3 Warnings

A few days had passed since the new girl's arrival and Megan had been laying low. "Laying low" was much unlike her character. Ever since Megan was bitten, she had been the center of attention at Beacon Hills High, her provocative nature was always being talked about around school. People didn't understand why she acted the way she did, but they didn't dare question either. She was untouchable and expected to stay that way until she graduated.

However, she did have an objective for this sudden change.

Megan was known she has eyes all over the school. Informants that did as she said without hesitation. Majority of the school knew of this and it sent a wave of fear down anyone's spine as they didn't know who could be watching them at any given moment. Being on Megan Matthew's shit-list was not a good place to be. It didn't take long for her to find found out the girl's name- the girl who was talking to her boyfriend. The girl that she confronted Stiles about a few days prior. The girl she swore she smelled on Stiles. That girl.

She had paid off about a dozen people the morning after her and Stiles' argument. The informants ranged from freshmen, who heard her name multiple times from their peers in awe and horror, knowing of her reputation; to upperclassmen that hated her guts but liked the cash she offered; to students that were aids in the office and could look up files. They all did the dirty work for her as she kept her hands cleans, and acted oblivious as to what was going on behind the scenes as each class period passed. They were the ones hiding behind the corners and eavesdropping. They were the ones subtly questioning Stiles' peers in each of his classes. And they were the ones that followed Stiles around during different parts of the day, throughout the hallways, without him having any idea that he was being watched. They were everywhere, yet they were invisible. They were Megan's eyes and ears. And one by one they had all heard the same name. They all saw the same girl.

Lillian Sanders.

Megan laughed it off at first. She rolled her eyes with newfound ease. When she stopped laughing, she leaned against the girl's bathroom door, crossed her arms and immediately cut the freshman girl off for making up lies. She took away all the money she promised with a snap of her fingers, and threatened that if the small girl told anyone what she had did that she would, "-make her life a living hell."

And Megan was good at keeping promises.

There was no way, a zero percent chance, that it could be Lillian Sanders. Her Lillian Sanders. The Lillian Sanders she knew years ago. If Lillian was at her school, on her campus, right then and now, she was sure that she would've found out about it as soon as the girl had set a toe in her halls. But when the second, third, and even fourth person confirmed that it was indeed Lillian, having proof of a detailed description; her face, her hair, and eyes... Megan's laughing turned to anger.

So, Lillian Sanders, the same girl that was once her best friend, is in Beacon Hills? Lillian Sanders, the person that she once trusted the most, who was her dearest friend, that ended up betraying her trust was here? Lillian Sanders, the girl she pushed to the ground and screamed bloody murder at for telling everyone her secret? The same Lillian that Megan said she hated straight to her face? Now, she came here and is now flirting with her boyfriend? Having secret meetings with the boy she loved? And was once again, ruining Megan's life?

It was all too perfect. It was all too coincidental. It had, it just had, to be a lie.

Megan, in a fit of anger, fired all of her informants and threatened the next one worse than the last. She didn't feel obligated in fulfilling her promise to pay them and kicked them to the curb without a second thought. Now, she was furious and being part werewolf didn't help with that one bit. The empty classroom she locked herself in was now trashed as she threw things around. Everything was in disarray as she tried to calm herself down, her eyes glowing as she growled. But she was going to get her way, and that final thought made her stop in heavy breaths as she slid down the teacher's toppled desk and onto the floor.

She wasn't going to let someone come and snatch away what was her's.

And Stiles… He was her's. No one else's.

There was something… different about Stiles. Something that no one could put their finger on.

Scott sensed it whenever he was around. Lydia questioned it when they sat together at lunch and the boy was just quiet and mumbled an excuse. And even Lillian saw it when she would see him in class. This was only her third day knowing Stiles, he was in three of her classes- Two back to back and one after lunch- And she saw it. She barely knew him, but... something had changed.

Lillian went to her locker for the final time that day. She glanced over and that's when she heard him approaching. She tensed up at his presence... Yet…

Nothing happened. His eyes were glued to the inside of his locker when she glanced at him and it was as if she wasn't even there. Normally, she would've been thankful to be invisible, but this didn't feel right. She was a ghost and his eyes just seemed hollow. There was no life in them.

Not a word passed his lips. To think of it, he didn't speak in class at all that day, it was as if he was mute. Stiles was by far the opposite of mute. The look on his face said it all as his eyes looked like a lost soul. Something was wrong. But before she could say anything to him, before she could get out a single word, he closed his locker and walked away. As he was leaving, he glanced back at her as he could feel her gaze that he once ignored. Their eyes met as he turned his head but she didn't understand the conversation he was trying to have with her. The silent words ended as soon as they had begun as he was gone around the corner. The look that he gave her made her feel worrisome. She didn't have heightened senses or chemo-signals, but the way he looked at her for those mere 3 seconds confirmed that he wasn't okay.

The way he looked at her the first day and now were polar opposites.

...

Now it was Friday. The end of the school week. By this time, Lillian swore that the suspicions she had were right. She was at her locker, this time early in the morning before her first class and she thought about if she should talk to Stiles. Talk to him... and...?

And what she would say to him? She didn't think that far ahead yet.

She had let a few days pass and now it was really bugging her. She wasn't a person to initiate a conversation and with how her first day went, she was used to him doing it even if she wasn't always willing to communicate back.

But now there seemed to be a wall. It was bothering her to no end at how miserable he seemed. How there was a faraway look in his eyes. Between the time they went home on her first day to the time they got back on her second, something noticeably shifted in him. Like day and night. She prepared herself to talk to him as soon as she saw him walking into school, and she promised herself that she would say something, anything to him. Wanting to make an effort.

It was going to be simple, right? Just having a normal conversation, like a normal human being, right? It's not that hard. Just talk to him!

