Tara sipped at her water as she listened to the rain beat down against the squad car. She was filling in for the sheriff after a text from Stiles got her attention; Stiles had told her that Noah had been drinking, so much so that he wouldn't be able to get into work. Tara had asked Stiles if he needed help, knowing what Noah was like after a few too many drinks, but Stiles responded that he had it under control. So Tara agreed to cover for Stiles's dad, leaving Stiles with a reminder that she was there if he needed anything.
It had been years since Noah had drank to the point of having to miss a shift. He had gotten help, with some guidance from Tara and Drew, and was seemingly better. But apparently the stress of the Hale case had gotten to him, turning him back to the bottle. Or at least that's what Tara was led to believe.
Her speed gun started beeping, getting Tara's attention. She looked down to see that the numbers read that the driver was going seventy-five in a twenty-five miles per hour construction zone. Tara took in a breath and shifted the squad car into drive, pulling out from where she had been parked and onto the street, trailing behind the car for a moment before flipping her lights on.
The car slowed, pulling over onto the side of the road and Tara rolled up behind it. She got out of the squad car, one hand on her holster and the other clicking on her flashlight. Rain pattered down around her as Tara got to the car. She knocked on the window with her flashlight, getting the driver to roll down the window, the flashlight making her wince and look away. Tara's brow furrowed as she recognized the girl.
"Allison?" Tara asked, leaning down a bit to get a good look at the girl who was in her house earlier in the evening. "It's Allison, right?"
"Uh, yes. Yes." Allison responded, nodding. She looked tense and a little nervous and Tara couldn't help but feel for her. She moved the flashlight away from Allison's face but kept it angled so they could see each other,
"I'm Leah's mom." Tara gave her a warm smile, "I don't think we've ever been properly introduced." Allison's eyes darted up to Tara before she quickly looked away,
"I'm not making a very good first impression, am I?" Allison quietly asked, getting a small laugh from Tara.
"Well, you could do worse." Tara sighed out. Allison let out a sad laugh and Tara saw a tear roll down her cheek, "Is everything okay?" Tara asked, becoming concerned. Allison nodded quickly,
"Sorry I was going so fast, I didn't realize I—I—" Allison's lower lip started to tremble and she dissolved into small whimpers.
"Okay, all right." Tara tried to calm Allison down, leaning forward so she could be eye to eye with Leah's friend, "Listen, you weren't going that fast. Just seventy-five in a twenty-five…in a construction zone." Tara ended, raising her eyebrows a little. Allison looked at her, shaking her head as she tried to pull herself together,
"I'm not crying to get out of the ticket. I just, um, I don't want you to think I'm like this." Allison said, looking back at Tara, obviously embarrassed.
"No, it's okay, perfectly okay." Tara put her hands up as she tried to diffuse the situation,
"No, please, write me a ticket." Allison begged, hands running over the steering wheel, "I need you to write me a ticket, okay?"
"Okay." Tara nodded, "I don't see how that's gonna really make you feel a lot better." Allison dropped her head back against the headrest, letting out a small laugh,
"This is so humiliating." She groaned before looking back at Tara, "I swear I'm not like this." Allison said, getting another nod from Tara,
"I understand."
"This isn't me." Allison shook her head, "This is—This is—This is not me!" Allison quickly sputtered out, hand slamming against the steering wheel before looking out the windshield, features hardening, "This is not me." She seriously said. Tara pulled down the corners of her mouth and nodded,
"Okay." She got Allison to look back at her with an embarrassed smile,
"I'm okay." She cleared her throat as Tara studied her,
"Yeah?"
"Yeah." Allison nodded, tucking her hair behind her ears, "I'm okay. I'm okay." She bobbed her head looking over to Tara,
"Do I still have to write you a ticket?" Tara asked, raising her eyebrows. Allison let out a small laugh and ran her hands over the steering wheel. Tara gave her a small smile, "How bout, I let you off with a warning, okay?" Allison looked over at her, "You seem to be having a little bit of a rough night." Tara gave her a sympathetic smile, "Is there anything I can do to help?"
