Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Wolf. I also have no claim on any pop culture references that I may use throughout my writings. I only own my OCs. Enjoy the read.

326 ~ 3875

It had been a few long weeks since Jennifer Blake's final attempt on their lives and the showdown on the lunar eclipse. Spencer had been working hard to get back into the swing of things, although it hadn't been easy for her.

School had been hard to get back into. It seemed that her teachers hadn't bothered with any leniency in her case. The problem with having been a student with one of the highest GPAs in school before she'd dropped out meant that when Spencer went back, everything had hit her like a truck. All of her teachers knew of her ability to succeed and didn't bother holding back when making up the missed work. Even with Spencer's agreement with the principal to be a new student guide to make up for her lost school work, trying to catch up on almost three months was difficult even for her. The other teachers hadn't gotten the memo. Or they had, and they just didn't care, figuring Spencer could handle the work.

Of course, Spencer believed that she could get all the homework done that they wanted on top of papers, projects, and extra credit. That was until she managed to get it all out onto her desk to try and tackle it. In trying to keep up with all the school she missed, Spencer created a calendar to plan how it would get done.

The biggest thing that was getting in the way of her completing everything on time was Stiles. Not that she minded his distraction at all. Spencer enjoyed the time she was spending with Stiles, rebuilding their friendship and their relationship. But she needed to get her work down to graduate with him. She couldn't do that with him at her side every hour asking to do something else.

All this, not to mention having to report to an adult again. Sure, Spencer was her own person legally. Spencer followed the sheriff's rules out of respect for the person she saw as the only father figure she'll ever have. There were curfews and dinners that happened, at least, weekly. The man questioned where she went when she wasn't home on time. Someone who cared enough to bid her good night every night, even if it was by a short phone call. Noah Stilinski wasn't messing around when it came to being a parent to the lonesome teen, and Spencer didn't want him to. Spencer liked the extra attention.

Spencer woke early on the weekend before October. The weekends were where she could get the most work done as she only worked a few hours in the middle of the day. Spencer stretched out on her bed, but her fist bumped something as she did. She pulled back quickly, leaning up on her elbow to get a look at the figure next to her. Spencer shouldn't have been surprised at the sight of Stiles sleeping next to her.

The boy had taken to having nightmares in the previous three weeks, and many of them were pretty brutal. Stiles claimed he didn't remember the awful ones, but Spencer knew better. She heard the skip in his heartbeat when he told her that everything was fine. The worry in the Stilinski House was so thick you couldn't cut it with a steak knife.

There had been nights when Stiles' nightmare would wake him up silently, and the boy would stealthily sneak into her room and crawl under the covers with her. Those were the easy ones, as there were also nightmares that would do the opposite. Those are the ones that would scare Spencer the most. Stiles would wake from a deep sleep, screaming at the top of his lungs, having a panic attack, and not recognizing where he was. Many times he wasn't even sure if he was awake.

Spencer had done the research with him, finding different ways to tell whether or not he was dreaming. There were things to do if you were particularly aware during your dreams and if you did them, you could tell if you were dreaming.

The redhead sighed and crawled out of bed, not disturbing the sleeping figure. She had work that she needed to get done before she left for the animal clinic, and waiting for Stiles to wake up wasn't part of her schedule for the day. Spencer got out of bed and went over to her desk, working for a few hours before she needed to start getting ready.

When the time came, Spencer wasn't quiet as she opened her dresser drawers to grab clothes. Spencer needed Stiles to wake up, even if it meant going back to his room afterward.

Stiles shifted around in the bed as Spencer walked back into the room from her shower. He stretched out his neck and saw her standing in the doorway. "Hey."

Spencer leaned against the door frame. "Hey," She bit her lip. "When'd you come in last night?"

"I have no idea. It was late. Maybe 3 or 4."

Spencer nodded slowly. "Makes sense." She had moved from her desk to the bed around one in the morning and quickly passed into a deep sleep. "You gonna tell me what this one was about?"

"I don't remember," Stiles said, shrugging.

Spencer heard the beat of his heart skip. "You'll have to get better at lying if you're going to do it to a werewolf."

"Does it matter?"

"It does if it's stopping you from sleeping."

Stiles shook his head, pushing himself up.

"I'm only asking because I'm worried about you, you know that." Spencer insisted.

Stiles nodded his head, getting out of the bed.

"I'm not trying to hound you about it or invade some personal thing that you have going on. But we're still not sure what the sacrifice did to you, Scott, and Allison. We have to be careful."

"I know," Stiles said, his words clipped.

Spencer sucked in her lips. "Alright," She walked over to her desk and grabbed her supplies for her history class. Spencer stuffed them in her backpack before making her way out of her room.

"Where are you going?"

