.TAKING CARE OF BUSINESS.
— season one - episodes four & five —

     "ARE YOU GOING TO STUDY OR... STUDY?" Ginny asked with a teasing smile as she followed Scott to their bikes — he was ready to go to Allison's house to study, and Ginny was ready to go to Carpe Noctem for work since school just ended.

     "Shut up," Scott blushed. "I-I don't know... maybe, both?"

     "Ew—!"

     "You asked!"

     "I didn't think you'd answer!"

     "Was it rhetorical?"

     "Yeah, I guess so."

     "Wait... what's the difference between that and a regular question?"

     "This is why you need to study, Scott—"

    Their attention turned to the sound of multiple cars beeping their horns — quickly, they found the source.

     Derek, standing in front of Stiles' jeep, held an arm halfway up to stop Stiles from moving any forward which started the small traffic jam in the parking lot. Although they weren't that close, Ginny and Scott could both see how pale and sick Derek looked.

     "No, no, no, no. Not here..." Scott groaned, starting to walk away from the bikes as Ginny continued to unlock her bike lock.

     "God," Ginny muttered, shaking her head at Derek. "What happened to him?"

     Scott was a few feet away from Ginny before he turned around and quirked a brow at her as he continued walking. "You coming?"

     "I have work — and I'm not missing out on tips, Scott." Ginny grinned, placing her helmet on before hopping on her bike. As she rode past him, Derek, and Stiles, she waved. "Keep me updated!"

☃︎

     "Okay, so... just so I'm caught up," Ginny said, pacing around in front of Scott and Stiles, who were seated on Scott's bed. "Derek almost died to his bullet wound laced with wolfsbane but didn't, Stiles was almost traumatized but wasn't—"

     "Well," Stiles interrupted. "I wouldn't say I'm not—"

     "—because he didn't chop off the arm, Scott had dinner with Allison's family and somehow survived—"

     Scott scoffed. "Hey—"

     "—and also snuck out of the house with the exact bullet Derek needed to heal, blah, blah, blah, Derek healed, blah, blah, blah — am I missing anything?"

     "No," Scott answered before furrowing his brows.

     Stiles, noticing the look, quirked a brow. "What?"

     "What were August and Alice doing outside?"

     Ginny tilted her head at the new information. "What?"

     "When I got there, they were just... waiting outside, I think? But, as I remember, they don't own any pets. And once I said hi to them, they just awkwardly excused themselves from the conversation and went home. There was no reason for them to be there, unless..."

     "They know about Derek?" Stiles finished.

     "But, how would they know?"

     Ginny shook her head. "There's no way — Derek came back, like, this year, right? In the summer? August and Alice always leave Beacon Hills during the summer."

     "Then, why were they there?"

     Stiles shrugged. "They never entered the clinic when Derek and I were in there."

     "So they were just... outside?" Ginny shivered, taking a seat next to Scott. "Creepy."

     "We're probably reading too much into it," Scott shook his head.

     "Or reading too little," Stiles argued. "We can't rule out anything, not when we still don't know who the Alpha is, there are hunters out there trying to—"

     "Hot chocolate's ready!"

     "We're coming!" Ginny answered her mother's call. She hopped off of Scott's bed before rushing down the stairs to the kitchen where the hot chocolate waited. Scott and Stiles shared a worried look before following after her, hoping their concern about the Rivera girls was nothing to be worried about.

☃︎

     The next day, Ginny went to school.

     As a usual occurrence, and a result of their popularity, Jackson Whittemore and Lydia Martin were often the talk of the school for different reasons. For this particular day, they were 'the talk' because they were at the scene of a crime, a murder, when it happened.

     For obvious reasons — the primary attacker being an animal — the two were not suspects. Despite this, students at Beacon Hills High School could not stop hypothesizing what happened, what they saw, why Lydia Martin missed the day of school, and why Jackson Whittemore looked like he saw a ghost.

     Although the two had stopped being friends around the time when the last school year ended, people who knew of their old friendship still went up to ask Ginny what had happened to Lydia, if she could send Lydia their prayers and regards, and if Lydia was single.

