High school dances were lame.

At least, they were in Rachel's opinion. Getting all dressed up, just to impress a bunch of people you're probably never going to see again once you graduate.. It was pointless. But with defences falling & people dropping like flies, Rachel was starting to reconsider whether or not she'd live long enough to graduate.

She'd made it to the dance with hardly even a second to spare, (thanks to Scott, who she was sure didn't surpass 30km/hour on their drive to the school) which had resulted in her pathetic attempt of running into the school before they stopped accepting tickets.

Luckily, (or unluckily, for those elite teens with a strong hatred of crowded spaces) she made it just in time. Her usual inhuman speed had been decreased due to the outrageously uncomfortable high heels she'd grabbed from a shelf on the way out of Macy's. It was the heels, her boots or a ratty old pair of sneakers from Scott.

Knowing she'd be slaughtered by a certain strawberry blonde if she made the wrong choice, she threw her pride out the window & put on the heels. But now, with the inability to walk faster than a turtle, Rachel was strongly regretting her decision.

The brunette sat down at one of the few tables throughout the gymnasium, forcing a weak smile on her face as she turned to face Lydia. She'd just gone & gotten them some of the punch, which sadly for her, wasn't alcoholic. As much as her last experience with intoxication didn't go over too well, anything would be better than the crowded gymnasium.

Unlike most schools, the administrators of Beacon Hills high, hadn't gotten the cliché DJ & stereo system. Instead, to worsen her mood, a band was playing. Rachel had nothing against bands, or hearing music live, but she preferred something a little more mechanical than a classic guitar. Her preference of music rarely had lyrics, and if it did; they were relatively inaudible over the deafening beat.

"So, is tonight everything you imagined it'd be?" Rachel mused, taking a sip of her drink. She wasn't entirely sure of what it was, but the array of fruity flavours led her to believe it was fruit punch.

She may as well have been at a kids' party.

"Everything & more." Lydia rolled her eyes, her voice laced in sarcasm. Whilst she managed to answer questions with a decent level of attentiveness, it was evident by the distant look in her eyes that Lydia was focused on something else. "Have you seen Jackson?"

"Last I saw, he was trying to spike the punch." Rachel laughed softly, setting the half-empty cup on the table behind her. "Guess he decided to keep it all for himself."

"Do you mind if I.." Lydia trailed off, hinting that she wanted to go & search for him. No matter how angry she seemed, Rachel knew Lydia loved Jackson - and even if his ego wouldn't allow him to admit it, he loved her too.

Rachel rolled her eyes. "Go."

The strawberry blonde smiled, before walking off into the crowd of teenagers. She disappeared quickly, leaving a bored & paranoid Rachel to drown her sorrows in shitty punch & music that wasn't nearly as loud as it should have been.

Dull coloured lights flashed throughout the gym, creating a party-like atmosphere that almost masked the fact that they were still in a school. Almost. Rachel could easily tell by the distinctive stench of sweat, combined with tears, lingering throughout the air that it was indeed nothing more than a petty high school gym, fancied up with a twenty-dollar disco ball & streamers.

The school may have advertised it as a formal, but to her; a dance was a dance.

As for her paranoia, it never ceased to eat away at her attention. Stiles was nowhere in sight, nor was Scott or Allison, and she'd just let Lydia stray away. Her plan to keep an eye on everyone was seriously falling to pieces. For all she knew, Scott could've been tied up in a broom closet by now.

It was unlikely, but at this point in her life; she really wouldn't rule it out.

At this point in her life, Rachel wouldn't rule anything out. The possibilities of her friend's whereabouts were endless, and while they wandered aimlessly, Rachel sat miserably, wondering how the hell she ended up here.

Everything in her world had been painted black the day her home was set ablaze, but over the years, she'd worked long & hard to chip away at the darkness, opening up enough light for her to see the bitter reality. There is no fate, nor is there prophecies or fortune telling. The future doesn't exist until you create it, and no matter how hard you try; convincing yourself of otherwise is a horrendous waste of time. Rachel wanted to hold on to that belief so badly, but she couldn't help the thoughts that popped into her mind.

The future had been created wrong.

Rachel was born as a reflector. She was meant to be in the supernatural world, much like her brother, sister & uncle. However, Scott wasn't born a werewolf. He & Stiles were never meant to know about a world like Rachel's, but due to her uncle's actions, the duo had no choice.

