Love's Spiral

“Spencer!” Stiles shouted, splashing his hand into the water. Spencer had taken it upon herself to use the block that she had free period and lunch to swim laps in the pool. She hadn’t been in water for so long and she was stressed out. Spencer needed to focus on something other than werewolves, Derek, or Isaac. She noticed Stiles’ hand and came up from underwater when she got to the wall. She quickly wiped her face and pushed back her hair.

“What happened?” she asked, out of breath. “During the test.”

“Scott had a panic attack.” Stiles responded.

“He what?!”

“I really don’t think that I am liable to tell you anything else since you said you don’t want to be involved anymore.”

Spencer nodded, “No, yeah. You’re right. Grab me my towel?” She questioned as she gestured to the bleachers behind the boy.

Stiles quickly moved to retrieve the towel as Spencer pushed herself out of the pool. Walking back, Stiles slowed, getting nervous seeing Spencer in the state that she was in.

Spencer rolled her eyes. “Stiles!” She shouted, focusing his attention on something other than her body.

“Right, yeah. Sorry.” He said, handing her the towel.

“Well, since you can’t say anything, can I ask you a question?” Spencer asked, wrapping the towel around herself.

“Shoot.”

“Now that you know who Isaac is, do you think you could pay a little more attention to him at practice, you know, since you don’t play?”

“Thanks for rubbing that wound, Spence.”

“You’re welcome.” She responded quickly. “So, could you?”

“What’s going on?” Stiles said nervously. He was hoping this Isaac kid wouldn’t come between the two of them like Derek did. Stiles didn’t want to bring it up though, just in case it would get her angry.

Spencer, however curious, noticed that if they weren’t lacrosse bruises, Isaac wouldn’t want it getting out if something was going on at home. It especially shouldn’t be mentioned to the sheriff’s son. Spencer didn’t know whether or not Stiles would tell his dad, but there was always the possibility. So she lied. “I’m just trying to see exactly how badly the players get beat up, you know? And since Isaac’s a friend, technically it shouldn’t be weird for you to look out for him.”

“Yeah.” Stiles answered, drawing out the response. He was still a little confused, but he would do it for her. “I could do that.”

Spencer smiled and pushed herself forward to kiss him, grabbing his shirt so she wouldn’t lean on Stiles and get him wet.

Stiles was surprised, but he enjoyed the kiss while it lasted.

Spencer pulled away and looked at Stiles in his dazed state. She smiled. “Alright, well, I’m gonna go take a shower. I’ll see you later, okay?”

!@#$#@!

The rest of the day went in a blur for Stiles. He trudged through his day, only thinking of why Spencer would want him to watch after Isaac. Of course, his mind went to the worst that could happen. He was thinking that she had a crush on him. What other option could there be since Spencer was worried about him? Friends didn’t make sure that the other didn’t get beaten up badly on the lacrosse field.

Stiles was losing her. It had been hard for the both of them lately. After Spencer decided she didn’t want anything to do with the werewolf stuff, Stiles had tried to keep her out of it. Only with Scott being his other best friend, Stiles always had his part in the supernatural, trying to figure out what was going on with his friend. Since Spencer’s decision, they were talking a lot less than they ever have. Spencer didn’t do much throughout her day and Stiles was always helping Scott. The relationship strings were being tightly pulled.

Stiles never thought he would even make first string. Which was why he was surprised when Coach put him up to it this week. He was excited and had completely forgotten about his problems with Spencer.

“Dude, can you believe this?” he asked Scott after Coach had dismissed them to the field.

Scott wasn’t actually in the mood for his cheeriness.

“You’re captain. I’m first line.” Stiles smiled and started laughing as he said it, not really believing it himself. “I’m first freaking line!” The boys walked out of the locker rooms and into the hallway. “Are you not freaking out? I’m freaking out.”

“What’s the point? It’s just a stupid title.” Scott admitted, sighing. “And I could practically smell the jealousy in there.”

“Wait,” Stiles said, stopping Scott in the middle of the hallway. “You smelled jealousy?”

“Yeah, it’s like the full moon’s turned everything up to ten.” Scott complained.

“Huh.” Stiles said, thoughtfully. “Can you pick up on stuff like, I dunno, desire?” Stiles asked, looking over to the open double doors to his left.

“What do you mean, desire? What’s wrong with you and Spencer?” Scott asked, worried for his two best friends.

“Nothing, nothing!” he said quickly. “I mean like sexual desire?”

