Love's Spiral

Stiles drove quickly through the twist and turns of the backroads that wound around the forest preserve.

Spencer did everything that she could not to slide around in the passenger seat. “Stiles?” she questioned. “Is there any way that you could, I don’t know, slow down?”

“No, can do.” He replied. “Gotta find Scott.”

Spencer nodded. “I know we do. However, I’m sure that we could do that at a slower pace. You know, it could save our lives.”

“And let someone else find him all wolfed out and call animal control? Or - or the FBI or some other secret government association that hunts supernatural creatures? Hell, no.”

“Well, have you actually tried that avenue?” Spencer asked. “Why don’t you call the station? Maybe someone has seen him and called it in.” Spencer thought. “Worst comes to worst, someone says its a mountain lion.”

“Gah!” Stiles exclaimed. “Genius. You’re perfect.”

Spencer raised an eyebrow at him.

“I mean, uh, great idea.” Spencer laughed as Stiles lost his words. He took out his phone and pressed the speed dial for the station.

“Beacon Hills Sheriff Department. What’s your emergency?”

Spencer stared at Stiles. The phone was held up to her ear, but she heard the lady on the other line clear as day. She furrowed her brow.

“Yeah, it’s Stiles.” He said, urgently.

“Stiles, you know you can’t call the dispatch when I’m on duty.”

“I just need to know if you’ve gotten any odd calls?”

“Odd how?” the lady asked, sounding a little annoyed.

“Uh,” Stiles thought. “Like an odd person or a dog-like individual roaming the streets.”

“I’m hanging up on you now.”

“No! Wait, wait, wait!” he shouted into the phone.

“Goodbye.” Dispatch said, before hanging up with a click.

“God!” Stiles shouted before throwing the phone at Spencer.

“Hey! Watch it! Person here.” She exclaimed.

Stiles gave her an apologetic look.

“Was that on speaker phone?”

“No. Why?”

Spencer sighed. “I just figured out another one of my abilities.” Spencer reached in the back for her book. She flipped through it.

“Abilities?” Stiles questioned, still frantically looking left and right for Scott. “Now would be a perfect time to tell me what’s going on.”

Spencer sighed again. “I was hoping to tell you and Scott at the same time. Save myself some explanation. Oh, well. Shortly, I’m a witch.” Spencer said, flipping her page. “Urgh, where is it?”

“You’re a what?”

Spencer shook her head, impatiently. “A witch.”

“Well, you can be mean sometimes, but I wouldn’t go that far.”

“Stiles!”

“Alright, alright. You’re a witch? Like magic, wand waving. Cauldrons and dragons.”

“Well, probably just the magic part.”

“How do you know?”

Spencer rolled her eyes and took her hands away from the book. “I want to find the Companions page.” Spencer told the book. The pages began to turn on their own, quickly as if the wind was blowing through them.

Stiles took his eyes off the road to watch the book’s pages turn.

Spencer noticed the ground get bumpier and looked up to see Stiles swerving and heading straight for a tree. Spencer gasped. “Stiles!” she held her palm out to the steering wheel. The car moved itself back onto the road, right before colliding with the tree.

Stiles’ hands were over his head, attempting to shield himself from the oncoming crash. He opened his eyes to the steering wheel moving on its own.

“Holy…” Stiles said, aloud.

“Do you believe me now?” Spencer joked, smiling.

Stiles smiled back. “That is so cool.”

Spencer felt a pain start to sting her brain. She groaned. “Take it back.”

Stiles put his hands on the wheel and Spencer lowered her hand with a sigh of relief. She put a cool hand to her forehead.

“Hey, you alright?” Stiles asked.

Spencer nodded.

“Don’t push yourself too hard. Maybe it’s a thing you have to strengthen.” Stiles watched as Spencer cradled her head. He wanted more than anything to get her back. He was going to fight for her. He wasn’t afraid of Derek. But then again, Derek was older than him. Stronger than him. Not to mention slightly more attractive. “Hey…” he started.

Spencer turned her head to him.

“I got an idea. Why don’t we skip school again? Go back to my place, order a pizza, and study that thing.” He gestured to her book.

Spencer looked up at him, just staring for a moment. “You should hate me.” She admitted, looking back to her book. “And I know you got revenge by getting him arrested, but I did just punch you in the face.”

