Welcome to the first episode chapter of this second book. I decided to add in some scenes I deemed were necessary to the plot and just the character's themselves and that's partially why this chapter ran a little long. Nonetheless, I hope you enjoy!

Once I had settled back in the room, I had talked to Lydia again. It was mostly about Stiles and Allison. I hardly had much to say about Derek and I wasn't exactly ready to face any of that again. Soon after, I had watched TV on the small black screen that hung above the doorway. The hospital had access to movies and, as I watched, I'd make small jokes to Lydia. If she were awake, she would've most definitely hit me at that point. Her mom came by to visit and bring me dinner, say how grateful she was that I had been spending my time with Lydia.

Little did she know, the guilt forced me to stay. There was no way I could leave without a giant black hole opening up in my chest and eating me alive. When I even so much as left to the bathroom later on that day, I felt like I was doing her a dishonor by leaving.

I didn't want to miss the moment that she woke up.

"Andre, it's not time yet." I mumbled in my sleep the next morning, feeling a hand reach out to grab my own. It shook my arm gently. "Please just let me sleep in."

For a moment, it stopped and I let out a breath through my nose. I was relieved that she had left and that I would now be able to sleep before school. After everything, I wasn't ready to go back and needed to rest up before I went back to that nightmare.

Suddenly, the hand made a more aggressive movement. "Andre, I said that-!"

When I sat up to snap at my sister, I suddenly realized that I was in Lydia's hospital room. The voice was drained from my throat once I realized who was holding my hand. My eyes travelled up her arm and then to her face. I saw it then-Lydia's eyelids moving frantically.

"Lydia? Lydia!" I exclaimed, gripping her hand and hovering over her face as my breathing began to pick up. I finally heard the sound of the heart monitor and her heart rate was faster than it had been in four days.

Suddenly, I saw her eyes opened into small slits and I could see the faintest color of green. As soon as I registered that she was waking up, I released her hand and sprinted out of the door and to the nurses station. In seconds, I was back in the room as doctors rushed in to assist Lydia. At one point, they ushered me to exit the room and to call her parents. I did exactly as they asked and paced in front of the door until the last doctor left the room.

"You're welcome to go back in, Ms. Bradley. I think she's expecting you." The doctor said with a small smile and then wandered off down the hall.

I wasted no time in shoving open the door. I felt my heart stop at the sight of Lydia, seeing her sitting upright. Her hair was a little messed, and her skin had gotten some color back. She was messing with the collar of her hospital gown and eyed the tubes on the top of her hand. It was a few seconds later that she noticed I was in the room and her green eyes fell on me.

"Well," She rasped, her voice sounding almost unreal to me. "Are you just going to stare at me?"

I couldn't help the laugh that escaped my lips, the relief washing over me like a tidal wave. I placed a hand on my forehead and pushed hair out of my face, shaking my head. "I-I don't know why I was expecting a different response."

"How ignorant of you." Lydia teased, a small smirk appearing on her pink lips. She flicked some hair over her shoulder.

It was then I also realized something. Although Lydia seemed to be acting normal, there was still something about off. Her movements of sass seemed rather forced and the smirk staggered on her voice. Her voice was paper thin and there were dark bags beneath her eyes. I couldn't even begin to comprehend what might be going through her head and I wasn't sure how to treat her. I knew she wouldn't want me to ask questions-Lydia would never tell me what she was really feeling. I wondered if she might be in denial and that she might want to avoid the fact that she had been in a coma for the past 48 hours. I wondered if she remembered what she had seen. I wondered if she knew I was really hiding something from her.

"I called your parents." I told her, shutting the door behind me and then walking further into the room. "They should be here soon."

Lydia nodded, flattening the blanket next to her side. "How long have you been here?" She asked, her brow furrowing as she eyed me curiously.

I swallowed hard and then carefully perched myself back into the chair at her bedside. "I, uh, I've been here…" I pinched the bridge of my nose and then sighed out heavily. "This is my fourth day here."

"What?" Lydia exclaimed, her voice still soft. When I looked up at her, I saw that she was genuinely surprised. Her lips had curved in an 'o' shape and her eyebrows had risen nearly to her hairline. "Tessa, you haven't gone home?"