"No, thank you." Allison shook her head, "I'm really sorry about all of this." Allison apologized, taking in a deep breath. Tara nodded,
"It's okay." She gave Leah's friend a warm smile, "Just get home safe, okay?" Allison nodded at her and Tara stepped back from the car, "Be careful pulling out. People aren't always aware of what's going on." Allison nodded again and gave Tara a small smile,
"Thank you." Allison said, "And can you please not tell Leah about this?"
"Of course." Tara gave her a smile, "It's just between you and me." Allison nodded, a grateful smile on her face before rolling up the window.
The bell above the door chimed as Leah walked into the vet clinic. She glanced up at the bell before looking back and seeing Deaton peering out from the examination room. He gave her a warm smile and she responded with a small wave.
"Uh, I just wanted to come and check on Scott." Leah explained as Deaton stepped out, "I brought him food. And a clean shirt." She added on, lifting the brown paper bag and the shirt she had stolen from his dresser.
"Don't you have school?" Deaton asked, settling back.
"I can skip." Leah shrugged, "One day isn't going to kill my three point eight G-P-A." Leah took in a breath, "So? Can I see him?"
"Come on back." Deaton nodded and Leah gave him a small smile. She walked through the gate and went into the examination room. Scott was still on the the table, a blanket over his chest, fast asleep.
"Is he—"
"He's fine." Deaton assured her, "He should be awake soon." Leah nodded at him, not looking away from Scott as her feeling of guilt came back. She set the bag on the counter, sitting carefully on the stool.
After leaving Scott in the examination room the night before, Connor and Leah ended up talking in the waiting room. Leah told Connor all about what had happened and how she ended up in the Preserve. She admitted that she was wrong, telling Connor about how Kate had confronted her, getting information out of her about Derek and the Alpha—but Leah was quick to tell him that she didn't give anything serious up. Just saying that Derek knew who the Alpha was, which Connor wasn't very happy about, but both of them figured that's why Kate stormed the Hale house. She continued with how Kate seemed like the only option at the time, but when Kate took her to the Hale house, Leah quickly realized she was on the wrong side.
Connor was obviously disappointed in her, asking her why she didn't just come to him for help. Leah explained that at the time, she just thought that Kate was her only option—since Connor had barely been around and barely gave her any advice. Connor was left feeling a little guilty; he hadn't really helped Leah deal with the werewolf drama, just assumed she was okay since she said she was. He should've known better, and he promised Leah that he would be there, making her promise to ask him for help before making any rash decisions.
Both of the siblings realized that they needed to start communicating better—both of them were so used to keeping secrets from each other that it had become natural. It was going to be a bit of a journey, but in the end, they knew they could trust each other.
Scott suddenly woke up, taking in a deep breath as he quickly sat up. He startled Leah, making her almost lose her balance on the stool, rolling backwards a bit before she caught herself on the corner of the counter,
"Welcome back to the land of the conscious." Deaton calmly said, turning as Scott started to get off of the table. Leah got off the stool, putting her hands out to help steady Scott,
"You okay?" Leah asked, looking up at him as her hands were pressed against his bare back and chest, keeping him upright. Scott looked down at her and nodded, getting a small smile from Leah, "Maybe you should sit down, huh?" Leah went to go help Scott over to the stool when the three of them heard the doorbell jingle.
"Hello?" Deaton called out as Leah and Scott looked to the entrance. There was no response and Deaton went to walk to the front when Scott stopped him, looking concerned. Deaton gave him a reassuring smile before walking out of the examination room.
"Who is it?" Leah whispered as Scott continued to stare at the doorway that led to the front of the office.
"Peter." Scott whispered out, putting his arm out in front of Leah. Leah wasn't sure if he meant to stop her from going out there or to protect her from Peter.
Scott began to inch backward, stepping out of Leah's arms and grabbing her hand. He pulled her back with him to the corner of the examination room. Scott stepped in front of her as they continued to walk back, Leah stopping when she hit the wall. She slowly slid down, Scott falling into a crouch in front of her. Peering around Scott's shoulder, Leah tried to figure out what was going on in between Peter and Deaton, but she couldn't hear anything. She glanced at Scott to see that he was listening intently, slowly tensing up at whatever was going on.
