Chapter 2

Season 3A

The next time someone suggested that sleeping inside a school bus was a good idea, Lydia was going to punch them in the throat. She thought that by leaning her head against the cool window would help her get some sleep, but after her third time waking up, she figured that the endeavor was fruitless. Lying down on the seat wasn't an option either, since the seats on the bus were so short, you either had to stretch across the aisle and thus have part of your back unsupported, or you had to try and cram yourself uncomfortably on one seat, and compression wasn't conductive with sleeping.

Realizing that she wasn't going back to sleep, she lifted her head up, and attempted to crack her neck, before laying her head on the back of the seat and staring up at the ceiling. She was glad that yesterday was finally over, from Scott not healing out of guilt and nearly dying, to the fact that all the werewolves went crazy and were attempting to kill themselves, seemingly in an attempt to add three more sacrifices.

She could deal with what happened to Isaac, Boyd, and Ethan easily, mostly because she wasn't all that close with any of them, especially considering that one of them was part of a killer Alpha pack, while the other two had tried to kill her in the past. It didn't mean that she didn't feel for them, in fact, she understood a little too well about having personal demon in one's past.

What was much harder to deal with was Scott. They had almost lost him twice in less than a day, once in a dirty rest stop bathroom and again in a puddle of gasoline. She wasn't sure which one was worse. Seeing Scott visibly dying and realizing that he wasn't healing out of guilt had affected her greatly. It had made the danger they were all in seem so much more real, but she knew it wasn't that scene that had shaken her so much.

He seemed so broke and hopeless as he stood there, road flare in hand, covered in gasoline. It was in direct contrast to the Scott McCall she knew, the boy who was a blinding beacon of hope and always tried so hard to save everyone, but maybe that was the problem. Whatever was effecting the four of them, had obviously convinced him that he was the problem, and that the only way to save everyone else was to remove himself from their lives. It was honestly one of the worst things she ever had to witness, and seeing him in such a state broke her heart.

The only thing that she didn't understand was how this fit in with the other sacrifices. First and foremost, the sacrifices were in groups of three, yet four werewolves were affected. She also didn't understand how werewolves fit in with virgins and warriors. She briefly entertained that maybe last night had nothing to do with the Darach, but then why did she see him in the flames? She couldn't help but notice see how Stiles thought that the whole thing was similar to when she had been forced to poison everyone with Wolf's Bane, but she couldn't make the pieces fit together.

She heard movement a few rows in front of her, as if someone was struggling to get comfortable in their seat. A few seconds later, the sound came again, this time accompanied by a groan. When it happened a third time, Lydia peered over the top of her seat to get a better look and saw that it was Scott, who was apparently sleeping fitfully. When one of his jerk movements had him hit the wall next to him, she got up from her seat as quickly and quietly as she could and sat down in front of him.

"Scott?"

"no, no!" she heard him mutter, as he continued to fidget restlessly. She figured he was having a nightmare, as he continued to plead in his sleep. "Let them go", "It's me you want", and "it's all my fault" were some of the things that came from his mouth as his thrashing slowly became more violent.

"Scott?", when he didn't wake up immediately, she began shaking his shoulder, "Come on Scott, wake up." After a few moments, she began to shake him harder, when his eyes shot open, glowing, and he captured her wrist in a clawed finger, before he realized what was happening.

"Lydia," he looked down and saw the vice grip he had on her wrist, "Oh my god, I'm so sorry."

"It's okay. You were having a nightmare. I tried to wake you, but it seemed like it was a bad one."

He didn't respond to her, his features growing sullener as he looked at towards the motel, specifically, to the area where he had almost taken his own life, still covered in gas.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

He closed his eyes and furrowed his brows. It was clear that he didn't want to talk about it, because that was the kind of guy that he was. Scott would bear everyone else's burdens if it meant that his friends could be happy, and quite frankly it annoyed her. She admired him for it, but it still annoyed her. Finally, he looked up at her, eyes filled with hurt and doubt.

"Everyone around me keeps getting hurt. I try to keep people from getting hurt, or worse die, but I keep failing over and over again."

"That's not true Scott. You saved me from being killed by Derek, it was you who wanted to save Jackson instead of killing him. You saved Boyd and Cora and prevented whatever catastrophe they would've cause. That doesn't sound like failure to me."