I shook my head. "I wanted to stay with you until you woke up. I thought you might like to see a familiar face." I offered up a weak smile but Lydia still looked stunned. "I-I promise I've showered and changed my clothes. Andre brought me a bag. Your mom brought dinner, too."

"Oh, my God, Tessa." Lydia gawked as she sat back in her bed and shook her head. "I should've guessed. You're one of the most stubborn people I have ever met."

"It's a pleasure." I responded and gave her a two finger salute to which she rolled her eyes. "Hey, you know, it's been awfully weird not feeling like an alien every ten minutes."

Lydia let a proud smile come onto her lips. "And that is my pleasure."

"So, uh, h-how are you feeling?" I asked, deciding to breach the question even though I knew I wouldn't get an honest response.

Lydia seemed to grow quiet, clearing her throat and then looked down into her lap. Her fingers fiddled with a loose piece of string on her blanket and she shrugged. "As good as I can be after being in a coma." She responded and I could hear a slight quip to her voice. I knew it wasn't meant to be mean, but it was meant to send a message. She wasn't doing well. "You know, waking up to a whole bunch of doctors asking you a thousand questions, grabbing her arm, flashing lights in your face, and shoving pills down your throat."

"Lydia, they're just trying to-"

"They don't know what I am going through." Lydia cut me off, her head snapping to look at me. "They don't know what it's like to be trapped inside your own head and not be able to get out for days. Yet, they act like they have all the answers and all the cures. No one understands, Tessa."

I was stunned for a few moments, having never heard Lydia talk like this before. I swallowed hard and laced my fingers in my lap, looking down at them. "I-I know I don't understand, Lydia. I don't know if I ever will." I admitted. "But, I...I am just really freaking glad that you're awake. That is what I know I can understand."

The barrier Lydia had just put up between me and her faltered for a moment, her face twitching as her shoulders sagged. I then saw the most genuine smile fall onto her lips as her eyes twinkled for just a moment.

"I'm glad I'm awake, too." The girl murmured and then she ducked her head.

A few moments later, the door burst open again. Mr. and Mrs. Martin hustled into the room. I respectively stood in the corner of the room, letting them have their moment with their daughter. As I watched them both caress and comfort Lydia, I tried to ignore the slight pain that erupted across my chest. I thought it was selfish to be feeling this way when it was so obvious that Lydia was in the worst position at the moment. Yet, as I watched two parents comfort their child, I just couldn't help but realize that I would never have that again. My biological parents were dead, my father was dead, and my "mother" was non existent. I would never truly have a family and that made my chest clench in ways I didn't even think were possible.

"I feel disgusting." Lydia said after about a half hour of simply watching the television. "I probably haven't bathed in days and that's a record for me."

She pushed herself up out of the bed and Mr. Martin whipped around to look at her.

"You want help getting in the shower?" He asked, for once sounding like he actually wanted to play a parental figure in her life. Lydia had told me about her father and I wasn't the biggest fan of him. I had made that crystal clear the first time I met him.

Lydia got to her feet and glared at the older man. "Maybe if I was four, and still taking bubble baths." She replied back in a harsh tone, moving passed him towards the bathroom.

I couldn't help the snicker that left me, placing a hand over my mouth once Mr. Martin gave me a pointed look. I raised up my hand as some sort of apology and then looked away from the scene. He mumbled something to himself and then stepped out of the room. For a moment, I thought I saw someone strewn across the waiting room chairs, but didn't have the chance to analyze it.

Confused, I pushed myself up out of the chair and made my way over to the door. I opened it to find Mr. Martin and Mrs. McCall standing there.

"He's been here all weekend." Mrs. McCall finished saying, gesturing towards the waiting room.

My eyes widened once I realized who it was. My jaw fell open and I nearly choked on my breath. Of course I wouldn't have noticed, I hadn't even left the room since they came to visit. Stiles must've come back later that night and then never left. I wondered if he'd heard me talking to Lydia. I wondered what would've happened if I would've come out of the room any sooner than right then. The thought was terrifying and something I didn't even have the energy to process. Stiles and I still needed to talk, but I wasn't ready for that. I wasn't sure if I ever would be and that was the problem.

