"And then he just left me there, tied to a chair with a broken arrowhead. It took me two and a half hours to get out."

"Seriously? Can you file neglect for that? I mean, leaving you alone in the woods in the house that belongs to number one on the Argents' Most Wanted list?"

Allison laughed as she swung her gym locker open, peeling off her sweater and hanging it gently in her locker. "Well he didn't leave me completely alone. There was another guy there, one of Dad's hunting friends. Chase Bennett."

"Hm, sounds like a stand up kinda guy. Nice, strong name." She laughed as I traded my black blazer and white camisole for a black tank top. "What?" I asked with a smirk. "Chase means hunter. It's an English name. Look it up."

She rolled her eyes, whacking me with her own tank top before pulling it over her head. I watched as she paused to pull her bracelets off, rubbing her wrists as if the ropes that had bound her were still there.

"But seriously, are you okay?"

"What?" She jumped slightly, eyes wide as her mind snapped back to the locker room. "Oh, yeah, no. I mean, it scared me, but I got out. I guess it's all part of my training."

"About that," I said, stepping out of my boots. I kept my eyes on the ground, not entirely sure I wanted to go down the road I was standing at the edge of. "I was wondering…I wanted to know whether or not you thought it might be a good idea to…you know…teach me a few things…"

"Teach you?"

"Yeah, you know, just…little stuff your dad's teaching you…"

Allison stopped what she was doing, seemingly oblivious to the fact that she was only half-changed out of her clothes. "You want me to train you to be a hunter?"

"No," I said immediately, Kate's sneering face flashing in my mind. "I just… I want to be prepared. Whether I'm a hunter or a werewolf or a human, I'm involved in this. There's always the risk something's gonna happen to me, to any of us."

"Sadie, I don't think any of the werewolves in Beacon Hills are planning on tying people to chairs."

"Obviously your dad doesn't have a problem with it."

Allison paused again, narrowing her eyes at me in a way that made my stomach flutter with guilt. Maybe that'd been a bit harsh, but I held my ground.

"You don't seriously think my dad's going to try and…"

"I don't know what he's gonna do, Allison," I said, cutting her off before she could get too mad at me. "I just know that being involved is dangerous, and I want to be ready. If it's not your family, it could be other hunters. Other werewolves. And besides, if you teach me then you don't have to go through it alone."

She pursed her lips for a few seconds, staring at me as she mulled over the words. But finally, she shook her head. "Thanks for the consideration, but I'm not tying you up, Sadie."

"Okay, what conversation did I just walk into?"

Lydia promptly marched between us, sly smile on her face as she placed her bag on the bench and skipped to her locker. Her perkiness seemed to just snap the tension out of the air, causing small grins to creep onto our faces as we changed the subject.

"Not what it sounds like," Allison chuckled, turning back to her gym clothes.

"Exactly what it sounds like," I said with a smirk. "I was offering Allison romantic assistance."

"Is there something you two aren't telling me?" Lydia asked, cocking an eyebrow as she tugged on her green dress.

I grinned, pulling up my pink shorts and grabbing my sneakers before I slammed the locker shut. "Not me. Assistance with Scott."

"Oh my God, Allison. Are you seriously trying bondage with Scott?"

"W-What?! No!" Allison squeaked in protest, quickly looking around the locker room before cutting her volume in half. "I—I'm not trying anything with Scott."

"That's a relief. Seriously, bondage is not all it's cracked up to be."

"Lydia!" I gasped, practically cackling as I laced up my shoes.

She shrugged, shooting a mischievous smile and Allison and I before tugging her T-shirt over her head. "But seriously. Not that I don't think you and Scott are adorable, but can't we agree that there are much more pressing topics to be discussing?"

"Nope," I said as casually as possible, pulling my hair up into a high ponytail and keeping my eyes dead ahead. I could feel Lydia's eyes boring into the top of my head, but I was determined to ignore it. "Not that I know of."

Lydia perched herself onto the bench next to me, practically bouncing right back out of her seat with the energy. "Come on, Sadie. What are you wearing tonight?!"

Even just that simple question made the nerves claw at the inside of my stomach. I could vaguely hear Allison gently coaxing Lydia away from the subject, but even when they were right next to me it was hard to focus on the words. The only word I seemed to be able to get a grip on was "tonight," and it was just screaming over and over in my head.

Tonight! Tonight! Tonight! Tonight! Tonight!

I had no idea how my date with Stiles had managed to creep up me. It wasn't like it was a sudden surprise. I knew that Stiles was going to be planning something, and I'd only had to wait a few days before he brought up his idea at lunch. Or at least, he brought up that he had an idea. He refused to tell me almost any details beyond the day we'd be going out. Today.

And it's not like I hadn't been thinking about it every single day since we'd set the date. It was one of my first thoughts when I woke up, a voice that was screaming in the back of my head every time I saw him, the last worry on my mind before I fell asleep.

And it's certainly not like Lydia hadn't been reminding me about it every single day since I'd told her we'd set the date. Honestly, she seemed more excited than anyone really. Except maybe my mother.

"Are you nervous?" Lydia asked as we headed out into the gymnasium. Her arms were crossed over her chest, as if she thought the idea of me being anxious about my first date was simply absurd and a little bit offensive.

"Yes, Lydia. Yes, I am nervous. And I get more nervous every time you ask me about it. So can we please just stop talking about it?"

"Fine, fine. I'm not trying to get you all worked up."

"Thank you."

"…That's Stiles's job."

"Lydia!"

My so-called best friends subsided into giggles, poorly hiding their faces in their hands as I glared at them. Lydia predictably looked far too pleased with herself for her own good. But Allison looked more than amused. She looked conniving.

I slowly turned on the spot, following her gaze over my shoulder to the other side of the gym, where it seemed Scott and Stiles had beat us to class. Scott had a hand clamped over his mouth, and his face was slowly growing red from the effort of keeping his laughter in. Thankfully, Stiles looked utterly confused, glancing between all of us as he apparently demanded Scott to tell him what had been said.

