The kiss was soft and slow, making Ky's heart race. When they parted, catching their breaths, Stiles had tears in his eyes. Before she could wipe them away, he turned, blinking to get rid of them.

"That wasn't fair of me," Stiles murmured. "Sorry."

She shook her head, laughing drily. "It wasn't fair of me."

They sat quietly on the couch, the room dim from the closed curtains even though it was still midday. Suddenly, Ky turned to face him.

"This doesn't have to change anything," she said slowly, trying to gauge his reaction. "Right?"

Surprised, but not necessarily in a bad way. "Yea. Yea. We can just stay…"

"As-is."

"I'm good with that."

"Me, too." And she could tell that he was, that whatever this was would be too swirly and complicated by other emotions from the time before they'd been this close and the time after, when they'd likely grow apart just as quick when the summer ended.

They were both relieved. Tension cleared. Stiles turned back now, hair slightly disheveled, frown dissipating into a familiar mischievous grin.

Ky bit her lip, seeing a bit of sunlight hit his brown eyes and highlighting the lightness in them. He was watching her with similar intensity, and then somehow they ended up making out on the couch again.

Giggling and sitting back upright afterward, she ran a hand through her hair to fix it. Stiles pulled her close and they stayed like that for a while. He was safe and warm, even if his frame was more wiry than she'd expected.

"Is this alright?" he asked softly.

"Mhm. Better, even." She drew circles with her thumb on his hand, marvelling at the way their fingers interlocked. It felt odd to be holding someone's hand after so long. It felt a bit like a betrayal.

It was just for now, Ky reminded herself.

"You mentioned werewolves," she said, eyebrows knitting together. "And… evil spirits?"

"Yea. Uh. Could we not talk about it right now? This moment's so perfect," he murmured into her hair. It was hard to argue with that.

"Mm."

It wasn't until that evening when they'd driven out to the lookout that he mentioned it first, this time. Or something along those lines. They had just finished a takeout dinner while sitting on a picnic blanket, leaning against the front of the jeep. The sun was beginning to set.

"The first time we hung out- Allison, Scott, Lydia, me- it was bowling," he said suddenly, surprising her. "Right around this time, a year ago. Or two. I don't remember." Stiles smacked himself on the forehead suddenly. It was startling,

"It's okay if you don't remember."

"No, but I should. There's a lot more I should remember," he says, frustrated, as if trying to will himself to do so.

"We don't even have to talk about it."

"I know, but I just, I wanna tell you. I don't know why I wanna tell you, but it feels like… it'd be safe. You feel safe." He paused before admitting something. "And I haven't felt like that in a long time."

Ky smiled softly, then shrugged. "It's the empath thing, I guess. Hard to judge anyone's emotions once you see everything happening all at once."

"What's that like, by the way?"

"Hm. I guess... you know how when you cut down a tree, there's a pattern of rings inside it for every year?"

"Right."

"That's kind of how it is with people, too. There's layers to everything; the surface feelings and what's underneath, like being sad on top of anger on top of gratefulness… but each feeling has its layers, too. Angry about this, but really about that, but really about something else deep down. The old and new mixes together. Sometimes too much to be figured out."

"... Does it ever hurt? Like, do you feel other people's pain?"

Ky had never been asked this, never even thought about it. She was about to say no, not really, when it dawned on her- as the sun was setting and casting a golden glow on them both- that lies were getting very tiring. In comparison, the truth was liberating.

"Yea," she said simply. "Not as strong, but yea. "But I've had years to get used to it."

"What about physical pain?"

She frowned, thinking. "When I was little, I remember aches and bruises that weren't there. Bloody knees. Papercuts. It faded though."

Ky shrugged. The truth was, she could still feel phantom pains sometimes, and there was a dull ache in her back even now. It fell away just as quick.

The evening air was settling now, cooler than before. She shivered slightly.

"Cold?"

"Just a bit. I'm fine."

