❛ Will I always feel you, melancholia? Oh, melancholia. Oh, melancholia. My heart is overflowing, melancholia. ❜

SEASON 2, EPISODE 12
masterplan

STILES WAS MISSING. Stiles was missing.

⠀⠀⠀Willow didn't know how much more of this she could take. First, Laurel, then Matt (she supposed), Jackson, and now Stiles. It was like a never-ending cycle of people going missing, being in danger, dying because of them.

⠀⠀⠀This is what Laurel meant when she didn't want to help Scott anymore. No matter how hard they tried, it seemed that someone would always end up hurt. Even more so because they were in the ones in the middle of it.

⠀⠀⠀After the news about Stiles, Willow stayed as close to Scott as she could, the only person around she trusted left. She and Isaac made a truce, but that wasn't more than a handshake, Ms. McCall had left with Lydia to the hospital after Jackson, and Mr. Stilinski was busy being a Sheriff.

⠀⠀⠀Scott and Willow stood with Mr. Stilinski and Isaac in the boy's locker room, and Willow didn't really care if the whole lacrosse team was staring at her. They weren't. Everyone was as devastated and worried about Jackson and Stiles as she was.

⠀⠀⠀Mr. Stilinski was talking to the three teenagers, previously trying to push Willow to go home because he really didn't think she needed to be strung through anything else these days, but Willow felt so out of it that it didn't really matter if she was there or not. Actually, she thought driving home might get her in a wreck due to her head being so clouded.

⠀⠀⠀Willow listened to them talk, hearing what they said but not fully processing. Kind of like the sound of adults talking on Charlie Brown. Her head rattled around with the notion that Dillon or Blair had escaped whatever prison set-up they had been escorted to for the time between now and Laurel's trial. They didn't hurt him before, but they might now.

⠀⠀⠀"I've got to meet with the medical examiner and try to figure out what happened with Jackson. I've got an APB out on Stiles. His Jeep is still in the parking lot, so that means—" the Sheriff cut himself off, shaking his head. "Hell, I don't know what that means. Um, look, if he answers his phone. If he answers his emails. If you see him—"

⠀⠀⠀"We'll call you," Isaac assured him with a slight nod.

⠀⠀⠀"Look, he's probably just freaked out from all the attention or something," Scott told Mr. Stilinski, and Willow knew he was just trying to reassure the man, but it hurt. Poison boiled into her chest, and she knew from the stinging that it wasn't nothing. It was either the witch hunters or something even worse. "We'll find him."

⠀⠀⠀"Yeah," Mr. Stilinski nodded, sighing. "I'll see you, okay?" he said, pointing a finger at Willow before he departed. "And keep an eye on her."

⠀⠀⠀Scott nodded, and Mr. Stilinski left them alone. They weren't even allowed a second to talk when Coach walked over and stood nervously in front of Scott. It was a strange sight to behold.

⠀⠀⠀"McCall. We need you on the team, okay?" Coach told him, holding his hand out to him.

⠀⠀⠀Willow wondered how much pain he was going through after Jackson died on the field and how much he buried beneath the thick skin he always showed them.

⠀⠀⠀"You know I can't put you on the field next season if you don't get your grades up," Coach continued.

⠀⠀⠀"Yeah, I know, Coach," Scott assured him with a small smile, relieved by the lighter conversation for the moment.

⠀⠀⠀"All right," Coach replied, nodding, about to walk away before he stopped and turned back. "I mean, I-I know I yell a lot, but it's not like I hate you guys. Well, I kind of hate Greenberg, but, you know, that's different. It's Greenberg. I'm just saying we—I need you on the team. Get your grades back up."

⠀⠀⠀"I will," Scott said with a nod.

⠀⠀⠀Coach finally left them with that showing only a hint of how he was feeling about everything that had happened, but they could all see the weight pushing him down.

⠀⠀⠀Then, the locker room cleared out, leaving only the two werewolves and the witch alone together.

⠀⠀⠀"Is that everyone?" Scott asked, watching as the last few people trickled out.

⠀⠀⠀"I think so," Isaac nodded, turning around when Scott ripped the door off Stiles' locker.

⠀⠀⠀"He knows the username and password to your phone, but you don't even know his locker combination?" Willow asked, staring at the torn apart door with wide eyes.

⠀⠀⠀Scott rolled his eyes and pulled out one of Stiles' shirts.

⠀⠀⠀"You're gonna find him by scent?" Isaac asked.

⠀⠀⠀"Yeah," Scott nodded, handing him Stiles' shoe. "We both are.

