I woke late the next morning, sunlight streaming through the windows above me. I rolled over and checked the time on my phone. 11 am. I groaned and rubbed at my eyes. I hadn't meant to sleep so late, but at around 1am I had been awoken by a shout of victory from Stiles. I had stomped out into the hall and yelled down the stairs "STILES! GO HOME!" before going back into my room. Now I was awake, I lay on my front for a few moments and realizing that I wasn't going to fall back asleep, I got out of bed and pulled on the hoody I was wearing last night over the top of my pajamas and went downstairs to have breakfast. Melissa was standing at the breakfast bar, coffee in hand and newspaper open in front of her. She turned when she heard me walk in,
"Good morning Sleeping Beauty" she joked as I opened the cupboard to search for cereal, choosing Cocoa Puffs,
"Yeah, I guess all that unpacking really knocked me out. I mean, you were in bed when we got back, but it wasn't late. I was in bed but like, 10:30. Stiles was still here at 1am though. Him and Scott must've played some Halo or something and he had obviously gotten a kill, because he practically screamed with victory. I told him to go home though" I explained as I pulled out a bowl and shook the cereal into the bowl, then pouring in the milk,
"Yeah I heard that one" she said with a laugh, "you're obviously a lot better at getting him to go home than I am"
"It's because while we're best friends, him and Scott both still fear me. Especially when they wake me up"
"I do remember that from the many sleepovers you kids have had" Melissa replied with a laugh,
"It's nice to see they haven't forgotten" I said as I took a seat at breakfast bar, "when do you start work?" I asked. She checked her watch and sighed,
"Soon, I better go get ready" she replied, "You guys will be okay for dinner? I'm not going to be home until late"
"No, we'll be fine, honestly" I said around a mouthful of cereal,
"Okay. Well there's plenty there for you to make something from scratch, but we still have some lasagna in the fridge if you don't want to cook"
"Melissa, we'll be fine" I smiled at her. She smiled back, "I forget you guys aren't kids anymore" she said, rubbing her forehead,
"Understandable. I feel like it was yesterday that we were still sitting watching Rugrats after school"
"So do I" she replied, "I'm gonna go change for work and get going. Scott's in the backyard, practicing for lacrosse. I'll see you guys later, okay sweetie? I'll call on my dinner break" she leant across the breakfast bar and kissed the top of my head,
"Bye Melissa" I said, giving her another wide smile, which she returned. I heard her go upstairs and into her room.

I decided to go outside and sit on the back porch and watch Scott practice as I finished my cereal. I went out the back door, and sure enough he had about 20 lacrosse balls on the grass in front of him,
"Morning" I called out, catching his attention,
"Hey. You slept pretty late"
"You didn't. You used to sleep later than I ever did" as I sat on the stairs. He laughed, "Yeah I guess so. I've made it a mission to train to get better at lacrosse. I need to make first string" he explained, scooping up one of the balls and hurling at the makeshift net he had made between a tree and a lawn chair,
"Good to see you have a goal" I said as I finished the last of my Cocoa Puffs, "Moorebrook was nuts for those. Kept trying to make me make them all the time and make different ones but I never did"
"What'd you do?" he asked,
"Kept the same one. Get better and move back to Beacon Hills" I replied with a shrug, setting the empty bowl down next to me. Scott just smiled, scooping up another ball and hurling it at the net again,
"So when'd Stiles leave?" I asked, stretching out, letting my legs gets warm from the sun,
"Pretty soon after you yelled at him to be honest, he didn't want to risk you hearing us playing Halo again and going full Hulk at him"
"I told him to shut up if you guys were going to play Halo, and I reminded him what I'm like if people wake me unexpectedly for no reason" I shrugged again, "Not my fault. Speaking of that dork, are we hanging out today?"
"He'll probably show up after lunch, he usually does" Scott threw another ball at the net, "we were going to bust out the old games from when we were kids I think". I sat up, "Like what? Crash Team Racing? Please say CTR, Scott" I practically begged. We had played hours of that game when we were kids, unlocking everything and getting the fastest possible time on each track,
"I do remember that one being in the conversation" he said, being intentionally vague. I frowned at him, "Loser. Well I'm gonna go shower and stuff. You have fun with your vague-ness and your lacrosse" I snapped back at him as I stood to go back inside. He scrunched up his face at me before returning to his practice.

