𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒆𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 | 𝔀𝓱𝓮𝓷 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓹𝓪𝓻𝓽𝔂'𝓼 𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓻

𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘢𝘪𝘥

"SO, WHICH ONE DO YOU think looks better?"

Charlotte looks up from her textbook to see Allison holding up two jackets. While her eyes flick between the two, without any hesitation, she replies, "Neither. I hate both."

The brunette rolls her eyes, a smile lifting at her lips as she scrutinises the girl before her. "Yeah, nice try." She lifts up the items of clothing again. "Which one?"

"It's getting scary how well you know me already," Charlotte admits with a grimace. She pauses as she properly studies the choices, then finally points her finger to the black leather jacket with embroidery on the back. "That one." Allison smiles. "So, what's it for?"

The Argent glances over to her with her brows raised. "What do you mean 'what's it for?'"

"Let me start us off here. I know that it's got something to do with Scott." When Allison opens her mouth to speak, Charlotte holds up a hand a tuts. "Nope. He's been beaming all day. So I'll ask again, what's the fancy jacket for?"

She tries to hide a smile by biting her lip, but ultimately fails. "Okay, fine!" she exclaims. Her cheeks tint a rosy pink as she says, "I want to take him out somewhere tomorrow..."

Allison stares into the space before her. Charlotte snorts. She doesn't even want to think about what could circling around in the girl's head right now. She clicks her fingers in front of the pair of cocoa eyes. "Earth to Allison?"

Her friend blinks rapidly and nods. "Well not just take him out somewhere..." Allison pulls something out of her pocket.

Charlotte loudly gasps. "Shut the fuck up!" Her eyes are wide as she just about yells, "You want to have sex with him?!"

Allison bashfully nods her head, her locks of hair falling around her face to conceal her rapidly blushing cheeks. "I was going to bring it up the other night, but he ran off," she confesses.

Ah, right. The day when Derek was dying, and Scott had a time limit to find the magical, all healing bullet that shot him in the first place. Charlotte jumps up off the bed and grabs the girl's arm and as she excitedly exclaims, "My two best friends are going to have sex!"

Knuckles rap on the door, and the girls share a look of alarm before rushing back to their previous study positions, textbooks open and Allison at her computer. "Come in!" the brunette calls out.

The door opens and a blonde-haired woman walks in. She raises her eyebrows and leans against the doorframe. "So who's having sex with who?" Charlotte clasps a hand over her mouth and Allison is once again bright red. The woman chuckles. "If my niece hasn't mentioned me before, I'm Kate," she introduces herself to Charlotte.

The girl is sent a warm smile and she returns it, shaking the outstretched hand. "Charlotte," she replies. But once Kate turns around, Charlotte's smile falls off her face. She knows exactly who Kate Argent is. It's the same Kate Argent who had shot Derek. The same Kate Argent who would probably try to kill Scott the second she gets the chance to. It's safe to say that Charlotte isn't a fan of her friend's aunt.

"So, what are you girls up to?"

"Study."

"Homework."

Kate turns her attention to Allison and raises her eyebrows. "Emailing the boyfriend?"

"Yup," Charlotte confirms.

"No!" Allison glares at her friend, and Kate lets out a laugh. "No," she repeats, this time with a twinkle in her eye. "I'm emailing PETA about how my wingnut father gunned down an innocent mountain lion in the school parking lot last night."

Charlotte's jaw drops at the information. She hadn't expected that at all. "Wait, what?"

"At the parent teacher conference," Allison tells her. "I'll explain later." Charlotte nods, still in shock. Scott hadn't mentioned anything. Stiles had only messaged her late last night that his dad was hurt, but he hadn't gone into further detail. Something to ask tomorrow.

"And that wouldn't have anything to do with the fact that you're grounded from skipping school and you can't see Scott?" Charlotte rolls her eyes and hides a smile. If Kate wasn't involved in the Argent's hunting business, she would've taken a strong liking to the woman.

"I'm not going to be one of those whining teenagers who looks at her father and says, 'I hate you; I wish you were dead.'"

"But...?"

"Oh, she definitely wants him dead," Charlotte confirms. All three break into laughter. Then she remembers what she had seen yesterday morning. "Oh, Kate, I saw Allison's necklace! It's gorgeous, where did you get it from?"

Kate looks over to the girl with a smile. "It's actually a family heirloom. I thought it would be a good time to hand it over to this one over here."