"I gotta work. I'll see you later," Without looking back, Spencer hurried out of the house.

! #$# !

Work for Spencer had turned out to be terribly unproductive. There wasn't much going on at the vet clinic that hadn't already been done. Scott was already working a morning shift, but he ended up staying and talking with her while she worked. It had been a while since Spencer and Scott had an actual conversation that didn't include werewolves. They hadn't caught up since they stayed at the motel a couple of weeks prior. Even then, it wasn't a real conversation.

Spencer missed her time with Scott, especially with everything going on with Stiles. There was something about Scott that always made Spencer want to be better than she had been or ever was.

So, alongside their conversation, Spencer decided to do something a little drastic. Something that wasn't asked of her. Something that required her to put her 'best friend pants' back on.

After her shift at the vet and after confirming that Scott wasn't planning on going home anytime soon, Spencer made her way to his house. She let herself in with the key from Melissa and found Isaac up in the bedroom that used to be hers. Spencer knocked on the door frame and leaned her shoulder on it. "Hey."

Isaac looked up at her from his spot in the chair placed in the corner. He was working on tying one of his boots. "Hey, Scott's not here."

"I know. I came to see you, actually."

"Well, I was on my way out," he said, pausing.

"I assumed as much. To go see Allison?" Spencer questioned.

Isaac furrowed his brow. "I thought you didn't care about me seeing Allison."

"I said that I wasn't going to shove it in your face how disproving that I was. Not that I didn't care."

"I'm guessing that's what you're here to do?" Isaac asked with an exasperated sigh.

"No. Because, much like the idea that I can't control what Derek does, I can't control you either. I don't want to. I'm done trying to control anyone that isn't myself. But I can ask you to be a bit more discreet about your...relationship with Allison."

Isaac stood from the chair. "And why would I do that?"

"Because of Scott."

"Scott?"

"You can tell when I have feelings for someone but not when your alpha does?" Spencer asked, watching Isaac's face change as the words left her mouth. "Scott loves Allison. And he always will. She was his first, and you don't forget that."

"Yeah, tell me about it."

Spencer felt the heat rush to her face, but she brought her chin down, eyes hitting the floor. She stood straight, away from the doorway. "He knows that they don't work anymore. But that doesn't make the feelings go away. And he's too nice to say so, but he's not exactly enjoying witnessing the two of you."

"So I'm just supposed to stop seeing her? What, because Scott wants me to?" Isaac interrogated.

"That's not what I said," Spencer said sternly, shaking her head.

"I can be the bystander to your relationship with Derek, but forget about me being happy, right?"

"Isaac, this isn't about you and me."

"It is, though! Because you might not be trying to control, but you're certainly trying to talk me out of it!"

"I'm literally not! I'm just asking you to be more gentle with it."

"Like you were to me?"

Spencer groaned. "Why do you have to do this?! Why are you making this so difficult?!"

"What's with all the yelling?"

Spencer jumped further into the room at the sound of a loud male voice behind her. She scoffed at the man, quickly recovering when she noticed it was Rafael.

"Spencer?" The agent questioned, waiting for his first to be answered.

"It's nothing to concern yourself with. Please leave."

Rafael looked between her and Isaac before landing on Spencer again. "Can I talk to you?"

"I can think of so many other things that I'd rather do. Including continuing this fight with Isaac."

Isaac shook his head. "I'm not doing this. I'm leaving." He grabbed his jacket from his bed and made his way past both Spencer and Rafael.

Spencer's eyes followed Isaac as he disappeared into the hallway. She gave a deep groan that could have been a growl if she wasn't more careful. "Thanks," she said sarcastically to Rafael before trying to follow after her packmate.

Rafael stopped her with a hand on her upper arm. "This is serious."

"And so am I about not talking to you." Spencer raised a brow and pulled out of his grasp, hard, crossing her arms over her chest. "You gonna pull your badge out, too? Cause that probably won't even start to convince me to answer any questions that you have."

"It's about your mom."

Spencer paused, not changing her stance, still unconvinced.

Rafael shook his head, trying not to roll his eyes at the arrogant teen. "No one's seen her. Not in six months."

"That's because she left town," Spencer said simply. "That's what happens when someone is no longer in a place they used to be. People don't see her because she's not here."

"No one's heard from her either." The agent admitted.

"She didn't have many friends."

"You're not worried about her?"

"Do I look worried?" She asked him. "Look, she's the one who left. If anything, that's child abandonment which means that you should be doing your job elsewhere to try and find her." Spencer paused for a moment, watching his face as he pursed his lips. "Except you can't. Not officially. Because no one has reported her missing, that should make your job easier because no one cares enough to find her. Including me."

"I care enough," Rafael told her.

