Reflections and Acceptance
After driving around aimlessly and in silence for several hours, Stiles feels the sudden need to get out of the car, so he drives to the side and parks on a small side road that leads into the woods. He gets out of the car and leans against the door, and just breathes in the fresh air. Having gotten out of his weird mood also brings all the thoughts and emotions back, something he really could have gone without right now.
Everything has changed since the beginning of the year, hell everything had changed the moment Scott was turned into a werewolf. It still doesn't feel quite real. When Scott had turned he had practically become a whole different person, and not necessarily a better person either. Before, when he was still human Stiles could at least make Scott listen to him, but after Scott just ignored everything Stiles said. And that had gotten everyone into more trouble than was necessary, just because no one ever thought the human mascot could possibly have any good ideas when it came to the supernatural.
At least he had shown them how wrong they were when he had managed to find and rescue Erica, Boyd, and Cora, and dealt with the alpha pack permanently with just the help of his dad and Chris. The twins were just a last-minute bonus, even if it was an awesome bonus. But nothing Stiles does will change the things that have already happened. He isn't even sure that he wants to change anything if he had the chance.
Sure he had lost his friendship with Scott, but at the same time, he has gained so much more than he has lost. He found Lady, and he had made friends that actually wanted and liked to spend time with him. He doesn't know what he would have done without Sean and Mandy, and his new developing friendship with Aiden and Ethan is promising as well. On top of that, his relationship with his dad has gotten better since he had told him the truth about everything, and he's also somehow gained magical abilities that he's beyond excited to experiment with and learn more about.
He'll always love Scott as a brother, they've gone through too much together for Stiles to just stop caring about him, but after the lies Scott had told and his actions since he became a werewolf, Stiles isn't sure he'll ever truly be able to trust him completely again. Maybe they'll be able to be allies and work together to keep Beacon Hills safe from supernatural threats, but he doubts that they'll ever be able to be friends the same way ever again.
He is brought out of his thoughts by Lady, asking him why his eyes are leaking, and that's when he realizes that he's crying. He dries his tears and takes a deep breath, when he breathes out again he imagines that he's letting go of Scott and all of the things he'd done recently, and it helps him. It feels like he had truly let his issues with Scott go, and can move on with his life without him. Maybe now he can concentrate on the good things in his life, without being reminded of all of the bad things all of the time.
It's time for Stiles to start this new phase of his life, and he isn't going to let anything get in the way this time.
But first, he'll have to get some groceries if he's gonna be able to feed two werewolves for the unforeseeable future.
Lady is not completely sure of what had happened with her human. He had been too quiet when he was driving, but after a while, he had stopped the car and that is when he changed.
He went from quiet and sad, to being his normal chatty self and relaxed. His eyes had leaked again, and she asked him why but had not gotten a response right away. Instead, he had dried off the wet and then he smiled.
"It doesn't matter," was the response she got from him, he was still smiling and he started to pet her, "Things are going to get much better from now on, I'm sure of it."
After that, they got back inside the car, and the difference in her humans' behavior was great. He was talking and laughing about everything and nothing, and she truly had never seen him look so good. He looked healthier than she'd ever seen him, and she liked this change, she hoped he would stay like this. His chattering might annoy her, but as long as he was happy and healthy then she could tolerate it.
They drove to the place that humans usually get their food from, it had a name but since she wasn't a human then it's not important for her to have to remember such things. They got inside and Stiles placed all kinds of weird things that apparently were not only edible but were also supposedly tasty for humans. She'll never understand them, she has already stopped trying, but it is interesting to observe their weird behavior sometimes. After Stiles had gotten all of the things he wanted they went to the place where the humans exchange things, money she thought it was called, for the things the humans wanted to take with them home. Another thing that makes Lady wonder why they don't just hunt their food, it's so much easier and less complicated.
Then it's back to the car again, and now they're on their way back to the house to pack up the things. Stiles talks all the way back to the house, and he talks so much and so fast that most of the time she doesn't even have to answer him. Not that she knows a lot about the things he talks about, but she still answers the best she can when she can.
It's not until he has parked the car that he stops talking, but only for a minute or two then he starts again. She keeps using their connection to keep track of his mood, but it seems like he truly feels the way he acts. Still a little bit sad, but mostly happy and grateful. She hopes that this behavior of his is permanent, she hadn't known how truly sad her human had been until today now that she feels him being happy, and she promises herself to do her best to make sure no one else tries to hurt him like that again. As if she needed another reason to dislike Scott.
