[1x08; Lunatic]

There was a squelching noise as Stiles stepped in a puddle, heading out toward the main campsite on the edge of the preserve, Scott following dutifully after him. Stiles held a bottle of whiskey under his jacket, hiding it from view, intending to get Scott drunk and forget his worries for a while.

It had been a week since the alpha chased them around the school and Allison had broken up with Scott. Scott had spent the seven days at home moping around while the damage at the school was being fixed and since school was starting back up the next morning, Stiles wanted his best friend to relax.

"Where are we going?" Scott complained as they continued through the campground.

"You'll see."

"'Cause we really shouldn't be out here," Scott stated. "My mom is in a constant state of freak-out from what happened at the school."

Stiles scoffed. "Well, your mom isn't the sheriff, okay? There's no comparison, trust me."

"Can you please just tell me what we're doing out here?"

"Yes," Stiles gave in. "When your best friend gets dumped—"

"I didn't get dumped," Scott corrected him, in deep denial. "We're taking a break."

"All right, well, when your best friend gets told by his girlfriend that they're taking a break—" Stiles grinned and turned around, pulling the whiskey out of his jacket to show Scott. "you get your best friend drunk."

An hour later, the bottle was more than halfway gone. Scott had drunk half of the bottle, feeling no effect from the alcohol whatsoever, and Stiles drank the other quarter. He was now drunk as a skunk and rambling like no tomorrow.

It annoyed Scott like no other—first he couldn't get drunk and now he had to take care of Stiles. When he started the fire to keep them warm, he had to pull Stiles away from it three times to keep him from burning himself. It was like babysitting a damn toddler.

Stiles slammed the bottle of whiskey down on the concrete next to him. "Dude, you know, she's just one girl," he sighed, staring up at the starry sky. "You know, there are so many—there are so many other girls in the sea."

Scott rolled his eyes. "Fish in the sea."

"Fish?" Stiles gave him a confused look. "Why are you talking about fish? I'm talking about girls. I love girls. I love em'."

Stiles giggled, thinking about the girl that always seemed to be on his mind. He missed her so much and even though they'd only started hanging out a month ago, he didn't like being without her.

"I love especially ones with brown hair, cobalt-blue eyes, 5'1..." he slurred, trailing off with a wistful smile.

Scott glanced at him. "Like Olivia?"

"Yeah, exactly!" Stiles exclaimed. "Hey, how did you know I was talking about...what was I talking about?"

Scott didn't answer, causing Stiles to look over at him again. He saw the grumpy look on his best friend's face and frowned. He wanted Scott to have a good time like he was.

"Hey, you're not happy," he pointed out, rolling over to pick up the whiskey. He held it out to Scott. "Take a drink."

"I don't want anymore," Scott's shoulders slumped as he looked into the fire.

"You're not drunk?"

"I'm not anything."

"Hey, maybe it's like—maybe it's like not needing your inhaler anymore, you know?" Stiles theorized, setting the whiskey back down and rolling onto his back again. "Maybe you can't get drunk as a wolf...Am I drunk?"

Scott looked over at Stiles, noticing his furrowed brows, and shook his head. "You're wasted."

"Yeah!" Stiles drawled giddily, pumping his fist into the air so Scott could bump it. Scott didn't reciprocate and Stiles allowed his hand to fall back on his stomach. "Come on, dude. I know it feels bad. I know it hurts. I know," he paused, remembering that he had never had a girlfriend. "Well, I don't know. But I know this, I know that as much as being broken up hurts, being alone is way worse."

Scott went through Stiles' words in his head and looked over at his best friend, knowing that his statement made no sense. Either way, they were both alone.

Stiles chuckled. "That didn't make any sense," he groaned and reached over to pick up the bottle of whiskey. "I need a drink."

Before he could grab it, another hand reached out and took the bottle. Stiles and Scott looked up, seeing two unfamiliar men standing in front of them.

"Well, look at the two little bitches getting their drink on," the man who grabbed the bottle, and was wearing a large, funny-looking hat, taunted them.

Scott glared at him. "Give it back."

The guy with the hat scoffed and exchanged a smirk with his friend. "What's that, little man?"

"I think he wants a drink," the second guy spoke up, amused.

"I want the bottle," Scott demanded angrily.

Stiles sat up, noticing the tenseness in Scott's voice. It was the day before the full moon, so Scott's mood swings were probably worse than usual. He didn't want Scott to wolf-out on these guys, especially when he was too drunk to calm him down.

"Scott, maybe we should go," he suggested.

"You brought me out here to get me drunk, Stiles," Scott kept his glare glued to the men. "I'm not drunk yet."

The first guy scoffed and took a sip from the bottle. Scott's glare sharpened as he stood up to face the men. He was a couple inches shorter than both of them, but he didn't seem to care. He was a werewolf; he could overpower them any day.

"Give me the bottle," Scott commanded. When the first guy shook his head, Scott flashed his golden eyes at him and lowered his voice into a growl. "Give me the bottle of Jack."

Stiles got to his feet, seeing Scott's claw start to break through his nail beds. "Scott?"

The first guy slowly held out the bottle of Jack Daniel's out to Scott. Scott ripped it from his grasp and whipped it at a nearby tree, shattering the bottle completely. The men took off, not daring to look back at Scott as they ran away.

