Isaac slammed the locker shut and sat on one of the benches, bending down to tie his shoelace as he listened to the people talk around him. He wanted to engage just like he used to but things had been a lot more difficult after Allison's death. He found himself just not interested in anything or anyone, peoples drama were infinitely more annoying than they ever had been before and sometimes he felt such anger burn inside him. It was getting harder to contain the wolf, and that scared him too. Chris had spoken with Isaac about it more than once, suggesting he seek help from Derek maybe or Scott, but he just didn't want to burden them all with his own failures.

Isaac looked up as Stiles and Scott sat down across from him, obviously having a rather engaging conversation by the expressions. He tuned in just incase they tried to include him in the topic.

"So where you going to take her? Cora's not exactly your average girl." Scott said, tugging on his boots.

"Tell me about it I don't have a clue, I'm just glad to have a date!" He grinned triumphantly and puffing his chest out with pride, it was his first after all and with a beautiful girl, he couldn't believe his luck.

"Hang on a second Stilinski, I thought I heard you saying you're going on a date with Cora Hale…" Danny walked over from the other side of the room, half dressed in his Lacrosse outfit. "As in the new girl who just enrolled?"

"Yeah what about it?" He asked dismissively, barely caring to reply.

"Dude she is way out of your league." He laughed, "she's only been here five minutes and she corrected the Spanish teachers grammar!"

"Tell that to her man, she's the one who wanted to go out with me!" He smirked and stood up only to stumble a little, which caused Scott and Danny to laugh even louder.

"Who'd want to go out with you?" They all turned around to see one of the newest players stroll over, the look on his face that of someone who had just smelt something vile. "Maybe she took pity on you, Stilinski, I mean you're pretty pathetic to look at."

"Shut up Jerry, what's it to you?" Scott stood up and positioned himself in front of Stiles but his friend just tugged on his arm.

"Leave it Scott he's not worth it." There were very few instances Stiles was adverse to a good comeuppance, but he didn't want his best friend to get in trouble on his behalf.

Jerry made to step forwards in retaliation of Stiles' words but Isaac got up and joined Scott as the pack mentality set in and called for his show of support. The two of them stood there as a wall, Danny watched from the sidelines but didn't want to intervene unless he was needed as a peacemaker being that he didn't enjoy confrontation of any kind. That's why he was the best goalkeeper around, defense not offence.

"You boys gettin' all fired up for the field? Good lads!" Coach came up behind Jerry and clapped him on the shoulder. "Time for you to show your stuff newbie, my team is the best in the state! I hope you bought your A-game!" He dragged Jerry off in another direction and the boy gave one last withering look over his shoulder before accepting his fate to Coach Finstock. Jerry had qualified just this semester along with other new members replacing those who had graduated and gone on to college.

"Well wasn't that a load of not-fun?" Stiles said "and seriously guys I can take care of myself."

Scott gave him a look "maybe but we're a team remember?"

"I don't want to seem like a wimp though." Mumbling to himself Stiles turned around to finish getting ready while Isaac, Scott and even Danny gave each other wry grins.

They all finished putting on the Lacrosse uniform and walked out onto the school sports field, Coach lead everyone into a line and began his usual speech when introducing the new players. After that he ordered them to practice taking shots for a while to start off as with every session, keep them coordinated and motivated all at the same time. Isaac and Scott didn't have any problems at all being the only werewolves left on the team and Stiles had moved up in ranks, although he was still rather nervous and riled up from earlier. He missed his first shot but scored the second time around, which was better than when he had started playing. Once everyone was comfortable with this they moved on to playing strategies and breaking in the newbies.

"Alright I want Brett and Jerry to work defense on this, don't complain!" He shouted at the chorus of groans "you'll all get your turn ladies, now line up, first one to get taken down has to buy the entire team pizza." Coach waved them all into the middle field, Jerry and Brett nodded to one another and pulled down their helmet guards, readying the sticks and planting their feet solidly in the grass.

