Hi all! A little longer of a chapter for you this time AND more of Stiles/Madison! Just a reminder, I play around with story lines so just because something happens in the show doesn't mean it will here (some may live, others may stay, and some will leave ) Any questions feel free to ask!

Chapter 5

Two days without hearing from Rory and Madison was going out of her mind. She was officially listed as a missing person and she had been questioned not only by the police and her brother but also by Rory's parents. The kids at school were starting to whisper as she walked past. First the accident and now Rory was missing; she was cursed. Apparently, Allison thought she would get answers out of Madison that no one else could because there she was sitting on her bed as she came home from school.

"I just wanted to check in," Allison started as she watched Madison throw her backpack in the corner of her room.

Madison sat down on the old office chair she had and glared at the girl on her bed, "Is there something you need? If not, please leave, I have a best friend to find."

"Did she say anything...out of the ordinary...the last time you two talked?"

She ran a tried hand down her face, having gone through all the same questions multiple times with multiple people. At this point she wished she had the answers but she disappointed every single person that asked because she had no idea where Rory was. "Like what? That she was going to disappear and freak me out?"

"I don't know. It could be anything," Allison tried not to take anything she was saying to heart, knowing she was upset. "Anyone hanging around she hadn't seen before or weird sounds she heard."

Madison rolled her eyes, "What like the wolf she swore she heard howling?" Allison's head shot in her direction but Madison ignored it. "Please leave. Now."

Allison left and closed the door behind her. Whether she had left the house or just went down to Scott's room Madison didn't really care. She was alone again and she pulled up an internet page on her laptop, easily hacking into her mom's emails for an address she needed.

She scribbled it down on a Post-it note and took a deep breath. It wasn't going to be an easy conversation that was for sure but she needed help and at this point she was down to her last resort.

X-X-X

Scott and Stiles had a normal night of lacrosse practice with no werewolf emergencies. They were going to just stop home quick for him to change before they went out in search of Rory themselves but Scott stopped short, causing Stiles to run into him when he spotted Madison sitting on the living room floor. Her make-up smudged and eyes bloodshot as she held loosely to a bottle of tequila.

The two guys shared a questioning look before stepping closer and crouching down to her level.

"Mads," Scott tried to get her attention, the amount of concern welling up in chest was almost too much.

"I found him," she whispered so softly if it weren't for his abilities he wouldn't have been able to hear her.

Stiles looked to him for clarification, but Scott kept his eyes on his sister, wondering if she had finally been pulled into their supernatural world that he had been trying so hard to keep her out of. "Found who?"

"He has a daughter," Madison took another swig from the bottle, a bit spilling out the corner of her lip but she didn't bother to wipe it away. At that moment she couldn't care less about anything.

Scott still had no idea what she was talking about and motioned to Stiles to take the bottle from her. She easily let him take it, having no fight left in her. He sniffed it, grimacing at the smell, before setting it aside.

"Maddie, what happened?" Stiles tried; he couldn't remember the last time he had ever seen her this distraught. Sure, he had seen her drunk before but never this hopeless.

She lazily dragged her eyes up to meet his and then glanced over to Scott who was anxiously waiting. "I thought I wanted to find him. I thought he could help."

Madison took a deep breath and rolled her head to the side, eyes fighting to stay open. Maybe if she slept she could wake up and this would have just been one horrible nightmare. Scott shook her shoulder to keep her awake at least long enough to get the full story. "Who was it? Who did you find?"

"I went to see dad."

Scott felt as if someone had suckered punched him in the gut. He wasn't sure what he expected her to say but it wasn't that. Silence filled the room and a single tear slid down Madison's cheek. Stiles placed a comforting hand on her leg as Scott moved to sit next to her. The alcohol taking away any strength she had to bury her emotions.

"I always thought deep, deep...deep down that he would come back. That after being gone all these years he would realize what he had, what he was missing out on, and come knocking at the door apologizing for ever leaving in the first place." She took a shaky breath as more tears streamed down her cheeks, creating smears of black from her mascara. "He was never going to come back. He started over. He got married and they had a little girl. We have a half-sister who will never know us."

