* AUTHOR'S COMMENT:
Aaaaand I'm DONE!
Wow, I can't believe that I've actually written a fanfiction, like, a REAL fanfiction. And it's even my FIRST time EVER. To be honest I couldn't be more happier to have Maleo take my writer virginity, lol.
Anyway, I really suck on writing, just so you know, lol. So don't be harsh please. And besides, English is my THIRD language (after Swedish and Spanish), but if you see something weird, please send me a mail about it so I can change it and improve as a writer.=) And trust me, if English was my first language, this story would have been 1000 times better.
I had a hard time finding and choosing a name for my ffic, you have NO IDEA. But somehow along the way it just came to me and made sense. And now it's close to perfect.
I want to thank God but also Jesus (I know you're up there, lol ;D), for giving me the strength and energy to write and finnish this long long fanfiction. I couldn't have done it without you guys! Also, thanks for not letting my eyes pop out and for saving my fingers.
I want to dedicate this ffic to Maleo, my love for fanfictions in general AND of course – every Maleo shipper out there thirsting for some Maleo ffics. I think you are very talented making awesome Maleo gifs, ffics, videos and posts!=)
But also – my Maleo best buds on tumblr - fuckyeahmaleo and devilgirlmaria! I love you guys so much (the Maleo Holy Trinity, like hell yeah). Thank you for liking and reblogging my stuff daily and for making the Maleo fandom grow every single day.^_^
Anyway, let's do this shit!8D
My story is written from Malia's POV and have all of Maleo's interactions in TW in it – or between the episodes 1-6. I've also added stuff going on off-screen because you know, drama.;). Although, I want you to remember that this is how Malia sees Theo – with other words, she doesn't know he's a bad guy like us viewers. She's also a much more complex girl then we know her as. She is afterall just a teenager with a heavy background. Just keep that in mind!=)
I think I speak for most of us Maleo shippers when I say that their future may be very uncertain, but since we are ride-or-die-hardcore-trash-shipper-fans - we don't care about it, we just gladly enjoy the ride. Hopefully Theo will get his redemption arc one day and we will get Maleo. But until then, we will keep dreaming and keep wishing for more.
Many hugs and thanks to tumblr user MALEOHMY (a.k.a dcharmaine) who was my BETA and had the ENORMOUS patience and kindness to read and correct my fanfiction. You took my precious baby in to your home, fed it, raised it and gave it a beautiful personality, lol. You are a queen and deserves so much recognition! I'm lucky that I had you correcting my story. Without you it wouldn't have that extra spark and ease to it. So big thanks to you my dear!=)
* I don't own these characters, Teen Wolf does. This is my universe and take on it. I honestly I think these things have happened in the show. (Or I'm in denial, lol).
* For those wondering how long it took me to write this 12 page long ffic – one week of hard work and a STRONG ship dedication, I'll tell you that. And if I see ANYONE reposting, stealing or taking credit for my ffic, I WILL hunt them down and trust me, it won't be pretty.
* In order to write Malia's thoughts I think I spent like one hundred hours rewatching and reading her body language in the show, lol.
* For those wondering if I will write a second part to this – I'm actually doing it right now (I'm going to write about Maleo's remaining interactions of season 5a and add it to this story after episode 10 comes out). But I'm not sure about 5b, I need to wait and see where Maleo goes in the show in order to write about it. If they do become canon then I'm not sure because we will already have good stuff. But if they don't – then yes, I probably will (I have some great titles for that already, lol). Because there's NO WAY that I'm going to accept that they aren't canon.x) (Even if I like Stalia).
The reason I wrote this ffic is because we have been given so little from the show about them, and I want in a way help to build the start of their relationship, if that does make any sense. Anyway I'm gonna stop writing now so you can start reading my ffic, lol.
Also, happy moonday everyone!=)
If you want to see/read more of my work - you can visit me on my tumblr - lifeandotherfunnystuff
Please leave a comment afterwards and have a great time reading it!=)
It was a Friday evening, and Lydia was trying out different eye shadows on Kira when she popped the question. "So…what do you guys think about Theo?" It was dark outside and the three girls were sitting on Lydia's bed. Malia had been reading one of her magazines, trying to understand how the typical teenage girl was thinking these days.
"He seems nice," Kira said trying to hold her head still for Lydia who was now working on her left eye. "He's hot," said Lydia, like it was a fact. Malia was now looking up from her magazine. "I thought you liked Parrish?" The red-head looked back at her. "Uh duh, of course I do. But you can still find another guy attractive." Kira agreed. "Yeah, I think Theo is good-looking too, and easy to get along with." She turned her eyes to Malia. "What do you think of him?"