"Let's go," Scott said, gaining his control back now that the threat was gone.

Stiles followed him out of the campground without a fuss. "Okay, please tell me that was because of the break-up," he pleaded, starting to sober up. "Or 'cause tomorrow's the full moon?"

Scott, a few strides ahead of his best friend, didn't answer. When they arrived at Stiles' Jeep, he wordlessly opened the passenger door and gestured for Stiles to get.

"Going home now, yeah?" Stiles asked, promptly falling back into the seat.

Scott rolled his eyes and slammed the door shut.

-

-

"Up and at 'em buddy!" Olivia called to Sirius as she walked out of her bathroom the next morning, freshly showered and made up. She dressed in a plaid skirt and cream-colored sweater, slathering on some clear lip gloss to complete the look, and grabbed her bag full of the schoolwork she had completed and checked twice.

Sirius barked happily, wiggling his furry booty, and followed her out of the room, his tiny nails tapping against the hard-wood floors.

For the first time in a couple of days, Olivia actually felt good. Derek was all healed up and hiding from the police in her pool house out back, she had a week-long break from school, and for an early Valentine's Day present, her aunt had gotten her a replica of the Millennium Falcon.

She was still upset about what happened at the school that night—especially with Scott and Stiles, who hadn't exactly cared to ask her about Derek's wellbeing, though she did tell Stiles not to contact her so she supposed she should be grateful that they weren't reaching out—but she felt better about it. All her friends were safe, even Stiles and Scott, and so was Derek for the time being. She just hoped that he'd stay out of sight until she figured out what they were going to do about him being a wanted fugitive.

Olivia walked into the kitchen and turned on the radio, intending to fix herself and Lydia some breakfast—and try to sneak some out to Derek before she left for school. Lydia was still bitter about the night at the school, especially toward Scott. Allison—who had broken up with Scott that night—couldn't even talk to the redhead about him cause she had plenty of mean things to say.

"It's a beautiful Monday morning," the local radio deejay announced as Olivia filled up Sirius' food and water bowls; he ran over to his mat and started chowing down happily. "and Beacon Hills High School is back open after being closed for a week for repairs. The police search continues for alleged killer, Derek Hale—"

Olivia turned the channel, not wanting to hear about the police search going on for Derek, and turned on the internet radio. She hummed in satisfaction when an old Jonas Brothers song came on and turned to the fridge.

As she sang along to Burnin' Up, she whisked up some eggs—whites only for Lydia—and popped some bread into the toaster. She added cheese, salt, and pepper to the food as it cooked and by the time the eggs were done, she was able to butter the toast.

She scooped some of the food into a Tupperware container to give to Derek and then plated the rest of it, quickly eating her portion.

"Lydia, breakfast!" she called loud enough so Lydia would hear from her bedroom. "I'm taking Sirius outside!"

"Okay!" she heard Lydia shout back.

Olivia grabbed the food container, glad that Lydia wasn't downstairs yet so she wouldn't have to answer any questions about why she was taking food outside, and entered her backyard, Sirius on her heels.

Sirius yipped as he went off to do his business behind the pool house, while Olivia entered it. Derek was already up and doing push-ups in the main room; he popped up when he noticed her.

"Morning," she greeted, handing him the container of eggs and toast. "How are you feeling?"

"Thanks," he said, opening it up to start eating. "I'm fine. All healed up like I told you two days ago."

"I was worried about you," Olivia rolled her eyes, not feeling bad for caring about him. "You were really hurt, Der, let me dote on you."

"You don't dote, Ollie," Derek rolled his eyes and smirked at her.

"I do too," Olivia argued. When he raised an eyebrow at her, she shrugged. "Only to certain people, anyway."

Derek hummed and bit into his toast with a crunch.

"Full moon's today," she said casually, knowing that he knew what today was. "Um, are you going to help Scott?"

Derek shrugged. "I'll reach out if he needs me. I'm a refugee because of him, so I have to lay low. Will you keep an eye on him at school today?"

"Yeah, I guess," Olivia didn't really want to, but she knew that it was for the best. It was only Scott's second full moon—she didn't know how it'd go.

"You said that his anchor was Allison and they broke up," Derek reminded her. "He'll probably be messed up today. Be careful."

Olivia smiled. "I will," she turned to leave and added, "Stay out of sight, okay?"

"Okay."

She left the pool house and looked around, spotting Sirius sniffing around in the rose bushes. She whistled for him and he came running, following her back into the house.

Lydia was in the kitchen when she walked back in, finishing up her breakfast.

"Thanks for the eggs," she smiled at Olivia. "What were you doing out there?"

"Oh," Olivia racked her brain for an excuse. "I was making sure Siri didn't mess up the rose bushes again. You know how Aunt Nat hates that."

Lydia chuckled and knelt down, happily petting an ecstatic Sirius. "You're such a good boy, aren't you, Siri?" if anyone else other than Olivia saw Lydia speaking in a baby voice for their dog, they'd probably think they were dreaming. "Such a good puppy."

They heard a honk from outside and both girls groaned.

For the past week, they had a police escort for everywhere they went. Olivia and Lydia happened to have a jackass of a deputy—a guy in his mid-twenties named Haigh—who couldn't be bothered to have a single polite conversation with them. He honked outside their house any time they told him they were going anywhere. Natalie absolutely hated him and had already complained to Sheriff Stilinski, however the police force was spread pretty thin right now.

