_____<•>_____

Aspen has never felt better. After her episode last night, her body had been aching, and Isaac being the caring person that he is, stayed with her until she fell asleep. But as soon as she woke up, she nearly lifted herself from the ground from how light she felt. The pain was gone, and her only objective now was to defeat Peter. Though she was going through her own troubles last night, Scott had his own showdown with Derek, Jackson, and some hunters. Stiles picked her up that morning and decided to take the long route to Scott's house to bring her up to date. Supposedly, Peter had taken Melissa out on a date which Stiles, under Scott's order, successfully flunked it by hitting the back of her car. and the worst part was, Derek disappeared, and Scott was shot but saved by Dr. Deaton. She always knew he was suspicious, but the last thing she would have guessed would be his knowledge about werewolves.

"Call it again," Scott said, rummaging through a shelf next to his bed for his cellphone.

Stiles sat backward on a desk chair, nearly falling asleep while Aspen sat on his bed, a pillow cradled in her lap.

"It's not here," Stiles told him for the hundredth time since they arrived. "Okay, so you lost your phone. Why don't you just get a new one?"

Scott dove to the ground with a hard thud as he scanned the messy floor under his bed. "I can't afford a new one. And I can't do this alone. We have to find Derek."

Aspen put a finger up, a bit taken back by his statement. "Well, 'A' you're not alone. You have Stiles and me." Aspen chimed while Stiles passed her a thankful nod for the recognition. "And 'B' didn't you say Derek walked into gunfire?"

"Yeah, he sounds pretty dead." Stiles laughed. Aspen glared across at him.

"Argent's plan was to use him to get the Alpha. They're not gonna kill him." Scott explained, looking through the cabinets of his bathroom.

"All right. So then just let them do what they're planning. You know? They use Derek to get Peter--" Scott was now rummaging through a pile of laundry in the corner of his room and began tossing article of clothing toward Stiles. A pare of pant landed near Aspen, and she peeked a dollar sticking out from the pocket and every so casually tucked it into her jacket with a hidden smile. "Problem solved."

Aspen narrowed her eyes at Stiles, "Not if peter's going after Allison to find Derek." she corrected.

"Thank you, Aspen," Scott nodded as he ran to his cluttered desk and shoved books to try spotting his phone, his voice becoming higher with panic. "And I can't protect her on my own. Which means we need to find Derek first. Just--just help me!"

It broke aspen heart, hearing his voice of desperation. Peter was already in his head without so much as hurting him.

"You know, you probably lost it when you two were fighting." Stiles tried, but his tone soon shifted to quip, "You remember that when he was trying to kill you? After you interrupted him trying to kill Jackson. Are you starting to see a pattern of violent behavior here?"

Aspen shook her head, pulling the pillow closer to her chest, "I don't think he was trying to kill anyone. We know Derek. He's strong. If he wanted Scott or Jackson dead, he could have easily done it, but he didn't. That means something."

Scott looked to Aspen, sending a small smile as a thank you, which she kindly returned. "I'm not letting him die," Scott said firmly.

Throwing his head back, Stiles let out a frustrated noise while Aspen chuckled. "Could you at least thin about letting him die," he asked with begging eyes. "For me?"

Suddenly the sound of tires braking made Aspen's ears tickle, and she quickly scratched the shell of her ear. Since cracking all of those marbles last night, her hearing was heightened, and she didn't need the flow of wind to act as her guide to hear the most sensitive sounds. Like the sound of someone crying, making Aspen's eye squint. Scott must have listened to the same thing as he pauses his rummaging and looks up toward his window where the sound had come from.

Stiles looked between Scott and Aspen. "What?"

"My mom just got home from work," Scott mumbled, keeping his eyes fixated on the drapes of his window.