That was a question she had asked herself many times the last couple of months. What did she think of him? Well there was not a single thing. Because there were many things that Malia Tate thought about Theo Raeken…
She remembered their first meeting. Scott and Kira had been in trouble when Liam came running for her and Stiles at school. They were being attacked by a chimera and needed help. It was dark outside, and the rain was pouring down on them as they were running to the tunnel where they were in. But as soon as the three of them arrived, Scott had gained control over the situation and now had the upper hand. But instead of killing the creature right on spot, he gave it a choice - to stay and die, or flee and survive. It made a wise choice, and fled.
When it was gone she noticed an unfamiliar werewolf standing next to Kira. The pack gathered themselves and watched it change back to human form. Now there was a boy around their age standing in front of them. He had light skin, blue eyes, and medium brown hair – sides cut short, leaving the hair on the top longer. He had remarkable dark brown and well defined eye brows, highlighting his blue eyes even more. He was dressed in dark clothes and Malia could see he was in good shape. Overall he was a good-looking guy, and he probably knew it.
He was smiling now, taking a few steps forward. "You don't recognize me, do you?" He looked over to Scott who was trying to figure out if he had seen him before. "I guess I look a little different since 4th grade," he continued. Scott's eyes widened. "Theo?" The boy nodded. Malia was still observing him. Who was he? She turned to Scott. "You know him?" The handsome stranger looked over to her now and their eyes met for the first time. "I used to." Theo then explained that he had come back to Beacon Hills with his parents to join Scott's pack since his alpha had been killed, which left him without one. His last name was Raeken, and he had apparently been classmates with Scott and Stiles when they were younger. Scott seemed happy to see him, but when Malia looked over to Stiles she noticed that something about Theo was troubling him.
The second time Malia saw him was the day after, on his first day at school. She was standing outside the main entrance talking to Stiles who was – more or less, ranting about Theo and finding him highly suspicious. Apparently Stiles had found an old speeding ticket signed by Theo's father 8 years ago. He had found it suspicious since speeders always tried to get away from something, but Malia thought it was a bit silly since good people could also receive tickets. When she asked Stiles how many he would have had if his father hadn't taken care of them, he responded with "17." Why was she not surprised? And why did Stiles feel so…threatened by Theo? She thought of the first logical explanation – jealousy.
"I don't know Stiles, I mean I see why you are worried. He's really hot. He's got like great hair, a perfect body. You should definitely feel threatened." His mouth dropped open in shock. "I do, NOW more than ever…" She had only been honest, but to calm him down she offered to torture Theo. Stiles declined. Even if he had said yes she wouldn't have done it, although she knew she could take him if she wanted to.
Stiles kept talking about his plans for Theo until she saw his eyes widening at something behind her. She turned around and saw no one less than Theo getting out of his parents' car. When he saw them standing there he waved and smiled at them. She meant everything she had said about Theo's appearance to Stiles earlier, and now she knew he had an endearing smile as well. The thought of him being suspicious was difficult to imagine. "Why are you so suspicious of this guy?" she asked her boyfriend, who was still watching Theo like a hawk. "Because I remember Theo from 4th grade, okay? That's not Theo." Then what was he? A doppelganger? Malia rolled her eyes, and they dropped the subject.
After that she kept seeing him every day in the school's hallways. Every time she went past him with her friends they would say hi to each other, and let their eyes meet briefly before going their separate ways. When she was alone, however, she would watch him from afar and observe his behavior. His personality could come across as cocky and a bit mischievous, but Theo seemed to be a nice person. He was kind to everyone who talked to him and had made a great first impression in school. Malia never noticed anything peculiar about him. He behaved more or less like a typical teenage boy. Sometimes he would join the pack at their lunch table, and he got along with everyone. Well except Stiles, who was still wary of him. Since Stiles was her boyfriend she wanted to respect his thoughts, no matter how far-fetched this one seemed to be. That's why she decided to keep her distance from Theo until Stiles was sure that nothing was wrong with him.
Scott was the one who got along the most with Theo and they had really reconnected as friends. Perhaps much of it was because they shared most of their classes together. Malia was starting to believe that her alpha wanted Theo to join their pack, and the first impression of that had come with a text message that she received one evening when she was at home. She didn't recognize the number but still opened it anyway. "Hi, Theo here! Scott gave me your number just in case." It turned out that the rest of her pack had received a similar text from him.
A few days later, Tracy had turned into a chimera and attacked Lydia in the Police Department, wounding her badly. Tracy had first been examined in Deaton's animal hospital with Malia, Stiles, and Scott when she escaped after paralyzing them all, including Deaton. After half an hour, Malia was the first one to regain control of her body. Since Tracy was a danger, Malia decided to go after her despite Stiles' protests. Her scent led Malia to the Police Department, where Tracy had also paralyzed Sheriff Stilinski and hurt Lydia, who was on the floor bleeding. Kira was pressing her hands hard on Lydia's wound, unable to let go of it since Lydia would bleed to death if she did. The Sheriff told Malia that Tracy was in the basement with Lydia's mother, and Malia quickly went after her. She had promised Scott to spare Tracy and she tried not to hurt her too badly when they fought. That proved to be difficult when Tracy was trying to kill her. After a while she finally had control of Tracy, but not for long. The Dread Doctors interfered and killed Tracy right in front of her, leaving Malia shocked. When Scott and Stiles later arrived she didn't quite know what to say or how to explain what she had just witnessed.