Luckily, today was the last day they had to deal with him.

"I hate that guy," Lydia grumbled, grabbing her purse from where she laid it on the island.

"Me too," Olivia agreed and followed Lydia out of the kitchen.

The two of them said goodbye to Sirius and locked the door behind them, walking over to Lydia's car.

-

Half of the day went by before Olivia caught up with Allison and Lydia, leaving her spanish class when the bell rang. She greeted her cousin and Allison, who smiled at her, and they walked down the hall together, listening to people continue the gossip about what happened the week before.

No one knew that it was Olivia, Stiles, Scott, Allison, Lydia, and Jackson who were at the school that night. All they knew was that there were some students in the building after hours and that Derek had supposedly tried to kill them—and succeeded in killing the school's favorite janitor.

Olivia was glad no one knew because she was already getting enough stares for being related to Derek.

"It's just weird," Allison commented quietly, looking around the hallway. "Everybody's talking about what happened the other night and nobody knows it was us."

Lydia smirked. "Thank you for the protection of minors."

"Guys," Allison frowned, sounding upset. "do you think that I made the wrong decision?"

"About that jacket with that dress?" Olivia said bluntly, looking at the brown leather jacket Allison was wearing that didn't quite go with the dress she had on. "Yes."

Allison rolled her eyes and laughed slightly. "You know what I mean."

Of course, they knew what she meant. She was second-guessing herself about breaking up with Scott. She wasn't sure about her decision and had been asking the girls almost everyday since then if it was the right one.

Honestly, Olivia could see both sides. Allison couldn't trust Scott to tell her the truth but Scott couldn't exactly tell her that he was a werewolf and that the thing chasing them was a murderous alpha. There was really no right way to handle the solution because it was clear how into each other Allison and Scott were.

"Hello?" Lydia scoffed, irritation thick in her voice. "Scott locked us in a classroom and left us for dead. He's lucky we're not pressing charges or making him pay out therapy bills."

Allison nodded and sighed, silently agreeing with Lydia.

"If you can't trust him, I'd say you did the right thing," Olivia shared her opinion. "but maybe you can work it out. You guys really like each other, so..."

Allison smiled at Olivia, glad to hear her opinion. She had been listening to Lydia grumble about Scott all week, so it was nice to have something positive in the Stallison corner.

"Come on," Allison hooked her arm with Olivia's. "we have an economics exam to get to."

Olivia groaned. "Yippee."

-

-

Stiles sat on the floor outside of the principal's office, waiting dutifully for his dad to come out. He had seen him come in after second period and was anxious to find out what was going on in the search for Derek.

He also wanted to warn his dad about tonight. With the full moon and an alpha on a rampage, he needed his dad to be safe.

Finally, as the bell rang for his econ class, Noah stepped out of the office with two state detectives and a deputy. Stiles got to his feet, waiting for a chance to talk to him.

"We're watching the Martin house and the old Hale house," Noah told the detectives. "Maybe he'll wind up at one of those places," he saw Stiles waiting for him and frowned. "Give me a second."

He walked over to Stiles and crossed his arms over his chest. "Don't you have a test to get to?"

"What's going on?" Stiles ignored his question, looking over his shoulder at the two detectives. "Did you find Derek yet?"

"I'm working on it. Go take your test," Noah said sternly.

Stiles shook his head. "All right, Dad, listen to me—"

"Go!"

"This is really important," Stiles insisted. "You have to be careful tonight, okay? Especially tonight."

Noah softened, seeing the concern in his son's eyes. "Stiles, I'm always careful."

"Dad, you've never dealt with this kind of thing, okay?" Stiles stated, talking about werewolves. "At least not like this."

"I know," Noah assumed Stiles was talking about a mass murderer. "which is why I brought in people who have. State detectives," he gestured to the men in suits talking to the deputy. "Go take your test."

Seeing that his dad wasn't going to continue the conversation, Stiles sighed heavily and shrugged on his backpack. He left his dad and made his way to one of the exam rooms where his economics test was taking place.

Unfortunately, when he entered, he saw that Mr. Harris was proctoring the test. He groaned under his breath, ignoring the glare the chemistry teacher sent him, and walked up the large steps to a desk in the back.

As he sat down and pulled out a pencil, his eyes fell on Olivia. He took the time to admire her as she whispered with Allison, enjoying the way her braided bun showed off her slender neck and the glossy shine her lips gave off.

Even though they spent most of the time they had together bickering, he really missed her this past week.

He felt really bad about what happened with Derek and while he was mad at Olivia for a few days when she wouldn't talk to him, he ultimately knew that he and Scott were in the wrong. He'd react the same way if she told everyone his nonexistent cousin was a murderer.

Stiles would respect the fact that she didn't want him to talk to her, though. He just wished she would talk to him.

Mr. Harris started handing out scantrons they had to use for their test, along with blue booklets for their essays, when Scott entered the room. Stiles watched as he headed straight to Allison's desk, only to be stopped by Mr. Harris.

"Mr. McCall, please take a seat," he demanded.

Scott sighed and walked away from Allison, taking the empty desk in front of Stiles.