"Why? Because she's my mom, and I'm a minor? You said so yourself; I'm emancipated. I don't need her around. In reality, I never did."

"That doesn't mean that you shouldn't still look for her."

"Or maybe you're asking because you're the one who really wants her back," Spencer said, giving the man a knowing look. Seeing as my dad's dead now."

Rafael shook his head. "That's not it."

Spencer chuckled to herself. "Yeah, of course, it's not. It's just a bit shocking to me that you waited until he was finally dead to actually show your face in this town again. A lot has happened in this fucking town while you were gone to make sure you get your facts straight before you come questioning me about anything."

"Spencer." His phrase was short.

"You know I'm not an idiot, right, Agent McCall?" Spencer scoffed. "What am I saying? Of course, you know. You called me smart a couple of days ago."

"Where is your mom?"

Spencer shook her head. "I told you. I don't know. And I don't care. She doesn't want to be in Beacon Hills anymore, and that's her choice. Maybe you should leave her to it." She said, having enough. Spencer quickly walked around the man and rushed downstairs towards the front door. She opened it, revealing Melissa.

"Hey, sweetheart," The woman said, not yet letting her leave. Melissa dropped her things on the table by the door. "You okay?" She asked, looking down at Spencer's clenched fists.

Spencer took a deep breath and nodded. "Your ex-husband is a jerk. Questioning me about my mother."

Melissa clicked her tongue. "He's doing his job."

"I don't think that's what he's here for," Spencer shook her head and cleared her throat. "Um, I gotta go. I'll see you later?" she asked, reaching for a hug.

Melissa wrapped her arms tightly around the redhead. "Do you wanna go for that birthday ice cream this weekend? Before it gets too cold?"

Spencer pulled away, holding the woman at arm's length. "That would be awesome."

! #$# !

Spencer wasn't sure that she wanted to go home, but she knew that she had to. She wasn't upset with Stiles in any way, and he had to know that. It frustrated her that he wouldn't let her in on what was going on in his head. Spencer knew Stiles was suffering when it came to the nightmares that he was having. While she wasn't sure there was anything she could do about it, Spencer believed she could at least help by easing the burden of them. Stiles was just as lost about what to do about the nightmares, and Spencer couldn't even blame him for his shortness.

Spencer parked her old truck in its usual spot on the street, grabbed her backpack, and set off inside. Up in her room, she found Stiles lying on her bed, tossing a baseball above his head and catching it. Spencer dropped her bag inside the room next to the door; the sound made Stiles sit up quickly just as he had thrown the ball in the air. The ball came down, hitting the pillow he was just on, surprising him.

Spencer showed Stiles a small smile before sighing. "I'm sorry for pushing you."

Stiles nodded, twisting his fingers together.

"I'm just worried, you know?"

"I know. I get it. I am, too."

"Can we please not fight anymore? I'm really tired of fighting with everyone today."

Stiles' brows furrowed together. "Everyone? What happened at the clinic.?"

"Nothing. Scott and I caught up. It was nice. But, after, I went over to Scott's to talk to Isaac. Scott mentioned something about him hanging out with Allison more."

"Ohhh," Stiles said, realizing.

"Yup. And then because I was there, so was Agent Douchebag." Spencer groaned. "For not having someone actively threatening our lives right now, I'm extremely stressed out." She joined Stiles, sitting next to him in the middle of her bed with her legs folded to the side. Spencer grabbed her blanket and placed it in her lap, holding it tightly.

"You still haven't heard from Derek, have you?"

Spencer looked over at Stiles. "Am I that transparent?"

"Only when it comes to him."

The redhead sighed and shook her head. "He texted me last week to tell me that he and Cora got to the pack safely, but I haven't heard anything since then."

"Maybe he's doing some sightseeing." Stiles offered. "He is on a different continent. Maybe he doesn't have service."

"Maybe. I'd like to think he'd find a way to let me know that he's alive. I know better, though. We thought he was dead for two days and never got in touch with us."

"Which time?"

Spencer paused, confused, but then remembered. They thought Derek had been killed by Peter when they got trapped in the school. Spencer scoffed a laugh. "The most recent. With the alphas."

"Didn't you yell at him for that?"

"I did. Which is why I thought he would have tried harder this time so I wouldn't think he was dead."

"I don't think he's dead."

"Neither do I. I would know." Spencer said confidently. She rubbed her hand over her face, clearing out her worry lines. "Have you eaten yet?"

Stiles shook his head.

"Any requests? I pulled some ground beef out of the freezer last night."

"Nachos?"

Spencer nodded. "Good idea." She got up from the bed and went downstairs, quickly making dinner for the Stilinskis. The sheriff had come home just as they were finishing up with the sides.

