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THIRTY ONE.

Sage realized how much she hated school when she had to go back. Thankfully, she was able to skip yesterday, staying in bed and contemplating how much her life sucked, but now she was back. After Wednesday night when she got a concussion and a few bruises, she practically spent every single waking moment with Stiles. Not that she minded, but Stiles was adamant on keeping her everywhere after he complained about how terrible it felt to feel completely useless when she was hurt. He told her he wasn't being crazy, and she would understand one day when something happened to him. She told him not to joke about things like that because the idea of Stiles being hurt scared the hell out of her.

"Please tell me you're kidding." Stiles and Scott stared back at her when they were at a stop sign. She had finally decided to tell them that she might have accidentally agreed to going out with potential murderer Matt. Stiles was more annoyed that she used the word accidentally than the fact that she was actually going out with him. Meanwhile, Scott was practically jumping in his seat. She knew he spent all night trying to get tickets after following Jackson to one of the places selling, picking up that Jackson was going to be attending the rave.

"I was more worried about getting to Jackson like you guys wanted, than paying attention to some guy blabbering on about a rave. So I'm sorry that my worry for my friend got in the way of my ability to think," Sage told Stiles. It was always crazy to see how bipolar their relationship was. One second they were making out in the back of his jeep, and another minute they were fighting over who was right and wrong.

"You know, it's a good thing, Stiles," Scott agreed, nodding his head. "I mean, if Sage goes with Matt then she, not only, has a free ticket in but she can make sure Matt doesn't do anything since you're worried about him being the Kanima's controller."

Stiles grumbled, pulling into a parking spot. "Doesn't mean I like the idea."

"You hate all of our ideas," She retorted, leaning in her seat to press a kiss on his cheek. Then she turned to Scott, and frowned at him. "So you didn't find any at all last night?"

"No, but there's got to be some other way to get tickets, right?" Scott asked, hopping out of the car. Stiles got out as well, sticking a hand out so that Sage had something to hold on to while she climbed over. This was actually one of the arguments Scott and her had, saying that since she was the one that didn't heal and still had traces of a concussion, she should be sitting in the front. But no such thing happened, and she was put in the back. She stumbled on the way out, crashing into Stiles' chest. He grinned down at her, and she rolled her eyes before sticking a hand up and shoving his face away with her palm.

"It's a secret show, there's only one way and it's secret," Stiles replied, his hand lacing in Sage's as they walked to school. Sage snickered, feeling bad that Scott was having no such luck finding tickets. She would gladly give him her's considering the last thing she wanted to do was go to a stupid rave in minimal amount of clothing and her date not be her boyfriend. The whole night just sounded like a bust.

"Hey!" All three teenagers turned around to see Matt jogging towards them. Sage groaned under her breath but shined a fake smile in the boy's direction while Stiles just glared. "Do any of you know why no one is getting suspended after what happened the other day at school?"

"Forget about it, nobody got hurt," Stiles retorted, in which Sage's elbow came out and hit him in the ribs to remind him that he was the one lugging her body around for a solid hour. He flinched but adjusted his backpack strap with his one free hand so it didn't look too obvious to Matt.

Matt stared at Stiles in disbelief. "I had a concussion."

"Well nobody got seriously hurt."

Another jab to the ribs.

"I was in the ER for six hours!"

Stiles grumbled, and moved his hand down to the cement ground, taking half of Sage with him. "Okay, you want to know the truth, Matt? Your little bump on the head is about this high on our list of problems right now!" Sage flinched, and tugged him back up to regular height. She knew this was partially out of Stiles still being jealous she was going on a 'date' with another guy. She really hoped Matt realized she was still in a relationship with Stiles.

Scott tried a different approach, his girlfriend not going on a date with the once-concussed boy. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Matt said, looking at Scott weirdly. "I'm fine now. So you didn't get any tickets last night either?" Sage's attention was adverted from Matt's face after that, moving to where her and Stiles were a few feet away from the two boys, but close enough to hear the conversation. Stiles rolled his eyes constantly, making her grin and squeeze his hands tightly. Jealous Stiles was adorable Stiles.

