LOVERS ROCK
chapter two ; second chance at first line
[ season one - episode two ]

Honey Carter's backpack teetered off of her shoulder as she approached the field, her hands dug into her denim jacket as she looked across the field, the lacrosse team preparing for practice, yet another one she found supervising while she waited for Stiles. She wasn't sure how she'd spend her afternoons once she had moved out of the Stilinski house, when she had her own car back to drive home from school, she was going to be lost without it.

Not only did the lacrosse practices fill in the time between school finishing and going home, but now that she had personally claimed herself as Scott McCall's guardian watching practices such as this one was a must. She needed to be there if things went wrong if he lashed out and tried to kill one of his teammates like he almost tried to Stiles just for telling him he was a werewolf. The jocks on the lacrosse team wouldn't take it as easily as his best friend did.

Speaking of Stiles, he had spent the entire weekend harassing her at any given moment, hoping to find out what she knew about werewolves, even after she had denied knowing anything at all. He didn't believe her, he couldn't accept that it was a coincidence she ended up in the woods to look for Scott Friday night, and with Derek Hale nonetheless, it didn't make sense to him. Honey seemed further into this whole werewolf business than even Scott, she had to know more, there was no way she had only learned about it that night, if she had, she would have freaked out just like he did. But it was as if the girl didn't care about it. That it was just some typical news, not an absurd myth coming to life and changing the world as they knew it. If he had to he would harass her every day until he got it out of her, she would crack, she had to crack.

He looked over at the bleachers, the blonde sitting on them with a hand over her eyes, shielding them from the sun, she threw him a smile, a small wave, and a smile, putting on her best facade of being innocent. If she had any chance of keeping her past a secret she had to continue her lie for as long as possible, until she was prepared to talk about it, but after just two months she had barely processed it all for herself. She hadn't realized just how crazy it was until looking back on it, getting just a small taste of what a werewolf-less life looked like, though it had only lasted less than a day of living in Beacon Hills, it had been nice while it lasted.

For now, until she felt ready to talk about him and her former werewolf experience, she would lie as though her life depended on it, perhaps it did, it wouldn't have been the first time that her life hung in the balance because of werewolf business.

It had taken Stiles asking what she knew around thirty times before the blonde had learned that her best option was to ignore the question entirely, she stopped trying to justify herself for being in the woods with Derek, searching for Scott, she knew that he wouldn't believe that Derek Hale had offered to help her find her friend. Stiles didn't even have to know Derek to know that being nice wasn't his style. The man's face told it all. In fact, it was the twenty-something-year-old who stood between her lying and the truth, he was the only one who had a glimmer of the truth. She just hoped that Derek had enough secrets of his own that he wouldn't be concerned with those a sixteen-year-old girl was keeping from her friends.

Coach blew his whistle. "Let's go! One-on-one's from up top. Jackson, take a long stick today." He ordered as Jackson began running towards the equipment piled up by the blonde girl's feet, the blonde looked up just as he picked up the stick.

"Hey, where did you disappear to Friday night?" Jackson asked. "I was looking for you."

"Oh," Honey mumbled, filing through her mind for a plausible lie that would stop her from being asked any more questions, she'd had enough of those for the week. "I was just a little too drunk so Stiles took me home." She laughed nervously, it wasn't completely a lie, all of those shots she had definitely gave her a buzz, and Stiles technically had taken her home. On Saturday morning after she and Scott had started walking home from the preserve.

Jackson seemed to believe her as he nodded in understanding, telling her how he hoped that in the future she would be able to stay for a little longer. Before she knew it he was running back on the field, leaving her to sit in peace, at least for a few moments, it was only a matter of time until it was disrupted again, by what was anyone's guess. She spent those few moments trying to sort out the web of lies she had gotten caught up in so quickly, she had to remember them all before she was caught out, left to explain herself. She used to think life in Lousiana was boring, now she would happily return to boring, it sounded blissful, and she'd only been a week of Beacon Hills.

If she were honest with herself, she missed that part of being involved in werewolves she hadn't needed to worry about things like full moons or transitioning, that part was in fact new to her, it wasn't something he had to deal with, he could change at will, by the time the two of them met he had it under control. Of course, he felt some effects of the moon, Derek probably did too, but he wasn't a slave to the moon like Scott would be, like he was on Friday night. He had only ever told her what transitioning on a full moon felt like, she had never seen it for herself, and she was glad. The snippet she had gotten of Scott on Friday was more than enough to see the severity of the transition, one that she would be seeing a lot more often now.

Of course, there was the option of running, not getting involved with Scott and Stiles any further, and making new friends to hang around with. Human friends. But she knew that she couldn't do it, she had already gone too deep. She couldn't leave Scott knowing that he'd be struggling. And in the hands of Stiles? She was asking for chaos.

Considering Honey had sat on the bleachers to watch the practice, she hadn't seen a snippet of it yet, she had been too buried in her thoughts to look up every few minutes and watch the team score a goal, hopefully how they would on Saturday, the first game of the season. Just as Honey looked up, ready to finally concentrate on the practice she'd come to see, she watched Jackson and Scott's bodies collide with a heavy crash to the floor. Everyone on the field run towards each of the two boys who rolled around the floor, groaning in pain, Honey taking it as her cue to run onto the field too. As she did, Stiles looked up from the best friend he was comforting, urging her to ward off the team. Honey didn't need to ask, she saw Scott on all fours on the grass, his fists in the grass, pulling it out of the ground as he breathed heavily.

Stiles began guiding his best friend away as Honey ran to the other group, doing some damage control with the rest of the team. "Jackson, are you okay?" She asked as she knelt down beside the wincing player, a hand on his shoulder.

