Disclaimer: teen wolf does not belong to me in any way shape or form - thank you for all your continued support and a massive shoutout to guest, guest, guest, guest and Natalia for reviewing means the world :)
Also, reply to guest: if you haven't read the original fic DONT READ SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS: Well, that thing regarding Peter Kayla doesn't actually know yet, so even though biologically, her dad isn't her dad, he's still her dad. He still raised her. Also, Kayla was 10 when the fire happened (there's been discrepancies with the timeline in teen wolf but in season 3 Cora said to Peter you've known me 17 years and he said no 11, 6 unaccounted for meaning the fire was about 6 years ago). Also, Derek's family is Kayla's too so what he lost she did too. That's a lot of trauma for someone of that age, then seeing her dad and brother murdered in front of her was her breaking point. Everyone has different tolerances regarding grief, and everyone copes differently. Even the most well adjudged people struggle with grief, and grief can trigger many mental health conditions/trauma etc, I should know, I went through 3 years of training to become a mental health nurse lol. Derek's way of dealing was to shut himself off and turn into a recluse (although his grief is never actually explored in canon so how do we know he didn't act out when it happened), Kayla's way of dealing was to act out and make dangerous decisions because the pain was just too much. Each are more than understandable and viable to them. Just like how when I lost my mum last year, I took charge and arranged things, did her funeral and went back to work the day after her funeral but my brother didn't cope well during that time, needing sleeping tablets and an increase in antidepressants. It wasn't until later that I realised I wasn't actually coping, having nightmares of my dead mum on the floor and needed therapy due to an abnormal grief reaction (Not going to go into detail but it was bad) and my brother learnt to cope, everyone is different and no one's grieving process can be judged. Grief is one of the worst things to happen to someone and Kayla's portrayal of it is actually very accurate, not only from my own experience but from patients I've treated. Sorry long explanation just wanted to explain things properly to clear up any confusion :) anyway, onto the story...
When she walked in the front door, shoes in hand, make up smudged under her eyes and hair fluffed into extreme curls she was immediately faced with her mothers wrath.
Standing there, arms folded across her chest, her black pant suit and slicked back hair making her chiselled face appear much more sharper and extreme was not a pleasant sight. She was clearly not happy, her eyes blazing with fury.
"Uh... hi" Kayla shut the door behind her, dropping her shoes by the rack, "guessing you haven't made breakfast today then?"
Her mom's lips thinned into a hard line, clearly channeling all her restraint to not hurl words of abuse at her.
"What did I say about going to that party?"
"Not to go"
"And what did you do?"
"Went to the party. Clearly" waving a hand down to her attire, "but not for reasons that you think"
"Oh really?" her mom scoffed in disbelief, "so that isn't alcohol you reek of?"
She sniffed the collar of her denim playsuit, "I don't smell that bad"
"You smell like a brewery"
Kayla scoffed, "don't be so dramatic"
"This is meant to be our fresh start" her mom began her rant, her heeled shoes beginning to tap the floor in frustration, "and not even a week here and you go off the rails - again"
"I'm not off the rails" Kayla groaned, "look, I was there to keep an eye on Scott. A new werewolf" she explained, "we were just making sure no one got hurt"
"And drinking too. God knows what else" her mom said sternly, "do I need to drive you to the pharmacy to get plan B?"
"Mom"
"What?" she shouted in response, her tone sharp and authoritative, like a drill sergeant, "I can't imagine this was a Christian gathering"
Kayla rolled her eyes, "nothing like a little slut shaming from your mother, huh? And no, of course I don't need plan B. I meant what I said. A better me"
Her mom quirked a perfect plucked and arched brow, "you're not exactly making a good start to that, are you?"
"Evidently not" she grumbled, "anyway, believe what you want. I was just trying to help a new friend"
"You're grounded for the weekend" her mom said, not taking on board anything she was saying, "and don't even think about leaving when I'm at work. I got the outside security cameras working so I'll know"
"Sure, fine, whatever" she grumbled, brushing past her mom, "I'm going to bed"
"And I expect this house to be cleaned, top to bottom, by the time I get back"
She was up the first step of the stairs as she turned around in exasperation, "what? We just moved in. What is there to clean?"
