#endlesslistofocs

“Fine,” she sighed, and Jay grinned as he gestured for her to sit next to him. With a huff and another roll of her eyes, Lexi pulled her little apron off and walked round to the other side of the bar, hopping up on to the stool beside Jay.

“Soo…” he started. “How- how have you been?”

Lexi raised her eyebrows. “Small talk, Jay? Really? What, are you gonna ask me about the weather next?” she teased, and Jay frowned as he glanced down at his hands in his lap. “C’mon, we don’t do this. You wanted to talk, so talk.”

“I-” he paused. “I’m sorry about… You know, turning up here with Erin last week. I didn’t know you were working, I never would have-”

“It’s fine-”

“Can you just let me talk, Lex?” Jay interrupted. “Because this is hard for me to say, but I need to say it,” he told her quietly, and she nodded her head as she gestured for him to continue. “I shouldn’t have brought her here, and I’m sorry. I guess I just- I didn’t think, it wasn’t until Gwen called me out on it that I realised what a shitty move it was. I wasn’t trying to rub your nose in it or anything, I didn’t bring her here to make you jealous or- or anything like that.”

“Jay, it’s fine,” Lexi smiled weakly. “Really. It’s your place, right? This is where you all come, where all your friends come and I’m just some girl who barged into every aspect of your life without even meaning to-”

“Lexi you are so far from being just some girl I can’t even begin to tell you,” Jay laughed quietly, and she scrunched her face up in confusion. “…When you got here after Erin had left, I was… broken. I was lost, I was confused, I was trying to get over losing the woman I thought I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. I was trying to understand how I could feel so much for her, how I could love her more than anything, and how she could just ignore everything we had and leave me here without a second thought.”

“…I’m sure she-”

“Lexi.”

“Sorry,” Lexi smiled sheepishly. “I’ll be quiet. I promise.”

“I loved Erin. I really did, and when she left me I felt like such a failure – I lost her, I had to move back in with Will, and I just… I didn’t think I would ever get over her. But then… Then you turned up again, and you were just- you were so different, Lex,” he whispered, reaching out to take hold of her hands. “You were like a breath of fresh air, there was no drama with you and-”

“Jay,” Lexi’s eyes widened. “Jay I think we should-”

“You’re not supposed to be interrupting.”

“I know but I-”

“Lexi please,” he whined. “Please just let me say this, and then you can-”

“I need to tell you something-”

“Well you can tell me after I’ve told you this, okay?” Jay raised his eyebrows, pressing a finger to her lips. “You fixed me, Lex. You put me back together piece by piece and I didn’t even realise you were doing it. Y’know how back before we were together, I wouldn’t let you meet anyone I worked with? That was because they knew. I was me again, the me I was before Erin left, and that was because of you.”

“…Jay-”

“It’s you, Lexi,” Jay told her quickly, giving her hands a squeeze. “It’s not Erin, not anymore, and I’m sorry it took me a little time to figure it out – I’m sorry I even needed time to figure it out – but… It’s you.”

“I… Wow,” Lexi breathed. “That- that’s a lot to take in right now,” she looked down, gently pulling her hands out of his grasp and trying not to notice the way his face fell.

“…I completely understand if you don’t feel the way you did a couple weeks ago-”

“It’s not that, I-” Lexi paused, running a hand through her hair. “I thought you were here to tell me it was over,” she admitted quietly. “That you’d chosen Erin. That’s what I’d prepared myself for. I was not prepared for all of this,” she waved a hand towards him, and Jay grinned and he leaned towards her and tucked a loose piece of her hair behind her ear.

“Well, how many tickets do you have?” Malia asked, and Stiles smiled proudly.

“None.”

Malia took in a breath and raised an eyebrow. “How many would you have if your dad didn’t get you out of them?” she asked and Tessa couldn’t help but laugh, ignoring the glare Stiles shot her.

“Seventeen…” he answered quietly, his shoulders slumping.

“I don’t know, Stiles…” Malia paused. “I mean, I see why you’re worried. He’s really hot.”

“Really, really hot,” Tessa nodded.

“He’s got like great hair, perfect body… You should definitely feel threatened,” Malia told him.

“Definitely,” Tessa agreed, biting down on her bottom lip to keep from laughing.

“Thank you,” Stiles blinked. “Because I do. Now more than ever.”

“You want me to torture him?” Malia asked bluntly, and Tessa blinked at her in astonishment.

“Uhm, no?” she frowned. “He hasn’t done anything wrong, Malia.”

“I’m pretty sure I can take him.”

“There will be no torturing, Malia!” Tessa whined. “God, can’t we just have one normal day at this school?” she muttered, running a hand through her hair. “It’s the first day of senior year, can we just try and get through the morning without threats of torture, violence, or death?”

