I'm back! Hey there, guys! I'm sooooooo sorry for not updating in so long! I'll explain why at the end of the chapter. I was gonna wait until the next chapters of Scars and No One Else to post this, but I decided to go ahead and post this anyways since it's been a while. Anyway, here's chapter 17 of Awake and Alive!
Never in Natalie's life would she have ever thought that she would end up being jealous of Stiles. Stiles Stilinski, the twitchy and uncoordinated boy who seemed to always be bouncing off the walls even when he hadn't had any sort of sugar or caffeine that day. But here he was, sleeping away with his head on Natalie's lap like a baby. She had been sitting in the hallway at the hospital all weekend, waiting to see if her friend was making any progress in her recovery. It was baby steps, but Lydia seems like she's healing.
When Natalie said that she wanted to be with Lydia when she got better, Stiles decided to stay with her so she would have company. Half of the time though, he had been sound asleep with no problem. Natalie wished she could do the same. Not once had she been able to shut her eyes and get some rest and it was certainly showing. The whites of her eyes were red and the dark circles seemed to just keep getting darker. Every time one of Lydia's parents saw her, they begged Natalie to go home and get some sleep. But she just refused and insisted that she was fine. She was just lightly scratching Stiles's head as he slept and her other arm rested over his waist.
At one point, he subconsciously grabbed her hand and hugged it close to his chest. The one benefit that Natalie got from not falling asleep was listening to Stiles mumble, which was always entertaining.
"Ooh… just like that," he said in his sleep, "No, no, you first. Me first?"
Natalie chuckled and shook her head. Just then, Melissa walked out and saw the young couple. She sighed, making Natalie look up at her and smile weakly.
"Hi, Mama McCall," she said.
"Oh, sweetheart," Melissa sighed again, "You look awful. Why are you and Stiles still here? You should be at home and getting some sleep. Don't you have school tomorrow morning?"
"I'll be fine," Natalie assured her, "I should really be here for Lydia right now. She's one of my best friends and I wanna be there when she finally gets better."
Melissa crossed her arms in front of her chest. "And you're sure that your parents are okay with you being here?"
"Yes, I'm sure," Natalie said, "And for the sleeping situation, don't worry about it. I've been taking little naps every once in a while."
Okay, that may have been a total lie, but Natalie didn't want Melissa stressing over her anymore if she found out that the redhead was struggling with insomnia. But before Melissa could push her more about this, Lydia's father stepped into the hallway and walked up to her. He noticed the two teenagers.
"You two kids have been here all night," he pointed out.
"They've been here all weekend," Melissa corrected.
"We're fine," Natalie said once more, "I promise." She pointed to Stiles. "See? He's been knocked out for the past couple of hours. He's getting plenty of rest."
As if on cue, Stiles started smiling. "You're dirty," he chuckled. Melissa, Mr. Martin, and even the cleaning lady who was changing the garbage bags gave him a weird look. All of their eyebrows rose when Stiles started kissing the air.
"He ate a chocolate bar before he fell asleep," Natalie explained, "Sugar makes him have crazy dreams."
The adults didn't look very convinced but they just shrugged it off before walking away. Natalie looked back down at her now snoring boyfriend. Rolling her eyes, she smacked his forehead, making him wake right up.
"Ow!" Stiles yelped, rubbing his forehead and sitting up.
"Oh, good, you're up," Natalie said like she didn't do anything.
"How long have I been out?" Stiles asked her.
"Like two hours. Are you hungry? I was thinking about going down to the cafeteria to get something to eat."
Stiles groaned. "But I hate hospital food! It all tastes like it's been sitting out for months. It's nasty."
"Well that's all there is, babe. Take it or leave it." Stiles shook his head with a look of disgust on his face. "Fine. I'll be right back then. And I'll try to find you something that you would deem edible." Natalie swiftly kissed her boyfriend's lips before getting up and walking downstairs to the cafeteria.
There weren't a lot of people in there since it was late at night and most visitors went home. Natalie shoved her hands in the pockets of her jacket as she looked at the food on display. Her nose scrunched up. No wonder why Stiles wouldn't eat this crap. Some of the food looked like someone had taken road kill, boiled it, and laid it out on the counter. This is probably the reason why a lot of people were put into the hospital in the first place. What was claimed to be chicken looked to be rotting the longer Natalie stared at it.
"Just pick something, kid," the older lady behind the counter told her, "It's not going anywhere if you keep staring at it."
"Alright then," Natalie sighed, "Um, I guess I'll take a cup of the tomato soup." It was the only thing out that looked like it wouldn't kill her so that was promising.