Aspen could hear Melissa sending a voicemail to Peter, hoping she didn't scare him the other day. She made a couple of jokes, but it only caused her to apologize. Hearing the woman cry alone in her car after she ended the voice massage made Aspen blink back tears. Melissa has and always will be a mother figure to Aspen, and hearing such a strong woman break down was not easy to bear. Especially since she would walk in the house in a few minutes, tears clear from her eyes and a smile forced to her lips. Convincing her son that she was okay.

"Is she okay? What's she doing?" Stiles asked, trying to keep his eyes away from Aspen, noticing her wiping a stray tear with the sleeve of her sweater before Scott turned around to plop himself at the edge of the bed in front of Stiles.

"Crying," Scott murmured. He leaned forward and burring his hands through his hair and sighed quietly. He already looked like a boy that was defeated. 

Aspen scooted forward and sat on her knees behind Scott. "You can't protect everyone, Scott," Aspen whispered gently before wrapping her arms around his waist from behind and resting her cheek against his back. "No one said this would be easy."

Scott bit his inner cheek and cupped his hands over Aspen's hands that were laced over his abdomen. "I have to."

<•>

"So, how do they work?" Stiles asked Aspen randomly as they neared the school the next morning. He has insisted on taking her to school just to hear more about her powers. To the point where she was forced to shut off her phone from the many questioning texts he sent at three in the morning. It took her a while, but she was able to explain everything she learned about herself from the story her grandfather told her to her cracking more than one marble the other night. When she described the pain, Stiles quicking turned up the volume on his radio, cringing at the thought of bones shifting in her body. 

Aspen knew what he meant and turned to him with raised brows. "My powers."

"Duh," he deadpanned, earning a smack to the arm from Aspen as she smiled. He seemed to be even more excited that both his best friends were supernaturals. She dragged her attention away from Stiles and out the window. "Come on, at least give me the rundown. What else can you do? Do you have like secret moves? Anything dangerous?"

Aspen smirked to herself before looking back to Stiles. "I can conjure lighting and slice through flesh," she said simply, tucking her legs into her chest and watching as Stiles grinned from ear to ear and drummed against his stearing wheel.

"Oh, yea, we have got to tell Scott. Like right now." the car came to a skidding stop as Stiles parked into a space right in front of the school. He didn't even allow Aspen to decline his suggestion as he was already hopping out of the jeep.

"Stiles!" Aspen called out, struggling to yank off her seatbelt before stumbling out of the car to run after him. She grabbed his arm and spun him around, letting passing students brush past them. "We can't tell him. He's already worried about other things, he doesn't have time to worry about me. It'll only add to the pressure. Besides, I don't need another voice in my ear, asking me questions. So until then, we need to stop talking about it. At least when Scott's around."

Stiles pouted, throwing one of his hands up lightly. Aspen shrugged her shoulder and continued walking toward the school doors, but it didn't hinder Stiles' questions. She did say, after all, to stop talking when Scott was around. And so far, he was nowhere in sight. "But I'm still curious about some stuff." he pipped up, bringing Aspen to roll her eyes, "I mean, I should have given you credit the other night, but what you did to Peter was badass. Like the way it just came out of your hands like....." Stiles began making exaggerated slow-motion jabbing motions in the air, attracting some eyes. "Now imagine if you cracked more marbles. You could probably send Peter's Alpha werewolf ass into the ground."

Aspen was still recovering from watching him give his example of her air blast, questioning how she lasted this long in their friendship. After a few seconds of passing silence, she found her voice and blinked. "I actually cracked five more marbles last night on accident, so I'm getting there."

"How does it feel? Is it cool?"

"Well, if excruciating pain from bone movement is cool, then yea, it's the coolest." she quipped.

But Stiles wasn't fazed by her attitude. "Sassmaster at work. This Elementalist thing is a good look for you. You used to be so weird and awkward, and now you're like confident and sassy. I love it. And you know who else would love it? Scott. So we should, you know...tell him."

Aspen used her back to opened the doors as she causally walked backward in the hallway. "We're not telling him yet." she reminded him.

"But--"

"Stiles, this is non-negotiable."

