lunatic

Saturday night.
Three days after Allison and Scott's break-up.
And seventy-two hours of Allison whining about said break-up.

"Okay. That's it. Get up." Kinsey demanded as she stormed into the dark bedroom, flicking the switch to bring light to the room that had been dark for seventy-two hours too long. Allison had spent those seventy-two hours isolating herself from the world, herself and Lydia included. The girl had spent those hours binging on rom-coms and eating five pints of mint chocolate chip ice cream. But three days had been much too long to drown your sorrows in frozen goods in the opinion of Kinsey and the redhead who decided that Allison needed an intervention. It had taken binge-eating popcorn and endless amounts of rom-coms before she realized it, the movies that she found herself watching were a big hint to herself that she wasn't herself. She'd never willingly watched a rom-com before, and she didn't like how this new Kinsey. She too needed an intervention of her own. Immediately. Before she started watching just romance movies and not romantic comedies."Get out of those malodorous sweats and take a shower. I'm giving you half an hour before I personally drag you out of this bed by your obnoxiously knotted hair."

Allison groaned as she pulled her pillow over her head blocking the light from her eyes and her best friends lecture from her ears. "I don't even know what that means and I don't want to."

"It means you reek, Allison, so bad. Right now a skunk couldn't compete with your stench." Kinsey deadpanned after having enough of stepping on eggshells around the brunette after what had happened. It was time they all moved on as best as they could. Of course, some things wouldn't change so easily, for Allison was rekindling her relationship with Scott, for Kinsey it was seeing Scott and Stiles who she hadn't spoken to since the night at the school. Maybe three days was too soon for Allison to move on but Kinsey wasn't willing to watch her cousin spend the remainder of the sophomore year moping in a dark room over Scott. Though she may have been having second thoughts about her break-up with him she made the decision and now, now it was the time to embrace it rather than wallow in it. "Come on, Aly. I told Lydia I'd be at her house with you in forty-five minutes. You've wasted four of those already. So get up before both of us feel the wrath of Lydia Martin. That is one thing I don't want to feel tonight. I want to feel drunk. Like, blackout, slurring words, can barely see drunk."

With another loud groan, Allison pulled the pillow off of her face and slammed it down beside her as she sat up to look at Kinsey. She knew as well as anyone that if Lydia was involved in this scheme she had no chance of getting out of it, and she really didn't want to feel her wrath either. "Fine. I'll get out of bed, take a shower and come with you." She announced in exasperation, a smug smile growing across Kinsey's face slowly. "On one condition." The brunette added sharply.

"Here we go," Kinsey said with a groan of her own as she threw herself down on the bed beside Allison prepared to hear what she had to say. She just hoped Allison's 'conditions' were for her getting blackout drunk. Though she was struggling to see why anyone would need a reason to do that, she certainly never needed a reason. "Go on. Hit me with it." She exhaled loudly as she lay down with the incline she was going to need this time to relax before a whirlwind night.

"I'll come with you if you stop avoiding Scott and Stiles."

Kinsey laughed slightly in disbelief, partially questioning how Allison knew that she hadn't spoken to either of the boys since the night at the school considering even they had barely said a word since they had gotten home that night unless it was in passing. "Wait. You aren't joking?"

"Kins, come on. You've been even more miserable than I have over the past three days. I didn't even have to get out of bed to find that out. I could hear the rom-coms through the bedroom wall. Plus, Lydia's a gossip. And we both know that you haven't been yourself." Allison explained as she smiled faintly at Kinsey as she refused to make eye contact. "But I know it's because you haven't spoken to them. So... I will come tonight and start moving on with my life without Scott But only if you do it too by talking to them."

"Okay. For starters, a Harry Potter reference is not going to win me over no matter how proud I am that you've finally watched it. And second of all, I am not miserable. Lydia just thinks I am because I turned down a shopping trip. But in my defense, she had invited Jackson to come."

There was no denying that Kinsey had in fact been miserable for the past three days. It felt wrong not having two boys as troublesome as her by her side at all times, dragging her into their menace as they had been for the past few weeks. But she only had herself to blame for losing the two who'd been her support system lately, after all, Scott and Stiles had made their attempts of keeping her in the loop. Even inviting her out tonight to drink on the preserve as a way for the wolf to heal from his break-up but she couldn't quite bring herself to come face to face with Stiles after what she had said at the school. She was embarrassed. And partly because she was still facing the aftermath of trauma from the night at the school while trying to help her redhead best friend and Allison with theirs too. In those past three nights, she had finally caved into taking the prescription drugs she was offered after the video store but they only provided temporary relief, just long enough for her to get an actual night of sleep. But all she needed right now was her support system back, the part of her support system that she could confide in about werewolves. That was why she didn't hesitate to agree to Allison's conditions.

They deserved a friend who didn't try to avoid them. Especially in times like this. Someone that they could talk to. A shoulder to cry on. A person who didn't let them down. Because if there was anything that Kinsey wanted to be in this world it was to be the opposite of her mother who hadn't been there as a mother should have been for her daughter, even in the past few days.

"Can I ask you something?" Allison spoke up as she pulled the girl out of her thoughts.

"As much as those words don't fill me with confidence. Yes."