Stiles laughed. “Yeah, you did. You got a pretty good arm, too.”

Spencer laughed.

“But, honestly, Spencer, I don’t think I could hate you if I tried.”

Spencer showed him a small smile. “Thanks.” Spencer said.

Stiles nodded. He drove quickly back to his house, still trying to search for Scott, but he figured it was a long shot. When the two got to his house, Stiles went to call for the pizza and Spencer went for the fridge.

“Stiles! There’s no soda! Order one!” she shouted to him.

“Alright!”

Spencer took her book out of her backpack and opened to the page she was looking at in the car. She hadn’t read much into it before Stiles came into the kitchen to join her. She looked up at him. “Can I ask you something?”

Stiles nodded. “Shoot.”

“Did you really arrest Derek to get back at me? Was that your main goal behind it?”

Stiles gulped, “No. No, of course not. Scott smelled out the body. Found it buried on Derek’s property. We had him arrested because we were worried about you. It wasn’t to get back at you for kissing him and leaving me.”

“In fairness, I didn’t leave you. We just stopped being together.”

Stiles nodded again. There was a silence amongst the friends for a moment.

Spencer looked back to her book and something caught her eye. “He didn’t do it, you know.”

“How could you know that for sure?” Stiles asked.

Spencer didn’t answer. She was too into reading what she had found.

“Spencer?”

“What?” She looked up from the book, almost annoyed at him for interrupting her thoughts.

“Why do you believe him? How can you be so sure that any of what he’s telling you is the truth?”

“I’m his helper.” She said, confidently, then looking back to the book.

Stiles nodded, sarcastically, but still not understanding. “And what the hell does that mean?”

Spencer groaned. “Here, listen. ‘In order for the helper to be useful it is impossible for their supernatural counterparts to lie to them. The helpers should also be aware that they will begin to show characteristics of their companion.’”

“Maybe that’s why you could hear dispatch?” Stiles guessed, shrugging his shoulders.

Spencer nodded. “I also smelled the wolfsbane. Gave me a headache like you would not believe.”

“Okay. That’s a little creepy.”

“Stiles!” Spencer yelled, hitting his chest. “I know! I know that I’m a freak, okay? This is just like with Scott. I didn’t ask for this. Could you be a little gentler about it?” She looked down at the book.

“Spencer, you know I didn’t mean it like that. I get it. It’s hard for you. But I can’t help but see that you’re enjoying it. At least a little bit.”

Spencer bit her lip. “It’s how I can help Derek.” She said. “I know you don’t like him. I know you don’t trust him. But I do. You and him both mean a lot to me.”

“He just means more.”

Spencer furrowed her brow, and turned her body towards him. “No, Stile. Not at all. You’re my best friend. He’s just a guy. I’ve known you my whole life. I just met him. You’ll always come first.”

Stiles smiled. “Now that’s what I like to hear.” He said, cockily.

Spencer shook her head at him.

The doorbell rang.

“So, pizza?”

Spencer smiled and nodded.

Stiles went to go answer the door and get the pizza.

Spencer opened her book to the witch section. She read from the beginning. Maybe that would help get rid of the headaches when she used her powers.

Stiles came into the kitchen with the box of pizza and the soda. “You find anything?” he asked, setting the pizza down on the table.

“Lessons.” Spencer groaned. “Apparently, I can’t just go crazy with my powers. I have to learn how to do certain things before others. Then I won’t get headaches like I did with the car. Maybe it was too much to control.” Spencer pushed the book away. “As if school wasn’t enough. This would be so much easier if my dad could remember. He could help me.”

“So this is a family thing?” Stiles asked.

Spencer nodded.

“You don’t think this is how your dad got the way he is, do you?”

Spencer furrowed her brow. “No. I think my mom said it was a car crash.”

“Yeah. That’s what they told Harry Potter.” Stiles said.

Spencer galred at him. “Stiles, this isn’t a movie. It’s real.”

“It was a book, too.”

Spencer stared at him with narrowed eyes.

“Okay, not funny.”

“My dad is smart. He never woulda got himself killed. If he was even involved in any of this. I would imagine it’d be harder for men to help. They don’t change like I do.”

“That’s weird.”

“Tell me about it.”

“It’s also sexist.”

Spencer slapped his chest. “Stiles! This is my family you’re talking about. It is our gift. Don’t mock it.”