Scott and the Sheriff were carrying the now deceased Tracy when they came up from the basement along with Stiles and Deaton. Malia went into the other room to look after Lydia when she saw Theo sitting on the floor beside her. What was HE doing here? When had he arrived? She hadn't expected to see him there, so she figured Scott must have told him. When she walked over to them she saw that he had taken off his belt and strapped it around Lydia's chest to stop the bleeding. Lydia had lost lots of blood and was literally lying in a pool of it on the floor. Kira was sitting in a chair exhausted and Nathalie was on her knees beside Lydia, holding her hand and crying over her critical condition.
The ambulance later arrived and picked up Lydia and her mother, while the rest of the pack followed right behind by car. They later met Scott's mother, Melissa, in the hospital hallway. According to Melissa, Theo had saved Lydia's life with his belt. Stiles looked a bit annoyed by this fact and tried to ignore Theo's presence. Melissa eventually left to assist in Lydia's surgery which would take a few hours. The pack decided to split up for a while; Liam went home after Scott had suggested it; Theo, Kira, and Nathalie went to the waiting room; and Malia, Stiles, and Scott went outside to get some air and talk about the night's events.
Thirty minutes later Malia had explained her encounter with the Dread Doctors five times for her boyfriend and alpha, who kept asking her the same questions over and over again. And she had become fed up with it. Did they even listen to what she had just told them? And why did she get the impression that they didn't completely believe her? She decided to go back inside to see Kira and Nathalie, and left the boys outside. Malia took the elevator up to the third floor, where a few other hospital visitors were headed. After she finally arrived to the waiting room, there was no sign of the ladies there.
"They went to the cafeteria." She jumped at the sound of an unexpected voice, and when she turned she saw Theo sitting alone in a chair. He was watching a tv screen on the wall across the room. Malia nodded and was about to go, but she stopped herself in her tracks. She realized then that she hadn't had a real conversation with Theo since they first met in that tunnel. Much of it had been because of Stiles and his suspicions. In order to respect her boyfriend's suspicions she stayed away from Theo, but not for much longer. Curiosity took over now that she had an opportunity to talk to him, especially since Stiles wasn't in sight. He was unable to judge her now and besides, some talking wouldn't hurt.
Malia took a breath and walked over to him, sitting down on the chair next to his. She could see from the corner of her eye how he had turned his head in surprise, and was now looking at her. Until this point it had all been easy, but now what? She was curious about him yes, but how would she start an actual conversation with him? She hated small talk in general and was not good at finding a common interest or things to talk about. Why were these human formalities and social stuff so hard, and why was she feeling nervous all of a sudden? Maybe it was because she hadn't really approached him until now.
As if Theo could sense her struggle, he broke the silence. "You're alright?" She turned her head to him, and his blue eyes were now meeting her brown ones. "Yeah. Why wouldn't I be?" A small smile appeared in the corner of his mouth and his eyes was now watching her intensely. "I don't know. You seem a bit…troubled." And she was, but she would never admit that to him, even if he was a werewolf and could sense it. "Well I'm not." He nodded vaguely and directed his attention back to the tv screen. That wasn't a good sign. For some reason this wasn't going her way at all. She had to say something quick, before the conversation would die. And then it came to her.
"Thanks, by the way." Now he was facing her again, meeting her eyes. "For what?" he asked in a curious tone. "For saving Lydia," she simply said. He broke the eye contact and looked down at his tangled fingers, as if being unsure of what to say. "I only did what I could. Hopefully she will make it." She nodded, and there was a silence again.
"So…how does it feel to be back?" she asked, not sure of where this conversation was heading. He was silent for a few seconds before speaking. "A bit strange I guess. I remember this town differently. But when I look at it closely, things are still pretty much the same. But yeah, it feels good. I've missed Beacon Hills." He shrugged. "It's the place where I grew up, after all." She nodded again and looked away, not sure of what to say next.
"Scott told me a little about you." She looked back at him and must have unintentionally given him a worrisome facial expression, because he was now smiling in reassurance. "No details, only that you were in an car accident when you were younger, and were a full werecoyote for a few years until Scott and Stiles turned you back to human again recently." So that was all he knew about her then? "Yeah, I lost my mother and sister in that accident," she responded. Even after so many years Malia could still feel the deep pain of loss in her chest. Theo looked at her apologetically. "I'm sorry to hear that." She wasn't the kind of person who liked showing her emotions in front of strangers, and he wasn't an exception. "It's okay. I still have my father." she added a little too quickly and looked away at the screen, pretending to see something interesting being reported on the news.
