A/N: So this is my first foray into Teen Wolf… a bit nervous as I've never written for a TV fandom before. I simply love the direction the show has headed and wanted to explore more of Stiles's character which they have built up amazingly. Plus… who wants to wait until January to see where they head with this… if the response is good I shall continue this… if not… eh might just finish it up in my head =)

What Happens Next

Chapter 1

The Calm Before the Storm

It's amazing how lonely you can feel, how desolate and empty on the inside even when you are surrounded by friends and family. How terrified you can feel even when nothing inexplicably strange or supernatural has even occurred recently. But Stiles knew better. He was simply holding his breath, waiting. It felt like the eerie unnatural calm before a storm. Before all the hell and fury was bottled up and released on the world.

After they had taken down the Darach (also known as Jennifer and one of their teachers) things had gone quite in the little town of Beacon Hills. Some things had changed, but some things had gone back to the way they had been before. With no lacrosse to occupy their time and both Scott and Stiles swooning after women who had moved onto someone else they resumed their pathetic pre-wolf bite life.

"Stiles I don't want to do this anymore. Let's go drive around and do something." Scott whined as they worked on a term paper.

"You just want to go out and look for trouble. No. You are actually passing now; your mom is off your back… this is good." Stiles answered without bringing his eyes off his text book.

"Ugh what good does it do to have my mom off my back when my stupid father's on my ass now?"

"Well at least you still have both of them." Stiles mumbled as he slammed his book shut and angrily stuffed it in his bag.

"Stiles… I'm sorry I didn't mean…" Scott stuttered standing to follow Styles down the stairs into his living room. "Where are you going?"

"What? You said you wanted to go drive around. So let's go." Styles said grabbing his jacket and his set of Jeep keys off the counter and heading to the door.

"Oh… okay." Scott answered a bit unsurely.

The duo headed to Stiles' slightly worse for the wear Jeep. They clamored in and it sputtered to life with the turn of a key. Stiles smiled a small smile down at his Jeep. "At least some things in my life are dependable."

Scott was unsure of how to respond to Stiles' statement so he kept silent and instead took to casting sideways glances at Stiles when he wasn't looking. The boy looked weary, dark smudges under his eyes, skin pale and without his usual laid back demeanor and easy smile he looked down right… depressed. Like he was lacking the vibrant energy that made Stiles…well Stiles.

Their self-sacrificing ritual had been hard on them all. Allison seemed to spring back the quickest, or maybe it was her new found feelings for Isaac. Scott seemed to struggle a bit but with both his parents hovering he didn't have a lot of time for his depression to sink in. Stiles on the other hand had been worn thin long before he climbed into the tub of ice water to die. He worried about everyone and took everything upon himself, guilt included. His father being taken right along with Scott's mom had nearly incapacitated Stiles with the fear that he would be orphaned and that it was be his own fault. Though Stiles had helped rescue his father the guilt hadn't seemed to lift from his shoulders as he thought it would.

Stiles had been spending most of his time alone while the Sheriff continued to mop up the mess that came with all the dead bodies and destruction. He came home late and often left before Stiles crawled from his bed in the mornings. So Stiles occupied his time by going to school and doing his homework. He barely spoke to anyone besides Scott and seemed withdrawn and sullen.

Scott kept glancing at Stiles as they drove through the shadowy streets as night fell upon them. "Can you stop looking at me like you think I'm a bomb that's going to explode already?" Stiles suddenly said as he pulled to a stop at the only light in town.

"What? I-I'm not doing that." Scott answered nervously as he began to fidget with the sleeves of his long sweatshirt.

"You're fidgeting and jumpy so you're lying… and yes you were." Stiles answered with no hint of his usual humor in his voice. When the light changed he stepped on the gas and pulled into the gas station to fill his Jeep with gas.

While Stiles filled his Jeep Scott sat and thought of a way to make the whole situation a joke so they could laugh the whole thing off when Stiles climbed back in. He was pulled from his inner musings when a dark car pulled up to the curb. Out climbed Lydia and her boy toy turned boyfriend Ayden. He threw his arm around her and whispered something in her ear causing her to shove him and giggle loudly. Her laughter caught in her throat as her eyes fell on Stiles who quickly dropped his eyes and turned the pump off and climbed back into the Jeep.

He quickly started the Jeep as she took a step off the curb towards them and pulled away from the pump. "Stiles…"

"Just shut it Scott. I don't want to hear it alright." His voice gave no room for argument and not for the first time Scott was glad that Stiles had not been turned into a wolf. He'd hate to see what the boy could do given that amount of power. Scott recognized the street they were heading down just before the Jeep came to a screeching halt.

