Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Scott groaned as Stiles started to explain his plan; he was in the jeep, getting driven to the Preservation in search of a private lacrosse party. "Stiles, you know Jackson and the others don't want us there… it's a first string party…"

"That's why we're sneaking in! Once we're there they can't make us leave."

Scott sighed heavily, "Have you forgotten about the wild animal that's killed people? Last night your dad found one woman torn in half!"

"We're heading towards a loud party, I really doubt that any wild animal is going to crash a party, they like to avoid humans."

"Unless they have rabies…"

Stiles rolled his eyes, "They tested the last victim and didn't see any signs of rabies, don't be so negative. We both know that you knew the animal doesn't have rabies, don't try to dissuade me. I thought you wanted to be first string? This is a great way to rub elbows and have them warm up to us!"

Scott shook his head but didn't argue; most of them would be annoyed that they decided to crash the party, not enthused. But there was no point in arguing with Stiles at this point, they were already at the Preservation… "One hour Stiles, that's as late as I want to stay out. We both need sleep if we're going to do well at tryouts."

"Fine, fine… but on the plus side, if most of the first stringers are out here getting drunk then maybe they'll under-perform tomorrow!"

Scott couldn't help but chuckle at that thought. Surely they weren't getting too crazy, Jackson wouldn't want to risk any key players, but it really didn't seem smart that they chose tonight to have the party… Scott wouldn't complain though, he'd take any advantages he could get!

The two got out of the jeep and headed into the woods, both of them with their phones out to help them navigate the uneven ground.

"Do we even know which part of the Preservation they are in? There were no other cars where we parked…"

Stiles nodded, "I heard Danny and Jackson talking about it but then I also double-checked my information by eavesdropping on Matt and Keith. And it's a good thing I did."

There was a moment of silence before Scott rolled his eyes, "You're going to make me ask… Why was it good thing?"

"Because I'm not stupid, Danny and Jackson were talking pretty loudly about a private party and they both knew I was in the aisle ahead of them in the store. They must've figured that we'd heard about it and would try to crash it so instead of focusing on keeping it a secret, they were proactive about it. They tried to give me false information… but their opinion of me must be really low if they thought I'd fall for it, like I said, it was pretty obvious…"

"And Matt and Keith?"

"I knew they liked to hang out at the mall so I checked the parking lot for their cars and wandered around until I found them. Then I had to hope that I spotted them before they spotted me… after that, it was just a matter of following them around until they talked about the party. I had to do that on three different days before I finally got lucky and Matt brought it up. He was worried they were going to get lost and not be able to find anyone because he is the worst with directions… Keith told him it would be easy to find because it wasn't that far in from the road and that it was by the south lake."

"And if they actually knew you were there and were lying about it?"

Stiles shook his head, "Unlikely. Besides, I think I hear people, don't you?"

Scott paused and listened, also hearing the sound of loud laughter. "Yea, I hear it, and I doubt there are many other people that would be stupid enough to come out here in the middle of the night!"

Stiles took off towards the sound of people, waving Scott after him. He couldn't wait to see the looks on everyone's faces when they showed up at the party- especially Jackson! He slowed down just before he walked into the clearing, straightening out his shirt and letting Scott catch up to him. "Ready?"

"Um… yea?" Scott answered with a shrug. He couldn't understand why Stiles was so excited for the party, their presence wasn't going to change anything. They weren't going to suddenly be accepted by the better players. But… it might be fun to at least kinda ruin their night. So he walked into the clearing with his friend, only slightly apprehensive about what would happen next.

At first no one even noticed them, they were just two more bodies in the clearing; they hadn't called out to anyone so no one gave them any attention. Scott started to relax as he and Stiles stepped further into the group of bodies. Someone even handed Scott a drink without noticing who he was! But someone eventually noticed.

"Ew, he's not first string…" one girl called out.

Scott turned away slightly trying to act like he wasn't concerned with what she was saying, it had nothing to do with him. But a few other guys had heard her and turned to look, immediately recognizing him as one of the benchwarmers.

"McCall, what the hell are you doing here?"

"Where's the other one?"

"Loser #2 is over here staring at Lydia, where else would he be?"

Stiles froze where he was, eye wide and face red. He hadn't been-! He was just looking for the drinks, the first cooler he'd found was empty so he was hoping the second one still had something in it. When he looked up… Lydia was only a few feet away from him… he honestly hadn't seen her. "Hey Lydia," he called out as cheerfully as he could, hoping she didn't know how awkward he felt right then. It was dead silent too so everyone heard his pitiful hello.

Lydia raised a brow and rolled her eyes, turning away from him. Jackson wrapped his arm around her and pulled her further away from the group, looking back to glare at Stiles momentarily, "Someone get them out of here before they ruin the night even further. I don't want to see them when we get back."

"Nice to see you too…" Stiles whispered. He watched, unable to suppress his jealousy as Jackson took Lydia into the trees. The way he was whispering in her ear, there was no doubt as to what was on his mind. Stiles tried not to stare after them, knowing that a few people were still looking at him.

Scott came over to his side, a little worried about what the others were going to do… they weren't invited and Jackson had just told them to leave. No one at the school had ever done anything super physical to the 'loser' students but Scott didn't want tonight to be the start of a new trend… Maybe he could convince Stiles to tuck their tails between their legs and just leave without any trouble.

"How did you even hear about the party?" Jason asked, crossing his arms.

"We're on the team, we hear the gossip that-"

"Maybe if we're lucky you won't be on the team this year," Jason interrupted. "Like, how you even got on the team last year is insane to me, you both suck ass."

Stiles flipped him off, "You're actually not that great either, except maybe at pretending. I've watched you play, you don't actually do anything- just run around the field strategically. You look important and Jackson vouched for you but did you even touch the ball last season?"

Jason started to step closer, hands balling into fists, but then a scream filled the air. Everyone turned in unison towards the sound of the voice… all of them knew who it was.

"L-Lydia?!" Stiles called out, taking a few tentative steps towards the sound. Two others also started to walk towards the tree line, calling out for Lydia and Jackson… it was only a few seconds before there was another loud scream and that time Stiles and Scott charged forward. The rest of the party turned tail and ran, one person screaming about the rabid animal. Stiles cursed at them, they were cowards! He called out again for Lydia, tripping over roots as he ran through the dark woods. Scott was digging in his pocket for his phone when suddenly Lydia crashed into them.

"Oh god, help!" she screamed.

Stiles tried to hold her up and calm her down at the same time. "What, what happened, was it the animal?"

"Where's Jackson?" Scott asked, looking around and noticing that the lacrosse captain was nowhere to be seen.

"Lydia, Lydia, we need to know where Jackson is," Stiles said, but she could do nothing but cling to him, sobbing loudly.

Scott immediately stepped forward, calling out Jackson's name.

"Scott, dude, what if it's the animal?!" Stiles cried out, torn.

"All the more reason I can't just leave Jackson out there!" Scott took off in the direction that Lydia had come from, calling out for the team captain. He heard Stiles curse but didn't stop, "Get her to safety, I'll be fine."

Stiles tried to take one step after Scott but Lydia was tugging him in the other direction. "Scotty… you better be okay, I'll be right back…" Then he let Lydia pull him in the opposite direction.

It didn't take Scott long to hear scared whimpering and he hurried towards it.

"He-help, is anyone there?" Jackson screeched. They had to have heard Lydia's screams, why wasn't anyone coming to help him?! His back was on fire and he had no idea if he could walk on his own… It felt like forever but he finally heard someone else crashing through the brush and calling out his name. "Over here, please, help! Thank you…" He looked around for the large monster that had attacked him but he didn't see it anywhere… but that didn't mean it wouldn't come back. "Hurry UP!"