Then they heard something smash against the wall and Leah jumped as a reaction. Scott gripped her hand a bit tighter, reminding her that he was there. Leah shook her head and got to her feet, pulling her hand out of Scott's grasp. She pushed to her feet and went to step around Scott so she could go to confront Peter. Leah wasn't sure what exactly she was going to do, but she couldn't sit and wait like a duck.
But before she could do anything, Scott put his arm out, stopping her from going anywhere, "Allison." He said, voice full of worry. Leah's brow furrowed and she looked down at Scott, following him with her eyes as he stood up from his crouch,
"What about Allison?" Leah asked.
"He's going after Allison." Scott turned to her, eyes wide with fear.
"Right now?" Leah asked, pointing down as Scott swallowed and shook his head.
"I—I don't know." Leah stepped around Scott, going over to the stool, arms crossing over her chest as she looked around the examination room,
"Have you seen my bag?" Leah asked, spinning around to look at him. Scott gave her a confused look, "Right, unconscious." Leah turned back to the chair, realizing that her bag wasn't in the room. She thought she had left it there, but then it dawned on her—she dropped it while she was at the Hale house.
Leah spotted her phone on the counter across the room and let out a small sigh of relief. She stepped over to it, picking it up and seeing that she had a few missed texts. Ignoring them, Leah unlocked her phone, walking back over to Scott,
"Okay, I'll call her." Leah said, making a face, "I'll call her and we'll see if she's okay."
"I have to protect her." Scott said.
"I know." Leah nodded, giving him a small smile before looking down at her phone. She pulled up her contact list and tapped on Allison's name, pressing the call button and holding it to her ear.
"Hey!"
"Allison!" Leah cried out before hearing, "I'm not here right now, but leave a message—"
"Ah damnit." Leah cursed to herself, kicking out her foot. She sighed and waited for the beep before she starting speaking "Hey, it's me. Uhm, just call me when you can." Leah settled on, not wanting to get into any specific details. She glanced at Scott before ending the call.
"You know what?" She asked Scott as he pulled on his shirt, "She's probably at school. I'll head over there, make sure she's okay, I'll text you." Leah laid out her plan.
"I should come with you, don't you think?" Scott asked. Leah gave him a small smile,
"Scott, you were shot at last night and I'm like eighty-eight percent you died for a second." Leah scoffed, "I think you need to just rest." She said, hands out in front of her.
"Leah's right." Deaton said, stepping up next to her. Leah glanced over to him and raised her eyebrows, pointing at the vet.
"Yeah and he's a doctor so…" Leah shrugged. Scott sighed and gave in, nodding a bit. "Come on, I'll walk home with you." Leah nodded towards the door.
"Thank you." Scott nodded as Deaton gave him a small smile back.
Leah led Scott out of the vet's clinic, handing over the paper bag with Scott's breakfast sandwich in it. She picked up her board from where she had set it outside, carrying it so she could walk with Scott,
"So…" Leah started,
"So." Scott responded, letting out a sigh. Leah looked up at him, not knowing if she should talk first or if Scott was going to. Scott looked back down at her, looking somewhat grim, "I remembered what happened last night." He settled on, "Why?" Was all he asked, making Leah's stomach knot up,
"I wish I could give you a simple answer." Leah responded, looking away from Scott and laughing a little, "I think I was just…I needed a reminder that I chose the right side." She admitted, "I was feeling kind of…I don't know…" Leah blew out a breath, head tipping back, "Jealous isn't the right word, but maybe annoyed? About everything." She shrugged, "About how this werewolf stuff wasn't just affecting me now, but has been for such a long time—something that I never asked for."
"I didn't ask for it either." Scott reminded her.