“Tessa’s right, no torture. Not yet, at least. I have a plan, anyway,” Stiles shrugged his shoulders. “There are steps to doing this right-”

“Oh really?” Tessa raised her eyebrows.

“Yeah, first off we get the story, alright? Then, we verify the facts,” his voice dropped slightly as he stepped closer to the two girls. “Then, we find the piece that doesn’t fit and… catch him in the act. That’s how you do it.”

“And which episode of Criminal Minds did you pick this up from?”

“My dad is the sheriff Tessa, do you really think I need to pick up tips from second rate TV shows?” he asked with a frown, and Tessa reached forwards to flick his forehead. “Ouch!”

“Criminal Minds is not a second rate TV show,” she told him. “And Theo isn’t the bad guy. He tried to help Scott, remember? He tried to help fight the guy with the glowing claws,” she flexed her fingers as though and let out a pathetic attempt at a growl as she tried to imitate the werewolf that had attacked Scott the night before.

“That… That was pathetic,” Stiles let out a snort of laughter.

“We’re the humans, Stiles. Humor is all we have,” Tessa shrugged her shoulders, her eyes widening slightly when she spotted Theo getting out of a car a few feet away from them.

“You smell like Stiles.”

“Wha-” Tessa leaned away from Malia. “What do you mean I smell like Stiles?”

“Bad. You smell bad. You smell like anxiety,” Malia narrowed her eyes. “But it’s different.”

“Shut up!” Tessa hissed, nudging Malia’s side as her cheeks flushed and she caught Theo’s gaze. Stiles followed her line of sight and let out a groan, ignoring Theo when he lifted his hand up and waved towards them. Tessa raised her hand to wave back, but Stiles smacked it back down to her side with a glare.

“Tessa he’s the enemy­-”

“Why are you so suspicious of this guy?”

“Because…” Stiles paused, glancing towards Theo. “I remember Theo from fourth grade, okay? And that? That’s not Theo.”

“It might be Theo.”

“It’s not Theo, Malia.”

“Fourth grade was a long time ago Stiles-”

“It’s not Theo, alright?” he snapped, and Tessa lifted her hands up in defense.

“How come you don’t know him?” Malia asked her with a frown, and Tessa pulled her backpack further on to her shoulders.

“He left in fourth grade, I didn’t move to Beacon Hills until fifth,” she replied, glancing down at her watch and wincing when she saw the time. “I gotta shoot, alright? I told Lydia I’d meet her before class, we have AP Bio with Finch and we can’t be late.”

“Ouch, you got Finch for your first class on your first day back?” Stiles winced, and Tessa rolled her eyes.

“Tell me about it,” she huffed. “I’d rather deal with Derek on a bad day than deal with Finch on one of her good days. I’ll see you guys later,” she sent them both a quick wave before she jogged inside the school and headed towards Lydia’s locker.

“Tessa!”

She stopped, spinning round when she heard Scott calling her name and smiled when she saw him stood by the entrance – he must have walked in right behind her.

“Hey, Scott,” she sent him a small wave as she walked over to him. “I’ve just left Stiles outside if you’re looking for-”

“I actually wanted to talk to you, if that’s okay?” Scott interrupted, giving her an unsure smile and Tessa couldn’t help but look at him in confusion. “I just sort of… I guess I wanted to apologise for what Stiles said last night and-”

“Oh my God, Scott, don’t even worry about it,” Tessa waved her hand dismissively, praying that she was able to keep her heartbeat under control. “It’s totally fine, I know how Stiles can be. It’s forgotten. There’s no need for you to apologise.”

“…Really?” he asked uncertainly.

“Really!” Tessa nodded. “I mean, I know Stiles likes to think he knows everything about everything, but he can be wrong sometimes, you know?”

“And is… Is this one of those time that he’s… wrong?”

“Yep,” Tessa plastered a smile on her face, not noticing Scott’s expression change. “Because…- well I mean, you’re with Kira and Kira is my friend? And- and we’re friends and you’re Liam’s… You know… So it would weird… right?”

“Right, yeah,” Scott quickly agreed. “Totally weird.”

“Yep…” Tessa trailed off, rocking back on her heels as she pulled her gaze away from Scott’s. An awkward silence fell over them for a few seconds, before Tessa cursed under her breath as she remembered she was on her way to meet Lydia. “I have to go, Lydia’s waiting for me but I’ll see you in bio, right?”

“Yeah, right,” Scott nodded. He paused, opening his mouth to say something but closing is again, instead settling on sending her a smile. “See you later.”

