[ start of heart monitor part two ]

on the lacrosse field, Eleanor decided that maybe talking to someone about what had been going on was a good idea. She decided to take Stiles up on the offer of his company during their free period while Jaden and Scott attended Geography.

Eleanor's long brown hair had since been pulled into a messy bun, and the pair had taken refuge in front of their lockers in the empty hallway of the school, having only each other as company. Although, this was completely okay with the best friends, they did not want anyone eavesdropping anyway.

"So," The nervous boy started, pushing his bag next to hers as he looked on at her expectantly, "What's really been going on?"

Eleanor sighed in exhaustion, tucking a piece of hair behind her pierced ear as she shuffled closer to him, resting her head on his flannel covered shoulder. Stiles fidgeted at the action, before settling down comfortably as he awaited her reply.

"Everything. I miss Laura. She would've been able to help with all of this, help with Scott's transformation, anything. I'd do anything to see her again. And to meet the creature that killed her, it terrified me, though I'd never admit it to Jaden or Derek. That night, it just happened so fast. You and Scott are arguing about me as well, I mean, is it really worth it? -"

Before Eleanor could finish with her explanation, Stiles grabbed hold of her small hands, making eye contact. "Of course it is Nora. It's always worth it. We're just having a disagreement, it will blow over soon, but you're important to me and I'm angry he just chose Allison to save and not you!"

Her eyes softened at the reply he gave to her and she smiled, gently kissing Stiles' shoulder in affection. "You're too good to me, Ti."

He shook his head at both the nickname and the statement and placed an equally affectionate peck in her hair. "No, I'm not! You're just going through a lot and best friends are supposed to help you through stuff like that. It's what I'm here for."

"You're an angel." Eleanor hummed pleasantly, ignoring the pain in her chest when Stiles uttered 'best friends'.

The sound of boots clapping against the hallway floor made the pair look up, meeting a slightly distressed friend. Allison. She ran a hand through her disheveled hair and frowned when realising she had interrupted the couple. However, she desperately needed to talk with Eleanor.

"I'm so sorry, I'm interrupting something important, aren't I?" She rushed, her eyes showing such emotion that Eleanor knew something was wrong.

While Stiles desperately nodded his head 'yes', Eleanor shook her head 'no' and stood to her feet, breaking free of her position against the lockers with Stiles. She rubbed her palms against her jeans and glared at Stiles' answer.

"No, don't worry about it. What's up?" She questioned softly, resting a reassuring touch of the hand against Allison's leather jacket.

The young Argent sighed in relief and glanced around, making eye contact immediately afterward. "I just, really need to talk to someone."

Eleanor nodded immediately, her hair falling down her back as she picked up her bag, pulling Stiles to his feet as she answered. "Of course, we can go and talk now."

Allison nodded and watched, wide eyed as Eleanor turned to Stiles, whom was now standing, and planted a firm kiss to his cheek. "Thank you so much for today. I'm sorry I have to rush off but I'll see you later, yeah?"

And with that, the two brunettes rushed away, leaving a red faced Stiles in their wake. The girls were quick to find another hall that remained empty for the entirety of their shared free period and therefore situated themselves like Stiles and Eleanor had done previously, in front of a set blue lockers.

Eleanor arched her brows at the wavy brunette. "What's this about?"

"Does Scott still like me?" Allison rushed, biting her lip nervously as Eleanor's eyes widened.

"What? Of course he does! Why wouldn't he?"

Allison shrugged bashfully, casting her attention downward. "I don't know. Maybe I'm just paranoid, but I could've sworn he's been ignoring me all day."

At the mention of Scott's ignorance, Eleanor caught on to what Allison had been talking about. Derek had told her about scaring Scott last night after his trip to the grocery store, and his main objective was to keep him away from Allison. Personally, Eleanor didn't see the point in his demand, but nonetheless respected his decision, for he knew much more than her.

Knowing this information, Eleanor shook her head convincingly and lay a hand upon the young hunter's shoulder. "Al, he really likes you, okay? He's just, under a lot of pressure at the moment."