"Yea, right. I can tell when someone's lying too, you know." Stiles took off his denim jacket and put it gently around her shoulders, leaving himself in a t-shirt. Her skin tingled at the contact of unfamiliar fabric and his hands brushing past accidentally. Ky looked at him, touched by the act.

He shrugged now, as if to say what? in return. It wasn't hard for quiet laughter to break through her confusion, as she leaned back against his chest.

"Do you think you could manipulate that kind of stuff now with your newfound powers? Say, how much a person feels?"

"What, as in like, suck out someone else's pain?"

"Sure."

"... I dunno. Never tried. Never thought about it. How come?" The question seemed oddly specific.

"Just curious. I've seen some weird stuff of that type."

"Right. The saving-the-world thing. Boy who runs with wolves." A pause. "I know I said it before, but … that must be hard." Heavy, tiring, exhausting. None of these words, 'hard' included (and least of all), could accurately sum up what Ky meant.

"Well, someone has to," he said cheekily. "Besides, empathy-on-steroids doesn't exactly sound like a walk in the park either."

"It stops mattering when… I mean, it's just how it is, you know? Like, you just…"

"You get used to it," Stiles said softly.

"Yea, exactly." That was it.

They watched as the sky grew darker, colour slipping away and being replaced by black and grey shadows. It should have felt scarier, but Ky could feel Stiles's body near, could feel his heartbeat on her back and smell the woodsy scent of him... and knew she felt safe by him, too.

He shifted, pulling her back gently when she moved away, thinking they were going to leave. "Just a little longer," he murmured.

"Okay."

"... I'm not that great of a person, you know. Because I feel like you think that I am. And I'm not. Just to reiterate."

"Yea, well. I think you're alright. And technically I can kind of see into your soul, so."

Stiles chuckled at that, running a hand through his hair, slightly abashed.

"It's getting cold. We should probably go." As much as she didn't want to, Ky climbed away from Stiles's arms and onto the blanket, cleaning up their takeout trash.

He helped her gather the wrappers. "You wanna hear what really happened last spring?"

"Actually?"

"Yea. But c'mere first."

"The mosquitos are gonna eat us alive, you know.

But she crawled closer again anyway, this time beside him, sticking her knees up as they leaned against the jeep again. He wrapped his arm around her. Warm. Protective. She put her head on his shoulder. Goosebumps raised where their skin touched, but they'd been there since the wind had started.

A tired smile. A deep breath.

"A nogit- an evil spirit possessed my body, basically. For two months, maybe longer. And he made me do things that lead to… lead to Allison dying, friends getting hurt. A lot of people getting hurt. And it trapped me, inside my own body. An internal civil war." His body shuddered just thinking about it.

"That's... terrifying." And scary to imagine- actually, that didn't even begin to cover it. No wonder why he was racked with guilt this entire time. No wonder why he seemed so… haunted, still. And it was no wonder that his friends were concerned about him, neighbours knowledgeable enough to keep away. Mostly.

Stiles nodded. "We got rid of it- it was Allison who figured out how to make the right kind of bullets, and Scott, Isaac, and Derek fought the oni off; the spirit summoned them, these huge demon warriors. Unkillable, mostly. Monstrous immortals. It was really bad." He paused.

"And there was a part of me, I think, that- that liked the power, because it finally felt like I was capable of something other than… I don't know. I don't know." He rubbed at his eyes, voice going quieter.

"But that's what I wanted you to know. Firsthand. Before anyone goes around telling you anything else."

"Who else is gonna…"

"I think Isaac's been wanting to spill the truth," he admitted. "It's kind of easier to see where he's coming from these days. Anyway. But if he or anyone else felt any more sorry for me than they already do, oh god… I could punch someone's throat." He squeezed his eyes shut. "Not literally. Sorry. That was… violent."

"I mean, if all that happened to me I'd probably feel the same way."

"Ha."

"This probably goes without saying, but … I wish it hadn't happened."

"... yea, me too." He pulled her closer, holding her carefully as if afraid she'd break or dissipate altogether.

