Never Be The Same // Liam Dunbar

Chapter 9 ~ Challenges

Luna had decided to stay the night at Liam's house after talking to both Stiles and her dad. Her stomach had healed, but still, she showered to get the dry blood off of her skin. After she showered, she got changed into a pair of Liam's sweats and his red sweatshirt. She walked back out to his room, sitting on his bed and taking a look around.

He had a pretty neat room for a teenage boy. He had a big TV with many video games lying around. He had lacrosse trophies on a shelf, some expensive lacrosse sticks forming an 'x' on his wall. Luna smiled at his love for lacrosse, looking back down at her hands, which were resting in her lap. Liam sat down next to her, intertwining their fingers and resting their hands on her thigh.

"How are you feeling?" he asked, glancing at her wrist and seeing that the bite had also healed.

"Better than you would think about being stabbed and then bitten," Luna replied, glancing at their hands before looking up into his crystal blue eyes. Liam smiled.

"Well, that's good," he said. Luna nodded, resting her heavy, tired head on his shoulder. Liam wrapped his arm around her shoulder, resting his chin on the top of her head. "You can go to bed, if you want." Luna moved so that her head was on one of his pillows. Liam moved as well, laying on his back, allowing Luna to rest her head on his chest and sleep peacefully.

~~

School seemed as if it couldn't get any worse throughout the day the next day.

Each time she walked by someone, she picked up whatever emotion they were feeling. She went from angry to sad in less than three seconds. To make matters worse, every time a bell went off, it rang in her ears before causing her head to pound. It just kept getting worse.

The only plus she had discovered about being a werewolf was the fact that her stomach was healed, but that was about all.

While the girl walked down the school corridor between classes, the bell rang, causing her to double over, her hands over her ears as she tried to block the sound. It caused a constant ring to pierce into her ears, which resulted in a huge headache forming in the back of her head. She felt around around her shoulder.

"Luna, you've got to snap out of it. Listen to my voice, okay?" a voice said gently. Liam. The girl tried to snap out of it, but instead, her claws grew in, digging into her scalp behind her ears and causing blood to run down her face. Before anyone saw, Liam rushed to the locker room, calling Scott and Stiles before turning his attention back to her. "Hey, it's okay. Just listen to my voice. You have to block everything else out."

"What's going on?" Scott asked as he and Stiles rushed in through the door.

Liam looked to the two boys. "She's not doing too well, guys."

"The next full moon isn't for a good week," Stiles stated. "It's already affecting her?"

"I just bit her yesterday," Scott reminded. "Of course it's affecting her. She's not used to this. Her ears are super sensitive now, as well as her other senses."

It took minutes for the ringing to stop completely. Luna unclenched her fists, the cuts that her claws had dug into her scalp beginning to heal instantly. Her claws were now nails, her hands covered in dry blood, blood also covering her fingertips, as her claws had pierced through her fingers.

"Are you okay?" Stiles asked, showing his concern for his little sister. Luna nodded hesitantly, looking down at her hands, her eyes glossing over with tears. She was just thankful that she didn't end up hurting anyone, and if anything, she had only hurt herself. She looked up at Scott.

"When will I be able to control this?" she questioned, her voice shaking and almost weak.

Scott sighed, seeing how sad the girl was. "Soon, okay? I promise. It's going to take some practice, but in the end, you'll be able to control this. The first week is always the hardest." Just then, Damian came walking into the locker room, stopping when he saw Luna.

"Luna?" he asked quietly, taking a step forward, his eyes narrowed in confusion. Luna looked up at her best friend, swallowing down the lump in her throat. "Damn, you look worn down. What happened? Why is your face covered in blood?"

"It's a long story," Luna replied. She stood, sniffling, her lags shaky slightly under her. Liam stood, securing her, putting his arm around her waist to keep her legs from giving out from under her. Damian glanced between the two, his eyebrows furrowed. Luna hadn't told him that she was bit, as she also hadn't told him that she was nearly killed.

"You sure?" Damian queried.

Luna nodded. "We can talk about it during free period."

"That's if you're not too busy in a janitor's closet, huh?" he winked. Luna rolled her eyes, unable to help but chuckle at his joke. Stiles glanced between the best friends, his eyes narrowing.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Stiles growled.

Damian shrugged. "Oh, nothing." He looked back at Luna, grabbing his bag and swinging it over his shoulder. "See ya later, Small Fry."