I woke up when my alarm started buzzing at 6am. I groaned and sat up to turn off the noise. I felt like I hadn't slept at all. Even though I hadn't taken long to fall asleep, I kept waking up from nightmares. They were all to do with wolves, thanks to Scott no doubt. I had a quick shower, blow drying my hair so it was straight. I put on my favourite pair of jeans, a t-shirt with a Back to the Future poster on it with my navy blue blazer with three quarter sleeves. I was pulling on my all-black Converse sneakers when I heard Stiles' rattling jeep pull up. I put on a silver pendant necklace, grabbed my backpack and quickly went downstairs. I had heard Scott's alarm go off not long ago, so I didn't check to see if he was awake. I went into the kitchen and grabbed a banana to eat on the way to school, quickly taking my medication before heading out to Stiles in the jeep. I hopped in the passenger seat,

"Morning Stiles, you ready for this?" I greeted him,

"About as ready as I'll ever be. How's Scott?" Stiles replied as he started the jeep and pulled away from the curb,

"The bite is pretty nasty. He insisted he didn't need stitches or anything. It didn't even hurt apparently" I said,

"Oh man, I can't wait to see it" Stiles was practically bouncing in his seat. I gave him a disgusted look,

"What?!" he asked in a high pitched voice,

"DUDE! It was a damn animal bite in his frickin' side! The skin was ripped and you know, BITTEN! It was nasty! You'll only be seeing the bandage, Stiles. That thing was gross, oh my god" I said, my voice rising. He scoffed but didn't reply.

We continued the drive to school in a relative silence. I was battling with my nerves; it had been eight months since I had been in an actual school. Moorebrook had thrown me into classes once I had settled into the place so I could return to school without missing out too much, but I was still really worried about sitting down in class and being out of my depth. We finally pulled up into the school parking lot and Stiles killed the engine.

"You okay?" he asked quietly. I started chewing on my bottom lip,

"I don't know. I mean, I know that some people have seen me and know I'm back from working at the bowling alley…but I just don't want people staring at me" I said, looking out over the groups of friends. I recognized a couple of people, but I could feel the anxiety creeping in to my mind. Stiles reached over and put his hand on my arm,

"Gab. Scott and I won't let that happen, okay? If people give you any shit, we'll protect you. That's what we're here for. We just got you back, we aren't going to let these people drive you away again" he comforted with real sincerity. I gave him a small smile,

"Thanks, Stiles" I said quietly, looking into his caramel eyes. I finally fished my backpack out from the backseat, Stiles doing the same and we got out the car. We walked over on to the lawn in from of the school and waited for Scott. I saw couple of girls walk past and look at me with recognition. I moved closer to the tree behind us and leant against it, directing Stiles to stand slightly in front of me to block me from people's view.

Stiles and I had been standing and talking to each other for about fifteen minutes when I saw Scott off in the distance on his bike. I cut off Stiles, mid-rant about The Dark Knight to point him out. He pulled into the bike stands, as a silver Porche pulled up into the park next to him. The driver opened the door, deliberately ramming into Scott. The driver seemed familiar, then it clicked,

"Holy crap, is that Jackson Whittemore?" I asked Stiles, nodding in his direction,

"Yep. That's the douchebag himself" Stiles seethed, narrowing his eyes as Jackson walked off. I chuckled. Stiles had hated Jackson for a long time; long before his relationship with Lydia Martin. I was always indifferent to him. He himself had never done anything to warrant hatred from me. He and I shared the same birthday, and the only anger I had felt toward him was association to Lydia. Scott finally reached us, raising his hand as a hello,

"Okay, let's see this thing" Stiles asked Scott,

"Don't bother saying good morning, Stiles" I teased, making him scowl at me,

"Gabs, it's no big deal" Scott said with a laugh, making me smile. He picked up his shirt, showing the big white bandage over most of his right side. Stiles reached out to touch it, but he flinched away. I could see spots of blood where it had soaked through,

"Yeah. It was too dark to see much, but I'm pretty sure it was a wolf" he explained, picking up his backpack and slinging it over his shoulder as we started walking towards the school building,

"A wolf bit you?"

