Chapter 10: The Tell

Hahahaha figured I'd post this early for you. Have fun Angel_Winchester_03

Also, dedicated for being the biggest bean.

~SiriusCatBennett

~Lydia's POV~

"Now, Hoosiers is not only the best basketball movie ever...it is the best sports movie ever made." I don't know why he thought I would change my mind. I wasn't watching some sweaty sports movie.

"No." Staring haughtily forward, I glanced in the rearview mirror to see Rae biting her lip, trying to hold in a smile.

"It's got Jean Hackman and Dennis Hopper." And I care, why?

"No." Pursing my lips, I kept my gaze out the window, ignoring Jackson's irate expressions.

"Lydia. I swear to god you're gonna like it-"

"No." If I had to constantly sit and watch his dumb lacrosse videos, he would have to deal with this.

"I am not watching The Notebook again!" Staring ahead, I glanced at him from the corner of my eye, knowing I would get my way. "I mean, Rae doesn't even wanna watch it."

Spinning around in my driver's seat, I fixed my sister with a steely gaze. At the abrupt movement, she stopped smiling as a fearful but amused expression came over her. "Is that true?"

"Well, I mean, yeah." Glancing over at Jackson I noticed his triumphant expression. Apparently, my sister did as well. "But that doesn't mean I want to watch Jackson's movie either. I want to watch The Breakfast Club."

Looking back at her, I nodded with my head slightly tilted. At least that was a good choice.

Turning back around to face Jackson, I simply stared at him, a twinkle in my eye as I waited for him to get out of the car. Finally, he gave a loud huff, rolled his eyes with a clenched jaw and threw open the car door.

"Hey, hold up. I'm coming with!" Rae exclaimed, trying to climb over the seats instead of pushing it forward. Raising an eyebrow at her, I watched all 12 seconds of shimmying before she succeeded, climbing out of the VW Bug.

Pulling out my phone, I focused all of my attention on how good I looked. I looked damn good. I should take some pictures.

Getting to work on what I thought should be my top priority, I never even noticed what was happening right in front of me.

~Rae's POV~

Jogging to catch up with the broody jock, I pushed open the door to the movie store, hearing him ask where to find The Notebook.

Scoffing, I continued on down the aisles, attempting to find The Breakfast Club.

Oh yeah, I was still getting it.

What Jackson always seemed to forget was that every time Lydia watched this, she would cry and then fall asleep on one or both of us. This gave the opportunity to watch a different movie; one without her say.

Running my fingers over the plastic covers, I passed lots of great movies. The Goonies. Never Ending Story. Lord of the Rings.

Ignoring Jackson's yells for help, I continued scouring the shelves. Instead of yelling, why didn't he just-I don't know-look?

Walking past a ladder, I looked up, confused by the sound of electricity. Frowning, I looked back down. Why would someone leave a light hanging like that?

Continuing on to the next shelf, I caught Jackson's eye as he sent me a small wiggle of his head, clearly displeased with having to watch Lydia's favorite movie again. Running into something, I looked down.

Screaming, I jumped back, falling on my ass as I knocked over the ladder, causing the light to crash and small pieces of glass to impale themselves in my skin.

I'd run into a dead body.

Staring straight forward, shock setting into my body, it took me a moment to process who else was in front of me.

Shaking my shoulders violently, Jackson was trying to get my attention. "Come on. Get up. We've gotta go! Now!"

Letting him pull me to my feet, my eyes never left the man's face. His throat had been slashed open. Dead blurred eyes stared blankly at the movies he had once placed on the shelves.

I now noticed that the power had gone out, immersing us in the heart of darkness. Flickers of light bounced off the walls every now and again, creating eerie specters and shadows. I would assume the light I broke had something to do with that.

Thinking about my sister outside and Jackson trying to pull me through the building, I became a little more coherent. Ripping my eyes away from the man, I started actually following Jackson, instead of him having to drag me along behind him.

Jackson suddenly paused, turning around to look behind him as if he'd heard a sound. Terrified to follow his eye line, I hid myself behind his shoulder, hand squeezed tightly within his own, before I allowed myself to glance.

I wish I hadn't.

There in the flickering of the lights, was a giant beast. A giant beast..with red eyes. It looked like nothing I'd ever seen before. With a mighty growl, it put one foot(?) forward. That was all it took to spur Jackson into motion.

