Jessica and Riley were on their way to class when a girl stopped them outside of their General Psychology class. She was of Asian descent, as short as Jessica, and wore glasses over almond eyes that were staring at Riley in adoration. Ever friendly Riley smiled at her and the girl's smile lit up her face. She was one of the many people that fell under Riley's sweet and effortless charm.

"Hi Megan," Riley greeted her. "How's your day been going?"

"Professor Sienna gave me only a B plus on my essay," she replied sheepishly. "She said I didn't have enough conviction in my writing. I'm not really sure what that means."

"It could've been the wording you used. Did you use filler words?" he offered. "Like, maybe, perhaps, kind of – they can make you sound unsure about what you're talking about."

"That could've been it," She turned to Jessica. "You must be Jess. Riley talks about you all the time."

Jessica turned to Riley in surprise who was blushing underneath the light tan he got from living in California. He ran his hand through his hair. "Jessica, this is Megan. Megan, this is Jessica. And I don't talk about her all the time."

"Actually he does," Megan countered, smiling conspiringly. "If I didn't know any better, I'd think he had a crush on you."

Before Jessica could reply to that, Riley started lightly pushing her towards the door of the classroom. "I'll see you later, Megs."

"I actually came to talk to you cause I'm going to be Professor Wesfield's new TA so I won't be at the meeting later," Megan told him. "But I will be at the barbeque tomorrow and you should bring Jessica. It'll be fun."

Megan walked off and they made their way inside the classroom, going for their usual seats at the middle of the room.

Jessica asked, "What meeting?"

"I joined a club at the start of the semester, remember? SBSA?" At her blank look he elaborated, "Stanford Biosciences Student Association. Which I tried really hard to get you to join with me but you said you didn't want to join anything until next semester."

"Oh right," She'd forgotten about that. Riley had tried to get her to join but the mention of a yearly camping trip had made her back out. "That's how you met Megan?"

"Yes and Jesse too," He paused at the mention of the still missing upperclassmen before continuing. "We're having the quarterly barbecue tomorrow and you should definitely come and eat all our food while the upperclassmen try to persuade you to join."

"This isn't secretly a cult meeting, is it?"

"We don't begin the brainwashing until after you've eaten," Riley easily deflected her banter. "And it's only polite to stay and listen to our cult's credo before you make a run for it."

"Well, I can't say no to that and the promise of spare ribs."

Riley smiled. "It's a date."


Bonnie received care package from her grandmother every month that ranged from homemade cookies to incense sticks. Her grandmother was apparently also a perfume maker as Bonnie had bottles and bottles of a perfume she liked to gift to friends. It had a pleasant citrus scent. Bonnie explained it was lemon verbena.

"It keeps vampires from wanting to bite you," her roommate continued. "The plant verbena has magical properties and it messes with their smell so they can't smell your blood and won't be tempted to take a bite."

Jessica spritzed some on her wrist and took a few sniffs, realizing it smelled familiar. "I swear this is what Stiles smells like."

"He uses it. Fae blood is like a heroine to vampires so it's better to be safe than sorry for him."

"Is that why Edward doesn't want to bite him? I thought it was just because Stiles was annoying."

"That too," Bonnie grinned. "Stiles could annoy anyone to death if he tried hard enough."

Jessica sniffed her wrist again. Underneath the citrus scent was something that smelled herbal. It was faint but definitely there. The perfume mostly smelled clean and could see how Stiles wouldn't mind it.

"You should keep that," Bonnie said. "I have loads and I would feel better knowing your boyfriend wants to bite you less."

Jessica thanked her and spritzed perfume on her neck. She didn't know why she hadn't thought of using scents to help Edward before. His sense of smell was very sharp and they could've used something like mint to overpower it and just make his life more bearable. She made a mental note to email Alice with the idea later as it would be beneficial for Jasper.

She asked Riley if it was alright to bring Bonnie with her to barbecue and he agreed. Inviting Bonnie meant Scott was going which meant Stiles and Kira were going too. There was no inviting one of the New Orleans gang without getting all of them to come. The four didn't know how to exist without each other.

