Disclaimer: Sadly I did not write Teen Wolf.
I hope you guys like this chapter! Sorry it's so long!
Death is the most permanent thing on the planet. Not Shakespeare and not sharpie. It's also something that everyone must experience at some point in life. And when someone does experience it, hopefully at an old age, they are gone. Forever. Sure some people have brushes with death. They're gone for a few minutes but the doctors bring them back, but that's not the same thing as real death. Full blown, flat lined death, is the most permanent inescapable thing on the planet.
And when death does come and take whomever it does, to wherever they're meant to go, he leaves behind a path of destruction in his wake for everyone who was close to the deceased. Or at least he did when Avery lost her sister, but now… she doesn't know how to feel.
She remembers being confused since her dad is sitting right in front of her but then it hit her. It hit hard too, it was her dad that left them so long ago. Her mom tries to keep talking and even brings up a funeral that's supposed to take place in two days but her words don't seem to work through the veil draped over Avery's mind. The rest of the night is a haze. Avery remembers running out the door to her car and driving. That's basically it. She just drives up some random hill that opens up to peak with a perfect view of the city. Then she screams. She screams out her pain and anger and rage, she screams out everything. She gets back in her car and sits there for a moment. She refuses to cry. Why should she? That man ruined her childhood, she should be happy he's dead. But the more she thinks about it the more tears start to build up. She hears her phone ringing after a moment and sees its stiles so she decides to answer.
"Stiles." She says shakily and slightly out of breath.
"Avery? What's wrong? What happened?"
"He's dead, he's dead and I don't know what to do. I don't know what to think. And it's all falling apart. And I just…" Her throat turns into a giant pretzel and won't allow her to continue.
"Whose dead? Where are you?"
"I don't know. I don't know. I just drove up some hill and there's this peak that opens up to the city and I don't know where I am." She can feel the air leave her lungs and she knows she's about to have a panic attack.
"I think I know where you are. Just stay there. I'm on my way." It couldn't have been more then a couple of minutes but sitting alone in that car it feels like a lifetime. When Stiles does show up Avery jumps out of her car and runs to him and into his arms. He wraps himself around her and his warmth pours over her. She gasps for air and breaths in the smell of his jacket with rugged breaths all while Stiles strokes her hair.
"Avery what happened?" He asks softly but she can't talk yet because if she talks she knows she'll cry so instead she just shakes her ahead. She pulls away after a moment more and looks down at her shoes too ashamed to look at him but he won't let it go that easy. He cups her face in his hands and lifts it up to look at him. She hates that he does this because two small tears leave her eyes unwillingly and Stiles whips them away for her.
"Its ok to cry Avery…" He whispers to her. They stay like that for a moment and in that moment something passes between them. "Come on let's sit down." He says sliding an arm around her and leading her to the edge of the peak where they both take a seat on the floor next to each other. Avery leans into Stiles and he just wraps his arms around her resting his chin upon her head while they both admire the view.
"My real dad…" she croaks out, "he's the one who died… of a heart attack last night…" Her voice is raspy and she guesses it's because of her scream fest earlier.
"I'm so sorry Avery." He becomes quiet for a moment and for some reason she finds this comforting. They sit in silence for a while until she can't take it anymore. "How should I feel?" She asks finally pulling away to look at him. "I… I don't know how to feel."
"I don't think I can help you with something like that."
"I know. Wishful thinking I guess." She tries to sound light but the whole situation is so messed up it doesn't work. "There's a funeral in a couple days." She says it softly and more timid then she feels.
"Are you going?" He asks back after a moment.
"I don't know." She replies with tears returning to her eyes. "I'm scared." She says with shrug. She's surprised at how heavy the words feel leaving her mouth, and how hard they were to get out in the first place. Even though saying she's scared is the understatement of her life it's true. She's scared of seeing the life he left her for, of saying goodbye to a stranger, or even worse revisiting a monster, she's afraid of crying and her own emotions, and worst of all bringing up buried ones.
"Don't be, you have me." He says with a small sad smile, and just like that the whole situation feels a little less scary because she knows she doesn't have to face it alone.
"Can you come with me?" She asks so suddenly that Stiles looks a little frightened. "…To the funeral that is." She adds so there's no confusion.
