Return of the Hale || Stiles Stilinski

16

Scott opened his front door, quietly walking inside in hopes that he didn't wake up Neriah or his mom. But part of that hope squashed when he turned back around, seeing his mom standing at the kitchen table with her back to him.

"Hey," he quietly said, "sorry I'm back so late. I was closing up the Animal Clinic. I got more hours to earn a little extra..." he trailed off as his mom turned around, showing the red bag of money on the table. "Money."

"How much more did you need?" she asked him, raising her brows.

Scott slowly walked toward her, sensing the disappointment. "This is payment from the dead pool," he explained. "I-I found it in Garrett's locker."

"This belongs to Derek and Riah?" She took in a deep breath, looking down at the money. "So you're just keeping it safe for them in a gym bag underneath your bed?" she rhetorically asked as his face dropped. "How long have you had it?"

He shook his head, looking down at his hands. "Too long."

"Does Riah even know?" she quietly asked him, realizing the sleeping girl was only just upstairs. Scott stayed silent and she sighed. "You know you have to give it back?"

"I was going to," he admitted.

"Do I wanna know why you haven't?"

Scott looked down at the money for a long moment before looking back at Melissa. "Because of you."

"Me?" she asked, glancing at the pile of bills near them before sighing again. "You mean because we've been struggling a little?"

"Mom, we're struggling a lot," he countered.

She shook her head in worry. "Scott, you can save people's lives. But you cannot save them from life. Life is full of struggle."

"But it doesn't have to be," Scott gently argued. "Do you know what just one of these can do?" He picked up a band of cash. "This gets us a new roof." He picked up another. "And this pays for Stiles' MRI." And another band of cash. "And this one means you don't have to work the double shift at the hospital and come home totally exhausted."

Melissa sadly smiled at him before picking up a band of cash behind her and holding it out to him. "What about this one?"

Scott took it, dread filling his body at the blood drops covering the money.

Unknown to either of them, Neriah had been standing at the bottom of the stairs, hearing the whole conversation since the moment Scott arrived home. She hadn't known that Scott found her family's money and she was extremely hurt that he had kept that knowledge from her. But she wasn't hurt or upset with Melissa.

Neriah walked over to them, and Scott's features were written in guilt as he noticed her first with an unreadable look on her face. Melissa noticed the sudden change in her son's face and quickly turned around, just as Neriah grabbed the bag of money and snatched the blood money out of Scott's hand.

"You should've told me," Neriah snapped at Scott with hurt clear in her eyes. "I knew how Stiles felt about my family not spending this money and just letting it sit in a vault. But for you to have it this whole time and not tell me is another level of hurt, Scott. I would've never kept this from you."

Scott's shoulders dropped and his heart ached as he smelt the power of her emotions off her body. "Riah, I was going to tell—"

"But you didn't," she cut him off, shaking her head. "You didn't tell me. Instead, you hid it from me, in the same house we live in." She faced Melissa who was watching them with sorrow. "Not much of this money is mine, but I do owe you for the years I've lived here."