Later that night, Harley follows Scott into the old train station, both trailing Derek.
"I'm saying we need a new plan, because next time, one of us is gonna be too hurt to heal," Derek stresses.
"Ugh," Scott groans. "I get it. We can't save Jackson." Harley shifts uncomfortably, wrapping her arms around herself.
Derek glances at her, then looks away. "We can't seem to kill him either. I've seen a lot of things, Scott. I've never seen anything like this." He shifts his stare to Harley. "And I feel like we've faced enough death these past few days." Harley smiles weakly as he looks down again. "Every new moon's just gonna make him stronger."
"But how do we stop him?" Scott asks.
"Can we?" Harley scoffs.
"I don't know," Derek shrugs. "I don't know if we can."
"Maybe we should just let the Argents handle it," Scott suggests. Harley lets out a noise of protest.
"Killing him to save everyone else is one thing," she says. "Letting him be tortured is another."
"Harley's right," Derek agrees. "Besides, I'm the one who turned him. It's my fault." There's a moment of silence. Harley steps forward and awkwardly rests her hand on his shoulder as a form of silent reassurance.
"You didn't turn him into this," Scott protests. "I mean, this happened because of something in his past, right?"
"That's a legend in a book," Derek scoffs. "It's-"
"So are werewolves," Harley mutters, retracting her hand and drawing back into herself. "Maybe it isn't simple. Nothing here is!"
"What aren't you telling us?" Scott asks Derek.
"Why do you always think I'm keeping something from you?" Derek asks.
"Because you always are keeping something from us!" the two exclaim in unison. They quickly look at each other. "That was weird," they say again in unison.
"Maybe I'm doing it to protect you," Derek defends, drawing the attention back to the bigger issue.
"Doesn't being part of your pack mean no more secrets?" Scott sighs.
"Wait, we're part of his pack now?" Harley asks.
"Go home, Scott." Derek shakes his head. "Bring her with you. Sleep. Heal. Make sure your friends are safe. 'Cause the full moon's coming. And with the way things are going, I've got a feeling it's gonna be a rough one." They stay there for a moment longer before Harley wraps her hand around Scott's wrist, tugging him away.
They walk in silence to Harley's car. She gets halfway to his house before he speaks.
"You don't have to do this, you know?" he says.
Harley chuckles lightly. "Do what?"
"Help. Be here. Especially now, with everything that happened."
Harley swallows the lump she feels developing in her throat. Stupid, she scolds. Why are you crying? "I promised I would help."
"Harley, your dad is gone, and..." he trails off when he sees Harley flinch. "That was insensitive, I'm sorry. I just don't want you pushing yourself so hard. You're important to us, you know? We don't want you hurt. I don't want you hurt, but I know you're hurting right now and I hate that I can't do anything."
She mentally curses herself as she blinks back tears. Sure, her family showed her a fair amount of affection over the years, but to have someone so openly upset for her is overwhelming, to say the least. She's never had the chance to experience the raw form of love that comes with friendship, and now she's facing an abundance of it. She clears her throat and pulls into Scott's driveway, attempting to ignore his previous statement.
"We're here," she states. Scott looks at her, sighs, and gets out of the car. She thinks he has finally given up when he, rather than going inside, knocks on the outside of her window. Perplexed, she opens the door. He then reaches across her, unbuckles her seatbelt, and pulls her out of the seat into his arms for a hug. Harley freezes, then wraps her arms around his waist, allowing the tears to start to fall.
"I know you're used to being alone," he whispers softly, still holding her. "But you aren't anymore. You're never gonna be again. Not with us around. I promise." He continues to hold her as she shakes in his arms, vowing to himself that he'll do whatever it takes to heal her.
Harley is barely home for ten minutes before her phone rings; Allison's name flashes across the screen. Brows furrowed, Harley picks up.
"Hello?" she asks. "What's up?" She tenses when she hears a shaky breath on the other end of the call. "Allison?"
"Can you talk?" Allison whispers, voice cracking.
"Of course, yeah," Harley confirms. "What's up?"
"I went with Matt to the rave. Scott told me to. And then I figured you wouldn't wanna do anything to get tickets so I had him get you one and then you weren't there and I didn't know what to do because I was planning on coming to you if things got messed up. Then Matt kissed me, which was disgusting, and I pushed him off. I dropped him off at his house and he left his camera in his car and he had these totally creepy pictures of me and I don't know what to do."
Harley exhales heavily. "Holy shit."
"Yes, holy shit. What do I do? Do I report him?"
"Yes, Allison. Breathe, calm down, and you'll be okay."
"You're right, just, stay on the call please?" Harley sits silently while Allison calms down on the other end. A few minutes later, Allison speaks up again. "I'm sorry for freaking out."
"It's no problem, Allison," Harley soothes. "I'm here for you, you know that. I'm sorry I wasn't at the rave."
"No, it's okay, I should've -Oh my God, I just called you with my problems when your dad-Harley oh my God I'm sorry that was so selfish."
"It's all right, Allison."
"No, it is not. Oh my God. I'm so sorry for your loss. Do you need me to bring you anything?"
"I'm okay, just exhausted."
"Right, of course, I'll let you go, I'm sorry for keeping you."
"It's all right, Allison. Any time. You know that. Good night."
"Good night. Thank you."
The next night, Harley receives yet another call while lying in bed. She groans, answering without checking who it is.
"Hello?" she asks.
"It's me!" Lydia chirps on the other end. "You're coming with me to go to Allison's. I'm in your driveway. Come on."
"I'm in bed, Lydia."
"I'm sure you look fine. Even if you don't, I have a dress I picked out for you and makeup with me, so I can make you look fine. Now come on, otherwise I'll break in." With that, Lydia hangs up.
Harley groans again, rolling out of bed, picking herself up, and making her way to the car. "A party? Really?" she asks herself. "What has gotten into you?"
Harley drags her feet behind Lydia as they make their way to Allison's room, arms full of Macy's bags. "Clear your schedule," Lydia says once Allison acknowledges them. "This is gonna take a while." Allison grins, and Harley can't help but laugh. The sheer ridiculousness of getting dolled up for a party with Lydia while her ex is killing people is an experience Harley doesn't know how to describe.
"How many outfits do you plan on wearing tonight?" Allison asks, giggling.
"It's my birthday party," Lydia says in a way that makes Harley assume that's the best explanation she's gonna get. As she goes through her options, Allison looks at Harley, grimacing.
"You okay?" She mouths. Harley nods in response. Allison chews on her lip as she turns her attention to Lydia. "I noticed that you didn't send out any invites."
"It's the biggest party of the year, Allison," Lydia mutters. "Everyone knows."
"I was wondering if maybe, this year things, you know, might be different."
"Why would it be different?" Harley shudders at the clip in Lydia's tone.
"Just 'cause things have been off lately," Allison offers lamely. She continues speaking. Harley tunes her out once she receives a text from Stiles.
Stiles: need help asap!! dont know wjich gift to get lydia
Stiles: which**
Stiles: Lydia**
Stiles: pls come over
Harley shakes her head, stuffing her phone back into her pocket. "I have to go, guys."
"What about your makeup?" Lydia whines, handing a bag to Harley. "This dress is yours, but I need to do your makeup."
"I'll get it done, I promise." Lydia sighs, nodding, and kisses her on the cheek before turning back to her dresses. Harley feels her cheeks warm, quickly turning and leaving the room as Allison raises her eyebrows at her.
**A/N GUYS IM SO SORRY ITS BEEN SO LONG BUT IM FINALLY UPDATING