“Uh-huh. Hi Kira, bye Kira!” Tessa waved to her as she walked up to Scott’s side, before she turned around and rushed towards Lydia’s locker. “I’m so sorry I was-”

“You’re late.”

“I know,” Tessa whined. “I was talking to Stiles and Malia, and then I was talking to Scott-”

“You’re late,” Lydia repeated, interrupting Tessa and linking her arm through hers. “And I have information on the new boy.”

Tessa stopped dead in the middle of the hallway. “What?”

“You heard me,” Lydia rolled her eyes, tugging on Tessa’s arm and pulling her towards their class. “He doesn’t live too far from you, he moved here literally just days ago. Just him and his parents. He seems pretty… normal,” she shrugged, looking around as her voice dropped to a whisper. “Apart from the whole werewolf thing, y’know?”

“Trust me, that’s becoming the new norm in my life nowadays,” Tessa groaned. “How did you even find this out? You didn’t leave mine until like 2.30 this morning and we haven’t even had first period yet-” she stopped when she saw the familiar, smug smile cross her lips and Tessa sighed heavily. “Did you go through your mom’s files again? Lydia, just because she’s the guidance counsellor doesn’t mean you can-”

“I asked him.”

Tessa blinked. “What?”

“I. Asked. Him,” Lydia enunciated slowly. “He was actually very forthcoming. I don’t know why Stiles is so suspicious of him.”

“You… You asked him?” Tessa repeated. “All- all of this information? As though that’s a normal thing to do?” she asked with a whine and Lydia smiled widely, flipping her hair over her shoulder as she shrugged. “Do you have no sense of shame?!”

“Well you have enough for the both of us, sweetie,” Lydia let out a delicate snort of laughter. “Listen, Tessa, we’re friends, right? I know we haven’t always been friends, but we kind of got pulled into this at the same time and I like to think that we’re closer because of that but, honestly… I am sick of you being miserable and single and pining after Lahey-”

“I was not pining after Isaac, we were just friends-”

“And pining after Scott-”

“That is- that is so not even-”

“And this new guy might be good for you, y’know?” Lydia continued, seemingly oblivious to the fact that Tessa had even spoken. “He’s cute – I mean really cute – and he’s new here which means he’s single, he’s got no baggage and he already knows the big Beacon Hill secret so really, there’s nothing stopping you.”

Tessa pursed her lips, straightening up slightly and narrowing her eyes at Lydia. “First of all, I am not miserable. I was not pining after Isaac either, he was my best friend and I miss him, that’s all. As for what you said about- about Scott- that’s just- that’s ridiculous-” she stopped, glaring towards Lydia when she scoffed in obvious disbelief. “I am perfectly happy being single, Lydia. I don’t need a man to validate my life. I never have, and I never will.”

“While I admire the feminist nature of that little speech,” Lydia paused, unlinking her arm from Tessa’s once they were inside the classroom and leaning forward, placing her lips next to her ear. “Everyone still needs to get laid once in a while,” she added in a whisper, before quickly spinning Tessa around and shoving her towards the bench they’d stopped besides.

With a wicked grin and a wiggle of her fingers, Lydia spun on her heel and glided towards the front of the room, calling a quick ‘have fun!’ over her shoulder before she dropped down into the seat besides Sydney. Tessa watched her go in confusion before she slowly turned to face the other person sat at the bench.

And she froze.

Sitting before her, a cross between a smirk and a friendly smile on his lips, was Theo Raeken.

Tessa screwed her eyes shut and resisted the urge to turn around and hurl loud insults at Lydia, deciding that definitely would not improve the situation. Instead, she placed her books down on the top of the workbench and slowly climbed on to the seat beside him. She leaned against the bench, resting her chin on the palm of her hand and letting one side of her hair fall in front of her face as though it were a curtain protecting her from the new boy’s curious gaze.

If nothing else, it would hopefully hide the blush she could feel spreading over her cheeks as she tapped out a text to Lydia.

Are your banshee senses tingling? Because I’m going to kill you.

Lydia didn’t reply, but she did turn round her seat and blow a kiss towards a scowling Tessa, before she laughed and shot a wink at Kira who was sat across the room from her.

“It’s Tess, right?”

She jumped, her hands fumbling to stuff her phone back into her pocket as she turned to face the boy next to her.

“Uh, yeah. Kind of. I- it’s Tessa.”

“Tessa, sorry,” he smiled, holding his hand out towards her. Tessa stared at it as though it were a snake waiting to strike, before she lifted her eyes and slowly slid her hand into his. “I’m Theo.”

