The Lives We Lead | tmr/tw • tw/tmr |

(23) Melissa McCall: Mother to All

(Just an old Snapchat that popped up on my On This Day # Years Ago thing and I hope all you Percy Jackson fans appreciate it. It gets stuck in my head whenever I see this.)

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"So... we're on our way to Beacon Hills," Abbie drawled out, not looking away from the seat back in front of her as they bumped along on a road that severely needed re-paving.

Isaac groaned, throwing himself back against the headrest, "Do we really need to talk about this right now?"

"Well," she raised her eyebrows. "We're kind of on a bus that we're stuck on for the next eight to nine hours, heading to said location so I think, yes, we really do need to have this talk right now."

Isaac just ignored her and continued to stare out the window, bouncing his leg erratically. His tall frame looked awkward cramped in the dingy seat. Abbie had offered to give him the aisle seat, knowing his claustrophobia would be more likely to act up while he felt stressed. He declined it, instead pressing himself as close to the glass as possible, as if he wanted to break it and bail out at any moment.

Abbie grabbed his knee to stop its incessant bouncing with a hard glare, "I don't even need supernatural senses like yours to tell you're nervous. What's wrong? Didn't you already tell someone we were coming?"

"Yeah," he sighed. "I called Argent yesterday while you were catching up with your aunt, but it didn't really help all that much."

"He didn't say anything about not wanting you around, right?" her eyebrows furrowed in concern. "What are you scared of?"

"That was the first time I've contacted anyone from Beacon Hills since moving to Milford," he practically whispered. "I... God, I haven't talked to anyone since she died."

Abbie grabbed his hand tightly. After discovering her relation to literal werewolves, Isaac went of to make a call and she found the soonest bus tickets to Beacon Hills, leaving the next day, Wednesday at noon. They'd arrive in Beacon Hills by that evening. In the mean time, her aunt tried her best to form a relationship between them, telling her stories from her mother's childhood. It was awkward, but by the time Anika set them up in their guest rooms for the night, a lot of Abbie's animosity towards the woman had vanished. She didn't know if she could forgive her aunt, but at least they were at a start. Deep down, she felt a warmth at the thought of having more family in her life than she ever expected.

But, while she felt excited at the prospect of figuring out where she came from and what her past looked like, Isaac was a mess and she couldn't help but blame herself for that. They wouldn't be going to Beacon Hills if not for her, and she felt like she was forcing Isaac to face his own past way too soon. She knew what it felt like to mourn for what she once had, and she hated knowing the pain that was eating away at his chest as they crept down the road.

"I just can't believe I'm related to the Hales," she changed the subject, knowing he couldn't open up too much at that moment. "It just feels so surreal."

"I know," Isaac looked at her in vague disbelief. "I'm still reeling a little bit from that plot twist."

"I mean, what are the odds?" she threw her head against the headrest of her chair. "Out of all the people in the world to meet, I meet you. A werewolf who's Ex-Alpha is my cousin I didn't even know existed--one of the only people on Earth that was ever bit by him. I mean... that can't just be a coincidence, right?" She picked her head up and looked at him. "You never made any connection, right?"

"No, never," he told her honestly while shaking his head. He stopped while staring at her for a second, making her give him a quizzical look in return. "But... don't get mad at me for what I'm about to say."