"I'm right here, oh gosh, you're bleeding!" Scott said as he dropped to his knees. "How bad are you hurt? I don't have any signal I can't call for an ambulance… Let me see it, maybe-"

"Just get me out of here, it's going to kill us!" Jackson reached out for Scott, grimacing as his back twinged from the pain. "Help me up!"

"It's dangerous to move you, you might start bleeding more and-"

"Goddammit McCall! We don't-" he was cut off by a deep growl. "Hurry!"

Scott froze for a split second when he heard the growl, looking up to see a large dark shadow among the trees… with bright red eyes staring at him. His heart raced as he stared at it… what was that? He jumped into action when it snarled again and started moving towards them, he grabbed Jackson's arms and hauled him to his feet. "Where's your car?"

"T-that way I think, just run!"

The two of them hobbled quickly, heading back towards the clearing where the coolers were still sitting and the small firepit was dying out. They rushed through and into the trees on the other side. Scott whimpered and fought against the urge to look back as he heard the snarling get louder. Jackson was sobbing beside him, gripping his wrist in terror. Scott could feel himself starting to wheeze just as he was tackled to the ground. Instantly he felt claws piercing his sides as the animal grabbed hold of him. Jackson tumbled to the ground alongside him, his hand suddenly gone from Scott's wrist. Both of them yelped in pain and fear.

"No, I don't want to die," Jackson whimpered as he blindly crawled away.

Scott tried to struggle, clawing at the ground, screaming when he felt pain searing up his arm. He was going to die out in the woods and they'd have to tell his mother that he was torn apart by a vicious animal… But then suddenly the huge weight was gone and there was a rustling noise getting further and further away. Was the creature leaving?

"Jesus McCall, get up or I'm leaving your ass here to die!" Jackson yelled.

He looked up in surprise, the animal had run off and he was alive. He wheezed and struggled to breathe but he knew that he couldn't risk sitting on the ground any longer. He got to his feet and followed Jackson back to his Porsche, ignoring the pain as best he could. They both clambered into the car and Jackson struggled to dig his keys out of his pocket. Scott prayed that he didn't lose them somewhere in the woods. But Jackson chuckled triumphantly when he got them and slid them into the ignition. The car roared to life and Jackson quickly drove away. "Wait, what about Lydia?" Scott asked, looking around and noticing that every other car was gone… surely they had all parked together.

"If you want to go back and look for her, go ahead and get out." Jackson didn't slow down at all, didn't even spare a glance at Scott.

Scott prayed that Stiles had gotten her to safety, that was all he could manage as he tried to control his breathing. His body was starting to ache as the adrenaline died down, he was afraid to look at the damage… cautiously he looked at Jackson, "Are you okay? I think we should head to the hospital."

Jackson shook his head, "So we can get in trouble for being on the Preservation after sunset? Not only is that against the Preservation rules, but there's a curfew too!"

"But we might need stitches Jackson!"

"Your mom is a nurse right, and you do medical stuff too right?"

Scott's eyes widened, "I work at a vet clinic, I mean, I know how to set a broken leg, as long as it's a clean break… But I've never done stitches before! Let alone I don't have any anesthesia!"

"I don't need stitches! I don't need to go to the hospital- I'm fine! I just need help cleaning my wounds since I can't reach my back with it all scratched up like this. You can do that at least right?"

"Ye-yea, I can do that…" Scott prayed that neither of them needed serious medical help. Jackson wasn't going to change his mind about the hospital. And it wasn't like Scott could just ask to be dropped off at the emergency room either. "I've got supplies at my house, we can stop there."

Jackson nodded and sped towards his house, doing his best to ignore the pain. The ride was silent the rest of the way, only the slight screech of tires as he took a corner too fast. Neither of them spoke until they were inside Scott's house, heading towards the bathroom.

"Can you take off your shirt or do you need help?" Scott asked as he carefully bent down to grab the first aid kit and some peroxide.

Jackson grunted but pulled his shirt over his head, "I got it." He just wanted it to be over with as soon as possible. He turned and examined him back as best he could, using the small mirror to see. "Dammit! If I don't make captain this year because-"

"It's your own fault Jackson," Scott cut in.

"If they had found the animal sooner, we wouldn't have been in danger in the first place!"

"But you knew that the animal was still out there and still had the party!" Scott grit his teeth, he couldn't believe how arrogant Jackson was being. He had his head up his ass a lot but trying to act blameless after that?

"Just patch me up!"

Scott shut his mouth and started cleaning Jackson's back as gently as he could. The scratches looked a lot deeper than he'd been expecting… when he heard the growl, it reminded him more of a dog than a cat and canine species had blunt claws. But blunt claws couldn't have scratched his back like that… The tears were fairly clean so the claws had to be sharp, very sharp. There was also a large bite mark up at his shoulder… "Jackson, I know you don't want to go to the hospital but… if you have a fever in the morning or if you feel sluggish, you need to see someone… Not to mention your back, even with gauze and bandages, you're going to keep bleeding for awhile…"

"Don't concern yourself with it, that's my problem."

"Well, I tried…" he mumbled to himself, carefully taping up the wounds as best he could. It was unbelievable that Jackson thought he could go to the tryouts after school… there was no way his back would stand it. Scott wasn't even sure if he could play, his sides were hurting pretty badly…

Jackson waited until Scott was done before he carefully put his bloody shirt back on. Then he spun around and glared at Scott, pointing a finger in his face, "Not a word of this. To anyone! I'm going to tell the others to keep their mouths shut too. But no one knows that I was attacked, NO ONE! So you keep your mouth shut too- we saw nothing because nothing happened."

"What? But-"

"No buts McCall, don't say a word to anyone, got it!"

Scott chewed on his lip… why didn't Jackson want to say anything? Sure, neither of them wanted to get in trouble by admitting they were out after curfew but… to make sure no one at the party said anything… and to keep their injuries hidden?

"Got it?!" Jackson pushed, glaring at Scott even harder than before.

"If I feel sick, I'm telling my mom Jackson, I'm not going to die just because you don't want to get in trouble."

Jackson's lip curled a bit but he nodded his head, "Alright fine, if you start to feel sick and you want to tell your mom, go ahead. But don't mention the party and don't mention me! And say nothing to no one at school, deal?"

He nodded, "I can agree to that I guess."

Satisfied, Jackson stomped towards the front door and let himself out, not even calling out a goodbye.

"Didn't even offer to help me with my injuries…" Scott muttered in disbelief as he grabbed some more gauze. Scott jumped and dropped the bottle of peroxide when the house phone rang, the shrill tone loud in the otherwise silent house. Who…? Cautiously he stepped towards the phone and saw Stiles's number on the screen, oh! "Stiles? Is everything okay?"

"Is everything okay? Scott why didn't you answer your phone- I thought you died!"

Scott pulled the phone away from his ear as Stiles yelled at him. "My phone never rang! I was with Jackson so I didn't think about calling you right away, sorry…"

"Jackson brought you home?"

"Yea, like… we were both running for our lives out there… I mean, he threatened to leave me behind but he didn't like yell at me to get out of the car or anything." Scott almost hadn't said anything but Stiles had seen Lydia crying, had probably driven her home. She would've mentioned that they heard or saw something, so Scott really didn't have to keep that part a secret, right?

"Are you okay?"

"Jackson and I are fine," Scott lied, glad that Stiles wasn't there to see him in person. He was a horrible liar and Stiles was pretty good at reading him anyways.

Stiles snorted loudly, "I don't give a crap about Jackson. But you swear you're fine? Was it the killer animal you think? How did you outrun it?"

"Yea, I'm all in one piece, if I wasn't, I would've gone to see Mom at the hospital. I uh… never saw it…" Scott muttered. While he hadn't clearly seen the creature, he'd seen something… How could he even describe it to Stiles if he could tell the truth? "We heard something growling and Jackson was being a big baby. Like honestly, I've never seen him so scared!" Scott chuckled. Maybe he couldn't tell Stiles the whole truth but he would at least share that much. Scott had been terrified too but he couldn't let Stiles know that. "I don't know if it was even chasing us… we just ran back to the car and drove off… How's uh, how's Lydia?"