I went inside, rinsing my dishes before going back upstairs. I looked out my bedroom window and saw Melissa's car gone. She had gone to work. I went and had a long soak in the shower, letting myself wake up properly. I took the time to dry my hair with my hairdryer before braiding my scruffy blonde hair back into a French braid. I lined my eyes with brown eyeliner and applied the usual makeup I wore before going into my room to change. I wore a long olive green maxi skirt with my yellow tank top and bunch of my old string bracelets and bangles on my arms. I was about to go downstairs when my phone started ringing. I answered without checking the name on the screen,
"Hello?"
"Hello Gabrielle, I hear you walked out of your therapist appointment" I hear through the phone. My mother. I sighed,
"Yes, Carey. I walked out because she was fucking useless" I replied, instantly feeling my anger rising. I heard my mother let out an exasperated sigh, "Gabrielle, you know how I feel when you use my first name, and you know how I feel about you using that language" she said in that tired voice she seemed to reserve for any topic relating to me. I gritted my teeth and didn't reply,
"Oh so you aren't talking now? Okay well, Evelyn passed on your message and I'll be transferring money into Melissa's account later"
"Good" I said, my teeth still clenched together,
"One of the conditions of leaving Moorebrook was that you got a therapist though, Gabrielle, don't go forgetting that"
"I haven't, Carey. Melissa works in a hospital, I think she can find someone more suited for me"
"Evelyn has two doctorates, you should've given her a try" my mother droned. I could just imagine her; gliding through that Beverly Hills mansion with the polished marble floors and the sweeping staircase, with the personally designed crystal chandelier above her. Talking on her latest model iPhone, no evidence of my existence on the walls, only portraits of her and my father hanging next to the staircase,
"I don't give a shit if she has two doctorates, because neither of them seemed to be in people skills" I snapped,
"Well right now Gabrielle, nor do you. I can tell you're upset, so I'll let you return to whatever it is you were doing. Remember our agreement though"
"Yes, Carey. I need to get a job, keep up with my medication and get at least one friend other than Scott and Stiles". I could practically hear the smug smile my mother made,
"Glad to see we're on the same page. I'll call in a few days, I have to go to Sydney on business, and your father is in Seattle. Goodbye now" and she hung up.

I fought the insane urge to hurl my phone at the wall. My mother. No one made me angrier. Her ice blonde pixie cut hair, pale skin and tall figure, always clad in expensive designer clothes and always jetting off overseas for her jewelry business. She hadn't always been the witch that she was. Up until about I was five, she had designed and worked from home. It was then that she got a deal from an investor and her career really took off and began raking in huge amounts of money, as her jewelry started showing up on the bodies of A-list celebrities at award ceremonies. My father, being a lawyer, had always been somewhat absent, but as my mother's fame skyrocketed in the space of a couple of years, they both disappeared from my life. I'd never forget the two weeks when I was twelve that I was by myself whilst they both went to Los Angeles on business, Melissa and Sheriff Stilinski swapping between coming in and checking on me. I never told anyone, but those two weeks I had cried myself to sleep every single night, hearing my sobs echo around that giant, empty house. Even now, I had to bite my tongue and blink away a few tears which threatened to spill when I even thought about it. I heard the front door open downstairs and Stiles' voice call out. I quickly went to the mirror and wiped at my eyes, checking that my makeup hadn't smudged. When I saw I was in the clear I quickly left my room and headed downstairs,
"Hey Stiles!" I called out, making him snap his head in my direction. I was still getting used to his buzzcut. He'd always kept his hair shorter as we grew up, going through a phase of having it long at about age twelve, but he'd cut it back by the time we were thirteen. But the buzzed short hair was a new thing since I'd been away,
"Hey Gabby. Where's Scott? You guys ready for some retro gaming?" he asked, holding up a backpack,
"He's out in the backyard, I'll grab him. And yes we are, if you brought Crash Team Racing with you, then yes I am ready to kick both your butts" I said I wandered out to the porch, calling Scott inside as Stiles went to set up the old PlayStation.