"What are you doing?" Scott asked confused.

"Taking you home," Stiles answered as he gripped the steering wheel until his knuckles turned white. "I just need to be alone for a while." He never brought his eyes to Scott and he didn't say another word. Without knowing what to say or what to do Scott hastily unbuckled his seat belt and stepped out of the vehicle. Stiles slowly drove away leaving Scott behind.

He could still see Scott in the rear view mirror, his posture slumped and defeated. And again a new wave of guilt came upon Stiles. It seemed that no matter what he did someone got hurt. He couldn't seem to think of anything else other than the ways he had screwed up; he couldn't help it if he felt responsible for everything that had occurred with the Darach. Had he only read into the clues sooner, put things together, enlisted his father's help instead of keeping him in the dark. But he hadn't and several innocent people had been killed.

Along with his constant companion of guilt was the gnawing ache of missing Lydia. He had thought he might have had a shot with her. They'd been friends, worked together closely. Hell he'd let her drown him because he trusted her. She'd even kissed him, granted it was a kiss out of desperation, but it had been a kiss. It seemed she preferred her men cut and modelesque, first Jackson now Ayden. He couldn't come close to their level… so why bother trying.

He had trouble sleeping, more so than usual. Normally he was plagued by dreams about his mother, or losing his father in a shootout and being left to his own devices. Now it was all about death, and torture and the unknowing, like something was lurking in the shadows ready to snatch him at a moment's notice. The feeling had even begun following him throughout the day, the overwhelming urge to constantly look over his shoulder was starting to make him paranoid. He couldn't help but feel like something bad was coming just over the horizon and he didn't know if he could handle it.

The constant barrage of his emotions and paranoia were nearly crushing him. He was constantly balancing on the edge of a full-fledged panic attack. The only way he seemed to deal was to double on his medication and to try to disconnect altogether. If that was the only thing he could do to function and keep going then that was what was what he was going to do.

Stiles pulled back into his drive and slowly trudged back up the walk to the side door and let himself in. The house was dark and quiet as it always was. His phone beeped and a quick glance told him he was on his own for dinner, his dad was working late again. What else was new? His homework was all caught up, he was even ahead. With the distraction of Scott gone Stiles looked around the house desperately looking for some sort of work to do to take his mind off of things.

He washed the dishes in the sink and dried them putting them each back meticulously in its place. He swept and vacuumed cleaned the clutter in the kitchen. He dusted and polished the wood work. By the time he was done it resembled the house Stiles had known when his mother was still around, everything was neat and orderly and where it belonged. The glowing clock on the oven told him it was half past eleven. He decided he'd shower and attempt a few short hours of nightmare riddled sleep before attempting his Friday classes.

The moment he sagged down onto his bed he began dreading the moment when he would lose the fight to keep his eyes from closing. His bed was comfortable and he was warm and so very tired. But the moment sleep claimed him he was assaulted with a myriad of different horrid scenarios. The Darach, Lydia, Scott, Scott's mom, his dad… By the time the alarm sounded in his ear Stiles had felt more tired than when he had first laid down. Still he readied for the day and headed down to the kitchen hoping to join his father for coffee. Surprisingly enough his father sat reading the morning paper at the table a cup of coffee in hand.

"Morning Dad." Stiles yawned as he poured himself a cup of coffee and took the seat opposite his father.

"Morning." His father looked over the edge of the paper with his reading glasses examining him. "How you been?"

Stiles simply shrugged as he forced down a scalding hot sip of the thick coffee. "You?"

"Dog tired. I'm hoping to get things caught up and then maybe you and I could spend some time together." His father did look tired, bags under his eyes, more wrinkles lining his face than he remembered.

Stiles simply nodded as he finished his coffee. He wanted to tell his father everything that had been weighing him down but he didn't. His dad had enough to worry about without worrying about him too. He'd deal with it on his own, just like he had been since he was eleven and had found out his mom was terminal. He had no choice.

"Well I'd better get going. Gotta pick up Scott and get to class." He picked up his bag and gave his father a one armed hug before making his way to the door.

"Stiles… you'd tell me if everything… wasn't okay?" He asked slowly, "right?"

"Yea Dad, sure." He gave him the usual Stiles smile hoping to ward him off from pressing any further. He wasn't sure he could continue to hold up under his father's line of questioning. His father gave him a small wave as he shut the door.

Stiles let out a breath and headed to his Jeep.