Chapter Six
Lina knocked on the door to the Argent house, a container of cupcakes in her other hand. She hadn't gone to school again today, her back still really sore though it felt better now (Derek had given her an awesome back message and she made him her awesome mint, white chocolate chip cookies in response), but she texted Allison and told that they were still going to the mall. The door opened and Lina smiled when she saw Allison's father, silently glad that Kate hadn't been the one to answer. He returned the smile.
"Lina. It's good to see you're well. I heard you were at that store when the attack happened." he told her, stepping aside to let her in. "You were injured? Allison said you hadn't been to school the past two days."
She entered the house, nodding. "Not injured, per say, though I do have a large bruise on my back from where the shelf landed on me." she told him, smiling when she saw Victoria walking down the stairs. "Hello, Mrs. Argent."
"Lina." Victoria nodded to her in greeting.
"So you're the girl Allison's told me so much about."
Lina jumped and whirled around, spotting a blonde who could only be Kate leaning against the doorway that lead to the dinning room and kitchen. Seeing the woman for the first time, she could fully understand why Derek was so captivated by her. She was beautiful. "Holy shit you're beautiful." Lina blurted before she could stop herself, immediately flushing in embarrassment afterwards. "Uh, hi?"
Kate chuckled, grinning. "I'm Kate, Allison's aunt. And thank you for the complement."
Lina nodded, the reddish tint slowly fading from her cheeks. "I figured. She's told me about you, too." she stated, stomping down the hate she could feel rising up.
"Lina! You're here!" Allison beamed from the top of the staircase, Lydia beside her.
"Yup. And I brought treats." Lina lifted the container. "Birthday cupcakes."
Allison's eyes brightened. "You didn't have to do that, but thank you."
Lina shrugged. "I love to bake and your birthday was the perfect excuse to do so. Anyway, there's red velvet, chocolate, and vanilla. I didn't know what you like best, so I made options."
Allison hugged her tightly, making Lina wince a bit at the pressure on her bruise, taking the container when the mage offered it to her. Taking off the cover, she nearly drooled at the sight and smell of the cupcakes. "They look delicious." she said, grabbing one of the red velvet.
Kate grabbed one as well, taking a bite once she took the wrapper off. "These are good." she smiled at Lina, who flushed a bit when Allison nodded in agreement.
"Thanks."
"You gonna have one, Lydia?" the Argent asked the teen beside her.
Lydia hesitated before grabbing a vanilla with chocolate frosting and bits of mint chocolate. Her eyes lit up when she took a bite. She hadn't had a cupcake in forever and this was really good. Allison handed the container to her mother and quickly went to throw her wrapper away and wash her hands, Lydia and Kate right behind her to do the same.
"Thank you for the cupcakes, Lina." Victoria told the mage.
Lina smiled at her. "You're welcome. I hope you like them."
Before Victoria could respond, Allison returned and linked her arm with Lina's dragging her outside, Lydia and Kate close behind them. The four of them climbed into the black SUV, Kate and Allison in the front with Lydia and Lina in the back. Kate started the vehicle and back out of the driveway before heading down the street. Allison turned in her seat to look at Lina, a hint of concern in her eyes.
"So, how are you? Scott told me you had been hurt at that video store."
Beside Lina, Lydia tensed. Grabbing the strawberry blonde's hand and squeezing it comforting, Lina smiled at Allison. "It's just a bruise, though it's really sore half the time, but I'm fine." she reassured the brunette, grinning a bit when Lydia squeezed her hand in return.
"Well, that's good." Allison said.
Lina nodded. "Hey, Ally, would you mind teaching me archey? I've wanted to learn it since I saw Lord of The Rings. Legolas is badass with a bow and arrow." She knew it was a bad idea to ask now of all times, due to the fact that Kate was in the van, but the blonde would find out anyway since she and Allison were really close.
Allison practically glowed as she beamed at her. "Only if you teach me how to use a gun."
