I burst through the doors and hurry to catch up with Liam as he makes his way to the boys' locker room. I don't want to have to enter a room full of guys pumped up for the game take place here tonight, but I have no choice. A frown is etched on my face because of how worried I am.

"Liam! Hey, wait up," I finally reach him. Noticing my arrival, he turns to face me.

"Hey, Riley. Something wrong?"

"Yeah," I reply, now walking next to him. "I haven't heard from Scott since last night. He hasn't been replying today either."

On different note, I have decided to not overthink my actions from the other night when I kissed Liam's cheek. It's almost always used as a friendly gesture, so he might have thought of it that way because he seemed down the day. Maybe it's better that he thinks I kissed his cheek because I wanted to comfort him because I have finally admitted to myself that I may like him more than I thought, and he might not feel the same. For now, I'll ignore that whole incident and carry on with how we always are because that's how he's been acting lately.

Liam now nods in agreement, looking anxious. "I thought I was the only one who noticed. Plus, we're playing my old school again. And... and it's a full moon tomorrow." Now I understand why he seems nervous today. I only know now from him that he's going against Devonford Prep for the second time and together with that, the full moon is already tomorrow and he must be afraid about not knowing how to control himself yet. "Do... do you think something's wrong?"

I am then about to answer Liam's question even though I'm not completely confident, but I spot Stiles entering the locker room that Liam is heading to as well. Instead, I tap Liam and point to my cousin's best friend a few feet away from us.

"Stiles!" I call out.

He faces our direction. "Yeah?"

"Have you heard from Scott lately?" asks Liam. Unfortunately, Stiles begins walking again and swings open the door with Liam right behind him. I sigh and reluctantly follow the two boys inside the locker room to know what's happening.

"Please tell me you've heard from him," I add upon stepping inside.

Stiles has a very calm expression on his face as he glances at us two again. "Everything's fine. I got a text from him this morning. He said he might be a little late."

I furrow my eyebrows. "Wasn't he on a date with Kira last night? After he and I went to see Argent for a while?"

Stiles, who no doubt knows all of this already, nods at me. "Yes. They'll both be late."

"Well, how late is late? Is he always late? We're playing Devonford Prep again and this time it's an actual game. He shouldn't be late."

Ignoring Liam's jumpiness, Coach Finstock joins in the conversation. "Who shouldn't be late?" he questions us with a frown.

Liam sighs. The three of us share a look, unsure of how to answer the coach.

"Scott..." Liam finally answers.

"And Kira," I say much to Finstock's disappointment.

"They might be slightly late," Stiles tries to explain.

"Slightly late is still late," Finsotck says. "What are they doing?"

An awkward silence comes over us. Stiles answers, and I have a strange feeling that his reply won't satisfy his coach.

"They're doing something that's going to make them slightly late," says Stiles, improvising. I can't help but roll my eyes and shake my head at that.

Finstock isn't okay with that vague answer and keeps talking. "What could Scott and Kira be doing right now-" he gestures wildly to the floor for emphasis. "- that's more important than playing in the first game?"

Another look is exchanged among us three. Coach Finstock stares at us expectantly, waiting for a real answer form any of us. All Stiles can say now is, "Oh, Coach."

→ → →

"You think this is big enough?"

"Yes, Riley. Now hurry up and sit down."

I obey Mason and follow him up the bleachers that is almost entirely occupied, careful not to hit anyone with the big sign I hold. It says a simple 'GO LIAM!' but I think that's enough. I thought of it earlier today after class with Mason and we just made it quickly before we came here.

As I go up the first step, I see Malia and Sheriff Stilinski from the corner of my eye. I halt and decide to head over to them for a while to say hi. I think it's a good idea considering Malia and I haven't spoken much and that I have only met Stiles' dad a few times.

"Hey, hold this for a while." I shove the sign on Mason's chest, causing him to stumble right before he gets the chance to properly take his seat.

"What the hell-"

"I'll be back!" I cut him off, jumping down the steps.

"Girls," I hear Mason mutter as I leave, but I choose to ignore him. I then walk over to the people who I assume will be cheering Stiles on. I smile politely as I approach the two of them. Finally, they notice me before they get up on the bleachers.

"Hi, Malia, Sheriff," I greet.

"Hi." Maila waves with a small smile back at me.

"Oh, Riley, right?" Sheriff Stilinski points at me. "Scott's little cousin?"

I try not to twitch at how I'm described as 'little.' "Well, yes."

"Sorry, we haven't seen each other in a while," he apologizes with a chuckle. "You come here with Scott?"

"Actually, I came with Liam and Stiles and a few others. Haven't seen Scott yet," I tell him. A look of worry comes across his aging face momentarily, but he tries to mask it and smiles kindly at me.

"Well, I'm sure he'll come soon. We'll all be cheering him and Stiles on."

"Of course."

"Do you wanna like, sit with us?" Malia offers.

I shake my head. "No, no, it's fine. But thank you. Nice seeing you again, Sheriff."

Sheriff Stilinski nods at me again. "It was nice seeing you as well."

He and Malia continue to find their seat and I take this as my cue to leave. I make my way back to Mason who looks impatient as he holds the sign on his lap.