I rounded on the girls once more. I knew that I couldn't exactly blame Lydia for Scott knowing—after all, she knew nothing about his stupid werewolf hearing—but that didn't mean I was just going to sit by while all of my friends giggled at my expense.

"Lydia, just stop it. Please, please just… I'm nervous enough as it is, so can we just…? Cool it for today? At least in classes we have with Stiles and Scott?"

She rolled her eyes, twirling a long strand of strawberry blonde hair around her finger and clicking her tongue. "Ugh, you're no fun."

"We're sorry, Sadie," Allison apologized for the pair, nudging Lydia slightly with her elbow. "We'll try and contain ourselves. We're just happy for you."

"I get it, and I love you for it," I said as we wandered over to the giant climbing wall Finstock had set up in the gym. "I just… I don't know. It feels like you guys are sucking up all the happy in the atmosphere and leaving me with nothing but a big ball of nerves. So just…slightly less happy."

Allison nodded dutifully, sharing a sly glance with her not-boyfriend as they walked up on the other side of the group.

Lydia gave a flippant salute. "You can always avoid the teasing by just leaving. Go talk to him instead."

I smiled slightly at the command that was just barely concealed as a friendly encouragement. I looked over my shoulder, glancing at the boys in question. Scott caught my eye with a grin, then elbowed Stiles in the ribs. He jumped, but then his head snapped over to me with wide eyes. He sent me a silly smile and a nervous wave, and the knots in my stomach seemed to ease slightly, then seize even tighter than before.

I bit my lip to hold back my grin, ducking my head and turning back to Lydia and Allison. "Meh. He can go without me for a little longer. I'm with you guys for now."

Lydia huffed childishly, but Allison sent me a knowing smile and let it go.

Neither of them pushed the subject as the class began, Coach Finstock calling through the attendance in his ridiculously loud voice, which only sounded louder in the spacious gymnasium. The grating noise continued as he began calling victims up to the rock wall, ascending in pairs and racing to the bell at the top. I went up with Lydia, which was a relief after watching Jackson and Greenberg getting paired. Despite what people may have assumed, Lydia and I were fairly well matched ability wise. It was a close race to the top, one that she insisted she let me win for good luck before flouncing off to the water fountain.

It wasn't until we'd made it back to the bottom and passed our harnesses off to Scott and Allison that I was finally accosted.

"So I know that I already said that I find you disturbingly attractive with firearms, but I kinda want to revise my answer. It's pretty much anything athletic, because that—that was pretty awesome. I don't know, I guess uh… I guess I just think it's insanely appealing when you do sporty, or—or really any physical stuff… And that totally came out wrong, because you know I didn't mean physical physical stuff. Not that I wouldn't find that attractive…"

"Stiles…"

"Yeah, I know. I'm gonna stop talking now." He reached up to scratch the back of his neck, as he was apt to do when he talked himself into an awkward corner. "Just…Just trying to compliment you."

I smirked, crossing my arms over my chest as I looked up at Scott and Allison, now halfway up the wall. "You can compliment me all you want, Stilinski. Flattery doesn't change the fact that you invited them on our date."

I could almost feel him cringing next to me, wringing his hands. "First of all I—I did not invite him. He invited himself as a joke, and then I told him that I didn't want him anywhere in the general vicinity, and I made a stupid bet trying to make sure he wouldn't be there at all, and I lost and now he's taking Allison too. I'm sorry I just… Trust me, I really wish I'd kept my mouth shut. If it was up to me we'd be completely alone… Wow, that—that still sounded creepy, um…"

"Stiles, it's fine," I said, cutting off his rambling and shaking my head. "I get it."

"You get it?" he repeated tentatively. "The—The alone thing or…?"

"The whole thing," I confirmed. "Honestly, it's fine."

"Y-You're not mad?"

"Why would I be?"

Stiles scuffed his heel into the gym floor, his long fingers incessantly weaving in and out of each other in anxiety. "I don't know. Cause I kind of ruined everything by…with…uh…?"

"Your videogame hubris?" I suggested with a smirk.

Stiles glanced up at me with wide, bemused eyes. "What? Hu-what?"

"Hubris."

"Oh my God," he groaned, wiping his hands down his face. "Sadie, will you just…? Usually I find your vocabulary very enticing but today I'm just very frustrated and very, very sorry. Agh!"

I giggled as he waved his arms around frantically, making him look over at me with that butterfly-inducing half-smile. I bit my lip as he calmed down, and took a tentative step closer to him.

"Look, I'm not angry about any of this. Technically, we went on Allison and Scott's first date too. So, fair's fair, right?"

"Yeah, I guess," he sighed, kicking at the floor again.

"And as far as the other thing goes, uh…" I glanced around, mostly to make sure that Lydia was nowhere in sight, and Scott was busy talking to Allison high up on the wall. I took a step closer to Stiles, poking him in the chest and forcing him to look up at me. "I'd prefer we were completely alone too."

Stiles stared at me for a few seconds, maple eyes wide with surprise and his jaw hanging slightly slack. I dug my teeth into my bottom lip as he gaped, trying to contain my teasing, self-satisfied smirk. But before either of us could say anything, there was a whizzing sound, a gasp and a thump that made us both jump to look at the front of the class.

Scott was lying with his back on the safety mat, face screwed up and panting slightly as he tried to catch his breath from the fall. The class burst into laughter, Coach Finstock loudest of all as he crouched down next to his student.

Stiles snorted. "You know, I'll bet he's real thankful for all those amazing werewolf reflexes."

"Actually, I think we've got hunter reflexes to thank for this," I whispered back, tilting my head back to look up the rock wall again.