That made Lina wary, saying that Allison was an Argent, but she couldn't refuse when the other female was staring at her like that. It was like trying to resist Scott's puppy-eyes. "You've got a deal, Ally."
"We're here, girls." Kate spoke up as she parked.
The four got out of the SUV and Lina blinked in surprise when she noticed that Lydia had yet to release her hand. Allison linked her arm through Lina's free one and the trio entered the mall, Kate right behind them. Lina could feel the blonde's eyes on her back and it unsettled her. Lydia turned to Lina as they walked through the mall.
"I know we're here for Allison's birthday, but I fully intend on buying you a new wardrobe." she stated, her eyes narrowing on Lina as if daring her to object.
Lina's eyes widened in shock. "W-what? Okay, a, what is wrong with my clothing and b, why are you buying me a new wardrobe?"
Lydia sniffed. "If you are going to be friends with me you need to wear more than graphic tees. I've never seen you in a dress or skirt, much less heels. Though I will admit that you pull off the nerdy punk look rather well."
"Um, thanks? I don't really have a choice in this, do I?" She knew how Lydia could get, especially when it came to shopping. Honestly, the girl terrified her sometimes.
"Nope!" Both Allison and Lydia smirked at her, causing her to eye them warily.
"Now, lets go to Macy's."
Lina could only pale as she was dragged to the store, Kate laughing in amusement as she followed them. Once they entered the store and Lydia grabbed a cart, she led them to the dress section. It wasn't long after that the cart was nearly full of just dresses. After that they went to the skirts, shorts, leggings, and then tops. By the time Lina was pushed into a dressing room, the cart was nearly overflowing. Dread filled Lina as she realized she not only had to try all of it on, but also model them for the strawberry blonde and Allison. Sighing, she grabbed the nearest piece of clothing after undressing, which happened to be a dress, and put it on. It was a reddish purple casual lace dress with half sleeves and a mini party dress skirt with a belt. It showed of her legs and Lina was surprised to see it actually looked decent on her when she glanced in the mirror. She left the room and turned to Lydia, an eyebrow arched as she waited for her opinion. Lydia smirked as if something was just confirmed.
"I knew you had killer legs." she stated, making Lina flush. "Twirl."
Lina did so.
"Definitely that one." Allison commented.
"Go try on another one."
Lina re-entered the dressing room and took the dress off, putting it in the 'keeping' section before grabbing another dress. It was a deep v-neck back bowknot solid color mint green sleeveless dress that the girls also approved of. Next was a strapless banded pleated high-low dress. The top part was black while the bottom was a nice aquamarine. After that was a black lace splicing half sleeve, flared dress. A few more after those were approved of before she moved on to skirts. Her favorite out of all of them was the wine red, vintage stretch high waist skirt. After the skirts, she tried on the shorts. She blushed, again, when Allison agreed with Lydia about her having 'killer legs'. And she was not appreciating the slightly lecherous looks she was getting from Kate. Lina nearly did a happy dance when she tried on the last top, only to groan when Lydia led her to the shoes.
/*
Lina collapsed in the cafeteria chair with a sigh of relief, placing the shopping bags down and rolling her shoulders. Kate chuckled and sat beside her while Allison and Lydia went to go get the food. Lina had somehow convinced Lydia to get Chinese food, which she couldn't wait to eat. She was starving. Seriously. This shopping trip was draining her of her energy.
"Tired?" Kate asked Lina.
"Exhausted." Lina moaned. "I'm never going shopping with Lydia again. Like, ever. I've never tried on so many things in my life."
Kate laughed, turning to her. "So, you know how to use a gun.," she started.
Lina nodded. "My dad's the Sheriff and very protective. He taught my brother and I the moment we were old enough to hold a gun."
Kate nodded in understanding. "Mmm. My father was the same."
Lina swallowed the bile rising in her throat. She had enough stories about Gerard Argent to know that despite the man's age, he was extremely dangerous and didn't go by the hunters' code. "Really?"