"Yeah… yeah of course." He repeats himself more confidently the second time.
"Thanks." She says looking out at the view.
"Anytime." He replies to his hands.
"No really Stiles. Thank you." She puts her hand on his shoulder this time and looks deep into his eyes to let him know how much he means to her. "I uh… I don't think I could've handled this alone." She gives him a pained smile. She's honestly never had a friend as close as Stiles and she can't imagine life without him. "I should go home shouldn't I?"
"Your parents are probably worried about you but you should do whatever makes you feel best."
"Then I should stay here. I think I'm happiest here." She lies back down onto the floor and doesn't care one bit if her cloths and hair get completely filthy.
"Good," he replies back lying down alongside her.
"What did you have to tell me earlier?" She asks trying to take her mind off of the tornado of emotions rolling around up there.
"It's nothing it can wait." He tries to sound casual but she knows him to well.
"Stiles, you left me like twenty messages. Obviously it isn't nothing." She rolls over and gives him the 'talk to me look' that he usually wears with her.
"Well… I went to Lydia's house after school and I saw a video on her phone of the alpha. Or at least I think it's the alpha, it's kinda hard to tell. So I took her phone and deleted it."
"So Lydia knows about werewolves?" She asks surprised.
"No, I don't think so. She was pretty drugged when I got there though."
"So nothing else happened? Just the phone thing?"
"Well other then Lydia almost kissing me and my dad being hit by a car that's basically it," he shrugs.
"What?! Start from the beginning." She usually pushes her emotions down so it's easy for her to do it now.
"Well Lydia was kinda loopy and she leans in to kiss me and I'm all ready for it and everything and then… she calls me Jackson." He brings his hands up and back down onto his legs.
"Ooh that's a mood killer," she winces.
"Yeah no kidding. So after that happened I found the video took the phone and bailed."
"I'm sorry. I know you must have been ecstatic to kiss her."
"No, it's fine." He shrugs like it's no big deal.
"What about your…" Her throat closes at the word for some reason making her feel like a huge drama queen. She just clears her throat and continues trying to make it seem casual. "Dad. How is he?" He looks at her for a moment but decides to play along and not mention anything.
"He's fine. Bruised up pretty bad but he's tough."
"So what I got from that was. Your…dad was hurt and he doesn't want you to worry but you're going to worry anyways because that's just who you are. Did I get that right?"
"Painfully so." He chuckles.
The rest of the night is good, well not good, but it's bearable. She covers her pain with fake smiles and idle chitchat. She can tell that Stiles knows she's in pain and he want's to talk about it but he knows better. He knows that she just want's to hide her pain with fake smiles and idle chitchat so he plays along. When she finally decides to go home she hugs Stiles tightly one last time and thanks him. They drive off in their separate cars and she arrives home around three in the morning. Her mom is asleep on the family room coach but her step dad is waiting up for her in the kitchen.
"Avery?" He tries to talk to her but she just runs up the stairs and into her room locking the door behind her.
She's not mad at him. Far from it, but talking to her step dad about her abusive bio dad's death is not something she's ready for. She is ready for sleep however so that's what she does, or at least she tries to but she doesn't have much luck. Instead it's just a lot of flashbacks to her childhood. She sleeps in total an hour that whole night and when her alarm goes off the next morning she just ignores it. Just like she ignores her mother knocking on the door with trays of food, because she's just not hungry. She doesn't feel like doing anything except lying in her bed and thinking about not thinking. In fact all of her feelings kind of lose their feeling until she just feels numb. When three o'clock rolls around her phone goes off with an alarm titled get ready for Derek's. She doesn't know what to do, if she goes she'll just have to pretend to be ok, but if she doesn't she'll feel like she's giving up on her sister, Quinn.
Quinn, she hasn't thought about her in a while, who she was at least, not just the murder case or Avery's sweet revenge scheme. And to Avery's dismay she takes satisfaction in that. She hates herself for hiding her sister away like she's some shameful secret. Quinn's death just hurts her so much and she's still not ready to face that pain.