And that was how the summer passed. Scott, Stiles and I spending time together; gaming and watching movies (which almost always ended in Stiles and I having brutal, lengthy debates about the greatest film ever. His argument was The Dark Knight, mine was The Shawshank Redemption) and watching TV shows. I managed to secure a job at the bowling alley, kept up with my medication, and agreed to have meetings with the school counsellor, Ms Morrell on a consistent basis once school started again. It was the night before returning to school, and I had made the decision to retire to my room early. I was sprawled out over my bed reading an old copy of The Lord of the Rings and listening to a mix CD Scott and I had made years ago that pretty much consisted solely of music from our emo/pop-punk phase. I'd finally reached the Battle for Pelennor Fields when I heard a shriek from outside on the porch. I knew that noise anywhere. Stiles. I groaned and glanced at my alarm clock. It was nearly 10:30 pm. I pulled on the green ankle socks that were on the end of my bed and padded downstairs. I yanked open the front door, making Scott and Stiles jump,
"Nerds! What the hell are you doing?!" I snapped. Scott twisted the baseball bat he had between his hands and Stiles kicked his heel against the porch floor, "I swear to god if you don't tell me, I'm gonna call Sheriff Stilinski" I threatened, making them glance at each other. Stiles caved in milliseconds and told me, "Dad got called out twenty minutes ago. They found half of a woman's body in the woods" he said, trying to act like he wasn't excited,
"Half?! Why the hell are you excited?!" I replied, feeling my voices go up an octave,
"Nothing happens around here!" he shot back, flinging his arms out, "what else are we gonna do?! There is half a body out there in the woods, and we're gonna go look for it" he said with finality, trying to look affirmative. I rolled my eyes, "Let me just put on some shoes. I am not letting you freaks go without me" I murmured as I ignored the shout of victory that Stiles couldn't contain.

We drove to the preserve in Stiles' jeep. I still felt kind of strange going into those woods. I had been missing in there for three days, and I still didn't remember a thing. No matter how much memory therapy I did at Moorebrook, not a single thing had come back to mind. It was like there was a big black hole where those three days were supposed to be. All I remembered was when Sheriff Stilinski found me curled up underneath some exposed tree roots near the lookout. I'd been told that they'd already looked there, so it was a miracle that I'd been found. My memories began when Sheriff Stilinski touched my arm, gently saying my name. I remembered him helping me out from under the overhanging tree roots, and him calling out to other police officers. I remembered being shaky, my vision being blurred, and holding my arms to my chest. I remembered seeing my nails and how bloody they were, and seeing my arms all scratched and torn, and the dawn of realization when I figured out I had done that to myself. I could still see in my mind the silver survival blanket going around me as I started to realize how I didn't know what had happened to me. Most of all, I remember the exact noise I made as I started to scream hysterically, and the pressure around me, as Sheriff Stilinski had to restrain me. It went fuzzy again after that until I woke up in hospital…

