out of sight. "Well young man, I'm going to walk you back to your car and you and I are going to have a conversation about something called invasion of privacy."
Scarlet waited until her dad and brother had disappeared from sight to move away from Scott. "Shit," she muttered. Thunder sounded from above as rain began to fall. "What are we going to do now?"
"Come on, we'll get back to my house and you can call Stiles to come pick you up," Scott said holding out his hand again. Scarlet took it after a moment and let him lead her through the woods.
"These woods are so creepy at night," Scarlet whined as she followed Scott. He gave her hand a reassuring squeeze before he stopped walking. He stared intently at the trees, before pulling out his inhaler. He started shaking it, when suddenly deer came stampeding through the clearing. Scarlet screamed and they both stumbled in their rush to get out of the way, falling to the ground. The deer leapt over them, narrowly missing them both.
It was over just as quickly as it had started and they both sat up, glancing around nervously. Scott pulled a leaf from Scarlet's hair before looking around frantically. "I have to find my inhaler," he explained as he pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and turned on the flashlight.
"Scott, can we just go please? We can come back tomorrow and look for it in the daylight," Scarlet said as she rose from the ground.
Her back was to Scott, so she jumped when he suddenly cried out, she twisted around in time to see him fall down an embankment. "Scott," she cried as she rushed to the edge to see if he was ok.
Scott was already standing and looking around for a way to get back up to her. He suddenly noticed something and glanced back in her direction. "Scarlet, run," he shouted as he scrambled away from whatever he saw. Scarlet heard the growl of the animal, which was unlike anything she had heard before and ran in the opposite direction. She hated to leave Scott alone, but she didn't know what else to do.
She scrambled wildly through the woods, branches scraping her face and arms as she ran. Panic began to set in as she kept running. Without warning her foot caught and she crashed to the ground. She cried out, her fear getting the best of her. Tears began to stream down her face as she struggled to get free. She couldn't even get her foot loose from the roots she was tangled in she was so scared. Someone suddenly appeared next to her and she let out a blood-curdling scream.
"Whoa, easy," the guy cried grabbing her arm to keep her still. "I'm not going to hurt you."
Scarlet stared at him in a panic, and let out a ragged sob. She jerked her leg again desperate to get out of the woods and away from this mystery man. "Please," she pleaded. "I just have to... I can't get my foot loose." Her chest began to constrict and she knew that if she didn't calm down she was going to have a panic attack.
"Calm down," he said softly. He brushed her hair away from her face, pulling a twig from it as he did so. He gently brushed some tears off her face. The gentleness of his touch surprised Scarlet and her heartrate began to slow. "What's your name?"
"Scarlet," she whispered. She stared at him in confusion as he glanced her over.
"Just making sure you didn't hurt yourself when you fell," he said as he continued to look her over.
"I think I'm ok, but my foot is stuck," she reminded him. Scarlet jerked her leg again and winced in pain as whatever she was caught in seemed to tighten.
He glanced down at her foot which he immediately shifted toward it. He began to work her free as he spoke again. "What are you doing out here by yourself?"
"I wasn't alone, my brother and our friend were with me but we got seperated," she explained.
"And the three of you were out here because...," he asked.
Scarlet sighed before meeting his piercing gaze. She realized for the first time, who she was talking to, and just how attractive he was. "You're Derek Hale, I didn't know you were back. I'm sorry about your family," she said before she could stop herself. Derek stiffened at her statement and she immediately regretted it. "I'm sorry, you probably don't want to be reminded of that, it was really terrible. I hate it when people tell me how much I look like my mom, its like yes thank you I know I look like my dead mother I see it every time my father looks at me. I didn't mean to upset you, you are trying to help me, and I'm being an idiot."
"Has anyone ever told you that you talk too much," Derek asked as he finished freeing her ankle. He rose to his feet offering her his hands. She let him pull her up and ended up much closer to him than she had intended.
"Yes, but its only when I'm nervous," she admitted.
"I make you nervous," Derek asked. His lips quirked into a smirk that caused Scarlet to blush.
"Uh, have you looked in a mirror? Besides considering I was just running through the woods like a crazy person because some animal was chasing me and my friend I think I am entitled to a little too much talking," she pointed out.
"An animal," Derek asked. She noticed the shift in his eyes from flirtatious to concern. "Did you see it?"
"No, I just heard it growl, my friend saw it and he told me to run, so I did. Why? Did you see it," she asked as she glanced around frantically.
"No, come on, you're not far from the road," Derek said as he took hold of her arm and pulled her through the woods. Scarlet struggled to keep up with his long stride, she knew that something was wrong but she wasn't sure what. "The road is just through those trees, you'll be fine from here."
"Thanks," Scarlet said as she turned to look at him, but he had already disappeared. She sighed and stumbled through the trees. She slipped down the small embankment and fell into the street. She glanced up in time to see a car slam its brakes and stop just short of hitting her. She pushed herself up from the ground and shook her head when she recognized the car.
"What the hell are you doing," Jackson Whittmore demanded when he climbed out of his car. "I could have killed you!"
"Your girlfriend would have loved that," Scarlet shot back. She met his gaze for a moment before shaking her head. "Sorry, not the time. I was with Stiles and Scott, apparently there was a body found in the woods and Stiles decided we needed to have a search of our own."