"It's his loss," Stiles tried to be reassuring but he could feel the rejection pouring out of Madison in suffocating waves.

She let the last of her wall break down as she clung to Scott, letting her tears freely fall. "I can deal with him starting over and leaving us behind but I thought he could help us find Rory. I thought that he would have some sort of a soul and pull some strings to help me find my best friend. I thought that if he saw me maybe he'd feel guilty enough to help me. I actually told him that I needed him and he said there was nothing he could do." She paused to take a deep breath. "But I'm going to do whatever it takes to get her back."

"I know," Stiles moved to sit on the other side of her. "We're going to find her."

Scott held onto his sister hating that not only did he not know how to fix this but that she finally found out about their dad. Part of him wished she never went looking for him in the first place and just accepted the fact that him and their mother was all the family she would ever need.

"Does mom know about his new family?" Madison sniffled, pulling away from him enough to look him in the eye. Scott shared a quick look with Stiles but that was all it took for her to realize he wasn't as shocked at her revelation as she was. "You knew. You, mom...Stiles? Everyone knew and no one told me?! Is there anything else I should know? Am I adopted? Did Lucky not actually run away when I was five?"

Scott took a deep breath and shook his head, biting back the truth because he had failed to keep her safe from the secret of their dad and he wasn't going to pull her into the supernatural world. "There is nothing else." He swallowed hard, refusing to glance in Stiles' direction, "I promise."

X-X-X

Stiles was staring at his history textbook. He was supposed to be doing homework and hoped that if he stared at it long enough maybe the words would somehow imprint on his mind and he wouldn't have to study. The knock on his bedroom door was a welcomed distraction but as he spun the chair to get up Madison barged right in not waiting for an answer.

"I need your help."

Stiles sat back down in the chair; too used to Madison hanging out in his room when she was fighting with Scott or Rory was busy and she was lonely. He knew Madison and Rory were as close as him and Scott and he didn't want to even imagine what he would be going through if one day his best friend just vanished.

"You are always getting involved in your dad's cases and I need to you to help me figure out where Rory is or what could have happened because I am trying my best not to freak out over here but if she left voluntarily she would have told me and she wouldn't miss out on work unless it was something really important or some kind of emergency because she needs the money as much as I do and I already checked down by the river where she likes to go and think and behind the gas station on twenty three where we used to go if we wanted to skip school and not get caught. Her cellphone is either off or dead so we can't track her phone and all I can think about is how cold it has been the last few nights and if she is outside somewhere she is probably freezing and-"

"Maddie," Stiles cut her off, getting off the chair and putting his hands on her shoulders to get her to stand still. "Take a breath."

She did as she was told and ran a tired hand over her face, "I was the last one to see her, Stiles."

"No. You're not going there, you hear me? This is not your fault."

Madison took a shuddering breath, trying to calm her racing mind but it was so hard to relax when her best friend had basically evaporated in thin air and everyone was looking to her as if she should have all the answers.

Stiles led her over to the bed and sat her down, kneeling in front of her with a comforting hand on her knee. "When is the last time you slept?"

She rolled her eyes with a humorless chuckle, "When was the first night Rory didn't come home?"

"Maddie…" Stiles started but was at a loss for words because whatever he said wouldn't take away her fear and he would be damned if he was going to give her false hope. "What can I do to help?"

"I need to find her Stiles."

He moved to sit on the bed next to her, "So, we start at the beginning. Maybe there's something everyone overlooked. Take me through the last twenty-four hours before she went missing."

"You know all of this already," she deeply sighed, not sure if she had the energy to go through it all again.

"Pretend I don't. Pretend I don't even know you or Rory and you're talking to a complete stranger," Stiles waited for her to start but she was reluctant. "C'mon, it could help."

Madison closed her eyes and thought back to that evening. "We were laying on the bed talking. It was the day you brought me home from school."