"Greenberg you're up first, screw this up and you're running laps for the rest of the period."

Scott stretched out his neck watching as the rest of the class began their offense practice against Jerry and Brett, Stiles bounced from one foot to the next and Isaac drifted between paying attention and drifting off from the field and somewhere else. He watched as Greenberg completed his first lap, looking frustrated and tired already, Isaac wondered if they all weren't just running laps in this town in a futile bid to make a difference.

"Lahey you're up! Pay attention."

"Yes Coach." He needed to stop spacing out; Scott was already giving him the eye. As he readied himself for his shot he noticed Jerry smirking his heartbeat increased just slightly in anticipation. Isaac bent and scooped up the ball, he pulled his body into a prepared stance and then launched forward for a run headlong into the barrier of two boys. He pushed his head down for better ramming power but just as he was going to decide whether to plough through or leap over them he heard a voice; "You can do it Isaac!" It was like he'd been thrust back months at one of their games, he was doing his best to score a goal for the team and Allison was in the stands, she shouted his name and cheered him on and he could almost smell her perfume. By the time his head was back in the present Isaac found that he'd been pushed onto the ground. He stared up at two leering faces snickering at him.

"Man that was a sad performance Lahey, why're you on this team again?" Jerry laughed and Brett joined in with him.

"Dude… embarrassing!" Brett snickered cruelly, enjoying the torment.

"Good thing your girlfriends dead or she'd have kicked it with shame knowing just what a loser she is dating." Jerry continued, going way too far with it and saying one of the worst things.

With that Isaac saw blood red, his view as a human left him and he saw through the eyes of a predator and they were his prey. He snarled and leapt for them shoving Jett on his back and pulling his arm back to strike at his face to destroy the protective helmet. Before he could even strike him though Scott grabbed his arm and tore him away from the other students, shouting his name. His Alpha's voice brought him back from the abyss and grounded him but Isaac was too angry and unstable to even pretend to shake it off and act like nothing was wrong and he desperately didn't want his friends to see him falling apart. Standing up and pulling his arm free from Scott and he took off back to the locker rooms, not even glancing over his shoulder when his name was called.

Malia pressed her head further into her school locker as she fished around for her books and tried to ignore the two girls on the other side about ten lockers down, whispering to one another about her. It wasn't the first time and it certainly wouldn't be the last time either as people had a lot to say on the topic of Malia Tate. She was weird for one with very few facial expressions that humans would recognize. She knew to smile when pleased and frown when angry but her smile never allowed for a full grin, showing your teeth in the wild was a big no no! As in it would get your throat ripped out in seconds and seen as aggressive. Whenever someone asked her a question she tried to look engaging and answer it but they never seemed to understand. Then there was the fact that she had been found years later after the car incident, which people loved to talk about, and they had so many theories too. From her being adopted to Malia's mom drunk driving. No one knew the real story except for her and a few select people.

Ah but we mustn't forget the fact that once she was found and returned home she had been institutionalized. And yes so she had shared her time with another student from Beacon Hills, and people talked about Stiles too every now and again but for some reason her story was much more interesting to them. Malia was the interesting student, the edgy girl who seemed aloof and cool and completely together even though they knew she wasn't because she had been in a mental hospital.

"Maybe she killed them all herself, slit their throats and caused the accident, doesn't even remember?"

'Not far off…' Didn't they have anything better to do?

"I heard her dad slipped poison into their drinks before they left which slowly killed them but Malia didn't drink hers."

"Wow really!?"

Malia laughed loudly and quickly tried to mask it as a cough so as not to draw too much attention, but it came out rather strangled and odd.

"Oh god she's so weird, come on lets go before she tries to murder us too." With that they scurried off like mice, probably to look for more rumors to spread around the school as if they were cheese crumbs.

