Come What May

“How’s the meeting with Deaton going?” Hailey asked Derek from the break room in the back of Beacon Coffee and Tea.

“Not really sure,” Derek said, his voice crackling through the phone from the bad reception. “There are a lot of books to look at and a lot of theories to disprove. We just have to narrow them down. He has an idea for you though.”

“What is it?” she asked excitedly, glad to finally have a way to help with something.

“You’ll find out when you get here.”

“My shift doesn’t end for another three hours,” she whined and she heard Derek try to suppress a laugh.

“Well then you’ll find out in three hours.”

“Rude.”

“Goodbye, Hailey,” he said with a laugh and she smiled.

“Love you.”

“Love you,” he said in return before hanging up.

Hailey smiled and went back out to the front as her co-worker Seth went in back. She went over and rearranged the scones, cleaning up crumbs along the counter. She looked up with a smile when she heard the bell on the door ring, signaling a new customer. Her eyes widened when she saw it was Lydia.

“Uh, hi, Lydia. What can I get you?” she asked, wiping her hands on her apron.

“A medium nonfat vanilla chai latte,” she said, looking up at the board. “Please.”

“Anything else? I’m not sure what you like but there’s only one pumpkin scone left and I think they’re amazing,” Hailey said, offering up a smile and Lydia glanced behind the glass at the scones.

“I’ll take it. For here please,” she said, opening her purse and pulling out her wallet.

“That will be $7.50. Here’s your scone and I’ll bring your latte over when it’s ready,” she said, handing Lydia her scone on a plate along with her change.

“Thanks,” Lydia said before walking over to one of the many unoccupied tables.

“Oh my God,” Hailey muttered, taking a deep breath before turning to grab a mug and prepare the latte.

As the mug was filling she glanced over at Lydia and saw that she had pulled a small notebook out of her purse and was hunched over it, writing something. When the latte was ready, Hailey tried to stall for a minute before finally gaining the courage to walk over to Lydia.

“One latte,” she said, setting it down before turning to walk away.

“Hailey?” Lydia said before Hailey could move.

“Yes?” she asked, turning to look at Lydia who had her hands clasped on the table in front of her and was biting her lip.

“Do you have a minute?” she asked and Hailey looked around the practically dead shop.

“Sure,” she said, pulling out the other chair and sitting down. Lydia grabbed onto her mug and slowly took a sip before sweeping some crumbs off the table.

“Did you, uh, have a good Christmas?” Lydia asked and Hailey raised an eyebrow.

“Yeah. You?” she asked and Lydia just shrugged. It grew silent again before Lydia finally looked up at Hailey.

“I’m… sorry. About everything with your family and Ja-…” Lydia said, cutting herself off, unable to say his name.

“I appreciate that,” Hailey said, clearing her throat and looking down at her lap.

“But you don’t forgive me,” Lydia said slowly and Hailey shook her head.

“Not at the moment, no. You almost killed me, my family, my friends, and my boyfriend,” Hailey hissed, keeping her voice down so the one other customer in the shop wouldn’t hear.

“I know it’s terrible, but I just… I didn’t want to loose him. I loved him so much, I still do. But part of me did it because… because I was scared of what would happen if I didn’t,” Lydia said her voice breaking. Hailey almost felt sorry for her.

“I can understand that. And I’m sorry that… things went the way they did. It’s not what I wanted. I did everything I could to find another way to stop him. I want you to know that,” Hailey said slowly, letting every word sink in for Lydia. “I have to get back.”

“Hailey? Thanks,” Lydia said and Hailey nodded before going back behind the counter. She walked into the back and let out an exasperated sound before turning back to the counter.

“You okay?” Seth asked, bringing out a tray of clean mugs and Hailey swept some hair behind her ear.

“I think so,” she said a little breathlessly. “Just a little surprised is all.”

“Okay,” Seth said shrugging, stocking the clean mugs on the shelf. Hailey grabbed the broom and started to sweep up and caught herself continuously glancing over at Lydia. And every time she was just scribbling in that little notebook.

****

“Are you okay?” Derek asked once Hailey walked into the clinic, noticing that she seemed a little off.

