Chapter Forty-Eight

Lying still against Stiles's bed, I thought about what had happened for the past few weeks. Everything seemed to go back to normal. Well, as normal as it can be. There was no more sacrificing. There were no more Alpha packs. Melissa, Deaton, Noah, and Argent seemed to have made it.

My Dad and I are closer now that he knows about the supernatural. He's been accommodating and supportive.

My sister is here.

She moved here last week, and she took her old room, which was my room, and now I'm back to living in my old room. It had no fabulous wardrobe; it was a super dull office room that was soon to be transformed into my bedroom again. That's sort of the reason why I've been staying at Stiles' house most nights. Not only to get away from my sister but also to have a bed.

I curl to my side, eyeing the glowing lamp that was turned on beside me. Stiles was dead asleep, which still amazed me. Tonight I couldn't fall asleep. We had a two-week break from school, and now we're going back to school tomorrow. And by we, I mean me. I took two weeks off. I had to attend Sam's funeral at that time, and I actually needed a break from everything, and my parents understood.

Well, my Dad more so than my Mom. It took hours of convincing.

I was nervous, yet excited, yet absolutely dreading it. I hated school. I have never hated something so much in my life.

My eyes flickered to the time. It was 2.00 AM in the morning. I turned back around, facing Stiles. I begin to close my eyes until he decided to wake up with a yell. I jumped up in surprise, my eyes snapping open at the constant yelling.

His eyes were darting towards me, pressing himself against the wall. "Stiles—"

"Get away from me." He snapped harshly and my face fell. I tried to move closer. "No... I mean it. Stay away." He held out a hand, and reached out in front of him, trying to keep the distance. He looked frightened and my heart hurt at how serious he sounded.

Suddenly, the door opened and Noah bursts through, his eyes darting between us. He rushes to his son who was pressed against the wall, curled away from me. Noah wrapped his son up in his arms. "It's okay, Stiles." His face was sweating and his eyes welled up with tears; it hurt me to see him like this.

This wasn't the first time he'd been having nightmares.

Every time, he'd scream at me to stay away. And every time, he wouldn't tell me what his nightmares are about.

Stiles seemed to calm down, I could hear his heartbeat slowing down and his face is fall of regret. I know he doesn't mean it. It was his nightmare causing all of this. 

He reached out, and I grabbed his hand, telling him it was okay. He looked between us, his panting beginning to come standard. He pulls out of his father's embrace and reaches out for me instead. He pulls me in close to him and I wrapped my arms around him, one hand on his head and the other on his back. Our chests were close.

Noah smiled softly. "I'll see you two in the morning."

"Thanks, Noah," I whispered back as he leaves. Stiles continued to stay hugging me. "We can't hug forever."

"Yes, we can." Stiles stubbornly says. "I don't want to fall asleep again."

"I get that, I do... But you know we need to." I softly told him. Despite me not being able to sleep, I didn't care. He needs to sleep. "Hey," I cupped his face softly. "The next time you get a nightmare, I'll wake you up before it happens, okay?"

Stiles nodded, his hands grabbing mine from his face. He leans forward and kisses me. "You know I don't mean it, right?"

"Yeah, I know." 

⇉

The sunlight pours through Stiles' room, and it was silent as the both of us got ready for school. Stiles doesn't say much; therefore I copy him as I applied my makeup and did my hair, looking at his mirror. Stiles was packing our books while I got ready. It only takes him 5 minutes to get ready, and 30 at most for me to get ready.

"Hey." I looked over and saw Noah standing by the door in his Sheriff's uniform. Stiles turned to look at him. "You all right?" He doesn't respond. "You guys ready for school?"

"Almost," I respond, putting on lipstick.

"Yeah, yeah. I am." Stiles responds. Noah gives him a look. "Dad, seriously, I'm fine. It was just a nightmare."

"Third nightmare this week," I mumble to myself as I fixed my skirt as it twisted around.

"What's that?" Stiles ignored my comment and I looked over, seeing Noah holding a box of files.

"That's, just, uh, files from the office," Noah spoke.

"It says Sheriff Station, do not remove." Stiles pointed out.

"Well, yeah, unless you're the Sheriff." Noah quips back. "Get your butts to school, all right?" Noah leaves us alone, and I slipped on my boots.

"How do your feet not kill themselves every day?" Stiles asked, looking at the inches on my heels.