“I know,” she told him, her cheeks flushing even more. “I- I mean… I remember. From last night. From- y’know, when you helped Scott, I mean,” she stuttered, shaking her head as she mentally face-palmed and plastered a smile on her face. “Sorry, can we try that again? I know who you are, I remember you from last night.”

“Not because Lydia was quizzing me about my entire life this morning, then?” Theo raised his eyebrows and Tessa laughed nervously, painfully aware that her hand was still enclosed in his.

“She, uhm… Lydia’s like the social butterfly of Beacon Hills, I’m sorry,” she apologised sheepishly. “She likes to know everyone’s business, it’s nothing personal, I promise. She was the same with me when I moved to Beacon Hills and we were only like… Eleven.”

“I was going to say I don’t remember you from fourth grade, but I thought that might be a little rude.”

“Not rude,” Tessa shook her head with a smile. “We moved here halfway through fifth grade, so you’d probably been gone a while.”

“We?”

“Uh-huh. Me, my mom, my step-dad and my brother. You met him last night, too,” she told him, and Theo’s face screwed up in confusion. “Liam?”

“Oh,” Theo nodded. “He’s your brother? I thought he was your boyfriend or something.”

“Wh- ew, no,” Tessa wrinkled her nose in disgust. “He’s my little brother, he’s two years below us and he’s a pain in my ass most days,” she rolled her eyes, and Theo smirked as he watched her. “I, uhm, I hope Lydia didn’t make you feel uncomfortable with all those questions she asked you, by the way.”

“It takes more than that to make me uncomfortable, Tessa,” Theo grinned. “Especially when I know the information is getting passed on to a pretty girl.”  

Tessa winced. “How much of that conversation did you hear?”

“Most of it,” he shrugged his shoulders. “I wasn’t trying to, but…” he gestured to his ears. “The super hearing, you know?”

“That super hearing the bane of my life,” she huffed, and Theo laughed quietly as Tessa’s eyes drifted to the door when Scott came skidding into the room.

She shot him a smile and he paused, his brow furrowed as he glanced between her and Theo before he slowly took a seat beside Kira, casting a confused lance over his shoulder. Tessa frowned back, mouthing ‘what?’ at him, but Scott just shook his head and turned to the front of the room.

Tessa shrugged, opening her textbook and reading through the sections she and Scott had highlighted together a couple of weeks earlier.

“Is Scott not supposed to be in this class?” Theo whispered, and Tessa jumped slightly when she turned to face him and saw he had moved his stool closer to hers.

“Of course he is. Why?”

“Lydia and the girl beside Scott,” Theo gestured between them. “They’re asking him if he’s in the right class. It seemed a little… condescending?”

Tessa sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose and closing her eyes. “I thought he would have told them by now. He has to take this class to get into his first choice of college. He wants to be a vet, we’ve been studying together all summer. They’re probably just surprised, that’s all.”

Theo leaned away from her, his eyes darting between her and Scott. “I didn’t know you and Scott were-”

“We’re not,” she interrupted quickly, her cheeks flaming. “We’re just friends. Kira, the girl sitting with him, she’s his girlfriend.”

Theo raised his eyebrows. “She’s his girlfriend and she didn’t know he was taking this class, but he told you?” he asked. Tessa opened her mouth to reply, to tell him it wasn’t like that, they were just friends, but she was interrupted by Mrs. Finch as she stood at the front of the room.

“Welcome to AP Biology,” she smiled. “Let’s see who’s awake. Can somebody tell me what plasmids are?” she asked and, unsurprisingly to Tessa, Lydia’s hand was the first one up.

“Circular, self-replicating DNA molecules often used in cloning proteins.”

“Nicely stated, Lydia,” Mrs. Finch nodded. “No, can you tell me what vitamin is absorbed in the stomach via parietal cell production of a glycoprotein?”

“Uh… B-12?” Lydia’s voice wasn’t so certain with this answer, but still Mrs. Finch nodded, her eyes darting around the room until they landed on her next victim.

“Mr. McCall,” she spoke, and Tessa cursed under her breath. “Did you know the answer?”

“Um, no,” Scott answered quietly.

“I’s a common test question. What’s your one college pick?”

“Um-”

“Stop saying ‘um’,” Mrs. Finch interrupted him and Tessa couldn’t help but glare towards her, her knuckles turning white and she tightening the grip on her pen. God, she hated teachers like Finch.

“Sorry,” Scott shook his head. “UC Davis.”

