Authors Note: HEYO! XD Please tell me what you think; I would love to know XD I own nothing and no one, apart from the following: Sam Campbell, Zane and Chase.

JUST SO YOU KNOW: like everyone else, I have no idea what Stiles' real name is, so I'm going along with what everyone else puts :) and I've made his middle name up XD

Please, please review XD

P.S. I've been really busy with college, so I won't update as regularly as I used to. It's going to be work-work-work, so bear with me, please :)

You guys are all so amazing and I love you all! In a non-creepy non-psycho kind of way XD

P.S. To the person that told me I should just stop writing this story already and 'it's a chore to read' – if you don't like it, stop reading it. I would rather not have these unwanted comments that will put me in a bad mood and won't help my writing in ANY WAY SHAPE OR FORM!

TODAY ON MAY 5TH 2015, IT IS THE ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF CHANGE! CELEBRATE (/-_-/)\(-_-\) - I don't care if that's not the case for some places, it's still May 5th in some places in America - even though I' not American - SO IT STILL COUNTS! ^_^ Also, I've known The Magnus Bane for a year now - aka, the awesome one who gave me the prompt for this story and loads of it's ideas. She's amazing, go check her out!

Chapter 40

Stiles

Over the next few days, Sam and I had started to get along, started to get a little more comfortable with each other, getting to know each other. We had worked on our project every single day since we were first given it and, now, on Saturday, April 19th, we had gotten a good chunk done – it would definitely be finished by April 28th.

Anyway, so, it was Saturday and Sam was due to be over at, around, three in the afternoon. Now, since we had time, we all – Derek – thought it would be the best time for us all to train. So that's what we were doing after lunch.

It had been a while since we had done a group training session, so it was quite nice to finally be able to do it all together.

As we walked into the training room, Jackson and Scott were already at each other, trying to throw the other across the room. It was always funny to watch, especially since those two were quite good friends – which was surprising after everything I had been told had happened before their Pack fully came together.

I had once asked what happened for them to pull their heads out of their asses, to make them come together. None of them had an answer, all saying that it was probably just time and the right Big Bad making an appearance at the right time.

Very quickly, everyone was yelling out ideas of what would could start off with – some wanting to do two on two straight away, some wanting to do a game of capture the flag where an actual person was the flag... There were many ideas.

Of course, Derek made the executive decision on all of us warming up first before we went onto anything that potentially hurt the human, or hurt us supernatural beings, for a period of time.

Right away, I made my way over to the punch bags, stretching my arms out and cracking my knuckles before I started hitting it.

This went on for about an hour, until we heard the doorbell go.

"I'll get it." I muttered, wiping my face with a towel before jogging towards the door.

It was strange. It was one o'clock and we weren't expecting anybody until three. So, obviously, I proceeded with caution.

I slowed down to a steady walk when I got closer to the door, stopping to take a glance through the peephole. Frowning, I opened it.

"You're early." I said as I opened the door to reveal Sam. "Why are you early?"

"Why are you so sweaty?" she countered, raising an eyebrow.

"I asked first."

Sam rolled her eyes, a hint of a smile on her face as she walked in and placed her bags by the door as I closed it behind her.

"I needed something to do so I thought I swing by now." Sam explained. "Your turn."

"We're training." I shrugged. "How else do you think we take on assholes like Chase?"

I should have expected what was coming what I saw that glint in Sam's eyes.

"No, not happening." Derek protested, arms crossed and standing in front of the Pack.

"Why the hell not?" Sam questioned.

"Because I don't trust you."

Sighing, I rubbed at the bridge of my nose with my thumb and forefinger, just wishing one of them would give in already. It felt like this argument had been going on for hours when, in reality, it had only been a few minutes.

"God, you sound like a bunch on Kindergarteners going 'you can't play with us'! Do you know how childish this is?! " I groaned. "Sam has to be here anyway, so we can work on our project – it won't do any harm for her to train with us too."

The look of surprise on Sam's face would have been funny if I wasn't so annoyed with all the bickering! I mean, honestly, you wouldn't have thought that Derek was twenty five – almost twenty six – or that Peter was thirty five, or that the rest of them were in university.

Derek and Peter didn't seem too impressed either, while the rest looked as if I had betrayed them... I didn't like those looks.

"Besides, we know each other's techniques... It could be interesting." I added, staring at the ground.

It was my turn to be surprised when Derek, begrudgingly, agreed, much to the horror of everyone else. Of course, Sam looked quite smug, but smartly refrained from saying anything.