Jessica had no complaints. Befriending Bonnie had given her three instant friends who gave unwavering support and endless advice on how to deal with the weird, supernatural world they were in. Jessica could tell them anything about Edward and his family and they would have some anecdote they could relate with. Stiles had a superior memory and never ran out of stories.

She wanted to invite Edward but it was a very sunny day and he would be miserable huddling under his umbrella the entire time. Add in the fact they would be surrounded by a whole new group of strangers and he would have to try drowning out their voices both external and internal. There were some days Edward got so tired from hearing voices that he would drive away for weekend to stay with his cousins in Alaska just for the peace and quiet. He would send her plenty of texts about missing her and be back by Monday morning but she did feel sorry for him as he didn't have enough control with his power to shut it off. She tried to imagine the sheer hell of being a telepath and she would've probably lost her mind a long time ago.

She texted Edward where she was going to be and he replied for her to have fun and he was spending the day watching Charlie Chaplin films. She supposed he was okay if he was watching comedy. She would've been concerned if he was playing Beethoven. Rage over a lost penny was the piece he played when he was really upset and she would need to call to Esme for help.

Palo Alta was still warm in November at least by Forks' frigid standards. She was only wearing a sundress and sandals as they all made their way to the barbecue. Riley greeted them and made a few introductions with his the other SBSA members before the boys and Kira went straight for the buffet. Riley didn't leave them as they ate corn on the cob and spare ribs smothered in a spicy sauce.

Megan had made candied apple for dessert and she talked to Jessica about classes. She learned that Megan was a Third Year Pre-Med student and was thinking about specializing in Cardiothoracics.

"I want to be a real life Cristina Yang from Grey's Anatomy," Megan declared. "And when I was a kid I had a heart murmur and this doctor saved me so now I kind of want to pay it forward. Enough about me, why'd you get into Biochem?"

Jessica smiled sheepishly as she took a bite of her apple. "I watched X-Men when I was twelve and wanted to study human mutation. It's all because of Halle Berry."

"She is a babe," Megan smiled. "Can't blame you for that."

The other girl looked at something behind her and smiled wider. Jessica turned around and saw Riley sitting on a lawn chair with a guitar, strumming out a Radiohead song. Under the sunlight, Riley's hair was almost auburn and his brown eyes almost gold. With the high cheekbones, he looked eerily like Edward and it almost knocked the breath out of her. She had been aware of his attractiveness but never so viscerally.

"Riley's cute, isn't he?" Megan sighed. "If I was into boys, I would snatch him before anyone else had the chance."

Jessica stopped chewing, the caramel in her mouth melting and the sugar felt cloying on her tongue. "He just got out of a three-year relationship. He's not looking for anyone."

"Guys like Riley don't stay single for long."

Jessica swallowed. "I have a boyfriend."

"I wasn't asking," Megan gave her a look, her smile dropping as she looked at her seriously. "Riley's a good kid and you're not dumb. If you don't want him, let him go."

"I'm not doing anything to him. We're friends."

Megan didn't say anything more to that and walked away to talk to somebody else. Jessica stared at Riley who was now playing a Paramore song and had everyone singing along. She frowned as she contemplated Megan's suggestions. She and Riley were friends, nothing more.


They lounged on the grass as they tried to digest the food they consumed. Stiles' head was on Kira's lap as she leaned on Bonnie. Scott was the only one not full due to his werewolf metabolism and having his third candied apple for the day. Jessica warned him about diabetes.

"I burn through food fast," he explained. "My metabolism is insane."

Jessica had seen Lauren's food intake increase after her transformation but hadn't mentioned it in fear of the blonde's wrath. "How much can you eat?"

"I don't even know. My stomach is a black hole," Scott continued. "My mom complained I was going to eat her out of house and home."

Jessica was strangely jealous as she couldn't eat too much without fear of it going to her hips. She was too short to get away with it. She would look like a potato. An adorable potato as Nana would say but a potato nonetheless.

Scott moved closer to her and sniffed the air eerily like Sunny. "Jess, did you change your perfume? You smell different."

