𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒘𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒚-𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒆 | 𝔀𝓱𝓮𝓷 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓹𝓪𝓻𝓽𝔂'𝓼 𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓻

𝘓𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘉𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘐 𝘎𝘰

𝙩𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙜𝙚𝙧 𝙬𝙖𝙧𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜: 𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨 𝙤𝙛
𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙛 𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙢 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙨𝙪𝙞𝙘𝙞𝙙𝙖𝙡 𝙞𝙙𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣

AS SHE BECOMES AWARE OF the faint buzzing in her left ear, Charlotte's eyes snap open. She's immediately greeted with the familiar blinding white lights belonging to her favourite place on Earth: Beacon Hills Memorial Hospital. A sigh of frustration leaves her cracked lips and she moves to sit up, however, as soon as the muscles in her stomach begin to work, she groans and her hands fly to cradle the area. Her chest heaves up and down as she wipes a bead of sweat trickling down her forehead. "Fucking hell," she mumbles. "What the fuck happened?"

Then someone rushes over to her, dragging the chair in the process, and a hand is quickly grabbed onto her own. Erica brushes strands of blonde hair out of Charlotte's eyes and a sympathetic smile graces her features. "Hey," she whispers. "You were shot," she adds hesitantly.

"I was shot?" she repeats in disbelief. Charlotte sighs as she realises exactly who she is and what her track of luck in the past has been like. "Of course I was shot."

Erica lightly laughs. She squeezes onto the girl's hand. "Do you remember? About what happened?"

A grimace twists at her lips as the memories flood back. "Right, Matt," Charlotte mutters. Her eyes widen in alarm. "Wait, are Scott and Stiles okay? They didn't die? No one else died, right?"

The werewolf quickly shakes her head, alleviating the injured girl in the bed of any doubts and worries. "Yeah, they're okay," Erica reassures with a small smile. Charlotte nods in relief and her head sinks further back into her rather uncomfortable pillow. Erica clears her throat uncomfortably. "Um, but someone else died."

"Wait, what?" she says loudly.

"Are you sure you want me to tell you?" Erica asks cautiously. She squeezes onto her hand as a form of comfort. "Because you've been unconscious for the last thirty-six hours..."

Charlotte quietly snorts. "Of course I have been."

"The point is, it can wait."

"Keeks, you just told me someone died," Charlotte points out with a raised brow. Erica grimaces. "Then you're asking if I want to wait?"

The werewolf's lips purse as she mulls over the idea of telling her or not. She eventually sighs. "It was Matt."

Charlotte's eyes widen in shock. "Wait, Matt?" she questions incredulously. When Erica nods her head slightly, her heart thuds faster within the cavity of her chest. "He's dead? Like dead, dead?"

"They found his body in the river. He was drowned."

The chatter of the hospital staff flowing through the crack in the door becomes background noise, like someone's stuffed cotton wool instead her ears. The last word Erica had said replays over and over inside her head. Drowned. A form of suffocation instigated by submersing the mouth and nose in a liquid, usually water. Charlotte's eyes flick back to her friend's. "H-he was drowned?"

Erica frowns in concern at her abrupt change in behaviour. "Yeah. Hey, what's wrong?" she asks softly.

"When did it happen?"

"Uh, yesterday morning. Well, that's when the body was found. I don't know anything else."

Going off into a dazed-like state of mind, Charlotte tries to focus on any sounds of running water. A waterfall, a stream, she'd settle for one fucking drop. But there's nothing. Anything she had heard throughout the night of her birthday is now long gone. "Yeah... I'll have to talk to Stiles later, see if his dad knows anything else. I mean it can't be a coincidence that Matt's now dead. "

"You were shot," Erica exclaims. Her eyes flick across the blonde-haired girl's face in worry. "The world can survive without you for a few days."

Charlotte diverts her eyes from her intense gaze and smiles. "What are you doing here anyways?"

Reaching behind her briefly, Erica turns back around with a tub fetched from the glass coffee table. The second she spots the frozen delicacy, Charlotte grins. Erica's lips uplift at the sight of a brief moment of joy on her face. "The doctors said you would be awake sometime today so I brought you ice-cream," she says.

"You know me so well."