'Oh please if I wanted you dead you'd have no chance.' She honestly didn't feel like making the effort to kill every person who talked behind her back though, the desire had left about five days ago. Now she just wanted to get away from the confinement of Beacon Hills High and go for a run, be free and normal. It really didn't help the rumors that when she had started going to the school a bunch of girls had decided to back her into a corner and ask questions and taunt her. Malia had reacted the only way she knew how, she growled and bared her teeth. They turned tail and ran, leading to the theory of killing her family.

Slamming her own locker shut after deciding not to go to her next lesson after all, Malia set off down the hall in the direction of an exit of convenience. Somewhere a window was left open or a door, it didn't matter. The school bell rang loudly through the building as Malia slipped through a second story window, onto a side roof and shimmied down a pipe then ran around the exterior until she came across a clear path to the woodland surrounding the premises. Once she made it out of sight and into the thick bushes and trees she breathed a deep sigh of relief. This wasn't the first or last time she had or would escape and she had promised her father it wouldn't happen again but who was she kidding? No sane person wanted to be cooped up somewhere like that; she had been happier and less dangerous out in the woods living as a Coyote than she ever would be walking amongst the human species. If only Scott hadn't found her or rescued her at all everything would be different, the only thing holding Malia back from running now was just how much it would hurt her dad to lose the only family he had left.

She turned her walk into a steady lope picking up the pace and the desire to feel air rush through her hair and against naked skin, but it didn't sate the deeper need for paws and four legs, for the ruffled fur and ability to smell and see so much more. Sure abilities followed the transition from animal to human but none of the other shifters, werewolves as they called themselves, knew just HOW much everything grew when you completely changed forms. After Scott had howled to her with his Alpha call Malia hadn't been able to change again and it scared her, the knowledge maybe she never would turn into a full Coyote after that.

A familiar scent passed under her nose from the left carried on the small breeze and she halted mid jog to hunker down and stay low while she got her bearings. First she needed to identify the scent and Malia lifted her nose high and tried to latch onto it, but it seemed that the smell had drifted over with the wind from some other direction, a shift in wind direction perhaps. It had come from her left and so she calculated mentally how far it could have travelled based on its strength and which way she was likely to head for, choosing northwest and silently taking off. Malia watched where her feet were placed as she trekked through the underbrush trying to avoid any twigs that may snap and used the balls of her feet to minimize any noise. All the while she continued to stop, and test the air for the scent she had latched onto until there was a hint of it further up in the direction she had already been heading. Coming into the higher ground where there were more rocks and trails leading further up Malia saw a lone figure sitting on a favorite sitting spot from when she had been out here living off wild animals and berries. She decided to head in a circle and come up on him, her tricky nature getting the best of her in this situation for she had never really been able to ignore a chance to surprise someone.

"This is my territory." Malia growled making sure to put a lot of accusation in her words.

Isaac turned to find the werecoyote standing with her hands on her hips and looking …he didn't know what that expression was. "Huh?"

"You're on my rock, I sit here." She claimed bluntly eyes boring into him with ferocity, how dare he invade her personal rock like that!

"Oh? Well I'm using it now, so find another rock." He turned away not really interested in talking to the new arrival, his sour mood darkening further at her presence.

"I can't do that, it's my rock. I claimed it."

Isaac sighed and turned back towards her without leaving his seat, his head tilting to the side as if speaking to a small child. "You can't claim a rock."

"Sure I can, I peed on it." She smirked at that and watched his face turn from normal to a pale green.

Isaac leapt off in a hurry and turned around rubbing his bottom "that's gross!"

Malia shrugged, got him off the rock at least. She marched over and plonked down on to it triumphantly. "You can join me if you like, just don't try and take it. I come here to think and you're just a guest, got that?"

"Okay." He really didn't want to argue, or sit back on it for that matter. "I'll just perch over here then." Isaac settled on a smaller rock next to a dying tree that was bending low and sad and he studied his new companion. She didn't seem too upset with him or even happy that he had vacated her spot. She just continued to study him back with a rather even and level gaze. "What is it?"

"You're one of Scott's pack aren't you? I knew I recognized your scent but we haven't met properly." She gave him another once over with her eyes, and sniffing the air slowly.