Pulling me behind him, he threw us behind a shelf, pushing me down as he sat. For a moment, all I could hear was Jackson's heavy, terrified breathing and electricity crackling all around us.

Taking a shuddering breath, I just stared forward, in complete shock. My brain couldn't register what was going on.

Turning to look at Jackson slowly, trying to find reassurance I wasn't crazy and that we would be okay, I noticed him looking around the corner. Something made him jump back. Closing his eyes for a second, he turned to look at me.

"We need to get out of here." He whispered gruffly. "That...thing...it's gonna kill us if we don't." Eyes wild, I'd never seen Jackson so scared. All I could do was nod my head with wild eyes of my own. I didn't want to die.

Keeping my eyes on his face to try and keep myself sane, I waited for him to try and come up with something. My mind was too hazy to think of a plan.

Not moving my eyesight, I jumped as some movies fell on the both of us, hearing more fall from the shelves behind us. Trying not to hyperventilate, I strengthened my grip on Jackson's hand, my other gripping his arm for dear life.

A few seconds went by before I started hearing a crashing sound. Jackson, who had been looking around the corner, quickly threw my body out into the open as multiple shelves crushed his body.

"Jackson!" I yelled, regretting it almost instantly. The first word I had spoken, and it might get me killed. Frantically, I tried pulling Jackson out, tried prying the shelves off of him, but they were too heavy. He was stuck.

"Hey. Hey! You've gotta go! You've gotta get out! Take Lydia and go!" Jackson shouted, trying to push himself out and towards me.

"No, no! I can't leave you here with that thing." Grabbing him under his arms, I tried yet again to pull him out; failing. We'd managed to move him an inch or two, but his legs were crushed. Jackson cried out in pain.

"My foot's stuck. My foot's stuck. You've gotta go. Now!" Beginning to cry, I started to hear puffing coming from next to me. Before I had the chance to look up, my body was sent flying through the air, back crashing into a pole. Crying out in pain, my body crumpled to the floor as tears fell from my eyes. Not being able to move, I could only watch as this creature stalked towards me.

Whimpering, I tried to move, only to cry out from the excruciating pain in my spine. Screwing my eyes shut, I popped them back open. Now, the giant, terrifying thing was right in front of me. Screeching softly, I waited for my death to come.

But it never did.

Instead, it simply stared at me, with those bright, blood-red eyes.

"Get away from her!" At the shout from across the room, the animal, or whatever you could call it, was startled, growling as it flipped back around.

Whimpering, I watched as it stalked closer to Jackson. Hoping it wouldn't hurt him, I watched in confusion as it took one claw and pulled down the back of his shirt. Looking at something there, I was troubled at how utterly human the motion seemed. It was too cognitive.

The creature only looked for a second more, glanced at me once with what I could swear was a smirk, and then ran, jumping out the window as an ear-piercing scream rang through the night.

()()()()()()()()()()

~Stiles' POV~

Sitting in the police cruiser with my dad, I searched through the fast-food bag trying to find my burger.

Pulling it out, at last, I raised it in a small victory.

"Mm. Did they forget my curly fries?" Talking through an open mouth, my father wore an inquisitive expression.

"You're not supposed to eat fries," I told him. "Especially the curly ones." Looking back to the bag, I began searching for the napkins.

"Well. I am carrying a lethal weapon. If I want the curly fries, I will have the curly fries."

I looked at him in exasperation, raising my cup of soda. "If you think getting rid of contractions in all your sentences makes your argument any more legitimate, you are wrong."

Glancing away from his squinted eyes, I kept looking for the napkins. Did they just not give us napkins? What kind of restaurant doesn't give people napkins?

Giving up, I looked back, knowing I had won the argument. Letting out a little laugh, I stuck my straw between my teeth, pulling on it as I drank. Hearing the radio go off, I reached out to grab it, fumbling my food and drink.

Before I could grab it however, my dad slapped my hand away, clearing his throat as he looked at me with a 'really' look on his face.

"Sorry." Leaning back, I made sure to pay close attention to the conversation, stuffing my face with the curly fries I could have.

"Unit one, copy."

"We've got a report of a possible 1-87." Flinging my face towards him, fries spilled out of my mouth as I tried to speak.

"A murder?!" Eyes blown out, my dad ignored me as he finished the call, taking off down the road.

"Dad, a 1-87 is a murder. Someone's dead?!"

