I hadn't remembered the drive to the Hale house being so long.

The other times I had been here, I had either been walking or was being driven by a psychotic aunt who wanted nothing more than to put bullets in the heads of all of my friends. I had really anticipated never going back, not exactly finding a reason to do so. The Hale house brought nothing but bad news and that was something I was so sure of. Once I had realized where we were going, my heart sank for that very reason. If Lydia had gone to the Hale house, something was very, very wrong with the situation. I wondered if it had something to do with the fact that Peter had bitten her. Part of me wasn't sure if that was entirely the case considering she had woken up completely human. I now knew that was why Scott and Stiles had come to "check on her".

They were making sure she wasn't a werewolf.

The Jeep rolled to a stop at the edge of the trailhead, a spot I knew all too well. It was silent all around us and I realized that the forest was a lot more unsettling at night. This was the first chance I had gotten to really see it without being dragged along by Kate. I appreciated Allison was more herself this time, but that didn't make the cold shoulder any easier to handle. I knew she was still upset with me and I respected her feelings. I knew I was at fault and it would probably take a thousand years to make it up to her.

Stiles flicked off the headlights which left us in almost total darkness. Scott helped Allison out of the Jeep first, making sure she got to the ground safely. Then, he held out a hand towards me and, naturally, I pushed it away. Jumping out myself, I landed on my feet and fixed the sweatshirt around my body again. I tucked some messy hair behind my ears, the wind from the window being open throwing it in all different directions. I had attempted to comb it out with my fingers, but it had all been in vain.

"You're sure this is where the scent went?" I asked Scott as he began leading us through the thick woods. I tucked my hands in the pocket of my hoodie and looked up towards him where he walked with Stiles ahead of us. "I mean, this is pretty far out."

"I'm sure." Scott answered with a nod, glancing at me over his shoulder. He gave me a somewhat sad look and I had to blink to rid myself of my own feelings of guilt. "Trust me, I don't like where this leads either."

Scott turned back around and continued his trek. Allison walked beside me, a shoulder's length apart. She had her head down and her hands jammed into the pockets of her own jacket. Her hair hid her face from me, but I didn't have to see it to know that it was probably not an expression I wanted to see at the moment. As much as it killed me, I knew I had to give her time and space. Allison and I had never been on the outs like this before. I betrayed her trust and I knew that was something that was important to her. I would do whatever it took to get her back, if that were even possible.

After a few more minutes of silently hiking, I saw the edge of the treeline that opened up to reveal the familiar, decrepit house. I wondered if it were possible for it to look even worse than it had before. As I looked up at it, I felt the same fear I had that night when I knew that there was something inside of the house. I could see Peter standing in the clearing once again, fully transformed into the monster he was. I could see him holding Scott by the throat and hear my scream of horror when I thought he might lose his life. Scott and I had both gone through that traumatic experience together, but neither of us had chosen to talk about it. If I were being honest with myself, I wasn't ready to discuss anything from that night.

"She came here?" Stiles then asked, turning to look at his best friend. I could tell by the tone of his voice that he wasn't entirely convinced. "You're sure?"

"Yeah," Scott answered for the second time this evening. "This is where the scent leads."

Stiles walked a few steps further and the rest of the group followed him. We were all timid and reluctant-none of us wanted to be back here. "Alright, but, has Lydia ever been here?" Stiles inquired.

I shook my head almost immediately. "Never." I answered confidently. "There is no way she would've come out here without saying something to Allison and I. She hates being out in the woods anyways."

Stiles slapped his hands down at his sides and shook his head, obviously not liking that answer. It was always easy to tell how much Stiles cared about Lydia. It was mostly obvious in the way he acted in certain situations. Stiles had not hesitated to take direct action once Lydia was gone and had become frustrated with the situation entirely. That was why there was a part of me that was convinced he was still in love with her. Maybe our moment had just been something that sprouted from a moment of desperation-fear. Stiles thought he might die.

"Maybe she came here on instinct-like she was looking for Derek?" Allison suggested to Scott as Stiles moved on forward by himself. I had decided to keep some distance between him and I, not wanting to make him anymore anxious than he already was.

"But, Peter bit her." I reminded the two of them, keeping my voice low. "And she still had the stitches when she woke up which meant she didn't heal. It didn't exactly look like she was dying either."

"Allison means that...she might be looking for an alpha." Scott said, the last part seeming almost forced as he told us.