“Yeah just, things got interesting at work after we hung up.”

“How?” he asked as the others stopped what they were doing to listen.

“Lydia came in.”

“Holy shit, what happened?” Stiles asked, his mouth gaping open.

“Obviously I was freaked out when she came in and it was awkward. I brought her latte over to her and she wanted to talk to me.”

“What did she say?” Allison asked.

“She apologized and knows that I don’t forgive her. And she said something really interesting,” Hailey said and Stiles shook his head.

“What did she say?!” he half shouted, the anticipation killing him.

“She said she did it because she loved Jackson and didn’t want to lose him so she did what he said. And part of her did it because she was scared of what would happen if she didn’t.”

“So she almost killed all of us, Aaron, and your parents to save her own life?” Scott asked.

“Yes. I apologized to her too,” she said and Derek turned to her.

“For what?” he asked.

“Jackson’s death.”

“Why?” he asked, with a slight growl.

“Because you know I didn’t want him dead in the first place. And I felt like she needed to know that,” Hailey said, shrugging her shoulders.

“I wonder why she’s being all nicey-nice,” Stiles said.

“I think it’s part of her therapy,” Scott said. “Mending relationships.”

“But Hailey and Lydia didn’t even have a relationship,” Derek said.

“Tying loose ends then?” Stiles asked. “I don’t know. Either way, it’s fucking weird.”

“Keep an eye on that when school starts up again,” Derek said looking at Hailey, Scott, Stiles, and Allison.

“Of course,” Allison said, nodding her head.

“So what do you have for me, Doc?” Hailey asked, turning her attention to Deaton.

“I think you, or your mother even, should contact your grandparents and try to pry some information about Gerard out of them,” he explained and Hailey nodded.

“Like what?” she asked, pulling out her phone to type in a few notes.

“How long ago he moved in. What exactly his illness is. How long he and your grandfather have been friends. Stuff of that nature,” he said as Hailey typed.

“Okay. It will probably be best for my Mom to do it.”

“And see if you can get his phone number from them,” Allison said. “My Dad said he would be willing to contact him if you don’t get much information on him.”

“Hopefully it won’t have to come to that,” Hailey said as she typed the reminder. “I think as little actual contact there is the better.”

“I second that,” Stiles said, raising his hand.

“I think we all do,” Derek said rolling his eyes.

“I’ll fill Danny in tomorrow when he comes over for lunch and to hang out with Aaron,” Hailey said.

“Bye guys,” Scott said as Derek and Hailey got ready to go.

“Oh wait! I forgot probably the most important thing,” Hailey said, smacking her forehead.

“What?” Derek asked.

“Lydia had this little notebook that she scribbled in the whole time after we talked. I don’t know what it was but she was really intense about it. It kind of made me uncomfortable.”

“Maybe it’s part of her therapy?” Allison suggested, shrugging her shoulders.

“Yeah or maybe she’s plotting her revenge,” Stiles spat out. “We have to get that notebook.”

“I agree,” Derek said and Hailey bit her lip.

“Is it worth it?” she asked and everyone looked at each other. “I mean, shouldn’t we see if she actually does anything suspicious before we steal her personal property.”

“I guess that’s reasonable,” Stiles sighed, throwing his head back and looking up at the ceiling.

“Is that everything?” Derek asked.

“Yes, absolutely,” she said with a nod. “We can go now.”

“I’ll tell Isaac and Peter,” Scott said and Derek nodded.

****

“Hey Mom,” Hailey said when she and Derek walked into the house.

“Hi honey, Derek. How was work?” Alyssa asked, looking up from the book she was reading in the living room.

“Fine,” Hailey said, shrugging her shoulders. “Actually I have something to tell you.”

“Anything wrong?” she asked, placing her bookmark in and closing the book as Hailey and Derek sat on the couch.

“We’re not sure yet,” Derek said.

“Lydia came into the coffee shop today,” Hailey started. “She and I had a conversation where we both apologized, her for… everything and me for the fact that Jackson is dead. And after she was writing or drawing in this little notebook so now we’re on a bit of an alert.”

“I’m sure it’s nothing,” Alyssa said shaking her head, getting ready to open her book.

