chapter 14

It took the school a couple of days to prepare the cross country for the students to race again, much to the annoyance of half of the school's population due to Coach Finstock's insistence to redo the race.

Lydia groaned but relented once again but she assured Hope and Daphne that she wasn't trying for the school's state team even if her life depended on it.

The girls just laughed it off and told Lydia that they weren't trying for the team either and to just do her best, maybe even complete the cross country which was closer to 15 miles rather than the usual 10 the strawberry blonde was slowly getting used to.

Allison has been a little distracted over the last week that Hope and Daphne were finding it difficult to keep track of her sudden mood changes. Firstly, the Huntress seemed prideful and powerful until she felt a sense of awkwardness, distress then helplessness.

The young Argent girl drove to Hope and Daphne's place with a permanent scowl on her face. The girls must have been expecting her as Hope was opening the front door for her. Allison made her way onto the living room, stopping for a moment as Hope and Daphne sat on one of their lounges, waiting for the ravenette to start speaking.

Except the archer didn't talk, instead the Huntress started pacing back and forth as she gathered her thoughts while trying not to grit her back teeth in frustration.

"You…–" Allison almost started before shaking her head as that wasn't how she wanted to start the conversation with the pair.

Hope and Daphne heard the anger and fear residing in that one word and they both felt a pain in their hearts at Allison's defeated expression.

"Ally…" Daphne stated as she managed to stop Allison's pacing by grasping the archer's hand during her next walk by and gently pulled the surprisingly pliant Huntress to stand in front of her. "Come talk to us. There is obviously something troubling you. How can we help you, darling?"

Allison bit her lip as she looked down at her feet in shame. "I don't understand why you would want someone who can't even protect themselves as a soulmate."

"What?" Daphne remarked with a frown as she reached up to lift the Huntress's chin so she could look at Allison's beautiful russet brown eyes but was met with watery red-rimmed eyes. "Hey. Can you tell us what happened? Why are you crying Allison?"

Hope's Witch side was definitely not impressed by whatever or whoever has upset her Mate but she remained quiet as she silently swapped spots with the Huntress before kneeling between her knees while Daphne wrapped an arm around Allison's shoulders.

Allison bowed her head down and began to cry, worrying the Tribrid and Ice Witch as they flooded the soulbond with love, understanding and peace.

Hope and Daphne both comforted their third as Daphne pulled Allison's head against her chest as she gently rested her chin on the ravenette's head while the brunette moved as close as she could, wrapping an arm around Allison's lower back while placing her cheek against Allison's thigh, facing Daphne as she rubbed soothing circles on the Huntress's other leg.

The Argent girl's heart was filled with so much safety and security and trust that she couldn't help herself but to let go of everything that she's bottled up for over the past year and cried until the tears ran out.

Daphne was slowly becoming immensely concerned the longer Allison kept crying but Hope managed to catch the blonde before she said something. Hope wanted Allison to let everything out before asking her to talk about what happened.

The 3 girls remained in this position for nearly an hour although Allison's sobs had eventually dissipated after roughly 20 minutes but the archer couldn't bring herself to speak about what was bothering her just yet. Besides, Daphne happens to be very comfortable to lean against. Hope smirked at this quiet thought that shot through Allison's mind.

Daphne rubbed the Huntress' shoulder for a few minutes each time Allison sucked in a shuddering breath of air.

Daphne's Animagus senses were practically purring with Allison in her arms as she pressed her nose against Allison's thick hair. Silver, forests and moonlight. Such a lovely combination of scents for an archer who also happens to be a Werewolf Hunter. The blonde found some amusement out of the situation Hope found herself in with the Argents.

Hope's head popped up from that cheeky thought and sent a telekinetic swat to the Ice Witch's butt making her jolt forward at the unexpected hit as she forced herself not to moan with Allison in her arms,

Allison blinked at the slight jump from Daphne and removed her head from the blonde's collarbone as she tilted her head to the side regarding Daphne in curiosity.

Daphne pursed her lips while Hope chuckled. "Sorry about that. That was my fault. Daphne decided to poke me so I slapped back."

