✓ | battle wounds, scott m.

chapter twelve.

"Didn't you hear what I just said? I don't know how I got there or what I was doing," Ethan snapped, putting on his shirt as he hurried down the stairs. "Okay, you little asshole, you could be a little bit more helpful, you know? They did just save your life," Ella snapped, brushing her hair back. Everyone stared at Ella in shock, she was so gentle with everyone. She never snapped or yelled or shouted at anyone. "And they probably shouldn't have," Ethan sneered before running away. Ella rolled her eyes and threw the middle finger at his back. "What now?" Lydia asked. "Daniella and I'll find Scott. You guys grab Isaac and Boyd. The best thing we can do is get them out of this place," Allison stated, motioning Ella to follow her.

Ella hugged Stiles tightly before following Allison up the stairs. The door to Scott's room was open and empty. "Scott?" Ella called into the room, "Scott, are you in here?" Ella turned around to look at Allison, "He- He's not in here. Where could he be?" Allison shook her head, "I don't know. Let's split up. Maybe we can find him if each of us takes one side of the hotel." Ella nodded, "O-okay." Just as they were about to split off in separate directions, Allison stopped Ella. "Yeah?" Ella's voice was shaky and Allison knew she was scared. Ella had been scared the entire night, but Allison knew that she was even more scared since they couldn't find Scott. "You. . like him, don't you?" Allison asked.

Ella furrowed her brows, "Wh-who?" "Scott," Allison answered simply. Ella pursed her lips. "It's okay, if you do. You two look good together," Allison smiled. Ella smiled and hugged Allison tightly, "You know, I kinda like you now."

"You didn't like me?"

"Gotta go find Scott, catch up with you in a bit!"

▼

"We can't find Scott anywhere," Ella said as they walked down the stairs. "It's happening to him too, isn't it?" Stiles asked. "It has to be. Didn't you say there was another flare on the bus?" Lydia asked as they walked down the final steps. "Yeah. I'll get it," Stiles said as they all came to a stop, a horrified expression crossing Ella's features when she saw what was in front of her. Scott stood with a flare in his hands, himself and the ground around him drenched in gasoline; one single move and he'd set himself on fire. "Scott," Ella choked out, rubbing in front of him with her friends right behind her. "Scott," Ella said, Scott's eyes slowly meeting hers. Ella felt a tear run down her cheek, she never would've thought that she would see Scott in this position; so close to suicide.

She always thought that may have been the other way around. . that she would commit, never would she have thought that she'd be in the position she was in at that moment. "There's no hope," Scott said. Ella tried her best to smile, "What do you mean, Scott? There's always hope." She pursed her lips afterwards, slowly walking backwards into Stiles's chest. Stiles wrapped his arms around his sister, causing Daniella to feel safe. "Not for me. Not for Derek," Scott replied. "Derek wasn't your fault. You know Derek wasn't your fault," Daniella shook her head, her words coming out as croaks.

"Every time I try to fight back, it just gets worse. People keep getting hurt. People keep getting killed," Scott said, Ella shaking her head through it all. Ella was the first to break — of course — tears were streaming down her face rapidly. Stiles slowly walked forwards, Ella beside him, their hands connected. "Scott, listen to me, okay? This isn't you, all right? This is someone inside your head telling you to do this. Okay? Now–" Scott cut Stiles off, "What if it isn't? What if it is just me? What if doing this is actually the best thing that I could do for everyone else? It all started that night, the night I got bitten. You remember the way it was before that? We were. . we were. . we were nothing. We weren't popular. We weren't good at lacrosse. We weren't important. We were no one. Maybe I should just be no one again No one at all."

"Scott, just listen to me, okay? You're not no one. Okay? You're someone, you're Scott, you're my best friend. Okay?" Stiles asked, looking over at Ella. Ella stepped into the puddle, she knew it was dangerous but she'd rather die with Scott than to stand by and watch it happen.

"Ella. Step away. I– you can't get hurt. I can't stand you getting hurt. All I've done, is watch you get traumatized and you're so, so innocent and. . beautiful," Scott said when he noticed she was in the puddle. "Scott. You've helped me get through the toughest times, everything that we've been through we've done it together. And it's not going to stop now, Scotty," Ella's voice cracked. "And I need you," Stiles said, gripping Ella's hand, "Daniella and I need you."

"Scott, I– I love you. You. . you know that I love you," Ella admitted. "Scott, you're my brother," Stiles whispered. "You cannot expect us to just stand here and watch you. . and watch you kill yourself," Ella croaked out. "All right, so. ." Stiles joined Ella and Scott in the puddle, "So if you're gonna do this, then I think you're just gonna have to take us with you," Stiles said as he and Ella both reached for the flare in Scott's hands.

Ella took Scott's hand whilst Stiles took the flare and threw it over his shoulder. Ella took Scott into a tight hug, not caring if she got covered in gasoline, not caring if her favorite sweater would remind her of such a horrible time. Ella and Scott cried in each other's arms, Ella holding him tight with all of her strength, Scott almost crushing Ella.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Suddenly, Ella was pushed to the floor on top of Scott, her brother beside her and Lydia on top of her and Stiles, Allison on the other side of Scott. Ella reached towards her brother and took a hold of his hand as they all stood up. They watched as the fire burned in front of them. Scott pulled Ella into another hug and placed a soft kiss on her forehead, internally grateful for her. And he loved her too.

▼

"I don't want to know," Coach's voice woke up Ella and her group of friends. Ella lifted her head off of Scott's shoulder, rubbing her eyes. "I really don't want to know, but in case you missed the announcement, the meet's cancelled, so we're heading home. Pack it in. Pack it in!" Coach shouted. Ethan stood over Scott and Ella, "I don't know what happened last night, but I'm pretty sure you saved my life."

"Actually, I saved your life, but not that it matters that much. It's just it's minor detail," Stiles spoke from behind them. Ella chuckled and left Scott, going to sit beside Stiles. "I could've died last night," Ella whispered. "But you didn't," Stiles pointed out. Ella smiled, "No. No I didn't. And even if I had, I would've died with the two most important boys in my life. My twin, whom I could never live without and I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be alive without. And—" "And the boy you love," Stiles said in a low voice. Ella pursed her lips, "I meant as a brother."

"Yeah, I'm sure you did, little sis," Stiles teased Ella, messing up her hair and pulling her into his chest, planting kisses all over her cheeks and forehead. "Stiles!" Ella groaned. "Coach, can I see your whistle for a second?" Lydia asked, Ella turning to see her taking Coach's whistle off of his neck. Everyone leaned forward, watching as Lydia blew into the whistle, covering it from behind.

Ella furrowed her brows when Lydia pulled her hand away to show purple powder. "Wolfsbane." "So every time the coach blew the whistle on the bus, Scott, Isaac, Boyd," Ella listed. "And Ethan," Lydia added. "We all inhaled it," Scott finished. "You were all poisoned by it," Allison said. "So that's how the Darach got in their heads. That's how he did it," Stiles said. Stiles looked at Ella who was closer to Lydia and Ella nodded, snatching the whistle from Lydia's hands and throwing it out of the window just as the bus started to move.

"Hey, hey, hey, hey! Stilinski!"