Chapter 3 - Time Out/Night Out
Kira looked over her shoulder to see Avery was following her again, the day was half over and it seemed like every time she looked over her shoulder the blonde was right there.
Stepping to the side she stopped to turn and faced her.
"Hello." Avery greeted flashing her signature smile as she also slowed to a stop.
"Avery…" Kira said as she shifted uncomfortably.
"Did you need something?" Avery questioned, as if she wasn't the one who'd been stalking the other teenager.
"Me?" She breathed then in a shaky voice responded, "I thought maybe you needed something… since you keep following me."
"What are you?" Avery questioned, trying to see if Kira knew anything about this strange energy she was giving off. Maybe honesty could be the best bet for figuring this mystery out.
"I'm… Kira."
With arched eyebrows she hummed out, "Mhmm…"
"Do you want your notebook back?" Kira asked, but Avery was no longer in their conversation as she watched Scott from down the hallway.
"Kira." Her dad greeted as he started to walk towards the two girls, but Avery quickly walked off, leaving the other teenager with her notebook again.
Kira watched with a defeated expression as she saw Avery grab Scott's hand and pull him into an empty classroom, where another boy she'd seen in class followed them before she sighed and turned back around to listen to her dad.
Once they were in the room, Scott dropped his book bag and jacket to the floor as his eyes continued to glow red, his breathing was labored and he was losing control.
"Scott!" Avery yelled at the same time Stiles tried to assure him, "Scott, its okay."
"Get back!" He yelled as he leaned over a desk and let out a growl, seeing his claws were showing, "Get away from me!"
Stiles took a slow step backwards, remembering the few times Scott had lost control after being bitten. One of the more memorable times was when he'd almost mauled Avery and Stiles both in the locker room; that was when she'd found out about werewolves, the moment that changed everything in her life.
But Avery didn't back away; instead she calmly set her books down on one of the surrounding desks and walked closer, "Scott…"
"I don't know what's going to happen! Get back!"
"I do, I know exactly what is going to happen. You're going to calm down, control your heart rate and breathing. You have the power to do that." She assured him, completely confident as she stepped even closer, despite Stiles trying to remind her she needed to be careful.
Scott yelled for her to stay back as he shoved desks out of his path, trying to put distance between himself and his friends before something bad happened.
Panting for breath and feeling his canine fangs extend a growl sounded through the room again.
"Just breathe."
"I am!" Scott hissed as sweat started to bead across his skin, turning his back to them he leaned on another desk trying to get back in control, but he was worried he wouldn't be able to.
After all, nothing had even set him off, his eyes had just started glowing and his problems had only escalated from there.
"Did I say to breathe like you're running a marathon? No, take a deep breath hold it and let it go."
Normally, he was good at handling her snarky remarks, but in this state of mind even the sound of her voice was setting him off.
"Shut up." His voice was strained; it was taking every single ounce of strength in him to remain in control.
"Breathe!" She said her voice louder.
The sound of her voice in that moment was comparable to nails on a chalkboard, without even giving it a second thought he spun around, swinging a clawed hand at her which she quickly ducked and missed.
"Avery!" Stiles yelled rushing over to them.
Reaching out she put her hands on the sides of Scott's face, seemingly un-phased by the fact that he'd almost turned her skin to ribbons. "Breathe."
Stiles repeatedly yelled out for the both of them, trying to either get Scott to calm down or get Avery to come to her senses and back up.
Ignoring the uncomfortably tight grip Scott's hands had on her forearms, she closed her eyes and concentrated, drawing the anger and blood lust from his transitioning state.
With every emotion and energy she absorbed, his grip loosened on her and his breathing calmed.
Finally his eyes weren't even glowing and his teeth were back to human. Still panting for air his eyes closed and then slowly opened as saw her eyes were barely open, but for a split second he could have sworn her eyes were black; entirely black.
"Avery!" He gasped. Her eyes fluttered open in response and she let go of his head, opening and closings her fists at her sides as the buzzing was now running through her veins, spreading over her entire body. She was surging with energy, with dark power, and most of all she liked it.
The feeling of power radiated and her breathing was labored from the intense rush.
"See, all better." She said smiling.
"Your eyes…" Scott said looking at her confused, then asked, "Wait how did you even do that?"
"It's an emissary thing." She said with a playful wink, as she turned to grab her books and leave. She needed away from them, she'd taken the bloodlust from Scott as he was transitioning, but now that feeling was very much alive inside of her.
"An emissary thing or an Imperium thing?" He questioned, as he could see her energy in the air, the same way it had appeared when he'd found her and Deucalion. The energy was visible like clear distortion above fire.
"Is there really a difference?" She joked, keeping a believable smile on her lips.
"You tell us…" Stiles finally spoke, breaking his silence. He wasn't sure what he'd just seen, which made him uneasy. But he was also thankful that she'd been able help Scott, to calm him down before he snapped and hurt someone.
Just as she reached the door thinking she was home free, Scott stopped her with a gentle grip on her arm. "That… thing you just did back there, are you okay?"
"I'm fine." She lied, giving him an entirely believable expression.
