While a part of Stiles had slightly looked forward to no longer being cooped up in the McCall house, he mostly dreaded returning to school. He knew that he couldn't fake being sick forever, but he kind of wished that he could as the thought of going back made him feel sick anyhow. Scott had been helping Stiles work a bit on his control and while he had made some progress, as much as Stiles hated to admit it, Theo was right; Scott didn't entirely understand.

Stiles didn't feel particularly resentful toward Scott or anything as he knew that his friend genuinely was trying his best. Besides, Stiles may have been partially to blame for not being as open as he should be with Scott in fear of scaring him or making him view the vampire differently. However, regardless of blame, Stiles still found himself feeling alone and misunderstood.

He'd tried his best to prepare for that day at school, consuming extra blood as to avoid the risk of getting too hungry during the school day to be fully able to distinguish friends from food.

Still, when he entered the building that morning, he was overwhelmed by both the smell of blood and the sound of thudding heartbeats all around him. Despite having had blood that morning, there was still that part of Stiles that now just perpetually craved more. Even when he'd fed from Theo, which was exponentially more satisfying than cold blood from a plastic bag, there was still the part of him that wanted to suck him dry and finish him off.

He exhaled, trying to find literally anything else to focus on. He tried to focus on the sounds of the surrounding chatter and footsteps rather than the hearts pumping fresh blood through warm bodies. He also tried to notice other smells rather than the blood. It was the same thing that he'd done with Scott and his mother, but he found it difficult as there were so many more people around.

He was also taken aback by Lydia when she approached him.

"Stiles! You're back!" she exclaimed before promptly wrapping her arms around him.

Rather than reciprocating, Stiles found himself feeling tense before proceeding to hold her at arm's length.

She already knew about the whole vampire thing, so Stiles was surprised to say the least by her action. He imagined the scenario of reuniting with his other friends and it involved a comfortable distance and a lot of awkward silence but definitely no hugging.

Noticing something wrong, Lydia looked at him, puzzled.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

I️'m a bloodthirsty monster. That's what's wrong.

Gently, Stiles released her arm that he was holding to keep her at arms length.

"Nothing, nothing. I️ just ah....I️'m still working on - everything so hugging and all that probably isn't the best idea right now," he said, trying to find a way to explain it that wouldn't freak her out so much.

Lydia nodded, looking down at her feet for a second.

"Oh, right, of course," she said, awkwardly pushing a strand of hair back. She was clearly slightly upset by this, but Stiles chose not to comment on it.

And, there it was, the awkwardness that Stiles had predicted.

After a moment of silence, Stiles excused himself to his locker, using not wanting to be late to class as an excuse as if he actually cared. The only reason it actually might've mattered to him is because he didn't want to draw any more attention to himself than absolutely necessary.

The rest of the day went on fairly unremarkably if you discard the uncomfortable reunions with the pack. That was until Stiles stumbled across all of them gathered in the hallway. They were around the corner and he stopped abruptly, returning to where he was so they wouldn't see him.

"He's been acting super weird," he overheard Malia say.

Of course they were talking about him. He had figured that by the fact that they were all gathered without him, but that confirmed his suspicions.

"Hey, give him a break. He's going through a tough time right now," Kira replied.

Lydia's voice was the next one he heard.

"I'm just worried about him. He's being really distant."

"I️ know," Scott agreed. "He's been like that with me too. I️ wanna help him, but I️ feel like there's stuff he's not telling me."

At that, Stiles felt a little bit guilty. He had previously thought he had been doing a better job of pretending that everything was fine, but clearly he still needed to work on it.

"So, what do we do?" Liam asked.

"I don't know," Scott confessed.

That only made the guilt worse. Even the true alpha had no idea what to do with Stiles. He found himself feeling more like a burden than anything else.

Besides, it wasn't like he wanted to be distant. Things were just different now. All of his friends wanted human Stiles back, but he wasn't human Stiles anymore, and he was hyperaware of the fact that he was no longer human. He felt like there was a barrier between him and his friends and that he'd hurt them or scare them away if he crossed it. A part of him knew that it was irrational as they themselves were a rag-tag team of supernatural beings (Mason being the exception), but it was just different and he couldn't expect them to understand. In fact, he didn't want them to understand. He thought that if they did understand then they would only ever view him as a monster, as they probably should.