If Rachel could go back in time & right the wrongs of her family, she'd be lying if she said she'd stop Scott & Stiles from going into the woods that night. If Rachel could truly go back in time, she'd destroy the monster before it was ever created; by killing Kate Argent. Even if it started a war, one of which left her lying still on the battle field, it's be worth it to her.

But she couldn't go back & save the day, because while the present wasn't chiselled in stone, the past was.

"Rachel?" A familiar voice snapped her from the soon to be disastrous stream of thoughts. The brunette looked up, soon relief washing over her at the sight of Stiles.

"Oh thank god." She exhaled quietly, hoping he hadn't heard her.

"Have you seen Lydia?" Stiles questioned, his eyes searching the crowd for the aforementioned strawberry blonde. Instantly, Rachel's enlightened mood dropped back down to the depths of hell with the realization that he didn't come over to talk to her.

"She went to find Jackson." Rachel shrugged. "Haven't seen her since."

Stiles nodded, turning to walk back into the crowd when Rachel caught sight of a particular evil she'd been trying to avoid - her uncle. Sticking to his usual choice of cover, he was standing in the shadows of an empty corner, staring not at Rachel, but at Stiles.

The brunette quickly jumped up from her seat & ran after Stiles worriedly. As long as she could keep him in the gym, full of people, Peter surely wouldn't try anything. It'd be two against one, (providing Scott hadn't wandered off somewhere with Allison) and Rachel was sure she & Scott could beat him in a fight. Well, she was sure she could. Scott, she wasn't too sure of.

"Stiles!" Rachel spoke loudly over the music, gaining his attention.

"Yeah?"

"Dance with me." She blurted out, instant regretting it. Absolutely anything but that would've been a better option, especially for a girl who had no clue how to dance. Even awkward middle school dancing - it was pretty pathetic, in her mind.

"W-What?" Stiles stuttered, taken aback by her surprising request.

"You heard me." Rachel stated, gathering up the minimal confidence she had left. "Look, I know you'd rather be off sucking faces with Lydia, but I- okay, I don't even have a reason, and I don't know how to dance, either."

Stiles stared at her for a moment, before sighing & grabbing her hand. Rachel's brows furrowed in confusion, wondering why he hadn't questioned her but nonetheless she followed. The music changed to a slow song (how convenient?) as the duo stopped in a less crowded spot near the side of the gym.

"I, uh-" Rachel muttered, unsure of what to say. Truthfully, she'd never expected to make it this far. When she initially told Scott she'd stay with Stiles, she imagined it being more of sitting at the tables while trying to make small talk that didn't relate to anything supernatural.

"Here." He half smiled, placing her hands on his shoulders, while his moved to her waist. He figured if he was going to start somewhere, it may as well be at the very beginning. After all, it's not like he was a professional dancer either.

"Thanks." Rachel sighed, feeling the inevitable blush reddening on her cheeks. It seemed as though all of her signature Hale confidence had been replaced by an array of emotions, all of which she disliked. "So.. This is what awkward middle school dancing feels like?"

"Pretty much." Stiles chuckled softly.

The aforementioned awkwardness was only intensified by the confusion in both teens. Stiles had come to the formal with Lydia - yet somehow, he'd ended up with Rachel. There was no question that he was most definitely in love with Lydia Martin, but if that love was so meaningful, why did he choose to stay with Rachel?

Maybe it was because he knew Lydia was in love with someone else. She & Jackson had been together longer than anyone could remember, and anyone would say they're perfect together. Two people, approximately half a heart & no compassion whatsoever; they were a match made in heaven, in the eyes of BHHS's student body.

Or maybe, just maybe, it wasn't because of that. Maybe, Stiles did feel something for Derek Hale's little sister, and he chose to deny it in fear of the repercussions that would come with admitting the truth.

It was a theory he'd never considered, and one he wasn't ready to examine anytime soon. Forcing the thoughts away, Stiles instead took the chance to glance at Rachel, while she stared mindlessly at something over his shoulder.

The first thing to peak his attention was the colour of her eyes; a chocolate brown, far different from the green they'd been days ago. The colour suited her well, much like the green did; hell, any colour suited her, but something about it seemed familiar.

"If you're wondering, it's Scott." Rachel stated, only earning a confused look in return. Shaking her head, she clarified, "Who I reflected."

The brunette forced a smile as Stiles laughed awkwardly, knowing he must've found it rather odd. As much as she knew she'd regret her next choice, she almost felt compelled to do anything that would lessen the undeniable tension surrounding them.

