A month didn't sound like much especially compared to the 16 years he's been living, but when Stiles thinks about how long it has been since he has actually spoken to Scott, that's a damn long time. That's 4 weeks of Scott ignoring his calls and texts, purposely dodging Stiles at school, and never being home when Stiles dropped by his house.

Stiles had tried, he put in so much effort to try to fix whatever was left from their broken relationship, but at this point, it seemed like their whole friendship meant nothing to Scott. Stiles had been by Scott's side since day one, but he guessed that didn't matter to the Alpha, after all, Stiles was only human. He didn't have a place in the pack no matter how much he believed and wished. And these weren't just dark thoughts in his head, Stiles remembered Erica picking on him when Derek was still an Alpha, asking why he showed up to pack meetings. They were all jokes to Stiles before, but now… now Stiles isn't so sure what to think anymore.

Stiles walked to class with his head down, shoulders hunched in, trying to make him appear smaller as he crossed the aisles looking for his seat. It was a habit Stiles had picked up to try to cope with the loss of Scott by his side. Stiles had never really been confident, he definitely had his bold moments, but that was when Stiles had wanted to stand out. Now— now Stiles tried to get through classes undetected, sitting in class quietly, hiding behind other classmates, and tried his best to not stand out. Why would he want to? Stiles was a fucking loner. Before, he was okay with being coined the weird geeky kid, but that was with Scott next to him as the two made fun of the title. Scott was popular now, making first string lacrosse and sitting with Lydia and Allison and their posse during lunch. Stiles didn't have a place among them.

The only thing that made Stiles's depressive little life better was the fact that Jackson was gone. Apparently, his parents had pulled him out for boarding school in London, but there were a few rumors that Jackson had actually dropped out and was hiding behind his parents' status. Whatever happened to the kanima turned werewolf, Stiles was glad Jackson wasn't here to see the hell Stiles's life had come to and torment Stiles some more.

Finding his seat, in the left-back corner of the room, Stiles sat down, slipping his backpack off and dropping it silently to the floor, leaning against the legs of the desk. Hunching forward and resting his chin on his hand, Stiles waited for class to begin, gazing out the window for a bit before getting bored and switched to people watching instead. Unfortunately for Stiles, the first person Stiles made eye contact with was none other than his former best friend, Scott McCall.

Keeping a blank face, Stiles looked off to the side waiting for Scott to drop his gaze, but that didn't happen. Surprisingly, Scott continued to stare at Stiles, mouth parted as if he was going to call Stiles's name before a hand pulled him back when Scott attempted to walk to Stiles. Stiles's eyes flickered to the perfectly manicured hand on Scott's shoulder, holding him in place; Lydia. Of course, it had to be the one class they all shared together.

Scott, looking unhappy at Lydia's action, turned to talk to her in hushed whispers, but if Stiles could hear them arguing from all the way in the back, he was sure they were even louder at the front. Stiles could see Scott become more aggravated, their argument starting to get heated, catching the attention of the rest of the class. Fortunately for them, the bell rang, ending their argument when the teacher walked in, demanding they take their seats.

Scott grumbled in annoyance, but complied, taking a seat in the front dumping his things down roughly, leaning back in his seat with his arms crossed and his jaw locked. Stiles observed Scott from his seat in the back noticing a lot of new changes in the Alpha, but before Stiles could put too much thought into them, Stiles caught Scott turning his way, probably noticing Stiles's blatant staring. Stiles quickly ducked his head down, refusing to make eye contact with the Alpha until the teacher finally called the class to attention, drawing Scott's attention back to the front, thankfully ridding Stiles of the scrutinizing eyes.

When the bell rang signaling the end of class, Stiles tried to pack up his things as fast as he could when he noticed Lydia and Scott glancing every other second over at Stiles. Fuck, Stiles cursed in his head. It was lunch right now, he wouldn't be able to run fast enough to escape them if Scott decided to corner him, but Stiles really didn't want to talk to Scott.