"H-Hey," she stammered as soon as he walked over to his locker. Immediately she mentally slapped herself at the stuttering and sounding so quiet and afraid. He glanced at her, seeming to not notice it as his mind was somewhere else. He struggled to smile as if everything was fine. The smile was small, small and fake. Lillian recognized it immediately. She was the expert in fake smiles and Stiles wasn't fooling her.

"Hi," he said low, the first word he's said to her since her first day there. She saw that he was favoring his right arm, hissing under his breath as he lifted it to reach for his book. He noticed that she saw this and made an explanation right away without a second thought, "Oh, I hurt my arm practicing for lacrosse. It's been sore all week," she squinted her eyes, not buying it as she thought of something else to say. She wasn't good at this. Not at all. But she was going to try.

"Is... is everything okay?"

"Huh?"

"It's just... you haven't really been-I-I don't know," she was trying to put her thoughts together and form them into words. Yet, really she didn't know him well to just come out and say it... But she knew... She just knew something was wrong, "Are you okay?"

He gazed at her as there was a shift in his eyes. And for the first time, she looked right back at him, looking into his eyes to see the answer for herself. She was hoping that he would at least tell her that everything was truly fine and that she was thinking too much. She felt as though she was prying into his personal life. She didn't like it but she felt as though she needed to do it. Something in her insisted that she should. Some unknown, unfamiliar force in her wanting to make sure that he was okay. For real. Stiles was just surprised that Lillian was looking at him, like really, really looking at him. Eyes that were so filled with concern as all she wanted was his well-being. Stiles hadn't gotten a look like that in a long time... But he couldn't tell her what was really going on. No, but he wanted her to at least be at ease.

"I'm fine," he breathed out as he shut the door, "Really. Just had a rough couple of days, that's all."

His response wasn't at all convincing even though those were the exact words that she wanted to hear. His eyes didn't match what he was saying. They were still hollow. They still lacked their light. The light that only Stiles Stilinski has. Lillian thought about retorting, but the words never came out when she heard the voice of another. A female voice. Lillian's eyes flickered away from him and past him… and to a green-eyed, blonde girl of medium height that was approaching. Lillian's heart sank. She sucked in a quick breath as she felt as though the floor underneath her had vanished. She and the girl met eyes for the first time and the air felt stiff and cold. A harsh chill goes down Lillian's spine.

No... no, it... it couldn't be... It wasn't possible. There was no way-

"Hey, babe," she said. Her voice was all too familiar, less nasally than she remembered, but it was the same, "I've missed you so much."

The girl came up from the side and wrapped her arms firmly around Stiles' neck, having him firmly secured in her touch. Due to their height difference, it makes him have to lean down as she planted a kiss on his lips. A long, teasingly slow one. One of Megan's eyes opened and she looked at Lillian with a glare. Lillian looked back at her with a shocked face that Megan wished she could take a picture of.

Megan parted from Stiles, their lips making a wet popping, smack sound as Megan leaned away. Her hands lingered on her boyfriend. This made Stiles noticeably, to Lillian, tense up. His body language screamed that he wasn't comfortable doing any of this in front of Lillian, or at all for that matter. Meanwhile, Lillian stood there uncomfortable, not knowing whether she should leave or not. Her legs were frozen in place, but her hand pushed her locker door shut and that's when Stiles looked back at her. He wiped his lips awkwardly, rubbing away Megan's gloss, and gestured to the girl with her arms now around his torso. They all stood there for a long pause, not knowing who was to speak first. Stiles took the initiative as he cleared his throat.

"Lillian," he looks at her, and she looks at him. She was afraid for the next words that would come out of his mouth, "This... this is Megan."

Lillian didn't dare break eye contact with Stiles as she knew that Megan had her eyes piercing into her soul. Lillian's eyes hesitatingly look back at the aforementioned girl and she's met with what she expected. A look of unrelenting hatred that was covered with a smile. A fake one. But not like Lillian's fake smile or Stiles'. This one was different. Different in a bad way.

It was her. Really her. After all these years.

"Megan, Lillian." Stiles finishes.

Megan. Megan Matthews.

The blonde extended her hand halfway to Lillian's. Lillian's hand hesitated as her eyes darted back and forth between Megan's eyes and hand, eventually, she met her halfway as her hand was loose and Megan's firm.

"Actually, we know each other," Megan informed him, glancing at him but he didn't look back, "We were actually best friends when we were younger." her eyes flicker back to Lillian, "Isn't that right, Lillian?" she spits her name out.

"Oh, really?" he asked surprised. The thought of Megan and Lillian knowing each other prior had never crossed Stiles' mind. In fact, the mere thought of them interacting gave Stiles anxiety. Did Lillian know Megan had a dark side? "You-you two were friends?"

He looks at Lillian for confirmation. Lillian could feel her breaths beginning to come out shallow as she nodded. Stiles couldn't pinpoint how Lillian felt as she wouldn't look him back in the eyes. Megan spoke once more, breaking the short pause.

"Yep. Known her since the second grade. Good old times, right, Lilsters?" Lillian nodded again. Almost automatically because if she didn't she felt like Megan would attack her right then and there.

"W-Well, that- that's great," Stiles stammered out. It came out more like a "Great?" than "Great." Lillian didn't know if Stiles was relieved that she and Megan were on these supposed "good terms and everything is apparent a-okay" or if he was truly concerned that Megan now knew who she was. It seemed like a bit of both. Neither of them could pinpoint their own emotions, let alone each other.

The bell rang and a feeling of euphoria ran down Stiles' body as he found himself and Lillian a way out.

"Well shit, first period already. Lillian, you have Mr. Kasey too, right?" he asks her as if he didn't know. She nods rapidly, "We're gonna go, Meg, see you-" Stiles starts motioning Lillian away as he detaches himself from Megan. Lillian begins to move, but Megan stops them right in their tracks.

