CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT:
I LOVE YOU, STILES

ELAINE COULDN'T STOP PACING. SHE called him over and over again, but Stiles wasn't picking up the phone. Her heart rate was beating so fast she was positive it was bound to jump out of her chest. All she could think of were the worst possibilities. Finally, she forced her self to plant her feet firmly on the ground beside of her brother who was quick to grab her hand in hopes of bringing her some kind of comfort. They were standing in the locker room, Sheriff Stilinski standing in front of them.

"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. . ." Sheriff Stilinski told the trio. Melissa had left with Jackson's body, leaving the two wolves and witch there, trying to help out in any way they could. Noah sighed, shaking his head. "Hell, I don't know what that means. Um, look, if he answers his phone, if he answers his emails, if either one of you see him―︎"

"We'll call you." Isaac assured the man.

"Look, he's probably just freaked out from all the attention or something. We'll find him." Scott quickly spoke, trying to keep Stiles' dad calm. Noah looked at Scott for a moment before he nodded his head.

"I'll see you, okay?" He told the three. He walked away, placing a hand on Elaine's shoulder as he did so before they watched him walk out. Elaine bit on her lip, trying not to let her anger and worry get the best of her. It was eating her up inside that she didn't know where he was. Stiles was harmless. Why didn't they take her instead? Why couldn't they just leave the boy out of this?

"Hey, we'll find him." Scott assured his sister, placing a hand on both of her shoulders. She closed her eyes, nodding her head, trying to believe that they would in fact find him. They had to. She didn't know what she was going to do if they didn't. Their attention quickly snapped towards Coach who made his way towards them.

"McCall." Coach spoke, taking a stand in front of Scott. "We need you on the team, okay? You know I can't put you on the field next season if you don't get your grades up."

"Yeah, I know, Coach." Scott sighed.

"All right. 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." He sighed before getting back to his point. "I'm just saying, we―︎I―︎need you on the team. Get your grades back up."

"I will." Scott nodded his head.

"I know." And with that he walked away.

"Is that everyone?" Elaine anxiously asked. Isaac took a step forward, looking around before nodding his head.

"I think so." Scott nodded before quickly ripping off the locker door of Stiles locker, pulling out two articles of clothing, handing one to Isaac and keeping one for himself.

"You're gonna find him by scent?" Elaine asked, almost offended at the fact that she couldn't help out this way.

"Yeah, we both are." Scott nodded, glancing towards Isaac as he said that.

"But how come you get his shirt, and I get a shoe?" Isaac questioned.

"Well, why you find him by scent, I can try and do a locator spell, or-or something."

"You're not in the right mindset to do anything, El." Scott softly told her. Elaine clenched her jaw, tears in her eyes. She was panicking. She needed to help find him. She had to help. She didn't care if she was in the right mindset. It was worth a shot. She was quick to wipe her tears away upon feeling another presence in the room. Elaine was quick to turn on her heels to see Derek standing there.

"We need to talk." Derek spoke up

That's when Peter appeared behind him. "All of us."

"Holy shit." Scott breathed. Elaine stood there, unmoving. Her eyes focused sorely on Peter as flashes from that night took place.

"What the hell is this?" Elaine calmly asked. Too calmly. Scott had suddenly took a step away from his sister. He could feel the anger that radiated from her. The man had killed her. And he could tell she wanted to give him the same favor in response.

"You know, I thought the same thing when I saw your brother talking to Gerard at the Sheriff's station." Derek simply responded, looking at the girl before glancing back towards Scott.

"Okay, hold on! He-he threatened to kill my mom! And I had to get close to him. What was I supposed to do?" Scott was quick to defend himself, glancing at his sister who refused to take her eyes off of Peter.

"I'm gonna go with Scott on this one. Have you seen his mom? She's gorgeous!" Peter spoke.

"Shut up!" Derek, Scott, and Elaine all snapped.

"Who is he?" Isaac quietly asked.

"Him?" Elaine asked. "That's the man who killed me. Who slit my throat. I should be dead right now, and so should you. I will gladly repay the favor. Patere!" Her eyes glowed purple as she slammed the man against the walk, holding her her hand in a choke hold as she forced him to stay there. The man couldn't breathe, his face starting to turn red.

"El." Scott warned. "Elaine!" Scott placed a hand on her shoulder, the words of Rebekah repeating in his head. She wasn't going to become a killer. He wouldn't let her.

"He killed me." Elaine snarled.

"I know. I was there." Scott told her. "But you aren't Peter. You're a good person. He's a psychotic murderer, you aren't." Elaine clenched her jaw, considering Scott's words before reluctantly letting the man go and taking a step back. He coughed before forcing himself up from the ground, rubbing his neck as if her hand had actually been around his throat.

"That's Peter, Derek's uncle. A little while back, he tried to kill us all, he actually did kill Elaine, and then we set him on fire, and Derek slashed his throat." Scott quickly summarized.

"Hi." Peter whispered, raising a hand.

"That's good to know." Isaac mumbled.

"How is he alive?" Elaine glared, clenching her jaw.

"Look, the short version is he knows how to stop Jackson, and maybe how to save him." Derek answered the girl.

