Chapter 10 Nostalgia

The next morning at school was interesting to say the least. The pack met out in the parking lot in front of Beacon Hills High like they did every morning but it felt surreal. Instead of supernatural hijinks interrupting the dull drum of everyday life it felt like the opposite was happening. Crazy supernatural happenings were the real life now and school was a daydream pause in the greater scope of things.

On top of all that, with all the recent excitement happening the teens hadn't quite grasped that they were graduating. Sure they knew it was coming and there was the feeling of being on the verge of graduating for the last six months. But it wasn't the same as living through the last week of their high school life. This was it. No more familiar halls. No more hanging out with the pack on in the parking lot watching the early morning sunrises. It hurt.

The bell rang calling them to their last Monday of classes. Scott stopped in front of his locker and turned the same combination he had ever since it was assigned it him freshman year. The stories his locker could tell. It was empty; he had cleaned all his books out last week. He didn't need them anymore. However he shoved as many bags of tortilla chips into the locker as could fit. Every single one of Scott's classes today was having a potluck and he had signed up to bring tortilla chips to all of them.

As Scott walked down the halls for his first class, carrying a plastic bag full of chips, he was sporting a lopsided grin. He watch as a number of emotions played out on his classmates faces. There were guys laughing and roughhousing on his left, and on his right was a group of girls huddling together sobbing. In the distance ahead of him he saw an underclassman doing some last minute cramming before the final. Ah, Scott remembered those sleepless nights.

He walked into English and gave Lydia's mom, Mrs. Martin, a wave before joining his pack in the back of the room. Stiles had his laptop open and the others were crowded around it watching the streaming video. Apparently there was a body found of at a gas station outside of town. The news anchor made a stupid, insensitive pun and started talking about a cat stuck up in a tree. Seriously, what was the world coming to?

"We passed right by that gas station, tracking Kate." Isaac said pointing to the screen. He looked fairly up set. "We went by it twice and didn't even check it."

"Isaac, it's okay, man." Scott said clapping a hand on his beta's shoulder. "It looks like Kate killed him before you even got there. You wouldn't have been able to do anything but call the cops. And we've draw too much suspicion on that front anyway."

"Yeah, you're right." Isaac said taking a deep breath, "Still doesn't make me feel any better. If we had been able to keep her locked up, that guy wouldn't be dead now."

Allison took her boyfriend's hand and looked him in the eye, "I promise you, Kate is going to pay for what she's done. We'll find her and end her." She had steel in her voice and no remorse whatsoever. Isaac nodded and squeezed her hand. Scott just felt sad. Allison was such a sweet and compassionate girl when she first came to Beacon Hills. The Argents had kept her away from the hunter life and all the crazy supernatural stuff. Then Scott fell for her and dragged the whole family back into the mess. Allison's mom was dead and now she was talking about killing her beloved aunt without any sort of hesitation. Scott couldn't help feeling it was his entire fault.

"Woot, the chips are here." Stiles loudly called totally changing the atmosphere. Stile stole the bag of chips and pulled out his contribution to the days potlucks; a couple of jars of salsa and queso dip. The two best friends had decided to match foods. Scott watched with amusement as Stiles started hacking after inhaling a chip. Sometime Scott wondered if Stile chose to diffuse situations with his obnoxious personality on purpose or if it just came naturally.

For a while, at the beginning of the year, Scott had been worried about Stiles. He had been angry and more than a little volatile after the Nogitsune possession. Not to mention the constant anxiety and nervousness that surrounded the boy. He had finally talked about it, and Scott understood the need to keep the pack together. They had all sworn a blood oath to stay family and that's when they decide to move back into the Hale House after college. Stiles calmed down a lot after that.

Malia pounded on Stiles' back doing more harm than good. She definitely came as a surprise to everyone. The sheriff had opened a cold case after finding out about all the things that go bump in the night and there she was. She had lived in the woods as a coyote for years. And now she was graduating like any other high school teenager. It was rough and she was more likely to flunk than Scott was; but with the help of the pack she integrated back with society. Scott supposed there were some good things that came out of him being a werewolf. Especially considering that Stiles finally had a girlfriend.

