Kind of a heavy chapter for me. There was so much I wanted to say about Scott and what type of a friend he's been in the last few seasons but I didn't want the whole chapter to be one big rant so I put a little bit in here and then I'll do some more later on in the story. You'll understand why after you read this chapter. I promise Derek is coming very soon!
Part A-Chapter 4
"Are you nervous?" Jackson asks the next morning on the way to school.
Stiles is currently sitting at the last red light before he has to turn into the school parking lot jiggling his leg and biting his bottom lip raw. Stiles shoots Jackson a quick glance before giving in and nodding. "Kind of. I don't think Scott is going to be pissed that you're back or anything but he may be pissed that I kept it from him." He admits.
Jackson shrugs. "No offense dude, but who cares. From what you've told me on the phone Scott hasn't been around much because of Allison and Isaac, which isn't cool by the way, so he really can't blame you for not telling himself something that he hasn't even been around to hear. And if he gets in your face I'll just knock his ass to the ground, true Alpha or not." Jackson sniffs.
Stiles chuckles. "Thanks man. It should be okay. Even if he gets pissed he'll be glad to have another werewolf on our side. Just don't tell him about Ethan and Aiden, he's too close to Allison and I don't trust her anymore. Haven't since the whole thing with Kate. And please, Jackson, do not freak out if you smell Aiden on Lydia. They had a fling for a little while but they broke it off nearly a week ago okay? Just try to keep in control in case his scent is still lingering on her at all." He warns.
Jackson takes a deep breath before nodding. "Alright. I've been working on my control all summer so I should be fine. If I start to lose control I'll just head to the nearest bathroom and splash cold water on my face, which seemed to be the best way to shock my wolf back into place when I was in London."
Stiles nods. "Good. Alright, time to face the music." He says as he pulls into his normal parking space in the school lot.
All eyes immediately turn to stare the second he and Jackson step out of his jeep. Stiles turns and waves to his father who passes them and heads to the visitors lot. His phone vibrates immediately.
From dad: Go straight to the office and meet me there. I just got a call about a breaking and entering so I need to be in and out as quickly as possible.
From Stiles: Alright.
"Come on man, dad got called into the office early so we have to get to the office so he can leave." Stiles says.
Jackson follows him up the stairs and to the school's entrance. "Everything okay? Was there another death?"
Stiles shakes his head. "Not that I know of, just a breaking and entering but dads in a hurry anyway."
~! #$%& !~
"Thank god they put me in the same classes as you, I'm not sure I can take all of this staring without having a freak out or two." Jackson admits as he takes the seat right next to Stiles in English about half an hour later.
Stiles chuckles and shakes his head. "I know you've been gone for a little while but I'm pretty sure your hissy fits are still very much the normal around here." He teases.
Jackson sends him a mock outraged look and reaches over and shoves him out of his chair. Stiles cannot help the girly squeak that comes out of his mouth but he wishes he could when several of the surrounding students laugh at him. For the first time though, the laughter doesn't sound mocking or malicious. When he places himself back in his seat he glances around and sees some of the other kids shaking their heads with friendly smiles on their faces. Stiles internally rolls his eyes because it looks like Jackson still has pull over the student body, even if he has been away for several months.
Stiles looks over at Jackson and sees the older boy trying to hide a smile but not really succeeding very well. Stiles opens his mouth to through a retort when the classroom door opens and Scott and Allison step inside. Stiles instantly freezes up and holds himself stiffly in his chair. It still very much stings that Scott chooses Allison over their friendship a lot of the time.
Stiles risked his life by stepping into a gasoline circle and was willing to commit suicide with Scott yet Allison still trumps him all because she sewed him up in a bathroom. She wouldn't have even needed to sew him up if he had just get over his guilt about Derek and let himself heal. By of course Allison's deed is better than his; she's pretty and gives him the sex that they think no one knows they are still having.
Scott also freezes but his eyes are not on Stiles they are on Jackson's. Scott's eyes widen in horror and then narrow in suppressed jealousy because Jackson is currently sitting in the seat that Scott usually sits in. on any other day Stiles would be happy about Scott getting jealous over someone wanting to be near him but he's still too hurt and pissed to give a fuck.
