"Ah, first competition of our season is this week!" Lacey says excitedly.

"I can't wait either, but it won't be a big deal to everyone else," a teammate named Isabelle says while combing out her hair.

"Come on, Izzy, lighten up!" Lacey tells her, but you can tell that she knows what Isabelle said was true. "I just want to perform and do something fun."

"Wasn't that bonfire fun enough for you?" I joke to my blonde friend.

"It was alright. Someone shut the music off for a while, though. What a let down."

I simply smile at her, knowing that that was all Mason's fault. He did it to help Scott, Liam, and Malia, though, so I don't blame him.

"And you didn't even join me in dancing," she adds accusingly.

"Ha ha," I laugh nervously. "About that... I kinda had to leave."

"I think I got that. I didn't see you at all after I left to go by the stage."

I send her an apologetic look as I slip on my sandals. "Sorry about that, Lacey."

She shrugs. "Oh well," she sighs while piling her things into her bag. "As long as you don't miss the completion this Saturday."

I laugh at her and shake my head. "That's different. It's gonna be a competition."

"Still."

I chuckle and don't respond anymore, following Lacey out of the girls' locker room in the gymnasium. We had just finished our practice, which isn't as fulfilling as I had hoped, and now we are officially done with school for the day.

As we walk through the campus, we simply talk about the bonfire. Like I had thought, Lacey is wild in a way. She's not bad or indecent or anything, but she really likes to have a lot of fun. I find her stories very enjoyable, though, so I just laugh and make some comments here and there.

When we arrive at the back parking lot of the school, we have to separate. I'm on my way to the from entrance and we always pass by here after every practice.

"Bye, Riley! See you tomorrow!" she waves back at me as she walks to a black car. Lucky for her, she can already drive and is sixteen already. I haven't even turned sixteen yet. What a bummer.

"Will you be watching the game tomorrow night?" I quickly ask.

She stops opening the car door and looks as if she's thinking about it. "Maybe," she replies after a moment. "I don't know, after last time's unfortunate ending, I'm still not sure. I'll text you."

"Sure." I smile, already backtracking. She gives me one last wave before stepping into the car and I spin on my heel, heading to the front of the school.

When walking down the halls, I spot Mason. He's wearing a muscle t-shirt and some shorts, so he must've been working out with Liam in the small gym we have here at school.

"Oh, hey Mason," I grin at my friend.

He smiles back, but he looks miffed about something I don't know. "Hi."

"What's with the long face?" I attempt to brighten up the mood.

The corner of his mouth twitches at my words, then he replies, "I don't know, I'm just kind of annoyed with Liam."

The mention of Liam makes me blush. We haven't spoken much today except during class and we only did small talk. The topic of that simple kiss on the cheek never came up, and it was quite awkward during the day. Fortunately, I had most of my classes either alone or with Lacey and Stella, and considering I just came from cheerleading practice, I haven't seen either Mason or Liam much the whole day until now.

I finally replied to Mason with a question. "Why?"

"We were just working out in the gym and talking and suddenly, I notice him putting in more weights. It was already 300 pounds."

I know that werewolves all have enhanced strength, but 300 pounds? That's a whole lot. My eyes widen at Mason's explanation and he nods at me as if understands what I'm thinking.

"I asked if he needed a spot, and he showed off that he didn't need one and he was acting sort of irritated, so I came out here for a while. I needed some water anywa-"

A yell came from the gym. Mason and I instantly stop our little chat and face the doors of the gym, ready to see what's happening. Before I can even take a step forward, I see my cousin running down the hall as fast as lighting. He manages to go ahead of us as we jog towards the gym. Scott bursts through the door and I look around, trying to find Liam. It doesn't take long for me to see him on the bench as Scott helps him remove the 300 pound weight off of him.

Liam let's out a loud grunt, falling to the floor and gasping for air. That must've really hurt. Mason and I try to go to Liam but Scott stops us, so all we can do is watch.

"Liam," Mason begins.

"I'm fine," he insists, coughing. Mason and I share a look yet again. Liam is certainly not fine. It's been days. We are his closest friends, even Scott, and he's not telling us anything. He's not confiding in us or sharing why he always seems so bothered.

"If you don't wanna be with us, that's okay," Scott whispers. I'm not completely sure what he means by that. Maybe he's talking about all the tasks they do almost every night as supernatural creatures. "But don't push your friends away, too."

I don't look directly at Liam, but I see him glance at us. I'm biting my lip, and Mason's jaw is tense. I think I speak for the both of us in saying that I just want to help.

→ → →

Liam leaves to go back home after that. I don't know where Scott has gone to, but I'm sure it's with his own friends. Today, I invite Mason to stay at my house for a while to discuss the recent events.

"Hi Mrs. Bales," he smiles at my mother who had just stepped out of the kitchen.

