❛ I am just a fool to keep on chasing after nothing great. You are just a fool to keep pretending that you're loving me. ❜

SEASON 1, EPISODE 10
wolf's bane

AFTER SCHOOL, WILLOW asked Laurel to drop her off at Stiles' house because they needed to work on whatever his plan was to help with their Jackson problem. Laurel hesitated but did as she asked.

⠀⠀⠀At the door, Mr. Stilinski opened it before she even had the chance to knock, and she smiled awkwardly at him.

⠀⠀⠀"Willow, hello," he greeted.

⠀⠀⠀"Hey, Mr. Stilinski," she smiled, waving her hand that had been extended toward the doorbell. "Stiles and I have a project for English we're working on."

⠀⠀⠀Mr. Stilinski nodded, opening the door for her as he walked past her. He turned back, their positions at the door now switched as they continued to occupy the door.

⠀⠀⠀"I was just headed out," Mr. Stilinski explained, pointing his thumb behind him. Then, he dawned a severe expression, pulling his eyebrows together as he pointed at her. "You two be good."

⠀⠀⠀"Of course," Willow assured him, nodding.

⠀⠀⠀Mr. Stilinski nodded back, heading over to his car while Willow closed the door behind him.

⠀⠀⠀She turned to the stairs, rubbing her hands down her face, then she looked back at them to see they had frowned longer. Her breathing was beginning to cut short, and it felt like she just couldn't catch it.

⠀⠀⠀"Willow?" Stiles called as he exited his room upstairs and noticed her standing by the front door. "Hey, Willow!"

⠀⠀⠀Stiles ran down the stairs, greeting her at the bottom with a tense smile but noticed when she wouldn't catch his eye. He frowned and walked to stand toe-to-toe with her.

⠀⠀⠀"Willow, are you—?"

⠀⠀⠀Her hands felt shaky as she lifted them to stare at, but it looked like she was still while the rest of the room was darting around her. She also couldn't place Stiles' voice except for the fact that he was there and both his hands were on her arms. She wanted to rip herself from the touch and further herself into his arms simultaneously.

⠀⠀⠀The sachet hadn't worn off yet. That was it. That was all it was. These feelings bottled in Willow's stomach were a product of magic and nothing more. They would pass. They had to. They had to.

⠀⠀⠀"Willow, hey, hey!" Stiles exclaimed, bending down to force her to look him in the eye. Her eyes were wild for a second before finally, they locked onto his big, doe brown eyes. The light shined just bright enough into them to make them look like melted honey, and she hated the fact that they made her feel safe. "Breathe with me," he told her.

⠀⠀⠀Stiles rested his hand in front of his chest. Then, he breathed in and out, his hand rising and falling with the movement. It took Willow a second of choking sounds before she finally followed his directions. Then, her eyes moved from his eyes to his hand and followed.

⠀⠀⠀She was in a haze, just watching Stiles breathe, and then she was back to reality, but she didn't feel much better being there either.

⠀⠀⠀Frankly, she felt like shit.

⠀⠀⠀"Hey," Stiles smiled, looking everywhere but her eyes for a second to make sure she was okay, then back to staring into them. "Is everything okay?"

⠀⠀⠀"I'm good, I'm fine," Willow reassured, waving her hand at him.

⠀⠀⠀"Okay," Stiles muttered, unconvinced. "I'm going to get you some water."

⠀⠀⠀Stiles walked away and then returned in a blink of an eye. Willow looked to him, then the kitchen. She hadn't even registered that he had left.

⠀⠀⠀"Drink it."

⠀⠀⠀Willow did as he told and drank half of the glass. It helped, some.

⠀⠀⠀"Derek's here," Stiles told her after a minute of silence.

⠀⠀⠀"Derek's here?" Willow asked, raising an eyebrow and putting her mask back on. "What's he doing here?"

⠀⠀⠀"He wanted to know if we got anything on Allison's necklace," he explained, beginning to lead her up the stairs.

⠀⠀⠀"Did you?"

⠀⠀⠀"No," Stiles sighed, walking into his room.

⠀⠀⠀Willow looked at Derek pacing around the room with a scowl, a slight nod towards her in greeting like he hadn't been listening to everything happening downstairs.

⠀⠀⠀"But there's something else we can try," Stiles continued their conversation, sitting at his desk. "The night we were trapped at the school, Scott sent a text to Allison asking her to meet him there."

⠀⠀⠀"So?" Derek asked, not seeing the point.

