chapter one: reunited

When the boys exited the locker room, the three of us started toward the field. This was the first year that I had to hitch a ride with Stiles, and he had to be at morning practice for lacrosse, so I had to wake up at an obscenely early time for him to drive me. Otherwise, Dad would have had to drop me off in the squad car, and there was no way that was happening.

Lacrosse season had just begun, and so Scott was fretting all about whether he was still captain or not. There wasn't a reason why he shouldn't be, really, as he did exactly what Coach Finstock wanted.

"Of course you're still the team captain," Stiles said. "You got your grades up just like Coach told you to, right?"

Scott nodded, and I hung back a few steps, though I was still between them. Stiles's gym bag kept bumping my thigh. "Yeah," Scott said, "but he never told me I was back on the team. He just told me to show up at tryouts today."

"You were an awesome captain," I told him, nudging his arm. "Especially with the super senses, if you know what I mean." I winked, grinning.

Stiles groaned and shook his head. "Literally everyone knows what you mean, Zoe. And stop with the winking; it doesn't make anything funnier." While I pouted, Stiles sighed. "We got bigger things to deal with anyway. Did you tell Argent yet?"

I frowned. "You mean about Kate?" The boys nodded.

We stopped walking just before we hit the benches. "I texted him but he didn't get back to me," Scott informed us.

"You told him his sister Kate came back from the dead over a text?" my brother asked incredulously. I shrugged; it was an awkward way to get an important message to someone, but it wasn't easy to contact Chris Argent as of the moment.

"I didn't have the money to call France."

Stiles sighed, and I could almost sense this coming. "Yeah, you think you got money problems? Try paying for an MRI and a visit to Eichen House."

My brother was spot on with the money issues. Even though Dad was sheriff, that didn't give us much, and MRIs were more expensive than I first thought. The only good thing about the test and Eichen House was that at least Stiles didn't have frontotemporal dementia and wasn't losing his mind.

After the whole nogitsune ordeal, I was too emotionally overwhelmed by being around Stiles, so it had been settled that I would stay with Grandma Stilinski for while. Until I could stand to be around my brother, that is.

But I was better now, and so was Stiles.

"Another notice?" Scott asked, and I nodded. Dad had tried to hide the bills from us, maybe to not make Stiles feel bad, or whatever, but it hadn't worked.

"This one said, 'Final,'" I muttered.

"Now, what the hell are we even doing here anyway?" my brother asked, his voice rising slightly. I was glad for the change of topic. "We got like a hundred seventeen million problems and worrying about our status on the lacrosse team is not one of them."

Scott looked over my brother's shoulder, his eyes widening. Before he even said anything, I spun on my heel to see Garrett and some random dude flinging balls at the goal.

"It is now," Scott said, and inclined his head. Stiles whipped around, and we both stared at the kid in the goal, who, mind you, was catching every single ball that was thrown at him with ease. It was nothing short of amazing. My mouth may have even dropped a little.

I frowned, my eyebrows knitting together. I faintly recognized the goalie, but with the helmet on, it was hard to be sure. It couldn't be... I mean, he messaged me that he had been expelled, but...

"Who the hell is that?" Stiles inquired, his eyes narrowing. Just then, the goalie pulled off his helmet, to reveal a very familiar face. My lips parted, and someone whistled as the kid smirked, walking up to Garrett, a freshman that I wasn't particularly fond of.

"Liam Dunbar," I said in astonishment, and Stiles rounded on me, but I wasn't paying attention yet. I was still taking in the boy I had last seen a couple weeks ago. He was even fitter, if that was possible. Same tousled hair.

"Nice, Liam," Garrett said, clapping him on the back. "You might just be our first ever freshman captain."

If I had been in my right mind, I would have launched myself at Liam the minute I saw him, but I was in shock, and Stiles stepped in front of me, blocking my view of the boys.

"How do you know that kid?" he demanded, and I sighed. What a protective older brother. "He's new, right? You shouldn't know him. How do you know him?"