Once Mr. Harris had handed out the rest of the testing papers, he stood at the front of the room, leaning against the podium. "You have forty-five minutes to complete the test," he told the class. "Twenty-five percent of your grade can be earned right now simply by writing your name on the cover of the blue book—"

Stiles pressed his lips together and scrambled to write his name on the designated line.

"—However," Mr. Harris continued. "as happens every year, one of you will inexplicably fail to put your name on the cover and I'll be left yet again questioning my decision to ever become a teacher. So, let's get the disappointment over with," he held up his stopwatch and pressed the start button. "Begin."

The sound of several pages flipping filled the room as everyone got started on their tests. Stiles answered the first question easily, filling in the bubble, and went on, finding that the questions were made up of the chapters he actually studied.

In the middle of the test, he took a break with multiple choice, using one of his testing strategies. He answered the essay question—some nonsense prompt about how the economy could change in the next few years and how to deal with it—and went back to where he started.

He was just filling out the last question when Scott's chair screeched in front of him. Scott hopped out of his seat and rang out of the room, ignoring Mr. Harris' indignant objections.

"Mr. McCall?"

Stiles grabbed his bag and his test and ran down the steps. He slammed his finished test on Mr. Harris' desk and left the room, following after his best friend.

"Mr. Stilinski!"

By the time that Stiles entered the hallway, Scott was no where to be seen. Twenty feet or so away from the classroom door, Scott's bag was on the ground discarded. Stiles picked it up and swung it over his shoulder.

"Scott?" Stiles called lowly, hoping that Scott would be able to hear with his enhanced senses.

He pulled his phone out of his jeans and dialed Scott's number. He heard the distinct ring coming from down the hall and followed it. He ended up in the boys' locker room where he heard the shower going in the other room.

"Scott?" he called, hoping that he wasn't naked or wolfed-out.

Luckily, Scott still had his jeans on and he had all of his human features. He panted heavily as he turned around, leaning under the shower's spray.

"Stiles," he gasped for breath, turning off the water. "I can't—"

"What's happening?" Stiles asked quickly. "Are you changing?"

"No," Scott shook his head. "No, I can't breathe."

He wheezed and Stiles was taken back to the time when Scott had frequent asthma attacks—it felt like forever ago now. He hurriedly pulled Scott's bag off his shoulder and rummaged through the pockets, finding his old inhaler in one of the front zippers.

"Here, use this," he tossed the inhaler to Scott. When Scott gave him a questioning look, he insisted, "Come on, do it."

Scott wheezed again and pressed the inhaler to his lips, breathing in the medication. He braced himself against his knees as the pain in his lungs lessened and his breathing regulated.

He straightened up, giving Stiles an incredulous look. "I was having an asthma attack?"

"No, you were having a panic attack," Stiles corrected him, having gone through them numerous times. "but thinking you were having an asthma attack actually stopped the panic attack. Irony."

Distracting himself during a panic attack usually worked for him; he was just lucky if worked for Scott, too.

"How'd you know how to do that?"

"I used to get them after my mom died," Stiles said honestly, shaking his head slightly at the horrible memories. "Not fun, huh?"

Scott shook his head, agreeing. "I looked at her and it was like someone hit me in the ribs with a hammer," he confessed.

"Yeah, it's called heartbreak. There's about two billion songs written about it," Stiles tried to lighten the mood. He could tell it wasn't working.

Scott sighed heavily, frustrated. "I can't stop thinking about her."

"Well, you can think about this," Stiles stated. "Her dad is a werewolf hunter and you're a werewolf so it was bound to become an issue," Scott glared at him, causing him to sigh. "All right, that wasn't helpful. Dude, I mean, yeah, you got dumped. It's supposed to suck."

"No, that's not it," Scott shook his head. "It was like I could feel everything in the room, everyone else's emotions."

Stiles hummed thoughtfully. "It's gotta be the full moon," he predicted making Scott nod. "So, we'll lock you up in your room later just like we planned. That way the alpha—who's your boss—can't get to you, either."

"I think we need to do a lot more than lock me in my room," Scott said darkly.

"What, you mean because if you get out you'd be caught by hunters?" Stiles guessed.

"No," Scott denied. "because if I get out, I think I might kill someone."

Talk about a mood killer.

-

At the end of Stiles' free period—which happened to coincide with the last class of the day—he left the library where he spent the whole hour on his phone, looking up various hardware stores. He needed chains for tonight and he was looking for the strongest ones. Handcuffs were easy to come by, believe it or not, but it helped that his dad was the sheriff.

He turned down the hallway to head to the locker room to change for lacrosse practice when he came face-to-face with Olivia.

"Hey!" his voice came out squeakier than he intended. He grimaced, his eye flicking down her body and lingering on the thigh highs that showed off a small flash of pale skin under her plaid skirt.

Shit, he thought, look away Stiles.

"Hi."

Stiles cleared his throat. "Uh, what's up? How are you? What do you need?" he asked quickly. His eyes widened and he added, "Not that I don't want to talk to you, because I do, but you told me not to talk to you, so..."

"Well, you and Scott are un-shunned for the day," she crossed her arms over her chest and Stiles remembered the episode of The Office where Dwight shunned Andy. "We need to talk."

"About what?" he asked. "Because I need to get ready for practice."