"Do you know him?" Mr. Martin asked, turning his head to look at me.

"Uh, yeah." I responded, letting out a breath as I rubbed the back of my neck. "That's Stiles. He, uh, he's a friend of Lydia."

"I've never heard of a "Stiles" before." Mr. Martin noted, crossing his arms over his chest and looking suspicious of the boy.

"Yeah, there's probably a lot of things you don't hear of when you're never home." I shot back with a fake smile, giving him one last look before deciding to move towards where Stiles lay.

I hovered over his sleeping form, seeing the drool that was coming from the corner of his mouth. He took up nearly three chairs in the most uncomfortable position I had ever seen someone sleep in. I wondered how it was possible he was sleeping so deeply that he could snore when his back was just crying to be diagnosed with scoliosis. I had to bat away the "Get Well Soon" balloon that lingered annoyingly in my headspace. I figured I would never get a clear answer and couldn't help but laugh when he began to mumble nonsense in his sleep.

"You're dirty." He then said, a sentence that was actually clear enough for me to understand.

My eyes widened and I felt my cheeks flush, shifting uncomfortably where I stood. I decided to stop leaning over him and cleared my throat. "Okay, you're waking up now." I whispered and then kicked the leg of the chair with my foot.

The chair squeaked loudly and jerked away from the other set of chairs beside it. Stiles nearly fell but his eyes snapped open and he shot up to a seat to catch himself. His chest heaved up and down rapidly as he tried to comprehend just where exactly he was. Taking in the surroundings of the hospital first, he seemed to relax. Then, his gaze fell on me and he instantly looked furious.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" He demanded, adjusting his jacket aggressively. "Don't you know how to wake someone up kindly?"

"You got a little something on your…"I trailed off and touched my face. Stiles looked horrified and then violently began to scrub at his cheek. "And, sure I do. Except, that was way more fun to watch, Stilinski."

Stiles rolled his eyes and let out an annoyed groan before sitting upright in the chair. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes and released an abnormally loud yawn, tapping his sneakers against the floor. I pushed some hair out of my face and tried not to act as nervous as I felt. It was just Stiles I was talking to.

"I wasn't sure if you were ever going to come out of there. People came and went, but I never saw you." Stiles said, putting his hands on his knees and looking up at me where I stood in front of him. "So, if you're out here, that must mean something is different in there."

"Lydia woke up about an hour ago." I told him and I could see the relief watch over his features. "I ran out here in such a frenzy that I didn't even see you, I guess."

"Thank God." He said and slumped in the chair, shutting his eyes for a moment. "That-that is the best news I've heard all month."

I smiled slightly. "Now, that is something I actually agree with you on." I told him and then decided it would be less awkward if I actually sat down with him. I stared at the linoleum floor in silence for the next few moments before speaking. "I hear you've been here all weekend."

"Of course I have. There was no way I was just going to go home while Lydia was cooped up here." Stiles replied, shaking his head and blowing out a breath. "My anxiety about the whole situation hasn't done much to help me, either."

"Trust me, I know." I responded, bobbing my eyebrows and nodding my head. "I sleep a total of three hours a day. And that's on a good one."

Stiles nodded in agreement and tapped his shoe a few more times. "You know, I think it's really great that you stayed here with her this whole time. It...shows how much you really care about her." He told me.

"I would do it for anyone." I admitted. "If it were you, Scott, or even Allison. I wouldn't leave your side until I knew that you would be okay."

"As much as you seem to disagree, I happen to think that you aren't, like, the worst person to ever walk the face of the Earth." Stiles said, tipping his head from side to side in thought. "Like, there are plenty of other people who are a lot worse than you."

"Like Adolf Hitler? Or...Joseph Stalin?" I questioned, naming them off on my fingers. I got more excited with each one. "Oh, this is a good one-Isaac Newton. He just had to go and invent calculus."

"Isaac Newton? Really?" Stiles demanded, furrowing his brow as he shook his head. "Actually, I meant someone more like Derek freaking Hale."