I grinned up at Allison as she reached the top of the wall, just unable to hide her pleased grin under her curtain of hair. Her confidence was all to evident as she scaled back down the wall, winking at Scott as she undid her harness. I offered her a sound high-five as she rejoined the crowd.

"Alright! Next two!" Finstock called, glaring the class into silence as if he hadn't been the primary leader of the ruckus. "Stilinski! Erica! Let's go! The wall!"

I glanced around at the familiar name, almost instantly spotting the frizzy blonde hair of the girl I'd spoken to the night of the winter formal. She was only standing a few feet away, practically trembling. I sent her an encouraging smile, but she didn't seem to notice, her wide eyes trained on the obstacle in front of her. It didn't take much to tell how nervous she was.

Stiles didn't seem to be feeling the same. He beamed at the chance to prove himself, taking one stride forward before pivoting back to me and tapping his cheek. "Uh, for good luck?"

"Just get up the wall, Stilinski."

He grinned at my eye roll, backing away and easily shrugging his shoulders. "Meh. Worth a shot."

After one none-too-short blast from the coach's whistle, Erica and Stiles were off up the wall. I watched with mild interest as Stiles quickly took the lead, as if his life depended on it. Or at least, I was trying to look like I was just mildly interested, which was increasingly difficult with Allison smirking next to me and nudging me in the ribs. I just smirked and shrugged her off, not bothering to scold her. It wouldn't do any good. Besides, there was at least a ninety-five percent chance that Stiles had had his eyes glued to my ass when I was up on the wall. Why shouldn't I return the favor?

But I was only able to enjoy the show for a couple of seconds before something else caught my attention. It wasn't so much a movement out of the corner of my eye as a sudden lack of movement. I looked over to the other side of the wall, where Erica had been slowly making her ascent. Only now she was completely frozen, desperately clutching at the colorful, plastic rocks and practically trembling in her baggy gray sweatshirt. She wasn't just stuck. Something was wrong.

I caught Allison's attention and tipped my head toward the wall. It took a moment, but eventually her expression of confusion melted away, replaced by genuine concern.

It wasn't long before everyone else began noticing too. A wave of whispers was flowing and ebbing around us, people leaning in to talk to their neighbors, while a few bold students actually pointed up into the air.

Stiles jumped down from the wall a few seconds later, wearing a wide grin as he punched his arms into the air in victory. But if he was waiting for recognition, it didn't come. Almost the whole class was focused on the quaking girl in the air. And those who hadn't noticed yet weren't left clueless for long.

Erica let out a frustrated sob, effectively dragging all of the attention in the room onto her. Her body shook with gasping breaths as she began to hyperventilate, and the class surged forward beneath her, pressing in to get a better look.

"Erica!" the coach called up, almost directly beneath her. "Dizzy? Is it vertigo?"

"Vertigo's a dysfunction of the vestibular system of the inner ear," Lydia corrected from my left, sparing Coach Finstock a near-scathing look of annoyance. "She's just freaking out."

"Lydia, stop," I scolded quietly, but my eyes never dropped from the untamed mane of blonde hair.

The coach called up to the poor girl again, but the only response was a weak "I'm fine," barely distinguishable from the rest of her whimpers.

"Coach, maybe it's not safe," Allison said with worry. "You know she's epileptic."

Judging by his wide-eyed expression, Finstock certainly did not know that Erica was epileptic. "W-Why—Why does nobody tell me this stuff?! Erica! You—You're fine! Just—Just k-kick off from the wall! There's—Th-There's a mat to catch you! Come on."

But if that was supposed to console her, it certainly didn't work. If anything, Erica pressed herself closer to the wall, sobbing uncontrollably as her knuckles glared a bright white.

I bit my lip and, after a moment of hesitation, pushed past Lydia and Allison to get to the front. "Gimme the belt."

"Huh?" Stiles asked, tearing his eyes away from his climbing partner.

"The belt, the harness. Come on."

He shared a confused look with the coach who, in a true act of helpless confusion, nodded frantically. Stiles fumbled to unbuckle himself from the ropes, passing them off to me and taking my place in the crown.

I took a deep breath before I jumped up onto the wall, making my way up and over to Erica as quickly as I could. I slowed my pace just slightly as I drew level, not wanting to startle her with my sudden appearance. She still didn't seem to notice my presence, trapped inside her own head for fear, so I tried to keep my voice as quiet and gentle as possible. "Hey, Erica. It's Sadie. You okay there?"

I didn't exactly receive any verbal acknowledgement, but she immediately clamped her mouth shut. The whimpers died down into silence, but her body continued to quake as she stared up above her.

"Okay, right. Stupid question. But you're gonna be okay. I know repelling kind of sucks, but we're not that far off the ground, alright? So why don't we both just push off, get to the ground, and then we can get the hell out of here. Okay?"

Again, I couldn't tell how much the words were actually registering. But Erica's head jolted in what looked like a nod, so I decided to give it a shot.

"Good. One. Two. Three."

Erica pried her hands off the rocks, grabbing onto her rope in a desperate attempt to find security. We slid slowly down to the ground, landing softly on the mat amidst hushed classmates.

Finstock immediately stepped forward, helping Erica to detach her harness as her hands continued shake. "See? You're fine. You're on the ground. Alright, let's go. Shake it off. You're fine."

She sent him a pitiful look as she moved back through the crowd, closing her eyes as she tried to ignore the flurry of laughs springing up around her.

I dropped my own harness and hurried after her, glaring and elbowing some of the people who were still giggling as I passed. "Hey! Hey, are you alright?"

"I'm fine," she grumbled, still shuffling away.

"Are you sure? I already went, so if you wanna go for a walk or something, I could ask Finstock…"

"I said I'm fine!"