"Yet here we are negotiating." Aspen gave him a look as she threw her head back to walk forward. Stiles slung his arm over her shoulder and gave her a little squeeze. "Listen, we won't tell him yet, but you know this could help us. We can make a plan before going against Peter, and he won't even see it coming."

"And what if he tries to control me with the traumatic memory of my mom again?"

Stiles sighed and tilted his head toward her. "Crack more marbles, and he won't get the chance. Like I said, you'll bury him in the ground." his encouraging smile rubbed off on Aspen and gave him a playful nudge to the ribs.

"Aspen!"

Stiles turned around, hearing his friend's name being called and saw Allison squeezing through students to approach them. Aspen knew it was only a matter of time before they had to talk about the right in the woods. She had never been one to argue with anyone, so when she got in her car to leave, she was surprised she was able to hold off stuttering.

Aspen rubbed her forearm as Allison made it in front of them, catching her breath for a moment. Stiles felt the awkward tension and laughed nervously, backing away toward the locker room. "I gotta meet with Scott. So...yep," once he assumed his excuse was valid, he hurried away into the locker room.

The silence was deadly, Aspen thinking it could have killed her if it was toxic. Allsiontoyed with a lock of her hair before looking up with sad eyes and a prominent frown that overpowered Aspen's expression. "You were right," she said briskly.

Aspen tugged at her earlobe, her lips slightly parted as she kept her squinted eyes on Allison. "I was?"

Allison shook her head, her lips curling into a small smile that she did out of habit when she was nervous. "Yeah, you were. After we finished talking, I ended up finding Scott following us to return the necklace that I lost. And then all these feelings rushing came back and...and I love him. A lot." The girl couldn't hide a blush even if she tried. The hallway lights didn't work in her favor either as it was practically a spotlight on her fair skin. "And that just made it clear that I've been so blind, only thinking about my own feelings. So I talked to Lydia, and we fixed things. And now I need to fix things with you."

Aspen knew she couldn't hold any hate toward Allison. She was hard not to like. "There's nothing to fix, seriously," Aspen laughed, "we're good. I'm glad you fixed things with Lydia and Scott."

But Allison only shook her head, the idea of walking away from Aspen in the woods nudging at her brain the whole weekend. "No, I shouldn't have walked away like that when you were only trying to show me where I was wrong." A smile crept upon her lips, causing Aspen's eyes to widen at the sudden change in her expression. "And I have the perfect way to make it up to you."

Seeing Allison Argent's famous eyebrow wiggled erupted a smile from her lips. "And what would that be?"

Allison sighed happily with a hum as she linked her arm with Aspen and moved down the hall. "You coming with Lyds and me to the mall. and I'm buying you a dress for the formal."

Aspen nearly choked. "No, I can't let you. What about your dress?"

Allison shrugged and leaned toward Aspen in a low tone. "Lydia is taking care of that as a peace offering between us."

Rather impressed, Aspen pushed her tongue against her cheek. "Manipulating the manipulator. I like it."

The two girls shared a laugh as they made it to Allison's locker, where they froze in puzzlement seeing Jackson wearing a full, forced smile. He was shaking in place as he looked too excited to see Allison.

"Hey." he called out shakily, still holding his smile that was not at all smirky like his normal ones. "What time should I pick you up for the dance tomorrow?" his voice was too chirpy, Aspen quirking a brow from behind Allison in suspicion. Like a switch had flicked in her brain, Aspen could feel two pairs of eyes boring into the back of her head. She jerked her head around to find Scott and Stiles poking their head out from the corner of the other hall. The motioned for her to look away so she wouldn't draw attention to them. Aspen only shook her head with a grin and looked back to Allison and Jackson.

"Are you okay?' Alsion smiled, her dimple poking her cheeks.

"Y--yeah, I--I'm great." his grip on his back bag indicated the exact opposite of his words. Aspen bit back a laugh, enjoying his flustered state. No doubt Scott's doing, of course. "I'm just excited about the formal. With you. As friends. Just friends."