I could tell Scott was curious as well, though he didn't show it in the ways that Stiles did. "Remember when I went to stay with Grandma?" I asked, and Stiles's face crumpled for a few seconds before he nodded. "Liam lived nearby, and we became like, best friends? I mean, he told me that he was moving and all, but I didn't figure he was coming to Beacon Hills High..."

"Wait, you text him?" Stiles shook his head slightly, as if the idea was ridiculous, and his hands twitched, like he wanted to rip my phone from my pocket. Luckily, he did no such thing, and I nodded.

"Is that where you go on the weekends sometimes?" Scott asked, and I nodded again.

Stiles sort of deflated. "I thought you just went to visit Grammy... Okay, maybe we should just practice a little bit," he relented, and the two of them bounded off for the field while I took a seat on the first row of bleachers.

Now that the initial shock had worn off, I was itching to get Liam's attention, but he was playing hard - and really good - and I didn't want to interrupt. So I instead just watched the boys toss the balls around a bit, knocking lacrosse sticks and what not.

I got to my feet as soon as Coach blew the whistle to end morning practice, and rather than go with Scott and Stiles - who were already heading to the locker room - I rocked back and forth on my heels until Liam had packed up his gear and was readying to get back to the school. Garrett went ahead of him, and I jumped up behind Liam, tapping him on the shoulder.

"Hey, stranger," I said, and he turned around and grinning upon realizing it was me. Liam immediately dropped his lacrosse stuff and I wrapped my arms around his neck. His arms wound around my waist, and he lifted me slightly off the ground, squeezing me tight.

"I was wondering where you were," he admitted, his eyes squeezed shut. "You told me your brother was on the team, so I figured you'd be here, but I didn't see you..."

When he let me down, I smiled up at him. Liam wasn't tall, but he was taller than me. "You were playing so well, I didn't want to interrupt."

He smirked. "You can interrupt me any time, Zoe." Looping an arm around my shoulders, Liam hiked up his duffel with his free hand, and I grabbed his lacrosse stick. The pair of us started back to the school, just enjoying each other's company.

We promised to meet up for first period, and after comparing our schedules and finding out that we had basically all the same classes, split up so Liam could change in the locker room and I could go to biology.

I snagged a table in the back of the room, making sure to reserve the spot next to me for Liam. Students slowly filtered into the room, and I propped my chin on my fist, a smile creeping onto my lips against my will.

I had missed Liam a lot. Like, a lot, a lot. Dad was all right with me going back to Grammy's every weekend for the last month, though I mostly went to see Liam. The boy was the same as I had left him. Tiffany Blue eyes that could give anyone a run for their money, the smirk that sent chills down my spine...

Liam rapped his knuckles on my desk, drawing my attention, and I looked up with a smile. He was frowning, and slouched onto the stool, dropping his backpack carelessly. The lacrosse stick was protruding from one of the pouches.

"Hey," I said, smacking his arm lightly. "Everything okay?" He nodded on instinct, and then met my eyes.

"Your brother and Scott McCall just asked me some weird questions," he confessed, and I groaned inwardly. What had the two idiots done now? Seeing my raised eyebrows, Liam continued. "They were talking about a circus act or something, and wanted to know if I had ever been in the woods during a full moon...?"

I resisted the urge to face palm. Clearly, the boys couldn't keep anything secret. At least, my brother couldn't. Scott was usually better at the secrecy business. But Stiles...

Well, Stiles was an idiot.

Liam shook his head slightly, and class started, so Liam's voice lowered considerably. He leaned in, and I did the same. "Zoe, they know I was kicked out of Devenford."

My face must have written me off as confused. And I was, for a moment. Until I realized that Scott must have heard Liam's heartbeat or whatever. That ability of his was certainly inconvenient if you were lying. It had even gotten me in trouble a couple times. Mostly, I think Scott thought it was amusing.