     Ginny couldn't stand it — even without going to school, Lydia managed to make the day about her and ruin her day.

     "Ginny?" Anthony Rivera, a chef at Carpe Noctem, approached the girl — who held her head in her hands at seat at the bar — with wariness. "You good?"

     "Yeah," Ginny sighed, looking up to meet his eyes. "It's just been... a lot today."

     "They're asking you about the Martin girl?" Seeing Ginny raise a brow, he shrugged. "August told me about what happened — the accident, people bugging you at school... I guess they're doing it here, too?"

     She nodded. "It's... annoying. I just hope my Mom doesn't ask me about it when she gets home." Realizing his nickname for Lydia, she laughed."Martin girl? You know her name is Ly—"

     "Hey," He pointed a finger at her, jokingly saying. "I don't speak her name, and neither should you."

     "Why?"

     "Say her name three times, and she might just appear." He shivered, taking a few steps toward the kitchen. "I'm going back to the kitchen where it's safe—"

     "Hey," Ginny called out, making him turn around. "Aren't you supposed to be at the parent-teacher thing right now?"

     "Maeve went for me," He faked a sigh of relief. "Glad I won't have to deal with Mrs. Winter."

     Ginny stifled a chuckle at the mention of the English teacher who should have retired twenty years ago. "You hate her that much?"

     "And some."

     Their eyes moved toward the front door when the bell atop the door rang. It was Sophie, who waved at the two. "Hey, guys. Where's—?"

     "She's at the parent-teacher conference." Ginny and Anthony answered in unison, knowing Maeve must've been the one Sophie was looking for since they always spent time together in the diner.

     "Right," She sighed before reaching for her phone in her back pocket. With furrowed brows, she looked at the information on her screen.

     "What's wrong?" Ginny asked.

     Anthony smirked. "Is it—?"

     "Shut up!" Sophie scoffed, making Ginny flicker her eyes between them, curious. "For your information, it's not, but I do have to go."

     "Mhmm."

     "It's not!"

     "Yeah," Ginny shrugged, hoping to help the girl who once helped her as she looked at Anthony. "Maybe it was Lyd—"

     "I'm going to my safe space!" Anthony raised his hands in surrender, walking over to the kitchen while the two girls laughed.

     The blonde sent Ginny a grin. "Thanks, Ginny."

     She nodded. "Good luck with whatever it is that you're gonna do."

     "Thanks."

     As Sophie exited the diner, Ginny reached for her phone hidden in the small pocket of the apron she wore before her eyes widened at the notification on her phone.

20 Missed Calls From Stiles.

     Ginny pressed the button to call Stiles back. After one ring, Stiles answered, rushed. "Hello, hi, yes. Finally, one of you answers."

     Ginny furrowed her brows. "What happened?"

     "Do you have any idea where Scott is?"

     "No, why?"

     "He wasn't at school all day—"

     "Neither was Allison."

     "And we have — well... had a situation, but I figured it out."

     "What was the situation?"

     "Lydia had a video of the Alpha."

      "What?" Ginny chuckled out of disbelief. "Y-You're joking... how did she—? Wait," The smile left. "How do you know Lydia had a video?"

     "I went over to visit her, you know, to make she she was okay after the accident. Anyway, when I was there, she kept talking about how she saw a mountain lion before passing out. Then, she got a call. I was going to silence the phone since she was asleep, and when I did, I saw the video. It was the last thing she had opened."

      Ginny was quiet for a moment as she absorbed the information — her mind never quite left the phrase "I went over to visit her." She shouldn't care — not as much as she painfully admitted to herself — because she knew, agonizingly, that, of course, Stiles would want to make sure she was okay. It's how Stiles was — if someone he knew was suffering, he'd want to help in any way he knew how.

     But why did it have to be her?

     Why couldn't it have been anyone, literally, anyone else living in Beacon Hills that could have been in Lydia's situation instead of Lydia herself?

     That way, people would stop bothering her by asking if Lydia was okay. That way, it wouldn't pain her that she didn't really know if Lydia was hurt or not — as much as Lydia hurt Ginny, and as much as Ginny wished she truly didn't care about her anymore, she couldn't stop a part of her from worrying. That way, Stiles wouldn't have had to go over to her house and spend time with her — as selfishly as it sounded, and Ginny was embarrassingly aware of it.