I glanced at Scott who was staring forward, suddenly reminded of how the cure had been ripped from his clutch before he even got the chance. During all of this, I had almost forgotten that Scott was the one who had truly lost everything that he had been working for that night. He had wanted the cure so he could be with Allison and be a normal, teenage boy again. Derek had been selfish enough to take that from an innocent kid.

"Wolves need a pack, right?" Allison continued on with the conversation.

"Not all of them." Scott argued, also then tucking his hands in his pockets.

"Peter didn't have one." I said, shaking my head and swallowing hard. "But, he was trying to get one and that started with Scott."

"But, would Lydia have been drawn to an alpha?" Allison inquired, coming to a stop just before we were met with the Hale house. "Is it an instinct to be part of a pack?"

"Yeah, we're-we're stronger in packs." Scott answered, nodding his head.

"Like, strength in numbers?" Allison concluded as Scott turned to look up towards the house.

When I turned to follow his gaze, I saw Stiles standing alone. He, too, had stopped walking and was now just starting at the house itself. I could see his foot tapping lightly against the forest floor and figured there was no use in inserting myself into Scott and Allison's conversation. They could find the solution on their own, just like Peter always reminded me. I wasn't needed in order to find the answer to the world's most asked questions. Everyone was just fine without me.

I walked up beside Stiles, standing just a few inches away from him. I glanced at the side of his face and then swallowed passed the nerves in my throat. "We're gonna find her." I said softly, my voice sounding almost too loud in the dead of night. "I know we are."

"I just-I don't get it." Stiles grunted, dropping his head down to stare at the ground. "How does someone just disappear from their hospital room? How does Lydia just vanish?"

"There's a lot of things I don't understand about any of this, Stiles." I replied, letting out a small laugh but it was in no way humorous. It was almost a weak sort of exhale. "Like, how Lydia wasn't healing from the bite, but she didn't die? Why did Peter bite Lydia in the first place? Why did Derek turn against all of us?"

"Because, he's a brooding, narcissistic piece of crap who has been a total creep since the beginning of all of this." Stiles quipped without missing a beat, scoffing as though that question was the stupidest thing he'd heard all week. "There, I answered that for you. I'm afraid that's the only one I have, though."

"Of course," I snorted, rolling my eyes. "When it comes to degrading Derek, you're first on the list. I would really expect nothing less."

Stiles let out a soft chuckle, a lopsided smile appearing on his lips before it fluttered away. A moment of silence passed between us and he gently prodded the ground with his shoe. "I'm gonna look around, see if I can find anything."

He cleared his throat somewhat aggressively before wandering off. I grimaced slightly at the abrupt exit and let out a deep sigh. I blinked a few times and then began to do the same as Stiles had said. I only went within a few feet of the house, scared to go any further. I could see through the open door and down the, once, hallway. The stairs were still as messed up as I remembered and the open roof allowed rays of moonlight to be invited in. It illuminated the eerie space and reminded me of the horrors that had happened inside.

My family had once lost their lives just passed those doors at the hand of my best friend's aunt who had also died. Peter had died not far off from the house.

Suddenly, as if it were calling to me, my feet slowly began to move towards the house. I found myself climbing up the steps and into the foyer. Slowly, my head turned to look inside of the sitting room and a shaky breath left my lips once my eyes caught sight of the floor. There was a large, dark black puddle directly where Kate's body had been. The blood had dried and now left a piece of her death inside the house. I didn't fail to notice that the spot right next to it looked like there was new wood placed over the top of it. My eyes narrowed and I wandered further into that room, crouching down to touch the wood with my fingers. It occured to me then that Peter's body had to come somewhere. Derek had buried it directly where I was standing.

Horrified by the thought, I quickly left the room and decided to just leave the house entirely. Once I was out, I felt like the air was easier to breathe. I marched back over to the group, desperate to be back in the safe company of my friends.

"Whoa, hey, look at this." Stiles called as soon as I had made it back over and I looked between the couple to find that he had found a string. It stretched between two trees and I realized that it wasn't just a random string some kids had put up. "You see this?"

"I think that it's tripwire." I voiced, sounding timid and almost confused. I watched as Stiles pulled upwards on it, but nothing happened in front of us.

"Stiles?" Scott called out from behind the group.

"Yeah, buddy-oh."

I turned around to find that the tripwire had, in fact, done something. I placed a hand over my mouth to try and stifle my laughter but it was nearly impossible. Scott was dangling in front of us by his ankle, the wire having set off a trap.

"Next time you see a tripwire, don't trip it." Scott suggested, his face already turning slightly red from the angle he was at.