"Yup. Also had us take self defense classes and signed me up for gymnastics."
"I tried gymnastics before. Almost broke my neck the first time I did a backflip."
Kate was about to respond when Allison and Lydia returned with the food. Lina grinned and dug into hers.
After eating, the left the mall and got into SUV, the bags filling up the back, making Lina inwardly sigh. How was she going to all of this to fit in her room? Allison turned to Lina and Lydia.
"Do you two want to sleep over? I asked my dad and he said it was fine, as long as we go to school tomorrow."
Lydia smiled at her. "I can. What about you, Lina?"
Lina blinked. "Um, I'll ask my dad, though we'll have to drop off all these bags at my house first." she said, taking out her phone to text her dad. She got a 'that's fine, but be careful' back. "He said it's fine."
"Where do you live?" Kate asked her.
Lina gave her the address before texting Derek. 'Where r u' - L
'The store. Why?'
'The girls and I are heading to the house to drop off my new wardrobe that Lydia insisted on buying. Kate's with us.'
'And u want me to stay away until you give the all clear'
'Exactly'
'Alright'
'oh, and I'm sleeping over Allison's. I promise to be careful'
'You'd better be'
Lina put her phone away and looked up as the SUV stopped in front of her house. She saw the Jeep, which meant Stiles was here, though the cruiser was gone. With the help of Allison, Kate, and Lydia, she brought the bags that were hers inside and up to her room, placing them down on the floor. She blinked when she saw Lydia going through the bags and putting a few things into one that she had emptied.
"Your outfit for tomorrow." the teen stated at her questioning look.
Lina nodded. "Ah. I'm going to tell my brother that I'm sleeping over and grab some pj's, so I'll be down in a sec." she told them before going to her brother's room, entering it without bothering to knock. Stiles jumped and flailed at her sudden entrance, nearing falling off his desk chair.
"Dude!" he glared at his sister.
She rolled her eyes. "I'm sleeping over Ally's, so I'll see you tomorrow. Kay?"
He sighed, nodding. "Got it."
She hugged him, kissing his cheek. "Love ya."
"Love you too. Now go away."
She laughed, leaving his room to go to her own. She grabbed her backpack, putting a pair of shorts and a tank top in it before getting her tooth brush and other necessities. She went downstairs and outside where the three females were waiting for her, getting into the SUV beside Lydia.
/*
Lina awoke groggily to the sound of Allison's alarm clock, opening her eyes to discover that she was spooning Lydia, who was snuggled into her. Allison was curled into her back, a hand twisted in her tank top. Allison let out a groan as she switched her alarm of, sitting up. Lina released Lydia and sat up as well, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. Allison gave her a small smile before slipping out of the bed to go to the bathroom. Lina climbed off the bed, yawning, and ran a hand through her hair as she left the room, heading for the kitchen. She blinked when she saw that Kate was already up and dressed, making coffee and breakfast. Kate turned at the sound of footsteps and subtly ran her eyes over Lina as the teen sat down, barely keeping her eyes open. Kate made her a coffee and placed it and a plate of food before her. Lina gave her a smile before downing the coffee in one go and starting on the food. Kate watched her from the corner of her eye, letting out a breath when she saw that Lina had no reaction to the wolfs bane she had mixed in the pancakes. Lydia and Allison came down a few minutes later, the former dressed and ready. After finishing her food, Lina went upstairs after thanking Kate and went into the bathroom. After doing her business and washing her hands, she brushed her teeth and hair, putting it in a braid with a few strands loose to frame her face. Going into Allison's room, she picked up the bag with the outfit Lydia had picked out for her and carefully dumped it onto the bed. She blinked when she saw the black bra and panty set and shook her head, quickly stripping and putting it on, as well as the black, thigh high floral lace stockings. Then she slipped on the dress, which had been the very first dress she had tried on, the reddish purple one. She was slipping the bow black high heels on when Lydia entered with Allison, both girls coming to a halt when they saw her.