"No arguments" her mom said, slinging her bag over her shoulder, "trust is earned Kayla"
She watched her mom leave with bitter eyes, resisting getting in the last word as she watched the door close and lock behind her.
Great. She was in the bad books - again.
No wonder she struggled so much getting, and staying, on the straight and narrow when she didn't really have any people in her corner. In her mom's eyes, she could do no right. Never could. Like she expected Kayla to get lost completely.
She sighed, stomping up the stairs and made her way to her bedroom and, without even pulling back the covers, fell face first onto her mattress and closed her eyes, for the first time in months sleep coming easy.
Upon waking, later than what she had anticipated, she groaned to herself at the sight of her alarm clock's hands pointing to the time of 2.41pm.
Great, she had slept in.
She went straight for a shower, stripping herself of the tight, alcohol soaked clothes and scrubbed herself free from her make up and sweaty skin, letting the hot water gently burn her skin.
She had a pounding headache, clearly from a little too much alcohol, so popped a couple of ibruprofen from her secret stash that she had to conceal from her mother and got changed into some grey sweats and a black vest top, leaving her long tangled hair to dry naturally down her back.
She made her way from top to bottom, putting in a pretty half arsed attempt at cleaning and tidying the large, semi empty house they now called home. Hoovering the carpets, brushing the concrete floors, cleaning the window ledges, dusting the shelves and scrubbing the kitchen, even putting on a couple loads of laundry too.
Just as she was washing up the few dishes in the sink did her mom come home, placing her bag on the breakfast bar and coughing gently to grab her attention.
She turned around, quirking a brow, "hi"
"Hi" her mom repeated, casting a curious gaze around the kitchen, "thank you for cleaning up. I didn't think you would do it"
Kayla almost winced at the backhanded compliment.
"I can look after a house, I'm not completely inept"
"I didn't say you were"
Kayla chose not to reply, placing the last mug on the draining rack and rinsing the bubbles from the basin, patting her hands dry on the towel.
"I'm... sorry for earlier" her mom said gingerly, enticing Kayla to turn around, "I was a little harsh, but I expect you not to lie to me anymore Kayla. If it's going to work here then you need to do better than before, am I clear?"
She swallowed, "I'm trying. Maybe you need to give me a little leeway too"
Her mom pursed her lips, "oh really?"
"Or... or at least trust me a little" Kayla added, "I want to be better and I think I can be. I can help people here, like Scott. His world has just been turned upside down and I can help him through that. But I can't have you here always expecting the worst of me. It's a shit feeling"
Her mom nodded, "I understand, but your behaviour-"
"Yes, I know my behaviour sucked" Kayla exclaimed, "it did, it really did, and I'm sorry for that but I was lost okay? I was fucking devastated. But I got control over it and I sorted my shit out. Please just... just believe in me, for once just be in my corner"
Her mom stood still, taking that all in but somehow still remaining stoic and, Kayla sometimes wondered, if that woman even had a heart at all.
"We all go through stuff Kayla and we choose how we react. You can't blame your grief on everything"
"I'm not, okay? I'm really not. I just-"
"I lost my husband, my son... do you not think that kills me inside? But I keep going. I remain true to myself. You let your emotions get the best of you and you put yourself into very dangerous situations"
She blinked back the tears, regretting ever saying a thing. Her mom, lacking empathy, thinking very much in black and white.
"Right. Forget I said anything" Kayla mumbled, "just... forget it"
She ignored her mom's requests to stay down for dinner, saying she had frozen a chicken casserole earlier for them and made her way up the stairs and into her bedroom, shutting the door behind her.
She didn't want sympathy, she didn't want anyone to make up excuses for her behaviour, she just wanted a mom. A mom who didn't always think the worst of her.
Her stomach ached with hunger but she was not giving in and going downstairs, choosing instead to munch on a candy bar she had found at the bottom of her bag, sitting in bed and opening up her laptop.
