chapter four: hook, line, and sinker

The next morning, I discovered a couple things. One, my father thought that Stiles and Malia did kinky stuff with handcuffs. Two, the math notes that Lydia had lent Malia were not actually math notes, but a possible code. As I sat in biology, waiting for the text from Stiles, she was supposed to be figuring it out.

In addition, the full moon was tonight, and we were going to Lydia's lake house. Which meant that we had to bring Liam with us. Which is what Scott and my brother were working on.

They had loosely planned to corner him and try and explain, again, what was happening to the kid. I could see this plan going south from miles away, so I opted out. Stiles had told me to be a team player, but I aptly refused. I had probably already botched my friendship with Liam last night. Didn't need to add more fuel to the fire.

Liam slid into class just before the bell rang, and groaned softly when he realized that the only open seat was next to me. I tried not to cry. There was a sheen a sweat coating his forehead, and my eyes widened when I saw the arm that Scott had bitten. That was just it.

There was no bite.

I looked up at Liam's face in shock. He was angry already, I could tell. He was trying to control his breathing, and his hands were clenched into fists.

Liam was going to shift tonight.

"What?" he hissed at me, and I swallowed the lump in my throat. He had never spoken to me like that. Or, if he had, it hadn't been directed at me. He had never been truly angry at me.

"Your arm." I couldn't help myself. I figured that Scott's plan hadn't worked out - that must be why Liam was upset.

Liam sneered. "Don't tell me you're going to try to convince me something's happening. I'm fine." He leaned closer, but this time, it wasn't to confide in me. I hated the change. "Nothing is wrong with me."

I frowned. "But Liam - "

"Nothing!" he insisted, and I didn't push the subject. Clearly, the boys had pissed him off. Before, I had always been able to calm him down. Now? I would be lucky if he let me touch him.

Class ended, and Liam shot out of the room. I worried my bottom lip and opened a text from my brother.

"We're at the buses."

Passing period would find me between the buses with the whole pack. We were discussing where we were going to keep Liam for the full moon.

"I'm not sharing my basement," Malia stated firmly.

Lydia simpered. "Actually, it's my basement. And my mom noticed how you tore it up last time."

Stile sighed. "All right, she's still learning."

I sighed next. "What about the boathouse?" I had been to the lake house a couple times on the full moon for Malia, and had taken to the boathouse when the screams got too loud. I didn't like hearing Malia's threats.

Scott nodded. "It's got support beams. We can chain him to one of them."

And Kira raised the obvious question. "But how do we get him out to the lake house if he doesn't trust us?"

"I say if it keeps him from murdering someone, we chloroform the little bastard and throw him in the lake," Stiles said, and despite Liam wanting nothing to do with me, I still wanted him safe, so I shot my brother a glare.

Malia raised a hand. "I'm in."

"We're not killing or kidnapping him," Scott recited. Because the latter had already been done.

"Then let's be smarter," Lydia said, as if it were a blatant fact. "We tell him there's a party and invite him." I nodded vaguely. I wasn't paying much attention to the conversation, but it was kind of expected that I be there.

Stiles's brows raised dubiously. "So, you're going to ask out a freshman?"

Lydia shook her head. "No, I'm done with teenage boys. A freshman asks out a freshman." They all looked at me, and Stiles's mouth gaped, mirroring myself.

"Her?" he asked, the same time I went, "Me?"

"Not my baby sister," Stiles protested. "Not Zoe. Uh-uh. No way. Not a chance. Literally anyone else. How about Kira?"

Kira's eyes widened. "Who? Me? No way. Not me."

Scott frowned. "No, no, Liam already knows Zoe." He glanced at me. "You said you two are best friends, right?"

"Probably not anymore after last night," I grumbled.

Lydia stepped up to me. "If you've really been best friends, then no matter what, he'll forgive you."

I sighed. "You don't know Liam like I do."

Ten minutes later, I was spruced and ready to seduce. Lydia had lent me a low-cut top that exposed a desirable amount of cleavage, and she had stolen my jacket from me. I had already been wearing a short-ish skirt, which unfortunately for me, matched perfectly with the top.

My cue was to walk up to Liam once he exited one of the only classes I didn't have with him. Which meant I had to sprint from mine so I could catch him in time.

The bell rang, and my face was perfectly flushed when I finally got to the room he was exiting. I left just enough room so I could do the strutting that Lydia had talked to me about. I was supposed to sway my hips and give him a sultry look. Lydia had been very specific.

So as soon as I saw Liam, I knew he also saw me. Mason was with him, but Liam wasn't listening to a word he was saying. His eyes were on me.