"Avery, if helping me with something hurts you, than it's not worth it, and I don't want you to do it." He said, concern covered his every pore as he watched her, feeling guilty for even putting her in that position.
Rolling her eyes Avery laughed, "Seriously, I'm fine. Use your alpha senses and listen to my heart." She paused, "I'm fine, just a little nervous that you almost wolfed out at school."
Her phone went off from her pocket with a text from Lydia, as she checked it before lying, "Lydia needs my help, guys. But I'll see you later."
Scott gave her an appreciative smile, believing everything was fine. As Avery left the room she felt the urge to pat herself on the back, thinking she deserved an academy award for her acting skills.
Checking over her shoulder to make sure they weren't following her, she quickly broke into a run towards the door leading into the basement, she needed away from her friends, away from anyone really, from any living being in case she wasn't able to control herself now.
Sitting down on the dusty floor and slamming her head back against the small, old lockers she breathed heavily and mentally tried to get herself to calm down.
Nervously she reached up, rubbing her thumb and finger over the small three fold Celtic knot necklace that had belonged to her mother, and to her surprise the buzzing all over her body, the urge to draw more power slowly subsided.
Reaching over she pinched her arm, forcing herself back into complete control with the pain on her skin.
With a sigh of relief, she pulled her jacket off, and scooted sideways lying flat on her back against the cold floor. Her last class of the day wasn't important, what was important was that she had some time alone. A moment away from prying eyes to where she didn't have to keep the smile plastered on her face.
Remembering what she kept telling Scott to do when he felt control slipping away, she thought that she needed a moment to just breathe. Feel the air filling up her lungs, and slowly letting it go, she managed a small genuine smile.
~()~
After the final bell rung, Teagan quickly made her way toward the parking lot, not in the mood to stand around and chat any more that day. Between the nightmares, hallucinations, panic attack and argument with Isaac, all she wanted was to be left alone.
She hated to avoid everyone, especially Isaac, but she couldn't handle seeing the look in their eyes any longer. The look that clearly said, 'we know you're freaking crazy, let us help', but there was nothing any of them could, there was nothing she could do since she wasn't even sure what was wrong with her in the first place.
What she hated the most about all of this was fighting with Isaac and lying to him. They weren't the type of couple who lied to each other, she was always honest with him in the past, but she knew he would harm himself worrying about her and practically kill himself trying to fix her, and she didn't want that for him.
This was her fault, this was her problem and she needed to solve it, she just didn't know how, she had no idea how to fix herself.
She cranked the car then pulled out of the parking lot and began to drive down the road with her windows down and the wind in her hair, hoping it would blow away all the bad dreams and anxiety she was feeling lately.
After driving down a few roads, she stopped her car at a stop sign, then rested her elbow on the window ledge and laid her head in her hand, as she waited for a few cars to go by before she could continue down the road.
When she heard her cell phone ringing, she glanced over at her purse, which was sitting in the passenger set. She reached into the bag without looking, trying to locate her phone.
She groaned out in frustration when she couldn't find it, then reached over to grab the purse, sitting it in her lap as she pulled some things out to find it. She knew she needed to clean it out, she kept way too much stuff there and in times like this it was a hassle.
She glanced up for a moment, seeing that there were still more cars driving by, giving her more time to locate the ringing phone. She glanced back down to look in the purse, then gasp when she saw the bracelet inside.
Teagan brushed it aside, like she was afraid it would bite her or something, then finally grabbed her phone, which was on the bottom of her purse. Without looking at the caller id, she placed it against her ear and called out a, 'hello'
"Teagan?" She heard a faint voice say, a very familiar voice.
"Mom?" Teagan whimpered out, as she pressed the phone against her ear, trying to hear better.
"Teagan?" The voice said again, the sound going in and out. "Are you there, sweet girl?" She questioned, pleading for her daughter to say something back.
"M-Mom? How-How are you calling me?" Teagan squeaked out.
"You have to listen to me, baby girl. You have to listen, this is very important." Lisa called out.
"Okay." Teagan breathed out, unable to say anything else.
"Teagan..." She heard her mother begin to say, then heard a loud noise coming from behind her.
Teagan snapped her head up, coming out of a sleep, and heard a horn blow out again, which was the noise she heard the first time that pulled her out of her sleep. She glanced in her rear view mirror, seeing a line of cars behind her with a bunch of pissed off drivers behind the wheels.
Her eyes flickered down to her lap seeing that her cell phone was in her hand, causing her to lower her eyebrows in confusion. Was she actually talking to her mother on the phone or was that all a dream?
Before she could think about it any more, her phone began to ring, causing her to jump in surprise. Scared of who might be on the other end, she tossed it into the back seat, then took a hard right and speed down the road.
She didn't slow down until she pulled up to the Beacon Hills Preserve sign and parked the car. She turned in her seat, looking in the back seat, staying far away from her phone and grabbed a pair of running shoes from the floor, then a t-shirt and shorts from the back seat, before turning back around to face the front.
