◤ chapter one: ❛ night of
possibilities ❜ ◢

✧

COOPER HAD BETTER WAYS TO SPEND HIS NIGHTS THAN THIS. Usually, Cooper could have had a guy in his bed by now, whimpering out his name as he took everything he wanted from them and giving so much pleasure in return, could have been at a party getting intoxicated and slipping away from his fucked up reality, or could have even gotten training from Julia because Lord knows he needs it. However, none of those things were happening. Because of course they weren't since the universe always wanted to punish him for one thing or another and he couldn't just have the good night he wanted.

          He wasn't in his house or someone else's seducing them and pulling them, making them sing like he could, and he wasn't at a party getting drunk and losing himself in the beat until he was grinding against someone and their lips touched and it just tasted like alcohol but it was still beautiful and enticing nonetheless, and he wasn't at Julia's house in her backyard training his voice on glass bottles to see them break or on people to lure them in if he needed.

          Out of all of those, the first option seemed the most fun because he enjoyed his nights playing into the persona of Cooper Whittemore Beacon Hill High's player who took every guy into his bed. People whispered about it, boasted about it, took it as something to be proud of that Cooper randomly selected them to sleep with because he was a horny teenager boy who also happened to be a siren which meant that he was always luring men in and seducing them, usually without any repercussions unless they said something bad about him.

          A party was always a good time, but parties were also loud and had cheap beer that didn't taste good, and yes he did have a very expensive taste. Only Lydia Martin's parties seemed to satisfy them since she herself had an expensive taste.

          But also out of those options, the third seemed the most useful. Cooper Whittemore the Player of Beacon Hills High was a siren which meant a whole lot of training to control everything. He needed not to seduce his teachers when he needed extra help after class, needed not to flirt with his friends even though it was just like breathing to him, so easy and so necessary, unconscious but wanting. And he really needed to know how to use his siren's songs because those could kill a person, make them deaf, or could lead them to be incredibly horny if he so chose and everything else in between, of course.

          So yeah, he really needed the extra help, and Julia Prescott the other siren in town was willing to be his mentor in honing his skills and not using them all the time on everyone he knew because that was annoying and it felt like a violation.

          But was Cooper spending his Sunday night doing any of those things? No, no he was not. Instead, the night before school started back and he was officially a junior, Cooper was spending his Sunday night with dumb and dumber Scott and Stiles because one of them wanted a celebratory tattoo for everything he's been through.

          Cooper never understood the want of a tattoo, it just wasn't for him, seemed too permanent and such a commitment and ask anyone in town and you'll find it pretty easily that Cooper isn't really one for commitment. He was a player for a reason and not a boyfriend.

          And he didn't even know why he agreed to come when Scott asked him. They were friends, sure, but it wasn't because Cooper blended well with them. They all came together because Scott was a werewolf, he was a siren, and Stiles was Scott's best friend since childhood and that meant something apparently. Cooper wouldn't know. He didn't really have any childhood friends.

          There were others in their friend group, sure, Cooper had Jackson his brother who also left him for London and a sweet boarding school there because too many bad things had happened in Beacon Hills tied to him, mostly being the fact that another classmate used him as an assassin and he killed a whole lotta people when he was a kanima. Cooper didn't even understand that concept enough to try and explain it.

          But now Jackson was a werewolf and he was also in London, leaving Cooper with dumb and dumber and their crew which included Lydia the popular and smart one (who sometimes found dead bodies, totally not creepy) and then Allison the hunter. Why they befriended a hunter Cooper had no idea, but it was probably because Scott thought she was cute and they dated until she broke him before summer before fucking off to France. Cooper didn't know if she was back in town or not, but he didn't really care.

          He didn't have any bad blood with Allison per say, it was just she was a hunter who hunted werewolves and sometimes other things and that didn't set well with him. He didn't really feel like cozying up to a girl who's dad could kill him at any moment.

          But there he was, arms crossed standing next to dumber of the two, inside a tattoo parlor, dumb of course sitting on the chair for the person getting the tattoo. The tattoo artist looked at the drawing Scott made of what he wanted, which was fucking ridiculous and completely unneeded, before glancing away from it and at Scott.

          "Boy, it's a good thing you drew me a picture," the artist said sarcastically and Cooper huffed a laugh at it.

          Stiles took to looking around the shop at other designs, flipping through them and smiling to himself. "Hey, Scott, sure you don't want something like this?" he showed his friend a drawing of a creature close to a kanima. Cooper glared at him. "Too soon?"

          "Way too soon, so put it away," Cooper warned him, unimpressed by Stiles' action. Yeah, Jackson was a bit of dick and he was a homicidal dick in kanima form (not that it was his fault though), but he was still Cooper's brother so Cooper was going to protect him.

          Besides, the image of something so close to the kanima was too much for Cooper, seeing the creature his brother manifested into and how he was used as a weapon by Matt for so long...Cooper hated it.

          Stiles looked at him a bit apologetically, as much as he could muster for Jackson, before putting the drawing away and walking close to Scott. "I don't know, man, are you sure about this? I mean, these things are pretty permanent, you know?"