Coach dropped down on the opposite side of the player, asking him where it hurt, but he was in too much pain to answer as he continued rolling around in the grass whimpering as his team all watched in horror, wincing themselves. Coach looked across to the blonde who stood out in the huddle of males. "Blondie. What's your name?"

"Uh. Honey." The girl mumbled nervously, she hadn't expected the man to speak to her, she saw how he spoke to his team, she dreaded to think how he would speak to her. Just the thought of it terrified her. "Carter," Honey added, immediately regretting it. She knew the man often called people by their last names, and now she had just told him her own, the one that he used to call her, adding another person to the list of people who called her that.

She watched as the man's face contorted, that look she expected from most people as they all wondered what kind of name Honey was, unlike most Coach wasn't afraid to hide his confusion as he remained referring to her as Blondie. A much more suitable nickname in his opinion. The girl had more chance of him remembering her that way. Coach digressed from the nicknaming of the girl on his field, asking if she could fix his player.

"Fix him?" Honey questioned with a furrowed brow. He wasn't exactly broken, dramatic, but not broken by any means. "I think he just dislocated his shoulder. I can take him to the nurse's office or something." The blonde shrugged, unsure what else he expected her to do.

The man nodded frantically, instructing Danny Mahealani to help the girl pick Jackson up off of the floor, hoping that she would be able to handle herself from there onwards, he couldn't lose two of his best players. Three, when he noticed that Scott had disappeared from the field. Stiles wasn't so much of a loss to him on the other hand, he was often used as a target for practice. He ordered the rest of his team to get back to practicing, though all of them had been too distracted as they watched Honey and Jackson hobble off of the field. The blonde carrying all of his weight.

After ensuring that Jackson was left in safe hands with the nurse, listening to the advice she had given him, Honey walked back out of the nurse's office, prepared to go and find Scott and Stiles with the hopes that Scott hadn't wolfed out and tore his best friend to shreds. In an ideal world, the two of them would be back on the field as though nothing had happened, but she chose to check the locker room first, assuming that was where Stiles would have guided Scott. Before the girl even reached the boy's locker room she had been pulled aside, a tight grip on her arm as she mumbled in pain, watching as Derek dragged her to somewhere quieter.

Once he finally let go of the blonde she looked at him pointedly. "A hello never hurt anyone, you know?" she said through gritted teeth, holding onto the arm he had just released.

"Did you see Scott out there?" He asked with a clenched draw. "He could have ripped someone's head off right in the middle of the field."

"Really?" She scoffed sarcastically. "I hadn't noticed."

"He needs to get it under control."

"Obviously." Honey rolled her eyes. "But why are you telling me? Your his "brother" now, you're the werewolf, not me. Shouldn't you be the one teaching him?"

"He's not going to listen to me. He doesn't trust me." Derek deadpanned. "But for some reason he trusts you. So you need to tell him, he will listen to you."

"Maybe because I smile every once in a while. Instead of, you know, standing with my hands in my leather jacket, wearing all black, appearing in the middle of nowhere." Honey described as she looked him up and down, each of them fitting everything he was doing right now, and what he had done since the first time she had seen him in the woods. "Look, I'm doing my best to try and help him, but there's only so much a human with no experience of transitioning can do. As for Scott not trusting you, that's your problem to fix. Maybe start with greeting people when you appear out of thin air. It might help." The blonde deadpanned before she walked away, finishing their conversation there so she could do her part in helping Scott.

When the blonde had finally reached the locker room was stunned, stopping in the doorway at the sight of Scott and Stiles, frozen at the sound of her heeled boots trotting down the hallway, she looked between the two boys. Stiles had a fire extinguisher in his hands, a guilty look across his face, Scott sitting on the floor, his forehead lined with sweat. She was about to ask, until she looked past the wolf sitting in front of her, the mess behind him, rows of lockers knocked on the floor, at that point, she decided she would have rathered not know the details.

It was later than night when Honey lay on Stiles's bed, idly flicking through one of the dozens of lycanthropy books he had scattered around his room, the boy himself sitting at his desk skyping Scott. She wondered whether anything would take her interest as she filed through the pages of the book, perhaps she would learn something. She could use some advice on how to stop being harassed by twenty-something-year-old werewolves who were grumpy and wouldn't get off her back because she had some experience with teenage werewolves. She was yet to find anything.

She had only gatecrashed Stiles's night to see if Scott was okay after what had happened on the field this afternoon, he hadn't taken the suggestion of quitting lacrosse very well, but it was clear that it wasn't helping him, every time he got angry, his pulse rising he lashed out, he had done it to Stiles when he suggested canceling his date with Allison, and again on the field today. He was on the first line now, he didn't want to quit, but anger and rising pulses were what the sport in its entirety. He couldn't play while he didn't have control, risking killing someone on the field. They hoped that now he'd had a few hours to think about it that he would see it too.

As Scott answered the call Stiles spun around in his desk chair, shooting his luminescent green nerf gun at the screen, bright lights flashing from the gun as Honey stared at the sight in awe, finding it hard to believe she'd really just watched a sixteen-year-old who wondered why he was called a nerd shooting a toy nerf gun at a computer screen. It was truly shocking.

The blonde closed the useless lycanthropy book, tossing it aside, nothing she had read in it was true anyway, she scooted Stiles over on his desk chair, placing herself on the screen, barging in on the call. But Scott was hoping he would be able to talk to the girl.

"What'd you find out?" He asked. Before leaving the school this morning she'd asked the girl to dig up some dirt on Jackson, what his condition was like after being tackled to the ground and carried to the nurse's office by the girl herself. He knew out of everyone she would be able to get the information out of Jackson, and he'd made the assumption that Jackson had given her his number, he seemed to have taken a liking to the blonde, more than he should have.