"Stiles, I know what a 1-87 is. Now just keep your mouth shut and stay here." Looking at me pointedly, he got out of the car as I looked around. There were so many people here.

Looking over the ambulances, I noticed Jackson and Lydia in one. Jackson was yelling at the EMT. Of course he was. "Oh, no way."

Barely making out Jackson's words to my father, I grew slightly angry as he yelled at him.

Getting out of the car, I couldn't believe he'd just called him a minimum wage rent-a-cop. He's the sheriff!

Becoming quickly distracted, I noted a gurney being wheeled out of the building. "Oh woah, is that a dead body?!" My father glanced at the gurney before looking back to me, disappointed.

Disappointed in myself, I looked down, before looking back up again.

What I saw would never leave my eyes. It would be forever burned into my retinas and every time I blinked or closed my eyes it would be all I could see.

Red hair was spilled out over a stretcher, blood coating the petite girl's arms and face. Expression screwed up in pain, she was unmoving but very obviously alive.

Running around the car door, I slammed it shut before rushing across the parking lot. Ignoring my dad's yell of my name, I continued to her, knowing he wouldn't care once he saw who it was I was running to.

Arriving at her side, I followed the EMT's to the other ambulance as they put her inside. Climbing in, I didn't listen when they told me I couldn't be in here. My dad would tell them to let me stay. Sitting beside Rae, I carefully grabbed her hand, careful not to hurt her as they began hooking her up to things.

At the feeling of my hand grasping her own, she pushed her eyes open, squinting them in pain. "Stiles."

I winced at the sound of her voice. It would always sound perfect to me, but there was so much pain in the one syllable, so much strain. 

It was hard for her to speak.

Freaking out, I tried to just put a smile on my face as I quickly scanned her body. "Wha-what happened? What happened to you? Are you okay?"

Despite whatever injuries she had, she smiled up at me. "You're cute when you ramble, ya know." Closing her eyes in content, I glanced up at the EMT.

They had hooked her up to morphine.

She didn't know what she was saying.

"Sure. Okay. Rae?" I tried to get her attention as the back doors of the ambulance shut. "Rae? What happened? Everyone's going to need to know. And I need to know. Rae!"

Finally getting her attention, she rolled her head a little to look at me, wincing only slightly. Her eyes seemed to fade out, glazing over as she stared over my shoulder at the wall.

"We, uh. We were there..for a movie. Lydia wanted The Notebook so Jackson was trying to find it. I went to try and find a different one." Rae paused for a moment, her stare never wavering, never blinking. "I ran into him. I didn't mean to." A single tear fell from her eye as she continued. "He was on the ground. I-I fell. I knocked over a light. Jackson got me up." After this, her breathing began to pick up, unfocused eyes becoming wilder as I gripped her hand tighter. "There was this thing." Abruptly, her eyes focused on my face. "It had red eyes, Stiles. Red eyes." At this, my eyes widened, terrified that she had come so close to the beast we were trying to fight. She looked back to the wall. "Jackson pulled us be-behind a shelf. But they fell down. He pushed me out, but he got stuck. I-I tried to get him out." Rae whines and I began rubbing the back of her knuckles. "His foot was stuck. I heard something, and the next thing I knew I was being thrown across the store. I slammed my back into a pillar. It was so weird. It just looked right at me, and I swear it smirked. It looked at the back of Jackson's neck, and then it just took off." Rae's eyes remained unfocused as she continued staring off into space. Neither of us said anything the rest of the ride, and she didn't blink, not a single time.

It was really scary.

When we got to the hospital, they wouldn't let me in the room with her. Said I had to go to the waiting room. 

So I did. I would wait all night if I had to. 

Tapping my foot on the ground, I fiddled with my fingers and stared at the wall in front of me.

She'd almost been killed. By the Alpha. I had to tell Scott.

Ripping my phone from my pocket, I sent a message to the teen wolf. 

To Wolf Boy 🐺: Rae's in the hospital. The Alpha almost killed her. He killed someone at the video store.

Slipping it back in my pocket, I resumed my staring at the wall, foot tapping in anxiety. It wasn't long before Jackson and Lydia showed up.

Lydia looked distraught and out of it while Jackson looked angry and worried. Lydia sat down as soon as she got the chance, having been led by Jackson, and began staring at a wall like her sister had earlier. Jackson quickly began pacing up and down the waiting room.

