"I want to ask her out."
They were still in the locker room, despite practice finishing almost half an hour ago. Scott had to talk to Coach Finstock and Stiles was going to give both Scott and Liam a ride home. Liam's admission came from nowhere and caught Stiles off guard. His mouth turned into a frown and his eyes narrowed at the young beta.
"Look I know Malia's pretty, and your little crush is cute but-"
"Ugh, no" Liam grumbled. "Not 'ugh' to Malia," he clarified. "But I'm not talking about her," he stated.
"Then who are you talking about?" Scott chimed in as he joined the pair. They began making their way to the Jeep now that Scott was finished.
"Hayden," Liam said in a tone that made it seem that even he was shocked to at the situation. Scott's eyes grew wide while Stiles looked at Liam quizzically.
"Sorry," Stiles said. "But, are we talking about the same Hayden that hated you?"
"She doesn't completely hate me anymore. Not since I save her from the Dread Doctors. And since I've made out with her multiple times!"
"I'm still not sure that means she likes you at all…" Scott added ruefully. "Don't take this the wrong way, but people do drastic things when they believe their lives are in danger. Sometimes it means more, but sometimes it doesn't."
"But it does!" Liam corrected excitedly. "Two days ago, she smiled at me in the hallway. And a few days before that, she even said 'hi'. And did you forget the part where we made out on MULTIPLE occasions?"
"Why did she hate you to begin with?" Scott inquired.
"Sixth grade. Petty stuff. But it doesn't matter anymore!"
"Do you even know anything about her?" Stiles asked as they rounded the corner outside of the gym.
"She loves soccer. She had a kidney operation. She got the chimera gene extracted-thanks to Deaton, so she's completely human. She and her sister are really close. She likes kale instead of lettuce. She doesn't like History but she's does great in English class. She's uhh- she's really pretty too," Liam admitted the last part in a more embarrassed tone. Scott ruffled his hair playfully as he chuckled at his beta's sheepish expression.
"Well, I think that's a pretty good start," Stiles said, obviously impressed at Liam's attention to detail.
"But how have you guys been since the dust settled from the Dread Doctors issue?" Scott asked.
"Well, ugh. We haven't…She hasn't talked to me much. That's why I want to ask her out on a real date. She's short with me whenever I text her and at school…it's like she's avoiding me. I'm not really sure what I did wrong."
"You might not have done anything wrong," Kira said as she joined them as they exited the gym. "I've been listening in, kitsune ears," she explained.
"Well then why would she be avoiding me?" Liam was thoroughly confused. Last week he and Hayden were making out between the buses and now after the Chimera issue was solved, it was like she wanted nothing to do with him. He obviously did something wrong.
"Hayden was involved in a pretty terrifying situation," Kira began. "And people react to those differently. She grew attached to you because you were her source of comfort. Now that there's no more Dread Doctors, she might just be confused about your relationship. Like you pointed out, you guys did make out multiple occasions, but those occasions were under some pretty heavy circumstances."
"So she's not mad? She just wants some sort of… clarity?"
"Exactly. She may have only made out with you because she was scared and now she's realized she doesn't like you and feels weird around you. OR, she may feel like you only made out with her because you felt bad and thought you were supposed to comfort her but she really did like you and now she's unsure if you really like her or not," Kira explained. Liam sighed heavily.
"Well can one of you just ask her for me? Spare me the embarrassment of her possibly rejecting me?"
"No can do, pup," Stiles responded. "It's time you grow up and handle big boy problems like the man we know you can be."
"So what do I do? How do I ask her?"
"You just ask," Scott said with a shrug. Stiles nodded in agreement.
"Oh please. That's easy for you guys to say! From what I understand, neither of you actually had to ask your girlfriends out to begin your relationships," Liam scoffed as he rolled his eyes.
"True. But, before our current ladies," Stiles began, "both Scott and I did have to endure our fair share of asking girls on proper dates before them actually being our girlfriends."
"And how did that turn out?"
"Well, things were a little easier for me than they were for Stiles."
"Yeah, but I survived just fine after being rejected by Lydia the few times I actually asked her out."
"What- you wanted to date Lydia?" It was hard for the young beta to believe Stiles was even interested in the brainy red head. Obviously, Lydia was quite a catch; she was gorgeous and beautiful. But seeing the contrast in personalities between Malia and Lydia, it was hard to see Lydia ever being Stiles' type.
"It was a boyhood crush that lingered a few years. But that's beside the point. The point is, just ask her. Tell her you want to get a burger with her. Or see a movie. Go to the park downtown. Anything," Stiles suggested.
"Okay. So anything. Got it," Liam said, making a mental note in his head. "What if she says no?" Liam asked worriedly, his brow furrowed.
"Like Stiles said," Scott chimed in. "You'll get over it. If you act like nothing has changed and I doubt she will either. Be normal."
"Normal. Got it," Liam said more to himself than he did the older boys.