"It's pretty bad." She admitted cautiously. "He's got a separated shoulder."

"Because of me?"

"Because he's a tool." Stiles corrected his best friend, receiving a nudge from the blonde sitting beside him. But he remained adamant on the fact that Jackson Whittemore was a tool.

Scott asked whether Jackson would be playing on Saturday, but from what the lacrosse captain had told her, neither he nor anyone else was sure yet, it seemed the team was depending on the second-best player, Scott. As soon as she had told Scott that she had regretted it, she felt like she had just rubbed salt on his wound as the boy sighed loudly, knowing that the team couldn't rely on him to pull them through the first game of the season either. Not while he was this fragile. As the boy sat with a bowed head for a minute, Stiles and Honey watched him, guilt-ridden, the two of them unsure what they could say to make it better.

Honey was about to speak to Scott again until she noticed something in the corner of his room, a silhouette lurking in the darkness. She tapped Stiles who was fiddling with the nerf gun in his lap while he waited for Scott to say something, he looked up, looking at the girl as she pointed it out to him. Stiles on the other hand hadn't been so discreet as he leaned forward, squinting to see it better, alerting Scott of what they were doing.

"What?" He asked as the two of them both looked back at him, eyes wide with fear.

Stiles quickly began typing, his screen already buffering, skipping images of the two of them as he tried to get the message across. It looks like... half of the message came up before Stiles and Honey's screen froze completely. Scott leaned closer to the screen with anciticpating waiting to see the other half of the message as the still image stared back at him. He started tapping on his screen, hoping it would work, and it did, the other half of the message appearing in the corner. Someone's behind you. The boy zoomed in on his own screen, seeing the siholouette that they'd seen, it quickly emerged from the dark, grabbing him by the scruff of his neck, pulling him off of his desk chair until he was shoved up against his bedroom wall.

"I saw you on the field," Derek said through gritted teeth.

"What are you talking about?" Scott asked, his face squashed against the wall.

"You shifted in front of them." The older wolf deadpanned. "If they find out what you are, they find out about me, about all of us. And then it's not just the hunters after us, it's everyone."

"They didn't see anything. I swear."

"And they won't." Derek reassured him, through a threat. "Because if you even try to play in that game on Saturday, I'm gonna kill you myself."

·❥·

It was the next morning by the time they had heard from Scott, he had left them hanging, their last sight being Derek emerging from the shadows, pulling the young wolf off of his desk chair before the call had cut off on them. He hadn't called or texted to reassure them he was fine, alive. Honey had suggested that they go to Scott's house, to make sure that Derek hadn't killed him, leaving his house like a bloody crime scene, but his best friend seemed to believe Scott was fine, that Derek wouldn't kill him. Clearly, he hadn't seen the side of Derek that she had seen. Honey was sure he would do anything to keep his secret and to protect himself, she didn't doubt that killing a teenage boy was off of his list. She knew how it felt to be desperate to keep a secret, for that it was easy to sympathize with him, the fact that he acted like some kind of ghost face as he tried to keep his secret, on the other hand, she couldn't relate to so much. She did what normal people did when they wanted to keep a secret; lied. But Derek lacked people skills, that was for sure, something as simple as lying to keep a secret must be impossible for him.

The day had almost ended when Honey walked down the school halls, heading to her final class when she saw two boys peering around a corner, clearly spying on someone around the bend, it had to be of interest if Scott was involved too, if he hadn't been in on it she would have assumed it was just Stiles spying on Lydia, secretly seething over her and Jackson. The usual. With both of their backs to her Honey snuck up to the boys, peering around the corner with her where Sheriff Stilinski stood talking to the principal and one of his deputies, then she figured Scott was here to eavesdrop on the conversation. The two boys were so engrossed in the conversation that Honey had gone unnoticed by the two of them, Stiles hadn't even noticed her balancing herself with his shoulder. They all stood quiet for a few moments, watching, listening, waiting.

As Scott turned around, announcing that there was a curfew he let out an involuntary scream at the sight of the blonde girl behind them, setting off Stiles too as he released a girly squeal while he frantically waved his arms around, asking why she would ever sneak up on them. Her answer was simple. This reaction was the very reason.

Scott digressed, telling them what he had heard. The Sheriff was inputting a curfew for anyone under the age of eighteen because of the body, anyone would think that was unfair, but Stiles particularly as he began a rant about the killer of said body running free while they had to suffer the consequences.

As the blonde pointed out, it wasn't as though they could tell his dad about Derek, not only was it highly unlikely that Noah would believe them of all people, but she was sure that the wolf was smart enough to get himself out of something like that, they had no evidence against him.

"I can do something," Stiles reassured them.

With a sigh, both Scott and Honey asked him what he planned on doing, they knew whatever he said wouldn't be good, it was Stiles, but neither expected him to say that he would find the other half of the body. That might have just been the stupidest thing he had ever said, well, second to the first time he had suggested finding the body, the thing that had led them here, standing with a werewolf. Clearly, he didn't learn. They didn't think he ever would. Stiles walked away without another word, proving his seriousness as he left both of them speechless, unsure if there was an answer they were supposed to have to that. It wasn't particularly something they had expected him to say when he said he could do something.

"Are we going to try and stop him?" Scott asked as he watched his best friend disappear down the hall, occasionally peering over his shoulder to see if either of them were going to catch up.

"Maybe later." Honey shrugged. "Walk me to class?"

Scott nodded as the two of them walked in the other direction to Stiles, it was only a matter of time before one of them received a text from him, asking what they thought about his proposal, or until he barged in on one of them with an elaborate idea of how to do it, neither were out of the question, he did them both often.

