"Maybe I'm foolish to believe

That you can live in the past

I could be too sentimental

But that's not a bad thing to be"

Growing Older by Dalton Rapattoni

Shaken awake, I sat up abruptly in bed. I rubbed my eyes as they adjusted to the light. Standing next to my bed with the fiery redhead and her huntress best friend. I scratched my head. "What the hell, Lyd?" I groaned, looking up at them.

"Get up," she ordered, pulling my blanket off me. "Shower, get dressed, and hurry. We need to get a move on. We're going on a long field trip."

I furrowed my eyebrows and looked at Allison. "Seriously? How do you deal with her overbearing perkiness on a daily basis."

Allison twisted her hands. "Well, it was actually my idea. She just likes being pushy. But really, we are in a hurry."

Groaning again, I hurried to grab a change of clothes, take a shower, get dressed, grab my bag, and follow the two girls out the door. I climbed into the back seat of Allison's to stretch out my legs, not even bothering to buckle my seatbelt.

"Can you tell me where we're going?" I asked as Allison drove off.

"We're following the cross country team."

I sat up and looked at Lydia confused. "Is she serious?"

Lydia sighed and nodded. "Unfortunately."

"I'm right here," Allison reminded us. "And I have my reasons, okay?"

I made eye contact with Allison through the rearview mirror. "You mean because of what happened last night?" She nodded in response. According to Isaac, there had been a fight in an abandoned mall with the Alpha Pack that was unintentionally started as Scott had only wanted to talk to them, but Derek had shown up with Cora and Boyd.

About an hour later, we were behind the school bus on our way to the cross country meet when Lydia looked back at me relaxing in the back seat. "Hey, how are your relationship problems with wolfboy going?" she wondered.

"Wolfboy, really?"

"I can call him He Who Must Not Be Named if you'd prefer that instead?"

I shook my head. "I'd prefer his actual name being said, thank you. You can say Isaac. He's not Voldemort. He won't mysteriously show up if you say his name." Lydia looked at me expectantly, so I broke. "What do you want to know?"

"Everything!" Lydia exclaimed. "If I'm going to be stuck in this car for who knows how long, I want some entertainment, preferably in the form of relationship drama. And since Allison-" Lydia looked pointedly at the huntress before turning back to me. "-has nothing interesting to say about Scott or any potential new boyfriend, it's up to you to entertain me."

I sighed before giving her an answer. "Alright, if I'm being honest-"

"Which you should be."

I glared at her for a moment then continued. "I don't think everything is going perfectly well between us. We talked briefly about everything that happened this summer, but, I dunno, it just doesn't completely sit right with me."

"So, what's going on?" Allison asked gently, glancing over at us. "Lydia's right. We've got hours to go. Might as well."

"We've been touchy feely and co-dependent on each other for comfort for as long as I can remember," I explained. "Everyone already thought we were dating. I felt safe with him and he could always make me smile. And then hormones. He's hot as hell. It's hard to miss that. So the obvious next step seemed to be actually starting to date, you know? And it was amazing for a while, sometimes. He could be super sweet and remembered everything I told him and was fun to hang out with, but he also hides things from me. It just hasn't been what I expected, I guess. And sometimes it seems like nothing's even changed anyway, like we're still only friends."

Lydia realized something before I did. "You had a crush on human-Isaac, not werewolf-Isaac. He became a werewolf and suddenly your dynamic changed. He changed. I get it, trust me."

It made a lot of sense, but it also made me feel bad. "Does that make me a terrible person? Liking him more when he was human? He was literally being abused by his father as a human."

Lydia turned to look at me with a stern gaze. "Hon, I'm pretty sure that's not why you liked him more as a human. As a human, you two connected on a different level. That's when both of you began forming feelings for each other. It wasn't his wolf choosing you or your fox choosing his wolf. It was your fox choosing a human and said human forming an emotional attachment to someone he trusted unconditionally. The moment you two had secrets revealed is when your trust and faith in each other started to fade, regardless of your intentions. I know for absolute certain this is not because you had a crush on a guy who was being abused. His father had nothing to do with it, so don't even let your mind drag you down that path. Your relationship has changed. That's all there is to it. It happens."

I gave her a look of appreciation. "You're pretty wise, Lyd. You should be a psychologist."

With a playful smile, she wiggled her index finger. "Be glad I'm not charging you by the hour. Now, what are you going to do?"

"I-I don't know. Do I break up with him? Say, 'Sorry, things aren't working out and we probably never should've gotten together because my fox-spirit doesn't like you anymore?' Any direction towards breaking up makes me feel like hurling." I made a small gagging noise.

