"Hi?"

Allison waved quickly with a hand as she spoke, trying to break the silence. She could hear how hoarse her voice sounded and felt the dryness in her throat; she really needed to drink something. And eat something. But she wouldn't be able to do anything until Scott responded, which didn't seem likely to happen any time soon. He was still standing in the doorway, one hand clenching the the door as he kept it propped open. His mouth was slightly open as he just stared at her, emphasizing how uneven his jawline was. It would be adorable, if she weren't desperate.

"Could I come in?" She prompted, twisting her hands together in front of her and peering into the house. Scott nodded slowly and stepped to the side, letting her in. She thankfully crossed the threshold and then turned back to look at him as he closed the door behind her; he hadn't looked away for a second. He was gazing at her as if she would disappear if she got out of his sight. Finally, he seemed to find his voice as he cleared his throat and spoke.

"You're..." He struggled to find the words, still taking her in. "Alive?"

"I think so," Allison nodded, wincing as she tried to smile to comfort him. Every muscle was still so stiff, her expression was more of a grimace as she moved her features. "Is your mom home?"

"She's on a night shift," Scott said, shaking his head. Well, there goes a medical opinion. She'd just have to wait to see if everything was working. For now, she'd have to take care of what she could.

"Could I get a drink of water?" She asked, pointing to the kitchen.

"Oh, uhm, of course," He finally wrenched his eyes away from her as he headed to grab a glass from the cabinet. After filling it up with water from the tap, he handed it to her, his gaze now looking at her hand which gratefully grasped the cool cup. "Did you- did you have to- I mean, your hands are..."

"Hmm?" Allison was barely listening now. As soon as the glass was in her hands she brought it up to her cracked lips, the water moistening everything as she gulped at it unabashedly. Licking her now moist lips, she lowered the empty cup and followed his sightline to her hands. Her nails were bloody and broken, the red polish that had adorned them since she'd died was chipped and coated in brown. Dirt was clinging to them and streaking up her fingers and arms.

Now that she was at least partially quenched, she could see what Scott was seeing. Her entire body was coated in dirt, her dress ripped and her legs were cut in some places. Looking up and around, she caught her reflection in the window of the dining room. Her hair was wild and also had clumps of dirt caught in it. The worst part was when she met her own eyes mirrored at her. Not that there was anything different about them, they were still that deep chocolate brown that she'd grown to love despite hating them as a child. No, they were simply crazed. She blinked, trying to rid the look from her face, but no matter what she did the look remained the same. Well, she had been through quite the ordeal. Perhaps normal wasn't in the cards for her until later.

"Oh," She said simply, turning away from her reflection and back towards Scott. "Yeah, I had to dig my way out. It's actually easier than you'd think."

Scott gave her a weak smile as he dropped his eyes to the ground, deep in thought.

"Not that I'd ever want to do it again," She continued, returning the smile. The more she tried to move her face, the easier it was getting. "But Scott-"

He looked back up at her, his eyebrows furrowed against his forehead. He waited for her to continue.

"It's me." Allison had her guesses about what he was thinking. She'd be skeptical too, if her dead ex showed up on her front step in the middle of the night. "It's really me. At least, I'm pretty sure it is. Listen to my heart, you know I'm not lying."

Scott turned his head slightly. She could tell that he was listening and she knew what he was hearing; a steady heartbeat. Most people wouldn't be able to tell the pace of their own heart without taking a pulse, but once you've felt it come to a complete stop, you tend to be a little more aware (and a little more thankful) of it's constant thudding in your chest.

"Come upstairs," Scott gestured towards the stairway. He seemed a little more trusting now. "You should probably get cleaned up."

Allison made her way up the stairs, familiar with the layout of the house, and found herself in his room. It was comforting, being somewhere she knew. Smelling his scent, seeing the signs of life strewn about. Clothes were everywhere, his lacrosse stick just lying on the floor. It was a home. Not hers, but a home all the same.

"You can shower if you'd like," He opened the adjoining bathroom door for her. "It'd be easiest. There's extra towels in the linen closet and I can grab some of my mom's shower stuff so you don't smell like a guy."