Olivia looked around to see if anyone was listening to their conversation, lowering her voice. "About the full moon," she said obviously. "Can you talk after you get ready? I'll be quick."

"Sure," Stiles nodded. "See you in a few."

He gave her a smile and entered the locker room, getting dressed quickly. He pulled on his elbow pads as he sat on the bench next to Scott, ready for the news that Coach had told them to wait around for before practice.

Coach blew his whistled and walked out of his office, the team surrounding him. "All right, geniuses, listen up," he declared. "Due to the recent pink-eye epidemic—thank you, Greenberg—the following people have made first line on a probationary basis, emphasis on probationary."

Stiles closed his eyes tightly and crossed his fingers, hoping for a miracle. He wanted for Coach to call his name so he could finally play first line. He wasn't as good as his teammates, but who really cared?

"Rodriguez, welcome to first line," Coach read off his clipboard as everyone clapped for Oscar Rodriguez. "Taylor and uh...Oh, for the love of crap, I can't even read my own writing. Is that an 'S'?"

Stiles perked up, hoping that it was his name written down.

"No, that's not an 'S'," Coach shook his head; Stiles deflated. "That's a 'B'. That's definitely a 'B'. Uh, Rodrigues, Taylor, and uh, Bilinski."

Stiles looked up, his eyes wide with shock. There was no one on the team named Bilinski and his last name definitely rhymed with that. He jumped to his feet and cheer, ignoring the judgmental looks he got from his teammates.

"Bilinski!" Coach barked.

"Yes?"

"Shut up!"

"Yes, sir!" Stiles chirped, sitting back down.

"Stiles," Scott whispered, trying to get his attention.

"It's Biles," Stiles said quickly. "Call me Biles or I swear to God I'll kill you."

"Another thing," Coach added. "From here on out, immediately, we're switching to co-captains. Congratulations, McCall."

Stiles gaped at Scott, clapping him on the shoulder in congrats, as Jackson stepped forward to protest.

"What?" he asked angrily.

"What do you mean what?" Coach asked. "Jackson, this takes nothing away from you. This is about combining separate strengths into one unit. This is about taking your unit, McCall's unit..." he waved his hands. "we're making one big unit."

Coach turned to Scott. "McCall, it's you and Jackson now," he looked around and blew his whistle. "Everyone else, asses on the field. Asses on the field!"

Stiles and Scott hopped off the bench as everyone scattered, heading to the field. As they left the locker room, Stiles said joyously, "Dude, can you believe this? You're a captain, I'm first line. I'm first-fucking-line!"

Scott didn't say anything, handing Stiles his lacrosse stick so he could adjust his white practice jersey. Once he was finished, Stiles handed it back to him.

"Are you not freaking out?" Stiles asked him. "I'm freaking out."

"What's the point?" Scott shrugged. "It's just a stupid title. I could practically smell the jealousy in there."

"Wait," Stiles held out a hand, stopping Scott. "you smell jealousy?"

"Yeah, it's like the full moon's turned everything up to ten."

"Huh," Stiles pursed his lips thoughtfully. "Can you pick up on stuff like, I don't know, desire?"

Scott gave him a blank look. "What do you mean, desire?"

"Like sexual desire?" Stiles clarified.

"Sexual desire?"

"Yeah, sexual desire!" Stiles exclaimed. "Lust, passion, arousal."

Stiles peeked toward the end of the hallway where Olivia and Lydia were chatting. Scott saw who he was looking at.

"From Olivia?"

"What, no," Stiles denied too quickly. "in a general, broad sense. Can you determine sexual desire?"

Scott raised his eyebrows at his best friend. "From Olivia to you?"

"Fine, yes, from Olivia to me," Stiles admitted. "Look, I need to know if I finally have a chance with her, okay? She's been driving me crazy lately and I'm fairly certain I've fallen deep. Like, ocean-trench deep, all right?"

"Why don't you just ask her?" Scott asked, looking at Olivia and then back to Stiles.

"To save myself from utterly crushing humiliation, thank you," Stiles pointed out. "So, please, can you just go up and ask her if she likes me? See if heartbeat rises or some pheromones come out. Hell, if she doesn't glare, that's a good sign."

"Fine," Scott gave in, sighing heavily.

As he walked down the hallway, Stiles called, "I love you! You're my best friend in the whole world."

-

-

Olivia stood in the hall outside of the boys' locker room, waiting for Stiles to come out so they could talk about his plans for Scott's night. The full moon wasn't a joke, which she was sure they knew—having gone through it once already—but she just wanted to make sure everything was ready to go.

Surely they had something to chain the new werewolf up with, right?

She chatted with Lydia while she waited, telling her cousin about how certain she was that she aced her econ exam. Lydia was congratulating her when Scott walked up to them, dressed in his practice gear.

"Hey, Olivia, can we talk for a second?" he asked quietly, a bit sheepish.

Olivia pursed her lips but agreed, wondering if he wanted to talk about the full moon. "Sure."

"I'll wait here," Lydia told Olivia, giving Scott a flirty smile that she didn't catch.

Olivia nodded and followed Scott into the Coach's empty office. When Scott shut the door behind them, she started questioning him.

"Is this about the full moon?" she asked. "Do you and Stiles know what you're doing?"

Scott shook his head. "I just needed to ask you something," Olivia nodded and he continued, "Do you, uh...do you know if Allison still likes me?"