Somehow, this wasn't surprising information. It made a lot of sense. Matched up with the hollowness in his cheeks, the way laughter was a rare and welcome sound.

They looked out at the city lights, which were blinking on as dusk fell. Everything looked so small from up here. And to think, this was supposedly a sleepy nondescript town, if only with a slightly higher crime rate than most. It was hard to imagine a spirit possession or anything else like that happening in the midst of it.

Then again, with the forest darkening in the corner of her eye, she thought that maybe it wasn't.

A gust of cooler wind blew, which was odd for summer. They both shivered.

The two sat there, coexisting.

Their faces were close, eyes meeting as soon as they glanced at each other. She was the first to blink and break away, cheeks warming in a familiar way by now. One earth-shattering kiss was enough for the day. If they were going to keep it from getting too far, they should probably keep it that way. She nodded towards the car, smiling apologetically. "We should go."

"Right," Stiles mumbled softly.

Just then, his phone buzzed. He unwillingly moved away to grab it from the edge of the blanket and check it, then looked back up.

"What is it?" Ky asked.

"... you wanna go to a party?"

Pop music blared as they turned onto the right street. Stiles was looking more nervous than excited. Still, it was more alive than Ky had seen him in a long time.

Personally, she was nervous too. Not sure if that was her own nerves, or his mixed in. She braced herself for the highs and lows of a classic house party, mildly excited by the prospect of not being known.

Inside, people were crowded in every inch of the small house, dancing and laughing. The smell of booze hung in the air. "You want a drink?" he asked loudly, to be heard over the music.

She nodded.

"Same. I'll grab some. Gonna try and find the others."

"Want me to come with?"

"Nah, I got it."

And it seemed like he did, so Ky nodded and smiled, letting it fade as he disappeared into the crowds. She looked around, feeling out of place.

A girl bumped into her, spilling beer on both of them.

"Shit, sorry," the girl yelled.

"All good."

"Wait, do you go to BHS?"

BHS… oh. Beacon Hills High School. She shook her head.

The girl grinned now. "Makes sense. Haven't seen you around before. Also, you're really cute. Well, have a good night!"

And with that, she left. Ky's cheeks warmed at the sweet interaction. Way better than getting hit on by boys. The rude ones, anyway.

She decided it was stupid to just stand there and wait so instead, went further inside to try and find Stiles. It was easy to spot the keg and red solo cups and half-full bottle of whiskey on the kitchen counter, but he was nowhere to be found.

Ky poured herself a shot and downed it, the alcohol burning down her throat. Being around other drunk people and feeling their effects without any of the positives for herself was where she drew the line.

The house was huge, with glass doors leading to a kidney-shaped pool in the backyard. Teens roamed around, sitting, talking, laughing freely. Someone pushed past her in a drunken daze, followed quickly by his friend.

"Sorry," the friend, a young blonde boy, said. "He gets carried away sometimes."

"Like tonight," Ky quipped.

"Exactly like tonight." The boy seemed completely sober, and tired of his friend's shenanigans. "Uh, excuse me," he added, following his friend once more. "Mason! Not the chair- the bushes!"

She watched and winced as Mason swivelled just in time towards the bushes, saving the plastic blue chair, throwing up a mental wall to keep from feeling queasy herself. At least that was getting easier.

Suddenly a fight broke out on the other end of the pool. A crowd quickly formed around it. Ky glanced at the two boys.

"Is he okay?" she asked.

"He'll be fine. Thanks, though."

Ky nodded and with a last glance, made her way to join the crowds and see what was happening. Unfortunately, she heard familiar voices in the centre.

"Take it back," a low voice growled. Isaac.

"Or what?" This one was of a stranger's. "She'll come back from the grave and whoop my ass? Because I know you wouldn't dare-"

"You don't know shit about-"

"Isaac!" Scott pushed through to the front at the same time Ky did, to see Isaac standed gruffly face-to-face with an intimidating senior. Stiles was close behind. Clearly the senior was drunk, looking for a fight. And it seemed he found one.