"It's because you love him, just not romantically," Allison spoke up from the driver's seat. "But the longer you drag this out, the more you'll get hurt. Both of you."

Why does she have to be right?

Two hours passed of me contemplating my life choices while we followed the school bus. I also got some school work done. Essays are a bitch.

"Am I getting too close?" Allison asked. "I'm getting way too close, aren't I?" She sounded far too nervous.

"That depends," Lydia said. "Are you just following the bus, or are you planning on mounting it at some point?"

I chuckled from my seat. "She's got a point, Allie. You might wanna back up a car length or so. Maybe let some cars in front of you."

Allison frowned. "Yeah, I should back off."

"Well, that also depends," Lydia continued, going into her therapist mode once again. "Do you mean the bus or the ex-boyfriend you're currently stalking?" Lydia scratched the back of her neck while looking at Allison expectantly.

"Well, after what happened, I'm not letting him out of my sight." Lydia made a noise, so Allison felt the need to explain herself more. "And by the way, this all started when he came knocking at my door."

"For what?" Lydia asked.

I spoke up from the back. "Oh, you know, just the showdown with the alphas last night that I was not invited to." It pissed me off, learning of it after the fact. Riichi had found me at home to tell me more about it. Thankfully, because Isaac's explanation was vague. Riichi hadn't fought, he assured me, since his powers were more tailored to healing, but everyone else had, leaving Derek potentially dead which only made things worse knowing that if I had been there, I might've been able to keep that from happening.

"He actually asked about one of my arrows being found outside the school."

I blinked a few times. That wasn't what I was expecting. "Oh. Just so we're clear, I did not tell him, just as I promised I wouldn't say anything."

Allison laughed a little. "I know, Sara. It's all good. He figured it out on his own. We just talked about it. He told me I should stay out of it."

I raised an eyebrow. "Just talked about it?" I repeated. "Allie, we talked about my relationship problems, it's only fair you divulge your secrets, too."

"I tried to show him I can take care of myself, and it blew up in my face."

I wanted to laugh, but I could tell it seriously bothered her by how hard she was gripping the steering wheel. "You know, it's alright to admit you can't do everything on your own. I think that's what he was trying to tell you."

She nodded, glancing back at me. "I know. I just didn't like it being proven by my ex-boyfriend."

I set aside my notebook and leaned forward. "Since we're on the subject of changing relationships, I think we should find you someone who isn't as morally straight as Scott. His heroicism is admirable and adorable, but honestly, you need someone who isn't like that. Someone more on your level that can keep up with you and doesn't hold you back. Scott also tries too hard to protect you and keep you away from harm, and it's not attractive. He doesn't do it to anyone with supernatural powers and not even as much with Stiles who is also human. You are more capable than he seems to let you show."

"Thank you." She gave me a small smile.

"I call it like I see it." I relaxed in the seat again.

A few more minutes passed before Lydia set down the textbook she was reading and looked at Allison. "So is that whole 'not let them our of your sight' thing literal or more like a general rule?" Lydia asked.

"Why?" Allison wondered.

"You're running on fumes." I sat up to see what Lydia was talking about only to see the gas gauge on empty. Allison groaned, seeing it as well. "Yeah. And I'm pretty sure that bus holds a lot more gas than this Toyota." If only I was a thunder kitsune instead of fire. I could probably keep it going by generating electricity.

"What if we stop?"

Lydia turned back to her textbook. "Is it really that big of a deal? I mean, so we lose them. We know where they're headed."

"You didn't see what happened."

"I know who started it." I frowned at Lydia's words.

Allison didn't particular like them either and asked, "Is that what Aiden told you?"

Lydia balked, looking at Allison incredulously. "Aiden? Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hold on a second. Is that why you invited me on this whole little road trip thing?" Allison didn't reply. "Oh, my gosh. You're keeping an eye on them and me."

"So there's nothing going on between you two?"

Lydia brought a hand to her chest, faking offense. "I am appalled by the insinuation."

"So that's a yes," I chimed in. I then sat forward between the front seats. "Now I'm curious as to why I was invited or rather forced to come along."

"Probably so you can use your psychic powers of manipulation to put a stop to any potential conflict." My face pinched as I looked at Lydia. She shrugged. "What? I read somewhere that kitsune are master manipulators that can create illusions or visions. It's probably why you have such an easy time calming Isaac whether you're intentionally doing it or not."