Stiles knows its kinds of a dickhead move but he leans to the side and nudges Jackson's shoulder. "Ignore him for now. If he wants to talk he can wait until class is over where no one can everything you guy's say." he whispers.
Jackson shoots him a subtly grateful look and turns to the board without another glance to Scott. Stiles watches out of the corner of his eyes as Scott and Allison make their way to the back of the room to the last two available seats. He notes that Scott has a wounded puppy dog look about him and that Allison is glaring hard at him. Right now Stiles just doesn't give a shit about Allison. He feels a little bad about making Scott feel upset but he stopped caring about Allison the second she turned crazy the first time and shot arrows at him and Scott just because Kate told her to.
After that he made nice as long as he could but after she helped her grandfather kidnap him and then he found out about her shooting Erica and Boyd full of arrows, nearly killing them both, he stopped making nice all together and barely even looked at her whenever she came around to be with Scott.
Stiles looks her straight in the eyes and lifts his finger to flip her off. Scott is too busy looking through his backpack and trying to find something that he doesn't see it happen. Allison's eyes widen but Stiles ignores her now and turns back to the board himself. He's done letting her mess with his life. He's going to stick to his plan and get the Alpha pack out of the way and when this is all said and done he and Scott are going to sit down for a very long talk. If Scott still wants to be friends with Stiles then there are things that are going to need to change.
~! #$%& !~
As soon as the bells rings to signal that class is over both Jackson and Stiles stand up with their bags and head towards the door. They are both aware of Scott getting up to follow them so they lead Scott down the hallway and to the currently closed Chemistry classroom.
When they reach the classroom Stiles steps aside and lets Jackson and Scott enter the room before him. Stiles smirks to himself because Allison is a couple of spaces behind Scott because she's texting on her phone. With a barely hidden smile Stiles steps into the classroom and closes the door behind him and locks it quickly. He chuckles to himself when he hears Allison's body run into the door on the outside.
Scott turns around and opens his mouth to protest but stops when Stiles shoots him a hard glare. "This conversation is for the three of us, your ex-girlfriend isn't a part of it." he puts an emphasis on ex-girlfriend and watches as Scott flushes a dull red at Stiles applied tone.
"Fine." He answers instead. Stiles nods and gestures for him to go on because he knows Scott has to have questions. Scott lets out a breath. "Why are you back?" he asks Jackson.
Jackson scuffs and leans against one of the workstations. "I'm back because this is my home and I would like to finish out high school with my friends and girlfriend." He answers snidely but truthfully.
Scott goes to roll his eyes but stops himself. "You left because you didn't want to be around anyone here anymore. What changed that?" he demands.
Jackson really does roll his eyes. "I didn't leave because of that. I left because my father got transferred and I didn't have anyone to live with at the time. And for your information I stayed here for as long as I could before my father made me join him in London. I stayed with Derek for the first two months of summer because he was helping me learn control for when I had to leave and Stiles came over to the house every single night to research with me and help Derek test me. If you had bothered to be around instead of staying at home and moping about Allison being gone then you would have known that. You would have known that my father actually threatened to have Stiles' dad put me on the plane himself because I didn't want to leave." He all but snaps out.
Scott is stunned for a few seconds but that doesn't stop him from wanting all the answers he can get. "Who are you staying with now and since when did you and Stiles become best friends?"
"I'm living with Stiles until I turn eighteen and I can get an apartment in town. As for me and Stiles being friends, that happened over the summer when he started helping me. At first I tried to push him away but he just kept coming back refusing to give up until I learned control and all about anchors and things like that. When it was time for me to leave we stayed in touch through text and email and phone calls. After a few weeks of me being gone we started discussing ways to get my dad to let me come back to Beacons Hills to finish school out. What better way to convince your lawyer dad that leaving home early is a good idea than moving into the house of the local Sheriff?" he shrugs.
Scott finally turns his attention to Stiles. "Why didn't you tell me any of this?"
Stiles moves away from the door and stands with his arms crossed over his chest. "I tried. I tried telling you all summer. I started the day after I first went to Jackson about learning control. I was bitching to you about what an ass Jackson had been to me when I showed up at his house and right in the middle of me talking to interrupted me to ask me is I thought Allison would call you soon. I told you maybe and then I tried to finish what I was saying but you did it again with a different question about Allison. After twenty minutes of back and forth, me trying to talk about important stuff and you wanting to daydream about Allison I finally lied about having dinner with my dad to get to and left. Every time after that, when I would try to bring it up you were either moping about Allison or too busy stalking her Facebook to hear what I was saying. I got pretty tired of it and just stopped trying to tell you things. I let you talk about Allison and pretended to listen as you did it."
