Hi guys! I know it has been FOREVER and I have no excuses except I hope you will enjoy yet another fandom piece from me! This will be a Stiles/OC story but a slow burn. I don't follow the series and things are out of order, any questions feel free to ask! Starting season 3-ish

Let me know what you think!

Chapter 1

There was a smile on her face but the pain in her eyes could melt the metal ring on her finger keeping her chained to him. She loved him at one point in time, couldn't take her eyes from him, laughter filled the now empty house. There wasn't someone that came between them, no event that changed their lives, it was just time. The days went on and they grew up, but they also grew apart. Could she actually leave someone who hadn't done anything wrong? In reality, she could do whatever she wanted to but she knew that actions had consequences; consequences that she wasn't willing to accept so she stayed.

He, however, had been braver or more self-centered than she and walked out the door without a second glance. Leaving her with a mortgage, two kids, and the guilt of letting it get to this point in the first place.

Night shift had been long and an endless run of emergencies and as much as she wanted to just sleep right there in her car she had to push through the exhaustion to make sure both kids were up and ready for school because no matter how many hours she had to work to make ends meet being a mom always came first.

She entered the house and the smell of coffee hit her nose letting her know that at least one of them was awake. Dropping her purse and keys on the end table she walked into the kitchen to see Madison asleep at the table, her laptop open next to her with a black screen. Scott joined the two women in the kitchen fully dressed, pausing only for a moment to see his sleeping sister before pouring himself a cup of coffee.

"She been down here all night?" Melissa asked with a sigh, noting her daughter was still in the same outfit as the day before.

Scott added milk to his coffee and shrugged his shoulders, "I guess so. Said she was working on a paper that was due."

"I hope it saved before the laptop died," Melissa dragged a tired hand down her face. It wasn't often she worked the overnight shift but with the increase in pay it was hard to turn down. "I appreciate you both working to help out around here but as I have always said school needs to come first."

While he was only in high school, Scott still felt like he was supposed to take care of his family. He was the man of the house, whatever that meant at seventeen, and he only wished that he could make things easier on his mom.

"Why don't you shower and head to bed. I'll make sure she gets to school."

Melissa wanted to argue but the exhaustion was just too much and she settled on an appreciative smile instead before heading up the stairs passing Isaac who was on his way down.

Scott leaned against the countertop and watched his sister sleep, the most peaceful she had in weeks. The front door swung open, Stiles stumbling through entrance before readjusting his jacket.

"We have to get going or we are going to be late for homeroom," Stiles commented as he helped himself to a cup of coffee. He nodded in greeting to Isaac as he stood next to Scott and motioned to Madison, "How's she doing?"

Scott was laid out on his bed with Allison pretending to be studying when his phone rang. He groaned at the interruption but the anger quickly left him as he heard Madison crying on the other end.

"Maddie, what happened? Are you okay?"

The concern in his voice had Allison sitting up straight, ready to leave a moment's notice.

"It came out of nowhere!" Madison sobbed into the phone, hiccupping as she tried to catch her breath. "We tried to miss it but...oh my God, Scotty there is so much blood!"

He sat at the edge of the bed, holding the phone between his ear and his shoulder as he pulled his shoes on. "Are you hurt?"

"I...I don't know. I don't think so but Rory won't wake up."

Swallowing his own nerves, he ran down the hall with Allison following him. "Listen to me, Mads, I need you to call an ambulance and then you call me back and I will stay on the phone with you until they get there, okay?"

There was a pause on the other end before she asked, "Is…is she dead?"

"I don't know, Mads."

X-X-X

Madison sat in a plastic chair outside of Rory's room, refusing to leave until she knew her best friend was okay. Melissa nearly fell over when she saw her daughter come into the emergency room but was thankful that it was mostly superficial cuts besides one good gash right above her eyebrow that needed a few stitches.

"Hey," Scott called out as he jogged down the hallway towards her with Allison right behind him. He knelt in front of his sister and she leaned forward into a hug. "Are you okay?"

She pulled back, allowing him to fully take in her injuries for himself. "I'm fine, but they won't let me in to see Rory and she was so still for so long…"

"I'm sure they are doing everything they can," Allison tried to reassure, sitting down next to her.

Stiles ran down the hall towards them, nearly taking out an elderly man in a wheelchair. He quickly apologized before stopping in front of them, his eyes wide with worry. "What happened?"

"How did you…" Madison trailed off, as he carefully leaned over Scott to give her a hug, missing the smirk Allison shared with Scott.

Scott moved out of the way, allowing his best friend to kneel where he had been. Stiles kept on hand intertwined with Madison's almost scared to let go. "I heard it on my dad's scanner and got here as quick as I could."

"There was this deer…" Madison started, pausing as she shook her head trying to make sense of it all. "We were out on the road by the preserve and it came out of nowhere."

"Deer tend to cross the road because they don't understand that there is danger that could be flying at them," Allison tried but Madison shook her head again.

"I can't even count the number of times I have been down that road. I probably could drive it with my eyes closed. I know where to watch out for deer. Besides, it didn't come from the woods."

Scott and Stiles shared a look before the latter questioned, "What do you mean it didn't come from the woods? Where did it come from?"

"It ran right at us. Right down the middle of the road. Right into the front of the car, crashing through the windshield. I swerved…I tried to miss the crazy animal but it's like it was trying to die." She paused and motioned to one of the bandages on her arm. "I'm pretty sure this one wasn't from the glass but one of its antlers. I…I got scared when I had this deer head between Rory and I and I lost control of the car…we hit a tree."