Both girls lock eyes and share a smile. Erica clears her throat and looks down. "So, um, you know, after hearing that you could have almost died and everything..." Her cheeks tint a faint rose. "It got me thinking about the other week, and uh, how we haven't talked about it."

Charlotte's throat runs dry. "The kiss?" she questions quietly.

"Yeah." Despite suddenly appearing nervous, Erica doesn't remove her hand away. "Look, I know neither of us have had much experience in the whole relationship thing... and I know you aren't too sure if you like girls -"

A laugh leaves her lips. "Are you kidding me?" Setting her spoon aside, Charlotte's smile softens. "I'm not labelling my sexuality 'cause I'm still not really sure what I'm feeling." When Erica swallows and her eyes flick to the tiled floor looks down, the girl quickly adds, "But what I do know is that I like you. Really like you." Charlotte laces their fingers together and her eyes light up as Erica's frown is replaced by a beam. "And I'm willing to give whatever this is a go."

Then she realises that the burning pain from the bullet wound is gone, instead, thousands of butterflies anxiously flutter around inside. As Erica's eyes meet hers, Charlotte feels her heart race. "I really like you, too," she whispers. She suddenly stands up from her chair and places a hand on the back of Charlotte's neck, the other on her flushed cheek as she draws their faces closer to one another. "I'm gonna kiss you now."

Feeling Erica's minty breath fan over her face, Charlotte's smile widens. "No complaints from me," she murmurs.

As their lips lock, each of them more confident than the first time, Charlotte sighs and feels herself properly relaxing within the embrace. Once she feels Erica's tongue skim across her bottom lip, she softly gasps at the unfamiliar sensation, her arms winding around the werewolf's neck.

It takes a few further seconds before Erica finally pulls away leaving the girl before her breathless. She leans her forehead against Charlotte's and lets her fingers trail down her cheek, their eyes remaining locked the entire time. "Be my girlfriend?" At her own words, her eyes widen in alarm as she watches Charlotte stares back at her in shock. "Shit! I'm sorry. Is it too soon? It's definitely too soon. I totally take back w-"

Her panicked rambling is cut off by lips joining her own once again. Abruptly pulling away and leaving Erica's face chasing after hers with a quiet groan of annoyance, Charlotte grins. "If you didn't already realise, that's a yes," she says with a giggle.

Then, without any warning, the door to her assigned room swings open and slams onto the wall behind it. Both of the girls quickly separate from one another at the deafening noise, Erica returning to her chair and Charlotte forcing herself to settle back in the bed. However, the former's eyes narrow at the pair that barge in, more than irritated that the moment had been interrupted.

"Scott! W-Wait!" Stiles bends over his knees and wheezes whilst Scott comfortingly pats his back. "Christ, dude."

But a wide, beatific smile instantly adorns Scott's face as soon as he registers that the girl in the bed is no longer asleep and sitting up, watching them with a similar grin. "Charles!" he exclaims in excitement. "You're awake!"

"Yeah, I am."

Stiles' cheeks puff out as he deep exhales. "So glad, 'cause you know you really scared us," he begins. "Then we found out Derek brought you here and we didn't know he did that, and-" His eyebrows furrow as he finally notices the other presence in the room. "Erica, what are you doing here?"

Their best friend bites back a grin as she notices the mischief sparkle in Erica's irises. Deciding to irritate the pair, the blonde werewolf innocently smiles and gently picks up Charlotte's hand again. "Checking up on my girlfriend," she answers simply.

They watch as Scott's smile drops, any trace of it invisible, his face completely void of any emotion. He's currently impossible to read. Meanwhile, Stiles' eyes bulge in shock. "W-what?" he stutters. "Girlfriend?"

Charlotte rolls her eyes. "Do you know what that is? I should hope so, considering you've been pining over my sister since third grade."

The Stilinski eyes their laced hands and his jaw falls slack. "Oh, my God," he mutters. "Girlfriend? I leave you for less than two days and you get a girlfriend? And you don't even tell me?" he exclaims in frustration. "Jesus, I need to sit down."