"Oh, they do. But, you know, being a werewolf and all means there's no pain." I grin. "I can wear as much painful fashion as I want. Isn't that great?"

"Perfect for you." His arms reached out for mine, the two of us grinning at each other. "Have you ever considered being a fashion model? Or just a model?"

I pouted. "Don't say things like that to me."

"What? I'm just saying." He grins. I felt happiness radiate from the two of us. I couldn't help but not stop smiling at him. He was really pretty to look at.

"You're cute. Do you want to be my boyfriend?" I asked, cocking my head slightly to see his reaction.

His mouth dropped slightly. "What?"

"I said what I said," I spoke. "Yes or no, Stiles? I think it's time to make it official, you know? I want to be yours forever. Unless you don't want to be mine, then I totally take it back—"

He cuts me off with a sweet kiss. "I'd love to be your boyfriend."

"Thank God," I whispered. "The girls are going to be excited about this one."

⇉

Stiles and I walked into school together, both sleep deprived, but we were both excited and filled with energy with our new found a relationship. I couldn't stop staring at him as we walked across the courtyard, passing the other students.

"You're starring." He teases, looking over at me.

I shrugged, shameless. "I, frankly, do not care. I like to stare at pretty things." I could see him blush deeply, and his lips tug upwards. "So, how do you want to tell the others?" I then began to ramble. "Do you want to tell Scott, and I'll tell the girls, or do we tell them together, or do we do it over a phone call? Actually, maybe we should do it in person—"

He stops me by laughing. I furrowed my eyebrows. "You're overthinking it too much. We'll do it when we're ready."

"Okay. Cool." I murmur. It sounded normal, which was fine. I think. I then looked away, pausing.

"Paige?" He asked, stopping himself. "What's wrong?"

"I don't know," I respond, feeling something off. My eyes dart around. Then, they land on Scott who was looking behind him, running down the stairs. He was staring at his shadow, and I could feel the horror radiating from him. I could hear his panicky breathing, and I rushed forward with Stiles, grabbing ahold of his shoulder, and he snapped out of it, looking at me with wide eyes. "Hey, hey. You all right?"

He lets out a sigh, his shoulders slumping. He doesn't say anything, but I could tell in his eyes he wanted to say 'yeah, I'm fine', but Stiles and I knew better than that. "You don't look alright, Scott."

"I'm okay," Scott spoke; his voice was soft and not believable.

"No, you're not." I pipe up, frowning.

"It's happening to you, too," Stiles added. "You're seeing things, aren't you?"

Scott tilts his head at us. "How do you guys know?"

I heard heels click behind us and I turned, seeing Allison and Lydia approaching us. "Because it's happening to all three of you."

The blue double doors open to a reasonably empty hallway. There were a few students here and there, but it wasn't busy. Lydia was the one that opened them, enjoying every bit of the other three going crazy. "Well, well. Look who's no longer the crazy one." Lydia smugs.

"We're not crazy," Allison spoke beside me as we walked behind her.

She turned around. "Hallucinating? Sleep paralysis? Yeah, you guys are fine."

"We did die and come back to life." Scott pointed out. "That's gotta have some side effects, right?" The school bell rings.

"We keep an eye on each other. Okay?" Stiles looked at us. His eyes connect with mine briefly. "And, Lydia, stop enjoying this so much."

Lydia smirked a little, her arms folded as he walked by. "What?" She acts innocently before Scott, Stiles, and I depart from Allison and Lydia, going to History.

We walked in and took our seats. We had a new teacher today, and I felt sorry for him. He was writing up some things on the board, and I turn around in my chair, noticing a newer scent in the classroom.

"What?" Stiles murmured to me. I glanced at him as he sat next to me. I just shrugged, and my eyes continued to search before I looked over to a girl. My eyes rest on her. She looked new, and I could sense her nerves as she looked around. She looked lost.

She reminded me of Allison on her first day.

"Good morning, everyone." The teacher brought our attention, the whispering began to settle down slowly. I turned to the teacher. "My name is Mr. Yukimura. I'll be taking over for your previous history teacher. My family and I moved here three weeks ago. I'm sure, by now, you all know my daughter, Kira. Or you might not as she's never actually mentioned anyone from school. Or, brought home a friend, for that matter."