Stiles grabs the bags filled with all of the human food, and walked over to the house, and then opened the door without hesitation.
On the way home, Stiles felt at peace, he talked at and with Lady the whole way. Mostly at her if he is honest with himself, but he knew that she didn't really mind. He couldn't remember having ever felt this light as if he had been buried beneath a bunch of rocks that had suddenly just disappeared. He felt as if all of his problems were just gone, almost as if they hadn't even been there, to begin with. He basked in that feeling all the way home as he talked to Lady. He couldn't wait to make his future better than his past, to spend more time with his friends and his dad, and to just live his life the way he wants to. Sure it's a little sad that his future won't contain Scott, the way they had planned as kids, but the hope and happiness of a better future is too overpowering for the sadness to really affect him.
When he gets home and parks in front of the house, he stops talking for a minute and just watches his house. He gives himself a minute to mourn the loss of his best friend, and remember all of the good times they've had and all of the good memories they share. He gives a small sad smile before he gets back to chatting with Lady, and gets out of the car to grab the groceries.
He walks up to the door and opens it without hesitation. He is met with the sound of the tv and talking from his dad and the twins, and he can't help but smile. All three of them notices him at the same time, and that discussion they had had must have been very distracting for the two werewolves to have missed him up until that moment. He greets them with a smile, and can't help but feel relieved that his dad and his new friends get along so well.
His happiness doesn't go unnoticed but he thinks they're all a little scared that it'll disappear if they ask him why he's so happy when he had left the house in such a bad mood. It's a great source of amusement for Stiles as he unpacks and puts away all of the groceries, to watch them nervously exchange glances and aborted tries to ask him about it. In the end, Stiles decides to put them out of their misery and tells them about his drive and his decision to not let Scott's bad decisions affect him any more than it already has. After that, they all eat lunch and just enjoy each other's company with discussions and jokes, and to Stiles, it's the best lunch that he's had in a long while.
The rest of the day is just as good, he invites Mandy and Sean for dinner and video games, and it's different with the twins there too but not in a bad way. They fit in perfectly and everyone is comfortable and happy, and Stiles can't believe how lucky he is to have these people in his life.
It's about a week after they had gone up against the alphas, that things change again. Stiles is in the parking lot of the school talking to Mandy, Sean, and Ethan, as they wait for Aiden to get out of detention with Mr. Harris. He is so wrapped up in his friends that he doesn't notice Scott walking up to them until he's already there.
"Stiles, we need to talk," he demands, and a week ago Stiles would have had many different conflicting emotions about it, but now all Stiles feels is annoyance. Hadn't Scott gotten it into his head yet that Stiles didn't want to talk to him? He looks up to answer Scott and notices that he is alone, his pack is nowhere to be seen, which is strange as he always had at least one person with him, usually Allison or Isaac.
"No, Scott we don't. I've already said everything I had to say, and I'm not at all interested in anything else you have to say so just leave okay," Stiles replied and turned away from the werewolf to continue his conversation with his friends. But the moment he looked at them he saw fear and confusion in Mandy and Sean's faces, and anger in Ethans, and he just knew that Scott was about to do something stupid again. Before he could do or say anything he felt a hand on his shoulder, a very clawed hand, that forced Stiles to turn back around to face his former best friend.
As he looked at Scott again he saw that he was shifted, his eyes were yellow and his face looked more animal than human.
Well, shit, Stiles thought. Of course, Scott would go and lose control of his shift in front of his very human friends. Stiles gave a resigned sigh before turning fully to face his former friend.
"Scott, you need to calm down dude," his voice doesn't show how annoyed he is at the werewolf, instead he makes it as soothing and calm as possible, to avoid getting attacked. "You don't want to accidentally hurt someone, now do you?" He continues when Scott doesn't respond.
"Stiles, I'm sorry! Okay! Just give me a chance, we can forget everything that happened and just go back to how we were!" Scott is still shifted and he even looks a bit crazy at that moment.
"Oh grow up Scott! I have given you more chances than you deserve, and there is absolutely no way I could possibly forget all the things you have said and done to me since you became a werewolf!" He didn't raise his voice, and he still tried to sound as calm as possible.
