Diving on the dark road, Aspen was quiet the majority of the ride to Scott's house. Stiles tapped his fingers anxiously against the steering wheel, contemplating whether or not to ask her what was wrong. Aspen's eyes perked to the side from th sound only to catch Stiles already glancing at her. He cleared his throat and looked ahead to appear nonchalant.
Aspen's dodginess lasted only a few minutes before Stiles decided to confront her avoidant behavior.
"You doing okay over there?" he asked, peeling his eyes from the road when given a chance. "Are you mad at Scott?"
Aspen only shook her head before leaning back in her seat. "I still haven't gotten an apology, but no, that's not it."
"Then..."
Aspen sighed, the thought of Lydia kissing Scott etched in her brain. She promised not to tell Allison but never said anything about Stiles. He was her best friend after all, and considering he's been in love with Lydia since they were kids, it seemed only right that he heard it from her.
"Scott and Lydia--"
"They kissed. I know." Stiles' grip tightened around the wheel, his knuckles whitening.
Aspen scrunched her nose in confusion as she looked at Stiles.
"You knew? How?"
"Jackson pointed out her smudged lipstick on the field, and Scott had just been with her beforehand. I just pieced it together."
Aspen shifted in her seat to face him. "Why were they even talking in the first place?"
Stiles let out frustrated noise as if embarrassed to tell her. "I sort of asked Scott to ask Lydia if she held an attraction to me."
"Why would you do that?"
"Because Scott can sense feelings. I- don't know how it works, but he can."
Aspen drew her eyes toward the road. "I'm sorry, Stiles," she whispered with a frown. She knew how much Lydia meant to him, and to see him angry with his best friend hurt her the most.
"It's alright. I already have a surprise set up for him." a mischievous smirk found its way to Stiles' lips.
"What are you talking about?"
Stiles reached over to the back seat and struggled to carry a black duffle bag. The sound of chains clanking sounded when he dropped the bag on Aspen's lap, making her gasp.
Aspen arched a brow as she unzipped the bag to face a string of chains, water bowls, and handcuffs. "You're chaining Scott up like a dog?" Aspen questioned, folding her hands on the bag.
'Well, he is a dog. No need to keep him from the harsh truth." Stiles shrugged, not seeing the issue.
"Can't you guys just talk it out?"
"Ew gross, no, I'm chaining him."
Walking up the front porch of the McCall house, Stiles gripped the bag full of chains while Aspen unlocked the door with a spare key Stiles and herself got copied. Opening the door, the two stepped in, keeping their feet steady, so they didn't disturb Melissa.
When the door slammed behind her, she glared at Stiles, who completely disregarded her last rule when they got off the car.
"Sorry," he mouths, scrunching up his face.
"Scott?"
Aspen whispered incoherent curses toward Stiles before Melissa turned a corner from the family room wearing her nurse scrubs and gripping her purse at her side.
"Nope. Just me and Stiles." Aspen answered, laughing nervously, passing a small wave as the keys jingled in her hand.
Melissa eyed the key suspiciously before pointing. "Key?"
"Yea, we had some made. Just in case..." Stiles mumbled, tucking his key in his pocket before the woman could think of taking it away.
"Some?"
"He meant two. Just these two," Aspen said quickly, hopping on her heels. Her nail grazed against the keys, restraining herself from fiddling with her fingers.
"That doesn't surprise me. Scares me, but...doesn't surprise me." Melissa mumbled the last part before looking down at the bag Stiles had in his grip. "What is that?"
"Uh, school project yea. Which we gotta start working on, so, goodnight Melissa." Stiles shuffled between the two before running upstairs in a frenzy, leaving Aspen to roll her eyes.
"Hey June," Melissa lowered her voice a she stood closer to Aspen.
Aspen hummed in response, seeing the woman's worried eyes.
"He's okay, right? Scott, I mean."
"Oh, Yea. Yea, he's fine." Aspen answered with a shrug, lying to her mother-figure eating at her heart.
"You sure? H just doesn't talk to me that much. Not like he used to."
Aspen expression softened as she placed a hand on the woman's forearm. "He's just had a rough week. The breakup really got to him, but they'll make up eventually. Trust me."
Melissa sighed and forced a smile. "Yeah, of course, you're right," she said, scratching against her unruly raven-haired curls. "Anyway, you guys stay safe tonight. It's a full moon."
Aspen nearly choked on the air as her eyes slightly widened at Melissa's comment, "Wh-what?"
"Oh, there a full moon tonight," Melissa chuckled, digging through her purse to fish out her keys. "brings out all the nut jobs at the E.R."
"Oh," Aspen forced a laugh as she moved aside for Melissa to open the front door.
"Yeah. You know it's um, actually where they came up with the word Lunatic."
Aspen's lips were parted as she stood still for a while; the whole Lycanthropy situation escalating more within the days. When she heard the door shut behind her, she ran upstairs and reached Scott's bedroom. Skidding to a stop in front of the door, Aspen's face contorted upon seeing Scott handcuffed to a metal radiator.
"Stiles, I thought we agreed on no handcuffing!" Aspen argued, walking into the room but keeping a distance from Scott, who was yanking against the chain. His eye flashed between amber and brown as his lips drew back in a snarl.
"I didn't agree verbally. I simply nodded." Stiles shot back. "besides, I think this should hold him until the full moon passes."
"You know this will just piss him off more. He could easily break through."
"It's not like he doesn't deserve it." Stiles began digging through the duffle bag and pulled out a water bowl, "you watch him while I get him water."
Aspen crossed her arms over her chest and gave him a look. "You're cruel, you know that?"
"Thank you," Stiles smirked and trotted out of the room merely.
