It had been a long time since anyone had rung the doorbell at the Stilinski household. So long, in fact, that Stiles Stilinski completely ignored the first chorus that chimed through the house. He finally paused his video game during the insistent barrage of ringing that followed two minutes later.

"Hang on, I'm coming," he grumbled. Though he'd been up for hours he was still wearing his t-shirt and flannel pj pants. "Who uses the doorbell anyway?"

He assumed it must be a stranger, because his best friend Scott just used the window and nobody else ever really came to visit. Couldn't be someone to see his dad about work, since his dad was on patrol that morning. Had to be some sort of Girl Scout or bleeding heart campaigning for the latest political cause. The visitor began to get on his nerves when they rang the bell again.

"Alright!" He flung open the door to glare at the intruder. "Mrs. McCall?"

Scott's mom was not even remotely on his list of potential visitors. In fact, she was somewhere between Jackson Whittemore and the Queen of England.

"Stiles. Hi." The petite woman stood awkwardly on the front steps. Despite the mild morning air she wore a sweater that she hugged close to her body. Faint shadows below her eyes indicated she hadn't slept the night before. She clasped and unclasped her hands. "Can we talk?"

"About what?"

"About Scott. About, you know, this Thursday?"

"Thursday?" Stiles was stumped. He hadn't the faintest idea what could be special about Thursday. Then it hit him. There was one thing that affected Scott more than most people. In fact, it completely changed him.

"You want to talk about the full moon."

"Yes. Can I come in?"

"Oh, sure." He stepped away from the door to let her pass. She slipped inside and he quietly shut the door behind her. "Water?"

She nodded and he quickly ran to the kitchen. Nervously he began opening cabinets at random, searching for a clean glass.

If Mrs. McCall was here to talk about the full moon then that meant she wanted to talk about werewolves. Which meant Scott had finally told her he what he actually was-a werewolf.

Stiles was all for bringing her into the fold, but her appearance at his front door meant she didn't want to talk to Scott about his monthly condition. She wanted to talk to him about it. He wasn't sure he was prepared to handle talking to his best friend's mom about the fact that the full moon occasionally turned him into fanged creature of myth. It was weird. And complicated. And had to break some sort of rule in the bro-code.

Although, he had to admit the idea of being able to talk to another normal human about this sort of thing appealed to him. Someone else who wasn't some sort of shape-shifter, crazed psycopath, or armed vigilante. It might be refreshing to be the one who had the inside information for a change.

He finally located a clean glass and filled it with tap water. He threw in a couple ice cubes and headed back to the hallway. He proffered the glass to Mrs. McCall.

"Thanks."

"Uh, living room?" The teen suggested. He swept his arm toward the room in a gesture grander than the surroundings deserved.

"What about your Dad?"

"Oh, it's 10:30 am. Coffee and donut run. Then he usually does a few slow circuits around town. Since it's Saturday, that means he'll hit the park, followed by the lake and maybe the school. We've got a good three hours. Easy."

Mrs. McCall sat on the couch closest to the doorway. Stiles took a seat on the adjacent recliner.

"So." He ran his hands through his hair, unsure how to begin one of the most uncomfortable conversations of his life. Well, his week. Given the amount of supernatural nonsense he'd been dealing with lately, his week could always get weirder. For a few moments they didn't speak. "This is awkward."

"Scott and I talked last night. About what's been going on the past few months. With him."

"Oh. That's…that's great. How'd it go?"

She leaned forwards and held her head in her hands. She looked so fragile, like she might break at the slightest touch. All at once he felt like he was the adult and she was the child. Stiles sighed.

To be swallowed up by something so strange, so unbelievable was a lot for anyone to process. Coping with your entire worldview shifting took a lot out of you. He knew.

"Listen. It's not that bad. I mean, it's gotten a lot better."

"You were all nearly killed by your friend who turned into a lizard and was being controlled by one of your classmates."

"Point taken. But, Jackson isn't the kanima anymore, he's a werewolf now, so that's progress. And we did get rid of the alpha who was killing everyone before." Stiles bit his lip. Of course, Peter had come back from the dead somehow. Refusing to be defeated, he continued. "Oh! The Argents aren't trying to kill Scott. Especially since there are so many other werewolves in town now. I mean, they'll all be keeping the hunters busy during the full moon."

Mrs. McCall glared.

"And you don't really want to hear about all that. Um, right. So full moon. What to expect." He fidgeted under her expectant gaze. Inspiration hit him and he shot out of his seat. "Wait, here!"

He ran up the stairs and Mrs. McCall could hear him rummaging through his bedroom. A moment later he returned with a laptop in hand. Triumphantly, he placed it on the coffee table.

"How's a computer going to help?"

"I made a presentation. With PowerPoint."

Mrs. McCall looked at him.

"Ok, I was bored this week."

She arched an eyebrow.

"Really bored. But look," he brought up the first slide and pressed play. "So, normally, this is Scott."

A picture of Scott appeared on screen. He was wearing his lacrosse uniform and a goofy ear-to-ear grin.

"But then, during the full moon, he's more like this." The image of happy Scott dissolved into a new image of Scott scowling. Scott's mom rolled her eyes, nonplussed. "Hey, you trying taking a picture of a transformed werewolf, see how easy it is for you. That's the best I got. And when the full moon rises, things can get ugly."

The image onscreen dissolved again and was replaced by a graphic plate depicting a figure with the body of a man and a wolf's head clutching a bleeding corpse. Mrs. McCall jerked back from the screen as if she'd been scalded from touching a hot stove. Stiles slammed the computer shut.

"Ok. So that was a bad idea."

Mrs. McCall stood up and began pacing.

"Stiles, I just want to know how to prepare. Is he going to be ok? Will he hurt anyone?" The look on her face was the concern of a parent mixed with the fear of someone faced with a hungry lion.

"No. I don't think so. Hurt anyone. And as long as he stays home, he should be safe. Last month he was fine. Almost complete control. Of course, given past history, anything can happen."

"What happened before?"

"The first time was rough. I mean, Scott was in denial about everything. When he shifted, he thought Derek was after Allison, so he went after Derek. And ended up getting shot by Allison's dad."

Mrs. McCall balled her hands into fists.

"And the second time Allison dumped him. It was bad." Stiles thought about how close his friend had come to killing both Allison and Jackson. It was only Derek's good timing that stopped him from following through. He decided to not go into detail. "Really bad."

"But Scott and Allison are broken up again." Mrs. McCall unclenched her fists. "What do we do?"

He'd had the same worry pulling at the edge of his mind.

Last month Scott was stable, but now that he and Allison were no longer together, Stiles feared his friend could be capable of anything. He reflected for a moment. What he was going to suggest next definitely violated the bro-code. But for once, he had someone he could count on to help him. Someone who wanted to look out for Scott as much as he did.

"I'm glad you asked." He leaned forward conspiratorially. "I have an idea."