❛ I wish I could take back starting you. Where do you start and I begin? I'm losing my best friend. ❜

SEASON 1, EPISODE 3
pack mentality

SINCE THE LACROSSE game, Willow was avoiding both Stiles and Scott as best as she could. However, it was only Monday, and she would still attend their practice that afternoon to keep an eye on them. So, in the end, she felt like the amount of avoidance was minimal to one, but at least she could try.

⠀⠀⠀Either way, Willow had this feeling in her stomach that was making her feel nauseous. The feeling she used to have when she first started dating Stiles was coming back. The honeymoon, lovey-dovey, sickening feeling that she wanted to get rid of. But, then, the feelings developed into the later stages of their relationship. The jealousy, the annoyance, the want for him to notice her again.

⠀⠀⠀She wanted to take a knife and cut her insides out so the feelings she had would dissipate. She'd rather feel empty than have to sit in this strange mix of her current relationship with Stiles and the ghost of their past haunting them.

⠀⠀⠀"Mr. Stilinski," Mr. Harris called in the middle of his lecture.

⠀⠀⠀Willow hadn't been paying any attention, drawing in the margins of her notebook as she thought of him. It seemed when she looked over to Stiles he hadn't been either. His eyes were wide as he leaned over his desk to talk to Scott.

⠀⠀⠀"If that's your idea of a hushed whisper, you might want to pull the headphones out every once in a while. I think you and Mr. McCall would benefit from a little distance, yes?"

⠀⠀⠀"No!" Stiles exclaimed, looking utterly heartbroken at the thought.

⠀⠀⠀Mr. Harris wasn't warmed by the sentiment, throwing his hand to the back of the class for Stiles. Willow scowled, then turned to look at the stool beside her, feeling like it had betrayed her by being empty.

⠀⠀⠀"Let me know if the separation anxiety gets to be too much," Mr. Harris taunted the two.

⠀⠀⠀Willow let out a sigh as Stiles fumbled his way back to the seat beside her. His backpack was opened and wrapped to his chest. He nearly let it fall all over the floor before tossing it onto the table.

⠀⠀⠀Willow didn't look over to Stiles as he sat down. She didn't acknowledge his presence, but she could tell he was anxious to talk to her. His leg shook up and down on the bar of the stool. He turned toward her, and his eyes were drilling a hole into the side of her head.

⠀⠀⠀"Willow," Stiles whispered, unable to handle sitting there in silence any longer. He leaned in so close that she could smell the cologne in his clothes and breath on her skin. She pulled her stool away from him, scowling. "Willow, we need to talk."

⠀⠀⠀"About what?" Willow snapped back at him, mimicking his whisper. "If it has to do with what I said—"

⠀⠀⠀"No, no," Stiles assured her. "The bus. The bus this morning. Scott thinks he did that."

⠀⠀⠀Willow frowned. She had heard a little of what had happened the night before. One of the school buses had been broken into, torn apart. Blood was all over the seats and interior of the bus, and some even trailing outside. There was no suspicion of foul play, most likely just a mountain lion.

⠀⠀⠀Stiles telling her that it might have been Scott instead didn't change how Willow was feeling. Her nails dug into her palms, and her aggravation for Stiles took over her words.

⠀⠀⠀"What do you want me to do?" Willow asked him, her jaw tense to the point she could feel the muscle popping out. "My sisters and I can't babysit him twenty-four-seven, and even then, we're witches, not werewolves. If he wants to learn control, he should talk to a werewolf. Like Derek."

⠀⠀⠀"But Willow—"

⠀⠀⠀"Hey!" a girl at the front of the class exclaimed, her stool screeching against the tile floor as she stood. "I think they found something."

⠀⠀⠀The class stood together, traveling to the window as quickly as they could to look outside. There was an ambulance with the door to the back wide open. Two paramedics were walking with a gurney from the woods and back to the ambulance. A man was lying on the stretcher, blood painting his clothes. Then, he suddenly sat up, screaming bloody murder as he looked in the class' direction. They all jumped in shock, and Willow watched as Scott's whole body language changed.

⠀⠀⠀"That's not a rabbit," Scott muttered to Stiles.

⠀⠀⠀"Okay. This is good, this is good," Stiles tried to reassure him. "He got up. He's not dead. Dead guys can't do that!"