"C'mon, guys, break it up," Scott tried, stepping into the centre.

"Oh, great. The ringmaster's here," the senior jeered. "

It was clear they'd each gotten a few hits in before stepping back. Isaac's eye was bruised and the senior's nose was bloody as he wiped it with his arm, streaking his skin. They stood, waiting, staring each other down like in a wrestling fight.

"Thing one and thing two."

"Okay, jackass, this isn't middle school," Stiles retorted now, all at once angry and in control.

Scott and Stiles shared a look as the senior continued taunting them, then nodded as if agreeing on something telepathically. "Isaac, let's go," Scott said, and at the same time he and Stiles grabbed his arms, holding him back. The restraint was easy to see as Isaac fought back, and the senior decided to come up close.

"Look how sweet that is. Your friends are here to keep you from making any more mistakes. You just follow them wherever, don't you?"

And with that, Isaac broke loose of their hold and punched the senior again, both of them falling to the ground. Scott yelled for someone named Liam, who broke through the crowd too to help him and Stiles break the fight apart. At this point Ky had pushed through the crowd to get closer to them, and although they hadn't noticed her, she could now hear their words.

"Get him out of here," Scott said, Liam and Stiles nodding as Isaac fought their grip. Ky recognized the newcomer as the guy helping his friend earlier. That was a shock.

"Careful," Stiles muttered, to which Scott nodded once in return. The trio left, Isaac unwilling, the crowd booing, the senior hurling crass insults the entire time. Things that Ky could now make out, and empathized with Isaac about fighting in the first place, regardless of whoever threw the first punch. Stuff about Allison's death, and how he would bet that it was Isaac's fault, that it was him and his 'weird, creepy gang' who corrupted her. Accusations about hurting her. Yea, now Ky was ready to land a few kicks herself.

Now it was between Scott and the senior. The taunts turned specifically towards him, calling his friends a ragtag freakshow. It hurt to feel the superficial meaning behind the words: the boy just wanted to pummel someone, it seemed, and was saying whatever he knew would rile Scott up. To his credit, Scott stayed stoically calm, staring at the boy.

"You gotta shut up, Craig," he said finally, interupting the schpiel. Ky could feel Scott's anger, unlike anything she'd felt before: undiluted, pure, liquid, buried beneath a shimmering sadness and then a steadfast calm. Knowledge of the truth, she guessed. Complete control.

Although it seemed like at the edge, that too was beginning to crack. And if or when it did, it would be unstoppable. For some reason, Ky was terrified for what might happen then.

In her pocket, her phone buzzed. It was Stiles.

'Hey– might have to ditch early. where r u?'

Just then, the crowd gasped. Ky looked up just in time to see Scott take two strides to the boy and knock him out cold with a single punch. She tensed, having expected a crack in the air, a broken neck or bone, but the boy just fell with a thump onto the grass, rude stream of words stopped short by the sudden lack of consciousness. Scott walked off, presumedly to find the others.

Someone stepped toward the body and gingerly took the senior's pulse. "He's fine," she called.

Without a word, Ky weaved through the crowds and out to the front, looking for the parked jeep. She saw Scott jog to it first from the other way and called his name as he passed.

There was confusion as he stopped. "Kyla?"

"Yea. Is Isaac okay?"

"That's what I'm trying to find out. Don't worry," he added quickly. "Should be fine."

"Can I...?"

"Uh, it's probably best you don't," he said, already jogging away. "We gotta calm him down. All fine! See you later!" With that, he was gone. Ky was going to follow when her cellphone rang.

When she answered, there was a low growl in the background and a "Man, where is he?" from what sounded like Liam's voice, strained. Isaac was sputtering expletives.

"Ky?" Stiles asked, relieved. "Are you still inside?"

"No– I saw the fight, though. You owe me a drink." She watched the car.

"Ah- yea, sorry about that." A pause as the sound muffled, and a car door opened and closed while some bickering went on, with who sounded like Scott. It must have been on the passenger side.

"I don't know, use your wolf eyes or something–"

"I tried, it wouldn't work."