Charlotte nods, the inviting smile on her face still not faltering slightly. "What's the engraving of? Does it have a special meaning?"

Her eyes narrow ever so subtly, but just noticeable enough for the girl to catch. "It's a wolf," she replies casually. "Just something the family bonds over." That's one way to put it. "So, what are you guys working on? Can I help?"

"No thanks, just some biology stuff."

Allison looks to her aunt. "Uh, I'm doing a history project... But if it's okay, could we be left alone?"

"Oh, come on!" Kate protests eagerly. "What kind of history project?"

Allison sighs and Charlotte's eyes move up to the pair from her textbook. "I have to come up with a report that has some relevance to my own family history."

Kate raises an eyebrow. "Specific to your family?" Allison nods. "Okay, type this in: La Bête du Gévaudan."

"The Beast of Gévaudan..." Charlotte whispers to herself.

The woman's head whips over to her in surprise. "You know French?"

Charlotte smiles. "Yup, almost fluently." The older blonde slowly nods back.

"What is this?" Allison questions, her attention still trained on her computer screen.

"It's an old French legend that, believe it or not, has something to do with your family."

Charlotte walks over to them, her interest thoroughly peaked, as Allison starts to read aloud. "'In seventeen-sixty-six, in a province of Lozere, La Bête killed over a hundred people.'"

"Mysterious animal attacks," Kate says. "Just like a certain town called Beacon Hills?"

Allison's head tilts. "So what was it?" she asks. "The animal?"

Kate looks between the girls and shrugs. "Nobody knows for sure, but I can tell you one thing, it definitely wasn't a mountain lion. What does it look like to you?" Charlotte shakes her head in disbelief as she realises what the woman is doing.

Allison shuffles closer to the screen, her eyes narrowing as she studies the picture. "It's like the necklace. It looks like... a wolf."

Charlotte purses her lips together in a firm line. Shit isn't a strong enough word to describe this fork in the road.

»»———-　　———-««

Walking side by side through the corridor of Beacon Hills High School, Stiles and Charlotte converse with one another about what actually happened last night, after the parent-teacher interviews. Noah Stilinski had been hit by a car. Her eyes wide, the girl looks to her best friend in worry. "He got hit by a car?"

Stiles nods as they continue toward their first class. "Yup," he answers. His eyes narrow a fraction. "And I blame Scott."

Charlotte's eyebrows knit together in confusion. "Hold on, so Scott hit your dad?"

"No," he exclaims with frustration. "It's Scott's fault that he was."

The girl frowns. "Still confused..."

He stops walking and turns around to her. Her concern for him amplifies as she finds the faint flames of anger dancing within his eyes. "Scott was so focused on making sure that his fucking girlfriend was okay, that he didn't notice my dad get hit."

Charlotte shifts the bag on her shoulder. "Hey, Stiles, is he okay? He's not in the hospital, is he?"

The boy shakes his head. "No, he's not." He can barely see her through his tears. "But yeah, he'll be okay," he replies, his voice wavering from emotion.

A fracture runs through her heart. "Oh, shut up and come here," she murmurs to him. Charlotte grabs her best friend and pulls him into a much needed hug. "If we're shunning Scott, that's completely fine with me. As much as I like Allison, I'm with you. Always and forever, yeah?"

He nods against her shoulder, and as he pulls back, a weak smile appears on his face. "Thanks, Lottie," he whispers.

"Any time, I've got your back. You know I do."

When they enter the classroom, the teenagers head straight toward a pair of empty desks at the back. Taking out their books for the upcoming lesson, they both freeze when they see Scott walk through the door. After sharing an incredibly brief look with one another, they immediately look back down to their books. The girl tilts her head slightly so her eyes meet his. He shakes his head. She curtly nods. They have a mission, and Charlotte's not going to be the one to fail first. No matter what Scott tells them.

He sits in the row behind them. "Still not talking to me?" At Scott's words, Stiles stares straight ahead as he purposefully ignores the boy. He sighs and tries his other friend. "Charles?" Once receiving no answer, he quietly groans. "Oh, come on, not you too! Okay, can you at least tell me if your dad's okay?"

In her peripheral vision, she sees Stiles' fist clench. She discreetly grabs onto his hand and untangles his fingers to squeeze them. He takes a deep breath.