"How are things going then?" Theo inquired. She looked at him and furrowed her eye brows. "With what?" He smiled gently. "Adjusting to everything now that you are a human again?" Oh. She thought about it. "Good. Most things are easy, others not so much. But nothing I can't handle. I also have Stiles." For some reason Theo's eyes hardened at the mention of Stiles' name, but quickly softened again. "Yeah I figured you two were together" his voice a bit sharp saying this. She was confused by his sudden change of behavior. But then he then gave her a crooked smile. "Anyway, if you ever have a question you can always ask me." He said, and leaned over a bit now. "I know quite a lot about humans.." She found his answer amusing and was about to respond when she saw Kira and Nathalie entering the room, interrupting her.
The Tracy incident had made the pack want to find out more about what was going on in Beacon Hills. In the evening of the next day, she was sitting alone with Stiles in the school's library, looking for information about chimera creatures. Stiles had been sleeping on the table when she thought about visiting Tracy's room again. She said goodbye and left him there to go to Tracy's house and look for clues. And that's when she found the book about the Dread Doctors on the bedroom desk.
She immediately called Stiles, but he didn't answer. She tried a few more times without any success. As time passed by, she started getting worried and decided to text and ask her friends if they had heard anything from him, or if they knew where he was. She was scrolling down her contact list, adding the recipients of her text message when she saw Theo's number. She remembered their conversation in the hospital the day before and she was unsure if she should send him a text as well. Then, she remembered that he had offered to assist her if she needed any help. And this was a question, technically, for help.
She sent the text to everyone, and Theo was surprisingly the first one to answer. "I'm close to the school right now, want me to check?" A few minutes went by and none of her other friends had answered yet. So she texted back "Yes please, thank you." She put her phone down and breathed out, feeling a bit better now that he was going to look for her boyfriend. And at that very moment, she was grateful that Theo Raeken existed.
Her other friends later texted her back, none of them with any information about Stiles. Same went for Theo, who couldn't find him anywhere in the library. When she was about to go out and start looking for him Scott called her, and said that he had just talked to Stiles. She was a bit angry with her boyfriend at first, but later forgave him since he apparently hadn't heard his phone ring on his way back home from the library.
The surgery on Lydia had been successful and she recovered surprisingly quickly. A few days later she was on her feet and back at school again, helping the pack to learn more about the Dread Doctors. The novel that Malia found had led them to Eichen House, which they now needed to pay a visit to. However, Malia didn't want to return after all the bad things and memories she had experienced in there. Scott, Stiles, Lydia and Kira had to just leave without her.
To kill some time while they were gone, she decided to re-read the Dread Doctors novel in the school's library. She walked in and found an empty table with two chairs. She sat down and took her yellow highlighter from her backpack, opened up the book and started to highlight the most useful sentences she could find. Only minutes later, she heard a chair being pulled out. She looked up and saw Theo sitting down with her, right across the table. For the second time she was surprised by his presence.
"Page turner?" he asked, eying her book. She had been very focused on it until now. "Not exactly.." He showed her his pre-calculus textbook and grinned. "Neither is this." She looked at it and remembered her own difficulties with math. Ironically, she could relate to that.
He was reading his textbook when she realized that she was still looking at Theo. Malia considered asking him what he was reading, but mentally slapped herself when she remembered that he had already shown her his pre-calculus book. For some reason his presence there made her sort of tense. She shook her head and looked down at her book once again, trying to remember where in the text she was. Malia then felt a pair of eyes watching her, but when she looked up she saw Theo still reading his book. She felt suspicious, but eventually relaxed. It was only Theo, nothing to be afraid of.
After a few minutes of reading, her werecoyote hearing was sensitive, and she could hear a group of girls talking about Theo from across the library. She rolled her eyes when she heard them giggling. Theo was still focused on his book, and she was so close to him. Malia took a moment to study his face, or rather - his handsome face because she wasn't blind. Ever since he started attending their school girls had been talking, gushing and almost throwing themselves at him because of his "bad boy" looks, as Lydia would put it. She thought their behavior was pretty stupid and was glad she wasn't acting the slightest like them. Oddly enough, Theo never showed any interest in any of them. She wondered why since he could literally pick any girl at school that he wanted and she wouldn't even object to it.
It was probaly his deep blue and mesmerizing eyes, that made girls go crazy for him. They saw the beauty in them, but Malia saw something else hiding behind those eyes - a deepness, that made him something more than just a pretty face. Theo was also surrounded by an aura of mystery. His personality was characterized by playfulness. For some it could come across as cockiness, but it wasn't and she knew that. It was confidence, probably from being a werewolf. But she sensed something subtly raw and animalistic about him, which oddly intrigued her. Malia also noticed how fast his eye's expressions would change at different situations. First looking kindly into people's eyes with his blue ones, and then stare at them with much darker eyes, no longer looking so innocently at them.