"You go ahead, baby. I actually wanted to talk to Lillian," Megan says. Stiles' eyes dart from Megan to Lillian, but they set on Lillian as he hesitates on leaving her alone with Megan. Megan starts to grow impatient as Stiles lingers, "Stiles, you can leave. Now."

Stiles' eyes stay on Lillian. He won't budge until he knew that she was comfortable. Lillian's head slowly nods, signaling for Stiles to leave. Even though it was what Stiles was waiting for, it takes him a few moments to get his feet to move.

They both watched as he walked away, their eyes down the hall as he rounded the corner. He glanced back at Lillian once more before he was completely gone. There were few people in the corridor that they were in as Megan inched closer to Lillian. Whatever facade Megan had was now completely gone. The already tense atmosphere tripled as her lips ever so slightly touched the shell of Lillian's. Megan's sharp green eyes looking into the distance as she spoke to Lillian slowly.

"I know what you've been doing, Lillian. I'm not stupid."

Lillian's mouth opened and closed as she blinked rapidly in shock. What was Megan referring to? Lillian hadn't done anything as far as she knew.

"I... I don't- W-What-?"

"Don't 'W-What?' me," she mocks as she makes her voice insanely high, "If I were you, and I highly recommend this, I would watch your back."

"Megan, I-" Lillian tries but she stops her right away.

"Stiles- he is mine. He has been mine and you coming around is not going to change that. You are not going to ruin my life again."

Again? Lillian tries to open her mouth, but Megan doesn't allow any words to come out as she continues.

"Stay away from him. Or else."

Her voice got low and ominous. Her tone daring Lillian to say a word about this to Stiles or a word to Stiles at all. Lillian stood there, her hands shaking nervously as Megan leaned away from her face, looking her in the eyes. Lillian blinked at her as she was trying to let words come out of her mouth, but all she could manage was her name in a stammered hurry. Apart of her knew where this was coming from, but another part was just extremely confused and afraid.

"M-Megan-"

"I AM NOT," Megan started, yelling right in Lillian's face. However, the blonde lowered her voice as eyes looked in their direction, "I am not going to repeat myself. Stay away from him."

Megan stressed every word out with gritted teeth. Lillian's eyes flicker down and see Megan balling her fists at her sides. Lillian was sure that her knuckles were turning white at how tightly she was holding her hands.

And then... something strange happened... Something that Lillian couldn't explain. It was when Lillian looked back into Megan's eyes. Lillian had to blink a couple of times to make sure that she wasn't seeing things.

Megan's eyes. What the fuck was going on with her eyes?

Lillian felt the air being sucked out of her as she gazed back into golden, neon yellow hues. Glowing golden, neon yellow hues. The color was so vibrant that Lillian thought she was going to pass out after looking into them for too long. It was like when people wore different colored contacts for cosplay, how the color could be both beautiful and mesmerizing yet it scared Lillian to death. After a moment, Megan was growing annoyed of Lillian's shocked face as the girl was opening and closing her mouth.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" Megan asked and it took everything that Lillian had to speak.

"Your... your eyes." her voice was small and airy.

"What?" Megan snapped. There was a shift in her face, her intimidating glare turning into a look of concern.

"They... T-T-They're-" Lillian stuttered, "What the fuck is happening to them-"

Megan looked away from Lillian, turning her entire head as she tried to turn her eyes back to normal. Lillian saw them. She wasn't supposed to see.

"Fuck... godfuckingdamnit," Megan said to herself, finally feeling her eyes shift again and going back to their original forest green. She looked back at Lillian with an annoyed look, knowing that she knew that whatever had just happened wasn't supposed to have happened, "Just stay the fuck away from us."

Megan walked past Lillian as she shoved Lillian's shoulder into the lockers. Lillian's mind went into overdrive as all she could hear was the clicking of Megan's heels against the tiled ground soon disappeared. Lillian tried to breathe out, but it felt as though she had a wall pushed against her chest. It took her a minute to recollect herself and she turned to her locker and shut her eyes

It was under a minute before the final bell when Lillian walked into Mr. Kasey's class. Stiles' eyes were locked on her as soon as she walked in. As an impulse, Stiles stood up from his stool from where he sat in the front, his body prepared to go over to her when she entered the classroom.

There was a noticeable drain in Lillian's face and eyes when she looked at Stiles, and the look of "Don't come anywhere near me" made Stiles slowly sit down as Lillian scurried to her seat in the back.

The look that Lillian gave Stiles alone secured him in the fact that she was now terrified of talking to him. What the hell did Megan say or do? He wondered. He shouldn't have left the two alone, even if it was only for a few minutes. Stiles knew what Megan was capable of. Even in a crowded room, Megan would get her way.

Stiles looked back at Lillian one last time. She felt his eyes on her, almost like a sixth sense as she didn't look back at him, only past him as Mr. Kasey walked in to begin his lecture on thermodynamics.

Lillian knew that there was weird about Beacon Hills... Something was off about this town. But Megan's eyes? That was not what Lillian was expecting to be the key to the mystery of what made Beacon Hills, Beacon Hills.

The weekend that followed didn't ease any of Lillian's nerves. In fact, being alone in her bedroom made her paranoid as the feeling of Megan watching her nearly caused Lillian to have an anxiety attack a half hour into studying for her math exam.

Without a doubt, Lillian could confidently say that she stayed up the whole 48 hours. She couldn't sleep, as every time she dozed off, those piercing golden eyes looked back at her in the darkness. Watching her. Lillian's mind wouldn't allow her to forget what she saw and her mental state was the consequence of that.

If Megan's plan was to make Lillian paranoid and sleep deprived, it was working.

And it wasn't just about Megan. No, it was also about Stiles. Actually, this had all started with Stiles. The abrupt change in his demeanor is what screamed red flag in Lillian's whole being. The way he went from a talkative, easy going smiley boy one day to mute, looks-like-he's-on-the-verge-of-crying shell of his former self is what fucked Lillian up to begin with.