Olivia sighed, feeling sympathetic. She had never been in a relationship—almost all the boys in school thought she was a bitch—but she knew how hard a break-up could be. She remembered her aunt and uncle's divorce and it still effected Natalie two years later.

"Of course, she likes you, Scott," she placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.

Scott perked up. "Really?"

"She just needs time, all right?" she informed him. "She's confused about what happened the other night."

"Oh," Scott narrowed his eyes.

"So, um," Olivia crossed her arms, uncomfortable with the way his eyes started hardening as he took a few steps toward her. "Did you and Stiles—"

She was abruptly cut off as Scott forcefully pressed his lips to hers, grabbing the back of her head to hold her still. She angrily grunted against him and pressed against his chest pads, pushing him away from her.

She wiped the remnants of the kiss off her lips and snarled, "What the hell, Scott?"

"I thought you wanted me to kiss you!" Scott defended himself, somewhat harshly.

"In what world was that me giving you permission to land one on me?" she asked incredulously. "I know the full moon is messing with you and I'm sorry about that but that doesn't give you the right to go around kissing random girls, Scott!"

She whipped the door open and angrily marched out of Coach's office, ignoring the way that Lydia lingered for Scott.

Olivia cursed under her breath as she walked out of the school and onto the practice field, climbing to the second row of bleachers. Practice was just about to start and she bit the inside of her cheek when she saw the back of Stiles' jersey.

Should she tell Stiles about what happened? His best friend was out of control.

She decided not to. It was personal and she didn't really know how to feel about Scott kissing her. She had kissed someone before but it still didn't feel right when someone touched you without permission.

She would tell Allison, because she didn't want to keep the fact that her new friend's ex-boyfriend kissed her a secret, and that was it. She wasn't even going to tell Lydia. No one else needed to know.

Her eyes narrowed as she spotted Scott walking onto the field. He took a seat next to Stiles on the bench and they spoke for a while before Stiles flailed excitedly. As Olivia wondered what they were talking about, Coach blew his whistle to start practice.

The guys lined up for a practice drill where they dodged defense and tried to take a shot through Danny, the best goalie on the team. Each player went, some scoring, some not—Jackson scored, earning praise from Coach—until it was Scott's turn.

He scooped up and ran forward when the whistle was blown. He was tackled by the defensive players, landing harshly on the ground.

Karma, Olivia couldn't help but think as Lydia took a seat next to her.

Coach laughed loudly at Scott's misfortune and walked over to him. "Guess some people don't appreciate your new status there, McCall," he taunted the werewolf. "Who's next? Let's go!"

Olivia was surprised to see Stiles up in the front of the line with the rest of the players on first line. He was next to go and stepped forward, only to be pushed back by an angry Scott.

"That's it, McCall!" Coach cheered. "You earn it. Earn it, McCall!"

Coach blew the whistle again and Scott took off, sprinting down the field. He bypassed the defense altogether and continued toward the goal. When Danny stepped up to defend his territory, Scott raised his stick and slap checked him in the mask.

There were gasps among the team and crowd as Danny fell to the ground. Olivia and Lydia jumped out of their seats and rushed down to the field as the players formed a circle around him.

"Danny!"

"Danny, are you okay?"

Olivia made sure that Danny was all right—he only had a bloody nose and was a little disoriented—before running over to Stiles, who had confronted Scott about hitting Danny needlessly.

"I know it's the full moon but he's seriously being an asshole," she commented to Stiles as Scott walked off the field.

Stiles scoffed and turned to her. "No kidding..." he trailed off, noticing how her lip gloss was smudged. "You've got to be fucking joking."

"What?" Olivia looked at him, alarmed by his change in attitude.

Why was he angry all of a sudden?

"Did you kiss Scott?" he accused her, his blood boiling. He wasn't mad at her—well, maybe a little bit irritated—because they weren't together or anything and he wasn't even sure that she liked him. Scott had probably been lying, after all. He was definitely furious with Scott, though. He fucking knew how much he cared about Olivia.

Olivia stiffened, crossing her arms over her chest. Stiles softened, seeing the upset look in her eyes and regretting losing his temper with her.

"Livvy..."

"He kissed me," she muttered, frowning. "I didn't ask for it and I definitely pushed him away. I don't kiss other people's boyfriends."

Stiles pressed his lips together, growing even more angry with Scott. You don't kiss or touch a girl—or anyone, for that matter—without permission. Everyone knew that even if not everyone followed that rule.

"I'm sorry. Can I—?" he apologized, reaching toward her. To his immense surprise, she let him hug her.

He really didn't see that coming, especially in public where anyone could see, but he wasn't complaining. As Olivia buried her head in his practice jersey, he rested his chin against her braid. Her hair smelt like apples and he smelt her usual cinnamon-sugar perfume that she wore and he swore it was his favorite scent combination from now on.

He tightened his arms around Olivia but let go when she started to pull away.

"Sorry about that," she apologized.

"Yeah, no, it's okay—"

"I don't usually hug people that much," Olivia smiled weakly. "Um," she shook her head, focusing. "Do you need my help for tonight? Do you have everything?"

Stiles grinned, thinking of a little payback for his dear best friend. "Actually, I could use your help with something..."