⠀⠀⠀"Stiles," Scott interrupted him. "I did that."

WILLOW FOLLOWED BEHIND her sisters and the two best friends reluctantly. After the events of chemistry class, Stiles took it upon himself to seek out the more understanding and less perpetually annoyed (with him, at least) of the sisters to explain the issue.

⠀⠀⠀Willow knew it was because of what Stiles said before the game that had her not wanting to help them anymore. Not Scott. However, it seemed Scott was the one keeping them all together. Without him, they'd all be separate pieces. No matter how many times she tried to get away, she seemed to snap right back into place.

⠀⠀⠀Scott explained to them what had happened to him. He had a dream where he hooked up with Allison on the bus. As the dream turned heated, both Scott and the dream started turning into a nightmare. He went full wolf, out of control, dragging Allison around the bus until he eventually killed her.

⠀⠀⠀That morning, he came to the realization that it wasn't so much a nightmare but a skewed memory. His subconscious had put Allison in the place of the man he seemed to try and murder. None of them knew why or if it was actually him.

⠀⠀⠀However, Stiles didn't seem to think what Scott was saying seemed right. As he said, "But dreams aren't memories."

⠀⠀⠀Stiles set his tray down on the table, him and Scott sitting in front of each other. Willow set her food down in the seat next to Stiles so she wouldn't have to look at him. Bridgette sat on the other side of him, and Laurel sat across from her beside Scott.

⠀⠀⠀"Then it wasn't a dream," Scott concluded.

⠀⠀⠀"It could also be your mind trying to protect you from what you might have done," Laurel added. She held an apple in her hand as she glanced from Stiles to Scott. "Dreams never come from nothing. There's always something subconscious behind them."

⠀⠀⠀Scott nodded, seeming to agree with her while Stiles grimaced.

⠀⠀⠀"Even the bad ones?" Stiles asked, raising his eyebrows.

⠀⠀⠀"Yes, Stiles, even your wet dreams," Laurel bit back at him, biting into the apple with a loud crunch.

⠀⠀⠀Stiles scrunched his face into disgust and rubbed his hand over his forehead in thought.

⠀⠀⠀"Well, that one I had with Mr. Ha—"

⠀⠀⠀"No!" Scott exclaimed, clapping his hands in front of Stiles' face. "I don't want to know!"

⠀⠀⠀"Ew," Willow said, leaning away from Stiles like he was contaminated, and glanced at him from the corner of her eye. "You had a—" she couldn't even finish her sentence, gagging.

⠀⠀⠀"Shut up," Stiles muttered, pushing her shoulder further from him. "It's not like I meant to!"

⠀⠀⠀"Your subconscious did, though," Willow shot back, raising an eyebrow.

⠀⠀⠀"Guys!" Scott called, drawing their attention back to him. "Something happened last night, and I can't remember what."

⠀⠀⠀"What makes you so sure that Derek even has all the answers?" Stiles asked him, leaning over his tray. He pulled them back into an earlier conversation, excluding the sisters.

⠀⠀⠀"Because, during the full moon, he wasn't changed," Scott explained. "He was in total control while I was running around in the middle of the night attacking some totally innocent guy!"

⠀⠀⠀"You don't know that," Stiles tried to tell him, but even his words seemed to falter.

⠀⠀⠀"Like I told Stiles," Willow interrupted them. She looked at Scott rather than the boy beside her, glaring, already knowing where she was going. "Derek is the one who can help you more than any of us. If he's willing to help—"

⠀⠀⠀"No, Derek is dangerous!" Stiles exclaimed, interrupting her before she could plant any ideas into Scott's head. "Did you forget that we got him put in jail?!"

⠀⠀⠀Scott sighed, looking defeated and unsure of what his next steps were.

⠀⠀⠀"I can't go out with Allison," he sighed, coming to at least one conclusion from their conversation. "I have to cancel."

⠀⠀⠀"No! You're not canceling, okay?" Stiles exclaimed, and Willow wondered what he expected Scott to do. He didn't want to get help from Derek, a werewolf, but wanted Scott, a werewolf with no control, to go out with a girl and potentially kill her. "You can't just cancel your entire life. We'll figure it out."