The two of them had barely gotten around the corner before they had stopped at the sight of Lydia and Allison standing with a jock, a smug smile across Lydia's face as she looked at them, she had threatened the wolf earlier that she would set Allison up with someone, someone who was actually on the lacrosse team, playing the game, unlike him. She had been quick to follow up on that threat. A scowl grew across Scott and Honey's faces as they watched the exchange, Allison seemed innocent enough in it all as she introduced herself to the jock, a smiling as she shook his hand, unaware of what her new friend had planned for her.

Honey nudged the wolf as he stood there staring, encouraging him to do something about it rather than just stand and watch as his girl was snatched from right beneath him, Scott took her advice as he slowly approached the group, Honey standing by as she leaned against one of the lockers to watch them. As soon as he'd stepped near them Lydia and the unfamiliar jock began to walk away, another smug smile from Lydia as she pulled him down the hall, making sure she threw one at Honey too, one she gladly returned with a cut of her eyes.

The blonde turned her eyes back to Scott and Allison, the brunette girl seemed confused as the wolf talked at her, her brows furrowing while Scott seemed to slowly be aggravating himself, he was getting angry, his body language made that clear. Honey began pulling herself off of the row of lockers, prepared to step in if he reached the point of lashing out. She couldn't understand if he had gotten angry over Lydia introducing her to someone, or something else, it wasn't to the fault of the brunette that her new friend was hell-bent on making Scott's life hell. And then she'd noticed it. A black blazer threw over Allison's arm, the one she'd worn to the party last week, the one she had left in Derek's Camaro when they had taken her home.

Before she knew it she was watching Allison attempt to make a desperate escape, laughing off their strange conversation before she practically ran from Scott. He turned back around to her with a face like thunder, even more annoyed than he had been before talking to Allison. He had walked back to her with a stomp. "We're about to do something really stupid, aren't we?" She asked the wolf who nodded with his jaw locked tight. "Skipping last period?" She asked again, he nodded again. "Great! I'll drive." The blonde beamed.

Within twenty minutes Honey and Scott were pulling up to the Hale house, as Scott called it, she could tell that it was a known place, clearly, there was some history around it that she was yet to find out, perhaps another one of Derek Hale's secrets. The home that she had seen was far from the place she expected someone like him to live, she had been prepared for a bachelor pad that would reek of alcohol, empty solo cups on the front yard, mood lighting. But her guess couldn't have been further from the reality. It was a derelict home, vines growing up the sides, windows smashed, and the thing that made it the most inhabitable- the missing roof. Honey wasn't sure what had happened here, but it had to have been bad for the home to end up in this state.

Scott had been seething for the entire drive, his knuckles white as he clenched his fist, hoping to not kill the blonde who had agreed to come with him on his confrontation against Derek, he was relying on her to pull him back if he tried to fight a werewolf who was bound to be stronger than he was, he hoped she would know what to do about it. Unlike Stiles, he hadn't harassed the girl about her knowledge, but he too was under the impression that she knew more than she would admit, for the same reasons as Stiles, how underwhelmed she had been last week in the woods. It was far from a normal reaction. They were shot at by hunters and she didn't even scream, she didn't react at all, but he knew that if she did know more, it would come out in time.

Honey had hardly stopped the car before Scott was jumping out, shouting Derek's name at the top of his lungs, prepared for his confrontation, a stupid amount of confidence inside of him. It had only taken Honey one shout from Scott to jump out of the car, prepared for the worst, she was no stranger to werewolf fights, but one thing she knew was to not get in the middle of one.

The two stood dwarfed before the large Hale house, looking around for the werewolf, both Scott and the blonde's eyes stuck on a mound of dirt at the side of the house, interested by it, a glance at one another, curious as to what it was, why Derek would have had to do some gardening. He didn't seem like a man who took up hobbies. With furrowed brows the two turned back to look at the house, Derek stood on the porch, his usual stance, hands dug into his pockets, a scowl on his face as he looked at them.

"Stay away from her!" Scott yelled at the wolf. "She doesn't know anything."

Derek charged toward them. "Yeah? What if she does?" Derek asked. "You think your little buddy Stiles can just google "werewolves" and now you've got all the answers, is that it?" Honey chose to keep quiet as the wolf looked down at her, she knew that wasn't the truth, neither of the boys knew the extent of the world they had stepped into, the severity it truly had. They'd hardly had a taste of the danger that came with this. Some things she hoped they'd never have to know, in a perfect world, they'd avoid messes like the ones that she had once been involved in.

"You don't get it yet, Scott, but I'm looking out for you. Think about what could happen. You're out on the field, the aggression takes over and you shift in front of everyone." He continued, and he would until Scott got the point. He picked up the lacrosse stick from Scott's backpack that he had dropped to the floor, he had been too pent up to take it off, even in the car. They watched in horror as Derek extended his sharp claws, ripping through the netting as he spoke. "Your mom, all your friends, and when they see you, everything falls apart. There's only so much Blondie can only teach you so much."

Derek tossed the lacrosse stick in the air, both of their eyes following it until it landed in Scott's hand, in that split second, Derek disappeared, leaving them with his threat as they both looked back at the mound of dirt at the side of his home. Both with the same thought in their mind, it was time for that stupid idea of Stiles'. It was time to find the body again.

Hours had passed. Their plan seemed simple. Dig up whatever Scott could smell in Derek's front yard, nail him for the murder, and then, they would try to figure out how to gain control over his transformations because he was adamant about playing the game on Saturday, more so than he had ever been before. Honey and Stiles were completely on board with the plan, even the part of going to the hospital so Scott could sniff out the found part of the body, hoping it matched what Scott smelt at the Hale house. They knew it was risky, but that was just part of the fun.