“Sexual desire?” Scott questioned, raising an eyebrow.

“Yeah, sexual desire.” Stiles reiterated. “Lust, passion, arousal.”

Scott followed where his eyes had gone just seconds earlier. “You mean, from Lydia?”

“What? No, in a general, broad sense, can you determine sexual desire.”

Scott gave him a look that showed that he had no intention of believing his best friend. “From Lydia to you?”

“Fine! Yes, from Lydia to me. Look, I need to know if I have a chance with this girl, okay? I’ve been obsessing over her since, like, the third freaking grade.”

“Why don’t you just ask her?” Scott asked.

“Well, to save myself utterly crushing humiliation.Thank you, Scott. And not to mention that her and Spencer have become friends again… Sort of.”

“Speaking of Spencer…”

“Will you just go up to her and ask her if she likes me, please?” Stiles shrugged, trying to figure out how he’d get Scott to agree. “See if her heartbeat rises or something. Maybe pheromones come out.” Stiles gestured weirdly around his head.

“Fine.” Scott said, turning and walking in Lydia’s direction.

“I love you.” Stiles called after him. “I love you! You’re my best friend in the whole world.” Stiles punched the air before walking out to the field alone, leaving his best friend to handle Lydia.

!@#$#@!

The crushing blow of his best friend making out with the girl he’s loved for ages made him not really care what happened to Scott tonight. Scott didn’t find out if Lydia liked him, he only used the situation to his own advantage. That’s the worst thing a best friend could do. After practice he showered quickly, avoiding Scott, and then hurried off to the library to get Spencer.

Stiles saw her sitting at a table to herself and made his way through the tables to get her. He took the seat across from her and waited until she looked up from her book. He sighed, running a hand over his head. “Scott made out with Lydia.”

Spencer smiled, not believing. “No, he didn’t.” she said quietly.

“Yeah, he did.”

“How do you know that?”

“I just do. Okay? And it’s really pissed me off.”

“Why? I mean, no offense, but you know that Lydia is never going to like you.” Spencer pursed her lips watching his facial expression. It only showed that it was angry. Spencer knew that he was still stuck on Lydia, and she wasn’t sure if that would ever change. “And, you know, the funny thing is,” Spencer said laughing as she started closing her book and stuffing it in her bag, “I kinda thought that you were okay with me. That you were happy with me and Lydia wasn’t much of a thought anymore.” Spencer stood up from the table, and walked towards the exit of the library.

“Spence…” Stiles, started, getting up and blocking her way. “I am happy.”

“Doesn’t seem like it.” Spencer explained.

Stiles looked at her, reaching his hand out to hold the top of her arm. “I’m more than happy with you, but Lydia - ”

“Is the girl you’ve had a crush on for ages, I know. But, Stiles,” Spencer pushed her bag on her shoulder to keep it from falling, “you’ve been the guy I’ve had a crush on for ages.”

Stiles sighed.

“Look, right now it doesn’t matter. You need to put your beef with Scott aside so that we can help him tonight.” Spencer walked around Stiles, heading towards the parking lot.

“We?” Stiles questioned, following after her. “You said that you didn’t want anything to do with this stuff.”

“I don’t, but you can’t deal with this stuff on your own. In case you’ve forgotten, Full Moon Scott is quite a handful.”

“Yeah, and I’m prepared.”

“How? You steal a pair of handcuffs from your dad?” Spencer asked, jokingly. She looked back to Stiles realizing that he had stopped in his place.

Stiles scratched the back of his head.

Spencer groaned, realizing that was exactly his plan. She reached back and grabbed his arm, pulling him along to the parking lot and Stiles’ Jeep. The two arrived at the McCall household and entered using Stiles’ key to their house.

“Scott?” Spencer heard Melissa McCall ask aloud.

The woman came around the corner from the living room. When Melissa noticed it wasn’t her son, she looked confused.

“Stiles.” the boy said, shakily. Stiles and Melissa had a small staredown before Spencer had to say hello for herself.

“Hey, Momma.” Spencer said, using her nickname for her friend’s mom.

Melissa looked down at Stiles’ hand and pointed to it. “Key!” She noticed.

“Yeah!” Stiles said, excitedly. “I had one made, so…”

“From the key that you gave me, I’m guess.” Spencer said, as she glared at Stiles. It is something that he would do. “He must’ve taken it off my keyring. Sorry.” Spencer said, sheepishly.