I froze as she whirled around, glaring at me with a level of anger that I wouldn't have expected from her previously. Her chest was still rising and falling rapidly, though assumedly it was no longer fear that was fueling her, but rage. She stared at me for a few seconds, her lips feebly attempting to curl back into a snarl, but she didn't seem to be able to manage it. Her eyes clenched shut, jaw trembling as if she were trying to stop herself from crying. I took another step forward, but she countered it with her own step back, her head sinking down so she could stare at the floor. "Just…Just stay away from me…"

She quickly retreated into the hallway, leaving me standing there with my jaw hanging slightly open. Sure, I'd only spoken to Erica on one other occasion, but I was pretty sure it hadn't warranted this. Our conversation at the dance had seemed pleasant, but now she seemed like she couldn't even bring herself to look at me.

"Hey, you okay?" Scott appeared at my side, glancing between my shocked face and the door that Erica had disappeared through.

I blinked, shaking my head slightly. "Yeah, yeah…I'm fine…"

He rested his hand on my shoulder, the warmth from his palm instantly soothing my nerves. "She probably just wanted to get out of here. I wouldn't want to talk to anyone either."

I nodded feebly, jumping slightly when Finstock blew his whistle from the front of the room, ordering everyone to shut the hell up, and for the next pair of people to ascend the climbing wall before he gave each and every one of us detention.

Scott's thumb rubbed comforting circles over my skin, and after a few seconds I finally let him steer me back towards our peers. I took my place between Allison and Lydia once more, met with a few questioning glances. But Scott shook his head, and that was enough for everyone to drop the subject for the moment.

The rest of class passed on uneventfully, the last few couples climbing up and down the wall with ease, the excessive blowing of the whistle, and Finstock screaming at Greenberg a few times for who knows what. The usual. But even after that stretch of normality, I was still feeling worried and uncomfortable as we retreated to the locker rooms.

"I don't get why you're so worked up about it," Lydia said, taking the lead as she marched back to her locker to begin getting changed. "She's the one who freaked out, not you."

"I'm sure she's fine, Sadie," Allison added, throwing me a slightly more sympathetic smile.

"Yeah, I know, I know. She just… She seemed so upset. Like, angry-upset."

"Duh, she's jealous," Lydia offered. "The three of us kicked ass on the climbing wall, and she couldn't even make it half-way." I nodded solemnly, but she instantly picked up on my more than reluctant answer. "She'll get over it, Sadie. It's not like you stole her boyfriend or something."

That was comforting for about half a second. Then my stomach dropped straight down to rest between my sneakers. No, Erica didn't have a boyfriend to steal. But she did have a crush.

"You… You don't think she knows about Stiles and me…right?"

Allison looked up curiously, but Lydia snorted. "Sadie, the entire world knew about you and Stiles before you and Stiles knew about you and Stiles."

"No, I know that. I just mean…you know…now that we're…official…" The word felt strange on my tongue, and I mouthed it again just to try it out. Stiles and I were official.

Lydia and Allison both smiled at the phrase, but they were sweet, polite smiles for once instead of the excited grins that honestly made me a little frightened.

"Why don't you want her to know?" Allison asked. "I mean, you guys have been a little more flirty lately."

"Which is totally called for," Lydia added. "It took Stiles this long to snag you, he might as well flaunt you."

"Sh! Lydia, keep your voice down. Erica could be…" But the scold died in my throat as I looked around the locker room. I turned back and forth, peering briefly down the rows of lockers for the shock of tangled blonde hair. "…not here…"

"Sadie, what is it?" Allison asked, stepping over to my side.

"Erica. She's not here."

"Yeah, Sadie, you told us she bounced out," Lydia said from behind me. "She's probably skipping."

"In her gym clothes?" I shot an annoyed glance over my shoulder, and Lydia puckered her lips in consideration. "No. Something… What if something's wrong?"

"Sadie," Allison said quietly, but I was already out the door.

My original plan had been to walk the hallways for a few minutes, to see if she was just hiding by the water fountain or something. But there was a flurry of noise in the gym that caught my attention, making me pivot on the spot and ran in that direction.

Almost all the lights had been turned off, save the two above the climbing wall. They acted like a spotlight, highlighting each rock, casting shadows over the floor, and silhouetting the three figures that were hunched on the ground beneath them.

I sprinted across the floor, kneeling down between Scott and Stiles with half the class on my heels. Scott had Erica wrapped tightly in his arms, and was struggling to keep her still. She was convulsing again, but this time it wasn't for fear or hyperventilation or rage. Her eyes were glossed over, her breath coming in gurgley, short bursts, and fingers twitching out uncontrollably.

"Put her on her side! Put her on her side!" Allison ordered, skidding the last few steps to kneel at Scott's side. He rushed to comply, and Erica's hands clenched onto his with all her strength. "How did you know?"

"I just felt it," he whispered.

"Wait, how did you know?" Stiles asked, looking curiously at Allison and me, traces of panic and worry still etched firmly on his face.

"I didn't. I noticed she wasn't in the locker room. I was just worried."

But the conversation was cut short as Coach Finstock burst from his office, finally noticing the commotion in the gym. He replaced Scott's position at Erica's side, pushing him to the side and yelling for someone to run to the nurse. Several people standing close to the door rushed away, and Finstock continued yelling until we all dispersed, heading back to the locker rooms to get changed and mind our own business. For the sake of the poor girl in his arms, he laid off his whistle.

If I'd felt uneasy before, it was nothing compared to the second time I entered the looker room. There was an anxious feeling writhing in my stomach, the unshakeable feeling that something was terribly wrong. Judging by the quiet in the room, I figured it was safe to say that everyone else felt it too. We changed in silence, and by the time we were all back in our clothes and standing in the hall, the nurse had joined Coach Finstock over Erica's body, and was on the phone with 911.

