The three of them stood in the tattoo shop as Scott sat in the chair. Reyna looked at Stiles picking some stuff up.

"Stop it," she said, slapping his hand,

"Boy, it's a good thing you drew me a picture,"

"Hey, Scott, sure you don't want something like this?" said Stiles, holding up a lizard

"Too soon?"

"Just a bit," said Reyna,

"I don't know, man, are you sure about this? I mean these things are pretty permanent, you know?"

"I'm not changing my mind,"

"Okay, but why two bands?" asked the girl,

"I just like it,"

"But don't you think your first tattoo should have some sort of meaning, you know, or something?"

"Getting a tattoo means something,"

"I don't think that..."

"He's right, tattooing goes back thousands of years, the tahitian word 'tatua' mean 'to leave a mark,' like a rite of passage," said the man,

"Yeah, you see? He gets it,"

"He's covered in tattoos, Scott, literally," said Reyna,

"Okay, you ready?"

He nodded,

"You ain't got any problems with needles, do you?"

"Nope,"

It started to buzz,

"I tend to get a little squeamish though, so..."

Stiles looked over and mumbled something before passing out. Reyna and Scott looked at each other, bursting into laughter. 

🖤

They got into the jeep,

"You okay?" asked Reyna,

"God no, my head is pounding," replied Stiles

She gave him a look,

"You were asking him," he said sheepishly,

"How is your head Stiles?"

"It hurts,"

She looked at Scott,

"It kind of burns,"

"Yes, you just had your skin stabbed about 100,000 times with a needle,"

"Yeah, but I don't think it's supposed to feel like this,"

He straightened up and groaned,

"Oh god, no, it's definitely not supposed to feel like this, I gotta take this thing off,"

"No, no, no, no, Scott, Scott, please stop," said Stiles,

He took it off and it faded,

"No, no, come on,"

It completely vanished,

"It healed,"

"Thank god I hated it," said Stiles,

Reyna hit him around the head,

"Hey! At least I said I liked your hair after sitting in the salon for 3 hours with you,"

🖤

They set off, with Scott still upset about his arm.

"Nah, we agreed to give each other the summer, no texts, no calls,"

"So then how do you know she won't be back at school then?"

Reyna looked next to the Jeep and saw them. She snickered as Stiles looked over,

"After everything that happened, I'm not sure she's coming back at all,"

"I think she is," said an amused Reyna,

"I'd say pretty definite, you know, like 100%" He motioned to the window and he saw her. They looked over and he slipped down,

"Oh my god,"

"Can we just drive, please, Stiles?"

"Scott, it's a red light," said Reyna,

"I think we should talk to her, I just think we should say something,"

"No, no, no, Stiles, come on,"

Reyna watched in amusement,

"Oh my god, dude, no,"

"Hey!"

They drove past,

"You know, they probably didn't see us," Reyna burst into laughter,

"It's not funny!"

They started driving,

"What are you doing?"

"I'm driving,"

"We're right behind them,"

"Okay, well, do you see any turns?"

"I don't want it to look like we're following them,"

"Well, what do you want me to do?"

"I don't know, anything,"

He stopped and so did they,

"What are they doing?"

They heard them scream and ran out. Scott to Allison, Reyna to Lydia and Stiles just stood there in slight shock and awkwardness,

"Are you okay?"

"It came out of nowhere,"

"Are you hurt?"

"It ran right into us,"

"Are you okay?"

"I'm okay,"

"Well, I'm not okay! I am totally freaking out, how the hell does it just run into us?"

Scott moved to the front,

"I saw its eye right before it hit us, it was like it... it was like it was crazy,"

"No, it was scared," said Scott,

"Actually, terrified," Reyna said.

🖤

Reyna sat on Stiles' bed and he was at his computer. Noah came in,

"You know how many vehicle collisions last year involved deer?"

"247,000," said Reyna,

"Oh god, please go to school,"

"But that's crossing the road, this one last night came right down the middle, try that," suggested Reyna,

"Rey, don't encourage him,"

"Curiosity, Mr S," she shrugged,

"I'm not gonna beg,"

"Okay, good, I'm impervious to your influence anyway,"

"Would you consider a bribe?"

"You couldn't meet my price,"

"Extortion?"

"You got nothing on me,"

"Yeah,"

He grabbed the chair and pulled it back as he kept typing and fell off, Reyna started laughing.

🖤

They got to school and met up with Scott,

"You wanna ask Derek for help? Why? Why?"

"He's got the triskele tattooed on his back, so there has to be a way to do it without healing, right?"

"Okay, yeah, but still, doesn't he have his hands a little full?"

He motioned to Erica and Boyd's missing posters,

"Look, these are the applications for the career advisor, I need them sorted and whatever happened to the library while I was gone, I want it cleared up and what the hell is this?" they heard the principal say,

"Go, go, go,"

They kept walking.

🖤

Reyna met up with Allisons and Lydia,

"Freshmen, tons and tons of fresh men,"

"You mean fresh boys, Lydia, they're 14,"

"Eh, some are more mature than others,"

"You know, it's okay to be single, focus on yourself for a little while, work on becoming a better person,"

She chuckled,

"Allison, we love you,"

"So if you need to do that thing where we talk about me and pretend like we're not actually talking about you,"

"It's totally fine,"

"But I don't want a boyfriend, I want a distraction,"

She looked at the two boys walk in,

"Brothers?"

"Twins,"

🖤

They were in class and Reyna sat next to Stiles and Lydia sat in front. There were no spaces for Allison, she looked at Scott and sat in front. Their phones vibrated after a while.