Scott has the decency to wince a little and look sorry but Stiles isn't buying it. Scott has his head so far up Allison's ass that she probably couldn't shit him out even if she tried. "You could have hit me over the head or yelled at me. Anything to get me to listen to you." he tries to protest.
Stiles' jaw drops open and even Jackson looks a little shocked. "You're kidding me?" Stiles says at the same time as Jackson says, "Did you really just say that?" Scott looks back and forth between the two of them for a moment before settling his eyes back on Stiles. "What?" he asks confused.
Stiles' face is red as he stalks over to stand right in front of Scott. "Are you seriously fucking trying to blame me for the fact that you've been acting like an ass these past few months? What did you want me to do Scott? Did you want me to act like you and follow you around twenty four seven hoping you'd throw me a bone and give me a minute of your time so I could tell you what was going on? Did you want me to pay more attention to you talk about Allison then to a newly turned werewolf who needed to learn control so he wasn't forced to hurt anymore people like he'd already been? Did you want me to drop everything I was doing and stay by you side all the time so you would know where I was yet you don't even have the decency to call me and let me know when you're not going to show up somewhere because Allison called and wanted to talk or spend time together or get a quick fuck in before her dad got home? Huh Scott? Is that what you wanted?"
Stiles is screaming by the end of his ranting questions. He's so angry right now that's he actually feels like he has a fever because he's so hot right now. He's panting so hard he can already tell he's on the verge of a panic attack and that anything can send him over the edge right now. He doesn't realize that there are arms around his waist and murmuring in his ear until his breathing begins to lessen and his heart starts to slow down.
He takes a deep shuddering breath and looks behind him to see Jackson's arms around his waist, Ethan's hand on his shoulder steadying him, Danny's hand over his heart and his soothing voice in his ear and a view of Lydia blocking his view of Scott. Stiles sags against everyone and instantly their shoulders sag and they let out a collective breath.
It is a shocking realization to realize that you may have lost one friend but you gained four from it. Stiles knew they would work together to take out the Alpha pack but he never honestly thought they would all be friends when it was over. Looking into the faces of each of them individually and seeing the concern and worry in their eyes makes him realize that they are friends now, real friends and will be even when all of this crap is over.
"I'm okay guys." He murmurs loud enough for the two humans to be able to hear him too.
"Let's get you out of here. We can relax in the auditorium during our free period." Lydia announces instead of calling Stiles out on his obvious lie.
Stiles nods and let's Danny and Ethan lead him to the door while Jackson grabs his bag. Stiles' legs feel weak so he doesn't mind when Danny takes Jackson's place at his waist and holds him up with Ethan walks directly behind him so he doesn't fall. They two boys lead him out of the class room and towards the auditorium and Stiles can hear Lydia's heels clicking along behind them. Students begins murmuring and whispering because he doesn't care at this point. He feels too good to be surrounded by friends for, really, the first time ever in Stiles' life. Before Allison came into the picture it was always just him and Scott.
At that thought Stiles' breath gets caught in his throat and his chest begins heaving. Danny curses in his ear and then suddenly he is being hefted into someone's arms and carried the rest of the way to the dark auditorium.
~! #$%& !~
Meanwhile, back in the Chemistry room, Jackson snatches up Stiles bag off the floor and growls blue eyes flashing at Scott, Allison and Isaac who has just joined them. "Stay away from Stiles Scott. You've done enough as it is. You've been doing damage for a long time you've just never gotten your head out of the sky to see it. You and Stiles were all you two had growing up. You counted on each other, you depended on each other and you told each other everything. As soon as you were bitten you've done nothing but push Stiles to the back burner and blow him off."
Jackson begins to walk away but turns back around right before he exits the room. "He's risked his life for you Scott. Physically and Mentally. When are you going to step up as his friend and do the same? It might be too late now." with those last words Jackson leaves the room and sprints down the hall when he hears Stiles' heart rate pick up and go through the roof.