"But it's all my fault Derek's dead. You weren't there. I was the one who made Ennis fall, before he took Derek with him. I let my anger get the best of me, and it cost him his life."

She put her hand on his shoulder again, hoping the gesture would provide even a small amount of comfort. "You couldn't have prevented that. You can't blame yourself for all the deaths that are happening. Blame the Alphas, blame the Darach, but don't blame yourself."

"I don't know Lydia. It's all starting to seem pointless."

She put one hand on his chin and turned him so that he looked directly into her eyes. "If you lose hope Scott, if you give up, then even more people will die. If you truly want to help people, then help. When you think it's pointless, just remember everyone you did save. They don't think you're a failure, and neither do I."

She was relieved when a small smile graced his face. Even if her pep talk wasn't the greatest, and that he wasn't entirely convinced, she was glad that she could help, even if it was only a little bit.

They sat in a comfortable silence for what felt like forever. Her hand was still on his shoulder, her hand occasionally ghosting across his upper back. Despite her own words, she couldn't deny that she too felt that maybe they were in over their heads. They were teenagers, juniors in high school, and they were up against ancient powers and crazy werewolves. If people like Derek couldn't beat them, how could anyone expect them to.

Her train of thought reminded her to the conversation she had with Scott a few months ago. Thinking back on the time he brought her home drunk and she attempted to seduce him, she couldn't help from being embarrassed about her actions. She knew so little back then, had such a small grasp on what went down in Beacon Hills, and demanded that she be told. She still felt that she was right, but recent developments helped her understand where her friends were coming from.

"I'm sorry."

Her seemingly out of nowhere admission startled Scott a bit, not expecting her to interrupt the silence so abruptly.

"What are you sorry for?"

"For what I said before, when you brought me home from The Jungle that one night."

"Oh," whatever he expected her to say, it definitely wasn't that. He stammered a but, caught completely flatfooted by her words, until he was eventually able to string a sentence together. "Don't worry about it. We shouldn't have kept you in the dark like we did. You deserve to know."

"Yes, but the way that I went about it wasn't right. I acted like a child and you guys were just looking out for me. When I demanded that stuff, id didn't think it was anything like this." She paused trying to compose herself. She was getting a little emotional as everything that had happened since that night flashed in her mind; the deer, the bodies, the disappearance, and to top in all off, the voices she heard last night. "I get it now. I can't defend myself, so you guys were trying to keep me away from all this. I'm grateful you finally let me in, but…I guess what I'm really trying to say is Thank you. Thank you for looking out for me, for being a good friend."

She could tell that Scott was touched by her words. This was the first time that she had ever truly acknowledged their friendship. At first, they had hung out together, and she wasn't averse to being seen talking to him, and though Scott had shown through his words and actions that he cared for her greatly and valued their relationship, she had yet to reciprocate.

Scott was slowly becoming one of her best friends, possibly only second to Allison. When she had met the brunette, it had been a high school hierarchy thing, but over time, her and Allison became true friends, not the superficial ones that made up most of her other relationships, but a person who genuinely supported and cared about her. Now when she looked at it, somewhere along the way, the boy in front of her had also sneaked his way into that niche group, and Lydia couldn't be more thankful.

"Thank you, Lydia. I'm glad you feel you can open up like this. I'm glad you're part of my pack."

Lydia was elated that he too felt that they were friends, but it was more than that, he wanted her to be a part of his pack. Feeling overwhelmed, she couldn't stop herself from leaning forward and pulled him into a hug, kissing him briefly on the cheek. She thought she had made a mistake, when she felt him stiffen, figuring that she had went a little too far with the kiss, but her fears were refuted when she felt him return the embrace. Pulling away, they both settled into their seats, smiles on their faces, as they attempted to fall back asleep and finally get some rest.

AN

Here's chapter 2. A little on the shorter side, but I think I got my point across nicely. I tried to describe Scott and Lydia's relationship at this point in the show and used their encounter in the last chapter as progression for them.

I'll admit, I vaguely remember seeing a story that used a similar situation, but I've never been able to find it again, I thought that the events of "Motel California" would be a perfect avenue to develop their friendship.

Fair warning, the next chapter has one of those potentially romantic moments. It's not super important and it doesn't really change the story if you skip that part, but I think it that it does add a lot to their dynamic.