"That'd be lovely, thanks," She stepped into the bathroom and grabbed one of the plush towels from the cupboard while Scott left the room. He was back within the minute, arms full of bottles. He set them down on the edge of shower and the straightened up to face her. Allison was suddenly very aware of how small his bathroom was as they stood looking at each other. She averted her eyes, uncomfortable, and crossed her arms across her chest. He took the hint, fumbling over his own feet as he stepped out into his bedroom.

"Are you hungry?" Scott asked, scratching his neck and looking away. "I mean, it's been a month since you last ate, so..."

Allison whipped her eyes back to his, startled.

"How long?" She demanded. "How long has it been?"

"Just over a month now," Scott's eyes went wide as he registered her reaction.

"Oh," It took her a moment to take in the information. It had been longer than she'd thought. She must've been already been starting to rot down there. "Sorry, I just- I didn't know. And sure, something to eat sounds good to me."

Scott eyed her warily before turning to go down to the kitchen. Allison closed the bathroom door after him then reached down to turn on the shower. She let it run as she undressed, peeling off her cardigan and dress. They were so grimy and tattered, they'd have to be thrown out. Hopefully Scott would have something to cover her with when she was finished.

The sound of the water running next to her faded as she caught her reflection in the mirror. Her first, clear look at herself, and all she can see is the scar. The one put there when the Oni's blade had pierced right through her body, tearing the skin and cutting through everything until it reached the other side. Twisting her torso, Allison could see the twin scar on her back, where the blade had entered. The scars were jagged, but neatly sewn up. The wound never had a chance to heal, but since she was dead the mortician could take his time fixing her. She almost laughed, running her fingers along the rough edge. This had killed her and now she was back. She wondered if it would heal over now that she was alive again. She decided not to dwell on it for the moment, and continued undressing.

After discarding her undergarments, which thankfully weren't too damaged in the incident, she stepped into the shower and pulled the curtain closed behind her. As the hot water hit her skin, she shuddered. She was still so cold, she rubbed at her arms to bring feeling into them. When that didn't work, she focused on getting herself clean instead.

As steam started to fill the room, she became painfully aware of just how bad she smelt. Be it the sweat, the dirt, or the lingering stench of rotting, it was terrible. She couldn't get the body wash on her body fast enough.

She scrubbed and scrubbed the dirt, watching it fall away and swirl down the drain. When she bent down to handle her legs, she saw something odd. The scrapes that she must've gotten from the cracked edges of her coffin as she struggled out of her grave were leaking. A scent was wafting from them, different from her own and that of the lemony body wash. It was harsher, like a chemical. What should have been blood pouring from her wounds was more viscous and amber in colour.

It was embalming fluid. She could tell. She'd never seen it in action before, but she recognized the smell of it from the funeral home. It was strong, it filled your nose and let nothing else in. Now that her heart was pumping, her own blood must have been pumping out what had replaced it when she was on the mortician's table. The thought disturbed her, she could see herself lying there against the stainless steel. Cold. Alone. Like a hallucination she'd once had, after she'd almost died with Stiles and Scott. Her aunt was there.

Pushing the image from her mind, Allison splashed some water against the scrapes and covered them up with suds from the soap. She couldn't deal with this right now, so instead she focused just on getting clean. Within the next few minutes, her skin felt and looked as good as new.

Her hair was a different story. The dirt had knotted it everywhere, almost creating a multitude of dreadlocks on her head. She was thankful it wasn't as long as it used to be, but it still took a long time of washing and tugging to free her hair of all the earth that had gotten caught in it.

Turning off the shower, Allison stepped out onto the bath mat and wrapped herself up in her towel. After a quick search in the bathroom cabinet, she found an old box of bandages that she used to cover the still leaking cuts on her legs. She was lucky Scott had speedy healing powers, he no longer needed his first aid kit which left plenty of supplies for her.

Pushing her wet hair behind her ears, she put her bra and underwear back on before re-wrapping herself in the towel. Her dress and sweater were lying in the garbage; she hoped she'd never have to see her death clothes again. Making sure the towel was snug under her arms, she opened the door.