Giggling as he walks out the room with the back of his hand placed on his forehead, Charlotte's amused laughter quickly trails off once she remembers that her other best friend still remains. Scott's eyes flash their signature golden as he continues to stare at Erica. She nervously swallows. "Okay no, Scotty, listen-"

But he ignores her sudden pleads and grabs Erica up by her arm to pin her against the wall, his elbow pressed firmly against her throat "If you-if you hurt her in any way at all," he seethes. "I will kill you."

As she watches the scene escalate, and imagines how Erica could potentially react, Charlotte tries to sit up in her bed but hisses as she realises her mistake like earlier. "Scott, stop-" Pain shoots through her body and she collapses back onto the bed with a short sigh. "Shit," she groans.

At her yelp, Scott's arm drops back down to his side and Erica's lips part as she gasps for air. His eyes return to his human ones and he rushes over to Charlotte. "Are you okay?" he questions out hurriedly. "Just stay still."

"Stay still?" she repeats in disbelief. "Scott!"

The boy glances back at Erica whose eyes are narrowed, and she growls at him warningly as she rubs her throat. Turning to face his best friend again, Scott sheepishly smiles. "Sorry..."

It takes exactly two minutes to convince Erica to leave her alone with her friends for some much needed time to catch up with one another. As soon as the werewolf leaves the room, Charlotte rolls her eyes at the brunette standing beside her. "'Sorry,' my ass," she retorts.

Scott sighs. "Lottie, just... be careful."

She scoffs. "Excuse me? Coming from the werewolf dating a werewolf hunter's daughter."

His lips purse as he meets her narrowed eyes. "Fair enough," he concludes in defeat.

Leaning back into her pillow, Charlotte takes another scoop of the now mostly melted ice-cream. Her eyes widen in realisation as she swallows the mouthful. "Oh, shit! Is Derek still alive?"

Just as the question leaves her mouth, Stiles re-enters the room and drops down into the armchair beside his friend. "Oh yeah," he answers dully. "Yep, he's very much alive..."

Scott snatches the tub off her and shoves his own spoonful into his mouth. "You forgot to mention that Allison wants to kill him," he says, his voice muffled.

"Sorry, I was too busy being shot," she deadpans.

Throwing his head back, Stiles groans in frustration. "You're going to take full advantage of this situation for as long as possible, aren't you?"

"Maybe a year...?" Her head tilts slightly. "No, a few at least." She nods confidently. "Yeah, at least a good few years." After debriefing one another on how Victoria Argent had joined the dead, and how Charlotte had visited Allison that night, the trio reach the topic of what had exactly gone down at the Sheriff's station forty-eight hours ago. Her jaw drops when Scott recites his perspective of what had happened after he had grabbed Stiles and left herself and Derek. "Allison was there?"

Scott hums. "And she looked pissed."

"Shit..."

Stiles nods. "Shit is right," he confirms. "Everyone was there; her dad and very, very evil grandfather."

And the memory that comes to mind next is when Derek had stopped them behind a corner in the midst of escaping the station. Charlotte distinctively remembers the conversation they had overhead Scott and Gerard partaking in. Her eyes flick between her friends. Perhaps it might be better to talk to him about this without Stiles. "She helped them shoot down the station?" Charlotte asks loudly in disbelief. Her voice lowers as the shadows of shoes pass underneath the door. "With the intention to kill Derek? Did she know we were in there? No, that's not even my first question! How did she even know Derek was there?"

Scott shrugs cluelessly and sets the ice-cream down. "Did you tell her?" he questions.

Taken aback by the words, she narrows her eyes. "What? I didn't even know he was going to be there until I saw him."

Stiles notices the tension between the two and tries to change the subject. "So, Matt..." He grimaces at how she immediately tenses up, her hands moving to hover over her stomach covered by the hospital gown. "I take it Erica told you?"

"Yeah." Charlotte's brows draw together as she looks back up to him. "Did he really drown, though? There isn't anything else to it?"

"No, he really drowned," Stiles confirms. "My dad got his badge back, so I would know."

She smiles. "Really? Stiles, that's great."

For the second time in the last ten minutes the door to the room bursts open. "Oh, thank God!" Natalie Martin's heels click against the floor as she rushes over to her daughter and pulls her into a tight hug.