"Yeah, I'm Isaac." He confirmed not really in the mood to ask for her name, even though he knew who she was, but he wasn't feeling particularly polite after all.

"Why're you out here and not in class?" She asked.

"Why are you?" He countered. They had a small stand off before Isaac gave in, he didn't feel like making a meal out of the interaction and he was already so tired from trying to hide everything from so many people. "I had an altercation with another student."

Malia tilted her head to the side "oh is that all?"

"What do you mean is that all? That's enough to want to get away. I don't exactly fit in." Isaac pressed his lips together in anger at how hard it was to even feel like a normal person, even when he wasn't a werewolf he had been an outcast.

"Neither do I. Guess we're both out here for the same reasons."

"Why what happened?" Isaac leaned forward and rested his chin on his knee, reaching for a stick and playing with the dead leaves that were still on the ground.

She looked away for a moment contemplating the notion of sharing with someone she hardly knew, but something about his blue eyes and blond curls didn't set off any alarms of mistrust. "They all talk about me everywhere I go, they don't know I can hear them or maybe they just don't care." Malia picked at some moss as a way of distraction and something to focus on "and then when I go home my father acts like every word is a potential bomb about to trigger some emotional outburst."

"He just cares…" That sounded placating even to his own ears and he winced, knowing what it was like to be on the receiving end. Ugh, great.

"I know he cares but least you don't have to deal with being responsible for the death of your mother and sister. I can't even share that with him, he doesn't know what I am."

"My family is dead, all of them. I only have Chris now and after losing Allison…" Isaac trailed off, her memory like a gaping wound that continued to seep and spill into his life, festering.

"I- I'd say sorry but, I'm sure you've heard it a thousand times." Malia said.

Isaac shook his head at that, "A thousand and one. I don't even know what they are sorry for anymore."

"Me either." She replied softly, sighing.

Isaac ducked his head down and buried it against his knee as if to hide from the reality of the world. He breathed in and out trying to relax and mull over what they had both said, and when he lifted his head once more he was surprised to find she had crawled her way over to him and seemed to be staring intently. "What?"

"I heard some girls say the other day that ice cream fixes everything, we should get some." She tried for her 'smile' expression to show she was being friendly but it came off rather like she was trying to not pass wind and Isaac laughed for the first time in weeks that didn't follow a feeling of guilt or fakeness.

"Alright." He stood up and held a hand out for her to take and lifted her up off the ground. "But you're buying."

"I don't have any money." She said in surprise, as though someone had just told a child they were driving to the store without any way of actually feasibly doing said task.

"You mean I have to fork out? I hope you're not expecting anything big." He was kidding of course, he'd buy her whatever she wanted, he was in that kind of mood.

"I want the biggest one they have!" She seemed rather excited now and grinning from ear to ear.

"We'll see." He said, as they made their way out of the woods and into the human world once more.

By the time the sun was beginning to set in the sky Isaac pulled the car into the apartment lot off Commerce Way and parked, tugging the handbrake on. The car itself had belonged to Allison as one of many Argent vehicles handed out to the family, Chris had said it was now his and he hadn't argued. He wanted to keep as much of her around until he was ready to let go and there was no telling when that would be. Opening the door and climbing out Isaac recalled the afternoon spent with Malia and smiled, it had been relaxing and a good distraction, nothing about her reminded him of Allison. Scott, Stiles and even Lydia or Derek were so intricately woven around her and living with her father meant Isaac was in constant reminder of his loss and pain, but Malia was a new friend with no real ties to his old life or anything before now, it felt good to talk to her.

Although to be fair he had no idea what to make of the young Coyote as she was certainly not like anyone he had ever met before. She seemed to just say anything that passed through her mind no matter how random or insignificant and she reacted to some things in ways you didn't expect. As the elevator signaled the arrival to his floor Isaac pulled himself out of his thoughts and walked toward the apartment and let himself in with his key "I'm home!"