Finally looking up after zipping his bag closed, Stiles stumbled in alarm when he found Lydia standing right in front of him, blocking the exit, Scott standing right behind her shoulder, expression looking troubled. Scott opened his mouth, finally speaking to Stiles in what felt like years, but Stiles shook his head, staring down at the dirty titles of the floor, unwilling to give in to whatever game they were trying to play.

"Stiles?" Seeing Stiles turn away from Scott, Lydia tried calling his name in hopes that the other would respond, but Stiles was stubborn.

"Stiles, please." No, this wasn't fair. They don't get to come back into his life after ignoring him for weeks. Stiles had tried, he tried so hard to reach out to them, but they were all for naught. The hell was Stiles going to give in. "Please."

When Lydia failed, Scott tried again, hoping to get any kind of response, "Buddy please— "

Stiles saw red. BUDDY. Scott literally had the audacity to call Stiles his buddy like they were still on good terms when they could barely even be considered friends anymore.

"NO!" Scott and Lydia jolted in surprise at Stiles's shout, a tinge of hurt following when Stiles glared at them with venom in his eyes. "No, you can't do this to me! You can't expect me to run back into your arms, happy and ready to be of your service when you spent weeks avoiding me, declining my calls, and making your mom lie and say you were busy every time I was at your house! You don't get to ignore your best friend for a couple weeks, and then suddenly come running back because you need me. What the fuck Scott, I thought we were brothers. I thought we'd face everything head-on together. You can't just pretend I don't exist one day and talk to me the next thinking we're okay, only to drop me again.

"… I was there when you needed me, but where were you. WHERE THE FUCK WERE YOU, SCOTT? You already took my friends, my family… What else do you want? Huh? I gave you everything and you gave me nothing, not even a fucking thank you. You just threw me away like a piece of trash," his lungs hurt from shouting, voice sounding so broken to his ears, not to mention finally voicing his insecurities had taken a toll on Stiles's mental state. Stiles was not in a good place and Scott and Lydia weren't making things any better. It's hard to ignore all the cruel words his brain spat at him on the daily, especially when he had no reason to not believe them. Stiles was all alone. And he was tired of everything, Stiles just wanted to be left alone.

"Just, Sc– " choking in anguish, Stiles couldn't bring himself to say Scott's name out loud. "Just go. I'm done, I'm done with all this crap. I'm not gonna try to fit in when I know I'm not wanted."

Scott and Lydia may have looked hurt before, but now they were wrecked with disbelief, guilt that they had left Stiles to stew in his self-hatred, believing that they had tossed him aside.

"Stiles, no. Buddy, you don't understand– " Stiles shook his head, tears were beginning to pool in his eyes; no, he wasn't going to cry in front of them, not today.

"Save it," in Scott's haste in trying to comfort him, Stiles made his escape, sliding around Scott and rushing for the door.

Don't look back, don't look back, Stiles kept chanting in his head. They're lying, they never cared about you. They needed something from you, didn't you see the look in their eyes, you're just a means of use, cast away when everything is done and through.

Stiles covered his mouth with his hands, trying to keep his sobs at bay. It hurt so bad, he cared so much and they just… they just didn't. As pathetic as it sounded, Stiles would have forgiven them had Scott apologized, no matter how insincere the apology. Stiles had nothing to lose at this point, he had fallen too deep and he couldn't seem to find his way back up.

Realizing that Stiles couldn't attend class looking like this, he staggered past his locker, falteingr when he came upon the exit to the parking lot and with a single glance back, Stiles walked out, heading for his jeep. The last thought that ran through Stiles's head were the sight their faces, if they really cared so much, why did they let him go?

They let Stiles leave, and that hurt the most.

.

Scott stood in the empty classroom, feeling hollow, chesting constricting in despair. He couldn't believe it, his long-time best friend was done with him. This– this isn't right, this can't end here. Especially not when they need him now, when Scott needs him.

Lydia had kept quiet the entire time, only making her presence known after Stiles had stormed out, hand curling over his shoulder gently, "We'll fix this, we'll make it right. We have to Scott... Or else they're both gonna break."

