Chapter 65

1 year later…

Stiles looked down at his cell phone and sighed hopelessly. Ten minutes so far. He bounced on his heels anxiously. His phone buzzed suddenly, making him jump.

Look across the street.

He looked up. A soft grin crept across his face and his eyes lit up like he'd just caught sight of the one thing he couldn't do without and he did. Cora leaned against his jeep with one leg crossed over the other and her hands behind her back. She wasn't outright smiling but he knew by now what it did look like when she was happy. Her eyebrows were risen just a bit but not enough as if she were amused by stupidity. And she was relaxed, especially in her shoulders. They slumped more than when she was normally uptight.

He trotted across the street and kissed her, pressing her against the jeep.

"Took you long enough," he grumbled.

"Your jeep is-"

"Don't even say it," he snapped quickly.

"It's a piece of shit." She finished. "But! I got it fixed up-well, I got some of it fixed so that it still runs without having to use duct tape."

He looked past her with a frown. She rolled eyes then pushed him in the shoulder playfully.

"You'll thank me later, I'm sure," she said.

"That's not what I was thinking about," he said as they got in the vehicle. He tossed his bookbag in the back. It landed with a thud because of his textbooks. It was shocking that his college textbooks were three times thicker than his high school book had been. For the classes that didn't have those thick books, they had seven or eight books. He didn't half of them either.

"Scott."

Stiles nodded.

"Him and Isaac. They can't stand this."

"And by this, you mean us," she said.

Stiles nodded again, but stiffer. His eyes fixed on the steering wheel. He didn't start the car. The look grew distant as it usually did when they talked about them.

"I don't want to choose sides if that means losing you," he said. "Even Allison is getting on my last nerve. It's like I'm suddenly a traitor or something."

"Right," Cora snorted, "because Derek is spending every waking hour, looking for ways to get into fights with Scott."

He smiled right then. She had that way of saying something crude but making sarcastic. She was learning well from him, he decided.

He dropped her off at the loft. Derek was in the wide window looking down at them. Stiles gave her one last kiss, making it last and knowing that it pissed Derek off. She didn't come over to the house very much anymore upon his dad's request.

"I love you," she said.

Stiles paused. That was the first time she'd said it first and without hesitation.

"Love you too."

Scott moved from one textbook to another and then sighed. This essay was kicking his ass. I need more sources, Scott thought dreadfully. Thank god the library didn't close until one. He slid back from the table covered with empty snack wrappers, packets, stacks of books and his laptop. There were multiple windows up on the screen, each with maybe two sentences that would useful towards his history paper. The topic was on music and it had to be fifteen pages long. The history and influence of music was complicated and to most it wasn't super important. Scott was writing about why that was the wrong assumption. Doing the timeline was ridiculous and the paper was due Friday. It was Wednesday. He also had an exam that day.

Finals week. It was the time of year when professors wanted to give all of their exams or projects to their students at the same time. Scott told himself it was because they wanted to torment their students at the same time.

He cruised down the aisles past architecture and art. Stopping in the music section, he pulled books from the Renaissance period and the Middle Ages and then grabbed two thin books on the 1920's music. He blinked a few times. He was beyond tired and it was only ten-thirty.

"How is it going?"

Scott turned to see Lydia looking at the books for art. She didn't pick any out or even look like she was looking for a specific one.

"Uhhh."

She laughed softly.

"That bad?"

"Yeah, kind of. Did you finish your paper for U.S History?"

"Yes, I finished a few days ago," she replied.

Scott gaped at her. She looked over, freezing, startled by his look.

"What?" she asked.

"I don't know how you do it," he said.

"I like to keep myself busy," she replied.

She pulled out her phone and smiled. Scott took his stack of books and walked around her back to his table. For that last seven months she had been living in her phone. Ethan and Aiden still hadn't returned to town, but Aiden had been texting and calling Lydia. She spent Spring Break with him and didn't divulge any details about it.

Though Stiles had decided to stay close to home, Scott ended up getting a dorm room. IT was the normal college thing to do. Plus, he got away from Beacon Hills and found a freedom…sort of. The deadline to be able to pick a roommate passed in the midst of work and buying textbooks and making sure that he had everything before starting the school year. Ironically, Isaac ended up his roommate. The paper assignments arrived three weeks before move in day.

Scott headed back to McCollough Hall. The great thing about the campus is that you can get anywhere in seven minutes.

