It was a weird time for everyone.
Luna hadn't spoken to a single soul since being taken off of the Beacon Hills division for the Moon Council. She didn't want to, because she knew she was just going to receive a barrage of sorry's and condolences back. But those didn't mean anything. She just wanted her position and her responsibilities back, and nobody but Helena had the power to return them to her.
As if it couldn't get any worse, Luna also hadn't spoken a word to Isaac, and that alone was absolutely crushing her on the inside. He wasn't responding to her calls or texts, and nobody had even seen him in the area. Her own 'boyfriend', missing.
This constant uncertainty when it came to Isaac wasn't something that Luna wanted to get used to, at all. She liked stability in life, and Isaac wasn't providing that. Worst still, she couldn't even report his bizarre disappearance to the Moon Council.
She was helpless.
"Luna!" Elsa shouted down to the hallway to her bedroom one morning.
"Yes Ma?" Luna called back unenthusiastically. She was sprawled out in her bed with a pillow on her head, half sulking, half straight-up agitated at the state of her life. She was pretty happy to be left alone - but she should've known it wasn't going to last for long.
"Phone call for you - pick up in your room please!" Elsa requested brightly. "And please actually pick it up, because I fear he'll never stop calling if you don't - and if that doesn't imply who it is, then I don't know what will!" Luna groaned and stuck her hand out from her duvet to pick up the phone and transfer the call, before lazily slapping it onto her ear.
"Hello…?"
"Luna! Will you PLEASE, for the LOVE OF GOD, answer your phone next time so that I know you're freakin' breathing?! I've been going out of my freakin' mind back here!" Stiles snapped as soon as the line connected. Luna simply rolled her eyes and snuggled further into her covers.
"Sorry, Stilesy. My phone's been off for a couple of days," she apologised, although it was hardly genuine.
"Has it? Would've never noticed!" Stiles yelped back dramatically - true to his form.
"Hereeee we go," Luna winced to herself. "Stiles, look, I-"
"N-no, I'm kidding, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to freak out like that, I've…I've just missed you, that's all. And it scares the hell outta me when I don't hear from you," Stiles explained shakily, trying to calm himself down. "Turns out days of radio silence from you isn't beneficial to my mental health."
"Oh," Luna frowned, leaning up in bed slightly. She felt a little bad, then. It was evident from Stiles' panicked tone that he genuinely cared. "I…that's such a kind thing to say. I'm sorry for going ghost. I've missed you, too."
"I-it's no problem. Look, are you doing anything tonight?" Stiles asked awkwardly.
"Tonight? Uh, pretty much busy doing nothing - why?" Luna frowned.
"Well, your best friend is starting on the lacrosse team for the finals, I would reaaalllyyyy appreciate you being there," Stiles explained, already preparing himself for her to say no.
"Wh- Oh my god, you're starting?!" Luna gasped in genuine surprise as she finally sat up straight.
"Why the hell does everybody sound so shocked? Am I really that bad on a semi-regular basis?" Stiles grimaced, slightly offended.
"No, it's just a rarity! Oh of course I'll freakin' be there! Stupid question, dude," Luna giggled, running her fingers through her hair again and lying back down. "I would never be able to miss it."
"Thanks, Loo," Stiles smiled - and she didn't have to see him to know that he was being incredibly genuine.
…
Luna should've known the game final wasn't going to go down without a hitch of some sort.
She'd only been standing there for about ten minutes, but the tension was driving her out of her damn mind. But not because Stiles was actually playing, but because her senses were tingling. Something was going wrong, or was about to go wrong, and she had no idea what it was going to be. Her heart was pounding against her chest as she watched the team play and attempted to keep her focus on her best friend.
She came out for him, after all.
"Oh, Noah! They actually brought Stiles onto the field for once," Elsa chuckled as she nudged Sheriff Stilinski's side. He was rigidly sitting beside her, his palms clasped together in sheer terror, but glanced up at her words.
