JUST SAW YOUR brother.

I stared down at the text from Scott as I sat on the stairs outside of the school. Students walked past me, chatting and going on with their day. For me it felt like time was momentarily frozen, nothing seeming important except for the fact that Scott saw Isaac. He wasn't gone yet.

I bit my lower lip as I debated a response, barely able to even see the keypad through the cracks and the fact that my whole screen was glitching every so often. It didn't distract from the message Scott had sent, however.

A moment later my phone vibrated. The screen flashed green quickly before it turned off. I sighed through my nose and turned it back on, now seeing a new message.

TEXT FROM Scott

Meet me at the animal clinic?

I quickly responded with an agreement before I stood up and tucked away my phone, wedging the crutch under my arm. I glanced around the parking lot, not seeing Derek's car. I watched as an unfamiliar black car turned in, stopping only a few feet away from me. I furrowed my brows when a man got out, a slight smirk on his face as he rounded the car and approached me.

He was taller than me with a decently built body. He looked old enough to be my dad and had blue eyes, dressed in all black. His haircut, though, wasn't that gre--

It suddenly occurred to me that I recognized this man. The memory was very foggy and I barely remembered it. If it hadn't been so strange, it would've been swept under the rug just like most things that had happened since everything fell apart was.

"Julia?" He called out, his voice just as chilling and eerie as it was so long ago. I gave him a once over, nodding.

"Looking for Jackson Whitmore again?" I quipped, putting all my weight onto my good foot.

"Ah, so you remember me," he grinned as he came to a stop before me, his hands intertwined behind his back, "I'm on my way to visit Derek, need a ride? I'd love to get to know you more since Derek has been showing so much interest in you."

I scoffed, "Well you don't exactly look like his other betas and I've never heard of you, so there's no reason for me to even remotely trust you."

"Forgive me," he held out a hand, "I'm Peter Hale, Derek's uncle."

I glanced at his hand before I reluctantly grabbed it and shook it. I didn't like the weird look on his face.

"I've still never heard of you. For all I know you're a complete imposter who's been stalking me since formal," I shrugged my bag farther onto my shoulder.

"It's true that I've been out of the loop for a while, but I'm back now. I can assure you that Derek sent me to get you. He's been caught up with his pack trying to abandon him," Peter smiled coyly. I hummed in reply.

"You can give me a ride to the animal clinic," I began crutching closer to the car before I stopped directly beside him, meeting his eye with a blank expression, "Oh, and Scott's expecting me, so if I go missing someone will know."

Peter simply smirked as I continued to his car. He opened the door for me, but I didn't bother thanking him as I got inside. While he made his way around, I pulled out my phone.

TEXT TO Derek

yo ur uncle just got here & is giving me a ride to see scott

I sent it and was about to close it before it shut down on its own. I sighed and put it away.

"Tell me about yourself, Julia," Peter requested as he pulled out of the parking lot. I glanced over at the older man, giving him an annoyed expression.

"Nothing to say."

"Nonsense. You've managed to keep up with the supernatural pretty well from what I can tell, and not every human can do that. You must be special," He smirked over at me for a second before focusing on driving again.

"Right," I said blandly without any interest.

"What about your leg? I know you were there at the station when Matt died," Peter stated. I rolled my eyes.

"Every time you say something it makes you sound even more like a stalker."

Peter chuckled softly, nodding his head, "I was there, briefly. Long enough to see Derek carrying you out of there with that spaz right beside him."

"Stiles?" I furrowed my brows slightly.

"Yes, Stiles Stillinski. An odd boy," he muttered. I clenched my jaw slightly at him, annoyed. Peter noticed right away and grinned, "Do you like the kid? I'm sure that'd just break Derek's heart to hear that."

"You're actually delusional," I snapped, "Not that it's any of your damn business, but Stiles is my friend. And will you please, for crying out loud, shut the fuck up about Derek? God."

I slumped against the door after my mini rant, gazing out the window with a blank expression.

"I see you have a bad temper. You and my nephew have that in common, I suppose," Peter said in amusement, taking a second to look over at me. I shot him a glare, not bothering to respond.

The rest of the ride was silent, and I was grateful when we finally got the clinic. I didn't say anything as I grabbed my crutch and exited the car, slamming the door shut accessively. He sarcastically waved with a quick wink before he was backing away. I flicked him off briefly before crutching my way to the front door.

I pushed it open with one arm and hobbled in.

"I don't know, Derek!" I heard Scott exclaim from the other room, sounding frustrated. I furrowed my brows as the little bell went off above me.

"Scott?" I called out, walking farther in and adjusting the bag on my shoulder. Scott rushed around the corner and sighed when he saw me.

"She just got here. . . Yeah, give me a second," he muttered into the phone he had against his ear before he lowered it and met my eyes, "It's Derek, he didn't know where you were and got scared."

I hummed and nodded, accepting the phone from him.

"Derek?" I spoke into the phone, pursing my lips.

"You're okay?" He asked right away. I was surprised by the nervous edge to his tone.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm with Scott now," I said, even though he already knew that.

"You scared me. You weren't answering your phone," Derek sighed.

"I'm sorry," I avoided Scott's face. It was kinda awkward talking to Derek while Scott was forced to just kinda stand there, "My phone's kinda broke. It's a long story, but I'll talk to you later."

"Okay. Stay safe," he agreed. I wordlessly lowered the phone and hung up, passing it over to Scott again.

"You okay?" He asked gently. I lifted my head to meet his eyes. I was shocked to see how concerned he was. His puppy like brown eyes were filled with genuine emotion and I realized for the first time that Scott was one of the most compassionate people I had ever met. He cared about everyone and managed to somehow do everything for everyone without requesting anything in return. I respected the underclassman immensely.