Isaac was crunching on cheese puffs while studying three and a half feet up on his bed. There were orange fingerprints on the edges of his study guides. He didn't acknowledge Scott as he jumped up onto his bed. The two hadn't talked much since last night. The holidays were really difficult. Isaac was a completely detached. He was so focused on classes with no time to live life. It was more that he didn't want to.

Derek was still in Beacon Hills and tried to talk, but Scott couldn't do it. He wanted to try and work it out, but Derek's presence unnerved him. He was reckless and selfish. He shouldn't be an alpha.

Isaac didn't get to leave town like he wanted to. He'd planned on travelling around Europe for a year or two. Melissa had a little bit to do with it. She was excited to have two boys going to college instead of just one. She was doing everything she could to make it work.

The Calaveras never did come back. Chris agreed to help them if they stayed away. He didn't divulge any info about what it was he had to help with. After helping Allison and Lydia move into their dorm room, he left for Mexico. He hadn't talked about it to any of them and he hadn't been back to town at all except for Christmas.

Isaac planned on visiting Melanie. In a week it would be one year. Aspirin had become his latest friend. It took half a bottle to help dull the pain even just a little. Classes were a great distraction. For nineteen hours a week plus eight hours of work study at the hospital he was distracted from having to think about anything but that. Full moons were difficult and more often than not he was chained up in the dorm basement. The mornings were fuzzy, but he drank coffee blacker than oil and went back to school work. The busy schedule was surprisingly relaxing.

"Did Allison come by at all?" Scott asked.

Isaac shook his head, crunching obnoxiously on cheese puffs. If Scott didn't quit asking every single time he walked into the room he was going punch him.

"I am struggling to see the intrigue in British Literature. I understand the interest in Proust and Chaucer. This class is difficult as hell. And, my professor is crazy."

"Rivers? Yeah, she is. I had her last semester for Short Fiction. Don't stress too much. She always loses her tests and essays and then winds up giving everyone an A," Scott said as he sifted through his dirty clothes.

Isaac closed his eyes, dropping his hand to the bed. The study guide in his hand flopped. He squeezed his eyes tightly until he saw white spec floating across the lids. He looked over at the clock on his dresser. Studying for the last five hours, he'd completely forgotten about dinner. His eyes drifted to the photograph of him and Melanie nearby. The frame holding it was an intricate metal design; a graduation present from Lydia. She said nothing when she handed it to him. Not a word. She just gave it to him and walked away.

Isaac jumped up and took the study guides and bag of puffs and put them on his overflowing desk then got back into bed and fell back, burying his face into his pillow, falling asleep immediately. He didn't dream much anymore. If he was having dreams, he didn't remember them. Maybe that was a good thing.

Allison looked down at her phone. Scott texted her. Her lips turned up in a smile like they always did. Against her dad's wishes, she went with Lydia to BHU. She convinced him that is was so that she could keep Lydia safe because she was all paranoid.

With her and Scott's schedules, she missed him a lot. Classes kept them apart on weekdays but weekends made up for that. They'd go home and spend the whole weekend in front of the TV doing assignments. More or less it was normal and that was nice. She was excited that freshman year was almost over. She had never been happier. This place turned out to be a fresh start for all of them. No one gave them wary looks or avoidance.

She told Scott to come over to her dorm. She was downstairs in the lounge.

Seconds later there was a tap on the glass door. She leaned forward and turned her head to see Scott at the main entrance. He held his black baseball cap in one hand and was bending the bill in his hand.

"You were standing there the whole time weren't you?" she said.

He walked past her and they settled on the couch. A rom-com was on TV. The RA passed by on rounds and waved to Allison. She smiled and nodded.

"Me and Isaac. Why didn't you ever question it?" she asked, catching Scott off guard.

She bit the inside of her cheek. The question had been gnawing at her for a while. He never got angry about that relationship and never got jealous, not even when Isaac broke up with her. He's was collected.

"I didn't need to. You were always mine. I told you I would wait for you, and I did."

Allison smiled, blushing. He sounded so sure. She leaned into his side, snuggling there.

"How mature," she said jokingly, furrowing her eyebrows.

He mocked her, tickling her sides. The two of them fell over and off the couch.

"Scott!" she laughed, slapping him.

She curled into the fetal position and slapped him in the arm and shoulder. He stopped then laid on his side. The front door buzzed dully, unlocking and a group of girls came in, each carrying their bit of books. They gave side glances at the couple as they passed by to their rooms, murmuring to each. It was inconvenient that the lounge was in front of the entrance. Scott and Allison laughed some more.

"Are you ready to go home?" Allison asked.