Debra, the lady behind the counter, grabbed a small Styrofoam cup and filled it to the brim with soup. Then she sloppily placed a lid on it and shoved it towards Natalie. "That'll be three twenty-five," she said bitterly.
"You know," Natalie said as she pulled the money out of her wallet, "I would think that working in a hospital surrounded by people who are ill would make someone more humble and less grouchy."
"Try working here for thirty years," Debra told her, "Then you'd understand what it's like serving people who always complain that the food is garbage."
"Yeah, I'll be sure to keep that in mind," Natalie said reluctantly. She grabbed her soup along with a plastic spoon and walked away. Then she noticed Zach sitting at a table in the corner of the room and playing on his phone so she went over to him. "Hey, little bro."
He looked up from his phone. "Hey. Where's lover boy at?"
"He's still upstairs," Natalie answered as she sat across from him, "He wanted to go nowhere near the cafeteria."
"Who can blame him?" Zach snorted, "I just bought a ham and cheese sandwich a little while ago and it tasted like monkey butt."
"That's lovely." The redhead pulled the lid off the cup and dipped her spoon in the soup. Her tongue stuck out and poked at it to get a tiny taste. She let it sit in for a few seconds and looked down at the cup. "Well, it doesn't taste like I'm gonna die from it so that's good."
Zach chuckled and took a sip of his hot chocolate. "So what's going on with Lydia? Have you had any updates?"
"She should be released in a couple of days. It looks like she's making good progress so far."
"I meant about what supernatural being she might be."
Sighing, Natalie set her spoon down. "We don't know what's going on. But nothing really seems out of the ordinary. Lydia's not growing any claws or changing eye colors."
"But that's a good thing, right?" Zach wondered.
"It should be, but something still doesn't add up. I mean, come on. Lydia gets bit by a werewolf and nothing happens? That just seems very strange, doesn't it?"
"Yeah, I guess that's true. What about Derek? What's going on with that guy? Because if I'm gonna be honest, those red eyes scare the crap outta me."
"Who knows?" Natalie said, "He's probably either hunting rabbits or chasing around that white wolf still. I don't know why but he's so obsessed with her that it's on the borderline of creepy. Almost like you with Lydia."
The youngest Henderson shrugged his shoulders. "Yeah, you're right." Then he realized what his sister said. "Hey!"
"Come on, you little stalker," Natalie said as she stood up, "Stiles is probably waiting for me. And if I eat any more of this soup, I might spontaneously combust."
After throwing their trash away, the Henderson siblings headed back upstairs to Lydia's floor. The first thing they saw was Stiles frantically pushing the buttons on a vending machine and grumbling to himself. When he started banging on it with his fists, Natalie couldn't help but laugh at how frustrated he looked.
"Um, Stiles?" she spoke up, "I'm pretty sure that if you keep hitting the machine like that, you're gonna break it and not actually fix it."
Stiles turned his head. "Oh, I'm gonna make it work, Nat. Just watch me." He then grabbed onto the machine and pursued to lift it up off the floor. "Just- gah! It's not gonna work!"
"What the hell are you trying to do? Hulk-smash it?" Natalie exclaimed, "You can't even lift me up without struggling."
"Only when I'm having a bad day!" Stiles yelled back. Then he started shaking the machine roughly until it tipped over. It fell over and the glass broke into tiny pieces. "Damn it."
"Nice!" Natalie said sarcastically. Just as Stiles was about to argue back, they heard a girl screaming. Their heads snapped towards Lydia's room. Natalie could feel her heart drop down to the pit of her stomach. "Lydia?" she called out. She ran to her friend's room with Stiles and Zach following after. "Lydia!"
Melissa and Lydia's father also heard the screams and ran to the room with the teenagers. "What the hell was that?" she asked.
When they all entered the room, they immediately noticed that the bed was empty with bundled up sheets. Natalie continued to call out for Lydia as Zach ran to the bathroom to look in there. He drew back the shower curtains. No sign of Lydia in there, either.
"Where could she have gone?" Zach asked as he walked over to Stiles.
"Uh, I don't know where she went, but I think I have an idea how she got out," Natalie said with wide eyes. She pointed to the open window.
Stiles gulped nervously. "Okay, well, that's not good."
"Oh, you think?!" the redhead exclaimed incredulously, flailing her arms around.
Not too long afterwards, Melissa had called Kurt and John to come down to the hospital. She along with Mr. Martin informed the sheriff and deputy what had happened with Lydia. As for Stiles, Natalie, and Zach, they sat on the chairs in the hallway and listened to the adults' conversation.
"Naked?" John asked, raising an eyebrow, "As in… nude?"
Melissa sighed. "I'm pretty sure they mean the same thing," she said, "but, yes, as far as we know, she left here clothing-optional."