The Huntress looked down at Hope's peaceful and relaxed face in wonder while she noticed Daphne's heated cheeks. "I don't really want to know, do I?"

Hope and Daphne shared a look that Allison could only shake her head at as she released a wet laugh.

"I'm sorry for crying all over you, Daph." Allison softly spoke with a hint of regret in her voice.

Daphne rubbed the back of Allison's neck, fiddling with the fine hairs causing the Huntress to shiver in pleasure. "Darling, you don't have anything to apologise for."

"As for not being enough for us. Remove that idea out of your head right now. You are our Soulmate. We will always want you in any capacity that you will allow us to be." Daphne firmly assured Allison as she threaded her fingers through the archer's rough fingers.

The Argent girl sighed as she looked down at her interlaced fingers with Daphne's as she traced her thumb over the blonde's gold engagement ring. The three sky-blue gemstones stole her breath as they strikingly resembled Daphne's one-of-a-kind pristine and expressive eye colour.

Allison looked over to Hope's hand on her knee, looking for her matching ring. Hope seemed to know what the Huntress was looking for and pulled her arm from behind Allison's back and placed her left hand in the archer's awaiting hand. Allison noted the immediate differences between the two rings as Hope's ring was a bright silver with an infinity sign as the focal point with a heart shaped sea-blue stone.

"These are beautiful… The charm bracelets are also quite gorgeous." Allison stated as she brought both hands in front of her to observe both of the rings at same time before hearing the jingle from their wrists.

Hope blinked at the mention of the bracelets before pulling her hand back. "Actually, that reminds me. If Luna were here she would've slapped me over the back of the head for my oblivious nature."

Hope snapped her fingers as she magically teleported one of Luna's spare bracelets she made for each of the four Soulmates into her hand. "This is for you Allison."

The ravenette was shocked as Hope produced another charm bracelet and gently clipped the bracelet on Allison's left wrist since the ravenette was also right handed like Hope and Daphne.

"You don't have to give me one just because I said it was gorgeous." Allison tried to backtrack as Hope supplied the bracelet.

The Tribrid smiled as she traced her fingernails along the smooth skin of her underarm causing goosebumps to raise along the light coloured skin. "It is a gift from Luna Lovegood… Not us… Which actually annoys me slightly since she got you a gift before us. I'm nearly done with your gift, just another couple of days and then you can have our gift."

"Luna?" Allison questioned thoughtfully.

"Mmm. Luna and Hope share something similar to that of sisters. Hope being the older protective sibling and treating Luna like a precious girl that she would go to war over… In fact, Hope nearly did go to war for Luna." Daphne informed the Huntress.

"Luna cast many protective charms over the bracelet. It's scratchproof, breakaway if yanked and also reforms back into its original structure so we can wear it again. It also tightens against the skin when in battle so it doesn't dangle and get caught on anything. Half the time I forget that I'm wearing it as it feels like an extension of myself." Hope explained the specifics of the bracelet to their newest soulmate.

"My Little Moon is exceptional with her hands. She enjoys metalworking, Astronomy and creating rare pieces of jewellery. Luna made four sets of bracelets. One for each of us with our star signs on the charms. My birthday is on the 2nd of May, thus there is a Taurus sign." Hope started to showcase as she found the Taurus constellation on Allison's charm bracelet.

Allison was looking down at the bracelet as she used her other hand to turn the charms between her fingers to observe the star signs in the charms as Daphne spoke. "I'm the Capricorn, born on 17th of January. I assume you are either the Sagittarius or Aquarius."

"... Aquarius… I was born on the 31st of January, 1994." Allison continued as though it was a natural response. "How did she know?"

Hope and Daphne chuckled lightly at the question. "We ask ourselves that question more often than we like before waving it off as Luna's Seer ability."

"Luna's a Seer?... That actually makes a hell of a lot of sense when you think about it." Allison remarked with a thoughtful expression. "So that means that you have one more Soulmate to find?"

