CHAPTER FIFTEEN » FALLOUT
"I loved him."

☽

Everything was silent.

The house held a heavy emptiness within it as I stepped inside. But there was an emptiness inside of me too – as if I'd lost a part of myself. As if my heart had sunk into my stomach, leaving an empty space where it used to sit.

Gently, Scott placed a hand on my shoulder, maybe a comforting attempt to get me to move further inside, but I couldn't even find the strength within me to walk.

At the sound of the door closing shut behind us, my mom stepped in from the other room. Almost instantly, her face changed, it fell, as if she'd been crushed just by looking at me.

"Oh, honey."

I stayed completely still as she wrapped her arms around me, holding me tightly, tighter than she ever had before. My reddened and sore swollen eyes began to burn with tears again, a rawness to them.

"He's gone," I swallowed thickly, almost choking on the lump in my throat. "He's really gone, mom."

"It was hunters," Scott added lowly. He too struggled with the words, as if he couldn't bare to say them out loud.

"Th-they killed him–" I pulled away from my mom's embrace, as a spark of anger began to boil deep within me, ferocious and fiery. "They killed Brett and Lori." The words sounded too sour on my tongue.

Rage churned within me, as if it was hungry for a desperate destruction. I turned away, moving as far away from my mom and Scott as I could, knowing it was too much to handle, too much to try and control.

Everything around me turned into a blur. The sounds. The taste. The smell. As if my world had been stripped from everything, leaving an empty shell of nothingness.

Everything was just...gone.

I paused in front of the picture shelf, trying to hold back the intense feelings and emotions burning bright and fast within me.

I had to hold it together.

A tear traced down my cheek, and within seconds the floodgates had opened. My chin trembled, and I found myself gripping the shelf, breathing heavier than I ever had before.

I was losing it again. I could feel it. Any happy memory, any thread of happiness was unraveling at the seams. The whole world was crumbling at my fingertips.

And I felt hollow.

"Becca–"

A waving hot trail of agony hit me. I reached out, my hand swiping at everything on that damned shelf. Pictures frames, small ornaments, they all fell to the floor with a hard, cold crash, finally breaking the silence in the house.

I glanced down at an old photograph of my dad and I, reaching down to pick it up. "Rebecca, honey–" mom started, her voice wavering slightly.

"Look at this," I snapped, holding the picture in the air. Annoyingly, it was the only one that hadn't smashed; there wasn't even a single, tiny crack. "This piece of shit," I threw it down to the ground, the glass shattering into tiny pieces. Scott and Mom tensed. "Where has he been, huh?!" I was shouting, I was screaming, releasing a violence into the air. "Some lame fucking excuse of a dad," I slammed my boot down as hard as I could, feeling the glass cracking underneath the weight of it.

I was trembling. But I couldn't stop. Even when I pressed my hand against the wall, I still shook, still trembled. And I was crying, I was sobbing, and I couldn't stop. As if there was something inside of me that hurt too much to be contained; something that was about to break loose from my skin.

"The people I love the most, they keep leaving me," I clenched my fist against the wall, grinding my teeth together. My emotions turned jagged, my insides tightening. "Brett h-he wasn't supposed–" I cut off, pressing my forehead against the wall as my heart began to yank in and out of my chest, making it too unbearable to even conjure any words.

The sobs punched through me at full force, stinging with every uneven breath I took. It was as if they were ripping through my guts, my muscles, my bones. My aching body fell to the floor, as if I was a person drained of all hope. Maybe I was.

My hands and knees stung, the rough edges of glass cutting me, drawing blood. For a moment, the pain relieved me from my pulsing mind. Only for a moment.

Scott was reaching for me, and so was mom, both of them wrapping their arms around my shuddering body. My throat burned, forming a silent scream, cutting my heart and mind in half as I clung onto them both for dear life.

"It hurts," my words became strangled, catching at the back of my throat. "It hurts so much."

It was like an insatiable fire savagely tearing me apart from inside. The final words Brett and I spoke haunted my mind, replaying like an echo, taunting me, torturing me –  even when Scott and mom whispered in my ear, reassuring me that everything was going to be okay.

But it was never going to be okay again.

~

"Hey," Scott greeted softly as he stepped into the room, coming to a stop at the end of my bed.

I lifted my head up from the pillow, meeting his gaze for the briefest instance before letting my head fall back down again. "Hey."

"You wanna talk?"

I swallowed thickly, keeping my eyes elsewhere as I shook my head at Scott's offer. "There's nothing to talk about."