"Do you think I made the wrong decision? Breaking up with Scott?"

"Allison." Kinsey sighed. "You know I can't have an opinion on that, your my family and he's my friend. It would be wrong for me to get involved. But for what it's worth, Scott really does love you and I know he can be awful at showing it, but this is just as new for him as it is for you."

"Wow. Kinsey Argent, the mediator. Never thought I'd see that." Allison laughed thought it was clearly something to stop the tears forming in her eyes from escaping, she hated crying in front of anyone but she especially hated crying in front of Kinsey.

"Come here." Kinsey smiled as she opened her arms for her cousin ready for a hug which she seemed to need right now, even if Kinsey wasn't the most affectionate she always ended up caving in on that when it came to Allison. "I love you. No matter how much you stink."

"And I love you. No matter how scary you can be sometimes."

Once Allison had gotten out of her much-needed long shower and Kinsey had managed to actually get her out of the house no time was wasted initiating step two of the scheme she and Lydia had created for Allison. The drinking part of the night. And frankly, Kinsey and Lydia had been prepared for it to take a little more effort in convincing the brunette to agree to come tonight. They were expecting it to take at least an hour to drag Allison out of bed, if they had known it would have taken a single condition, a hug from Kinsey, and less than ten minutes they would have put that in the plan from the beginning. With Lydia's parents being out of town again in an attempt to fix a marriage-turned-sour the girls were left free reign of the entire house which was definitely needed if this intervention was going to be as they hoped it to be. And as much as this night was acting as an intervention for the two girls it was also acting as a generally well-needed and deserved girls night. Their first one with Lydia since moving to Beacon Hills.

Within then minutes the three girls were sat across Lydia's bed surrounded by bottles of wine and liquor that the redhead had managed to snatch up while Mamma Mia played in the background. Because if there was anyone Allison related to at this moment it had to be Donna Sheridan. Right? Just without all of the singing. And the beautiful Greek island of Kalokairi. But what she did have was a broken heart, two best friends to get drunk with who were also willing to sing every ABBA song in existence whether they had the vocals to do it well or not. To both girl's surprise, Allison managed to let loose with a bottle of Jack Daniels which she had swigged down at what had to be record time. Kinsey and Lydia knew that they probably should have slowed the girl down but neither was going to spoil her fun, they'd much rather join in on it all and hold off on the intervention they'd planned. Their hopes of stopping Allison's whining and consistent asking of either of their plans could be delayed for a while if it meant Allison had the chance to slightly heal from her break-up first. All she needed right now was to heal from it.

It hadn't taken long for the girls to reach the point of no return. Where their words were slurred and their version of a conversation was just a series of laughter and trying to catch their breaths in between having a large swig from the bottles in their hands. Lydia's purple sheets had been stained with wine after they had spat it out in laughter multiple times. Kinsey's phone was filled with mass amounts of drunken selfies shared between the three that none of them would be able to remember tomorrow morning. And Allison herself felt happy for the first time in days. Even with an intoxicated mind, she knew she'd be able to heal from this as long as she still had Kinsey and Lydia by her side like tonight. Possibly with more alcohol in her system on weekends.

Five empty bottles of alcohol later came the part of the night where drunken laughter had turned into Allison sobbing into a silk pillow now stained with her mascara as she over-shared her emotions. All whilst Kinsey and Lydia's arms were wrapped around the brunette in an attempt to comfort her. The three girls sat in each other's arms until Kinsey and Lydia were too sobbing and over-sharing their emotions which none of them would remember by tomorrow morning with all of the alcohol in their system. And that was how they spent the remainder of their night until falling into a drunken sleep still wrapped in each other's arms, heads leaning on one another where they all felt safe. It was something none of them had felt in a long time, and like Allison needed healing Kinsey and Lydia needed to feel safe after everything that had happened.

Though their slumber never did last long. Not when Kinsey woke up for her nightly midnight snack, waking Allison and Lydia up with her as they all drunkenly stumbled down to the kitchen to raid the fridge and cupboard for snacks. And then order pizza. And Chinese food. While Kinsey sat on the counter laughing and talking with her best friends the two girls leaned against the counters that stood opposite her swigging the only alcohol left in the entire house- Mr. Martins beer cans.

A two-day hangover had been confirmed for all three.

-☽○☾-

In the few hours that Kinsey had been back in school, she had already heard at least a dozen bizarre theories as to what happened here that night. None of which were correct. Once again she found herself questioning the intellectual ability of her peers, she had thought that the theories of what happened to the bus a few weeks ago had been bizarre but today's theories had been the cherry on the cake. If she wasn't hearing about the theory of a group of men trying to take over the world beginning with the school she was hearing about assassins that had an agenda against the people of Beacon Hills, or the theory that some old man wanted most of the people in this town dead and was trying to turn people against each other. Kinsey couldn't help but slightly snigger to herself as she walked through the halls or sat in class listening to the people around her whisper about what happened. But the fact everyone was way off knowing the truth filled her with a slight relief, the further they were from the truth meant the further everyone was from finding out who was involved. For now, they were safe from those piercing stares.