Allison's gaze lingered on the floor for another moment, before she reluctantly looked upward, nodding to show that she understood. Relief washed through her body, and she let herself collapse against the lockers, content with what she had just heard.

"Are you okay now?"

Allison rolled her eyes and nodded, pushing Eleanor's shoulder at her playful tone, letting out a smile that reached her eyes and brightened them considerably. She reached beside her, pulling a history book from her bag, holding it up to show her friend.

"Want to study with me?"

Eleanor contemplated going back to Stiles, and finishing their conversation they were in the midst of earlier. She decided against this for one of two reasons; one, Stiles had probably gone to check on his dad during free period, and she didn't want to interrupt that; two, she felt much better about the past predicaments she had encountered and no longer fought the urge to talk about them. And so, she agreed to stay with Allison to study for their upcoming history test.

Eleanor took out her own history book, not as smoothly as Allison had, and consequently brought her open pencil case with her, spewing the contents over the tiled flooring. Allison bit her lip to stifle a laugh as the empathic werewolf groaned in dissatisfaction, converting to her hands and knees to retrieve her belongings.

Footsteps approached the two girls in the midst of Eleanor's stationery crisis, and bent down to help, uncharacteristically. She smiled for a split second, but her face fell as she recognised the familiar scent of Jackson's Clive Christian aftershave.

She made eye contact with him as he handed her a handful of pens and pencils, and thanked him quietly as she backtracked to her original spot, next to Allison, whom had shuffled closer upon Jackson's entrance.

The arrogant, boisterous boy slid his backpack off of his shoulder and sat down next to Eleanor, cross legged. The two girls exchanged a worried glance, before continuing to read and highlight from their history books, acting unnerved by the boy beside them.

Jackson cleared his throat. "What are you reading?"

"Oh, um, just stuff for a history test."

Eleanor eyed Jackson during Allison's statement. "Do you have a free period or-"

"No." He replied almost immediately. "I, I just don't like sitting through Chemistry."

"Understandable."

An uncomfortable silence played over the three individuals for a few seconds, and Eleanor sighed, tucking her brunette hair behind her ear as she asked. "Do you, uh, did you want something?"

Jackson jumped slightly. "Uh, yeah actually I do. I wanted to talk. I realise that I've been a jerk to you two, and especially to Scott. And I wanted to say that I'm sorry." The small apology caused an awkward smile and chuckle to fall from the both of their lips.

"I'm serious." The jock defended, narrowing his eyes slightly as Allison nodded, going back to highlighting her textbook.

"Okay, yeah, I believe that you're being serious. But sincere? Not so much."

Jackson sighed, fiddling with the zip on his backpack as he tried to find words of which would convince Eleanor and Allison of his apology. "Do you know what it's like to be the best player on the team? To be the star? To have every single person at the game chanting your name? And then some kid - some kid just shows up and takes it all away, and people start looking at him instead. Do you know what that feels like?"

"No, no I don't." Allison replied, looking down in guilt. Eleanor, however, was not buying his act.

"Well it feels like something's been stolen from you. And you feel like you'd do anything to get it back, anything in the world."

Eleanor rolled her green eyes at his overdramatic sob story. "Have you ever heard the phrase, 'there's no I in team'?"

Jackson stared ahead. "Yeah, but there is a me."

Allison shifted uncomfortably at this cocky statement and Eleanor looked above her, trying to find the will to keep her from walking away, and instead stay to keep Allison company. Jackson started to chuckle, shaking his head in embarrassment.

"That was a joke." He reassured. "God, you guys must really hate me."

"No kiddin-" Allison swatted Eleanor's arm before she could finish uttering her truthful statement, and instead flashed Jackson a polite smile.

"Not at all." She confirmed, glaring at her friend.

Eleanor merely ignored her, and concentrated on the history book in front of her, wanting at least something to come out of this otherwise horrific study session as Jackson scratched the back of his neck, wincing. "Are you sure? Because I'm not a bad guy."