Charlotte's eyes fill with tears the second pressure is placed onto her healing wound. "M-Mom, stop," she says through gritted teeth. The woman immediately detaches herself and takes a seat on the bed beside her, her hand placing on her calf. "Hi," she greets her mother with a small smile.

Natalie's own eyes water as she observes her child in the hospital bed. "They said you lost a lot of blood. Honey, how are you feeling?"

"Like I was shot?"

With a roll of her eyes and the ghost of a smile gracing her lips, the eldest Martin turns around and raises her eyebrows pointedly at the pair of boys. "You two. You've caused enough trouble already. Get out." Stiles scoffs in protest and goes to retort, only for Scott to nod and drag him out. Charlotte chuckles at his complaints before he eventually gives in to the werewolf's strength. Looking back to her mom, she grimaces at her stern expression. "As relieved I am to see you're awake, do you want to enlighten me with why you left your party, unsupervised might I add, to end up in a hostage situation that nearly cost you your life?"

Charlotte hesitates and purses her lips, trying to think of what to say. Then she ultimately decides that the truth is the best option. "Well, we found out that this kid who had a creepy obsession with Allison had actually been the mastermind of all the murders happening over the last few months, so he held us all at the Sheriff's station and, uh, well he shot me. And I use 'had' because I've only just been told that he is now dead. Do you need anything else?"

The woman pinches the bridge of her nose. "God..."

»»———-　　———-««

A week later, Charlotte limps through the front door of her house, her mom trailing behind with the duffle bag from the hospital. The older female rushes in front and slowly helps her daughter up the stairs. Once she's laid down in her freshly made bed, Charlotte tries to find a comfortable position, avoiding touching the stitched injury. She shakily exhales and weakly smiles up at her mother whose concern hasn't wavered once since she had seen her seven days ago. "If you need anything, just yell out, okay?"

"Thanks, Mom." Natalie smiles at her and nods as she softly shuts the door. Now alone, Charlotte nervously looks around her room, checking to make sure she really is by herself. The past week recovering in hospital had been easier on her anxiety. There were people around her constantly, however, throughout that time, even the moments where she had been on her own, Peter hadn't appeared. There hadn't been any voices or hallucinations... In fact, Charlotte feels the most normal she had in months.

Despite being shot. Obviously.

She can't decide whether it's comforting to have all those strange occurrences suddenly stop as if they hadn't been happening at all, or worrying that Peter is no longer harassing her.

Normally, she would be talking to her sister about all it. Although, while she was in hospital, there had been no visits, texts, or calls. Lydia had been avoiding her like the plague. In between their days at school, Scott and Stiles had come round everyday to watch a movie with her or bring takeaway Chinese food. Their lives had been quiet, but the large absence of supernatural drama constantly loomed above their heads. Quiet is never good, Charlotte would say. Especially when a giant lizard who is meant to be murdering people stops murdering people.

»»———-　　———-««

"You know when you're drowning, you don't actually inhale until right before you black out. It's called 'voluntary apnea.' It's like, no matter how much you're freaking out, the instinct to not let any water in is so strong that you won't open your mouth until you feel like your head's exploding. But then, when you finally do let it in... that's when it stops hurting. It's no longer scary. It's almost kind of peaceful."

Marin Morrell watches the teenage girl opposite her twist the hair tie on her wrist. "Are you trying to say you hope Matt felt some peace in his last moments?" she asks her gently.

Charlotte looks up to the woman and scoffs. "Are you kidding? I hope he had a long, horrible, and excruciatingly painful death."

"How about feeling sorry for the nine year old Matt who drowned?"

Scott had filled Charlotte in on Matt's traumatic experience as a child. He had gone over to the Lahey's house to play with Isaac only to find the swim team were having a party. Matt was thrown into the pool as a joke without anybody holding the knowledge that he couldn't swim. No one went to help him; no one noticed that he was drowning. She finds it ironic since that's how he actually died. Matt was told not to tell anyone what happened. So he said nothing. Instead, he got revenge. "Honestly?"

With a small smile and nod, Morrell says, "Honestly."

"It doesn't give him a valid reason to go off and kill each of them one by one." Charlotte's head tilts down and she snaps the band against her skin. "And Stiles told me that his dad found Matt's camera." Her jaw clenches in anger. "It had a bunch of photos of Allison on it. Creepy photos. Like, he had photoshopped them into a proper relationship."