"It's just a bruise, right?" Scott guesses. "Some sort of tissue damage? Nothing that big." Charlotte's urge to roll her eyes right now is incredibly strong. He literally could not be saying anything worse. "You know I feel really bad about it right?" Scott sighs again. "Charlie, you're obviously ignoring me for the same reason. What if I told you both that I'm trying to figure this whole thing out... And that I went to Derek for help?"

She finally rolls her eyes. "Well, if I was talking to you, it's about fucking time that you're going to Derek. But of course, I'm not talking to you."

"And if I was talking to you, I'd say that you're an idiot for trusting him," Stiles adds bluntly. "But again, obviously, I'm also not talking to you."

Going to Derek for help is currently the best and smartest move that Scott could possibly make. But just because the man is willing to help doesn't necessarily mean they could trust him. Charlotte had never taken the word 'trust' lightly. A minute of silence passes before the pair sigh in sync, and Stiles spins around, Charlotte close behind.

"Fine. What did he say?"

"The suspense is too much, spill."

»»———-　　———-««

"Hold up... He wants you to tap into your animal side and get angry?"

Scott nods at his two best friends who are currently looking at him as if he's grown another head. "Yep."

Charlotte hums. "Okay, Scott, feel fully comfortable to interrupt me if I'm wrong, but every time you get angry-"

"Like, really angry," Stiles interjects.

"-you try to kill people," she finishes pointedly. "And usually that 'people' includes me and your other best friend."

Stiles vigorously nods. "And I'd rather not risk our precious, valuable lives again."

"And don't get me wrong, Scotty, yes. I was the one to help Derek. Because again, yes, I do think that he can help you. And once again, yes, I do think that currently he is our best option." Charlotte stops talking once she notices that Scott has stopped walking to stare at her, and Stiles sports a wide grin. "But, no. I do not think- no scrap that, I know that this might rival that idea you had last year."

Stiles' eyes widen considerable. "Okay, I wouldn't have compared it to that," he retorts. "But Scott, she's right. This is not a good idea."

Scott sighs but he slowly nods in agreement with them. "I know, that's what he means when he says he doesn't know if he can teach me," he explains.

"Derek can only do so much," Charlotte points out with a raised brow. "Then it's up to you to be able to control it."

"Well then, how's he planning to teach you to do that?" Stiles asks.

Scott shrugs. "I don't know," he replies. "And honestly? I don't think he does either."

Charlotte nods. "Ah, wonderful. Of course he doesn't. I've always said things are done best when improvised," she comments.

Stiles snorts. "You've never said that," he corrects in amusement. She grins. "Okay, when are you seeing him again?"

"He told me not to talk about it," Scott tells them. "Just act normal and get through the day."

Both of his friends look at him pointedly. That's the plan. Just stare at him until he breaks. It always works. "When?"

"He's picking me up from the animal clinic after work."

Charlotte smiles proudly. "There it is." She glances to Stiles once more, and an idea slowly constructs within her brilliant mind. "After work... All right. That gives us..." She leans over to get a glimpse at Stiles' watch. "Exactly four hours and twelve minutes."

Scott frowns in confusion. "To do what?"

"To teach you ourselves."

»»———-　　———-««

Chewing on a piece of tuna sushi, Charlotte sits in the cafeteria with Lydia and Allison during lunch. She'd decided she was going to get enough of her boys fix for the rest of the afternoon, so her sister and other best friend deserve some attention. Lydia's eyebrows raise at Allison. "Sorry, the what of who?"

"La Bête du Gévaudan-"

"Just say The Beast of Gévaudan, " Charlotte tells the brunette with a small smile. She doesn't bother to swat Lydia's hand away when the girl takes one of the sushi rolls.

Allison nods at her and continues to read aloud from the book she had found in the library. "'A quadruped wolf-like monster, prowling the Auvergne and south Dordogne areas of France during the year seventeen-sixty-four to seventeen-sixty-seven. La Bête killed over a hundred people, becoming so infamous that the King Louis XV sent one of his best hunters to try and kill it.'"

Lydia sighs before blurting out, "Boring." Her sister quietly laughs.

"'Even the Church eventually declared the monster a messenger of Satan.'"

"Still boring!"

"'Cryptozoologists believe it may have been a subspecies of hoofed predator, possibly a mesonychid.'"

Charlotte pulls a face at the complex word. Lydia fakes a yawn. "Slipping into a coma bored," she says.