Melissa came out of Rory's room, closing the door behind her. Madison stood from her seat, nearly knocking Stiles over in the process. Melissa put her hands gently on her daughter's shoulders. "She's going to be just fine. She has a pretty bad concussion and we are going to keep her for the next twenty-four hours just for observation."

"The car…" Madison trailed off. She had worked double shifts all summer to save up for the thing. It wasn't anything special and the air conditioner didn't even work but it was hers and it was something she bought with her own money.

"It doesn't matter. Cars can be replaced. You can't," Melissa planted a kiss on her forehead. "Now get home and get some rest. I'll check in on you in the morning."

"Can I see her?" Madison tried to step around her mom but was held back.

Melissa glanced over to Scott for the briefest of seconds before shaking her head. "Not tonight. You can come by first thing in the morning. She's going to be okay but she needs to rest."

Sensing there was more to the story, Stiles came over to Madison and carefully put his arm around her shoulders. "Let's go hit the vending machine for some chocolate and then get you home."

Melissa waited until the two had rounded the corner before addressing her son and Allison, "Was this something…up your alley…or was this really just some freak accident?"

"I don't know," Scott answered truthfully. "But I'm going to find out."

"Is Rory really going to be okay?" Allison questioned, noting that Melissa didn't let her daughter into the room and she knew damn well if it was Stiles and Scott that wouldn't have gone over very well.

Melissa took a deep breath and checked down the hall to make sure Madison wasn't close enough to hear. "She will be okay and she does just have a bad concussion with some cuts from the glass."

"But…" Scott could hear the hesitation not only in her voice but the small increase in her heartbeat.

"Rory's parents know Maddie was driving and getting a call that your daughter is on the way to the hospital by ambulance puts people in a mindset that all they want to do is protect their daughter."

Scott chuckled in disbelief, using every ounce of willpower he had not to shift right there in the hallway. "They blame Mads for this?"

"Her father called Sherriff Stilinski to file a formal complaint and now there will be an investigation. We had to do a tox screen when Maddie came in to make sure she wasn't on anything." Melissa could feel the anger radiating from her son. "The results and the breathalyzer came back fine, he is just upset, and he will cool down."

Allison linked her fingers with Scotts in hopes of keeping him calm. He welcomed the contact but now he had the burden of not only making sure that this wasn't caused by something supernatural but to do his best to keep Rory's dad away from Madison.

X-X-X

Scott and Allison left to figure out what was going on while Stiles offered to take Madison home. The car ride was almost deafeningly quiet as he stole glances in her direction every chance he could get and Madison was surprised to see Stiles following her into the house.

Once the front door was closed, she finally turned to him. "Thank you for bringing me home but you don't have to stay."

"Yeah…no," Stiles shook his head, before walking over to the couch and unceremoniously falling back on it. "I'm staying."

She toed out of her shoes, "I appreciate it. I do. But all I want to do is shower right now and maybe watch a movie."

"Then go shower, I'll find something to watch," Stiles turned the television on and started flipping through the channels.

"I'm not the one that lost consciousness!" Madison snapped, causing Stiles to drop the remote from the outburst. "I don't need to be watched over. I didn't do anything wrong! I wasn't drinking, I wouldn't put her in danger like that. I swear on my own life that the deer was like trying to commit suicide because I tried to miss it. I didn't mean for this to happen!"

Stiles sat at the edge of the couch, allowing her to get her emotions out. "I know."

"It was an accident!" Madison screamed to no one in particular because maybe if she said it loud enough she would start to believe it herself. Guilt was an ugly emotion that was slithering around her like a snake, cutting off her air supply.

"I know," Stiles repeated, not moving from his spot on the couch.

Madison breathed heavily, using the back of her hand to wipe away a tear that had threatened to escape. She couldn't remember the last time she was as scared as she was tonight. All she could think of was the blood and how still Rory was laying. She really thought her best friend was dead.

"I'm going to go shower," she mumbled quietly, but knew Stiles had heard her when he sat further back on the couch and started flipping through the channels once again.

The steam and scalding water did little to ease the ache of guilt in her heart but it was well worth a try. Dressing in comfortable pajamas, she tied her hair back in a messy bun, and came down the stairs to see Stiles had helped himself to a can of soda but otherwise was in the same spot on the couch.

Sitting down next to him, she pulled the blanket around her. "Why are we watching Star Wars?"

"Wh-Why are we watching Star Wars?" Stiles pretended to be offended, moving so that he could put his arm around Madison as she laid her head on his chest. "Because it is one of the best movies out there and if you don't know that, young padawan, then we can't be friends anymore." He was waiting for her to make a sarcastic comment or even to pinch him but when she stayed quiet, he tightened his hold on her. "The accident was just that…an accident. It was not your fault. I promise."

She clearly disagreed and settled on a deep sigh. "Can you stay tonight?"

"Always."

Besides the tiny scar right above her eyebrow, looking at her he would have never known she was in an accident a month ago. Scott sighed, setting his coffee down, still holding on to the fact that the animals had been going crazy because of the alpha pack. "She's okay."

"Best friend," Rory called out as she joined the guys in the kitchen. She luckily had no scars from the accident and her father dropped the investigation against Madison as soon as Rory had found out about it.

"Still sleeping," Stiles answered her, motioning to the still sleeping Madison and if Scott couldn't hear her heartbeat he would be worried she was dead.

Rory grabbed the cup from Scott's hand and took a hearty sip of the much-needed caffeine before giving the mug back to him. He rolled his eyes but otherwise didn't object. "Go ahead, I'll get her up and moving."

"Make sure she gets to school please, I already promised mom she would be there today," Scott nearly begged Rory knowing full well it was just as likely that they would skip out.

She smiled back at him holding up three fingers, "Scout's honor."