How to build better friends

How to build a better friend

The pack sat together chatting, avoiding the one topic they all wanted to forget about. It was a group decision and they decided to kick him. Stiles hadn't been sitting with them at lunch since. It felt like a low blow, since the Mexico fiasco was entirely Scott's fault in Stiles' opinion. And although the pack had a silent agreement to not talk about it, Scott broke first.

"Can anyone tell me who is with Stiles?" Everyone gave a tiny look over at the table two rows down with two other people they've never seen before.

"I don't know, but I don't like them, they smell like Stiles, but..." Erica started, but lost the confidence in her voice before she finished.

"So, it's not just me, you guys smell it too?" Jackson asked. They all looked at each other, "what is it? What is different about them?" Some of them took a big whiff of the air just to really try and pin down the scent.

"They smell like death..." The words felt like a shock and a silence fell over the group.

"Maybe we should talk to him," Boyd suggested. The black tray on the table seemed to fascinate him.

"Maybe he cast a spell, it's fine. Unless he's forcing them to be his friends, then maybe we should step in." Erica fiddled with her milk carton. Tension felt like it was spreading rather than growing.

"On the other hand, if he isn't..." This time, it was Jackson, and the group silently agreed upon something in his words.

"But still we should ask the other two, I'm not sure Stiles is ready to talk to any of us." They all had agreed by the time the bell chimed. Watching as Stiles closed his journal and took one peek back at them. As if he didn't know that they were staring mere moments beforehand, they all looked in separate directions a little comically.

On his right came a blonde haired fellow, muscular in build; he put his arm around Stiles and squeezed, giving small reassurances that he was cool. On his left was a dark haired woman, a brown beauty; her hips swiveled down the hall like she owned the place and together they left the school.

"Really, thank you for talking with me. I hate to disturb you guys," Stiles said.

"Are you kidding?" The woman smiled.

"This was the best day ever, you can call us up whenever you want. And hey, we will be here for you, always," he mirrored her smile.

"That's so kind of you to say, I guess this is where I head home, you guys will make it back ok without me, right?"

"Absolutely," In an almost cliché jock way of doing things, he padded his letterman's jacket and started his walk down the street. She followed him after hugging Stiles.

The warlock hopped into his Jeep and drove off down the road. Much happier with his new undead friends. A couple of zombies and a glamour charm. Not hard to do, but it was exhausting keeping both spells up so the werewolves wouldn't notice. He's not sure about the last few minutes of the day there, but he did his best.

The pack, excluding Derek, followed the two maybe a mile down the road. They were wondering why Stiles didn't give them a ride. It was all starting to get suspicious when the pair stopped.

"We know you are following us, I don't recommend continuing," the guy said.

"We have questions for you two," Scott made his way out of the woods. Soon, they were all face to face.

"What if we don't want to answer?" She snapped back. Erica held Jackson back, but he shook her off roughly.

"We just want to know if Stiles is alright," Erica chimed in before Jackson could get closer.

"Alright? Why don't you ask him, then?" The woman asked.

"I'm guessing you know why," Jackson started," and that's not all we want to know. We also want to know why you both smell like you rolled around in sewage and also why we haven't seen you around?"

"We do know why you won't talk to him. Did you know Stiles studied with Deaton before? This guy named Derek was allowing it. Then apparently that same guy voted him out of the pack he was in-I think that's you guys, right?" He said a little unsure, but took the no-reply as a confirmation, "Stiles is very cool, I don't know why you all don't stick together."

"Last year, a foreign pack captured him and used him as ransom for our alpha. Derek is a nice guy, on Scott's request," Jackson thumbed in Scott's direction, "he went out to save him. Derek doesn't want to go out of his way again for someone he doesn't even like," Scott slapped his shoulder angrily.

"I was not going to leave Stiles!" He frowned at the group.

"Obviously." Erica stated, "but Derek isn't you Scott. He's just a regular guy, you can't expect him to go chasing after every single person he possibly can save, he's told us this already."

The black woman stood up straighter, "you should have stood up for your friend more. He wouldn't have needed to call us. You don't have to be in an alpha's pack if you don't share their ideals. There's a pack with an alpha near here that you could have asked to join."

"We aren't leaving Derek, the man's been through enough," this time Boyd spoke to the surprise of the others, "some of us don't have the best relationship with Stiles, either."

"Then don't go wondering when he finds people who do have a good relationship with him. He really must not want you guys being in his life to try and conceal our secret the way he did... my name is Tanya and this is Boston."

"I think we're done here," Boston turned around. Tanya joined him after leaving the four a little more agitated and clueless then they would have liked.