          "Are you ready for such a commitment at such a young age?" Cooper teased Scott, a mirthful glance in his eyes before he turned serious to say, "No, but really, you sure that's what you want on your body forever?"

          Tattoos were permanent, and it made Cooper's skin crawl. He didn't like forever, permanent, anything like that. He liked temporary and tonights but not tomorrows. Forever was too much for him, relationships were too much for him, and he much preferred one night stands and nothing else. It gave him what he wanted without any of the extra garbage.

          "I'm not changing my mind," Scott shook his head, adamant about the tattoo.

          "Okay, but why two bands?" Stile changed his line of questioning.

          Scott shrugged. "I just like it."

          "That's not a good enough answer," Cooper told him, because something permanent couldn't just be because you like it in the moment, it had to mean something. It had to last forever.

          Stiles looked over at him. "Okay, that's a little strong," he commented and Cooper shrugged. He was blunt, whatever. "But, come on, Scott, don't you think your first tattoo should have some sort of meaning, you know, or something?"

          "Symbolism, like how wine represents how drunk on power the French people are in A Tale of Two Cities," Cooper noted, causing the two other boys give him a weird look, "What? I paid attention in class and Miss Newman was my favorite teacher. Of course I remember. But whatever, that's not the point, the point is that something so permanent should symbolize something, it shouldn't just be oh I like this."

          "Well, getting a tattoo means something," Scott pointed out and Cooper rolled his eyes, completely done with him.

          Stiles began to shake his head, "I don't think that's..."

          "He's right," the tattoo artist cut him off, "tattooing goes back thousands of years. The Tahitian word tatua means to leave a mark. Like a rite of passage."

          Scott pointed at him. "Yeah, you see? He gets it."

          "He's covered in tattoos, Scott, literally," Stiles pointed out, and Cooper nodded in agreement.

          "Okay, you ready?" the tattoo artist asked and Scott nodded, "You ain't got any problems with needles, do you know?"

          "Nope," Scott shook his head. With that, the artist brought the needle to his skin and even Cooper had to look away.

          "I tend to get a little squeamish though, so..." Stiles began, staring at the needle as he began to walk away before he collapsed on the ground.

          Cooper looked at where his body landed and gave a deep sigh, debating whether or not he should bring Stiles to the couch or leave him there. In the end, he decided that if he was in the situation Stiles was, he would like someone to bring him to the couch so he did that.

          And who said he wasn't a nice person, like honestly...

          After Scott's tattoo was complete, the two woke up Stiles and they all got into the jeep. Cooper sat in the back, like he did on the way here, wrinkling his nose in distaste when he saw how much duct tape was holding up the windows, but he didn't say anything about it.

          "You okay?" Stiles asked when Scott kept looking at his bandaged arm.

          "Kinda burns," Scott told them.

          "Yes, you just had your skin stabbed about a hundred-thousand times with a needle," Stiles pointed out.

          "I'm just surprised you didn't scream out more when he was tattooing you," Cooper admitted. He didn't think Scott was a wimp or anything, he had seen the werewolf do some crazy strong shit, but needles in your skin was still needles in your skin regardless of werewolf status or not.

          "Yeah, but I don't think it's supposed to feel like this," Scott said before he grunted out in pain and Cooper's eyes widened in alarm.

          He began to pull off the bandage as Stiles protested violently and even Cooper had to look away again. God, he did not want to see what was going on with his skin.

          "Oh, no, what? No, no, come on. It healed," Scott frowned, and Cooper looked back over to see the skin where the tattoo was placed was now just skin again like it had been before. Almost as if no ink had ever touched it.

          "What a waste of money," Cooper muttered.

          "Ah, thank God," Stiles sighed before looking into Scott's eyes, "I hated it. Sorry."

          "It wasn't exactly the best," Cooper also admitted, shrugging when Scott looked at him with betrayed eyes. What? He wasn't there to be nice, he was there because...well, because he was there. Honestly, he's still not exactly sure how Scott managed to talk him into this. What a waste of his Sunday night, especially now when there wasn't even a tattoo to make fun of on Scott's arm.

          Scott sighed, defeated. "Let's just go home..." he muttered sadly, and Cooper felt his lips twitch down at that.

          Stiles turned the key and the car started, so he began to drive. Cooper leaned back into his seat, looking out the window before curiosity got the best of him. "Not that I don't love seeing you waste my time getting a tattoo that didn't even stay," Cooper prefaced, tone dripping of sarcasm, "Why did you bring me out tonight, Scott? It's not like I added anything to the experience."

          Scott shrugged. "I like your company."

          "No one likes my company unless we're fucking," Cooper blinked, unimpressed with his answer.

          "You're my friend...and you were the only other person besides Stiles who was free," Scott eventually admitted.

          Cooper nodded. "Right...Isaac still a no show?" he asked, knowing that Isaac pulled quite a few disappearing acts as if he was Houdini himself over summer. He's sure it would be more depressing if he knew more about the boy...and if Isaac hadn't been a part of the group that tried to kill him when they were trying to find out who the kanima was.