Eleanor found the statement very difficult to believe. "I mean, yeah I make stupid mistakes - a lot of them - but I'm not that bad. I really like you Eleanor and Allison."

The two swiftly exchanged looks of bewilderment, that Jackson noticed, correcting himself almost immediately. "And Scott and Stiles, and of course Jaden - I really like all of you, and I want you guys to like me. I want to get to know you guys better."

Allison nodded, smiling positively as Eleanor slouched against the cold metal locker behind her, unimpressed, unlike her friend. And so, feeling rather uncomfortable in her new position in between Jackson and Allison, Eleanor slid her history book back into her bag and stood up from the floor abruptly. Allison sat up slightly at the action and raised her eyebrows as Eleanor turned to face the pair.

"Well, as much as I have enjoyed this, I promised the boys I would meet up with them before Econ. I'll see you later, Al." She smiled, letting it drop as she stared at Lydia's boyfriend. "Jackson."

....

eventful class of economics, a threatening shout from Coach Finstock and a Scallison hand hold later, all three friends had figured that Allison had in fact helped Scott control his shift, and they no longer thought of her as making him weak.

"It's her." Jaden confirmed confidently, walking beside his friends as he clapped a hand around Scott's shoulder.

Scott frowned, lost. "What do you mean?"

His sneakers squeaked against the floor as they turned a corner, heading into another hallway adorned with the same boring blue lockers as the previous. "It's Allison. Remember what you told me the night of the full moon? You were thinking of protecting her, right?"

Scott nodded slowly, still slow to understand the concept the three were pitching. "Remember the night of the lacrosse game? You said you could hear her voice out on the field."

"Yeah, yeah I did." Eleanor had to hold the coo from slipping her lips.

Instead, she continued Stiles' point. "Well then, that's what brought you back so that you could score. She made you human Scott. In the locker room after the game, you didn't try to kill her, at least not how you tried to kill us. It's Allison. She's the one that brings you back."

Scott grimaced, shaking his head, denying the statement. "No, no no no. That's not always true, because every time I kiss or touch her-"

"That's not the same thing!" Jaden rejected his thought, running a hand through his mop of brunette curls atop his head. "When you're doing that, you're being a normal, hormonal teenage boy, thinking about sex."

Scott smiled absentmindedly, a small dimple showing on the left side of his cheek as Eleanor pushed him in mock disgust. "You're thinking about sex right now aren't you?"

"Yeah," He admitted. "Sorry."

Jaden sighed. "That's fine. Look, when she was holding your hand in class, that was different okay? Allison doesn't make you weak, she gives you control. She's your anchor."

At the mention of an anchor, the male twin focused his gaze upon his sister, who fidgeted under the sorrowful expression, ignoring it completely as she watched Scott's face fill with a toothy smile.

"You mean because I love her?"

Eleanor mirrored the expression settled upon his face at these words, struck with happiness for the couple as Stiles nodded in agreement. "Yeah, exactly."

Scott stopped his movement, halting his friends as he stared ahead in bewilderment. "Wait, did I just say that?"

"Yes, you just said that." Eleanor's brother laughed at the amazed, wide eyed look.

"I love her." The taste of the unfamiliar words felt warm and sweet on his tongue, and Scott realised that his statement was true.

"That's great." Stiles concluded. "Now, moving on-"

"No, really. I think I'm totally in love with her!"

"That's beautiful!" The aderall enthused boy praised sarcastically, turning on his heel to continue their trek through the school halls. "But before you go off and right a sonnet, can we please figure all of this out? Because you obviously can't be around her all of the time."

Scott shook his head to rid the lovestruck daze he had been induced in, and regained full awareness of the situation. "Yeah, you're right, sorry."

"So," Jaden nodded, "What do we do?"

"I don't know, yet." Stiles replied, his brain working in overdrive as he racked up ideas to help his best friend.

A smirk settled across his lips only a few seconds afterward, and Eleanor raised a plucked brow, sensing that Stiles had gotten an idea. No doubt, an incredibly dangerous one. Jaden and Scott noticed the look too.