Stiles stopping the jeep snapped me out of my dream. We were at the preserve. Scott pulled the passenger door open so I could climb out. I was already regretting my outfit choice. I was still wearing my acid wash jeans with my white, crocheted sweater. I was already cold, and if I fell over in the mud, my clothes were going to be ruined,
"We're seriously doing this?" Scott complained as we walked up to the chain that was meant to keep us out,
"You're the one who's always bitching that nothing ever happens in this town!" Stiles replied, hopping the chain. I turned back to Scott once I had climbed over, "And can I say that you did NOT mention that you didn't want to come after I joined this! If had known you didn't want to go, I'd have talked you nerds out of it" I said to him,
"I wanted to get a good night's sleep before practice tomorrow" he explained, coming up on hopping over himself,
"Right. 'Cause sitting on the bench is such a gruelling effort" Stiles jabbed. I rolled my eyes. We were walking through the woods now. The ground didn't feel muddy beneath me, so I could stop worrying about ruining my clothes. I heard the annoyance in Scott's voice as he replied to Stiles, "No. I'm playing this year. In fact, I'm making first line". I smiled at that, thinking of all the practice and training he'd been putting in,
"Hey! That's the spirit. Everyone should have a dream, even a pathetically unrealistic one" Stiles said back. I rolled my eyes,
"Come on Stiles, don't be a douche. You know that Scott's been practicing a bunch" I scolded
"Just trying to keep his ego in check. Don't want you getting disappointed when you inevitably fail" he said lightly. It was all in good fun, so I didn't really care that much, especially when I saw Scott roll his eyes, "Just out of curiosity, which half of the body are we looking for?" he asked as we headed even further into the preserve. I saw Stiles stop for a second, "Huh! I didn't even think about that" he said, continuing walking,
"Wow Stiles, you really do have a grip on this" I said, my voice dripping with sarcasm. Scott laughed and continued on, "And what do we do if whatever killed the body is still out there?"
"Also something I didn't think about" Stiles said. I couldn't help but mutter "Well guess I'm dying here tonight", earning a glare from Stiles,
"Come on! My dad's the sheriff! I can protect us!"
"Yeah, sure. Your skinny white butt is going to protect us? I'm good there, Twitchy" I replied, making him glare again when I used my nickname for him. We came to a bank and started to climb up, finding foot holds in the tree roots and jutting out rocks. I could hear Scott's breath starting to get shorter as we pulled ourselves up the bank, "It's comfortable to know that you've planned this out with your usual attention to detail" he wheezed, Stiles replying with an easy "I know". Scott leant back against a tree growing out from the bank, fishing through his hoodie pockets for his inhaler,
"Maybe the severe asthmatic should be the one holding the flashlight, huh?" he said, taking deep breaths as he used his inhaler. As we reached the top of the incline, we saw and heard in the distance the police officers searching the woods. All three of us hit the ground beneath us quickly, Stiles fumbling with the flashlight to turn it off. They were a while off yet. Stiles grabbed my hand and pulled me up, "Okay come on" he whispered, dragging me after him.
"Oh crap okay! We're going" I said to myself as Stiles started running. I could hear Scott calling after us, but Stiles was pulling me along, and I couldn't really stop. We tried to get away from the path the officers were heading in towards us, but Scott was still calling after us. We slowed down to look behind us to wait for him. All of a sudden a huge police dog was barking and snarling and an officer yelling at us, scaring us both. Stiles tripped over in the process and dragged me down too,
"Hang on, hang on!" I heard Sheriff Stilinski shout over the dog's barking, "This little delinquent belongs to me, and the other one practically does too" he said as Stiles and I stood up, finally letting go of each other's hands,
"Hey dad, how're you doing" Stiles asked, trying to act casual
"What are you kids doing out here" the sheriff asked tiredly. I decided to cover for us,
"Uhh, Stiles was taking me out to the woods. You know, to help me remember what happened when I went missing" I lied. Sheriff Stilinski raised his eyebrows,
"See, I would believe that if it wasn't a night I got called out, and school started tomorrow. So do you listen to all of my phone calls" he replied, directing it back at Stiles. I chewed my bottom lip. We were busted,
"No! Well, not the boring ones…" Stiles admitted. The sheriff nodded, "Well where's your other usual partner in crime?" he asked, looking around for Scott,
"Who, Scott?" Stiles started, before I jumped in "we didn't want to bother him, he's still at home" Stiles nodded and continued on "yeah, he said he wanted to get a good night's sleep for first day back at school tomorrow. It's just us. In the woods. Alone." He said, making me roll my eyes again. Sheriff Stilinski wasn't buying it, as he shone his flashlight out around us calling out for Scott. I willed him to stay hidden. He didn't need to get in anymore trouble for goofing off with Stiles. Granted, neither did I, but Melissa would be easier on me than she would on Scott. We could hear thunder in the distance as the sheriff sighed. He had bought it,
"Well you two, I am gonna walk you back to your car. And you and I, Stiles, are gonna have a conversation about something called invasion of privacy" he said, grabbing us both by our shoulders and walking us back towards the jeep.

On the walk back to Stiles' jeep, I stayed quiet as Stiles got a huge lecture from his dad about listening in on his work calls. When we got back to the jeep he turned to me too,
"Now Gabby, I know you had Stiles with you, but remember how dangerous these woods can be. I don't think I could face having to organize a search party for you again. Now Stiles, take her home, take yourself home yourself. You have school tomorrow. I'll be home late" he said, before turning back the way we had come. I climbed in the passenger side, Stiles hopping in the driver's seat. We sat in silence for a moment before I spoke up,
"Do you think Scott will be okay?" I asked quietly,
"Scott will be fine. He's a big boy, he can get home himself" he said, trying to dispel my worries,
"If you say so, dude. Drive me home, I'm exhausted" I said, leaning back in the seat as Stiles started the jeep. Just as we pulled back out on to the road, it started to rain. Welcome back to Beacon Hills, I thought as we drove through the pouring rain.

It took longer to drive me home, as Stiles drove a lot more carefully through the wet. I didn't hang around and talk in the car for particularly long, hopping out after a quick goodbye and running inside. I went straight to the kitchen and took my meds. It was weird having to take them without anyone else there, but I swallowed them back easily, and went to take off my makeup. Once I was barefaced, I messaged Stiles

Scott still isn't home. Has he messaged you?