My pocket vibrated, and pulling out my phone discreetly, I looked over the text from Stiles.

"Did you know that Liam was expelled from his old school?"

I sighed and tapped out a quick reply.

"Yes, I did. I can't believe you and Scott interrogated him! Not everyone is a werewolf, you know. Maybe he's just that good."

Liam was busy taking notes, so he wasn't aware at all of the vaguely argumentative conversation I was having with my brother. Honestly, I didn't understand why they had to make a big deal about Liam's lacrosse abilities. I mean, wasn't Jackson great at lacrosse, too? And no one suspected him.

"He said the same thing. I don't like it."

I scowled at Stiles's contact name and smashed out a response, but not before I stole a glance at my best friend.

"The best part, dear brother, is that you don't have to like it."

He didn't reply.

Liam and I pretty much spent the rest of the day together, though I ate lunch with my brother and his friends. I noticed that Liam found a boy named Mason that had been in a couple of our classes and sat with him. Stiles had been preoccupied with glaring at Liam between eating.

In the middle of the day, however, I got a text from Dad, saying something about a triple homicide developing. Stiles managed to find me and I walked with him, Scott, and Kira down the hall.

"An axe murderer?" Kira inquired, and I sighed. Was I the only one that wanted to be done with all this supernatural business? Sometimes I just wanted to live a normal life, with normal friends, with a normal freshmen year - the only excitement being the upcoming dance.

My brother shattered that brief thought with his next statement. "A family murdering axe murderer," he said.

"I already heard about it," Scott sighed, and he popped open his locker.

"Wait. What? You did? How?"

Scott glanced at Stiles as he pulled out his economics textbook. "My mom called me. She knew we'd see it on the news." Yeah, working at the hospital was either a blessing or a curse. Which, I wasn't sure yet.

My brother clapped his hands together. "Perfect. Let's go."

I frowned. "Go where?" I asked. "School's still going on." Not that that had ever stopped us before, but...

Scott nodded. "Yeah, and we've got Econ in five minutes."

Stiles gave the two of us a serious look. "All right. Did you forget the part about the family murdering axe murderer?"

"No, but Dad's the sheriff," I said. "He can handle it, Stiles. Not everything is our responsibility, you know. Sometimes we can take a break from saving people and stuff."

My brother looked like he was just absolutely exasperated with me, and glanced at Scott. "And you?"

Scott shrugged. "They want us to stay out of it." Well, at least I wasn't alone in the longing for a normal existence. Scott, thankfully, wasn't as eager as Stiles to ditch school, which I was grateful for because, in the end, if they went, I would have to go with them.

"Are you guys kidding me? There's a family murdering axe murderer and we're not going to do anything about it?" I was surprised that after the nogitsune thing, that Stiles didn't want to sit out of supernatural drama for the rest of his life. If it had been me...

Out of the corner of my eye, I caught sight of Liam leaning against a row of lockers on the opposite wall. He seemed to be waiting for me, and I smiled.

Kira, ever the optimistic one, smiled. "Maybe we should just let the adults handle it." If the werewolf and the kitsune weren't down for murderer hunting, then I figured that pretty much settled it.

"So the three of you, you just want to stay here, school, go to class..." Stiles paused, and his gaze landed on me. "Even my own flesh and blood." He shook his head. "Never heard anything so irresponsible in my life." And with that, he stalked off, though we all knew he'd still be at tryouts.

I let out a breath and took a step backward. "Well, this has been fun, but someone's waiting for me," I said, and Scott finally noticed Liam. He didn't say anything, and he didn't have to. He wanted me to be careful.

So, yes, this is something I'm starting. Ever since Muted, I've fallen in love with Liam Dunbar (a.k.a. Dylan Sprayberry.) Uhh, lemme know what you think. I want to hear your opinions. Am I doing Liam okay? How do you feel about Zoe knowing him beforehand? Is there anything you'd like to see? Drop a review and let me know!

8.3.2014