"I know." Leah seriously said, looking back at him, "I know. And I never wanted to hurt you, I wasn't thinking clearly and Kate just seemed so—I was being selfish and thinking about myself and—then when I—I thought I shot you and I just—" Leah stopped herself, tears springing up, "God, I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I had hurt you like that." She admitted, wiping at her eyes to stop the tears, "I know you wouldn't hurt anyone and I didn't want to hurt anyone!" Leah looked at Scott, feeling desperate again; she knew Scott's feelings about unnecessary violence,
"I made such a huge mistake, getting into that car." Leah shook her head, "I'm sorry, Scott. And I totally understand if you can't or won't forgive me. I don't deserve it." Scott nodded at her, looking serious, "Scott, I—" Leah stopped herself from continuing to grovel, looking away from him and taking in a breath, "I'm sorry for saying those things last night, on the phone. I think it's admirable." She raised her shoulders up, "That you want to protect everyone." She clarified, "But I meant it when I said you're a much better person than I am. Because you are." Scott licked his lips and nodded, looking away Leah's small smile for a moment.
"It's okay." Scott nodded, brow furrowing a bit, "I know what it feels like to be manipulated." Scott was referring to Peter and what happened in when they were trapped in the school. "And I know you do feel bad." Scott glanced at her to see a small smirk on her face and she rolled her eyes,
"Werewolves." She groaned. Scott gave her a small smile as Leah looked back up at him, "But seriously, Scott, you're my best friend. It won't happen again, I swear. I'm on your side." Scott nodded at her, looking away from her for a moment,
"Just so you know," Scott started, "I think you're a good person." Leah let out a scoff, rolling her eyes.
"Yeah, right." She dismissed Scott's opinion.
"Well, you stayed with me—saved me, probably." Scott clarified, "I don't know think Kate would've done that." Leah looked at him when he mentioned Kate's name. Her brow furrowed and she looked at Scott, "I heard your conversation with Connor last night." Scott explained. Leah took in a breath and looked away from him, "You're not her, okay?" Scott said, trying to catch Leah's eye. Leah shook her head, "I've known you practically all my life, Leah. You care, deep down and yeah, maybe only about a few people, but…" Leah rolled her eyes at him, and Scott gave her a small smile, "All I'm saying is that you're not like her, no matter what she says." Leah took in a breath and let it out slowly, looking back at Scott,
"Thanks, Scott." Leah gave him an embarrassed smile, before looking up at his house, "I'm gonna head to school." She looked back at him, "And I promise to text you as soon as I see Allison." Leah changed the subject, no longer wanting to talk about what happened the night before. Scott realized it and went with it, knowing she was getting uncomfortable talking about her past decisions. He nodded at her,
"I'm gotta find my phone." He said, "I think I left it in my bedroom."
"I'll call the house phone then." Leah promised him, "Get some rest, okay?" Scott nodded back at her and Leah went to hug him only to stop herself.
Scott noticed and he stepped up to her, bringing her into a comforting hug. Her hands went around his waist as his arms went around her neck. He felt her relax into his hug and he smiled to himself; Leah wasn't a bad person—she had just made a bad decision and it was clear that she felt horrible about it.
Leah stepped back first and gave Scott a small smile, "I will see you after school." Scott nodded at her, watching her turn and walk away from him, placing her longboard down and stepping on it, rolling down the street.
Knowing the front doors of the school were locked, Leah went to the side of the building where the fire escape was. She stashed her board in the bushes and jumped up, grabbing onto the handles of the ladder and yanking it down with her. She climbed up onto the ladder, going up and around the fire escape. It led to the roof which had a door to the chemistry lab and if Leah could time it, she could slip in right as the bell rang, no one noticing that she had come in.
She got to the door, yanking it open as she heard the bell start to ring. Leah quickly went into the door, pushing open the second door to the chemistry lab. When she opened the door, students were all rushing to get to their next class and Leah quietly slipped into the masses, following the students out into the hall. She looked up at the clock, figuring out that her free period with Allison was the next period.
Heading for the library, Leah kept an eye out for Allison or Stiles, just in case she saw one before the other. She didn't see either of them as she walked to the library, but once she pulled the door to the library open, she spotted Allison setting her bag down on one of the tables. Leah let out a sigh of relief and she went to turn away, wanting to call Scott before getting caught up in a conversation with Allison, but she instead, she found herself standing in front of Finstock, who did not look happy.
"My office. Now." Finstock seriously said, arms crossed over his chest. Leah took in a breath and followed him out of the library.