⠀⠀⠀"It wasn't Scott who sent it," Willow explained.

⠀⠀⠀"Well, can you find out who sent it?" Derek asked, turning to Stiles since he had brought it up.

⠀⠀⠀"No, not me," Stiles said, turning in his chair to face his laptop. "But I think I know somebody who can. That's where you come in," he said the last statement directed at Willow.

⠀⠀⠀"Who?"

⠀⠀⠀"Danny."

⠀⠀⠀"Danny hates you," Willow told him blandly. "He'll never come around."

⠀⠀⠀"But you guys are lab partners!" Stiles exclaimed, throwing his hands up. "And you're exactly right. Danny does hate me, so use that! Tell him that you got suckered into helping your ex do a lab project, and now you're stuck and need a blocker."

⠀⠀⠀"Now, I hate you," Willow stated, crossing her arms with a frown.

⠀⠀⠀"Wait," Derek stopped them, holding his hand out towards them as he tried to hold back a laugh. "You dated?" he asked, raising an eyebrow at them.

⠀⠀⠀"Yes," Stiles hissed, offended that Derek found it amusing.

⠀⠀⠀"Oh, man," Derek started to chuckle. "She broke up with you, right? Because if you broke up with her, I'd think entirely different of you."

⠀⠀⠀"Why does ev—" Stiles began to rant, but Willow cut him off.

⠀⠀⠀"Yes, I broke up with him," Willow said quickly, pulling her phone to her ear as she walked out of the room. "Hey, Danny, I need your help."

"WILLOW, WHAT DID you get me into?" Danny asked, turning to look at her the second Stiles began talking to him.

⠀⠀⠀"I'm sorry," Willow muttered, shying away from him.

⠀⠀⠀"I just want you to trace a text," Stiles told Danny, shrugging his shoulders innocently.

⠀⠀⠀"I came here to do lab work," Danny told them, pointing at Willow. "That's what lab partners do."

⠀⠀⠀"And we will!" Stiles assured him, interrupting the two once again. "Once you trace the text."

⠀⠀⠀"And what makes you think I know how?" Danny asked, turning on him with narrowed eyes and crossing his arms over his chest.

⠀⠀⠀"I-I looked up your arrest report, so—" Stiles explained, mumbling near the end as Danny sent him a deadly glare.

⠀⠀⠀"I was thirteen," Danny defensively exclaimed, looking between the two. "They dropped the charges."

⠀⠀⠀"Whatever."

⠀⠀⠀"No," Danny stated, not having Stiles' attitude. He set his backpack down and turned back to Stiles. "We're doing lab work."

⠀⠀⠀Stiles seemed to comply with Danny's statement, turning to his computer and signing in. As he did so, Danny looked over his shoulder to Derek at the back of the room, reading a massive book in an attempt to appear normal.

⠀⠀⠀Willow didn't think it did. If it wasn't for the fact that she was pretty sure it was a dictionary he was reading, then it was that he had kept himself as quiet as he could to the point Danny had barely noticed him.

⠀⠀⠀"Who's he again?" Danny asked Stiles, pointing over his shoulder.

⠀⠀⠀"Um," Stiles muttered, looking back at Derek as the gears turned in his head. "My cousin, Miguel."

⠀⠀⠀Willow rose an eyebrow at Stiles, and he shrugged like he didn't know what else he was supposed to say. Danny had his eyes on Miguel, not noticing their silent exchange.

⠀⠀⠀"Is that blood on his shirt?" Danny continued, frowning.

⠀⠀⠀"Yeah. Yes. Well, he gets these horrible nosebleeds," Stiles explained.

⠀⠀⠀Willow was a little more impressed by his on-the-spot lie over the one about Miguel. Stiles turned to Derek, who kept his head down like he hadn't heard a word of their conversation.

⠀⠀⠀"Hey, Miguel," Stiles called to him, Derek looking up at him with a deep frown. "I thought I told you you could borrow one of my shirts," Stiles hissed at him.

⠀⠀⠀Stiles pointed towards his dresser, and Derek slowly stood up. The look on his face grew intimidating as he closed the dictionary. He threw it aggressively on the bed and walked over to the dresser, taking his shirt off.

⠀⠀⠀"So, anyway, I mean, we both know you have the skills to trace the text. So, we should probably—"

⠀⠀⠀"Uh, Stiles?" Derek cut him off.

⠀⠀⠀Stiles smiled in aggravation, turned to him, and asked, "Yes?"