"Lydia's a mess. She swears that she and Jackson almost died. She wasn't injured, aside from a few branch scratches, just hysterical. She said there was a big shadow out there with them, with red glowing eyes- how crazy is that?!"

"R-red glowing eyes huh?" Scott stammered out.

"Yea. I mean, I don't want to say she imagined it, like it was a hallucination or anything, and I definitely didn't disagree to her face but… I don't know of any animals with glowing eyes. And she was certain that they were glowing, it wasn't like that reflective light, because neither of them had their phones out. I guess she was just super scared… But I took her home and walked her to the door. She actually thanked me!"

Scott smiled, "I bet now you think you have a chance with her huh?"

"Maybe… I mean, I know she's not just going to dump Jackson and date me but… maybe she'll say hi to me in class now? That'd be a start!"

"Don't get your hopes up, I don't think anyone wants people at school to find out. If she starts talking to you now, people are going to question why… more than likely they are going to ignore the whole thing…"

Stiles scoffed, "Don't ruin my hopes and dreams man. And I don't know how they plan on keeping it a secret… I'm sure just about everyone will have heard about it by the end of the week."

"Maybe, maybe not, but you probably shouldn't be one of the people spreading it around-"

"Jackson told you to keep quiet didn't he!" Stiles cut in.

"Well-"

"What an asshole! I bet he just doesn't want anyone to get in trouble. He doesn't want the whole school to know that he's a scaredy-cat!" He sighed indignantly, "It's not like anyone would really believe me anyways… Whatever. Just as long as you're fine. I was getting ready to go back out there to look for you. I called you like 20 times!"

Scott pulled his phone out of his pocket and saw that the screen was black. "Oh, sorry… I think it might have died, that's why I never got your calls. I hope it isn't broken…" He looked it over and didn't see any cracks but he'd have to plug it in to know for sure. "I'm exhausted dude, it's time for bed. I'll see you at school tomorrow- I promise I'm alright."

"Alright then, but I'm giving you a ride to school… after the disaster tonight I won't make you bike to school. You can sleep in a bit and stay rested for the precious tryouts."

He smiled and thanked Stiles before hanging up and going back into the bathroom to finish cleaning his wounds. As he looked them over, Scott felt another pang of guilt… he should've told Stiles. The ones on his side weren't all that bad, not compared to Jackson… the creature had basically grabbed a hold of him- and had very sharp claws! But they were precise pinpoints, no actual tears, and not super deep. It was the bite he was worried about. It was on his bicep and was similar to the marks on his sides- precise. Whatever that thing was hadn't bitten into him with the intention of tearing out a chunk of meat. No tearing, no chewing… just a single, clean bite. It was weird. Not to mention that as soon as it had bitten down, the creature ran off. Just, let go and disappeared into the woods. Jackson had probably struggled more, he was stronger, healthier, than Scott, and that was why his back looked so much worse. Scott bandaged the wounds and got into bed, wondering how he'd explain everything to Stiles when his friend inevitably found out that he was too injured to try out for the team.

Chapter Text

*Wednesday Morning*

Scott automatically groaned when his phone alarm went off, automatically reached over to turn it off, and automatically sat up to rub his eyes. He did it all without pain, without realizing he should be in pain. It wasn't until he stretched his arms up over his head that his brain woke up and he remembered the night before. Scott's eyes shot open and he threw the covers back, looking down at the patches on his sides. His hands trembled as he touched the small red spot; there wasn't as much blood as he would've thought. Cautiously he threw on a shirt and hurried to the bathroom, not wanting his mom to see him. There was no pain, at all… shouldn't there be pain? Scott stared at himself in the mirror for awhile, too scared to check his wounds… It wasn't until his mom knocked on the door, startling him, that he realized that he needed to just look. Otherwise he'd be late. The fact that there was no pain scared him, should he tell his mom?

"I can at least look at it first," he murmured to himself. If it looked infected or anything, he'd tell her. But first he had to look. So he carefully pulled one bandage away, eyes narrowing as he noticed that the claw wound was gone. Completely. "What the hell?!" He quickly ripped off the other bandages, on both sides. Not one claw mark. Scott knew that he hadn't imagined the pain, and there was dried blood on the gauze- that had to've come from somewhere! But his skin was smooth. He gently poked at his sides, sighing in relief when he could feel the sensation. The lack of pain was from a lack of wounds, not from a lack of feeling, his sides hadn't gone numb.

"Scott, I haven't heard the shower start, are you alright? I know you don't want to be late," Melissa called out. She was dead tired from a long shift but she couldn't go to sleep until she knew he was off to school safely. It wasn't like him to be so slow in the mornings…

"Oh, sorry, Stiles said he'd pick me up so I guess I'm just slacking off because I know I've got a few minutes."

"Oh, well I'm putting some bread in the toaster for you, don't take too long or it'll get cold."

Scott turned on the water, then he carefully peeled back the bandage on his arm while he waited for the shower to warm up. The bite mark was gone as well. "This isn't normal…" he mumbled to himself. How could he be healed… last night had definitely happened, he'd been in pain. Right? Jackson! Jackson was attacked too! Scott rushed into the shower, ignoring the still-too-cold water, now he was really in a hurry.

"Oh hey, you're actually out here waiting, what's the-" Stiles started to call out as he pulled up to the curb.

"I uh, slept well last night so it didn't take me as long to get out of bed," Scott lied, the words tumbling out of his mouth, surprising him.

"Even though you only got a few hours of sleep and you got chased by some kind of animal? That's surprising." Stiles looked at his friend, wondering if he was really okay. Scott was always hard to wake up in the morning, almost as bad as himself.

"I guess the adrenaline spike really helped?" Scott shrugged. "Maybe it totally wiped me out and then I wasn't up even later worried about tryouts and stuff. Speaking of, let's go!"

Stiles laughed and rolled his eyes, of course wanted to get to school early, even though tryouts didn't start until after classes were over! "Buckle your seatbelt and we can go."

*School*

Scott jumped out of the jeep as soon as Stiles parked and scanned the lot for Jackson's Porsche. Jackson usually wasn't late but Scott had to make sure that he had come to school. His injuries had been pretty serious; Scott really should've pushed for the hospital. But his car was in the parking lot, in the same spot it always was.

"Back again," Stiles sighed, heaving his backpack onto his shoulders. When he turned to pout at his best friend, he realized that he was alone. "Scott? Where-" he huffed, looking around. He spotted him speed-walking through the parking lot, already 4 rows over. "How the hell did you get over there so fast…?"

Scott rushed between the cars, barely reining himself in from flat out running. Jackson would have something to say about it too! He hurried into the school and towards the stairs. Jackson's locker was on the second floor and Scott had to get there before he left for class. He continued to push past people, snaking his way through the other students until he got to the right hallway. And thankfully Jackson was still leaning against his locker, talking with Danny. He walked up, suddenly nervous about how to broach the topic…

"So you're sure that no one is going to talk?" Jackson whispered. He'd been up most of the night, texting everyone that had been at the party. Most of the guys had gotten back to him and they had promised that their dates wouldn't talk either. Thankfully none of them really wanted to talk about being scared out of their wits! And as soon as they realized that he was fine they calmed down.

"Yea, I'm sure, only Matt texted me, asking if you were really okay and…" Danny trailed off, noticing Scott as he walked up to them.

"And what?"

Danny didn't reply, instead he tilted his chin in Scott's direction, unsure what to say. Surely he knew that Jackson didn't want to talk about last night so why was he walking up to them? Maybe he just wanted to make sure Jackson was alright, Scott was a good guy like that. But Jackson was going to be irritated instead of thankful…

Jackson turned around and immediately scowled when he saw Scott. "McCall, what do you want?"

