Second Chances (Brett Talbot)

Bad Idea

Shit. I completely forgot to give Brett his hoodie back, and I forgot I was even wearing it.

"Um," I stutter out as my twin gives me an accusing look.

I sigh, deciding that now would be a good time to explain everything. I knew I would have to eventually.

"Brett was helping me look for you," I confess.

Liam gives me a look of total bewilderment.

"Yeah, I know. It kinda sounds insane, but when Stiles drove me home from here yesterday, he made me promise not to go looking for you in the woods alone, and so having Brett with me made me not alone so I could look for you. Also he offered, and it was kinda his idea." I ramble to him.

"Why would Brett help look for me?" Liam asks.

"He said he owed Scott and I for saving his life," I tell him.

Liam's jaw is set as he stares at me. His eyes soften a bit and go wide. "Did he do anything to you?" he asks me.

"What? No!" I exclaim, my cheeks flushing. "I mean yeah he said a few dumb things but that's normal."

I can't tell Liam about how Brett comforted me when I was crying. That would just be really awkward to explain and Liam would go nuts if he heard Brett came into any physical contact with me.

"Why are you wearing his sweatshirt though?" He questions.

"He saw that I was cold so he said I could borrow it," I shrug, trying not to make it seem like a big deal.

"But you're still wearing it," he states.

"I was a little busy focusing on trying to find you to worry about what I was wearing Liam, and I kinda forgot about it in the process," I defend, hotly. "Plus it's still cold out and I have nothing else to keep me warm."

Not to mention it smells really good, but I won't tell Liam that either. I don't know what it is but it smells as if I was in the woods again. It's like a cedar smell along with pine and just a general plant smell. I wouldn't have thought it would smell good, but right now it smells like heaven.

"You smell like him," Liam mutters, as if reading my thought. "I bet he did that to bother me."

"Liam, cut Brett a little slack right now, okay?" I tell him.

"Why?" He demands. "He's the enemy. I hate him and he hates me."

"The reason Brett wasn't there when I got to you and Scott was because he just found out that half his pack was murdered, Li. They were found dead in the woods by Derek in Malia. Some type of disease," I tell him. "Scott tells me your pack is like your family. How do you think he's feeling right now?"

Liam stays silent and glares at the ceiling. "Why are you defending him?" He says quietly after a bit. "He's been nothing but an asshole to you and now you're defending him like he's your friend. Whose side are you on?"

"Liam, Brett's not the enemy," I tell him. "The enemy tried to kill you earlier and was almost successful. Brett was able to track you because you howled. He was helping you. This isn't a lacrosse feud anymore Liam. This is a lot bigger and if we want to win, we might have to team up with Satomi's pack and that means Brett as well."

"I will never be on the same team as Brett," Liam spits.

"You were," I remind him.

"Not anymore," he shoots back. "And never again."

I bite my lip. Nothing I say will get through to him. Brett has hurt him too much. I still haven't forgiven Brett for all the terrible things he's said and done, but this might mean the survival of my brother and new friends and if that means teaming up with a narcissistic ass like Brett, then I got to do what I got to do.

***

"We need you to go undercover at your old school," Stiles tells me the day after our plan at the hospital flunked.

I snap my head up from the book I was reading at lunch in school. "Yeah, no," I dead pan. "No thanks."

When I said I wanted to help, I didn't mean this.

"Lily, you're the only one who can help," he tries. "Look, you know the school well, you know the kids, and from what I've heard, you flew under the radar most of the time so a lot of kids wouldn't recognize you unlike Liam since his whole expulsion."

"Why do I even need to?" I ask, still half paying attention to my book.

"Cause Satomi told us that there is a hunter undercover in the school," he replies.

"Then why can't she handle it?"

"She doesn't know who it is," he says. "She needs your help along with Malia to watch Brett's lacrosse practice, since they've narrowed it down to a player on the team."

"Why can't they do it?" I ask. I don't want to get involved in anything about Devonford. I hate that place and never want to see it again. Also there was the fact that Brett would be there and I didn't exactly want to face him again since the last time I saw him he saw me cry and then he gave me his sweatshirt.

Also I kind of don't want to give Brett his sweatshirt back. It's actually really comfortable.

"Only students are allowed to watch the practices," Stiles says. "It was something about kids from other teams spying on their practices so anyone not wearing a uniform can't get to the field."

"That's dumb," I say nonchalantly, flipping to the next page of my book, not looking at him.

"Can you cut the April Ludwig act, Lily?" Stiles tells me. "This is serious. Scott doesn't want anyone else to die."

"Then why can't Scott do it?" I ask.

"He's recognizable as the Beacon Hills captain," he states. "Malia agreed to go, but she needs a guide around the campus so she doesn't get lost or show that she doesn't really know where she's going."

"What do I get out of it?"

"A sense of accomplishment and a well deserved pat on the back if you catch the guy," Stiles says with a smile.

"Thanks," I say sarcastically. "You do realize that since I went to the school someone is bound to recognize you."

"Not if you look a little different," Stiles replies.

"What do you mean?" I ask, closing my book.

Stiles smiles cause he now knows he has my full attention. "We'll just have Lydia put some make up on you to make your face look a bit different, and you'll but your hair up in a style that you've never done."

"That's dumb," I state, bluntly.

"Exactly," Stiles says. "That's how you know it will work."

"I don't know," I mutter, looking down at my book again. "This seems like a very bad idea."