The drained look in Stiles' eyes, the way he tried to deny that he was hurting- All of it put a bad taste in her mouth.

As much as Lillian's mind focused on Stiles, Megan somehow always creep up into Lillian's deep thoughts.

Megan; at one time was the only person in the world that Lillian cared about. She was back in Lillian's life, as if for a second chance, and she absolutely hated her. This only being confirmation that the two were never going to be friends again. Megan hated her before she left Diamond Heights and now she saw Lillian as a threat to her first, serious relationship.

And now... her eyes glow? She hadn't seen the girl in years and now her eyes were different? What happened when Megan moved here? And would that happen to Lillian too if she weren't careful? Lillian's head was spinning at the thought.

What did this all mean? Did it mean anything?

Those questions are what kept Lillian in a daze. And now, it was Sunday night. She had just as much work as she had on Friday. Zero progress was made.

Fuck, what am I gonna do?

Her eyes stared blankly at the Algebra II math book that was on her desk. She stared at the equations, but her mind wasn't there to figure out how to solve it. She looked at her clock; 11:32 PM. She groaned as she shook her head, her eyes landing on her laptop, looking away and then going back to the laptop when she was suddenly filled with temptation.

It wouldn't hurt to try, right?... No, no this is stupid... But, maybe I'll find what I'm looking for.

Without much thought, Lillian opened up her laptop. She stared at her screensaver for a moment, debating if what she was doing was stupid. It was late. She had a lack of sleep. Maybe she was going crazy.

"Glowing eyes". She looked at the words in the search engine.

Had she really lost it? Had the move to this town really made her feel this much on edge?

She tapped the "Enter" button and almost immediately she regretted it. She was about to close the device altogether and get some rest until a website caught her attention. It was that was much older than the others in the search list and it was written years ago in Beacon Hills, by an unknown author and it was labeled "Mythology of Supernatural Creatures". Lillian's eyebrow raised at the title.

S-Supernatural? There's no such thing. Right?

She scrolled down the site, going past the information about vampires, hellhounds, and witches that admitted made her eyes roll. However, past that she stumbled upon the section about werewolves, one of the longer sections on the site.

Wolves had always interested Lillian as they were admittedly fascinating, and what was written down really intrigued her. She read through a few paragraphs, skimming through it until she got to one chunk of information that sent chills down her spine.

It was about the classifications of werewolves as not all werewolves were the same. The author talked about Omegas, Betas, Alphas, and True Alphas. And at first, Lillian saw it just as filler, until she got to the end, where the color of a werewolf eyes signify their position.

Red eyes - Belong to Alpha wolves, the highest position in a werewolf pack.

Yellow eyes - Belong to a Betas, the middle-ranking werewolves or to Omega werewolves, wolves that aren't in a pack.

Blue - A werewolf that has taken an innocent life, can be at any position.

Lillian read over the passage a few times and eventually closed her computer completely. Her body felt tingly as she started to feel that she read something that she shouldn't have. She was sure her face was pale like she had seen a ghost. With what she read...

Did this mean... Megan was a...?

Lillian was left in her own head as she debated if she had truly gone insane. She could feel her breathing beginning to come out uneven, harsh and dry until the sound of a knock on her door takes her out of her trance. She jumps, turning around to see that her father was opening her bedroom door, his head poking out as he peered in from her doorway. He smiles at her, obvious to the fact that she was going to have another anxiety attack.

"Just wanted to make sure you were okay," he said. He had just returned home from work as he was still in his uniform. She nodded, managing to fake a smile as her upper lip was quivering with nerves. He nodded in response as he said his goodnight and started closing the door. Lillian called out and almost immediately regretted it.

"Dad!" she cringed at how loud she said it.

"Hm?" he hummed back as he reopened the door. She looked at him for a moment. She didn't know how to start. She hadn't thought that far ahead.

"This is... this is going to sound weird, but-but I need your opinion on this," she starts and he nods.

"Okay, what is it?"

"... Do... Do you believe in the supernatural, Dad?" it came out awkward and she felt stupid as the words passed her lips. He raised a brow at her and they furrowed together. Was this some new lingo that kids were saying nowadays?

"Supernatural? As in- like ghosts and vampires?"

"Well… Y-Yeah?" she said, but it came out more like a "Yeah?" than "Yeah." He gave her a weird gaze as he tried to make sense of what she was exactly asking. He didn't want to dismiss her, but he truly didn't understand what she was getting at.

"Uhm, why are you asking me this?"

"I-I mean," she starts, closing her eyes as she tries to find the words, "This town is weird, right? We both know this, Dad. And-And m-maybe it's weird for a reason? Like, like don't you just get the sense- a feeling- that things aren't really what they seem to be? That this town and its people are hiding something? And there could be a rational reason to this-"

She was rambling and her father raised a hand. She stops. This was the most that she had talked to him in a long, long time. But she was making no sense and he stops her.

"Lillian, sweetie," he started and her face falls. She recognizes this tone, "Come on, honey, don't be ridiculous. Yes, this town is a bit odd, but there is no such thing as the supernatural."

Her father told her this in a negative tone and chuckled with a shake of his head. Lillian paused. She had hoped that her father would listen to her and maybe even consider her side of things. But… He just laughed. Her heart couldn't even feel broken as a large part of her saw this coming. This attitude. This arrogance.

She debated in her head if she should spill everything about Megan. How she was back in her life and was possibly a werewolf. How her eyes glowed. But her voice got quiet and she gave up as she tried to retort. Her face falling completely if it hadn't already. She gave up. There was no way she was going to make him understand. Not now.

"Y-Yeah, you're right, Dad. I was just... I'm just tired," she excused her seemingly irrational behavior, "It's been a long week and I haven't really slept- That's all... I'm sorry."

"It's okay, Lil', goodnight."

"Night."