There was a tone in his voice warning Scott not to say anything, but Scott needed to know. "I just had a quick question… um… about tryouts…" Scott mumbled, opening his eyes wide and looking at Jackson's shoulder pointedly. Really, if Scott was anything like the captain, he'd be attempting to blackmail him into being nice… But he'd never stoop to that level and everyone knew it. And that was probably why Jackson wasn't even attempting to be nice after Scott helped patch him up! Stiles wouldn't have batted an eye, he'd take the opportunity. But this wasn't even about lacrosse, Scott just wanted some answers!

"Like I want to give you any hints, get lost."

"Jackson, it's important!"

He leaned in close to Scott, voice barely above a whisper, "I'm fine, now get lost!" When Jackson pulled away from Scott, he was glaring. He wanted everyone to know that he didn't want McCall near him, because nothing had happened last night, not a single thing. As he turned to leave he even slung his backpack over his left shoulder, the one McCall had been looking at. Honestly, he was fine!

Scott stood there, dumbfounded. Jackson really didn't want to talk about it at all. But surely he was just as confused as to the lack of wounds. Scott knew that Jackson had healed just as miraculously, otherwise he wouldn't have been able to wear his bag on that side. At least Jackson had communicated that much to him. But that probably meant that Jackson was going to blow it all off- there was no evidence of an attack now so Jackson could play dumb. Wasn't he scared of what that meant?! Didn't he have questions?!

"Dude, Scott?" Stiles panted, "What the hell was that?" He noticed Jackson hurrying away and narrowed his eyes. "Where you in that big of a hurry to talk to Jackson? Seriously?"

"I just had a question…"

Stiles sighed and wrapped an arm around Scott's shoulder, "He said he didn't want to talk about last night."

"I know…"

"Wait, I thought you said nothing happened?"

Scott nodded, "Yea, nothing happened…"

"So why do you need to check on him? Like, I know you Scotty, you were trying to check on him, even though he's an absolute ass!"

Scott shrugged one shoulder and looked away. "I need to stop by my locker, c'mon."

Stiles gaped at him as he walked away, seriously? Scott was acting weird, it wasn't like him to care about Jackson. Last night had been scary but if they'd gotten away unscathed then, why was he worrying? Besides, he might hate physical exercise more than Scott but even Scott should've been breathing hard. He had been rushing through the parking lot and made it up to the second floor so quickly. And he wasn't breathing hard at all. He followed Scott to his locker and looked him over, studying him for any signs of… anything. His hands weren't shaking, his pupils weren't too dilated or contracted… his heart wasn't visibly racing… Scott wasn't fidgeting either. That cut out a lot of drugs; there were no signs of pain… The only weird thing was that he seemed to be avoiding Stiles's questions. They shared everything together…

"Why are you staring at me?"

"Something is wrong. What is it?"

Scott's eyes widened, "Wh-why do you think something is wrong?"

"Your reaction just now for one. But two, I know you Scotty, we've been friends since we knew how to talk in coherent sentences. What happened last night?"

"I told you, nothing." Scott lowered his voice, "We were scared out of our minds and thought something was coming after us, but nothing happened."

Stiles started at him, not believing him at all. "When you answered the phone last night, you sounded like you were in pain. I didn't say anything because I was just so relieved that you were alive. But I know what I heard."

Scott turned away and hurried to class, calling over his shoulder, "Stiles, do I look like I'm hurt?" He didn't really realize it was almost an exact repeat of what Jackson had done moments earlier.

"No… in fact you seem to be in much better shape than you've ever been in," he mumbled to himself. But he let it go, if Scott wanted to try and hide something, well, Stiles would find out the truth anyways. It wasn't like he had proof right now so there was no point arguing with him about it just yet. Not many people knew it but he was capable of being patient when he needed to be.

As they sat in class, with Mr. Westover droning on and on about whatever happened back when Columbus had sailed the ocean, Stiles doodled on his notebook. History usually bored him, he couldn't help it. Besides, he had other things to think about, like how he was going to get Scott to admit the truth. It wasn't until he glanced to his left that he noticed that Scott wasn't paying attention either. How were they supposed to study when neither of them were taking notes?! "Dude, Scott!" he hissed, trying to get his attention.

Scott was busy staring out the window though. He'd gotten distracted when he heard a phone ring and was surprised when it seemed like he could hear the girl outside talking on the phone. Not that that was possible… but it sure seemed like it. Scott didn't notice how the sounds from the classroom had dimmed so he could only hear the girl- she was talking to her mom… it was her first day. Then he was surprised when he heard another voice, the vice principal was introducing himself, he was sorry for being so late. Scott smiled as she introduced herself, Allison, a pretty name. When they wandered into the building he lost track of them, unable to hear them anymore… but he tried, focusing on her voice for as long as he could.

Stiles was beyond irritated now, was Scott ignoring him?! He'd whispered his name a few times and had got no response. So he glanced at the front of the classroom to make sure Mr. Westover wasn't watching, and then he quickly slapped Scott's arm. The reaction was immediate.

Scott spun around in his chair, eyes opened wide but not in fear… and his hands were balled into fists. He quickly took in his surroundings and noticed the startled look on Stiles's face… oh, Stiles had been the one to hit him. Not a threat. Threat? Why would there be a threat… Scott mentally shook himself. He was just so focused that he hadn't been expecting the tap, that was all, he had been startled. Thankfully only a few other students seemed to notice, just a chuckle here and there but nothing to draw the teacher's attention. "What?"

"Why aren't you taking notes?! I thought you wanted to be on the lacrosse team?" Stiles whispered, scowl on his face.

"I was… distracted…"

A moment passed as Stiles waited for Mr. Westover to turn back around and face the board. "By what?!"

"This girl, Allison, she-"

"Who?"

Scott bit his lip, right, how could he explain… "Um, she's new, today is her first day. I saw her outside. She can't find a pencil... but then the vice principal came out. I'm not-"

"Mr. McCall, is everything alright?" Mr. Westover asked, head tilted.

Thankfully he was spared having to answer when the door opened and Mr. Selk walked in with Allison. Scott couldn't help but grin as she waited to be introduced. Now that he had a better view of her, he saw that she was even more beautiful than he'd first realized.

"Sorry to interrupt Mr. Westover, I only just finished up with a new student and escorted her to class to make sure there was no issue on her tardiness," Mr. Selk explained, waving to the girl beside him.

"No issue at all, You only missed a few minutes of notes, we're on Chapter 5 by the way. Go ahead and find a seat, Miss?"

"Um, Allison," she paused, "Argent."

"Well Miss Argent, welcome to Beacon Hills High, we're glad to have you," Mr. Westover smiled. Then he turned back to the board, earlier question to Scott forgotten.

Stiles watched as the new girl- Allison, hurried to the empty seat behind Scott. Was he psychic or something? How the frick had he known a girl named Allison was going to be joining their class?! Not only that, Stiles watched as she dug through her purse for a pencil but he recognized the hopeless look on her face. She wasn't expecting to find one. And of course Scott immediately turned around and handed her his spare. Stiles had to hold in a groan as he noticed how brightly she smiled at him and the goofy look on Scott's face. He liked her. What the hell was going on…? He couldn't ask now of course, Scott wouldn't want to talk about it with Allison right behind him. So he cleared his throat and attempted to take his own notes, there was no telling if Scott would be paying enough attention.

*Lunch*

"Scott, are you even listening to me?!" Stiles cried out, throwing a French fry at him.

Scott blinked and turned around, looking at his friend, "What?"

"Is it sad that I can't tell who you're making googly eyes at, Allison or Jackson…?"

"Why would I be making googly eyes at him?!"

Stiles shrugged, "Because you want to be on the lacrosse team? Or because you're concerned about him for some reason… Like how you rushed to his locker first thing this morning to talk to him. What was that about again?"

