A/N : I had the original idea for this fic moments after I first watched the film Sky High. That was about nine months ago and I've only just now got to a point where I feel confident enough to write and post the story. I got stuck in one fandom with my writing so long, I am finally branching out, and this is the first movie fic I've written in a good long while. Here's hoping I have done this awesome movie justice, and fixed what I see as the one flaw in it - Warren needs to end up with Layla!
Title : One Thing Leads To Another
Rating : PG
Summary : As Layla and Warren formulate a plan to make Will notice his best friend as a potential girlfriend, feelings start to develop that neither of them expected. An alternate middle and end to the movie, WarrenLayla pairing
Disclaimer : The characters from Sky High belong to some very important movie-making people that aren't me!
Chapter 1 - The Paper Lantern
The longer Layla sat in The Paper Lantern by herself, waiting for Will to arrive, the more she started to wonder why she bothered to make any effort for the guy at all. They'd been best friends since kindergarten, but by now she'd just expected things to change, for him to see her not just as the girl next door but as a potential girlfriend. They were in High School now, there should be dates and kissing, things should have changed, but the only thing that seemed to be different was that Will couldn't even be bothered to maintain a simple friendship with Layla, especially not since Gwen Grayson had arrived on the scene.
"Still workin' on that?" a deep voice said behind her, she got quite a shock when she looked up and saw who that voice belonged to.
"Hey, we go to school together" Layla smiled slightly, as she gazed up at Warren Peace. He was slightly less scary in an apron with his hair scraped back off his face. Layla would've thought he looked almost normal, and yet there was something about him, something different. She'd seen it at school, and as much as she'd told herself she had to dislike him for Will's sake, she had to admit in her own head at least that the flames Warren made were not the only way in which he was hot.
"You're Stronghold's friend" he said, as he stared at her, and she replied with a nod. How a weedy little thing like Will Stronghold got a gorgeous creature like this to hang around him, Warren had no idea. Okay so the dweeb had super-strength but that wasn't so cool, not compared to some other guys at Sky High, himself included.
"Er, you want me to heat that up for you?" he offered, gesturing towards Layla's food. She glanced around as if to check if anyone was listening.
"You're not supposed to use your powers outside of school" she whispered, making Warren smirk.
"I was just gonna stick it in the microwave" he told her in the same whispered tone, causing her to blush a pretty pink and giggle in uncharacteristically girly fashion. Warren was hot in a bad-boy way at school, but right now he was just so damn cute as he smiled at her.
"I was supposed to be meeting Will here but, er... you want to sit down?" Layla said uncertainly, wondering as soon as the words left her mouth if that might be a very bad plan.
Glancing around at the practically empty restaurant, Warren nodded his head and took a seat.
"I think I can spare a minute" he told her, clicking his fingers and causing a flame to pop up from the end of his index finger as if he'd just struck a match. He carefully lit the candle on the table and she smiled at the action.
"Oh, I'm Layla, by the way" she told him, offering her hand to shake.
"Pretty name for a pretty girl" Warren told her as he took the offered hand and gently shook it, liking the way he could apparently make her blush so easily. When she retracted her hand from his grasp she couldn't quite meet his eyes and instead glanced down at the table and her unfinished food.
"I guess you already know who I am?" he said, not much of a question since it seemed everybody knew his name and reputation, even if they never met him. Usually he liked that, preferred that people were wary of him, but it bothered him that this girl might dislike him because of what she'd heard, and worse what she'd seen him do to her friend, Will Stronghold.
"Everybody's heard of Warren Peace" she nodded, "But I wouldn't say I know who you are just because I know your name"
"Then you're different to everybody else" he smirked, shaking his head. She really was more than she seemed.
"I'm glad somebody noticed" Layla sighed, looking away once again as her mind wandered back to Will.
Warren could almost read her thoughts through her eyes, even if she was trying to avert them. There was another guy who she wished would notice her, and whether that was Will as he suspected it was, or someone else, they were a damn fool if they ignored this obviously sweet and beautiful girl.
"You notice a lot of things, when you're on the outside looking in" he told her, fingers playing with the edge of an abandoned napkin on the table.
Layla hadn't thought about how hard it must be for someone like Warren. He was big and scary to many at Sky High, he looked so tough and mean. It really hadn't occurred to her that his status also brought with it loneliness and alienation that he might not appreciate.
"You talk like you don't have any friends at all" she said, more of a simple observation that anything else. Warrens eyes shot up and stared into hers, and Layla wondered if it was only his wrists that shot fire, it felt like his eyes did too. The strangely intense moment lasted just a few seconds before Warren glanced away and Layla realised he spoke the way he did because the situation was exactly as it seemed. Warren Peace really didn't have any friends at all, and he didn't like that fact as much as he might appear to.
"So, you and Stronghold have been friends a long time, huh?" he said eventually, relaxing a little once again.
"Er, yeah" the red-head nodded, smiling at the memory, "We met the day we started in Kindergarten. We'd just moved in across the street from the Strongholds and my Mom met his on the walk to school. They got talking and so did me and Will" she explained, and Warren listened intently as she rambled on and on about the wonders of Will Stronghold and all their adventures as little kids.
Though he could've happily sat and stared at her pretty eyes all night, even listened to her girlish voice talk for hours, the subject matter of her monologue was starting to grate by now.
"Then there was this time in first grade, you know how you grow lima beans in school? Will could not figure out why mine grew so quickly" she laughed as she went on, "It was driving him crazy. So finally I took mercy on him and I told him about my powers, and we've been best friends ever since"
"Uh-huh" Warren nodded taking the opportunity to jump in and stop her from starting another tale, "And falling for him, was that before or after the lima beans?"