" We have one more Soulmate to find. Allison, despite whatever you are feeling right now, you are a part of our very souls, a piece of our soul personified. Allison, you help complete us, just like Daph and just like our fourth. We care deeply about you, Allison. More than you could ever know." Hope stated with such confidence that Allison locked eyes with the Tribrid's ocean coloured eyes.

"...Scott showed up at my house before I came here. He confronted me about one of my arrows being at the school the night of Boyd and Cora running through the woods. Scott brought up the fact that my dad made an agreement with me that we were going to stay out of anything supernatural related." Allison recounted from earlier tonight before scoffing to herself.

"Turns out neither of us kept our word. We both helped out that night and yet I'm the one Scott goes after. It just feels hypocritical after he brought my father in to help them track down Boyd and Cora."

"I told Scott that I could take care of myself but then I couldn't even land a hit of him in a spar and he manoeuvred me against a wall, holding me in place for a few moments before letting go." Allison met Hope's expressive sea-blue eyes as she gave a quick smile before frowning as she explained what happened before she came around to the couple's house.

"I thought that I was stronger than that but I guess I'm just as weak as I've always been… I feel useless in comparison to the two of you, Scott, Derek, Isaac, Boyd, Erica, Jackson… Hell even Lydia now! Everyone around me has powers and I'm stuck in this limbo at the centre with no protection other than everyone I care about telling me to stay out of it while everyone places their lives on the line. I hate it!" Allison ranted as she stared blankly at her new bracelet as she clenched her jaw in frustration.

Hope sighed as this won't be a situation that she could relate to since she's always been a supernatural being. The Tribrid glanced over to the blonde who had a similar look of concern on her face as she also had no experience with what Allison was feeling.

The room was silent not to anyone's surprise as the Huntress knew the girls wouldn't interject on this as they would have no knowledge on what it feels like to be normal.

"Can– Are the two of you able to increase my training? Maybe 2-4 hours depending on the day rather than the 1 hour you have Lydia and me doing currently." Allison awkwardly asked the girls with a shy expression, partially expecting to be turned away.

Hope and Daphne looked at one another before shrugging. "If that's what you'd like to do, then by all means come around anytime. If you can still keep doing your run in the morning, it will help in the long run. Increase your stamina so you can do the extended training without as many breaks."

Hope holds up a finger against Allison's lips before she could make an offended retort which Hope felt across the bond. "Hang on a moment there, love. I'm not picking on you. I had Daphne do the same thing and she still grumbles half of the time we go for our runs… Allison… Even I had to build up my stamina as a kid and I only started doing my runs after I triggered my Werewolf Curse."

"Werewolves run out of breath?" Allison mentioned as she pulled Hope's hand away from her mouth with a raised eyebrow.

Hope rolled her eyes with a smile. "Yes, we can. It just takes a while."

"Vampires on the other hand… Much harder to tire out since I don't necessarily have to breathe as much as when I was just a Were-Witch." Hope interjected with a unsure wave of her hand.

Daphne and Allison scoffed at this and both called out. "Smartass."

Hope smirked at them before turning back to Allison and resting both hands on the Huntress' knees as she stared directly into Allison's russet brown eyes. "Listen, Allison. Don't beat yourself up over this. You want to learn how to fight and how to protect yourself. That is one of the most important things when it comes to wishing to protect oneself as well as others. Allison, I believe that you will become one of the best fighters in the world if you put your mind to it. Supernatural enhancements aside, let's face it, in a battle against Scott, if he wasn't a Werewolf you would've won that fight against him."

Daphne squinted slightly as she considered Hope's words as she butted in. "Well… There is something more you should know about the soulbond."

Allison blinked in surprise as she turned to the blonde Witch. "What do you mean?"

"When– If you start to establish the bond with us you can start accessing some of our characteristics. Increased speed, strength, aggression and senses from Hope, resistance to the cold from me… Oh and accelerated healing."

Allison froze at that last perk and frowned slightly.

"Admittedly you'd start experiencing the passive powers first. At least, that's what happened to me. It's how I could keep feeding two Vampires without any health issues or threat of blood loss." Daphne shrugged her free shoulder.

