—

Josie sat in the back of Stiles' jeep with Liam, the pair being 'recruited' to help the Stilinski get information on Theo Raeken.

Did she want to go? Not really, but Liam said yes and she wanted to spend time with him. And if that meant budding into someone else's business, then so be it.

"What's a Criminal Tremor?" Liam asked, lifting a paper to his face.

Stiles snatched the sheet away from him, "It doesn't matter."

As they began to exit the school parking lot, Josie's questions started,

"So what exactly are we doing?"

"We aren't going anything." He corrected her, "Liam's gonna try and track Theo while I help and you give him compliments and reassurance if he expectantly fails."

"You expect me to fail?" The Dunbar frowned, his question going unanswered.

"So...stalking?"

"If you want to call it that." Stiles shrugged his shoulders, glancing at her from the rear view mirror.

"What? Call it what it is?" The Anders made a face, "You know, for a Sheriff's son, you seem to break quite a lot of laws. Such as, you know...stalking."

"It's not stalking, Josie." He huffed, "I'm just getting the information that no one else seems to care about, okay? If I have to do a little following, then so what?"

Josie and Liam shared a look at the frustration that covered the older teens features,

"Whatever you say."

•••

"I told you he was up to something."

"We just spent three hours watching this dude play video games in his bedroom." Josie started, Liam taking this as an opportunity to finish her sentence,

"He better be out here covering up a mass murder."

"Let's find out. You still got his scent?"

Liam shook his head, pointing to the footprints in the mud, "Don't need it."

•••

It had only been a few minutes into their walk before Josie began to notice Liam's mood shift,

"What's wrong?" The concern in her voice was enough for Stiles to look back at them,

"I forgot, I was supposed to meet Mason at the school gym."

Stiles furrowed his brows, "Okay, why didn't you just tell him?"

"Tell him what?"

"Anything."

"I can't just tell him anything."

"Why not?"

"Because I haven't...I haven't told him everything."

"Still? We said it was okay."

"Yeah, I know, but it's not that easy. It's a lot to accept."

"He watched my dad blow up a Berserker with a land mine. I think the groundwork's been pretty thoroughly laid for acceptance. Scott and I have been through this. Okay? More than once. It's always been better when they know."

"He's not wrong." Jo spoke up, "Think about it. If Ry hadn't told Austin, they would be a train wreck of a couple. Same thing with my parents."

Her words did little to comfort him as he only began to rant, "But what if he freaks out? What if he doesn't want to talk to me? What if he tries to stab me with something silver? Or what if—"

Stiles and Josie freeze in their tracks as a loud thud cut Liam off. The pair turned to see he was no where in sight.

They blew out a breath in unison before walking to the hole that the Dunbar fell in.

"What the hell are you doing?" Josie glanced at Stiles in confusion, hiding her smile as he looked like a parent scolding their child.

"I—"

"There he is. Hurry up." The Stilinski told him, ushering Josie forward, "Stop screwing around. Come on. Try and get his scent."

Josie glanced at Liam as she saw him nod to himself for the corner of his eye, "Get anything?"

"Soap. It's nice. It smells good."

"Really? What scent?"

Stiles cut him off before he could answer her question, "Not his soap, his emotional state. Chemosignals, remember?"

"Oh, yeah. Okay. I... He's sad."

"He's sad?"

"Well, not just sad... It's more like grief." Liam elaborated.

"Grief?" Josie narrowed her eyes in confusion.

Meanwhile, Stiles' eyes grew wide, "Oh, my God! Go! We have to go."

"What? Why?"

"Go! Right now. Just go. That's the bridge where they found his sister."

"What sister—?"

"He has a sister?"

"The one that got lost and died from exposure. He's leaving a flower for her."

"That doesn't sound evil."

"I know."

"Oh, my God! Does this make me a bad person?" Josie's thoughts went elsewhere. She didn't want to seem like a jerk.

Wanting to her moving as fast as possible, Stiles quickly reassured her, "No, Jo. Hurry up."

The trio jumped back in shock as someone fell from the trees, landing in front of them,

"What you guys doing?"

Liam growled threateningly at Theo,

"Whoa. Why do I get the feeling this kid's tougher than he looks?"

"Only when we let him off his leash."

Ew, Josie shook her head at Stiles' words.