"It's just weird." Allison began to explain in a hushed whisper as she walked beside Kinsey and Lydia, the brunette had been particularly wary about what she said now that every teenager in Beacon Hills was hell-bent on finding out the truth about Wednesday night. Her paranoia had hit an all-time high at the idea of people discovering the 'newbies' had already been involved in yet another one of Beacon Hills mysteries, just when Kinsey's name was leaving their mouth. But now with all of her paranoia, she was starting to understand how her cousin felt being so worried all of the time that everyone is after her. It wasn't a comfortable feeling "Everybody's talking about what happened the other night, and nobody knows it was us."

"Thank you for the protection of minors." Lydia smiled proudly.

When Allison released a large sigh Kinsey knew exactly what was coming, the question she had already been asked at least four times over the days she had been apart from Scott. Somehow Allison had managed to repeatedly bring up this question even in the strangest of conversations making it clear she was definitely having second thoughts about what she had done that night, and now she felt as though she needed everyone's opinion. Everyones. "Lydia, do you think I made the wrong decision?" She asked as she tried to avoid Kinsey's stare.

"About that jacket with that dress?" Lydia scoffed. "Absolutely."

"I don't think Allison was asking for a review on her outfit." Kinsey retorted as she rolled her eyes. Much like how the brunette managed to turn every conversation into one about Scott, Lydia had managed to turn every conversation into an overview of everyone's outfits. Something that she did daily to ensure that her two best friends didn't commit social suicide via their outfit choice.

"Hello? Scott locked us in that classroom and left us for dead." The redhead deadpanned, her words filling Kinsey with an immediate sense of guilt, she knew that that wasn't the truth even if the wolf hadn't explicitly told her that. She knew Scott wouldn't just leave them for dead, if anything the choices he made that night were to protect them from the Alpha. But of course, she couldn't protest for him without exposing that the wolf was hiding something. "He's lucky we're not pressing charges or making him pay our therapy bills."

"Your mom wasn't joking about putting us into therapy?" Kinsey asked with concern as she turned to the redhead. It had taken one visit to the Martin house for Natalie to suggest that the three girls needed therapy after that night, especially the two who'd been at the video store too. "That's a disaster waiting to happen, you know that, right? I'm like a therapist's wet dream."

"Natalie Martin doesn't joke, Kinsey. As for all your issues... No comment."

"Did you do that thing we talked about yet?" Allison asked as she looked at her cousin as she simply shook her head. If she was honest with herself she would say that she was nervous confronting Scott and Stiles after ignoring them for almost a week, as well as being ridden with guilt for not helping the wolf through a breakup that had to be just as hard for him as it had been for Allison. But Kinsey didn't particularly do honesty when it came to feelings, just another reason why therapy wasn't useful for a girl like her. She prefers to ignore a problem until it just simply went away. So instead she'd simply say that the past week she had been preoccupied rather than admit how much the idea of being honest with herself terrified her.

And the confrontation would have to be delayed a little longer while she took a test she had been dreading, none of them had studied with everything that had happened in the past week. The only one out of the six with a chance of passing was the redhead genius who could pass it with her eyes closed. Though taking the test was Kinsey's second concern behind the fact the six of them were all going to be in a room together stuck in an unbearable silence, all of them together for the first time since the night they got locked in. Kinsey would be forced to sit in a room with the two she'd been avoiding since then. The couple who had now separated would be forced to do the same. And Jackson who had clearly stepped over the line with not only her with his little speech at the lockers but with Allison too during the time they were stuck in the school, his redhead girlfriend certainly hadn't been thrilled about having to watch both of them all over one another when she was the one who needed comfort from her boyfriend. And the worst one of all being the supervisor of the test itself- Adrian fricking Harris. This test was bound to be an even bigger disaster than Natalie trying to put Kinsey in therapy. It was a train wreck.

But her expectations didn't come close to just how horrific sitting in the room waiting for the test to begin was. Scott had attempted to talk to Allison only for Harris to interrupt and send him to his seat, Jackson sat beside Allison rather than the girl he really should have been sitting by which of course had lowered the mood of the redhead who glared at him with piercing eyes from across the room. And Kinsey found herself sat beside Stiles whose face was smeared with pity as he looked back at her but this time when she looked at the boy beside her he was scribbling eagerly on a piece of paper, taking short breaks to look up in case Harris caught him. His pencil had barely lifted from the paper before he was 'discreetly' passing it over to Kinsey who was questioning how Harris hadn't seen Stiles's attempt at discretion more than what the note said.

'Full moon tonight. We really need your help.'

Scott's first full moon.

A thought that had completely passed her mind while trying to distract Allison from her break-up. Kinsey looked from the note to Stiles and nodded in confirmation that she was going to help them, it was the least she felt she could do after abandoning them as her mother regularly had done to her. Now all she had to do was find out what elaborate plan Stiles had created to try and help his wolf best friend through his first of many traumatic transformations. As well as creating her own plan in case they needed a plan B.

