Chapter 54: ☽︎Muted☾︎

...

Y/n trugded behind Scott and Stiles as they head to the lacrosse field with their gear. It's her usual routine to watch them as they practice, tryout, and play, and she appreciates the moment of normalcy. A reprieve from her life as a supernatural. It was nice, especially listening to Scott and Stiles talk about their current positions on the team. "Of course you're still the team captain. You got your grades up just like Coach told you to, right?" Stiles said.

"Yeah, but he never told me I was back on the team." Scott responded. "He just told me to show up at tryouts today."

"We got bigger things to deal with anyway."

"Did you tell Argent yet?" Y/n wondered as she looked at Scott.

"Uh, I texted him but he didn't get back to me."

"You told him his sister Kate came back from the dead over a text?" Stiles asked.

"I didn't have the money to call France."

"Yeah, you think you got money problems? Try paying for an MRI and a visit to Eichen House."

"You got another notice?" Y/n asked with a frown.

"Yeah, this one said, 'final'." He sighed. Y/n sighed as well. She wished she could help the Stilinski's with their financial troubles, but even if she could, she didn't even know where to start. "Now, what the hell are we doing here anyway? We got like 117 million problems and worrying about our status on a lacrosse team is not one of them."

Y/n and Scott looked passed him with wide eyes as they saw the small batch of freshman, one in particular making a stunning impression. "Uh, baby, maybe it should be." Stiles furrowed his brows at her before turning around to see what she and his best friend were seeing. Garrett, one of the new students and potential lacrosse players, threw a ball towards the goal, but it didn't find it's mark as the goalie swiftly caught it. Him and another boy continuously threw shots yet the goalie caught every single one, not even one of them making it past his perimeter. "That's pretty impressive."

Stiles gave his girlfriend a wide-eyed look before turning back to the field. "Who the hell is that?"

The goalie took his helmet off to reveal a blue-eyed, baby-faced freshman who was beaming with pride. "Nice, Liam!" Garrett praised. "You might just be our first ever freshman captain."

"Okay, maybe we should just practice a little bit." Stiles claimed as he and Scott went out to the field.

"Good luck!" Y/n called as she took a seat. They didn't seem to need it as they watched the new recruit more than actually practiced, and when practice was over they dragged her into the locker room with them after most of the players had changed.

Liam had been changing his shirt when he turned to see the three juniors, quickly pulling his shirt down the rest of the way when he saw one of them was a girl. A very pretty girl at that. She seemed uninterested in being there while the two guys on either side of her looked interrogative, almost accusatory. "Hey, Liam." Stiles called. "You want to explain what that was out there?"

"What do you mean?" Liam asked, confused.

"That little display. Your little circus act."

"What circus act?"

"You caught every shot."

"I was in goal."

"Yeah, but nothing, not a single shot got past you."

"Yeah, I was the goalie." Stiles' questioning is making Liam more and more confused. "You guys played this game before?"

Stiles waved to one of the others, his frustration making him rub at his forehead. "Liam, you're a freshman, right?" Y/n asked with a softer tone than Stiles used. If she was being dragged into this, she might as well try to be good cop.

"Yeah."

"But you weren't here last semester." Stiles pointed.

"I transferred from Devenford Prep."

"You transferred?" Scott repeated, hearing Liam's heart start to pick up.

"Yeah." Y/n could hear it too, the telltale sign of someone lying.

"No, you got kicked out, didn't you?"

He looked a little shocked that Scott figured that out, but he recovered. "All right. Look!" He chuckled. "Kicked out or transferred, what do you guys care?" He looked between the boys, the two doing the heavier of the questioning. "I came here to play lacrosse. The team could use a few good players, right?"

"No." Stiles denied. "No, we don't need any more good players."

"Actually, we could sort of use a couple." Scott said, earning a look from Stiles.

"Okay, how'd you get this good? Have you always been this good? Or did it suddenly happen just once over night?" Scott and Y/n gave Stiles a wide-eyed look then. "Have you ever been out in the middle of the woods during the night of a full-"

Y/n jabbed him in his ribs making him wince. "Stiles. Shut up." She warned with a smile that made him subconsciously lean back a bit.