"What do you mean, it wouldn't work?"

"I don't know, there's something wrong with– wait, who's on the phone?"

"Someone. Wait."

Stiles's voice became clear again. "One sec, sorry–"

More background muffled conversation. Ky rolled her eyes and walked towards the car, unbeknownst to Scott and Stiles who were arguing about the merits versus dangers of letting her be near anyone. Stiles was arguing for her, of course, but even then was surprised enough to stop talking, Scott turning around in confusion to see why.

"You guys were fighting about something?" Ky asked, an eyebrow raised.

Liam peeked his head out from the window. "Hey, you're the girl from before."

"I'm Ky."

"Liam."

"How's Mason?"

"Probably better than this guy–" Isaac growled, eyes glowing, claws out and digging into Liam's arms. It looked like it hurt.

"They'll heal quick," he offered, seeing what she was looking at. The shock of those glowing yellow eyes had stopped Ky short, so now it felt like the claws were digging into her own arms. The unbearable anger, almost explosive, was pounding in her own chest and head.

"You shouldn't be here," Stiles interrupted, watching our exchange.

"Yea, it's too dangerous," Scott added. "Which you should already know, if Stiles explained–"

"Wait, wait, wait, maybe she can help." Stiles looked at Ky, thinking. "He's on the verge of shifting," he explained, pointing to Isaac. "Intense emotion can trigger it, but you can probably already tell that part."

Ky nodded, trying to absorb his words and throw up her mental walls again at the same time. She let go of her arm, not realizing when she grasped it.

"Scott's his alpha so he can usually bring him back, but– something's wrong?"

"Yea, it's like he's out of my reach." Scott's frustration was palpable. "Or I'm spending too much energy trying not to shift either. Craig said some nasty things."

"Dumbass doesn't know what he's talking about." Stiles was fuming, words sharp like daggers. He looked at Ky.

"I know you won't like the idea of it–"

"And I don't know how to control it, either," Ky added, starting to panic, seeing what he was getting at now.

"No, but you do. You know you do. I know you can."

"What can she do, exactly?" Liam asked, sounding more strained by the minute as he held Isaac down. "And how fast can she do it?" he added, with a grunt.

"Bend feelings," Stiles said carefully, giving a name to the power.

"Right, but not well enough to know I won't give him any weird damage-"

"You won't." Steadfast and sure. She turned helplessly to Scott, hoping he would understand.

"If Stiles trusts you, then so do I," Scott said simply.

"It's better than letting him stay like this. Or risk murdering half the school at a random party," Stiles added. Scott and Ky gave him looks, of warning and horror, respectively. "Ahem. I mean, it's worth a try."

"We'll hold him back," Scott assured, already going around to the other door. "Knock him out if we have to. But he's in some sort of hypo-state, almost..."

Ky took a breath. It seemed it had been decided, and deep down she knew it was worth a shot. Scott and Liam were in place, huffing as they gripped him down. She bent down to look right through the window to Isaac, who was a mix of angry and tired and underneath, panicked about his own state, too. They locked eyes.

She summoned calmness from within, or at the very least an acceptance of sorts. Of the truth, of how things are now, of how they played out. To combat the lies that Craig had spouted. What had she done in the store? Wanted, with every fibre of being. Okay. Now she willed Isaac to come back and regain his senses. To feel the ground beneath his feet again, and know he had the control to do so.

At first it didn't seem like anything was happening. Then, slowly, Scott and Liam looked at each other, finding themselves using less and less strength. Isaac's claws receded. His breathing slowed. His eyes stopped glowing bright yellow and returned to their regular shade.

He looked around, blinking, relieved to find himself where he was. Scott and Liam tentatively let him go.

"Welcome back," Stiles quipped.

A strawberry blonde girl– the one from the corner store, Ky realized– came up to the car now, dressed in stunning blue while running in her heels. Breathless, she arrived, taking in the scene, not surprised to see Ky standing there. Another girl followed suit, dark hair shining against the streetlight. They both looked at all of them, the blonde with a mix of concern and calculation, trying to figure out what had happened.