"You have 45 minutes to complete the test. 25% of your grade can be earned right now simply by writing your name on the cover of the blue book." Harris announced, a few teenagers including Stiles taking this moment to quickly scribble their name on the book. "However, as happens every year, one of you will inexplicably fail to put your name on the cover. Or some of you will draw silly little 'doodles' all over the cover making it impossible to see your name. Miss Argent." Harris added at the end as a slight dig drawing all eyes to Kinsey who couldn't deny she had a habit of doodling on her test papers when she found herself bored or struggling to figure out the answer. Nor was she going to feel guilty for her small masterpieces. "And I'll be left yet again questioning my decision to ever become a teacher. So let's get the disappointment over with."

Barely five minutes had passed since Harris began the stopwatch for the test before everyone's head turned to the sound of chair legs grazing across the floor as Scott stood up from his seat, quickly grabbing his bag before he rushed out of the room without turning back.

"Mr. McCall?" Harris muttered as he watched the wolf run out of the room.

Stiles and Kinsey shared a concerned look before both of them stood up prepared to follow him, only the boy managed to get away before Harris stood up and blocked her path with Stiles barely slipping past. He stared down at the girl without muttering a word, frankly, she was shocked she hadn't turned to stone making that eye contact with him but she knew that she'd have to return to her seat where she'd have to sit worrying about what was happening out there with Scott. And as she stumbled back to her seat with all eyes looking at her she could tell her brunette best friend was just as concerned as she was as she mouthed a quiet 'is he okay?'. After the two boys failed to return to the test Kinsey found herself nervously chewing on her pencil for what remained of the forty-five minutes, her test itself covered in more doodles than ever. Most of them were completely inappropriate for school or slightly disturbing animations of Harris and how he would die, she had taken some of the theories about what happened in the school that night as inspiration for her tasteless drawings. But it was some of her finest work.

A true masterpiece.

-☽○☾-

Kinsey was headed through the school to meet Lydia ready for the lacrosse practice where they'd be showing their support for Jackson, though in her opinion he was less than deserving of it when he'd been a terrible boyfriend to Lydia lately. But her support was more so for Lydia who refused to leave the seemingly one-sided relationship. She had spent the past few years of dating him building up her reputation to get to the status that she currently held, it was a somewhat mutually beneficial relationship for them both and neither were quite willing to let go of the name they'd built up for themselves yet. That left Kinsey waiting on the sidelines for the inevitable messy break up her best friend would go through when either of them decided it was the end. Just as she got to the crossroads of the hallway where she was meeting Lydia she was instead pulled aside by Scott whom she'd been waiting all day to talk to after Stiles caught her up on this morning's events of the wolf having a panic attack in the boys' locker room.

"Hey, can I talk to you?" Scott asked as he nodded towards Coach's office.

"Sure." Kinsey nodded in agreement as she followed him into the office, initially assuming that there were two potential topics of conversation that he'd want to talk about. Maybe even both. It was a toss-up between his break-up with Allison where she assumed he would attempt to find out how Allison was feeling about it all. Or the second option of him talking to her about the full moon and the effect it was clearly having on him, both of which she was willing to help out with.

"I just need to ask you something." He explained as he shut the door behind them. Kinsey sat down on the desk as she prepared herself for the question about Allison, she was sure she knew the couple better than they knew themselves after spending so much time around both of them. She and Stiles had practically been declared as equal parts within their relationship after having to deal with all of the backlashes that came from it; break-ups, double dates, having to listen to both halves whining about how much they missed one another. It was an endless, painful cycle.

"Do you... Do you know if Allison still likes me?"

"Scott I really don't think I should get involved in this." Kinsey sighed as he contemplated her feelings about being willing to help them, but she couldn't resist withholding information from Scott as he looked at her with puppy dog eyes. "Yes. Of course, she still likes you."

"Really?"

"But right now... I think you'd be better as friends." She spoke up honestly, the words even causing a stinging sensation within her own heart but probably nowhere near the pain it would create within Scott's. Her words felt heartless though she knew it was the complete opposite. Their relationship had a foundation of lies that the wolf wasn't ready to admit to, which was not a good start for the two's relationship. She loved Allison and Scott together and seeing how happy they made one another but she needed to speak up before they ended up in a relationship like Lydia and Jackson- one that she couldn't help either of them get out of.

"What?"

"Look, I know how it sounds, and trust me I love the two of you together. I love seeing Allison happy. But is right now the best time to be in a relationship with someone you can't even tell your secret to? Her dad's a werewolf hunter, Scott. Not to mention my mom, her aunt, is too. It's dangerous. Maybe right now it's best that the two of you aren't together. At least until you have a real hold on the whole transition thing." Kinsey explained as she watched the wolf get slightly angered at her words. "Take the night with the Alpha at the school as an example, she knew you were lying. How long until she realizes that wasn't the only thing you were lying about? Or until she realizes that you aren't the only one lying to her? Right now everyone she loves is lying to her and she's going to find out. Maybe this break-up was a blessing in disguise. I'm sure that when she knows the truth about what happened that night she'll be grateful rather than pissed at the fact you spent the entire night lying and throwing Derek under the bus."

"Are you grateful?" Scott asked as he stepped closer with a strange look in his eyes.

"Yeah." Kinsey wearily retorted, growing more uncomfortable with how close Scott was getting towards her as she slowly shuffled back on the desk. "Of course I'm grateful."