“Good choice,” she nodded her head, seemingly surprised by Scott’s answer. “It’s the best school on the West Coast for biological and physical sciences. You’re in the right class it that’s what you’re hoping for. Who else thinks they’re in the right class?” she asked. Theo’s hand was the first in the air, Tessa’s following soon afterwards as Scott turned around to glance at them once again and Theo sent him a smile. “Good. Then you should all be prepared for the test tomorrow- don’t be so disappointed,” she tutted when her statement was met with a collective groan. “This test is to help you determine whether you should actually be in AP Biology. You have two weeks to drop, tomorrow’s test will just week out the ones who shouldn’t be here, and that could be any of you.”

“I honestly hate her,” Tessa whispered, turning her head to the side to glance at Theo. “I should have known she’d spring a test on us first day back.”

“Good job I’ve got a free period after this,” Theo frowned, looking down at his textbook. “I guess I’m gonna have to study.”

“Ditto.”

Theo raised an eyebrow. “You have a free too?” he asked, and Tessa nodded in reply. “Do you, uh, maybe wanna study together?” he reached up, scratching the back of his neck nervously. Tessa blinked, surprised at his invitation but nodded her head anyway as Mrs. Finch demanding everyone’s attention on her. “Great,” Theo grinned, and Tessa managed to muster a small smile back in return, ignoring the butterflies in her stomach and resisting the urge to groan loudly.

“I will kill the both of you if you come anywhere near me while I’m in college, I swear to God.”

But Stiles ignored her. “Yeah, yeah we could try Nob Hill. But the jeep would probably burn through a lot of clutches.”

“You’re bringing the jeep?” Scott raised his eyebrows in surprise, and Stiles sighed heavily as he let his hand fall down onto the hood of said jeep. He looked well and truly exasperated, and Tessa had to stifle a laugh.

“You know the plan, okay? No one gets left behind. That’s the plan-”

“The jeep isn’t a person.”

“-Lydia’s not gonna have a problem getting into Stanford,” Stiles continued, ignoring Tessa’s interruption. “Kira’s thinking USF, Tessa here is going to wow the crowds at Berkeley, Malia’s… uh, gonna… You know, she’ll figure something out, okay? The plan’s perfect.”

“…Or we could wait until we actually get into college, and then figure out where to live,” Scott suggested.

“You’re ruining his vision, Scotty,” Tessa warned, and Stiles hummed in appreciation as he pointed towards her.

“Exactly! See, Tessa gets it! I have a vision, dude, okay? And- and it is a beautiful vision. Don’t- don’t ruin the vision.”

Tessa turned her head to look at Scott, sending him a grin and he laughed quietly, shaking his head and smiling down at her. She had to admit, they had grown closer the past few months. With both of them helping Liam learn how to control his werewolf powers and how to control the shift, they had been spending a lot of time together – even more so since Kira had left for new week five weeks earlier and Stiles had been spending most of his time with Malia. Scott had easily become her best friend (after Liam, of course) and she was trying not to read too much into it, but sometimes she felt like there was definitely something more there.

Not that she would ever act on it, of course. She would never do that to Kira, and she knew Scott wouldn’t either. It was most likely all in her mind, anyway. Something that would go away of its own accord the longer she ignored it (a bit like the crush she’d had on Stiles when they were 12 years old).

“What about you, Tessa?” Scott nudged her gently. “What are you gonna do?”

“Not sure,” she shrugged her shoulders. “If I get into Berkeley, I think I’ll just stay in dorms. It’s better than trying to rent a place on my own, or trying to find someone to live with.”

“Okay, we can check out the East Bay. Haven't looked at Oakland yet, you know,” Stiles continued, oblivious to the fact that they had slightly changed topic. He looked up from the map he had sprawled out in front of him to see Scott staring up at the full moon and he tapped Tessa’s leg with the end of his pen, gesturing towards their friend. “You all right? You're starting to feel it?” Stiles asked.

“No,” Scott paused. “Just thinking.”

“About what?” Tessa asked quietly.

“…Senior year.”

“Senior year,” Stiles repeated. “Come on, that’s… That’s nothing. That’s going to be easy.”

“For once, I have no qualms in saying Stiles is absolutely right,” Tessa nodded, and Stiles scoffed loudly beside her.

“It’s more like something Deaton told me once,” Scott explained. “You ever hear of regression to the mean…?” he asked and, when both of his friends shook their heads no, he continued. “It was his way of saying that life can’t ever be all bad or all good. You know, eventually things have to come back to the middle. So, think about the last few months. Things have been good, right? But not amazing,” he sat up, leaning forwards as he spoke.

“Yeah, but no one’s tried to kill us in six months either,” Stiles muttered.

“Right,” Scott pointed at him, as though that proved what he was saying. “We've been pretty much in the middle for a while. Which means, at some point, the scale has to tip one way or the other. Things are gonna get really good again…” he trailed off ominously, and Stiles let out a sigh.