She didn't want to be caught staring at him so she quickly looked down again and tried to find more clues in the Dread Doctors book. As time passed, more and more people left the library and went home, until there were only a few people left - Malia and Theo included. After being there for almost two hours Malia was tired and started to pack her things. Theo had been quiet during their whole study session, only speaking when asking to borrow her pencil sharpener. He seemed very focused on his homework and she was trying her best not to disturb him by making any unneccessary noise.
"Need a ride?" She looked up at Theo who was now sitting up straight, observing her. He was probably trying to be nice, but she wouldn't waste his time on driving her home when he obviously needed to study. "I can take the bus." He raised an eye brow. "Last one left an hour ago." She had totally forgotten about that. Well that left her with one remaining option, even if she was a bit unsure of it. "I'll walk." He put his right arm on the railing beside him and looked up at her curiously now. "Haven't I seen you coming out of drivers ed?" Did he just change the subject? The question was unexpected, but she remembered her driving class the other day. She had been driving with Kira's father who had tried his best not to scream when she was wildly running over things with her car. She thought it was funny learning how to drive, but not everyone seemed to appreciate her driving skills. As soon as they stopped, Kira's father had rushed out of the car and kissed the ground in great relief and appreciation. Even if she enjoyed it she still had a very long way to go. Her driving skills were pretty much a disaster at this point.
"I hope not" she responded, putting on her backpack. Theo went on. "I'm pretty sure I saw you destroy a couple traffic cones the other day…" Was he mocking her driving skills now? Wait, had he been watching her? "…and nearly take out a sophomore…" Where was he going with this? Well actually that last part wasn't even her fault. "The sophomore shouldn't have been standing there," she said matter-of-factly. For some reason Theo lit up and broke into a wide grin, apparently finding her stubbornness and response amusing. He dropped his pen on the table and took out keys from his pocket, now waving them in front of him. "Sounds like you could still use some practice," he smirked. She shrugged, and suddenly a pair of keys was flying at her. Malia caught them with her right hand without blinking. Oh, he wanted HER to drive? Theo was now giving her a contagious grin for catching the keys, and she could feel her cheeks lift up in the air. She was smiling.
"Are you sure about this?" Even if she was excited about driving again she wanted him to reconsider his choice wisely. They were walking towards the exit. "Afraid of driving?" Theo teased her. "No, but I don't want to destroy your car." she said casually and he smirked. "Don't worry. You'll be fine and besides, I will be sitting next to you making sure nothing bad happens." Why did the thought of that not make her any less nervous?
When they came out to the parking lot she looked around. "Where's your car?" He pointed at a dark blue double cab parked across the lot. "There." She looked at it and tilted her head a bit. "That's your car!?" It looked really fancy and had a lot more modern features to it than the car that she had received from her father. "Yes, that's my car." The fact that she was going to drive that was a bit overwhelming.
They were walking towards it when she felt something warm and gentle grab her hand. She jumped at the touch but calmed down as soon she saw it was Theo, who was now lifting her hand up. Not sure of what he was doing he pointed it at the car and pressed on the car key remote in her hand to unlock it. So that was what he was doing.. He then gently dropped her hand and went to open his car door. The touch had lasted less than a few seconds, but had felt like being electrified with all sorts of emotions, all in the same. It had imprinted her, even throwing her off a bit. She wasn't sure of what it was, but she quickly brushed it off. It had to be because of the fact she wasn't used to a male, other than Stiles, touching her.
They entered the car and drove out of the parking lot. She made sure to drive carefully since it was Theo's car and not hers. Her father would not be able to afford to buy Theo a new car if she crashed it. She checked the speed limit, trying to drive as safe and precise as possible. She had been driving for a few minutes when Theo spoke. "We can go a little faster, if you want." She was looking at the speedometer. "I'm doing the speed limit." He turned his face to her. "Nobody does the speed limit…" She knew that, but didn't want to risk anything. "…And you also don't have to hold the wheel like that." She looked at her hands, not understanding his point. Weren't you supposed to hold a steering wheel like this? With your hands? Seeing her confusion Theo leaned over and placed his hand over hers, covering it entirely. This time she didn't jump.
He stroked his thumb over hers and she swallowed. She was feeling that electrifying feeling again. "Here, put your hand here…" he said gently, and took her hand firmly and slid it down a bit on the wheel. The whole time she couldn't stop thinking about how warm and soft his hand felt against hers. He placed her thumb with his own around the wheel before letting go. She turned to face him now, no longer looking at the road, but into his deep blue eyes. "Better?" he asked with a crooked smile and pointed with his eyes at the wheel. She looked at it and then back at him, nodding. The fact that he trusted her enough to drive his car knowing how bad of a driver she was and even teaching her a little, was something only a kind person would do. And at that moment, Malia thought Theo was a kind person. She had come to like him and enjoyed his company. With him things seemed to be so…easy. But she couldn't stop thinking about his hand touching hers. She thought the whole situation had been…intimate. And she wasn't sure how she felt about that. If she didn't know any better she would have thought that he was flirting with her.