"So that's why my bruise healed so fast… The cut I made on my arm when I was leading Boyd and Cora into a trap… I'm accessing Hope's healing power… And we can both access this ability at the same time?" Allison wondered as she stared at Daphne's bright light blue eyes.

"All of us can access the same powers. But the powers that come through the bond will be diluted. We can't heal as fast as Hope or use her speed or strength like she can." Daphne answered honestly.

Eventually Allison left the young couple before night fell and she managed to save Scott's life in the deserted mall which brought back some of her confidence that she lost earlier that morning.

Hope and Daphne were awakened the next morning by a loud car horn.

"Am I allowed to murder whoever that is?" Hope queried as it was even earlier than when they would leave on their morning runs.

"Sure. One thing I certainly miss from my world is living so very far away from civilization, so sounds like cars, engines or people don't wake me up when I'm having such a lovely dream." Daphne complained without even opening her eyes.

Another car horn sounded causing Hope's eyes to glow and she released a growl as she got out of bed.

"Nooo… Come back, heater." Daphne whined from the large double king bed as she buried her face into Hope's pillow.

Hope chuckled at Daphne's rare childish behaviour as not even the Tribrid gets to witness the blonde act this way very frequently. As Hope gets to the window she glances down to her driveway to see Allison in the driver's seat of her own silver car and a tired Lydia in the passenger seat.

"Love? I think Allison wants us to go on a road trip today." Hope informs the blonde who groaned as she lifted her head.

"Now?" Daphne asked with a yawn.

Allison was waving her hand in a frantic come here motion and Hope sighed as she snapped her fingers to change her clothing. "Yeah, now. You can sleep in the car if you'd like."

Daphne groaned as she forced herself out of bed as she swore about the ridiculousness of both of her Soulmates' needs for early mornings all the time. The blonde never had this problem before she started dating Hope.

The Emrys pair somehow managed to get downstairs without breaking their own necks as they weren't expecting to be up at 4:30am. Hope locked the front door on the way out and called Alexandria's name. The Thunderbird did a short lightning travel from the living room into Hope's arms as the golden bird somehow magically transported herself to the Tribrid while she was still sleeping.

Hope moved around the car so she would be entering the car on the back driver's side. "Ally? Why are we awake at sparrow fart in the morning?"

"Too early." Daphne moaned as she took her spot in the car behind Lydia.

"I know. But Ally appears to be on a warpath and has dragged us into her shenanigans as she stalks her ex to their cross country meet halfway across the state." Lydia offers to the girls who just entered the car.

Allison groaned at her best friend's tired explanation to the two highly possessive girls as both of their heads shot up to stare at the back of Allison's head.

"The Beacon Hill Pack and Alpha Pack got into an altercation last night. Derek and one of the other Alphas fell nearly 2 or 3 storeys. We don't know if either of them survived and all of Derek's Betas are heading out of town with one of the Alpha Twins. I'm worried about them." Allison expands on Lydia's poor explanation.

Daphne grumbled slightly in her spot as she shifted to rest her head against the car window after buckling her seatbelt. "Whatever. I'm going back to sleep. Fill me in when the sun has actually cleared the horizon."

Lydia yawned as she copied Daphne's position without even being able to see the blonde and closed her eyes. "Ditto. Night."

Allison sighed slightly as she put the car in reverse so she could pull out of the couple's driveway before catching Hope's eyes staring back at her. "Are you going to stay awake with me or am I on my own?"

"I'll keep you company, love." Hope replied with a strained smile. "... May I ask, as I truly hope you don't bite my head off for asking, but do you plan on getting back together with Scott?"

Allison's hand paused as it hovered over the gear shift as she was going to put the car in drive before turning back to Hope and the slightly bright sliver of ice-coloured orbs through Daphne's slitted eyes, barely open to listen to the ravenette's reply.

"I– I don't know… Obviously I still care about him… But he always seems to treat me as though I'm breakable and helpless. Yet I saved his life last night. However, my first thought this morning was to make sure Scott, Isaac and Boyd were alright and that I had to follow them but I couldn't leave Beacon Hills without picking both of you up because I couldn't bear the thought of leaving either of you behind." Allison answered with a lump in the back of her throat.