     She didn't want Lydia to expose her crush to Stiles or any other embarrassing detail Lydia knew of her that Stiles didn't. Or worse, exposing that Ginny had told Lydia of Stiles' crush on her.

     "Ginny?"

     "Sorry," Ginny apologized, a blush settling on her cheeks as she brought herself back to reality. "Um... what did you end up doing?"

     "Well, I didn't want to leave with her phone or something, so I just deleted it after having dinner with her Mom."

     Ginny paled. "You had dinner with her Mom?"

     "More like a very silent, agonizingly quiet dinner," He sighed. "I didn't know what to say throughout the whole dinner, but she made lasagna! It's not like Lydia was going to eat it anyway."

     "How..." Ginny bit her lip, feeling the embarrassing glow around her face grow. "H-How is she?"

     "...She's okay, Gin. Taking some pills to help her sleep and forget what she saw, but she's okay. Good."

     "Okay," Ginny whispered, almost as if she were convincing herself by saying it. "Um, how was the lasagna?"

     "It made me miss Anthony's."

     "Oh!" Ginny laughed. There was a reason Carpe Noctem stopped serving lasagna whenever Anthony worked. "That bad, huh?"

     "You have no idea."

     Before Ginny could respond, Anthony's voice spoke out. "McCall, table 9 needs someone!"

     "Yes, Chef!" Ginny chuckled, checking her watch to make sure her break had ended. "Stiles, I—"

     "Go kick some serving butt," Stiles lightly laughed. "I think I'm gonna look over some of my Dad's old case files."

     "Don't get caught," Ginny joked as she hopped off the chair. "Bye, Stiles."

     "Bye, Gin."

☃︎

     Ginny was peacefully watching TV, stuffing her face with popcorn, before the front door slammed open. She turned her head in time to see Scott's upset face before he stomped his way upstairs. Their mother entered the house next as she rolled her eyes at his antics, closed and locked the door, before turning to Ginny.

     "Guess who missed the parent-teacher conference?"

     "Um..." Ginny gestured toward the stairs Scott took. "I'm going to assume it wasn't you?"

     "Bingo," She sighed. "So, your brother is now grounded. Make sure he doesn't leave the house."

     "Okay," Ginny lowered the volume on the television and sat up. Her mother took a seat beside her and began to plop some popcorn in her mouth. "How was the meeting? Did my teachers say anything about me?"

     She smiled. "They said your grades are really good, Ginny." Then, she lightly nudged Ginny's arm. "But you gotta participate more, Winnie."

     "Ugh," Ginny shook her head, turning her eyes back to the television screen. "I don't get it. I'm doing what they ask, they know I know the answers—"

     "Well, they don't, that's why they want you to participate. You just have to speak up a little more—"

     Ginny raised her hands in surrender. "A little more could kill me, Mom."

     Melissa squinted her eyes at her daughter as she laughed. "No, it wouldn't."

     "It could." Melissa gave her a look, making Ginny sigh. The latter looked down at her popcorn. "I just get really nervous, and I feel like I'm gonna forget the answer or say the wrong thing and embarrass myself in front of everyone."

     "It's better to try though, at least a little, isn't it? To try and ask a few questions, or answer them once in a while." Melissa lightly nudged Ginny to look at her. "Hey, I know it's hard. But, just try to forget about everyone else, okay? It's your education. And so what if you say the wrong thing? Nobody is perfect, Winnie. You're all there to learn."

     "It's not as easy as you think it is, Mom... it's a new year. People don't remember me as the girl the sheriff started an anti-bullying assembly for or the ice cream photo girl anymore. Lydia just got hurt, and people are suddenly remembering I used to be her friend," Ginny cringed, looking away. "It's better for me not to draw any more attention to myself and have them remember me by the other stuff again."

     Silence washed over the two before Melissa softly said. "Then, make them look at you in a different light," She pulled out a folded-up paper from her pocket. "How about the girl that sang her heart out as Cinderella? Or, Little Red Riding Hood?"