Lydia blinked. "I so knew you were hot."
Lina flushed, coughing, as she slipped on the silver bracelet. "Thanks. I'd say you're hot too, but I'm sure you already know that."
Lydia laughed and got out her make-up kit. "I'm doing you're make-up." she said
Putting on the swirling infinity earrings, the mage nodded in acceptance. She closed her eyes when Lydia told her to, relaxing as she did her best not to twitch when she felt the makeup brush touch her skin. It didn't take long for the strawberry blonde to finish and when she opened her eyes, the other female was pouting.
"I'm so jealous. You totally pull off the Smokey-eyed look."
Lina laughed, standing. She turned to Allison, who was doing the last touches of her own makeup. "Is Kate driving us to school?"
The brunette nodded. "Yeah. You guys ready?"
They nodded and grabbed their bags. Together, the trio went downstairs where Kate was waiting for them.
/*
Walking down the hallway, Lina felt a bit self-conscious at all the stares she was receiving. Lydia noticed and gave her a reassuring smile as they approached Jackson, who was shamelessly eyeing Lina up and down. He whistled.
"Damn Stilinksi, you clean up nice." he leered at her.
She rolled her eyes at him and turned to Allsion and Lydia. "I'm going to go look for Stiles and Scott. I'll see you in class?"
They nodded, making her smile, and she walked away, heading for her brother's locker. She grinned when she saw him chatting with Scott and snuck up behind the two, which was kind of hard due to the heels.
"Boo."
Stiles jumped and whirled around, eyes wide. He froze when he saw his sister, his jaw dropping. Scott's eyes widened as well.
"Lina?" he whispered. "You're really hot." He blushed.
Stiles glared at his best friend, punching his shoulder. "Hey! That's my sister, dude! And you!" He turned to Lina. "What's with the new look?!"
"Lydia." Lina deadpanned. "She bought me a new wardrobe, saying that I couldn't only wear graphic tees and converse if we were going to be friends."
Stiles gaped.
Lina rolled her eyes, turning when she spotted blonde. "I'll see you later, Sti, Scotty." she said before speed walking to Erica, snatching her by the waist and planting a kiss on her cheek.
Erica yelped and blushed. "Lina? You look amazing."
"Why thank you, darling." she winked at the girl. "Ready for class?"
When Erica nodded, Lina linked their arms together and led her to their first class, ignoring the eyes that followed them.
/*
Lina sighed as she sat in Econ class, bored out of her mind. She started absently drawing on a clean piece of notebook paper, only snapping back to attention when Coach began embarrassing Scott. She tensed, biting her lip in worry when Stiles showed her Coach's phone, which showed Scott's heart monitor. The more Coach yelled, the faster Scott's heart beat. She was about to get Coach's attention when she saw Scott's heart rate go down. Eyebrows rising, she turned to Scott, noticing immediately that Allsion had grabbed ahold of his hand. She pointed it out to Stiles.
"She's his anchor." she whispered to him.
After class, they headed straight to Scott. "It's Her. It's Allison." they told him.
Scott stared at them in confusion.
"Remember when you told me about the night of the full moon? You were thinking about her, thinking about protecting her." Stiles started.
"And the night of the first lacrosse game? You heard her voice on the field. That's what brought you back so you could score." Lina continued.
"And after the game in the locker room you didn't try to kill her. At least not how you tried to kill us." Stiles took a deep breath. "She brings you back is what we're trying to say."
"No, it's not always true, because every time I'm kissing her or touching her-"
"That's not the same." Lina was quick to interrupt him. "When you do that, you're just a normal teenager thinking about sex." When Scott began smiling to himself, she fought the urge to face-palm. "You're thinking about sex now, aren't you?" she deadpanned.
"Yeah," Scott gave her a sheepish look.
Stiles rolled his eyes. "Look, Allison is your anchor. She gives you control."