She logged into Facebook, immediately being greeted by multiple notifications and even more new friend requests, people from Beacon high obviously having tracked her down and snooping for some juicy gossip.
She didn't care, accepting them all without thought but a very familiar and unusual name made her stop, a small smile tugging at her lips.
'Stiles Stilinski''
She hit confirm, trolling through her notifications - most of which was Lydia - adding her to groups and tagging her in upcoming events when she heard a ding, alerting her to a new message.
She opened it up, seeing Stiles' name above a message of 'hey, took you long enough. I was beginning to get offended. You good?'
She appreciated his concern, one of the only people that had really shown any.
'I was enjoying a little something called sleep' she typed back, 'and all good. Just bored. Grounded'
'Wow, your mom's harsh huh?'
She snorted - oh, if only he knew.
'Pretty sure she's possessed' she replied with a smirk before quickly typing out another message, 'how are you handling things?'
'Now that my best friend is a furry mythological beast? Great' was his reply and she could pretty much sense his sarcasm through the screen.
'You're kind of excited about this, don't lie'
He replied with a shrugging emoji then 'would I be a bad person if I said yes?'
She laughed to herself, finding his behaviour oddly entertaining.
'Trust me, you'll get bored of it real quick'
'Doubtful' he shot back, the three little dots coming and going as he debated on what to say next, probably typing out something and then deleting it two seconds later.
'Spit it out Stiles' she typed back, followed by grinning emoji, 'what do you want to say?'
It took him a couple of minutes but he finally replied with, 'Brian is a douche, don't go out with him'
'I wasn't intending to. Surprisingly enough, I got plenty douchery vibes from him last night'
'Oh good. That's good' his reply was quick, quicker than what she thought possible before being followed up by, 'I couldn't be friends with you if you did'
'Oh really?' she typed, using a playful winking emoji.
'Just kidding. I'd always want to be your friend. I don't have many as it is. I can't be picky'
She laughed to herself, completely amused by him.
'Guess you're stuck with me. Anyway sorry, gotta go. Have homework. See you at school Monday?'
'Right on' was his response, followed by a thumbs up emoji and a smiley face and she smirked to herself as she clicked out of Facebook and opened up a word document, beginning to type out ber English essay.
She was determined to turn over a new leaf, even if people like her mom still had their doubts.
She just had to prove them wrong.
The first thing she was greeted with when she slipped from her car was Lydia Martin's smirking face.
The petite redhead had her hip cocked to one side, a red handbag slung over her outstretched arm as she pointed at her.
"Well?" Lydia asked, "you can't just disappear from my party and not give me the juicy details"
"Huh?" Kayla asked, adjusting her denim shorts and unhinging her bra that was digging into her left boob, "what juicy details?"
Lydia's laugh was light and airy, "why, you and Brian of course. So, what happened?"
"Nothing" Kayla said, shaking her head.
"Yeah right" Lydia scoffed, teetering along next to her in her ridiculously high heels as they walked towards the school, "last I heard, you were making out with him next to the pool"
"He's a dick"
"But does he have a nice dick?"
"Can't comment on something I never saw" Kayla replied, "we started hooking up and then I spewed. Then I left. No sex"
Lydia pouted, "that's a shame"
"Meh, not really. He looks like a one and done kind of guy. Or at the very least expects oral but doesn't give it"
Lydia's smile was wide and untamed as she sent her an almost flitasious look, "you know what you want, I admire that"
"No point beating around the bush"
"My thoughts exactly"
They entered the school, many eyes falling to them because - duh - the infamous Lydia Martin and Kayla just chuckled to herself, carrying on walking to her locker.
"We should hang out after school" Lydia suggested, "Allison too. I need to go shopping"
"Shopping for what?" she asked, punching in her locker combination and grabbing a couple books for her first class.