She glanced around for a moment, making sure no one was around, then took her shirt off, pulling the loose fitted shirt over her head. She unbuttoned her pants, then lifted her hips up to remove them, leaving her in only a pair of silk panties until she slipped the shorts on. She traded out the boots she had on for the running shoes.
The last thing she did before exiting the car, was grab a wrist band, that had a small throwing dagger hidden inside it, just in case she needed a weapon. Once out of the car, she walked past the sign, making her way into the woods, then began to run.
She pushed herself as far as she could go, as her feet softly padded against the ground. Running had always been therapeutic for her, it was something she got from her mother. The two use to run a lot together before her death, and even after her death Teagan kept running. If she was sad or mad, she ran. If she was confused about something, she ran. No matter what her mood, she ran and it always helped, but this time... this time no matter how hard or how far she ran, it didn't do a damn thing.
She still felt the fear, the uncertainty, and the darkness all around her, just like she did every day since the sacrifice.
Teagan wasn't sure how long she had been running, but when she suddenly began to hear her mother's voice again, she skid to a stop, losing her footing and fell down to her knees. She glanced around, taking in her surrounding, trying to figure out where the voices were coming from as she tried to catch her breath.
When the voices turned to laughter, her mother's laughter, she placed her hands over her ears, trying to block it out as she yelled out to stop, begging whoever or whatever it was, to leave her alone.
When she heard the sound of crunching behind her, as someone walked up behind her, she pulled out the dagger from her wrist band, then quickly spun around as she threw it toward the person, doing what she was taught, react first and question later, but when she saw who the person was, she gasped and placed her hands over her mouth in surprise.
"Oh, my God!" Teagan called out, as she looked up at Jackson, who had luckily caught the dagger she threw at him.
"Jeez, T, since when did you start throwing around knives?" Jackson questioned, as he looked down at the dagger in his hand. "It's a pretty bad habit to have, you know? Especially if you're seeing things. If I would have been human, you could have killed me."
"It was an accident." Teagan mumbled, as she stood up from the ground, not liking being lectured. She grabbed the dagger from his hand, placing it back in her wrist band, then looked at him, as she added, "Obviously I didn't know it was you, I thought..."
"You thought what?" Jackson questioned when she paused. "Who did you think I was?" He added.
"No one." Teagan lied. When he shot her a look, she blew out a breath, as she threw out her arms and called out, "I don't know, okay? I don't know who I thought it was." She paused for a moment, a thought crossed her mind, causing her to shoot him a look, as she added, "What are you even doing here anyways? How did you know I would be here? I didn't even know I was going to be here until a little bit ago when I ended up here."
Before he could answer, she gasped, then questioned, "wait, did you follow me?"
"Well after the panic attack and nightmare at school, I thought it would be a good idea." Jackson pointed out.
"Wait, what?" Teagan questioned, as she ran a hand through her hair, feeling annoyed. "Oh, my God! You've been following me all day? Even at school?" She asked.
"I told you I'm here for you, T. So what else would I be doing with my day other than keep an eye on you?" Jackson said back.
"You cannot be keeping an eye on me. It's kinda creepy, Jackson." Teagan said, as she shot him a look. Her eyes widened as another thought hit her, then said, "whoa, wait, does that mean you were also watching me earlier when I was changing in the car?"
"Nothing I haven't seen before." Jackson answered with a smirk.
"Okay, that is really creepy, Jackson. That is like, a whole nother level of creepy." Teagan said, as she wrinkled her nose in disgust.
"Calm down, I was kidding." Jackson said with a laugh, then added,"I did not watch you change, once I realized what you were doing I turned my head. Is that better?"
"I don't know, is that the truth?" Teagan asked back, as she folded her arms across her chest and raised her eyebrows at him.
"I guess you'll just have to trust me." Jackson said back, a grin back on his face. "Once upon a time you did trust me." He pointed out.
"That was before you were going around stalking me and watching me change." Teagan said back.
"I told you, I wasn't watching." Jackson said with a laugh, as he held up his hands. When she nodded her head, accepting his answer, he added, "nice tattoo by the way."
"I knew it! You perv!" Teagan called out, as she punched him in the arm, causing him to laugh harder.
"Only for a second I swear!" Jackson said in between laughter.
"You are such an ass." Teagan said, not being able to stop herself from laughing along with him. She punched him a few more times, knowing there was no way she would be able to hurt him.
After getting a few more hits in, he finally grabbed her wrist, stopping her, as he said,"I see those hunter lessons are working for you."
"Yep, you better watch it, I could totally kick your werewolf ass now." Teagan joked, as she shot him playfully mean look.
"You know you can do whatever you want with my ass." Jackson joked back.
"Oh God." Teagan mumbled with an eye roll, as she turned around and began to walk away. She should be use to his flirty nature by now. He was always a flirt toward her, and them breaking up or her dating someone new would never change that, but she knew he would never cross that line. It was all done in fun, he knew she was happy and in love with Isaac and he respected that. He understood that they had a bond, and a part of them would always love each other, but all that they would ever be was friends. Sometimes it still surprised her how much he had grown up since moving to London.
Jackson chuckled at her reaction, as he shoved his hands in his front pants pockets and walked along behind her. The two made small talk as they made their way through the woods and back to where she had parked her car.
