It took Alicia the whole next day to convince Mj to come to the party. Her cousin was adamant in her obsitinance and need to be as far away from social situations as possible, and Alicia, still to nervous to attend on her own felt the complete opposite. After long hours of pleads, she got her cousin to agree and she found herself getting ready after school in the cramped room they both shared. There was still the issue of getting out of the house when Stiles and Scott came to pick them up that they had to address, but Mj seemed not to be worried.

"Im going to get drunk." She said in a huff as she pulled a small black dress over her head.

"Good. You need it." Alicia responded as she straightened her hair in the mirror. "You've been annoyingly belligerent."

"Do I have to come?" She whined again.

"Yes." Alicia replied. "Just stop being so wrapped up in your self pity and give me one night Mj."

"Jesus, Fine." She said, beginging to put eyeliner on. "No need to be a bitch about it."

"Well, you havent even asked about what Scott said yesterday." She had about had it with her cousin's constant complaining. She was determined that both of them have a good time tonight. That both of them could start acting like normal teenagers. Just let loose.

"How'd that go?" her tone was lighter, to Alicia's surpise, and she looked like she tried to get in a bit of a better mood, for her sake.

"Well he told me about when he was turned, and when he turned Liam." Alicia paused to make a face in the mirror and flip her hair around.

"And…"

"I mean, to sum it up, it seems like he didnt ask for any of this. Like it was just thrown at him and he's just as lost as any of us. What really bothered him was how being, you know, a wolf and stuff, affects people around him. He wanted me to think about that."

"Did you?" Mj had successfully covered her eyes in dark colors and was now pulling up her already short dress to make it shorter.

"Fuck." Alicia said, "Yes and no. I dont know how I feel about it. I mean obviously I dont want to be in danger but I trust him to keep me safe-"

Mj shot her a look that read something like ' are you kidding me'

"Or at least try his best too."

"Thats better." Mj slipped her feet into strappy heels and Alicia wore tennis shoes. She didnt walk well or wear heels often, and decided she would choose comfort over attempted sexiness. She had worn tight jeans and one of her fancier low cut blouses. Next to Mj she looked conservative, but no less attractive. Her hair was much longer when straight and fell down to her lower back.

"I dont know. But Im thinking Im already in too deep to get out now."

"Then go for it." Mj said, looking at her now.

"I'm thinking I will." Alicia finished, taking one last look at herself before turning away from the mirror. "Now, how are we getting out of here?"

Mj put her blonde hair in a bun on top of her head and slipped her heels off, "This is the fun part."

Alicia grabbed her purse and her phone, there was a text from Scott saying they were down the street. She was equal parts nervous and excited. She wondered if the parties would be different here than they were on the east coast but doubted it. Teenagers were teenagers. Alicia followed Mj down the hall and to the top of the stairs. They could see the front door from where they stood on the landing. Mj turned to her and began to whisper, "We're going to run out the front door and keep running."

Alicia rolled her eyes, "Thats the stupidest plan Ive ever heard." she whispered back "We're going to get caught!"

"Ofcourse we will! But she wont be able to do anything until we're already back-" She was smiling cheesily.

"Mj you said you had this part handled"

"I do. I did. I am. Its handled." She said shrugging.

Alicia rolled her eyes again, and Mj began to run. Alicia stayed right on her heels, and they burst out of the front door, Alicia's aunt yelling at thier backs, Mj looked back at Alicia with a smile and a wink and they ran farther down the block, turning the corner and stopping to catch their breath.

"Piece...of…..cake…" Mj said inbetween gulps of breath, as she slipped on her high heels.

"See you tell it." Alicia mumbled, "Next time, Im getting us out."

Stiles' jeep pulled up next to them instantaneously, and Alicia and Mj hopped in the back, as Stiles and Scott still occupied the front.

"Smooth, back there." Stiles said sarcastically as he began to take them in the direction of Lydia's house.

Alicia ignored the comment and instead questioned them, "So are you sure she's going to be okay with us coming or…?"

Scott turned around in his seat to face her, "Oh not at all." he said, smiling.

"You're not sure?"

"No Im sure she is not okay with it." Scott said, "I just dont care. She'll get over it."

"Promising…" Mj muttered looking out the window.

"Lydia would like you guys. She just needs to give you a chance."

"So forcing her to let us into her party seemed like the best way to introduce us right?"Mj chimed in from the back.

"Lydia is one of my best friends. And if we're all going to hang out- or whatever- than I want you all to know eachother at least okay?" Scott sounded serious all of the sudden, and forceful. Alicia found herself liking him more when he took control of situations.

"Lydia is one of your best friends? Really?" Stiles asked shooting Scott a look.

"Will you guys just try and have fun!" Scott said, throwing his arms up in a exasperation.

"Okay Okay." Alicia agreed, giggling.

"Yeah whatever." Mj huffed.

They had to go through a windey road, uphill (then back down again) to get to the house that Lydia's party was in, on the lake. It was out of town, through the woods that encircled Beacon Hills and on the bottom of a valley. The house itself was large and well lit, two stories with a huge outdoor balcony on the lake that was filled to the brim with people. There were cars parked all around the house in various locations, and people were still flooding in in twos and threes through the front door. Stiles parked in the front and Mj and Alicia hopped out of the Jeep together, Alicia checking herself once more in the reflection of the window before joining the three in step towards the party.

When she stepped between Scott and Mj, Scott snaked his arm around her waist, he bent down a bit to whisper in her ear, "You look amazing tonight." His breath tickled her neck, and she did her best not to blush too hard as they walked into the front door of the party.