"Yeah, noted." Stiles mumbled awkwardly.

The three of us moved forward in an effort to help Scott, but his hands suddenly flew up and a look of alarm crossed his features. "Wait, wait, wait," He hissed frantically. "Someone's coming. Hide! Go!"

Hearing the fear in Scott's tone, Stiles grabbed me by the shoulders and spun me around to run in the other direction. I grabbed Allison's hand to pull her along. We began to race back down the hill we had just come up, the leaves crunching underneath our feet noisily.

We slid down the hill and then Stiles swung me around a large patch of trees. We were just a few yards off from Scott where he still hung limply. He struggled to get himself out and when I saw who he had been talking about, a sharp gasp left my lips. I went to move forward but Stiles barred an arm across my chest. He pulled me into him, holding my tightly so I couldn't move. Then, his hand moved over my mouth while he looked over his own shoulder to watch as Mr. Argent descended upon Scott. I struggled for a few more minutes but, realized my attempts were futile against Stiles.

"Don't move, don't make a single noise." Stiles' lips were directly next to my ear now and I could hear the fear in his own voice that made me do exactly as he said. My eyes darted to Allison who was hiding behind another tree with her own hand over her mouth. "I can't hear anything they're saying, but I caught Lydia's name."

After a few minutes of waiting in painful silence, Mr. Argent and his two men stalked away in the direction they had come. Once they were out of sight, Stiles released me and I was sprinting towards Scott without a second to waste.

"You okay?" Allison questioned as soon as the three of us all were surrounding Scott.

"It's just another life-threatening conversation with your Dad." Scott responded with fake enthusiasm, a sarcastic smile appearing on his lips.

"What a weird kink to have." I hummed, placing my hands on my hips and Allison gave me an angry glare while Stiles made a noise of disgust.

"Stiles, help me with this." Allison ordered and walked over to where the trap had been initially placed before we had tripped it.

I stood off to the side and watched as the two fiddled with the contraption. Just a few seconds later, we heard a small thud from behind us. Once I turned around, I saw that Scott had his claws out on his fingertips and was standing upright again.

"Thanks, but, I think I got it." Scott told us, his voice somewhat proud of the fact that he'd gotten himself down.

Stiles, Allison, and I let out a small chuckle. Sometimes, I felt like we forgot that Scott was a werewolf and had abilities we couldn't possess. I liked to keep it that way because then I didn't feel so anxious and afraid all the time. I had normal friends in a normal town at a normal high school. Although, that had never seemed like me, I accepted it. This was my life now.

We had spent the better part of the night searching the Hale house completely for an answer. None of us wanted to be there so we made sure to carefully check for any clues, but we also didn't linger. As soon as we came to a resolution, we exited the charred fortress and stood outside to discuss our next plan of attack. I had to start going back to school or else the system would start to point fingers at Andre. I wasn't ready to deal with CPS on top of all the other shit I had to juggle, but the thought of leaving Lydia out here all alone was terrifying. It took a few minutes of heated arguing to convince me to go home for the night. I hadn't been home in four days and Andre was bound to have questions, especially after tonight.

Stiles dropped me off first, probably because he was worried I might somehow convince him that I needed to keep looking for Lydia if I stayed any longer. Regardless, I climbed out of the Jeep and was walking up towards the front door when something pulled me back.

"Tessa!"

I turned around to see that Scott had his head out the window slightly and there was the hint of a smile on his face. "Thank you for everything tonight." He said, his voice laced with honesty. "I promise you I'll call if I find anything."

"Thanks, Scott." I murmured and smiled weakly, giving him a curt wave before continuing on inside the house.

There was a light on inside the kitchen and I could see Andre at the island, a laptop open in front of her. She seemed to be deep into some reading, but jumped when she heard the door shut. Whipping around, a look of relief washed over her features once she realized it with me.

"I never thought it would be so weird to see you standing inside our house." Andre revealed with a soft snort, getting up from her seat to walk over. She met me with a hug and held me tightly for a few long seconds. "It's good to see you."

"I decided that it was time to come home." I murmured against her shoulder, staring at the floor as I tried to keep my emotions in check. Being in the arms of my sister was an experience I would never get used to. Andre had always been my safe space, even if we had been split for a few days. She never failed to make me feel comforted and loved.

Andre released me and walked back towards the kitchen, my feet following her upon instinct. I looked around at the island now fully in my vision and saw a stack of papers.