Honey and Stiles kept watch for Scott as he slipped into the morgue, the two of them lounging in the waiting room, hiding their faces with pamphlets, hoping to avoid the confrontation of Scott's mother, Melissa, a woman Honey was yet to meet. Of course, they were two teenagers, prone to an array of distractions, for Stiles, that distraction was a five-foot-three strawberry blonde who'd hardly noticed he existed. And still, he tried to talk to her. Honey's distraction, on the other hand, was a six-foot vending machine filled with delicious snacks on the behalf of the change in Stiles' jacket pocket, it was his own fault for giving her the jacket to wear when she was cold, no matter how nice the gesture had been.

She stared at it for minutes, narrowing her eyes at it as though she was preparing to fight off an enemy of hers, trying to decide which of the out-of-date snacks in the machine was worth Stiles' money. Once she had finally made her decision, she leaned against the vending machine, taking a break from Stiles, in the time they had been keeping watch, he had once again started to ask if she knew more, what she knew, whether she could help Scott. And it had become annoying just as quickly as every other time he asked. But he had made up for that, with the show he provided in trying to have a conversation with Lydia Martin, a girl wearing her earphones.

The blonde wondered how long Stiles would stand there talking before he figured it out, or if he would be interrupted by Scott because it had taken so long. Considering Lydia was nodding and looking straight at him, she imagined it might take a while for him to realize, but she wouldn't be the one to complain, for her, it was dinner and a show. Something to hold against him for as long as she knew him until he felt as though his life was a living hell. Even if she couldn't hear what he was saying, but just the mere sight of him embarrassing himself was enough to keep her going. It appeared her humor might be broken slightly.

As Honey stood watching them a brunette woman approached her, standing beside her without a word shared between them for a few moments, both of them watching Stiles in his one-sided conversation.

"Can she hear him?" Melissa asked the girl.

"Nuh-uh." Honey shook her head, taking another bite of her chocolate bar.

Melissa turned to look at the blonde girl, taking in her appearance, from what her son described, she asummed that it was Honey who was watching Stiles, the girl who had just moved to Beacon Hills, staying with Stiles for a few weeks. Her son had told her a lot about the girl, besides Allison she had been a common topic in their home the past week. Melissa took the chance to introduce herself as Scott's mom as she held out her hand, a friendly smile across her face, Honey failed to realize as she shook the woman's hand, introducing herself. As their hands were interlocked her face dropped, remembering that she and Stiles were supposed to be hiding from Melissa. Honey thought it was safe to assume it was too late for that now.

"You know what, I think he's suffered enough." Honey nodded at the woman, desperate to make a quick escape, to warn Stiles that they might have just gotten caught. "I better go stop him."

As the blonde approached them she managed to catch a snippet of Lydia's words as she pulled out her ear piece, finally telling him that she hadn't heard a word that he'd said before asking if it was worth repeating, the pinnacle of his embarrassment as he shook his head, his cheeks red as he took a step back. Honey was about to warn him about Melissa, but when she turned back to look at the woman she was gone from the waiting room, swept up by another nurse, allowing them to narrowly escape trouble as they both sunk down in a seat, holding the pamphlets over their faces once again.

It wasn't long before the pamphlets were snatched out of their hands, startling them both until they saw that it was Scott, not in fact his mother that they were trying to hide from, hoping that it would be more successful than the last time.

"The scent was the same." Scott deadpanned.

Both Honey and Stiles jumped up from their seats. "You sure?"

"Yes."

Stiles sighed "So he did bury the other half of the body on his property."

They had proof now, Derek had buried the other half of the body on his property, and Stiles was adamant on putting it to use as he began leading them out of the hospital, asking his best friend one final question before they left. He wanted to make sure that Scott was doing this because he wanted to stop Derek, or because Derek told him he couldn't play on Saturday. Even though the wolf reassured them it was to stop the older wolf, neither of them were too sure.

Lurking in the darkness the three teenagers sat outside Derek's house, waiting for him to leave so they could dig up his front yard, and hopefully with it, half of a dead body. They had made a quick stop at the Stilinski house to pick up some shovels and flashlights, hoping it was enough to dig up a body, none of them were experienced in the activity. Not even Honey, though Stiles had made sure to ask her just in case she had, he suspected that she wasn't as innocent as she looked. With only two shovels it had been decided that the strongest of the group would be the ones digging, Stiles had volunteered himself, believing that he and Scott were the most obvious options as the men of the group, Scott and Honey were about to laugh, until realizing that Stiles wasn't joking. Feeling slightly guilty, they chose to humor him, Honey agreeing that she would be their watchdog while they dig.

When the coast was clear, Stiles slowly pulled the Jeep closer to the home before they climbed out of the Jeep with stealth, weary that Derek would come back for something. Honey shone a torch on the Hale house, even more creeped out by it than she had been in daylight. The moon shone through the broken windows, highlighting the curtains that hung by threads inside, she would have been lying if she said she wasn't curious to explore inside, even if it was clearly not safe for anyone without the ability to heal instantaneously. That she certainly couldn't do.

Scott and Stiles wasted no time in beginning to dig, conscious of their limited time window, even if the time they had to get this over with was undetermined. They didn't imagine Derek had a lot to do with his life, not when he lived in a place like this, if they were to guess, they had less than half an hour to get the job done and get the hell out of here before he returned. Honey only had so much charisma to get them out of trouble, and they were unsure it would work on Derek. She took a seat on the grass, watching the two boys dig, particularly Stiles who was struggling after a whole five minutes of digging, even he was questioning his decision to volunteer.

