Stiles- Forgiving

                                    

                                          
  "Y/n," Theo called softly. "Where are you?"
You stiffened as you realized his voice was getting closer, and you pressed your hand over your mouth. Your back was pressed up against the freezing cold lockers as you hid from him, but you knew he would catch you eventually. There was nowhere to run in the tiny locker room, and even if you tried, he would hear you. Hell, he could probably already hear you just from your heartbeat. It was hammering in your chest, beating in your ears, so why wouldn't it be beating in his? He was the one with the super hearing.
"You know, I can't believe you actually convinced Stiles and Scott to trust you, considering I'm the one who brought you to this hellhole," he remarked. 
You knew what he was doing. He was attempting to draw you out by getting a rise out of you, and he was good at it too. Every word that came out of his mouth had a way of crawling under your skin and nesting there. Ever since he had "saved your life" and pulled you from that nowhere town, you had been living in a nightmare of mind games and manipulation, and it had taken you a lot longer than it should have for you to realize it.
"Maybe I should have left you in that little town," Theo continued. "Let them burn you too. Like they did with the others. Like they did with your whole coven."
You felt your hands curling into fists at the mention of your coven. Every part of your body was tensing at his audacity. You knew now that he was the one who had lit that fire. It had all been a part of his little power play, and pulling you out of that burning building hadn't been out of kindness. It was all so you would owe him a debt, so you would have to follow him to Beacon Hills. So you would have to help him destroy Scott's pack.
You couldn't kill him. Your magic wouldn't be as strong against him as it would on anyone else. Laws of magic were cruel, unforgiving things, and as much as you wished you could raise a hand against Theo, you couldn't do much of anything to him.
"Maybe I shouldn't have bothered with you," Theo offered. "Maybe I never should have let you get so close to Scott and his pack."
Your eyes widened as you realized how close he was. His voice was sounding from right behind you, right on the other side of the lockers. "Maybe I should have just let you burn."
His lips were suddenly right at your ear, and you darted forward, only to have his hand clamp around your throat and slam you back against the metal. "You betrayed me. You sold me out to Scott."
"Theo-" you choked.
"You ruined my plan," he snarled. "And now I'm going to ruin you. You thought you had nothing left? Well you're wrong. I see the way you laugh with Lydia. Like you've been friends for ages. I see how much you trust Scott, how much you want to confide in him, to help him. But you wanna know what I see the most, Y/n? Hm? The thing that's so glaringly obvious that you'd have to have the IQ of a dalmatian to miss it?"
You scratched at his fingers on your throat and glared at him defiantly, but none of this seemed to phase him. He leaned closer, so close that his breath was hot against your neck. "I see the way Stiles looks at you. He gets this look in his eyes like...like he'd give up anything for you...even his life. I'm thinking maybe I'll test my theory."
"I'll- kill you-myself," you managed to get out. 
Theo chuckled. "Good luck. If I'm dead, you'll have no one. Scott and his pack could never fully trust you, no matter how much you trust them. Not after what you did."
He suddenly yanked you up off the gritty floor and tossed you into a row of benches, causing you to cry out in pain. You pushed yourself up on your hands and knees and glared at him. "I tried to stop you that night in the library. They know. They know I'm finished with you."
Theo smirked and flicked out his claws, and you threw out your hand in an effort to cast a spell. What was meant to send him flying backward into the row of lockers only shoved him back a few feet. His looked down at his new position and burst into laughter. You flinched as he brought his hands up and began to clap. 
"The all-powerful witch," he stated smugly. "Last of her coven."
You tried again, putting everything you had into the spell, but it was no use. Theo kept coming closer with that smug look in his eyes. You couldn't harm him. You couldn't even keep him away from you.
"You're done with me, hm?" he asked, thinking back to your earlier words. "Is that what you think?"
"Stay away from me," you ordered, backing away.
Theo made a 'tsk' sound. "You're not done with me, Sweetheart."
