𝟏𝟖. ❙𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠

❛ 𝑮𝑯𝑶𝑺𝑻𝑭𝑨𝑪𝑬 ❜

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•☆.⭒✻❙ 𝐃𝐄𝐀𝐃 𝐌𝐀𝐍 𝐖𝐀𝐋𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐆 ❙✻⭒.☆•

❝ 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝐟𝐮𝐜𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐢 𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐲𝐨𝐮. ❞

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𝑰 𝑫𝑶𝑵'𝑻 𝑾𝑨𝑵𝑻 𝑻𝑶 𝑴𝑰𝑺𝑺 𝑨 𝑻𝑯𝑰𝑵𝑮

𝒂𝒆𝒓𝒐𝒔𝒎𝒊𝒕𝒉

❛ i could spend my life in this sweet surrender, i could stay lost in this moment forever ❜

𝐽𝑂𝐿𝐸𝑁𝐸 𝐻𝐴𝐷 𝑀𝐼𝑆𝑆𝐸𝐷 𝑇𝐻𝐸 large rush of people leaving their classes to go home for the day. The halls were emptier and she was back at her locker. She usually tried to leave a little later just so she could avoid the crowds, Lydia did this as well. She was going to meet her and Allison in a moment, she was just grabbing her things.

As Jolene closed her locker door, she was met with the sight of Derek Hale limping towards her. He was sluggish, clearly tired, pale, sweating, there was something obviously wrong and Jolene obviously didn't care. She crossed her arms and smirked before taunting, "Well, well-"

"Jolene-" Derek interrupted her, but she did it right back by holding out her hand. "Woah, woah, woah. Let me finish- that's what she said. But seriously, let me finish...Well."

Derek let out a breath and winced, a sharp pain suddenly appearing. Jolene didn't think twice about it, she was still purposefully being annoying. "Did you really miss me that much, Derek? Or are you mad 'cause I drew naked Renaissance men on your front door? If you're here to kill me 'cause of that, I want you to know that that is not very kind."

"Can you just tell me where Scott McCall is before I rip out your heart?" Derek asked with a weak voice. Jolene furrowed her eyebrows with suspicion. "Why should I tell you?"

"Because I asked you politely."

"What devil of a kindergarten teacher did you have if you think ripping my heart out is polite?"

Derek let out a breath and winced, still clearly in pain. Jolene noticed it again, but actually cared a little more. Not so much to know if he was okay, but for her own nosy reasons. "What's with you? Why do you look like that?"

"Just tell me where Scott is."

Jolene let out a breath of annoyance. She wasn't about to help a werewolf that isn't Scott--her exception--especially if it's Derek. She didn't know what Derek wanted with Scott since he wasn't the one that bit him. Still, Jolene was skeptical since she very well expected for Derek to need him for something violent.

Jolene looked around a moment to see who was around before she spotted Jackson. She moved to stand next to Derek and put her hand on his shoulder. She pointed to Jackson, "See that guy?"

Derek nodded his head. "He can tell you where Scott is, they do lacrosse together. His name's Princess."

Derek looked over at Jolene with furrowed eyebrows since that was quite an odd name. Jolene was clearly messing with him, but she wasn't going to let up. She shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know, man. People name their kids weird names."

Jolene tapped his shoulder, indicating for him to head over there. Derek took in a deep breath before he started walking towards Jackson. Jolene did hang back and wait until she saw the werewolf call Jackson 'princes', which made her day. Laughing to herself, Jolene headed off to go catch up with Lydia and Allison, who were standing off to the side in the hallway. She walked over to the girls, the first thing she hearing is Lydia asking, "Scott's coming over tonight?"

"We're just studying together." Allison responded, which earned a laugh from Jolene, which is how she made her presence known. Allison looked over at her and Jolene shook her head. "Just studying means fucking, I hate to tell you."

"Didn't you and Stiles study together?" Allison challenged.

Lydia responded for her best friend, "They did, but they're also both painfully awkward, you are not. For you, this is like getting into a hot tub--somebody eventually cops a feel."

Allison looked over at Jolene to make sure she was alright after Lydia taunted her, but also to get confirmation. Jolene shrugged her shoulders and nodded her head seeing as how Lydia was right in both cases. Allison shifted a little bit, beginning to feel a little insecure. "So, what are you guys saying?"

"I'm just saying, you know, make sure he covers up." Lydia responded, assuming that that was enough for Allison to catch on. Allison was clearly confused by what that was supposed to mean, so Jolene, the more blunt of the two, lightly wacked her friend's arm. "A condom, you innocent idiot."

"Are you kidding? After one date?" Allison scoffed incredulously, which earned a shrug from Lydia. "Don't be a total prude. Give him a little taste."

"Well, I-I mean...how much is a little taste?" Allison was clearly insecure and nervous about this whole ordeal, which told the two girls a lot. Lydia and Jolene shared a knowing and slightly surprised look. Allison saw this interaction and it only made her more eager to know what was going on through their heads. The two girls turned back to her and Jolene questioned, "You really like him, don't you?"

"Well..." Allison sighed, "He's just different. When I first moved here, I had a plan--no boyfriends 'til college. I just move too much. But...then I met him and...he was just different. I don't know. I can't explain it."

"Okay, you're bordering on Jolene territory with her desperate love for Stiles and that is not healthy." Jolene nodded in agreement since she didn't exactly catch what Lydia was saying at first, but quickly snapped her head back to look at her best friend with offence, but Lydia continued speaking, "It's just your brain flooding with phenylethylamine."

Jolene blinked her eyes, trying to wrap her brain around what was just said before Lydia asked, "When's Scott coming over?"

"Right after school."

"Then you gotta think quick. You better be ready 'cause he'll probably be expecting it too. I heard Stiles telling Scott about the 'just studying' last class."

