Noel is first mentioned in the first scene of the episode. As Jackson and Lydia are discussing in the car which movie to get for their date that night, Jackson refuses to get The Notebook. Lydia then turns to look at him and says "If you don't swallow your pride and go in there and rent the movie that I want to watch, I'm going to take full advantage of the fact that your cousin who's madly in love with me just so happens to live under the same roof as you."
Jackson stares at Lydia for a second, and that's what becomes the segue for Jackson to be inside asking "Can somebody help me find The Notebook?" instead of just Lydia's silent look as it is in the show.
—
In the scene in the classroom after Scott and Allison leave the school, Jackson walks in and sits beside Noel, which makes the other boy scrunch his eyebrows together in confusion.
Mr. Harris walks over and says "Jackson, good to see that you flock to your family in times of distress." Jackson and Noel look at each other, not saying anything before Jackson turns back to Mr. Harris and is given permission to leave early if he has to. Noel rolls his eyes and returns to his work, not acknowledging Jackson's presence.
—
Noel leaves the classroom with Stiles, and as Stiles tells Scott about what's happening at the school over the phone, Noel grabs the phone from Stiles and says "Plus, Jackson sat next to me in chemistry. He freaking walked into class and just sat down beside me of his own free will."
"He's your cousin, you guys live together, why is that out of the ordinary?" Scott asks, to which Noel replies "That's just it! He's my cousin, we live together! He gets enough of me at home, why would he want to be sitting next to me in class?"
"What am I supposed to do about it?" Scott asks, replacing his line in canon "Like what?" after Stiles says "You have to do something about it." Stiles then says "I don't know, something!"
—
When Stiles goes to Lydia's house to check up on her, Noel is with him. At first it looks like he's going to go into Lydia's room with Stiles, but her mom says "Noel, sweetheart, you come downstairs with me, tell me about how Jackson's doing."
Noel looks like he's about to protest, but Mrs. Martin puts a hand on his shoulder and leads him out of the room while Stiles smirks triumphantly. The Stydia scene remains the same. However, instead of Lydia implying that she had thought Stiles was Jackson the whole time, Noel walks in on Lydia touching Stiles' face, and Lydia looks over his shoulder and says brightly "Jackson!" Noel's eyes go wide when he realizes she thinks he's his cousin. Stiles looks annoyed at the intrusion, and says "Aaaand we're done here."
Noel shrugs apologetically, and when Lydia's phone rings after she collapses, Noel sits down next to Stiles and says "You probably shouldn't look at a girl's phone without her permission. Or really, anyone's phone without their permission."
Stiles picks up the phone anyway and watches the video, Noel's heart basically stopping when he sees the alpha on the video. He looks confused for a second, his face conveying a look of slight familiarity. He mouths in time to Laura's voice in the background, that says "Find him and tell me. Protect him."
Noel blinks a few times and turns to Stiles, saying "We have to show Scott and Derek."
Stiles nods in agreement, and the scene cuts to Kate at the Hale house.
—
Later during the scene at Stiles' house, Noel can be seen lying in Stiles' bed on his phone. When the sheriff comes in and tells Stiles he hopes his parent-teacher conference goes well, Noel says "You have to have a conference? Aw, dude, that sucks. I've got straight A's." The sheriff and Stiles shoot him a look, to which Noel pauses and says "Oh, hey, would you look at the time, I better be getting home now. Lovely house you have, sheriff. And if your son ever needs a tutor, I'm your man." He rushes out of the house past the sheriff, who looks at Stiles and says "Really? That's the best you can do in the friend department?"
"Don't look at me, Scott and I got saddled with him just a few days ago," Stiles says and the sheriff turns the subject back to their conference that night.
—
When we return to Kate and Derek at the Hale house, during what is canon silence, Kate says "I've seen you around with that little human boy. The pale one, with a head full of curls and the hope still in those big green eyes." Derek says nothing in response, just keeps trying to crawl away from Kate while she pursues him casually.
"What's your motive with him? Are you gonna turn him into one of you?" she asks, and again, Derek doesn't respond.
"What if before you can turn him into one of you... I turn him into one of us?" This is the line after which Derek lunges at Kate and she shocks him again with her prod.
After that, the scene goes according to canon.
—
During the parent teacher conferences, before Harris talks to the Whittemore's about Jackson, he talks to them about Noel.