"Clothes of course" Lydia said, "and because I'm nice I'll even treat you both to a new wardrobe"
"My wardrobe is fine"
Lydia pursed her lips at her outfit of choice, "no, it's really not"
"What's wrong with shorts?" Kayla asked, a little offended and completely dumbfounded, "they're practical, cute, and when I bend down I don't flash everyone my thong"
"Exactly my point" Lydia smirked, "be daring. Be Marilyn Monroe and let the wind work in your favour"
"Why would I want that?"
"You have cute cheeks, show them off"
Lydia and her seemed like polar opposites just now but there was something about this petite redhead that Kayla actually liked.
"I can't think of anything more boring than clothes shopping. Count me out"
Lydia gasped, "no friend of mine says such a thing. Take it back"
Kayla smirked, "no"
"Take it back or I'll get you to go on a date with Brian"
She narrowed her eyes, "you can't do that"
"Wanna bet?"
Actually no, Kayla thought, she did not want to bet. For someone so tiny, Lydia sure did have a lot of power and ways about her.
She sighed, "fine, I'll go shopping with you"
Lydia clapped her hands together, "yay. We'll have a blast. I'll pick you up at four"
"Can't wait" Kayla said with faux enthusiasm, shaking her hand in the air, "should I bring a shotgun? Y'know, to shoot myself in the head with?"
Lydia rolled her eyes, "drama queen"
"Says you"
"But I do it so much better" her new found friend grinned, backing away slowly, "remember, four on the dot. Don't be late"
"Wouldn't dream of it"
Lydia disappeared down the corridor in a flurry of hair and hips and she watched her go, unable to stop the smile from tugging at her lips.
That girl was hard work, but kind of entertaining.
Maybe she would make real friends here after all.
She made sure her locker was shut before turning around, about to make her way to her first class but she saw Stiles dragging Scott up the corridor towards her, his arm waving about enthusiastically, trying to grab her attention despite already having it.
She found herself constantly amused by their enthusiasm and naivety, something she wished she hadn't lost a long time ago. Their freshness and hopefulness was nice to see, her involvement in the supernatural world only ever ending in pain.
"Hey guys" she greeted with a small tired smile, "how's things?"
"Fantastic" Stiles beamed, clearly the enthusiastic part of this intrinsic duo, "tell Scott what else he can do now he's a frigging werew-"
Scott nudged him at the exact same Kayla slapped a hand over his open mouth, immediately shutting him up.
He mumbled what she assumed was an apology against her palm, his tongue intentionally licking her hand as he did so.
She pulled it back sharply, letting out a small giggle, "oh, that's tickely"
"Sorry" he mumbled in response, splotches of red decorating his cheeks as he reached up to awkwardly scratch the back of his neck, "uh... subtlety isn't exactly my strong point"
"I've gathered" she replied with a chuckle at the exact same time Scott said, "no, it isn't"
"Don't you two gang up on me" Stiles stated, "I'm the brains of the operation here"
"Oh really?" she laughed, crossing her arms, "and what exactly do you know about the supernatural world?"
"Uh... that my best friend is a werewolf"
"Uh huh... and?"
He gulped loudly, "his... his eyes glow"
"Very good. Gold star. What else?"
Scott chuckled as Stikes shot him a glare and elbowed him in the side, "he's gonna PMS on us once a month. Can't wait for that" his voice dripping in sarcasm.
"Yup, you're just a fountain of knowledge aren't you?"
He sent her a playful glare, "I'm new to this too"
"I can tell" she smirked, "and just to put your minds at rest, no, you can't be killed by silver so don't worry about using your mums letter opener" she joked, knowing that their only source of information would likely be Google and that, in itself, was incredibly misleading and above all - wrong.
"Garlic?" Scott squeaked, "because I really like garlic. Mom makes the best naan bread-"
"That's vampires" she interrupted, finding him absolutely adorable, "garlic isn't going to do anything to you except give you heartburn"
"Th-There's vampires?" Stiles wondered with a surprised look and slack jaw, "vampires are real?"
"I don't know, how would I know?"
"But you just said-"
"I was referring to the myth" she chuckled, "calm your tits"
"Okay so, and uh... what other neat tricks can he do?" Stiles whispered, his face back to one of delight and intrigue, "read minds? Turn invisible?"