After Derek got everyone to stop their moaning, Sam followed me over to the punch bags – I suppose that, even though we weren't exactly friends, she felt better staying near me than anyone else. Whilst Sam took one bag, I took the other, both of us seeming to be in a silent competition on who could kick the shit out of it the most.

Dare I say it, but it was...fun. I never thought of using that word to describe anything that wasn't to do with the Pack but, obviously, I was mistaken. Sam was competitive, pushing herself like she had something to prove, just like me. By the look on her face, I suppose she realised that too, which just made it all the more fun for the pair of us.

"Not too shabby, Campbell." I grinned.

"Could say the same to you, Stilinski." Sam smirked.

As we both worked harder on the punch bags, I couldn't help but over hear Derek telling the Pack to hold back on their strength and claws with the one on ones, less they give away their secret. I mean, think about it, if Sam found out she could run screaming about monsters. Although, something in the back of my mind was saying that maybe she wouldn't, maybe she already knew...

But how could she know?

When we got around to doing one-on-one, Sam went first, surprisingly. She was up against Lydia, the strongest out of the girls, having lasted the longest out of the three of them when I first trained with them on the day I decided to move in.

At first, they were both evenly matched. It was an interesting fight and I was surprised that Sam was able to hold her own against Lydia. Then again, I was surprised when anyone could hold their own against Lydia.

And it was definitely surprising when Sam ended up kicking Lydia's ass. I mean, few people in our group could beat Lydia – me being one of them – so for someone outside of our circle to do that? Well, that was a bit of an eye-widener.

"Can I take three at a time?" Sam asked, breathlessly, turning to Derek.

For a split second, Derek's eyes went as wide as an anime character's, bulging out of his head. It disappeared fast, a smirk replacing the shock. Frowning at the Alpha wolf, I couldn't figure out what was going through his mind.

But I didn't have to wait for long.

"Fine. Why not?" he shrugged.

"I bet she's used to three at a time." Jackson muttered just too loudly.

Sam tensed slightly, slowly turning to Jackson, a small glare set in her eyes.

"Him." she said. "I want him. Anybody else?"

Looking around, nobody else seemed to want to volunteer. Well, that or they were seizing her up, trying to figure out her weakest points to give them the upper hand. I always thought that was the stupidest thing to do. I mean, in an actually battle, when you're fighting for your life, you don't have time to stop and size up your enemy, you just fight.

You learnt as you went on with the fight.

"Yeah, sure." I grinned.

"No." Sam barked, quickly.

Blinking slightly, I tilted my head to the side. That had kind of hurt.

"Why?" I asked, definitely not pouting, no matter what Lydia or Erica say.

"One, I don't want to hurt you because of reasons. Two, they would probably kill me along with your guard dog over there glaring at me with murder eyebrows." Sam told me, ticking them off on her fingers and gesturing to Derek on the second point with a nod of her head. "And, three, if you get trapped under me I do not want you having a panic attack... Or throw me across the room."

And, yeah, Sam actually cared.

If I needed something to let me know that she was definitely not like Gabriel or Ben, then this was so the thing. I guess the Pack were surprised by her list, all of them seeming a bit taken aback by her reasons – not that she went into detail on the first one.

I just hoped that, maybe, they'd ease off of her a little – wishful thinking, I know.

"Fine." Derek nodded. "Erica, Danny, you go with Jackson against Sam."

"Well, this is going to be fun." Sam smirked.

Before the mock fight started, Sam had handed Peter a timer, telling him to start it when the fight started and to stop it once it finished.

Of course, it was over fairly quickly, Sam having thrown all three of them to the ground – which was how we got someone 'out'.

Now, Sam beating Lydia was surprising, but Sam up against three Betas? Well, that was...well, there were no words for that. We all knew she wasn't anything supernatural – her scent would have given her away or she would have accidentally let it shown when she got pissed off or scared. But that still left the question of: what the hell was she?

As soon and Sam got Jackson on the floor – the last one standing – she ran up to Peter, bouncing on the balls of her feet.

"What's my time?!" she rushed, jumping on the spot.

Peter turned the timer around, twenty two seconds standing out clearly – that was kind of inhuman.

"Damn it! Seven seconds slower." Sam groaned. "Who's next?"

Training went on until, about, half three, so Sam and I started working on our project a little later than intended – especially after showers and everything. Now, considering how everyone acted with Sam, it was easier to allow her to use my en suite to shower, whilst I waited for her downstairs.

It was the easiest thing to do.

Sam was out, dressed and downstairs quickly, grabbing her bag she had left by the door before walking into the living room, chucking a bag each to Isaac and me – we being the only ones in the living room.

"Doughnuts, just for you two." Sam explained when she saw our questioning looks. "Everybody loves doughnuts."