"'While others believe it was a powerful sorcerer who could shape shift into a man-eating monster.'"

The blonde raises an eyebrow at how seriously Allison seems to be taking this. Apparently, Kate had really made an impact. "Wow, you've really dug into this..."

Lydia finally asks, "Any of this have anything to do with your family?"

"Yeah. This. 'It is believed that La Bête was finally trapped and killed by a renowned hunter who claimed his wife and four children were the first to fall prey to the creature.'" Then, Allison drops a bombshell. "His name was Argent," she tells her friends.

Charlotte's heart thuds a little faster. Well, that's new. Lydia finds nothing about the information fascinating. "Your ancestors killed a big wolf. So what?"

Sure, they had known that the Argents were hunters, but now Charlotte realises just how close Allison is to really to uncovering the supernatural. If she brought this to her parents... The Martin is almost certain that her findings wouldn't be told they were fictional.

"Not just a big wolf," Allison corrects. "Take a look at this picture." She slides the book over to the twins. "What does it look like to you?" The girls look over at the photo and both of their eyes widen at the same time. Lydia's hand instantly grips onto her sister's, squeezing it so tightly that Charlotte's a little afraid a bone might break. "Guys?" The siblings tighten their grips on each other's hands. "Guys?" Allison repeats, confused at their sudden shift in attitude.

Lydia breaks away from her trance and swallows. "It looks.... Like a big... Wolf." She plasters on a smile. "See you in history," she says, before striding away and out of the room.

"See you later," Charlotte bids goodbye to her thoroughly confused friend. Noticing the boys entering just as she's exiting, they raise a questioning eyebrow to her and she mouths, I'll be over in a sec. Right now, her sister is the most important thing. They turn around a corner and Lydia stops at an empty section of the corridor. Charlotte sees her glassy eyes. "Lyds?" The girl keeps her head down. Gently placing her fingers under her sister's chin, Charlotte lifts her head up. A tear falls and arms wrap around her waist.

Breathing heavily, her arms wrap tighter around her twin's body. "Lottie. Th-that... It-It was..."

"Breathe, Lyds," Charlotte whispers calmly. She pulls away to look her sister in the eyes once she begins to hyperventilate. "Lydia, you need to breathe with me, okay? In and hold for five, then out for seven." After noticing the tactic isn't working, Charlotte frantically tries to think about different coping methods. "Okay, can you tell me five things that you can see right now?"

Lydia hastily nods as the tears continue stream down her cheeks. "Y-you... The- the c-clock. Lockers... The st-stairs..."

Charlotte nods encouragingly and squeezes onto her hands a few times, trying to ground her. "One more, Lyds."

"People."

"Good! Give me four things you can touch right now. What can you feel?"

"Y-your hands... My books... The floor and-and my jacket."

"There you go." Charlotte smiles softly. She keeps her voice steady. "Three things you can hear?"

Her hands remain gripped in her sister's. Charlotte finally starts to hear Lydia's breathing slow down to a more ready rate. "Y-your voice, birds and music."

"All right, you're doing amazing, Lyds. You know the next one, what can you smell?"

"Your perfume and gum."

"In," she says calmly. Charlotte takes a deep breath in through her nose, emphasising it for her sister as she follows. "And out." Both girls breathe out deeply and the blonde wraps her arms protectively around Lydia once again, as if she's able to shield her from all of the monstrosities lurking in the shadows of the world. It's like once she lets go, those dangers suddenly return. She's no longer able to protect her sister. Feeling her shirt becoming damp, she rubs her hand in soothing circles on the strawberry blonde's back.

"Charlie," Lydia begins. Her voice trembles. "The picture... That's what we saw."

"I know." There's no point denying it. "But it's gone, okay? It's not here anymore." Telling her sister that whatever they had seen isn't real would be the stupidest thing she could possibly do. They had seen the creature as clear as day. Besides, Lydia isn't clueless.

The girl nods slowly and a smile adorns her tear-streaked cheeks. "Thanks, I'll see you later?" Charlotte softly smiles and nods. She watches her walk away, pretending that nothing is wrong, just like normal. They're similar to each other in more than one way.

Returning to the cafeteria, Stiles and Scott quickly spot her approaching figure and wave her over to their table. "Charlie, everything okay?" the former questions in concern.