“Oh and Deaton had an idea about this whole Gerard thing,” Hailey said and Alyssa nodded for her to continue.

“He thinks you should call your parents and try to get some information out of them. Like, how long Gerard has been there, if they know anything about his health, just things that would be helpful but won’t sound odd when asked,” Derek explained.

“I can handle that,” Alyssa said. “Dad’s picking up pizza on his way home. He should be here in a half an hour.”

“Okay, we’ll be upstairs with Aaron,” Hailey said as Alyssa turned back to her book.

“Alright.”

“So, do you really think Lydia could be up to something?” Hailey asked as they stopped in her room before going to Aaron’s.

“I want to keep all options open,” Derek said, sitting down on her bed.

“Hey, hey, don’t sit,” she said, walking over and holding her hands out to pull him up.

“Bed… comfortable…” Derek groaned, leaning back onto the bed pulling Hailey down on top of him. She laughed and leaned in to kiss him. Derek slipped his arms around her waist and wouldn’t let go as she tried to pull away.

“Derek! There are four very good reasons why you should let me go right now,” she giggled and Derek shook his head.

“No,” he said and Hailey bit her lip, happy to see him acting so relaxed.

“The door’s open, my mother’s downstairs, my little brother is right next door in his room, and my father will be home soon,” she said, making her voice sound more stern on the last point.

“Right,” Derek said, instantly letting her go and sitting up with a sigh. “We never get any privacy.”

“I know,” Hailey said, pouting and looping her arm with his, leaning up to kiss his cheek. “Maybe you should get an apartment. Living in that house can’t be all that healthy anyway.”

“I’ve thought about it,” Derek said, shrugging his shoulders. “I just don’t know what Isaac will do.”

“Hm, yeah. There’s no way he’ll live alone with Peter… maybe Stiles or Scott could take him in?” she suggested.

“Maybe. I’ll have to look into it.”

“As soon as possible,” she whispered in his ear, placing her hand on his thigh.

“Hailey!” he hissed, looking up when he heard footsteps.

“What is it?” she asked, noticing the look on his face.

“Aaron’s coming out of his room,” he said and Hailey then heard his door open.

“Sooner than as soon as possible,” Hailey muttered as Derek suppressed some laughter as Aaron walked into the room.

“Hey, I didn’t know you guys got here,” he said.

“We haven’t been here long,” Hailey said, shaking her head. “You ready to go back to school on Monday?”

“Bleck,” Aaron said, sticking his tongue out causing Hailey and Derek to laugh.

“Pizza!” Jason exclaimed, walking into the house.

“I’m starving!” Aaron cried, rushing downstairs, completely abandoning the conversation.

“I guess so,” Hailey said with a laugh, standing up. “Hungry?”

“I don’t know,” Derek said with a shrug.

“You okay?”

“Yeah, just… thinking,” he said and Hailey sat back down. “I just thought we were done with everything after Jackson. And now Gerard is back and Lydia’s acting weird and this is never what I wanted for you. It’s why I was so hesitant in the beginning.”

“I don’t know if anything can be worse than Jackson,” she said, trying to make him feel better.

“You’ve never had to deal with Gerard,” he said.

“And maybe we won’t,” she said and he shook his head.

“I don’t know.”

“Let’s just take it one day at a time. Okay?” she asked and he didn’t respond. She sighed and reached her hand up to grab his chin, turning his head to face her. “Okay?”

“Fine,” he sighed.

****

“Back to the grind,” Stiles sighed as he and Hailey followed Scott and Allison into their Physics class. Hailey waved at Danny across the room who smiled back before she took her seat next to Stiles.

“Look,” Scott said, poking Hailey’s back with his pencil and nodding towards the front of the room when she turned to him.

“I wonder what they’re talking about,” she said as the four of them watched Lydia speak with Mr. Bower.

“Shit,” Stiles said, quickly looking down when Mr. Bower looked in their direction, nodding his head. Hailey saw Lydia walking towards them in her peripheral vision and bit her lip.

“She’s coming this way,” she whispered.

“Morning,” Lydia said and Hailey and Stiles looked up to see her standing in front of their table, holding her books tight to her chest.