The three of them ate at the kitchen table, enjoying the time together before Stiles and Spencer went back upstairs to his room to put in a movie. The pair layered the floor in front of his TV with blankets and pillows before plopping themselves down and enjoying a Star Wars movie. There was a large bowl of popcorn between them, and they snacked in between, reciting the words line for line.

Spencer looked over at Stiles at one point in the movie, and her eyes drifted down to his lips as he spoke the line, trying to copy the one to Han Solo's voice. That's when the stray thought hit her. "Are we together?"

Stiles stopped, looking at her confused. "What do you mean?"

"I'm sorry. That's a weird question. I just - I knew that we weren't going to be jumping back into the relationship. We were gonna try and work it out as it went."

"Right, makes sense to me."

"And so far, things have been going great, right? Like dinners and movies. Arcade nights."

"That time when we went to the park with your camera and took pictures on the playground?"

"Yes, all good times," Spencer promised. "So, we've done all that, right? And, well, this sounds really stupid saying out loud, but we haven't kissed since before."

Stiles furrowed his brow. "We haven't? No, we had to have."

"I know it's not a big deal or anything, but it was just something that I noticed."

"Do you want to?"

"Want to?"

"Uh, well," Stiles stammered, "uh, kiss. Did you want to kiss? Me. Kiss me?"

"I didn't mean that we have to right now."

"So, you don't want to?"

"No, I-I mean I do." Spencer was also having trouble with her words. "But now it feels like this whole big thing, and it doesn't need to be."

"It doesn't."

Spencer's eyes flickered down to Stiles' lips again. She remembered what kissing him felt like. Remembering how gentle he was with her. They were each other's first kiss. Both of them had kissed others since then, but still, it was special. Without thinking about it, she pushed herself forward, putting her lips on his. Spencer sighed into the kiss. It was exactly how she remembered it, but in a way, it was better. Spencer pulled away after a moment.

"That was…" Stiles said, trailing off to find the word.

"Good, right?"

Stiles nodded, smiling. A sparkle appeared in his eye that Spencer hadn't seen in a while. "Good. It was good."

Shortly after their kiss, the movie ended, and the pair laid down to go to sleep. Stiles had passed out almost instantly.

Spencer, however, was a different story. She tossed and turned, going between checking in on Stiles and playing games on her phone. It wasn't until her phone died that Spencer was stuck staring at the ceiling. She crawled out of bed slowly, careful not to wake Stiles. Spencer went downstairs to the kitchen, finding the sheriff sitting at the table surrounded by many files in manila folders. "Hey, Pops."

The sheriff looked up. "Hey, Spencer. I thought you guys were asleep."

Spencer grabbed a couple of glasses from the cabinet and filled them with milk before taking a package of cookies from the pantry. "Stiles is. I can't sleep."

"But he's asleep?"

Spencer nodded, sitting at the table, putting the cookies between them and sliding one of the glasses to him.

"Good. It's been a while since he's actually slept."

"You're telling me. It's not your bed that he's crawling into when the nightmares wake him up quietly."

Pops placed the file to the side, pulling the glass of milk closer to him and grabbing a cookie. He soaked the cookie for a moment before biting into it. "Is he gonna be okay?" The man asked after he had swallowed his bite.

"I want to tell you yes. But I don't know that for sure." Spencer shrugged as the man's shoulders fell. "We didn't really know what we were doing when we sacrificed the three of them. We were messing with things far beyond any of our knowledge. I just hope that it doesn't bite us in the ass."

Stilinski nodded, looking at Spencer from over the rim of his glasses.

Spencer gestured to the papers around the man. "What's all this?"

The man let out a large sigh. "It's nothing."

Spencer raised her brows. "Doesn't look like nothing."

Stilinski debated in his head before nodding to himself. "Don't tell Stiles."

"Stiles isn't in the right mindset right now. I won't tell him if it's important."

"They're old cases." The sheriff shared. "Now that I know things about this town that I didn't years ago, I'm taking a look back at unsolved cases to see what really happened with them."

"You know you can't close them, right? I mean, I'm not sure the town is ready to know about werewolves and creatures of the night."

"That's true. But at least I'll know."

"I get that." Spencer ate a cookie. "Can I help?" She asked with a mouthful.

"I can handle it."

"I do not doubt that you can, but I do happen to be a supernatural myself. I have a certain insight."

Pops smirked at Spencer. "Don't you have something better to do on a Saturday night?"

Spencer shrugged. "Stiles is sleeping. Scott and Lydia are busy. Derek is MIA. Allison and I aren't exactly friends, and Isaac hates me. So, no."

"Okay. Though, we should probably talk about that 'Isaac hating you' thing."

"If you so feel the need, I'll do my best to explain."