And, yeah, that was true – especially when they were jelly filled.

"Right, shall we get started?" I asked as Sam made her way to the coffee table, to sit on the floor like me.

"Of course." she grinned. "I drew a few ideas last night, mind looking them over?"

"Only if you do the same for mine."

So we swapped sketch pads, flipping through the pages and looking over what the other had drawn.

Sam was very talented. It was obvious that she didn't think so, always keeping her work out of the eyes of our classmates, only showing it when it was absolutely necessary – like now. But she was definitely one of the best, in my opinion.

I was pulled into her work so much that I didn't realise what else was in the sketch book I had given her, but Sam let me know soon enough.

"You draw portraits." she said, flipping through the end of the book.

My head snapped up glancing over to the book she had in her hands. Sure enough, she was looking at the more recent portraits I had of the Pack... And of Sam herself.

"You drew me?" she added, slowly.

"I prefer drawing people." I murmured. "When I first moved in here, I couldn't stop drawing everyone... I doesn't even register that I'm drawing people until I'm halfway through it. I'm sorry."

"Don't be. It's really good..."

"Of course it is, Stiles drew it." Isaac stated before jumping up and leaving for the kitchen.

Sam smiled slightly at that, glancing behind her to see Isaac closing the living walking out of the room. She shook her head a little bit, furrowing her eyebrows before turning back to me.

"You've got good friends." she told me.

"Yeah... Yeah, I do." I agreed, smiling.

As we worked, we put on my playlist from my laptop – thankfully we had a similar taste in music. Of course, Sam seemed to be guessing every song within the first few bars of the song.

I don't think she knew she was doing half the time, almost like she was muttering to herself just a little too loudly. So I thought I'd have a little fun and...test her. I mean, I had a lot of random songs in a lot of languages on my laptop – I knew a few more than just Archaic Latin and Greek.

"Enrique Iglesias - Bailando (Español) ft. Descemer Bueno, Gente De Zona."

"Enrique Iglesias, Juan Luis Guerra - Cuando Me Enamoro."

"Prince Royce – Darte un Beso."

"Edith Piaf – La Vie En Rose, English version of course."

"Moulin Rouge – Lady Marmalade. Didn't think you'd like that."

Those were only a few songs I played. And she guessed all of them right within the first few seconds of the song starting.

I was...amazed, to say the least. I mean, I hadn't met anyone that knew the same music as me. Sam was the first person I had met that actually knew these songs, without me having to introduce them to the songs myself.

I had actually found someone who connected with music like I did – I couldn't help but grin at that.

As Monster by Skillet played, both Sam and I started singing quietly to ourselves as soon as the chorus kicked in. Words couldn't describe the happiness I felt. I guess the others must have picked up on that fact, since I heard ten pairs of feet make their way into the living room.

As they walked in, I looked up and grinned for a moment, continuing to sing along, before turning back to the project.

It was strange how, now I was comfortable with the ten of them, I could easily forget that they were there.

"Do you know Hero by Skillet, too? Or is it just this one?" I asked.

"Of course, I know Hero." Sam scoffed.

"What about Comatose and Awake and Alone?"

"Obviously."

"What about: Picture Perfect and One For the Money by Escape the Fate?"

"Yes."

I nodded for a moment, taking it all in for a moment, still grinning. Surely there had to be some songs she didn't know.

"What about..." I started.

"Babe, stop!" Sam laughed, interrupting me. "I'm trying to work."

We both stopped then. Sam turned to me with a panicked look on her face, as my eyes went a little wide. For a moment, everything was silent, the two of us just staring at each other. All I could think of was the three twats that used to call me that and, suddenly, I was starting to panic.

But she wasn't like them. I mean, for one, she was a she; two, she was a lesbian. But it still filled me with dread.

"So..." Sam muttered, clearing her throat, turning back to the work. "This art, am I right?"

It was a silent agreement that we were both going to forget her slip of the tongue.

I found out before Sam left, a while later, that it was because she was so used to saying it to Charlie it had just slipped out. I was sure we could move past that moment.

It was quite late on Sunday night when I texted Sam. We had been on texting terms for a few days now – not that the Pack liked that very much – so it was easy to get hold of her. I didn't think that Sam would actually be awake, but I had to take a chance.

Sunday, April 20th 2014 – 11:09pm – Stiles: Hey. You up?

I placed my cell phone back onto the table beside my bed, lying back down on my mattress, staring up at the shadow my fan created whilst my bedside lamp was on. I thought that I was going to be awake, on my own, now – thinking that I could just carry on with art. I never expected my phone to start vibrating.