“That doesn’t surprise me. It scares me, but it doesn’t surprise me.” Melissa said, looking down the hall.

Spencer turned while she wasn’t looked and slapped Stiles’ arm, making him drop the duffel bag that he was carrying. Apparently, he had more than handcuffs in there. The bag made a noise of metal clanging to the wood floor as it dropped.

Melissa’s eyes shot to the bag. “What is that?”

Spencer was in shock, hoping that their cover wasn’t blown.

Stiles was staring at the bag, mouth agape, looking for a reasonable excuse. “Uh...school project.” He said finally.

“Hmmm. Scott’s not here yet, but you can wait for him.” Melissa said, barely believing him, but dropping it. “Guys, he’s okay, right?” The question surprised the teens.

“Who? Scott?” Stiles asked.

Melissa nodded. “Yeah. Totally.”

“He just doesn’t talk to me that much anymore, not like he used to.” the mom admitted.

Spencer bit her lip. His mom had noticed a change in him. If only her own mother could see something was wrong with her. Spencer hated to see Scott’s relationship with his mom go down the drain because of his circumstance. “He’s fine, Momma. It’s really been a rough week for all of us. Since the school.” Spencer explained.

Melissa nodded. “Yeah, yeah. I get it.” Melissa searched for her bag looking for her keys. “Uh, okay. You know, be careful tonight.”

“You, too.” Stiles said, happy to get Melissa out of the house.

“Full moon.” Melissa said, quickly.

“What?” Stiles questioned, surprised. Had Melissa actually figured it out?

Melissa looked up after finding her keys. “There’s a full moon tonight.” She laughed once. “You should see how the ER gets. Brings out all the nut jobs.”

Spencer and Stiles both let out a sigh of relief. “Oh!” Stiles said. “Right.”

“You know,” Melissa started, moving her way between the teenagers towards the front door. “It’s actually where they came up with the word ‘lunatic’.” Melissa left both Spencer and Stiles in a little bit of shock as she left the house. They waited in the foyer until they heard the car drive off. Spencer and Stiles shared a look.

“Do you think we should have told her what’s really going on with Scott?” Spencer asked.

“And what? Have her call animal control? That’s not exactly the brightest plan.” Stiles answered.

Spencer shrugged, admitting that was true. “C’mon.” she said, rushing towards the stairs and Scott’s room. Spencer arrived at the empty room and opened the door. It was dark inside so she assumed that Scott wasn’t home yet. Either way, she turned on the light. As soon as the light was on she saw a figure sitting in the chair in the corner. She screamed

Stiles came up behind her and saw that it was Scott. Stiles put a hand on Spencer to calm her. “Spence, it’s Scott!” he said over her scream.

Spencer took another look at the chair and saw that it was, indeed, Scott. She put a hand on her chest, hoping it would help control her heart rate.

Stiles walked towards Scott. “Dude. You scared the hell out of us.”

Scott didn’t respond.

“Your mom said you weren’t home yet.” Stiles walked into the bedroom more and threw the bag on the floor.

Spencer got herself comfortable on the bed.

“I came in through the window.” Scott said. His voice sounded very grave, almost deadly.

“Okay.” Stiles said, shakily. “Uh, well let’s get this set up.” He reached into his bag, pulling things out. “I want you to see what I bought.”

“I’m fine.”

“No, you’re not.” Spencer told Scott. “You’re sitting in your chair like a freaking zombie. Do you really think you would be doing that under normal circumstances?”

Scott completely ignored Spencer’s comment. “I’m just gonna lock the door and go to bed early tonight.”

Stiles gave Scott a questioning look. “Are you sure about that? ‘Cause you’ve got this kinda serial killer look going on in your eyes, and I’m hoping it’s the full moon taking effect, ‘cause it’s really starting to freak me out.”

“It’s the full moon, Stiles.” Spencer whispered in his direction. “I’m just glad that he’s not projecting. I don’t even want to know how he’s feeling right now.”

“I’m fine.” Scott insisted. “You should go now.”

Stiles looked up to Spencer.

Spencer shook her head at him, but he didn’t listen.

“Alright, we’ll leave.” Stiles agreed, starting to push himself off the ground.

“Stiles.” Spencer hissed, not wanting to leave Scott alone.

Stiles let out a quick breath of air. “Well, look, would you just at least look in the bag and see what I bought? You know, maybe you use it, maybe you don’t.” Stiles through his hands in the air once not really caring what the answer was at this point.