As I waited for a reply, I changed into my pajamas and checked my backpack was ready to take to school in the morning. My phone eventually chimed with a message,

Stiles: Just messaged me now. He's on his way home, but a long way off yet. He was bitten by some sort of animal, but the bite isn't anything he can't manage himself. Told me to make you go to bed and then go to school with me in the morning. No point in waiting up for him, we'll see in the morning.

I chewed my bottom lip. I was really, really tired and wanted to sleep more than anything, but Scott had been bitten by something. I couldn't properly sleep not knowing he was okay. I went to my notepad and wrote in big letters,

IGNORE MY PREVIOUS STATEMENTS ABOUT NOT WAKING ME UP
I SWEAR TO GOD, IF YOU DON'T COME IN WHEN YOU GET HOME, I WILL SNAP YOUR HALO DISC IN HALF.
XOXO GABBY

And went and left it on his bathroom door. Satisfied with the fact that Scott would see it, I went to bed and tried to sleep for a while.

I felt myself being shaken awake. I groaned and tried to roll away before remembering that it would be Scott. I sat up and switched on my lamp. Sure enough, there was an absolutely soaking wet Scott,
"Holy crap! Are you okay?" I asked patting the bed for him to sit down,
"Yeah, I'm fine" he said as he sat down,
"Well, you got bitten by something, do you know what it was?" I asked reaching out to touch where I assumed the bite was by the way he held his side. I moved his hands away and pulled up his shirt, showing me a nasty looking bite mark still with blood slightly weeping out. I hissed; it looked really painful. I reached out to gently touch the skin around it. He didn't seem to flinch,
"I'm not completely positive about what it was, but I'm pretty sure it was a wolf" he replied, pulling his shirt back down,
"Wolves haven't been in California for decades though" I said doubtfully, "are you sure it wasn't a mountain lion?"
"I'm just saying what I saw, and to me, it looked like a wolf. All these deer got startled and I lost my inhaler, then I saw this dark, wolf-shaped thing and it jumped and bit me and ran off" he said, running his hand through his wet mop of hair. I chewed my bottom lip,
"That's pretty weird, you'd think it'd attack again. Do you need me to drive you to the hospital for stitches or anything?" I asked. Scott shook his head, "Mom's working tonight; I don't want to worry her. It doesn't even hurt anymore. I've got a ton of bandages in my bathroom, I'll patch myself up. And I'll just bike in to school tomorrow, get a ride with Stiles okay? I'll meet you guys there"
"You do remember I have a car, right?" I said
"Stiles comes near here on his drive to school, it doesn't make sense for you both to use up gas! Anyway, I know he feels bad about dragging you into the woods after what happened to you" Scott explained. I rolled my eyes, "Well he doesn't need to, its not like I actually remember what happened anyway" I said, hoisting my knees up under my chin. Scott sighed,
"That's not it. I'll talk about it another time. You go to sleep and go to school with Stiles, okay? I can bike in later, I'll probably need that little bit extra sleep. Goodnight Gabby" he said, getting up and leaving my room, going into his own room. I heard the door make a soft click as it closed.

I was glad to see Scott was okay. I was prepared to trust his judgement, even if I was pretty damn sure bite needed stitches and about twenty different types of shots for diseases, but it seemed like he wasn't too worried. He hadn't even flinched or hissed in pain when I touched it. I glanced over at my clock and saw it was almost 3 am. This could be tomorrow's problem when we got to school and I had talked to Stiles. I pulled my bed covers back over me and switched off my lamp. It didn't take long for sleep to find me again.

Author's Note: Woohoo! I updated! This was going to be longer, but I decided to break the episode one storyline into two parts, as I was finding it difficult thinking about how much I still had to write. I have a clear outline on what the next chapter is though, and hopefully it shouldn't take terribly long to finish. Thank you SO MUCH to those who have reviewed and followed! It's really amazing getting emails and seeing that people are actually enjoying this. Special thanks to my friend Mika for reading over and making sure I had the American spelling right (jewelry looks WRONG, it's j-e-w-e-l-l-e-r-y!) and pointing out where things didn't make sense. She's bloody fantastic, she is. Anyway, leave a review telling me what you think! I look forward to reading them. Now, on to the next update!