"He is? He is! THIS IS A PHENOMENON!" he yelped suddenly, standing up and shaking a fist of triumph into the night air. Luna could only smirk to herself, knowing that it would've killed Stiles on the inside to see his dad do that in front of the school.
But her eyes couldn't sit still on the game. Something else caught her attention - Scott. He looked deeply concerned and overly focussed, as if he was listening to something intently that nobody else could hear, and that was never a good sign.
Ever.
Luna was conflicted. She didn't want to run the risk of interrupting the game, hopping down the bleachers and rushing onto the field just to find out what Scott was thinking - but at the same time, surely it was worth it if it meant that she could stop something terrible from happening?
"Ooooft," Elsa suddenly winced at Stiles' clumsy performance, dragging Luna out of her trance.
"Oh god," she groaned, also watching him get battered minute by minute. Her eyes involuntarily darted down at Scott again - but this time, she saw someone else instead.
Isaac, her supposed 'boyfriend', in all his lacrosse glory.
"Oh my god…oh, oh my god - Isaac's here!" she hissed under her breath, leading her mother to blink at her.
"Oh! Should he…not be?" she frowned back.
"He has been dodging all my communications for a week so…no," Luna scoffed miserably, slamming herself back into her seat and crossing her arms in defiance.
"Honestly, I don't know why you still bother with him, Luna. You know the man is anything but serious - as most men are, let alone a werewolf," Elsa scoffed, tucking her hair behind her ear and facing the field once more.
Luna knew that her mother was right. What was his problem? She hated that she could feel him pulling away from her, so suddenly and seemingly out of nowhere.
Miraculously, a few minutes later, she saw something that made her heart mend itself back together. Stiles finally had the ball in his possession, and the fate of the game was seemingly all down to him.
Only problem was, he didn't seem to have a single clue what to actually do with it.
"STILES! Shoot! IT!" Luna yelled excitedly, cupping her mouth with her hands so that he could hear her. At the sound of her voice, Stiles glanced up, only now noticing that she had actually come to see him since stepping out on the field - and so he did just that.
And scored.
"YESSSSSSSSS!" Luna squealed, jumping up and down excitedly, her heart bursting with pride as the shrill of the final whistle blowed. The entire stand of spectators freaked out, rushing to go and congratulate the team. Naturally, Luna leapt onto the field and began to make a beeline for Stiles - but irritatingly, Isaac caught her first.
He grabbed her arm and pulled her into him before she could reach her best friend, who was only a few feet away.
"Hey, beautiful," he smirked down at her before smothering her in a hug.
But Luna wasn't in the mood.
"Don't hey beautiful me!" she hissed as she pushed him off slightly. Isaac frowned and took a small step back, releasing her from his grip in uncertainty.
"Woah! Did I do something wrong?" he frowned worriedly.
Luna blinked at him in disbelief.
"You're…kidding, right? Where the hell were you, you asshole?!"
"Luna, I'm sorry-" Isaac began to apologise, his face falling - but then, everything changed.
The harsh pitch lights suddenly switched off, leaving the students and the spectators in eerie pitch black. Her senses running wild, Luna's heart began to pound and she took a few unsteady steps back, clutching her own chest in fear. Within seconds, there came a shrill scream drowning out every other plausible noise, making the hairs on the back of Luna's neck stand up, and fear inducing palpitations to thump through her veins.
She was right - she was in trouble. In fact, they all were, and she had absolutely no time to warn anyone on the Moon Council.
Luna started to back up in the darkness, feeling her heart race in genuine terror, before bumping into someone. She quickly jutted her hands out in an attempt to steady herself on them, and immediately knew it was from the feeling of their frame underneath her palms.
They gripped her too - meaning it was-
"Isaac?" she blurted out, suddenly praying that it was him despite how angry she was with him a few moments ago.
"Luna, I really need you to get the hell outta here-"
Suddenly, the lights flashed back on again, revealing the field in all its harsh glory, Not too far from them lay Jackson, with multiple stab wounds shredding through his own abdomen.