"The offing was barred by a black bank of clouds and the tranquil waterway, leading to the uttermost ends of the earth flowed somber under an overcast sky seemed to lead into the heart of an immense darkness, this is the last line to the first book we are going to read, it is also the last text you will receive in this class, phones off, everyone," said the new teacher. Everyone turned their phones off and put it on the side. 

🖤

They were halfway through the class when a man came in, he whispered something into Miss Blake's ear and she glanced at Scott and Reyna,

"Mr McCall, Miss Hale?" she said, motioning for them to follow her,

"Uh, I'm sure it's an emergency if your mother needs you to leave school, but I'm gonna give you a warning in the nicest possible way, I am well aware of your attendance record, I don't want to see you slip back into old habits," she said,

"I won't, it's gonna be different this year," he said,

"Resolutions are only good if you stick with them, Scott," she said,

"I will, I promise it won't be ephemeral," he said,

Reyna smiled a little and shook her head. 

🖤

They walked through the hospital,

"Why didn't you tell us before?"

"Honestly, I was hoping I didn't have to,"

"What do you mean?"

"Everything that you've been doing, the extra reading, the summer school, saving up for the bike, even though it scares me half to death, honey, I just didn't wanna disrupt a good rhythm,"

"It's not gonna stop, I'm gonna be better this year, a better student, a better son, a better friend, a better everything, I promise," said Scott,

"Okay, he's in room 215 if he isn't already in surgery,"

They nodded as Scott kissed her cheek as the two of them walked off. They were ín the elevator when someone put their stick through it. Scott held it,

"Would you hit the button for the second floor, please?"

"Yeah, we're going there anyway," said Reyna,

He smiled and nodded. The doors opened,

"You wouldn't mind helping me out for a second, would you?"

"Um,"

"Of course not,"

He put his hand on her shoulder and they walked out slowly. They dropped the old man off and turned a few corners to see his room empty and then someone wheeling him into an elevator. The pair caught a glimpse of claws. He pressed the button and they growled, running into the elevator, they fell to the floor. Scott growled as the Alpha threw him into the wall and then kicked Reyna's stomach in. She grabbed his leg and threw him back. He got angrier and pinned her to the wall by her neck. The door opened as he strangled Reyna,

"Don't you realize what you're dealing with? I'm an Alpha,"

Derek stabbed him in the back,

"So am I,"

Derek threw him back and he turned to the teens,

"Aren't the two of you supposed to be in school?"

🖤

They got to the Hale house,

"We got a serious problem at the school, Ms Blake's class..." said Stiles

"Hey, can you tell us about it later?"

"Well, no, pretty sure this qualifies for immediate discussion,"

"All right, then meet us at Derek's,"

"Derek's house? What? What the hell are you doing..."

"Just meet us here, okay?" said Reyna,

Scott cut the phone,

"You don't still live here do you?"

"No, the county took it over but there's something here that I need, it'll help heal a wound from an Alpha,"

"Yeah, but it did heal,"

"Not on the inside,"

No one said anything,

"Hey, are you gonna tell us who was back there?"

"That Alpha," said Reyna,

"A rival pack, it's my problem, I know you wanna help and you did, I owe you both one, now go home, go back to being teenagers,"

They were about to leave, but Scott turned around,

"Hey, Derek, if you wanna repay back that favor now, there is something you can do for me,"

🖤

Reyna and Stiles stood up, Derek crouched down, looking at Scott's arm,

"Yeah, I see it, two bands, right?"

He nodded,

"What does it mean?"

"I don't know, it's just something I traced with my fingers,"

"Why is this so important to you?"

"Do you know what the word 'tattoo' means?"

"To mark something," said Stiles,

"Well, that's in Tahitian, in Somoan, it means 'open wound', I knew I wanted to get a tattoo when I turned 18, I always wanted one, I just decided to get it now, to make it kind of a reward,"

"For what?"

"For not calling or texting Allison all summer, even when I really wanted to, even when it was so hard not to sometimes, I was trying to give her the space she wants, going four months later, it still hurts, it still feels like a..."

"Like an open wound," said Reyna,

"Yeah,"

"The pains gonna feel worse than anything you've ever felt," said Derek,

"Ah, that's great,"

"That sentiment didn't last long," said Reyna,

"Do it,"

He started the blow torch,

"Oh, wow, that's a lot for me, so, I'm gonna take that as my cue, I'm just gonna wait outside," said Stiles, beginning to walk out, Derek put his hand in front to stop him.

"Nope, you can help hold him down,"

"I was there for Derek's, it was not pretty,"

The two teenagers held him down as Derek started. Scott screamed in pain,

"Hold him!"

🖤

He woke up and looked at it,

"It worked,"

"Well, it looks pretty damn permanent now," said Stiles,

"Yeah, I kind of needed something permanent, everything that's happened to us, everything just changed so fast, everything's so... ephemeral,"

"Studying for the PSAT's?"

"Yep,"

"Nice,"

"By the way, how do you run in heels?" asked Scott,

"It's a talent,"

"Women," said Stiles,

They began to walk out and Scott opened the door,

"You painted the door, why'd you paint the door?" said Scott,

"Go home, Scott,"

"And why only one side," said Reyna in confusion,

Scott got his claws out, Reyna doing the same as they began to scrape at the door. Derek watching, knowing where this was going to go,

"The birds at school and the deer last night, just like the night I got trampled by the deer when I got bit by the Alpha, how many are there?"

"A whole pack of them, an Alpha pack,"

"All of them? How does that even work?"

"I hear there's some kind of a leader, he's called Deucalion, we know they have Boyd and Erica, Peter, Isaac and I have been looking for them for the last four months,"

"Let's say you find them, how do you deal with an Alpha pack?"

"With all the help I can get,"

He looked at them,

"Where is she?" asked Isaac,

They all turned to look at him,

"Where's the girl?"

"What girl?"