My phone chiming caught his attention, enough for him to scoff lowly before continuing his pacing with a shake of his head. Pulling out my phone, I read the text from Scott.

Wolf Boy 🐺: I know. I was there. Derek had to grab me so I wouldn't jump off the roof. How is she?

To Wolf Boy 🐺: I don't know, they won't let me in to see her. I'm hoping we'll be able to go in soon. Lydia and Jackson are here too.

Locking the screen, I just held the phone in my hand, awaiting any text I might receive.

About an hour and a half later a voice broke through the anxiety-filled silence. "Is anyone here for Raeanne Martin?"

Jumping up, I faced a young mocha-colored woman. "Rae. She likes to be called Rae." The nurse nodded her head before looking behind me; I'd assume at the other two people here for Rae.

"You can come back now. She's been given a sedative so she's almost asleep, but you might be able to talk to her." Giving us a kind smile, she led us to a door down the hall. Room 207.

Opening the door, I was the first through, rushing to sit in the chair beside her bed. Groggily, her head turned towards me, a bright smile lighting up her face. "Hii." She breathed out, all tension seemingly gone from her body.

"Hi." Smiling down at her, I took one of her hands and was surprised when she laced it together with her own, a blush coating my cheeks. She glanced down at where they met, a sweet look on her face that made me swoon.

"So what'd they say? Are you going to be alright?" Jackson's gruff voice came from behind me, arms crossed as his face hardened. If I could guess, he seemed genuinely worried, protective, and pissed at what he didn't know was the Alpha.

I was honestly surprised. He and Rae were usually always at each other's throats. But I guess when I thought about it, they did love each other.

Rae giggled. "Yeah. I feel perfect." Laughing, she turned to look at me, a look in her eyes that I couldn't decipher, a lightness I'd never seen in them before. "They said I was lucky. Said if I'd hit differently, I could've broken my back." Flinching at her words, she didn't seem to mind as she just kept staring at me.

"Why are you staring at me?" I asked, blushing more the longer she looked at me like that.

"Because you're pretty." If a heart could stop without a person dying, mine would have. I felt it stutter at the gorgeous redhead's words, my eyes growing slightly larger as I leaned closer to her.

Rae giggled before looking at Jackson. "Hey, how'd you get out? I'm like, super strong, and you were stuck." Looking down, a smile stretched across my face. She was so high.

A smile grew on Jackson's face as he looked at the tiny looking girl. "The super super strong guys got me out." He told her, a flash in his eyes that went out in a moment.

"Ooh." She pointed at him from where her hand rested on the bed. "That makes sense." Making a 'chh' noise with her mouth, she turned back to me. "Stiles, they're making me stay here. But I want to go home." Pouting up at me, puppy dog eyes on full display, I slipped out of my chair, quickly righting myself.

"It's just for tonight though, right?" I wondered. How badly was she actually hurt?

"Yeah. They said I could go to school tomorrow." Her eyes brighten slightly, but then she frowned. "But I have to wear some brace thing for my back." Inhaling sharply, I tried to pierce through her blankets, clothing, and body to see just how bad her spine was messed up.

"A brace? What's wrong?" Jackson asked, stepping closer to the bed as his eyebrows furrowed.

"Something about bruising on the bones. Soft tissue damage. I should be healed in about three weeks. I should be able to take off the brace in a week or two, but who knows, ya know?" Rae yawned a big yawn at the end, obviously growing tired. As her eyes closed, I turned around to face Jackson.

"Thank you." Turning towards me, he looked surprised. "For looking out for her. Trying to protect her." Looking to the corner of the room, Lydia was still just staring off into space, not having said a word. "You should get her home." I nodded in her direction. "I'll stay here, make sure Rae's alright."

Jackson took a moment, looking between all of us before he begrudgingly nodded his head. "Yeah, I should." Jackson started towards Lydia before he turned in my direction. "I never told you this...but you're good for her. She's always been happier when she's around you. Don't mess that up, or I'll personally beat your ass."

Smiling, I looked down at the sleeping girl next to me. "Don't worry, I'd beat you to it."

Looking at her, I didn't notice when they left. I didn't notice when a nurse came to check her vitals, handing me a blanket. I didn't notice when Melissa set a cup of water down for me. I just watched her, wanting to make sure nothing hurt her, even if it was in her sleep. I watched her, waiting for any twitch or noise of pain so I could alert someone, not wanting her to be uncomfortable.