"Look, I learned from my stepfather, all right?" He directed at Stiles before looking at Scott. "He made team captain when he was a sophomore. Like you." That made Scott smile a little. Liam turned back to Stiles with a smrik. "And yeah..." He grabbed his gear. "I guess I'm just that good." He winked at Y/n as he walked past and the three turned to watch him go.

"He wasn't lying that time." Scott said, amused.

"Did he just wink at you?" Stiles asked Y/n.

"I believe he did." She chuckled a bit. "How adorable."

"Adorable? You thought that kid was adorable?" Y/n rolled her eyes with a fond smile as she just turned and walked away to their next class, Stiles flailing after shooting rapid-fire questions about what she just said.

...

"An axe murderer?" Kira repeated what Stiles had said as she, Stiles, Scott, and Y/n walked down the hall.

"A family-murdering axe murderer." He clarified.

"I already heard about it." Scott said.

"Wait. What? You did? How?"

"My mom called me. She knew I'd see it on the news."

"Perfect. Let's go."

"Not so fast." Y/n grabbed his bag and pulled him back with it.

"We have Econ in five minutes." Scott reminded him.

"All right. Did you forget about the part about the family-murdering axe murderer?"

"Did you forget that your dad's the sheriff? They want us to stay out of it."

"Are you guys kidding me? There's a family-murdering axe murderer and we're not going to do anything about it?"

"How many times are you going to say family-murdering axe murderer?" Y/n wondered.

"As many times as it takes for you guys to realize that there is a family-murdering axe murderer that we should be taking care of."

"Maybe we should just let the adults handle it." Kira said.

"We don't have to deal with every homicide that happens in this town, Stiles, especially if it's not supernatural related." Y/n pointed out.

He gave them all a look. "So the three of you, you just want to stay here, school, go to class." Their silence was their affirmation. "Never heard anything so irresponsible in my life." He started to walk away.

"See you at tryouts?" Scott called.

Y/n sighed and shook her head. "Yeah, we'll be there. See you guys later." Y/n waved as she followed her boyfriend, the bell ringing as she walked away. "Stiles!" She called making him slow so she could catch up. "I know you're worried about this whole murder thing, but us being in school is also important."

"I just don't get why everyone wants to stay and pretend like everything is normal."

"This may sound strange, but that's all I've ever wanted."

Her statement made him pause and give her a puzzled look. "Wanted what?"

"Normalcy." When he still looked confused she elaborated. "My type of normal is keeping my heritage a secret. Hiding my magic, laying low and hoping I never appear on Hunter radars. Looking over my shoulder when there's even a hint of danger. I've just always wished I could have a different normal. A human normal."

He suddenly felt bad, realizing there are some precautions she's had to take since birth that he never even had to worry about before Scott was bitten. "I'm sorry."

Y/n gave him a smile and shook her head. "Don't be. I'm used to it, but I do appreciate the times I can pretend it's different. But, since you feel bad, there's a way you can make it up to me." She held her hand out as her lips lifted into a little smirk. "Stay here, school, with me, and let's go to class. Pretend everything is normal."

He couldn't help but smile as she repeated his own words from before, and took her hand. "I can do that." She gave him a kiss before they continued down the halls together.

...

When tryouts came Y/n was going to wait on the bleachers like usual while the boys got ready, but Scott had pulled her into the locker room with him and Stiles after everyone was mostly dressed. "Why do I keep getting dragged in here today?" She wondered aloud, yet her question went unanswered as Scott told them he kissed Kira.

"It was our first kiss since our actual first kiss."

"That's good. You kissed her." Stiles said.

"I did. But I didn't."

"How can you kiss someone but not kiss someone?" Y/n squinted her eyes in confusion.

"Was... Was it on the lips?" Stiles followed up.

"Yeah." Scott nodded.

"Was there tongue?"

"No. I... It was like how you kiss your grandmother when you're five."

"Oh, chaste. You gave her a chaste kiss."

"Yeah, and now it's... It's all weird. It's all completely weird and I- I- I don't know what to do. Maybe I should text her."

"No. Just no with the texts."

"What you need to do, Scotty, is stop overthinking it. It's only weird because you're making it weird." Y/n said.

"How is it not weird?" Scott asked.

"Scott, all you need to do is just talk to the girl. Like actually talk to her, tell her how you feel. Hell, even kiss her again! All I know is you're torturing yourself with this overanalyzing and torturing her with all of the uncertainty." Before Scott could ask her what she meant by that Coach blew his whistle, calling for the players' attention.