"Noel is a very bright student. Straight A's, honor roll, well on track for valedictorianship, the whole nine yards."
Mrs. Whittemore shoots Harris a smile, like she's aware of her nephew's achievements. Harris smiles back briefly and says "The thing I'm concerned about, however.. Is his interpersonal skills."
While Harris gives his speech about Noel, the viewer can see shots of Noel in the guest room of the Whittemore house where he lives. There's a single photo in a frame on his desk in the corner, but besides that there are no posters or photos to indicate any sources of comfort or interest in his life. He has a cork board hanging on one wall, but it's filled with his own tests and quizzes from school that have high grades written in red ink on them. He also has a lacrosse schedule and another photo of himself with his parents, seemingly taken a couple of years ago. There are no photos of anyone his age in the room, not even Jackson.
He is shown doing his homework while a voiceover occurs.
"I've never seen Noel know exactly who he wants to pair up with when I give an assignment that's to be done in pairs or groups. He's often left to do the work by himself, which he has no problem completing, but paired assignments in the classroom are done partly to encourage teamwork between peers."
"Jackson doesn't pair up with him?" Mr. Whittemore asks, to which Harris says "No, actually, Jackson hardly ever even acknowledges Noel in the classroom."
At this point, Noel sets down his pencil and looks at the photo on his desk.
"How has Noel been behaving at home since his parents passed away?" Harris asks before Noel is seen laying the photo down so he doesn't have to look at it.
"He's been doing just fine," Mrs. Whittemore says as Noel lays his head in his hands, obviously not fine. "We think he enjoys living with us, and it's great that he has his cousin at home to spend time with him and help him have some closure after all of his heartbreak."
As she says this, Jackson slams the door to Noel's room open and grabs his hair. He pulls Noel's head back and holds out his hand, Noel gasping in pain and quickly dropping a twenty dollar bill into Jackson's hand with a horrified expression on his face. Jackson lets go of Noel roughly before leaving the room, slamming the door shut on his way out. Noel stares at the door as it closes, and Harris says "Why don't we go ahead and talk about Jackson then?"
After that, the conferences continue in alignment with canon.
—
Before we see Scott and Allison pull into the school parking lot, we get a scene of Noel walking onto the Hale's property with his hands in his pockets. Every so often he goes to wipe a tear off his cheek, and he stops walking when he gets halfway to the front porch. He looks up at the old house, taking a deep breath in before saying "Derek? Derek, are you here?"
He gets no answer, trying again. "Derek! I need someone to talk to right now, and Scott and Stiles already see me as enough of a burden. Jackson's just been such a dick lately, and he stole my last twenty dollars, and I don't know who I can tell about it besides you!"
Again, he gets no answer. He sighs and says "If you can hear me, please, come out and talk to me. I know, you probably hate me, but-"
Before he can finish his sentence, the door opens and he smiles. But the smile quickly fades when Kate steps out, strutting toward him slowly. She smiles and says "Well, if it isn't the little human Derek's so fond of..."
"How do you know Derek?" Noel asks, taking a step away from Kate and taking his hands out of his pockets. Kate laughs and says "Derek and I go way back. Did he not tell you anything about me? I'm Kate."
Noel shakes his head and says "He hasn't told me anything about you. He's just an acquaintance of mine, anyway. I don't even know why I came out here thinking he would care."
Kate nods sympathetically and asks after a second of silence "What's your name, handsome?"
"Peter Pan," Noel says without missing a beat, and Kate makes a soft sound of disappointment. She reaches out and puts a hand on Noel's chest, musing "No need to hide from me, hun. Just tell me who you are, and tell me a bit about yourself."
Noel shakes his head and takes a step back, saying "I really should be going.." Kate suddenly grabs him and pulls him close, whispering right into his ear "Stay for just a little while, won't you?" She then holds up a folded twenty dollar bill, sliding it into Noel's shirt pocket slowly.
Noel yells in surprise and tears away from her grip, running away in the opposite direction. Kate looks angry yet amused as she watches him run, gritting her teeth in a malicious grin and saying "You can run, and you can hide, but I'll find you."
From in the trees, Derek can be heard softly growling, digging his claws into the tree he's hiding behind before running in the opposite direction of Kate.
—
Noel is not seen or mentioned again in the episode.