"So, you think that he deserved it? That he deserved to die?"

"Ms Morrell, he shot me for fuck's sake! He deserved everything he got."

Taking noticing that she is getting riled up by the topic of conversation, Marin decides to bring up something else. "And how's your relationship with Scott and Stiles?"

"Fine," Charlotte answers quickly. "Normal?" She sighs through her nose. "I don't know. Scott seems more tense than usual, but I think he's got some other problems to deal with." Like Melissa finding out he's supernatural...

"And what about the good things in your life? Have you had any more drawings?"

She tries to hide her growing grin as her cheeks heat up. "I've got a girlfriend," she says bashfully.

"That's wonderful, Charlotte," the counsellor replies with a smile. "How is it?"

"We're taking it slow. I guess instead of trying to understand what I'm feeling, I'm trying to concentrate on being in the moment? I don't know. Just taking some advice Danny told me. And no, weirdly nothing's happened since I was shot." She frowns in thought. "Everything's been... quiet. Like, really quiet."

The woman nods and her attention is drawn back to the band being snapped on the teenager's wrist. "Maybe take it as a good sign. You need a break, use it to recover. If they return... if the hallucinations return, we'll deal with them together." She clasps her hands together atop the wooden desk. "Is there anything else you want to talk about?"

"No, I'm okay."

Even though Charlotte refuses to meet her eyes, Morrell nods to her wrist. "How about your hair band?"

"What about it?" she counters cluelessly.

"I recognise the snapping as a coping mechanism we had a while back." Marin Morrell frowns, her eyes filling with further concern than earlier. Her voice softens as she asks, "Charlotte, have you had the urge to self-harm again?"

The girl swallows and immediately stops the actions. "No," she denies firmly.

"Charlotte, this-" Morrell points to herself then to the teenager, "-doesn't work if you aren't completely honest with me."

So she finally makes eye contact with the counsellor. She takes a deep breath. "Maybe," she admits hesitantly.

"Is it because of what happened at the station?"

Closing her eyes, Charlotte refuses to let herself release the pent-up tears. "That and everything else," she says. "I don't know! Everything's been so stressful." Despite her efforts, a tear rolls down her cheek. "Just... I can't help but wonder if it would have been better if I had just died there."

"Hey, Charlotte? I need you to look at me." The girl lifts her head as another tear escapes her irritated eyes. Marin reaches across the table and gently takes hold of one of her hands. "Don't you ever think that the world would be better off without you, okay? You are the strongest person I know." Charlotte opens her mouth to say something but the woman chuckles, knowing her well enough to predict her words. "And I'm not just saying that. Whatever you're feeling, we're going to go through this together, okay?"

She takes a deep breath and tries to hold herself together as she nods. "Okay, but please don't tell my Mom," she whispers pleadingly.

"Charlotte, you know the rules..."

"I know! But she doesn't need to worry anymore about me. I can tell the stress the whole getting shot thing has put on her. And I-I'm crazy enough aside from that." Her eyes widen desperately as she hurriedly adds, "I promise I won't do anything. I haven't done anything."

Hesitantly nodding, Morrell sighs. "Okay, but as long as you know that-"

"I know. If I'm at a credible risk to myself, you have to tell her, blah, blah, blah."

The woman gathers the papers up on her desk. "I can tell you've had enough," she concludes with a small smile. She nods to the door. "You're free to go. See you next week?"

"Yep." Charlotte releases her held breath and pushes her chair back, wincing slightly as it shrieks against the flooring. She grabs her backpack and swings it over her good shoulder, avoiding hitting her stomach. But as she opens the door, she turns back to the voice that stops her.

"My door is always open. And you have my number. Call me if you feel like you want to do anything, or even if you just want to talk, all right?"

She forces a smile. "Will do. Thanks, Ms Morrell." She inhales deeply as she steps out of the office, preparing herself to go and find Scott and Stiles. She quickly wipes the remaining tears from under her eyes and hurries toward the cafeteria. Pushing the double doors open, it doesn't take her long before her searching gaze finds Stiles sitting alone at a table, the third member of their party nowhere to be seen.