Five minutes passed. Then ten. Then twenty, and the boys hadn't found anything. That was her cue to step in as she held out her hand, telling Stiles to hand her the shovel, the panting, sweaty boy didn't hesitate to shove it in his hand as he quickly climbed out of the hole, letting her take his place as she began digging with more energy and strength than he was capable of.

The blonde had only been digging for three minutes until her shovel hit something. "Stop, stop." She warned Scott, a hand on his arm as Stiles jumped up, eager to see.

"I did the hard part." Stiles reassured the girl as he joined them in the grave, the blonde giving a roll of her eyes as they all knelt down, using their hands to do the rest of the work.

As their hands dug through the soil the three found a rope, knotted in two places. "Hurry." Scott urged as he and Stiles fiddled with the rope, trying to undo the tight knot.

"I'm trying!" Stiles complained. "Did he have to tie the thing in like 900 knots?" Honey sighed as she moved him aside, untying it in seconds. "I loosened it for you." He murmured.

Neither Honey or Scott commented as they focused on the hole they were inside of, pulling back the ropes to find a blanket buried in the hole, clearly, something was hidden inside. The three all pulled it back together, all shaken to their core as they found the decapitated head of wolf, they jumped out of the hole with sharp gasps and screams, particularly Honey's that echoed through the empty forest. Each of the teenagers gagged as they looked down at the dead wolf, struggling to keep it together as Stiles questioned his werewolf best friend. Both he and Honey were under the impression that he had smelt human blood, not the blood of a fellow wolf.

"I told you something was different." Scott justified himself with a shrug.

"This doesn't make sense." Stiles mumbled as he stared at the animal, even Honey thought the same as she tried to think how this could be possible.

Honey looked around the front yard, scanning it until she saw a purple flower a few feet away, a flower that was very familiar to someone who had experience in the world of wolves. Honey had jumped up from the ground, rushing over to the flower as soon as he had seen it, Stiles knew he recognized it too, scrambling up from the floor to help her as she pulled it out of the ground with even more rope attached to it. Slowly both of them traced circles around the grave, following its path until they both had their arms filled with rope.

"Scott. Look at the body." Honey urged the wolf as she stood buried in rope.

He looked down at the grave, his mouth gaped for a moment, lost for words. The other two had dropped the rope, looking down at it with him, the decapitated wolf replaced by a decapitated girl, no older than in her twenty's, her dead eyes staring right back at them. Scott and Stiles had struggled to decipher what was more surprising to them, the fact that a wolf had turned into a girl, or the fact Honey, little miss "I know nothing" knew exactly what to do. Probably the body.

·❥·

Saturday had rolled around quickly, for a week that had begun with digging up a dead body, the rest of it ran smoothly, at least as smoothly as it could for three teenagers prone to trouble. Scott was playing the game tonight, Derek had been arrested for the murder of an innocent girl, and it all felt right, as if this was the beginning of getting their life back on track while managing all the werewolf stuff. Honey sat on the bleachers beside Noah and Melissa, anticipating Scott's first big game as though she'd known him his whole life, like she had been waiting her whole life to see it happen for him. When her dad had announced the move she never thought she would make the kind of friends she had in Scott and Stiles, feeling like she'd known them forever, even Noah and Melissa, they too made her feel as if she had grown up in this town, like she was truly part of it, a feeling she never truly had in Lousiana. This place felt like it was meant for her.

The three of them were quickly joined by another pair, Allison approached the blonde, asking if she and her father could sit in the spaces beside her. Despite her nerves around Allison's father, the blonde agreed with a bright, slightly fake smile, she wasn't sure if the man recognized her, if he had seen her blonde hair or her face out in the woods that night when he'd shot arrows at her and Scott. The man didn't seem to look at her strangely, trying to piece where he'd seen her, she hoped that for now, she was off of the hook.

From the moment Allison had sat beside her she began expressing her nerves for Scott, ones the blonde could sympathise with, both of the girls were worried they didn't entirely understand the game still, no matter how many times Jackson, Scott or Stiles tried to explain the rules. Some of the lingo just didn't make sense to them, they were unsure it ever would. Both hoped that after a few months of hanging around with lacrosse players they would begin to catch up, maybe even enough to be able to play lacrosse themselves by the end of the sophomore year.

Just before the game had begun, another person joined them on the bleachers, a smug smile on her redhead's face as she squeezed herself into the non-exsistent space between Honey and the brunette girl. The redhead carried two signs in her hand, Honey only caught a glimpse of Lydia's sign, but she had saw her boyfriend's name written in large bold letters. She couldn't blame her for wanting to show support, but she wasn't surprised about the obnoxiousness of it.

The whistle had blown, commencing the first game of the season, the Cyclones being the first to get ball, hopefully giving them the upper hand, just that alone had riled up the crowd as Allison found herself ready to grab ahold of Honey's hand for comfort once again, just like she had while watching the scrimmage. Scott ran across the sidelines, signaling that he was open to the rest of the team, watching as they reached pass the ball to one another, every player getting ahold of it, all but him. Honey and Allison shared weary looks, wondering, hoping he would get a chance in this game, it wouldn't have surprised either of them if this was Jackson's payback for what Scott did to his shoulder. He seemed like the type for vengeance.

When the ball had dropped between players Scott saw an opportunity, one that he didn't want to miss as he began sprinting towards the ball leaving his row of supporters on the edge of their seats, even Allison's father seemed to be watching in anticipation. It wasn't the best moment for him to be watching Scott so closely as just as Scott reached the ball Jackson tackled him to the floor, stealing the ball from him, solidifying his revenge, or at least, just starting it. Seconds after stealing the ball he had scored the first goal of the game, Scott had barely pulled himself off of the ground before the crowed had jumped up, cheering for the goal, including Allison and Honey as they cheered loudly, caught up in the moment. It was their first game, they were team players too, every victory had to be celebrated.