I sat stunned for a moment, struck by Stiles' choice of words. I knew he had every right to be upset with Derek-Scott was his best friend. He had been skeptical of Derek since the beginning and even I had tried to convince him to give Derek a chance. It was a cynical situation, really. Stiles had been right the whole time and we had been so naive to disagree. Regardless of it all, it didn't make the pain I felt in my chest hurt any less. I had begun to trust Derek, confide in him, and had just discovered that he was my brother. I was ready to follow him as family, but he had turned against me-turned against us.

Stiles hadn't fully realized that I had gone silent and shook his head for a few minutes. Then, as if confused as to why I hadn't responded, he turned to look at me. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw his own widen drastically and his jaw went slack.

"Tessa, I am-"

"He came to see me yesterday." I cut him off, not even upset with him for saying Derek was a terrible person. "When I went to the, uh, the vending machine. He showed up here."

"What?" Stiles exclaimed, sitting up in his seat. "W-Why didn't you call out for us? Scott could've heard you from the freaking sixth floor."

I shook my head. "I wasn't in any danger." I responded blandly.

"Yeah, maybe not right at that moment." Stiles pointed out, his voice stern as he gave me a bewildered look. "Tessa, you know we can't trust him anymore, right? Derek is obviously not on our side and that means he might hurt you."

I shoved hair out of my face and let out a sharp exhale. "I am not going to spend my life being afraid of him. Peter was a psychopath and he never laid a finger on me. If Derek wanted to hurt me, he would've done it a long time ago." I argued, shrugging my shoulders and shifting my head to eye Stiles. "I am tired of being afraid."

Stiles opened his mouth to protest but seemed to fall short with whatever he wanted to say. He let out a deep exhale and pressed his lips together, dragging a hand down his face. "Look, I know you're self-righteous and independent or whatever, but I can't have you being reckless because of it." He explained.

I gave him a crooked smile and snorted. "Isn't that sort of my brand? Being stubborn and reckless?" I questioned and raised my eyebrows.

Stiles tried to fight it for a moment but then let a smile break out onto his face. "Yeah, I guess so. And being spastic and sarcastic is mine." He replied.

As I sat staring at Stiles, my eyes narrowed in on his adorable smile. I admired how his moles all squished together as his dimples overran the skin that was there. When Stiles smiled at me, I felt like the whole world was put on pause and we were the only two people in motion. Once I realized that I was staring at him, I cleared my throat.

Clapping my hands on my thighs, I rose from the chair. "I'm starving." I announced, pushing hair behind my ears. "The vending machine is over here."

I gestured around the corner and began walking before he could respond properly. Instead, I heard him make a few unnatural noises and heard the chair squeak as he scrambled to stand up. I then could make out the sound of his sneakers slapping against the tile as he caught up to me.

"Pick your poison." Stiles offered and then shoved his hand in his pocket, digging around for change.

"Nah, I've got my own money." I declined, waving a hand at him as if to physically wave away the offer.

Stiles, with his hand still jammed in his pocket, snapped his head to look at me with a peeved expression. "Tessa, will you just tell me what the hell you want?" He ordered and gestured at the vending machine with his other limb.

I relented and let out an annoyed sigh, rolling my eyes. "Fine." I said, "I want a Reece's."

Stiles smiled proudly. "Excellent choice." He said and then inserted the coins.

He pushed the corresponding letter and number to my candy. We heard the machine take the money and then watched as the candy slowly began to come forward. Then, the machine stopped with the candy just barely over the edge. I crossed my arms over my chest while Stiles reached out a hand and began to push the enter button repeatedly.

"Seriously? Come.." Stiles groaned and then reached up a hand to slap the plexiglass window.

"Stiles, it's not that big of a deal."

"I put my money into this damn thing and I want the candy." He said, glancing at me over his shoulder before looking back at it.

Then, before I could even formulate an argument, he had his arms wrapped around the entire machine and was shaking it wildly.

"Stiles, stop that." I hissed beneath my breath, glancing around the hall to make sure that no one could see us. "Are you really that stupid?"

The boy ignored me and then released it once he realized nothing had changed. In his frustration, he rushed forward and began to rock it spastically. I heard the sound of something coming unhinged and I jumped out of the way just in time as the vending machine tipped forward. It hit the floor with a loud crash and the glass shattered. Stiles stood above it with his arms out at his sides and a horrified expression.

"Oh, you are such a dumbass." I groaned, placing my hands over my face and tipping my head up towards the ceiling.