Picking it up, I was quite surprised to find that Sam had replied.

Sunday, April 20th 2014 – 11:14pm – Sam: Yeah. What you doing up so late?

Sunday, April 20th 2014 – 11:15pm – Stiles: Nightmares...

Sunday, April 20th 2014 – 11:20pm – Stiles: Sam?

Sunday, April 20th 2014 – 11:28pm – Stiles: Sam? You still awake?

She didn't reply.

And, wow, some friend, right?

Well... Were we friends? I mean, sure we hung out, but that was because we were partners on the project. Thought we did have a lot in common. I guess I couldn't really class us as 'friends'... Acquaintances, maybe?

Oh, I didn't know.

I went downstairs, deciding it would be easier to do some art work down there. I didn't expect though, as soon as I got down there, exactly fifteen minutes after I had sent Sam the text saying I was awake because of nightmares, for there to be a knock at the door.

Just like Saturday morning, I walked to the door slowly, looking out of the peephole to see who it was.

I got quite a shock when I saw who it was.

"Why do you always seem to be on the other side of this door, when I open it?" I laughed, fully seeing Sam on the doorstep, hands full of pizza and video games.

"I thought you could use some company." she shrugged. "I always find company to be best after I have a nightmare, so you're stuck with me, dude."

"And I have to put up with the pizza and games too? How will I ever survive?"

"Quit the sarcasm and let me in. It's freezing out here."

Yeah, I think Sam and I were well on our way to being friends – hopefully she would actually stay a friend.

Sam set the pizza down on the coffee table placing the cases for the video games in a stack on the side of it. I told her to pick one, whilst I arranged everything to make a little nest and grabbed drinks and some other things.

This was going to be interesting.

When I woke up a few hours later, I heard a thrumming heartbeat, the scent of panic coming from the hallway.

"What the fuck are you doing in my house?" Derek's voice growled from the hallway.

Quickly looking around the living room and seeing that Sam's stuff had been packed up, I came to the conclusion on who he was talking to rather quickly.

Scrambling up to my feet, I stumbled out of the living room, skidding slightly as I hit the tiled floor. As soon as I was out of the living room and turned to my right, I found Derek pinning Sam to the wall, the whole Pack standing behind him, glaring at her intensely.

"Derek. Derek, it's ok!" I rushed. "She came for me; I let her in last night. Let her go!"

Even though he did as I said, it didn't stop from him giving Sam dirty looks as she shuffled in place, staring at the floor.

Walking over to her, I made sure to keep a little distance, making sure not to touch her. She glanced up at me slightly, giving a shaky smile, gripping the handle to her bag – didn't realise she brought it with her – tightly.

"I am so sorry." I told her.

"Don't be. They were just protecting their family." Sam replied, glancing at Derek every now and again. "I was an unknown threat; it's ok, Stiles. Besides, isn't it you that wants people to stop apologising for something they had nothing to do with?"

Even though she was calm, it was obvious that she was more than just a little frazzled... Just like everyone else was getting really confused.

"See you in art later, Stiles." Sam said as she left, closing the door behind her.

As the door shut and we heard Sam's car pulling away – well, Charlie's car, Sam was just borrowing it for a while – I turned around to face everyone. They all seemed a little pleased with themselves for a moment – until they saw the look on my face.

"Can you please stop trying to scare Sam away?" I pleaded. "If you didn't realise, I need her to get a good grade in this project. And there's the fact that I'm actually getting along with her. As much as you guys mean to me, I would like at least one friend outside of the ten of you!"

"We're trying to protect you." Derek growled.

"THAT WAS THE EXCUSE ZANE USED BEFORE I KNEW WHAT AN ABUSIVE ASSHOLE HE WAS!"

With that, I stormed passed them all, back up to my room to have a shower and get changed to go to the university.

I know it was kind of a low blow, but it was true. Zane isolated me from everybody – not that it was hard – so I only had him left. So I could only go to him. So I couldn't go to anyone and get help.

Of course, he never expected me to jump in my Jeep and run.

It took some persuading during art class for Sam to come back to the house with me, to continue the project. She was reluctant, with was understandable, but she agreed when I told her I would leave her alone with any of them.

For the time being, that was the best way to go about it.

She told me she would be at the house in, a maximum of, an hour. Sam was knocking on the door within forty five minutes. Of course, I didn't expect her to be carrying coffee for everyone. As she handed the takeaway cups from our favourite coffee place out to everyone, I noticed that she had gotten every order right. Scott and Isaac had hot chocolate of course, and Peter had orange juice as well as coffee.