"Alright," Kurt said, rubbing the back of his neck, "And did you guys check everywhere around the hospital to make sure that she wasn't around?"
"Every last corner," Melissa confirmed.
"Nothing suspicious?" John asked.
"Nothing. She just took off."
Sighing, John looked over at Kurt and said, "Alright, let's get an APB out on a sixteen year old redhead. Any other descriptors?"
"Well, to be specific," Zach said as he, Stiles, and Natalie walked over to the adults, "Lydia's five foot three and has green eyes and fair skin." He snapped his fingers as he remembered something else. "Oh! And technically, she's strawberry-blonde."
Everyone looked at the thirteen year old like he had two heads. "Huh," Kurt said, "Is that so?" Zach nodded enthusiastically.
"Wow, that does not make you sound less stalker-ish at all," Natalie snorted.
"Oh, like Stiles doesn't know every single detail about you?" Zach asked.
"Not as accurate as that."
Red tinted Stiles's cheeks as he looked down at his shoes. "Five foot three, chocolate brown eyes, Snow White skin, and straight red velvet hair that's naturally dark brown."
Natalie stared at her boyfriend with raised eyebrows. "I don't know whether I should be impressed or suspicious that you know all of that so specifically."
"You tend to notice every single thing about someone when you've known them all your life," Stiles said, shrugging his shoulders.
"Come here," John told his son, grabbing the back of his neck and dragging him away. Kurt held onto his own children by the arms and followed after the Stilinski's. "What the hell are you three still doing here?"
"Um, being the most amazing friends ever and providing moral support," Natalie chuckled nervously.
"What she said," Stiles added, pointing his finger at his girlfriend.
"Uh huh," John said, not sounding very convinced, "How 'bout you provide your ass back home, where you should be."
"Okay, I can do that too," Stiles nodded, "Mmm." The sheriff released his neck and went back to Melissa and Mr. Martin.
Kurt turned to Natalie and Zach sternly. "And that also goes for you two. Go home and get some sleep. It's a school night and you shouldn't be out so late anyway." Then he followed after John.
"You got the gown, right?" Stiles asked Zach as soon as the adults were far away enough to not be able to hear them.
"Yep," Zach said as he held up Lydia's blood-stained hospital gown. Natalie rolled her eyes. "What?" But she just walked away to the entrance of the hospital without saying anything. "What? God, stop being so judgmental towards me!"
Rolling his eyes, Stiles grabbed onto Zach's hood and dragged him out of the building to follow Natalie. When they were outside, they saw the blue jeep with Scott sitting in the passenger seat. Stiles hopped into the driver's seat as the Henderson siblings climbed in the back. Zach threw the hospital gown at the werewolf.
"Here. Happy birthday," Zach said sarcastically.
"This is the one she was just wearing?" Scott asked. Natalie nodded her head as she stared down at her hands. Scott noticed how distressed his best friend looked and placed his hand on top of hers. "I'm not gonna let anyone hurt her. Not again."
The redhead gave him a weak smile. "I know. I trust you, Scotty."
"Alright, just shove the thing in your face and let's find her," Stiles said as he started the car. When he turned on the headlights, he saw Allison standing in front of the jeep, making Stiles jump slightly. "Wow!"
"What're you doing here?" Scott asked as Allison walked over to his side of the car, "Someone's gonna see us."
"I don't care," Allison said, "She is my best friend, and we need to find her before they do."
"I can find her before the cops can," Scott said.
"How about before my father does?"
Suddenly, Natalie leaned in between her best friends' seats as she looked at Allison. "Wait, your dad knows? How the hell did he find out about that so fast?"
"I don't know," Allison shrugged, "But I just saw him and three other guys leave my house in two SUVs."
"Search party," Scott realized.
"It's more like a hunting party," Allison corrected.
"Yeah, 'cause there ain't no party like a hunting party," Natalie snorted, "All we need is a werewolf-shaped piñata." Scott and Stiles turned their heads and gave her funny looks. "Sorry. Just get in so we can look for Lydia."
As soon as Allison got in the backseat next to Zach, Stiles pulled out of the hospital parking lot and drove off in the road. Zach looked at the huntress and smirked.
"How's it going, pretty lady?" he said flirtatiously. Allison raised an eyebrow. "You know, if your whole Romeo and Juliet romance with the werewolf doesn't work out, don't be afraid to give me a call, okay?" He gave her a little wink.
She looked up at Natalie. "He's kidding, right?"
But instead of answering, Natalie gestured to her face. "Hey, Zach. I think you got… a little desperation on your face. Let me get that for you." She flicked his forehead, making him yep. She smiled in victory. "Got it."
"You need to stop being so violent," Zach said, rubbing his forehead.