She frowns and takes the spot beside Stiles. "Long story short, Kate showed Allison something about her family history. A photo in one of the books had something similar to what Lydia and I saw-"

"The Alpha?" Stiles interrupts.

"Yeah... Point is, I was there when Kate brought it up." The boys look at her in confusion. "Study session. Guys, it's like she wants Allison to know. She's not trying to protect her or keep her out of it, they or at least Kate, want Allison to be aware of all-" she points to Scott, "-this."

Stiles takes a deep breath as he processes the information. Then he gently touches on the subject, "Is Lydia okay?"

Charlotte gives him a small smile, thankful that he had asked. "I think she will be."

Scott shakes his head in disbelief. "That's all you got, Stiles? Allison knows!"

She rolls her eyes. "Thanks for the concern, Scott, it's really considerate. And FYI, she doesn't know. She's just looking into some folklore, history shit." She grimaces. "That actually happens to be true..."

"She doesn't know yet," Scott corrects firmly. "So, did you guys come up with a plan?" Charlotte glances to Stiles and they share a grin. Scott's face falls. "I know that look. You came up with something didn't you...?"

"We think so." She grabs Stiles' apple and takes a bite out of it.

The boy gags. "You're keeping that." She waves the fruit in front of his face, close enough so he can see her saliva on it. His face pales a faint shade of green. "No! No, I don't want it back," he hisses. She snickers at his obvious repulsion.

Scott chuckles. "So does this mean that you no longer hate me?"

Charlotte tilts her head. "Does this mean we don't hate him?" she whispers to Stiles.

He shakes his head. "No. But your shit has infiltrated my life and hers. So now we both have to do something about it. Plus, I'm definitely a better Yoda than Derek..."

"Uh, I don't know about that, he's a pretty good angry Yoda..."

Scott nods, brushing over the Star Wars references that he still doesn't understand. "Okay," he agrees. "Then yeah, you guys can teach me."

"Yeah!" Stiles exclaims with excitement. "I'll be your Yoda."

"Yeah, you be my Yoda," the werewolf smiles.

Stiles tries to imitate the character. "Your Yoda I will be." He chuckles and Charlotte grins. "... I said it backwards," he points out.

"Sure did."

"Yeah, I-I know," Scott adds, a frown born out of confusion back on his face.

Stiles' smile drops. A scowl replaces it. "All right you know what? I definitely still hate you. Uh-huh. Oh yeah."

The McCall turns over to his other best friend who quickly adds in support, "Oh yeah, definitely still hate you."

Stiles fist bumps her as they watch Scott walk off with Allison calling out to him. "Scott! Scott, wait! Hey Scott! Sc-"

Charlotte's eyebrows furrow. "Why is he ignoring the girlfriend?" she asks.

Stiles shrugs. "Something Derek said that he can't get angry enough when he's around Allison."

She scoffs. "Wow, he has seriously yet to prove why I got him out of jail."

The boy places his head into his hands. "Dude, for fuck's sake, just move on!"

»»———-　　———-««

Taking advantage of the sun's harsh rays beating down on them outside, the trio gather around the team benches as they prepare themselves for the activity that Charlotte and Stiles had created together. They're both thrilled to get started. "Okay, Scott, put this on," she instructs him, handing over the heart monitor. She drops down on the bench next to Stiles.

Scott looks up to them sceptically. "Isn't this one of the heartrate monitors for the track team?"

Stiles nods. "Oh, yeah, we borrowed it," he states casually.

The werewolf glances between the two and suppresses the urge to grin. "You mean you stole it," he corrects.

They glare at him, and the girl defensively retorts, "No! It's been temporarily misplaced!"

"Mhm, yeah, exactly," Stiles agrees with a nod. "Coach uses it to monitor his heartrate with his phone while he jogs, and you're our test subject for the rest of the day. Just think of yourself as a guinea pig. But with sharper teeth, glowing eyes, claws, hairy cheeks-"

Charlotte clicks her tongue. "No, guinea pigs have those."

Stiles hums. "Oh, yeah, good point."

Scott's eyes dart around the bench and once they land on a particular item, he asks, "Isn't that Coach's phone?"

"It one hundred percent is," she confirms gleefully. "We stole that one." Stiles looks at her exasperatedly and she grins.

"Why?"

The girl clasps her hands together. "Science-cross-supernatural lesson, Scotty. So, Stilinski over there and I have figured out that your heart increases when you go all 'roar, woof, woof.' Yeah?"

