#sceah

The sheriff had already left, as did Lydia, Malia and Liam. All claiming to have to go figure out how to open a rift to get Stiles back. The only two left were Scott and Leah, sitting on the couch in the living room, in total silence.

“We can’t keep this up forever.” Leah quietly said, breaking the silence between the two of them. 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Scott’s voice sounded hoarse, like he had been crying for a while or hadn’t used it recently. Leah blinked at the sound of it, feeling her gut twist. 

“Yes, you do.” Leah seriously said, leaning forward so her elbows were planted against her thighs. Scott turned his head to look at her, taking in the features of her profile, almost memorizing them. “We aren’t supposed to be together, Scott.” Leah’s voice was still quiet, but there was a hardness behind it because she was telling the truth. “This is just...”

“A trick.” Scott finished for her only to have Leah correct him immediately. 

“A mistake.” She swallowed and Scott felt like he had been punched in the gut, even though he knew Leah was right. “You heard the sheriff.” Leah continued, “Stiles is--” She stopped herself, looking quickly over to Scott, who gave her an understanding yet sad smile. 

“I know.” Scott quietly said. Leah took in a breath and nodded, pulling her lips in and swallowing again.  

“He’s your best friend.” Leah finished her thought, even though Scott knew what she was talking about. 

“And I heard what the sheriff said about how much you meant to him.” Scott pointed out, getting Leah to take in a sharp breath and feel tears spring up. She quickly went to wipe them away, looking away from Scott. 

“I don’t even remember him.” Leah quietly said. Scott picked himself up, moving closer to Leah. She glanced at him and let him wipe away one of her tears with his thumb. 

“You will.” Scott gave her a sad, small smile, “We all will.” Leah tried to smile, nodding a bit, “I swear, Leah, I’ll get him back for you, okay?” 

“You really didn’t have to come with me.” Leah rolled her eyes at Scott as he fell onto her dorm bed, “You’ve got freshmen orientation tomorrow too.” Leah reminded him as she climbed over him and onto the bed. 

“Yeah, I know, but I wanted to.” Scott said, shifting so Leah could lay down next to him. She gave him a small smile as she rolled onto her back, “Besides, it’s only a three hour drive back to UC Davis.” Scott looked at her, giving her a comforting smile.

It had taken almost all summer, but the two friends were slowly getting back to normal, or as normal as they were. It had taken awhile to get their friendship back after the Ghost Riders had royally fucked with their heads.

“Guess we’re not teenagers running around Beacon Hills in the middle of the night looking for the next supernatural threat.” Scott commented as he flipped through the brochure of student activities.  

“Do you wish things had happened differently?” Leah suddenly asked, looking over at Scott. Scott’s brow furrowed as he put down the brochure, “I mean, in general.” Leah added on, “Do you wish you’d never gone out into the woods that night?”

Scott blew out a breath as he stared up at the ceiling, “That’s a pretty loaded question.” 

“Sorry.” Leah lamely responded, turning her head back so she was looking back up at the ceiling, “It’s just something I think about sometimes. You know? The what-ifs.” 

“Yeah, no, I get it.” Scott nodded, swallowing, “Same, actually.” He admitted, raising his brows and getting Leah to look at him. He turned his head, meeting her gaze, “I mean especially after everything with the Ghost Riders.”

“You mean us?” Leah asked, raising her eyebrows. Scott nodded slightly, keeping his eyes on hers. 

“I wish it did.” Scott quietly responded to Leah’s original question, “I wish we had happened differently.” Leah paused, eyes darting down away from Scott’s face for a moment before she looked back up at him,

“Really?” She asked, voice going soft. Scott gave her a gentle smile and nodded. “Since when?”

“Since after what happened during junior year.” Scott answered. Leah raised her eyebrows and her mouth dropped into a small ‘o’

“Oh.” She voiced her surprise, turning her head back so she was staring at the ceiling, “But I thought--I mean you acted like it didn’t change anything, I thought it didn’t change anything...” Leah’s brow was furrowed as she tried to put it together. “You didn’t say anything. You--you let me get back with Stiles and then you started dating Kira and--you didn’t say anything!” 

“I didn’t want to lose you.” Scott admitted as Leah looked back at him, caught off guard by everything.

“Lose me?” Leah repeated, “Scott, you--you’d never lose me.” She sputtered out, brow furrowing.

“I know, I know.” Scott tried to calm her down, turning on his side to look at her fully, “I know, okay? I just...back then, I didn’t...I didn’t want anything to change between us. And you were so in love with Stiles and wanted him back so badly...so if you were happy with him, I was happy.” Leah let out a scoff, rolling her eyes as she looked back up at the ceiling,

“That’s so dumb.” She managed out.

“But it’s true.” Scott seriously said, reaching for her hand and getting her to look at him, “So when the Ghost Riders came and you and I happened...it felt like it was supposed to be.” 

“But it wasn’t.” Leah responded, voice somber. Scott licked his lips and nodded, even though he didn’t believe her, “Scott, it was a trick.” Leah insisted, trying to get him to agree as her even though she began to feel butterflies in her stomach--knowing deep down she didn’t agree with herself, but she was scared to admit it. 

Scott swallowed and nodded again, taking his hand away from Leah’s grasp and going to sit up. Leah reached out for him, but stopped herself, not knowing what to do. 

“Scott, please don’t go.” Leah sat up as Scott swung his legs over the bed, sitting with his back to her, “You’re my best fucking friend and I can’t have you hate me.” Scott didn’t respond immediately, but he didn’t hate Leah--he could never hate her. 

“I...I should get going.” Scott quietly said, not knowing what else to do. He obviously didn’t want to leave his best friend, but he was feeling rather vulnerable and didn’t want to make anything worse than he already had. He figured space between the two of them was the best thing he could do.

“No, Scott--” Leah started as Scott got to his feet. She sat up straighter, propping herself up on her hand, “I want to talk to you about this.” She said.

“Leah, it’s fine.” Scott gave her a pained, tight smile, “It’s fine, really.”

“It’s not.” Leah shook her head as Scott went to grab his jacket, “Don’t leave it like this, please.” Scott turned back to her as he pulled on his jacket. He paused for a moment before he stepped over to her and placed his hands on either side of her face, tilting it up so she was looking at him.

“I’ll text you when I get back to UC Davis.” He seriously said, looking down at her. 

“Scott...” Leah trailed off, as her eyes began to water. She racked her brain, trying to think of something to say to make him stay. Scott gave her a small smile before kissing her forehead. 

Leah couldn’t do anything but watch him leave, quietly shutting the dorm door behind him. She wiped at her eyes, trying not to cry as she felt her heart break; she knew a part of her felt the same.