"Uh huh"

"No, not a chance"

"I heard a wolf howling"

"No you didn't."

"What do you mean "No you didn't", how do you know what I heard?"

"Because California doesn't have wolves, okay? Not in like sixty years" Stiles said with finality. I held out my hands,

"What'd I tell you Scott?! Thank you Stiles, for knowing some good old general knowledge". Scott glanced between us,

"Really?" he asked,

"Yes, really! There are no wolves in California" Stiles said with a withering look,

"Frickin' told you so, Scott" I added. He looked away, looking confused,

"Well, if you don't believe me about the wolf, then you're definitely not going to believe me about when I tell you that I found the body" he said. Stiles and I both jumped,

"What?! Are you kidding me?!" Stiles said with an undeniable excitement. I glanced between them,

"Dude! You did NOT tell me this last night! You found the body?!" I added, looking at Scott,

"No, I'm gonna have nightmares for a month. Gabby, I didn't tell you coz I knew you'd freak out!" he explained. I shook my head

"This is some seriously screwed up stuff. I thought things would get back to normal with me being home" I said.

"God, that is freaking awesome. I mean this is seriously going to be the best thing to happen to this town since...since the birth of Lydia Martin" Stiles said, distracted.

There she was; the petite, curvy, strawberry blonde haired nightmare. Lydia Martin; the girl who had single-handedly ruined my middle school experience. She flounced up to the school doors, completely ignoring Stiles like she had for the last sixteen years of his life. Her hair was bouncy and curled, and her clothes were impeccable and designer. She was the symbol of what I disliked about high school girls, and Stiles could never get enough. I could tell Stiles was still talking about her, but I ignored him until he turned back,

"You're the cause of this you know?" he said, looking between me and Scott. I scoffed, Scott replying with a mere "Uh huh",

"Draggin' me down to your nerd depths. I'm a nerd by association. I've been scarlet nerded by you" Stiles said as the bell rang and we began walking inside. I rolled my eyes,

"Says the boy who just made that reference, and was debating The Dark Knight with me before Scott arrived" I retorted. Scott laughed,

"Oh dude, again?! You know not to mess with Gabby about movies" he said, elbowing Stiles,

"I will not give up until you admit that The Dark Knight is a better film than The Shawshank Redemption, okay?!" he said, pointing at me. I chuckled,

"Good luck Stiles. I've told you like, a hundred times. It's a different movies that is also fantastic, and Heath Ledger's Joker is unparalleled. But that does not mean as a whole it is a better movie" I debated back. Stiles groaned,

"You're the worst, you know that?" he said as we reached the English classroom,

"You've said time and time again, my friend" I replied as we went in and took our seats. I sat over by the windows; in front of Stiles and across the aisle from Scott. I got out my notebook and pencil, ready to begin the class. The teacher walked into the room and quickly began writing on the board as a majority of my other classmates took a seat. I took note as he began to speak,

"As most of you know, there was indeed a body found in the woods last night", I saw Scott and Stiles share a look out the corner of my eye. I rolled my eyes. Dorks. The teacher continued on, "And I'm sure your eager little minds are coming up with various macabre scenarios as to what happened. But I am here to tell you that the police already have a suspect in custody, which means you can give your undivided attention to the syllabus which is on your desk outlining this semester" he said with finality.