⠀⠀⠀"This," Derek stated, pulling the shirt taut for emphasis. "No fit."

⠀⠀⠀Willow held herself back from laughing, pushing her hand over her mouth to smooth her lips and keep her mouth closed. The tension between Stiles and Derek had always been palpable and entertaining to watch as they got under each other's skin.

⠀⠀⠀"Then try something else on," Stiles snapped back at him, turning to look at his classmates, shaking his head. "Sorry," he muttered, looking back to his laptop.

⠀⠀⠀Willow noticed that while Stiles was about to rehash the plan of Danny finding who sent the text, Danny was in another world Willow found herself in often when talking to Scott's mom. She clenched her hand that was already over her mouth into a fist and coughed obnoxiously into it. Stiles looked up at her, and she shot her eyes quickly back and forth from him and Danny a few times. Stiles followed her direction and noticed Danny staring at Derek.

⠀⠀⠀"Hey, that one looks pretty good, huh?" Stiles asked, turning to look at Derek then back to Danny. "What do you think, Danny? The shirt."

⠀⠀⠀"It's—" Danny began. "It's not really his color," he admitted with a timid smile.

⠀⠀⠀Willow couldn't help but laugh as Stiles turned slowly in his seat, looking put off by Danny's comment.

⠀⠀⠀"You swing for a different team, but you still play ball, don't you, Danny boy?" Stiles asked him, whispering to Danny as he turned back to Stiles' laptop.

⠀⠀⠀"You're a horrible person," Danny said in response.

⠀⠀⠀"I know," Stiles sighed. "It keeps me awake at night. Anyway, about that text—"

⠀⠀⠀"Stiles!" Derek exclaimed, now shirtless. "None of these fit."

⠀⠀⠀Danny turned to Stiles' laptop, suddenly inspired to help them.

⠀⠀⠀"I'll need the ISP, the phone number, and the exact time of the text."

⠀⠀⠀Stiles let out a silent cheer, the three moving quickly to get Danny what he needed and then let him work as the two boys hovered over him. While they did that, Willow left to get a snack from the kitchen downstairs.

⠀⠀⠀"There," Danny said as she walked back in, pointing at the screen and leaning back so they could look at it. Willow stood beside Derek with a handful of goldfish. Stiles and Danny sat in desk chairs in front of them. She rested her hand on Stiles' shoulder, leaning in to look as Danny pulled up what they needed. "The text was sent from a computer. This one."

⠀⠀⠀"Registered to that account name?" Derek asked.

⠀⠀⠀"It can't be," Willow whispered, horrified.

⠀⠀⠀"No, no, no, no. That can't be right," Stiles muttered, staring at the screen wide-eyed.

⠀⠀⠀On the screen, in bright, bold letters, the sender of the text was from Beacon Hills Memorial Hospital under the name of Melissa McCall.

WILLOW, STILES, AND Derek rushed to the hospital despite the lacrosse game starting any minute. It would've been Stiles' first night playing first line on the team, and if he missed it, Coach wouldn't let him stay.

⠀⠀⠀Willow tried to tell him that she could go with Derek on her own, but he was insistent ongoing. His main issue was that he was the only one who had a car, but Willow wondered if it was something more than that. Like, leaving her alone with an angry, dangerous werewolf Stiles didn't trust to begin with.

⠀⠀⠀"I know," Stiles told Scott over the phone. "Look, if you see my dad, can you tell him—tell him I'll be there. I'll just be a little bit late, okay? Alright, thanks."

⠀⠀⠀Stiles hung up, and the Jeep was quiet for a second.

⠀⠀⠀"You're not gonna make it," Derek told him simply.

⠀⠀⠀Willow frowned.

⠀⠀⠀Willow, albeit their recent roadblock in their relationship, had been really excited for Stiles to make first line despite her jokes of him always being a bench warmer. Stiles had been too. More than excited, he was ecstatic, freaking out, every other word under the moon for what he was feeling. The word for bottling up something for so many years and wishing for one day it to come true, and finally it did.

⠀⠀⠀"I know," Stiles answered, disappointed.

⠀⠀⠀Willow glanced at Stiles' hand from the corner of her eye and noticed him flipping the chip she had given him between his fingers. She smiled sadly, those pesky butterflies coming back to her stomach but reassured herself that the effects still needed to wear off.

⠀⠀⠀"And you didn't tell him about his mom, either," Derek added.

⠀⠀⠀"Not until we find out the truth," Stiles stated, shaking his head.