"No" she laughed, finding Stiles' complete investment in his best friends change absolutely hilarious, "he's a werewolf, not a magician. He's faster, stronger, slicker. No more asthma either huh?"
Scott placed a hand against his chest, "haven't used it since that night"
"Yup, say goodbye to chronic long term health conditions and hello to cheaper health insurance" she grinned, "Seems great huh?"
Scott's face lit up, "mom won't have to do as much overtime then"
"Just uh... keep everything on the downlow. I'm sure Derek explained why?"
Scott's expression dropped, "hunters?"
"Yeah. There's people out there that despise anything that's different. Most werewolves aren't bad people, but there's a few that taint the rest of them. And fear in the unknown, and probably a bit of jealousy too, is what fuels the hunters anger. So they hunt them down, torture them and then kill them"
Stiles and Scott's face was a picture - contorted like they had been hit by a cement truck.
"But I'm sure you'll be fine" she continued, waving her hand, "just stay 'hush hush' around Allison"
Scott frowned, "Allison? Why Allison?"
"Oh... did Derek not say?"
"Say what?"
She winced, "her family are hunters. I thought you knew"
Scott's eyes went comically wide, the books he was carrying by his side falling to the floor.
"Her family are what?"
"Oh dude" Stiles grimaced, "that's rough"
"If it helps any I don't think she knows anything" she continued, "her family appear to be keeping her clueless - at least for the time being"
"Oh god... oh god" Scott winced, "this isn't happening... this definitely isn't happening..."
Stiles reached into Scott's backpack, pulling out his inhaler and passing it to him.
"Uh... that won't do anything"
Scott ignored her, shaking it a few times and gasping back a couple of breaths from the blue inhaler, waiting for it to work but still panicking.
"I told you it wouldn't do anything"
"... Oh god" Scott continued, running his hands through his hair, "she's going to kill me"
"She won't kill you" Kayla chuckled, "and if she tries, you'll heal. Unless she does it with wolfsbane of course"
Scott blanched, "I... I can't believe this is happening"
"Yeah, sorry buddy" Kayla playfully slapped his upper arm, "you don't have the best of luck huh?"
"Dude, it'll be fine. There's plenty more fish in the sea. And by fish I mean girls" Stiles stated, "you're a big bad werewolf now, you got options"
"Girls who don't like getting being likened to things with scales" Kayla said, rolling her eyes at Stiles, "but Allison is nice. Really nice. I can't imagine her wanting to hurt anyone. Trust me, I wouldn't be friends with her if I thought any different"
"Righttttt" Stiles drawled out, snapping his fingers in her face, "because you're from a werewolf family and all"
"Glad you can put two and two together" Kayla smirked, "and, well, because of the fire"
Both boys immediately turned to look at her, their eyebrows near enough reaching their hairline in surprise and a little bit of confusion.
"My family were a target" she deadpanned, "there's rumours it was the Argents but there was never any proof and they feverently denied it. God knows what to think"
Scott groaned, "oh my god, I'm going to get burnt alive"
"You're not going to get burnt alive" Stiles reassured, grabbing his friends shoulders and keeping him upright, "it'll all be great, I promise"
"Like I said, just avoid the wolfsbane and you're highly unlikely to die. Unless you get decapitated" she smiled, "no one can survive that"
"Not helping" Stiles groaned.
"I wasn't trying to"
Stiles' eye twitched in annoyance but before he could bite back with a snappy retort the bell overhead rang, alerting them to the start of their next class.
"Perfect timing" she grinned, "have fun boys. Remember - don't die"
"Don't die" Stiles mimicked to her retreating back, "how about you don't die?"
She flicked her hair over her shoulder, shooting him a wide smile, "wasn't planning on it cowboy"
Stiles flushed, spluttering out a few letters of the alphabet before shrugging, "cowboys are cool. I'll take that as a compliment"
She snorted to herself, continuing to strut down the corridor to her first class, the ghost of a smile still etched on her face the entire way there.