He soon decided that he'd heard enough as he'd already had his feelings adequately hurt by his well intentioned friends.

He headed back in the direction that he'd came from, only to run into Theo, who may have been the last person he wanted to see.

"So, it's true. He's returned," Theo mocked.

Stiles rolled his eyes.

"What the fuck do you want, Theo?" he asked.

Theo shrugged innocently.

"I️ already told you: I️ want to help you," he replied.

"Yeah, okay, and since we both know that that's bullshit, why don't you go ahead tell me what you're really up to?" Stiles asked.

Theo sighed.

"Is it really so impossible to you that I️ could do anything good without an ulterior motive?" Theo asked.

Stiles nodded.

"Yeah, pretty much," Stiles said.

"Fine," Theo replied. "Just know that my offer still stands."

Theo then proceeded to walk past Stiles.

Stiles wasn't quite sure why, but he looked back to see Theo walking away with a little bit of longing. It was also a bit embarrassing as Theo also turned to look back at Stiles, and therefore noticed Stiles looking at him. Theo simply responded by smirking and winking before turning away, making Stiles feel like he was about to die a second time.

Stiles managed to get through the rest of the afternoon without any major mishaps and even survived the uncomfortable car ride with Scott where Scott asked him questions about his day like he was an awkward dad trying to reconnect with his sun after finally gaining back visitation rights.

For the most part, Stiles thought that he was doing pretty okay, and leaving him wondering how it happened.

It was probably the fact that he had already gone through all of his remaining blood bags that morning in order to prevent losing control at school. Still regardless of the cause, his hunger got to the point where it was almost like he was in a trance.

He didn't see his best friend. He didn't have a best friend. All that was there in the room was a warm body full of life. There was a rhythmic beating calling to him, beckoning him to feed. He was feral and starving and the other smelt delicious.

Scott's eyes widened when he saw the vampire flash his fangs, speeding up the rate at which his blood passed through his body. Stiles could literally smell his fear. It was sweet. It should've made Stiles feel sick, but it didn't. Instead, it excited him as he knew that it would only make his prey taste even better.

"Stiles-" Scott began, cut off by the feeling of being pinned against the wall.

Scott struggled, trying to wrench his wrists free from the other's grip, but the vampire was too intent on feeding to let him go.

Stiles hissed in hopes of sparking an extra bit of fear before sinking his fangs into the alpha's neck and drinking the powerful life-force hungrily. He bit hard, causing the other to scream which Stiles was happy to hear.

The werewolf continued to struggle but Stiles didn't mind. In fact, he actually took a bit of vindictive pleasure in feeling the other fighting for the life that he was draining out of him.

That was before Scott finally managed to get free, pushing his best friend off of him.

Stiles hissed in protest, angry that his prey was able to overpower him and interrupt his meal. Scott then flashed his eyes red and exposed his own fangs.

"Stiles!" he roared.

Stiles blinked, his chest rising and falling rapidly as he became of aware of the damage he'd done.

"Scott? Scott, I️- oh my god I️-," Stiles rambled, too panicked to form a coherent sentence.

Scott retracted his own fangs and allowed his eyes to turn brown again before stepping forward toward the vampire.

"It's okay," he said, trying to stay calm unlike Stiles.

Stiles shook his head rapidly.

"No, no, no! This - none of this is okay!" Stiles shouted.

Scott stepped forward and attempted to place a hand on Stiles' shoulder.

"Stiles-" he began.

Stiles aggressively flinched away from Scott.

"Don't touch me! Can't see that I'm a monster!" Stiles yelled.

"You didn't mean to-" Scott offered pathetically, but that didn't seem to help a still panicked Stiles.

"Oh my god, Scott. I️ could've...you could've," he began, unable to utter the operative words.

I️ could've killed you. You could've died.

"I'm already healing. It's okay," Scott said.

Stiles shook his head, quickly scanning the room around him.

"I️-I️ gotta get outta here," Stiles breathed.

"Wait-" Scott began, but before he could finish the vampire was already out of sight.

Like wind, Stiles rushed to only person he could still go to: Theo.