⠀⠀⠀"By the way, one more thing," Derek called, raising his hand to the back of Stiles' head and slamming it against his steering wheel.

⠀⠀⠀"Oh, God!" Stiles exclaimed.

⠀⠀⠀"Derek, what the fuck!" Willow shouted.

⠀⠀⠀"What the hell was—"

⠀⠀⠀"You know what that was for!" Derek told him sternly, pointing at the hospital. "Go, go! You, too, Willow."

⠀⠀⠀"Are you going to slam my head into the steering wheel?" Willow asked.

⠀⠀⠀Derek rolled his eyes, "Would you just—"

⠀⠀⠀Willow stepped over the center console and out of the driver's side door. She closed it then walked over to Stiles, who was stumbling towards the hospital's front doors. She pulled his arm over her shoulders, acting like he had just gotten into a fight as they walked through the automatic doors.

⠀⠀⠀The hospital was eerily silent as they walked through, trying to find Ms. McCall, but they couldn't find anyone. Most of the rooms were empty, but they kept walking through in an attempt to find someone.

⠀⠀⠀Stiles sighed when they came up with nothing, pulling out his phone to call Derek. They talked for a minute, Stiles waving his hand for Willow to follow him into one of the rooms. He opened it just barely and found no one inside.

⠀⠀⠀"He's not here," Stiles told him. "He's gone, Derek."

⠀⠀⠀"STILES!" Willow could hear Derek scream down the phone and into Stiles' receiver. "GET OUT OF THERE, RIGHT NOW! HE'S THE ALPHA! GET OUT!"

⠀⠀⠀"You must be Stiles," someone greeted from behind them.

⠀⠀⠀The two teenagers turned around, staring wide-eyed at the man who stared back at them with ice blue eyes curiously looking them over. His eyes stopped on Willow, a spark seeming to light behind his eyes, and she couldn't keep herself from staring at the burns consuming half his face.

⠀⠀⠀"And Willow," he said, the ends of his mouth turning upwards and Willow's stomach coiled into an anxious knot. "My, how you've grown. You know, the last time I saw you and your sisters, you were about this tall," he mused, lowering his hand below his hip.

⠀⠀⠀Willow frowned in response. She didn't know this man, and to think he knew her when she was young had her throat constricting.

⠀⠀⠀"What are you doing here?" a woman sneered from behind them, and the two teens turned to look at the nurse approaching them from behind. "Visiting hours are over."

⠀⠀⠀Willow narrowed her eyes, pressing her lips into a firm line at the tag line. It sounded like the woman was trying to say a cool line before a fight like in Street Fighter and wondered if the nurse thought she was as intimidating as the man ahead of them.

⠀⠀⠀"You—and him," Stiles said, pointing between the two with wide eyes, seeming to recognize them both. "You're-You're the one who—Oh, my—And he went out with... Oh, my God. We're gonna die."

⠀⠀⠀Before either the man or the nurse could pounce on the two, Derek punched the woman in the face and knocked her out cold. Then, Derek turned to look at the man on the other end of the hall as if Willow and Stiles weren't in between them.

⠀⠀⠀"That's not nice," the man tutted. "She's my nurse."

⠀⠀⠀"She's a psychotic bitch helping you kill people, Peter," Derek said through grit teeth. He looked at Willow. "Get out of the way and don't get involved."

⠀⠀⠀Willow nodded shakily, taking Stiles' hand and dragged him to the floor with her.

⠀⠀⠀"Caelus, tuus virtus cum celamus et ab advorsari defendemus qui velo ad nocemus!"

⠀⠀⠀The force field went up as Derek and the man he called Peter faced off. As they continued to strike one another, they slowly inched closer to her force field. Finally, Willow pulled Stiles behind her and forced him to walk across the laminate floor to the desk to crouch beside.

⠀⠀⠀"You think I killed Laura on purpose? One of my own family?" Peter asked Derek, his hand tightening around Derek's neck as he spat the word like acid on his tongue. "My mind, my personality was literally burned out of me. I was driven by pure instinct."

⠀⠀⠀Willow didn't have much room in her head to process what was going on, but she realized that Peter wasn't just someone Derek knew. He was family.

⠀⠀⠀Peter dropped Derek to the ground and bent over to pluck something from the nurse's pocket, unconcerned for her otherwise.

⠀⠀⠀"You want forgiveness?" Derek asked.

⠀⠀⠀Derek stood, throwing a punch at Peter, and he took it. When Derek reeled back to send another punch, Peter caught his hand between his own.