"And you need to start hitting on girls your own age," Natalie retorted.
"Moving on now," Stiles spoke up before the siblings could start fighting, "Alright, but if she's turning, would they actually kill her?"
"I don't know," Allison said, "They won't tell me anything. Okay, all they say is, 'We'll talk after Kate's funeral, when the others get here'."
"What others?" Stiles asked.
"I don't know… they won't tell me that yet…"
Stiles rolled his eyes. "Okay, your family's got some serious communication issues to work on. Scott, are we going the right way?"
The teen wolf stuck his head out of the window and took a sniff at the air. He was able to get a whiff of Lydia's scent and detect which direction she went. "Take the next right!"
He did as he was told and soon enough, Stiles ended up driving into the woods. After a while, he parked the car and all of the teenagers got out with Natalie taking Tina with her. Everyone gave her questioning looks and she just rolled her eyes and said that it was for protection. They decided to just let her be and Scott led them through the woods. As they walked deeper into the woods, the Hale and Fierro house came into view.
"And you're sure that she came here?" Natalie asked Scott.
"Yeah, this is where the scent leads," he said as they walked closer to the house.
"Alright, but has Lydia ever been here?" Stiles asked.
"Not with me," Allison said, walking more slowly with Scott as Stiles and the Henderson siblings went up closer to the house more, "Maybe she came here on instinct, like she was looking for Derek."
"You mean… looking for an alpha," Scott said.
"Wolves need a pack, right?"
"Not all of them."
"But would she have been drawn to an alpha?" Allison asked, "Is it an instinct to be part of a pack?"
Scott nodded. "Yeah, we're stronger in packs."
"Like strength in numbers," Allison said.
"No, like, literally stronger, faster, better in every way."
"That's the same for an alpha?"
Nodding once again, Scott said, "That'll make Derek stronger, too."
They heard Stiles gasp in amazement and turned around to see him, Natalie, and Zach squatting down as they looked at something on the ground. Stiles picked up what looked to be a clear wire as the other couple walked over to them.
"Hey, look at this," he said, "You see this?"
"Yeah… it's a wire," Natalie said unimpressed, "That's not something you see every day. My life will never be the same after seeing this."
Her boyfriend rolled his eyes. "Nat, I love you, but I really don't appreciate your sass right now." Natalie shrugged nonchalantly. "Anyway, I think it's a tripwire." He lifted the wire with his finger and they waited to see what would happen. Nothing.
"Well, whoever planted this here did not do a good job," Zach said.
"Stiles," they heard Scott say.
"Yeah, buddy?" Stiles, Natalie, Zach, and Allison turned around to see Scott hanging upside down with the wire wrapped around his ankle. He did not look very happy about it. "Oh."
"Next time you see a tripwire," Scott said, "don't trip it."
"Yeah, noted," Stiles said.
Both Natalie and Zach started to laugh hysterically. "Hey, Nat. Here's the werewolf piñata you wanted," Zach said.
Laughing, Natalie walked over to Scott and began poking him with her baseball bat. "Do you think if I hit hard enough with Tina, he's puke up candy?"
"Ow!" Scott yelled out when the redhead jabbed him in the ribs, "Natalie, stop it! This is not fun for me at all!"
"Alright, alright, Mr. Sourpuss," Natalie sighed lowering her bat, "Let's get you down from there." They went to let him go but Scott stopped them before they could come any closer.
"Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait," he said, "Someone's coming. Hide. Go!"
Stiles grabbed Natalie's hand and they along with Zach and Allison ran off to find a hiding place. The couple went behind a larger tree that easily hid the both of them as Zach and Allison went somewhere else. Stiles placed his hand on his girlfriend's hips as they watched Chris and a few of his fellow hunters walk up to Scott and kneel in front of him.
"You know," Stiles whispered, "if we weren't hiding from hunters with our friends and your brother, this would actually be a romantic setting."
"You're really gonna talk about this right now?" Natalie whispered back harshly, "When our best friend is dangling in the air and being threatened by his girlfriend's dad?"
"I'm just saying," Stiles said, raising his hands up in defense, "Maybe when we decide to have sex for the first time, we can find a spot out here at night so we can be alone."
With raised eyebrows, Natalie looked up at her boyfriend. "Just to be clear, I am not having sex with you in the woods. Ever."
"Aw, why not?"
God, were they really having this conversation right now? Natalie rolled her chocolate brown eyes. "Why not? I'm not gonna be rolling around the ground where I can get leaves and dirt in places no person should. We're humans! If we were out here by ourselves at night, there is a ninety percent chance that we will get attacked by a wild animal or worse, a fuckin' werewolf! Do you really wanna take that risk?"