Spencer had no clue what Stiles was planning, but she was hoping that it would work. She felt bad for Scott. Scott slowly got out of the chair and walked toward Stiles. Spencer was nervous. Their possible ravenous werewolf friend was walking towards Stiles on a full moon. They had no idea what to expect.

Scott knelt down and picked up a handful of the chairs. He looked from the chairs to Stiles and back. “You think I’m gonna let you put these on and chain me up like a dog?”

Stiles waited a minute before answered.

Spencer noticed Stiles reach for his back pocket. Her eyes widened, but she couldn’t say anything in case Scott would realize what he was up to.

“Actually, no.” Stiles responded, grabbing Scott’s wrist, taking out the handcuffs and cuffing him to his radiator.

Spencer quickly got up and pulled Stiles out of Scott’s grasp.

Scott groaned. “What the hell are you doing?!”

“Protecting you from yourself and giving you some payback.”

“Payback?” Spencer questioned.

Scott glared at his two friends.
“For making out with Lydia.” Stiles said. Just as he said it, he walked out of Scott’s room, leaving him chained up.

Spencer followed after Stiles quickly, not wanting to be left alone in a room with Scott. “What in hell are you talking about?”

“Scott made out with Lydia. Remember?” Stiles said, going down the stairs to the kitchen in search of a couple of things.

“I remembered. But I also remember that you told me that earlier and you said that you’d put it behind you for tonight.” Spencer insisted. “I just don’t understand why you’re still so upset.”

“I’m not upset.” He said, taking a water bottle out of the fridge.

“Yes, you are, Stiles. You said so yourself. You’re getting payback by chaining up our best friend in his own bedroom.” Spencer watched as Stiles continued to open and close cabinets in search of something in particular. “Stiles.” She said, trying to get his attention. “Stiles!” she screamed at him when he didn’t respond. Spencer still didn’t get an answer, but Stiles seemed to find what he was looking for.

Stiles grabbed an old dog bowl from the back of one of the cabinets and took a sharpie, writing Scott’s name on the side of the bowl.

Spencer followed him as he walked back up the stairs and to Scott’s room. Spencer waited outside the door for Stiles to antagonize Scott.

“I brought you some water.” Stiles said, taking the water bottle, emptying it into the dog bowl and putting it on the floor next to Scott. Stiles moved to walk out of the room and was splashed with the water he had just put in the bowl.

Scott had thrown the bowl at stiles and shouted. “I’m gonna kill you!”

Spencer jumped and hid behind the door frame.

Stiles was stopped in the doorway, thinking of his next move. He looked down at Spencer with a sympathetic look. Stiles turned back around. “You kissed her, Scott, okay? That’s, like, the only other girl that I…” he stopped, looking back towards Spencer out of the corner of his eye. “But, you know, the past three hours, I’ve been thinking, it’s probably just the full moon, you know. He doesn’t even know what he’s doing, and tomorrow, he’ll be totally back to normal. He probably won’t even remember what a complete dumbass he’s been.” Stiles took a breath. “A son of a bitch, a freaking unbelievable piece of crap best friend.”

“She kissed me.” Scott said, softly.

Spencer’s eyes shot to her friend on the ground.

Scott was looking evilly up at Stiles.

Stiles took a step back. “What?”

Scott raised his eyebrows, quickly. “I didn’t kiss her. She kissed me.”

Stiles looked at his friend in disbelief. He turned and walked out of the room.

Spencer stopped him before he went downstairs.

Stiles threw himself against the wall.

“She woulda done a lot more, too.”

Spencer could see how this was upsetting Stiles. It was upsetting her, too. Scott was their best friend and he seemed to be enjoying making Stiles feel terrible about himself. In truth, Spencer wasn’t surprised about Stiles being upset at Scott for kissing Lydia. She knew now that it would never go away. “Stiles,” she said to him.

“You should have seen the way she had her hands all over me.”

Stiles slid down the wall as Scott continued to say these things to him.

Spencer knelt down in front of him.

Stiles wouldn’t meet her eyes.

Spencer put her hands on either side of his face and forced him to. “Stiles, don’t listen to him.”

“She would have done anything I wanted.”

“Stiles, that is not Scott in there, okay? That’s the wolf part of him. It’ll be just like you said. Tomorrow, he’ll be back to normal, okay?”

“Anything!” Scott stressed, so loudly, that Spencer could hear the echo in the empty house.