"It was Allison's father that shot me"
She jumped at the sudden voice next to her ear, turning around to see Scott standing next to her, rolling backwards and forwards on the balls of his feet with nerves, dressed in full lacrosse kit, ready to hit the field and practice.
"Excuse me?"
Scott swallowed in fear, "the other night, after the party. It wasn't just any hunter it was Allison's dad"
She let out a long whistle, "I stand by what I said. Your luck really does suck"
Scott groaned, "what am I supposed to do?"
"Uh... I'm not really the best person to give advice here" Kayla said, watching as all the players begun filling the field as they stood by the sidelines, "keeping people alive isn't really my forte - my family can attest to that"
Scott shot her a confused look, "but you said you would help me"
"And I will. I'll help - didn't say anything about keeping you breathing"
Scott's brown eyes filled with fear, "oh my god-"
"Relax" she encouraged, cursing her blunt ways, "just uh, take a deep breath, focus, and you'll be grand. Forget about Allison just now. Just try and not rip someone's head off when you're out there"
"I will... try" Scott sighed, "should I even be playing?"
"Probably not, but something tells me you aren't going to sit this one out. Practice for the big game on Saturday right?"
"Right" Scott sighed, "I hate my life"
"Ditto" Kayla grinned, "join the club"
She patted him reassuringly on the shoulder, trying to keep his spirits high but knowing she was probably failing and failing miserably.
"Go get 'em tiger. Or wolfie. But not too hard" she added quickly, "people are breakable"
She watched him disappear into the crowd and moved to sit next to Stiles on the wooden bench, who still seemed a little surprised that she chose to be seen with him in public, before shyly grinning at her.
"You not playing?"
"I don't really play" he mumbled, chewing on the fingertip of one of his gloves, "I sit and observe and die a little on the inside"
She smirked, bumping her shoulder against his, "you never know. If Scott goes crazy and kills half his teammates you might get a shot then"
Her smile showed she was joking which he seemed dazzled by, biting his bottom lip as he glanced down at her mouth, staring at it for several seconds until she gently punched his arm.
"What? Do I have food in my teeth?"
"Wha-no, n-no, no food" he mumbled, dropping his stare, "I was just-uh, never mind"
"Weirdo"
"That's me" he smirked, "oh uh, I think Lydia's calling you"
She sighed, turning her head to the side to see Allison and Lydia on the bleachers, the former standing up and waving at her, calling out her name several times in a row.
"I guess I'm being summoned" she grumbled, but her tone was playful as she just stuck her thumbs back up to Lydia, letting her know she got the message, "I should, uh-"
"Y-Yeah, of course. Obviously" Stiles replied, somehow getting even more awkward, "I don't know anyone alive that can say no to Lydia"
She stood up off the bench, dusting off the back of her denim shorts and gave Stiles a gentle smile.
"I um... I also wanted to apologise for the other night. At the party" she clarified, watching Stiles tense up with nerves as he remembered what had happened, "I was a wreck. I tend to get like that with alcohol involved. I guess I was just being bitter about moving here and wanted to blow off steam and uh... you actually saved me from making a pretty bad decision" referring to dickhead Brian, "so, yeah... I'm sorry you saw me like that"
Stiles' smile was faint as he basked in the warmth that gave him, proud that he had left that much of an impact.
"Oh, it's fine. Totally okay" Stiles coughed, "I've dealt with worse"
"Worse than a half naked girl spewing in the toilet?"
Stiles' blush deepened, "uh, well... when you put it like that..."
She laughed, totally at ease with this strange boy that she found quirky and endearing and rolled her eyes.
"Don't worry, you don't have to pretend you didn't jerk off to the image of me half naked" she joked playfully, snickering as he wheezed, "I am pretty hot"
"Wh-what-why-wh-oh my god"
She winked, "catch ya later Stilinski" turning around and bouncing towards Lydia, leaving the buzzcut boy a sweaty, breathless, bag of nerves.
A/N) yay, another chapter. Sorry it took so long, had lots of work and essays and life lol hope you all enjoyed and please please review see you all soon :)