A thud was heard from the back of the class. All eyes turned, and I saw Kira with her head down. I smirked a little, trying to hold back a chuckle. The girl with dark, slightly curly hair then looked back up. A blush covered her cheeks, and she smiled at the class shyly, whose eyes were all drawn to her. 

"Either way... There she is." Mr. Yukimura spoke over all the murmuring whispers. Kira's eyes glanced over to me. She shyly smiled again. I sent her one back before turning my attention to the board. "Let's begin with American History at the turn of the 20th century."

As the class went on, I liked Mr Yukimura. He was a good teacher, better than our previous teacher. He wasn't dull, he added a little spice to our class. And before I knew it, the class was over. Scott and Stiles, like the rest of the students begin to pack up their belongings. 

A bag slung over his shoulder, Stiles looked down at me. I barely noticed as I zoned in on the board. I thought I had been listening, but it turns out, I was zoned out. And I was forever grateful that Mr Yukimura didn't catch me out.

Scott and Stiles wait patiently by my desk, waiting for me to pack up my things. "If I stare long enough at this board, I hope to teleport to 3.15," I tell the boys my plan. I could feel their judgement. I turned to them, watching as Stiles packed up my books. "Hey, if werewolves and Banshees exist, teleportation can, too. We need to find a wizard."

"Wizards don't exist." Stiles muses as he picks up my bag. I still sat at my desk. "Come on; we have to go to our next class."

I ignored him. "You're telling me Wizards don't exist? Deaton might as well be one; he killed you and brought you back to life." I pointed out.

"She has a point." Scott agreed, and I grinned.

"Thank you. I always liked you." I told him.

"Don't entertain this." Stiles sighed, looking at his best friend, before looking at me. I felt eyes on us, and I looked back, seeing Kira still waiting in the back, looking at us. The other two turned too, and Kira quickly looked away before grabbing her bag on the ground and walking out, leaving the three of us alone.

I watched her walk away. "What do you guys think of the new girl?" I asked.

"Who, Kira?" Scott asked. I give him a look. Duh, who else? I rolled my eyes. "I—I don't know, she's pretty, I guess."

I smirked. "Okay." I then decided to get up. We walked out of the classroom and headed towards our lockers, returning to our regular routine. "I wish things were normal again."

"Maybe we need a little time before things get back to normal," Scott informed us as we reached Stiles' locker.

"Yeah, try not to forget we hit the reset button on a Supernatural beacon for supernatural creatures." Stiles reminded us as hands took his locker combination lock and began to twist and turn it. "I think there's a pretty good chance things are never going back to normal." Scott and I don't say anything, and I watch as Stiles shakes his locker combination lock. He frowned as he stopped shaking it, his finger barely touching the lock. "What?"

"I thought you said you wanted to make friends." I glanced at Mr Yukimura, who was with Kira, walking down the hall.

"Not like that." Kira hissed at him. "I could set myself on fire and be noticed."

"Well, then you'd be dead." Mr Yukimura pointed out as they stopped in the middle of the hall.

"Exactly." She rolled her eyes. She glanced over at us as I looked away, looking back at Stiles, and Scott quickly looked away, too.

I looked at Scott before my eyes widened. "Scott, your eyes." Stiles' head snapped towards Scott's glowing, red eyes. And another thing that happened. Scott's a True Alpha now.

"What about them?" Scott looked at us, worried.

"What about them? They're starting to glow." Stiles hisses.

"You mean like right now?" Scott asked, his voice growing to panic.

"Yes, right now." I nodded.

"Scott, stop." Stiles pleaded. "Stop it."

"I can't..." Scott pants, his breathing hitched. He shields his eyes with his hands. "I can't control it."

"All right, just keep your head down," Stiles instructs. His hand goes to Scott's head, forcing him to look down. Luckily, there are not many other students around. "Look down, come on." Stiles begins to lead Scott away. I quickly followed them into the classroom.

Scott takes off his jacket and his bag, dropping them to the floor. He was growling and panting. Stiles and I went to him, but he stopped us. "No, get back." He snapped. "Get away from me."

"Scott, it's okay," Stiles insures him.

Scott moved further and further back into the classroom. "I don't know what's going to happen." Scott snapped. "Get back." I watched as Scott lifted his hands, and his werewolf claws came out. He digs them into the palm of his hands, fresh blood dripping down.

He lets out a low growl, his fangs showing. He then drops on one knee before dropping the other. Stiles dropped his bag, and I stopped him as I went first.