Sam rambled on about how she didn't know whether or not Peter would want coffee or orange juice, so got him both, but that he didn't have to drink it and she would just take it home... She just kept going and going – briefly I wondered if that was what I was like.

"How'd you get it?" Derek demanded, cutting off Sam's ramblings harshly.

If he saw my glares, he ignored them completely.

"I tried all the coffee shops, but none of them would let me in." she explained, getting really red and bouncing slightly. "So I paid some homeless guy off, because he needed the cash."

As I led Sam into the living room, I couldn't help but laugh as Sam started to clean little bits of dust off of the TV screen and straightening coasters. I already knew about her OCD as well as her ADHD, so it was obvious that it was going to show up at some point. Besides, ADHD and coffee? Bad mix.

I was asking Sam a few questions about our project and she answered each one quickly, as if she had already planned on what she was going to say. Of course she didn't stay still as she spoke, continuing to walk around and bounce on her heels.

"How much coffee did you drink?" Peter asked, irritably. "The whole pitcher?"

"Is five cups the whole pitcher or... Yeah, I'm really not supposed to drink coffee, so sh! It helps me wake up." Sam replied, blinking fast.

I just couldn't stop laughing.

Charlie came to pick Sam up at, around, five, actually coming inside the house this time. I was the first to notice her out of Sam and me, but Sam was working intently on her biggest piece at the time.

Charlie smiled and waved slightly before turning loving eyes to her girlfriend, giggling quietly to herself.

"Wow, I thought you'd be racing to my car by now." Charlie teased, leaning against the door frame.

"Why would I do that?" Sam murmured, lightly, as if she wasn't really paying attention.

I watched as Charlie rolled her eyes, straightening up and walking further into the living room, to stand nearer Sam.

"Well, something interesting arrived today." Charlie laughed, smugly. "Series three of Sherlock?"

Sam dropped the pencil in her hand, head snapping up to Charlie and eyes going wide.

"Really?! OH my God, YES!" she squealed – yes, you read that right. "Bye, Stiles, gotta go."

Sam started stuffing everything into her bag.

"Never had you pegged for a fangirl." Isaac and Peter muttered.

"I am not a fangirl!" Sam blushed as Charlie laughed.

"Oh, really?" Charlie giggled. "Yet you had to pause the last two series at least a million times, screaming about feels and how John and Sherlock obviously love each other?"

"They do!" Sam and I both yelled, the pair of us turning to each other, grinning for a moment.

Of course, that moment broke when Sam grabbed Charlie's hand and muttered a 'don't assume things about me' as she stormed out, tugging Charlie with her.

I found out that Sam and I had more in common the more time we spent with each other. I didn't know if it was creepy or awesome.

As I got to know Sam, I also got to know Charlie. Really well, actually. I had gone to Charlie's shop a couple of times and she taught me a few things. Of course, even though I had gotten close to the girls, I never expected them to ask me this.

You see, Charlie's mom – Jenny – her dad – David – and her younger – seventeen-year-old – sister Lizzy had come in from North Dakota to visit. Now, Charlie's family was extremely homophobic and the girls had come to me, begging me to be Charlie's fake boyfriend.

"Please." Charlie had begged, desperation in her eyes. "You would be, literally, saving my life."

I didn't want to do it... I had pretended at being straight far too much; it just wasn't me. But, at what Charlie said, it reminded me of my dad. It reminded me of how bad it could get with him. I couldn't let someone as sweet as Charlie – yeah, hadn't known her for long, but that was how sweet she was – go through that.

"Give me your address and I'll meet by round by eight – I still need to cook for everyone back at the house." I had told them, readying myself for the hug I knew I was going to get from Charlie.

Sam had text me the address so I had it ready for when I was driving later that evening.

Of course, the Pack was not happy about my dinner plans when I got home – on Tuesday, April 22nd. They didn't like I was spending time with those two, alone, full stop. Of course, they had yet to realise why had agreed and I wasn't mentioning it any time soon.

I wanted to see if they came to the conclusion all on their own.

Not that they did, though. They just all continued to bitch and whine about the only other people, apart from them, to actually be cool with me and not because they want to get in my pants – thank God!

After a while of their moaning, and after I made them all dinner, I managed to escape up to my bedroom, locking the door to have a bit of privacy. I showered, just so it looked like I was trying to 'impress the parents', picking out the fancy outfit that Lydia had made me get during the shopping spree back in September.

It was just simple black dress shoes, black dress pants, a light blue button down shirt and a black jacket. It wasn't much but, apparently, I looked good in them. I guess it would help sell the bit, so I put them on once I was, you know, dry.