Biting her bottom lip nervously, Rachel turned & met his gaze. As usual, her reflector abilities kicked in, obliterating her werewolf power & replacing it with the weak capability of a human. The brown in her eyes lightened to match Stiles' as the metallic silver faded away & Rachel half-smiled. "Better?"

"Better." Stiles nodded, shooting a quick glance out into the crowd.

"If you want, you can go look for her." Rachel forced a smile, knowing Stiles wanted to find Lydia more than anything. "I'll help."

"It's fine." He shook his head, turning back to face her. "She's with Jackson."

"I know," Rachel exhaled, pursing her lips. "but you want to find her. I can always knock out Jackass & hide him in the bushes if he gets in the way."

"You're not.." Stiles raised a brow, hinting towards her supernatural status without saying the word aloud.

"I'm a Hale." Rachel stated, the familiar arrogant tone seeping through her words. "I don't need any of that to knock out a dumb high school jock."

"It's fine, seriously, Rachel." Stiles shrugged it off, but even without hearing his heart beat she knew it was a lie.

"Stiles." She stated, placing her hands over his & moving them off her waist. "I need to find Scott, anyways. And since he's probably making out with Allison somewhere, I may as well help you find Lydia to kill time."

Stiles smiled weakly, whilst Rachel returned the gesture. Still, despite knowing he preferred Lydia over her for the time being, she couldn't help but reach for his hand. Much to her shock, rather than moving away he instead entwined their fingers & tugged her along with him as he started off towards the door.

Once they'd reached the exit doors into the hallway, it didn't take long for Rachel to realize something was wrong. The very person Lydia had left to find, was stumbling towards Rachel & Stiles, sporting the guiltiest look she'd ever seen. Jackson Whittemore. The boy looked as though he'd just lit a puppy on fire, then sat & watched it burn.

"Where the hell have you been?" Stiles hissed angrily, seemingly unaware of just how upset Jackson was. "Did Lydia ever find you?"

However, Rachel caught on quickly. "What's wrong?"

"I- I was out behind the school.." The lacrosse co-captain stuttered, staring blankly at the wall behind Rachel. "And I- I was out.."

"What happened?"

"Jackson.." She trailed off as thoughts raced through her mind, locking on one in particular. Rachel's blood ran cold. Jackson knew of both Scott's & her supernatural status. Nothing good ever came of being in the woods at night in Beacon Hills, but Rachel only knew of two things that could possible scare someone to this point.

"What the hell did you do?" Stiles finished the question, staring wide-eyed at the boy. It was evident that he'd done something he couldn't take back, and it was becoming clear exactly what that was.

Just as Jackson was about to attempt another answer, Rachel cut him off. "We'll deal with him later. Right now, we need to find Lydia."

And with that, they were off.

⠀⠀⠀⠀↻

"Do I even need to say I have a bad feeling about this?" Rachel muttered, speed walking along with Stiles. She'd ditched her heels just moments ago, allowing her to finally keep up with him.

"I think by now, it's a given." Stiles exhaled, the two finally reaching the edge of the lacrosse field.

Before she could manage to make another sarcastic comment, Rachel jumped back at the sound of a loud bang. One of the lights surrounding the lacrosse field illuminated, others soon following. Each blinding light emitted a loud bang before flickering on & shining brightness upon a portion of the outrageously large field.

"Why the hell are the field lights on?" Stiles furrowed his brows, eyes narrowing at the bright light.

His question was answered all too soon as he caught sight of a lone figure standing in the centre of the field. None other than everybody's favourite strawberry blonde, Lydia Martin, stood both confused & scared. She'd only been out there to search for Jackson, and now, things were quickly going south.

"Stiles." Rachel breathed, pointing to another figure advancing towards Lydia. Instantly, her breath hitched in her throat as she realized just who it was. With the dwindling air left in her lungs, the brunette let out an ear-piercing scream. "Lydia, run!"

The strawberry blonde turned, seeing the man advancing towards her with so signs of stopping. Lydia quickly turned back to run, but her attempt was too late. By the time she'd even started to run, Peter had already caught her.

The following seconds were nothing but a blur for Rachel as one of her best friends fell lifelessly to the ground, a bloody bite mark on her side. Rachel & Stiles halted, neither daring to move even a step closer as Peter hovered over Lydia. One wrong move & he'd kill her without even an ounce of remorse - Rachel wouldn't doubt that for a second.