“Hi,” Hailey said as Stiles narrowed his eyes at her. Lydia glanced at him nervously and bit her lip, looking down at her shoes.

“Can we help you?” Stiles asked and Hailey nudged him with her elbow as Lydia cleared her throat.

“Um since I… don’t have a partner anymore and I caught up on everything I missed over break Mr. Bower said I should join the two of you.”

“He said you should or you asked if you could?” Stiles scoffed.

“I asked,” Lydia sighed. “So is it alright?”

“Are you sure that out of everyone here you want to work with us?” Hailey asked, tilting her head behind her towards Scott and Lydia looked over to him before nodding her head.

“I need to gain your trust somehow and before that happens I need to be able to talk to you. And being in the same group is the only way that I’m guaranteed to talk to you because you don’t have a choice,” she said and Hailey sighed, looking over at Stiles who was shaking his head.

“We can’t ignore her forever, Stiles,” she said and he let out a slight laugh.

“I sure as hell can.”

“It’s not like we have a choice though, I mean, Mr. Bower can only be lenient so many times,” she said, thinking of when Allison asked to switch with Stiles a few months ago.

“Derek’s not going to be happy about this,” he said smugly and Hailey shrugged her shoulders.

“Oh well,” she said, turning to Lydia who was still awkwardly standing there. “Pull up a chair.”

“Thanks,” Lydia said, setting her books down as Hailey made Stiles move over so she could make room for Lydia.

****

You have got to be kidding me, Hailey read during lunch. She had just told Derek about Lydia joining her and Stiles’ group.

It’s not like we had a choice. Mr. Bower told her to join us, she sent back.

Hailey, this isn’t good.

Look, you want that notebook right? Well the best way to get it is to be nice to her and build up a trust and then maybe we’ll have a way to get it somehow, she pointed out, something she had to remind Stiles about when class was over and Lydia had been out of earshot.

“Oh no,” Stiles said and Hailey looked up from her phone as she waited for Derek’s reply.

“What?” she asked and Allison pointed over Hailey’s shoulder. Hailey turned to see Lydia scanning the cafeteria, tray in hand, her eyes landing on their table.

“Hey,” Danny said, sitting next to Hailey and pulling his lunch out of his backpack.

“Danny! Put your bag on the table so there isn’t space for Lydia to sit,” Stiles hissed across Hailey and Danny raised an eyebrow. “Never mind,” Stiles muttered.

“Mind if I sit with you guys?” Lydia asked, stopping at the end of the table and looking at the five of them.

“Uh this table’s wonky and only five people can sit on it or else one end kind of like, sinks down to the floor and it’s just really uncomfortable and I just don’t…” Stiles fumbled as Hailey and Danny stared at him and Scott put his hand to his face in exasperation.

“Go ahead,” Allison said, moving her bag so Lydia could sit next to her.

You have a point there, Derek replied.

Exactly she sent back.

“Hi Danny,” Lydia said, grabbing her water bottle and taking the cap off.

Danny stopped mid bite and just looked across the table at Lydia. Hailey had filled him in on the coffee shop story the day before and he had been uncomfortable then. He looked at Hailey helplessly. She nodded her head and cleared her throat, turning to Lydia.

“So uh, Lydia, are you going to audition for the musical?” Hailey asked, taking a bite of her salad.

“I thought about it,” she said, shrugging her shoulders. “I can handle the acting. It’s the singing I’m not sure about.”

“Yeah, I’m sure you’re a fantastic actor,” Stiles sneered, taking a bite of his hamburger and rolling his eyes.

“I can hold my own,” she said, looking at him. “What about you Hailey?”

“I was thinking of just being part of the crew. Working on sets, selling tickets, that kind of stuff,” she said and Lydia nodded. “It depends on what my work schedule is like.”

“I just want to thank you again for agreeing to let me be in your group this morning. You too Stiles,” Lydia said and Stiles grunted, shoving a few french-fries in his mouth.

“No problem,” Hailey said, pulling her phone back out of her pocket.

I might have just found an open to get that notebook, she typed, hitting send before sticking the phone back in her pocket and continuing a conversation with Lydia, a smile on her face as the others gave her odd looks.