The boys had made it to the car now and were about to be on their way when they saw Liam's possible lady love about to zoom out of the parking lot too.
"Hey, why don't you go ask her now," Kira encouraged.
"Oh no," Liam said nervously. He tried to play it off quickly by adding, "I just don't think it's the right time!"
"Yeah right," Stiles said in disbelief. "Look she's about to leave. Just run over and do it now. At least if she rejects you now outside of school hours you don't have to worry about bumping into her locker later in the day or anything."
Scott nodded in agreement, and after quickly realizing that Kira's suggestion was a good one, Liam took off in a light jog to Hayden's car. She had just turned the engine over when Liam was at her window.
"Hey," he greeted tentatively.
"Uh, hi," she responded, obviously confused.
"So um. Are you busy tomorrow night?" he asked hopefully.
"Uh yeah. Tomorrow is Friday night. So I'm working at Sinema…as I usually do," Hayden said plainly. She continued to stare at him, as he was asking a question he should have already had the answer to.
"Oh uh, right! Saturday night too?"
"Yeah. I'm going in early to help prep. Some new guest DJ is supposed to be there. It's a neon theme. But uh, that doesn't really matter. Why are you trying to know my weekend schedule? Is there something dangerous happening?" she asked worriedly.
"No no! I-I just wanted to know if you were free at all. Maybe we could hang out?" he said hopefully, and a little cautiously.
"Oh. Wait are you asking me out on a date?"
"Yeah. I guess I sort of am."
"Why?" she said with her brow raised, obviously confused.
"Well uh. I—I uh. I don't think you hate me as much as you let on, especially not after the whole chimera/ Dread Doctors issue. But we also haven't talked much since the whole thing settled. I thought it would be nice to do something normal," he responded truthfully. Hayden looked at him blandly.
"I think it's pretty obvious that I don't hate you at all anymore, Liam."
"Is it? You've been avoiding me for the last week. One minute we were making out at school and about to run away from Beacon Hills so the Dread Doctors wouldn't find you and the next you're barely even responding to my texts," he responded, obviously exasperated. Hayden looked at her steering wheel sheepishly.
"I've just been…I'm trying to get over everything. It's a lot to take in when I just learned that I go to school with were-creatures, banshees, foxes and who knows what else," she replied honestly.
"Then let me help you," Liam said sincerely. "You don't have to absorb all of this on your own. I didn't. Scott, Stiles, Malia, Lydia, and Kira all helped me. Just let me help you," he added. His voice was so full of kindness that when Hayden looked up and into his eyes all she could see was were his glassy eyes full of sincerity and compassion. Her heart uncharacteristically melted.
"Okay," she responded simply.
"Okay to a date? Or letting me help you?" he asked for clarification.
"Okay to both," she said nodding and with a slight smile. Liam's face broke into a full grin.
"Perfect. Can I see you Saturday morning? Around 10?"
"A morning date?" she asked with a raised brow.
"I figured you'll be too tired on Sunday."
"And what do you have planned for us at 10 am on a Saturday?"
"IHOP obviously. It's the classiest 10 a.m. restaurant there is," he said matter-of factly. Hayden let out a hearty laugh at his frankness. Liam's grin got even wider as he saw her eyes twinkle at a joke he made.
"That sounds perfect."
"Perfect," Liam confirmed in one swift movement, he dipped his head down to meet hers and their mouths molded to one another's like they had over a week ago. Hayden was captivated by the tenderness of Liam's motions and Liam was enamored with the softness of Hayden's lips. Neither wanted it to end, but Stiles refused to let them continue as they broke apart after hearing a loud honk from the Jeep.
"Come on puppy lovers! You'll have plenty of time for that on your date that you're obviously going on!" He yelled from his window, obviously embarrassing the two sophomores. Hayden's cheeks were flushed from his comments.
"I'll see you in class tomorrow," Liam stated. Hayden nodded and Liam grinned at her as he turned his back and made his way to the seniors.
He slid into the back seat as Scott and Stiles grinned at him.
"Soooooo?" Scott asked playfully.
"She likes me. Saturday morning we have a date at IHOP."
"Classy," Stiles said in encouragement. Scott nodded in agreement.
Liam grinned as he slouched in the backseat, still mesmerized at thr thought of taking Hayden on a date.
"Well," Stiles began with an evil glint in his eye that Liam could see in the rear-view mirror. "Now that we've coached you on how to ask her out, it's only fair that we get to crash your first date."
"Oh yes," Scott added. "This is gonna be fun."
Liam groaned. "Absolutely not. This is a private matter and I will not let Moe and Larry mess that up."
"Yeah yeah, we'll see, pup," Stiles responded as Scott laughed. Liam's head dropped to his hands, but he wasn't too upset, he knew no matter what, nothing could ruin his first date with the girl he had grown to be much more than find of.
AN: Hope you all liked it! I started this before last week's episode, so I obviously had to change some things. This was meant to be a one-shot, but let me know if you would like a part two and I'll think about it. And please, READ and REVIEW.