"I don't know," Scott said.

The softened look on her face, filled with worry

"Stop that," she said.

He frowned with confusion.

"Stop what?"

"I know what you're thinking about," she said.

They sat up and leaned back against the couch. Allison laid her head his shoulder. The stray hairs that fell from her messy bun tickled.

"I'm sorry," he said then kissed the top of her head. She nuzzled into his chest.

"It's over," she assured him.

He smiled, but couldn't shake the disturbance that plagued him. The alpha pack weren't gone, not really. Getting to freshman year was hard. He almost didn't make it.

The lock clicked as Scott twisted the key. His first normal shift at the clinic. No supernatural nonsense came drifting through the back door. It had been a long while since there had been one of those. A car pulled into the parking lot. The headlights engulfed him like a spotlight. Allison. Scott smiled, turning.

The car doors opened and two figures stepped out.

"Allison," he chuckled, holding his hands up to block the light in his eyes. "Shut off your high beams."

"Scott McCall."

Scott's smile fell at hearing that drawn out, male voice. The taller figure stepped closer, revealing himself to be Deucalion. Scott shook his head. He thought he had more time. It had only been four days since graduation.

His claws thrusted free and he tensed.

"Don't make this difficult, Scott. We made a deal. Your friends are safe. We're leaving town," Deucalion said.

Scott was sure about the deal then but now he didn't want to. He wanted to go to college and med school. He sighed.

"Can I say goodbye?" he asked, trying to control the shake of his voice.

"No, I think not."

Scott could see Kali grin. Her sharp teeth poked through the shadow that she was in the light of the headlights.

"We have graciously permitted your request. It's time. If you break this deal I will kill everyone, starting with your mother. She's working in the ER right now or so I've been informed."

"Leave my mother alone!" Scott shouted.

Screeching tires cut the terse conversation short. Metal crunched and glass busted as the car was rear ended and came at Scott. He jumped out of the way. The vehicle rammed into the building, shattering the front door and crumbling brick. The hood crinkled like aluminum foil.

"Scott!" Stiles yelled.

Scott looked up. His entire front was wet, having jumped into a puddle. His palms stung with scrapes. Stiles hung out the window of his jeep, pressing his hand against the sill to keep his balance.

"Let's go," he shouted.

The grill of his jeep was dented and blowing smoke. However, his bumper had not even the smallest dent.

Scott scrambled to his feet and ran to the jeep.

"You have to get out of here," Scott said, breathing heavily.

"You're my best friend. I'm not leaving you to these rabid dogs," Stiles spat.

"Stiles!"

"Dude, no. We're in this together or have you forgotten!"

Scott looked back unsure of what to expect. Deucalion and Kali were gone and the car hazard lights blinked. Shivers of creepiness crawled over Scott. Shards of glass littered the ground. There goes the deal, he thought.

"Are they gone?" Stiles asked.

"Yeah, they're gone."

"Cora and I have been patrolling the police scanner since graduation. The police have been following them, calling them suspicious."

"Suspicious…"

"Yeah. After Chris was released because he'd nearly been killed, Dad discovered that they hadn't left town. We've been tracking them. Hence the whole ramming my jeep into that piece of crap car which you are paying for."

Scott scoffed unsure if it was because he was angry that Stiles had gotten involved and screwed up or because he was just told to pay for repairs. Stiles stared at him, baring his usual dumbass grin.

"I am not paying for your jeep."

Stiles frowned and sat back in his seat. Scott got in the car and they pulled out.

"You know we're screwed right?" Scott said as they drove to his house.

Stiles didn't say anything. He focused on the road while biting his nails. He knew. Scott didn't say it aloud, but he was glad that Stiles wrecked his jeep for him. It bought him more time. The amount of time was debatable.

The months passed in a hot daze and that had been the only encounter. The clinic had been repaired. Deaton was surprised that they didn't retaliate to Stiles's surprise appearance. Scott refused to go to BHU but his mom prevented it, saying that there'd always be some sort of danger. She settled on him coming home most weekends. Scott still hated the idea of going off to college now that the alpha pack weren't showing themselves. It was alarming.

Scott looked at his room. A few boxes sat in the corner. He wasn't taking very much but the space looked bare compared to usual. The floor was clean. The bed was made. The place was cleansed and completely foreign now.

The pack was out there, lurking about. He knew they were. There were no attacks all summer. Nobody went missing. Summer had been relatively normal and calm. It was scary. He was still waiting for that steel toed shoe to drop.