I added an extra swish to my hips like Lydia said, and let my arms swing lightly at my sides. My last secret weapon was smiling as I bit the corner of my lip. Liam had once told me it was really cute. I only hoped he was right. Truly, my only hope was that I could distract his logical head with his little head.

His brows raised slightly and he seemed astonished. I stopped in front of him, looking at him through my lashes.

"Zoe?" he asked, as if finally coming back to reality and realizing it was me. His best friend who might as well have betrayed him. "What are you doing?" I didn't miss his eyes darting down to the hem of my skirt, or how they stopped at my cleavage for a few seconds. I nearly had him.

"Oh, I just happened to catch wind of a party tonight." I paused for effect, and smiled, my eyelashes fluttering at him. "Want to go with me?"

I'll admit that I hadn't been able to determine whether he would say yes or no. I could easily see him going both ways. After all, I had been his best friend for several months, and had even stayed close with him after I moved back home and he desecrated that teacher's car. Most of his other friends stopped talking to him. That had to give me some points.

Liam hesitated, and I noticed that Mason had disappeared into the crowd. I didn't blame him. Even I didn't want to be here. Not in these circumstances. It wasn't fair to Liam. And it wasn't fair to me.

"Yeah, okay," he conceded, and on the inside, I pumped my fist in the air. Liam smirked. "Just don't be weird."

"Weird?" I repeated. "What do you mean? You think I'm weird?"

He just laughed, and I wondered if this meant that we were okay. Probably not. Liam didn't let go of things that easily. Maybe he was just giving me a second chance. Which meant I was on thin ice. Another thought crossed my mind as we walked down the hall together: Hook, line, and sinker.

I hated myself.

That evening, as I was finishing getting ready for the party, Stiles texted me.

"Be careful, sister dear, the kid's supposed to wolf out soon."

I rolled my eyes, touching up my eye makeup before tapping out a response.

"I know, Stiles. I just wish I didn't have to do this. Liam's my friend."

He replied in seconds.

"It's for a good cause, Zoe. Kira will be there in five."

I sighed, and stuffed my phone in my purse. As I was supposed to be going to a party, I had to dress to impress. Even if it was a setup.

Either way, I was wearing a sleeveless red skater dress. A woven belt cinched at the waist, and I paired the ensemble with black flats. There was no way I could wear heels on full moon night. And I might end up taller than Liam. (Eek!)

Dad wasn't home, so he didn't have to worry, and I got another text, this once from Kira, informing me that she was in my driveway. I dashed out of the house and climbed into the back of her car. Next stop was Liam's.

I jumped out of the car when we rolled up to his house. The place was big. Not any lesser in size than his last house, but still. I used the brass knocker to rap on the door, and Dr. Geyer was the one that opened it. He smiled, and then took in my appearance.

"Good to see you so soon, Zoe!" he chirped, and pulled me into the house. I shrugged helplessly at Kira and let him lead me into the living room. I recognized all the furniture, and couldn't help but smirk at seeing the sofas that Liam and I had so often lounged on, just watching T.V. Sometimes I even watched him play video games.

I glanced around, my eyes roving over framed pictures of Liam and his parents. There was even a taupe vase on a pedestal in the corner of the room that held flowers, and if you looked close enough, you could see the cracks where Liam and I had glued the thing back together after he smashed it in anger.

"You're not here for dinner, are you?" Dr. Geyer asked, drawing my attention back to him. I shook my head, offering an apologetic smile.

"Did Liam not tell you about the party?" I wondered if that meant he had intended to bail on me. Oh man, I wanted to die.

Dr. Geyer smiled softly as we heard a pair of feet coming down the long staircase. "Well, I'm glad you two finally got together. Liam's mother and I were wondering when..."

My entire face colored, and I stiffened. "What do you mean?" I asked. "We're not... Not at all... That's not - I mean, not that I wouldn't be inter - no, it's not like that. Just friends - that's what I keep saying - just friends, sir. Not..."

Liam's stepfather grinned, and he glanced over my shoulder at something. I turned to see Liam standing at the front of the room, his cheeks pink and his Tiffany Blue eyes wide. I'm sure my amber ones were the same size.

Oh, God, did he think this was a date? Was I taking Liam on a fake date?

I perked up suddenly, deciding that this was my excuse to leave. "Liam! Are you ready to go? My friend's waiting in the driveway."

He nodded wordlessly, and I trailed after him to the front door. I tried not to notice how nice his shoulders looked in the jacket he was wearing.

"It's too bad Liam's mom went to bed early, otherwise she would have loved to see you again, Zoe," Dr. Geyer said. Liam opened the door and started toward the car, albeit slowly, like he didn't want to directly show that he was waiting for me to catch up.