"Did you have any better ideas? I didn't see you trying to help." Stiles spat back, tossing an angry glare my way. "All I heard was sarcastic comments."

"I told you to leave it."

"I wanted my money!"

"You could've asked someone to unlock it!"

"I-"

Our argument was suddenly cut off by the most terrifying sound I had ever heard in my entire life. The scream was high pitched and shrill, sounding like nails against a chalkboard. It echoed throughout the entire hospital and once it was over, it went deadly silent.

"Oh my God," I uttered to myself, my gut telling me exactly where it had come from. "Lydia!"

I took off down the hallway towards her room at lightning speed, my legs and arms pumping at their max capacity. I shoved through people who had stopped working once the scream had happened and felt my breathing going way too fast to be normal.

"What the hell was that?" Ms. McCall demanded as her, Mr. Martin, Stiles, and I all shoved through the door into her hospital room.

I shoved through the crowd and towards the bathroom, knowing she had gone in there just before I had left. I could hear the shower going and when I opened the door, I expected to see her standing in the tub. What I found was an empty shower-an empty bathroom. No one was inside and I felt my heart drop to the squeaky clean tile floor. Mrs. McCall went to shut off the shower as I spun a slow circle around the bathroom.

"Where-where did she-?" I gasped, stepping back into the main room for a moment, hoping that maybe we had missed her in the frenzy. I moved her blankets around and went out into the waiting room. I stumbled back into the bathroom, looking to Stiles for an answer. Without a word, he pointed to his left.

I turned my head and saw the open window. I sprinted over and clasped my hands on the sill, sticking half of my body out the open window to look down. I was grateful to not see anything at the bottom, but was unsettled that I also didn't see anything either. It was as though Lydia had just vanished into thin air. Somehow, I felt responsible. I had promised to never leave her side and, as soon as I had, she had disappeared.

"I'll call my Dad." Stiles rasped and then withdrew his phone, stepping out of the room.

It was minutes before the cops arrived, Sheriff Stilinski at the head of it all. He walked with Ms. McCall and Mr. Martin down the hall, speaking with them about what to look for. Stiles and I stood off to the side until Sheriff Stilinski asked for any other descriptors. That was when Stiles became slightly less unpredictable.

"She's five foot three, green eyes, fair-skinned, and her hair is actually strawberry blonde." He told his father, sounding confident yet also nervous at the same time.

I let out an internal groan and palmed my forehead. "Way to sound like a creep." I muttered, shaking my head.

"Is that right?" Mr. Stilinski asked in a low whisper, nodding his head curtly.

"Yeah." Stiles replied back dumbly and I jumped when Mr. Stilinski grabbed Stiles by the back of his neck.

I flashed an awkward smile at the other two people involved and then speed walked to catch up with the father and his son. They didn't move far, but just out of earshot of Mr. Martin.

"What the hell are you still doing here?" He demanded of his son. His eyes glanced at me. "She has a real excuse. Her mother gave her permission."

"She did?" Stiles whined, looking defeated.

"Answer me." Mr. Stilinski growled, shaking him slightly.

"Uh, providing moral support." Stiles answered, not sounding entirely convinced himself.

"How about you provide your ass back home, where you should be?" Mr. Stilinski told his son in the most calm tone possible. I grimaced slightly at it myself and bounced on my toes rapidly, glancing around the hospital. I was hoping that Lydia would just pop out somewhere, maybe a little frazzled but relatively unscatched. I didn't think I was going to be so lucky.

"Okay, I can do that, too." Stiles responded back to his father, smacking his lips and nodding his head curtly.

His father released him, pleased with the response. Turning back around to speak with Ms. McCall and Mr. Martin, that was Stiles' cue to leave. I was about to walk back over to the group when a hand was suddenly clasped around my wrist.

"What the-?"

"You are coming with me." Stiles said, his voice low in tone as he dragged me down the hallway towards the elevator.

"What? Stiles, no, I have to stay here and help them find Lydia. Are you insane?" I tried to argue but Stiles remained adamant on taking me away.

"And they will. We're going to find her ourselves." Stiles replied, bobbing his eyebrows and then pushing the button on the elevator. I had no choice but to follow him inside.