"Stiles, we were in Little League together. Why are you so suspicious of me?"

Stiles shoved the papers he previously showed the pack towards him, "Because of these. One's a speeding ticket signed by your dad eight years ago. The other one's a signature on a transfer form to Beacon High. They're different."

Theo nodded, "Huh. Yeah, they do look a little different."

"No, they're totally different. Signed by two different people."

"So my dad's not my dad? Like he's an imposter?" Theo seemed a bit amused at the thought.

"Yeah, something like that."

"Who do you think I am?" Theo asked.

"We don't know yet."

"Want me to give you a DNA sample or something?"

The thought seemed ridiculous as Stiles scoffed, "No. I don't have anything from the fourth grade to match it to."

"You know, Stiles, I came back here for Scott...but I also came back for you."

Stiles didn't seem to bothered by Theo's words,

"Someone like you. Someone who's willing to walk into the woods in the middle of the night to protect his friends. I don't have anyone like that, but Scott does. You all do. I know I'm in the right place. I'm meant to be here. I'm meant to be part of this pack."

Although his words were encouraging, Josie couldn't help but notice something weird. And as she looked around at the boys, she immediately realized that neither of them picked up on what she did.

Yeah, he seems determined but she couldn't help but take his determination as desperation. Because what does he mean by, he's meant to be apart of the pack?

•••

"Find anything?"

Josie flinched as she noticed Scott walking toward them, definitely not expecting him to show up.

"Nope."

Liam tried to lighten the mood, "I fell in a hole."

"That's great, Liam." Josie whispered to him, patting his shoulder to hint that neither of them were in the mood for jokes.

"It was the bridge where his sister died, wasn't it?"

Stiles sighed, "Yes, it was. Very embarrassing. So we are gonna leave now."

Stiles gestures for Liam and Josie to get in the car before doing the same.

"Son of a..." Stiles trailed off, huffing in annoyance when the engine spluttered, "Liam, just do me a favor, get in the car and turn the ignition when I say."

"Stiles?" Scott called for him.

Stiles waved him off, "Be with you in a sec. Try it."

Liam did as told, reaching forward to turn the key, pursing his lips as nothing happened.

"Stiles."

"Yes. Okay, we followed him out here. What do you want me to say? That I'm a stalker, huh? That I'm crazy, totally paranoid? None of this is new information."

"Now you're gonna try to at least give him the benefit of the doubt?" Scott tried.

"I give people the benefit of the doubt. I've given a lot of benefit to a lot of people." The Stilinski scoffed, his mind going to the countless times that Ryder had given an 'i told you so'.

Despite their history, she was one of the few people that took his side when it came to things like this. His heart fluttered as he knew that if she were here now, she'd be defending him. His small moment of contentment vanished the minute Scott spoke up again,

"Like Derek? Kira? Liam?"

Based on Ryder's story times, Josie wanted to point out how he wasn't completely wrong about either of them. Sure, they weren't 'bad guys' but they did have something about them.

"I was right about Peter." He pointed out, turning to the sophomores in the car, "Try it again."

When the stuttering of the jeep filled his ears again, Stiles finally took a glance at the McCall, "You know, I bet you still think that there's something about him that can be saved."

"Maybe."

Stiles exhaled, "Try it again."

"Why can't you trust anyone?"

"Because you trust everyone!"

Josephine let out a small gasp as Stiles hit the car with full force in anger.

Liam's pinky rubbed at the girls hand, a small sign that showed that she'd be okay. It was only a small disagreement between friends.

He knew the girl wasn't a fan of violence, by literally any means. Sure, some of her favorite tv shows and movies contained violence but she's seen the bruises her sister came home with before she turned.

It was safe to say that it scared her a bit.

Stiles shouted out in pain, holding his soon to be bruised hand.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine."

Scott didn't let up, "You could've broken it."

"It's not broken."

"Let me see it."

"I'm fine." Stiles repeated.

"Let me see it." Scott's pushing was beginning to annoy Josie.

She watched as Stiles eventually gave up on arguing, letting Scott heal his hand as much as he could. As Liam leant forward to finally start the jeep up again, the Anders girl pondered over the drama Theo has managed to cause in the short amount of time he's been back.

She could only wonder what else there was to come.

—
A/N: i absolutely love 13rw
And no Raustin this chapter 😔