He left and when the door closed so did Lillian's eyes in defeat. She felt trapped in the new information she learned and trapped in a constant cycle with her dad. Trying to communicate anything with him was like pulling teeth. His denial about all of this started to make Lillian second guess herself. Maybe she was just thinking too much. Maybe this was too bizarre and the lack of sleep really was getting to her.

In fact, the incident with Megan's eyes was the only strange thing that has happened up to this point. The only indicator that Beacon Hills wasn't a normal town.

With a deep sigh, Lillian decided that it would be for the best if she dropped the whole charade as she was just making herself more and more paranoid. She back down on her bed and ran her fingers through her hair as she glanced at the study guides and textbooks that scattered her bed. Instead of attempting to start on her work, she laid her head down onto her pillow. Moments after, she was fast asleep.

After about one and a half hours of sleep and just over five hours of homework and studying, it was the start of a new school week.

Ever since Lillian had arrived at the new school in a different school district, she had been trying to adjust to the workload that opposed from her old school and workload. Tests were coming up and deadlines were closing in and Lillian had to play catch up. Hence, her trying to buckle down for the upcoming tests that weekend.

Lillian entered the school, her backpack feeling as though it weighed a ton as she groggily went into the building. She made a beeline to her Physics class, dying to sit down in a hopefully mostly empty classroom. She was about five minutes earlier than the rest of the students. She looked around and for a moment, felt at peace. She turned in the weekend homework and sat at her lab table in the far back.

Deciding to enjoy the few moments of quiet she had, she put her head down. Resting to catch up on the countless hours of sleep that she was craving. She was close to completely dozing off when someone sat in the stool next to her. She ignored this at first, putting her head further into her arms as the person didn't say anything. But then they cleared their throat. They wanted her attention.

She slowly turned her head, peeking her eyes over to see that Stiles was glancing over at her with a small smile. Seeing him there made her jump a little, immediately putting her head back down as she panicked. Her jaw clenched as she fully lifted her head. She remembered Megan's words and was afraid that at any moment Megan would walk in and see them together.

"Taking a nap there?" he asked and she lightheartedly rolled her eyes and she stretched.

"Trying to," she replied as she glanced around cautiously, "What's going on?"

"I just- I wanted to tell you that I'm fine," she furrowed her brows and he elaborated, "Last week, you seemed worried about me. But I want to assure you that everything's okay, really."

She looked at him blankly for a moment, partly because him saying this felt forced and sudden, but mostly because she was seconds away from passing out.

"Oh, okay," she said as he nodded, "Good- that's good."

She started laying back down, about to close her eyes as she was expecting him to get up and go to his seat. But he didn't move and she still felt his gaze in her direction. She sat back up as he was now looking at her a bit more, seeing something as she glanced back at him. The look was a bit intense, his gaze starting to make her more self-conscious, "What?"

"Nothing, it's nothing," he was holding something back.

"No, what is it? Is there something on my face or?" she asked and he shook his head.

"No- no, your face is fine," he said, and her eyebrows furrowed as the words came out a bit blunt, "I mean- your face is great. Better than most faces, I'd say-"

Okay, now Lillian didn't know if she should take his words kindly or if she was supposed to be offended. Was he calling her pretty? She wasn't sure. Lack of sleep didn't allow for her to focus on it for long.

"Stiles, what are you trying to say?"

"Are you, like, okay?"

"Just fine," she said without hesitation.

"No really, you look beat. You look like you've barely slept, which I guess explains the nap," he told her in concern while trying to be lighthearted and nonevasive.

"Well thanks," she said sarcastically, "I know I look like shit-"

"You- You don't... just tired."

"Stiles, I'm fine."

"From my experience with girls, usually when they say "I'm fine" they mean the exact opposite."

She looked at him with a deadpan expression before rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. She wanted to brush off his concerns, she didn't want a person she barely knew being worried about her. Similar to how she shouldn't worry about him and his problems. Especially with Megan around.

However, in the back of her mind, she had to remind herself that he had no clue about her conflict with his girlfriend. He was just concerned. He was trying to be a friend. He wanted to make sure that she was okay. She had to admit- she didn't look her best and felt awful.

"I just," she sighed as she explained her dilemma, "I have a lot of work to do. I have like three tests coming up and all weekend I wasn't able to focus," he looked as if he was even more worried now, "B-But don't worry about me, okay? This'll pass. Really. I've been in worse situations."

That couldn't be any more of a lie. This was definitely one of the worst situations she's been in. His eyes soften a bit as she puts him a bit at ease. However, his heart still doesn't feel right.

"If you say so, Lillian."

The bell rings and people start filing into the room, the atmosphere changes as more and more people enter. He gets up from the seat and they share one final look before he goes to his assigned lab station at the front of the room.

…

Lillian and Stiles didn't speak much to each other for the rest of the day. Lillian's reason was due to Megan, not wanting to risk the chance of her popping up out of nowhere. As Lillian did best, she laid low. She didn't want any trouble, but unbeknownst to her, Stiles was going to get her into more.

On the other hand, Stiles' reason for not talking to Lillian was because he had a plan.

Scott and Lydia were a bit surprised at his pitch, it wasn't the craziest thing that they've ever done, not in the slightest, but it was something that neither of them wanted to do. They barely knew the girl and what Stiles was proposing was a bit out there.

"I don't know, Stiles," Scott said with a sigh. Lydia bit into her grape, pondering.

"I've heard that she has like, major social anxiety. I don't think that popping up at her house is a great idea," she eyed him and he shrugged as he took a bite of his sandwich, "And besides, we barely know her. And how will we know where she lives, huh? Did you think about that? What are we going to follow her after school like a couple of creeps?"

"No, no of course not," he sounded a bit offended that Lydia would suggest such a thing like that.

"Then what's your plan?" Scott asked.