"How exactly are we going to find Lydia? I don't even know where she could be right now and she's my best friend." I asked, crossing my arms over my chest and giving him a pointed look. "And I know you're totally obsessed with her, but you can't possibly know where she is."

"Sure, I have no clue." Stiles said and then withdrew something from his jacket. I recognized it as the hospital gown Lydia had been wearing before she had taken a shower. There was a small patch of blood on it and my eyes widened. "Don't freak out!"

I shoved Stiles in the chest aggressively against the wall of the elevator as it chimed softly. "What the hell is your plan here, Stilinski? You have five seconds to explain or I am going to dislocate every bone in your body."

"I called Scott, he can catch her scent, follow it, and find out where she went." Stiles spluttered, holding up his hands in mock surrender. The fear was evident on his face, his chest heaving up and down. We locked eyes until I finally decided to back down, letting out a breath through my nose.

"Good answer." I grunted before the doors opened up and I stormed out. I stayed mute the entire walk to the parking lot and saw the Jeep parked in the front row.

This was the first time I had been outside in four days. The outside world seemed abnormal and I felt so vulnerable. There were no walls to protect me and there was nowhere for me to hide. The last time I had been in the hospital parking lot, Kate had showed up and taken me to the Hale house. I remembered our conversation from that night and the thought of it all made me sick. I almost believed some of the things she had said about me. I had put Allison in danger and I had been a terrible friend by lying to her.

I shook my head to relieve myself of the nightmarish loop in my head and my eyes found Scott located in the passenger seat of the Jeep. I hadn't seen him since he had visited Lydia and noticed there was something different about him. His shaggy haircut was gone and he now sported a shorter hairstyle. You could now see more of his face and his uneven chin. I thought he looked older this way.

Stiles opened the door of the Jeep to let me in first. With a quick greeting to Scott, I climbed in the back. Leaning forward, I placed myself in between the two boys. Stiles handed the hospital gown over to Scott.

"This is the one she was just wearing?" Scott questioned, holding it tightly in his hand and looking to Stiles who nodded with a soft sigh. "I'm not gonna let anyone hurt her. Not again."

I found a pair of brown eyes poised on me just seconds later and I almost shrunk beneath them. I nodded to show him I understood, not sure if words were able to work for me at the moment. My stomach was flipping inside and out over and over again. I couldn't help but blame myself and wonder what I could've done to stop this from happening. I thought everything was over-but now Lydia was missing in the middle of the night. She was nude and the temperatures were nearly below freezing at this point. At the thought, I pulled the sweatshirt I had on tighter around my body. I couldn't imagine how cold Lydia might be.

"Alright, just shove the thing in your face and let's find her." Stiles urged Scott, waving his hand as if to expedite the process. Scott did as he asked and Stiles went to start up the Jeep.

As soon as the headlights flicked on, all three of us let out a noise of horror and surprise at the figure directly in front of the car. I had my back pressed against the backseat of the Jeep, holding a hand to my chest as I tried to slow my heart rate. I stared back at the girl in front of us, dressed for the occasion and also looking just as afraid.

"Allison?" I breathed out softly, my brow furrowing.

The dark-haired girl marched over to Scott's open window. "What are you doing here?" He demanded quietly. "Someone's gonna see us."

In the midst of everything that had happened, I had almost forgotten a topic of conversation Allison had when she came to visit Lydia on the second night. It was the last time we had spoken and there hadn't been much friendly talk. Scott and Allison were now no longer allowed to see each other. Long story short, Chris threatened Scott's life and was ready to kill him if he caught them together ever again. Allison informed me that she had no intention of staying away from Scott. She loved him and there was no stopping their inevitable time together. Her showing up here was a testament to that.

"I don't care. She is my best friend and we need to find her before they do." Allison replied back to Scott, her eyes flickering towards me. "Besides, Tessa's here and that means I get to go."

"Hey, whoa, don't drag me into this." I warned, pointing a finger at her and giving her a look to which she simply rolled her eyes.

"I can find her before the cops can." Scott insisted, nodding his head curtly.

"How about before my father does?" Allison pressed out, her voice lowering as she proposed her argument. I felt the blood run cold in my veins and Stiles shared a mortified look with me.