Scott shook his head. "Are they still selling?"

"No, but I managed to find two online." Stiles' grip got tighter. "You should keep trying sounds like everyone is going to be there." Then he turned towards Sage, and gave her a small smile, trying to ignore Stiles. "I'll pick you up?"

"Actually, I'll meet you there if that's okay," She said. She didn't want to be in a car with him, she really didn't want that. She would rather have Stiles take her and give her the lecture that she knew was going to be coming tonight. Matt's face fell but he nodded anyways, giving her a wave before jogging towards school.

Stiles scoffed. "I don't like him. Are you sure about this?" He turned towards the two of them in question. Sage nodded, bringing Stiles' and her conjoined hands up so she could push her hair from her face. Scott seemed just as convinced that going to the rave would be a good idea.

"Last time whoever is controlling Jackson had to kill somebody, he didn't finish the job. So, what do you think he's going to do this time?" Scott asked, raising his eyebrows at Stiles to answer the question for him. Stiles exhaled when he finally got what the answer was.

"Be there to make sure it happens."

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When the school day ended, Sage couldn't have been more depressed. She was actually officially dreading going home because that meant it would only be a few hours before she had to go out with Matt. Just the thought of being in the vicinity of him for hours made her want to hurl all over the floor. To take her mind off of her impending doom, Scott ended up dragging her and Stiles to Deaton's. She hadn't seen the vet for weeks, the last time being when he told her that her mother wasn't in Florida. This time it wasn't her that they were talking about, it was Jackson, and more specifically, how to stop him and catch who was controlling him.

"Ketamine?"

Deaton nodded towards Scott. "It's the same stuff we use on the dogs, just a higher dosage. If you can get close enough to Jackson, it should slow him down enough to buy you some time." He set down the drug, and stared at the three teenagers before moving behind him to pull something out. "This," he held up a jar of what looked like black ashes. "is some of what you will use to create the barrier. This part is for you, Stiles. Only you."

"Ah, that sounds like a lot of pressure," Stiles muttered as he moved to grab the jar. Sage stood in between the boys, her arms crossed over her chest. She had already been told what she was supposed to do, and that was stand by and distract Matt until something happened where she was needed. She hoped that she would be needed because that means an easy escape from her horrible 'date'. The only good thing about the whole night was she got to dress immodest and listen to good music. "Maybe you could find a slightly less pressure filled task for me?"

"It's from the mountain ash tree," Deaton explained, and Stiles knew immediately he wasn't getting out of it. "Which is believed by many cultures to protect against the supernatural. This office is lined with ash wood, making it difficult for someone like Scott or Sage to, uh, cause me any trouble."

"So then what? I just spread this around the whole building and then either Jackson or whoever is controlling him can't cross it?" Stiles asked, a little on the fence about the whole idea. He didn't have much faith in himself when it comes to things like this.

Deaton nodded. "They'll be trapped."

"That's doesn't sound that bad. You'll be fine," Sage assured, giving his upper arm as squeeze as she sent a small smile his way.

Deaton, however, had to ruin her words of encouragement by cutting into the conversation and ruining whatever confidence Stiles had left in his body. "Not always. Think of it like gun powder; it's just powder, 'til a spark ignites it. You need to be that spark, Stiles."

"If you mean light myself on fire, I don't think I'm up for that," Stiles denied, shaking his head as he leaned into Sage.

She nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I'd rather not combust into flames because he was the idiot that set himself on fire."

"Maybe I should use a different analogy," Deaton corrected, giving a small laugh as he heard the two teenager's bland refusal to self-ignite. "I used to golf. I learned that the best golfers never swing before first imagining where they want the ball to go. They see it in their mind and their mind takes over. It can be pretty extraordinary what the power of your own will can accomplish."

