words are empty air ➳ stiles / isaac [1]

8.03 » drugging jackson

"SEE, YOU CAN do this!" Camellia encouraged. "You'll be able to protect yourself in no time.

The sky above them was an ombré of orange and pink disappearing into the woods behind them. Magnolia stared at it, knowing that as soon as it turned to black that she'd be free from Cam's "teaching sessions" and the plan to stop Jackson would begin. Camellia said it'd be too dangerous for Maggie to go to the rave and risk her life trying to save Jackson's, so Cam insisted she hide in the car while she took Maggie's place. At least if Jackson tried to hurt her, she'd know how to protect herself as a last resort.

"It's barely a sprout," Magnolia said, looking at the stub of green she'd made rise from the ground. "That's not gonna protect me."

"It doesn't have to. You have me to protect you in the meantime. We'll have to keep practicing while we look for the ingredients to merge us back together."

Magnolia took a deep breath. "Do you think merging back together is gonna hurt?"

Cam rolled her eyes. "Probably. But who cares? What's a little pain compared to the two of us dying?"

"Well if we merge it's gonna be like one of us dying anyway."

Camellia paused and looked towards the woods. "I actually don't really know about that. None of Gran's books mentioned anything about what happens to the person after merging except that they stay alive. I don't know if I'll just disappear back into you, or if our minds will just be one. But I'm pretty sure our personality will change since you'll be influenced by my half."

"Cool, so I'll be super crabby."

Cam summoned a vine from the ground and smacked Magnolia's head. She smiled. "Actually yeah."

Magnolia rubbed the back of her head. "That shit hurted."

"Don't you mean hurt?"

"No... just..." Magnolia's lips curled up in a smile. "You don't know what Vine is."

"Yes I do dumb bitch I just slapped you with one."

Magnolia choked. "Okay it's already dark, let's go get ready. I have something to show you anyway." She grinned as she opened her Youtube app.

♡

The two were parked outside the rave awaiting a text from Scott. Once the plan was a go, Camellia would go in and try to get Jackson spill some answers to the questions that still didn't seem to add up.

"I'm not sure you look enough like me."

Camellia squinted. "We look exactly the same. We're the same damn person."

"Yeah but I'd never wear that." Magnolia eyed Cam's cropped tube top and high waisted shorts. Camellia had styled her hair in a half-up half-down ponytail and expertly done eye look, something Maggie didn't even know how to do. She looked back down at her own windbreaker, shorts, and sneakers.

"Who's gonna think 'oh that's a Maggie imposter that looks just like her but is dressed too revealing to be her?' Get your head outta your ass sis, it's a rave. Everyone looks like this."

Magnolia shrugged as her phone beeped.

"Is that Scott?"

"No, it's Stiles." Maggie stared at the phone.

stiles🥍
Can you meet me at the back of the warehouse? It's important. Quick before the plan starts.

"He needs me." Magnolia unbuckled her seatbelt and opened the car door.

"Are you serious?" Cam yelped. "I'll go. It'll be weird if he sees me wearing this after seeing you in that."

"You don't get it; I can't send you. This is urgent and I just know he needs me, the actual me. I'll be right back I promise." She hopped out of her seat and closed the door just as Camellia yelled, "You better be confessing your feelings or it's not worth it!" She sprinted off in the direction of the warehouse, Camellia rolled her eyes and went back to watching more Vines.

Stiles waited impatiently with the mountain ash in his pocket until Maggie came around the corner.

"What is it?" she asked concerned.

He took a deep breath. "Remember when I stole that police van to kidnap Jackson?"

"I don't think that's something I'll ever forget," she laughed.

"Okay, well... he didn't say exactly, but," his voice cracked, "I think they fired my dad because of me."

He teared up and Magnolia swiftly wrapped him into a hug, rubbing his back in an attempt to soothe him.

"Stiles... we'll do our best to fix this. But don't blame yourself. There's a good chance that by chaining Jackson up we saved someone's life."

Stiles pulled back. "But he escaped."

Magnolia squinted. "You're right, but when you went to the police station he was there as Jackson. So he didn't have time to kill someone and tell his lawyer dad about what happened."

Stiles sighed, his eyes looking off into the distance. "We have to stop him."

"And we will!" Maggie checked her phone. "But I have to go now if this is gonna work. By the end of the night, everything'll be just fine." She shot Stiles a smile before beginning to sprint back to the car.

"Mags wait!"

She swiveled back around. "Yeah?"

Stiles noticeably paused searching for the right words. He rubbed the back of his neck. "Just... be safe." Maggie grinned, making it impossible for him not to smile back.

"When am I not?" she laughed, remembering all the time she almost died since Scott became a werewolf. And then she realized her life was constantly at risk. So often that she'd grown accustomed to it and that it would suck if she died without at least making a move on Stiles. It'd been years and she couldn't wait any longer. She walked back to him, and he looked at her in confusion.

"Kiss for good luck?"

Time paused for a second. Maggie's heart threatened to beat out of her chest. His eyes said nothing except confusion. She thought maybe she made a mistake, until he smiled nervously.

"Like me? To give you luck? On the lips?"

Magnolia tried not to laugh at his nervousness and nodded encouragingly.

"Oh. Wow. Okay." Stiles tried to shake his nerves and leaned in. Maggie felt his shaky breath on her lips and closed the space between them.

It was short, but it sent an unfamiliar jolt through their bodies. She pulled away from him and he opened his eyes.

"Uh, luck received. I'll see you when the chaos is over," she promised, then scurried away.

When she made it back to her car, Camellia's leg was shaking impatiently. "What took you so long?"

Maggie rolled her eyes. "Don't worry about it."

"Did you guys kiss?"

"You're annoying."

Camellia huffed and stepped out the car.

"Don't do anything stupid," Maggie warned. "And most importantly don't do anything I wouldn't."

"Yes, your goodness. Only purity is on my mind." Cam rolled her eyes.

"And be careful."

"Obviously," Cam agreed. "I may have forgot to mention: if I die, you die too. Toodles!"

Magnolia's mouth opened as she watched Camellia head into the warehouse.