"No," I answered honestly, "But that's okay because I will be eventually."

Scott nodded softly with a small, understanding, and reassuring smile, "Isaac stopped by to talk to me."

"What'd he say?" I blurted out without even thinking about it.

"He asked if he should leave or not. He said he trusts me," Scott answered vaguely. I nodded for him to continue, "I told him I wasn't going anywhere but he's convinced he doesn't have anyone here for him. I-I'm sorry, Julia, he's leaving with Erica and Boyd."

I felt like my heart shattered at Scott's word. My own brother was running away because he thought he didn't have anyone. He didn't even realize how many fucking people cared about him, including me.

"You don't think he'd leave without talking to me, do you?" I asked quietly, looking down at my scraped hands as I played with my woven bracelet.

"If I'm being honest, I don't know," Scott replied in the same lowered voice, "But I know he loves you. And I know that he knows you love him."

I nodded slightly, letting out a deep sigh. There was nothing I could do.

"He said something else, too," Scott trailed off. I looked up at the brunet teen.

"What?"

"Jackson's playing tonight."

* * * * *

"Thank you so much for the ride," I said as I turned to look at Olivia, forcing a smile at her. She returned a much more genuine one, waving a hand dismissively.

"Don't worry about it. Call if you need a ride home and I'll see you later, okay?" Olivia said sweetly. I nodded.

"Okay, thanks again," I waved as I hopped out of her car, shutting the door behind me and turning around. I sighed as I looked out at the lit up lacrosse field, boys sporting lacrosse uniforms running around and the bleachers packed with students and parents alike.

I breathed out through my nose as I began crutching my way along the field, spotting Scott sitting on the bench tying his shoes.

"Julia," I heard from behind me. I paused my stride and turned my head, "I didn't know if you'd show up," Stiles said as he wrapped his arms around me in a hug, surprising me. I hesitantly wrapped my arm that wasn't holding the crutch around him.

"I'm not going anywhere," I muttered, slightly bitter.

"I'm glad you're okay," he said before letting me go, "I never really thanked you for trying to stop Matt."

I shrugged one shoulder, both of us heading towards Scott, "You don't have to thank me, it didn't get us far anyways."

"Your dad coming?" Scott asked after greeting us. We both sat down, myself between the two dark haired boys.

"Yeah, he's already here," Stiles said. I glanced over my shoulder, easily spotting the Sheriff beside Mama McCall.

"Either of you seen Allison? Heard from Isaac?" Scott asked, directing the second half to me.

"Neither," I sighed, slipping my hands into the pocket of my black jacket. I was freezing.

"No, you seen Lydia?" Stiles replied.

"Not yet."

"Nope."

"You know what's going on?" Stiles questioned. I nibbled my lip nervously as I eyed Jackson.

"Not yet," Scott sighed. I gulped as I glanced over at him.

"That means it's not going to be pretty, huh?" I asked anxiously.

"Like people screaming, running for their lives, blood, killing, maiming kind of bad?" Stiles elaborated.

"Looks like it," Scott said. I could feel his sorrow.

"Scott, the other night seeing my dad get hit over the head by Matt, you know, while I'm just lying there and I can't even move," Stiles began, causing me to look over at him with sympathy, "It just--I want to help, you know, but I can't do the things that you can do. I can't--"

"That's okay, Stiles. There's only so much you can do--hell, I think you're both doing more than anyone could ever ask for," I smiled sadly at the two boys. The look Stiles sent me was like being punched in the gut.

"We're losing, dude."

"The hell are you talking about?" Coach snapped out of nowhere. I flinched, my head snapping towards the loud mouth man, "Game hasn't even started. Now put on your helmet and get out there. You're in for Greenberg."

"What?" Stiles blurted, "What happened to Greenberg?"

"What happened to Greenberg?" Coach asked rhetorically, "He sucks. You suck slightly less."

"I'm playing? On the field? With the team?" Stiles was starstruck. I nearly cracked a grin, rolling my eyes slightly.

"Yes, unless you'd rather play with yourself," coach quipped.

"I already did that today, twice," Stiles said bluntly, causing me to cringe.

"Get the hell out there!" Coach was, as always, louder than necessary.

"Ah!" Stiles cheered, reaching over and grasping my shoulders, shaking me while practically oozing excitement. My eyes widened slightly in shock before he dashed onto the field.

"He's so weird," I said to Scott with a shake of my head. Scott chuckled.

"Trust me, I know."

Scott suddenly sat up more, going rigid as he appeared to be listening intently to something.

"Scott? What's wrong?" I asked quickly, furrowing my brows as I looked around.

"It's Gerard," he said, still listening. I waited impatiently for him to tell me what was going on. He finally looked at me with a paranoid expression plastered across his face, "He said that if I don't give him Derek by the time there's only thirty seconds left, he's gonna have Jackson kill somebody."

I shivered, both from the cold and what he said.

"What the hell does he want with Derek in the first place?!" I snapped, shaking my head in frustration.

"I don't know, revenge for Kate, I guess," Scott said, though he clearly knew more than he was saying. I didn't push it, instead focusing on the game as Stiles got ahold of the ball. I was about to start cheering before he suddenly lost it, the other team scoring a point.

"Sit down, McCall!" Coach snapped at Scott when he made a move to get up. He was apparently benched because of his grades.

"But, coach, we're dying out there," he whined, gesturing to the field. Coach wasn't having it.

"Oh, I'm aware of that. Now sit."

I felt my breathing hitch in my throat as I suddenly caught a glimpse of the boy who sat down on the other side of Scott. My heart sped up as both relief and anger coursed through my veins. I was left speechless.

"You came to help," Scott's voice mirrored my shock as he stared at my brother.

"I came to win."

a/n

ugh i love isaac 😔

that's it. that's the author's note.