“Or really bad.”

“You two are such buzzkills,” Tessa groaned, sitting up and swinging her legs over the side of the jeep. “Can’t we just have one more night where we don’t have to worry about this stuff? Can’t we just be thankful that we’re here, that we even get to be seniors and go off to college when there are some of our friends who- who can’t do that?” she grumbled, dusting down her shorts and ignoring the pang in her chest.

She swallowed thickly and took a deep breath like she did every time her mind drifted to her absent friends – Erica, Isaac, Boyd, Allison… They should all be here with them right now. She looked up, opening her mouth to speak when Stiles pushed her into a tight hug.

“God, Tessa, you call us buzzkills and then you bring up our dead friends,” he sighed loudly, patting her back as she tried to pull out of the hug, Scott laughing beside them.

“You’re a loser,” she whined, letting her arms drop to her sides and resigning herself to the fact that she wasn’t getting out of this hug until Stiles decided it was time to let go.

Stiles jumped, releasing her as a clap of thunder sounded above them and he looked towards the sky before his attention drifted to Scott.

“…Thinks it’s been long enough?”

“Yes!”

Tessa giggled as she heard her brother’s voice calling from behind them and she turned around, trying to smother her laughter when she saw the totally unamused look on his face as he remained chained to a tree.

“Hey, trying to have an adult conversation over here!” Stiles called back.

“All right, you’re two years older than me, and I’m fine! Just let me go. Please? Tessa?”

Her teeth sinking into her bottom lip, Tessa turned to look at Scott as he hopped down from the hood of the jeep. “We can let him out now, right? It’s been a couple hours and he hasn’t changed…” she trailed off, looking at the alpha hopefully.

“We can let him go,” Scott nodded, heading towards Liam and beginning to undo the chains as Tessa and Stiles followed behind him. “It’s not that we don’t trust you, Liam.”

“Yeah, it’s that I don’t trust you.”

“Shut up,” Tessa tutted, slapping Stiles’ arm.

“It’s just that… After that last full moon…” Scott started carefully, and Liam immediately jumped in to defend himself.

“It was one slip up!”

“Slip up?” Stiles repeated with raised eyebrows. “A dozen calls to the Sheriff’s Department about a monstrous dog-boy running around the streets of Beacon Hills naked. That’s a slip up?”

“Why were you naked?” Scott asked him in confusion.

“It was really hot out that night, okay?” Liam sighed. “Let me go.”

“Come on, Scott,” Tessa sighed. “He’s getting better at it, I swear. I wouldn’t lie.”

Scott paused for a second, looking between the two siblings before turned back to Liam. “You’re sure you’re okay?”

“Yeah, it won’t happen again.”

“You’re in complete and total control?”

“Yeah, complete and total,” Liam nodded his head, and Scott continued to unchain him. Once he was done, he patted Liam on the shoulder and bundled the chains back into the rucksack he had brought along before he turned to face Stiles, and they began to walk back towards the jeep. Tessa shot him a grateful smile, which Scott returned, and she let him walk past her before she moved to stand beside her brother.

“Are you really okay?” she asked quietly when she was sure Scott and Stiles were far enough ahead of them that they wouldn’t hear. Liam shrugged weakly, chewing on the inside of his cheek and keeping his hands by his sides as Tessa sighed softly. “Let me see,” she demanded, holding out her hands.

Liam frowned, avoiding her gaze as she reached down to grab his hand and, lifting it up, she uncurled his fist and winced when she saw the blood from the deep cuts on the palm of his hand where he had dug his claws into his skin to keep himself from shifting.

“I’m sorry,” he murmured. “I’m trying, I really am, but- I heard you guys talking about college and about leaving and I- I guess I just couldn’t concentrate.”

“You don’t have to apologise to me, Li,” Tessa slung an arm around his shoulders and pressed a kiss to his head, which made him huff and push her away from him before Scott or Stiles saw. “I know you’re trying, and we’ll work on it some more this month, okay? And, hey, I might be leaving but you’ve still got me here for a while yet! And if I do get into Berkeley I’m only gonna be a couple hours away, I can come home if you need me to or you can come and stay with me, or-”

“Okay, alright,” Liam interrupted, feeling a little embarrassed that he still needed so much reassurance from her. “Let’s just… Let’s just go, yeah?” he muttered, gesturing towards were Scott and Stiles were climbing into the jeep.

“Liam, seriously,” Tessa’s fingers wrapped around his wrist and she pulled him to a stop before he had barely started to make his way over to the jeep. “I’m- I’m always gonna be here for you, no matter what you need, alright? I… I know at the beginning I wasn’t the most supportive-”

“What, wanting to kill Scott wasn’t you being supportive?” he asked in mock-surprise, and Tessa narrowed her eyes as she lightly punched at his shoulder and he smirked at her.