⠀⠀⠀Isaac paused, looking between the items in their hands, and asked, "But how come you get his shirt and I get a shoe?"

⠀⠀⠀Willow and Scott ignored him as she spoke up, eyes burning, and she sighed loudly, rubbing them with her fists as she did.

⠀⠀⠀"I can try using a pendulum," Willow told Scott, removing her hands in annoyance as the tears clung to her face. She was tired of it. "Um, there's one in Lau—" she stopped herself, taking in a deep breath. "Her locker."

⠀⠀⠀"I can go with you, Sabrina," Isaac told her softly. He had wanted to come up with some excuse like, 'We don't know what's out there or anything else but the tense silence that both knew it was because it was in Laurel's locker.

⠀⠀⠀Willow nodded, taking the offer, and the two turned to leave but stopped in their tracks as Derek suddenly appeared behind them.

⠀⠀⠀"We need to talk," he told them simply, his jaw set in anger.

⠀⠀⠀"All of us."

⠀⠀⠀Peter Hale stepped out from behind the lockers, Willow and Scott's eyes widening at the sight of him.

⠀⠀⠀"Holy shit!" Willow exclaimed, laughing slightly at the sight of him, and took a step back.

⠀⠀⠀"What the hell is this?" Scott asked, looking frantically between Derek and the very much not dead Peter.

⠀⠀⠀"You know," Derek said, smirking at Scott as if he found what Scott said to be amusing. "I thought the same thing when I saw you talking to Gerard at the Sheriff's Station."

⠀⠀⠀"Okay, hold on," Scott stopped Derek from continuing. "He-He threatened to kill my mom, and I had to get close to him. What was I supposed to do?"

⠀⠀⠀"I'm gonna go with Scott on this one," Peter piped in. "Have you seen his mom? She's gorgeous."

⠀⠀⠀Willow nodded in response to his comment out of force of habit while the other three yelled 'shut up' at Peter. And without Stiles there to chastise her, Scott turned to glare at her. Willow quickly shook her head.

⠀⠀⠀"Who is he?" Isaac asked, leaning his head over Scott's shoulder to whisper to him.

⠀⠀⠀"That's Peter, Derek's uncle," Scott introduced, holding his hand out toward him. "Little while back, he tried to kill us all, then Willow—uh, Derek slashed his throat, killing him."

⠀⠀⠀"Hi," Peter replied, waving his hand to Isaac with a toothy grin.

⠀⠀⠀"That's good to know," Isaac muttered, glancing from Peter to Willow with a quizzical gaze wondering why Scott had mentioned her first.

⠀⠀⠀She knew why. Willow had set Peter on fire, but Scott didn't want to say that because while it was true, it indirectly reminded her of Laurel. Either way, it would've reminded her of Laurel.

⠀⠀⠀"How is he alive?" Scott asked.

⠀⠀⠀"Look, the short version is he knows how to stop Jackson," Derek explained hastily, tired of the back and forth. "And maybe how to save him."

⠀⠀⠀A lump formed in Willow's throat. Seeing Peter in front of her, alive when she clearly saw Derek kill him, was starting a sort of hope in her mind that she didn't want. Laurel coming back might be a possibility, but it would never be. She didn't know the ends and outs of Peter's resurrection, but it most likely had to do with his healing abilities.

⠀⠀⠀Willow shook her head, trying to rid the thought from her mind, but it lingered tauntingly because she knew no one could be raised from the dead.

⠀⠀⠀Not really.

⠀⠀⠀"Well, that's very helpful except Jackson's dead," Isaac stated blandly.

⠀⠀⠀"What?"

⠀⠀⠀"Yeah, Jackson's dead," Scott nodded. "It just happened on the field."

⠀⠀⠀"Okay," Isaac said after a few seconds of silence. "Why is no one taking this as good news?"

⠀⠀⠀"Because if Jackson's dead, it didn't just happen," Peter let out an annoyed sigh between his words. "Gerard wanted it to happen."

⠀⠀⠀"But why?" Derek hissed.

⠀⠀⠀"Well, that's exactly what we need to figure out," Peter stated. "And something tells me the window of opportunity is closing. Quickly."

⠀⠀⠀The werewolves started to leave the locker room, but Willow stayed firmly planted where she stood. Her hand clenched at her sides, nails pinching into her palms, and broke the skin.

⠀⠀⠀Only Scott noticed her not following as the rest exited, leaving them alone.