“I’m not. I’m just saying. It must be hard for you with all of this crap to deal with. But I’ll help you. Like I’m helping Scott.”

Spencer smiled. She opened the pizza box and took out a slice careful not to drop grease on the book.

Stiles stole the book away from her, closing it up and putting it in her backpack.

“Stiles!”

Stiles shook his head. “Spencer, you need to stop worrying about this stuff. I’ve changed my mind. Today, we are going to set aside the supernatural and have a day to ourselves. We’ll play video games, watch movies, and wait for Scott to come around.”

Spencer nodded, and finished chewing a bite of her pizza before speaking. “You don’t think we should have kept looking? I mean, Scott could be dangerous.”

“Nah, I’m sure he’s fine.”

“Stiles, he just found out he’s a freaking werewolf. He can’t control it. I don’t think anyone would be just fine after that. What if he hurts somebody?”

“Spence, we said we weren’t going to talk about this.”

Spencer groaned. “You can’t just let this go.”

“Well, you will.”

Spencer gave in, nodding. “So are you going to play tonight?”

Stiles shook his head. “No, but I think my Dad’s coming. And Allison. And Scott’s mom.”

“So, in other words, if he wolfs-out on the field, everyone is going to see it.

Stiles nodded, confirming her theory.

“Awesome.”

“Alright. Now I’m serious. No more talk of this. We’ll deal with it later. Until the game, you and I are going to be normal.”

“Even when we were normal, we weren’t normal.”

!@#$#@!

Stiles had to leave a little bit early to get to the school so he could get ready for the game. Spencer decided to wait around for the sheriff. She went up to Stiles’ room and just looked around.

Only a few days ago, she had been sleeping with Stiles here. Curled up to him. Kissing him. She was infatuated with Stiles. Then Derek happened. And he just kept popping up. He charmed her. She was angry about it. She was angry at herself for how she went about everything. Stiles wasn’t making it any better by being so nice to er. She wanted him to yell at her. To hate her. To never want to see her again. Most of all she wanted him to tell her what a horrible person that she was. Now, it didn’t even matter. He’s locked away in a cell. No one will believe her when she says that he didn’t do it. Not to mention the secret she’s keeping about herself. The secret that she can’t talk to anyone about but her two best friends, one of which happens to be MIA. She couldn’t talk to her dad, the only one who would help her.

She curled up into Stiles’ bed, and pulled the covers over her. She closed her eyes, letting a tear escape.

“Hey, bud. I thought you had a game tonight. I was just coming home to grab a bite to eat.” Spencer heard. The voice startled her and she shot up in the bed, seeing the sheriff at the door, wiping the tear away quickly. “Oh, Spencer. Are you okay?”

Spencer nodded. “I’m just tired. I thought I could squeeze in a nap before you got home. Stiles said you would drive me to the game.”

“I can do that.” Sheriff told her. He looked at her warily. “Are you sure you’re alright?”

Spencer nodded again. “You don’t need to play Papa Stiles right now. Im’ okay.”

The Sheriff smiled and nodded. “You wanna get going?”

Spencer nodded and pushed herself out of her friend’s bed, into the chill of the cold room. She followed quietly behind the sheriff to his cruiser, grabbing her backpack, with her family book in it, from the kitchen, still not saying anything as he started to drive towards the school. Spencer stared out the car window. She didn’t want to talk, but she had to ask. “Did you find anything to prove Derek’s innocence?”

The sheriff looked at her for a brief moment before looking back to the road. “I can’t - ”

“Talk to me about an open case. I know. I guess I was just hoping.” Spencer trailed off, looking back to the window.

The sheriff sighed. “We’re doing our best, Spencer, but he is our only lead. You know, I can’t help but think that it was him.”

“It wasn’t.”

“Evidence points to him. Stiles found the girl’s body on Hale’s property.”

“It could have been planted on his property by someone else who wanted to frame him.” She said, turning her head towards him. “I know he didn’t do it. He couldn’t have done it.” She said quietly.

“Spencer, I can’t just trust your judgement.” He said, seriously. “And I’m not sure that you should be hanging around with someone who has been accused of murdering a young girl.”

“Allegedly murdering a young girl.” Spencer stressed. “Don’t believe me all you want, but he didn’t do it.”