"Come on, Nat," Stiles continued, "Don't you wanna be spontaneous? You always said that you would be the first person to try anything bold and daring."
"Not when it comes to our first time. I may not be super girly or any of that shit, but I'm still a girl. I do want our first time together to be special, you know? I don't expect candles or rose petals. But I want it to be a moment I can remember for the rest of my life." Natalie patted Stiles's cheek. "Just something to keep in mind, babe."
It was then Stiles's turn to roll his eyes. When they looked back over to where Scott was hanging, Chris and his fellow hunters walked away. The hiding teenagers deemed it safe to come out and walk over to Scott.
"You okay?" Allison asks him.
"It's just another life-threatening conversation with your dad," Scott said.
"That's always fun," Natalie mumbled. She then walked over to the set up for the tripwire. "Alright, let's get you out of this thing."
When they heard a thud behind them, they turned around and saw Scott landing on his feet. "Thanks. But I think I got it."
"Show-off," Natalie scoffed.
"Yeah," Stiles said.
The corner of Allison's lips irked up. "Huh."
Scott then started walking back towards the Hale and Fierro house. He turned towards his friends with a smirk on his face. His head jerked towards the burnt house. "Comin'?"
As the sophomores chuckled and followed Scott to the house, Zach stayed behind and looked back down at the tripwire. He picked it up and checked it over.
"I really don't understand this whole werewolf thing."
"Zach, get your ass over here!" Natalie yelled.
"Coming!" Zach dropped the wire and ran after his older sister.
The next day at school, Scott and Stiles were standing in the front of the building, talking about last night's incident at the graveyard. As they were about to walk in the school, they heard a loud engine roaring. They looked over at the parking lot and saw a dark red 1967 Chevrolet speeding in, making a bunch of students quickly move out of the way so they wouldn't get hit. It left behind black tire marks as the car pulled into an empty space. Scott and Stiles looked at each other, wondering who the car belonged to.
To their surprise, Natalie stepped out and shut the door behind her. With her white tank top, black letterman jacket, jean short, red Converse, black bandana, and sunglasses, she looked pretty badass. A smug smile formed on Natalie's face as she locked the car and walked over to Scott and Stiles, whose mouths were both gaping like fish.
"You might wanna close your mouths, boys," the redhead said, placing her fingers under their chins and shutting their mouths, "You could catch flies that way."
"Is that yours?" Stiles asked as he pointed to the car.
"Yes, it is," Natalie beamed proudly, "My parents surprised me with it this morning. I decided to name her Trisha. Isn't she a beauty?"
"Uh huh," Scott nodded, "Can I touch it?"
"Nope," Natalie said, "I am not risking damaging her so hands off the car."
Stiles snorted. "Because your driving isn't going to destroy it first." When Natalie glared at her boyfriend, he wrapped his arm around her shoulders. "And I say this out of love."
"Oh, shut it," the redhead scoffed, waving him off, "So, did you guys hear? Last night at the cemetery, someone stole a liver from a dead body."
Both boys scrunched their noses in disgust. "Ew."
"I know. And Lydia's still MIA from what my dad told me. Seems a little suspicious, don't you think? Especially since she can't control whatever freaky thing she has."
"She ate the liver?" Scott asked with wide eyes.
"What? No," Natalie said, "I never said anything about her eating the liver. I just think that she might've taken it."
"You know what?" Stiles spoke up, "Even if she did, so what? It's the most nutritious part of the body."
"I never ate anyone's liver," Scott said.
"Yeah, right," Stiles snorted, "'cause when it comes to werewolves, you're a real model of self-control. Actually, wait. Hold on." When the trio started walking up the stairs, Stiles placed his hand on Scott's shoulder and stopped him. He also removed him arm from Natalie's shoulders but held onto her hand. "You're a test case for this, so we should be going over what happened to you."
"What do you mean?" Scott asked.
"I mean, like what was going through your mind when you were turning, you know? What were you drawn to?"
The teen wolf started to blush. "Allison…"
"Okay, nothing else?" Stiles said in disbelief as Natalie rolled her eyes, "Seriously?"
"Nothing else mattered," Scott admitted, "But, no, that's good, though, right? 'Cause the night Lydia was bit, she was with you guys. Mostly Zach."
"Yeah," Natalie said, "But then she left Zach to go look for…"
Her face grew serious when she looked back over to the parking lot and saw Jackson getting out of his Porsche. When he turned his head, his blue eyes locked with hers and they stared each other down.
"Jackass."
"Let's go!" Coach Finstock bellowed to his team in the locker room, "I have an announcement to make. Gather around! Quicker!" The players crowded around him as he continued to yell at them. "Danny, put a shirt on. Stilinski, that means you! Let's go, gather around. Listen up-" Natalie pushed her boyfriend forward, gaining the coach's attention. "For god's sake, Henderson, why the hell are you always here? Aren't you supposed to be in class right now?"