"Shit," Luna grumbled, gripping onto Isaac's shirt as he stared down at him too. "Oh god. Oh go-"
And then came the panicked calls that really sent her senses into a frenzy.
"Where's my son?" Sheriff Stilinski was yelling into the crowds, his wide eyes of panic darting.
That was when Luna's heart dropped.
"No…no, NO! STILES?" she yelled out in a shared panic, immediately tearing herself from Isaac's grip and running across the field aimlessly. "STILES? STILESSS!" Her stomach began to churn and tears sprung to her eyes as the realisation slowly set in, hearing nothing back from her best friend the more she desperately called out his name.
In all the years of them being best friends, that never happened.
Stiles always answered her calls.
"STILE-"
"Luna! Luna, stop," came Isaac's calming voice as his strong arms wrapped around her once again. She opened her eyes to see him staring down at her in concern, but she could still feel her body struggling against him. "Baby, breathe-"
"I-I-Isaac, h-he's b-b-been taken, I know he has," Luna wept, big baby tears pulsating from her eyes and streaming down her cheeks. "Stiles ALWAYS answers me, always-"
"If he's been taken, then we'll find him. Where's your mom?" Isaac spoke clearly over her harsh breaths of fear. Amazingly, Elsa was already running over to them both with worry plastered all over her face.
"Luna, sweetie, please listen to me," she panted, holding Luna's damp face in her hands. "It's gonna be okay, I'm gonna contact Helena for you. But I need you to go back to the house, now," she told her firmly, her hands cold on Luna's warm cheeks.
"I…I…" Luna spluttered.
"GO Luna. Scott and I will find him and bring him back, I promise," Isaac told her firmly, kissing the top of her head before pushing her towards her mother's awaiting arms. Elsa steered her out of the grounds and over to their car, away from the wild commotion, as Luna sobbed the whole way home.
…
Luna refused to enter her own home, despite how much Elsa was begging her to. In fact, she hopped out of her mother's car and made a beeline straight to Stiles' house with her spare key, just as he would've done for her, before going straight into his room to sit on his unmade bed. She dragged her knees to her chest, clicking on a solitary lamp to light up his whole room.
She was praying for any sign that he was okay.
Maybe Helena was right - Luna couldn't handle this kind of pressure.
In the early hours of the morning, Sheriff Stilinski turned up to his home to see Luna curled up on Stiles's bed, fast asleep. Taking pity on her, he tiptoed over and squatted down beside her head, swiping her hair out of her face before quietly clearing his throat. "Luna?" he whispered worriedly. "Have…have you been here all night?" Luna's eyes flew open at the sound of his voice and she nodded tiredly, rubbing her eyes and leaning up on her elbow.
"P-pretty much. Have y-you found him yet? Please tell me you have," she sniffed weakly, running her tongue over her teeth. Sheriff Stilinski sighed sadly and stood up straight again.
"I told the hospital to call if he turns up there. But…no such luck yet," he muttered his face pale. Luna let out a feeble sniff as her shoulders slumped, slowly running out of hope.
"C'mon, Stilesy…where are you-"
"I'm here," came a sudden weak voice from the doorway.
Luna's head snapped up immediately, as did Sheriff Stilinski's, to see a battered and bruised Stiles stood in the bedroom doorway, looked shaken and wobbly. Luna's breath caught in her throat in sheer relief, whilst Sheriff Stilinski rushed over to take his son's bruised and swollen face in his hands.
"Stiles?! Who the hell did this to you?!" he demanded roughly.
"I'm okay, Dad. It…it was just some kids," Stiles croaked out miserably, nudging his head away from his father's overbearing touch. "I won us the game and they ran into me after. I was…mouthing off. You know how I do-"
"I want names," Sheriff Stilinski growled as Luna's eyes squinted slightly. "I'm gonna-"
"DAD! Dad, I said it's okay," Stiles insisted loudly, his hands trembling and his disposition completely in disarray at this point. Sheriff Stilinski froze at his abrupt tone, before suddenly pulling his son into a tight hug. Stiles clung onto him like a baby - until his bruised eyes finally rested on the tearful Luna huddled up on his bed.