The two stood next to each other in sorrow silence, before they parted to their respective paths.

.

It's been over a month since Jackson disappeared and nobody in the pack has been able to catch him. Tracking down Jackson was the easy part, but trying to catch him was next to impossible. The closest anyone's gotten was the one time Scott distracted Jackson with news about Stiles, but even that wasn't enough to keep Jackson at bay. Especially since Jackson had managed to shift into his wolf form, something even Derek hadn't learned. However, nobody was sure how Jackson had mastered the shift, Deaton thinks it's either because Jackson had fully immersed himself in his wolf instincts or if it was an ability Jackson gained through his true mate bond.

Whatever was the reason, Derek was annoyed, Jackson's shifted form gave him a bit of a speed advantage. Any time one of the betas came close, Jackson managed to dart away in time, escaping all of their ambushes and traps. Derek was tired of Jackson's game of hide-and-seek.

"Jackson, you little piece of shit, stop hiding and come out here. Show your face like a real wolf," Derek growled out, his patience wearing thin. If only they had known beforehand that Jackson was going to blow up and run away, Derek would've caught him then and there. But he hadn't and now they were scouring the woods, looking for the stupid werewolf.

Grumbling in his head, Derek paused on a branch when a streak of gold zipped by in his peripheral. It was only pure luck that Derek had caught Jackson's scent on his way to check Stiles's house, but even knowing the wolf was around didn't make spotting Jackson any easier.

He scanned his surroundings before he heard a branch snap to his left and spotted gleaming blue eyes shining in between some tall pine trees, Jackson stood still, staring right at Derek as if taunting Derek to come after him. And that was it, Derek leaped from the branch and tore after him, swearing and hurling threat after threat at Jackson who only howled in response as if he were mocking Derek. The little shit probably was, Derek's mind supplied.

Derek had almost caught up to the blond, his hand coming so close to Jackson's back hind legs, but it was futile. A particular kick forward and Jackson sprang across the cliff, landing on the other side without a scratch. Without pause, Jackson continued running forward, not giving Derek a second glance.

Derek growled in frustration at failing to catch Jackson once again, pulling back his arm to punch the tree next to him when an arm came from out of nowhere and grabbed him before he could strike.

"Derek," of course it was Scott, Derek growled even louder. When Scott wouldn't release his wrist, Derek bared his teeth at the Alpha, eyes flashing with promises to rip Scott's hand off if he didn't let go. "Derek, calm down. I talked to Stiles."

That last sentence had caught Derek's attention, it's been a while since he had seen Scott's partner in crime. A bit odd, but Derek didn't care enough to ask and instead stretched his arm out, feeling tingles shooting up his spine as he shook the stiffness out. "What did Stiles say?"

Scott scratched the back of his neck sheepishly before responding, the air growing thick in sadness and guilt, "He– he said he was done. I, I tried, but he wouldn't listen. Derek, I can't lose my best friend! And Jackson too, he may be an asshole, but he's Jackson. But, Stiles, urghh— I don't know what I did. Maybe I should've talked to him earlier, but I got a little busy, and I kind of forgot. But god, he is so mad at me… He told me we weren't friends anymore, Derek. I can't— I need him. He's my best friend!"

Derek stood awkwardly as Scott rambled on about his encounter with Stiles, not really sure how to comfort the younger as Scott grew more hysteric the longer he kept talking. When Scott took a second to breathe, Derek cut in, interrupting his frenzied sentences.

"I'll try to talk to him, see what's up. Stiles already hates me, what's the worst he could say to me," Derek shrugged not knowing how his visit could top Scott's terrible experience. After reassuring the Alpha that he'd go visit Stiles, Derek told Scott to do one last perimeter check since Jackson was still roaming around. In a much better mood, Scott nodded, looking relieved that Derek was going to help, and flashed a crooked smile before he ran off.

