#scessa

“Why not?” she asked, stepping further into the room and catching sight of leaning against his sink. Her eyes caught his in the mirror and she could see the pain etched on his face. “Scott, I- oh my God,” her hands flew up to cover her mouth when she saw the wound on his chest, blood still oozing from the flesh hanging off him. “Why aren’t you healing?”

“I don’t know,” he admitted, and Tessa rushed towards him. “I’m okay. I’ll be okay.”

“Like hell you will,” she muttered, pulling open his bathroom cabinet and pulling out what she needed. “Scott, I think this is gonna need stitches.”

“And how am I supposed to explain it, huh?” he asked, wincing when Tessa pressed a damp cloth against his wound.

“My dad wouldn’t ask any questions.”

“Anyone would ask questions, Tessa.” 

“Well if you aren’t healing, you need to go to the hospital-”

“I’ll heal,” he interrupted her. “I always heal. You don’t have to do this. You don’t have to help me.”

“Yeah, I do,” she whispered, keeping her eyes fixed firmly on what she was doing as she wiped the bloody away from him and grabbed the bottle of antiseptic wash off the edge of the sink. Scott stayed quiet, his eyes following her eyes move, and he flinched when placed the antiseptic covered towel against his skin. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay, I knew that would sting.”

 Tessa swallowed thickly as she pressed the bandage against Scott’s still bleeding wound, carefully taping it in place. “That’s not what I’m apologising for.”

Scott didn’t reply, but his eyes followed Tessa as she busied herself with cleaning up, wiping his blood out of the sink and dumping the bloody tissues in the trash. She wouldn’t look at him. She was doing everything possible to avoid looking at him, and Scott knew it was because she felt guilty. Guilty for what Liam had done, guilty for Theo, guilty for things that Tessa had had no control over. 

“I trusted him, too.”

“Yeah, but…” Tessa sniffled, reaching up to wipe her eyes as she kept her back to Scott and busied herself with cleaning up, even though there was nothing left to clean. “But I brought him in, Scott. I hung out with him first, I brought him to pack things because I- because I liked him. If I would have just listened to Stiles, then- but Theo, he helped save Liam and I thought- I thought he was a good guy, you know?”

“I know,” Scott replied quietly, pausing for a minute. “Tessa, come on. This isn’t down to you, you can’t blame yourself for this. We all trusted him.”

“Stiles didn’t.”

“Stiles doesn’t trust anyone. Stiles didn’t trust you.”

“Yeah,” Tessa laughed quietly, slowly turning back to face him and frowning. “God, you’re bleeding through your bandage already-” she made a move to open the bathroom cabinet again, to get another bandage to place on top of the one she had already taped in place, but Scott reached out a hand, his fingers wrapping around her wrist. 

“Tessa. I’m okay.”

Tessa nodded, her bottom lip trembling slightly and her breathing shaky as Scott’s hand moved to take hold of hers. She looked down at their hands, their fingers linked and she felt her heart quicken, knowing Scott would be able to hear it but not being able to stop it. 

“You- you know I- that I would never do anything to hurt you, right?” she asked him quietly. “That I never would have joined Theo, I never would have been a part of his pack.”

“I know.”

“Okay,” she nodded her head slowly. “Good. I just- I just wanted to make sure you knew that.”

“Yeah,” Scott let go of her hand, his fingers brushing against hers as he pulled away. 

“...I should probably go-”

“You don’t have to-”

“Yes I do,” she interrupted him. “I have to. I only came to apologise, to make sure you were alright and I’ve done both of those things, so now I need to leave. You need to go be with Stiles and I need to go find Liam, I have to make sure he’s alright. Just- call me if you need anything, alright? If Stiles needs anything. I’ll see you, Scott,” Tessa didn’t wait for a reply as she stepped past him, walking towards his bedroom door.

“Tessa, wait,” Scott reached out, grabbing her arm and turning her back round to face him. He pulled her into a loose hug, wrapping an arm around her waist as she gingerly wrapped hers around him, taking care not to hurt him anymore that he already was. Scott could feel her heart pounding against his chest and he closed his eyes as he pressed a kiss to her forehead, his lips lingering there a few seconds longer than normal. “Thank you. For coming to check on me,” he murmured. Pulling away, Tessa offered him a weak smile as she stepped out of his reach.