⠀⠀⠀"Willow?" he called to her, walking back into the room to stand in front of her.

⠀⠀⠀"I'm not coming," Willow whispered, keeping her head down as she spoke.

⠀⠀⠀"What do you mean?" Scott asked softly, voice dripping in concern.

⠀⠀⠀"I need to—" Willow began, swallowing the lump in her throat. "I need to find him."

⠀⠀⠀"Okay," Scott said. His hands had moved to her shoulders and squeezed tightly to reassure her he was there. "I'll go with you then."

⠀⠀⠀Willow looked up, scoffing as she rolled her eyes.

⠀⠀⠀"You really trust those three idiots to do what needs to be done?" she asked.

⠀⠀⠀Scott let out a small sigh, staring at her steadily to tell her he wasn't changing her mind.

⠀⠀⠀"Scott," Willow told him sternly. "You need to go with them. I can handle, Stiles."

⠀⠀⠀"Fine," Scott muttered, not wanting to agree with her, but she was right. One of them, most likely Peter, would fuck everything up. "You have a car?"

⠀⠀⠀"Yeah," Willow nodded, looking behind her to the door. "I just need to grab a pendulum from her locker."

⠀⠀⠀"I'll walk with you," Scott told her, but she shook her head.

⠀⠀⠀"No, no, go before it's too late," Willow whispered, her voice breaking as she tried to push him back.

⠀⠀⠀"I'm coming with you," Scott told her again, and this time he wouldn't budge.

⠀⠀⠀Willow sighed, complying. Scott smiled, holding his hand out to her. Willow didn't hold his hand out toward him, so Scott took her hand and raised it. It took a minute, but she finally released her nails from her skin and allowed the blood to pool from her palms.

⠀⠀⠀Scott let out a small, knowing laugh. He didn't find humor in her pain, but he could relate to her because they had a similar coping mechanism. Mainly it was his claws, and it hurt a lot worse, but he understood.

⠀⠀⠀"Come on," he told her, taking her hand anyway.

⠀⠀⠀Willow knew Scott thought he was slick with how he did that, leading her through the dark halls of the school, but she could see the black veins running up his hands. He was trying to relieve her of the pain, yet there was no relief to give.

"COME ON, STILES. Come on," Willow muttered, wiping her eyes and parking at a green light. No one was on the road as she turned in her seat to the passenger's seat as she held the pendulum over a stupid drawing he had made her in middle school that was stuffed in the glove compartment.

⠀⠀⠀"Is Stiles ahead of me?"

⠀⠀⠀It swung, yes.

⠀⠀⠀Willow sighed in relief.

⠀⠀⠀It had taken her nearly half an hour in the school's parking lot to get the thing to even work. After that, she wasn't even sure if it was listening to her or if her hands were just shaking so bad they made the pendulum swing. But right now, this was all she had before going completely insane.

⠀⠀⠀Willow looked out of the front window and jumped when she saw a person walking her way in the middle of the street. Her headlights were on, but the person was only a silhouette, so she turned on the brights to illuminate them.

⠀⠀⠀Stiles raised his hand, groaning as the lights practically blinded him, and he took a couple of stumbling steps back. Meanwhile, Willow hastily unbuckled herself with shaking hands, throwing her car door open, and ran to him, throwing her arms around him in relief.

⠀⠀⠀"Stiles!" Willow exclaimed when she barreled into him, her arms around his waist and squeezing him so tightly because she worried he'd disappear when she pulled back. "Don't ever do that to me again," she whispered into his neck.

⠀⠀⠀"I won't," he whispered. "I promise."

⠀⠀⠀They didn't stay together long, Willow pulling back, but his arms were still resting over her waist as she looked over his face. He looked nearly as bad as she did from Blair's physical torment that was still healing. She frowned, her hands still shaking as she rested her fingertips on his cheek, brushing over the blue and red bruise.

⠀⠀⠀"What happened?" Willow asked him shakily. "Please."

⠀⠀⠀Stiles sighed, his hands falling from her, and he ran his hand over his head, trying to find the words. If it were any other situation, any other day, Willow wouldn't have pushed him to answer, but she needed to know. She needed to know it wasn't them.

⠀⠀⠀"Gerard kidnapped me and beat the shit out of me."

⠀⠀⠀Willow let out a sigh of relief, and Stiles didn't comment on it.

⠀⠀⠀"Why?" she asked after a minute.

⠀⠀⠀Stiles rolled his eyes, shaking his head as tears started to form. He looked away, taking in a deep breath as he thought about it. Then he laughed. He laughed, and it made Willow's stomach drop.