"Can you live that answer? At least for now…" Allison wondered cautiously as she locked eyes with the Tribrid.

Hope smiled as she nodded her head. "Of course." The Tribrid smirked widely as she added. "So long as you don't mind Daph and I trying to 'woo' you at any opportunity."

Allison rolled her eyes as she finished putting the car in drive and headed to the school so they could follow the school bus towards the cross country meet across the country.

"Yay! I have another martyr for a Soulmate who has the weight of the world on their shoulders." Daphne sleepy remarked until she felt Hope's heated glare waking her up as though it scorched her.

Daphne gulped as she realised why Hope was angry with her and shyly corrected. "A champion for those who can not defend themselves."

Daphne reaches over the middle seat to hold Hope's hand in apology as she knows how much Hope doesn't enjoy hearing others depicted as 'martyrs', since Hope is always concerned that anyone she grows to love, dies in order to protect her.

Hope glanced down to Daphne's open hand and sighed as she released her worried thoughts as she threaded her fingers into Daphne's cold hand.

Allison was placing the car into park as she spared a quick glance into the rearview mirror to see Hope and Daphne holding hands while sharing a look of complete understanding and love which made the Huntress' heart thud heavily in her chest and turned to face the yellow school bus, slowly being filled with tired students for the long road trip.

However instead of keeping a sharp eye on the bus Allison was staring into thin air as she wondered why she felt some heated annoyance from Hope and a regretful chill from Daphne over the bond. But Daphne's words were repeating in Allison's mind.

" Nous protégeons ceux qui ne peuvent pas se protéger eux-mêmes. " The Argent heiress murmured under her breath making the universal travellers in the back freeze in shock.

Lydia yawns as she shifts in her seat translating what Allison had spoken in French to English, "We protect those who cannot protect themselves."

Hope and Daphne shared a fast side eye to one another as Daphne nervously started playing with Hope's engagement ring.

The Tribrid blinked as she leaned back against the car seat as she stroked the Thunderbird's soft feathers with her free hand. "A lovely sentiment to live by."

The Lady Greengrass stared at the side of Hope's head in disbelief that Hope would even reply to this as Allison wasn't even supposed to have this belief instilled into her until the night of the lunar eclipse after she saves her father from being sacrificed by the Darach.

Allison just hummed in deep thought until Hope pointed out that the bus was starting to move.

" Why did you say that? " Daphne telepathically berated the Tribrid through their bond while putting a barrier up so Allison couldn't hear them.

Hope turned to face Daphne and rubbed circles in the back of her hand. " Because at this stage it's only a thought process for Allison. Not the new Hunter's Code she will eventually tell her father. A belief like this. Changing a fundamental part of the Hunter's Code isn't something that happens suddenly as a stray thought. The idea had to have been in Allison's mind before she told her father and I have a strange feeling that this is something that Allison has been considering while she was in France. "

" But Chris doesn't want Allison to have anything to do with being a Huntress… " Daphne pointed out with a visible frown.

" No. He doesn't. But by the night of the lunar eclipse, Allison will have proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that she is a capable leader for the Argent Hunters and Chris will finally listen to what Allison has to say after she saves him. " Hope explained before they cut off the telepathic link and Daphne went back to sleep.

- - -

It's been nearly 6 hours since the bus had left the school and all four girls were awake, chatting idly about school, Hope's universe, Daphne's universe and what Hope and Daphne thought of their universe in comparison to their own.

Allison was doing her best to interact with her three passengers but she was still very concerned about the boys on the bus as well so she was a little distracted.

"Am I getting too close? I'm getting too close, aren't I? Allison nervously muttered, gaining the girls attention as they looked towards the bus that was only a few metres in front of them.

Lydia smirked as she enjoyed pushing Hope and Daphne's possessive buttons, trying to get them to ask the ravenette out on a date already. "That depends… Are you just following the bus, or are you planning on mounting it at some point?"

Daphne glared at the back of Lydia's head and kneed the back of the chair causing Lydia to let out a small 'oof' while Hope growled quietly but dangerously from her corner of the car.