She dropped her thoughts and continued concentrating on her driving. It was dark outside and they were sitting silently in the car. She suddenly saw a strong light ahead of them on the road. "Must be a bright streetlight," she thought and blinked a few times. But the light wouldn't disappear. Without knowing it her hands had slid up on the wheel again, now gripping it with such tension. She felt a lump in her throat and was having trouble breathing properly. Suddenly she was 9 again, sitting in the backseat playing with her doll while her sister was sleeping next to her. Her mother was driving peacefully and it was dark outside. Malia realized she was having a flashback from the day her mother and sister had died. Prior to this moment, Malia couldn't remember anything from that night. Now, she could see everything so clearly.
Somewhere in the distance she could hear Theo saying something, but she couldn't quite make out what it was. The flashback began fading but she didn't want it to end - she couldn't let it. She felt Theo's hand on hers, trying to take control of the steering wheel she had been gripping but she wouldn't let him. She had to keep driving, she had to know MORE. She pressed the gas pedal further down and was driving faster now, as if she was chasing old memories from her past. Suddenly she could hear Theo yell. "STOP THE CAR!" She reacted and hit the brake pedal, causing the car to stop abruptly. Even if they had stopped, the lump in her throat wouldn't go away. Instead it was increasing, now giving her a hard time breathing. It was like the air in the car wasn't enough anymore. It was choking her, and she had to get out of the vehicle. NOW.
Malia opened the car door and rushed out, shutting it closed behind her. For some reason her legs wouldn't carry her and she felt incredibly weak. She stumbled forward and collapsed on the pavement, still struggling to get more air in her lungs. And that's when she heard it. The gunshots. Someone was firing at them, causing bullet holes to appear on the car's windshield. She heard screams belonging to her mother, sister and even herself, just before their car went off the road and collided with a tree. Somehow she was still on the road - still able to see the light ahead of her. Then, she saw a dark figure standing in front of it. She couldn't see who it was but she could tell by silhouettes that it belonged to a woman. The light became brighter, moving towards her faster. Seeing it was a car now, her eyes widened. Was this the end? She closed her eyes. Suddenly she felt someone grab her from behind and throw her to the side of the road just in time. The car drove by and disappeared into the darkness.
It didn't hurt. She thought it was going to hurt, but it didn't. She opened her eyes again and saw that she was lying on the ground, on top of Theo. Malia was breathing heavily and could feel him doing the same underneath her. He had saved her life, and she realized that she must have landed on him considering their position. He was hurt and it was all because of the Desert Wolf. Her eyes widened at the realization. "It was her," she whispered to herself. Malia's heart was pounding hard, and all she could do was panic. She just couldn't believe it. "What?" She could hear someone ask. She shut her eyes closed again and tried to gather her thoughts and breaths. "It was her, she was there!" Malia saw the woman on the road again in her mind. "Who?" She realized it was Theo who was asking her, confused. She turned her face over to him. She needed to hear herself to say it aloud; she needed to know that she wasn't dreaming. "The Desert Wolf."
He didn't say anything, only looked at her. She could feel his hot breath against her face, causing the hair on her neck to rise. Suddenly she was aware of his arms wrapped around her, holding her close to him. And she felt one of his hands holding hers again, which she was almost getting used to. They were staring into each other's eyes. As she breathed she could smell his scent. It was that refreshing scent that would appear when the trees were soaking up water after it had rained. And it reminded her so much of her second home - the woods. Being this close she also noticed his long eye lashes that she hadn't seen before, reflecting the light that was coming from the his car's headlights. She let her eyes travel down to his mouth which was slightly open. His lips were a darker shade of pink and she wondered if they felt as soft as they looked.
Malia gently squeezed his hand, and her brown eyes met his blue ones. "Thank you," she said, her voice raspy from exhaustion. Their faces were still only inches apart from each other, and time seemed to have stopped for a while.
After a moment Theo gave her a little nod, before speaking softly. "Come on, let's get up before another car tries to hit us." She agreed and he released her from his arms. They got up and she felt him placing his hand gently on her back. She was still affected by her memory and let him guide her to his car. He rubbed her back and opened the passenger's door for her. Without thinking she got in and he closed it right behind. He then went to the driver's side and got in beside Malia. She didn't know what to do, so she just looked straight ahead. Theo started the car and drove away.
He didn't say anything or ask her about what she had blurted out back there, and she was thankful for it. Looking back, she realized that she had failed to drive them home safely. She had probably been a disappointment again and she was upset because of it; she was also embarrassed since she had ignored Theo's clear instruction to stop the car. She had let down the only person who wasn't afraid of driving with her. Maybe she was a hopeless case after all. Maybe he would even stop trusting her now. What had she done?