⠀⠀⠀"He wanted to show Scott he couldn't protect everyone," Stiles explained, clenching his teeth as he looked back at her with wild brown eyes.

⠀⠀⠀Willow didn't know what else to say. So, instead, she asked, "Why don't I take you home?"

⠀⠀⠀Stiles sighed and nodded.

"WOULD YOU—?"

⠀⠀⠀"Of course," Willow assured her, parking the car and following him inside.

⠀⠀⠀They walked through the front door, up the stairs, and into Stiles' room, where they found his dad on the phone. They had just entered as Mr. Stilinski, "Oh, come on, Stiles. Where the hell are you?"

⠀⠀⠀"Right here," Stiles said.

⠀⠀⠀Willow stayed in the hall as Mr. Stilinski turned back to them, dumbstruck to see his son. He crossed the room, looking over the bright red blotch on the side of Stiles' cheek that was worse than Willow initially thought.

⠀⠀⠀"It's okay. Dad, it's okay," Stiles tried to tell him.

⠀⠀⠀"Who did it?" Mr. Stilinski demanded, his face contorting into a rage as he glared indirectly at his son.

⠀⠀⠀"It's okay. It was just a couple of kids from the other team," Stiles explained, lying with ease for once. "You know, they were really pissed about losing, and I was—I was mouthing off, you know. The next thing I know—"

⠀⠀⠀"Who was it?" Mr. Stilinski cut him off.

⠀⠀⠀"Dad, I don't know. I didn't even see them, really," Stiles explained, shrugging his shoulders.

⠀⠀⠀"I want descriptions."

⠀⠀⠀"Look, Dad, come on," Stiles complained. "It's not even that bad."

⠀⠀⠀"I-I'm calling the school. I'm calling them, and I'll personally go down there, and I'm gonna pistol whip these little bastards!" Mr. Stilinski screamed in his face, so much rage and fuel inside him that Stiles looked like he didn't even know what else to do.

⠀⠀⠀"Dad! I just—" Stiles yelled back, catching himself before he and his dad got into a screaming match that wasn't even meant for them. "I said I was okay," Stiles continued, softer, and his voice broke at the end, too.

⠀⠀⠀Mr. Stilinski finally relented, hearing how tired his son was, and instead pulled Stiles into a tight, fatherly hug. He held him tightly to his chest, eyes shut closed for only a moment before he opened them again. He found Willow, smiled at her softly, and mouthed 'thank you to her. Willow didn't know what else to do but give him a tight smile and nodded because she didn't do anything.

WILLOW HAD TURNED on Nothing Personal in Stiles' CD player then ran downstairs to get a first aid kit from his dad. The door was left open like his dad always had them do, even now since they weren't trusted to have it closed, even with everything that had happened.

⠀⠀⠀Willow sat on the edge of the bed with Stiles, cleaning the side of his face with an antiseptic wipe. Her hand rested on Stiles' chin, angling it so she could look at his wound from where she was sitting. He stared down and to the side as she tended to him and Willow noticed. Her skin burned, but she didn't think too much about it.

⠀⠀⠀His breath shuddered from parted lips as her fingers grazed down his jaw, and she moved onto the edge of his lip. Willow hadn't looked at him since she started, but she did for a moment while cleaning his lip before quickly turning away.

⠀⠀⠀Willow removed her hands from him, both feeling cold from the loss. She turned away and closed the first aid kit. Then Willow turned back to him, resting her hands on both sides of his face, and looked straight into his eyes as he stared back at her, his eyes widening significantly.

⠀⠀⠀"Um, I'm not very good at this," Willow explained hesitantly, unable to look away from him, but the longer she stared at him, the more guilt piled onto her. "But it should help with the pain."

⠀⠀⠀Stiles didn't respond, so she closed her eyes and whispered, "Vulnus purga. Carnem penitus sana."

⠀⠀⠀Her eyes opened, and she was looking back at him, now with a slight smile on his face.

⠀⠀⠀"Thanks," Stiles whispered, pressing his hand over hers.

⠀⠀⠀Willow smiled back, a moment of silence as they continued to stare at each other. Then, suddenly, a light bulb went off in Willow's head, and she was jumping away from him.

⠀⠀⠀"Oh!" Willow exclaimed, standing up from beside him and spinning on her feet until she found her purse. She ran over to it, digging through it before pulling out a thin piece of plastic and pulling a sheet from it. "Halloween band-aids!" she cheered, peeling the backs off and pressing it against his cheek.