As they walked out of the woods, she saw an unfamiliar car parked beside hers, a silver convertible, she assumed was Jackson's.
"New car?" Teagan questioned as she glanced over at Jackson who was now walking beside her. "Did you finally trade in your precious Porsche?" She added.
"No, it's still in London. I will never trade in my baby." Jackson answered, then nodded towards the car they were now standing beside, "this is just a rental."
"Oh, it's nice." Teagan said, as she looked at the car. "Of course you would get a rental in silver though." She joked.
Jackson laughed at her comment, then held out the keys, as he suggested,"Wanna go for a ride?"
"Can I drive?" Teagan asked. As Jackson shook his head, she added, "Oh come on! I'm a great driver. Just ask Avery, I've driven her car plenty of times."
Jackson didn't say anything, just continued to shake his head, causing her to pout until he finally sighed and handed her the keys, causing her to do a little dance before opening the driver side door and sliding behind the wheel of the car.
After Jackson jumped in the passenger seat, Teagan cranked the car and pulled out on to the road, her hair whipping around in the wind as she speed down a back road. They drove around for a while, then stopped at a small gas station to fill up while Jackson ran inside to grab drinks. When they left there, Teagan drove back toward where her car was, parking the rental car beside hers like it was before.
She turned the car off then turned her head to look at Jackson, "Thanks for letting me drive. I think I kind of needed that."
Jackson nodded his head, then reached into the bag, as he said,"oh here is your drink."
Teagan smiled when she saw he got her a blue Gatorade. She didn't know why, but she always liked the blue ones the best after a run, but liked the purple ones after a night of drinking, and the fact that he remembered warmed her heart and made her realize how much she missed having him around.
"So how much longer are staying in town?" Teagan questioned, as she laid her head back against the seat after taking a long swig of Gatorade.
"Trying to get rid of me already?" Jackson asked back, as he looked over at her.
"No, the opposite actually." Teagan said, then added, "it's nice having you around, Jackson. You're one of my best friends, and I really do miss you."
"I miss you too, T." Jackson said, as he smiled at her. "But to answer your question, I don't know. It just depends on you." He added, as he turned his head to look out the windshield, watching the sun slowly begin to set.
"Jackson..." Teagan began to say with a sigh, then continued, "you don't have to stay here for me. I mean, don't get me wrong, I appreciate it, but don't put your life on hold for me. Besides I am fine. Why does no one believe me when I say that?"
"Probably cause they can hear your heart skipping just like I can." Jackson pointed out. "Plus I think you're forgetting that me, Avery and even Isaac knows you, T, and we know you are not okay. The question is though, why are you not telling them what is really going on?" He questioned, as he turned his head to look at her.
"I can't." Teagan whispered, tears filling her eyes.
"Why not?" Jackson asked, as he turned in his seat to look at her better.
"Cause even I don't know what is going on." Teagan admitted, as she looked straight ahead, avoiding the pity look she knew he was probably wearing on his face. The same one she saw on Isaac's face, and Avery's constantly.
Jackson reached out, taking her hands off of the steering wheel when he saw her squeezing it so hard her knuckles were turning white. He held them in his hands, as he softly said,"talk to me, T. What is going on?"
"It started out with me feeling like I wasn't alone. Like someone was standing behind me, but when I turned around no one was there." She softly admitted. She took a deep breath, then added,"I haven't told anyone that before. It just makes me sound crazy."
"You're not crazy, T." Jackson said, as he squeezed her hand, urging her to go on.
"Then the nightmares started." Teagan continued. She took a few deep breaths, trying not to freak out, reminding herself that the dreams weren't real. "We're back in the root cellar. Everything is falling and we're all trying so hard to keep the beam from falling on us, but-but we're not strong enough and I watch everyone die before my eyes." She reached out, wiping a tear from her cheek, then added, "I was having that nightmare nightly. It got so bad that Isaac and dad would sleep in my room so they could get to me once I started screaming and wake me up. But even after waking up it took awhile for me to realize that was just a dream and we all made it out okay. Sometimes it feels like it's not even me. Like I'm just watching someone else live my life, like I have no control at all."
"Trust me, I know what that is like." Jackson said, as he gave a bitter chuckle. Remembering what it was like when he was the Kanima and Matt forced him to kill people.
"I'm sorry." Teagan whispered, hating to bring up painful memories for him.
"It's okay." He whispered back, as he shook his head, trying not to think of that time. "That was definitely a hard time in my life, but things are slowly getting better. Believe it or not, I'm actually getting help. Someone that Deaton recommend that knows about all of this stuff and helped me come to terms with the things I did." He looked over at her, as he continued, "We have all got our demons, T. We all have things that wake us up screaming at night, but you can't do this alone. You need to let Isaac help you, he's your anchor, he'll pull you back."
"I can't." Teagan choked out. "I can't tell him the truth." She added.
"Why not? What is the truth?" Jackson questioned.
"Things have gotten worse." Teagan fearfully said. She felt tears fall down her face, as she cried, "I don't know what's real anymore, Jackson. I don't know what's real at all."