Kira sat in Scott's lap on the desk. She was one of the greatest things to happen to Scott. Heck he'd probably be dead if she hadn't saved him from one of the Nogitsune off-color practical jokes. Scott had been going through a rough time after Alison left him and Kira showed up exactly when he needed her. She had found out that she was a Kitsune and oddly enough fit in quite well with Scott's weird pack. Actually her circumstances were very similar to Allison's. She didn't know what she was or her family legacy until her involvement with Scott brought the supernatural into her life.

To think that so many of the people Scott loved and cherished would never had hung out or even met if not for him getting bit by a crazy Peter Hale. In a weird way Scott almost felt grateful to Peter. He would never in a million years choose the bite for himself but the results of his curse weren't so bad. In actuality, he was rather blessed with the hand fate dealt him.

Thinking of fate and how lucky Scott felt made his thoughts turn to the dimension hoppers. He was sure that Genim didn't feel lucky at all. Cursed sounded more accurate. Scott didn't know if he could survive losing as many pack members as Genim had or even half as many. The alternate universe sounded like hell and Scott wouldn't wish that upon anyone.

Erica threw a bean bag at Scott's face successfully drawing his attention away from his thoughts. Because he had his hands full with Kira the hacky sack hit him. "Stop thinking so hard," Erica told him, "schools over." With that Scott was pulled into the party attitude for the rest of the day.

O0o.o0O

The School day ended early for the pack because of finals week. Everybody only had half of their usual classes. Scott wasn't quite sure but He figured the chips would survive the night in his locker. It's not like Stiles' dips which had to be refrigerated.

The pack was congregating in the parking lot before they headed back to the Hale House to deal with Peter. Scott scanned the kids streaming from the entrance. The majority of the student, who weren't graduating, looked exhausted. Scott was glad to finally be done with high school. Scott caught a glimpse of his beta and was surprised that his expression didn't match those of his classmates. Liam was sporting a grin that would normally look more at home on Scott's own face. Scott looked around the lot to see what was making Liam act so twitterpated. It came together when he waved good-bye to a pretty little brunette who waved back.

Scott grabbed the back of Mason's back pack and hauled him around to ask, "Who's that?" He was pointing at the girl.

Poor Mason, who had just walked up to Stiles' Jeep while flirting with Brett, looked suitably frightened at gaining the alpha's attention. It probably didn't help that the boy was dangling from his backpack to the point that his chucks barely skimmed the asphalt. Mason jerked around to see the direction Scott was pointing. "Oh, that's Hayden! She works at the Jungle. We went to Middle school with her."

"Isn't the Jungle a gay bar?" Scott asked Mason, setting him back on the ground.

"How do you know that?" Mason asked with suspicion. His eyes lit as he considered the older teen. Brett's eyes glazed over too as he gave his alpha an appreciative glance.

"That's not important," Scott snapped at them feeling decidedly uncomfortable. "Why is she working at a bar? Isn't illegal for her to be there let alone working for them?"

"Yup," Stiles said popping the p as he appeared at Scott's elbow. "Like that's ever stopped kids before." He gave Scott a ridiculous eyebrow wiggle. He was referring to the times that the two of them had frequented the same bar. Scott frowned at his hyperactive friend. Stiles was ruining his disapproving big brother act. He wanted their younger pack members to do better, be better, than they had.

Danny was outright chuckling at their silent antics. He knew how hypocritical Scott was being and it obviously amused him to no end. Danny further ruined the alpha's image by saying, "I think the last time I saw you guys at the jungle was the night that the Sheriff caught you."

"Yeah," Stiles confirmed digging them into a deeper ditch. "That was the night I came out to dad and he didn't believe me!" The spaz sounded affronted that John Stilinski hadn't believed his son's last minute excuse to get them out of trouble. Brett and Mason had turned their attention from Scott to Stiles. Scott was actually surprised that he couldn't see the younger teens' brains dribbling out their ears like their facial expressions suggested.

Danny was cackling by this point at his underclassmen as well as Stiles' mock pout. "Well, have you seen the way you dress?"

"That's what he said!" Stile continued to grumble. "Blatant prejudiced. Clothing doesn't mean anything. It's just a stupid stereotype." Scott didn't understand why Stiles was still arguing. He had a girlfriend and all the wolves knew he and Malia were sleeping together. The point was moot anyway.

"So Liam met her at the bar?" Scott asked still taken by surprise. He felt that he was pretty close to all the members of the pack and figured they would share who they were crushing on. Especially because Liam was like his little bro as he was the only beta Scott had turned.