"Wait, Stiles knows about this?" Jolene questioned in a panic as Allison was beginning to gather her thoughts. Lydia looked over at her and shrugged her shoulders and nodded her head, not seeing it as a huge deal. "So, should I have...you know...?"

"No, 'cause you're hopeless and he's a nervous mess." Lydia patted her friend's shoulder just before she walked away from her. The girls both knew that Stiles was driving her home since she had to go get her stuff from his house. Allison was driving herself and Lydia was going with Jackson, so they were all going to head their separate ways.

Allison and Lydia had headed out to the parking lot while Jolene waited for Stiles. She was on her phone when suddenly, two hands went over her eyes and a voice from behind her spoke, "Guess who?"

Jolene knew by the voice that it was Stiles, but she wanted to be annoying, so she hummed, acting as if she didn't know. "Jackson?"

Stiles scrunched his nose in disgust and took his hand away from her eyes and moved in front of her, beginning to walk backwards as Jolene smiled at him and followed him. "Don't ever associate me with that reptile."

Jolene let out a small laugh and Stiles matched her smile. He found that anytime Jolene so much as blinked, he smiled. Anything she did, everything Jolene was, it made him happy. Stiles gets shoved off by Scott all the time with his infatuation with Jolene because neither of them thought he had a chance and he barely knew her, he was hopeless. Stiles caught himself quite often staring at her longingly, admiring her very obviously, and being unable to do anything solely because Jolene is in his presence. Pining only ever happens in the movies, but Stiles was proving this theory wrong.

Stiles and Jolene pushed through the front doors of the school with a small group of students around them and headed to where he had parked his Jeep in the lot. Stiles had asked her if she wanted to hang out, but Jolene needed to check on her dad. She was telling him this just as they got in the car, but the moment that Stiles pulled out of the parking spot and began to drive, Derek suddenly appeared right in front of the car, weakly holding up his arm. Stiles hit the brakes barely in time to avoid hitting him. "Oh my god!"

Derek was swaying on his feet, barely able to keep himself standing. Jolene saw this and quickly got out of the passenger seat. She rushed over to Derek and put her hands on his back as he began to fall, gently putting him down on the ground as Scott rushed over from the bike stands. Jolene may dislike Derek, but she has a big heart. It's a reflex for her to help everyone, but it did make her feel a little disgusted when she realized she just helped Derek.

"You've gotta be kidding me. This guy's everywhere." Stiles muttered in exasperation as he got out of the car and stood above Scott and Jolene, who were kneeling down next to Derek or literally holding him seated up. Stiles looked behind them and saw a long line of cars beginning to build up since everyone was trying to get home. Horns were honking loudly and other students were piling around the outside of the school, watching this scene unfold in front of them.

"What the hell? What are you doing here?" Scott questioned, clearly irritated by his presence.

"I was shot." Derek responded while his breathing was unsteady.

"He's not looking so good." Stiles pointed out the obvious as Jolene asked, "Shouldn't you be healing?"

"I can't. It was a different kind of bullet." Derek groaned in pain, squeezing his eyes shut for a moment.

"What, a silver bullet?" Stiles questioned excitedly, which earned an irritated look from Derek. "No, you idiot."

Scott was clearly beginning to put things together in his mind, but no one else knew what was happening. "Wait, wait! That's what she meant when she said you had forty-eight hours."

Derek's eyes widened, terrified at the idea he had such a short time to live. "What? Who said forty-eight hours?"

"The one who shot you."

Very suddenly, Derek was hit with a powerful wave of pain that caused his eyes to flash a bright blue. He groaned in agony as his eyes continued to flicker from their normal brown to the werewolf's blue. Scott was horrified, looking around to make sure that no one else saw that, but Jolene did.

Jolene may not like Derek, she may have a generational vendetta against him, but he is a well-versed werewolf. She knows he can control the shift, so if he was doing this in public, he was clearly not in control. Jolene knew they had to get him out of the open. She stood up and pulled Derek up to his feet by putting one of his arms around her shoulders. She was shockingly strong, which she didn't get from being a siren, Jolene is simply an athlete that didn't care if she hurt Derek more.

Jolene pushed Derek into the back seat of Stiles' car and got in the passenger seat herself while Stiles got in the front seat. Scott stood at the rolled down window next to Derek, who informed, "I need you to find out what kind of bullet they used."

Scott scoffed. "How the hell am I supposed to do that?"

"'Cause she's an Argent. She's with them." Derek was referring to Allison, which really caught Jolene's attention, seeing as how they were new friends. She turned around in the seat and wacked Derek's arm that was clearly hurt. He practically screamed in pain as he was scolded, "You so much as look at Allison the wrong way, I'll have you neutered."

Derek shot her a concerned and slightly horrified look, but that was partially because he was genuinely scared at his chances for survival. He ignored Jolene and turned right back to Scott. "I need you to figure this out, Scott, alright?"

"Why should I help you?"

"Because you need me." Scott could see how genuine Derek was being and also that Allison was walking towards them out of curiosity. Those two aspects combined made him wrap this up. Scott sighed and shook his head. "Fine. I'll try."

Scott then looked over at Jolene and Stiles. "Get him out of here."

"No promises he'll be alive when you see him next." Jolene expressed.

"Yeah, I know. I'm gonna get the bullet."

"No, I'm gonna kill him."

Scott proceeded to point at Stiles. "Don't let her kill him."

"No promises."

❝ 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐥𝐮𝐦𝐩 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞, 𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐠𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐬, 𝐛𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐩 𝐛𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐲 𝐡𝐚𝐢𝐫 𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐢𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠. ❞

:𝒑𝒔𝒚𝒄𝒉𝒐

❘ ❙ ❚ ❚ ❙ ❘