"Bonnie gave me that lemon verbena perfume."

"Good old LV juice," Stiles said. "Keeps away vampires and smell like citrus-y goodness."

"That explains it," Scott smiled. "You usually smell like that sweet strawberry stuff."

She had been wearing the same Victoria's Secret perfume since Freshman Year of high school. Edward remarked one time she smelled like strawberry jam. He called her 'strawberry short cake' and she threatened to set him on fire. She had meant it too.

"Just trying to make things easier for Edward," Jessica explained. "You know he has those killing people urges."

Scott looked down at the ground before replying. "It's not easy controlling those urges. For me, most of the time it's about keeping my temper leashed but when the full moon is here and the wolf takes over and all I can do is helplessly watch as it wants to go on a killing spree…"

They all went quiet and watched as he swallowed, Scott's usually sunny disposition disappearing to be replaced what looked like shame and melancholy. The difference was disturbing. She'd always thought Scott was so nice he couldn't hurt a fly even if he wanted to. Maybe she had forgotten what he was like she could forget about what Edward was and just thought them both human.

"The wolf it would kill anyone," Scott continued. "Doesn't matter who it was or if I knew that person."

He looked up and met Bonnie's gaze. "Even if I loved that person, if it had a chance it would rip them apart without a second thought."

Jessica remembered her birthday and when Edward had a taste of her blood and how he had been restraining himself with great difficult from feeding on her, from killing her. The urge was always under his skin no matter how deeply he tried to bury it. Alice had warned her to remember what he was. And Jessica tried her best to but she also knew being a vampire wasn't all Edward was.

"But you won't because we're here to stop you," Stiles sat up, staring intently at his best friend. "We'll take care of you, patch you up, and stay up all night with you because you're our friend and nothing is gonna change that so stop being maudlin."

Scott closed his eyes and if Jessica hadn't been sitting beside him, she wouldn't have noticed the slight tremor at his jaw as he kept it in his emotions. "Thanks, Stiles."

"You were channeling Edward too much there," Stiles pointed to Jessica. "Tell Eddie we're here for him too. He's one of us now."

Jessica could sympathize as she held back a wave of emotions that were threatening to make her start sobbing. "Thanks, Stiles."

After the barbecue, she didn't go back to the dorms. Kira and Stiles went back to Stern Hall and Bonnie and Scott were doing something together. Bonnie told her not to wait up as she was staying out late. Jessica told her to enjoy yourself.

Wanting to burn off calories, Jessica opted for a walk instead of driving. The walk from campus to Edward's apartment wasn't far and she let herself in with the key he'd given her. Edward was sitting on the couch and watching City Lights and he looked up with a soft smile at the sight of her. She paused and stared at his handsome face illuminated only by the TV screen and he could've been an actor in those black and white films.

"I missed you," she said.

"I missed you too," He made room on the couch for her to cuddle up beside him. He kissed the top of her head then dipped down and sniffed at her pulse. "Why do you smell like Stiles?"

"It's a perfume Bonnie's grandma makes. Lemon verbena keeps vampires from smelling blood," she answered. "Do you like it?"

She couldn't see his expression as he kissed her pulse, making her shiver. "I can live with it."


1. Megan is a character from The Vampire Diaries. She was Elena and Caroline's roommate at Whitmore.

2. The verbena or vervain plant was a big thing on TVD as it not only burned vampires, it kept them from being able to use mind compulsion on a human. Due to how vampires are in Twilight, I decided to make it that verbena only overpowers their scent. Lemon verbena is also an actual perfume though I've never smelled it. I hope it smells nice. I'm too broke to buy perfume just for research.

3. Werewolf metabolism wasn't as a portrayed here in Teen Wolf. I was basing it more on Twilight's werewolves (Quileutes) but it made sense that Children of the Moon wolves would also have fast metabolisms.

4. The VS perfume Jessica was talking about is Pure Seduction.

5. City Lights is a 1931 film starring Charlie Chaplin.

6. Chapter title is a play on Scott Pilgrim vs the World (which also starred Anna Kendrick).