Mason took a second to shake himself from his fantasies," No, they met at school. I thought I said that. Didn't I say it?"

"Ok," Scott held his hand up pacifying, "what I mean is, are they dating now? Is this like a new development?"

Brett snorted, "I'll say."

"What does he mean by that?" Lydia asked Mason. Trust the queen bee not to miss out on gossip. The other pack members had shown up by this point. They were waiting on Liam who was still flirting with Hayden.

Mason looked from Lydia to Scott to the older wolves who were eagerly listening to the bit of dirt. He was visibly wondering how much he should share with the group. He gave into the peer pressure and bit out, "They haven't gotten along for a long time."

"Understatement." Brett commented.

"Why?" Kira wondered aloud, slipping her hand into Scott's pocket to twin her fingers with his. He smiled when he got a small static shock from her.

Mason squeezed his eyes shut, not willing to tell them anymore but not seeing a way out of an explanation, "Apparently, he gave her a broken nose and two black eyes."

"On picture day." Brett pointed out making the mental image that much worse.

"Uhg," Lydia scrunched up her face as if to say there no fate more horrifying than an ugly school photo. "Why would she ever go out with him after that?"

"I don't think they're going out yet." Brett observed thoughtfully.

Mason shook his head at the his crush and temporized, "To be fair it was an accident and she did end up giving him matching bruises."

Allison whistled sounding impressed. Liam hadn't had werewolf strength at that time but he was already a starting player for lacrosse on the school team. The girls in the group shared a conspiratorial look. It must have been a full conversation because as one they turned speculative glances on Hayden. It was rather creepy.

"Hey, hey, hey." Scott told them sternly, "Hold your horses. Liam isn't going out with her yet. Besides, it's his decision to let her in on the Secret if and when he chooses." Usually the pack was also supposed to decide if any given person could be let in but it looked like the vote would be in the girls favor anyway.

"If it's anything like when he was going to tell Mason, she'll never find out." Erica huffed, pointing out Liam's difficulty with trusting people.

"Hey," Mason complained, "He told me." Then he lamely tacked on, "eventually."

"Only after you were almost attacked by a wolf at school." Brett put his two cents in.

"What!" Scott asked never hearing the story.

"Yeah," Lydia agreed propping her arms on her hips. "That doesn't sound right."

Mason was save from having to retell his harrowing adventure by Liam finally walking up to the pack. "What's up?" The boy was oblivious to the mood and was still high on his chat with his crush.

"So Hayden?" teased Aiden, the big douche.

"What about her?" Liam asked defensively eyeing the smirks his fellow wolves were sporting at his expense.

"Only that you like her." Ethan said taking up his twin's taunt.

"What! Who tol-" Liam sputtered and glared at Mason, "I mean, I don't like her!"

"Methinks he doth protest too much!" Stiles affected a horrible English accent.

Kira smiled at the younger werewolf, graciously, "It's alright to like someone, Liam. Frankly, I'm a little relieved that it's not me anymore."

"What?" Scott looked between his girlfriend and his beta, shocked. However, his confusion was ignored completely by his pack.

Liam face had turned beet red and his whole body was starting to blush when Malia asked, "What's her last name? The pack stopped antagonizing Liam to stare at the werecoyote. "What? If all of Derek's girlfriends have to go through background checks, shouldn't the rest of the pack have to go through the same?"

"The lady has a point." Stiles pointed out, coming to his girlfriend's rescue. The pack continued to stare at the couple.

"Romero," Liam confessed in the sudden silence, " Her last name is Romero."

"Is she any relation to Deputy Clark?" Stiles queried. Liam nodded in affirmation. "Oh, good." Stiles turned to the rest of the pack to explain. "She's one of dad's new deputies. She is actually one of the better ones. Too good, if you get me. If we do decide to tell them, then she'd be an asset to have in the know."

"Only if Liam decides to tell her." Scott told the girls putting his foot down."

The pack let the discussion drop and climbed into the cars. Back to the reality of confronting an insane, possibly evil, undead werewolf. Just another normal day in the town of Beacon Hills.

O0o.o0O

AN: Sorry for the short chapter. At the time I wrote this I had a new job and just started school so everything was a little hectic. It was written about the time I stopped posting. Kin, my beta, had also started going back to school.