~()~
Isaac pulled the door shut behind him as he walked into Avery's house and immediately headed up the stairs and into her empty room.
He sighed and started to head back down stairs until he heard a glass clinking noise from the bathroom followed by Avery cursing under her breath as she dropped her eye shadow container into the sink and it broke on impact.
"Avery." Isaac said as he knocked on the door.
"Isaac?" She called surprised.
He could hear her high heel shoes clicking on the tile floor as she neared the door and pulled it open.
"What are you doing here?" She questioned, breezing past him as she went to her desk and opened her purse to take her fake ID and a credit card out for the night.
Hanging his head and sighing he admitted, "I'm worried about Teagan…"
Avery tilted her head back and stared up to the ceiling, she was also worried about her best friend. But she couldn't take one more second of being the person everyone came to for advice.
By some miracle she'd managed to make it through the day again, and now she just needed an escape, something to take her mind off of her problems, which is why she was headed out to a bar that night.
When she stayed silent Isaac continued, "I thought the nightmares were getting better but apparently things are getting worse, and on top of that she's pushing me away."
Walking over to her body length mirror she scrunched her wavy hair to give it even more body as he continued to ramble on about his problems and about how he couldn't be there for her if she wouldn't let him, by the time he was done explaining she'd heard Jackson's name a few times too.
"Isaac, Isaac, Isaac." Avery sighed shaking her head back and forth and looking at her friend.
"Yeah?" He asked, expecting her to give him some advice like she always did, offer up some helpful advice and calm his nerves.
Before she could say anything he nodded seeing the almost annoyed expression on her face, "I know what you're going to say… I just need to go talk to her, get her to be honest with me. That I should be telling her all of this and not you."
"Actually I was going to ask if we could maybe do this later?" She admitted as she applied another coat of her red tinted lip-gloss, before tucking the cards and her phone into a small wristlet clutch.
"What?" He gasped, not able to hide his surprise.
"Oh god, that sounded bad." She mumbled shaking her head as she rubbed her forehead and said, "From the time I wake up in the morning, I'm there for everyone. Trying to help Scott keep in control, trying to be there for Teagan… jumping up when the teacher asks for a volunteer so they don't pick Stiles. I can only do so much in one day, I can't wave a magic wand and fix things. But I'm going to have start setting some boundaries here… like, after 7pm, it's Avery time."
With raised eyebrows he repeated back, "Avery time…"
Nodding she flashed him a smile as she said, "Come on, Isaac… you need to loosen up some! Come out with me tonight, have some fun."
"Are you feeling okay?" He questioned as she grabbed his arm and pulled him towards the door.
"I will be." She mumbled, thinking all she needed was a few drinks, a little dancing and just to let loose. Then she'd feel okay again, enough so to give her the strength to make it through the next day. Plus, bringing Isaac with her would hopefully keep her from ending up with another regrettable one nightstand.
Normally Isaac would have turned the offer down, but now he was really starting to worry about his blonde friend. He knew she always seemed to put everyone's problems ahead of her own, so wanting a night off was understandable. But he also knew when it came to Teagan, Avery would drop everything to help her, and that night she wouldn't even listen to Isaac trying to explain how bad off he thought Teagan was.
As Avery got into her car she explained, "Now, I'm driving us instead of calling for a car because I'm not going to get drunk. Don't let me have more than a few drinks, okay?"
Isaac pulled his seatbelt on and looked around the inside of the car a little uncomfortable with the entire idea of going out to a bar or club with his girlfriend sitting at home struggling with problems he couldn't understand. But the way Avery was acting was starting to scare him, and even if he couldn't help Teagan at the current moment, he could at least keep an eye on Avery.
It was dark by the time she pulled into the torn up pavement of a shady looking bar.
"Are you sure this is the right place?" He asked, looking around surprised.
As they got out of the car she questioned, "What were you expecting, Lahey? Red velvet ropes, couture, and a bottle of Rosay?"
"A bottle of what…"
Tilting her head back and laughing loudly she linked her arm with his and led him past a row of motorcycles parked not too far from the door.
As they walked in he looked around, the place even had a dangerous feel to the air, a couple of broke tables were pushed against a far wall he was pretty sure he saw some blood on the side of one.
"Maybe we should go…" He said as he noticed the eyes of all the male bar patrons were now on Avery, who ate up the attention as she winked at one of the guys playing pool.
Sitting down at the bar she flashed the bartender a smile and said, "Please get my mopey friend here a drink, and make it strong… very strong."
"ID?" He responded looking between the teenagers.
"Of course." Avery said with a flirty smile as she leaned forward some over the bar and opened her small wrist purse, displaying the card.
His eyes lingered more on her than on the plastic card as he nodded in approval and asked, "What about him?"
"Oh, well…" Avery laughed, "You see me friend here left his ID at home… but I don't think that should be a problem…"
Isaac watched as Avery slid the bartender a hundred dollar bill which he took and nodded before pouring them both a drink.
As the bartender walked away to check on another patron, Isaac took a drink and sighed, "You know I can't get drunk, right?"