"Wanna tell me why Greenberg saw you sneak into the chemistry lab from the roof?" Finstock asked as the two of them got to his office,
"God, Greenberg is such a fucking snitch." Leah groaned, arms crossing over her chest as she fell into one of the chairs across from Finstock's desk,
"Oh I know." Finstock laughed out, "But he's also an ass-kisser, so." Finstock pointed at her, "Better me than the vice principal, right?"
"Yeah." Leah sighed out. She paused before leaning forward, elbows planted on her thighs, "So? What's my charge?"
"You've been seriously lacking these past few days." Finstock pointed at her, "I mean I give you first line back and you don't show up to the game? You haven't been focused at practices, you're falling asleep in my class…and now you're sneaking into school?"
"Okay, first off, I've been sleeping in your class since day one." Leah pointed out, "Secondly, it's just—" Leah paused, trying to think of an excuse, "I been having…confidence issues." Leah settled on. Finstock outright laughed at Leah's excuse,
"You? Confidence issues?" Finstock laughed, "Please."
"Fine! Fine, fine…" Leah blew out a breath, "The truth is, I just…psyched myself out." Leah sighed, "You know, my brother was there and he's always telling me about all the goals he scored and all about how great he was…I just thought I couldn't live up to him." Leah settled on, realizing it was sort of true. Maybe not with lacrosse, but she felt that Connor had handled the werewolf situation better than Leah had been.
"But you played that first night and he was there and you were great!" Finstock sputtered out, leaning forward.
"Because I didn't have anything to lose. I wasn't actually on first line." Leah admitted. Finstock studied her for a moment before shifting in his chair,
"Listen, Kane." He started, "Great men are not born great, they grow great." Leah sat back in her seat and made a face as she thought about what her coach just said.
"Did you just quote a movie at me and pass it off as some sort of pep talk?" Leah asked, tilting her head,
"Goddamn right I did." Finstock raised his eyebrows, "Godfather, one of the best movies ever made. Besides Independence Day." Leah made a face, but didn't respond, "Point is, you aren't your brother, Kane. You play how you play, don't worry about what he did or try to live up to him." Finstock scoffed, waving his hand around. Leah nodded,
"Okay, yeah, totally." She made a face, "Can I go now?" Finstock motioned at her, indicating for her to get out of his office. Leah pushed out of her chair and went back out into the hall. She pulled her phone out of her pocket and went into the girls' bathroom. Finding the number for Scott's house phone, Leah pressed the call button and put her phone to her ear, hearing it ring.
"Hello?" Scott's voice came over the line,
"Hey, it's me." Leah responded, "I saw her, she's fine. I'll stick by her for the rest of the day." She quickly said, hearing Scott let out a sigh of relief.
"Thanks."
"Yeah, of course." Leah felt her brow furrow, "I'll talk to you later." She ended the call, stepping out of the bathroom.
Sticking by Allison for the day was the least Leah could do; she still felt insanely guilty for her decisions the night before. So she was trying to make all the right choices, doing what she believed Scott would do, which meant protecting pretty much everyone. But Leah wasn't ready to start protecting people like Jackson. Baby steps.
The final bell rang, signaling the end of classes and letting Leah fall into step with Allison as they walked towards her locker. Leah still hadn't found her bag and was stuck borrowing pieces of paper from various classmates, walking around with a stack of notebook paper that would need to be organized when she got home.
"Is everything okay?" Leah asked as she walked beside Allison. Even though she had spent practically the whole day with her friend, Allison seemed unusually quiet. Allison looked at her and gave her a relieved smile,
"Yeah, totally." She scrunched up her features and shook her head.
"Did you ever get a chance to talk to Scott?" Leah innocently asked, shifting her grip on her notes. Allison paused for a moment before shaking her head,
"No, apparently there was some sort of car accident." Allison started, looking back at Leah, "Stiles told me about it this morning when I asked."
"Oh, right, yeah." Leah played along, "Well, I'm sorry you didn't get a chance to talk to him."