It was an interesting thought. Before I could reply, Allison pushed on the breaks to come to a stop due to a traffic jam. Horns from the cars ahead and behind us honked loudly.

"I wonder what happened," Allison mused.

I shrugged and sat back. "Probably an accident or something." As long as no one died, I didn't really care too much.

A few minutes passed and my phone started ringing with the Batman theme song. Stiles. I pulled it out of my pocket, seeing Stiles's nickname "Annoying Batman-Wannabe" flashing onto the screen. "It's Stiles."

"Lie," both Allison and Lydia said.

"Alright." I answered the phone, bringing it up to my ear. "What do you want? I'm busy. Leave me alone." Lydia rolled her eyes.

"I know you guys are right behind us," Stiles said. "Put me on speaker."

"Ugh, fine." I moved the phone away from my ear and pressed the speaker button, holding the phone closer to Allison and Lydia so they could hear him alright. "What's going on?"

"Okay, look, Scott's still hurt."

"Wait, what?" I blurted with a scowl. "He's not healing?" There weren't many reasons a werewolf wouldn't be healing. Wolfsbane was one of them, but the alphas wouldn't have had wolfsbane.

"No, he's not healing. I think he's actually getting worse." I could hear the worry and panic in the human's voice. "The blood's turning, like, a black color."

"W-what's wrong with him?" Lydia asked.

"What's wrong with him?" Stiles repeated. "I don't-Do I have a PhD in lycanthropy? How am I supposed to know that? I was hoping Sara might know since she's the closest we've got."

I shook my head despite him not being able to see. "I'm not all-knowing, Stilinski."

"We need to get him off the bus," Allison said.

Lydia looked at her. "And take him where, a hospital?"

"If he's dying, yeah."

"I'm not sure how we can explain black blood to doctors," I told them. "That's not exactly a common thing in modern science."

Allison ignored me and told the human, "Stiles, there's a rest area about a mile up. Tell the coach to pull over."

"Yeah, I've been trying," Stiles replied.

"Well, reason with him."

"Reason?" Stiles repeated harshly. "Have you met this guy?"

Allison wasn't having it with his pessimism. Although, it might've actually been realism when it came to Coach Finstock. "Just try something."

I hung up the call and slid my phone into my pocket. "I guess it's time to pray that Stiles can make a miracle happen." A few more minutes passed and the bus was pulling off at the rest stop. "Huh, looks like the human isn't worthless after all." Lydia rolled her eyes at me once again and Allison pulled off, following the bus.

We hurried out of the car and to the bus to help Stiles carry Scott to the bathrooms. Stiles and I sat Scott down against the wall between two sinks, and Allison lifted his shirt up to reveal the bloodied gash on his abdomen. My eyes widened at the sight. Oh, that's not good.

"Oh, my god," Allison said. "Why didn't you tell us?"

"Sorry," Scott muttered.

"Okay, just give us a second, okay?" Allison stood, joining Stiles, Lydia, and me a few feet away. "This shouldn't be happening. I've seen him heal from worse than this."

"Okay, what do we do then?" Stiles asked. "Do we just call an ambulance?"

Allison looked at him. "What if it's too late? What if they can't help?"

"I can burn it," I told them, looking at Scott who had his eyes closed and rested against the sink next to him. He looked terrible and it made my stomach churn. "It will hurt like nobody's business, but it will be closed, disinfected, and the pain should trigger the healing process. He's probably not letting himself heal."

Lydia nodded, glancing at the werewolf. "She's right. It could be psychological."

"What do you mean, like, psychosomatic?" Stiles wondered.

"Somatoformic," Lydia corrected. Stiles looked at her confused. "A physical illness from a psychogenic cause. Yes, it's all in his head. If Sara closes the wound, it should help convince him he's healing and then he'll actually start healing."

"He's not letting himself heal 'cause Derek died," Stiles realized. He gestured towards his best friend, looking at me. "Go on. Do what you gotta do."

I nodded. "He's going to need another shirt since the one he's wearing is ruined. Stiles, get a new one from his bag. Also, you and Lydia need to make sure the bus doesn't leave. Allison, I'll need your help to hold him down."

"What about Isaac and Boyd?" Allison asked. "They have werewolf strength that can help far better than I can."

I looked directly at her. "They don't need to see this. If they do, one of them will attack Ethan. I guarantee it." I turned back to Stiles. "Go!" The human hurried out of the room, followed by Lydia. I gestured to Scott while looking at Allison. "Help me."