But she has a decision to make, go to Derek's and shove the pain of this death in with her sisters, or finally face them both head on and get ready for the cry of a lifetime. Of course she picks to shove the pain away though, it's just too familiar of a pattern to break. She jumps up and throws on some running leggings and jacket and a pair of sneakers. She decides to run to Derek's house instead of drive so she grabs a water bottle and her headphones and is out the door. Luckily her mom had to go to the grocery store and her step dad had to go into the shop and took Roxy with him because she was not in the mood to explain her actions. When she arrives at Derek's house she's already exhausted from the run and just want's to crawl back into bed, but instead she knocks on the ancient door.
"You're late." He greets her as he opens the door turns around and walks away.
"I ran, sorry." Again when she tries to talk her voice comes out sore and horse. When Derek hears it like that he turns around and stares down at her. He holds his gaze for a moment longer before finally saying anything.
"What happened?" He asks simply.
"Nothing." She tries to sound confident but knows it doesn't work.
"I can hear your heart beat."
"So? You've been wrong before." She walks past him trying to avoid his searching eyes.
"I can smell it on you." She turns back around at his words and gives him a weird look. She then grabs the collar of her jacket and smells it.
"That's just sweat." She says definitively.
"No, I can smell the emotions you're giving off. And I'm getting a lot of sadness and anger coming from you, more then usual too. So I'll ask you one more time, what happened?" He walks closer to her and stands over her like he's a teacher and she's a five year old that refuses to share.
"… My dad…" The words refuse to leave her mouth but she forces it out one by one. "My real dad, he died last night of a heart attack." She says it to a wall behind Derek since she refuses to look at him. Derek's eyes soften as he opens her mouth slowly. He shuts it quickly, unsure of what to say.
"It's okay. I had the same reaction. Let's just get to training." She finally brings her eyes up to his and is shocked to see a look of understanding dance across his face.
"Ok. Let's start with pull ups." He says and walks over to the doorframe and goes at it. After he at last comes to accept her lack of ability to do pull-ups, he decides to teach her how to fight. He leads her outside and places her a few feet in front of him.
"What now?" She asks looking around for some gloves or thingies she's supposed to punch.
"This." He says and lungs at her with werewolf speed knocking her back and get the wind knocked out of her. Derek walks over to her and stands with his arms crossed over his chest.
"What the hell was that?" She asks gasping for air.
"You're going to be fighting an Alpha. You need to get used to this kind of power and speed and then triple it. If you even want a chance at the alpha you need to be able to beat me easily." He offers her his hand to help her up but she just swats it away and gets up on her own. One thing Derek needs to learn is how to handle an emotional bomb with a short fuse like Avery.
"Fine. Then teach me how to do that." She huffs while dusting herself off.
"Ok. When someone lunges at you, you need to …" Derek spends the rest of the training session making Avery fall on her butt and get bruised up then telling her after the fact how to avoid it.
By the time the class is over she can barely walk and already has little purple splotches popping up all over her body. She sits on the floor trying to regain some strength before the run home.
"Come on." Derek says coming back out of the house he just entered and making his was over to his car.
"If you're going to take me to some lake, tie me up, and push me in and only tell me how I could have avoided that after I'm already dead, I think I'll pass."
"I'm taking you home. Or would you rather run?" He sounds just as snarky as he usually does and she's grateful for it.
"No, no, no. A field trip in the Camaro is just fine… thanks." She says running over to the shiny black car.
She jumps in and admires the nice car. "Hey, can I name your car Black Pearl? It looks like a pearl to me." She says definitively.
"If you ever call my car that again I'll run you over with it."
"Ok, point taken." She puts her hands up in surrender. They drive in silence for a while until they reach her house.
"I'm sorry about your dad." Derek says right as Avery's about to jump out of the car.
"Thanks…You're not as bad as everyone says you are."
"You're right… I'm worse."
"No, I think you're way better. You just try to hide it." She gets out and closes the door. "I'll see you day after tomorrow for training. How's four?" She asks through the open window of the passenger car door.
"Don't be late." He says and drives off leaving Avery on the sidewalk.
She runs inside before her parents come home and showers then goes back to bed. She has five text messages that she didn't bother reading so she decides to check them out now.
Allison- Hey I'm going to be MIA for a while. I think I'm going to be grounded till the end of time. I'll see you on Monday though. Hopefully.