"I'm guessing you didn't get a chance to talk to Stiles either." Allison assumed and Leah nodded, letting out a breath,
"Nope." She sighed as Allison spun the combination on her locker, "But I mean, it's for the best." Allison eyed her, giving her a yeah right look. Leah shook her head and moved on from the topic of boys, "Did you talk to your family? About the arrowhead you found?" She curiously asked, wondering if Kate had told Allison about her family secret. Allison paused, but Leah didn't catch it,
"Uh, yeah." Allison cleared her throat, getting Leah to look back at her, "You were right. Apparently with all the animal attacks, the need for bows and arrows in this town has sky-rocketed." Allison made her eyes wide and Leah made a face and nodded,
"Makes sense." Leah played along, not realizing that Allison was playing the same game.
"Hey, what happened to your shoulder?" Allison curiously asked as she shut her locker door. Leah looked over to where there was a blossoming bruise from the kickback of the shotgun forming on her shoulder,
"Oh, uhm, I don't know." She lied, looking back at Allison. Leah made a face and shrugged, "One of those ghost bruises probably."
"Hate those." Allison agreed, nodding and turning to walk out of the school, "Lydia and I are going dress shopping tomorrow after school for the formal, since we didn't go yesterday." Allison changed the subject, a grin on her face, "Have you decided if you're going with Kyle?"
"Uh, no, I haven't." Leah rolled her eyes, "I told you, I don't want to go." Allison heaved a sigh and look away from Leah,
"It'd be a lot of fun." Allison sang out, trying to get Leah to agree to go. Leah shook her head, letting out a little laugh,
"Tempting, but no." Leah settled on, giving a pointed look to Allison. Allison slumped down and pouted at Leah, getting her to roll her eyes, "Don't give me that puppy dog look, I get enough of that from Scott." Leah laughed out as the two got outside,
"Okay, okay." Allison put her hands up, giving up, "I get it. You're too cool for school."
"No, just…too cool for dances." Leah rolled her eyes up as Allison scoffed.
"Okay." Allison made her voice deeper as she moved her head back. Leah tried not to smile at her as she looked around,
"God, fuck it." Leah sighed, "I'll go dress shopping with you and Lydia." Leah droned out, giving in. Allison lit up in response, grinning at her friend. Leah figured it'd be one, nice normal and ordinary night that she could try to forget about werewolves while also keeping an eye on Allison for Scott. "I'm still not going to the dance." Allison gave her a knowing grin,
"We'll see about that." Allison said, turning away from her, "I'll see you tomorrow!" Allison's excitement was infectious and Leah couldn't help but smile at her friend as she bounced away, heading to her car.
As Leah got to her house, she saw Stiles was coming out of Scott's house. He gave her a two finger wave as she stepped off her board, waiting at the end of the walk for him.
"Hey." She greeted him as he spun his keys around his finger, "Everything okay?" She nodded to Scott's house.
"Uh, I guess. He's like tearing the house apart looking for his phone." Leah grimaced, knowing full well that Scott couldn't afford to replace his phone; he had already replaced it once. "He told me about the fun little adventure you two had."
"Trust me, it was the furthest thing from fun." Leah grumbled, thinking back to that night once again. She paused for a moment before looking up at Stiles, "I think I might know where his phone could be." Stiles raised his eyebrows, waiting for an answer, "The Hale house." She clarified, "I mean, I was gonna head out there anyway because I left my bag out there and my taser is in there…" Leah rambled, reaching up to scratch her head,
"Well, what's a girl without her taser, right?" Stiles asked, giving her a hint of a half-smile. Leah rolled her eyes at him as she tried not to smile, "Come on, I'll drive." Leah sighed, realizing she had unintentionally invited Stiles along, "We can talk about whatever it was you wanted to talk about last night." He added as he walked past her and to his Jeep,
"Uh, what?" Leah asked, following him. She walked around the front of his Jeep, getting into the passenger side,
"You came over last night, said you wanted to talk," Stiles started explaining as he started the Jeep up, "Yelled at me about getting my dad drunk—"
"You got your dad drunk?" Leah asked, raising her eyebrows.
"Uh, yes." Stiles pushed his chin out before pausing for a moment and then looking over at her, "And you yelled at me about how it was a stupid idea." Stiles explained, not realizing that Leah seriously didn't remember the conversation the two of them had.