"Yes you can." Avery said as she drank her glass down in one swallow.
"No, Scott said…" He started to argue but she cut him off as she pulled a small bag of powder from her wristlet purse.
"With this…" She said as she opened the small bag and poured it into his glass, "Anyone can get drunk."
"What the hell is that?" He asked as he looked down to see she was moving his glass, making the powder absorb into the liquid.
"Don't worry about it… just drink!" She ordered pushing the glass into his hands.
When he was hesitant she arched a brow and said, "Come on, don't you trust me?"
"Normally…" He responded, before putting the glass to his lips and drinking it all, then with a small laugh he said, "But I think you're just trying to drug me."
"You caught me." She laughed as she waved her hand towards the bartender, demanding he keep their drinks flowing.
Several shots later Isaac blinked and looked around with a stunned expression as he admitted, "I… I think you're right, I'm getting drunk. What did you put in my drink?"
"It's just a little something that makes the alcohol hit you so much faster than normal, I figured for someone like you… it would make getting drunk possible." She admitted with a shrug, then cracked a smile as she continued, "Guess I was right."
"Wait…" Isaac breathed as he sat his now empty shot glass down and saw Avery throwing back another one, he asked, "Do you use this… to get drunk faster?"
"Don't worry about it." She said as she slid him another shot glass and said, "I'm totally kicking you're ass at our drinking contest here."
He blinked his eyes a few times seeing all of the empty glasses next to her and a few less next to him as he mumbled some comment about how he didn't know they were in a contest before finishing another drink.
It was over an hour later that Isaac finished off another drink, he'd lost count of how many glasses he'd finished off.
As he saw another being slid his way he shook his head, "No, just a beer this time… I don't want to get too drunk." The bartender lowered his head and let out a laugh at the teenagers already slurred speech.
Picking up the bottle of beer Isaac continued the one sided conversation he'd been having with a female college student who'd approached him a while ago.
Taking a long sip from the neck of the bottle he continued, "I just… I just want to help her and I don't know how to do that."
The girl breathed a heavy sigh as she turned and said, "So let me get this straight? I'm here… trying to flirt with you and you're worried about your girlfriend having nightmares?"
His mouth hung open as he breathed out, "Oh –oh my god, you're right…"
"That's better…" she purred as she laid a hand on Isaac's knee and leaned in to mention they should get out of there but he caught her off guard.
"My girl friend is falling apart… and I'm here, at a bar with her best friend. What's wrong with me?"
Mumbling under her breath about how the only thing worse than an angry drunk was a sad drunk.
Standing up he stumbled a little before making his way through the now heavily crowded bar where Avery was dancing in the middle of a few guys, drinking from a bottle of liquor she'd taken from the bar.
"Isaac! Isaac!" She shouted waving him over to her.
Once he was next to her she tossed her arms up in the air and shouted, "Woo! I haven't heard this song in forever, dance with me!"
Isaac watched as she continued to drink and dance, like she was having the time of her life and he didn't understand how she could be acting like that with everything else that was going on.
When he didn't dance or even crack a smile she pushed the bottle into his hand and said, "If you drink enough… everything will feel better."
He looked at the bottle and considered all the alcohol in the world might not be able to make him feel better, but Avery egged him on as she cheered loudly, "Drink! Drink! Drink!"
Once everyone else in the immediate area joined in on her chanting, he finally raised the bottle to lips and finished it off.
Avery smiled ear to ear as she jumped and cheered for him, taking the empty bottle she tossed it to the side where it broke on the old wooden floor and everyone cheered again.
Avery grabbed his arms and begged, "Come on, dance with me!"
He stayed silent and watched as she continued to dance around, trying to get him to loosen up but he couldn't.
"Damn it, Lahey! Move your ass!" She shouted, as she pushed him so hard he almost toppled over, but didn't fall as he fell against a guy who shoved him back against Avery who groaned and shouted something about how Isaac would kick all their asses, before grabbing his hand and pulling him back to the bar.
As he finished off the beer he'd been working on and then motioned for the bartender to bring him something stronger Avery yelled for them to crank the music and climbed up onto the bar, dancing as everyone in the room cheered her on.
Isaac took a drink and winced as the cheap, strong alcohol burnt his throat on the way down and he looked up to where Avery was still dancing, swinging her hips with the music and feeding off being the center of attention. And he thought to himself that for the first time in a while she seemed to be having fun, and he realized maybe she was right, maybe they both did just need to cut loose for a night. All of his problems would still be there in the morning; with that thought he finished his drink.
But a few hours later it became clear that no amount of drinking was going to make him feel any better. While Avery's laughs and cheers grew louder with every round of drinks she bought for everyone under the roof, his problems were still weighing heavily on his mind.
Finding Avery dancing out in the group of people again he pulled her to the side and said, "We should go… I need to tell her, I need to tell Teagan…" His voice trailed off.
"Tell her what? Tell me, I wanna know first!" Avery yelled, excitedly as if whatever news he had was going to be good news.
With a laugh at her expression he admitted, "I can't remember."