The redhead sitting beside them seized the opportunity as she began pulling her sign from off of the floor, before the cheering died out she asked Allison to help her hold it, the brunette nodding in agreement, both girls held the sign as high as their arms would allow them, screaming loudly. As she cheered Honey leaned forward to look at the sign Lydia had made in all of it's glory. "𝐖𝐄 𝐋𝐔𝐕 𝐔 𝐉𝐀𝐂𝐊𝐒𝐎𝐍" As the redhead noticed her looking she provided Honey with yet another of her infamous smug smiles, another tilt of the head, as if she was winning a game that the blonde had no interest in playing with her.

When there was just under a minute and a half left of the game tension was at an all-time high as the crowd remained on the edge of their seats, eager to see how the first game would end. 3-5 on the scoreboard, the Cyclones losing. Until half time things had been going well, at least it had been for everyone who didn't go by the name Scott McCall, the wolf still hadn't saw the ball, the entire team seemed to be avoiding him like the plague. Perhaps it was more than just Jackson in the mood for vengeance tonight. Things had turned sour, substitutes made, players lost, and not a single goal for the Cyclones, not even Jackson had been able to pull them out of their rutt.

Allison had reached out for Honey's hand a few times, prepared to feel that sense of comfort the blonde provided again, forgetting that Lydia had squeezed herself between them, Lydia couldn't provide that comfort and reassurance that Honey did, she was too focused on Jackson winning, she didn't understand how it felt to be watching Scott fail when he didn't deserve too but Honey did. She had been biting her fingernails the entire second half, watching Scott, not only because she hoped that he would get his chance, but scared that it would start getting to him, that there was only a matter of time until he got angry and lashed out on the field, just like Derek said that he would. She couldn't protect him if he did, nobody could.

"Which one is Scott again?" Allison's father asked curiously, willing for any of the three girls who sat around him to answer, he hadn't particularly expected his daughter to answer while she sat anxiously chewed on her purple glove. Even as a girl who didn't know much about lacrosse she knew this wasn't good.

"Number 11." Lydia deadpanned with a snarl of attitude.

Scott didn't need any further introduction than that, number 11 was already a topic in nearly all of the conversations happening in the stands. How he hadn't caught the ball once or even made an attempt to score his team a goal. Of course, Honey and the two adults on her right had pulled faces at every person they overheard, Noah and Melissa stopping Honey from saying anything to start a fight in the stands. Melissa didn't know much about the blonde other than what her son told her, but one thing she could tell about the girl was that she wouldn't back out of a fight. She would back Scott up as though her life depended on it, even over a lacrosse game.

"Otherwise known as the only one who hasn't caught a single ball this entire game." She added, just in case the man hadn't been watching the game, or if he hadn't heard the conversations that took place around them, but the answer of Scott's number had been more than enough.

"I hope he's okay." Allison mumbled into her glove, looking over at Honey who nodded with the hope that Scott would pull through, trying to convince herself more so than the brunette.

"I hope we're okay. We need to win this." Lydia sighed them as she stood up taking another sign with her as she held it up in the air, this time, Allison remained seated, unsure that she should be cheering for the person who had made great strides to keep the ball from Scott tonight. And the blonde, well, if Lydia had asked her, she would have agreed, it wasn't the time to give Jackson a boost for his ego, he didn't need it, he already seemed more than sure of himself. "Allison? Little help here?" The redhead asked, though it came off as a demand, looking down at her new friend as she remained hesitant.

Allison looked across at Honey, for some guidance, whether it was right to do by Scott. But she'd simply shrugged, unsure how Scott would feel about her cheering on Jackson with Lydia. Allison stood up with Lydia, helping her to hold the sign, though her expression made it clear she wasn't as eager to do it as she had been the first time. It felt wrong this time.

"𝐉𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐬 #𝟏" was held in the air, cheers erupting from the crowd again as people tried to give their team that last minute boost in the hopes it would help them pull themselves out of the rutt that they'd spent half of the game inside of. Their cheers were successful, Jackson was pumped up and prepared to win another lacrosse game, adding it to a long list of his previous successes. He and the opposing team's captain fought vigorously for the ball for a split second, their sticks batting it around in a fight until it had flown up in the air. Breaths were held in anticipating, only being continued when a stunned gasp escaped their mouths, Scott had jumped up into the air, using one of the opposing players to give him a boost, snatching the ball. Showing the potential that had earned him his place on first line.

Scott sprinted across the field, dodging everyone who made a pass at him, his supporters slowly raising out of their seats, prepared to celebrate his victory. Nobody had managed to block Scott from scoring a goal, they were all still flustered, unsure how he'd gotten the ball in the first place until his ball flew straight into the goal. Honey jumped up from her seat, jumping up and down as she celebrated with Melissa, Allison with her father who had to admit, he was impressed. The redhead who sat beside them boiled in her own misery, a scowl across her face. Eventually Lydia gave in as she gave McCall a slight applause.

Once Scott had scored that goal he was unstoppable, replaced by an all-star athlete, giving one of the best performances anyone had ever seen from a sophomore. The opposing team were all clearly threatened by him, now when players avoided him like the plague, it was for a different reason, they'd saw how he had used the other player to give him a boost and they preferred not to be next in line. One player even deliberately passed him the ball.

"Did I see that right?" Melissa asked the blonde who sat, slightly terrified.