"And whose fault is that? Huh, Stiles?" Scott is shouting now, and Stiles couldn't be more grateful that most people have gone home already, and that there is nobody else in the parking lot. It would be very bad I'd this is how the whole world finds out that werewolves exist.
"You're gonna blame me for your bad decisions and even worse behavior?" This time he sounds just as incredulous as he feels.
"It is your fault! If you hadn't dragged me into the woods then I wouldn't have been turned and none of this would have happened! You are the reason that I'm like this!" Wow, Stiles thinks, and wonders I'd Scott has felt this way since the beginning or if it's new. It would explain the easy way Scott had pushed him away though.
"It's not my fault Scott. I wasn't the one that bit you, and you decided to keep your presence hidden from my dad, you could of easily just walked up to him and gotten a ride home dude. No one forced you to stay in the woods, and if you really didn't want to go with me in the first place then you could have just stayed at home," Stiles cannot believe this is happening, how could Scott possibly think that Stiles is responsible for all of his changes.
He knows that Scott hates being a werewolf, despite all of the good things he got out of it, but to blame Stiles for not only getting bit but also for the way his behavior had changed since then, it's just unbelievable to him.
"It is your fault! And now you're just gonna abandon me when I need you! How could you do this to me, I thought we were friends!" He might not have super hearing but Scott's shouting is definitely giving him a headache.
"You're obviously delusional Scott, I didn't abandon you. If anything you were the one that abandoned me, dude. You got so wrapped up in your werewolf drama and forgot about me, until you decided to cut me out of your life, while pretending that it was to keep me safe," Stiles is pretty sure that nothing he says or does is going to convince Scott, not in the state he is in right now, but he still feels like he has to try, if only for old times sake. "It doesn't matter Scott, whatever you came here for, you're not gonna get it. You ended our friendship without an actual reason, so you can't just come up to me and demand it back," Stiles continues, and just then he sees people coming out of the school and he is reminded of the fact that Scott is still shifted. "You need to calm down, Scott. Right now, unless you want to expose your wolfy secret to the rest of the world," he tells Scott and hopes that it'll be enough to snap him to reality, if only for a second.
Scott manages to get rid of all the fur, but his eyes are still glowing and his claws are still out. Stiles sighs, how can Derek's new puppies have so much more control than Scott when he's been a werewolf longer?
"Alright Scott, you need to go home and calm down, this isn't helping," Stiles informs Scott, "Besides," he says as he sees Aiden walking towards them, "I have plans, that doesn't include arguing with you in the school parking lot," he finishes and turns away from Scott, and towards Ethan, Mandy and Sean, who is surprisingly still there. He hears a growl and feels Scott's hand on his shoulder again, but before he can do something about that Aiden is there and forces Scott to release him.
"You need to leave, unless you want to go up against me," Aiden says to Scott, and Scott growls again but leaves when Aiden pushes him away. "You okay, Stiles?" Aiden asks him, and Stiles nods yes, and then walks towards his friends with Aiden behind him. When he looks at Mandy and Sean and sees fear in their faces, he realizes that he has to explain things to his human friends, if they don't just decide to just leave and never speak to him again. Well, this will be fun, he thinks sarcastically to himself.
Lady was very proud of herself.
When Scott had put his hand on her human she had taken the opportunity to crawl onto his arm into his jacket sleeve and bit down hard onto his arm. The best part was that neither Scott nor her human even noticed anything, and she managed to crawl back onto her human's shoulder when Scott touched Stiles a second time. Just in time before one of the look-alike humans pushed Scott away from Stiles. She had wanted to bite that human for as long as she had known Stiles and finally, finally, she had gotten her chance.
She noticed that Scott started to scratch his arm as he walked away, on the spot where she had bitten him, and it made Lady feel really smug. And since Stiles hadn't noticed her actions, she didn't have to worry about him nagging at her about not biting people.
She has only bitten the one human and that human certainly deserved it, even if Stiles has weird ideas about what is good and bad. Well, Stiles is not the only human with such weird ideas, of course, she is sure that all humans have them. Probably one of those things they learn at school if she had to guess.
After Scott left, Stiles gets into his car, while the look-alike humans get on their own strange moving objects, and Mandy and Sean get into another car, and then they're all driving.
