Love's Spiral

Spencer woke up early the next morning, hardly remembering her night with Stiles. The empty carton of ice cream sat on Stiles’ side table with the spoons inside. The sugar hangover she now had didn’t do much in the way of her grogginess. Spencer had to roll herself slowly out of the bed so as not to disturb the sleeping Stiles next to her. She carefully tiptoed out of the room, opening the door so she could leave. As Spencer pulled it open, it started to squeak. She stopped it quickly and looked to Stiles.

The boy rolled over onto his other side and groaned heavily in his sleep.

Spencer rolled her eyes and shook her head at him. She slipped through the small opening in the door and left the Stilinski house. Spencer climbed into her truck and drove away from the house, towards the loft.

When Spencer arrived, she went straight to her room, throwing her present from Stiles to her bed. She went to her dresser, pulling out fresh clothes for the day.

Isaac came to her door a moment later. “Where have you been?” He asked.

Spencer shoots her eyes to him and then back to the drawer as she closed it. “The park.”

“Really?” Isaac said curiously, taking a few steps closer to her. “‘Cause you smell a whole lot like Stiles.”

Spencer shrugged, wanting to pass him to get to the bathroom, but Isaac wouldn’t let her. “So, I stopped by.”

“We have a fight and you run to Stiles?” Isaac shook his head, getting in Spencer’s way again as she tried to pass him.

“I didn’t run to Stiles.” Spencer said between her teeth. “I missed my best friend. I wanted to go see him. So I went to see him. You and me fighting had nothing to do with it.”

“What did you do then?”

Spencer scoffed, throwing her clothes to her bed. It was obvious to her, Isaac wasn’t going to let her shower anytime soon. “Not that I have explain myself to you, but I got some ice cream and we talked.”

“What about?”

“I don’t know.” Spencer shrugged. “Everything. Anything. We hadn’t talked in months. There was a lot we missed out on.”

“You didn’t tell him, did you?” Isaac asked, “About the alphas?”

“No. Of course, I didn’t.” Spencer insisted, sitting on her bed. “But would it be so bad if I did?”

“Yeah, Spencer. It would.”

“Why? Because they’d know what was coming?” She guessed. “Because we’d have the extra help?”

Isaac couldn’t answer.

“Not telling them… It doesn’t make sense anymore.” Spencer said. “We need the help. You know that we do.”

Isaac pursed his lips. “I found a new lead. To Erica and Boyd.”

Spencer scoffed and went to pick up her clothes.

“I think this might really be it this time.”

“Didn’t you say that about last time?”

“This time is different.”

Spencer looked to him. “You said that about last time, too.” Spencer finally managed to get passed him to go towards the bathroom.

Isaac followed her. “I’m going.”

“You’re not supposed to go alone.” Spencer said, reminding him of the rule. She got herself into the bathroom and tried to shut the door.

Isaac put a hand on the door, stopping Spencer from slamming it. “Someone’s gotta do it. And since you’re wallowing in pity, you’re not gonna come with me.”

Spencer pursed her lips, nodding. “Fine. Go.”

“Fine.” Isaac took his hand off the door and stormed down the stairs.

“Just be sure to check in!” She called after him. Spencer took in a deep breath and let it out heavily when she heard the elevator start to move. She pushed her hair out of her face, frustrated with it for the moment. Spencer shook her head and closed the bathroom door to take her shower.

!@#$#@!

Hours. Nineteen hours.

Too long since Isaac had walked out of the loft. There have been no calls, no texts, nothing.

Isaac knew the rules. He could quote them in his sleep. You check in with the safe word every hour. Every half hour if you were alone. That's how it was supposed to work for the two of them with Derek gone.

Spencer has called numerous times. Left a number of voicemails. Isaac wasn’t answering. He wasn’t responding and Spencer was scared. Without thinking twice about what she was doing, she called Derek’s number. Spencer waited the certain amount of rings for it to go to voicemail.

“Derek, I know you’re busy, and I know we’re not exactly on speaking terms, but Isaac’s gone. He left early this morning saying he had a lead for Erica and Boyd and now…” Spencer sighed, her breath shaking, “Now, he’s just not answering and he hasn’t checked in. And I’m scared and I don’t know what to do because I don’t know where he went. I’m scared they may have gotten him, too. I was stupid to let him go. So, please. Please just come home.”