At some point, I grew drowsy, setting my head down next to her on the bed. Kissing the back of her hand, I shut my eyes and slowly drifted off to sleep.

()()()()()()()()()()

~Isaac's POV~

Walking slowly down the steps, I peeked my head around the corner to see if my dad was home. He was, sitting in front of the television, news on as he snored loudly.

Sighing in relief, I walked more calmly into the kitchen, grabbing a pop tart and my lunch out of the fridge.

"In shocking news, another gruesome murder has befallen the town of Beacon Hills. The third in a string of violent crimes around the city, we are here at the scene of the crime." Hearing the words from the newscaster's mouth, I turned around, bits of pop tart falling on my shirt.

Assuming this had happened last night by the lowlight and non-live viewing of the newscast, I watched more intently. The camera crew got closer, showing three ambulances in front of the movie store in town.

Seeing Stiles run across the screen, my brows furrowed, trying to see what he was running towards. Creeping as close as I could, I narrowed my eyes at the screen only to jump back in fear.

Stiles was running towards a gurney. A gurney with one girl on it. A girl with red hair. It was Rae.

Running out of the house, I made the split-second decision to ride to Erica's house. She would want to see her. Racing as fast as I could down the hill, I took the fastest way there, a route I had become familiar with over the last few days.

Hopping a curb, I continued down the street, skidding to a stop outside Erica's house as I threw my bike down.

Knocking rapidly on the door, it was soon thrown open by her father.

"Is Erica here?" I panted out. "It's important."

Looking befuddled, the man nodded before turning to look in the house. "Erica, Isaac's here for you." Stepping back from the door, he walked back into the house as I waited.

Soon enough, Erica came to the door, a confused look on her face.

"Come on, we need to go!" I told her, grabbing her arm as I began pulling her outside.

Ripping her arm out of my hand, she looked at me in shock. "Isaac what, why?"

"Someone was killed last night. It was on the news. They wheeled Rae out on a gurney. She's at the hospital." I spat out in a rush, watching as her eyes widened and she ran back inside. Rushing back out with her bag and a jacket, she threw them both on herself as we ran to my bike. Setting myself upon it, she stood on the back pegs and held my shoulders for dear life as I pedaled as fast as I could, hoping the sweet girl who took us in was okay.

()()()()()()()()()()

~Rae's POV~

Waking up was strange. I didn't feel right. I was groggy and there was a deep-seated pain in my back. I couldn't remember why.

Groaning, I tried to move but was stilled by pressure on my hand. Opening up my eyes slowly, I looked down to see a hand holding my own. Trying to focus my vision, I finally spotted a buzz cut head laying next to my leg, mouth wide open, completely passed out.

Smiling, I just looked at him for a second. And then I realized where I was. The hospital. Looking around wildly, I noticed two people entering the room in a hurry, skidding to a stop as they saw me.

At the same time, they both rushed at me and I barely had time to throw up my hand to stop them. "Woah woah woah, stop." Both of them came to a complete stop next to my bed, equal looks of confusion on both of their faces. "If you're gonna hug, be easy, I got thrown into a pillar." I chuckled under my breath, but there was really nothing funny about it.

Isaac and Erica's faces both contorted into worry and pain. Isaac slowly crept forward, wrapping his arms around me as he lightly squeezed my shoulders, kissing the side of my head softly.

Sending him a timid smile, I turned to Erica as she walked forward uneasily, placing her arms around me, barely touching me. It warmed my heart. They didn't want to hurt me.

"I'll be okay," I told them, nodding my head a little as I felt the strain on my back. "I'm coming to school today, I just have to wear a brace." Screwing my face up at the thought, I looked back to Stiles' sleeping form. Knowing how protective he was, I was surprised he'd even fallen asleep.

"What happened?" Erica asked. When I turned to look at her she was fiddling with her hands.

"Basically, Jackson, Lydia, and I went to get movies. We found a dead body, Jackson got trapped under some shelves and I got thrown into a pillar. Not sure how either of us are still alive, honestly." Giving them each a pained smile, I got distracted by Stiles' hand twitching.

I watched as he slowly came to, grumbling under his breath, yawning, and then attempted to stretch. It was then he noticed our connected hands, looking down in confusion. Looking up, he noticed my smiling face and spazzed out, spazzing out more once he noticed Isaac and Erica.