Because it was never Stiles he was after. She had it all wrong. She should've known better. She'd known Peter her entire life, and he'd never been one to approach a situation directly. Of course he wouldn't go after Stiles - he was the obvious choice. Nobody would've ever expected him to go after Lydia, and for that reason; she was an easy target.

Too easy.

"Don't kill her." Stiles held out a hand, his voice shaking with fear. He'd loved Lydia since second grade, and somehow - Peter knew he'd do anything to save her. "Please."

"Of course not." Peter stated calmly in his usual tone, despite the severity of the situation. "Just tell me how to find Derek."

"What?" Rachel choked out, confusion washing over her. Derek was supposed to be with Peter. All along, she'd assumed he was with Peter - he had to be with Peter.

"Tell me how to find Derek Hale." Peter repeated, tracing a claw on Lydia's cheek lightly.

"I- I don't-" Rachel stuttered, her face soon hardening as she realized the situation. For how long, she wasn't sure, but she was certain of one thing; both Scott & Stiles had been lying to her. A part of her knew that Derek would never go that long without reaching out to her. But another part was too naive to accept the fact that the two people she'd put her trust in had gone behind her back & betrayed it.

"He didn't tell you?" Peter glanced towards Rachel, an evil glint in his eyes. "Derek hasn't been with me for over two days, and I'm going to guess by the look on your face that your little boy toy didn't feel the need to clue you in."

The brunette turned away, not wanting to look at her best friend's blood on his face for a second more than needed. It was then that Stiles knew he'd screwed up. A perfect opportunity to reflect an alpha had presented itself, and Rachel had intentionally thrown it out the window.

The proof was in her eyes as she turned to face him, her voice low & threatening. "Where the hell is my brother?"

"I don't know." Stiles quickly answered, stepping back away from her in fear. "How would I know?"

"Because you're the clever one." Peter stated, obviously. "And because deception has a very particular scent, Stiles. My niece would know, if she hadn't foolishly reflected a human. Now, tell me the truth-" he glanced down at Lydia, before looking back up at Stiles. "Or I will rip her apart."

"Look- Look, I don't know, okay? I s-swear to god, I have no idea." Stiles stuttered, now seemingly on the verge of tears.

Rachel's emotions, however, were long gone. What's done, was done & she couldnmt change the fact that her best friend was bitten. Lydia was as good as dead, anyway, if her body rejected the bite. The reflector's only concern was of her brother - who's whereabouts where known by Stiles, no matter what the boy claimed. She could see through the lies as clear as day.

Her uncle had seen through it too, as well as hearing the skip in Stiles' heartbeat. Now done with toying around, the werewolf demanded, "Tell me!"

"Okay, okay, okay! I- I think he knew-" Stiles stuttered nervously, unable to finish his sentence as Peter interrupted.

"Knew what?"

"Derek, I think he- I think he knew he was gonna be caught." Stiles informed, still unable to speak fluently without stuttering. The boy was visibly shaking, and despite the concern she should've felt, Rachel couldn't feel anything through the fiery rage flowing through her veins.

A flame of which he'd ignited.

"By the Argents?" Peter questioned, raising a brow. He never thought he'd see the day when Derek was successfully captured by an Argent. An array of close encounters had brought them dangerously close to both Derek & Rachel, but neither had ever been caught.

Stiles nodded. "Yeah."

"And?"

"When they were shot, he & Scott-" Stiles paused, taking a breath. "I think he took Scott's phone."

"Why?"

"They all have GPS now." Rachel muttered, putting the pieces together with ease. Of course, if her brother knew he was going to be caught, he'd leave a way for them to find him. "So if he still has it & it's still on.. We can find him."

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SOMEBODY SHOOT ME THIS WAS HELL TO WRITE. the last half nearly killed me bc its 4:30am & its hella hot in my room (even though its winter???) im gonna die but at least i finally got to use that gif

side note; i watched season one of ahs and CAN I HAVE A TATE? i don't care what he did okay he's cute & i like him. I DONT EVEN WANT TO TALK ABOUT THE END.

side side note; NO YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO SHIP #RILES (even though i totally do) BECAUSE SEASON TWO IS NEARING & SO IS EVERYBODY'S FAVOURITE SCARF BOY. I'm more excited about season 3B though because it's my favourite season & void stiles is hot

as you can tell i may or may not have a thing for psychos now, i blame kai parker & tate langdon.

QUESTION; thoughts on this chapter/what's going to happen in the next chapter?