Spencer hit end on the call. She squeezed her phone tight, careful not to crush it. Spencer threw it hard onto her bed and followed by herself. She rubbed her hands on her face trying to think rationally about what she had to do. Spencer picked up her laptop from the floor next to her bed and logged into her cell phone account. Tracing his phone. That’s what she had to do. Spencer clicked on Isaac’s phone and tried to activate the GPS, but it didn’t work.

Spencer took a hard gulp, swallowing the lump that was quickly forming in her throat. The alphas had him. They had to. They were the ones that disabled Isaac’s phone. Spencer leaned back into her bed and put a hand on her forehead to calm her down. She felt a tear roll down her cheek and quickly wiped it away. Spencer needed Isaac. She still wasn’t sure if what she felt about him was real or just something she was telling herself to feel, but Spencer needed him. Isaac was one of her best friends and if he wound up dead alongside Erica and Boyd, what was she going to do?

Spencer got up from her bed and went to Isaac’s room to steal another one of his sweatshirts. She had plenty, but none of them smelled like him anymore. Spencer laid down on his bed, helplessly. There wasn’t anything she could do until Derek got home. If he would ever come home. The only thing she could do, was sleep.

!@#$#@!

Spencer hadn’t been sleeping, but for maybe an hour when she heard her phone ringing from the other room. She slowly woke up, trying to remember where she had left her phone. Spencer woke quickly when she heard its chimes coming from the other room. She rushed into her room and slid her finger across the screen to answer the call without bothering to look at who the call was from. “Hey, Isaac? Hello? I’m here.”

“Spencer?”

“Momma Mel?” Spencer questioned, furrowing her brow. “What’s wrong? Is Scott okay?”

“Scott’s fine.” Melissa told her. “I’m calling about Isaac.”

“Isaac? What about Isaac?” she asked urgently.

“Paramedics just brought him in. And I know he’s a…” Melissa changed her voice to a whisper, “werewolf and all, but he has got some pretty serious injuries.”

“Alright, look. I’m on my way.” Spencer said, looking around her room for her keys. “Could you just try to hold off any doctors from seeing him? If they see him healing, it won’t be good.”

Melissa sighed through the phone. “I’ll do my best.”

Spencer groaned, finally finding her keys. “Thank you so much. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

“Spencer.” Melissa said, before Spencer could hang up.

“What?”

"Just be careful, okay? I don’t know what this is all about, but be careful.”

Spencer’s heart ached in her chest, being reminded of the care Melissa had for her. It was hard to imagine her own mother telling her something like that. “I will. Thanks.” Spencer hung up the phone and decided it would be faster to take the fire escape to the ground floor. She jumped down a majority of the stairs and climbed into her truck, quickly driving off. Spencer dialed Derek’s number again.

“I know I was freaking out when I left that voicemail, but they found Isaac. Problem is he’s in the hospital, and I probably won’t be able to get him out by myself. So, still, come home. But a lot quicker than you would have been an hour ago.” Spencer ended the call and stuffed her phone in the pocket of Isaac’s sweatshirt. She drove quickly to the hospital, parked, and rushed herself into the hospital.

Upon entering, Spencer went straight for the front desk where she saw Melissa sitting. Spencer was shaking. “Hey.” She said quietly.

Melissa looked up at her and smiled. “Hi, sweetheart. How are you doing?”

“As well as can be expected. Can I see him?”

Melissa nodded, standing from her seat and moving around the desk. She put an arm around Spencer’s shoulder to guide her to the elevator. “Come on.” Melissa pushed the call button and they waited for the elevator to arrive.

Spencer can’t relax. She can’t stop shaking. Spencer won’t. Not until she sees Isaac with her own eyes.

Melissa watched her, noticing her nervousness. The woman saw how protective that she was of Isaac and noticed that there was something else going on other than just being a pack.

The second the elevator door opened, Spencer hurried inside, grabbing a hold of the metal bar to keep herself standing.

Melissa followed and pressed the button for the second floor. “He’s been asking for you, you know?” Melissa said as the doors closed.

Spencer looked to the woman next to her.

“The second the EMTs rolled him in here, his first words to me was to call you. To get you here.”

“Derek’s not in town.” Spencer shook her head. “I’m all he has right now.”

Melissa smiled. “I think it’s more than that.”

Spencer shrugged, looking away. She looked up at the numbers on the elevator door. It still had yet to move. “God, this is the slowest elevator in history.” Finally the elevator moved and they were on the second floor.

Melissa led the redhead towards Isaac’s room. She paused with her hand on the door handle. “If anyone finds you here, I have no idea how you got in.” Melissa reminded her.

Spencer nodded.

Melissa opened the door and peeked her head in. “Isaac, you have a visitor.” She opened the door and allowed Spencer to enter.