"As a reminder, it's an open tryout today. All positions available. This is a rebuilding season, people. Jackson's gone, Lahey's gone. Greenberg, the one guy I actually wanted gone, was held back. Again." He noticed Y/n standing next to Scott and Stiles then. "L/n, are you trying out today?"

She shook her head. "Unfortunately not, Coach. These hands are for art."

"That's a shame. I've seen you in a fight before, you throw a mean hook. You'd probably be good at it." He shook his head in slight disappointment and looked around at the other teens. "Get your asses on the field." The group disbanded and Scott went up to Coach. When Scott was asking about his position on the team Coach assured he was in it, but Scott was wondering if he was still everything he was on the team before. Coach repeats that all positions were open, and Scott realised that, no, he was not still the captain of the team. As Scott walked away, dejected, Stiles noticed Liam had heard the conversation from nearby, and the freshman smiled to himself. The rabble of teen boys ran around the field, some facing off, some doing laps, all prepping for tryouts. Y/n smiled at Malia and Kira as they walked up to where she was perched and sat with her. Coach blew his whistle yet again as he marked the end of some laps, timing the guys who passed him. "Terrible. Horrifying. Pathetic." He called out as they ran past. "Unbelievably pathetic. Is that everyone?" Stiles came to a stop nearby, hunched over and panting heavily from the run. He fell to the ground a moment later. "Yep, that's everyone."

Scott came over and pulled Stiles up by his arms. "I got ya." He supported Stiles as the boy tried to catch his breath, face scrunched with the effort.

"Who came in first?" He panted. In answer Scott looked to Liam who was now doing pushups as everyone else took a breather. "He isn't human. What is he? Like a were-cheetah? Does that even exist? Is that a thing?"

"I think he's just that good."

"I'm gonna puke, take me somewhere."

"Okay, come on." Scott, like the great bestfriend he is, did as asked.

Y/n smiled fondly as she watched the scene, but it quickly faded as she started to feel something coming from the fox. She looked over at Kira at the same time Malia did, the coyote trying to study but an offending scent kept her from it. "Are you okay, Kira?" Y/n asked making kira look up, surprised to find both girls looking at her.

"Me? Oh, in fine." She denied.

Malia gave her an unimpressed look. "You reek of anxiety. And it's distracting. What's going on?" She questioned getting straight to the point.

Kira sighed. "Scott and I sort of had this thing happen. But it wasn't much of a thing. And now I'm starting to think it wasn't anything at all."

"Oh, my God." Y/n muttered to herself. How does she always find herself being part of the same conversations twice, from both sides?

"What do you want it to be?" Malia asked.

"... More." Kira put her chin on top of the lacrosse stick she had been holding.

"Kira." Y/n called and Kira turned her head to look at the witch. "Trust me, you guys definitely had a thing. Scott just has a habit of overthinking things and making them weird. He'll come around eventually. Just be patient, okay?" At Y/n's kind smile Kira couldn't help but smile back, a small spark of hope reigniting in her. They turned back to the field where the players where now lined up to take shots at the goalie.

Stiles was first in line as he tried to flip one of the balls into the cradle of his stick, but when it wouldn't go in he picked up the ball and put it in himself. Stiles reared back and launched the ball... Making it land right in the goalie's stick. There was scattered laughter and Stiles stared down Liam, who was smirking right behind him, as he went to the back of the line with Scott. Scott patted Stiles' shoulder while Liam took up a ball for his own shot. "You know, maybe he's only good in goal." Stiles theorized. "You know, he's totally useless on the rest of the field." Yet that thought was instantly shot down when Liam made the goal perfectly.

"Yes!" Coach yelled as the small crowd cheered.

"Maybe he's just perfect at everything. I hate this kid!"

"You don't have to hate him. The team needs new players." Scott tried to reason.

"What about a new team captain?" Scott seemed to get a little worried at that as he went up for his turn. He picked up the ball, pulled back, and launched it as hard as he could. Instead of the net like he wanted, he hit the metal edge of the goal.

"Nice, McCall." Garrett called teasingly.

"Hey, Garrett." Stiles smiled sarcastically at the teen. "Shut up." As they continued to take turns throwing a ball, Liam made every goal, while Scott and Stiles... Not so much. Their shots were over, caught, around, and everywhere but in the goal.