⠀⠀⠀Willow went to argue once more with Stiles when a voice cut her off, saying, "Figure what out?"

⠀⠀⠀Willow turned to see Lydia Martin standing at their table with a small, uncomfortable smile. She waited expectantly for an answer, glancing between the group.

⠀⠀⠀"Just, uh, homework," Scott managed to say.

⠀⠀⠀"Yeah," Stiles nodded slowly. He turned to Scott in surprise as he held his hand to his mouth to keep her from seeing what he said. "Why is she sitting with us?!"

⠀⠀⠀More of Lydia's clique continued to surround the table of supernaturals and Stiles. Allison sat beside Scott, Danny beside Willow, and another guy she didn't know at the head of the table.

⠀⠀⠀That was until Jackson Whittemore walked over and found no open seats left for him. He glared at the guy at the head of the table, waiting a second before snapping at him.

⠀⠀⠀"Get up."

⠀⠀⠀"How come you never ask Danny to get up?" the guy asked, sitting back in his chair, looking relaxed with his leg crossed over the other. He looked up at Jackson with a challenging smirk.

⠀⠀⠀"Because I don't stare at his girlfriend's coin slot," Danny responded with a smirk. Lydia smiled at Danny while the guy scoffed in annoyance and finally left.

⠀⠀⠀Laurel stood the second Jackson sat down. Her nose was up-turned as she looked at her sisters with a steady glare not meant for them.

⠀⠀⠀"I have to go to the library," Laurel explained between her teeth. Then, without further explanation, she left.

⠀⠀⠀Willow and Bridgette were both left in confusion. Their jaws opened, unclear about why Laurel had suddenly abandoned them.

⠀⠀⠀"So, I hear they're saying it's some type of animal attack," Danny said. He dismissed Laurel's sudden departure and moved on to the conversation the group had previously talked about without realizing it. "Probably a cougar."

⠀⠀⠀"I heard mountain lion," Jackson added.

⠀⠀⠀"A cougar is a mountain lion," Lydia corrected him. She sounded annoyed at her boyfriend's ignorance. Lydia caught herself, producing an innocent doe eye, and looked at her boyfriend with a cocked head. "Isn't it?" she asked him like she didn't know the answer.

⠀⠀⠀"Who cares," Jackson blew her off, waving his hand at her as he leaned back onto two legs of his plastic chair. Willow was tempted to make it fly backward. "The guy's probably some homeless tweaker who's gonna die anyway."

⠀⠀⠀Willow rolled her eyes at that. She had never talked to Jackson before that lunch period, and she had hoped she'd never have to. He was pretentious, conceited, and seemed to have a massive stick up his ass.

⠀⠀⠀"Actually," Stiles spoke up, grabbing the table's attention. The first time any of the less popular teenagers at the table had spoken, and all eyes were on him. "I just found out who it is. Check it out."

⠀⠀⠀Stiles handed his phone to Bridgette at the end of the table. Bridgette held it so that everyone could see then hit play.

⠀⠀⠀"The Sheriff's department won't speculate on details of the incident but confirmed the victim, Garrison Meyers, did survive the attack. Meyers was taken to a local hospital where he remains in critical condition."

⠀⠀⠀"I know this guy," Scott muttered under his breath, furrowing his brow.

⠀⠀⠀"You do?" Allison asked from beside him, her hand resting on his bicep to show her sympathy.

⠀⠀⠀"Yeah," he nodded. "When I used to take the bus back when I lived with my dad, he was the driver."

⠀⠀⠀"Maybe that's why—"

⠀⠀⠀"Can we talk about something slightly more fun, please?" Lydia interrupted Willow.

⠀⠀⠀Willow's face contorted into a scowl when Lydia spoke. Lydia didn't even spare her a glance.

⠀⠀⠀"Like, oh, where are we going tomorrow night?" Lydia asked Allison, leaning forwards so she could see Allison on the other side of Scott. "You said you and Scott were hanging out tomorrow night, right?"

⠀⠀⠀"Um, we were thinking of what we were gonna do," Allison nodded, taken aback by Lydia's self invite.

⠀⠀⠀"Well, I am not sitting at home again watching lacrosse videos," Lydia spat. She glanced at her boyfriend then back to Allison. "So, if the four of us are hanging out, we are doing something fun!"