"What'd we miss?"

The car ride back was quiet, with Isaac in the back, and Stiles and Ky in front. After brief introductions, Kira and Scott decided to break off for the night, along with Liam who went to find Mason and make sure he was alright. Lydia was going to go back to the party. Before when they were figuring out who was riding with who, or how everyone might fit in the car, Stiles had suggested that Isaac ride in the trunk (to which his response was a dry "Dare you to try it").

Still, the banter seemed half-hearted. Everyone was relieved that Isaac was back to normal.

"Craig?" he had asked, upon 'waking up.'

"Probably still out cold. Don't worry about it. He had it coming," Scott added, upon seeing guilt flash across his face. It was a marvel to see that, after what Ky had heard Craig say to him. Terrible things.

"Thanks," he said to Ky after. "Don't know what you did, but it worked."

"Of course. Was it… what did it feel like?"

"Being brought back from an abyss."

"Okay, Shakespeare," Stiles said from the front, apparently miffed from the ordeal.

"So, what'd the other guy say?" Kira asked, glancing wide-eyed from Scott to Isaac.

"Must've been bad," Lydia noted.

"Just talked shit about last year," Isaac muttered, gazing firmly out the window, rubbing his knuckles which were barely bruised, whatever left fading fast.

They all grew quiet after that.

"Well, now that everyone's here both physically and mentally, I vote we flee the scene before something else dumb and avoidable happens," Stiles said decisively. Everyone agreed; there was no point in staying put for this long.

Before parting ways, Kira pulled Ky to the side and invited her to next week's barbeque her family was hosting. "It's like a block party thing. But just the backyard. Uh, I guess it's just a backyard thing. Which my dad's taking advantage of since all we had in New York was a balcony, and I'm sure half the reason we moved out here was for the land space. Anyways, you should come! Bring Stiles, too. I've been trying to get everyone together all summer, but… well, I think you're the only one who could convince him."

"Sounds like fun," Ky assured. "I'll try to make it."

Scott came around after making sure Isaac was fine. "Hey, you ready to go?"

"Yep," Kira said to him, with a blush and smile. He squeezed Kira's arm affectionately, before nodding to Ky. "Thanks," he added. "I dunno what happened."

"You're forcing too much down," Ky said bluntly, realizing it as she said it.

A pause. "I'll work on that," Scott said, nodding as he took the words to heart. "Hey, thanks for bringing him back."

They headed off. "See you at the party!" Kira called over her shoulder.

Lydia followed. "That sure comes in handy, doesn't it?" she asked knowingly.

"Yea, guess so." The exhilaration was still pumping through Ky's veins.

"So, are you two..." she asked, nodding towards Stiles who was waiting in the front seat a few metres away.

"Oh. Uh, sorta?"

"Sweet. You look cute together."

Now, the scene of the house party was long gone. Cold night air rushed through the jeep windows, sky twinkling with stars underneath the open roof. After arriving at Isaac's house, Isaac paused before opening the door.

"Thanks, man."

"Yea," Stiles said. Watching them interact without insulting each other was intriguing, almost other-worldly.

"It's good to have you back," Isaac said, before leaving the car and shutting the door. He put his hands in his pockets and made the way up to a dark house. They listened to music on the way home, talking about everyone and first impressions. Outside Ky's house, Stiles got serious.

"Sorry for... that. I bumped into Scott and then the fight broke out, it happened so quick."

"No, yea. It's okay. Does that happen a lot? Serious stuff?"

"Way too often. It's why I don't go to parties anymore," Stiles joked, a tinge of sad truth to it. "Sometimes it feels like we're the ones who act like magnets for trouble, I swear."

"This summer must've been boring, then."

"Surprisingly, not in the slightest."

They shared a smile and a kiss, comforting and sweet. After leaving the car, Ky bent down through the window. "Oh, you still owe me a drink, though."

Stiles chuckled. "Fair enough."