"I don't know you; I didn't bring you anywhere," Stiles winked, encouraging her to continue. "Now, close your eyes and start again."

She glared at him but bit back the sarcastic comment, reluctantly closing her eyes. "Fine. It was the day Stiles drove me home from school."

"Why did he take you home?" He prompted her to keep going.

"I had a panic attack during French class."

Stiles knew it but it was the first time she had admitted to it out loud. He nodded and realized she couldn't see him. "What did you do for the rest of the day?"

"I slept most of the day. Rory came over that afternoon to check on me. She told me I needed to get over the accident. That it wasn't my fault. Then we just hung out. She told me about some howling she heard at work, I teased her, and she smacked me with a pillow. We talked about Danny's party that he is throwing over spring break and that we needed to find something to wear." Madison took a deep breath, allowing herself to relive every second of the memory. Stiles kept quiet, giving her as much time as she needed. "She ended up staying for dinner. Scott was out doing God knows what and mom had been asked to stay at the hospital because they were short staffed. We ordered Pizza, garlic knots, and a bottle of soda from Tony's and watched TV until about nine thirty-ish. She left and I cleaned up before taking a shower and working on homework."

"Howling?" Stiles questioned.

Madison shrugged, opening her eyes before she fell asleep. "I know, she's so stupid, there's no wolves in California. It was probably a dog or stupid kids playing a trick on her."

"Yeah," Stiles nodded, unconvinced. When he suddenly snapped his head in her direction. "Wait, you got invited to Danny's party?"

"Technically, Rory did and I am…was her plus one."

Stiles shook the thought of Danny's party from his mind for the time being, "Okay, and then what happened Thursday?"

She closed her eyes again, "We skipped last period and went out to the woods. I fell asleep for a bit and you and Scott came screaming through the woods. I hugged her goodbye, she drove off…and I never saw her again. She didn't show up for work and Jerry called me in to work her shift. I figured it was something going on with her family and text her in the morning. She never answered and then your dad started questioning me about her whereabouts."

She suppressed a yawn and Stiles got up from the bed. "Alright, you are going to lay down and get some sleep." She went to argue but he lightly pushed her shoulder so that she was laying on her side. "I'll stay up and listen to the scanner while I reach out to Danny to see why I wasn't invited to the party. I mean, I thought we were friends. Unless he doesn't think I'm attractive."

"Stiles."

"Sorry," he offered a small smile, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear.

Madison laid in his bed, pretending to sleep as she heard Stiles calling Scott to let him know where she was and that she was okay. She shifted every now and then scared that if she were too still that he would know she was faking it. It must have worked though because he clicked on his desk lamp, before turning off the light overhead, and covered her with a blanket. She was going out of her mind there was nothing else she could think to do, nowhere else to look, and she could only hope that the police would be able to find her.

Stiles glanced over his shoulder at the girl pretending to sleep. She couldn't fool him but at least she was trying. His heart was shredding into pieces not knowing what to do. He had even spoken with his dad multiple times but there were no leads to even start with as far as the police were concerned. The last time she was over at his house was for a vastly different reason.

"New case?" Stiles questioned walking in to see his dad with papers spread across the dining room table.

The Sherriff sighed, running a tired hand down his face, "Trying to see if there is a connection, evidence is similar but not enough to make a pattern."

"Want help?"

He shook his head, taking a drink from the glass next to him. "No, but you should know there is a girl in your bed."

Stiles looked confused for a moment before realization washed over him. "How long has she been here?"

"Not sure, was here when I got home. I already told Melissa where she was so if you could at least keep her here until morning I'd appreciate it."

Stiles bid his father goodnight and headed up to his room only to see a mess of curls poking out from the top of his bedding. He couldn't help but chuckle, he usually sprawled out in the bed taking up every inch he could while Madison choose to curl herself up into the smallest ball possible, the covers down enough only so that she could breathe.