"Well, yeah, it was." Leah gave him a wide eyed look, "Your dad's been fine for like five years now. That was a really fucked up thing to do."
"I know, we've had this conversation before." Stiles was getting annoyed at Leah, "Last night." He reminded her, trying to get her to give up the act. Leah stared at him, trying to think back to when she talked to Stiles last. She licked her lips, pausing as nothing came back to her—she only remembered being at her house and yelling at Scott about Jackson before calling Kate.
"Right, yeah." Leah played along, brow furrowing, "Sorry, last night's kind of all jumbled up." Stiles glanced at her and nodded,
"Well, what was it that you wanted to talk about?" Stiles asked, turning the wheel. Leah looked away from him, and made a face,
"Nothing." She shrugged, "Uh, what did Scott tell you about last night?" Stiles quickly glanced at Leah before looking back at the road,
"Uh, just a quick summary." He raised his eyebrows up, going along with Leah's subject change, "Derek apparently walked into gunfire." Leah raised her eyebrows, and leaned forward, not knowing that, "Scott talked to your brother, who thinks he's still alive—that the Argents just kidnapped him and are going to try to get him to give up the Alpha." Leah sat back in her seat, nodding to herself as she realized Kate had taken what Leah had told her in the car the other day and used it,
"So I'm guessing—"
"Scott wants to find and save him." Stiles finished with a sigh, "I don't get it either." He rolled his eyes, "I mean last night, the guy was gonna kill him."
"Technically he was gonna kill Jackson." Leah pointed out.
"Scott thinks he wasn't gonna kill either of em." Stiles explained. Leah sighed and looked out the window as Stiles went off road, going into the Preserve.
Once Stiles parked a little ways away from the Hale house, Leah pushed out of the Jeep, hearing the leaves crunch under her feet. She stared up at the house, letting out a slow breath. Stiles walked up next to her and the two of them exchanged a glanced before starting forward. Leah spotted her bag a little ways away and went to grab it, slinging it over her shoulder and wincing slightly as it hit the bruise.
"He also told me you were here last night." Stiles offhandedly said as he caught up with Leah, "That you were here with the Argents."
"Yeah." Leah sighed, "Not my proudest moment that's for sure." She looked away from Stiles, feeling the guilt return, "I don't know, I just—Kate said some stuff to me and I got caught up in it all and—and then when I realized what was happening, it was too late." Leah looked back at Stiles to see him studying her carefully, "All my life, werewolves have royally fucked me over and I guess the part of me that wants to get rid of them just took over last night." Stiles nodded slightly, hands on his hips as he looked at her,
"Getting rid of werewolves includes getting rid of your best friend." Stiles reminded her.
"Well aware of that, thank you." Leah sighed out, looking away from him. Stiles took in a breath and motioned to her,
"I mean, I get it." Leah glanced back at him, "If I was in your position and Kate gave me the option to get rid of those who hurt me…" Stiles quickly raised his eyebrows, indicating that he would do the same. For as much as the two denied it, they were practically the same person—sacrificing others to save themselves, only caring about a few people, choosing violence over peaceful confrontation and not having that protect all vibe that Scott did,
"We all screw up. I'm not judging." Stiles settled on, raising his hands up, "Just glad you came to your senses." Leah nodded at him and then looked away,
"Let's just find his phone and get the fuck out of here." Stiles nodded and followed Leah into the house.
Inside the house, Leah and Stiles split up, each taking a different side of the house. Leah walked through, noticing the bullet holes that decorated the walls and floors. She glanced around, trying to find Scott's phone, but it was nowhere to be found.
"It's not here." Stiles said, as the two met back up in the front hall.
"Then he must've actually lost it in the woods." Leah sighed out, crossing her arms over her chest.
"Or maybe Derek took it." Stiles glanced at Leah, raising his eyebrows slightly.
"Why would he want Scott's phone?" Leah asked, brow furrowing. Stiles set his mouth and looked around the house, trying to put the pieces together,
"I don't know." His mouth screwed to the side as he paused for a moment, "Come on, let's get out of here. This place creeps me out." Leah nodded in agreement, following Stiles back out of the house.