"Force of will," Stiles huffed out, moving to look down at his hands.

"Hey," Deaton called, getting Stiles' attention back. "If this is going to work, Stiles, you have to believe it." The vet made a motion with his hands, signaling that the teenager needed to understand it and believe it would work in order to gain success. Stiles only gave a fake smile, attempting to convince everyone that he was't freaking out about everything being placed on his shoulders. Mimicking Deaton's hand movements, he nodded.

Sage was the only one who noticed that Stiles couldn't believe that something could work if he couldn't even believe in himself.

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Stiles played around with the lacrosse ball in his hands, throwing it up in the air and catching it before it landed on his face. He was laying down on his bed, waiting for Sage to finish getting ready in his bathroom. He was going to be taking her to the rave, they also had to pick up Scott, and he wanted to make sure that he got a chance to let her know if anything happened with her and Matt during the night for her to text him. He was going crazy about the idea of having to line the rave with the ashes, knowing fairly well that if he did that, Sage would be stuck in there too with a murderer, a person who makes the murderer murder, and who knows how many werewolves. Plus she would be with Matt.

"Hey, Stiles?" Sage called through the bathroom door. Stiles gave a loud hum, hoping it was audible to here. "Should I put my hair up or down?"

"I think you should just not go," Stiles opted, throwing the lacrosse ball up once again. He heard her give a loud snort, and grinned. Then all of a sudden there the sound of the door opening, and Stiles sat up to see what she looked like. He wasn't happy with what he saw. His girlfriend had decided to tie her hair up into a messy bun, but that was the only thing he was okay with on her body. She was wearing a tight pencil skirt, but not one of the office ones that Stiles sees all the time, this was skin tight, and showed her legs off, while she wore a white tank top to contrast from the black skirt.

Sage frowned when she saw he hadn't said anything. "Do I look bad?"

"No." Stiles cleared his throat. "You look good. That's the problem."

"What did you expect me to do? Show up in sweatpants and one of your hoodies?"

Stiles' eyebrows lifted at the suggestion, giving multiple nods. "I would really like that, actually. Or we can find you a garbage bag. I'm pretty sure my dad got the ultra-long ones—"

"Stiles," Sage interrupted, giving him a look to shut up. He scowled before standing up from the bed, walking over until he was directly in front of her. These were the moments where he appreciated the height difference between them because he could see her eyes, and just how pretty they really were. He also liked that he could wrap his arms around her shoulders and pull her into his chest. Then there were moments when he just picked her up, like now.

He grabbed her waist, hoisting her up and carrying her body over to his bed where he dropped her down. She went to ask what the hell he was doing when his lips crashed onto her's, silencing her protests. Immediately, she smiled into the kiss and brought her hands around his neck, drawing him in closer. They've been kissing a lot lately, an effect of being together for almost a month. It was crazy, and it also sucked sometimes because there was rarely any time for them to just be them. No werewolves, no Kanimas, no crazy guy trying to people. It felt like their relationship was always put on the back burner.

Stiles went to kiss down her neck, and she smirked. "What are you doing?"

"Making sure Matt knows you're taken," Stiles mumbled into her neck. She felt pressure, and knew that he was trying to give her a hickie. Before she had the chance to disagree, saying that it wouldn't go away for a while, the deed was already done and Stiles' lips were back on her's. She reciprocated, and flipped over so that Stiles was on the bottom and she was straddling his waist. Just as Stiles' bit her lip, a sound of a phone going off stopped them from continuing any farther, and Sage didn't think it would have gone farther any time soon, to be honest.

Sage pulled away, moving to grab her phone that was directly behind Stiles' head. She rolled off her boyfriend, going to stand up all while pulling down the skirt that had gotten a few inches shorter than it already was. "Do you need something Scott?"

"Are you all on your way?"