Scott gives her an extremely unimpressed look at her impression, and she sheepishly holds her hands up. "What she's trying to say is that it's basically when you're playing lacrosse, when you're with Allison or whenever you get angry," Stiles explains more clearly. "Maybe learning to control it is tied to learning to control your heartrate."

Charlotte points to him and nods. "Exactly."

"Like the Incredible Hulk?"

Stiles' lips purse in thought. "Well... When you put it like that, yeah."

"I'm like the Incredible Hulk!" Scott's lips quickly lift into a proud smile.

Stiles groans in frustration. This is taking far too long. "Would you shut up and put the strap on?"

Charlotte's eyes widen and she jumps off the bench, jumping up and down enthusiastically as she shrieks, "That's what she said! That's what she said!"

Scott ignores her sudden outburst, completely accustomed to it happening every once in a while, whilst Stiles runs a hand over his head in exasperation. "You've had that in you for a while, huh?"

"Yep, been waiting for a moment like this since last March."

After walking Scott out to the middle of the field and taping his hands together behind his back so he wouldn't be able to move them, Charlotte and Stiles create some distance between themselves and the werewolf. Scott suddenly doesn't look so eager. "This isn't exactly how I wanted to spend my free period, you guys..."

"You ready, Scott?"

"No."

Charlotte ties her hair back and raises her voice to say, "Just remember not to get angry!"

"Focus, Scott," Stiles reminds him. "Incredible Hulk, remember?" He bends down and unzips the gym bag to unlock Coach's phone, which of course doesn't have a password, and opens the heartrate monitor app.

"Starting to think this is a really bad idea..." Scott comments with a grimace.

Charlotte picks up Stiles' lacrosse stick and scoops a ball in the net. She swings it behind her shoulder and stepping forward, she tosses the ball at her best friend as hard as she can. It lands on his elbow. The boy groans. "No, this is a brilliant idea," she corrects. "However, I need to practice more."

"Well, it's probably good to know that we've got plenty of practise, Charlie," Stiles tells her with a grin. About two minutes of throwing balls, all hitting Scott's legs or arms, the Stilinski yells, "Quiet! You're supposed to be thinking about your heartrate, all right? About staying calm..."

None of them notice Jackson stopping by the bleachers to watch them. The boy chuckles at what occurs next.

Charlotte scoops another ball and with the same technique as before, she aims it right at Scott's head. "Bullseye!" she exclaims proudly, pumping her fist into the air.

"Son of a bitch! That was my head!"

"Boys, I think my aim's improving."

"Oh, it's fantastic," Stiles praises her with an entertained grin.

Scott's eyes screw shut as his head throbs with pain. "I wonder why?" he calls out sarcastically.

Charlotte giggles. "Don't get angry," she scolds him teasingly.

"I'm not getting angry!"

But the pair of humans quickly halt their actions when the phone beside them begins to beep rapidly, showing that Scott's heartrate is increasing dramatically. The werewolf crouches down and grips onto the grass, his forehead resting on the ground as he breathes heavily. His friends rush over in worry. "Scott? Scott, are you okay? You started to change."

He looks up to them. "From anger. But it was more than that. It was like the angrier I got, the stronger I felt."

Stiles and Charlotte share a look with concern, and the former states, "No. Derek's right. It is anger, then."

"I can't be around Allison," Scott suddenly says grimly.

"Why? Because she makes you happy?"

"No. Because she makes me weak."

Charlotte scoffs incredulously. "Scott, that's the most ridiculous thing I've heard all fucking week."

»»———-　　———-««

Back in the boys locker room, Stiles sighs. "Fine. So you stay away from her for a few days. You can do that!"

Charlotte arches a brow. "Hundred bucks he can't."

"You know what? I'm holding you to that, Martin," Stiles challenges her seriously. He begins to put the lacrosse equipment away from their activity, and the girl plops down onto one of the benches.

"But is it a few days?" Scott questions. "Or is it forever?"

She groans. "Oh, my God..."

"You know, this whole 'women makes you weak' thing is a little too Spartan warrior for me," Stiles determines. "It's probably just part of the whole learning process."

Charlotte nods in agreement, then her face falls as she backtracks. "Hang on. I'm a woman." The books look at her. "So, hypothetically, if I was in a life or death situation and one of you had to save me but you'd have to risk your life to do so, would you?"