Scott continued to move closer until his face was just inches from hers, Kinsey herself still slowly moving back as she tried to maintain the distance between them until Scott had her chin cupped in his hands. At that moment she was in a blur, her instincts kicking in as she raised her hand to slap whatever had gotten into Scott straight back out of him. The boy stumbled back with his hand placed over his cheek that stung from her palm while Kinsey made a quick escape to head to the field where she was sure she'd find either Lydia or Stiles. Either of which could help bring her some form of sanity at this moment. She couldn't bring herself to look back at the wolf as she made her hasty exit, she knew that he'd acted out because of the full moon but that didn't change how she felt about what he'd done. Not only did he claim for her to be his best friend but she was Allison's cousin too, everything about this situation was wrong.

When she got to the field the only person she was able to find was Stiles who sat on the bench eagerly jiggling his leg as he waited for the beginning of the game, at least that's what she thought he was anticipating. Kinsey put on a smile as she sat down on the benches hoping that it would prevent Stiles from asking her what had just happened. Explaining to him that Scott had just made a pass at her because of the full moon was not ideal when she was supposed to be helping the wolf through the full moon tonight. That was unnecessary tension for them all. As Scott passed by her to sit beside Stiles she felt a lump form in her throat as she avoided any and all contact with him, which wasn't as hard after having five days of doing exactly that.

"Hey. What happened?" Stiles eagerly asked as the wolf sat down beside him.

"What?"

"What do you mean, what? Did you ask her? Did she say anything? Did she say she liked me? Did she imply she liked me?" He asked frantically, taking a short interval to peer over at the girl he was talking about as she impatiently waited for Lydia. After being slightly delayed herself she would have expected Lydia to already be sat on the field waiting for her, not to be even later than she was. But then the redhead had always figured out a way to be 'fashionably late'.

"Yeah. Yeah, she likes you." Scott nodded. "In fact, she's totally into you."

By the time the practice began the redhead was still nowhere to be seen leaving Kinsey alone on the benches watching as Stiles waited in line excited for his first time on first line, how that had happened she wasn't quite sure. But it was certainly a conversation they could have tonight to evade the topic of Scott trying to make a move on her. The remainder of the day would be spent with her trying to figure out how to avoid that coming up in conversation. As Scott lunged to take his shot at the goal two of the players blocked his way as they knocked him down to the floor which everyone besides Scott himself and Stiles seemed to enjoy. Like Coach had said, people didn't respect his new title of co-captain, yet another thing she needed to catch up on.

"Who's next? Let's go." Coach blew the whistle as he looked at a nervous Stiles who was next to take on the two players who were significantly larger and more experienced than he was. "You have a problem with that, Bilinski?"

"Bilinski?" Kinsey muttered to herself with a raised brow.

"What? Yeah, no." Stiles retorted to the man as he geared himself up but before he had his chance to step forward and take a shot at the goal, his first shot on first-line Scott stopped him with his lacrosse stick harshly shoved against Stiles's chest.

"That's it, McCall! That's the spirit! You earn it!" Coach shouted proudly while Kinsey and Stiles shared yet another one of their concerned looks, something they found themselves doing a lot lately. Especially today. Scott was like a completely different person. He was like a Jackson.

Scott hunched over as he prepared to charge at the players making his two best friends even more nervous as they waited for the worst to happen, both specifically having a flashback to when he had dislocated Jackson's shoulder because of a situation like this. He ran towards the players, vigorously shoving both of them off of their feet before heading towards the goal that Danny Maelehani stood in. Rather than taking a shot around Danny, like a normal person, he hit his lacrosse stick around the boy's face knocking him to the ground too before he threw his ball in the net. But that wasn't a victory anyone was celebrating.

"Danny!" A few voices shouted across the field. Kinsey and Jackson were included as they ran to the player's aid. If Kinsey wasn't already pissed at Scott for what had happened in Coach's office she was certainly pissed for hurting Danny who had been a good friend to them all since they'd known him. You couldn't get any nicer than Maelehani. And Scott hurting him wasn't going to be something that earned him respect as the new co-captain of the team. It would make enemies.

As Kinsey dropped down beside Danny, along with Jackson, the boy's nose was bloody and his face clearly disoriented after taking the hit from Scott's lacrosse stick. "Stiles! Go and fix your best friend before he gets someone else hurt." Kinsey snarled in anger as she looked towards the boy who was just as unimpressed by Scott's action as she was. But he was yet to find out what other things had happened under the effect of the full moon. As the paramedic rushed over moving Kinsey and Jackson aside as they stood up Lydia came rushing in between them asking whether the injured player was okay. At first, neither of them looked the redhead's way as they focused on Danny, questioning her over her whereabouts could wait for a few seconds while they tried to make sure that Danny wasn't too injured because of Scott's lack of self-control.

"Yeah, it looks like he just has a bloody nose..." Jackson began as he looked at the girl.

"What?" Lydia muttered, confused as to why he'd paused. And so was Kinsey until she looked at her best friend with even more anger settling in her when she noticed her smudged pink lipstick. Something that the girl usually wouldn't be caught dead in. She didn't even have to question who had smudged her lipstick, clearly, Scott had found the redhead straight after she had left him in Coach's office. And unlike her, she clearly hadn't resisted the temptation of locking lips.