"Because I love her." Scott said, making Lina and Stiles blink at him in shock. "I love her. I'm totally in love with her." He got a dopey smile on his face.
"That's beautiful." Stiles mocked him. "Before you go off and write a sonnet, can we please try to figure this out, because you can't be around her all the time."
"Right, sorry. So what do we do?"
"I don't know. Yet."
Oh, no." Scott groaned as an all too familiar look came on Stiles' face. "You're getting an idea, aren't you?"
"Yeah," Stiles nodded.
"Is this idea gonna get me in trouble?"
"Maybe?"
"Is it going to cause me physical pain?"
"Oh yeah, definitely. Come on." Stiles patted Scott's arm and began walking away.
"Um, I'm just gonna go visit Peter. Gemme your keys, Sti."
Stiles tossed them to her. "Don't forget to pick us up, later."
She nodded and left the school, heading to the jeep. She climbed in and started it, backing out of the parking space before heading down the street. She made a stop at Dunkin Dounuts to get an iced coffee before making her way to the hospital. After parking in the lot, she went inside, going straight to Peter's room. She blinked when she saw Derek and Peter's nurse in the room. Derek looked angry and sad as he stared at his uncle.
"We don't have anymore time." he said before turning, coming to a halt when he saw Lina. "What... the hell are wearing?"
She arched an eyebrow and glanced down at the dress. "Uh, a dress?"
He rolled his eyes. "I know that, smartass."
"I told you Lydia bought me a new wardrobe." She twirled and smirked at him. "I look good, don't I?" she said cockily, winking.
"You do. I actually can't remember the last time I saw you in a dress."
"Cora's birthday before the fire." she stated, pain flashing through her eyes at the mention of her first female friend.
Derek nodded and hugged her. "I gotta go. You staying here?"
She nodded and kissed his cheek, nodding in greeting to the nurse before she moved to she was kneeling before Peter. She grabbed his hand, a soft smile on her face. "Hey, Pete." she said, barely noticing when the nurse and Derek left. "It's great to see you." She stood up enough to kiss his cheek, then rest hers against his as a way to scent mark him. She knew it helped the healing process with his wolf.
Moving his wheelchair so it was facing the window, she grabbed the only other chair in the room and placed it beside him before sitting down, resting her head on his shoulder.
"So, I showed Derek and Stiles my painting. The big one of the whole Pack." she sighed. "I miss them. I miss you. Please wake up soon." she whispered, grabbing his hand again. "Anyway, I have a theory about all the murders that have been happening. They're connected in someway. Connected to the Argents, either Kate or Gerard. This Alpha knows something. Something we don't and I'll do everything I can to find out what it is. I know Stiles, Derek, and especially Scott won't agree with this, but I don't think the Alpha is completely in the wrong. Do you want to know why?" She leaned over so her lips were right next to his ear. "Because I know you're the Alpha, Pete."
A twitch. Lina beamed.
Awareness creeped into Peter's eyes and he turned his head slightly. "You always were to smart for your own good." he said loud enough for only here to hear. "You and Stiles."
"I take that as a complement."
He fought the urge to laugh. "Does your brother know?"
"I think he suspects. He gets this look in his eyes when the murders are mentioned." She was silent for a moment. "You killed Laura."
"... I did."
She snuggled closer to him. "I don't blame you. That fire nearly killed you and left you in a coma. I loved Laura and I love Derek, but they left when you needed them most. She didn't smell like Pack when you saw her. All you smelt was an Alpha."
Tears filled his eyes. "You and Stiles are the only reasons that I have some of my sanity."
"I figured."
He sniffed at her, stilling as a low growl left him. "I smell that Argent bitch on you. It's faint, but there. Why?"
"Kate? I'm friends with Allison and I slept over her house last night. Not to mention the shopping trip yesterday." She shuddered. "I don't like her, Pete. The way she was eyeing me," she trailed off, tightening her hand on Peter's hand.
He calmed a bit. "I'm going to kill her."
"And I won't stop you."
He smiled.