I picked it up and began reading, underlining various important passages, immersing myself in my work. I kept to myself, paying attention to the page in front of me until the class door opened and the principal entered, accompanied by a girl, who I assumed was a new student,

"Class, I'd like you all to meet our new student, Allison Argent. Please do your best to make her feel welcome." He introduced. She was tall; much taller than I was, slim and statuesque. Her hair was long and curly and a gorgeous dark brown. As she smiled awkwardly, you could see dimples in her porcelain cheeks. Normally a beauty such as hers would be intimidating, but she seemed quiet and shy, as she ducked her head and took a seat. She struck me as a girl I could be friends with. I glanced back as she took the seat behind Scott, before returning to the syllabus in front of me, as the teacher instructed us to turn to Kafka's Metamorphosis.

The class passed easily. I didn't seem to be behind with anything, and I knew Stiles would help with anything that confused me. For all his issues with jumpiness and attention, he was a pretty good student, and had helped me a lot over the years. As I left the class, Stiles following after me,

"Hey uh, Stiles. Can you show me where the guidance office is?" I asked quietly as Scott took a while to leave the class,

"Uh yeah sure" he said as Scott walked through the class door, "hey bro, I'll meet you at your locker" he called out and we walked down the hall, squeezing between students,

"Sorry to bother you with this, Stiles. I just don't want to pile all my recovery shit on Scott. He's had to make sure I take my meds all summer, I don't want him to have to deal with everything" I explained. Stiles shook his head,

"Gabby, its fine. I get it, okay? I'll do anything to help you" he replied with sincerity, bumping my arm with his elbow. I ducked my head and smiled,

"Thanks, Stiles" I said. He stopped in front of an open door. The guidance office. I felt anxiety creep into my stomach and my hands started to twist together. Stiles jumped to distract me,

"Hey! Don't worry about it okay? She's really nice and easy to talk to. And I'll meet you right her afterwards okay? I'll be here" he comforted, placing his hand on my arm. I nodded and went up to the door. I gave Stiles a small wave and walked inside.

Ms Morrell rose from her seat at the desk when I walked in,

"Gabby, great to see you, I'm Ms Morrell" she said in a soft voice. She gestured for me to take a seat as she went to shut the door. She sat back down again, leaning back in her seat, "I'm glad you've come. I understand you must have had some anxiety struggles to do this"

I nodded, "Uh yeah, I was stressing a bit. But the thought of having a relapse and going back to Moorebrook was worse than having to come here" I said, placing my hands on my lap.

"You seem to dislike Moorebrook, why is that? Is that not the place you recovered?" she asked. I sighed,

"I might have recovered there, and for that I will love the place. But I was there for eight months, much longer than anyone else like me stayed. I know that I had to have memory therapy because of the fact I forgot three entire days where I went missing, but I know I didn't have to stay that long. I know Carey and Cyrus just wanted to make sure I was fixed" I said, muttering the last few words,

"Why do you call your parents by their first name?"

"I'm angry at them" I explained, though feeling the answer was obvious, "they locked me up in a facility on the other side of the country for eight months and left me there until the scars didn't show and I was put back together. They decided to leave out the part that they hadn't said shit to my two best friends about my recovery. Is that in your file? My mother and father didn't even tell the two people who I care about more than anyone else on this whole miserable planet that their best friend was getting better. Then a month before my discharge, my mother calls the center to tell me; note, she got the CENTER to tell me, not her; that they had moved to Los Angeles, and for me to return to Beacon Hills, she would get in touch with Melissa McCall in order for me to live with her and Scott. It's not like I would've wanted to live with her and Cyrus in Los Angeles, but she didn't even have the guts to tell me herself" I seethed. Ms Morrell kept watching me, her face unreadable. I continued on,

"You know they didn't even visit for Christmas? They called me, and I talked to them, but they were both in Australia. They weren't even there on business. Carey just wanted to do a wine tour. I sat in the lounge area at Moorebrook, surrounded by depressed kids with their families, all by myself. My only present was the Twin Peaks box set; which I couldn't even watch because I didn't have my own TV or DVD player, and they had to play Cinderella on the shared TV all the time for one of the really nuts kids, because she'd try break her own fingers otherwise. I had to sit in a room like this one we're in for two hours a day for therapy, then the specialized memory therapy, and you know what? I still don't remember jack. Not a single image or faint thought of a memory, and I'm still as angry at my parents as I was when I went in. All that's changed it I don't claw my arms anymore, and my depressed thoughts are under control" Ms Morrell's face was still unchanged,