"Children, please!" Allison berated the group with an exasperated sigh of maturity that made her feel like a disapproving parent until she felt Hope's dumbfounded shock. "Hope? What's wrong?"

Hope could only blink a few times before shaking her head before answering with a quiet voice. "Sorry… You just caught me by surprise by that saying… My Uncle Elijah used that saying a few times when it came to berating his siblings as Elijah practically took on the role as the responsible adult for the Mikaelson family."

"Oh… I'm sorry –" Allison started to speak but Hope politely cut her off by placing a gentle hand on Allison's shoulder from her spot behind the archer after releasing Daphne's hand.

"It's fine, Ally. The memories I have with my family are cherished and are always welcomed when they aren't used against me in malice and I know that you would never hurt me like that Allison. So there is no reason to apologise, love." Hope softly spoke into the rearview mirror which Allison noticed and glanced between the road and mirror, subtly slowing down to listen to the brunette.

Allison nodded her head as she gave an awkward smile while Hope's hand returned back to Daphne's awaiting hand. "Okay."

"My God! Just screw each other already and get it over with." Hope and Daphne's eyes went wide at Lydia's snarky remark while Allison nearly swerved into oncoming traffic from her best friend's blatant retort.

However, before Allison could smack her friend for embarrassing her in front of her soulmates Lydia smirked evilly as she narrowed her eyes on the ravenette who's heart leapt up into her throat knowing whatever Lydia was about to say was going to traumatise her further. "I mean… That could also depend on the ex-boyfriend that you are currently stalking."

The back seat of the small car rumbled loudly with low growls from both of the universal travellers and Allison hunched over the steering wheel as she tried to make herself as invisible as possible.

Lydia gulped awkwardly as she stared out the window without a glance behind her as she knew she crossed a line with the Tribrid and the Ice Witch.

Lydia pulled out a book as silently as she could and started reading as she couldn't take the silence any longer after disrupting the carefree space within Allison's car. There was another dangerous growl from the Werewolf sitting directly diagonal to the Banshee causing her to partially freeze as she shared a hopefully side-glance to Allison, silently begging for help.

Allison shook her head slightly as she saw Lydia's predicament with the pissed off girls in the back and the Huntress wasn't interested in helping her friend at this moment as she was still annoyed with Lydia's unfiltered thoughts.

Lydia pursed her lips awkwardly as she silently brought the large textbook up in front of her face in order to shield her from the tension she accidentally created as she thought the blonde and brunette would have better control over their actions in relation to Allison. Oh… How wrong she was.

The next hour went by unbelievably slowly but thankfully for the two girls in the front of the car, they could finally let out a relieved breath as the growling from the back did eventually after 5 minutes of Lydia reading quietly.

Hope and Daphne had been seething in the back for nearly 20 minutes before turning to look out a window for a change of scenery from the interior of the car.

Once the Tribrid managed to bring her emotions under control she turned her attention back to the strawberry blonde, wondering what type of book the girl with a 160 IQ was investing her time and effort into.

Hope found a reflection of the book Lydia was reading and frowned slightly. " Thermodynamic Asymmetry in Time ? That sounds like a unique choice. Are you doing your own research into time travel?"

Lydia jumped a little at the sudden voice that broke the silence and glanced over her shoulder to meet Hope's more calm gaze.

"It's just a little light reading." The Banshee defended herself while Daphne smirked at the familiar words and Hope chuckled to herself.

"You sound just like Hermione." Hope informed the Banshee after a curious glance from Allison and Lydia.

A look of realisation crossed both of the girls' faces as they made a 'oh' sound and Lydia had a proud smile on her face at being compared to the 'Brightest Witch of Her Age'.

Now that the cone of silence has been broken Lydia finally felt comfortable enough to speak but made her tone as non-threatening as possible. "So, is that whole 'not letting them out of your sight'-thing literal, or more like a general rule…?"

Allison counted to 3 in her head as she prayed to the gods above that Lydia wouldn't set off the two girls in the back again.

"Why?" The ravenette questioned neutrally.

Lydia motioned her head towards the dashboard. "You're running on fumes."