That was when he lunged for you. You tried to put some space between the two of you with lockers, but he was fast, a lot faster than you had anticipated. He was also incredibly angry, and you could practically feel the rage boiling off his skin as snatched you up from the ground. 
"No!" you screamed as his arms squeezed your middle. He yanked you roughly against him, and though you couldn't see his face, you could imagine those livid green eyes, alight with bloodlust. 
He grabbed your face and tilted it toward him, his claws digging into the soft skin of your cheek. 
"You're not done with me, Y/n," he repeated, his voice hoarse. "You'll never be done with me. I'm going to kill every member of Scott's pack in front of you. I'm going to save Stiles for last, just so you can look him in the eye as he dies and know that it's your fault. Then we're gonna leave this town, and I'm going to find a new pack somewhere else. You're gonna be a part of it. And I'm going to make you forget that Stiles Stilinski ever existed."
"Good luck with that."
A loud thwack! rang out through the locker room, and you heard Theo's cry of pain directly above your head. His arms unwound from your waist and you sprang forward in shock, only to look over your shoulder and see him on the floor, groaning. Stiles stood over him with an aluminum bat in his hands, staring down at the chimera with hatred in his eyes. 
Theo groaned once, letting you both know that he was still awake, and Stiles quickly jumped over his prone body and grabbed you by the shoulders. He gave you a quick once-over, but his eyes lingered on the place Theo has dug his nails into your chin. "You're bleeding."
"I'll be fine," you promised. 
Stiles glanced back at Theo, who was already pushing himself off the ground. "Then let's get out of here.
You ran faster than you ever had in your life, and you had never heard a more satisfying sound than the one of that locker room door slamming shut behind you. You ran in silence for a few seconds, and there was nothing but the sound of your shoes squeaking on the tile, until Stiles shot a glance back at you. "Please tell me you're over that guy."
You let a breathy laugh. "There was never anything to get over."
The corner of his mouth turned up into that playful smile, and for a few moments, it almost made you forget that you were running for your life. When you heard the footsteps behind you, that illusion quickly faded. You glanced back and saw Theo stalking toward you, blood dripping from his head. 
Stiles swore under his breath and skidded around a corner, pulling you with him just as another shape appeared down the hall. The strawberry blonde was moving quickly in her flats, and when she saw you, her eyes lit up. "You found her!"
"Yep!" Stiles confirmed, waving your joined hands. "Got her right here. We also found Theo though, so you should probably run."
Lydia's smile fell as the Chimera appeared from behind the corner, and soon the three of you were booking it down the hall. You used your free hand to throw open lockers as you ran, causing books, pencils and god knows what else to fly right at Theo's head. The hallway was a mess of fluttering papers and scraps from different lockers, and that was probably the only reason Theo didn't catch up to the three of you before you got to Scott. 
When he saw Theo down the hall, he quickly moved in front of the three of you and let out a warning snarl. The Chimera stopped and tilted his head, eyeing you carefully. As if he could sense your discomfort, Stiles gave your hand a gentle squeeze. You glanced over and saw determination in his eyes, and that was when you knew. Stiles wasn't going to let anything happen to you.
"Back off, Theo," Scott warned. "You're not touching her ever again."
A brief scowl crossed Theo's face, but as soon as it had appeared, it was gone, and then he was looking at the Alpha with level eyes. "You can keep her, McCall. After all, who wants a traitor in their pack?"
"A traitor to you, maybe," Stiles spat. "For good reason."
He glanced at you with a smirk, causing a shiver to run down your spine. "Was it worth it, Y/n?"
You were silent as he stared at you, but whatever Theo was trying to do, he appeared to be satisfied with it. He shot the others one last glance before turning down the hall and heading out through a side door, leaving you standing there in silence. 
"Are you alright, Y/n?" Scott asked, turning around to look at you. 
"Yeah," you whispered. "I'm okay."
"Hey," Stiles said, placing a hand on your cheek. "He's not coming near you again."