"I'm sorry," she murmured without looking at him. "It's okay. Don't worry about it," he said calmly and took a turn to the left. They didn't say anything more until Theo stopped his car right outside her house. For some reason she found it hard to meet his eyes now. "Thanks for the ride," her head was still down and she opened the door. "Sure, no problem. See you in school." She turned around and gave him a quick nod before closing the door and walking up to her house holding her backpack.
The next time Malia saw him was at Scott's house three days later. The pack's visit to Eichen House had been more disastrous than successful. Apparently the Dread Doctors had found their way inside and attacked Valack when he was giving the pack information about the doctors. He turned out to be the author of the book that she had found. And according to him - the solution to their problems was written in the book. That was why it was very important that they read it. Malia had since her friends' visit in Eichen House already read the book twice and had it memorized.
She told Scott and Stiles about her crazy car ride with Theo, and Stiles was surprised that she had even said yes to his offer. He understood, however, since she couldn't have walked home by her herself. She told them everything except the part about the Desert Wolf being the cause of the incident. She also left out the intimate moments she shared with Theo. They didn't need to know about that and get the wrong idea. She suspected that Theo had done the same, making it another secret between the two of them.
Later that evening the pack decided to meet up at Scott's house and go through the Dread Doctors book together. Malia and Stiles were the last ones to arrive at his place. Apparently Theo was also invited and was sitting on the sofa when she entered Scott's living room with her boyfriend. Theo greeted them, but acted as if their car incident hadn't happened. She wanted to say something about it, but decided against it. Instead she helped Kira set out the copies of Valack's novel on the living room table. She wasn't going to read it again but was there to support her pack. Everybody then gathered around the table and looked down at the copies. This was going to be a long night.
It had been three hours since they started reading the book. Malia was now standing in the kitchen making coffee for herself and for Stiles, who was sitting in the chair next to her. They could see Kira from there. She was sleeping next to Scott on the sofa in the living room and Lydia was starting to yawn. Theo was sitting in an armchair, his back turned against them. Malia was pouring some coffee into Stiles' cup when she noticed that he was touching his shoulder a little too much. She used her were-coyote senses and could smell his blood. She asked about it and he said it was from a small accident. She heard his heart beat faster. Was he lying? No, he couldn't be; he would have told her if there was something wrong. She decided to drop it and started filling her cup with coffee instead. Stiles was now looking at her.
"How much do you remember anyway, I mean the accident? Did it play like a movie in your head or was it like being completely in it again?" She thought about it. "In it." He nodded. "Was it just the crash, nothing else?" She remembered seeing the Desert Wolf shooting at her family's car. Should she tell him? She had decided to give up her search for her biological mother ever since she erased her name from Stiles' whiteboard a few weeks ago. She swore she was done. Besides, she didn't want to create more problems to think about. Maybe not telling him was for the best. They had enough to deal with as it was.
"Nothing." He nodded and she could sense that someone was observing them. She looked over to her left and saw Theo looking away slowly. Had he been listening? She suddenly felt incredibly guilty that she had lied to Stiles, and embarrassed for Theo hearing it. What would he now think of her? Was he judging her? She shook her head a little frustrated. It was none of his business and besides, why should she care? But she did. He had earlier seemed to think very highly of her and she suddenly hated him for doing it. Hated him for catching her in a lie. Hated him for being a better human being than she was. She felt the need to punch him in the face. His annoyingly smirkish, but handsome face.
Malia couldn't let go of the fact that Theo hadn't told anyone about her memory of the Desert Wolf. She wondered why he hadn't done it. The very next day in school she was still confused about it and needed some answers. As soon as the lunch bell rang, she went to find him. While searching the halls, she could smell his scent coming from the school's gym in the basement, and she started walking towards it. When she finally was outside of the entrance she took a breath and opened the door.
When Malia entered the room she never expected to see a half-naked Theo standing in front of her, now turning his head to meet her eyes. There was no turning back now and she let go of the door, allowing it to close behind her. Theo was holding his black sweatshirt, appearing to have just taken it off. He smirked at her and tossed his shirt on a chair, making his way to the free weights. She had never seen him without a shirt before. He was in a much better shape than she had imagined. Wherever she looked she could only see well defined muscle. Luckily for her, she did have some restraint. It wasn't like he was touching her or anything. Had another girl been there she probably would have fainted at the sight of him. Malia looked at his naked back and suddenly felt a bit warm. She rubbed her neck and then dropped her arm down again. She felt weird just standing there, especially since Theo was bare-chested, and they were alone in the gym.
He started lifting a barbell up and down, working out. Malia had almost forgotten why she was there in the first place. She mentally slapped herself to wake up. "Why didn't you say anything?" He looked at her through the mirror in front of him. "About what?" He was breathing heavily with each lift. She saw every muscle on his back tensing, working and flexing to the max. The sight of his naked skin was now starting to cause a tingling sensation in her spine, but she tried to ignore it. "The rest of my memory - the Desert Wolf. Why didn't you tell Scott?" He looked up at her. "I didn't think you wanted me to." He must have overheard her talk with Stiles, but chosen not to say anything until she did. She found it a bit ironic that he was able to keep a secret for her, but not her own boyfriend about summer school to Liam.
