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why does your phone keep buzzing?

it surfaces like a reflex, and he almost says it : i don't need your help. he doesn't just have an ace up his sleeve. he's got two. they're playing both sides and scott's in between, standing at the center of a storm, watching the clouds gather and knowing exactly when and where the lightning strikes. it isn't fair to box ethan out, keep the details to himself. he'd spent so much time pushing everyone else to talk to each other, a steel trap closing tighter around his heart every time he caught one of them in a lie or a half - truth or an omission, and he's doing the exact same thing. the why isn't holding much weight right now. ethan didn't have to come back, and ethan isn't the reason that scott feels like he's still choking on blood whenever he takes a breath. he takes one anyway. steady, slow, in and back out. " you're right. you deserve to know. but this has to stay between us — if anyone else finds out, and i mean anyone, it could get a lot more people hurt. "

he didn't have to come back. he didn't particularly want to come back. truthfully, if he never stepped foot in this town again it would've been too soon. but he came back for scott. that's the absolute bitch of this. the real ego killer, the roundhouse kick to the jugular. he came back for scott fucking mccall, the kid whose back deucalion painted a target on last year, who takes every flavor of shit from every direction and just keeps throwing himself back into the ring like he's being paid for it. scott's good. he's better than he has any reason to be, and he doesn't even need a reason. the world chews up people like scott and spits them out in pieces and somehow, some fucking how, scott stays good anyway. ethan waits until he's finished and raises both eyebrows, but it's not snide. " who am i gonna tell? stiles? you remember he still hates me, right? " bad joke. maybe not a joke, but his point stands: if scott tells him something in confidence, it's staying that way. " i'm not gonna say anything. just tell me where your head's at. "

TV Appreciation Week | Day 4: Favorite TV Villain ↳ TAMORA MONROE — Teen Wolf

I WAS TRYING TO WALK OUT. scott mccall, rescued from mtv's teen wolf, est. 2012, deeply loved by b ( she / they, twenty7, latina ). read all pages before following! minors, antis, & bigots dni. / ©.

" if he tries again, i'll handle it myself. " scott could picture it, the last time they talked. how easy it would be to rip that stolen heart from theo's chest, paint the bookshelves with viscera. anger pools hot and sharp behind his ribs. anger that he's learned to scale back. push down, hold inside until it's time to let it out. his jaw works, a visible tic of muscle that smooths as quick as it forms. " just trust me, " he repeats. steady, practiced, almost unnaturally calm. " i know what he's after, and i know how to stop him. all that we need to worry about right now is getting lydia out of eichen house, alive. "

trust isn't the problem here, at least not where scott's concerned. the problem is commitment. scott says he'll handle it, and ethan's not doubting his conviction — or his anger, because the scent of it's been coming out of his pores for days now. it's the follow through. the question of whether or not he can commit if it comes down to that. scott is strong, sure, and he's capable, but he isn't a killer. ethan has him beat in that department. the difference this time is that killing for a good cause feels like something that'd be easier to live with than the body count he's racked up in the past. " okay. fine. so we go get lydia. then what happens? you do realize i can't actually help with the plan if i don't know what it is, right? "

" okay, then what? take him out and hope that the others just let it happen, or are you gonna kill his whole pack too? look, man, i get it. believe me. and i'm not letting him hurt her, or anyone else, ever again, but you have to trust me on this. i have a plan. "

" what plan, scott? because from where i'm standing, all i can see is the guy that killed you walking around like nothing happened. you really think he won't try again? "

" let's concentrate on getting into eichen first. we can worry about the rest after we save lydia. " to be fair, he isn't saying no.

" counterpoint — he told you he was going to eichen too, right? that they're going after lydia? sounds like a threat to me. so wouldn't it be better to just kill him now? like today? i've got time. "

" it's not that easy. and they already know, what's been happening — sometimes they know more than i do, actually, but it's not about that. i can't protect them and put them in danger at the same time. i can't keep asking them to risk their lives on a hunch. not right now. not until i can figure out exactly what we're walking into, before we walk into it. "

" you don't have to figure it out. you already know what you're walking into, you just want to walk into it alone in case you don't walk back out. it's what she's counting on, scott. don't give it to her. "

i  thought  you  were  different.