"What!" Layla gasped in fake shock, "I am not in love with Will Stronghold, I just... Is it that obvious?" she gave up the pretence when Warren's intense gaze caught her off guard again and knocked all the fight out of her.
"So why don't you tell him?" Warren asked curiously. Not that he understood why the girl liked Stronghold so much, but if she did and the idiot was too stupid to notice, he couldn't see why she didn't just tell him. Surely she couldn't be afraid of him laughing at her or something. She was way too pretty and sweet to get turned down by anyone, least of all someone like Will.
"Well, I was going to ask him to Homecoming" Layla admitted, "but there's two problems" she counted off on her fingers, "One, he likes somebody else, and two, she's perfect" she sighed.
"Hmm, you know what I think?" Warren asked her, not waiting for an answer before continuing, "To let true love remain unspoken is the quickest route to a heavy heart" he said solemnly and Layla looked simply awe-struck as she stared at him.
"Wow" she said, almost in a whisper, "That is really deep" she told him, wondering how a guy like him could have so many layers and yet seem to simply be violent and bad. If only he let this side of him be seen by others, Layla was sure he'd have all the friends he secretly craved.
"And your lucky numbers are... four, eleven, twenty-five, and forty-nine" he recited from the paper in his hand, and Layla's expression turned to a frown as she realised the deepness of his previous statement wasn't his own, it just came from a fortune cookie. She was surprised by how disappointed she felt, she'd have liked to have thought there was more to Warren Peace than met the eye...
"I gotta go" he said suddenly, responding to the Chinese woman's yelling with a little of his own, "See you around, hippie" he added as he walked away, having pushed the piece of paper from the cookie into her hand.
Layla just smiled, uncurling her fingers til the paper fell out, her frown returning when she realised something strange. Though the numbers of the ticket were those Warren had stated, the words were completely different. What he'd said to her had come from the heart after all, from inside himself.
Getting up from her seat, Layla crossed over to the counter behind which Warren now stood, cleaning up as the restaurant prepared to close.
"It didn't come from the cookie" she said as he glanced at her briefly, before looking back at the plates and glasses he was tidying.
"I never said it did" he shrugged, though he kept his eyes averted. She wasn't supposed to have noticed that poetic stuff came from him and not the piece of paper he'd had in his hand. It wouldn't do for people to realise that inside the dark, mysterious, fire throwing bad-boy, there was a thoughtful, sweet, even poetic type of guy longing to get out.
"No" Layla agreed with what he said, "but you let me think it did"
"Shouldn't you be headed home, hippie?" he snapped at her, with a little more venom that he'd meant to, after all it wasn't her fault he'd let his guard down around her.
"I guess I should" she said sadly, turning towards the door, "It's not like there's anything to stay here for"
Warren sighed as he watched her go, wishing he hadn't been such a jerk. She didn't deserve his attitude, she was just making conversation and trying to be friendly. With a hurried apology and promise he'd be back as soon as he could, Warren tore off his apron and tossed it on the counter before hurrying out of the restaurant and looking around for Layla.
"Hey" he called behind her and she turned, looking a little stunned that he'd followed her, "Look, I'm sorry I snapped, okay?" he apologised, "I didn't mean to hurt your feelings or whatever"
"That's okay" the red-head smiled slightly, pleasantly surprised when Warren grinned back at her, seemingly relieved by her words, "Still, I really should be getting home" she said, shifting awkwardly. It was getting late, and here she was on a street corner with a guy that up to a couple of hours ago she would've said she was at minimum a little wary, in all honesty kind of scared of, and yet right now she felt as safe as she ever had as he smiled at her.
"How about I walk you?" Warren offered, "I mean, y'know it's late and you shouldn't be out here alone in the dark"
"I can look after myself" Layla snapped at him, immediately apologising, "I'm sorry, force of habit" she said, "Yes, thankyou, it'd be nice, if you walked me home" she said, blushing once again under his intense gaze. How he managed to make her feel so girlish and unsure of herself Layla had no idea, but honestly, she didn't mind so much.
They walked together in silence, though it was far from uncomfortable as they enjoyed the calm of the night together, both of them secretly thinking how romantic this might be with the near-full moon in the star studded sky, the light breeze, the peacefulness... Of course none of it mattered since they weren't a couple and never would be. She liked Will, they both told themselves at exactly the same moment, both of them following that thought up with the question of 'Why?'.
"This is me, my house" Layla said as they stopped walking outside the gate, "Thanks for escorting me" she smiled.
"No problem" he shrugged, seeming all nonchalant. In reality he was standing opposite this beautiful girl, wondering what she was thinking, if he could ever mean as much to her as Will Stronghold did, wishing it could be true.
"I guess I'll see you in school tomorrow, or whenever" Layla said, glancing towards the house and then back at him. He was stunned when she suddenly leant in close, going up on her toes to kiss his cheek, "Thanks Warren, for everything" she said in a whisper, before turning and walking through the gate towards her house.
"Hey" he called behind her and she turned back half way down the path, "You should ask Stronghold to Homecoming, tell him how you feel" he told her, repeating earlier advice, "He's a bigger idiot than I thought if he doesn't feel the same"
Layla didn't answer him, she only smiled before she walked up to the front door and disappeared into the house, leaving Warren staring after her, his hand going sub-consciously to his cheek where her lips had been.
To Be Continued...
A/N2 : Despite a possible appearance to the contrary, this story will have a Warren/Layla ending, it's just going to take a little time to get there. Reviews would be of the good right now, so please do let me know what you think of this so far.