He unclenched his hands, revealing that the claws were no longer there. He falls back against the desk chair, slumped on the ground. I bend down to him, Stiles following my move. 

"Pain makes you human," Scott tells us weakly.

"Scott, this isn't just in our heads." Stiles spoke. "This is real. And it's starting to get bad for me, too. I'm not just having nightmares." I perked up at the sound of his nightmares, finally relieved that he was talking about this. "I'm having these dreams where I have to literally scream myself awake. And sometimes I'm not even sure if I'm actually waking up."

"What do you mean?" Scott asked.

"Do you know how you can tell if you're dreaming?" Stiles questioned. "You can't read in dreams. More and more, the last few days, I've been having trouble reading. It's like I can't see the words. I can't... Put the letters in order."

"Like even now?" I asked him softly.

His eyes glance up to the board where there are words, and he stands up. He glances around the room, looking at the words on posters.

"I can't read a thing."

⇉

Family dinners were never a thing in my house. It was always just me, eating Chinese food, or some nasty takeaways. But after changing my diet, I began to eat healthily. Sure, I would have the occasional burger or a greasy pizza with Stiles, but those were every once in and while.

Now, I'm sitting at the dinner table with just Lucy. She stares back at me as our salads are made by her.

She sent me a soft smile. "Nothing's really changed around here, has it?" Lucy asked. She had only been here for a few days. But, most of those days, she was in her room (my old room), wallowing in the deeps of her sorrow.

I shrugged, taking a bite of a lettuce leaf. "I guess not. Mom and Dad are still work-alcoholics. I'm still me."

She shook her head. "You're not you." I frowned at her words. "I mean, you're different. You're not a sad, lonely girl anymore."

"Jee, thanks," I mutter, placing down my fork and picking up my soda water.

She rolled her eyes. "You know what I mean. You're popular. You have a good fashion sense. You're just like me. And I'm so proud."

"I'm nothing like you." I denied.

She smirked, the roots of her hair beginning to show. Naturally, she's a brunette. But, she's been dying her hair blonde for the past few years. "You gotta admit. You're a little like me. Going out to parties, having a boyfriend."

"Boyfriend?" I quirk an eyebrow, wondering how she knew about me and Stiles.

"Yeah, what's his name, Mie... Miec—" She frowned, trying to prounce Stiles' name. "Man, how do you say that kids name?"

I laughed, shaking my head. "He doesn't go by that. He goes by Stiles."

"Styles?" She frowned some more. "Poor kid. But yeah—"

"No, no." I shake my head. "St—il—es."

"Whatever." She rolled her eyes. "You guys are dating right?" I nod. She beamed. "I'm so happy for you both. You've had a crush on him since forever."

My eyes widened. "How did you know about that?"

"I'm not dumb." She then slouches, trying to act like me. I straighten a little. I do not slouch. "Lucy, I'm going to the station to see Stiles. Lucy, I'm going to hang out with Stiles. Oh, and Scott, don't forget Scott is there. It won't be me and Stiles alone—"

"Shut up." I throw some chicken at her, sending her a glare.

"Point is, I'm not stupid." She smirked. "I could tell."

"Okay, whatever." I rolled my eyes, annoyed at her. My gaze then soften as I met hers. "How are you doing?"

She shrugged. "Hm fine. Okay, so you know how the office is going to be your room, right?" I groaned, absolutely annoyed that she's taking my room and had to rub it in my face.

"Can we not?" I asked her. "You know I love that room."

She smirked. "I know. I just wanted to rub it in a little longer."

"Have you caught up with any of your friends?" I asked her.

She shrugs. "I was thinking about seeing Willow and Lewis. I haven't seen them in forever. Maybe Derek, too."

My eyes widen. "Derek who?"

"Hale." Lucy responds, eyeing her perfect nails. She then looked and saw my expression. "What?"

"You know Derek Hale?" I asked her.

She nods. "I knew him. We were in the same friend group when we were younger, dummy. I think he's still in town. Why?"

"Uh..." I trailed off, shaking my head. "It's nothing."

"I... I think I'm going to see Sam tonight, too." Lucy softly said. I met her gaze. "I want to put flowers by his grave. Fresh ones."

"You did that last night."

"He deserves the best." She threw me a glare which would usually intimate me, but not anymore.  "And he likes the flowers I give him."