Scott- Hey can you tell Stiles I'm sorry for me. Unless you're not talking to me either then I'm sorry… to you I mean… you and Stiles… I'm sorry to both of you.
Jake- Hey I'm sorry for how I was acting at lunch. Can I make it up to you by taking you out to dinner tomorrow?
Stiles- Hi. I was just going to ask if you're ok… but the more I think about it the more stupid that question seems. Of course you're not ok. 'How are you seems?' better so I'll go with that. Oh and you don't have to answer that question if you don't want to.
Stiles- Oh I forgot to ask the details about the funeral. If you still want me to go that is. I get it if you want to go alone, or not at all. I get that too.
She thinks for a moment on how she wants to play this and as usual she goes with the, hide the bad thing that happened under a smile.
Avery to Jake- Can't, I already have plans, g2g busy. Ttyl… or not.
Avery to Scott- I'm not mad and I'll pass your message along.
Avery to Stiles- I'm still in. Pick me up at 12, the drive will take over an hour probably and were a nice black button up shirt.
Avery to Stiles- oh and Scott says sorry.
She then continues to shut her phone off, because for right now she's done with people. She's not however done with sleep and even though it's barely seven she sleeps well because she's too emotionally taxed to do anything else. Her mom knocks on the door to try and get her to eat something but she refuses to answer because even though she hasn't eaten in a day she's just not hungry.
The next morning she feels numb. She gets up and does her make up with extra care then rummages through her closet and pulls out the dress she wore to her sister's funeral. She knows it might be cheap but she can't imagine going shopping right now or wearing another dress to a funeral deeming it an outcaste and never to be worn again. So she slips into the dress with a black mildly puffy skirt and a pink top with black lace overlapping on the bottom and a more black lace accents around the collar. She pairs it with a simple pair of black heels and a black and pink purse. She's ready with time to spare and turns back on her phone to check her messages and can see she has three.
Jake- what are you doing? Can you try and get out of it?
Scott- Thanks Avery, I owe you big time.
Stiles- I'll be there.
Avery to Jake- No I can't get out of it and it's really none of your business.
Avery to Stiles- I'll be waiting outside at exactly twelve and I'll bring food for the drive.
She looks out the window and can see her parent's cars are gone. She has a feeling that that was her mothers doing to make sure they were out of the house at exactly the time she should leave to get to the funeral. She's grateful for it too. She walks down the stairs and packs a bag of chips and sodas and anything they might need to distract themselves from the drive. She then walks outside ten minutes early and Stiles is already waiting for her in his car. He jumps out when he sees her and meets her by the passenger door.
"Wow. You look…"
"Funeral appropriate?" She asks looking down at her own outfit.
"I was going to say great but that works too." She gives him a hallow smile then takes in his appearance. He's wearing a nice black button up shirt and a nice pair of pants basically he looks amazing.
"You don't look to bad yourself." She tries to smile but it ends up looking more like a wince. "We should get going." She says trying to avoid the 'what's wrong' look that she knows is dancing across Stiles face. She slides into the passenger seat and prepares for the long drive.
That's definitely what it was, a long drive. Even though it wasn't it was. Avery had to turn her phone off since Jake kept txting her and it made Stiles rigid. She didn't eat anything but pretended to so it doesn't look weird, she's just not hungry. They pull up to the small church five minutes before the service is supposed to start. Stiles jumps out and walks around to the passenger side where Avery is stuck in her sleep.
"Are you sure you want to do this? Because I can get back in the car and we can turn around and go home."
"No, I'm fine. Lets do this." She shakes her head and gets out of the car.
They walk in and Avery is surprised to see the church fully packed. They slip into a seats in the back without talking to anyone as the service starts.
"We are gathered here today to mourn the death of a brilliant man. He was a father, a husband, and a dear friend to all that knew him. And now his family would like to say a few words." The pastor steps down and a skinny blond lady steps up.
"My husband was my best friend. We fell in love instantly and were blessed with our first child, Alex. He was gentle and kind…" She stops as the tears begin to flow but picks up again. "We moved out here and he opened up a new hunting shop." She chuckles lightly. "He loved that shop. We had our other two throughout the years and he never faltered in being a great father." Avery stares at this stranger and the words that flow from her mouth and sees those as strangers as well. She follows the woman's gaze and sees a group of four children. They're all crying and they look so sad that Avery aces for them. She still hates them though, and with every complement the women says about her father it feels like knifes being driven into her heart. "He always put his family first and would drop anything to help us…" She just kept going. It was so painful that when it finally ended Avery didn't even realize that she grabbed onto Stiles hand.