The two began walking back to Stiles's Jeep, the leaves crunching under their feet as they went. Both of them were quiet, lost in their own thoughts for a moment, trying to figure out their next move or thinking about what they had done before.
"What are you up to for the rest of the day?" Leah asked, trying to make conversation so she wouldn't keep thinking about the night before.
"Uh, nothing," Stiles pulled out his phone, "I mean tomorrow, I'm supposed to meet Allison and Lydia at the mall." He checked the time before grinning at Leah, "I'm going to formal with Lydia."
"I know." Leah raised her eyebrows at him, getting him to give her a confused look, "I kind of set it up." She said, moving her shoulders around as she tilted her head side to side, looking proud of herself. Stiles's eyebrows raised as he looked at her,
"Seriously?" He grinned at her, surprise written all over his face, "When—How—Why?" He asked, brow furrowing,
"Well, I mean, technically Allison is putting it together, but I suggested it. It's the least I could do considering I caught her making out with Scott and then not telling you." Leah shrugged, rolling her eyes upward. Stiles gave her a disbelieving laugh,
"Oh my God." Stiles looked away from Leah, rubbing a hand over his mouth, "You did that?"
"Yeah, why is that so hard to believe?" Leah raised her shoulders up. Stiles looked back at her with a grateful smile on his face. Leah chose not to tell him it was only happening because Allison wanted to get back at Lydia for making out with Scott; Stiles didn't have to know the dirty details.
"Thank you, Leah. Seriously, you just…"
"Helped your five year plan along?" Leah asked, raising her eyebrows and giving him a knowing grin. Stiles rolled his eyes as Leah looked away from him, smile falling off of her face as she felt her stomach worms start rolling around. She suddenly remembered what she wanted to talk to Stiles about the night before, but he had ran out on her before she said anything.
Then, Leah's foot hit a fallen log that she hadn't seen and she went tripping over herself, heading for the ground. But before she made contact, she felt Stiles try and catch her, fumbling a bit with his balance and ultimately falling on top of her, sending them both to the ground.
Leah let out a groan as she felt all of Stiles's body weight on her, Stiles matching her groan. He pressed his hand against her shoulder, getting a pained gasp from Leah and he quickly tried to rectify the situation. She rolled her head so she was looking straight up, seeing Stiles push off of her, moving his hands to either side of her head, propping himself up.
"You okay?" He breathed out, hovering above her. The two of them stared at each other for a moment and Leah felt her stomach worms begin to move around once again. She nodded slightly, licking her lips as Stiles reached over to brush a leaf out of her hair.
Leah blinked, pulling herself together and she placed her hands on his shoulders, pushing him off of her and making him roll over onto his back. She blew out a breath as Stiles coughed, hand falling against his chest.
"Walk much?" Stiles managed out, getting a scoff from Leah. "God, being friends with you is dangerous." Leah turned her head to look at him, eyebrows raising,
"Friends, huh?" Leah asked, pushing herself onto her elbows to look down at him, "Is that what we are now?"
"Yeah, I think so." Stiles's brow furrowed as he looked over at Leah, "I mean, sharing a werewolf best friend, figuring out who the Alpha is, and trying to solve an old arson case…I feel like we've just blown past the enemies line." Stiles motioned with his hand. Leah shifted a bit, biting down on her bottom lip.
"So we're friends." She stated, feeling nervous.
"Is that okay?" He asked, brow furrowing. Leah licked her lips and nodded, taking in a breath as she fell back against the forest floor.
"Yeah, for sure." Leah lied. Of course it wasn't okay; Leah didn't want to be friends, she wanted to be something more, but everyone had to start somewhere.
"It's kinda peaceful out here." Leah said after a moment. Stiles scoffed,
"Well, yeah, there's no murderous werewolves and werewolf hunters running around."
"True." Leah made a face and glanced over to Stiles, seeing him looking back at her with raised eyebrows, "Alright, come on." Leah sighed, sitting up, "Who knows when these murderous werewolves and werwolf hunters will show back up."
A/N: Questions, comments, concerns or cries of outrage?