for the second time in as many minutes, he wants to be somewhere else. wants badly to check out of his own body and out of this conversation and away from that subtext, because that's the part that keeps tripping him up. they need more help. that's what mason is implying. they need all the help that they can get. you need your pack, scott. both of his hands crawl into fists, half - hidden by the sleeves of his jacket. he counts to four. breathes in, lets the anger surge through him, feels the thump of its pulse as blood wicks into fabric, and breathes back out. it doesn't pass, but it's diluted enough that he can focus again. " for now, " he tells mason, leveled with another flat look down the aisle of lockers. " let's just concentrate on lydia first. find out what we can, and then figure out a way to get the others back. you're right, " it rasps, just a little, the flicker of something more visceral in his eyes this time, " we can't do this ourselves. and we're not going to. not all of it, anyway. " teeth slide over his bottom lip and bite down for a beat. the question's grating on him, pushing its way to the surface. " have you talked to liam? "

he's hoping they can just skip to the part where they meet at the hospital, but scott asks about liam and his stomach flips over. " yeah, sort of. i mean, he's, you know. he's obsessing over hayden, which is, like, really awful, but he's not ... " god, how do you even do this. his shoulders twitch, cheek puckering when he bites at the inside. " he isn't talking, about what he did. if that's what you meant. i don't think he knows what to say, honestly. i think he's scared he can't come back from it, you know? but he feels terrible, scott. i know he does. and i know that doesn't help, like, at all, i'm just — i'm just sorry. i'm really sorry it happened like that. it wasn't your fault, you know that, right? you weren't the only one who trusted theo. it's not your fault. "

theo told him the same thing. i can help. he told him the same thing so many times, in so many different ways, that scott wouldn't know where to start counting. every single time, it was bullshit. i'm with you, scott. and scott believed him. memory sours his tongue, curls like a hand around his throat. blood seeps through the bandage under his shirt again. just let me help. but this is mason, not theo. mason isn't lying to him. mason pulled him off of the stairs and onto the tile and tried to bring him back from the dead. that's where he'd tapered off. that's the part he didn't say. especially not after you died. scott looks at him. steadily, almost warily. he never used to do this. scrutinize someone for their good intentions like this. dragging himself out of that rut of unfamiliar mistrust feels like digging his own grave. after a minute, he nods. " okay. yeah. you can come. i'll meet you at the hospital, i just need a minute. but, hey — do me a favor? " apart from the smallest lift of his brows, scott's expression doesn't change. " don't mention this to anyone else. we'll tell them once we come up with a plan. "

" i can? i — i mean, uh. cool. yeah, for sure, take your time. " he's actually stunned that scott said yes. granted, it took a minute, and mason felt like he was hooked up to a walking polygraph test the entire time, but that's par for the course. scott was screwed over, in a big way. theo lied to everyone. played them all, pitted them against each other, basically dismantled the whole group from the inside out, and somehow scott got the worst of it. scott's the one that died because of it. so whatever vibe check mason has to pass right now, it's understandable. even the most trusting people on the planet have their breaking point. he loops a thumb through the strap of his bag and wonders if he should just quit while he's ahead, but he can't help himself. " once we come up with a plan? as in, just you and me? "

scott can feel himself trying to leave the conversation even as mason pushes forward. he's there physically, half - turned from the row of sinks where the smell of iron wafts up like mercury residue under a blacklight. he's listening, but the words don't align. they're too earnest. too rooted in real, genuine concern, no trace of an ulterior motive. he can't decide if that's a good thing or not. " i, um. i need to get to the hospital. lydia's mom had her transferred to eichen house, which is probably the worst place that she could be right now, and i have to talk to my mom. you should get to class. " there's pressure at the base of his skull and a noise like a power drill, hammering in his ears. he scoops up the bloody paper towels and drops them into the trash. washes his hands, grabs his backpack. mason's still standing there when he turns around again. mouth pressed briefly shut, scott lets out a steady breath. " mason, look, i appreciate you checking up on me. really. but i'm okay. "

right. bet. that's what they're doing, deflecting like they're getting paid for it and committing to the biggest lie ever: everything's totally fine. he doesn't know how scott does it, for real. how he keeps going like this when anybody else in his position would be losing their proverbial shit a hundred times over. but that's his answer. you keep going because you can't lose your shit. " okay, well, at least let me come with you? or like — i don't know, let me help you figure something out. i wanna help, scott. if eichen's actually the worst place for lydia right now, then shouldn't we at least try to get her out? maybe if we talk to mrs martin, we can talk her into changing her mind. " he's just throwing ideas at the wall at this point in the hopes that something might stick. " and you don't have to be okay, you know that, right? like, i get not wanting to talk, that's cool, i'm not gonna push it, but you also don't have to do everything yourself. especially not after ... " he trails off. " just let me help? please? "