Seeing the goofy grin on his face she happily jumped and exclaimed, "There it is! There's that smile… see I told you –you just need to loosen up." Then with a loud laugh she punched his arm and said, "And now look, you're loose, Isaac… you're really loose!"
Grabbing onto the pool table they were next to –to steady himself he laughed at her words and pointed out, "I think you had more than a few drinks."
Her light brown eyes widened as her jaw dropped, "Oops." She snorted out, throwing her head back laughing as she scrambled to pull her phone from her purse to call someone to come get them.
~()~
After leaving the woods, Jackson went to grab them some food, while she went home to shower and change into a pair of lounge pants and a shirt she stole from Isaac. She was pulling up her hair in a messy bun, while walking down the stairs with Aspen behind her, when she heard the door bell ring.
Aspen barked and followed her as she opened the door for Jackson. The white dog growled for a moment until Jackson flashed his blue eyes at him, causing him to whine as he hid behind Teagan.
"Was that really necessary?" Teagan questioned, as she shot Jackson a look and folded her arms across her chest.
"What? He started it." Jackson answered with a laugh.
Teagan shook her head at his answer, a light chuckle escaped from her lips. She reached down to pet the scared dog, then stepped aside so Jackson could enter the house.
"I brought your favorite though, forgive me?" Jackson asked, as he held up a bag from her favorite Chinese place.
"Oh! Yes!" Teagan cheered out, as she took the bag from his hand. "You are so forgiven." She added, as she began to walk into the kitchen to grab drinks and utensils.
"I wasn't sure if your dad was home so I got extra just in case." Jackson announced, as he followed her into the kitchen.
"No, he's at work." Teagan said, as she began to take the food out of the bag. "I'll eat his." She added, as she bit into an egg roll.
As she turned around to face him, she saw him looking at her with raised eyebrows. She swallowed the food, then asked, "What?"
"Did you and Lahey get married or something and not tell me?" Jackson questioned.
"No. Why?" Teagan said, confused as to why he would ask that.
"Well you're pigging out, you look like crap.." He began to explain, as he pointed to the loose fitted clothes she was wearing.
"Hey! Hurtful!" Teagan called out.
"I'm just saying, it's like you let yourself go and I thought that only happened when someone got married." Jackson joked.
"You're a dick, you know that, right?" Teagan joked back.
"Well one good thing came out of this..." He began to say, as he gestured towards her clothes again. "I'm officially over you now." He added with a laugh, which only got louder when she punched him in the stomach.
"Just for that, I'm taking your egg roll too." Teagan said, as she stuck her tongue out at him.
After letting Aspen out in the fenced in back yard, the two gathered up the food and drinks, then made their way in to the living room. They spent about ten minutes trying to figure out what movie to watch. Jackson refused to watch a romantic comedy, and Teagan refused to watch an action movie. Once they finally made up their minds on something, they sat back to eat as they watched the movie.
Jackson noticed her checking her cell phone ever few minutes or so, like she was waiting for a phone call or text message.
"Everything okay?" Jackson questioned, when she checked her phone again.
"Hmm?" Teagan questioned, as she quickly looked up from her phone. She sat it aside before adding with a sigh, "Yeah, everything is good."
"If you keep lying to me I'm going to take your egg rolls away." Jackson warned, as he glanced over at her again. "Waiting to hear from Isaac?" He guessed.
"Maybe." Teagan mumbled, as she sat her food down on the coffee table, losing her appetite at the mention of her boyfriend. She tucked her legs underneath herself as she thought of their argument earlier. She was wrong for snapping at him, and she knew it, she hated the way the nightmares and hallucinations made her feel. She hated fighting with him and just wanted to make things right, but after sending him a few text messages apologizing, she still hadn't heard back from him.
"Don't worry, T. You two will make up." Jackson said, trying to ease her fears. "As much as I hate to admit it, he's crazy about you. He's not going to walk away cause you two argued. He knows things are bad for you right now and he just wants to help." He added.
"How did you know we argued?" Teagan asked confused, then added before he could speak, "oh right, I forgot you've been stalking me all day."
"I call it keeping an eye on a good friend." Jackson argued.
"Well the law calls it stalking and I agree with the law." Teagan joked.
"I get no love around here." Jackson joked back, as he shook his head.
Teagan laughed as she laid a hand on his shoulder, giving it a small squeeze, as she began to say, "you know I love you Jackson..."
"But?" He questioned, knowing she had more to say.
"But you really do need to stop being so creepy. Get a hobby or something, a hobby that is not stalking girls." Teagan said with a laugh.
"I don't stalk girls, T." Jackson said laughing. "Did you forget who I am? I can get a girl like that." He added, as he snapped his fingers to get his point across.
"Uh-huh." Teagan said, as she shot him a look, then asked, "And how many dates have you been on since moving to London?"
"I haven't found the right girl in London." Jackson pointed out, as he sat his food down, avoiding her eyes. In his opinion, the right girl was beside him, but he knew that would never happen again.
"The right girl is out there for you, Jackson." Teagan said, as she shot him a smile.
"I know." Jackson softly said, as he finally looked over at her.