     Ginny's eyes scanned over the paper her mother handed her — it was a form informing the Beacon Hills High School students of tryouts for the next Musical: Into the Woods.

     "You've always loved singing. Make them forget all those other labels, make them know the real you." Her mom suggested with a smile before her phone began to ring. With a groan, Melissa stood up. "It's work, I'll be right back."

     Ginny nodded, turning her attention back to the screen — trying her best to ease her anxious nerves over thinking about auditioning — before her phone rang. At the sight of Stiles' name, Ginny furrowed her brows before answering. "Hello?"

     "H-Hey," Stiles sniffled from the other side of the call, unable to mask his emotions.

     Instantly, Ginny could tell something was wrong. She quickly stood up before making her way to the stairs to go to her room. "Stiles, what happened?"

     "I'm sorry — I just... I needed someone to talk to, and I really don't feel like talking to Scott right now. And, if I'm being honest, you were the first person that came to mind." There was some shuffling heard in the background. "Crap, Ginny — I-I'm sorry if I woke you up and—"

     "It's barely eleven at night, Stiles." She lightly chuckled, trying her best to ignore how fast her face was heating up. "I was just watching some random movie on the TV... what happened? Is everything okay?"

     "My Dad — He... he's in the hospital right now and — it's nothing too bad, it's nothing, really. He's okay. But, when I got the call from the hospital, I..."

     Ginny felt her stomach drop for a moment at the news — Noah Stilinski was like a father to her. He was always there for her, always looking out for her, and always offering help. Had something happened to him, she wouldn't have known what to do. "H-He's okay, Stiles," Ginny softly repeated after a brief quietness filled the conversation. She sat down on her bed, awaiting his response.

     "...I-I know, it's just... the woman on the call told me he was in a car accident, and I thought something really, really bad happened. Apparently, he just got bumped by some car, but they took him to the hospital to make sure he was okay, and I started assuming the worst before she could say nothing happened, and—"

     "Stiles," Ginny calmly spoke, snapping Stiles out of his worried spiral. "Try to take some deep breaths, okay? Follow me, inhale..."

     From the call, she could hear him taking a deep breath.

     "Exhale..."

      He released his breath.

     "Inhale... exhale... inhale... exhale... inhale..."

     She heard him taking a deep breath. Holding in a small chuckle, she waited until he let it go, gasping for breath.

     "Ginny!"

     "What?! You do the same thing to me!" Ginny laughed alongside him, reminiscing the times he'd tell her to inhale without ever telling her to exhale until she couldn't hold her breath anymore. As their laughter subsided, she softly asked. "Are you okay? And it's completely okay to say no."

     "I definitely feel better," He released a large exhale. "I have to pick up my Dad from..."

     "I can drive?" Ginny suggested, rolling her eyes when she started hearing him laugh. "Okay, ha-ha." Her eyes turned back to her front door. "I could ask my Mom to get him if anything. Or, I could drive her car?"

     "I doubt your Mom would want you driving any car," Stiles joked. "But, thank you for the offers. I think I'll be good to get him."

     "Okay," Ginny nodded. "Text me when you're back home."

     "Will do, Captain. And, uh, Ginny?"

     Ginny felt her heartbeat pick up in speed. "Yes?"

     "Don't mention this to Scott, please? I kind of want to leave him sulking without answers."

     Ginny chuckled, tucking the hair that fell in front of her face when she looked down behind her ear. "Okay, I won't tell him anything."

     Ginny could hear his smile in his words. "Thanks, I'll see you tomorrow, Ginny."

     "See ya. And... be careful, Stiles."

     "Always."

❀✿❀

i know this chapter is a little short compared to the others — but i hope y'all liked it regardless :} <3 

🫶 ginny mccall, the overthinking queen fr 🫶 she's just like me!!

the little giles moments in this chapter and the next >>> ugh they're so cute 🥹<3 but... the ice cream photo incident... 😟😟 WE SHAN'T TALK ABOUT IT ✋ unless... 🫣

in other news, sophie's story was published and the first chapter is out if you guys are interested! 🫶