-

Olivia climbed from the backseat of Stiles' Jeep—he insisted she sit in the back because the passenger seatbelt didn't always work and he was paranoid about her safety—and hopped onto the sidewalk in front of Scott's house, shutting the door behind her. She waited patiently as Stiles heaved a large black duffle bag from his trunk before they started walking up to the house together.

After the rest of lacrosse practice was canceled because Danny needed a x-ray and everyone was pretty bummed out, Olivia and Stiles headed to the nearest hardware store. They consulted a worker about their strongest chains and proceeded to buy what the employee recommended.

Stiles also stopped at a dollar store to pick up a cheap dog bowl, making Olivia laugh.

"Stiles, where did you get those handcuffs?" Olivia asked curiously as they climbed the porch to the front door.

"Hmm?"

"Are you into that kind of thing?" she asked teasingly.

Stiles' cheeks flushed instantly. "Yeah—what? I mean, no!" he shook his head frantically, laughing nervously. "No, of course not. These are my dad's."

Olivia snickered, amused about how easily he got flustered. "All right, calm down," she soothed him, kind of intrigued by his admission. "I was just teasing you."

"Oh," Stiles inhaled sharply. "Well, um, don't. Don't joke about that kind of thing, because..." he shifted, shaking his head as he pulled out the key he made and unlocked the door. "Just don't."

Olivia grinned. "Okay."

"Yeah, okay," he mocked her, entering Scott's house. "Just get in here."

"Scott?" a female called from a room over as Olivia shut the door. A beautiful woman around her aunt's age walked into the room, dressed in dark-purple scrubs. The smile on her face fell when she saw Stiles and Olivia standing by her door.

"Stiles," Stiles waved at her, chuckling awkwardly.

The woman pointed at Stiles' key ring. "Key!"

"Yeah," he nodded with a smile. "I had one made, so..."

"That doesn't surprise me," the woman shook her head. "It scares me but it doesn't surprise me. Who's your friend?" she asked, giving Olivia a polite smile.

"Oh, Melissa, this is Olivia," Stiles introduced her to Scott's mom. "Livvy, this is Melissa, Scott's mom."

Olivia waved with a charming smile. "Nice to meet you, Mrs. McCall."

"Just call me Melissa, sweetie," Melissa smiled, recognizing her name as the one Stiles always talked about. "It's nice to meet you, too."

"Is Scott home?" Stiles asked, looking at his watch for the time.

"Not yet," Melissa answered as Stiles dropped the duffle bag on the floor, the metal chain clinking together. "What's that?"

"Oh, uh..."

"It's a school project," Olivia spoke up as Stiles floundered. "That's why I'm here."

"Oh," Melissa nodded, accepting her answer, before turning back to Stiles. "Stiles, he's okay, right?"

"Who, Scott?" Stiles asked nervously. "Yeah, totally."

"He just doesn't talk to me that much anymore," Melissa said sadly. "Not like he used to."

"Well, he's had a bit of a rough week," Stiles excused his best friend, shrugging slightly.

"Yeah," Melissa nodded. "Yeah, I get it. Um, okay, uh—be careful tonight."

"You too," Stiles said absentmindedly, moving out of the way so Melissa could leave for her night shift at the hospital.

"Full moon."

Olivia and Stiles stiffened, looking at her with wide eyes. "What?"

"There's a full moon tonight," Melissa repeated herself. "You should see how the ER gets. It brings out all the nutjobs."

Olivia laughed awkwardly as Stiles muttered, "Oh, right."

Melissa nodded and smiled. "You know, it's actually where they came up with the word lunatic."

"That's interesting trivia," Stiles commented.

"Mmhm," Melissa waved at them and left. "Night."

"Jesus," Stiles sighed in relief when the door shut. He and Olivia started climbing up the stairs. "I thought she knew for a second."

"I know," Olivia agreed.

They walked down the hallway to Scott's room; Stiles flung open the door and turned on the lights before shouting in shock. Olivia peeked past him to see that Scott had been sitting in the dark by the window, as if he was waiting for them.

"Oh, my God, dude!" Stiles scolded him. "You scared the fuck out of me. Your mom said you weren't home yet."

Stiles set the duffle bag down in front of Scott.

"I came through the window," Scott told them.

"Well, that's not creepy at all," Olivia murmured under her breath.

Derek had never acted this weird on a full moon—but, then again, she wasn't around him on those nights when he was younger.

"Okay," Stiles knelt down next to the bag and unzipped it. "Well, let's get this set up. I want you to see what we bought."

"I'm fine," Scott said lowly. "I'm just gonna lock the door and go to bed early tonight."

Olivia immediately shook her head. "I don't think so, buddy. The Argents are out tonight and we don't want you running around, maiming or killing somebody," she said sternly.

"Besides," Stiles added. "you've got this kind of serial-killer look going on in your eyes. I'm hoping it's the full moon taking effect cause you're starting to freak me out."

"I'm fine," Scott insisted, glaring at Olivia before looking back at Stiles. "You should go now."

"All right, I'll leave," Stiles lied before faltering. "Look, would you just at least look in the bag and see what I bought? You know, maybe you use it, maybe you don't. Sound good?"

Scott got on his knees and rifled through the bag, pulling out the chains they brought. Stiles stealthily pulled the handcuffs out of his back pocket and got ready to hook Scott up to the radiator next to him.