"Oh, Mason, right?" she clarifies.

"Right."

"Mom, we're just going to chill upstairs," I inform her. She nods a few times, so I lead Mason through my living room to get to the stairs.

"I see. Keep the door open and don't do anything you'll regret!"

If Mason weren't gay, I'd be embarrassed. But now, I'm just laughing at her words because she doesn't know yet that he isn't straight.

"Mom," I laugh heartily, unable to stop as I slowly walk up.

"What?"

Mason pushes me to walk faster, so I run up. "I'm gay, Mrs. Bales!" he tells her. We don't give her a chance to answer and instead rush to my room, still leaving the door open like my Mom ordered us too.

"She is so weird," I say with a light laugh, collapsing on my bed.

"Mothers will be mothers," Mason says dramatically, deciding to sit on my chair by my desk so that he can spin around. "Now, let's get serious. We need to talk about Liam."

I sigh, sitting up and facing my friend. "I know."

"He's been acting so odd these past weeks," Mason says, sounding frustrated. "I just want to help, but he doesn't get that."

"Me too," I agree quietly. Ever since that night at the hospital... It can't be the fact that Scott almost died. I mean, I know they're close since he's my cousin's Beta, but Scott is still alive. He wasn't seriously injured in the first place, and I and his friends are doing fine that he had a near-death experience... so what could it be?

"What do we do?" Mason groans, trying to think of ideas.

"We give him an intervention." I'm half joking, but I think it will be a much better idea to just confront him instead of dropping hints. That way, he won't be able to run away from us. Then again, I haven't been up close with him since last night and it's like that short moment never even happened.

"Let's just show up at his house. Like, now."

"Now? As in, now?" I clarify.

"Yes, now. Not later or tomorrow, but now," Mason says in determination. He stops spinning and gets up from his seat.

"What exactly are we going to say to him?" I then ask.

"I just want to show him that he can trust us. He doesn't have to tell us what's wrong just yet."

I sat there for a moment, thinking about how that's a good way to look at things. I sigh as Mason's already about to exit my room to make his point that we should go now, so I jump up and hurry to catch up with him.

"Leaving already?"

My mom's voice causes us to stop walking. We turn around to face her, and she has just come out from her office.

"Oh, um, we'll head to Liam's. We won't be long," I tell her. She nods, looking quite confused at the fact that we're going to keep moving houses.

"Well, alright. Will you be staying until dinner, Mason?"

"No, but thanks for the offer, Mrs. Bales," he says nicely. "I'll probably head home after we see Liam."

"Okay, then."

"Yeah, bye mom," I finish hurriedly. I push Mason down the stairs and he trips a little. Luckily, he doesn't fall, so we continue rushing out of my home and walking across the lawn all the way to Liam's house.

Mason makes a point to attack the doorbell. He presses it a hundred times, purposely trying to annoy Liam. Hopefully, since it's a school day, his mom won't be home yet and she won't be pissed off at the fact that her son has two annoying little friends.

Finally, the door swings open. I almost sigh in relief when it's Liam and not his mom. He simply stares at us, though, waiting for us to talk. When he meets my eyes, he immediately looks back at Mason.

"So, can we come in?" Mason raises his eyebrows. Instead of immediately accepting, Liam bites his lip and is quiet for a while. A few seconds later, he nods and hesitantly steps away for us to go inside.

It's oddly silent as we trudge up his staircase to get to his room. When we're there, there's another awkward silence. All we do is sit next to each other on his bed. It's as if Liam's waiting for us to begin speaking again, just like when he opened the door.

"I know something's going," Mason breaks the quietness.

"And we know you don't really want to talk about it," I add.

"But, you're still one of my best friends. And um... considering the fact that the other last good friend I made turned out to be a professional killer, I'm thinking I don't have too many options for new ones. So, uh, when you're ready to talk, talk."

"Just know that we're here for you."

"Until then, I know I can kick your ass at at least one of these games." I chuckle at his last sentence.

"You guys and your games," I say with a shake of my head. I then lean over to grab the game that is lying on Liam's bed slightly further away from where we are sitting. With a softer smile, I glance at the two boys, handing it to them.

"So?" Mason urges Liam with a raise of his eyebrows, motioning to the TV.

Liam chuckles lightly. Finally, he sends me a sincere smile and takes the game from me. He turns it over for a while then looks back at us. "Never played this one." We all share a grin, then the boys get up to start the game.

A/N: So this chapter is kinda short & boring... oh well. I'm currently finishing writing the last two episodes of Teen Wolf Season 4 to complete this fanfic and I'll probably have 3-5 more chapters left here, meaning this story is almost over and there hasn't been much Riam action yet oh 😅 On another note, 12 MORE DAYS UNTIL SEASON 5‼️