"You know what another random thing I have to deal with is? I have to drive past my old house to get to my work at the bowling alley. I have to drive past that house that I never got to say goodbye to and see a new family there. They're completely oblivious to the fact that a twelve-year old Gabrielle Adeline Robinson lay in her bed in the room they're now using as a nursery and cried herself to sleep for two weeks because her parents were in Los Angeles. Do you think I've been able to tell Scott and Stiles any of this?" I asked, looking to her for a response,

"Your tone leads me to believe you haven't" she says, her blank, unreadable face not faltering,

"You'd be pretty much right. I've barely said a word to them about Moorebrook. I've mentioned a few things here and there, but I've never actually gone deep. I can't give them another reason to worry about me" I said. Ms Morrell looked to see if would continue, but I didn't say anything. She leant forward and rested her arms in front of her on the desk, clasping hands together. She was looking me right in the eyes. She might have been intense, with her dark eyes and straight, centre parted hair and unreadable face, but I already liked her better than any other therapist and counsellor I had ever had to deal with.

"Gabby, it sounds to me as if you've been bottling these emotions up since long before you went to Moorebrook, and you're just as angry at the facility you were at as you are with your parents" she said, her voice even. I couldn't help the scoff that escaped,

"Yeah. You got that right"

"Why are you angry at Moorebrook? They helped treat your depression and your problems with self-harm, did they not?" I sighed before speaking,

"They gave me the drugs to get my emotions under control. And don't worry, I'm definitely keeping up with that, I might be angry, but I'm not letting myself go back to that…shell of myself that I was when I was depressed-" I saw Ms Morrell nod "I now know what it's like to feel that sad and hopeless and I don't want to have that happen again. And yeah, they treated my self harm problems. They made me keep my nails short and teach me other things to do when I feel that old urge or my anxiety starts to get away from me, but I don't feel like I ever really talked about why I was sad and why I was angry. I've always had problems with grudges, and I guess I just added the Moorebrook Center to that list". Ms Morrell paused before replying,

"What techniques were you taught to deal with your urges and anxiety?" she asked, tilting her head slightly. I swallowed. I didn't really talk about that with anyone other than Melissa, Scott and Stiles. They were the people I were around most, so I felt like they were the only ones who needed to know. I had to tell her though,

"Uhh. Well when I'm around something that's triggering, I usually remove myself from the situation, making sure I have someone with me. Usually Stiles. Uhh, Scott is really helpful with my meds and stuff, but I know Stiles used to get panic attacks after his mom died, so I don't know, he's just better at handling situations like that. If I can't leave though, I keep a pen in my pocket, and I usually draw on the inside of my arms or something. If my anxiety gets bad, I usually twist and clasp my hands together. Scott and Stiles can tell really well when that's about to happen though, so when it does, they're both really good at calming me down"

"It's good that they're both so supportive of you" Ms Morrell said, a small smile appearing on her face. I smiled and nodded,

"We've been best friends since we were little kids, they're glad to have me back" I said, reminiscing. I saw Ms Morrell smile again. It was strange smile; like she knew everything about me. I didn't know how quite to interpret it, but she seemed really friendly and genuine. She glanced at the clock on her desk,

"Unfortunately Gabby, we've run out of time for now. Same time next week? We'll talk about how you're settling in to school" Ms Morrell said, quickly writing down the date and time for next week on an appointment card. I accepted it from her and stood to leave, slinging my backpack on my shoulders,

"Thank you Ms Morrell, you've been more helpful than any other shrink I've had" I said, leaving before I could hear her answer.