"I wanted to ask him a question about lacrosse, I told you that." Scott fiddled with his spork, not liking how closely Stiles was studying him.

"This morning, when I asked if you were checking up on him, you just shrugged but you didn't deny it. You didn't mention anything about lacrosse. Seriously Scott… I thought we didn't keep secrets." He gave Scott his best sad face, like the one Scott would always give him.

Scott immediately looked away, feeling awful. He knew Stiles would figure it out, that he was lying. He couldn't help it though… "Jackson said we were supposed to say anything…"

"Yea, I know, I'm pissed about that, he's just trying to save his own ass. But Scott, I was there too! It's not like I don't know about the party already. I took Lydia home!" he whispered.

"Yea, and Jackson was terrified, I was so scared too! But we all made it home didn't we?"

Stiles shook his head, "You were in pain… did you get bit or scratched?! Please tell me you showed your mom! I know we talked about the rabies thing but you should get tested."

"I didn't get bit, or scratched," Scott denied. Stiles didn't believe him though because he reached over and started grabbing at the hem of his shirt. Scott slapped his hands and scooted away, "Dude!"

"I don't believe you, you've been hiding something. As a vet assistant, you should know how dangerous it is to ignore bites and scratches from wild animals!"

Scott nodded his head, "Yea, I do know that, so why do you think I did something stupid?"

"Because Jackson made you promise not to say anything." When Scott didn't reply, Stiles knew that he was right. He was hiding it because the captain had ordered him to keep quiet and Scott, for some idiotic reason, wanted to be on the team so badly… "Did Jackson at least promise you a spot on the team if you kept quiet?"

"What, no…"

"Seriously, you didn't even make him promise something in return? Scotty, have I taught you nothing?"

Scott was about to argue about being better than Jackson but then he saw Jackson suddenly stand up from his table and walk away in a hurry. He looked like he was sick, one hand coming up to cover his face. Scott watched as he waved Danny away and shrugged off Lydia's arm. He made a split second decision to follow him. When Stiles started to follow, he nodded in Lydia's direction, hating himself for using Stiles's crush against his friend like that.

Of course Stiles looked and when he saw the hurt look on Lydia's face he paused. Scott was trying to sidetrack him, probably hoping to talk to Jackson alone. This was his chance to find out what happened. But when Lydia hurried out of the cafeteria with tears in her eyes, Stiles followed her instead.

*Hallway*

L-Lydia?" Stiles called out. It was strange that none of her friends had followed her, Lydia loved to have them flock around her.

She didn't even pause, just kept walking; she didn't want to be around anyone! But as she turned a corner and noticed that he was still following her, she spun around and frowned at him, "Go away!"

"You don't have to hide from me, we don't have to pretend that last night didn't happen," he said softly as he stepped closer to her.

Lydia backed away, looking around with wide eyes. "Nothing happened- don't say it like that!"

"What?" Stiles asked, squinting his eyes. Oh… "No, that's not, you know I didn't mean that… no one is around to hear us anyway."

"I don't want to talk about it." She covered her arms and looked away.

"What about back there, why'd you suddenly walk away, can we talk about that?"

She shrugged, "Jackson was being a jerk! It upset me."

"You two never fight… what happened?"

"Nothing!" Lydia started to walk away again but Stiles stayed a few steps behind her. Thankfully he didn't push her anymore, didn't ask any other questions. She went to her locker and fiddled with the latch for a moment. "Something's wrong with Jackson…" she finally admitted.

-Meanwhile-

"Hey, wait up!" Scott called out, hurrying after Jackson.

Jackson's shoulders slumped, "God… seriously?" he mumbled to himself. "McCall, can't you just leave me alone?"

"No, not when it's something important. Aren't you scared?!"

"Scared of what?" he asked, turning to face Scott.

Scott sighed forcefully, "All of your injuries healed overnight didn't they?" he asked. Now that he'd said it aloud… it scared him. Before now he'd just been in shock, disbelieving the whole thing; now it was real.

"What injuries are you talking about?" Jackson bluffed.

"Don't pretend with me Jackson, there's no one else here in the hallway. Don't pretend it didn't happen- I helped patch you up!"

"Keep your voice down!" Jackson looked around the hallway anyways, just to make sure. "Okay, fine, it's true, all the injuries from last night are gone, so what?"

"So what? Jackson, that isn't normal. What if-"

Jackson shrugged, "The wounds probably weren't as bad as we thought, that's all."

"Those scratches were deep Jackson, I didn't imagine that. Let's not forget about the bite marks! Those teeth were sharp and went deep. No chance it just goes away!"

"I'm not going to argue with you about it- we got attacked and the marks are gone, it is what it is. Now leave me alone!"

Scott reached out and grabbed his wrist, "Has anything else weird happened to you?"

Jackson paused just a second before shaking his head. Scott was just being stupid, his headache and nausea had nothing to do with anything. The cafeteria just smelled really bad today and it had given him a headache, upset his stomach a little- that was it! "Nothing is happening, we were freaked out last night, the wounds weren't as bad as we first thought. See, isn't it a good thing we didn't go to the hospital? We would've gotten in trouble for nothing." Jackson yanked his arm free and tried to walk away again.

"Jackson, seriously, something isn't right. I…" he trailed off. Did he want to mention the fact that he heard a conversation that took place outside? Something was off with Jackson, Scott could tell by the way he hurried out of the cafeteria.

"You what, Scott?"

"Something weird happened to me earlier and I'm willing to bet that something weird was going on with you just now. We have to talk about it." For a brief moment Jackson looked like he was considering it, but then he dashed Scott's hopes.

"I told you, there's nothing to talk about. Now will you please leave me alone?" He stormed off, needing to get outside. Even though he wasn't in the cafeteria anymore, he could still smell everything and it was overwhelming. He needed fresh air! He didn't care about whatever weird thing Scott was talking about, Jackson was fine!

-Meanwhile-

"Something's wrong, like what?" Stiles asked. Did this have something to do with what Scott was hiding? Did she have any idea about what really happened last night?! If something was wrong with Jackson then was Scott in the same trouble too?

"I was just asking Jackson if he was okay… after you dropped me off, I was freaked out, all night. I got a text from Jackson saying he was alive but we didn't talk. Then this morning he blows me off to talk to Danny… so this was the first time we really got to talk- I just asked if he was alright because…"

"Because?"

"Something was off with him. He's been angry all day and in the cafeteria he was complaining about it smelling so bad! But no one else at the table thought it smelled different than usual. I asked if maybe it had to do with last night."

"What do you mean? Last night you sa-"

"I know what I said!" Lydia snapped harshly. "When we were… after…" she stammered, voice dropping. "Jackson was in front of me one second and then he was gone. Like something pulled him away from me. It all happened so fast, the creature was huge! It was over top of him and he was screaming in pain… Last night I was just happy he was alive, like I said we didn't really get to talk. So today I asked if he needed to go to the hospital because of a delayed reaction or something. I know that he didn't go last night, I'm worried! But he just yelled at me! He said that he was fine and to drop it. But I didn't want to and that was when he told me that I was good for nothing and that I don't really care so I should just leave him alone. He's mad that I just ran away- I was so scared, what else was I supposed to do?!"

Stiles stepped forward, arm reaching out for her, but he paused. They were at school… she probably wouldn't appreciate him touching her. "He can't expect you to have done anything different. It's not like you had a weapon, you aren't a fighter. If you tried to save him you would've gotten hurt too. Jackson has no right to say something like that, he should be glad that you're safe!" Stiles stepped so he was in front of her, "You obviously do care, that's why you're concerned about him today, instead of just pretending that it never happened," he persisted.

"But Scott went to go help him- all I did was cling to you and drag you back to the road. I didn't try to call for help or anything."