"I recognized her last name almost immediately. My dad just hired her's a couple of weeks ago. He's a deputy. I can find him in the system easily" he tells them with a wave of his hand and both Scott and Lydia gaze at him. Him being able to find out with information with apparent ease weirds them out, "I-I've found out weirder things before, okay?"

"That, I don't doubt," Lydia tells him, "But just- this whole thing- it just seems weird. I'm pretty sure this is the only thing that Megan and I would agree on."

She brings up Megan and something in Stiles' face shifts. Scott sees this. But Stiles tries to mask the sudden rush of adrenaline he feels when Megan is brought up. He wants to focus on Lillian and Lillian only.

"You two are some of the smartest people that I know. And Lydia, come on, you passed that Algebra II exam with a perfect score freshman year. Scott, you memorized the Great Gatsby front to back. The least we can do is help her out."

"Why are you so persistent on this, huh? What's your deal?" Lydia grills him and he looks her dead in the eye.

"From what I can see, she has no one here. She knew Megan, but they seem estranged. She's struggling and she has no one. I'm one of the only people she's talked to... I just... I want to help. If she was here, Allison would've-"

"Stiles!" Lydia practically yells before covering her mouth in shock. She looks at Stiles with widened eyes as he has said the forbidden name.

Stiles and Lydia gazed at each other, their table in suspense as a few moments passed where Scott didn't say anything. They never talked about Allison. It was like they all silently agreed that mentioning her was prohibited. She died during their freshman year in a car crash, the day before prom in a storm. Lydia was her best friend and Scott was her on-again-off-again boyfriend. For the past two years, their group had been silent about it, and now it was like Stiles had just ripped the bandage off of an old wound that was now bleeding again by mentioning her name. He looked down to see Scott clutching and unclutching his fist, Scott's eyes wandering around.

"He didn't-" Lydia started, but Stiles finished.

"S-Scott, I... I shouldn't have just brought her up like that. I-I'm an asshole, I-"

"No, no," Scott said and lifted his face to show that he was actually smiling, "It's okay. We should do this. We should... help her out. That's what we do."

"Not really anymore, Scott," Lydia told him and he gazes at her, "We stopped doing that when we got Megan," she murmurs, glancing at Stiles. He rolls his eyes, knowing well that Lydia disliked Megan as most people did.

"Well, we should get back to it. Stiles, if you're that concerned and feel that this is best then... I'm in," Scott told him. Lydia sigh turns into an irritated groan as she throws her head back and closes her eyes. She's outnumbered.

"Well, it's 2-to-1. Guess I'm in too. But I'm telling you, this is creepy and weird and she'll hate it."

"Or this is cool and nice and she'll love it," Stiles tells her with squinted eyes, but there was a sense of doubt in his mind. Lydia was a girl after all, maybe she knew better than him.

Lillian's hands uncovered her eyes as she hoped that living table filled with her work would disappear. However, her wishes didn't come true as the papers and books stared back at her. Her fingers went through her hair, trying her best not to pull it out.

Lillian wanted to scream, to cry, something to let out a large amount of the stress that she was feeling. How was she supposed to study for a math exam, a Great Gatsby test, and memorize all of the amendments to the Constitution in such little time?

As if the universe knew she was about to start on her work, her doorbell chimed. She jumped at the sound. She wasn't expecting anyone and her father wouldn't use the doorbell.

She hesitated. Almost instinctively, she thought about waiting out whoever was there. However, when she looked through her front window curtains, she could barely make out the cars that were outside. A motorcycle bike, a dark blue Toyota Prius, and a light blue jeep all on the curb that was opposite of her house.

The same jeep from her first day...

What were the odds that the same jeep was now right outside her door? Now feeling curious, she jumped up from her spot and to the door. There was no going back once she turned the doorknob, soon discovering that there were three people at her doorstep. She nearly slammed the door back shut in horror as her eyes did a double take. Her heart dropped in her stomach as Stiles was looking right back at her, being in the center of his two friends.

"Hey," he greeted her casually while she was about to have a nervous breakdown. She looked at him with flying saucers for eyes, "These are my friends, Lydia and Scott." he pointed to the two by his side respectively. They waved but Lillian didn't wave back as she continued looking at Stiles as if he was speaking some foreign language.

"U-U-Uh, hi? A-Are you guys at the wrong house or?" she stammered out and Stiles shook his head, "How did you even know that I lived here?" Stiles began to open his mouth, but Scott stopped him before he could speak. Her knowing that probably wouldn't be the best.

"Stiles told us how you have a crazy ass workload," the male on Stiles' left side said, Lillian glanced up at him when he talked. Her eyes unintentionally gazing at his crooked jawline and the leather jacket he wore with his motorbike, "And Lydia and I wanted to help you."

Lillian's eyes flickered to the strawberry blonde on Stiles' right side. The two girls shared a small moment of eye contact before Lillian's eyes gazed at the ground. Lydia's eyes looked at her more friendly than she thought they would.

Lydia Martin... I've seen her around school a lot and literally everyone knows her. She's so popular and like the complete opposite of me... and yet she's at my house? This all feels way too bizarre... but in a good way.

"So what? What is this exactly?" she asked.

"A study group!" Stiles declared but as soon as the words came out he furrowed his brows, his pointer finger scratching his temple, "That... sounded way better in my head- W-We just want to help you out, that's all."

"Okay...," her fingers were nervously tapping the wood of the threshold, "Uhm, come in."

She readjusted her footing as Scott and Lydia entered her house, speaking among themselves as they made their way over to her sofa. Lillian looks back outside to see Stiles observing her fingers that were still nervously tap-tap-tapping her doorway. She jumped a bit when his eyes came into contact with her's.

"What?" she asked him, wondering why he was looking at her in that way.

"You're okay with this, right? You seem a bit anxious."

"Yeah well, three people that I barely know are in my house. Definitely doesn't make me anxious," she said, somewhat harshly. Realizing this she closes her eyes and when she reopens them, she looks at Stiles sympathetically, "Stiles, I told you not to worry."