"Your lipstick." Kinsey deadpanned.

"Oh." Lydia laughed lightly as she looked in her compact mirror to fix it. "Wonder how that happened." Jackson was equally as furious as her best friend, and that was only going to worsen if he found out who the culprit was for messing up his girlfriend's lipstick.

Kinsey shook her head as she walked over to Stiles knowing that now was the time to say something, but with the anger inside her fuelling her words it certainly could have come out a lot better than it had. And it could have been a little less passive-aggressive. But who was she to know why Scott had actually taken her into Coach's office. "Scott's been busy today. First, he tried to kiss me, and now he's kissed Lydia? Talk about keeping it in the friendship group."

-☽○☾-

Following behind Stiles, Kinsey entered the McCall house wondering how or why Stiles had managed to get himself a key to the house. But she felt as though it was better her questions were left unanswered for her own sake and sanity. Another thing that was better left unsaid was the events that took place earlier today, ever since she had dropped the bomb of Scott trying to lock lips with every friend Allison had it hadn't been mentioned since. Stiles had already shown his discomfort with the situation when his jaw had hit the floor out on the field and Kinsey had already run through the events enough in her mind she didn't need to run through it verbally too. It kept replaying as she questioned whether she had done something that signaled to Scott that she was willing to kiss him, but she felt as though nothing she said would give off that sign. Though she had now declared she wouldn't be giving him relationship advice ever again. Her advice would be left to her better areas of knowledge; alcohol and partying.

"Scott?" Melissa shouted through the house as she walked through to the foyer where the two teenagers nervously stood, neither had been expecting Melissa to be home tonight. Their hearts had stopped at the sound of her voice echoing through the empty halls. Only to begin beating again when they noticed her purple nurse's uniform telling them she was about to go to work.

"Stiles."

"Kinsey." The two nervously chuckled.

"Key!" Melissa retorted in confusion as she pointed to the key in Stiles's hand, she too had similar thoughts to the blonde who shook her head in embarrassment. There was nothing that Stiles could say to justify why he had managed to get a key cut for the woman's home. Nothing.

"Yeah. I had one made, so..."

"That doesn't surprise me. It scares me. But it doesn't surprise me." Melissa mumbled. Kinsey nodded in agreement with the woman who gave her a worried look, both of them had known Stiles enough to know better than to question his concerning and slightly erratic behavior. As she had said, it scared them but it didn't particularly surprise them. Stiles dropped the duffel bag he had been carrying onto the wooden floor causing a loud bang to shake through the house as his and Kinsey's face dropped knowing that was even harder to explain than Stiles's possession of her house key. "What is that?"

The boy looked straight to Kinsey for help in this situation hoping she could think of a better reason as to why his bag had made such a big bang, his excuse certainly wasn't going to help calm the woman who was already severely freaked out by him and his key to the house. He'd hoped she'd be able to use her skills of charm and persuasion, as well as the fact every parent in Beacon Hills seemed to adore the girl. Especially Melissa and his own father. In their eyes, she was an angel.

"School project." Kinsey nodded with a smile. "We're trying to help Scott get some extra credit."

"He's okay, right?"

"Who? Scott? Yeah. Totally." Stiles retorted knowing that he was lying through his teeth. After the way he had acted today, his panic attack this morning, and the break-up with Allison, Scott was less than okay but that wasn't what a mother needed to hear about her son. She needed some form of comfort and reassurance that she wasn't losing the boy she had raised single-handedly.

"He just doesn't talk to me that much anymore, not like he used to.

"Well, he's had a bit of a rough week." Kinsey tried to reassure the woman who had been there for her all her life, and now it was time to repay that favor. "I think he just needs some time. To wrap his head around... everything." She said as she looked for Stiles as he nodded in agreement.

"Um, right. Okay." Melissa nodded, believing the girl's words. "Well, be careful tonight."

"You, too." Stiles retorted back without a second thought.

"Full moon."

Both of their eyes widened as they looked at the woman questioning if they'd just heard her right, had Scott been that obvious lately? For someone who had barely spoken to his mother those two words made both of them think that she knew more than they'd originally thought. He would have mentioned if he told his mom about his secret, right? At least they hoped he would have told them. It's a pretty big deal. "What?" They asked simultaneously.

"There's a full moon tonight. You should see how the ER gets. Brings out all the nut jobs." Melissa explained allowing the two to breathe again as they laughed at her. "You know, it's actually where they came up with the word 'lunatic'." She added before leaving the house, leaving the two teenagers stood slightly frozen in her foyer as they looked at one another with a puzzled look across their faces. They just hoped that wasn't a sign of what was to come.

Stiles picked the duffel bag back from the ground as the two-headed upstairs, the boy giving Kinsey a run-through of exactly what his plan was for tonight which she still didn't feel completely comfortable with. Maybe she was being a little bit dramatic but handcuffing Scott to a radiator didn't seem like a flawless plan but she couldn't think of anything better, so his plan would have to suffice and hopefully not fail. The two were laughing and joking as they entered Scott's room, flicking his light switch on as they both assumed he was out for last-minute supplies only to see the boy sat in the armchair in the corner of his room with piercing eyes. Both of them releasing an involuntary girly scream as they jumped back out into the corridor holding their chests. Kinsey lectured the boy for scaring her as she walked into the room, throwing herself onto his bed while Stiles crouched down with the duffel bag at his feet. Neither willing to waste time.