Scott held up a chain and glowered at Stiles. "You think I'm gonna let you put these on and chain me up like a dog?"

"Actually, no," Stiles said before lunging at Scott. He grabbed Scott's right hand and wrapped a cuff around it before attaching him to the radiator. Scott fought against the strong metal, growling in annoyance.

Olivia watched on, secretly impressed by Stiles' guts.

"What the hell are you doing?" Scott screamed at him, furious.

"Protecting you from yourself," Stiles answered, narrowing his eyes. "and giving you a little payback for forcing yourself on Olivia."

Stiles immediately turned to leave the room and Olivia followed him, not wanting to be alone with Scott.

"I'm going to get him some water," Stiles told her. "Can you stay here?"

"Yeah," Olivia nodded and sat on the floor, leaning against the wall. "I'll be here."

Stiles smiled at her and walked downstairs. Scott was quiet except for a few grunts here and there as he tried to get out of the handcuffs but Stiles was back within minutes, so she didn't have to do anything.

He had the dog bowl he bought and he sad written Scott's name on the side in big block letters. He winked at her and entered the room, missing the way she smiled in amusement.

"I brought you some water," Stiles held up the dog bowl and poured some water into it. He set it down in front of Scott and turned to leave, only to be hit in the back with the bowl and some water when Scott threw it at him.

"I'm gonna kill you!" Scott shouted angrily.

Stiles whipped around, his temper rising. "You kissed her, Scott, okay? Against her fucking permission, might I add," he yelled at his best friend. "You know how I—she's—" he shook his head, trying to find the right words to describe how he was feeling. "You know, the past three hours, I've been thinking it's probably just the full moon causing you to act this way. You'll be back to normal by tomorrow and you probably won't remember what a complete dumbass you've been—a son of a bitch, a fucking unbelievable piece-of-shit friend."

In the hallway, Olivia's mouth was wide open. She knew that Stiles was grumpy sometimes but she hadn't seen him lose his temper other than the time Derek was shot with wolfsbane. She certainly hadn't seen him lose it with Scott.

It shocked her but it also warmed her heart that Stiles was defending her. Not many guys would stand up to their best friend and tell them what they did with a girl was wrong.

"She kissed me."

Olivia narrowed her eyes and pulled her knees up to her chest when she heard Scott. It was absolutely untrue and she knew that, but she didn't like the fact that her chest twisted at the thought that Stiles may believe Scott.

"What?" Stiles snapped and Olivia flinched.

"She kissed me," Scott repeated, his voice low and harsh. "I didn't kiss her. She would have done a lot more, too. You should have seen the way she had her hands all over me. She would have done anything I wanted. Anything!"

Olivia pressed her hands over her ears and squeezed her stinging eyes shut, not wanting to hear anymore. This was a very bad idea; she shouldn't have come to help Scott at all.

"Just shut the fuck up, Scott," Stiles spat, not believing a word his best friend said, and walked into the hallway.

Stiles could have sworn his heart broke when he saw Olivia practically curled up with her hands covering her ears. He plopped down next to her and tapped the outside of her closest knee to get her attention.

Olivia lowered her hands and looked over at Stiles, who was smiling sadly at her.

"You okay?"

"I'm fine. It's just—" she shook her head. "I didn't do that, Stiles, okay? I swear, I didn't."

"I believe you," he assured her. "and even if you did, it's none of my business, okay?"

Scott started groaning loudly as he tried to break the cuff around his wrist. "Stiles, please let me out," he begged, causing Stiles to stiffen. "It's the full moon, I swear. You know I wouldn't do any of this on purpose."

Stiles just shook his head and leaned it against the wall, closing his eyes. He may have been angry with Scott, but he didn't deserve to go through so much pain. It broke his heart.

"Olivia, I'm sorry," Scott moaned pitifully, tugging on Olivia's heartstrings. "Please help me. It's starting to hurt. It's not like the first time. It's the full moon, it's Allison breaking up with me...It's killing me. I feel so hopeless. Just please," he cried. "please help me."

Olivia inhaled slowly. "Scott, just calm down, okay?" she called, hoping to comfort him a little. "Just relax. Focus on your control."

Her words seemed to work for a little while as Scott calmed down and stopped talking. The only thing they could hear was his panting. And then, as the night went on and the moon reached its peak, he started screaming.

"Let me out! Let me out!"

Stiles cringed and buried his face in Olivia's hair, trying to ignore his best friend's screams. He hated this so much. He hated that Scott had to go through this.

"I can't," he murmured as Olivia grabbed his hand tightly. "I can't."

Suddenly Scott stopped screaming; the sound of metal clanking against more metal and a loud growl caught their attention.

"Scott, are you okay?"

There was no answer. Olivia and Stiles exchanged a worried look and scrambled to their feet, looking into Scott's room. He wasn't attached to the radiator any more—the cuff was there, hanging in a puddle of blood.

"Shit," Stiles cursed under his breath and turned to Olivia. "I'm gonna go find him. Can you maybe call Lydia to pick you up? You'll be safe here until then."

"No problem," Olivia nodded, knowing that it was more important to find Scott as soon as possible. As Stiles turned to walk away, she added, "Stiles?"

He turned back to look at her. "Hmm?"

"Be careful."