"Isn't the captain supposed to be one of the best players on the team?" Kira asked. "Or good?"

"Usually." Y/n agreed with a nod. "But this is tryouts, and Scott's a little nervous. It'll turn around soon, I'm sure." She wasn't actually positive Scott would pull himself together today, the whole thing with Liam being exceptional at the sport shaking him slightly.

Scott took his gloves off in frustration as he walked over to Stiles. "Dude, what is going on with you?" Stiles asked.

"I don't know. I'm having a really off day."

"Off day? You were dying out there! I feel actual physical pain watching you."

"I didn't see you making any shots."

"Yes, that is because I'm terrible, though, Scott. You- you are the Alpha."

"Not on the field. I'm a human on the field."

"Well, human you is kind of sucking at the moment. So do you think there is any way you can use just like a little tiny bit of wolf power?"

Scott shook his head. "It's cheating."

"I know it is! It's just I hate seeing this little freshman come in and steal all your glory after you worked your tushie off. I hate it."

"He's not going to steal all the glory." Just then Liam made yet another goal and everyone was cheering for him. Scott's eyes shifted for a moment as he let his emotions show through.

"Scott." He turned his head at the quiet call and saw Y/n lightly glaring at him from across the field. He forgot for a second that she had heightened hearing as well, and he realised she must have heard them. "Go easy on him, he's just a kid." Y/n muttered, knowing he was hearing her, and he tried to keep it in mind.

Coach blew his whistle, calling the players to him. "Hustle! McCall and Stilinski, grab the long sticks. You're covering goal for two-on-ones. Let's go! Line it up!" The boys did as told, grabbing the sticks and donning helmets as they got ready to guard the goal. Y/n smiled at the pairing. Scott and Stiles were very good when teamed together, and she thought that this would be the turning point they needed.

"We still don't know if he's a werewolf, too." Stiles said to Scott. "And if he is, he'd just be cheating. And we'd just be cheating the cheater."

"But he's not. Y/n said she didn't feel it, and I'd know, too. I'd be able to catch a scent or something."

"She might not have gotten close enough to feel it. Maybe you need to get closer."

"I think I'm about to get my chance." Liam himself was staring down the older boys as he put his helmet on. Coach blew his whistle and Garrett was the first to make a run. He tried turning past them but Scott jumped and knocked Garrett's stick down, making him lose the ball.

Coach whooped in approval as they highfived each other. "That's my boys!" He cheered, and turned to a player standing next to him. "Those two are like sons to me, and his girlfriend is the daughter I wish I had."

"I love you, too, Coach!" Y/n yelled from behind him with a laugh, and he shook his head in amusment at her. Scott and Stiles smiled at each other, finally getting their confidence back, and they made quick work of the next player who went up against them. Y/n whooped loudly from the bleachers and Stiles winked her way. Kira cheered quietly to herself, and at the two girls' excitment, Malia smiled a little herself. The next boy was also downed by the dynamic duo.

"That's how you do it! That's how it's done!" Coach yelled. Scott and Stiles jumped for a chest bump, but Stiles didn't make the landing as he flailed to the ground. He quickly recovered, though, and jumped back to his feet. Next up against the two was none other than Liam himself, and Y/n could feel the shift in tension when they realised it. Liam took up the ball and, at Coach's whistle blow, swiftly dogded Stiles and Scott to make the goal.

"Damn." Y/n mumbled, knowing that they were not happy with that. Kira groaned in disappointment.

Malia looked at both of their expressions and thought she could do something to help. "That was luck!" She yelled her claim as she stood up.

"Malia, don't get involved." Y/n tried to make her stop, but the coyote was determined.

"Do-over!"

"Sweetheart, there's no do-overs. This is practice." Coach chuckled.

"Ten bucks on Scott and Stiles."

"I'll take that action. Hey! Get back in there, Liam!" Malia smiled, satisfied with herself as she sat back down. Liam did as told and the three took their positions again.

Y/n didn't need to be a witch to know how they were feeling, it was obvious in their body language, but hearing Scott's small growl as the whistle blew again really sealed the deal. And she had more than just a feeling that this practice was not going to end well. Liam ran forward, ducking under Stiles' jump, only to be thrown over Scott's shoulder as the wolf rammed him. Liam's body flew in the air, and he landed hard, a sickening snap resounding in the air. "Oh, shit." Y/n jumped from her spot on the bleachers and rushed to try and help the 15-year-old who was now injured on the field.