It was, only, half six, so I had plenty of time before I had to be at Sam and Charlie's so I decided to risk going downstairs. Of course, as soon as I was downstairs, there was more moaning – until Lydia caught sight of what I was wearing.

"It looks like you're going on a date." the strawberry-blonde she-wolf sighed.

"That's the whole point." I nodded, hanging the jacket of the back of the couch, whilst I flopped down onto the cushions.

"What, why?" Isaac frowned.

Sighing, I looked up at the ceiling, internally groaning. Sometimes I wondered if they actually listened to what I said. I gave up on wondering if they would realise why I was doing this, deciding it was just easier to say myself.

"Charlie's family are homophobic bastards, if they know she's gay and in a gay relationship, God knows what they'll do to her." I told them. "My dad didn't exactly like my lifestyle choices, I knew his views on it – I know how bad it can get. I don't see why Charlie and Sam have to go through that too if I can stop it."

There was no more moaning after that.

Sam and Charlie's place was quite nice. Not too small, but not bigger than Hale house – not that it could be. Charlie's parents seemed to buy into the lie of me being Charlie's boyfriend – 'we've only been dating for, about, a month now' – whilst Sam was Charlie's 'housemate'.

If I didn't know what they were really like, from what Charlie had told me, I would have though David, Jenny and Lizzy were nice people... But the masks people wore were amazing things.

Now, everything had been going great. Charlie was an amazing cook and the food was absolutely delicious.

The actual dinner wasn't the problem though.

It was after dinner when everyone was sitting in the living room, the TV on low – David in an arm chair; Jenny and Lizzy on one couch; Sam, Charlie and I sitting on the other couch with Charlie in the middle.

Everything was going fine, they were buying the straight lie perfectly – which was more I could ever say for my dad... But then the TV mentioned gay rights.

That was when it all went to shit.

Just like that, Charlie's family completely changed from these nice, sweet people, to absolute homophobic assholes.

They started talking about how 'being gay wasn't right' and how 'they're fags'... Some things they said I would never repeat to anyone. I didn't care who it was, I would just never repeat it because of how bad it got.

Charlie and Sam's emotions changed so quickly, it was like being punched in the gut with a wrecking ball. The pain, the anger, the frustration, the hurt... It was all just too much.

"I'm so glad you grew out of that phase, Charlie, dear." Jenny said. "You're too beautiful to be associated with those things."

That's what tipped me over the edge, just that one little comment... I should have had better control.

"You arrogant assholes! Your daughter is gay! Her and Sam are dating!" I yelled. "And you want to know something, I'M GAY TOO! And I swear to fucking Lucifer if you don't get out, then I'm going to see if my friends would mind coming over and having our own little Gay Pride, right here!"

As they Charlie's family left the house, I continued to yell at them, using all the stereotypes I could think of to make a point. I could feel the anger coming off of the three of them as they stormed off to their car, but I couldn't give a toss about them. My concern was for the two girls sat in the living room.

I slammed the door as soon as I was sure that Charlie's 'family' had left, walking back into the living room to find a shaking Charlie being consoled by a shell shocked Sam.

I couldn't stop apologising after seeing the affect my actions had on them. You would have thought I would have thought it all through before I went blabbing their secret. For a moment, I thought as if I was going to have a panic attack, but I couldn't... This affected them more it did me.

They told me it was ok, told me that it wasn't my fault. That, in a way, they were glad they knew, that they hadn't had to say it themselves. They thanked me for being there to stand up for them, to get rid of them when it was all getting to be too much.

That calmed me down.

I stayed for a little longer, just to make sure they were alright and to help clean up as well, only leaving once everything was finished and I had checked everything was still cool between us. Hell, I even let them hug me! Yeah, I know, progress!

I text Sam as soon as I got home to let them know I was back safe, Charlie texting me back instead so I now had her number too. As soon as I had put my phone away after that, I was bombarded with questions on how the night went... Luckily, they all dropped it when I said I didn't want to talk about Charlie's family...ever.

The day after the dinner with Charlie's demon family – Wednesday, April 23rd – I stayed at home. I couldn't handle being around assholes again and I just felt far too drained to do anything other than sleep.

Luckily, Sam and I were taking a break from the project that day, deciding that we had both worked hard enough for the time being to warrant a day of rest.

And, besides, I was ahead in all my classes, I could miss one day.

Yeah, I know, I changed my tune, right? First it was 'no, can't miss anything', now I just want a day in bed.

Everyone had days like that, even awesome people like me!

Hell, I think even Derek had days like that and, if he tried to deny it, I would be calling bullshit straight away. I wasn't the only one to decide I should take the day off. The whole Pack decided I should because, apparently, I looked rough – which, you know, nice was to put it, right? I mean, yeah, nicer than some, but still!