"Yeah, we're about to leave right now," Sage answered, nodding towards Stiles who sighed before moving over towards his computer desk, grabbing a hold of his keys that were lying there. Scott sent a goodbye their way, and Sage tucked her cell in between the fabric of her skirt and her waist. Turning towards Stiles, she huffed in defeat before wrapping her arms around his waist. "I really don't want to go with him."

"I know," Stiles assured. "When everything is over with, just think; we can come back here and watch Star Wars on a loop." He wrapped his arms around her and pressed a kiss to her forehead. She groaned before pulling away and glaring at him.

"We've watched that, like, twenty times."

He shrugged. "Deal with it. That's, like, my favorite movie in the world."

When they got outside, Sage having taken Stiles jacket until they got to the rave, they were surprised to see that Stiles' dad was just pulling up to the house. John Stilinski got out of the car, and Sage's eyebrows furred while Stiles zoomed past his dad. "Hey, can't talk, we're got to run!" When his dad only gave a muffled noise to signal he heard his son, Sage grabbed a hold of Stiles' arm before he could take off.

"Hey, wait, wait, what's wrong, Sheriff?" Sage asked, crossing her arms over her chest as she stared at him. The father only frowned, finally turning around to face them. Stiles stopped his rush into the car when he heard Sage ask what was wrong, his eyes going wide as he saw his dad's sullen look.

"Nothing," Sheriff dismissed, and Sage pursed her lips while Stiles inspected his dad's uniform. Upon finding something missing he feared the worst, and hoped what he was thinking isn't true.

Pointing towards his dad's empty holster, he asked, "Where's your gun?"

"I left it at the station along with my badge."

"What?" Stiles questioned, absolutely shell-shocked. Sage stepped back, moving to give the two a chance to speak. Although she wanted to know what happened to the Sheriff, well, just John now, she wasn't going to be the one to ask. That was Stiles' job.

"It's alright, you know, we'll just talk about this later."

Stiles shook his head, adamant on knowing what happened now. "Dad—"

"Don't worry about it, go have fun with Sage tonight," John, once again, said. It was obvious that it wasn't alright and they did need to worry about it. Sage's hand tightened on Stiles' arm in reassurance. Stiles wasn't giving up on finding out what happened though, especially since it sounded exactly like his dad lost his job.

"Dad."

John exhaled deeply after a moment of hesitation, finding it extremely difficult to tell his son this information. "It was decided that the son of the police chief stealing property and having restraining orders filed against him from one of the town's most respected attorney's did not reflect well on the county."

"They fired you," Stiles deadpanned.

"No," John replied, although the word didn't meet his voice. "It's just a leap of absence. It...It's temporary."

Stiles gulped, his face contorting into guilt. "Did they say it was temporary or...?"

"Actually no. But, don't worry about it, it's fine. We're going to be fine." His dad turned away again, only leading Stiles into further confusion when he didn't hear any shouts coming from his dad's mouth. He was expecting, more so, waiting for the angry burst to come from his dad, but it never did, and the silence scared him more than the discipline ever would.

"Wait, dad. I don't get it," Stiles croaked out. "Why aren't you angry at me?"

"I don't know, maybe I just don't want to feel worse than I already do by having to yell at my son." He disappeared after that, this time not being stopped by any of Stiles' questions or remarks. Both teenagers watched as the garage door finally closed, making them feel worse about his dad staying home tonight rather than patrolling his town. Or, what was his town.

"Shit," Stiles cursed, gripping his keys tighter in his hand as he started pacing around the driveway, Sage's grip on his arm lost. Sage watched, her eyes calculating with concern as she stared for what felt like decades, despite it only being a few seconds. Having seen too much, she walked over to him and grabbed his wrists, trying to get him to loosen his grasp on the keys.

"Stiles, look at me," Sage begged. When he refused to, she moved her hands from his wrists to his face where she forced his eyes on her's. "Everything will be okay, alright? I swear to god, everything is going to be okay."