"Don't move! Don't touch him!" Coach yelled at the players, including Scott and Stiles, who came up to check on him.

"I'm okay, Coach. I'm all right." Liam tried to stand but yelled in pain, almost falling to the ground before Y/n managed to catch him with Scott on the other side. The two supernaturals supported Liam with his arms over their shoudlers. "I think it's my leg."

"I think we should take him to the nurse. Maybe even the hospital." Y/n said to Coach and he let them go, Stiles trailing after them to help. As Y/n thought, the nurse said that Liam should get checked out at the hospital, the swelling and pain indicating he either had a sprain or a break. When they got to the E.R., Stiles and Y/n supporting Liam while Scott checked him in, Melissa came around the corner to spot her son and his friends.

"Uh... Hi, Mom." Scott greeted sheepishly when he saw her.

Liam was checked in and put in a wheelchair to be taken to an exam room. "Don't worry, Liam. We'll take good care of you." Melissa assured as she wheeled him off.

The three watched them go before Y/n glanced at the clock. "Stiles, we gotta go soon. We promised Malia we would help her study."

"It's fine." Scott said. "I want to check on him anyway.

"Hey, I don't need to say that wasn't your fault, right?" Stiles asked the wolf.

"I don't know.

"Scott, if you had used any wolf power that kid wouldn't be limping, he'd be crawling, back to the other half of his body."

"If I hadn't been so worried about being captain he wouldn't be hurt either."

"It's okay to want something for yourself once in a while. Team captain, Alpha werewolf. You're still only human." Stiles patted Scott on the shoulder before he took Y/n's hand and led her away.

...

Y/n sat propped against the head of Stiles' bed, Stiles next to her and Malia farther down in front of her as they all studied together. They had been pouring over their books and notes for a while, and after another moment Malia decided she had enough. She closed her Precalculus book with a firm 'snap'. "Hey, we're not done yet." Y/n called as Malia moved to lay with her head on the slightly older girl's stomach.

"Yes, we are." She mumbled into the material of her shirt, already letting her eyes drift shut to sleep. Stiles lightly glared at the coyote as Y/n huffed a laugh.

"I promised we'd help you study. You can sleep later."

"I want to lay just like this again. It's comfortable."

"Whatever you want, only if we get back to studying." Malia grumbled as she sat back up, grabbing her book and highlighters again.

"What's with all the highlighters anyway?" Stiles asked Malia when he saw them.

"It's something Y/n showed me. Green is for the things I understand. Yellow is for 'I'm working on it'. And..." She flipped throught the pages to find her last marker. "Red means I have no clue. I'm mostly using red." She shurgged and looked back down at her book. Stiles thought that sounded familiar, and he glanced at his cork board where strings of those exact colors were dangling from thumbtacks. A fond smile washed over his features as he looked at his witch, now noticing her notes which were scrawled in ink of three colors. Green, yellow, and red. Unable to help himself he reached out and put his fingers under her chin, gently turning her face to direct her lips to his. She was surprised with the sudden affection, but wasn't going to protest as she let the warmth of him envelope her. They only broke apart when Malia threw a piece of paper at them, playfully glaring at the couple. "Study first, remember?"

"You're right, you're right." Malia smiled and Y/n chuckled as she straightened up once again.

Malia sighed as she looked at the schoolwork. "So, what's the secret? Why is math impossible for me and easy for you guys?"

"Because we usually use notes." Stiles answers.

"Then somebody needs to give me notes on Lydia's notes, because I don't understand any of this." Malia shook the green notebook in the air for show and Y/n grabbed it from her hold.

"Well, let's see." Y/n flipped through the pages for a moment, but her expression quickly turned to one of confusion. "Lydia wrote these?"

"Yeah. What are they?"

"They're definitely not Math, that's for sure." Stiles looked over her shoulder then, and they both looked at the pages filled with letters, numbers, and symbols that were not meant for math at all.

~~~

Published: 12/15/21

Edited: 4/12/22

☽︎𝑺𝒕𝒊𝒍𝒆𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒈𝒐𝒕 𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒅𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒀/𝒏☾︎

☽︎𝒀/𝒏 𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒌𝒔 𝒈𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝒊𝒏 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈☾︎