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Okay so this is not an episode/chap. It's more like a filler chapter. I planned on writing 'WOLF'S BANE' this weekend but I got hit with the flu and have been sleeping and sneezing all weekend. Yuck. But I got this scene stuck in my head and had to write it down. So you guys can have this for now and the next episode/chapter will be out hopefully by the middle of the week.

This filler chapter picks up from where it left off in chapter 11. Everyone wanted more StORI so...

Chapter 12 - Ladders

Oriana unlocked the front door as quietly as possible, making sure to keep the rest of her keys firmly in her palm so they didn't jingle, and holding her boots in her other hand. She listened for a few seconds, hearing only one heartbeat in the house coming from the second floor, before quickly opening the door, stepping inside the dark hallway and closing the door behind her just as swiftly. In her experience, trying to open a door slowly actually caused more noise then if you just swung the damn thing open. And she had a lot of experience sneaking in and out of places.

After locking the front door behind her she gracefully made her way to the staircase in the dark, thanking god for her wolf senses. She successfully made it to the guest room without making a peep, not actively searching for the heartbeat again, presuming it was in the room opposite hers. She gave a sigh of relief once the door was closed behind her and flicked the light on.

"What time do you call this?"

"Ah!" She jumped as if she was part-cat instead of part-wolf.

Stiles was sitting comfortably on the window seat to the right of the room, with his arms crossed and an overprotective stern face. The Marvel sleeping bottoms and matching red t-shirt ruined the look, however.

She scoffed. "Sorry, dad." She threw her shoes on the wooden floor in front of the double bed that sat in the middle of the wall opposite the door, seeing no need to be quiet anymore.

She ignored Stiles' wary eyes as she shed her leather jacket, hooking it on the coat peg on the back of the door and pulled her hair up into a ponytail.

She knew John wasn't home, due to the absence of his car in the driveway but still made the effort to sneak in because she wanted to avoid this very scenario.

"Did you find Scott?" Stiles asked, his amber eyes watching her busy herself by removing any remaining make-up from her face with one of the wipes she kept next to her small bag of make-up on top of the dresser against the left wall of the room.

"Yep."

"How did you get him home?"

"Derek helped."

Stiles' eyes widened in surprise. "He's alive, then?" He winced after the words slipped out. He honestly hadn't meant to sound so surprised but...he was.

Her back tensed further, if that was possible. He couldn't see her face, as she stood with her back to him but he had an idea of what it would look like.

"I told you he was alive." She told him stonily.

He nodded quickly. "Yeah - Yeah, I know. I just meant - "

"It's late."

He stopped.

"It's been a long day. You should get some sleep."

He nodded and stood wordlessly, recognizing her straining tone. It was best to leave it for tonight. It was still the full moon after all.

He stopped halfway to the door and blurted out the question that had been playing through his mind on repeat all night. He needed to know. He couldn't wait until tomorrow.

"Why did you kiss Scott?"

She gave a small, humorless, chuckle.

"What?" He bit out, hurt at her reaction. He desperately watched the back of her head for any clues as she looked down at the wood grain of the oak dresser, her hands braced on either side of it as if she needed the support to keep herself standing upright.

"What does it matter?" She asked. Petty as it may be, she didn't want to admit to it being a lie right away. He'd hurt her earlier and if the thought of her kissing Scott gave him even the teeniest stab of pain (though due to his feelings for Lydia, she didn't know why it would), then she'd let him endure it.

"What does it - ?!" He sputtered in disbelief. "It matters. It matters and you know it!" He cried, referring to their shared looks, kisses and intense unexplainable connection.

After a pregnant pause she responded through gritted teeth. "What do you care?"

"I care because you kissed my best friend!" He shouted, feeling his cheeks heat up with anger. "You kissed Scott. Why would you kiss Scott?!" His voice shouted, ranging in pitch.

"Why do you care?!" She shouted back, still facing the wall.

"Because you're my - !"

"Nothing!" She screamed, finally turning to face him with electric blue eyes. She threw the make-up wipe she'd been using to the floor in anger, though the thin piece of cloth only drifted to the floor.

He wanted to take a step back, remembering that it was still the full moon and wising that he had just left it for tomorrow.

"I'm your nothing!" She continued almost shaking in fury. The hurt in his eyes made her want to cry, hug him, kill herself and laugh all at the same time. And this only served to fuel her rage.

"You don't get to be mad at me right now! You have no right." She spoke spitefully. "Not when you had Scott ask Lydia if she liked you. Not when you were excited when he told you she did. Not when you drove Scott over the edge tonight in some sick act of revenge, because he kissed her. And certainly not when you've been playing me this whole time."

His face has gotten paler, his eyes wider, and his chest tighter with every crushing word.

"I didn't know..." He trailed off with a whisper.

"That I knew? Yeah." She laughed bitterly, her eyes finally fading to their usual pale green but were glossy with unshed tears.