Teagan opened her mouth to say something back, but before she could, they heard a phone ringing, causing her to dive toward her phone hoping it was Isaac calling her. She softly sighed when she realized it wasn't a call coming to her phone, but to Jackson's phone.
Jackson, looking at the caller id, lowered his eyebrows in concern when he saw who was calling him, having a flash of déjà vu from a few years ago when she used to call him often for help to get home.
"Jackals!" Avery yelled out, when he answered the call.
He softly sighed, he could tell from the tone of her voice that she was drunk and from the loud music over the phone, he knew she was in a bar somewhere in town. After Teagan moved away he got calls like this nightly, but after she moved back to town, he honestly never thought he would get a call like this from her again. He thought 'that Avery' was gone now that her best friend was back.
"Where are you Avery?" Jackson asked, causing Teagan to shoot him a look. She was confused as to why Avery would be calling him now.
"I'm- I'm... shit, where am I?" Avery asked out, before laughing along with someone. "Oh, I'm at a bar! Oh my God, Jackson, this bar is awesome." She called out.
"I already figured that one out, A. Which one are you at?" Jackson asked.
"Oh shit! I love this song." Avery called out, as a new song began to play. "Dude we have to dance." He heard her saying to whoever she was with. When he heard the person she was with speak up, telling her he didn't want to dance he just wanted to drink, Jackson raised his eyebrows in surprise as he recognized whose voice it was. He glanced over at Teagan for a moment, wondering if he should tell her who was at the bar with Avery.
"Damn it, Isaac, you are no fun!" Avery said over to her party partner. She turned her attention back to the phone, as she said, "Jackson, you should come party with us! You need to loosen up too."
"I'm good." Jackson said, then added, "but how about I come get you. I think you have had enough."
"We have not had enough. We are going to close the bar!" Avery cheered out. "Who wants a drink?" She yelled out to the room, causing everyone to cheer out with her.
"Avery!" Jackson yelled out, trying to get her attention. "What bar are you at?" He asked again, as he stood up from the couch.
"The bestest bar in town." Avery said, causing the crowd to cheer again, before adding, "The Silver Foxy. I love that word. Foxxxy. Foxy."
"Shit." Jackson swore. Everyone in town knew that bar, it was on the outskirts of town, in the bad part of town, where the rough crowd hung out. He couldn't believe Avery would go there. Out of all the bars and clubs in town, why did she have to pick the worst.
"Avery, hey, A, listen to me, okay?" Jackson began to say, trying to get her attention and stop her from singing along to a song playing in the background. "Avery, get outside, okay? I'm on my way to get you." He added.
"Jackals is coming to party!" Avery called out. She turned her attention to the crowd, as she called out, "Hey, everyone, my friend is coming to party with us. Let's show him a good time."
Jackson rolled his eyes and tried to control his anger, when he heard everyone cheering out. "Avery, outside, now!" He called out, as he ended the call and began to walk toward the door.
"Hey, what is going on?" Teagan called out, as she jumped up from the couch and followed him to the door.
"Avery is at the Silver Foxy." Jackson answered.
"What? Why would she go there?" Teagan asked with wide eyes. She knew Avery liked to go to bars and clubs sometimes, but no one in their right mind would go to that bar. It was far from being her type of bar scene. "She usually goes to tamer clubs to dance and have a good time." She added.
"After you came home, yeah, but when you were gone, T, she was a completely different person." Jackson pointed out. "She would go to a different bar, open a tab and not leave until she practically drank out the bar. Then she'll start all over again. You wouldn't believe the times she called me and I'd have to go get her. Either from the bar or some random place cause she left with someone and couldn't remember how to get back."
"No one ever told me it got that bad." Teagan said, as she folded her arms across her chest, then added, "I knew right before I left she started partying and hooking up, but I never thought it got worse than that."
"It did, it got a lot worse, and it's happening again." Jackson said with a worried look.
"Well I'm coming with you." Teagan said, as she turned around to head for the stairs, planning to run to her room to change clothes.
"T, you should stay here." Jackson said, as he grabbed her arm to stop her. He knew she shouldn't see her best friend like that. After finding out where she was, he had completely forgot Isaac was there too. All he could think about was getting Avery out of there before something bad happened.
"I'm coming with you." Teagan stated, not backing down.
"Fine." Jackson said with a sigh, knowing she was too stubborn to stay behind. "Hurry up." He added, as he nodded his head toward the stairs.
Teagan ran to her room and quickly changed out of the lounge pants she had on into a pair of blue jeans. She left Isaac's shirt on then slipped into a pair of shoes before making her way back downstairs to meet up with Jackson.
~ A Teen Wolf fanfiction collaboration between Miss E Charlotte and Sage Londyn.~
A/N- Hope you liked the chapter, thank you all for reading. ^_^
I know this story is just starting out so there's just a few of you, but I wanted to take a moment and thank everyone who has added this story to your favorites and/or subscribed fro update alerts! And of course an extra special thank you to everyone who has been reviewing. We're so excited to be sharing the 3rd installment of our Blue Moon Series with you! How are you all liking the story so far?