"Well look who came back," he says sarcastically.

I laugh sheepishly. I take the huge sign back from him, saying, "Sorry about that. Just went to say hi to a few people."

"Yeah, yeah. Now sit your ass down."

I laugh louder once again at his words. I do as Mason says and take my seat next to him. Lacey informed me earlier that she wouldn't be coming to this game. I don't mind because knowing her, she wouldn't enjoy that much for long.

I scan the group of lacrosse players, my eyes searching for Stiles, Liam, and hopefully even Scott and Kira, but I try not to get my hopes up too high. I spot the two boys who I was with earlier today. They're chatting but look serious, so since I can't hear anything from my place, I assume it's because they're nervous.

Only ten minutes later, both teams are assembled on the field, but still no sign of Scott or Kira. Either way, with it without them, the game will push though. I whip my phone out and send another text to Scott. Though I'm not close with his girlfriend- well, she claimed quite some time ago that she's not, but I don't know about now- I send her a text as well, hoping that even she could reply.

Finally, the referee blows his whistle, and the first actually lacrosse game of the season starts.

It's hard to look for my friends while simultaneously trying to watch the entire game to know what's happening. Fortunately, I am still able to keep an eye out Stiles and Liam because of the numbers on their jerseys.

The players dodge hits, attempt to block each other, and pass the ball. They move so swiftly that it's hard to keep up, but I do notice when two players knock into Stiles, sending him to the ground. The audience lets out a collective ooh at that, including Mason and I.

"Ouch," I mutter to myself.

Liam makes his way to Stiles, kneeling next to him. The latter doesn't seem to be hurt, and those boys merely look like they're talking to one another. During this, I take my phone out again only to see no reply from a to of the people I'm worried about.

The game goes on. Finally, a guy from Devonford Prep gets ahold of the ball and races towards the goal. I'm on the edge of my seat, anticipating the next move when all of a sudden, he shoots, the goalie misses, so he scores. The side full of people supporting Beacon Hills High School groan.

"Come on!" Coach Finatock says in frustration, punching the air.

The referee checks his watch and blows his whistle again, signaling a time out this time. I then face Mason.

"I'm gonna go check if Stiles is okay," I lie, knowing that he's most probably perfectly fine considering he just stood up.

"Sure."

I step down from the bleachers and walk over to Stiles who is currently sitting on a bench. Liam is heading over to the bench as well, but from the opposite direction. As I near them, I see that Stiles too has his phone out and since I'm behind him, I see that he's been looking at his messages.

"All right. Neither of them are answering," he says, glancing at Liam as he takes his seat. "I gotta go see what's going on."

"Wait, you're leaving?" I ask him, announcing my arrival. The two boys adjust themselves in their places to look at me clearly.

"What are you going to tell Coach?" Liam questions. In unison, all three of our heads turn to look at the aggravated coach a few meters away from us.

"Stupid! Stupid, old bullshit!" he yells, slamming his clipboard to the ground.

"Uh... you don't tell him anything," Stiles answers after we watch that scene. "Okay?"

All Liam gives in return is an anxious expression.

Stiles sends him a reassuring smile. "Liam, you're gonna be okay. All right?" He pats him on the shoulder once then gets up, leaving us there.

I take my seat right where Stiles was previously. "You'll be okay, Liam. I know you will."

He bites his lip. "Sorry. I'm just overthinking things, I guess. From being against Brett to almost the fact that it's almost a full moon, and... and with everything going on. I don't know what to do." That's exactly what I've been doing recently, just about something else: overthinking.

I don't think he's doing that, though. I think he's just taking in everything and it's too much, but I know he'll be fine in the end. He was able to embrace e fact that he's a werewolf pretty quickly, and I'm sure he'll overcome whatever he's so anxious about.

"You don't have to apologize for being a bit scared," I tell him. He opens his mouth to deny what is said, but I don't give him the chance to speak. "Don't you dare say that you're not because I know you are. If I were you, I'd be scared of the full moon, you know. It's not a bad thing to feel that way. Nobody is fearless. If you're afraid of something even just a little bit, that doesn't make you any less brave, 'kay?"

Maybe it's because he is so nervous and vulnerable at the moment that I managed to say all of that. I still don't know what's bothering him, so despite my little speech being quite general, I hope it helped him.

Liam smiles widely at me. "Thanks, Riley. That helped. You're the best."

I flip my hair to the side and jokingly say, "Of course. Nothing's better than me, duh."

He chuckles. "Oh, please. You're sitting right next to the most awesome person in the world."

I scoff. Taking note of some players heading back to the center, I simply say, "Yeah, whatever. Get back to the field, Liam."

Liam follows me without another needed to be said. He gets up from the bench but stops before he can make a first step. I look at him curiously, and he meets my eye after a few seconds. I give him a questioning gaze and he answers me.

"Stiles just asked Malia to stay if Scott shows up," he informs me in a low voice.

"Liam!" Coach Finstock suddenly shouts at him and Liam visibly flinches. "Get on the field!" All I could see now is the number 9 on the back of Liam's jersey as he walks back to where he should be, unknowing of what's to come.