Shrugging her shoulders, the redhead replied, "We have a sub today. And I got nothing better to do."
"If you wanna see us naked, Henderson, all you have to do is ask," Greenberg teased.
"Hey!" Stiles exclaimed, "The only guy she wants to see naked is me!" Natalie's eyes grew wide and she smacked his stomach. "Ow, I'm sorry! Shit, woman…"
His girlfriend rolled her eyes as she looked back at Greenberg. "And no one wants to see your Ken doll dinker, you little-"
She was interrupted by Coach Finstock blowing his whistle. "As I was saying," he continued, glaring at Natalie, "Police are asking for help on a missing child advisory. It's a sick girl, roaming around, totally naked." Excluding a few people along with Natalie, a bunch of the boys wolf-whistled at the thought of a naked girl. "Now, it's supposed to get below forty degrees tonight. I don't know about you, but the last time it was that cold and I was running around naked… I lost a testicle to exposure."
"Ugh…" Natalie shuddered in disgust, hugging her jacket closer to her body, "That is an image I could never not imagine again…"
"Now, I don't want the same thing happening to some innocent girl. So police are organizing search parties for tonight." Coach Finstock taped a sheet of blank paper to the wall. "Sign up, find the missing girl, you get an automatic 'A' in my classes."
That made everyone extremely happy they cheered as they went to sign their names on the paper. Natalie's hand shot up.
"Does that count for me, too?" she asked Coach Finstock.
"No!" he immediately yelled back.
"Damn…" Natalie grumbled, "Someone's a little touchy this morning. I guess that's what happens when you have your nads frozen off." Stiles chuckled and wrapped his arms around her as they and Scott turned to Jackson.
"If Lydia wants to take a naked hike in the woods, why should I care?" he asked.
"Because we have a pretty good idea that she might be…" Scott looked around to make sure no one was listening. "You know, turning."
"Turning?" Jackson said.
"Yeah. Turning," Scott repeated.
"Into…"
Stiles and Natalie rolled their brown eyes. "A unicorn," Stiles said sarcastically, "What do you think, dumbass?"
Jackson glared at the couple. "Well, I think that it's Lydia's turning, she's not the one that's gonna need help."
"What do you mean?" Scott asked.
"Oh, god, you've got it all backwards, McCall," Jackson sighed, "When I was with Lydia, you should have seen the scratch marks she left on me. What do you think she's gonna do with a set of real claws?" He let out a dark chuckle before pushing past the trio.
"Well, that's just one more disturbing image planted into my head," Natalie said.
During chemistry, the students were prepping to take their quiz. Mr. Harris passed out the papers as Natalie did some last-minute highlighting in her notes. Next to her, Stiles tapped his pencil on the top of the table.
"Alright, it's causing me severe mental anguish to say this, but he's right," Stiles said.
Scott sighed. "I know."
"Just the thought of Jackass being right actually makes me sick to my stomach," Natalie said.
"But seriously," Stiles continued, "What if the next body part she steals is from someone who's still alive?"
"This is a pop quiz, Mr. Stilinski," Mr. Harris announced, "If I hear your voice again, I may be tempted to give you detention for the rest of your high school career."
"Can you do that?" Stiles asked with wide eyes.
"Well, there it is again," Mr. Harris said, "Your voice. Triggering the only impulse I've ever had to strike a student repeatedly and violently. I'll see you at three o'clock for detention. Same as you, Miss Henderson."
The redhead's jaw dropped and she let out a squeak of disbelief. "What the hell did I do?"
"You chose to date him," the chemistry teacher said.
"Damn it," Natalie groaned. She pinched Stiles's arm as hard as she could, making him hiss in pain. "God, leave it to me to get a detention just for knowing you…"
"Quiet before I give you a whole week's worth of detention," Mr. Harris snapped. He turned to Scott. "You too, Mr. McCall?"
Scott shook his head. "No, sir." Mr. Harris gave a curt nod before walking to his desk.
After school, Stiles and Natalie sat at their table as Mr. Harris sat at his, grading the quizzes. The couple was on their twenty-third game of hangman, which Stiles was sucking at miserably. It got pretty boring after the first ten games, but it made the time go faster. Sort of. But when that hour finally did pass up, the two shot up out of their seats so fast that they almost fell on their rears.
"Sit," Mr. Harris ordered, making them stop in their tracks.
"What-" Stiles stammered, "but it's been an hour."
"My detention's an hour and a half."
"Are you kidding me?" Natalie said, "That's so dumb! You can't do that! He can't do that, right?"