"Yeah, hopefully I'll see her soon," I said, inching away. Dr. Geyer was a kind man, but the whole situation was awful. I was straddling the fence of Liam's friendship, and I wasn't sure where I actually stood.

Dr. Geyer gave me a serious look. "Dinner," he reminded me, and I nodded, glancing at Liam's back. After tonight, he was never going to forgive me.

I bid the doctor goodbye and slid into the backseat after Liam. He smiled slightly at me, and I returned it nervously. I couldn't get it out of my head how I was deceiving him. It was times like these that I hated being involved with Scott and the others.

The radio was playing softly, but Liam was breathing hard, and I realized with a jolt that the moon was nearly up. And we weren't at the lake house.

"Can you turn the music down?" Liam asked, sweat beading on his forehead.

Kira, the ever present sweetheart, misheard the boy and glanced back at us nervously. At least I wasn't the only one. "You want me to turn the music up?"

I hesitated only a moment before slipping my hand in Liam's warm one, squeezing it gently. He took a deep breath, and it shuddered only a little. He shot me a grateful smile, and then his phone buzzed. I couldn't see the contact name, but Liam frowned.

"Zoe, who'd you say was coming to this party?" he asked me quietly, leaning in. I could smell his cologne, and his spearmint breath. For a full ten seconds, I tried to gather my bearings. Then I looked at Kira.

I hated to throw her under the bus like this, but... "Kira, who did you say was coming?"

She hummed. "Everyone."

My phone vibrated, and I pulled it out, resisting the urge to scowl at Stiles's name. There was no text in the message, just a photo attachment. I opened it to see a smashed blue car with 'this is your fault' spray-painted onto the side. At once, I tilted the phone away from Liam. Then another message popped up.

"This kid's dangerous, Zoe. Be careful."

I nearly scoffed. Telling me to be careful around my best friend. I knew exactly what he was capable of, and the only time he actually hurt me was when I got knocked down. And that was because we had kidnapped and taped him up.

I typed a quick reply, seeing the lake house up ahead.

"I'm not worried about his emotions, Stiles. I'm worried he won't want to be my friend anymore."

Seconds, later, my phone buzzed again.

"Well, we've got bigger problems."

The moon was out, and Liam's breathing quickened again. His face scrunched up and he turned away from me, though his hand was still clasped in mine. Bigger problems, indeed.

Kira pulled up to the lake house, and I knew Liam was instantly suspicious. He eyed the amount of vehicles. Just Stiles's Jeep, and Scott's dirt bike. They must have carpooled.

"Where is everyone?" Liam inquired as we clambered out of the car. He pulled me with him, and I felt the slight chill prickle my skin. Liam must have noticed, because he shrugged off his jean jacket and I slid my arms into the long sleeves.

I smiled, more to myself than anyone else. The jacket was warm, and smelled like Liam. Whatever his cologne was, I was in love with it.

"They're here," Kira said. "It's a small party."

Liam frowned. "You said everyone was coming." I noticed the weakness in his voice, the instability of it. I glanced up at the moon. It was full and bright, all right.

Thankfully, Kira took it upon herself to answer all the tough questions. "They are. They're late. And we're early. So we better hurry." She motioned for us to come along, and Liam grabbed my hand again. His was sweaty, and I wondered if he was aware of that.

Kira pushed open the front door and we stepped inside to see Scott, Lydia, Malia, and Stiles waiting in a dark living room for us. I spotted the chains on one of the side tables. "Sorry," Kira said, shutting the door and blocking it.

Liam's gaze found mine, and I tried to apologize with my eyes. I don't think I was doing so hot. He let go of my hand.

"What the hell is this?" Liam asked the group.

"Think of it like an intervention," Stiles said bracingly. "You have a problem, Liam."

Scott nodded. "And we're the only ones that can help."

Don't think that this means that Liam forgives Zoe just yet. I don't necessarily take him as the grudge holding type, but I don't think he'd forgive very easily either. But Zoe won't give up! After all, a certain emotional bond can be formed when someone fixes you when you're broken, and that's exactly what Liam did for Zoe. The nogitsune thing really screwed with her, being her brother and what not. Also, I want to super duper thank the people that reviewed! It means a lot to me, so thank you. Lemme know what you think in a review!

So I've been writing ahead a little and I wanted to know a couple things. What do you think of Liam and Zoe's relationship so far? Do you like where it's going? Do you want more romance? I'm trying to make it slower, because clearly they're still in the best friend stage. Are you guys excited for this Monday's episode? I know I am. (Also I'm really sad that I won't be able to fully write Weaponized even though it was a crap episode.)

8.10.2014