Wasting a bit more time loitering, Derek finally left towards Stiles's house again, cursing Jackson the whole way there for leading them on this absurdly long goose chase.

.

"Go away, I don't like you." Derek sighed, hanging haphazardly over the window, knocking again, watching as Stiles began to grow frustrated with him.

"Why can't you fucking wolves knock on doors like normal people?! Guess what, even if you knocked now, I still wouldn't open the door. Now shoo, go away, I'm not going to let you in. And if this is about Scott and Lydia earlier, then you can go fuck yourself!" Stiles shouted through his window, pulling the curtains closed, muttering more curses and other nonsense about nosey werewolves not understanding that Stiles wanted to be left alone.

"Leave. Me. Alone. Got it wolfy, you have super hearing for a reason, you should use it some time, it could do you a lot more good." Derek rolled his eyes even though Stiles couldn't see him and tried knocking louder, more harshly, hoping Stiles would let him in soon because he was done hanging around in trees and roofs.

"No! You're lucky my dad isn't home Derek Hale, or you'd be dead meat. Hey, you know what? I think I'd rather you be dead meat because at least then you wouldn't be able to bother me. I'm tired of your shit. Stupid werewolves, can't take a hint, get out of here!"

Derek finally gave up, if Stiles wasn't going to let him in, then Derek wasn't getting in. And the hell was he going to break in, as accelerated as his healing was, Derek would much rather not deal with pulling out bullets from his body. Fuck it, Derek was leaving, jumping off the landing smoothly and he ran back to his house.

.

Stiles sighed, flopping down on the bed with his back towards the ceiling. Groaning loudly, Stiles grabbed a pillow and shoved his face into it to scream in hopes of unloading his frustration without disturbing his neighbors.

Why couldn't they take a hint, he didn't want anything to do with the pack if they were going to treat him like shit. Especially Scott, fuck no was Stiles going to deal with Scott's bullshit. And Derek was annoying, but at least he stopped bothering Stiles eventually. Lydia and Issac were annoying too, but Lydia more because she knew about Stiles's old crush on her and used it to his advantage. Issac kept sending him puppy eyes, begging the other to talk to him again like they had done in the field, but Stiles was not backing down. That moment with Issac was a lapse in his judgment, Stiles had been desperate, looking for any kind of comfort, but Stiles swore to never crumble like that again, least of all in front of the pack.

Peter's been MIA since and Stiles wasn't too worried about him, but Stiles was curious about Jackson. After finishing his transformation into a werewolf, Jackson had returned to normal, still acting like a douchebag as always, but then he left mid-semester. Did Scott really let Jackson leave for London without a second thought? There was no way, right? Scott cared too much, and if Jackson was not in full control of his senses and instincts. Scott wouldn't have let the new wolf up and leave without any training.

Was Scott trying to ask him about Jackson?

But why Stiles, the last time Stiles saw him was in Harris's class, but Jackson had left early; Danny and Scott walking him to the nurse. Stiles knew werewolves don't get sick, but there must have been something up with Jackson, right?

But the Alpha pack was still around. And Stiles wasn't as involved with the situation anymore since Scott had been ignoring him, but the pack must be looking out for each other, they should be… but what if they aren't, what if Jackson's absence was just a cover and the Alpha pack have Jackson held hostage. Would anybody even care, does anybody even know? All the theories kept building in Stiles's brain and it was beginning to overwhelm his mind.

Fuck it, it was still early Stiles decided, it wouldn't hurt to check. What's the worst that could happen? He knows the pack have been patrolling the woods, so they should be safe from any supernatural.

Rushing down the stairs, Stiles pulled on a warm jacket and grabbed his car keys, heading for the door. On his way out, he managed to nab a flashlight and deemed it good enough with his baseball bat still in his jeep and pulled out of the driveway, thanking the fact that his dad was on the night shift till the early hours of the morning, which left him with plenty of time to look for Jackson and to get back before his dad noticed he was even gone.

.

