I don't own Teen Wolf nor will I ever. No copyright infringement intended.
Scott looked up from the book he was reading and immediately caught Malia's gaze. She grinned at him and he couldn't help but beam back at her. Fuck. He needed to stop this train of thought. He couldn't be in love with her - no matter how he felt, this was his best friend's ex-girlfriend. He refused to hurt Stiles in any way. Then he realized he was still staring at Malia (damn him for getting lost in his own thoughts) and quickly turned his attention back to his book.
Malia side-eyed him and then went back to her own book. Something had been off with Scott for a while now and she had a feeling she knew what it was because she felt the exact same way (he only needed to admit it so they could actually do something about it). But she was terrified of starting a relationship for a different reason - she didn't want to ruin their friendship. And no matter how badly she wanted to fuck Scott and actually be with him, she was going to stay quiet (at least for a little while) until he said something - if he ever did. "We should take a break and watch TV or something."
Scott sighed. "As much as I would love to, we need to focus on this, Malia." But fuck, sitting down and watching TV with her sounded like a lot of fun. He'd have to take her up on her offer soon (maybe. There was a possibility it could lead to other things they absolutely couldn't think of).
"Fine," she mock-grumbled. But she quickly grabbed the remote and turned the TV off anyway.
He laughed at her sneakiness - it was endearing. "Of course you did." Scott yawned and pushed his book aside for the time being, exhaustion catching up to him.
They ended up falling asleep on the couch together, his arm wrapped around her (something that caused him to panic the next morning when he woke up to Melissa's knowing glance.
Scott tried his best to ignore his growing attraction (because that's all it was, he tried to convince himself) to Malia and threw himself into Beacon Hill's current crisis. "You need to stop and calm down or else you're going to get hurt worse!" a terrified Malia yelled at him after he broke his arm (it quickly healed but that was beside the point) going after the Big Bad.
"I'm fine! There's nothing to worry about," he tried to assure her.
She glared at him, her heart still pounding in her chest. "How am I not supposed to worry when you do stupid shit like this, Scott? Huh. Tell me!" she ordered.
"I'm the Alpha, Malia. I need to protect all of you - that's my job," he gently told her, grabbing her hand and squeezing it.
The jolt of electricity that went through them both shocked both Scott and Malia but they steadfastly continued to ignore the elephant in the room. "That doesn't mean you need to put yourself in danger like this. We don't know what we're up against and this seems worse than what we normally deal with. Let us help you, you fucking self-sacrificing idiot!"
He laughed. "Fine. I'll try to be more careful," Scott acquiesced.
Malia sighed in relief. "That's all I ask. Now let me do stupid shit with you next time, okay? That's what I'm here for - Lydia too," she amended. Lydia could at least talk Scott out of playing hero when no one else could.
"Okay, I get it," Scott laughed and he was caught off guard when Malia hugged him and then bolted.
Fuck. He was in so much deeper than he wanted to be.
Things came to a head just three weeks later. The pack had departed after the latest meeting, leaving Scott and Malia alone, and the two of them were practically stuck together like glue. "Why won't you cuddle me? You're warm," she whined, knowing this was dangerous. Trying to ignore her feelings weren't working and this was a dangerous game.
"Because I'm not," Scott replied, amused and wishing he wasn't this close to her.
"Come on, Scott," she tried and immediately regretted her actions when he pulled her even closer. Her breath caught in her throat and she gasped.
Scott knew he had just fucked up (possibly beyond repair) as soon as he did it. They both leaned in closer and started kissing. They made out for about thirty seconds before he came to his senses. "We shouldn't do this. It's a mistake."
"Wow," Malia murmured in shock, having not quite realized what he had said yet. But then it hit her and she glared at him. "And why the fuck is it a mistake, Scott? There's clearly something between us - we've been ignoring it for months and I'm sick of it. If we want to be together, we should."
"Because Stiles is my best friend - my brother. And this? Whatever we have between us is going to hurt him."
"Why do you even think he's going to care? Stiles and I broke up a long time ago. We just want each other to be happy."
"We can't, Malia. I'm sorry." Then he did something he'd regret and fled, leaving Malia by herself.
It hurt a bit but Malia was thankful that Stiles was back home for the weekend. She immediately went over to his and Noah's house and rang the doorbell repeatedly until he answered. "What is going on? Is shit going down? It's after midnight," Stiles pointed out, frantic.
"No, nothing's going down. But I need to talk to you about something important," she told Stiles, pushing right past him and heading towards the kitchen.
"Sure. Make yourself at home." Stiles smiled and then followed her into the kitchen. "So what's the problem?"
Malia decided to go for the blunt approach. "I'm in love with Scott and am pretty sure he feels the same way but he refuses to start anything because of you. Do you care? The last thing either of us want to do is hurt you."
Stiles gaped at her and tried to process everything that had been flung at him in less than two minutes. "What the fuck."
"Yeah." She chuckled nervously and waited in anticipation for his response. Malia mostly expected him to shut them down and tried to prepare herself for it.
"Let me just sit down for a second." Stiles watched in amusement as she hunted for something to eat to deal with the stress of the situation. To be honest, he hadn't seen this coming but it wasn't that much of a shock either. And he wanted both of them to be happy. If it was with each other, that was okay. "I think you should go for it," he finally told her.
Malia stopped dead in her tracks. "Seriously?"
"Seriously."
She sighed in relief. "Oh thank God. But can you tell him that? And like right now?"
"Fine." He wanted to go to bed but that clearly wasn't happening for a while. He let Malia drag him over to Scott and Melissa's house.
Clearly caught off guard, Scott froze. "Uh, what's happening?"
"Are you in love with Malia?" Stiles pressed, figuring he might as well go for it.
Scott turned to her, determined to stall this out for as long as possible. "Did you talk to him about us?"
"Yes, I did. You were being a stubborn idiot and I knew you'd listen to him." Malia didn't regret anything and beamed at both of them.
Now that he knew everything, Stiles wondered how he hadn't seen it before - Scott and Malia were clearly in love with each other and had been for a long time. "Scott, answer the question," he ordered, watching in amusement as his best friend squirmed.
Scott opened his mouth to answer a few times but gave up each other. Then he realized he wouldn't be able to get out of this. "Yes, I am."
Malia squealed. "Sorry, I just embarrassed myself," she said when they both turned to stare at her.
"Then be with her if it makes you happy. That's all I want. And yes, it's a little fucked up that you're in love with my ex-girlfriend but we've both moved on. Now fucking kiss her." He tapped his foot impatiently.
"I love you too," Malia told Scott right before she kissed him again. They got caught up in the moment and forgot about Stiles until he started clearing his throat.
"Okay, I may be fine with this but I'm also right fucking here, guys."
They were laughing when they pulled apart. "Thanks," Scott told him, clapping Stiles on the shoulder.
"You're welcome. Now I'm going home so enjoy yourselves." Wait, Stiles didn't need that image in his head. What the hell was the matter with him?
Scott and Malia waved goodbye and then went back to making out. It was a little hard for the pack to adjust to the change in dynamics but they got over it pretty quickly. And everybody made fun of poor Liam when he heard them fucking in the shower once. But the latest crisis in Beacon Hills loomed large and they needed all the help they could get.