I let out a groan and squeezed my eyes shut. "Please tell me that this isn't-"

"-all of the homework you missed on Monday and Tuesday." She finished, smiling at me even despite my expression. "You would kill me if I let you get behind and I can't have the school up my ass right now."

"Great. I will slave away doing countless hours of homework while my best friend is wandering the forest terrified out of her mind and hunters on her naked ass." I told my sister bitterly, flicking through a few pieces of paper. When I lifted up a packet, a small envelope fell from the stack and I furrowed my brow. "What is this?'

"I have no idea." Andre admitted, shaking her head. "It came in the mail yesterday and I was waiting until I had the chance to be there with you when you opened it."

Still confused, I slipped my fingers underneath the fold and opened the envelope. It was a small white card and I pulled it open to find cursive writing on the inside.

Dear Ms. Bradley,

I know it seems rather unconventional, but I request your presence at Kate's funeral this weekend. There are some people I want you to meet.

Mr. Argent.

"Holy shit," I breathed out, the feeling of bile rising in my throat making me swallow hard. I dropped the card on the counter and then looked up at Andre. "I'm invited to her fucking funeral."

"What do you mean he sent you a note?" Allison requested diligently, walking with me from the parking lot to the front of the school. I had heeded all warnings I had given myself to stay away from her. Her father had sent me a note requesting my attendance at Kate's funeral. She deserved to know that.

"Take a look for yourself." I told her and reached into my pocket, withdrawing the letter I had read last night. She was silent as she looked over it and I saw her face drop.

"Oh, God."

"Yeah, you know those "others" they were talking about? I think your Dad wants me to get to know them a little better, too." I said, shaking my head. "Which makes no sense because, last I checked, I was on the other team."

Allison was quiet for a few moments as she thought and she pulled her lip in between her teeth. "Maybe he wants to rattle you a little bit? I mean, he told Scott to stay away from me, but he never said anything about you." She explained. "Instead of threatening you directly, he's trying to make someone else do it for him."

"Well, now, I have to go to her funeral. That was not exactly on my list of things to do today. My first priority was sprinting down to the police station and begging for any new information they might've gotten on Lydia." I told Allison, scrubbing a hand down my face and sighing. "I hardly even slept last night."

"I don't think you need the actual police to tell you." Allison then said and I saw that she was looking somewhere off in the distance. I turned around and saw Stiles standing with Scott just at the friend of the school. When I made eye contact with them, Stiles waved me over spastically.

"I should-"

"No, I understand. I can't be seen with him anyways." Allison cut me off with a weak smile before ducking her head and walking off in the other direction.

I scurried across the lot to the boys. "What is it?" I requested as soon as I was within earshot.

"My Dad responded to a call of a grave robbery at the cemetary last night." Stiles explained, looking between Scott and I. "The K-9 unit had led them there. They said the robber stole...stole the body's liver."

"She ate the liver?" Scott asked, sounding disgusted by the thought as we began our trek up the sidewalk leading into the school building.

"No, I didn't say she ate it. I just said it was missing." Stiles clarified and then let out a dramatic sigh, shaking his head. "And even if she did, so what? It's the most nutritious part of the body."

"Oh, so it's normal for Lydia to go around eating internal organs, now?" I asked, raising my eyebrows at the boy. I swiftly slapped him in the shoulder. "She is not a cannibal!"

"I never ate anyone's liver." Scott then pointed out, pointing to himself and shaking his head. "I never ate anyone's liver before I turned into a werewolf."

"That's because it's not a normal, humane thing to do, Scott." I stated firmly with a pointed look at Stiles who was still holding his arm with a solid glare.

"Oh, sure, because when you're a werewolf you're a real model when it comes to self control." Stiles scoffed as he turned that glare towards his best friend. "Actually, wait, you're the test case for this. So, we should be going over what happened to you."

The group came to a halt as Stiles made the suggestion and Scott looked nothing but confused, as always. "What do you mean?" He asked.

"I mean, what was going through your mind when you were turning, ya know? What were you drawn to?" Stiles clarified, trying to paint the picture clearer for Scott.

I still wasn't entirely convinced that Lydia was turning into a werewolf. Somehow, there was something that made the boys believe that she might be turning but everything seemed so much different than when Scott turned. He didn't disappear as far as I knew and he sure as hell hadn't gone grave robbing.

"Allison." Scott answered Stiles, making me roll my eyes. I should've expected that answer, but it was still annoying. I wondered if there would ever be anything that didn't involve Allison for Scott. It was making it really hard to keep his life.