"Your mom said you weren't home," Kinsey said as she looked at the wolf still acting eery.

"I climbed in through the window."

"Are stairs not good enough for you now?"

"Let's just get this setup," Stiles suggested as he unzipped the bag. "I want you to see what I got."

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

"You sure about that?" Kinsey scoffed. If avoiding transitioning was that easy they wouldn't have had many problems over the past few weeks, she knew Scott had always been painfully optimistic but he had taken his optimism a little too far this time. As much as she'd love sleep to solve every life problem, it didn't. She'd tried.

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

"I'm fine. You should go now." Scott insisted, his tone dark and brooding. Like Derek, but with a hint more murderous rather than Derek's usual hint of miserable.

"Sounds good to me." The girl beamed as she stood up from the bed only for Stiles to push her back down as his way of insisting that they'd be staying. While Stiles asked the wolf to take a look at what he had brought she lay down on the bed waiting for this night to be over, in the five minutes she'd been in this room she had already gotten over the whole full moon thing. If every full moon consisted of Scott acting like the antagonist of every horror movie she would be opting out next time. Despite his objections to his two friends staying Scott agreed to look at Stiles's duffel bag full of supplies as he crouched down to the ground pulling out just some of a long metal chain that made her stomach begin slightly churning. Though she had found Scott's accusation of them treating him like a dog humourous her laughter had been cut off before it had even begun as Stiles pulled the handcuffs out of the bag, connecting Scott to the radiator before she had a chance to process what had just happened. For once Stiles had been the one with werewolf-like reactions. Kinsey quickly stood up from the bed looking down at the wolf as he tried to free himself while Stiles found his hand slowly edging towards Kinsey ready to protect her once again. They'd hoped that Scott would have been a little more willing tonight but if unwilling handcuffing him to a radiator had to be the way it went to keep them as well as everyone else in Beacon Hills safe from being killed both were willing to go against his wishes.

"Kins, can you give us a second?" Stiles asked as he looked at the girl, his stare different from anything she had seen come from him before. The boy was clearly angry, a shade that was typically seen on Stiles, which was why she had no problem agreeing and slowly backing out of the room with the intention of raiding Scott's fridge. It was going to be a long night. "This is to protect you from yourself. And to give you some payback." Stiles snarled at his best friend who looked at him with just as much rage, slightly questioning what the payback was for though he had a slight incline as to what he had done wrong to his friend. "For trying to kiss Kinsey."

The boy temporarily exited the room to grab a bottle of water from downstairs where he found Kinsey sat on the counter scrolling through her phone as she waited for what seemed like a long enough time before heading back upstairs to make sure that they hadn't killed one another. Kinsey raised a brow as she watched him grab the old dog bowl from by the back door as well as a pen from one of the kitchen drawers as he avoided her glance knowing she'd ask a question if he took a moment to look at her. She watched as he messily wrote Scott on the dog bowl before storming back upstairs, which she took as her cue to not get involved. This had to have gone deeper than Stiles wanting to help Scott with his transformation or that he was just a little pissed with the wolf, clearly he had done something that hit Stiles. Hard. But the girl shook it off and looked back down at her phone as she continued to scroll through her emails.

"I bought you some water." Stiles deadpanned as he held up the bottle, lightly shaking it before pulling the dog bowl from behind his back. A large grin across his face as he poured the water in and placed it down in front of his best friend, he knew he was being petty. But Scott deserved it.

"I'm gonna kill you!" Scott shouted through the house as he threw the dog bowl across the room alerting the girl downstairs as she looked up to the ceiling questioning whether now was that time where she should intervene. Until she decided that it could wait a little longer.

"You tried to kiss her, Scott, okay? You tried to kiss Kinsey. That's, like, the one girl that I... And, you know, the past three hours I've been thinking, it's probably just the full moon, you know, he doesn't even know what he's doing, and tomorrow, he'll be totally back to normal." Stiles ranted though he was still careful not to raise his voice to an extent where the brunette girl downstairs would hear him. "He probably won't even remember what a complete dumbass he's been. A son of a bitch, a freaking unbelievable piece of a crap friend."

"She kissed me."

Stiles paused for a moment as he let those three words process in his mind.

"I didn't kiss her. I didn't try to kiss her. She kissed me. She would have done a lot more, too." Scott smirked through his words as he watched his best friend's face drop. Under the influence of the full moon, he felt no guilt for lying to his best friend who decided to treat him like a dog. He felt no guilt for actually kissing Lydia who was Stiles's former crush, which ended the second that he had seen Kinsey walk through that classroom door. And now that they were actually friends he had felt like he was getting somewhere, that the plan he'd made to win her over was finally kicking into gear. Until Scott had said that. "You should have seen the way she had her hands all over me. She would have done anything I wanted. Anything!" Scott shouted as his best friend sunk down against the wall in his hallway. The wolf's final word being the only thing in their conversation that she had been able to hear over the phone call to Lydia who she had made sure to lecture over kissing Scott. Not only for Allison's sake but for Jacksons' too.