It was thoughtful of him however, and he was right. "I don't." For some reason she wanted him to know why she had made that call, so he didn't get the wrong idea. It had been for Stiles' and the pack's sake. It wasn't because she enjoyed keeping the truth from people, even from the ones she stood the closest to. Attempting to find a way of telling him this, she asked "Are you gonna want to know why?" She could only hope that Theo would want to know.
He bent over and dropped the barbell on the floor. Straightening up again he turned over to Malia, who stood a few feet away from him. He captured her eyes with his and slowly started walking towards her with confidence written all over him. She could feel her heart beating faster with every step that he took. Since she didn't want to appear to drool over his muscles she kept her eyes on his, challenging him not to break eye contact. Her werecoyote senses were triggered to the max when he finally stopped. Now being much closer to her, she was almost anticipating his answer when his mouth turned into a cocky smile. "Not really." Her face dropped and he walked past her. And never had she ever felt more ignored by someone. What was he doing? Why couldn't he just hear her out? She knew his personality could be a bit playful sometimes, but she didn't like this cocky and almost mean side of him.
Theo sat down on the butterfly press in front of Malia and grabbed the weights. After taking a deep breath he started lifting them, letting the bars meet each other repeatedly. She didn't want to stare at him and look stupid. So she looked down on the floor, only catching glances of him when he wasn't watching her. Why did he have to work out half naked? Couldn't he just put on a shirt or something? She already knew he had an "amazing" body. There was no need to shove it in her face to prove it. Her frustration had now grown to anger. Who did he think he was? She may have lied to her boyfriend and kept a secret from her pack, but he wasn't better himself by also keeping it a secret. Wasn't he supposed to inform Scott, to gain his trust? She could almost hear Stiles' voice in her head, saying that Theo couldn't be trusted. She was staring at him now with fury in her eyes when Theo suddenly looked up at her, smirking. As if he had caught her checking him out. That had been the final straw for her.
Without thinking, she flew over him and grabbed his bars. Now he couldn't ignore her. "You think you're doing me a favor?" she hissed. The smirk on his face was gone now and instead he looked surprised by her impulsive action. "Like I'm gonna OWE you now?" She felt how personal the situation had become. He struggled to move the bars and found it to be difficult while she was holding them. She was stronger than him, and that made her vicious. "Look, I don't need any favors," he said honestly while still trying to gain control of the bars. "Then what do you WANT?" she demanded. He looked up at her a little frustrated himself now. "I want in the pack." Of course he wanted in. That was practically the only thing he seemed to be running after these days. But Scott was the alpha, the one who decided. "That's not up to me" she said, still holding the bars.
Out of nowhere his face suddenly softened. "If you wanna tell Scott what you saw, tell him." It wasn't that simple. But it sounded so easy when he said it. And maybe that was what she needed to do… No, it wasn't. Stiles would only worry more about her if she told him that her biological mother had tried to kill her when she was a child. She didn't want to know more about the Desert Wolf either. Having a biological father who didn't care about her and had even tried to kill her best friends was enough for her to deal with. She wanted to leave everything in the past. She NEEDED to leave it in the past.
She was still staring at Theo when he continued. "If you got something else in mind," he looked her deep into her eyes, and his was almost gleaming now. "I'm okay with that too.." He sounded sincere saying this, and it left Malia somehow surprised. She hadn't quite expected him to say that, although she wasn't sure if he was really talking about her telling Scott about her mother, or something else.. She noticed that his blue eyes had turned darker now, and were looking at her as if they wanted something. She felt that tingling sensation again and shivered. Her anger had now vanished and left was a girl, unsure of what to do or feel. She realized that she had nothing more to say to him. He had left the decision of telling Scott to her. She was in charge now, and she actually liked the thought of that.
She released the bars of the butterfly press without saying anything and turned towards the door. As she neared it she could hear Theo gasp when the weights snapped back. She had only hurt him a little, but it had been enough. Enough to give him a little taste of what would happen if he ever tried to use something against her. She had always had a hard time trusting people but she wanted to trust him, she really did.
He had helped Scott in that tunnel, saved Lydia's life, looked for Stiles, let her drive his car, saved her life, and was now doing her a big favor by keeping her memory of her mother a secret. He was a bit of mystery to her that never ceased to surprise. But a good one, and she guessed he was okay after all. Maybe even more than that. Time would tell though, if she could trust him or not.
Yes, there were many things that Malia Tate thought of Theo Raeken. But one thing she had come to realize now, was that she was also undeniably drawn to him.
Coming out of the gym, the werecoyote was smiling.