Alicia was surprised by the amount of people there, paractically the whole high school packed into the house. There were people dancing to loud rap music, girls squeezed into tiny dresses and guys dry humping them from behind. They passed the kitchen, where there were about 40 different colored bottles of liquor on the counter and a crowd of teens trying to pour some.

"Im gunna grab a drink- catch you guys later!" Mj said, waving and slipping away before anyone could protest. They were squeezing through the hallway, and there were even more people around the farther they walked into the house, before pushing finally out of the back door and onto the balcony.

"I could barely breathe inthat hallway,so many people. I thought I would choke to death before making it out here." Stiles said, clapping a hand onto Scott and Alicia's backs. "Are there even that many kids at BHH?"

Scott shrugged, smiling at Stiles awkwardly and opening his mouth to talk, but Stiles started talking again before he began, "Lemme guess, you want to be alone?" He sighed, "Yeah okay, just be safe you two." he winked before ducking back inside and leaving them on the deck overlooking the water.

There were a few other couples around them, making out or gazing upwards at the sky. This far away from town, there were stars, hundreds and thousands, shining down at them. But Alicia couldnt focus on the people or the stars or the lake. She only had eyes for Scott who had somehow squeezed himself into the tightest pants he could find for their pseudo-party-date-thing (or at least, thats what Alicia had called it in her head while getting ready). He had another v neck on, black, with a pocket that was a different print. She wished she could climb into it and hear the steady pound of his heart against her cheek.

"Ive been thinking about what we talked about yesterday." He let go of her hand and lead her to the rail of the balcony. The view was breathtaking, there were hills covered in trees surrounding the small lake, and the moon's reflection rippled only slightly in the still water. It smelled fresh and lovely, and Scott was close enough to her that their arms touched on the rail they were leaning on.

"And…?"

"And I think Im okay with it. The whole craziness thing that comes with being your friend."

He was watching her watch the lake. "Are you sure? I dont think Im even okay with it…"

"You know what I mean Scott."

"I know what you mean but, I want to make sure you mean it"

She turned to face him, so they were inches apart, she was so much shorter than him, she looked like a child in comparison. "Im sure." It was romantic, despite the loud beating music coming from just inside, or the drunk people that surrounded them.

"Then come here-" he said, and wrapped his arms around her waist before kissing her, finally. This time, it felt different, it wasnt the same kind of kiss she had gotten from Scott earlier. It didnt come from pent up teen passion, or the heat of the moment, or stress or whatever terms they had kissed under before. It felt more genuine than that, like he had been saving it somewhere for this moment. It was gentle and soft, like the moonlight that twinkled in the corner of his eyes when they pulled apart, his hands still lingering on her waist, touching her only slightly. He made her want to grab him and kiss him harder, to make him hold her tighter, to move his hands downwards, off the small of her back, and into more dangerous territory.

Mj hadnt left the kitchen since they got to the party almost an hour ago, and she was actually having fun. This was her very first high school party that her mom also didnt attend, and there were all of the sudden, people surrounding her and showering her with compliments. She was becoming something of a sensation, with her ability to both chug alcohol and pour it decently (she had learned how to pour a beer into a cup as a child, for her father, and now she was using the skill to her advantage, one hand constantly on a keg hose and the other pouring shots down her throat). She was proud of herself. People were cheering her on, and she was making them laugh and clap her on the back. She had been approached by multiple sloshing thier beers down her front and making stupid remarks about how great her boobs with. In reply, she would only fill their cups halfway, bending over just a little too much as she did.

The next person in line popped up, and she smiled toothily without looking up.

"Need me to pour you hun?" she asked, grabbing a red cup and pressing the nozzle on the keg tap.

"Look at you all sociable."

She recognized the voice immediately, and rolled her eyes as she handed Stiles the cup.

"Ive been drinking."

"You called me hun." he looked proud of himself.

She smiled, "...Ive been drinking." she said again, then, she looked around and found a bottle of tequila at her feet. She picked it up, and stepped out of the kitchen and into the crowded hall next to Stiles.

"Wanna take shots?" she asked. It was louder in the hall, and the music seemed to rattle her bones under her skin. Her heart took pace with the beat of the bass, a steady BOoM Boom Boom.

"What?" Stiles said, leaning inwards, glancing momentarily at the top of her breasts pushing out of her shirt, then back at her face.

"ShHOTS?" She yelled over the music, "DO you WAnt To take a Shot?"

"Sure." he yelled back, and she grabbed his hand, leading him from the inner dense part of the party towards the outside. They inched down the hallway, and as they did, she held her glass above her head, trying not to slosh it too much as Stiles yelled into her ear.

"Have you been having fun?" he asked, closer than they would usually talk, she could feel his breath hot against her ear.

"Yeah totally! I mean, I normally hate people you know, but theres something about really loud music and lots of liquor that makes them more bearable." she yelled back, and he squeezed her hand a bit tighter as they passed a particularly rowdy group of teens cheersing and fist bumping.

"Who knew you would be the life of the party?"

"Im the life of my own party, why not share it with the world? Besides, I find myself a sort of connoisseur of hard liquor." she shook the large bottle of tequila

He laughed, "Tequila is the classiest of choices."

"How about you? Having fun?"

"Yeah, its great." he sounded like it was less than great. His mind was elsewhere, at least momentarily. They were at the door that lead outside, and he had stopped in his tracks. Mj put her hand on the door handle. "Wait." he said solemnly, and she looked at the window to see who had forced that look on his face.

She saw a pair of glowing blue eyes looking back at her. Glowing from a familiar, yet slightly different looking, face.

"Malia?" Mj said, rasing an eyebrow and taking her hand out from Stiles'. She moved to open the door again.

"Wait." Stiles was looking at her strangely, "Somethings not right…"