Scott was perched on the edge of his bed, staring down at the plate in his hands. He seemed lost in some terrible thoughts as his knuckles were turning white as they gripped the sides of the plate. Allison cleared her throat and he seemed to shake himself out of whatever trance he was in as he looked at her. When his eyes met hers, they were shiny, like he'd been trying not to cry.

"What kind?" Allison pointed to the sandwich that was dangerously close to the edge of the plate he was holding.

"Just ham and cheese, all I could find." He offered the plate to her, standing up.

"That sounds amazing," She smiled at him. She wanted to reassure him that everything was okay, but she couldn't. "But first..."

She looked down at herself and tugged at the edge of the towel. Scott's eyes widened as he realized that she was only in the towel, then quickly looked away. He rushed to his set of drawers and pulled out a shirt and pajama bottoms, holding them with his arm outstretched as he faced away from her. She let out a soft laugh as she grabbed the clothing from him. She stepped back into the bathroom and quickly dropped her towel and put on the clothes. The shirt was ridiculously large on her slender frame, but the fabric was soft against her skin. She had to pull on the strings of the pajama pants and tie them tightly to make sure they stayed up. It would have to do.

As she pushed the sleeves of the shirt up her arms so they didn't hang over the tips of her fingers, she was reminded again of a time in her past. The first time she was alive. It was the second time she'd met Scott, after she'd ran over a dog in the rain. How she'd fallen in love from the start. She was a different girl back then. She'd changed so much, for so many reasons. Who knew how being dead was going to affect her now. There was only one way to find out.

Stepping back out of the bathroom, Allison sat down on the edge of his bed and picked up the sandwich that was waiting for her there. She wasted no time digging her teeth into it, relishing in the flavour and thankful to finally have something of substance in her system.

"It's safe now, you know," She said, her mouth still full of sandwich. She covered her mouth with her hand as she swallowed the rest of that bite, only slightly worried about manners at the moment. She cleared her mouth before she spoke again. "This is delicious, thank you."

Scott had turned back towards her and smiled, his eyes clear again. He joined her on the bed, watching her wolf down the rest of the sandwich. It was gone in no time, and after she set the plate down on the floor, she wiped her lips with the edge of her sleeve to get rid of the crumbs.

"Sorry about that," Allison said, slightly embarrassed.

"No, no, don't worry," Scott was adamant, reaching out to take her hand in his. "Whoa."

She knew exactly what he meant as he said it. His skin was fiery compared to hers. The shower, as relaxing as it was, had done nothing to warm her up. Her skin was still cold as ice. She drew back her hand, folding them together in her lap.

"I suppose you want to know what happened," She stated.

"Well, yeah," He admitted. "But only if you're ready."

"There's not much to it," Allison stared off, seeing nothing as she spoke. "I don't really know what happened. It just... did."

Scott didn't respond. He just waited patiently for her to continue.

"The last thing I remember was dying. Obviously. The Oni got me and then I died in your arms." She closed her eyes so she couldn't see the look on Scott's face. As horrific as that had been for her, she couldn't imagine what it was like for him. Or anyone else there. One other person in particular. "Then there was nothing. I was in this total darkness. At least, I think I was."

Now that she was away from her grave and time had passed since her rising, it was becoming harder and harder for her to remember what had happened to her after she died. Like trying to recall a dream after you've been awake for a while. But worse, because it wasn't a dream.

"All I remember was I wasn't alone," She knew that for sure. The thing that brought her back was imprinted in her mind's eye, a brightness in the dark. "This... figure, made of fire, said something to me and then pushed me. Somehow, it brought me back."

She was silent for a moment, still struggling to remember. Scott reached over and put his hand on her back, careful not to touch her skin. But she could still feel his heat through the fabric, and was sure that he could feel her coolness through it as well.

"Do you know what it said?" Scott prompted after a few more minutes of silence.

"It was a message," She let it out on a breath as she remembered. Her voice was barely above a whisper. "For Isaac. It wanted me to say 'Hi' to him."