"Well, that's very helpful, except Jackson's dead." Isaac sarcastically replied.

"What?" Derek asked, furrowing his eyebrows whilst Peter just cocked his head in surprise.

"Yeah, Jackson's dead. It just happened on the field." Scott informed the two.

"Okay, why is no one taking this as good news?" Isaac asked, confused.

"Because if Jackson is dead, it didn't just happen―︎Gerard wanted it to happen." Peter explained.

"But why?" Derek quizzed.

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

━︎━︎━︎━︎━︎

They all entered the Hale house, the flashes from the night flashing through Elaine's mind. Her hand immediately went up to her throat, putting her hand over the scars that only she could see and no one else. The girl hadn't realized tears had filled her eyes until she blinked and she felt it trickle down her cheek. She was quick to swipe it away before anyone noticed. That's when her phone buzzed, making her pull it out.

"Oh my god." Elaine breathed, immediately grabbing Scott's attention. "They found him. They found Stiles. Scott I―︎"

"Go." Scott assured, nodding his head. "Check up on him. Send me and update. I'll call you if I need anything at all, alright?" Elaine quickly nodded her head before turning on her heel and dashing out of the house. She made it to the Stilinski house hold, quickly knocking on the front door and looking at Noah who nodded his head before letting the girl enter.

"He's in his room." He told her.

"Thank you." Elaine whispered before taking the steps two at a time and stopping when she made it in front of Stiles' room. The door was closed, and she wanted to knock. But she hesitated. Just for a second. She didn't know why. Maybe because she was scared. But she took a deep breath, and knocked on the door.

"Dad, I said I'm fine." Stiles called. Elaine knocked again. The boy looked away from the blank space he had been staring at before huffing and forcing himself off the bed. He made his way over to the door, pulling it open whilst saying, "Dad―︎" However, he cut himself off when he saw who it was. "Elaine?"

"Stiles." The girl breathed before forcing herself into the room and quickly placing herself into his arms. Stiles was quick to hug the girl back, closing his eyes as he placed his head onto her shoulder. She pulled away, before noticing the mark that was placed across his cheek along with the busted lip. Her heart shattered. "Stiles. . . what did they do to you?" She carefully placed her hand on his cheek.

"I'm fine." He assured her. Elaine shook her head.

"You can't use that phrase on me. That's my phrase." Elaine told him, a tear slipping down her cheek. She felt so guilty. All this power and she wasn't able to save him. "What's the point of being a witch if I can't protect my friends from getting hurt? My family?"

"Hey, don't blame yourself. This wasn't your fault." Stiles quickly shook his head, wiping the tear from her cheek. She shook her head in denial.

"I-I could've done something―︎"

"Laney―︎"

"I could've protected you and I didn't. I didn't know that―︎I should've known―︎I'm gonna kill that son of a bitch for ever laying his hands on you." Elaine's eyes glowed and she went to turn away, but Stiles grabbed onto her, keeping her from walking away. He placed his hands on both sides of her face, making her look at him. He watched as the purple faded from her eyes, showing her blue irises once more. "Don't look at me like that."

"Don't blame yourself like that." He shot back.

"You should've stayed home. O-or something. Keep you from getting hurt."

"Why do you sound upset with me?"

"Because I am." She answered, another tear falling down her cheek. "Stiles, something terrible could have happened to you. Worse than what you've already been through. You shouldn't have to go through that. And yet you're standing here telling me not to blame myself when I'm the supernatural creature, and I could've protected you."

"Or you could've gotten hurt." Stiles argued. "In fact, I'm glad that it was me and not you or Scott."

"Is that supposed to make me feel better in some form? Huh? Because it doesn't, Stiles. In fact, it makes me angry. As cruel as it is for me to say this, Scott can heal, and I have the spells to heal myself as well. You don't. You could've died."

"And you did die!" He yelled. "I stood there and watched you die, Elaine! I didn't know what the hell I was supposed to do. It broke me to see you laying there on the ground, dead. Bleeding out because you wanted to be the hero. You couldn't heal then. And yet you still ran out there and got yourself killed. So you're one to talk."

"I was saving my brother's life!"

"And you died as the result! I thought I had lost you forever. Tell me how the hell I was supposed to go on knowing that you weren't going to be there to make me fell better when I'm sad. O-or have an argument with me over something as stupid as Star Wars. I can't lose you, Elaine."

"And I can't lose you." Elaine snapped, her throat clogged up with tears. She didn't realize it, but the next words she spoke, were the almost the exact same words she had said to Stiles at the hospital. And as soon as he heard the first sentence, he knew what she was about to say, because she already said it without her even knowing it. "I've always been here, Stiles. I've always been right fucking here, but you were too blinded by your crush on Lydia to even notice! So when I say I can't lose you, I don't mean it in the same way that you do. I can't lose you because I love you, Stiles. I have loved you since before I even knew what love was. Since we met." She swallowed closing her eyes as she shook her head. "And I've just ruined that entire friendship. So, if you need me, I'm going to go find my brother."

"Elaine!" But before he could say anything else, she was walking out of the house. The boy clenched his jaw, wishing that she would just let him get one word in. "Damnit."