Allison glanced down and groaned loudly, "Ugh!"

"Yeah… And I'm pretty sure that bus holds a lot more gas than this Toyota." Lydia mentioned offhandedly as she shot a glance towards the bus a few cars ahead of them.

After a beat Allison turns to Lydia and asks. "What if we stop?"

"Is it really that big of a deal? I mean, so we lose them. We know where they're headed." Lydia remarked with a confused look on her face, wondering why this was so important to the Huntress.

Allison stared off in the distance. "You didn't see what happened."

"I know who started it." Lydia muttered under her breath before flinching as she realised who she was sitting in the car with 3 people with exceptional hearing.

"Is that what Aiden told you?" Allison scoffed as she raised an eyebrow in the strawberry blonde's direction.

"Oh, come on! Is that why you invited me on this road trip?" Lydia complained until she saw Allison glance away from her in avoidance. "Oh my gosh! You did! So you're doing this to keep an eye on me and them! Why not just leave me back in Beacon Hills with one of these two while you follow Scott across the state!"

Hope bit her lip as she held her tongue as this argument was between Allison and Lydia as her right hand continued to glide over Alexandria's head, neck, back and wings to distract herself. Daphne looked between the two girls in partial fascination as she didn't have many friends growing up as she always wanted to learn how normal friendships work in the No-Maj world.

"So, there's nothing going on between you two?" Allison questioned as she felt a little guilty for tricking Lydia on this road trip.

"Ally… I'm honestly appalled by the insinuation. You, Hope and Daphne all warned me off Aiden. Besides, when would I even have the time to screw him? When I'm at school, generally one of you is by my side. Out of school, I'm either doing Hope's running exercises, training at the girl's house or studying the supernatural now that I know what I'm looking for much to my annoyance. I would love to get laid but there is always one of you three practically right around the corner!" Lydia snapped back as she closed her book, resting it on her lap as she crossed her arms over her chest.

Hope sighed as she moved forward as far as the seat belt would allow her to and lightly touched the agitated girl's arm, gaining the Banshee's attention quickly. "Lyds. We're not your parents. If you want to screw around with someone, show your interest and I will gladly drag Daph and Allison away so you can have your fun. You're not a nun Lydia. Do whatever or whomever you wish."

"Lydia… Out of the three of us, I'm the only one who doesn't know you that well. I'm still learning new things about you everyday. But what I do know is that you're an independent hardass with a heart of gold who enjoys beating others down with your intelligence and I think it's beautiful." Daphne admitted thoughtfully from her position behind the strawberry blonde.

The genius girl smiled at the description given to her by the blonde Witch as she tried to think back to the last time someone paid her a compliment. She shivered at the thought of Peter but in her mind Lydia's shifting him to the side of creep which left Stiles. Lydia sighed quietly to herself.

"I know… I just wanted to complain a bit. Also I'm fully aware that I can simply tell the two of you to piss off if I'm getting my game on." Lydia remarked as she glanced over her shoulder to glare at the two girls before glancing down to Hope's lap to witness the golden bird make a tiny snore causing her to smile down at Alexandria at the cute action.

Hope just smirked as she touched her beak. "Trust me. I'm more than capable of figuring out when you'd like me to bugger off."

Lydia groaned as she threw her head back against the headrest. "I grow more and more disturbed by the fact you can smell anyone's arousal… Doesn't that concern you?"

The Tribrid blinked as she replied in a deadpan manner. "Why do you think I'm constantly growling at people all the time after they look at Daphne or Allison?"

Lydia snorts at that as she sarcastically retorts. "Wow… It must be so fun to be you."

"You have no idea." Hope groans as the other two girls in the car laugh at the Tribrid's misfortune.

Suddenly Lydia's phone starts ringing and the strawberry blonde pulls the device out of her denim jacket as she scowls lightly at the phone as she reads the name that popped up. The Banshee answered the phone with an awkward expression on her face as she side-eyed Allison who had a raised eyebrow.