"Oh, but I can," Mr. Harris smirked, "You see, Stiles and Natalie, since your fathers were so judicious in their dealings with me, I've decided to make you two my personal project for the rest of the semester. You two are going to benefit from all the best that strict discipline has to offer. Now, sit down, before I decide to keep you here all night."
Nudging Stiles with her elbow, Natalie grumbled, "Come on. Knowing him, he'll actually do it."
He sighed but let Natalie lead him back to their table. When they sat down, they didn't bother to continue their game. Instead, they decided to have thumb wars. Stiles wasn't doing so hot with this game either. They joined their hands together and moved their thumbs in time with the chant.
"One, two, three, four. I declare a thumb war." Before Stiles knew it, Natalie's thumb trapped his and she pressed down on it as hard as she could. She counted down from ten to one before she released him.
"God damn, Nat!" Stiles said as he shook out his hand, "Why do you have to have such a death grip? It's like you're part anaconda or something."
"I have those weights at the gym to thank," Natalie smiled, flexing her bicep, "Go ahead and feel."
Stiles reached over and squeezed her arm. He let out a low whistle. "Damn. You've got quite the set of guns on you."
"You bet," Natalie chuckled, "And just to let you know, whenever we have thumb wars or I hit you, I go easy on you. All the time."
"Wait, that's you going easy?" Stiles asked, "Then I never wanna get on your bad side. I keep imagining you using your 'anaconda squeeze' on me if we ever have sex." He shuddered and placed his hand over his crotch. "It's like I can feel it right now."
"Yeah, just be lucky that I didn't go too hard on you the other night at your house," Natalie said, "I mean, if I squeezed just a little bit tighter, you'd be a woman right now."
"Oh, god. I'm not even gonna doubt your skills because I'm pretty sure you're capable of doing that."
"Alright, I'm tired of listening to you two," Mr. Harris said after about ten minutes, "Now leave."
The couple let out sighs of relief as they recollected their things and ran out of the classroom. They headed out to the parking lot and decided to have Stiles drive them to the cemetery, where Kate's funeral was going to be held. Natalie just told him that she could just pick up her car after the funeral so she didn't mind Stiles driving. They got in the car and took off.
By the time they got to the cemetery, the area where Kate was buried was swarmed with different people, most of which Stiles and Natalie have never seen before. There were the Argents, their family, friends, police, and even paparazzi. Hell, even that kid Matt Daehler from English was there with his camera. It was insane!
Natalie finally found Scott hiding behind a statue, trying not to get caught by the Argents. Holding onto Stiles's hand, Natalie snuck him past the paparazzi and over to Scott. They crouched down next to their best friend.
"Yo," Stiles greeted. Scott tilted his head upwards and turned back to the scene in front of them. They noticed an older man with white hair, wrinkles, and an intimidating expression on his face talking to Allison. "Who the hell is that?"
"He's definitely an Argent," Scott answered.
"Why do all Argents look like they wanna kill everyone?" Natalie pointed out, "They need to learn to smile more."
"We're at a funeral, Nat," Scott said, "I don't think a lot of people smile at funerals."
The redhead raised her hands up. "I'm just saying that there's more than one facial expression in the world!"
Scott rolled his eyes. "Either way, them being here in Beacon Hills spells out nothing but trouble. A werewolf killed Kate. That means that all werewolves are pretty much fucked up at this point."
"Hey, you know, maybe they're just here for the funeral," Stiles said, "I mean, what if they're the non-hunting side of the family? There could be non-hunting Argents. It's possible, right?"
"I doubt it," Natalie snorted, "Just look at them. Their faces are the epitome of scary!"
"I know what they are," Scott said, "They're reinforcements."
Suddenly, the boys were yanked up by the collars of their shirts by John. Natalie didn't have time to react as Kurt grabbed ahold of her arm. She let out a defeated sigh.
"Why are you always there?" she exclaimed, waving her hands at her dad.
"Me?" Kurt said, raising an eyebrow, "I should be saying the same thing about you. Wanna tell me what the hell you're doing here?"
"Can't a girl just randomly show up at her friend's aunt's funeral without being interrogated?"
"Not really, no," Kurt said.
"We are very, truly, deeply sorry about this, Mr. Henderson," Stiles said, coming up next to Natalie and slinging his arm around her, "I promise this sort of thing won't happen again. I'll just go drop her off at her car and then we'll go home."
He then pulled Natalie away before Kurt could get a word in. They met up with Scott, who quickly explained to the redhead what they overheard from Sheriff Stilinski about another attack.
"Are you kidding me?" Natalie said exasperatedly, rubbing the back of her neck, "Okay, what the frick is Lydia doing?"
"I don't know," Scott answered honestly.