It wasn't out of the ordinary for her to show up randomly and after the first handful of times he just came to accept it. Sometimes she was just bored, other times she had gotten in an argument with either Melissa or Scott, or she was feeling some kind of way but didn't want to admit it to anyone and instead of sit in her room and wallow she would end up in his room.

Madison wasn't sure when Stiles became her safe zone but over the years it had just happened and now she didn't even give it a thought. He had a key to the McCall residence so she thought nothing of making a spare for his house as well. There were never any lines crossed. He was her brother's best friend. Hell, he was her best friend and she thought nothing of sharing a bed with him.

"Maddie," Stiles whispered, trying to see if she was awake. When she half grunted, half groaned in response he sat on the edge of the bed, pulling the covers away from her face causing her to squint from the light in the room. "Are you drunk?"

"Shhhh," she hushed him, burying her face in the pillow.

He tried to hide his smirk, "You better not puke in my bed."

"I'm not that far gone just enough where getting behind a wheel probably wouldn't be a good idea."

Stiles realized he didn't see her car out front, confusion spreading across his face, "Okay, but then how did you get here?"

She sighed as she rolled to face him, "Rory dropped me off."

"Why didn't she drop you off at home?"

"Because I'm drunk," she answered as if it were the most obvious answer in the world.

Instances like this he envied her. She didn't have to worry about alphas, banshees, or hunters she only had to worry about normal teenager things like not getting caught drinking.

"Did you at least take your shoes off?"

"Mhmm," she shoved her sock clad feet towards him as if he wouldn't believe her and he noticed that she was also wearing a pair of his pajama pants and an old lacrosse t-shirt. She shoved her face in the pillow again, inhaling deeply as she did so, "Your bed smells nice."

"Um, thanks?"

He sat down at the computer and started doing research, figuring she was going to fall back to sleep.

"Hey, Stiles," she called out softly. He hummed in response and she continued. "Do you ever feel small?"

He spun around in his chair, not expecting a question like that. "What do you mean?"

"I don't know. Never mind. I'm just drunk."

He knew better than to keep pushing her for answers, she would end up pushing him away so for now he had to accept that as an answer. He reluctantly went back to his research, glancing at the girl behind him every so often. Sleep was calling for him though and he clicked off the desk lamp before sliding into the bed careful not to wake Madison. She must have felt his presence though because without ever opening her eyes she rolled over, wrapping her arms around his and throwing her leg over top of his almost as if she were scared he was going to leave.

Stiles would never admit it but he loved when she did that. He felt needed and that was something he missed out on while the rest of his friends were able to take care of themselves.

He woke up the next morning expecting Madison to still be sleeping next to him but when he reached his arm out all he found was the cold sheets. He blinked a few times trying to wake up and almost thought she had left when she came back into his room with a half-empty glass of water in her hands.

"Morning," he mumbled, sleep ready to take back over now that he knew where she was.

She grunted in response, taking another sip of the water before placing it on the bedside. "Move over."

He did as he was asked and she crawled back in bed, not having the energy to climb over him to get back to the side of the bed she had claimed as her own.

"Hung over?" He teased her, remembering how much of a light weight she was when it came to drinking. Not that she did it all that often but they were teenagers and Rory always did know of the best parties.

"I hate Tequila."

He slung an arm over her, making him the big spoon and he could feel her relax into him. "Go back to sleep. It's Saturday."

Stiles closed his eyes briefly just thinking of how everything was so different now but the one thing he was glad hadn't changed was the fact she still came to him.

It was hours before she finally heard the report come across the scanner saying they had found a body. Madison's blood ran cold at the word body because they would only say that if the person were dead but there was no way Rory could be dead.

"Stiles," she hated the way her voice cracked, trying to keep her emotions in check.

He turned the scanner off and spun in the chair to look at her as she sat up and started to put her shoes on. "We don't know that they are talking about Rory."

"How many missing people are there in Beacon Hills at this very moment. I need to get to the hospital," she stood up and grabbed her cell phone off the bedside table.

Stiles threw a zip-up hoodie at her as he grabbed his keys, "C'mon, I'll drive."