"Isaac? I'm in the study."

Isaac walked over to the first doorway on the left and entered to find boxes all over the floor and Chris packing away familiar items, he was holding a charred bear and looking at it, grief written all over his face.

"What're you doing?" Isaac asked staring at the scene in disbelief.

"I was…" Chris turned "I was packing away her things but then I found her old bear."

"Why didn't you tell me? I thought we were going to wait…" Isaac felt angry seeing all of the boxes as if she could just be packed away into something so small and forgotten. As if Allison's life and presence could just be stored away unseen, like her body…

"We can't keep these things forever." Chris sounded so tired and drained, as though he'd had this argument with himself a hundred times or more.

"It hasn't even been a month!" Isaac couldn't believe that this was even a topic, how could he just go ahead like this without talking to him?

"I know. Please don't shout at me Isaac, this is hard enough." Chris' eyes darkened and he looked away. "I'm sorry I should have warned you. I just thought…" He shook his head. "I didn't think."

Isaac walked over to one of the boxes and pulled out Allison's hairbrush, there were still strands in the bristles and he could smell her scent. "I'm not ready."

Chris walked over and put a hand on his shoulder, squeezing it but saying nothing. He looked at all of the boxes once more and then at the bear in his hands, before staring at his now adopted son and werewolf. "Take whatever you need, the rest I'll put in storage for a while. These things can't stay but we can make room for whatever you want to keep." He offered a half smile in the hopes that it would make Isaac feel better, and it worked.

"Anything?"

"Anything you like." Chris' eyes glanced back down to his hand "except for this." He held the bear up proudly "this one is mine."

Isaac walked around the room taking a look at everything, it didn't look like Chris had any real system to his packing but on closer inspection he saw that some things were marked for sentimental value and others to go to a charity store. Chris was right everything she owned was impractical to keep cluttering up their home but it didn't look like he was tossing things away just replacing them, or rehoming them. Isaac reached into one of the storage boxes and pulled out a photoset of the two of them and a frame with the whole pack. They were out at a bowling alley and they'd asked the owner to take a photo, Allison, Scott, Stiles, Isaac and Lydia all of them looking happy for once. He held them close along with the saved hairbrush and then caught a glimpse of silver; it was her perfume bottle. Isaac grabbed it and then turned to Chris "I'll take these."

Chris didn't question his choices but he did take note and some part of him felt sad at what he had picked out of all the items available, the ones that would keep her closest and living in his memory as an image or scent. "Okay."

As Isaac walked out of the study and headed for his new room Chris called out to him once more "hey kid what do you want for dinner?"

"Anything I don't mind." He didn't really feel hungry after all the ice cream he had consumed earlier or the emotional trauma today had been, but he didn't want to tell Chris that so he just hoped it wasn't tuna casserole again. That man loved his tuna. Isaac shut the door and placed his new possessions on the bed, they were small and few but the most precious things he now owned. He picked up the picture frame and placed it on the desk in the center, then put her hairbrush next to it along with the bottle of perfume, which he spayed in the air for effect. Once he was done with that Isaac got a small bit of tac and stuck it onto the side of the mirror, they'd both seemed so happy then she was laughing and he had finally felt like he had found something to cling on to.

Task finished Isaac perched on the edge of the bed and sighed, he didn't travel with much and so this was his first decorating attempt since he left his home after his dad died. Breathing in the perfumes lingering smell he imagined Allison was really there just down the corridor waiting for him to knock on her door and bother her, it made his heart hurt. Falling back into the pillows Isaac closed his eyes and imagined her there holding him and talking about her day and he listened as if it were the most interesting thing he had heard another person tell him and teasing her about little things, making her laugh, holding her hand, kissing her… Isaac fell asleep like that, in his own private fantasy where no one else could enter.

I hope you've enjoyed this chapter, I was sad writing it as I felt they're both in a really awkward position in trying to figure life out. R&R and next chapter, more Pydia! Lots and lots of it.