Sure enough, Stiles had met me outside afterwards and walked with me to Chemistry that we had with Scott, as well as Jackson, Lydia and Jackson's best friend, Danny. I gave Danny a smile, which he returned warmly. The rest of the day was a blur. Whilst I hadn't gotten many stares in classes, when lunch had rolled around, I had been under the watchful stare of what felt like everyone in the entire school. Scott and Stiles had walked side of me and had taken a table where it was more difficult for the curious students to watch me. Stiles and I had tried to lure Scott into a discussion about horror movies, but he hadn't been able to tear his eyes away from the new girl, Allison where she sat next to Lydia. He was definitely in a deep crush already. I worked through the rest of the day with my French, History and Film classes before school finally finished. I went straight out to the field to watch the lacrosse practice to support Scott and Stiles. It was cold as I pulled my blazer around myself tighter and fished a scarf out of my backpack, wrapping it around my neck a couple of times. I was sitting on the bleachers, mostly by myself minus a couple of other people. Then my worst nightmare happened, as Lydia Martin came up the stairs and sat on the seats behind me with the new girl, Allison in tow. I set my jaw and set about ignoring her, even though I had noticed her giving me the once over all day. I could see Scott talking to Coach Finstock, as Stiles sat on the bench in front of me. I was sure Lydia hadn't noticed who I was, until I heard a voice from behind me,

"Looks like there's an escapee from the asylum again" I heard Lydia say snarkily, making me grind my teeth, "Guess they'll let any crazy come back here" she continued. She was clearly trying to bait me to bite back, but I tried to keep ignoring her,

"Look, Allison; it's a convicted lunatic in the flesh" she said, pushing me over the edge as I whipped around,

"Oh hi there Lydia! I didn't recognise you under all that puppy fat that's come creeping back! Such a shame really, maybe you really will have to go ahead with the liposuction" I said, looking her up and down like she had with me all day,

"You know it really is pathetic when they go straight for the looks. Really shows your lack of creativity, Gabby" she retorted,

"Just like taking a stab at someone's mental health shows your complete lack of understanding and empathy. Asylums don't even exist anymore, you uneducated ass" I seethed, grabbing my bag and storming off to sit next to Stiles on the bench. He looked at me questioningly,

"Just escaping your queen" I explained. I glanced back at Lydia. Her face was a mask, in an attempt to hide the fact I had pissed her off. I chuckled to myself. Stiles next to me looked between us, confused. I didn't explain any further, and we watched the practice as Scott was put in goal.

After missing his first shot, and getting hit square in the helmet with the ball, Scott stepped up his game. He caught every single one, even the ridiculous one that Jackson hurled at him. I might have watched Scott practice all summer, but not once had he practiced goal. He never ever played it, and wasn't used to the fast balls like that thrown at goalies. I was surprised to see him so good in a position he hadn't ever played. After the practice, I waited around for Scott and Stiles, so Stiles could drop me at work. They headed off back to the preserve to look for Scott's inhaler while I went to work a shift at the bowling alley. It was a quiet night, only a couple of groups of families and a team or two coming through. I didn't have to hand out many pairs of shoes, so I sat and re-laced some of the older pairs and thought about Scott's form at lacrosse practice. There's no doubt it was unlike him to play so well, even if he had been practicing. He had improved over summer, but he hadn't turned into the lacrosse beast that he had been today. And apart from anything else, he had the animal bite on his side. He shouldn't have been that nimble considering he was injured. I brushed it off to just a good day. By the time 7pm rolled around, I was finished and the place was empty. My boss came out to take over and close up, and I went outside to Stiles waiting for me in the Jeep. I jogged up to it and got in the passenger side,

"What's up, Twitchy?" I said, making him scowl at me. He made no secret of hating my nickname for him, "did you guys find Scott's inhaler?" I asked,

"Yes and no. We found the guy who did. Do you remember Derek Hale?" Stiles replied as we drove off. I wracked my brain, vaguely remembering the Hale family, who had lived out on the preserve before the fire destroyed the house, and burned a lot of the family members with it. I remembered a moody teenager with dark hair and light eyes. Derek Hale.