"And you have mud and leaves all over you why," Jackson asked.
"I was wrestling a bear," Scarlet snapped sarcastically. "Scott saw an animal of some sort so he told me to run, and while I was running I fell, and then I I fell down this embankment and into the road."
"You do a lot of falling," Jackson pointed out.
"Thank you captain obvious! Now are you going to give me a ride home, in case you have forgotten it is raining and tomorrow is the first day of school."
"What are you going to do for me if I give you a ride," Jackson asked, a deep smirk forming on his face. "You did blow me off earlier."
"What was I supposed to do? Tell Stiles and Scott that I couldn't go with them because Jackson Whittmore wanted to see me," Scarlet cried.
"I wouldn't call it seeing you," Jackson replied with a grin.
Scarlet let out an exasperated cry before stepping away from him. "You know what I mean, we said we weren't going to tell anyone, especially since you have this thing called a girlfriend, and I don't really want everyone to know that I've been hooking up with you behind her back! I'm not that type of girl."
"Yeah, Scarlet, you are."
"Fuck you Jackson," Scarlet shouted as she turned away from him. "I'll walk home, thanks."
"Scarlet," he cried in annoyance. "Get in the car!"
"No," she shouted back as she kept walking. Another car appeared on the road and carefully manuvered around Jackson's porsche. It rolled to a stop next to her and the passenger window rolled down.
"Need a ride," the guy asked. Scarlet leaned over to see who was asking. She could help but grin when she saw Derek staring back at her.
"Yeah actually that would be great," she said with a smile. She shot a dirty look at Jackson before climbing into Derek's car. She sat on the edge of the seat, trying not to get mud every where. She ignored Jackson shouting at her and nodded for Derek to drive.
"Friend of yours," he asked.
"Not exactly what I would call him," Scarlet replied.
"What would you call him," Derek asked with a smirk.
It was her annoyance with Jackson that made her answer so bluntly. "A fuck buddy, a friend with benefits, someone I use for sex."
Derek raised his eyebrows, obviously surprised by her answer. "You have a lot of those?"
"Tons," she snapped. She immediately regretted the way she had spoken to him and shot him an apologetic look. "No, just him, but... jesus I don't know why I'm telling you this, just ignore me."
"No, obviously you are upset, what is it," Derek asked. He surprised himself that time. He wasn't used to caring, and there was something about this girl that made him care.
"He has a girlfriend, and we've be doing this all summer, but school starts back tomorrow and I don't want to be a part of this mess anymore. I mean if she finds out she will kill me, but for some reason, Jackson just won't let it go."
"Tell him you are dating someone," Derek suggested.
"We go to the same school, he'll know I'm lying. Besides and you are going to think I am a whore when I say this, the sex is good."
"So you are staying in this relationship with no benefits for the sex," Derek asked. "How old are you?"
"Sixteen," she muttered. At the look he gave her she blushed dark red. "I know, god I'm a whore aren't I?"
Scarlet noticed that the car had rolled to a stop. Without warning Derek leaned over and pulled her body against his. "You want to go a few rounds in the backseat," he asked with a smug grin.
Scarlet immediately squirmed out of his grasp and stared at him in shock and anger. She started to hit him before he caught her hand before she could. "What the hell makes you think I would have sex with a complete stranger in the backseat of his car? I can't believe you just asked me that!"
"See, a whore would have a gone for it, you have feelings for this guy, and if this is the only way you can be with him, you are willing to do that. You have to ask yourself though, why would a girl as beautiful as yourself waste her time on a guy who isn't even willing to walk down the hallway of school holding her hand? If he cares about her as much as he claims why won't he break up with his girlfriend? And I'm sorry about before I was trying to prove a point," Derek explained. He had picked up all of that by paying attention to her emotions and her heartbeat.
"Fine, you're right," Scarlet admitted. Derek started driving again, but didn't say anything else. Scarlet occasionally gave him directions to her house. They finally pulled into her driveway and let out a sigh of relief to see that her dad was not home.
"Thanks for the ride, and for helping me in the woods," she said as she moved to open the door.
"Hey Scarlet," Derek called after her. She turned and looked at him expectantly. "You deserve more than some high school jackass."
Scarlet blushed slightly before nodding and heading inside the house. She leaned against the closed door and let out a soft sigh. A series of thuds sounded from upstairs and her twin suddenly appeared charging down the stairs at her.
"Thank god, I thought you were dead," Stiles cried before hugging her.
"Have you heard from Scott," she demanded.
"Yeah, he's fine, apparently that animal you guys saw bit him."
"Holy crap," Scarlet muttered. She noticed headlights flash across the front of the house and glanced out the window next to the door. "Dad's home, upstairs now!"
The twins scrambled up the stairs and into their respective bedrooms. Scarlet flew into her bathroom and immediately yanked her clothes off anf stuffed them into her hamper before turning on her shower and climbing into it. Someone knocked on her door.
"In the shower," she called out.
"Just wanted to say good night Scar," her dad called through the door.
"Night dad, love you!"
"Night kid, have a good day tomorrow!"
Scarlet sagged against the wall of the shower and let out a sigh, the first day back at Beacon Hills High School. Joy.