✓ SALT WOUNDS.

ten !

chapter ten
jackson

"wait. what am i doing here?" kida was currently seated on allison's bed, as she chose what to wear for the group date with scott, lydia and jackson. lydia was beside her, on a cute chair that allison's mom had bought her. "you're scott's best friend, you know what he likes." kida only nodded, giggling when lydia stood up to push allison aside, grabbing ahold of some clothes for her to try. "my respect for your taste is dwindling by the second." kida was jealous of allison's wardrobe, and as she glanced down at what she was wearing, she frowned.

she was wearing a white tank top, a pale blue tennis skirt, and one of stiles' blue zip up hoodies, with his name and lacrosse number on the back. she had bought him that for his birthday, as she knew how much lacrosse meant to him. lydia made a small noise of liking as she pulled out a black sequinned dress, laying it on allison's bed. "i like it. i can guarantee scott will say 'it matches your eyes.' cause he loves how dark they are." the girls laughed at this, and kida actually felt as though she had female friends, rather than her very girly best friends.

she smiled as allison's dad walked in, waving and smiling to the man. "dad, hello." allison's expression changed as the nodded towards the door, her grin more forced now. "right. i'm sorry, i completely forgot to knock. i wanted to tell you that you'll be staying in tonight." kida suddenly felt very awkward with the father-daughter moment, and desperately wanted to get out of there. "what? i'm going out with my friends tonight." kida twiddled with her thumbs and pulled her phone out, immediately texting someone she knew would come through for her. 

when her phone rang she smiled, answering it with a coy expression. "hey grandpa. i thought you weren't getting home till 10? okay okay, i'll be home in 15." she sighed as she hung up the phone, pushing it into the hoodie pocket and frowning. "grandpa and milo just got home, i'll see you guys tomorrow?" the two girls nodded, allison wrapping her in a hug and sending her out. as she got outside she spotted a familiar vehicle, grinning and hopping in the passenger seat. "stiles stilinski, what would i do without you?" she leant over to place a thanking kiss on his cheek, letting her lips linger.

"crash and burn. what happened?" she leant her head against the window, telling stiles the story of allison's debacle with her father. "sounds brutal, my house or yours?" she shrugged her shoulders, smiling when he drove towards his own house. she assumed the sheriff would be working late, which meant a star wars marathon and endless popcorn. "how do you think scott's doing on his date?" stiles looked to the girl with a confused expression, remembering what she told him.

"she snuck out." she told him after seeing his cute confused puppy face. he simply nodded, pushing a hand through his hair, or lack of, when he noticed her outfit. his breath hitched in his throat at her short skirt, and the way she would always wear his clothes. it made him feel as though she wanted everyone to think she was his. when they got into the house, kida immediately flopped onto the couch, her head hitting the arm of it, eliciting a groan from her. "stiles, will you make me popcorn?" he nodded, waving her off absentmindedly.

"thanks baby." the girl was tired, and whenever she was tired, she was particularly affectionate with stiles. he couldn't ignore the way his heart jumped and fluttered at the pet name, but chose not to address it. kida pulled the star wars dvd out of its case, slotting it into the tv and grabbing a blanket for them to share. when stiles returned with the popcorn, kida was waiting for him. he took a seat, her head immediately falling to his lap, his hand going to her hair. "stiles i have an idea."

"scotty's gonna be home from the group date by now, and i think we should go and bully him." stiles immediately agreed, grabbing her hand and pulling her out of the door and to the jeep. he grinned at how eager she was to tease scott, something they always enjoyed doing together. "drive, stilinski, drive." as they drove to scott's house, kida decided they would use one of the only working things in roscoe, the cd player. kida's favourite casingle was in there, and she already knew that she and stiles would be singing it.

he grinned when he heard the familiar song, screaming the lyrics with the girl beside him. "it's not right, but it's okay, i'm gonna make it anyway." the included their hand gestures, fake microphones and fake tears as they sped down the road to scott's, eagerly waiting to find out how the date went. "we're gonna have to climb aren't we?" for once, kida was glad she had spandex shorts under her skirt, or she would've had a hell of a lot of trouble with stiles climbing behind her. stiles went to help her up, not knowing where to put his hands on the girl.

"you can touch me, sti, i don't have a disease." his hands landed on her waist, pushing her up into the tree outside scott's house, the girl climbing onto a smaller roof to get to scott's window. stiles was quick to follow, the two of them screaming when they saw a figure coming at them with a baseball bat. "stiles, kida, what the hell are you doing here?" it turns out the figure was melissa, and she thought they were possible mass murderers breaking into her son's bedroom. "what am i doing? god, do either of you even play baseball?"

stiles was yelling, and kida cowered into his frame, sitting between his legs and hiding her face in his chest. scott flicked the lights on, entering his room to see his mom threatening his best friends with a baseball bat. "can you please tell your friends to use the front door?" melissa was obviously tired, and couldn't be dealing with their bullshit right now. "but we lock the front door, he wouldn't be able to get in." scott frowned at kida, who was still huddled into stiles' body, his arms tight around her. "yeah, exactly." kida giggled from her place, pushing her way out of stiles' hold and sitting beside him instead.

"and by the way, do none of you care that there's a police enforced curfew?" the three best friends looked to each other momentarily, before shaking their heads and answering 'no'. "no. all right then. well, you know what? that's about enough parenting from me for one night. so good night." melissa leant down to kiss kida's forehead, the girl smiling fondly at the older woman. "night, melissa." stiles sighed as melissa left the room, his eyes trained on scott. "my dad left for the hospital fifteen minutes ago. it's the bus driver. he texted me while we were on the way here."

"why didn't you tell me? dude, important information." kida sighed, laying her head on his shoulder gently. "they said he succumbed to his wounds." kida knew what that meant, but my the expression on scott's face, she guessed he didn't. "succumbed?" she hung her head low, the innocent boy not understanding. she moved to wrap an arm around his shoulders, pulling her best friend into her body and running a hand through his hair.

"scott, he's dead."