“You might be a werewolf but I can still kick your ass, and I’m serious, Liam,” she frowned. “I know I didn’t take it well, but I was just worried about what was going to happen to you and- and I guess I know now that I shouldn’t have been. You can handle this. You’re- you’re doing great and… and not that I think you will but, if you need me, I’ll always be around-”

“Are you going to cry?”

“Liam,” she whined, stomping her foot on the ground. “I’m trying to tell you that I’m proud of you, you ass.”

Liam beamed at her, but Tessa rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest. “Thanks, sis. I’m proud of you, too.”

Tessa blinked. “I didn’t do anything to be proud of.”

“Not true,” Liam shook his head. “You forgave Scott for biting me. You haven’t killed Stiles yet and I know everyone wants to at some point. You’ve really been there for everyone since this whole thing began and… I’m gonna miss you, Tessa. Like, a lot. You’re- you’re kind of like- you’re sort of-… Scott says you’re my anchor, okay?” he mumbled, running a hand through his hair. “And I don’t know what I’m gonna do when you’re gone.”

“…Are you going to cry?”

“I hate you,” Liam groaned.

Tessa grinned at him. “No you don’t. I’m your anchor. You can’t hate your anchor.”

Liam narrowed his eyes into a glare. “I can when my control is fueled by rage.”

Groaning loudly as he watched her spin on her heel and continue on with her supposed death wish, Liam hurriedly followed after her as she made her way to the house he had escaped from just a couple of nights earlier, before he had been thrust into a world he didn’t understand and his whole life had been turned upside down.

They had told him not to tell anyone. They had told him he had to keep it a secret, to protect himself and also to protect them… But Tessa wasn’t just anyone. She was his sister, she was his (as lame as it sounded) best friend… They had always been close. Tessa had been his protector from the second he was born. It had been Tessa who had beaten up the school bully for picking on Liam when he was seven, it was Tessa who had stood up to the idiots at Devonford Prep, and it was Tessa who had promised their mother that she would keep an eye on Liam if she allowed him to transfer to Beacon Hills High.

Sure, they fought sometimes and they would wind each other up – what siblings didn’t? – but they had always had each other’s backs. They had always stood up for one another and supported each other no matter what. They had been all the other had during their parents’ divorce.

They really were best friends, and they had never kept anything from each other before.

At least… That’s what Liam had thought. But the way Tessa had accepted his news, the way she had scrambled off her bed at the mention of Scott McCall’s name and the way she was currently stomping determinedly up the steps of his porch made Liam think that Tessa had indeed been keeping something from him.

She already knew about this world.

“McCall!” she hollered, banging on the front door with her fists. “Open the damn door! I know you’re in there, Stiles’ heap of junk is in the driveway!”

Liam wanted to grab hold of his sister and drag her away from the house but before he could, the front door opened slowly and Scott cautiously peeked his head outside.

“…Before you attack me, I only did it to save him-”

Letting out a sound that was somewhere between a growl and roar, Tessa pushed at the front door with a strength she didn’t know she had and Scott fell backwards, catching himself before he fell on the ground. He scrambled on the floor, pulling himself to his feet and dusting his jeans off as he stared at Tessa with wide eyes.

“What the fuck where you thinking?” she hissed.

“We can ex-”

“Back off, Stilinski!” she snapped, whirling round and pointing a finger at him. Stiles raised his eyebrows, lifting his hands up in surrender and glancing towards his best friend.

“This one’s all you, Scotty,” he muttered, and Scott gulped slightly when Tessa turned her attention back to him.

“Tessa he was going to fall- he was going to die, I- I didn’t have a choice-!”

“You didn’t give him a choice!” Tessa yelled. “You didn’t let him decide! You- you just did it, Scott! You didn’t tell him about the danger he was going to be in, you didn’t tell him about the mortality rate for the rest of the teenage werewolves in town – do you remember Erica, huh? Boyd? Isaac?”

“Wha- Isaac isn’t-”

“Isaac is missing, Scott, or haven’t you noticed that?” Tessa rolled her eyes, throwing her hands in the air. “I haven’t spoken to him in months. One of my best friends is dead, and the other conveniently disappeared out of the country with a werewolf hunter and now I can’t get in touch with him? You don’t find that in the slightest bit strange? You don’t think that was something you should have considered before you bit my kid brother? You’ve practically signed his death certificate-”

“Isaac was a werewolf?” Liam asked, sounding completely baffled.

“Not now, Liam.”