"What kept you from doing that?" Stiles asked, "Was it Allison?"
"I hope so."
"Do you need to get closer?" Stiles asked again.
After sniffing the air a little bit to try to detect Lydia's scent, Scott said, "No, I got it." He turned to head into the woods but Natalie grabbed his hand before he could move. Her big eyes resembled ones of a puppy, and Scott knew that she was really worried for her friend.
"Scotty, I just really need you to find her, okay?" Natalie said to him, her voice cracking a little. "If something bad happens to her… Just please. Please find her."
"I will," Scott promised, giving her hand a squeeze. Then he ran off into the woods.
Wrapping his arms around her, Stiles engulfed Natalie in a very much needed hug. She rested her head on his chest as he kissed her temple.
"She's gonna be okay, Nat," Stiles said softly, "Everything's gonna be okay."
"You think so?" Natalie asked. Her voice sounded a bit muffled since her face was buried in Stiles's chest.
He cupped his girlfriend's face in his hands so she was looking up at him. "I know so." Leaning down, Stiles kissed Natalie with as much love as he could put into it. "I love you so much. You know that, right?"
Natalie nodded her head and smiled softly. "Yeah, I know. And I love you, too." She kissed Stiles one last time before taking his hand. "We should go find our dads so they won't kill us for being alone out here."
"Yeah, that seems like a smart idea," Stiles chuckled.
Hand in hand, the couple walked along the road until they found police cars surrounding the damaged ambulance Sheriff Stilinski was talking about earlier. They found their dads standing next to a police car and having a serious conversation. As if they could sense their presence. John and Kurt turned their heads to see their children walk up to him.
"I thought you two were going home," Kurt said, crossing his arms in front of his chest.
"We were," Natalie said, "but it's such a beautiful night out. Why not enjoy it with a little… walk along the road…"
But Kurt wasn't buying it. "Cut the crap, Natalie."
Said girl nodded her head. "Yep. Cutting the crap right now."
"Now what are you two really doing here?" John asked.
"We just wanted to see what was going on," Stiles said, "Make sure that everything was okay."
"It's all being taken care of," John assured them, "With that being said, both of you, go home. It's not safe for you two to be out here."
"Come on," Stiles pleaded, "We just want to help. We can totally do that and not cause any trouble." Both police officers shot him knowing looks. "At least not a lot of trouble. Just-" He stopped talking when he noticed something in the distance. "Lydia?"
That made everyone's heads snap towards the direction Stiles was looking towards. Surely enough, Lydia was standing where the road met the woods. Her strawberry-blonde hair was knotted with leaves and dirt covered her Boyd from running around the woods. She stood there as naked as the day she was born, shivering from the very cold air. Her hands covered her private areas so she wasn't entirely exposed.
"Oh, thank god!" Natalie sighed in relief as she took in the sight of her friend.
"Well… is anyone gonna get me a coat?" Lydia asked, reaching her hands out in front of her. Stiles turned away as every part of her body was on full display.
Without thinking twice, Natalie yanked her jacket off of herself and walked over to Lydia. She helped her put the jacket on and zipped it up so nothing was showing anymore. Then Natalie pulled her into a huge hug, which Lydia immediately returned. Goosebumps were scattered over her bare arms and legs due to the freezing temperature, but Natalie didn't care. Her friend was safe. Everything was going to be okay…
For now.
So there you have it, folks! The start of season 2! This episode was kind of uneventful so I apologize if it isn't so great. But I really hope that you did enjoy it, so PLEASE review and let me know what you think! Your feedback really does motivate me! And go check out my other Teen Wolf stories, Scars and No One Else! It would truly mean the world to me.
The reason I haven't updated so long is because during these past couple of months, I've being going through a rough time. I've been suffering with depression since I was thirteen and the only thing that has gotten me through this is writing. But in January, it hit me so hard that I had no desire to do anything. I couldn't bring myself to write, and it absolutely killed me because there's nothing I love more than creating stories for people to enjoy. It's been kind of a slow progress, but I am starting to get back into my writing kick. I'm ready to continue with these stories because I absolutely love these characters and the plans I have for them. I absolutely refuse to give up on them, whether it takes months or even years to get this done. I just hope you guys are on board with me. And thank you for sticking with me through all of these crazy updates. You guys are amazing.
Also, for those who were reading my other DerekxOC story, You Raise Me Up, I'm planning on discontinuing it. Not only am I trying to mainly focus on the other stories I have right now, I don't really have any plans thought out for this and I didn't know where it was heading. I decided to just cut it now before it got worse. But there are a few other stories that I'm gonna start writing eventually and you can read about them on my profile.
I hope to update soon! xoxo, Maddie :)