The two of them sat, more time passing in silence. His hand was still resting on her back. It was comforting, but not the hand that she wanted right now.

"Scott," She finally opened her eyes and turned towards him. "What did Isaac do?"

"I don't know," Scott seemed as worried as she was.

"Have you talked to him? At all? Since..." Her voice broke off as she searched his eyes for an answer, any answer.

"Once or twice. He's in France with your dad," He spoke slowly, not knowing that she already knew that. "They've kind of cut themselves off from us."

"Is there any way to contact him?" Allison was desperate. Her worst fears were creeping into her mind, worsening every second. What could Isaac have done to bring her back? And at what cost?

"Uhm, I could try and Skype him," Scott's eyes traveled to his computer which sat open on his desk. "But considering it's 1 am here... it's probably..." His eyes unfocused as he tried to do the math in his head. It took him a couple tries, but eventually he got it. "8 am where he is. I doubt he's awake."

"Scott!" She stood up, spinning so that she was towering over him where he sat on his bed. "Text him, email him, anything! Just... find a way!"

"Okay, okay," Scott rose to his feet and she moved out of his way. He walked towards his desk where his phone lay beside his computer, picking it up and typing a quick message. "I just asked him if he was okay, and if we could talk soon. But I doubt we'll hear from him for a couple hours."

"Okay," Allison could feel her heart racing in her chest. She tried to slow down her breathing, her mind all over the place.

"Allison," Scott walked back to where she was standing and rested his hand on her arm. "You should get some sleep. I'm sure Isaac wouldn't do anything too stupid, and we would have heard if something had happened to him. You need some rest, you look-"

Allison raised her eyebrows as he swallowed the words he was about to speak.

"Dead on my feet?" She provided, filling in the rest of his sentence. He grimaced and shrugged. "I've had about a month to sleep, I think that's long enough."

"Sorry," He dropped his arm and headed towards the door of his bedroom. "But you do need some proper rest. It's the only thing you can do right now. And, well, I need sleep too." He smiled, his eyes tired.

"Of course," Allison nodded, suddenly feeling selfish. She'd brought all of this to him, and only him, in the middle of the night. She knew she hadn't really had a choice, but felt guilty all the same.

"Come on, I'll set you up in my mom's room. I'm sure she won't mind." Scott headed into the hallway.

"Wait," She called, still standing where she was in front of his bed. He reappeared in the doorway, looking at her with concern. "I don't think I can..."

"Be alone?" He finished the sentence for her as a question. She nodded. "Okay, let me just grab some blankets and I'll take the floor."

"No!" She insisted, still feeling the unnecessary guilt for this whole situation. She couldn't force him to sleep on the ground after all of this. "Your bed's big enough, I think we'll fit."

"Are you sure?" He finally took a step back into the bedroom.

"Of course," Allison insisted, nodding her head. Then she felt the need to clarify; "As friends, though."

"As friends," He nodded back at her, agreeing. He reached back into the hall and turned out the hall light.

Allison stepped around to the side of the bed and pulled back the covers, taking no time at all to snuggle up underneath the blankets. Being wrapped up with her head against a pillow made her miss her own bed, but she knew that wasn't possible now. And it was okay.

Scott turned out the light in the bedroom and she could hear him taking off his shirt before he made his way back to the bed. She knew that was how he slept normally and that it didn't mean anything, but she still inched herself a little closer to the edge of the bed to make sure they didn't touch. She heard his feet padding against the ground as he made his way to the bed, guided by the moonlight that was spilling through the window and casting the room in a light silver glow. She felt the blankets being lifted as he lowered himself into the bed along with her, the area instantly becoming warmer as he filled the space.

"Goodnight, Allison," Scott whispered from his side of the bed. From the sound of it, he was laying on his side and facing away from the middle. Just like she was.

"Goodnight, Scott," Allison felt the words escape her lips on a breath as she felt herself giving in to the sleep. She really was tired after all.

Within moments, the two of them were gone, taken away by slumber. They slept with their backs facing each other, but never touching, through the rest of the night and into the morning, when Scott's computer started to ring.