She had been too concentrated on Scott, so she had no idea what was going on. Not that that is a new thing, she is constantly confused by the humans, and she couldn't be bothered to make an effort with such things anyway. She was mostly just content to be around Stiles, and she could always ask Stiles about things if she felt like it.
Before she knows it they're all at Stiles's house, and she can feel that Stiles is worried and even afraid, and suddenly Lady wishes that she had paid a little more attention to Stiles after his talk with Scott.
Then again, she can always ask Stiles all about it later when they're alone. She still feels weird about talking around other humans, so she mostly just communicated with Stiles in their heads, or out loud when they're alone.
All of the humans go into the living room, and sit down, aside from Stiles. Stiles goes into the kitchen instead, where he takes out several bottles of water and goes back to the living room to hand them out.
What comes next is a lot of talking, apparently, Stiles is giving an explanation to Mandy and Sean about the events with Scott. That is when Lady realizes that those two humans did not know that there are some humans that are also wolves. Werewolves, she is sure Stiles calls it. Apparently, the fear from Stiles was about telling the whole truth about Scott to his human friends. Lady hopes that they don't hurt Stiles because of this, because she isn't sure that she can get away with biting two more humans today.
Instead of paying attention to the human's conversation, she decides to focus on sending comforting and encouraging emotions to Stiles through their bond. It is the best way she can think of to help her human, and it seems to be working, as he relaxes even if it's only a little bit.
Satisfied with herself and her efforts, she decides to just enjoy Stiles's presence, until or unless he needs her.
Stiles was less afraid and nervous when he went up against the alpha pack than he was when he realized that he had to tell his very human friends about werewolves.
He had seen how afraid they had been when Scott had shifted, and that made him even more nervous about the whole thing. Hopefully, though they would be less afraid after an explanation.
He is practically shaking the whole way home, and even as he gets out of the car and walks inside of his house. The twins are right behind him, and Mandy and Sean aren't too far behind. He leaves his backpack by the front door and automatically goes to the kitchen, it's apparently become a habit for him to grab drinks when he has to explain things.
When he gets to the living room everyone is sitting down, and both Mandy and Sean look a bit less afraid, but still intimidates since the twins are looking intensely at them.
"Alright," he says as he hands out water bottles to everyone, "You probably has a lot of questions, and I'm gonna do my best to answer them, but you need to let me explain everything first, and then I'll answer whatever questions you still have, alright?" He says, and his friends share a look with each other before they both look at him and nod.
Stiles breathes in deeply, and then he starts telling them everything. He starts with the dead body in the woods, and Scott turning into a werewolf. He tells them about the Argents, and about being kidnapped. He tells them absolutely everything, because if there is even the slightest chance that they can accept all the supernatural things that have taken over his life, then he needs to take that chance. He needs to tell them everything, to prove that he trusts them, and show them that they can trust him too.
It takes a lot of time to explain everything, but Stiles is pretty sure that they're less afraid now than they were in the beginning. Something Stiles hopes is a sign that they'll still want to be friends with him when everything is said and done.
He even tells them about the alpha pack, and the twin's involvement with them, and how all of the other alphas are all dead. He tells them about his magic. He even tells them all of the details about Lady that he hadn't told them about, since he hadn't wanted them to think he was crazy for believing that he could talk to spiders.
Both Sean and Mandy seem to take it all in and believe it all, and when Stiles stops speaking they ask a lot of questions. All of which Stiles and the twins answer, as well as they can.
Before Sean and Mandy can truly react to revelations, Stiles's phone rings. He picks it up and sees Allison's name on the screen, he's almost positive that he does not want to answer, but also knows that of she is calling him it's probably for a good reason. So he exhaled and swiped to answer the call.
"Stiles, you need to come to Deaton's and bring your spider!" Allison sounds panicked and like she was doing her best to get the words out as quickly as possible.
"What..? Why?" Is the only thing Stiles can manage to get out. Why would he need to take Lady to the vet's office?
"Scott is having trouble breathing! Deaton has tried everything that he can, and he is pretty sure that Scott is suffering from an impossibly strong version of wolf spider venom! And his healing isn't helping him, he's getting worse by the second and Deaton thinks that he might even die from this, so you need to bring that spider here so he can try to make an antidote!"
Well, he certainly didn't expect that… Guess his day could get worse after all, and he's definitely going to have another talk with Lady about biting people…