"That team's player give Scott the ball? Mm-hmm." Honey nodded. She knew that nobody would have just given him the ball for no reason, which made her fear that Scott had done something to get that ball, something intimidating, a growl perhaps, slowly tapping into the animal that lay beneath the surface. As happy as Honey was for his sudden success, she hoped Scott didn't take it too far. But that hope was shattered quickly when she'd watched his next goal.

It had broken straight through the netting of the goalie's stick landing perfectly in the goal that stood behind him leaving the crowd in a state of shock before they all created a simultaneous cheer that shook the very benches they sat on. Honey immediately looked at Stiles who sat on the sideline, he was already looking back at her, the same thought in their minds. That the wolf may just be taking too much advantage of his new abilities, stepping into dangerous territory.

With the scores drawing at 𝟓-𝟓, the final forty seconds would be what set the tone for the rest of the season, bringing up everyone's hopes that the championship would be brought home for yet another year by the Cyclones. Honey had considered saying a little prayer for herself, she had to sit for another forty seconds in the hopes that Scott could contain himself for that long.

As soon as the whistle had blown, perhaps for the last time, Scott had taken it again, desperate to be the one who carried the team to victory, making that name for himself during his first ever game on first line. Unlike those other times Scott caught possession of the ball, when he had run straight for the goal, he stopped, right in the middle of the field, surrounded by players.

Honey could feel her heart in her stomach, Scott wasn't able to make it through those last forty seconds of the game without unleashing the werewolf inside of him, she looked at Stiles with a silent panic as his eyes darted between her and Scott, unsure whether he should take Scott off of the field, though it would cause a scene.

"Come on, Scott. Just a little longer." She muttered under her breath, rocking back and forth, her leg bouncing up and down as she waited for him to do something, whether it was wolf out, or to save himself and score that final goal, calling it a night.

Grins grew across the opposing teams faces, visible through their head gear, they were like a big herd of bulls, and Scott was the red flag. He only had a few seconds before one of them, if not all of them made their move, claiming the win for themselves, neither team willing to end the game on a draw.

"You can do it, Scott," Allison reassured him from afar, as well as reassuring herself with her own words as she nervously looked at the blonde on the other side of Lydia who would have rathered felt the girl squeezing her hand until she had no circulation than take out all of her nerves out on her freshly painted fingernails. Honey took a second away from biting her nails and rocking back and forth to throw Allison a smile, hoping that would be comforting enough, it wasn't.

Five seconds. They began charging. It was now or never. Scott knew that too. With large swing he threw the ball towards the net, everyone's eyes following it as it flew through the air, watching it claim the victory for the Cyclones. Another cheer roared on the field as everyone stood up, most running out onto the field to celebrate with their team. Allison ran out onto the field to find Scott in the midst of all of the crowding, Lydia to find her boyfriend while Honey celebrated the victory with the two adults who she came with tonight, Melissa was still in shock at how her son played tonight, she had no idea that he was so athletic.

Honey made her way down to the field to find Stiles, hoping to congratulate him on the win, and to talk about how much of a close call it was with Scott, the two of them would have to become used to sitting on the edge of their seats, prepared to jump onto the field and whisk Scott away in the middle of lacrosse games. She expected to find him with Scott, celebrating their win as a pair, but instead, he was alone, watching his father who was on the phone, an important call by the looks of it. Both of them waited in anticipation to see what had got the man so consumed in the call. And once they knew, they wished they didn't.

The two rushed to the locker room to find Scott, Stiles had seen him head over there with Allison following closely behind, but he couldn't not find out what was happening on his father's phone call, that was simply absurd. They were both filled with nerves, unsure how Scott would react, or if they accidentally walked in on him and Allison, that was sight they'd rather not have to see.

Honey walked in behind the nervous boy to the sounds of lips locking, before she'd a chance to see if it was Allison and Scott or just another random couple, Stiles placed an arm out in front of her stopping her from going any further. Rather than ruining the couples moment the pair held back, peeking around the corner of the lockers waiting for them to stop playing tonsil tennis so they could tell Scott the news. Maybe it was kind of creepy that they hung around, watching, but they were just two teenagers happy for their best friend. Happy to see how happy they looked in each other's presence. Scott could use some happiness with what was going on in his life.

When the two finally pulled away from each other and Allison suggested that she go and find her father before he wondered where she had disappeared to, as she began walking out of the room she spotted Honey and Stiles as they tried acting casual, neither managed to succeed, giving up as they waved at the brunette with weak smiles.

Scott walked over to his best friends, starstruck, his mouth wide open, excited like a kid about to open their presents on Christmas morning. The two gave him a few minutes to gush over Allison and the lacrosse game, expressing how proud they were of him, easing him into the bad news, it couldn't cast a dark cloud over an otherwise good night. In fact, the two questioned whether the news needed to be given to him tonight, perhaps it could wait until tomorrow, but before either of them had been able to follow through with that, Scott had caught on.

He pulled them both back as they went to walk away, insisting it could wait. "What is it?"

Stiles looked at Honey, expecting her to break the news, bad things sounded better when she said it. With a roll of her eyes and a sigh she turned back to the wolf. "The medical examiner had a look at the other half of the body that we found."

"And?" He asked.

"Well... I'll try and keep it simple."

Stiles butted in, telling Scott himself, he was too nervous to sit and listen to it come from Honey after all. "Medical examiner determines killer of girl to be animal, not human. Derek is human, not animal. Derek not killer. Derek let out of jail."

"Are you kidding?" Scott asked as he looked between them.

"Nope. And that's not the worst part." Honey admitted. "Sheriff ID'd the dead girl, her name was Laura. Laura Hale. She was Derek's sister."