Five other people made speeches and each of them went on and on about how amazing of a guy he was. By the end Avery thought she was torn to shreds and she clutched Stiles hand like it was her anchor to humanity. Everyone stands after the service is over and her fathers current family stood by the door so people could give there condolences as they exited. Avery didn't want to see them much less talk to them. But what could she do with them blocking the door. So she stalls for time by walking over to her dad to say goodbye. Stiles stood next to her with their hands still linked together.
"I hate you." She says to the closed casket that her tears fall onto. "You were a horrible human being and you deserved to die." She chokes up and Stiles squeezes her hands. They turn around and make their way to the door where they have to say something to that family.
"I'm sorry for your loss." Stiles says and shakes the lady's hand.
"I'm sorry as well." Avery says and shakes her hand. As she tries to pull away though the lady won't let go.
"I know you." The wife of her father says looking deep into her eyes, the eyes she got from her father.
"You must be mistaken. We really must be going. I'm sorry for your loss." She says yanking her hand away and pushes Stiles out the door. As they make there way to the car she realizes the worst thing possible, she forgot her purse. "Wait. I… I forgot my bag in the isle." She stops and Stiles has to follow suit since there still linked together.
"Do you want me to go in and get it for you?" He looks down into her eyes and she shakes her head.
"Just start the car I'll be right back." She lets go of his hand and runs back into the church. As she walks through the doors she realizes that her dads wife and Avery assumes her sister are sitting in the front isles talking just load enough for Avery to hear them.
"I don't know why she would come. He obviously didn't love them. He loved me. That's why he left them and that whore for Alex and me. So why would that little bitch show up to his funeral." Avery's stepmother says looking at her hands and crying.
"I had to call them Sheila." Her sister consoles her.
"He never loved them." She sobs. "He threw them away like they were yesterdays trash. He didn't even give them a second thought. He loved Alex, and Jessie and Chris and he told them that every day." Tears come to Avery's eyes and she grabs her bag from the back isle. She turns to leave and sees Stiles standing in the doorway. He heard everything as well. "I bet they live in some shack in the middle of nowhere. He probably hated them for wanting to keep us apart. That's why I hid the invitation to the oldest ones funeral." Avery's tears keep coming but they come because she's angry not because she's hurt by her words. Those tears will come later. Avery turns around and storms over to the two women.
"Sheila you didn't." The sister gasps, then sees Avery coming up from behind them and freezes.
"I know you lost someone and I know you're hurt, but I lost someone too. And you're wrong he didn't hate us." She pulls out her wallet and inside it holds the letter her dad left for her the day he left, the one she's carried with her since that day. She points to the ending that reads, I'll always love you -dad. "He didn't hate us. We hated him. And if he wanted to leave us for some trashy slut who got pregnant to rip a family apart then that's on him. But don't you dare ever call my mother a whore or say that we're in need, because only one of us has three children and no job and it's not me." She begins to turn around but stops. "He missed his oldest daughters funeral and died without saying a last goodbye to her and that's something you'll have to live with for the rest of your life. Burn in hell, bitch." She then continues to on her way out the door with Stiles following close behind. They walk down the steps of the church and into the running car parked outside.
She cries silently the whole ride home. Avery wishes that Sheila's words don't hurt her like they do, but they do. They hurt so much she wants to cut out her own heart. When they pull up to her house she gives Stiles a quick thank you then jumps out of the car and runs to her door. She walks in and sees her mom on the coach watching TV.
"Mom?" She says with tears pouring down her face. Her mom sits up and Avery is crying into her mom's arms in a matter of seconds. All the tears she's been bottling up since her sisters death finally come pouring out.
I hope you guys liked it! Please tell me what you think about where the story's heading. I would love to hear your guy's ideas or inputs. Sorry, about the grammar mistakes. Oh, and sorry it was so depressing. I'll try to get another chapter up soon.