⠀⠀⠀It didn't cover the wound... at all, but Stiles smiled widely at the sentiment.

⠀⠀⠀"Um, hi," a timid voice called from the door.

⠀⠀⠀Willow and Stiles turned to see Lydia at the door, her face bright red and tears at the edges of her eyes as she looked between the two.

⠀⠀⠀"Hey," Stiles called, standing to his feet beside Willow.

⠀⠀⠀"Your father let me in," she explained.

⠀⠀⠀Stiles nodded, not sure what else to say.

⠀⠀⠀"What happened to you—" Lydia muttered, narrowing her eyes to look at the wound and the odd band-aid in the middle of his face.

⠀⠀⠀"Oh, uh—yeah, no, it's nothing. Don't worry about it. I'm fine," Stiles reassured her.

⠀⠀⠀Willow walked over to Lydia, worried for her. They had separated after Jackson died on the field, and now Willow wondered what the hell she was doing here.

⠀⠀⠀"Are you okay?" Willow asked her, forcing Lydia to look at her. "Do you need a ride home?"

⠀⠀⠀"Um, no," Lydia told her shakily. "They won't let me see him. I'm supposed to give him something. He kept asking for it back," she explained, raising a key for the two of them to see.

⠀⠀⠀Stiles suddenly shot off to the bathroom, digging around in the cabinets but only returned with a roll of toilet paper.

⠀⠀⠀"Sorry, I didn't have any tissues, so, uh—" he muttered, holding them out to Lydia.

⠀⠀⠀Lydia stared at the roll, amused, then took them.

⠀⠀⠀"That's fine," she assured him, pulling some off and started dabbing at the edges of her eyes. "God, I'm such a mess," she muttered.

⠀⠀⠀"You're allowed to be a mess," Willow told her, knowing all too well. "Your boyfriend."

⠀⠀⠀"Ex-boyfriend," Lydia corrected her quickly.

⠀⠀⠀"Ex-boyfriend just died."

⠀⠀⠀Lydia nodded and sighed as she still tried to compose herself. Her phone beeped and pulled it from her pocket, staring with furrowed eyes at her phone. She then frowned, reading the message she received before looking up at them.

⠀⠀⠀"You're gonna want to read this," she told them, showing them her phone.

⠀⠀⠀JACKSON'S ALIVE.

⠀⠀⠀Willow and Stiles read over the message a few times, too, to try and understand what it meant, but it seemed to suggest exactly as it read. They both stared at Lydia, taking a moment to think over what to do next.

⠀⠀⠀"How much do you know about this stuff?" Stiles asked Lydia.

⠀⠀⠀"Pieces," Lydia admitted. "Half of it's like a dream."

⠀⠀⠀"Yeah, well, guess what?" Stiles started, beginning to get riled up. "The other half is a freaking nightmare!"

⠀⠀⠀"I don't care," Lydia told him, shaking her head. "I can help him."

⠀⠀⠀"I'll help you," Willow reassured Lydia.

⠀⠀⠀"See, that's the problem. You-You don't care about getting hurt," Stiles interrupted them, looking between them before stopping to stare at Willow. "But do you know how I'll feel? I'll be devastated. And if you die, I will literally go out of my freakin' mind.

⠀⠀⠀"You see, death doesn't happen to you, Willow. It happens to everyone around you, and you know that. It happens to all the people left standing at your funeral, trying to figure out how they're gonna live the rest of their lives now without you in it.

⠀⠀⠀"And look at my face!" Stiles exclaimed, pointing at the wound she had tended to as he took a few steps too close, getting in her face. "Come on, you actually think this was meant to hurt me? ...Um—"

⠀⠀⠀Stiles stopped, recognizing he had gone too far, and stopped, backing up. He looked at Willow, his jaw slack and eyes wide, then he turned to Lydia, who was staring back at him with a similar expression as his own.

⠀⠀⠀He turned back to Willow, flopping his mouth open and closed like a fish before finally saying, "I'm so sorry."

⠀⠀⠀"It's fine," Willow told him coldly. "We'll find him with or without you."

⠀⠀⠀"Hey, Willow!" Stiles shouted as Willow took Lydia's hand in her own and rushed out of his room. "Lydia! Wait!"

AUTHOR'S NOTE —

Um, soft Stiles and Willow is now my passion. I love them. Tbh I totally forgot about how this scene in Stiles' room went and it made me so happy, I love it so much ughhh.

SONG: melancholia by Aidan Alexander

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.