Alicia and Stiles stood alone a the base of the high rise that lead up to the highway. She could still see the trail of where Stiles and Mj had slid down earlier, covered in rocks and disturbed dirt. When her and Scott had first driven into the desert, she remembered the sense of awe that had over took her, the breathtaking emptiness of it all. Now, when she glanced back at the ground they had just walked on, and saw the rock formation a few miles away, she felt queasy. She could live without coming back to the desert for a long time. It was still hot as hell, and her mouth felt drier than silently hoped there wouldnt be anymore surprise kisses from Scott today. Her tongue felt like sandpaper.

"This wasnt fun to go down and I dont think it will be fun to go up." Stiles said, still looking at the incline, one eye squinting towards the sun. His face was red from the walk and the heat, and the side of his head that was facing Alicia was still sticky with dried blood.

"Fuck, I know." Alicia replied, stepping forwards and trying not to slip on the loose dirt, "So how are we gunna do this?" She looked ahead of her again, and could see the guard rail on the side of the freeway a few yards above.

"Well," they both breathed heavily as they walked upwards, sliding a bit every few steps, "We're gunna take my Jeep back over to the cave- uh crack in the rocks- whatever," he lost his footing mid sentence and slid down a few feet, "Im gunna take like 5 adderall so I dont drop dead where Im standing, by then hopefully Scott and Mj have the flesh hungry man beasts tied up, we'll all go home, cure everyone, and live happily ever after." He smiled. They were about halfway up the incline now, and Stiles' Jeep was clear in view.

"Yeah I remember the original plan, but theres a guardrail there we forgot about."she pointed ahead. "We could ram it."

"We arent fucking ramming my baby." he made air quotes over the words 'ramming'

"Oh My .God. You dont have insurance?"

"My insurance doesnt cover intentionally crashing through a freeway divider."

Alicia rolled her eyes, they were at the rail now, hopping over it and heading towards Stiles' Jeep on the side of the highway.

"Shitty insurance I guess." Stiles shot her a look that told her to shut up, his lips pursed and his eyelids thin as he rolled his eyes and opened the door to the Jeep. "Anyways, if we want to make good time I would say its our best bet." she climbed in after him, and they sat in the drivers and passenger seat of the car for a beat.

Stiles put his hands on the wheel, then took them off again.

"They're waiting for us." Alicia coaxed.

Stiles put the key in the ignition, but didnt turn it.

"Liam is on his deathbed Stiles."

He turned the key, "Ive had my Jeep for 5 years, Ive only even known Liam for a year-"

"Stiles-"

"I know, I know," the engine started as and he backed up to the other side of the freeway, then turned around so the Jeep's front end was facing the guardrail off the side of the freeway, "If my car craps out after this, we're all screwed."

"You have 4 wheel drive! its an off roading vehicle-technically." She tried not to let the doubt she felt show in her voice.

"Yeah! Okay Alicia, 4 wheel drive is totally going to help us smash through a low hanging pole."

"Just go-" and he slammed on the gas before she could finish, sending them jolting forwards.

Somehow, after being face to face with a rabid wolf, the scene that unfolded in front of Alicia's eyes was anticlimactic. They flew through the guardrail like it was made of butter and not metal. The Jeep was in the air momentarily, all four wheels off the ground, Stiles' knuckles burning white as he clutched the steering wheel, while Alicia gripped her seatbelt and prayed not to fly through the windshield. Then all at once with a triumphant clunk they landed on the middle of the decline, wheels spinning in the dirt and sand flying all around them.

Stiles led them-somehow-down, and slowed immensely as the tires landed on the hard packed dirt of the desert floor.

"We cant go to fast down here, I dont want to get a flat." he said breathing a relief filled sigh.

"The front end looks a bit bent in-"

"Shut up."

Alicia laughed. It felt good to have light banter with Stiles, not to think about her friends dying, or about what the plan was to save the day. Stiles knew how to make stressful situations seem less stressful, and she watched him for a moment as he carefully led drove them towards the rock formation at 5 miles per hour, avoiding cacti and rocks along the way.

"It smells like barf in here." Alicia said, forgetting momentarily that Mj had blown chunks at Stiles' feet.

"Yeah, roll down your window. These were my good shoes too." he started rolling his own down and she followed his lead. "So what's up with you and Scott?" he asked, glancing at Alicia from the corner of his eye.

"I dont know." she replied.

"You guys seemed to be getting along the other night." he smiled out of one side of his mouth.

"I mean, we were. Then I heard about Allison, and we had this really weird conversation in the car earlier, and then outside of the cave he kissed me again. I dont know." She felt strangely about it now, she didnt know how okay she was with Scott just kissing her whenever he felt it convenient, but then again, he was Scott McCall. He was a great leader, he seemed genuine, and he was definitely sexy. But she wasnt the kind of girl to go after someone unless she knew it was the 'real thing'. Or at least as close to real you can get at 17.

"Do you like him?" he asked, bluntly.

"Well yes!" she surprised herself by how easily that question was answered. "But- I mean its more complicated than that-"

"You like him, and he likes you. Whats so complicated about that?"

The rock formation was still about a mile away, but it already was much bigger on the horizon.

"Im not the kind of person to just mess around with random guys. I'm not-"

Stiles laughed, "And you think Scott is? Have you met Scott?"

Alicia laughed too, "Well what about you and Mj?" she had almost forgotten about Malia, but she decided it didnt matter anyways. She would at least try to play up her friend.

"I dont know- What? Why would you ask that even?" His face was already flushed from being in the sun, but she saw it get a deeper red.

"You're blushing!"

Stiles kept his face forward and pretended to focus harder on driving.

Alicia sighed, "You know once you get past that whole 'I hate everything' demeanor, she's really not that bad."

"I know. I'm just-" he closed his mouth, then opened it again, "Malia, and-"

"Its complicated? Yeah, I get it."

"Completely different situation."

"Something about the way youre avoiding this makes me think you like her too."

He cleared his throat, "Im not saying I dont. Im saying I just...shouldnt or...cant. Not right now at least."

"What were you saying a second ago? If you like someone and they like you than its not complicated?"

They were in front of the formation now, and Scott and Mj were in view, at the mouth of the cave. Stiles pulled over in front of them, "Like I said before, different situation."