Sighing, I wrapped my duvet around myself, grabbed Wolfy and headed downstairs – if I was staying home ill, then I was so watching TV! I mean, before I came to live in the house, it had been too many years since I had been able to watch some trash TV. Some people hated it, some people loved it. When you had to go without for years...you definitely learnt to appreciate it.

Sam

I was...I suppose you could say, worried. I hadn't seen Stiles all day and he hadn't been replying to my texts. If something was wrong then, surely, Stiles' friends wouldn't be at the university, but they were – had had see the blonde, the strawberry-blonde and the brunette strutting around the halls.

The blonde and the strawberry-blonde pissed me off. The brunette, well, she hadn't spoken much, but she was better than the other too. What I hated is the fact that people called the strawberry-blonde a red head. And, no, just no. She was no red head, my Charlie was a red head and she was far better looking that Lydia.

But, if I wanted to know what was wrong with Stiles, I was going to have to make nice. Eugh!

So, walking over to the three girls, I demanded – politely – to know where Stiles was. Of course, as always, they made it hard to be nice to them.

"Why the hell do you want to know." the blonde – Erin? Ellie? Erica? – snarled.

"How is it any of your business?" the brunette – Andy? Alice? Allison? – sniffed.

"He can do, and has done, a lot better than you." Lydia snipped.

They were, literally, just being rude for rudes sake, which, hello, was not cool. I was making an effort to be nice – for Stiles – and these bitches were making it difficult.

If only they and their boys really knew me...

"If you must know, he's sick." Lydia finally sighed.

With that information, I stormed passed them. If my friend was sick, then I knew just the thing to make him fell just a little bit better.

That was why I called ahead and asked my gorgeous girl to make some of her amazing homemade soup – let me tell you, I could live off of that soup – for the kid. As soon as I mentioned it was for Stiles, Charlie had jumped at it, asking me to grab a few things on my way home.

I always liked watching Charlie cook. She always seemed so flowy when she cooked, whilst I just clomped about, no matter what I did. I was jealous but, hey, who wouldn't be jealous of Charlie.

I mean: she was gorgeous, had an amazing body, she was loyal and protective, maybe just a little bossy... But she meant everything to me. She was made for me, as cheesy as that sounded.

As Charlie made the soup, her hair kept falling in front of her face. I kept telling her she needed to have a hair band around her wrist for when times like these, but she never listened. That was why I took to wearing a clump of them on my wrist, even though my hair was too short to put up.

"Babe, come here." I grinned, dragging her away from the stove and towards where I was sitting on the counter – no one could ever guess that I was the older one in our relationship. "You seriously need to wear a hair band around your wrist."

"But then you wouldn't do this for me." she laughed, leaning back into me.

"Yes, I would. And you know I would."

After I tightened the ponytail I had put her hair up into, Charlie turned around to face me, grinning.

"I love you." Charlie sighed happily, leaning forward to kiss me before starting to move back to the stove.

She didn't get far, me pulling her back towards me as I wrapped my arms around her neck.

"I love you too, Babe." I told her, dropping my head onto her shoulder, subconsciously nuzzling her neck. "I'll always be here."

"You better be." Charlie smirked. "Now, let me go so I can finish the soup."

Again, I watched as Charlie moved effortlessly to make the soup, knowing exactly what to put in and when and how much... I couldn't cook for shit – I swear, I burned water once. It was kind of relaxing watching Charlie.

"So, not that I'm against it, why exactly are you doing this for him?" Charlie asked, stirring the delicious liquid.

"Dunno. He needs a friend right now and, no matter how much I dislike his group, thet're his family." I shrugged.

"Why don't you like them?"

"Eh, they just don't like my awesomeness. They are too jelly; think I'm not good for him. But, I think, I'm just what the doctor ordered."

Ad I winked, Charlie rolled her eyes fondly, pouring the finished soup into a thermos flask and handing it to me.

"Get it to him before it gets cold." She grinned, kissing me again. "And get back to me before I leave tonight."

"You know I will." I called over my shoulder.

It wasn't that long a drive to Hale house, so I was there in, about, ten minutes. I had grabbed a few things before I left, packing my bag full of things I knew the kid liked/

Of course, when I got to the house, my greeting wasn't the best, people demanding why I was here and all that shit.

So I told them I was here for my friend, before charging past all of them and into the house, turning into the living room to see Stiles wrapped up in his duvet, looking like shit.

Stiles

When Sam walked in, I smiled at her a little, sneezing as I did so.