As she takes the seat opposite him, he looks up from his lacrosse stick and smiles at the sight of her. "Hey, how was the psych?" he questions softly.

Charlotte forces herself to smile. "Normal," she replies. She doesn't notice his own falter momentarily as he realises she's not entirely okay. She clears her throat. "Uh, where's Scott?"

He shrugs and goes back to untying the strings on the net. "Dunno," he says. "I haven't really seen him unless we're in a class together or we were visiting you."

"That's weird..." Charlotte frowns. "Hormonal dog stuff?"

"Probably."

Unwrapping her sushi roll, she basks in the comfortable silence between them. And her smile returns, a genuine smile, as she watches the boy gnaw at the net. "Nervous about the game tomorrow?" she guesses.

Stiles scoffs and looks up, the string still between his teeth. "Nuh uh."

"Really? Like, at all?"

Following her eyes, he drops the stick and the metal post clatters, making him wince. "Um, maybe a little?"

"You'll do great," she reassures him confidently. "Plus, I reckon there's a good chance Coach'll have you play."

His brows furrow in confusion. "What? But I never play."

She nods. "Uh huh."

Stiles' eyes widen in excitement when he finally catches on. "You convinced him to let me play?" he shrieks, nearby heads turning their way.

"No," she replies sternly, but her words are contradicted as she nods her head with a wide grin.

Stiles' eyes widen even further as he stares at her. "Seriously?" When she nods once again, he pumps a fist into the air enthusiastically. "Oh, my God, I'm gonna play!" His smile drops in the speed of light. "Oh, my God... I'm gonna play."

Taking note of his sudden apprehension, Charlotte hands him her chocolate bar to try and distract him. "And you're gonna do great, bud." At his look, she rolls her eyes. "I'm not just saying that, Stiles."

He grins. "Thanks, dude. Do you reckon he partly agreed 'cause one of our team mates is dead and another is missing?"

"Missing?" Charlotte questions in confusion.

"Yeah, Isaac," Stiles answers.

"What?"

"Missing," he repeats. "As in can't be found?"

"Yeah, very funny. How long's it been?"

Stiles pauses as he trails off into thought. "Uh... A few days? Since the beginning of the week?" His face falls at a sudden realisation. "Wait, you didn't know about Isaac... Charles, when did you last hear from Erica?"

Charlotte shrugs as she pulls out her phone to scroll through their chain of messages. Her eyes flick up to his when she reaches the most recent one. "This morning," she replies. Her eyes narrow sceptically at how he swallows and fiddles with his fingers nervously. "Why? Stiles, what's going on?"

"She hasn't told you?"

The phone snaps shut and he flinches slightly. "Oh, my God, Stiles, told me what?" she snaps irritably.

The boy shakes his head as he closes his eyes briefly. "Isaac and Boyd have been reported missing since last Friday. Charles... there was a report filed for Erica last night."

"But I literally just saw her yesterday!" she exclaims in confusion.

Stiles tries to give her the best smile he can muster. "I think you better talk to her," he says softly.

Just as the finalword leaves his mouth, her phone pings. Charlotte lifts the device up to show him the screen. "Speaking of..."

»»———-　　———-««

Sat at a booth in the corner of her favourite coffee shop with a steaming mug of hot chocolate cradled in her hands, Charlotte watches the torrential rain pelt down onto the pavement outside. Lightning crackles in the distance and she smiles as she observes nature finally cry its tears. There's something about storms that mesmerise her. The chunky heels of boots clunk on the hollow floorboards and the blonde-haired girl slides into the booth opposite her girlfriend. Erica smiles and grabs onto her hands. "Hey," she greets softly.  

"Hey," Charlotte repeats. Her brows draw together in concern as her eyes flick across the werewolf's face. "What's up? Your text sounded urgent."

Erica clears her throat quietly and looks down to the table. "I gotta talk to you about something," she speaks quietly. Her eyes close when her hand is squeezed.

"Hey, anything."

"Boyd and I are leaving, Isaac might be joining us," Erica says bluntly, still refusing to meet the girl's eyes.

"Leaving?" Charlotte questions in disbelief. "Do you want to maybe explain the whole missing person thing? Because I found out from Stiles."