The two remained silent for the rest of the car ride. A single tear fell from her face. She wanted to tell the sheriff. She wished she could tell someone useful how she knew Derek didn’t do it. She wanted more than anything to help get Derek out of that cell.

When they got to the school, Sheriff put the car in park and sighed. “I don’t know what’s going on with you and Hale. Really, it’s none of my business, but when I have to arrest him, I’m gonna make it my business. And for two seconds I thought that you and Stiles were…something.” The sheriff said, confused.

Spencer felt bad that he had brought that up.

“I just, I don’t like seeing either of you getting hurt. You’re like a daughter to me, Spencer.”

Spencer bit her lip and turned her head. Hearing that, made her think of her own father.

“I worry about you. I know a little bit about what’s going on at home. I know that your mom isn’t always around when she’s trying to take care of your father. I know you do a lot of running away to my house. You try to hide it. You don’t need to. I understand that things are hard, and if you want, we can talk to your mom about you moving into our house.”

Spencer turned to look at him, shock on her face. “Are you serious?”

“Well, yeah.” He said, as if it were the easiest thing in the world. “You’re around enough anyway.”

“Where will I stay?”

“There’s a room upstairs full of stuff we haven’t gone through in years. If you and Stiles help me by clearing it out, we’ll talk to your mom.”

Spencer couldn’t help but smile, but she still had to think about it. “Can I talk to Stiles about it? I’d like to make sure that he was okay with the idea.”

“Take as long as you need. We’ll figure something out.” The sheriff told her.

Spencer smiled. She leaned over the center of the car to hug him. “You have no idea how much this means to me.” Spencer said, almost on the verge of tears.

The sheriff didn’t know what to do at first, mainly out of surprise. But then he quickly wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

“This will take so much weight off my shoulders.”

The sheriff nodded into her shoulder and pulled away from the redhead.

“Thanks, Papa Stiles.” Spencer could tell instantly that he wasn’t about all the lovey-dovey stuff. He was beginning to get a little nervous. She knew where Stiles got it from, how he would sometimes get a little shifty. She smiled. “Alright, I get it. Let’s go watch some lacrosse. You need a dose of testosterone.” Spencer joked.

Sheriff nodded and the two got out of the car. They walked down to the field. Stiles was sitting on the bench to himself. Spencer followed the sheriff down to the bench. The man put a hand on Stiles’ shoulder. Stiles turned around almost scared.

“Hey, kid.” Sheriff said.

“Dad, hey!” Stiles said, his eyes looked to Spencer. She nodded a hello.

“So, do you think you’ll see any action tonight?” his father asked.

Stiles’ eyes flickered between Spencer and his father.

Spencer looked down at her feet, really not knowing what to say. She looked quickly to the field and saw Scott out there warming up. Breath caught in her throat and she shook it off with a cough.

“Action? Maybe.” Stiles suggested, thinking the same thing that Spencer was. There definitely could be some action that night, but it definitely could be some action that night, but it would not be had by Stiles. Scott was a different story. Sheriff excused himself from the conversation and went to sit on the bleachers. Spencer sat herself down next to Stiles on the bench.

“Did you talk to him?” she asked. Stiles nodded. “And?”

“He’s freaking out. I tried to help him not think about things, but I might have only made it worse.” Stiles admitted.

Spencer groaned. She pulled backpack from around her shoulder. “Maybe I can find something in the book.” She suggested.

“Here? You wanna take a big leathery book that belongs in the thirteenth century out in front of a lacrosse game full of high school kids? Does that sound like a smart idea to you?”

Spencer thought, shaking her head. “No, but I might be able to change it.” She stuck her hand in the bag and placed it on the book. She imagined a spiral notebook in her mind, and immediately felt that the book was moving, changing. She took it out and smirked to her friend. She opened it and flipped to a section about emotions. She groaned. She wasn’t supposed to learn that lesson yet. It was far too advanced for her to try now. She didn’t care. She showed the book to Stiles. He gave her a questioning look realizing how hard that it would be for her. Spencer nodded. “I can do it.”

Stiles nodded, taking her word for it.

“Scott.” Spencer called.

Scott’s head turned slightly towards her.

“There can be something that I can do to help, but still try your best to keep your heart rate low.”

Scott nodded.

“This isn’t going to be easy on you, is it?” Stiles asked.

“Not by a long shot, but if he shifts on that field, we’re all dead.” Spencer whispered.