"What am I going to do?" you whispered. "He was the only person I had."
"You don't have to worry about anything," Lydia promised. "You're with us now."
Stiles nodded in agreement. "The next time Theo touches you, it'll be over my dead body."
"I'm pretty sure he would be okay with that," you muttered. "But thank you. I have no idea what I would have done without you."
Stiles shrugged. "I would never have let him hurt you."
He peered at your face, glancing down at the bloody puncture wounds that Theo had left in your cheek. "We should probably get those cuts cleaned."
You nodded as Stiles turned to Scott and Lydia. "I'm gonna take her to the jeep guys."
Scott smiled. "Take your time."
You shot one last grateful glance at Scott and Lydia, and followed Stiles out to his familiar blue jeep. You were pleased to see it back in commission after Parrish had knocked it over during one his hellhound episodes, with you, Stiles and Theo still inside. You had just barely had enough time to throw up a small protection spell, one that kept Stiles safe but failed to cover Theo. He had complained about later when he took you home, agitation clear in his voice. 
"You couldn't have widened it, like, three inches?" he had demanded. 
You could have, but you hadn't regretted it then, and you certainly didn't regret it now. 
Stiles jogged over and held the passenger door open for you, gesturing for you to sit. He reached around you and fumbled with a mess of things in the glove box, before finally yanking out a first aid kit. It was a slightly rusted metal box, and you had no idea how long it had been there, but you were guessing it was a while.
"It's kinda old," he told you apologetically. "Sorry."
"It's fine," you assured him as he pulled out an antiseptic wipe.
You hissed in pain at the sting of the wipe, but it seemed to be over as soon as it had begun. Stiles tore open a couple of bandaids and tenderly placed them against your cheek. He was looking down at you with those worried brown eyes, and you couldn't help but smile. 
"Stop smiling," Stiles told you, but the corners of his own lips were turned up. 
"What?" you complained.
"You're gonna move the bandaids," he warned. 
You rolled your eyes. "They're stuck on there, Stiles."
"You're pretty mouthy for someone who just got attacked by a psychotic chimera."
"You're pretty mouthy for someone sitting in front of a witch," you fired back.
Stiles grinned. "Alright. I'll give you that one."
"You think we should go meet up with the others?" you asked. 
Stiles shrugged. "Eh, they'll be fine. They're probably going to make sure Theo didn't fuck anything else up."
"Yeah, other than my entire life," you muttered. "And Scott's. And Lydia's. And yours..."
You looked down, suddenly ashamed of your involvement with Theo. He may have killed your coven, but you hadn't known that when you went with him. A new town with a new pack had seemed like a pretty sweet deal when he offered it to you, but now you were realizing that you hadn't thought about the consequences. Especially considering it meant killing Scott and half his pack.
"Hey," Stiles said softly. "Please don't tell me you think this is your fault."
"Idunno," you mumbled, your words blending together under your breath.
"Y/n," Stiles said, reaching out to gently touch your face. "Look at me."
When you finally did, you found yourself staring into his familiar brown eyes. You were surprised to find that there was no malice or accusation in them, just understanding. 
"This isn't your fault," he whispered. "Theo hurt you just like he hurt us. He took everyone you loved away from you and then tricked you into thinking you were better off with him. You didn't do that. That was all him. And I know this is awful to say, but I'm glad he let you get close to us. I'm glad he tried to use you to break us up, because...because I got to know you. And you're amazing, and you're so strong...and Theo was an idiot to think he could ever break you."
You suddenly reached forward and snatched him by the shirt, yanking him closer to you. Stiles responded instantly, kissing you with just as much force and passion as you were him. As he gently cupped your face, it occurred to you that you had never felt more loved and accepted than in Beacon Hills. You might have gotten off to a poor start, but unlike Theo, Scott and his friends, especially Stiles, were forgiving. 
Despite what you had done, you knew you were being given a chance to make it right. And with Stiles by your side, you knew you could.