"Hey Stiles!" Lydia answered with a clogged throat as she was a terrible liar. "Yeah, we're just about to walk into a movie, uh, you know, the popcorn and –"

"Okay…" Lydia cleared her throat as she looked dejected after Stiles told her that he knew that they were following them and to put the phone on speaker.

Stiles' concerned voice echoed out in the car. "Okay, look, Scott's still hurt."

Allison frowned and turned around to glance at Hope in question while they were stuck in a traffic jam where they haven't moved for a while now. "What do you mean 'still'? He's not healing?"

Hope blinked before shrugging but replying to the confused look from the Huntress. "There's 3 options that immediately come to mind as to why Scott isn't healing. Either someone with magic has cursed him– and no Stiles, it's not Daph so don't even suggest it. Or it could be that he's been poisoned. Alternatively, the last option is that your friend is somatoformic."

Everyone went silent in the car as they stared back at Hope in utter confusion. The Tribrid sighed as she stared meaningfully with the strawberry blonde.

"It's a physical illness that stems from a psychogenic cause." Lydia explained only to be met with crickets from Allison, Daphne and Stiles before groaning softly in annoyance as she clarified further. "It's all in his head."

"Oh." Two of the girls in the car murmured while Stiles must've been staring at Scott in worry as his voice broke a little. "All in his head?"

"I mean which of those options would relate to Scott's blood turning black?" Stiles questioned over the phone, possibly asking Hope as she seems to know more about Werewolves than the other girls in the car.

Allison looked completely concerned at this point and pleaded with the brunette behind her to help them although the frowned expression on Daphne's face was kinda implicating that she didn't know anything.

Lydia blanched at the image as she stuttered out without thought. "W-What's wrong with him?"

"'What's wrong with him?'" Stiles repeated in his natural defensive state of sarcasm as the girls could picture him stressing out as he continued, "I don't… Do I have a PhD in Lycanthropy?!? How am I supposed to know that!"

Lydia glared at the phone in anger at being mocked and Allison's eyebrows tightly furrowed in the phone's direction.

Hope cleared her throat from the back. "Stiles… There's being a concerned friend. Then there is being an ass. Guess which one you are? As for which one could turn blood black? The answer is any of them. I'd need to see him in person which means you need to get him off the bus."

Stiles huffed in exasperation but relented a little as he realised that he did bite Lydia's head off when she just said what everyone else was thinking. "Look, I'm sorry Lydia. I'm just stressed out. I didn't mean to take my frustration out on you."

Lydia perked up a little at the apology and sent a small smile to Hope for getting the other boy to recognise his mistake. "It's alright. I get it. We all care about Scott."

"Stiles, there's a rest area about a mile up. Tell the Coach to pull over." Allison instructed the other boy as she folded her arms over the steering wheel as the car wasn't the only thing running on fumes at the moment and her concern for Scott was skyrocketing by the second.

Stiles grits his teeth as he mumbled out. "Yeah, I've been trying…"

Allison glanced over to the phone as she simply told Stiles. "Well, reason with him."

"'Reason!?' Have you met this guy!" Stiles had to lower his voice into a harsh whisper as they assumed the Coach just walked right by him at that very moment.

"Just try something!" Allison practically demands the other boy who once again groaned as he cancelled the phone call.

Allison turned around as she faced Hope. "So which one is it?"

"Self inflicted pain for not being able to save Derek. It's common for Wolves to stop taking care of themselves after a life altering event in the Pack occurs especially for Wolves like Scott who put the weight of the world on their shoulders." Hope replied honestly.

"So, somatoformic then?" Lydia clarified as she also twisted in her seat to face Hope who simply nodded her agreement until her facial features turned to one of disgust. "What?"

"Damn, Stiles! That's diabolically evil. Ugh." Hope remarked as she moved her hand to block her nose as she stared at the bus ahead of them as windows from all sides were being opened, some teenagers were even sticking their heads out of the windows to escape the smell.

"What the–?" Allison wondered in astonishment as she turned back to face the bus that was pulling over onto the dirt as it drove away to the gas station just a mile up the road.

Allison smirked as she shook her head in amusement as she put her indicator on to turn off the road to follow the bus. "Well played, Stiles."