The Fire Within

Chapter 2

*Third POV*

Finally, the last bell of the school day rings, which is a huge relief to Stiles. He grins as he stands up and grabs his things, stuffing them into his school bag. "Don't forget to read chapters one to five of 'To Kill A Mockingbird' for homework! We will be discussing it in class tomorrow." The English teacher announces to the class, who are already halfway out the room. Stiles rushes out the door with Scott, Lydia, Kira, Malia and Isaac following right behind him. "Ah, sweet freedom." Stiles sighs happily as he walks down the corridor with his friends.

"You make school sound like a terrible prison involving torture." Lydia points out to him.

"That's because it is." Isaac says, taking Stiles' side. Lydia just rolls her eyes at the curly haired werewolf. She knows that as soon as they graduate school, they will want to be right back here again, not ready to face the real world of working and paying the bills. "Dude, do you want to come back to my place? Mom's making lasagna tonight." Scott offers to his best friend. Isaac and Lydia, who had started their own conversation, but as soon as the word lasagna is said, Isaac whips his head towards the duo.

"Count me in!" Isaac laughs.

"Same here." Malia adds with a grin, even if she personally prefers deer.

"Your mom's lasagna is the best." Kira says with a smile, remembering the time when they had a date and ate lasagna. She was in love with it the moment it touched her mouth.

"What about you, Stiles? Are you coming? It's a Friday, so there's no school tomorrow." Scott asks hopefully, wanting to spend some quality time with his best friend. He doesn't mind everyone else coming along too, but he would have preferred it to be just them for once. Scott and Stiles never seem to spend much time together anymore. Especially on their own, with the monster of the week showing up around each corner. Scott knows that things happen and life gets busy, especially when you are supernatural, but still. Can't Scott have some time with his best friend? Preferably when they are not in danger?

Stiles considers Scott's offer for a moment, looking into his friend's hopeful big brown eyes. Stiles would love to go. Scott's mom does make the best lasagna after all. Besides, he does miss his best friend. He knows that they haven't seen each other much lately except for when they are at school or for pack meetings trying to figure out how to defeat the newest enemy. However, Stiles also knows that he should be training tonight, just like his dad asked him to. He doesn't want to lose control of his powers after all. Stiles just wants to keep his friends safe from... well, him. The best way he can do that is to master his powers and learn how to shift properly, just like his mom wanted him to. Stiles' heart aches at the thought of his mom. He misses her very much. Why did those stupid hunters have to kill her? Everyone was made to believe that she died from frontotemporal dementia except for Stiles and his father. They know the truth. Stiles feels tears threatening to fall, but he's quick to wipe them away before anyone can see. Thankfully no one seemed to notice. Unknown to Stiles, Scott actually noticed it, and he has the urge to just ask Stiles what's wrong, but he knows that everyone is going to notice too, so he doesn't say anything. But he'll surely talk with Stiles later, they seriously need some bro time soon.

Stiles suddenly realizes that he left his best friend hanging. All of his friends are staring at him with slight concern now at Stiles' unusual quietness. "Oh, uh, sorry, I can't go tonight. I've got some things to do at home which I can't get around. My dad will kill me if I don't get these things done. Thanks for the offer anyway. Next time, I'll go. I promise. Anyway, since I can't go, invite Liam instead. I'm sure he'd love to go." Stiles tells his friends with an apologetic tone. Scott tries his best to not look disappointed, but it's hard. Scott nods maybe a little too quickly. "Okay. That's fine, Stiles. There's always next time, right?" Scott says, trying to look at the positives, which isn't much. Scott starts to feel confused with himself. Why was he getting so upset about Stiles not coming tonight? He has something else on, which Scott understands completely. There will be other opportunities for the two of them to hang out. Still, Scott's mood is now dampened, but he tries to hide it from the others.