"Wha-ah-what? You're awake? You're awake. Good. And visitors. Visitors are good. Real good. How are you feeling?" Ignoring the other people in the room, he focused solely on me as he used his other hand to grab mine too.

Smile widening, I raised my eyebrows. "I'm good. I'm okay. My back hurts. I can feel about a million small cuts all over me, but I'll live." Nodding my head, I gave his hands a light squeeze.

"We're gonna go get some food," Isaac spoke. Glancing over at him I caught the tiny smirk on his face as he pulled Erica out of the room, a worried look still plastered on her face. I mouthed the words 'I'm okay,' before she left the room.

His plan to have Stiles and I alone failed though, as Melissa came in right after.

"Oh good. You're awake. How are you feeling?" Even though I knew she was worried and doing her job, I wished people would stop asking. 

I just woke up. I felt crappy. But I would be fine.

"I'm alright. Nothing I can't handle." I told her, smiling ruefully up at her.

The woman smiled warmly at me. "Well, your mom brought by some clothes in case you wanted to go to school. I'll start on your discharge forms if you do, or if you want to go home. She told me to tell you that your sister's staying home." Frowning, I began to worry about my sister. Did she see what we did? "Your brace is with your clothes, as are your pain killers, and I can show you how to use it. You'll need to wear it all day, and take it off before you go to sleep."

Nodding, I gestured toward my arm. "Can you get this thing out of me?" I wondered, looking back up at her. Nodding, Melissa pulled out the IV, turned off my heart monitor, and took the vitals reader off my finger.

Sitting up for the first time, I applied more pressure to the hand still holding mine as pain shot through my back. "It's going to hurt a lot for a while, but the brace will help," Melissa explained, motioning for Stiles to help me up.

Scooting off the side of the bed, Stiles kept his grip on my hand as he helped me up, his other hand gripping my elbow. Once I stood, a sudden realization hit me and my eyes widened, tearing up a bit in frustration. "I can't dress myself." I whispered, Stiles being the only one to hear me.

Clearing his throat, he helped me walk toward the chair that held my clothes and the brace. "I-uh-I can help-help you. If-if you want." Snapping my head toward him, I could tell he wanted to scratch his neck as he stretched it around. Blushing fiercely, I looked back to the ground.

Thinking about it, I decided that I would need him to. I could have Melissa do it, but I'd still need someone to do it at home for a while and Lydia was apparently not able and my mom would be at work most times.

If it was anyone else, I wouldn't feel so awkward, the blush on my cheeks not nearly so red. I was confident in my body, but this was Stiles. Stiles, my best friend, the guy I'd been in love with for pretty much my whole life.

Not trusting myself with words, I just nodded my head as Melissa went to the windows, drawing the blinds. Trying to bend over to grab my clothes, I found I couldn't reach them, so Stiles grabbed them for me. Thanking everything in the universe that I still had on undergarments underneath my hospital gown, I sadly let go of Stiles' hand. Walking carefully by myself back to bed, I turned to look at Melissa.

"So how does this work?" I asked, not looking at Stiles. "How does he put on the brace?"

"Well, it's easy really. You put it on under your clothes, it goes all the way around your lower back and you can adjust the tightness. It's Velcro. It also has cooling gel in the back, that you can remove, to help with the swelling." Smiling, she started heading for the door, a glint in her eyes. "I'll leave you to it."

Blowing an anxious breath out of my mouth, I finally looked at Stiles. He was looking at the floor, feet tapping on the ground as he fumbled around with my clothes. Sensing my gaze, he looked up, a matching red stain covering his cheeks.

"O-okay. Let's do this." Widening his eyes in what I'd assume was preparation, he walked toward me. Turning around, I felt his fumbling hands begin to untie my gown, the top half falling down exposing my white lace bra. "Oh. Oh my god."

Not sure if his reaction was from my bare skin or the intense discoloration on my lower back, I decided that it was probably both. I had no idea how bad it looked.

If it was possible, the blush on my face got worse as I turned, not looking at his face. Seeing Stiles with brace in hand, I glanced up enough to see it.

Reaching around me, Stiles adjusted the brace as I hummed. The cool back on the brace felt so nice, and once he tightened it up, my back felt, ironically, braced for the first time since I'd woken up.

Darting my eyes up, I looked him in the eyes, glad that he was here. Even if this was excruciatingly awkward. Stiles quickly grabbed my shirt, a long sleeve off the shoulder. Cute, comfy, and flowy enough to cover the brace. My mother was a saint.