Scott sighed and shook his head in dismay at the expression. "Oh god, you're getting an idea, aren't you?"

"Yeah."

"Is this going to get me in trouble?"

Eleanor laughed sarcastically, holding Stiles' shoulder as she confirmed. "If it's Stiles' idea? Of course."

Scott didn't like that answer. "Is it going to cause me physical pain."

"Oh yeah, definitely." Jaden nodded his head as Stiles' smile widened, before grabbing ahold of Scott's wrist, letting the twins follow them down the hall and outside.

"What are we doing?" The newly bitten complained, letting the fresh air blow past his hair as they came to a halt, allowing him to rub his wrist where Stiles' hand had just left.

"Okay, stand there. Do you have your keys?" Scott nodded, his eyebrows creased in confusion as he fished for his house key in his pocket."Perfect, hold 'em up like this."

Stiles gave a demonstration as Scott followed his actions, and the fidgety boy patted his best friend on his back, moving toward the truck behind him. "Now, remember; whatever happens, just think of Allison. Try to find her voice, like you did at the game, okay?"

And with that, Stiles dragged his own key down the side of a burly man's truck, ruining the immaculate paint job as Eleanor, Scott and Jaden watched on in astonishment. Eleanor bit her lip as Stiles mumbled,"Just hold the keys right there." before stopping and pocketing the key in his jeans.

He made a short movement to turn his neck, noting that the owner of the truck hadn't seen his actions, and turned to look at Scott, whom stared ahead wide eyed, shouting. "Hey, dude! What the hell do you think you're doing to that truck bro?"

Eleanor allowed a quick gasp to slip her throats as Jaden pulled her back, away from Scott, whom looked terrified. In one swift movement, the three men had turned to face the commotion, and clocked Scott, still holding up his house key.

In seconds, the muscular group attacked. One grabbed Scott by the collar, throwing him to the floor in fury, as the two others kicked repetitively to ensure Scott would endure several injuries. Stiles, Jaden and Eleanor stood together, wincing and trying to block out the sound of Scott's muffled cries and pleads.

It was only when Mr. Harris arrived that Eleanor knew it would be over. However, the menacing stare of rage was enough for her to push Jaden behind the wall, urging him to leave before he got into trouble. She knew that Derek had asked her brother to accompany him to see Peter that afternoon, and so she hid him until he was out of sight.

By that time, the men had climbed off of Scott and the two best friends were desperately trying to haul Scott to his feet, letting him lean on their shoulders for support, trying to avoid Harris' glare of terror. This was easier said than done.

"What the hell do you idiots think you're doing?"

...

"me sir?" Scott cleared his throat, his hands resting on the rough surfaced table before him. "I know it's detention, but I'm supposed to be at work, and I really don't want to get fired."

The statement seemed not to bother the teacher, as he only looked up, smirking at the young boy before proceeding to mark the rest of the exam papers before him. Scott sighed, slumping against the wooden desk as his attention focused on Stiles and Eleanor, whom were sat beside him.

He glanced back at Mr. Harris before deciding that whispering would be appropriate for conversation. "You knew I would heal?"

Stiles rolled his eyes. "Yeah."

"So you did that to help me learn?" Scott scratched his neck in confusion.

"Yeah."

"But partially to punish me."

Stiles snorted sarcastically. "Well yeah, that one's obvious."

"Dude." The newly bitten sighed, pouting slightly. "You're my best friend. I can't have you being angry at me!"

"He's not angry anymore." Eleanor mumbled suggestively, nudging Stiles slightly before leaning against his arm, exhausted.

"Look, you have something Scott. Okay? Whether you want it or not, you are exactly like Eleanor, Jaden and the rest of the Hales. You guys can do things that nobody else can do. So that means you don't have a choice anymore, it means you have to do something, you have to help people."

"I know." Scott sighed, glancing down at Eleanor, whom he looked to in admiration, though she would never realise it. "And I will."

The air was calm, void of tension that seemed to loom over their heads before. Mr. Harris checked his watch and sighed, dropping his pen onto the papers below him. "All right, all three of you, out of here."