Aspen was reluctant to turn around and face Scott, but as soon as she did, he swiped a claw in her face. Her eyes grew as he only missed by a hair before she pressed her back against the wall. Scott's eye steadied their brown color, but his canines were visible just under his upper lip. His look was menacing and hungry, ready to pounce if Aspen dared get any closer.
"You're pathetic, you know that?" Scott taunted with a deep chuckle.
"Am I now?" Aspen knew this was the full moon talking, but she couldn't help but query if it affected his true feelings.
"You always say you'll be there for me, but as soon as you get a little scratch, you avoid me."
"That's not true." Aspen kept her answer short, not wanting to give the werewolf the satisfaction.
"Isn't it? That's why you hang around Isaac. So you can stay away from me."
"I hang out with Isaac because we're friends. Just like you and I are."
Scott jerked against the handcuff, making Aspen jump but retain a neutral expression. She eyed the chain which held him down, not sure how long it would truly contain him.
"I can hear your heartbeat," Scott laughed, "you're afraid I'll hurt you."
Aspen shook her head, "No, Scott. I know you won't hurt me. Not intentionally, at least."
"But you are afraid of something. Your hands are shaking, and you've been tense ever since you got here."
Aspen averted her eyes. There was some truth to his statement. She felt her eyes burning and head pounding. Derek never mentioned the full moon affecting her the way it did to them.
She was too deep in thought when Scott got to his feet and swiped at her ankles. Feeling the movement in the air on time, Aspen's eye faded into white, and she moved her leg, jolting a hand toward Scott and a slice of wind cut through the air, leaving a mark on his cheek.
Scott roared in pain, his amber eyes glowing in the dark room. Aspen blinked away the glassy white color from her eyes before she gained senses, realizing what she had done. Curling her hands in a fist, she looked at Scott, his cheek dripping down with blood before the wound quickly healed. Scott wiped the blood from his cheek, his amber eyes staring at Aspen in confusion. She backed out of the room only to bump into Stiles, who was able to maneuver the water bowl before it spilled to the ground.
"Woah Woah, the hell just happened? Why did he roar like that?" Stiles asked her, poking is head over her shoulder to see Scott proceeding with his attempted escape from the cuff.
"I-I don't know. He just freaked out. I think..."
The rest of the night was filled with empty threats from the shifting werewolf. Minutes felt like hours, and hours felt like days, it hurt watching their friend suffer as much as he was. Scott bellowed out curses as Aspen and Stiles decided to sit out in the hall across from each other. Aspen chose to face away from the door, not wanting to see Scott's eyes. She never thought she could lose control so easily, and she had promised herself never to use her abilities for harm. Derek had said there would come the point where Aspen needed to defend herself, but she never thought it would be against Scott. She only meant to blast him with wind and make him stay on the ground, but her eyes changed, and her thrust was two sharp, slicing the wolf's skin.
For a moment, it was terrifying, but part of her loved the feeling. She was longing to taste that gust of power again.
Aspen crossed her arms over her legs that were drawn to her chest as she shut her eyes to muffle out Scott's hallow remarks.
"I'm gonna kill you!" Scott shouted the rattling of the cuffs at par with his shouting.
"It's your own fault for kissing Lydia, alright!" Stiles yelled back from where he sat across from her. "that's my--that's the one girl I ever--you know what Scott? For the past three hours, I just thought it was the full moon. Maybe you won't even remember what a complete dumbass you've been!"
"Stiles, we need him to calm down." Aspen reaches a hand out to calm him down when he only pulled away from her touch.
"A son of a bitch, a freaken unbelievable piece of crap friend!"
Aspen laid her head back against the wall, glancing up at the ceiling. She just wanted this night to be over.
"She kissed me," Scott whispered. "she had her hands all over me."
Before Stiles could jolt forward and strangle the werewolf, Aspen reached out and slammed the door shut.
"Let me in." Stiles tried shoving past her, but Aspen kept a firm grip on his arm.
"Don't give him the satisfaction. It's what he wanted." Aspen told him before forcing him to sit down. Stiles balled his hands into a fist as he scoffed. "He's gloating about it because he knows she'll never kiss him again. It was only because she was jealous of Allison. and Jackson."
"I heard that!" Scott growled.
"You were supposed to," Aspen said, tilting her mouth against the crack in the door.
"I'm gonna kill you!"
"There's no need to repeat yourself. I ignored you just fine the first time."
"I swear, If he doesn't shut the hell up, I'll throw him off the roof," Stiles said, keeping his eyes glued to the door.
"He would only heal."Aspen sighed, "you would need something more effective."
"Like a fire?"
"Don't let Derek hear you say that." Aspen chuckled, eventually bringing a corner of Stiles' lips to quirk upward. Silence settled between the two before they become suspicious. They realized the lack of groaning coming from the room, and both stared at each other before assuming the worst.
Aspen was the first to scramble to her feet before Stiles followed along. She swung the door open, and her heart sunk. On the floor were broken cuffs with blood splattered about. Stiles let out a groan and looked at the open window with hatred. Aspen made her way toward the window, glaring up at the full moon as if it was the reason for her friend disappearing.
"Now what?" Aspen asked, turning around to face Stiles, who was stuffing the broken handcuff back in the duffle bag.
"He'll probably try finding Allison. I'll take my car, and you take Scott's bike." Stiles instructed, preparing to leave the room.
"Wait, Stiles."
"Yea?" he looked over his shoulder, waiting impatiently for her to speak.
"I'll look for Scott. You go, make sure your dad is okay." Aspen smiled softly, "remember, there's another psycho werewolf out there."
"Are you sure?" Stiles looked relieved to have permission to check up on his father.
"I'll be fine. You go ahead."