His dad quickly released him, sensing what he'd noticed. He could literally feel his son's heart start to race swifter as soon as he lay eyes on her.
"I'm gonna go call off the search. I'll…leave you both to it," he hummed, kissing Stiles' temple sweetly before slipping out, closing the bedroom door behind him.
Luna gulped and slowly got off Stiles' bed, fiddling with her slender fingers as she approached him.
"Were you…were you waiting here for me all night?" Stiles frowned shakily. Luna bit her bottom lip and nodded, unsure of what to say.
"I…f-f-freaked out when all the lights turned back on and you weren't there," she admitted, her cracked voice barely above a whisper. "I knew you were in t-trouble as soon as you went. I had a b-bad feeling and knew it was to do with you." Stiles smiled slightly and nodded, although it hurt to do so.
"I mean…shows you kinda know me better than anyone, huh?" he sniffed.
"Well…duh," Luna giggled, making him smile slightly too.
Then he winced, the pain of his freshly acquired wounds now really getting to him, and Luna's smile steadily slipped.
"Who did this to you, Stiles?"
"…Allison's grandfather. He has Erica and Boyd locked up wherever he took me, too," Stiles admitted feebly, ducking his head.
"I'm sorry- Allison's grandfather roughed you up like that? What kind of freaky family…?" Luna mumbled under her breath, her fair brows knitting together.
"You're telling me," Stiles scoffed back. "Turns out the guy is actually very…mean."
"Mhm, I'll deal with him later - and all his family, actually. I did some research on them after I got fired, and I personally think the Moon Council deserve to know what the Argents have been responsible for in the last few years. I'll get my mom to pass on the message," Luna hummed, more to herself than to him.
She took a deep breath through her nose and out through her pursed lips.
"But let's get you cleaned up. Here, lie down. You're getting blood smudged like…everywhere."
"What're ya gonna do - lick me clean again?" Stiles grumbled semi-enthusiastically. Luna rolled her eyes and steered him towards the bed, before lying him down with a sigh. She lifted the bowl of anaesthetic and cotton buds that she'd kept for when he came home and began dabbing, her plump lips pouted slightly and her eyebrows knitted together in concentration.
Of course, Stiles was staring at her every movement, suddenly unable to physically drag his eyes away. The moon was lighting up one side of her face so that her skin looked smooth and glossy, but yet her eyes were soft and supple, constantly welling up with concern and concentration so that she didn't hurt him.
He couldn't believe that one woman could be so perfect.
"Hey Stiles, quit staring at me," Luna murmured, her cheeks flushing awkwardly under his gaze.
"Sorry…I kinda can't help it," Stiles admitted shakily, finally tearing his molten brown eyes from her. Luna smiled down at him and shook her head.
"You're so weird sometimes," she whispered, twisting her mouth to the side as she took in her injuries properly. She lifted his chin between her thumb and forefinger gently. "God. He did get you pretty bad…tell me you're actually gonna take it easy over the next few days?"
"Do I have a choice?" Stiles whispered back hoarsely. Luna giggled and shrugged, before rinsing the next cotton bud with antiseptic to dab on him again. "Hey…did you see Isaac yesterday?"
"I did…" Luna smirked, her eyes twinkling. Stiles' shoulders slumped in disappointment, her reaction to him making him nauseous. "…but even he wasn't anywhere near as outstanding as you. You really did outshine everyone on that pitch, Stilesy. I was so freaking proud of you." Stiles' cheeks flushed red, and he opened his mouth to say something else - when suddenly, Luna's phone went off.
She read the words and her eyes widened whilst Stiles frowned at her worriedly.
"Wha-"
"Stiles, we gotta go. We gotta go NOW!"