"If the rest of the team hadn't run away like terrified kittens, you probably could've asked them for help. But they were gone by the time we found you. Scott went to help because he's a selfless person, he couldn't live with himself if he walked away. You saw the crazed animal with your own two eyes, of course you ran! Don't beat yourself up over that, it's called fight or flight response for a reason. You are not a fighter, and I guaran-damn-tee that if the situation had been reversed, Jackson would have left you behind too." Stiles couldn't help himself, he was just so irritated with the captain at that point. Scott wasn't raising a big fuss about Stiles leaving him behind- hell, he told Stiles to save Lydia. She was allowed to be terrified, why couldn't Jackson understand that? Stiles could imagine that he'd be hurt if Scott were to abandon him had he been in Jackson's shoes, but he'd also fight to make sure that Scott got away… he'd try his damnedest to keep the animal away from his best friend, even if it meant he died. That's what it meant to care about someone else! "Don't cry over him Lydia."

"What do you know?!" Lydia yelled, spinning away from him. Thankfully she wasn't followed this time.

Stiles stared after her, more confused than before. Apparently Jackson had been attacked, she confirmed that. But he didn't seem to have any obvious wounds. He also ended up snapping at Lydia, that had never happened before. Stiles wasn't sure if he could attribute that to the 'something weird' category or if it was just Jackson being stressed because of what had happened. It was something to consider though, Stiles wasn't completely ready to discount it as something abnormal. And there was the 'smelly cafeteria' thing that she had mentioned. There was definitely Scott's 'episode' in first period too. He'd known about Allison before she'd even come into the room- that was definitely weird! He should've followed Scott and Jackson through the other door but, he couldn't stand to see Lydia upset. Stiles rushed back into the cafeteria, hoping that he might still catch the tail-end of Scott's conversation with Jackson… but he spied Scotty sitting back at their table, and he looked rejected. Apparently his conversation hadn't gone over well either. Stiles tried not to curse himself, he'd missed his chance… instead he just sighed to himself, maybe Scott would be willing to tell him something later.

Chapter Text

*Locker Room*

Scott was babbling on and on about tryouts but Stiles was hardly listening; he was trying to see if Scott had any strange marks on his body… but he had to do it without openly staring. Enough of the other players already made fun of them. He was certain that if it wasn't for Danny and the fact that he was gay, a lot of the players would be calling them some really hateful words. Besides all that, Scott was trying to keep the attack from Stiles so if he noticed that he was being watched, he'd probably head to the bathrooms to get dressed. So now Stiles was trying to keep up conversation with Scott while also keeping an eye on him. "So, are you sure you're ready?" he asked as he pulled his jersey down over his shoulder pads.

"Dude, I'm beyond ready! I feel so energized and just… great! You're going to try right? I don't want to be on the team if you aren't…"

"Well, I'm going to try… And I don't see too many new faces so I think there might still be a spot for me this year. Especially if some of the party-goers are feeling less-than-perfect. I mean-" Before he could say anything else, the locker room door opened and Jackson's loud laughter could be heard. Stiles rolled his eyes and hunched his shoulders, "Typical, he comes in here 10 minutes late and will make the same 'grand' entrance after we're all out on the field and somehow Coach won't be pissed at him." When he looked to Scott for some sort of follow up comment, he realized that he was alone again, "Seriously?!"

Scott had snuck away and was peeking around one row of lockers, spying on Jackson himself. He knew that Jackson had said he'd healed but Scott had to see it with his own eyes. But the locker room was starting to clear out and he didn't want to be seen spying on Jackson. So he'd do quick glances and then hide behind the lockers again; he just needed to see Jackson's back, if he had any scarring at all. There was no reason for Jackson to lie to him about his miraculous healing but Scott needed to know he wasn't crazy. He was so focused on his own task that he didn't notice Stiles watching him.

"Scott, what are you doing?" Stiles whispered to himself. Obviously he was spying on Jackson but why? And of course he'd been about to do the same thing… he wasn't sure what he would've been looking for but if Jackson had been attacked, there'd be marks of some kind. Was Scott looking for marks too? Stiles frowned, thinking the situation over. Scott had been with Jackson, they'd driven off together, he would know if Jackson had gotten injured. So why was he looking now? Stiles knew what he heard last night and he knew that Scott was lying about something. But he was showing no signs of being injured at all! Judging by the look of disappointment on Scott's face, Jackson wasn't either. Stiles shook his head and finished getting ready, he'd have more time to think about it after practice… but for now, he needed to get his head in the game if he wanted to make the team with Scott. He said nothing when Scott reappeared by his side and hurried to finish getting dressed. For some reason he didn't want his friend to know that he was watching him. Stiles felt a little guilty about it but Scott was also keeping a secret and Stiles knew that he wouldn't get to the bottom of it by being straightforward with his friend. It wasn't like Scott at all and Stiles was worried.

By the time Coach finished with his speech about wanting the best for the team and expecting everyone to give their all on the field, Stiles was bored. It was the same speech every year, just like how he reused the Independence Day speech before big games. Stiles tuned it out and was studying the other players, taking note of how many spots there were on the team and how many people he needed to beat. He might actually have to try today and he wasn't really prepared for that… but he readied himself all the same. At first Stiles didn't even notice anything, he was so focused on trying to keep up but as they were standing in line waiting for their turn to try and score, he noticed. Scott was beside him, whispering up a storm about how the goalie was different than Danny, his left side was noticeably weaker and blah blah blah… and he wasn't wheezing at all. Stiles was breathing harder than his friend and that was rare (not that he was in the best of shape, but he didn't have asthma). And of course he didn't have time to comment on it before Coach was blowing his whistle and Scott was scooping up the ball and running off. But he continued to watch carefully and noticed that he was keeping up with all the first string players, effortlessly! He usually lagged behind because he just couldn't match their speed and keep breathing comfortably; he had to sacrifice speed for duration (Stiles, on the other hand, was just lazy). It had nothing to do with how much Scott may or may not have practiced over winter break either, this was way too big of an improvement. And Stiles wasn't the only one to notice, Brad, Jason, and Marc were all whispering to themselves about Scott's efforts. At first Stiles was afraid they'd try to sabotage him but they stayed away, mostly just surprised at how well he was doing. One of them did comment that they hoped Jackson wouldn't try to force Scott off the team somehow because if he was really this good, they could use him, dork or not.

He felt a sudden pang of anxiety as he heard them talking, would that mean that they actually would want to be friends with him too? Would Scott leave him behind? As soon as the thoughts entered his head, Stiles pushed them out- they'd been friends for over a decade now, that wasn't going to happen. Scott might be lying about some stuff and he might make 'friends' with the better lacrosse player but he wouldn't just ditch Stiles. Not that Stiles would let him just walk away either, not without good reason, they were best friends! Thankfully Stiles didn't have to dwell on it too long anyways, Coach was blowing the whistle to get their attention.

"I'm having a hard time deciding who to cut and who to keep, which is a good thing for once- you don't all suck! McCall, get in the goal, if they can't score on you then they definitely don't deserve to be on the team!" Coach Finstock called out.

Stiles sighed to himself… now he wasn't entirely sure if he'd make the cut or not, it was a close call between the two of them. Could Scott block the shot or would Stiles even make it close the goal? Stiles prayed that Scott would flub the block on purpose so he'd have a spot. But Coach would probably assume Scott would help his best friend, so he'd have to make an honest effort… Stiles stood back and watched. If he waited long enough, he might figure out which side was Scott's weaker side and he could aim for it. Although if Stiles's suspicions were correct, Scott probably wouldn't be as bad of a goalie as Coach Finstock was expecting him to be. There was more to Scott's performance than just the fact that he could run faster than before and breathe easily. He didn't trip over his feet, he didn't drop a single pass that was within reasonable distance, and his aim for passing was spot on. In fact, he was curious as to why Coach had picked Scott in the first place- he would've been better off picking Stiles! Everything pointed to a huge improvement in Scott's performance… maybe Coach just wanted to see the limits of Scott's new-found talent. Goalie was a tough position, it required more hand-eye coordination that just passing to a teammate. Besides, Scott was absolutely horrendous as goalie last year, even if his abilities in the other positions were not-quite-the-worst.