"Just know one thing right now, I always worry," he tells her in a soft voice, "It's one of my faults, really."

"I just... you don't have to help me... Why are you helping me? You barely know me." Stiles shrugged.

"Well, maybe we can change that," his tone didn't come out flirty, it was gentle and kind. Friendly. She didn't realize that that was what she needed until this moment, "But we can leave if you want. We want you to be comfortable."

"No... no, stay," she tells him, "This is really nice... and thoughtful, actually."

"And I know that you'll get along great with Scott and Lydia," he tells her with a smile. Another thought comes to mind as the words slowly pass her lips.

"And... I'm guessing Megan couldn't make it?" she asks, looking around as if the girl was going to appear out of thin air. Stiles shook his head as his heart pounded a little faster at the mention of her name.

"No, no she couldn't. She's busy," he tells her, lying with ease as he was happy that she wasn't there. Because if she was, she would've been complaining the entire time. The two stood there, trying to recover from mentioning her name and the thoughts that followed.

"That's okay. Anyways, uhm, you can come inside."

Stiles small smile brightens up as he finally set foot inside her house. Turning around, she finds them all settling in, the once intimidating stack of work now looked small, insignificant with now the four of them to face. Scratch paper, textbooks, and pencils were soon out.

"What first?" Stiles asked, placing one of his pencils behind his ear.

...

The stack diminished within a few hours into the session. The once awkwardly stiff air vanished into lighthearted stories and bonding between the four as Lillian was slowly allowing herself to open up.

She listened to Stiles and Scott's banter back and forth and soon enough she started adding her own comments to their conversation. This took the other three by surprise, as in the beginning, Lillian only spoke when she needed to. She was surprisingly witty and her confidence in her wittiness was fueled by Lydia's low murmurs of approval and smile. Her humor mixed well with theirs'.

Eventually, the four of them were just hanging out in her living room while watching TV. Lillian was able to talk to Lydia with this newfound ease, the two connecting like puzzle pieces, like magnets on topics here and there.

Their sense of humor was similar and it took Stiles by surprised when he heard Lillian laugh at one of Lydia's remarks. It was one thing when Stiles had seen her smile for the first time, but it felt like a completely different thing when he heard her laugh. It made him feel warm inside and made him smile. Stiles and Scott were in the middle of a conversation when Stiles paused and smiled, which made Scott take a mental note when he saw Stiles' reaction.

Some more time passed and the whole group came together. Stiles was telling them a story.

"And then Scott-" Stiles was interrupted as they heard a rhythmic knock on the door.

Lillian got up from her dent on the couch and went to the door. She was somewhat surprised to see that it was her father, who had a large stack of yellow folders piled in his arms, had knocked. He let himself in as he was trying his best to balance the folders, plopping them down onto the kitchen table as they slid into a mess. He huffed out, about to speak to his daughter about the day he had when his eyes finally see the other three teens in his living room.

The room is left silent for a few moments until Stiles got up within the group of three, walking over with his hand extended.

"Hi Deputy, I'm Stiles Stilinski," Stiles recognizes the man's uniform as soon as he saw it. And Lillian's father recognizes the last name as soon as he hears it. They shake hands, and Deputy Sanders measures the boy up and down, eyeing him rather suspiciously. The gaze making Lillian tense up, "It's nice to meet you, sir."

"Stilinski," he calls him by his last name in a low, harsh tone. Stiles' face falls as that is all he says, walking past the boy to go upstairs without another word. Stiles turns around to see the others looking at him, specifically Lillian, whose eyes give off an apologetic look.

"He's been in a mood," she tells him.

"What do you mean? He's in love with me already," he says as the two of them go to sit back down.

...

The group was left to their own devices as Deputy Sanders soon left to patrol downtown. And the later it got, the more the group started to trickle down.

First, it was Lydia as she had to pick up her mother from the airport. Lillian walked her out and the two exchanged a hug and phone numbers. That left it to Lillian, Stiles, and Scott.

And about half an hour later, it was Scott's turn as he remembered that he promised his mom he would bring her dinner at the hospital. Similarly, Lillian walked him out, and the two weren't as close as Lillian was to Stiles or Lillian was to Lydia, but the two were able to hold a conversation. As Scott settled on his motorbike, he looked at Lillian.

"Y'know if you want to sit with us at lunch, you're more than welcome to," he told her and she smiled. However, her smile didn't last.

"Thank you, but I don't think Megan would like that very much."

"Why does it matter what she thinks?" he asked her, and she just shrugged and shook her head.

"We're not exactly friends," she told him, "Haven't been for years."

"Well, you're our friend," Scott said, "And it would make Stiles happy."

"What do you mean by that?" she asked him, wondering why he brought up Stiles. He paused for a minute.

"I think he likes having you around," Scott left it short as he put on his helmet. Lillian felt a wave of butterflies when Scott said this. She waved goodbye as he left and turned back around to go back inside.

That left only Stiles.

Lillian's palms became sweaty as she shut the door behind Scott, realizing that she was now alone with Stiles. She turned her head and looked back to see him awkwardly tapping his foot and gazing around the now still room. Her stupid heart was pounding in her ears, she could barely hear him when he said;

"See. Told you that you would get along with them."

"Huh? Oh- y-yeah. Yeah. You did. We got everything done and they were just the best."

She sat back down in her spot across from him. There was a moment or two of comfortable silence. Normally silence made Stiles feel uneasy but with Lillian, it felt natural, tranquil. He didn't have to talk her ear off and she didn't have to try and think of something to say. They could sit and just enjoy each other's company.

She glanced at him and was taken aback by the smile she saw. It looked like it was a happy thought he was having and she felt curious.

"What?" she asked softly and his eyes reconnected with her's. He blinked a couple of times, "What's going on up there?"