While Allison found this funny and laughed, Jackson was forcing his chuckle, his eyes finding Aspen's. She smirked, loving the torture he was going through. "Hey, I'll see you after school, kay'?" Aspen said, gracing Allison's elbow lightly before slowing backing away in Scott and Stiles's direction.

"Yeah, see you then." Allison smiled sweetly, waving her goodbye before continuing her conversation with sweating Jackson.

Aspen hurried her pace and turned the corner to face both boys wearing a proud smile. "You two are horrible, but I enjoyed every bit of it."

Scott shrugged, tucking his hands in his pockets with a lopsided grin. "Coach said I'm not allowed to go to the dance, so I need Jackson to watch Allison for me if the Alpha decides to show up."

Stiles clapped a hand on Scott's shoulder. "Hey, don't worry. I'll still be there."

"Oh, I'm still going."

Shouldering her bag, Aspen leaned back against the wall, crossing her arms over her chest. "Are you sure that's such a good idea? Do you even have a date?"

"Not yet."

"Do you have a suit?" Stiles asked.

Scott sighed, still keeping his eyes on Allison's smile. Something he wished he could adore up close in place of Jackson. "Not yet."

"Do you have a ticket to the formal?" Aspen began listing off the necessities for the formal on her hand. "A ride there?"

Scott turned around to face his two best friends. "No. And no."

Stiles hummed, tapping his pointer finger against his chin, pretending to outline all of Scott's answers. "So you're gonna ride your bike to a dance that you're not even allowed to go to without a date, a suit, or a way in with werewolves and werewolf hunters all out to kick your little werewolf ass."

"Very thought out plan." Aspen nodded slowly.

"Yeah," Scott laughed, "You guys gonna help me?"

"Hell yeah."

Scott threw his arms around Aspen's neck, pulling her into a playful headlock as she struggled to walk down the hall with Stiles trailing behind. And just as Aspen thought things were going smoothly, Scott came out with a random question she had been dreading. "Who are you going with?"

Scott had loosened his grip, Aspen getting the chance to stand straight as her smile faltered. "Me?"

Stiles was now walking by her other side, the two boys blocking off any way for her to run. "Yeah, I've been curious about that too. Who is it?"

Aspen felt her cheeks heating up, and Scott's eyes narrowed, hearing her heart skip a beat. "Um...Isaac...Lahey." Aspen said so softly that not even Scott's keen hearing could pick up her answer.

"Who?"

"Isaac!" Aspen finally said.

Scott's surprised expression just made Stiles mirror. "What? When did he ask?"

Aspen shrugged, relieved the boys were taking it better then she anticipated. "We were just talking about it one night in my bed--"

"In your what?!"

Realizing her poor choice of words, she began shaking her head, profusely, "No, no, we didn't do anything. We just slept--"

Stiles began shaking his head n a frenzy, not believing the words spilling from her mouth. "In your bed?! He fell asleep in your bed? In your house."

"Yes, Stiles! I didn't know there were other ways to describe my bed!"

Scott and stiles both stared her down, Aspen shuffling uncomfortably under their gaze as she fumbles with her fingers. "Was there any hand-holding?" Scott asked, his face stern. Though Stiles tried, he just looked like an angry baby.

Quickly glancing to the side, Aspen smiled sheepishly before darting down the hall, escaping the two overprotective boys who were seething with anger.

_____<•>_____

Wow, forty chapters! I'm so happy I'm wrapping up season one. I'm so excited to write part two and share my ideas. I'll be introducing new characters that you may hate or love. But fair warning, I will not be subtle in season two. At. All. So enjoy the rest of Aspen and Isaac's story because it's going to be a long ride. Anyway, vote and comment on your thoughts. I would love to hear from you guys and interact. Oh, and if this book ends up victorious, I do have another book planned for Liam Dunbar that, of course, will intertwine with Aspen's story. Okay, I'm done!