Allison helped me take off the werewolf's jacket and lay him down on the bathroom floor. I tore off his shirt and tossed it away to fully reveal the wound. This wasn't how I imagined being with him while shirtless. Stiles ran in, set down a shirt on the sink, and ran back out. Pausing, I looked up at Allison who was kneeling on the uninjured side of him. "Ready?" I asked her. She put her knees and hands on his arm and shoulder and nodded. I turned to Scott and gently patted his face, getting him to open his eyes and look up. "This is going to hurt, okay? Try to stay with me."

"I'm tired," he mumbled.

"Scott, look at me," I told him sternly. "Keep looking at me. Don't close your eyes."

Rolling up my sleeves, I placed one hand above the wound and another on his shoulder. I nodded at Allison and she prepared herself. I began to burn the wound closed. He groaned in pain and gritted his teeth as the fire scorched his flesh. His eyes flashed yellow as he tried not to scream. Sweat dripped down his face. It hurt more watching him in pain because of me than it did doing the same thing to Boyd months prior.

Slowly but surely the wound stitched closed, leaving behind a burn mark across his abdomen. I leaned back on my heels. "I'm done." Allison slumped back, too, exhausted at holding down a werewolf in pain. My eyes drifted down to him. "Scott." His eyes were closed. "Scott?"

"Scott?" Allison called. She gently shook him. "Scott?"

"Scott!" I shouted, desperation clouding my voice.

He woke with a sharp gasp. "It's my fault," he said.

Allison and I glanced at each other, relieved he was at least awake and coherent, then looked back at him. "Scott, look at me," I said gently, setting a hand on his shoulder. His puppy dog eyes flicked to mine. "It's okay. You're alright. Come on, let's get you up."

Allison and I helped him sit up and he looked at his stomach, his hand tracing the burn which was slowly disappearing. "Did you do that?" he asked me.

I nodded. "Yeah."

"Nice." I smiled and laughed at how nonchalant he sounded.

"Can you stand?" Allison asked. He nodded and we helped him off the floor. He grunted in pain but was still able to stand up with our help. She grabbed the shirt Stiles had brought. "Put this on." Scott pulled on the shirt then his jacket on over it. He stumbled a little when walking, but other than that, he seemed alright. Allison and I escorted him out of the bathroom with him trying not to set too much weight on us.

Lydia ran up to us. "Is he okay?"

"Yeah," Scott answered for us. "Stiles. Where's Stiles?"

Lydia sighed. "Trying to stall Coach." She turned to Allison. "We still don't have gas."

"I'm not leaving him," Allison said.

"I concur whole-heartedly," I added.

"Then we have to leave the car," Lydia reminded us.

Allison didn't mind. "Sounds good."

"What?" Allison, Scott, and I continued walking towards the bus while Lydia froze in place. "That wasn't an actual suggestion. Allison, wait."

Up ahead by the bus, students were gathered around a commotion, and Stiles stood off to the side. "Stiles, what's happening?" Scott asked his best friend.

"They went after him," Stiles replied. I frowned. That was bad. "I told 'em what was happening with you and they just went after him."

"Who, Boyd?" Scott rushed forward, pushing through the students and no longer needing Allison and I to help hold him upright. Allison, Stiles, and I followed closely behind. Once past the line of students, we found Isaac beating Ethan to a bloody pulp with Boyd watching gleefully and Finstock hurrying over, yelling at Isaac who wasn't listening, completely focused on hitting Ethan as hard as he could. I winced with each connection. Isaac shoved Danny away as he tried to stop him.

Scott stopped nearby and yelled, "Isaac!"

Isaac paused right before hitting Ethan again, Scott's voice stunning him almost like an alpha's would. Derek had done a similar thing on Isaac's first full moon. And Scott had done it at school once he pulled Isaac out of the janitor's closet. The beta dropped Ethan and stood tall, looking at Scott.

My jaw dropped as I stared at Scott, an idea popping into my head. He couldn't, could he? Could Scott McCall actually be the one the Alpha Pack wants? I forced the thought from my mind. That wasn't what I needed to focus on.

Isaac attacked Ethan.

Sitting next to Isaac on the bus was strange. Seeing him outside beating up Ethan mercilessly and relentlessly kind of scared me. It wasn't a werewolf fighting a werewolf. It was revenge, payback, retaliation. It reminded me of when he first got bitten, and I didn't like it. Not one bit.

So as I sat next to him, running my thumb over Isaac's knuckles as he rested his head on top of mine, part of me wanted to drop his hand and run away. The Isaac Lahey I had initially fallen in love with a year ago wasn't the one sitting next to me. And it hurt to realize that.