-☽○☾-

When she felt as though it had been long enough Kinsey slowly ascended the staircase, the boys upstairs eerily quiet, something she struggled to find comfort in. As she turned the corner to Scott's room she noticed Stiles sat in the hallway with his knees to his chest as he stared blankly at the opposing wall with hopelessness resting behind those brown eyes. Rather than check up on Scott she too sank down beside him with crossed legs waiting for him to be the one to break the silence that he and Scott had created. She knew that it wasn't her place to get involved in an argument she knew nothing about, she didn't even know what it was over. But she had an incline that it was over the wolf kissing Lydia who she'd know Stiles to have a crush on before, whether that crush still existed she wasn't sure. Relationships weren't often the main topic of conversation unless it revolved around Scott trying not to kill Allison when his hormones took over him. Though that could be categorized under werewolf problems rather than relationships.

"Kinsey," Scott called weakly from inside his room. "Please let me out. It's the full moon, I swear. You know I wouldn't do any of this on purpose."

Kinsey looked at Stiles questioning whether the wolf was being genuine but he wouldn't even glance at her, not even a small peek in the corner of his eye. As though the look of her disgusted him which right now it did. He didn't want to believe what Scott was saying but he couldn't help himself, it was too hard not to give in to the thought of the girl beside him being with another person. Not when the only person he had ever pictured her with was himself, that was an easy thing to imagine when he hadn't ever felt the pain of watching her kiss another boy like he had when he'd had his crush on Lydia. With Kinsey, it seemed different.

"Please, Kinsey, let me out. It's starting to hurt. It's not like the first time."

Kinsey stood up prepared to head into the room, Stiles taking this as his cue to stop the girl before Scott manipulated her as he had him. "I wouldn't go in there. He'll get in your mind too."

"Get in my mind? Why, what did he say to get in your mind?"

"It doesn't matter. I don't think I believe it anyway."

Kinsey looked between the boy on the floor and the doorway she was about to walk through to Scott before choosing to sit back down opposite Stiles with her knees to her chest as she made a list of things that Scott could have said to the boy in front of her while she was away.

"Please, Kinsey. It's Allison breaking up with me. I know that it's not just taking a break. She broke up with me. And it's killing me. I feel completely hopeless. Just, please let me out. Stiles?"

"I can't," Stiles muttered under his breath.

Minutes later Scott was screaming at the top of his lungs until the two teenagers were holding their ears wincing at the sound of their friend in pain, it was sure to be a sound that would stick with them forever. Along with everything else that had been said and done today. While Stiles sat hoping he'd never have to go through this again, that Scott's next full moon would be a completely different experience Kinsey sat trying to completely block out the sound of screaming that gave her more flashbacks than she'd like to admit. Not only were his screams in her head but she could still hear Lydia's too. The nightmares had managed to ease but hearing Scott's painful screams had only brought that memory back, now paired with Lydia's. And then it all stopped. Everything went quiet and Kinsey thought she'd been successful in blocking out the sound until she noticed Stiles's face had dropped, neither of them was hearing the scream.

"Scott?"

"Scott, are you okay?" The two shouted together only to receive an uncomfortable silence. Both of them pulled themselves off of the floor ready to check on Scott, carefully opening his door ready to see a sorry wolf. But Scott was gone. His blood smeared across the floor leading to the handcuffs that had been broken in half with the trail leading out of the window. "Shit. Shit. Shit." The two mumbled as they ran through the halls of Scott's house ready to spend the remainder of the night chasing him as he sprinted on all fours through Beacon Hills.

For half an hour the two were driving around town aimlessly hoping for a glimpse of a man-wolf running into the road or to hear something along those lines come across the police radio that interrupted Stiles's CD every once in a while with a noise disturbance a few blocks over but that didn't seem like a necessary place to check out. At the top of their list was the Preserve, it was filled with trees and seemed pretty safe for a wolf to run free and do wolf things though neither quite knew what that meant. Their driving came to a sharp stop as they ran into a string of police cars and an ambulance transferring a body covered in a white sheet, neither hesitated at that moment to jump out of the car before Stiles had even turned off the engine. Stiles began frantically calling for his dad as he examined the face of every cop that had their back turned to them while Kinsey slowly walked closer to the body wondering who was beneath the sheet. Praying that it wasn't someone that she knew, that it wasn't one of her family who had been out hunting on the full moon. Kinsey looked down at the arm hanging weakly off of the gurney, tempted to lift the white sheet to reveal who was underneath. And as Stiles stood beside her he had that urge too. Both wanted to know whether it was someone they knew or loved under it.

"Stiles? Kinsey?" A voice came from behind them causing both to turn. Sheriff Stilisnki stood behind them allowing the boy to breathe a large sigh of relief as he wrapped his arms around his father, glad that he hadn't been a victim to Scott or any other werewolf in this town who had a strong sense of bloodlust. An undefeatable urge to kill anyone they set their eyes on. But Kinsey was unable to breathe that same breath of relief until she would see her family at home, safe and not mauled by a werewolf because they'd chosen a bad line of business.