Lifting my left arm, I slid it through the hole Stiles held up for me. I did the same with the right before Stiles carefully pulled the shirt over my head and down my torso. Feeling the back of his fingers against the brace, my stomach flipped and my breath hitched. 

Oh my god. This was going to be my life for the next couple of days. 

I was going to die.

Turning back around, I looked down, squeezing my eyes shut as Stiles undid the last ties, the gown falling down around my ankles.

Stepping out of it, I sat on the bed, looking down at it. In front of me, Stiles was rolling one of the legs of a pair of black leggings up so he could roll it up my leg.

And at that moment...the door opened.

Shooting my head up, Stiles fell on the floor from where he was crouched, shooting up to shield my body. "Oh, shit."

Isaac's face was priceless. Between his, Stiles, and Erica's faces and the awkwardness, I couldn't help it. I just started laughing. Once I could speak, I ushered them in and they quickly shut the door. At least now Stiles and I weren't alone.

Letting out one last chuckle, I watched Stiles crouch back down, the blush fully back on my face as I watched him wide-eyed. Sliding the left leg of my leggings on, he copied the motions on the right side before helping me stand up. Once I was upright, he carefully grabbed the sides of the pants and pulled them up my body as I held onto his shoulders. Getting them on my waist, he set his hands there before floofing out my shirt so it was where it was supposed to be. Looking down, Stiles crouched back on the floor, helping me into a pair of black sparkly flats.

Looking at my wrist, I pulled my hair up into a messy bun once seeing the hair tie, knowing I wouldn't be able to brush my hair. Having to be content with no makeup today, I turned to my friends in the corner.

Isaac was staring between Stiles and me with a giant crooked smirk on his face, blonde hair curled up on his head. Erica looked pale and had a blush coating her cheeks. I wasn't sure whether it was from seeing another girl half-naked or what, but the blush on my cheeks deepened by their expressions.

"Soo, school. What time is it?" I asked them, trying to defuse the situation. Glancing around the room and between them, I didn't see Stiles fumbling with his phone behind me.

"Oh crap. Yeah, we gotta go. It's almost third period." Turning slowly behind me, I saw him shove his phone back in his pocket. Pointing at Isaac and Erica he asked, "Do you guys need a ride?"

Both of them shared a wide-eyed stare before Isaac nodded. "Umm, yeah, we rode my bike here. Do you have room for that?"

Nodding, Stiles began walking towards the door, opening it and holding it. "Yep, now let's go!" Ushering us out, the blonde teenagers scurried ahead, walking towards the parking lot. Once I got out the door, Stiles began walking beside me until we arrived at the Jeep. Opening up the passenger side, he let in our passengers after Isaac put his bike in the back. Helping me up, I carefully maneuvered my way into the seat, adjusting until I was comfortable enough.

Once Stiles got in, he handed me an orange bottle. The label specified that it was 800 mg ibuprofen. Taking off the top, I grabbed one, threw it in my mouth and took the water Stiles had already offered me, swallowing it.

Thinking about the day ahead, I decided that nothing could be worse than the embarrassment of having to have Stiles clothe my naked body.

I was wrong.

{When you're editing and this comes on...}

{And yes, I did immediately stop editing to take a screenshot, crop, and post this picture. Also, yes I was looking for synonyms for the word behind because I am uber aware of what words I use too much and I try really hard to mix it up. Literally, I'm constantly looking up synonyms for things to try and keep from using the same words over and over. Thesaurus.com has been glued to my web browser for like the last week and a half.}

Just for the record, so no one gets things messed up, no the spark in Jackson's eye was not because he has feelings for Rae. He looks at her like a little sister, as she begrudgingly looks at him as an assholish bigger brother. (And vise versa seeing as she's actually older.) The spark was because she was acting like a cute little kid and it touched his little douchey heart. Cus he has one. It's just...buried.

It fell in a hole.

Whoops...

Nah I'm not sorry. It fell in a hole.

Like Liam.

Also, if it wasn't obvious, Rae doesn't remember anything she said or did after the morphine drip. Small snippets of memories are all she has, but nothing even remotely solid.

Also, we're gonna pretend the school called about Isaac missing first and second period while his dad was at work and Isaac deleted the message when he got home. No harm for the tiny tot today.

What am I talking about, he's so tall. Anyways..

Tootaloo..

~SiriusCatBennett