"Hm?" it took him a minute to know what she said, "Oh, uh, it's nothing," he said in a way that made it seem that he was a bit embarrassed that she caught him.

"Nothing as in nothing or nothing as in something?" she asked and this only made him smile more.

"It's just...," he paused for a moment as he was searching for the words and then looked at her again, "I haven't seen you smile or laugh until now... It's nice."

"Oh," she's at a loss for words for a moment. Of course, Stiles was the person that noticed her lack of pure joy, "I guess I haven't done it in a while."

"Why not?"

"Just... I don't know. Haven't been happy for some time," she tells him genuinely, and he nods understandingly.

"Well, I think that you should do it more often. People don't know what they're missing," Lillian rolls her eyes.

"They're not missing much."

"I think they are. You have a nice smile and laugh."

He tells her this and it takes her a moment to realize how genuinely happy he is to see her happy. Her face becomes red, for numerous reasons, and she lifts up her knees. She holds them up to cover her now flushed face.

"Thanks, you do too," he looks at her arrogantly.

"Oh, I know," he says and she gives another roll of her eyes as she chuckles. Stiles eyes the dimples in her cheeks as she smiles and he can't help but feel a warm feeling in his chest.

"You're ridiculous-"

"I'm the bestest? Yes, I know," Lillian looks at him endearingly.

"Do you have an off button?"

"Maybe, haven't found it yet," he tells her as they go back and forth.

He soon begins to gather his things as he realizes how late it now is after glancing at the clock. Lillian watches as he does this and that's when she realizes that he had taken off his hoodie, and was now just in a short-sleeved shirt.

As he extends his arm out, she catches a glimpse of what seems like a bruise on his right bicep... She only saw it for a mere 2 seconds, but due to Stiles' light complexion, the dark bruise is defined against his fair skin. Her stomach turns as she sees this and he doesn't notice her face falling and mood changing as he's stuffing things into his backpack. The atmosphere that was once fun and joyful for her turned sour fast.

"S-Stiles," she stammers out. He gazes at her, now seeing a shift in her face and the widening in her eyes. He looks at her confused. Her tone of voice a complete 180, her face looking at him more seriously, more stern even. What happened? What happened in those few seconds?

"What? What's wrong?"

"Your arm," she breathes out. His eyes widen as he stands up, starting to feel panicked.

"I-I told you, I fell down the stairs, I'm fine!" he tells her this while gathering the things that were now falling out of his bag. No, no this isn't right.

"N-No. You told me you hurt it from lacrosse. Not from stairs," she corrects him. His eyes shift from his bag to her as he realizes his mistake, his inconsistency in his story. He was caught.

"W-Well, one thing that you should know about me is that I'm clumsy," he starts, trying to turn the narrative around. "T-The other day-" he tries, but Lillian isn't falling for it as she looks at him worried. Seeing through what he's trying to do.

"Stiles, what happened? Something bad happened. Am I right?"

"No, everything is fine, okay?" he quickens his pace, "I gotta go." As she stands up, he bolts to the door.

"Stiles!"

His hand is firmly on the doorknob when she calls out to him. He turns his head and Lillian is left speechless at the look in his eyes. The deep, please-don't-worry-everything-is-fine. Her heart hurts looking back at him.

"Stiles," she tries again, her voice small, "Please... Just tell me, I can help- I-" he stops her.

"Lillian, please, just don't get involved. Please."

His voice is soft but his eyes are pleading with her, seeming to want to tell her more but he just can't. The look leaves her heartbroken. He departs from her house and descends down her stairs without another word. Lillian takes a step outside and watches as he gets into his jeep that was parked on the curb. He looks back at her one more time with a weary smile, before putting the keys in the ignition and leaving completely.

Don't get involved... get involved with what? What was he hiding? What was so dangerous that she couldn't know?

(Hours Before)

He left her. He fucking left her!

Megan had been getting rides from Stiles ever since they first started dating and this was the first time in months that he's forgotten to wait for her after school. Lydia was gone by the time she got out and she didn't bother to ask Scott.

And now she had to walk. And that pissed her off.

Luckily, she knew a shortcut to get home. She walked down this shorter route, her heels clanking against the pavement, as she was beyond furious at Stiles. She was in the middle of cursing him out over text when something caught her eye. In her peripheral vision, which was sharper and clearer due to her werewolf abilities, she saw a blue jeep on Melody Avenue.

That was Stiles' jeep... And this wasn't his or her street! What the fuck was his car doing there?

She clutched her phone in her tight fist and marched down the sidewalk. She stopped at the jeep and was certain that it was his due to his scent that lingered around it. But she also caught two other familiar scents. Her eyes darted to the two other vehicles parked close to Stiles' jeep.

Lydia's Toyota and Scott's motorbike?... They were here too? Why were the three of them together without her?

She looked across the way from where the jeep was parked at. It was a cozy looking two-story home that still had it's "SOLD" sign on its lawn. Her eyes focused in through a window, where the curtains left a crack for her to look through. That's when she saw all of them. Scott and Stiles sat next to one another... Lydia was on the other side... and beside her was a brunette girl... Wait, was that Lillian?

Scott and Stiles' lips moved as they talked to one another. Megan could barely make out Lydia's smirk... And then Megan saw Lillian's eyes close, her mouth wide open as she laughed. The way that Stiles looked across the way at her and smiled as he joined in on the laughter. The scene made Megan's skin crawl and blood boil.

This was Lillian's house. Stiles was at another girl's house! In her living room, sitting with her, laughing with her! Stiles never laughed with Megan like that. No,... not like that.

Megan's hand flinched as her claws pierced into her own skin, her anger causing for them to grow without her knowing. She growled under her breath as she started walking away from the scene. She had seen enough. Her eyes glowed, her vision becoming red as she felt her teeth sharpen in her mouth. She had told Lillian to watch her back... Now...

Now she needed a wake up call.

Lillian awkwardly readjuste