You walked cooly down the sidewalk, the autumn air blowing your hair backwards. You hummed a made up tune as you went your way.
You saw a familiar figure in the distance. The figure itself didn't give away who it was, but her confident strut told you it was Lydia.
"Lydia," you called.
Lydia squinted her eyes from the distance. When she recognized you she made her way over.
"You look oddly happy," she said as she approached you. "Are you over the whole Aiden thing?"
Lydia started to walk with you.
"Finding out I was his assignment wasn't great," you told her. "But I'm over it."
"You didn't leave your bed for three days," Lydia reminded you.
"But I'm over it."
"Are you sure?" She smirked.
"I'm sure. Anyways," You changed the subject. "How's Prada?"
"Oh my god!" Lydia's eyes widened. "She's still in her cage! She probably peed in it. I gotta go. See you later!"
Lydia ran off and you continued your walk home, still humming. Not five minutes after Lydia left, someone tapped on your shoulder. You almost screamed, surprised, and whipped around.
"Aiden," you said. "You scared me."
"Not exactly Aiden," he said.
"Oh," you said weakly. "Ethan." You were never scared around Aiden. He was a direct line to Deucalion, but he'd never physically hurt you. Ethan, on the other hand, wasn't a sign of safety.
"You have two options," he said. "The first option is to come quietly. I'll take you where I need to, and no one around you gets hurt."
"What's the second option?" You breathed, and looked up to his eyes. His eyes had the same outside appearance as Aiden's, but reflected differently.
"The second option is that you cause a scene. I have to knock you out. Someone tries to help you, and I kill them. And I'll kill Stiles and Lydia just for fun."
"What happens if I don't cause a scene, but I don't go with you?"
Ethan thought for a second. "Then... I'll knock you out, but I'll only kill Stiles and Lydia."
"Yeah..." You said. "But what would happen after you knocked me out?"
"I'd bring you to Deucalion."
"But people would see. And they'd call the cops."
"And I'd kill the cops," he said. "And you're stalling."
"Fine," you said. "Let's go."
Ethan turned and started walking. Your destination was surprisingly near. In fact, it was less than a block away. Ethan led you into the alleyway.
You looked around, but it was getting rather dark. Not a single person passed by on the sidewalk. Three directions surrounded you by brick walls. Ethan blocked the only exit. He checked his watch.
"Deucalion and Kali will be here in about five minutes. We thought it'd take longer. Aiden said you'd probably stall."
Aiden. You wanted to find him, tie him up, stab him, shove wolfsbane through the wound, get a piece of glass-
Someone entered the alley. Ethan's back was facing them. He was too preoccupied with his phone to notice. You couldn't tell who it was in the darkness. You hoped it was Scott or Isaac or Derek, anyone that could help you.
The figure made a quick movement to push Ethan against the wall. Trash cans clattered as Ethan fell against them. Ethan rolled over onto his back, and the guy punched him in the face. Ethan lay motionless on the ground.
"[Y/N]," the guy ran up to you. You immediately recognized him by his voice.
"Aiden."
"We've got to get out of here," he said.
"Why are you helping me?" You asked.
"We don't have a lot of time," he said. "Deucalion and Kali are coming."
He grabbed your wrist and started running, pulling you after him. You ran out of the alley and through town. You must have ran for an hour.
"Aiden," you panted. "I'm grateful for you saving my life and all, but how much further?"
"We're here," Aiden told you.
You looked around. "This is a park."
"It's the only place they won't think to look. Plain sight," he explained. "They'll go to your house, your friends houses, but they'll never find you here. Kids start showing up around nine, though. So we need to be out of the slide by then."
"We're sleeping in the slide?" You asked dumbfounded.
"The cops could drive by and see us," he explained and walked to the slide.
The two of you were forced to sleep side by side at the bottom of the slide. Neither of you said anything for a very long time.
"Hey," Aiden said after about half an hour.
You turned to face him, so close that your foreheads were nearly touching.
"You know you weren't just an assignment, right?"
You smiled and closed off the distance between you two with your lips, kissing him softly until you had no breath.
"I know that now," you said, falling asleep in his arms.