"He knows?" Stiles questioned.

"Yeah. I just saw him and three other guys leave my house in two SUV's." Allison explained, only making my anxiety skyrocket even higher than what it had been just moments before this whole thing.

"It's-It's like a search party." I murmured, leaning back forward in my seat and looking between the three of them.

"It's more like a hunting party." Allison corrected.

"Oh, that makes it so much better." I hummed sarcastically and dropped my head in my hands before I could see the glare I knew I was bound to get from Allison.

My head snapped back up when I heard Scott tell Allison to get inside the Jeep. I knew that the car was small and there was no way she was going to fit up front with the two of them. That meant the only open seat was directly next to me in the world's tiniest backseat. I scrambled to scoot over and make as much room for her as I could, not wanting to piss her off anymore than I already had. I understood that it was necessary that she come with us, but that didn't soothe my nerves about being around her in the first place.

Allison settled into the seat, letting out a deep sigh and placing her hands in her lap. She swallowed hard and licked her lips. For a moment, she said nothing. Then, she cleared her throat softly. "Hey." She greeted me.

"Hey." I replied back just as quietly, trying not to screw anything up. "I-I'm glad that you saw their father. We could've been walking into a line of fire tonight."

"I would never let that happen. Whatever my father thinks I should be, I'm not." Allison explained to me, shaking her head as she clasped her hands together. "I would never be like him. I know that...that Lydia isn't a monster and she would never hurt anyone."

"I second that." I agreed, nodding my head and then looking out the window as he backed out of the hospital and began driving in the direction that Scott instructed. He kept his head out the open window to keep track of the scent.

"Alright, but, if she's turning, would they actually kill her?" Stiles asked, looking back at Allison through the rearview mirror.

"I don't know. They won't tell me anything, okay?" Allison answered, sounding somewhat exasperated by the question. "All they say is, "We'll talk after Kate's funeral when the others get here"."

My brow furrowed after Allison had finished speaking and my mind tried to come up with answers on who "the others" might be. I wondered if it was more of Chris' henchmen or even more hunters than before. I wondered if it was a group who were a part of the government. Whoever they were, they already didn't sound good.

"What others?" Stiles asked.

"I don't know. They won't tell me that either." Allison answered once more, shaking her head and resting it on her fist.

"Okay, your family has got some serious communication issues to work on." Stiles stated to which I lightly punched the back of his seat, sending him a silencing glare.

"Scott, are we even going the right way?" I called out to the boy who had half of his body out of the window at this point.

"Take the next right!" Scott ordered and soon, I found myself catching Allison as she was flung over to my side of the Jeep. I was able to protect my head from smacking against the metal bar in the backseat and not let Allison's body weight crush me. We both let out surprised squeals and she tried to recover from the fall.

"Could you not drive like a jackass? I think it would be best if we all made it there alive." I snapped, shoving my head in between the seats to give Stiles yet another glare.

"Once again, are you driving? Are you the one who has to listen to the last minute direction from your werewolf best friend following the scent of your other friend who disappeared?" Stiles rambled on, his gaze flicking between me and the road several times. "Oh, that's right. You're not. Neither of the times we have been in fast automobile situations have you been driving because you don't even have your freaking license."

I scoffed. "That doesn't mean I can't drive." I pointed out.

"Well, legally." Allison piped up from the backseat, fixing her beanie and grimacing slightly when I glanced over my shoulder at her. "You sort of have to have a license to drive."

"Oh, like that movie with Corey Haim who is dead just like we are going to be if Stiles continues to drive with the integrity of a second grader." I snapped back at the boy who let out a low growl in the back of his throat, clenching his jaw together. "Next time, I will drive."

"I really hope that there isn't a next time, Tessa." Stiles replied, rolling his shoulders and adjusting his body while his foot pushed faster on the gas.

A/N: Ugh, I loved the Stiles and Tessa scenes in this. I really missed writing them in their natural habitat where they're just so sarcastic and grumpy with each other. I also wasn't sure if I did a good job on writing the tension between Allison and Tessa, because there is supposed to be some. Allison isn't totally pissed at Tessa, but there is some shit that went down between them so there is obvi gonna be some tension.

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-Laura