"I heard you talking with Scott at practice earlier. Werewolf remember." She vaguely pointed to her ear his confused look.

He looked down in shame, remembering the excited questions he rambled at Scott and the exact reaction he gave when his questions were answered positively. He didn't know she was there, let alone listening. And, honestly? At the time he didn't care.

"You know at first I thought you were talking about me." She gave another fake laugh. "Pathetic, huh?" A lone tear escaped her left eye and slowly trickled down her cheek.

He swallowed thickly, his own eyes glistening.

"I was sitting there thinking 'Why did he ask Scott to see if I like him? Isn't it obvious?!', and then; 'But Scott hasn't said anything to me?'." She smiled falsely. "And then Scott said Lydia's name."

A tear escaped their right eyes simultaneously.

"And I realized how stupid I was."

He shook his head weakly but the lump in his throat stopped him from speaking. Not that he'd even know what to say to make this right. If he even could.

"I realized what I really was to you. A distraction. Practice." Oriana glared. "Until you could get the girl of your dreams. Lydia." She spat the name. "You probably had a good laugh, huh? The poor little orphan girl, the lone wolf, so desperate and easy." She repeated the words that had been used on her before, ones that sometimes starred in her nightmares. Accompanied by the original user of course.

"I bet Scott was in on it too. He was probably using me too, 'cause I'm the only other semi-sane werewolf in Beacon Hills." She accused with a hysteric laugh as she started pacing, almost forgetting Stiles was in the room at all, just speaking her thoughts out loud.

"And my scars!" She laughed. "I can only imagine the conversations you had about them!"

She didn't even realize what she was saying, the words just flowing from her mouth; stemming from a dark place deep within that was dominated with insecurity, self-hatred and paranoia. The full moon was still in effect; causing her out of control hormones to expose her overwhelming negative thoughts.

"I never told Scott about your scars." Stiles frowned, disgusted at her assumption. "And I never laughed at you. You aren't a game, Oriana! Or a distraction or pathetic or - anything else you just said!" He shouted, his throat suddenly clear. He felt sick after her talk, and he wanted to give himself a firm kick in the balls but he had to set the record straight before he lost her forever.

She shook her head and continued to pace. He strode over to her with determined eyes and held her shoulders firmly to still her. When she finally made eye contact with him he continued, looking into those anguished big green eyes.

"I like you, Oriana. I like you a lot."

She shook her head in disagreement and opened her mouth to deny it but his big hands gently held her beautiful golden toned face between them, he had to bend his neck down and tilt her head back to catch her eyes again. He spoke with such sincerity, passion, finality and authority that Oriana had to stop and listen.

"You are not stupid. You are not pathetic. You are not a distraction. You are not practice." He glared at her a little. "You are not easy or desperate. You are not a game. And you are not ugly." He let his right hand drop to her left bicep where, underneath the long sleeved black jumper, resided one of her scars. She closed her wet eyes and inhaled a shaky breath.

"You are beautiful. You are funny. And smart. Loving and protective. Bitchy and sarcastic. Adorable and dorky." He gave her a soft, adoring smile.

"You're scary and mean. Innocent and soft. You're so complicated and so simple at the same time. Being with you is so hard and so easy. You are unlike anyone I've ever known and you make me feel things that no one has ever made me feel." He cupped her between both hands again, his thumbs gently caressing her wet cheeks, catching tears as they fell. Her hands came up to gently grasp his wrists and he stepped closer, their chests almost touching.

"You have ten foot walls around your heart and you don't give out ladders easily, but when you do..." He pursed his lips and shook his head slightly, looking deep into her eyes. "When you find someone lucky enough to get a ladder, it's the most precious and rarest gift in the world."

Her hands shakily ran up his arms and grasped his shoulders. She stood up on her tip-toes and slanted her lips over his softly. He closed his eyes and savored the feeling of her soft plump lips on his, her sweet feminine scent, the feel of her petite body pressed against his. The only thing he didn't like was her tear soaked cheeks brushing against his.

He gently pulled back to look into her almost translucent green eyes once more.

"I'm so so sorry that I hurt you. I can't promise that I'll never hurt you again; but I can promise you that I'm going to try, with every ounce of my being, not to. And I promise that I'm going to make this up to you." He smiled sheepishly. "And I hope that one day I can prove to you that you can trust me enough, to give me a ladder."

He was once again pulled into a deep kiss and he wrapped his arms around her eagerly. She pulled away for a second, a newly ignited sparkle in her eye.

"By the way, I didn't kiss Scott."

"What?!"

The beaming smile she gave him literally made his heart skip a beat.

So...that happened...thoughts?

Can someone please tell me if the whole 'ladders' thing makes sense, because I just made the analogy up when I was writing this and it made sense in my head but I don't know if I conveyed it properly. Or you could just tell me if I'm being paranoid and it made total sense and I'm asking stupid questions. I'm sorry; I'm sick so my brain is all foggy. Review please! ")