"Rebecca," he started with a sigh, moving to sit on the edge of the bed. "Please don't do this again. Don't shut us out. It doesn't have to be like this." I shook my head, ignoring his watchful gaze. "Rebecca–"

"I loved him." My voice cracked. Scott seemed to pause, his face falling even further. "Not, like, that kinda love. It was more of a–" I paused, trying to think of the word I wanted to say.

"Platonic kind of love?"

I glanced up at Scott again, nodding slowly. "Yeah," I said quietly, already feeling myself drifting into my thoughts. "Platonic."

Scott exhaled heavily, the room falling quiet again. I realised that my brother likely didn't know what on earth to say to me, or how to even console me, but the single fact that he was trying already seemed like it was enough.

"I can go, if you want to be alone."

"No," I decided, shaking my head firmly, my response almost seeming to surprise him. "Can you just," I cut off, sighing heavily. "Can you stay with me?"

A comforting, small smile pulled on Scott's lips as he nodded, rising up from the bed. "Shift over," he said, as I began to move closer towards the wall, letting Scott climb in beside me. He turned his head to face me. "Just like old times."

"You mean when I was, like, eight?"

Scott let out a light laugh as the memories seemed to come back to him. "Yeah. You used to have horrible nightmares."

I looked up at him with a knowing smile. "You'd come talk to me after every single one until I fell back asleep again."

"And I'd still do it, even now."

I smiled as I shifted closer to him, resting my head against his shoulder. The two of us lay in silence, as thoughts began whirring through my mind. Mostly about Brett. About our memories together. Our little talks. Our constant laughs. That practically permanent smirk on his face, which I completely despised, but knew I was never going to see again. I never thought I'd miss it.

"Hey," Scott's voice brought me back out of my thoughts, and only then did I start to feel the few tears falling down my face. "It's okay."

"It's not," I responded, beginning to feel choked up again. "He's gone. He's gone and he's never coming back."

"He's not gone," Scott said tentatively, as I glanced up at him again, noticing his own brown eyes were glassy with tears. "Not completely." I was unsure at what Scott meant for a moment until he placed a hand over his chest; over his heart. "He's still there. Always."

I watched him with a sad smile, moving my own hand, softly resting it over my heart. "Always."

~

As I stepped through the school doors the next morning, I tugged down on my jacket sleeves, feeling as if all eyes had fallen on me.

I began to make my way down the corridor, ignoring a few obvious stares I'd received. There were countless reasons why people could have been looking at me like that, yet, despite the fact I knew nobody had seen me shift, I still felt overly paranoid that they all knew somehow.

"Oh no, what's she doing here?"

I looked up at the sound of Venus' voice, meeting her concerned brown eyes down the other end of the corridor. Beside her, Mason and Corey stood watching me, sympathetic smiles forming on their faces when I caught their gazes.

I had ignored both my mom's and Scott's advice this morning, and decided to go to school, despite the lack of sleep I'd had last night. Scott had accidentally fallen asleep beside me, his presence somewhat comforting me, but not enough to take away the nightmares that tainted any sleep that I did get.

"Hey," Mason was the first to speak as I came to a stop in front of them. Annoyingly, I felt my eyes pricking with tears again, and attempted to look away, but it didn't go unnoticed by Mason. "Becca, I'm so sorry," he let out a sigh, moving forwards and wrapping his arms around me. I closed my eyes, leaning my head against his shoulder as we stayed in the embrace for a short while.

The two of us moved apart, and Venus didn't waste a second before pulling me into a warm hug. "Are you sure you want to be here?" She asked me quietly, and I pulled away, nodding gently.

"I need a distraction. And I'd rather be with you guys." Venus nodded at my reply acceptingly, but it wasn't enough to brush away the concerned look on her face.

Corey gave me a weak smile, stepping forwards to also wrap his arms around me, the gesture surprising me so much that it took everything in me not to burst into tears then and there. I had become fairly good friends with Corey, but we weren't super close, which I guessed was why the action overwhelmed me so much. "I'm really sorry, Bex," he said, gently squeezing my arm before moving back again.

"Have you–" I paused, steadying my voice. "Have you seen Liam?"

"Not yet," Mason replied, glancing down at the phone in his hands. "I've been waiting for him to text but–" he cut off, shrugging.

"I don't think he wants to show his face," Venus added on. "I mean, it makes sense. I wouldn't want to either but–"

She stopped midway through her sentence, the four of us directing our attention to the school doors, as Liam came stumbling through, looking completely and utterly on edge with his blue eyes darting around.