“Tessa-”

“I said not now, Liam!” she told him, her tone pleading as she turned to look at him. “You don’t understand what he’s gotten you involved in, you have no idea what this world is going to do to you. God, this has- this stupid werewolf business has taken too much from me already and I’m not going to let it take you as well, alright? So just… shh. Go sit down and be quiet while I talk to Scott-”

“You’re not really talking to Scott, I’d definitely say it’s more like you’re yelling at Scott,” Stiles paused. “There’s- there’s a lot of yelling.”

“Do you want me to yell at you instead?”

“No- nope. I’m- I’m all good on the yelling front, thank you,” Stiles shook his head, taking a step backwards and gesturing towards the living room. “I’m just- I’ll be in there. Uh… Good luck, buddy,” he shot Scott a thumbs up, before he rushed into the living room.

“Tessa…” Scott started carefully. “He was going to fall off the hospital roof, alright? I- I had to do something, I couldn’t just let him fall, he would have died and I couldn’t hold on to him so- so I had to. It was the only way to save him, Tessa.”

“…He’s telling the truth, T,” Liam told her quietly, placing a hand on her shoulder. “I’d be dead right now if it was wasn’t for Scott. Then you’d be yelling at him for not saving me.”

“You’re gonna be dead anyway,” Tessa whispered, shrugging his hand off and looking towards Scott with watery eyes. “Erica died. I grew up with her, Scott. I’d known her since I was six years old, and she’s dead. And- and Isaac- my best friend… I don’t even know where he is. I don’t know if he’s okay, if he’s safe. When he left… I wanted out of this world, and you knew that. Look how many people you’ve lost already – Erica, Boyd, Allison, Matt, all those innocent people Miss. Blake killed – and you want to drag my brother into this? No,” she shook her head. “No. I’m not going to let you. You’re going to stay away from him, do you understand? You- you and you’re weird, twitchy little friend.”

“He’s going to need help-”

“Then I can help him.”

“…He’s not going to be able to control himself-”

“I’m his sister and I can help him, Scott,” she interrupted.

“Tessa…” Liam paused uncertainly. “This isn’t going to go away, you know? It’s not one of those things that you can just ignore and hope it will get better. This is my life now. I- I’m going to need a lot of help… Yours and Scott’s.”

Tessa paused, trying to stop her bottom lip from wobbling as she turned to face her baby brother.

Only, he wasn’t a baby anymore. He was 16 years old, he was almost taller than she was… and he was a werewolf. Beacon Hills best kept secret (ha, yeah, right) had been something she had never wanted Liam to find out about. She had wanted to keep him far away from the world that had already robbed her of her two best friends and changed her view of the town she had grown up in. She had wanted to keep him safe, tucked away in the reality most people lived in, where werewolves were nothing but things of fiction, characters in bad horror movies and scary stories. She had even tried to talk him out of trying out for lacrosse team once he had transferred to Beacon Hills high, wanting to keep him as far away from Scott McCall as she possibly could. She had wanted to protect him, but she should have known she wouldn’t have been able to keep this from him forever.

Liam had a knack for finding trouble anywhere he went and he always had done, ever since he was a kid. She didn’t know why she thought this would be any different.

He was right.

This was his life now, whether she liked it or not. He was a werewolf. He was going to turn every full moon and he was going to lose any sense of the person she knew and loved, the same way Isaac had done when he had been bitten, and Tessa would be damned if she was going to lose her brother the same way she had lost her friends. She knew that Liam would never forgive himself if he turned and he hurt her, their mother, or any of his friends and deep down, she knew that the only person who could help him with that was standing right in front of her.

Taking a deep, steady breath, Tessa nodded her head slowly and Liam raised his eyebrows hopefully.

“Yeah?” he asked.

“Yeah,” she replied, her voice quiet. “But you,” she pointed towards Scott. “I’m trusting you to help him. I’m trusting you to keep him safe when I can’t and if anything happens to him I will kill you, alright?”

“O-okay,” Scott stuttered. “Sure. Yep,” he agreed with a nod.

Crossing her arms over her chest, Tessa turned away from them with pursed lips as she made her way towards the living room, rolling her eyes when she saw Stiles rushing away from the door.

“Where… Where are you going?” Liam asked in confusion, and Tessa huffed as she glanced back at them over her shoulder.

“Scott’s going to help you right?” she raised an eyebrow. “He can start now. Come on,” she waved a hand towards them, gesturing for them to follow her as Liam whined quietly – he had plans with his friends, but there was no way was saying no to Tessa when she was in this kind of mood.

“Woah,” Scott murmured, turning his head to look at Liam. “Must be nice having a sister willing to protect you like that.”