"Okay, nothing else?" Stiles asked exasperatedly, obviously not liking the answer as much as myself. "Seriously?"

"Nothing else mattered." Scott replied and then he saw the disappointed look on Stiles' face. "But, that's good though, right? Cause the night that Lydia was bit, she was with you."

I stumbled slightly in my stance with the words left Scott's mouth. I knew exactly what he was suggesting and the thought still made me sick to my stomach. I felt a slight ache exactly where my heart was now thudding and I had to look away from the group to compose myself for a moment. Even Scott, Stiles' best friend, knew that the boy was hopelessly in love with her. To think for one second that I had even been a consideration in Stiles' mind was foolish. Part of me wondered if the kiss had even mattered to him. Neither of us have even breached the subject and maybe we were never going to. Maybe we were meant to pass sarcastic comments back and forth for the rest of our lives.

"Yeah, but she was-she was looking for Jackson." Stiles responded as he aggressively pulled his backpack up back onto his shoulder.

In my attempt to zone out the conversation at this point, I spotted a car pulling into the lot at a fast speed. Once I recognized what type it was, I internally groaned. I hadn't seen Jackson since the night he left me at the hospital and he hadn't come to visit Lydia either. Regardless of what he'd done for her that night, I still despised his presence with every living being inside my body. All of the disgust I possessed was now directed strictly at Jackson Whitmore.

The bell rang and the kids began to migrate inside the school. I walked off without Scott and Stiles, not exactly interested in hearing the rest of the conversation. The information Stiles had given me did very little to ease my nerves and I wondered how I was going to make it through the rest of the day. My mind was so preoccupied that I didn't even notice the stares and whispers that floated around me as I marched down the hallway towards my locker. I half expected them. I had been with Lydia on the lacrosse field and had also missed two days of school because I was at the hospital. Rumors were bound to start.

The morning dragged on, and by the time I got to chemistry, my brain was turning into mush. We were going to be taking a pop quiz and Mr. Harris simply told me to try my best. He slid it in front of me with a sickly sweet smile and ignored my protests. I had been moved to sit back with Erica just behind Stiles who was one seat behind Scott. Harris had gotten the memo that the three of us should not sit next to each other and had made sure we were all separated.

My eyes flicked to Stiles when he leaned forward and began whispering to Scott, something I couldn't quite decipher. The sound met Mr. Harris who reprimanded him in the front of the entire class, which was nothing short from usual. Stiles continued on with the teacher and I found myself stiffening when he proceeded to then give Stiles detention after school. When Scott turned around to look at Stiles, Harris then threatened to give him detention.

Then, Harris' evil eyes travelled back to my own which widened upon arrival.

"And what about you, Ms. Bradley? You three come as a package so I wouldn't mind keeping it that way after school." He hissed, leaning forward on his desk and giving me a look as though he were begging me to try him.

"I have something to do after school that I can't miss."

"I'm sure it can wait."

"No, it-it really can't."

"Oh, really? How about I-"

"It's a funeral, Mr. Harris." I blurted out before I could stop myself, my hand clenching around my pencil. I clenched my jaw and watched as both boys snapped around to look at me in shock. "I have to go to a funeral."

Mr. Harris seemed slightly stunned by the revelation and cleared his throat, adjusting his glasses. "Very well." He responded. "I will see you Friday after school, then."

"Thanks." I grumbled and then put my head down, scribbling random answers onto my paper whilst I tried to ignore the constant glances in my direction.

Seconds later, Jackson was sprinting out of the room with his hand over his nose. We all watched him go in confusion and panic, the door slamming shut behind him. Harris ordered everyone to finish their quizzes or he would fail them.

I really didn't feel like dealing with a really, really bad grade.

The funeral was not what I had expected it to be. I was silly to think that it was going to be lowkey and that no one would even care. But, when Allison pulled up to the cemetery, I was severely mistaken. Press littered every inch of open space, cameras flashing and loud chatter. The gravesite was all set up for what was supposed to look like a beautiful casket burial, but we all knew who was inside. Everyone seemed to have found out about Kate in the papers, talking about how she murdered "that family". Allison had taken most of the talk, but no one even knew that had been my family Kate murdered. This had been a friend to Allison-someone she trusted and cared about. Allison had watched her die right before her eyes.

We exited the car and were met with Mr. and Mrs. Argent.

"Good afternoon," I greeted politely to the two of them, their general presence making me uneasy. I swallowed passed the bile in my throat and offered an innocent smile.