They both stare at her for a further few seconds, then continue on with their own conversation. "But you've seen Derek," Scott says. "I mean, the guy's totally alone. What if I can, like, never be around her again?"

Her eyes narrow. "Don't try to distract me!"

"Well, if you're not dead that could possibly be a good thing..."

Scott glumly replies, "I'd rather be dead."

She gives up on trying to finish her own conversation with them. "Fucking hell, Scott, it's not the end of the world," she argues back.

"You aren't gonna end up like Derek, all right?" Stiles reassures, patting the boy's shoulder comfortingly. "We'll figure it out."

Charlotte nods. "We will. Promise."

"'Kay."

"Let's get outta here."

"Yeah, that sounds good. Something smells terrible in here anyways."

She raises her eyebrows and waves her hand around them. "Really? In a locker room that dozens of teenage boys use? Who would've guessed."

Scott shakes his head and frowns. "No... It smells like something's rotting. Or dying."

»»———-　　———-««

It's another forty-five minutes before the trio are together once more. Apparently, quite a bit had happened in Coach's class. The man had called Scott out again, and like usual, made fun of him. Which had resulted in the boy's heartrate skyrocketing. But Charlotte hadn't really been surprised when Stiles had told her that Allison had managed to calm him down. "It's her," Stiles states confidently.

Scott looks to him, then to Charlotte as she adds in agreement, "It's Allison. Dude, think about it!"

"Okay..."

"Scott, remember the night of the first lacrosse game? The one where you kicked everyone's asses?"

The werewolf's eyebrows raise at her reminder. "Yeah...?"

"What she means to say is, you said you could hear her voice out on the field." Once Scott nods, Stiles continues to say, "Well, that's what brought you back."

"So you could score the goals. And then after the game in the locker room, you didn't kill her-"

"I kissed her!"

His friends roll their eyes. "Yes, and that was wonderful, but the point is, you didn't try to kill her. Not like you tried to kill us." Charlotte points to herself then to Stiles, both of them flashing back to the moment days ago. The memory has engrained itself into both of their minds. They shudder.

"What we're trying to say, is that she brings you back."

"No, no, no. But it's not always true! Because literally every time I'm kissing her, or touching her-"

"No, Scott, that's not the same," Stiles interrupts.

Charlotte nods. "Yeah, when you're doing that, you're just another hormonal teenager thinking about sex, you know?" She rolls her eyes in exasperation at his far-away look. "God, you're thinking about sex right now, aren't you?"

Scott smiles sheepishly. "Yeah... Sorry."

She sighs and shares a grin with Stiles. "You said in the class you just had, she was holding your hand while Coach was yelling at you, that's different. I don't think she makes you weak at all, Scott, I-"

"We," Stiles jumps in to correct. "We think she gives you control."

"It's almost like she's an anchor for you."

Scott lifts his head with wide eyes. "You mean because I love her?"

Irritation is now her primary emotion. "Yes, Scott," she agrees impatiently.

"Did... Did I just say that?"

"Yes. Yes, you did just say that," Stiles confirms. He's just as fed up with the boy as Charlotte is.

"I love her."

"Yep, we got that, wolfie. Moving on-"

"No, no, Charlie, wait! I think I'm totally in love with her," Scott confesses in a dazed-like voice.

"And that's fucking beautiful," Stiles acknowledges. "Now before you go off and write a number one hit song and all that crap, can we please figure this out? Because for obvious reasons, you can't be around her all the time."

"Yeah. Yep. Sorry, so what do I do?"

Charlotte pauses for a moment and frowns in thought. "Yeah... We don't know."

At the alarm that flashes across the boy's face, Stiles quickly tries to reassure him. "Yet. Don't know, yet."

"Yet..." she trails off quietly. Charlotte stares off into the distance.

Stiles' brows shoot up. "Oh, shit, you're getting an idea aren't you?"

"Fuck yeah I am."

Scott pulls a face. "Is said idea going to get me into trouble?"

"Knowing her, probably."

"Is this idea going to cause me considerable physical pain?"

Charlotte grins happily and she grabs onto both of the boys' hands. "Oh abso-fucking-lutely!"

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘦 𝘴𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘰 𝘪𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘤.

𝘓𝘪𝘷𝘦, 𝘭𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘩, 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘚𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘚𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘬𝘪.