After the disaster that went down in Harris's class, Jackson had thought he was finally going to catch a break from his senses going haywire, not sharing any more classes with Stiles. And Jackson was mostly right, unfortunately, he hadn't accounted for lunch. Jackson's first step into the cafeteria was literally a slap in his face as Jackson froze near the entryway, mouth-watering as he kept inhaling Stiles's scent.

That's where things went a bit south, however. When Jackson caught Stiles's scent, he couldn't help but track down his heartbeat, feeling a wave of calmness run through his body when Jackson locates the sound of Stiles's heart, the irregular on and off beat familiar to him. Unfortunately, Stiles's heartbeat wasn't the only thing he heard. In honing his hearing on Stiles, Jackson also accidentally picked up on Stiles's conversation, catching the last few words Stiles uttered that sent a sharp pain through Jackson's chest.

With his last strings of control, Jackson snapped and rushed out of the cafeteria, heading for the locker room before anybody noticed the jock acting off. Weaving through the rows of lockers, Jackson sputtered trying to catch his breath, sliding down the wall against the showers, hidden deep within the room holding his head in his hands.

He was so fucked, Jackson thought, struggling to keep his panic at bay, fighting to control his supernatural features. Breathing started becoming hard, Jackson's chest squeezing in pain from the loss of Stiles's scent. Deep in his mind, Jackson realized he was feeling this way because he was denying his wolf his mate. Fuck, Derek was right about the pain, it hurt like a bitch.

His heart started to beat rapidly and his control was wavering as his eyes continued to flash between his human blue and werewolf blue. Hanging his head between his knees, Jackson held his breath as he heard two pairs of footsteps come into the locker room, praying that it wasn't Danny or any of his other teammates.

"Jackson, you okay buddy?" Jackson's eyes closed as he released a growl of frustration while Scott's hand fell on his shoulder, his touch helping to ground Jackson.

"Jackson, come on look at me. What happened? Scott called me and said he saw you rush out and looked like you were losing control," Jackson was surprised to hear Derek's voice cut in, but still didn't answer the two werewolves.

"I just— It… arghhh! I don't know, okay. I was fine one minute and then the next, I just couldn't fucking help myself," Jackson spat out, face set in a grimace as he snapped in admission. "I was just listening for his heartbeat, and… and then I ended overhearing a conversation with him okay. It was stupid and I don't even know why I'm mad. I have no fucking right."

Scott and Derek exchanged a glance, a bit surprised to hear that Jackson seemed to already be seeking to build a bond despite it not having passed a few hours since Jackson learned about the whole situation. Scott slid down next to Jackson, leaning against the cold wall, waiting for Jackson to elaborate while Derek sat down on the bench in front of them.

"What was it about Jackson?" fed up with Jackson's reluctance to answer, Scott switched tactics and tried to guilt the other teen into responding. "Jackson, we can't help you if you won't let us."

Jackson just kept shaking his head before suddenly shooting up from his spot, lashing out at them, "It's stupid okay! He's never going to feel this way and I don't want to keep doing this. Maybe I should have left for London."

Jackson quietly trailed off, all the anger dissipating into bitterness, his pacing getting more aggressive despite his tone. "I overheard him asking a girl out, okay? I don't know why I went crazy, it just— arrgh. I just can't explain it!"

Despite Derek's cold persona, he couldn't help but feel pity for Jackson. The teen had found his mate, one of the most sacred things in the supernatural, but of course, things weren't going to fall into place, "It's the pull, that's why it's bothering you so much. Your wolf wants to build the connection but you keep denying it. You need to talk to Stiles, Jackson. This is literally your life on the line and you already know the dangers of just ignoring it and walking away."

Jackson kept shaking his head at the two, rage starting to cloud the bitterness in his mind, "I feel so useless. I just found out that he's my mate literally a couple hours ago and now I'm going insane."

But Jackson couldn't deny the sadness sitting underneath the anger. Maybe it's best if he just gives up, there's no way things will turn out well for Jackson and the last thing he needed was another death on his hands.

"How do you even know if it's going to affect him? You said the bond is rare right? Who says everything you know is accurate? Maybe it's better if I just die."

"What the hell Jackson! It's been what, 3 hours and you're already giving up? Where's the stubborn jackass that tormented us all the way through middle school and high school?! Yes, Stiles will probably be pissed at you, but you don't know what could happen. You aren't Stiles, you can't just assume you know what he wants. Why are you so against this anyways? Stiles is so much more than what everybody thinks. He's always so misunderstood and he just needs someone who's willing to get to know him!"

Jackson was crumbling inside, he didn't know what to do. On one hand, things could go great between him and Stiles, but that's just wishful thinking on Jackson's end. Scott and Derek could see Jackson looking so conflicted, but they could see that their attempts at consoling Jackson weren't working. Jackson wasn't listening to them, the anger that was simmering under his skin finally crested and Jackson blew up.

"IT'S NOT STILES ALRIGHT. IT'S ME! WHAT IF I CAN'T DO THIS, I'M NO GOOD FOR HIM, CAN'T YOU SEE MCCALL… I mean look at me, I can't even keep myself together."

Scott watched helplessly as Jackson stood, teeth sharp, his eyes glowing, fully wolfed out as he trailed off brokenly through his canine teeth, "I can't okay, just… Just leave me alone."

Before Derek even had a chance to catch Jackson, the blond teen dashed out of the locker room without a second look back, running away from Stiles.

Derek's jaw ticked, he couldn't believe that the teen who had fought so hard for the wolf bite had just given up on one of nature's greatest gifts, a mate; his true mate.

"What now? Because I'm pretty sure Jackson needs time to cool off and I have class still." Derek sighed, pinching the area between temple and eyebrows as he felt the beginnings of a migraine growing in the back of his head.

"I have to find Peter and talk to him about this, he used to have a human mate. Talk to Stiles, this isn't going to blow over like Jackson wants, they can't mess this up."

Scott nodded and watched the other leave, Derek's face set in a scowl as he slipped away. Derek had bit Jackson and it was now his responsibility, especially now with Stiles's life on the line.

.

Turning off his phone irritation, Stiles stood in front of the walkway, foot tapping impatiently as he searched for Scott. He hadn't responded to any of Stiles's text messages. After a few more minutes of bouncing on his heels, eagerly looking up every time the door slammed open, Stiles realized that Scott wasn't coming. He was probably caught up with Allison again.

Stiles sighed deeply, not too sure about how he felt about being forgotten for the third time this week. It wouldn't hurt Scott to just shoot Stiles a text literally saying he was going to hang with Allison, if Stiles was being honest, anything was better than being ditched. Whatever, it wasn't like it was the end of the world, Stiles decided to spend his free period in the library knowing he didn't have any other option besides looking like a lonely loser. On his way to the library, Stiles kept his head down and was so deep in his thoughts that he had nearly run into Issac who had looked at Stiles in confusion when he noticed that Stiles was by himself for once.

"Uh, hey Stiles." Stiles nodded a tight-lipped smile in greeting and continued walking in the direction of the library when Issac didn't say anything else. "Wait, Stiles?"

Stiles had paused mid-step, but didn't turn to face Issac, "Are you okay?"

Stiles shrugged. Issac began to worry as the hyperactive teen was hardly ever quiet and although the two fought a lot, Issac knew there was something wrong with Stiles. He felt inclined to follow Stiles as the other switched paths when he realized that the wolf was following him closely behind his heels.

Once they got to the field, Stiles climbed up the bleachers, Issac, following silently like a puppy and they sat, gazing at the bright afternoon sun shining over the green field. The two sat in silence for a while, staring into nothing for what felt like hours but was probably only ten minutes. When Stiles had hunched over himself, hugging his arms around his body, Issac still hadn't figured out what was wrong and didn't know what to do. In the end, Issac didn't have to do anything, Stiles had slid closer to Issac when the other wasn't paying close attention and soon enough the two were sitting thigh to thigh, Stiles dropping his head to rest on Issac's shoulder.

"I'm so tired. There's a pack of Alpha werewolves coming and my best friend doesn't even have the time for me anymore, always ditching me for Allison. Is it too much to ask? I mean, I know I got the two of us into the mess, but it's not like I can tell anybody about this. Like what am I supposed to do? Tell someone that I'm best friends with a werewolf, my bully is a werewolf, and I hang out with a pack of werewolves and the occasional other supernatural? They'd lock me up and throw me in Eichen House before I could even say werewolf!" Stiles was sobbing by the end and all Issac could do was wrap an arm around him in comfort.

The two sat in silence beside the occasional sniffle from Stiles until the bell rang signaling the end of the period, but neither teen moved, sitting outside the field stuck in their thoughts.

.

Unbeknownst to Stiles and Issac, Scott had come looking for Stiles after the whole disaster with Jackson in the locker room, but when he found Stiles crying on Issac, Scott couldn't bring himself to interrupt them. Instead, Scott had leaned against a wall that was close to the field, out of sight from when Stiles and Issac were sitting. Hearing Stiles's trembling, muffled cries sent a sharp pang through Scott's chest. He hadn't realized that he had been neglecting his friendship with Stiles. He was so used to Stiles being by his side, and Scott never had to seek the other teen out himself, Scott cursed himself for being a shitty friend and not noticing until now. Sighing deeply, his mood dampened, Scott vowed to reach out to Stiles soon. And not just for Jackson's sake, but also to mend their relationship.

Scott rubbed a hand down his face, slumping in defeat as turned back around, heading for the school building. There was nothing Scott could do now, he just hoped that he could patch things up with his best friend later. Slipping back into the halls, and heading for his locker to retrieve a textbook for his next class, Scott's phone vibrated, and without looking at the caller ID, Scott picked up.

"Find Jackson."

"What?" Scott quickly pulled the phone away from his ear to double-check that it was actually Derek on the line.

"I'm serious, find Jackson. Peter just made me aware of some other drawbacks about their bond that Jackson's gonna want to know. And don't mention this to Stiles, this is going to change Jackson's whole perspective on the bond."

Scott cursed, but agreed, telling Derek he would go looking for Jackson and hung up the phone. As much as Scott wanted to ignore Derek and go back to class, he knew this affected more than just Jackson, and Scott needed to look out for Stiles. Stiles came first, he was more important than a few missed classes, sure his mom was going to kill him when she found out, but his mom had to understand, this was Stiles's life on the line.

Scott sighed, telling himself that he was going to text Stiles to hang out after he found Jackson as he swiftly headed for the exit, not knowing that by the end of today, he was going to completely forget to message Stiles, leaving the other behind who had spotted the werewolf from the library window gazing sadly as Scott left.

Review! Till Next Time! :)

Word Count: 2218

Uploaded: 12.28.16 || 12.28.20

Edited: 12.28.16 || 12.28.20