Not surprisingly, Jackson was the first to step up once Scott was ready, calling out that he was only going to be giving Scott a tenth of his usual effort. "Why waste my energy on the likes of him?" Jackson scoffed as he picked up the ball. Scott might have gotten a little better at the mid-fielder drills but there was no way he was coordinated enough to read throws from the seasoned attackers.

The ball flew through the air slowly, it was a lofty toss; it was plain for everyone to see that Jackson was barely trying, like he'd said (it was just as likely that he had been lying to trick Scott by saying that). Stiles chewed at his lip nervously, praying that Scott didn't miss such an easy throw. He didn't think he was wrong about Scott's new abilities but it was stressful to watch all the same, because there was a chance that Scott was still a crappy goalie despite all the evidence otherwise. Until today he tripped over his own shoelaces regularly! And Stiles knew that if he missed this insanely easy throw, no one on the team would take him seriously, even after all the work he put into the other drills.

But Scott caught it easily, even lobbed it back at Jackson as he laughed, "Looks like you won't be making the team then."

There was a collective 'oooooh' that spread through the players, many of them openly laughing at Jackson. And the reaction was immediate, his rage was almost palpable; Stiles could swear he was actually growling!

"Okay McCall, if you want to go hard, let's go hard." Jackson took a few steps closer to him before crouching down. He made a few fake attempts to throw it, hoping to get Scott to lunge but he didn't. So eventually he just had to throw it and he decided to go low, trying to look like he was making it curve upwards. But Scott still wasn't fooled- he didn't catch it, it bounced off the sidewall of his crosse, but it wasn't a goal, that's what mattered.

Scott was surprised by that one, he saw what Jackson was going to do and his body just moved automatically… but he wasn't ready for it. Jackson threw the ball fast! Honestly he wasn't even sure how he reacted so quickly… a small part of his mind was wondering how he was performing so well but most of his brain was just too excited by his success to care. He scooped up the ball and lobbed it back to the huddle of players. It looked like Jackson was going to get ready for a third round when Coach interrupted.

"Let's see just how good he is Whittemore, let some of the other guys try," he called out. Jackson was the team captain because he was good in multiple positions and he led the team well on the field, made great calls. But he wasn't the best at every position and he certainly wasn't great after he got pissed. If no one else managed to score on McCall then it should calm him down, and Danny might be getting more field time if he had a McCall as a backup. Finstock saw that the captain almost didn't listen but he eventually passed the ball to Burton, good.

After three other players had failed to score on Scott (three first-stringers!), Stiles slowly moved to the back of the pack. There was no point in him trying, Scott could easily catch it, or he'd just be accused of favoritism and that obviously he let Stiles score. Or… Stiles wouldn't even go anywhere near the goal and Scott wouldn't have to try at all and he'd be cut for sure. No, there was no sense in him trying so instead he just watched, closely.

"Hey, McCall, I know you want a spot on the team, but how about you don't take mine please?" Danny called out after awhile.

"But I thought you always wanted to get time on the field!" Scott answered.

"Lots of people can be 'okay' on the field, but not everyone can be a good goalie."

Scott laughed, "Well, no offense but goalie is boring, you just stand here! I'd rather be on the field anyways."

Danny would've replied again but Jackson decided to chuck the ball right as Scott's face, thinking he was too distracted. But Scott whirled his crosse around and blocked it, frowning at him. "Just checking to make sure you're taking your position seriously," he muttered before walking off.

And Scott would've replied but a familiar voice caught his attention, someone from the bleachers.

"I thought you said he was a sucky player? He seems really good to me- not that I cared about skill anyways."

"Yea, he's almost too good- he definitely wasn't that good last year…"

Scott looked and saw that Allison and Lydia were huddled together, they'd come to watch tryouts. Allison had made the mistake of mentioning Scott to her new best friend and they probably came to watch him fail compare to Jackson. Lydia was all about status and she wasn't going to let the new girl date a loser. He recalled the conversation he'd overheard between 4th and 5th period. Lydia had practically pounced on Allison, complimenting her outfit. And just like that, Allison was invited to become a part of her inner circle, one of the popular kids. Which meant Lydia instantly started asking about her availability and what kind of guy she was interested in, wanting the juicy details. Scott couldn't tune out the conversation if he tried… which meant he was ignoring Stiles and Harley but he was glad that he did eavesdrop.

"I'm actually not really looking for anyone. Relationships just cause drama and I just want to keep my head down, I don't want to stand out," Allison mumbled, looking to the side. Why did Lydia care so much? Why did people have to date to be seen as important? Whatever… Lydia would probably get bored with her eventually and 'un-invite' her from the group.

"You'll find someone eventually, like do you really think you'll go your entire high school career without finding someone you like? I just want to help you find the right guy, that's all," Lydia pushed.

"I don't know…" she sighed, realizing that her new friend wasn't going to let the subject drop. "Someone nice and sweet, y'know… just someone that I can connect with and talk to."

"Hmmm, right… if you really want to 'blend in' that means you can't go dating a loser- not as one of my friends. How about you look for someone popular, first and foremost, then we can worry about the 'nice' part." Lydia was already making a mental list of the available players and cutting out the ones who were a little rough around the edges. She'd never admit it but she was glad that it meant Allison wouldn't be trying to steal Jackson away from her; he wasn't her type at all.

"So you mean like a football player or something?" Allison grumbled.

Scott could tell she was exasperated already. Maybe the guys from her old school were all like Jackson- thought they were hot shit just because they played a popular sport. The fact that she was resisting Lydia's help told Scott a lot about her and he liked her even more. She wasn't the type to just jump on the bandwagon because the Popular Girl had walked up to her. Allison didn't want some guy that only saw her as arm candy, Scott could be that guy! If she ever wanted to date of course, he wasn't going to be like Lydia and push for anything. It was just that he realized he was her type and he didn't have to try- it was feasible that he might catch her eye just by being himself.

Jackson and Lydia both laughed, Jackson explaining that lacrosse was the sport at their school, they didn't even have a football team. Lacrosse guys were obviously the way to go; Jackson could even point her in the right direction, he was the captain after all and he was friends with all the good players.

Allison had to hold back a frown at his smug attitude but when she spied the netted stick over his shoulder, she visibly brightened. "Scott's a lacrosse player, he had a stick just like that in History."

"Scott? You mean McCall?" Jackson sneered. "I'm not sure you can really call him a player."

"Yea, I mean technically he's on the team but he rides the bench, he's not great. And that means he's… kind of a nobody," Lydia revealed.

Allison blushed, realizing what she'd said, "I didn't mean… He… I've only just met Scott but he seems nice, that's all. And I didn't realize what sport he played until you mentioned lacrosse and I recognized the stick. Seriously, I don't want to date anyone right now…"

Scott's heart almost stopped as he heard how enthused she was when she mentioned his name. He must have made a really good impression on her in class! Who cared that Lydia and Jackson tried to change her mind about him, he could just tell that she was the kind of person that would prefer to make her own choices!

He might've listened to more but Stiles painfully nudged him in the ribs right after that; all he'd managed to hear was that they were talking about a party. It didn't matter though, he'd heard enough to give him hope! And now Allison was watching him play and she thought he was good, it was almost like she was pushing for Lydia to give her approval of him! Scott had to remind himself that she was probably serious about the fact that she didn't want to date so he wasn't sure if he should approach her or not, he didn't want her to feel forced to like him or something. He didn't really have long to dwell on it though, Coach was blowing his whistle and calling them all in to a huddle. He'd been surprised by McCall's performance and still had to find a way to cut some kids but he'd make do. Then he dismissed everyone to the showers and declared that tryouts were over.