"Yeah, I remember him. He's been gone for years though, right?"

"Well I guess he's back. He told us we were trespassing, threw Scott his inhaler and left. It was super weird" he said, shaking his head.

I pursed my lips, "Speaking of weird, we didn't get to talk about this earlier, but how ridiculously good did Scott get at lacrosse?"

"I know right?! It was crazy! Even if he did practice all summer, he hadn't worked on being a goalie, and with his bite he shouldn't have been that good"

"That's what I'm saying! His bite should've knocked him down a bit, but he was playing better than he ever has" I trailed off. The atmosphere in the Jeep was quiet for a second, both of us lost in thought.

"He said he's been weird all day. He said when we were out on the preserve that he reckons the bite is screwing with him, because he can hear things like people talking way down the halls, and he could smell the Mint Mojito gum in my pocket when I didn't even know it was there" he paused for a second, taking a hand off the wheel to rub at his chin, "it's probably nothing. Just a reaction to the bite. Which he better be looking after, because he can't go to the hospital with that now without explaining how he got it and opening a whole can of worms that I'd really like to avoid"

I nodded in agreement. Scott couldn't go get it checked out without Melissa finding out, asking how it happened, getting in trouble for being in the woods, getting myself and Stiles into trouble for lying to the Sheriff about us being out alone…it was more drama than it was worth, and he seemed to be capable of looking after it so far. I heard Stiles chuckle and I turned to him questioningly,

"I just made this joke to Scott when we were out on the preserve that he his problem was lycanthropy" he said. I rolled my eyes,

"Really, Stiles? He's a werewolf?" I replied as a threw him a withering look,

"Come on, Gab! It'd explain why he thought he saw a wolf and his heightened senses! I know it's ridiculous, I was just messing around"

I smiled as we finally pulled up at home, "I know you were just kidding, Stiles. It's called teasing!" I said, poking his arm jokingly. I often worried that my sense of humor that I had with Scott and Stiles actually annoyed them. There was no hiding that I could get pretty bossy with them, and I certainly took them down a peg every so often, but it's how I had always been with them. When we became best friends when we were tiny little first graders, I had been this brash, bossy kid, who was also simultaneously the most quiet and shy little thing. Since I was too scared to boss anyone else around, I had always picked on Scott and Stiles once we became friends. Just thinking about it made me think of the times I had made them play dolls with me, and when we were older, I always forced them to watch more girly films than they ever would. I didn't even realize I was laughing until Stiles gave me a strange look,

"I'm just realizing how bossy I am with you and Scott" I explained as we still sat in the Jeep. He laughed,

"Yeah, I guess you are. We wouldn't ever change it though. Its how you've always been. All the damn times you bullied us into playing Barbies with you is embarrassing" he said, running his hand over his head. I laughed,

"I was literally just remembering that! And when we were in middle school and we had that sleepover and I made us watch Mean Girls" I reminisced,

Stiles laughed too then, "Not just that! We had to watch The Devil Wears Prada too!" he reminded. We both sat laughing for a moment before the sound faded away, and we were still sat remembering. I shook my head,

"I should head inside. Melissa is home tonight. She starts work at like, four in the morning, so I want to talk to her before she goes to bed. I'll ask Scott about his bite when he gets back from work" I said, grabbing my bag off the floor, "I'll drive myself in tomorrow" I continued as I hopped out the car. Stiles waved,

"See ya in the morning, Gabs" he called out as I went inside, and I heard the clunky Jeep drive away.

Author's Note: Thank you so much for the follows and reviews! Sorry this took so long, I had end of year University exams, followed by the worst case of writer's block. Episode 1 is almost finished, so I'll try and post within the next week and a half with the end of the episode stuff, as most of it is written. Have a great day guys!

- Alice