Spencer looked to Melissa, unsure whether she should actually go in. She remained hidden by the wall.

Melissa nodded to her. “He’s okay. And the two of you should be okay for the night. No one should check in until sun up.”

Spencer showed a small smile and entered the room.

Melissa closed the door from the outside, leaning the two teenagers to themselves.

Spencer looked back at the door and then to Isaac.

Isaac’s eyes locked with hers. “Hey.” He said with a smile.

“Hey.” The redhead sighed.

“C’mere.” Isaac said, gesturing her over with a flick of his head. He moved the sheets so she could climb onto the bed with him.

Spencer shook her head. “I don’t want to hurt you more than you already are.”

“It’s not as bad as you think.” Isaac insisted.

“I still… I can’t.”

“You are so stubborn.” Isaac groaned. “Will you just get your ass over here? That’s what’s gonna make me feel better.”

Spencer nodded her head and slowly walked forward. She climbed herself into the hospital bed and curled herself into Isaac’s left side. Spencer’s head lay on his chest while he ran his fingers through her long hair. “I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t apologize.”

“I should have gone with you. I’m supposed to go with you. Whether or not I believe that Boyd and Erica are still alive I should have gone.”

“Spencer - ”

Spencer sat up in the bed. “I shouldn’t have fought with you. I shouldn’t have walked out. I shouldn’t have gone to Stiles’. I shouldn’t have let you go alone.”

Isaac groaned as he tried to sit up next to her.

“No!” Spencer whispered. “Don’t get up.”

“I won’t get up as long as you promise to shut up.”

Spencer opened her mouth to speak, but Isaac raised his brow. She relented and sighed, closing her mouth.

“This isn’t your fault. I left. Okay?” Isaac asked.

Spencer nodded. “Do you know what happened? Do you remember anything?”

Isaac sat still for a moment, trying to remember. He couldn’t. Isaac shook his head. “I-It’s all really fuzzy. I - I can’t…”

“Hey…” Spencer said calmly. She put a hand to his chest and grabbed his hand. “We’ll figure it out, okay? I promise. We’ll find out what happened to you.”

Isaac nodded against the pillow.

“Just try and relax. Try to sleep.” Spencer pushed some of Isaac’s curls out of his face. She laughed when some of the hairs stuck to his face from the sweat. “I’m gonna call Derek. I wanna see where he is and tell him that you’re alright.”

“‘Alright’ is a term I would use loosely.”

Spencer shook her head and got up from the bed. She pulled her phone from the sweatshirt pocket and called Derek for the final time that night. She waited for the tone and said her peace. “I’m trying to be calm with you about this. But when we call for help, you are supposed to come. You’re such an asshole. If you aren’t here by morning, I swear to whatever being you believe in that I will lace everything you own in wolfsbane. Do you hear me?” Spencer hung up the phone and turned back to Isaac.

The boy had fallen asleep, his head limp against the pillow.

Spencer smiled at the sight. She walked towards the bed and climbed back into it, cuddling herself next to Isaac.

In his sleep state, Isaac’s arm wrapped itself around her shoulder.

She draped her arm across his stomach and slowly drifted to sleep to his breathing.

!@#$#@!

There was a knock at the door that practically jolted Spencer up from her deep sleep. Her movement made Isaac adjust himself and the boy seethed in pain. “Oh, my gosh. Isaac, I am so sorry.”

Isaac squeezed his eyes shut. “Don’t worry about it.”

The door opened a second later and Melissa stepped in. “Hey.” She said quietly, closing the door behind her.

Spencer smiled at her and slid out of the bed. “Can you check on him?”

“It’s what I’m here for.” Melissa grabbed herself a pair of gloves and put them on. She walked to Isaac’s left side, moving the blanket and his hospital gown aside.

Spencer stood on her toes to look at the wound. She made a disgusted face at how bad it looked.

“Yeah.” Melissa said as she held the bandage. “Yeah, that’s healing visibly. Wow.”

“That’s healed?” Spencer questioned. “How bad was it to begin with?”

Melissa looked up at the redhead. “Bad.” She said. “They can’t see this. Nobody can see this.”

Isaac looked at the door, around Spencer. “Alright, c-cover it up.”

“Covering it up isn’t gonna do anything.” Spencer let Isaac know. “You’re healing.”

“Not to mention that he’s scheduled for surgery, which is obviously gonna be very confusing for a lot of people.” Melissa explained.

“Okay, can you do something?” Isaac looked up at the woman with hopeful eyes.