It turned out that Scott had nothing to worry about anyways, after he'd showered and was getting ready to head out to the parking lot, he spied Allison waiting by the stands. As soon as she spotted him, she waved and Scott allowed himself to feel hopeful. He quietly asked Stiles to wait for him and hurried over to her. "Hey, you came to tryouts?"

"Yea, Lydia dragged me along. I mean it was fun to watch and everything, don't get me wrong, I just… had no idea I'd be coming," she said with a laugh, trying to calm herself down.

"Lydia does come and watch our practices a lot, she really supports Jackson. So I guess if you two are friends, you'll be in the stands a lot too." There was a pause as Scott tried to think of something to say. He'd almost blurted out something about how he'd impressed Lydia but he realized that it meant admitting that he could hear their conversation. Somehow he managed to catch himself, thank goodness.

"So um… I… oh god," Allison muttered to herself. She had no reason to feel so nervous, it was just a party and she didn't want to go alone, that was it! "I was wondering if um… you might be free Friday?"

"I, uh, yea, I'm free, why?" Scott couldn't believe she was asking him on a date already! And she was asking him so that meant it was okay, he wasn't forcing her to do anything!

"I got invited to a party that Lydia is throwing and… please, please don't say anything but… I'm just a little uncomfortable around all of them. Lydia really isn't that bad but it's everyone else… I can't really describe it but lunch was super weird with everyone and I didn't like it. So I kinda don't want to go to a party with them alone. You seem really nice and more like someone I'd get along with so could you maybe come with me?"

"Sure! I… think…" When her face fell he hurried to explain himself, "I just know that Lydia doesn't like me, everyone on the team makes fun of me and Stiles, like all the time. I don't want her getting mad at you because you invited me without her saying it's okay, that's all."

Allison smiled then, understanding; she was right about him being a good guy. "It'll be fine, I promise. Since you'll be with me, she can't kick you out and if she really wants to be my friend, she'll have to accept that I do things my own way. So, she told me to be there at around 8, do you want to go together or meet there?"

"Um… can I get back to you on that? I might be able to borrow my mom's car that night, or I might need a ride…" Scott admitted. He usually didn't mind getting a ride from Stiles but if this was going to be a kinda date, wouldn't it be weird if Allison drove- or if her parents dropped them off?

"Well I have a car so I can totally pick you up, don't worry. I think Lydia would disown me already if I needed a parent to drop me off," she chuckled, only half joking.

Scott nodded, it didn't seem like she'd mind picking him up, "That works, here, I'll give you my number and then I can text you my address and stuff."

"Oh, right, yea, that's a good idea." She put her number in Scott's phone and waited for him to text her so she could save his number. "And just let me know whenever you want to go home. I usually not a big partier and Lydia assured me that there would be drinking. If it gets loud and crazy, I'll be ready to leave whenever you are."

He hadn't thought about that, if she was his ride she'd have to think about him instead of just having fun… maybe he could borrow the car from his mom and then he could be the one to wait for her. "I'd hate to make you leave if you weren't ready. I mean, I'm sure if you're having fun and I need to head home, I can always call Stiles, he'd come get me and then you could stay."

"We can figure out the details later," she offered. He clearly wanted to be a gentleman and that was fine with her but she did need to head home and if she didn't leave now, she knew they could stand there talking for another hour. "We have each other's numbers now so we can iron out the details as it gets closer."

"Yea, alright, cool. I'll uh, see you tomorrow morning then." Scott waved and walked back over to Stiles as she headed out to her car.

"Don't tell me that your dream girl asked you out," Stiles groaned. He could tell by the look on Scott's face that something good just happened. If it was any other day, Stiles would be happy for his friend, honestly… but he already kicked ass at tryouts and had some of the nicer lacrosse guys talking to him in the locker room… If Scott's day continued to just get better, Stiles was going to have some serious questions for whatever entity might be running the universe.

"Um, kinda. She didn't say it was a date but she invited me to go with her to Lydia's party on Fri-"

"WHAT?!"

Scott winced and shook his head at the loud interruption. "Don't be mad…"

"That's totally not fair! You have a cute girl talk to you, you suddenly have mad skills when it comes to lacrosse- you might even become a more popular player, and now you get to go to one of Lydia's parties? We might as well end our friendship now, you're definitely going to leave me behind…" Stiles pouted.

"What?! I'd never do that, you know that Stiles, don't even joke about that. Some of the guys came up and talked to me about doing a good job, that was it. They aren't going to let me sit at their table all of a sudden. And besides, even if they did, I wouldn't abandon you, you'd have to get invited too or I wouldn't go. I can't help that Allison might actually like me though, that is what it is, and I'm not going to turn her down just because you have a crush on someone that doesn't know you exist, sorry."

"Lydia knows I exist, or did you forget I drove her home last night?"

Scott started heading towards the Jeep, knowing Stiles would follow him. "Last night didn't happen, remember? But okay, let's at least agree that Lydia knows that we've been in the same classes as her since the 3rd grade, that doesn't mean she'll ever acknowledge you. She's a popular girl and I'm nervous about going because I'm worried that it'll hurt Allison's friendship with her. You're a great guy Stiles but I really don't know if you're Lydia's type… that's all."

"Alright, we can change the subject if you want- how about to how you got so good at lacrosse literally over night?" As Stiles said it out loud, the thought came to him. Something did happen overnight, something big. Why hadn't he connected it all before? He'd been suspicious but he didn't actually think that the weird attack might be tied to his physical improvements… just his strange behavior and the lies…

"Stiles, that's not fair at all! It hasn't been overnight- you were with me for hours over break running drills. Not to mention every weekend since October to get ready for the season. We worked hard to make the team and you know it. I just worked harder than you because I wanted to actually be on the team."

He rolled his eyes and gaped at his friend, "Seriously? Are you going to pretend to be that dense? You've never, ever, moved that fast, no matter how hard we practiced. You didn't need your inhaler once today, when was the last time that happened?"

"Like two weeks ago."

"Scott, I'm seriously going to slap you, you know I meant on days when you exert yourself. I do know that over the years your asthma has calmed down a bit, you don't have attacks all the time. But, one consistency is that you always need it at least once when you do any basic physical activity. You know I'm right."

Scott shrugged as he climbed into the Jeep, "Maybe I just had a really good day, or all the practicing finally paid off. I wasn't constantly running drills, I had time to rest between everything y'know, that might be it. I didn't even notice…" And it was true, he was on such a roll that he never thought about the fact that he didn't reach into his pocket for his inhaler. Maybe his mom could finally start saving money, that'd be nice.

Stiles let the subject drop but he certainly wasn't done with it. There was no way it was just Scott's asthma getting better… not so drastically. Not to mention the fact that he was chased and quite possibly bit or scratched by a large monster with glowing red eyes. At first he had thought that Lydia was just in shock, red is a scary color for eyes, unnatural… it wasn't too far-fetched to think that her mind had altered the memory a bit, to match the terror that she felt. But now that Scott was acting weird… maybe it was some escaped lab experiment or long forgotten beast that got loose after a small earthquake or something! What really cemented the idea in his head was that Lydia confessed that Jackson was being weird too. They were together when they got attacked and now both of them were hiding something and acting bizarre. There were too many red flags for everything to just be a coincidence. But Stiles also knew his best friend- he wasn't a great liar but he stuck by his lies. Until there was absolute proof that something had happened to him and Jackson, Scott would continue to deny it all. So Stiles decided to keep everything to himself for awhile, there was no point in alerting Scott to his digging… not if he'd just keep lying. And since he was so preoccupied with Allison right now, it wouldn't be hard at all for Stiles to just casually not be at Scott's house while they were supposed to be doing homework. He waved as he dropped Scott off, ready to get down to business.