"Well," Corey began, his eyes falling on me. "I think that answers your question."

~

"Liam, just try and stop listening to it," I whispered as I stopped beside him, his wandering eyes barely even noticing me. I leaned against the lockers, attempting to block his view. "I could hear you freaking out from down the other corridor. You need to relax."

"Look, you've been acting like this all day," Mason added on. "Just block it out," he said gently, as Liam let out a heavy sigh, turning to look at his best friend.

"They know."

"They're just rumours," Mason assured, despite the fact it was blatantly obvious that Liam was not convinced, and wasn't going to be any time soon. "They don't know anything."

"Nope, they know everything," Venus stated from behind us all of a sudden. I glanced back as she looked over to Corey, who had stopped by Mason's side.

"Two sophomores on the lacrosse team were there last night," he added on.

"Yeah, but– but it was late," Mason began to argue, glancing over at me, as if I'd be able to help him out of his stuttering mess. "It was pitch black out. There was fog on the road."

Liam didn't say a word, although his eyes were still becoming increasingly more panicked by the second, despite Mason's reassurance. I wondered whether the mention of last night conjured images of Brett and Lori in his mind, as it began to do in mine. I swallowed thickly, drawing my attention back in to my friends.

"It was clear night, a full moon and a well lit intersection," Corey pointed out, Venus nodding along in agreement.

I raised my eyebrows as I watched them both. "You two really aren't helping."

Liam's eyes briefly began to dart around again, until he leaned closer to Mason, his voice concealed in a whisper. "I have to get out of here,"

"No," Mason dismissed firmly. "If you leave, the rumours never stop. You gotta just convince them you're a regular kid."

"But I'm not a regular kid."

"Remember what Scott said," Mason reminded. "Be Clark Kent."

"Clark Kent turns into a guy in a red and blue outfit and a cape," Liam bit back. "I turn into a monster with claws and fangs."

"Then just get through the day without shifting," Corey suggested with a slight shrug, as if it was just that easy. Liam glanced at him for a moment, swallowing thickly.

"Look," I began, instinctively placing a hand on his shoulder, realising how tense he was. "We can help you, okay?"

I accidentally met Vee's gaze, who was watching me in slight confusion before proceeding to arch an eyebrow. She didn't comment, but she didn't need to. I quickly removed my hand.

"You were there too," Liam reminded, his attention on me. "What if–"

"You were the only one who wolfed out," Venus pointed out bluntly, not an ounce of sympathy or consolation in her tone. I wanted to crawl into a hole and die of embarrassment.

"What she's trying to say, is that, even if they suspect something from me, they haven't got any proof," I said, quickly shooting Vee a gaze before resuming eye contact with Liam. "But, they still haven't got any proof about you either."

"Well," Vee began nonchalantly. "That's unless they try and get proof."

I let out an exasperated sigh, whipping my head back around to face her. "Seriously. Not. Helping."

"Look, Liam," Mason started again, likely an attempt to try and deflect the attention away "People are saying Brett and Lori died in a car accident, but we know the truth," he shook his head as I found myself swallowing a heavy lump in my throat, glancing away. I thought back to last night. The tunnels, the poison, the emitters, the car. "They didn't just die."

They were murdered.

❥

A/N

first of all, I'm sorry about not updating in like over two weeks. I've been really caught up in college work and haven't had time to write.

second of all, sorry about killing off Brett.

thirdly, the teen wolf finale last week killed me. What did you all think?

And finally, I am so fucking excited to write the rest of this story. Brett's death (as horrible as this sounds) has been great for Rebecca's character development. Obviously, she's going to be grieving like hell, and these emotions are only gonna get amplified by the anuk-ite.

I thought I'd add a little bit about her dad as well due to his return to beacon hills. I didn't really get to explore their relationship in the last book, so thought I'd do a little teaser of how things will play out when he comes back (obviously there are some very hostile feelings 😂)

Also, apologies for the kinda jumpiness of this chapter. I wanted to show becca's grieving process but didn't wanna dawn on it to long so I tried to insert her back into the main storyline again. Idk if that really worked out great but yeah.

I'm lowkey still really sad about Brett and tbh I didn't have to kill him off but he's gonna be key for not just Rebecca's development but he's also gonna be important in bringing her and Liam closer together again. #ripbrett

This is such a long authors note I'm so sorry I'll be amazed if anyone even read this all the way through. Also, imma try and update as often as I can but I'm pretty busy right now so v sorry in advance.

Hope you all enjoyed the chapter ✌🏼