"Oh my god, this was a bad idea. Such a bad idea. I'm gonna die and no one's gonna save me. No one's gonna hear my cry for help. Oh god, I'm gonna puke. Oh my god! OH MY GOD!" Screaming for help, Stiles scrambled across the ground, hands patting the ground in search of his baseball bat that Stiles lost after he took a rough tumble when he saw something move in the bushes.

Stiles kept inching back slowly, regret racing through his thoughts for not telling anyone he was out here. Holy shit, Stiles was going to die— and it was going to be a very painful death by the sounds the animal was making.

Slowly backing up, Stiles whimpered in fear, eyes darting in the darkness, chest squeezing in fear when he wasn't able to make out anything with his pathetic human eyes. Stiles's breathing began to sound rough, finding it hard to breathe when he was on the verge of death, another howl rang through the night, and Stiles jerked up in surprise, recognizing the howl. Trying to control his heartbeat, Stiles slowly meets the gaze of the wild animal in front of him, his amber brown eyes finding sharp blue ones.

Hold up… Stiles knew those eyes, those were werewolf eyes! But they were blue, and the only ones with blue eyes were Derek and Jackson. Stiles didn't know if either of them could shift into this form, and for all Stiles knew, this could be some bloodthirsty omega out to kill Stiles. But the wolf didn't attack him, instead the werewolf had crept closer to Stiles when the human was distracted, seizing the opportunity when it noticed Stiles had calmed down a bit. Fuck it, if the wolf wanted to kill him, it would have done so already.

"Here doggy, doggy. Aren't you a good boy? Come on, nice and easy there buddy. Stiles is very human and can bleed to death, so please don't eat me– good wolfie. Oh god, okay maybe dog jokes will get me killed faster, I didn't mean them. Sorry, oh god, I don't even know if you can understand me," the wolf was now close enough for Stiles to reach out and touch if he wanted to, its head resting on its front paws trying to look as small as possible when it noticed it had scared Stiles earlier when it had growled. "Oh my god, I could be talking to a mentally insane werewolf stuck in this form. And how ironic that it's not my first time. Okay, no more rambling, okay no growling, good wolfie. Stay, don't attack. Stiles is very pale and fragile and will break under werewolf strength, okay?" Stiles held one of his hands up as he used the other to slowly push himself up, trying to maintain eye contact with the wolf.

That's it, he was doing good, Stiles was almost up on his own two feet when he somehow managed to trip in his attempts at getting up and turned only for a second to catch his balance not knowing that it was useless as the blonde wolf took the chance and pounced on Stiles, the two falling on the green, mossy floor.

"OH MY GOD! BAD WOLF, NO! DON'T DO THAT TO ME— Oh my god, are you… are you licking me? EWWW, werewolf slobber, that's disgusting. Okay now off, I'm serious, off." Stiles pushed back the blond's muzzle that kept pushing itself into the junction between Stiles's neck until he finally gave up and laughed, patting the wolf's flank in amusement.

"Well, it's nice to meet you, buddy," Stiles grinned softly as his hands carded through the soft fur. "So, who are you? Definitely not Derek, he was at my window earlier today and I know Derek doesn't know how to shift into this form yet."

It couldn't be Jackson right? There was no way, everybody said he was in London… But was that a lie, if this was Jackson, the rumor would have been the perfect coverup, no one would've questioned it. But there was no evidence that this could be Jackson expect his eyes. Stiles didn't even know if Jackson was able to shift into this wolf form, there's a possibility though, Jackson could've learned how during his time as a kanima.

Taking his chances, and Stiles's small glimmer of hope that this was Jackson, Stiles called out his name.

"Jackson?"

Stiles held his breath, watching the wolf, waiting for any kind of reaction indicating that he had guessed right.

The werewolf's eyes had flashed once before returning to its fluorescent blue werewolf eyes, but that split second was all Stiles needed. There was no mistaking Jackson Whittmore's piercing blue eyes.

Review! Till Next Time!

Word Count: 4090

Uploaded: 02.26.17 || 12.28.20

Edited: 02.25.17 || 12.28.20