Brother || Teen Wolf

Chapter 46 - Huntress

As both Scott and Peter concerned themselves with the fate of a certain Argent girl, Allison was nowhere close to being on Jamie's mind that evening. In fact, what Jamie thought was that he deserved a break, and as such, he was set on spending the most normal, supernatural-free evening the world had ever seen.

He knew such an evening would be far better with Lydia around and he had not hesitated to share his plans with her, prompting her to come over to the Tate Farm as soon as class had ended. Although he wouldn't voice it out loud, Jamie was immensely grateful that Lydia was still at his side.

From the very start of the school year, ever since Scott had been bitten, he had been plagued by the fear of losing her. The more he dreaded seeing her drift away from him, the happier he was whenever she was willing to spend time with him, whether alone or in the company of the friends they shared. That evening, Jamie was delighted to spend some time with his girlfriend, until an obnoxious sound disturbed their peace and quiet. His phone was ringing, the screen lighting up to display a picture of the caller.

If there was one thing Jamie had always found curious, it was how other people could impact his life in the strangest of ways. He had first thought about it some time ago, while he was working a long shift at the hospital and ended up spending the night there, caught up in a fascinating discussion with an old man who had fallen down some stairs earlier that day. Jamie couldn't even remember what they had talked about, only that it had been the most random, pleasant discussion he'd had in a while.

He remembered his heart had almost stopped beating in his chest when he had seen the time. He had rushed home as quickly as he had dared, only to be welcomed by his panicked father. The man was so relieved to see Jamie come home that he didn't have the heart to ground him, instead preferring to spend the next Sunday afternoon near the lake with his son. All thanks to the old man Jamie never knew the name of, his father and himself spent time together and it brought them closer.

Of course, other people didn't always impact his life in such a positive way. He came to that conclusion as his phone kept ringing, the melody growing louder and louder. He frowned and decided to ignore the sounds, hoping the person would stop trying to reach him. He was quite busy at the moment and had no desire to be interrupted again, instead set on giving his undivided attention to the strawberry-blonde girl right in front of him.

However, the caller was the epitome of rude as yet again, Jamie's phone rang, prompting a frustrated groan to leave his mouth. Regretfully, he left the comfort of Lydia's warm embrace and ran a hand through his hair in a feeble attempt at making himself slightly less ruffled in appearance, then extended his hand to reach the cursed device, ready to let whoever was calling hear what he thought of pesky intruders.

However, the second he brought the phone to his hear, no words left his lips and every single remark he had thought of was instantly forgotten. Allison was the caller, and he could barely understand what she was saying. She was sobbing and her voice was shaking too much for Jamie to understand anything other than that his friend was in dire need of comfort. Quite alarmed, and although his hands were burning to shove the phone in his girlfriend's hands, the young man resisted the urge of relying on Lydia to deal with the sobbing girl.

He got up, feeling Lydia's gaze on him as he paced the room and struggled to understand what Allison was trying to say. His blue eyes found Lydia's hazel ones as he promised Allison they were on their way. Followed closely by a pouting Lydia, Jamie made his way downstairs, still trying to figure out what could possibly help Allison cheer up. He soon found his answer. The remedy to everything bad in life was in reach, set atop the kitchen counter: a steaming coffee pot almost overflowing with the precious dark liquid. Jamie was quick to pour a generous amount of the beverage into his favorite thermos (in other words, the biggest one he owned), careful not to spill a single drop.

They drove away from the Tate Farm, Lydia taking them to the Argent residence. The very fact that she had agreed to help when she had no idea what was going on somehow made her seem even more incredible in Jamie's eyes. He did his best not stare, as he knew she would notice and it would en up distracting her from the road, which was about the opposite of a good idea.

However, if Jamie had looked at her, he would have seen the slight tension in her jaw and how firmly her hands were wrapped around the steering wheel. He would have noticed her discomfort but chances were, even if he had seen it, he wouldn't have understood where it came from. Lydia herself wasn't certain what had prompted her to feel so down, or rather, she wasn't willing to admit it, even to herself. The voice of reason in her head, told her she was lucky to be with someone so ready to drop whatever he was doing to help a friend in need. However, another voice could be heard, coming from a darker place in her mind. It told her that her boyfriend didn't need to think twice to end their time alone together and what's worse, it was all because another girl had called.

Such were the thoughts Lydia held when she stopped the car in front of the Argent home. For a second, neither of them moved. They weren't sure what they were supposed to do, but thankfully, they didn't have to think long. The front door opened before their very eyes, revealing the lean silhouette of Allison Argent. The moment Lydia noticed the poor state Allison was in, she felt like an idiot for letting jealousy get the better of her. Reason won the round and she got out of the car, hurriedly making her way to her friend and gently bringing her into a well-needed hug.

Allison was a complete mess. Despite numerous attempts, Lydia couldn't find any other accurate way of describing her friend. They hadn't met so long ago, but Lydia knew for a fact that Allison was strong, so she came to wonder what could possibly have put the Argent girl in such a sorry state.

"My... My aunt..." Allison tried to speak, her voice so shaky and so soft her friends could barely hear her, let alone make sense of what she was trying to say. "She's... She's..."

"Hey, calm down," Jamie said, handing her the massive thermos full of coffee. "You're okay. You're safe, I promise."

Allison's head shot up, a confused expression on her features. She wasn't sure why Jamie had brought her coffee, but most importantly, she didn't understand why he had felt the need to say she was safe, as she was unaware that both her lower lip and her hands were shaking. However, his words made her realize how terrified she truly was and that was her breaking point. She couldn't keep the words from flowing out of her mouth and she talked, talked and talked some more, telling her friends everything, right there in front of her house.

She told them all about her family, about the secrets they were keeping. She told them how her aunt had lost her mind and abducted a man, trapping him in their basement and forcefully keeping him there. She told them how he screamed when Kate sent electricity course through his body, and how the pain made his eyes glow blue.

Allison never intended to share so much, so soon, as she had feared her friends wouldn't believe her. It made her all the more surprised when she wasn't met with the empty words of comfort she expected to hear. In fact, she wasn't met with any words at all. Instead, Jamie and Lydia shared a very distinct look. It was the look, the one Allison always saw them exchange whenever they didn't need words to communicate. While Jamie looked determined, Lydia seemed worried. With a forceful nod of her head and furrowed eyebrows, Lydia won their silent duel and turned to face Allison, a gentle smile on her lips.

She was about to open her mouth and lead Allison on a wild goose chase, far away from the supernatural world, but she suddenly found herself incapable of uttering a single word. Allison looked so desperate, broken even, how could Lydia bring herself to look her friend in the eye, and lie?

There were things Lydia Martin herself couldn't explain in this world, and the mysterious disappearance of her own resolve that night was one of them. Mysterious things took the blame for many events in Beacon Hills, but did the Argent family secrets really need be on that list? Did Allison really need to be in pain, when the comfort of the truth was almost in reach? Such were the thoughts in the strawberry-blonde girl's head as she took Allison's hands gently in her own, and proceeded to help her friend make sense of everything that had happened from the moment she had set foot in the curious city they called home.

It started by following Allison into a basement, where they saw everything she had described but the people involved. Both Kate and Derek had vanished, leaving no proof of what Allison had told her friends. The raven-haired girl was about to lose it when Jamie spoke the three words that stopped her from toppling over.

"We believe you."