"Pleased that you could make it, Tessa." Chris responded with a curt nod of his head. He put his arm around Allison and then began to lead us towards the funeral. "I knew this was a bad idea."

"Well, it wasn't my idea." Mrs. Argent hissed back, adjusting her coat aggressively as she looked to her husband. Her eyes didn't even bother to land on me.

"I tried telling him." Chris reminded his wife and my brow furrowed at the mention of a mystery character. I hoped that this was the "others" we had been talking about. "But he insisted on making a point of it."

"Well, if he insisted, then he can deal with it when he gets here." Victoria responded back in a short whisper, glancing over her shoulder at the crowd who yelled at us even as we walked further and further from them.

"Who gets here?" Allison questioned, making me realize that were both out of the loop. It was almost reassuring to know that she had no idea what the hell was going on either.

"Just...sit down, sweetheart." Mrs. Argent instructed and Mr. Argent carefully guided Allison into the seat. He then gestured at the seat right beside her and I lowered myself in. Both of the parents sat on the other side of Allison and I found myself becoming more anxious by the second.

I had borrowed a dress and heels from Andre, wanting to make sure I dressed for the occasion. Allison had offered to pick me up, most likely out of courtesy, but the drive had been mostly silent. Neither of us wanted to talk about where we were going and why. I hadn't been able to come up with a logical answer and I had avoided the boys for the rest of the day. I didn't have the answers to the questions they were bound to ask and I didn't want them to be distracted from trying to find Lydia. At least, I hoped that was what they were doing.

Suddenly, I heard the crowd silence and my head snapped over to them. I saw three new people had arrived, and kneeling just below them was a kid with his camera. Well, he probably did have his camera before the man who towered over him grabbed it with his hand. People murmured in confusion and I watched as the man pulled out the SD card, breaking it in half with his fingers.

"Who the hell is that?" I whispered to Allison and she let out a deep breath that didn't sound like she enjoyed the answer she had to give.

"I-I think I have an idea." She replied back, her eyes also poised on the situation.

The men then made their way over to where we were sitting, looking like they owned the place. I couldn't help but feel intimidated just by their demeanor and found myself shrinking back as they got closer to the service.

"Christopher." The man greeted and Mr. Argent rose to give him a hug.

"Gerard." He responded back stiffly, their embrace lasting for less than a second.

Gerard wandered over to Victoria who gave me a longer hug, also apologizing. I glanced at the coffin for a moment and then back at Gerard who looked almost emotionless. Then, he turned to look down at Allison and I. His eyes danced between the two of us for a moment, each time making me even more uncomfortable. Eventually, his gaze landed on Allison.

"Do you remember me?" Gerard asked Allison, sounding as though he were speaking to a small child. To my surprise, Allison nodded gently and tried to plant a kind smile on her lips. "Considering I haven't seen you since you were three, I don't suppose you'd call me grandpa. So, if it's comfortable, call me Gerard for the time being. But, I'd prefer grandpa."

The air had been knocked out of lungs at the revelation and all I could feel was fear. I now understood that the "others" meant more members of the Argent family. The thought made me sick, thinking about how much damage they could cause all together as a family. And considering a Hale had killed Kate, I wasn't sure exactly where my safety lied. I had no protection here from whatever they wanted to do to me-if Gerard even knew. But, when he finally looked at me completely, I got my answer.

"You must be Allison's best friend, Tessandra." Gerard greeted, keeping the same tone. The look in his eyes spoke a thousand words and I forced myself to remain on my best behavior. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you. I'm sorry it had to be under such...unfortunate circumstances. I am glad that you could make it. I requested that my son invite someone who could comfort Allison during this rough time-bring you two closer together."

"I'm happy to be here for Allison." I replied tightly, keeping my hands clasped together in my lap with bone crushing strength. I tried to keep my body from visibly shaking, not wanting to expose my fear. I figured it was no use-Gerard could probably smell it.

"I'm glad that Allison has gotten the opportunity to make sure good friends here." Gerard said next, nodding his head. "I can already tell that you have been a great one. I look forward to getting to know you better, Tessandra."

A/N: I apologize if the end seemed a little rushed and unorganized because it sort of us. I found myself wanting to write more, but then I would be going way over what I usually write. I didn't want it to run too long, but I also wanted to add in the funeral. I wanted Tessa to be there so that she becomes more integrated with the Argent's for multiple reasons that will become obvious later one. Hint: There will for sure be a power struggle between the Argent's and the Hale's over who Tessa should follow.

Anywayssss, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please make sure you leave a review!

-Laura