“Me do something? I’m relatively new to all of…” Melissa gestured to Isaac and Spencer with her hands, “...this. And there’s a sheriff’s deputy that’s stationed right outside the door.”

Isaac looked to Spencer. “Have you tried calling Derek?”

“Too many times to count. He’s not picking up and he’s not responding.” Spencer said, looking to Melissa. “Have you had any luck?”

Melissa shook her head. “Do you have any other emergency werewolf contacts?”

“Yeah.” Isaac said, turning back to Melissa. “Call Scott.”

Melissa looked reluctant.

“Look, he’s got a point.” Spencer said, unfortunately. “We’ve tried calling Derek. He’s not answering and I don’t know how to get Isaac out of this.”

“Scott’s not supposed to be in this.” Melissa reminded.

“And I know that. I’ve had a huge hand in keeping it that way, believe it or not. I just need someone I can bounce ideas off of. Either to get him out of here or find some way to explain a magically healed laceration.” Spencer said.

Melissa took in a breath, still not believing it was a good idea.

“It’ll be easy peasy. And he can go right back to Model Student Scott. No harm done.”

Melissa thought quietly for a moment before nodding and left.

Spencer let out a huge sigh.

“I’m sorry.” Isaac said.

“It’s not your fault. Okay? It’s not yours and it’s not mine.”

“But now we have to pull Scott into it.”

“Scott doesn’t need to know anything. We pull him out of school just this once and then it’s right back to being a normal teenager.” Spencer promised.

Isaac put his head back on the pillow. “At least there’s one good thing that came out of this.” He said, glancing to Spencer.

Spencer furrowed her brow. “Oh yeah? What’s that?”

“We got outta the first day of school.” He said with a smile.

Spencer showed her own smile and shook her head at the boy. She leaned over him and kissed his forehead. “I’m gonna see if I can get some food. Do you want anything?” Spencer held stance, leaning over him with her hand on his pillow.

“A greasy burger?”

“I’m not leaving this hospital until you do. Your burger will have to wait.” Spencer met his lips in a kiss. She smiled at him and turned to leave.

Isaac reached up, quickly grabbing her arm before Spencer could get too far away.

Spencer paused and looked back to him. “You okay?”

Isaac nodded. “I - ” He paused, before shaking his head. “Just thank you.”

Spencer nodded. “Of course. Anytime. We’ll get you out of here.”

Isaac smiled, finally letting Spencer leave.

As Spencer exited the hospital room, she saw the Sheriff along with a couple of his deputies. She tried to sneak passed him quickly, but Spencer felt his hand on her arm to stop her. She turned and smiled at the man. “Hey, Pops.”

“It’s been a while.”

“It has.”

The sheriff looked into Isaac’s room. “Did you just come out of there?”

Spencer nodded.

“Why?”

“He’s my boyfriend…” She said slowly.

“And you’ve been in there the whole time?”

“For a while, yeah.”

“Did he tell you anything?”

Spencer shook her head. “Sorry, Pops. But he doesn’t remember anything. He wishes he could, but he’s really confused.” Spencer shrugged. “I was just about to get us some food, so....”

The sheriff nodded. “Alright. Get going.” Pops smiled.

Spencer hesitated, but took a step towards the sheriff, engulfing him in a hug.

The sheriff remained stiff for a moment, but eventually hugged her back. “I miss ya, kid.”

Spencer nodded against the man’s chest. “I miss you, too, Pops.” She pulled away. “I’ll see you later. I’ll call you if he remembers anything.”

“Good deal.”

Spencer hurried down the hall towards the vending machines, but was stopped by Melissa.

“I can’t get ahold of Scott.” Melissa said. “He’s not answering his phone or texts.”

“A lot of people seem to have that problem these days.” Spencer explained with a heavy sigh. “Why don’t you call the school? Tell them there’s an emergency and Scott needs to come home. We used to do it all the time.”

Melissa raised an eyebrow at the redhead. “We?”

Spencer sucked her lips into her mouth. “Yeah…” She said. “Scott, Stiles and I. When we wanted to skip school, we’d call in for each other.”

“Oh really?”

“Is now really the time to play mother of the year? We’ll never do it again. Okay?”

Melissa laughs, shaking her head and searched for the school’s telephone number.

Spencer took this time to leave another voicemail for Derek. “You’re gonna love this. Scott’s involved now. Because you didn’t have the decency to pick up your damn phone. I haven’t talked to him in months and now we’re throwing him back in. This wasn’t the plan, Derek, where the hell are you?”