Erica sighs and nervously plays with Charlotte's fingers laced between her own. "I didn't realise what everything was going to be like." She finally locks eyes with her as she says, "I didn't realise this is what being a werewolf would be like."

"Derek told you. Didn't he?" Charlotte says, her tone tinged with confusion, frustration, and anger. "Am I wrong? Derek told you about the Argents, he told you what this was going to involve." Her voice softens as she adds, "Keeks, you knew what you were getting into."

"Yeah, he did," Erica confirms. She sighs again. "But I didn't realise that we would be looking over our shoulders twenty-four-seven!" She swallows thickly and tightly grabs onto both of Charlotte's hands as if they're her lifeline. "Charles, I want to make it to eighteen alive."

She scoffs and snatches her arms away, staring at Erica as if she would do so for long enough that she'd get a glimpse into her soul, into her mind. "I know I'm new to this whole relationship thing, but I didn't think you abandoning us would be part of it."

Erica quickly shakes her head. "No. I want you to come with us."

Charlotte's eyes widen in shock. She blinks quickly. "What?" she asks incredulously.

"Come with us," the werewolf pleads. "We can get out of Beacon Hills. Boyd and I, we heard another pack the other day. It was unbelievable!" A small smile graces Erica's face as she recalls the moment. "There was all this howling... Maybe a dozen."

"Erica, I just turned seventeen. My life is here! My family, my friends- I can't just uproot my whole life."

The smile morphs into something knowing. Sadness fills her eyes. "I know," Erica whispers. "But I would've regretted not asking."

Realising just how serious she is and that none of this is a stupid joke, tears blur her vision and Charlotte's jaw clenches. "No. You can't leave. Okay?" She's the one to reach over and grab onto the girl's hands once again. "Erica, I'll protect you guys," she says, desperate. "Maybe not me, but Derek can. He can continue to teach you! There has to be a way." But when Erica shakes her head, clearly reluctant to deny her, the few tears quickly fall down her cheeks. "Don't leave me."

"Baby, I have to go," Erica speaks softly, her own tears watering her eyes. She presses herself further up to the table to reach forward and brush underneath Charlotte's eyes. "I don't want to die."

"It doesn't matter where you go! There'll be hunters everywhere. At least here you know you have a pack; Scott, Stiles, Lydia, Derek, even Allison... me."

Taking in a deep breath, Erica memorises all of the features on her face: the way that one curl always drops into her eyes whenever her hair is down, just like now, the way her eyes are so blue they appear fake, or the way her lips part ever so slightly whenever she sighs. "Charlotte Martin, I've been in love with you since we were kids," she confesses. "It just took me a while to admit it - to actually do something about it. But I can't be in love with you when I'm dead." Determination fills her voice as she states, "I have to do this."

Tears freely fall down her face and she doesn't care about if nearby customers are staring at them. Charlotte's voice cracks as she speaks, just like her heart. "Please don't leave me," she begs.

Erica brushes her own tear away and shuffles around so they are seated side by side. She cups Charlotte's jaw with a gentle hand and turns her face toward her. She smiles and leans closer until their lips softly meet. It's a gesture of how much she loves her. But it's also a goodbye. A heartbroken goodbye. And just as Charlotte has finally gotten used to the feeling of kissing Erica Reyes, a feeling she never wanted to lose, she feels the warmth of the girl's body move away. Her eyes remain closed. She doesn't want to watch her walk away.

Erica can't tear her eyes away from her girlfriend. "I love you," she whispers, just loud enough for her to hear. "I love you so much. Please don't forget that."

Then the sound of those damn boots hit the floor again and a few seconds later Charlotte finally opens her eyes. She stares at the door to the cafe. Erica's long gone. God does she hate saying goodbye. And even though they never really did say goodbye, this is the worst one she's ever experienced.

𝘖𝘬 𝘴𝘰 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘤𝘳𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴. 𝘐 𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱 𝘊𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘢 𝘚𝘖 𝘣𝘢𝘥𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘥𝘦𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘵𝘰 𝘊𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘰𝘵𝘵𝘦'𝘴 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘱𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵. 𝘚𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘰𝘯 3 𝘪𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘬 𝘩𝘦𝘳.