I gripped my bag tightly, running a hand through my hair and pressing my lips together hard. I could only imagine what Erica had been doing in the gym when the seizure hit her, but I had a pretty good idea. She'd been climbing, maybe not to prove to us that she could do it, but to prove it to herself. That she could reach the top, that she was just as good as the rest of us. And for some reason, that knowledge made the feeling in my stomach swell up, growing from anxiety and worry to guilt.

An arm wrapped around my shoulders, gently tugging me away from the gymnasium. "Come on. Let's get out of here."

I let Stiles pull me into the hallway, someplace a little away from the crowd while we waited for the bell to ring and officially release us. Then we stopped and he rested his back on the wall, facing me with sympathetic concern.

"Hey, I'm sure she's gonna be fine. She's been through worse."

"I know, it's just… I don't know. I just feel guilty or something."

"Hey, this is not your fault," he said firmly, grabbing my shoulders and tugging slightly to make me look up at him. "Erica's epileptic. You didn't do that. You didn't make her climb up there or make her have a seizure or anything, okay? That's not your fault. You climbed up there, and you helped her down and—and it was awesome, okay?"

My lips grudgingly twitched up into a small smile. But that was Stiles's specialty. Making me smile when I least wanted to. I forced myself to nod.

He rubbed my shoulders gently, and fell into step beside me as the bell rang and we headed down the hallway. "So, are you gonna be okay?"

"Me?" I asked, with slight surprise. "Yeah. Why wouldn't I be?"

"I don't know. You just seem shook up and…" He puffed his cheeks out, shooting me a side-glance before forcing himself to look straight ahead. "And if you're not feeling well then… I just want to make sure that you're…good. And if you're not, then you know, I don't want to force you out tonight. If you aren't in the mood or something or if you wanted to…to…"

"What, take a rain check?"

"Yeah," he sighed, running a hand over his hair in distress.

I pulled him to a stop, stepping in front of him with a reassuring grin. "No. I don't want to push it off. I'm gonna be fine, and we're gonna go out tonight. Wherever it is you're taking me."

Stiles grinned, but quickly checked his expression back to serious concern. "Um, are you sure?"

"Positive."

He bobbed his head as the smile crept back onto his face. For a few seconds we just stood there, grinning at each other like idiots until he finally cleared his throat. "Right, so uh…I'll…I'll see you at lunch."

"Oh. Yeah," I agreed, face heating up as I took a step back from him. He turned to walk to his next class, but before I could stop myself, I grabbed his wrist. "Stiles?"

"Yeah?"

"Thank you." I bit my lip, nerves raging through my whole body before I made the snap decision to kiss him on the cheek. I glanced around the hall, as if expecting someone to drop their books and call us out for PDA. But everyone just continued on their way, not sparing us a thought.

Stiles's cheeks quickly flushed pink, and he cleared his throat again. He lifted his hand like he was going to touch his face, then decided that it was a terrible idea and forced his hand down to his side. "Ahem, uh… Yes. You're—You're welcome."

I beamed, trying to contain the giggle that was threatening to creep out of my throat. I took a few steps back from him, nearly knocking over several people behind me. Then I ducked my head and rushed to class, slightly mortified, but unable to wipe the silly, stupid smile off my face.

Thinking about Stiles had effectively pushed all thoughts of Erica to the back of my mind. That didn't mean I wasn't on edge, of course. I'd just returned to the excited-nervous state that I'd been in at the beginning of the day, and classes went on as usual. Lydia, Allison and sometimes Scott joining in to tease about the big day. It would have been annoying if I didn't love them all so much. But it was nice to be nervous about something normal for a change.

It looked like things were going to continue being normal for a bit, until the school bell ushered us out of our biology class. Lydia had rolled her eyes as Stiles waited by the edge of our desk, waiting for me to pack up my things so we could walk together. Then she'd mysteriously disappeared, leaving me alone with him with nothing more than an encouraging wink.

Stiles and I made our way into the hallway, walking shoulder to shoulder and taking our time getting to the lunchroom. But we'd only made it down one hall before the comfortable smile fell off my face.

Lydia was leaning against a wall nearby, her face screwed up as tears began to roll down her face. Crying is pretty much always a sign that something's wrong, but with Lydia? Crying in public? I knew that it had to be something borderline catastrophic.

"Hey, can—can you save me a seat?"

Stiles stopped mid-sentence, looking over at me in confusion. But he followed my gaze, and the moment he saw Lydia, he nodded firmly. "Yeah. Go ahead."

I squeezed his hand gently before rushing down the hallway, boots practically skidding across the floor as I reached my best friend. "Lydia? Lyd? What happened?"

She sniffled, but still seemed almost paralyzed. Her right arm clutched her books to her chest, left hand splayed against the wall at her back as if to stop herself from collapsing on the spot. Her chest jolted with shaky breaths, and it seemed to take all her strength for her to lift her head. She only let her eyes rest on mine for a moment, before they flitted off somewhere to my right. I glanced after her, immediately spotting the issue.

Jackson was storming down the hallway, his whole form trembling with anger, as it seemed to be doing more and more frequently. He had his back to us, marching away in the other direction. But that only meant that a few seconds ago, he had been there, and whatever he had done, he'd left a trembling, frantic Lydia in his wake.

"I'm gonna fucking kill him," I growled and prepared to march after him.

But the threat seemed to snap Lydia out of her terrified daze. She snatched my sleeve, using the grip to pull me back and pull herself from the wall at the same time. "No! No, just stop."

"Lydia, he can't just keep doing this to you! He's—He's a fucking douchebag to everything that moves and someone needs to…!"

"Sadie, stop!" It was nothing more than a desperate squeak, so pitiful and sad that I instantly shut my mouth. Lydia closed her eyes, her hand tightening on my sleeve. "Please…please just…" But she didn't seem to be able to finish the sentence.

My fury seemed to crack right down the middle, falling apart as quickly as the girl in front of me. I pulled Lydia to my chest, holding her close and letting her sob into my shoulder. Her grip moved from my sleeve to my shoulder, and I wrapped my arms around her torso. "Okay, it's okay. Look, I'm—I'm not going anywhere. Come on, let's get you out of here." I tried to pull her along, making for the nearest bathroom, but she shrugged me off, batting away my hands.

"No, no. Just… Just go."

"What? Lyd, I'm not leaving you alone when you're like this."

"I want to be alone when I'm like this," she said emphatically. "Go to lunch. Sit with Stiles. I'll be… I'm just… Go."

And before I could say another word of objection, she brushed past me, holding her hand up over her mouth like it was the only thing holding her together. She kept her head down as she rushed through the hallway, and in a few seconds, she was completely gone from my sight.

The majority of me wanted to run after her, to refuse to leave her side until she told me what was wrong, and gave me permission to kick Jackson repeatedly. Perhaps into unconsciousness. But I knew that she'd never agree. Lydia hated letting people see her weak, and even though I'd seen her cry plenty of times before, it was never something she voluntarily agreed to. She wanted her time alone and undisturbed so she could put her game face back on. And I needed to respect that.

I pulled out my phone and sent her a quick text, reminding her that I was there for her if she decided she wanted company, and I would save her a seat at lunch if she was feeling up to it. Then I slowly made my way to the cafeteria, trying to remember that feeling of content happiness I'd had just a few minutes before. I managed just a smidge of it, and couldn't pull a smile onto my face until I walked into the lunchroom. My eyes immediately found Stiles and Scott talking animatedly at a table nearby, and my lips curled up into a grin as a headed over.

"Forty-five dollars. I mean can you believe that? You're totally chipping in, dude."

"I don't know man. It seems kind of worth the price."

"Yeah, well it was supposed to be fifty. I only got five dollars off because, and I quote, 'Bennet isn't half as annoying as you are.'"

"Well who can I thank for that glowing compliment?" I asked, dropping my bag down next to Stiles.

He almost jumped out of his seat, arms flailing wildly as he tried to stash whatever was in his hands into his bag while keeping it out of sight. "S-Sadie, you can't just do that!"

"Boyd," Scott answered for me, chuckling at his friend's reaction.

"Oh, well that's nice of him."

I looked over my shoulder at the table I had once sat at with Boyd, the afternoon before the winter formal. He was sitting in the exact same spot, in the exact same chair, just as alone as he usually was. I shot him a wide smile and a wave, making him roll his eyes and shake his head. But he lifted a hand in response, before turning back to the homework he'd spread out on the table in front of him.

I lowered myself into the chair next to Stiles, snatching a fry off Scott's plate. "So do I get a thank you for earning you a discount on your…?"

"Thank you," Stiles said with a grin. "And it's nothing you need to worry your pretty little head about."

I held my hands up rolling my eyes at him. "Fine, fine. I won't pry."

"Oh come on, that's it?" he whined. "No—No begging? No 'please just tell me where we're going'? You're taking all the fun out of this secret surprise thing."

I smirked, planting my elbows on the table in front of me and leaning as close to his face as I dared. "Stiles, will you please tell me where you're taking me?"

"Nope!" He poked my nose with a grin, laughing to himself as he turned to his food.

I chuckled a bit, but it sounded half-hearted even to me.

Scott raised an eyebrow, and Stiles did a bit of a double take before realization washed over him. "How's Lydia?"

"She could be better. She could be a lot better. Frankly I think all our lives would be better if I just wipe Jackson Whittemore's stupid existence off the face of the planet."

"I wholeheartedly agree," Stiles said, nodding violently. "Just nothing that gets you put in jail before tonight."

"What happened?" Scott asked.

I rested my head in my hands, shaking it back and forth as I let my fingers sink into my hair and then fall to the table. "She won't tell me. She just stopped me from kicking his ass, told me to leave it alone, and then went to go cry in the bathroom. I know she needs time to herself I just… I hate leaving her alone. Everything that's happened, that's still happening. I just get so…freaking anxious…"

"Hey, it's okay," Scott insisted, resting one of his hands over mine. "We're not gonna let anything happen to her. She's got you looking out for her. Me, Stiles, Allison. We're all here for her."

"We're not. Not all the time," I said quietly.

There were a few seconds of solemn silence. Once again, I was trying to beat down all the memories of all the mistakes that I had made. Leaving Lydia, trusting Kate, nearly hurting Scott. It just seemed never ending. I had to protect them, at the very least to try and make up for what I'd done. I wouldn't ever be able to make it up to them, but I had to try. And how was I supposed to protect Lydia when she didn't know what was going on? I was consistently leaving her alone, again and again. Either I had to run off for a life or death situation with werewolves, or she was pushing me off onto Stiles.

I was just about to apologize for being so mopey when Stiles grabbed my hand. "Why don't you bring her tonight?"

"What?" I asked, my head snapping up to look at him.

"If you're afraid of leaving her alone," he explained, as if he'd been reading my mind. "Why don't you ask her to come with us?"

"On our date?"

"Double date," Stiles said, brandishing a finger at his friend across the table. "I already screwed everything up as far as attendance goes, so we might as well bring Lydia too."

"No, no," I sighed, shaking my head. "I'm worried about her and everything but…I guess I have to learn to get over it eventually…right? I—I can't ask to bring her."

"You're not asking to bring her. I'm asking to bring her." He cautiously weaved his fingers through mine on the table, looking at me in earnest. "Look, separation anxiety is something I kinda understand. You spend a lot of time with her, she got hurt and you don't want it to happen again, cause you feel responsible for her, so… I'm not gonna ask you to put me above her when you're this worried. I want you to have a good time tonight, and if that means bringing Lydia so you don't have to worry about her home alone, then…then we bring Lydia."

I stared at him in awe for several seconds. It was cliché, but it was one of those moments where it felt like Stiles and I were the only two people around. He just never ceased to amaze me with his consideration, just how genuine and thoughtful he could be. I wasn't sure if I wanted to kick myself for waiting so long to get him, or kiss him for making me feel so lucky.

"You are just…the absolute best," I said softly, my shock finally ebbing away. Stiles scoffed with a proud grin, and I let myself lean over and plant another kiss on his cheek.

"Ugh, gross," Scott chuckled. "Can you guys even wait until you actually go on the date?"

"Uh, no, I'd like to continue with the not waiting," Stiles said adamantly, making me roll my eyes.

"Sorry, sorry," I sighed, waving my hand a little.

But Scott didn't really seem all that angry or annoyed. He was just sitting there with a small smile, amused even if he was a little uncomfortable.

Or at least, he looked amused for a few seconds. But then his face went slack. Not just a look of surprise, but a stony expression of dread.

"Scott…?" I asked timidly, before Stiles and I both turned in our seats to follow his eyes. It was barely a second before the situation became clear.

I had no idea how it had happened so quickly. I wasn't so much surprised as I was just baffled. It had hardly been a few periods since gym. I just couldn't imagine how they had managed it.

Erica Reyes was strutting into the cafeteria, drawing every eye in the room onto her. Not shuffling. Not scampering. Strutting. Strutting in with her new leopard print pumps, a black mini skirt, low cut white tank top and cropped leather jacket. And it wasn't just a new wardrobe. Her frizzy hair was gone, suddenly an orderly mass of cascading blonde curls, and her acne seemed to have magically disappeared in just a few hours.

She sauntered over to a table just a few in from the door, leaning down to snatch an apple from one of the boys on the end. Not that he seemed to be complaining about the stolen fruit. He was far too mesmerized by the face that she had her chest merely a few inches from his face. She dug her teeth into the apple, raising her eyebrows innocently as she wiped her lips, painted a startling bright red.

I wanted to be surprised, but with a makeover like hers, it was no wonder she was experiencing a sudden burst of…confidence. The only question that remained was what exactly had happened within the last few hours to change her. And I already had a terrible feeling I knew exactly what it was.

"What. The holy hell. Is that?" Lydia asked, suddenly appearing behind us. She seemed infinitely more composed than she'd been before, but the whole room seemed too stunned to notice.

"It's Erica…" Scott answered quietly.

For some reason, the verbal confirmation was all I needed to be pushed into action. I was about to get out of my chair to talk to her, but Erica beat me to it. Her eyes flicked up from the poor boy in front of her, almost instantly finding mine in the crowded lunchroom. She glanced around at Scott, Stiles and me, and I wish I could say I missed the way her eyes narrowed at our hands clasped on the table. She stood back up to her full height, smirking at her audience and backing out of the cafeteria. But just before she reached the door, she glanced over her shoulder, glaring at me one last time before she tore another bite out of the apple.

I was the first one out of my chair, half-way across the room before Stiles or Scott could even stand up. I marched out into the hall, breaking into a full on run when I found it empty. I could hear Stiles and Scott behind me, their feet slamming on the tiles as we rushed towards the front of the school. I could feel my pulse rising in my ears again, pounding as my thoughts rushed into one repeated syllable.

"No, no, no, no, no…"

Unfortunately, the answer was a resounding yes. It took me less than a second to recognize the shining car waiting outside the doors of the school, the back of the head of the person lounging in the drivers seat. Less than a second and all my fears were confirmed.

Stiles and Scott poured out of the building behind me, each taking a place at my side as Erica sneered, climbing into the black Camaro with a level of elegance I was sure she wouldn't even have dreamed about the previous day. Derek turned around to face us, expression momentarily unreadable behind dark sunglasses. But then his face broke into a wide smile, the same charming, teeth-baring grin he'd shot at the officer when we had to break into the station to save Isaac from being slaughtered. And he was wearing it with pride, condemning another helpless teenager to the same fate.

The Camaro peeled out of the parking lot, wheels squeaking as he slammed his foot on the gas pedal. I just stood there with my stomach sinking lower and lower, burrowing into the ground beneath me. My hands were shaking at my sides.

Yes, she was prettier, stronger, more dangerous. But was it worth the danger Erica was going to have to deal with herself? I knew what Derek's angle had been with Isaac, knew that he had said yes to survive his abusive father. I had no idea what Erica had agreed to. How had Derek changed his speech? Had he even learned from his mistake with Isaac? Would he ever? Something about that smile told me no. And there was nothing we could do about it.

Stiles slipped his hand into my right one, tugging me back towards the school. "Guys, come on…"

"He bit her," Scott growled, reluctantly following us into the building. "We had to help him save Isaac from dying and he still bit her!"

"I know," Stiles sighed. "Scott, there's nothing we could have done."

"How—How did he even find her?!"

"Isaac," I said quietly, staring vacantly at the ground in realization. "I introduced them the night of formal."

Scott seemed to struggle with that for a moment, physically shaking with frustration and rage. "Damnit!" He spun on the spot, punching one of the lockers nearby. The metal creaked slightly, a small dent left in place of his fist.

"Woah, woah, woah!" Stiles dropped my hand and rushed over to Scott, grabbing him by the shoulders. "Let's kick it down a notch, okay? Try and remember who our principal is, 'kay buddy?"

I watched on as Stiles tried to calm him down, desperately trying to keep him from slipping up and shifting. How long would it be before Derek had to do that with Isaac? Erica? Or before he failed to do that?

Making a snap decision, I pulled my phone out of my pocket, dialing the number by memory. The boys didn't even notice what I was doing until someone picked up on the other end.

"I'm sorry, Derek can't come to the phone right now. Would you like to leave a message?"

"Erica, I know you're new to this, but one of the great things about being a werewolf is that he doesn't have to come to the phone to hear me," I said, fighting to keep my voice even. "Derek, I don't… I don't know what you told her, but I really hope you realize what you're doing. You needed our help with one beta. What are you gonna do with two?"

There was a few seconds of silence in which we all exchanged looks, Scott and Stiles watching me as I imagined Erica looked to Derek for direction.

"The same thing I'd do with three, Sadie. I need help. I need a pack. They're gonna learn and help each other, and then they're gonna help me."

I heard Erica give a small huff of disapproval, clearly not liking that Derek had conceded to talk to me.

"Three? What, you're gonna bite someone else?"

"What?!" Scott demanded from across from me, and Stiles had to yank him back from running across the hall.

"Why did you call me, Sadie?" Derek asked, ignoring my question. "You know you can't stop me."

"I know," I sighed. "I guess I just hope you're listening even if you won't do anything about it. Part of you knows it's wrong, and part of you knows I'm right."

"Can I hang up on her?" Erica hissed, and I heard a sound that might have been Derek actually growling at her.

"One last thing. I hope Isaac can deal with condemning her when all your shit hits the fan."

I promptly hung up on them, clenching my phone so tight that the edges threatened to cut into my hand. The only sound in the hallway was heavy breathing, Scott and I both trying to calm ourselves down and, for the most part, failing miserably.

"Shit," I sighed, wincing my eyes shut and lifting a hand to my head. "That was really mean. That was terrible."

"Uh no? It was true," Stiles agreed. He cautiously let go of Scott to walk back over to me.

"No, no that was…ugh! Of course I don't want Isaac to blame himself. I don't want anyone feeling guilty because it—it sucks!"

"If he doesn't want to feel guilty then he shouldn't have picked her out," he pointed out.

"But as far as he's concerned he's helping her! He's already almost died, almost killed, but he still thinks of this as a gift! And—And no one understands what they're signing up for and Derek won't listen and… What do we do?"

"Nothing," Scott answered softly. He glared at the school doors, as if Derek was still standing on the other side with that mocking grin. "We do nothing."

"No, you know what? I'll tell you what we're gonna do." Stiles grabbed both of us, pulling us closer and resting a hand on our shoulders. "We are going to have a normal day. School sucked today, and Scott's right. As far as the new wolves on the block go, we can't do anything. Derek won't listen to us, and I'm pretty sure that if anyone but Sadie tried, he would kill us. Violently. We can't change the fact that Isaac and Erica are werewolves, right? All we can do is be ready to stop him next time. And now that he has to deal with a hormonal, teenage girl in his possession, I don't think he's going to be revving to bite another one until at least tomorrow. No offense, Sadie."

"None taken. Trust me."

"So, instead of worrying about the rest of the shit going on in this town, we are going to finish the school day, we are going to go home, and then we are all going out tonight. Because I for one would like to have a nice time! Stiles wants to have a nice time!"

Scott's surly face broke across from me, changing into a reluctant grin as he chuckled and shook his head. "Dude…"

"What? No, Scott. I want us all to have a nice time. Shut up." He shoved Scott ahead of him and wrapped his arm around my shoulder as he ushered us back to the cafeteria.

The appearance of Erica had essentially zapped the pure happiness out of the air in the cafeteria. We struggled a little bit during lunch, but we couldn't talk about it because Lydia had decided to join us. But between Stiles and Lydia's determination for the night's plans to go on undeterred, the conversation got going again, and soon my anxiety about Stiles was back to the forefront of my mind.

Allison and Lydia took it upon themselves to remain at my sides for the rest of the day. Lydia grilled me with questions and hypothetical situations, dragging answers out of me and slapping my arm when I said something she considered wrong. Thankfully, at this point in our relationship, I knew exactly what Lydia considered "wrong" in situations involving boys. The hard part was going to be putting those hypothetical answers into actions.

She also seemed to think that we'd reached the point in the day where it was no longer appropriate for me to be hanging out with Stiles so close to the date. She and Allison kept dragging me away from him, pulling me into conversations and glaring him away. Lydia had come up with some metaphor about "starving the lion before the fight," which sent my stomach into a set of somersaults, bouncing off the rest of my organs and making me feel dizzy with nerves.

There was a moment of déjà vu as the girls dragged me away from my friends after the last bell, shooing me into the car so they could take me home to get ready. It felt like the night of the winter formal—avoiding Stiles, getting primped, the overwhelming knowledge lurking in the back of my mind that something bigger was going on. I could only hope that this was going to go better than that had.

A lot better.

A/N: God I'm so tired but I wanted to get this put up. I have been slaving to get this up, between the YouTube stuff and carefully neglecting my schoolwork and everything in between. But it's up, there was a lot more Stiles and I hope you enjoy it.

Also, I just wanted to make a point of saying that Stiles and Sadie will have original dates I used as filler chapters. It just ended up working out nicely that their first one would be on the show.

Thank you so much to all of my readers, new and old. To those who favorited or followed. And thank you for the lovely reviews I received from emele807, 19irene96, a. Paper. heaRt., Rain2012, enthusiastic-fan-and-reader, SilverAdvenger12, aliciasellers75, Valkyrie101, SimplyKelly, candydivine, KennedyRaye, Guest 1, meels234, RHatch89, Blazing-Melody, Daenerys86, anotherpageinmyhistory, Bookiee, ImagineDaydreams, tvdxobssessed, SuperDuperLights, Guest 2, FudgeMuffin, casper6six6, kodt24, Ann23, easythrowaway, Lammstrellicon, RedRose5, Montanasmith5897, PurpleRaining, MS. QUEEN21, Emmalee Adams, suzieS, WhatsGoingOn, TWsos12345, Gues 3, Richelle Costa, Guest 4, TameTheGhosts, kaljara, Pirate-chan, see-me-clearly, Red Constance, Nikkita Starr Ta, and JenRiley16.

Happy belated Valentines Day to you all and I hope that you enjoy this. Can't wait to hear your thoughts!

-Brittney