          "Yeah," Scott nodded, "I asked Derek about him, but he didn't know either."

          "And Lydia? Sure she would've loved to critic your tattoo idea," Cooper said, even though it wasn't like he had spoken to the girl since Jackson left for London.

          They were friends because of Jackson and now that he was gone, they didn't really have a reason to talk, so they didn't. Cooper wasn't really upset by it, a lot of his friend group before relied on his brother. Lydia his girlfriend who he dumped, Danny his best friend who Cooper sometimes slept with because they were both gay and incredibly attractive if he did say so himself, and any other jock on the lacrosse or swim team which Cooper also had the pleasure of bringing into bed at least once.

          "Wasn't available," was all Scott had to say about that.

          Cooper hummed but he didn't say anything else and eventually the conversation turned from the tattoo to Scott's ex-girlfriend Allison. Stiles definitely had a lot of questions and Scott answered them as Cooper sat in the back and just listened.

          He didn't care about Scott's love life or Stiles nonexistent one. All he cared about was his own...not that he had a love life as much as he had a fuck life.

          "Nah, we agreed to give each other the summer...to texts, no calls," Scott told Stiles when dumber asked if Allison was coming back for junior year.

          "So then how do you know she won't be back at school then?" Stiles asked.

          "After everything that happened, I'm not sure she's coming back at all," Scott shrugged.

          "Jackson isn't," Cooper supplied since like Allison fucked off and away from the town, "He's done. Wouldn't be surprised if Allison is the same way."

          Cooper knew that he would've been gone with Jackson had he not met Julia. Controlling his abilities as a siren was much more important than his hatred for Beacon Hills and how it was now stained.

          "I think she is. I'd say pretty definite, you know. Like one hundred percent," Stiles said as he looked out the window.

          "Oh, my God. Oh..." Scott said as he looked out the window before he looked back at Stiles, "Can we just drive please, Stiles?"

          "Scott, it's a red light," Stiles said, "I think we should talk to her, I just think we should say something."

          "What's going on?" Cooper asked, leaning to try to get a look into the car beside them but unable to see anyone inside.

          Scott protested as Stiles rolled down the window, aiming to talk to whoever was in the car beside them until the car started to move and leave them behind.

          "What the fuck guys?" Cooper asked again, a little more persistent.

          "Lydia and Allison were in the car," Stiles supplied.

          "Of course they were..." Cooper muttered to himself, looking to see a shocked Scott sitting in the passenger's seat. "Scott, you alright?"

          Scott looked back at him before turning back to the front and nodding. "Yes...no. I don't know. That's the first time I've seen Allison since before summer."

          "Well, at least we know why Lydia was busy tonight," Cooper supplied, even though that didn't help the situation at all.

          The light then turned green so Stiles started driving again and Scott looked at him. "What are you doing?"

          "I'm driving," Stiles said as if it was obvious, because it really was.

          "We're right behind them."

          "Thanks, Captain Obvious, didn't realize that," Cooper said with a drawl of sarcasm.

          "Cooper," Stiles warned and Cooper flipped him off, "Okay, Scott, do you see any terms?" and then he had the audacity to use sarcasm after telling him off, the nerve...

          "I don't want it to look like we're following them," Scott said.

          "I doubt they're thinking when it's a one-way road," Cooper told him.

          "What do you want me to do?" Stiles asked, because it wasn't like he could turn anywhere to get away.

          "I don't know, anything," and it turns out Stiles' anything was to stop in the middle of the road entirely.

          "Please tell me you did not just do that," Cooper said, looking at Stiles, "God, you're a fucking dumbass. Who stops in the middle of the fucking road?"

          Scott sat up in alarm, as if he was hearing something, and then rushed out of the car, Stiles following him. Cooper groaned when he realized that it would probably be good if he also got out of the car, so he did.

          He didn't rush to the girls who leapt out of their own car but walked at a reasonable pace because he couldn't be asked to do much more than that. It wasn't like he was the one in danger, so who cared?

          "What the fuck was that?" Cooper asked, walking over to the front of the car to see a deer dead and the window smashed in.

          "It ran right into us," Lydia said, her voice shaken. Cooper didn't blame her, an animal smashed itself through her windshield.

          Scott asked Allison if she was alright, because of course he did, and Lydia looked around at them all.

          "Well, I'm not okay!" she exclaimed, "I am totally freaking out. How the hell does it just run into us? I saw its eyes right before it hit us. It was like it...it was like it was crazy."

          "No, it was scared," Scott corrected her gently, staring at the deer and using his werewolf smell whatever to catch its emotions, "Actually...terrified."

          "I don't think its feelings really matter right now, Scott," Cooper snapped at him, because this was a fucked up situation and it wasn't time to go around asking if anyone was happy or sad.

          A deer just ran head first into Lydia's car, not stopping for a minute, and that was fucked up. He really should have said no to Scott, he could've actually had a good night, and now he was left with a broken windshield, a crazy deer, and yet another beginning of a traumatic experience. Great, just fucking great.