"Okay," I respond dryly. "I'm going to bed."

"What bed?" She asked.

"Stiles." I instantly said, standing up. She gives me a look. "What? I'm not sleeping on a damn couch. And his bed is way more comfortable."

"Oh." She replied softly. "I thought you were sleeping on the couch the entire time."

"Well, I wasn't. And Mom and Dad don't need to know that, either." I tell her, sending her a look. She nods in understanding. "Okay, goodnight."

"Night."

⇉

I walked into the station late at night along with Stiles, who held flowers in his hands. Stiles and Noah were going to visit Stiles' mother's grave to replace the flowers that had been stolen. I thought it was sweet, and Stiles wanted me to come, too. I said no, because I felt like I was intruding but he kept insisting, so I said I'd come with him to the police station.

So, that's why Stiles held flowers in his hands as he walked over to his father's desk. "You know, last time we bought one of these to her grave, it was stolen the same day." Stiles informs Noah and I frown.

"That's disgusting." I scrunch up my nose. Stiles nodded in agreement, placing the flowers on top of the desk.

"Hundred bucks, down the drain." He added. I then looked down at Noah. His floor was covered in files. "Hey, Dad?" Noah looked up at us. "Hi. What are you doing down there?"

"Working," Noah responds. "And, hey. If somebody wants flowers that badly, they can have them." Carefully, we stepped around the desk. "It's the gesture." I eyed a bunch of case bozes on the ground.

"Hey, Dad, what is all this?" Stiles asked.

"I've been looking over some old cases from... A more illuminated perspective, if you know what I mean." Noah explained and I nodded.

Stiles picked up a piece of paper from a file. "Strange sighting of bipedal lizard man sprinting across the freeway."

"Kanima pile." Noah placed his hands briefly on the pile. He was on one knee, looking up at us.

Stiles dropped the file on the ground and bends to the ground to meet his eye, while I lean against the desk. "Dad, you're not going through all your old cases seeing if any of them had anything to do with the supernatural, are you?"

"I admit the recent opening of my eyes the the greater mysteries of the universe has got me... reassessing. Plus, now that your Dad knows, Paige, I figured he and I could go through them together." Noah explained, then looked at me with a small smile.

"Is he here?" I questioned, remembering that I didn't see him at his office.

He shakes his head. "No, I think he and Lucy went somewhere together. I told him to have the night off, he needed it." They went to see Sam's grave together. I nodded in understandment. He then continues. "There are at least 100 cases here where I can look at the details and I can ask myself, if I knew then what I know now..."

"Right, but are you sure you wanna go down that path?" Stiles asked softly.

"Do I have a choice?" Noah asked, looking at his son. "There's one case in particular I can't get out of my head." He stands up, holding a case file and Stiles stands up, too. "Eight years ago, when I was elected Sheriff of the county, my first official duty was to tell a man that not only had his wife and two kids died in a car accident, but... as best we could tell, the body of his nine-year-old daughter had been dragged from the wreck by coyotes."

Stiles was handed the case and I walked over, peering over his shoulder and eyeing the picture that was displayed. There was a young girl, brown hair, with a bright smile. "You mean dragged and eaten?" Stiles retorts.

"We didn't find the car until three days after the crash." Noah explained. "They had driven off the road into a pretty deep ravine. Two bodies were still in the car were covered in bites and slashes."

"So, you're thinking bites and claws marks..." I pieced the puzzles together and Noah nodded. "Probably a werewolf attack?"

"Maybe." Noah answered.

"But, coyotes, they scavenge, right?" Stiles asked. "So, couldn't they have just left the bites and the slashes?"

Noah nodded. "Absoutley. But guess what night the accident occured on?"

It hit me, like it hit Stiles. Stiles and I glanced at each other. "Full moon." We spoke in unison, my eyes widen.

"Yeah." Noah whispered.

Stiles closes the case file and looked at all the other cases. "Hey, Dad, where are all these going?" Stiles asked.

"Yeah, we, uh..." Noah stammered. He glanced at us. "We probably need to talk about that."

—Ella Speaks

Omg. Tysm for 10+K!! That's so awesome fr. A long chapter to kicked off with season 3 B! Stiles and Paige are finally a couple Oml. It's been a slow one, but we got there!! I'm excited to develop their relationship as they go on. That's all from me for now!! Bye!!