"I got Charlie to make some of her soup. Secret recipe, she won't even let me know what it is." Sam told me. "Grabbed some comic books and DVDs, thought we could hang?"

"You are awesome; get over here now." I rasped, my throat a little dry.

Sam did as I asked, passing me the thermos flask of soup, telling me to go slow because it was hot – like I didn't already know. And, of course, the soup was delicious, a little spicy but not too spicy. Enough to clear the sinuses and still be delicious even after that. Like, no joke, I wanted to kidnap Charlie and force her to make it for me every day.

"Oh my God, this is good." I groaned. "You and Charlie are my new favourites."

"Hey!" Isaac protested from the hallway.

"Sorry, kid."

Sam just laughed, looking pleased with herself. Like she was a kindergartener that got their first gold star.

"I'll pass on the praise later." she grinned. "Now, first things first. Do we watch Star Wars or Star Trek first?

"You think I can choose?!" I squeaked.

"You have too. You're ill, you choose."

"That's evil."

"That's life."

Yeah, Sam was definitely my friend now.

Thursday, April 24th, I was forced to stay home again, even though I felt better than the day before. But there was this rule where, if you were ill, you had to stay at home for forty eight hours to make sure the bug had gone. It was annoying.

So, anyway, I snuck out and went to the university. Oh, come on, like you didn't see that coming! If I was well enough to go, I was going to go – it didn't matter if the Pack knew or not...

Besides, I left a note...

Anyway, so not the point. I was at the university and Sam wasn't in our art lesson. I had texted a couple of times, but she hadn't answered – just like yesterday. So I left class early – our teacher had started to like me, so it was cool, and went straight over to Sam and Charlie's house.

The first thing I noticed? Charlie's car wasn't there.

So, knocking on the door, I wasn't surprised to find Sam opening the door.

"Why weren't you in class?" was the first thing out of my mouth.

"Tired." she mumbled, yawning slightly. "Don't sleep great when Charlie's away at her conventions."

Sam let me in the house and I followed her into the kitchen. That was when I saw the monstrosity.

"Are you seriously going to eat that?!" I squeaked in disgust.

Sitting on the counter were microwave meals... They were not good, to put it lightly. I mean, the amount of shit they put in them...ew!

"I'm not allowed to use the oven, I burn things." Sam blushed.

"Get your shoes on; you're coming back to my place." I sighed. "I'm going to make you a home cooked meal; you are going to eat it and I will drive you back here when you're ready to leave. But you won't leave until you've eaten."

I could tell she was tired by the lack of an argument.

"Did she leave last night?" I asked as we left the house, watching as Sam locked up.

"Yeah. Back late tonight, but I sleep worse without her here." Sam admitted. "I don't like it when she's away. And I hate admitting that because it makes me sound needy and clingy."

"It doesn't. It just makes you sound in love."

There was a bit of protest when we got back to the house but, once people saw the state she was in and I explained the situation, they dropped it, settling for brooding. They decided to then yell at me for going to the university when I shouldn't have instead.

Sam kept her head down as she followed me into the kitchen, sitting at the table as I moved around the kitchen. I asked if she had any preference as to what I made – she said no. I asked if she liked spaghetti bolognaise – she said yes. Thankfully, that was what I was making for dinner that night anyway.

Sam ate at the same time as everyone else, sitting next to me at the table and keeping quiet. She only spoke up when Peter grabbed a beer and she asked him – politely – to not drink it around her. Now, obviously, the question why was asked and she heaved a sigh before answering.

"I'm not allowed to drink, I'm not a nice person." she whispered. "Charlie doesn't like it and I already know that it drives her away."

After that, she hurried to finish the food, thanking me after she had finished and saying it was the best – apart from Charlie's – that she had tasted. Of course, as soon as I was done she was asking if I could take her home again.

It was obvious she wasn't comfortable around them all – especially when she didn't have Charlie at home – so I moved as fast as I could, without making it seem like I wanted to get rid of her.

I just hoped Charlie got home fast.

P.S. To the person that told me I should just stop writing this story already and 'it's a chore to read' – if you don't like it, stop reading it. I would rather not have these unwanted comments that will put me in a bad mood and won't help my writing in ANY WAY SHAPE OR FORM!

Thanks guys XD

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TODAY ON MAY 5TH 2015, IT IS THE ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF CHANGE! CELEBRATE (/-_-/)\(-_-\) - I don't care if that's not the case for some places, it's still May 5th in some places in America - even though I' not American - SO IT STILL COUNTS! ^_^ Also, I've known The Magnus Bane for a year now - aka, the awesome one who gave me the prompt for this story and loads of it's ideas. She's amazing, go check her out!