⠀⠀⠀"I want understanding," Peter stated, kicking Derek square in the chest and forcing him back into a backflip across the laminate tile. Derek laid flat on his stomach, pulling himself up, spitting blood. "Do you have any idea what it was like for me during those years? Slowly healing, cell by cell. Then, even more slowly coming back to consciousness.

⠀⠀⠀"Yes, becoming an Alpha, taking that from Laura pushed me over a plateau in the healing process. I can't help that. I tried to tell you what was happening. I tried to warn you."

⠀⠀⠀Peter had Derek by the back of his shirt and flung him over the counter into the glass divider. The shattered pieces of glass exploded across the room and bounced off Willow's force field directly below the impact. Willow flinched at each impact like they were scrapping her directly.

⠀⠀⠀Derek crawled his way into the back of the offices while Willow and Stiles stayed behind the counter. Peter walked past them, not even giving them a glance as he did so.

⠀⠀⠀"Stiles," Willow panted like she had been in the fight. "We have to go. Now."

⠀⠀⠀"What?" Stiles asked, turning to her and then to where Peter and Derek had just gone. "But what about Derek?"

⠀⠀⠀"Derek can handle himself," Willow told him. "I'm about to lose the force field and possibly consciousness. Unless you want to carry me out of here in the middle of another fight, I suggest we go."

⠀⠀⠀Stiles looked at her, a second too long, then nodded.

⠀⠀⠀"Okay, let's go."

⠀⠀⠀With Stiles' hand still in hers, Willow pulled him up with her and sprinted for the exit of the hospital. She didn't let the force field down until they made it to the Jeep, stumbling over her feet as she climbed into the passenger's seat. Stiles was in the driver's, and before either of them could even get comfortable, he was screeching out of the parking lot.

⠀⠀⠀Stiles drove Willow back to her house, down the street so her parents wouldn't see him, and parked.

⠀⠀⠀They sat there for a minute longer in silence. Maybe it was the shock of everything that had just happened, or perhaps it was the fact that after this, everything would change for real. Either way, neither seemed to want to leave.

⠀⠀⠀"Hey," Stiles sighed, gaining the courage to speak after nearly five minutes of just listening to his engine rumble. "Thanks for coming with me."

⠀⠀⠀Willow nodded, keeping her focus straight in front of her, as she said, "Of course."

⠀⠀⠀They returned to the silence but didn't stay long.

⠀⠀⠀"Is this it?" Stiles asked her.

⠀⠀⠀"What do you mean?"

⠀⠀⠀"Is this the end... of us?" he asked her, then cringed at his wording. "I mean, not us, but our friendship. You being around. I didn't lie about missing you."

⠀⠀⠀He finally turned to her, his hands still on the steering wheel and stiff as a board. His eyes shot lasers into the side of her head, making her turn as well to look into his sad honey eyes.

⠀⠀⠀"I want to be your friend again, Will."

⠀⠀⠀Willow sighed, shaking her head and looking to her window. She stared out of it, collecting her thoughts before turning back to him.

⠀⠀⠀"I'll help you out with Scott, Stiles, but us? I don't know about us," Willow admitted.

⠀⠀⠀"You don't know?" Stiles asked her. It felt like he was accusing of her being the one teasing in her scattered mind, but he had only genuinely asked.

⠀⠀⠀"I don't know!" Willow stated sharply, the confusion coming to its boiling point and exploding out of her. "These fucking feelings Bridgette forced on me have me confused. I don't know what I want. I barely know who I am right now because I feel like the past few months have been a lie. For now, I'll help you and Scott and your werewolf issues with my sisters, but other than that..."

⠀⠀⠀"Okay," Stiles assured her, nodding his head. "Okay."

⠀⠀⠀Willow looked back at him, then nodded. She opened the Jeep door, shut it behind her, unsure what else to say, and walked towards her house without even looking back.

AUTHOR'S NOTE —

Just to confirm. Stiles was genuinely asking Willow a question at the end but because she's so emotionally confused she took it the wrong way. As she does a lot. I just wanted that to be clear because I'm tired and not really sure what I'm doing.

The Holy Trinity of panic attacks has now been completed. Amen.

We're only two episodes / two weeks or so (depending on if I decide to take a break in between) until we get into season two and I have a LOT planned for that season >:)

SONG: Fool by Cavetown

Thank you for reading! Leave comments telling me your thoughts on this chapter, but however you interact, know that I really appreciate you reading. I hope you enjoy, and until the next one.