⠀⠀⠀"Hanging out?" Scott asked, put off as well. "Like, the four of us?"

⠀⠀⠀Stiles was physically cringing from the scene unfolding before them while Willow was entertained by the situation. Scott looked like a love-sick puppy, dejected by the idea of having to share Allison's time with another couple.

⠀⠀⠀Stiles started shaking his head adamantly at Scott to signal that wasn't what Scott should agree to. However, Scott didn't even register Stiles' reaction as he looked at Allison. Stiles rubbed his hand over his face when he was ignored. He looked close to screaming into his palm from the second-hand embarrassment.

⠀⠀⠀"Do you wanna hang out, like us and them?" Scott asked Allison.

⠀⠀⠀Allison looked like she didn't know how to respond, staring wide-eyed down the table at Lydia. The latter seemed to wait expectantly for an answer. The answer is yes. Allison shook her head slightly, shrugging her shoulders into her chin, then looked back at Scott.

⠀⠀⠀"Yeah, I guess," Allison answered. "Sounds fun."

⠀⠀⠀"You know what else sounds fun?" Jackson asked, interrupting their planning with a sadistic smile. "Stabbing myself in the face with this fork."

⠀⠀⠀Jackson started to inch the fork closer to his eye, but Lydia forced it from his hand and set it back onto the table.

⠀⠀⠀"How about bowling?" Lydia asked, turning to Jackson. "You love to bowl!"

⠀⠀⠀"Oh, I love bowling!" Bridgette exclaimed from the end of the table.

⠀⠀⠀Willow turned to look at her with wide eyes along with the rest of the teenagers. Bridgette's face turned bright red when she realized she had spoken loud enough for everyone to hear her.

⠀⠀⠀"Do you?" Lydia asked, putting on a fake smile. "I mean, if you have a date, we wouldn't mind having a third couple."

⠀⠀⠀"Really?" Bridgette asked, starry-eyed. "I could ask my, uh, my girlfriend if she'd like to go."

⠀⠀⠀"Are you real competition?" Jackson asked her, snapping his chair back to the floor and leaning over his tray with a glare. His words were directed toward Scott rather than Bridgette, but she still turned nervous at the gaze. "I only bowl with real competition," he explained, finally turning to scowl at Scott.

⠀⠀⠀"How do you know we're not actual competition?" Allison asked him, raising her brow at him. Then, she turned to Scott and asked sweetly, "You can bowl, right?"

⠀⠀⠀"Sort of," Scott muttered with a shrug.

⠀⠀⠀"Is it sort of, or yes?" Jackson asked him, leaning even further over the table to appear more intimidating.

⠀⠀⠀"Yes, in fact, I'm a great bowler!"

⠀⠀⠀Jackson didn't look convinced, smirking as he leaned back in his chair and kept his gaze on Scott's. Willow felt a small smile peeking at the edges of her lips. She covered her mouth with her hand and raised the other enough that it wasn't obvious.

⠀⠀⠀"Caelus, inferus pedi mutat et eum vorsus meus mutat."

⠀⠀⠀Jackson's chair pulled forward, the feet of the chair pulling out from under him as he fell backward in the middle of the cafeteria. Danny was the first to start laughing, allowing the rest of the table to laugh with him without fearing retribution from Jackson.

⠀⠀⠀Jackson was scowling, trying to pull himself up while Lydia rushed over to his side on the toes of her heels and helped him up.

⠀⠀⠀Willow glanced at Scott, raising her eyebrows, and smiled. He smiled back and nodded in thanks. If anything, at least he'd have the memory of Jackson thoroughly embarrassing himself in front of everyone in their class.

AUTHOR'S NOTE —

Hello! I both dislike and like this and the next chapter lol. I really enjoy the dialogue between Willow and Stiles but at the same time they're short and not much happens.

I mention Bridgette going with Scott and the others to the bowling alley. I'm wondering if you guys would like to see her and Mari at the bowling alley together. I haven't written it yet so I'm open to either but it'll make it longer. The next is only 1.2k words tbh whereas this one is 2.7k.

SONG: Tear Me Apart by Night Riots

Thank you for reading! Leave comments telling me your thoughts on this chapter, but however you interact, know that I really appreciate you reading. I hope you enjoy, and until the next one.