Stiles pulled his red hoodie over his head and stepped out of his jeep. The cold December air felt like a knife dragging across his skin and the pouring rain didn't make the feeling any better. He zipped up his hoodie and dashed into the DVD store. He was surprised to see so many people in there, normally it looked like it was deserted. He surveyed the area and saw that there was a crowd around the Christmas section which ruined any chance of Stiles getting the movie he wanted. Normally he would have just pushed through the crowd but he wasn't feeling much like himself tonight. He had plans to watch a movie with Scott but Scott had cancelled last minute saying he had training with Derek or something like that, Stiles had stopped paying attention after he heard Scott wasn't coming.
Of course he told Scott it was okay and he could make it up to him anytime but the truth was that Stiles was a bit heartbroken especially since he had been expecting Scott to cancel but hoped he was wrong, which, of course, he wasn't. He had barely spent any time with Scott since school closed for Christmas, in fact he had barely spent time with any of his friends. They were usually all off training or doing some other werewolf stuff and Stiles had been left all by himself, so he didn't bother asking anyone else when Scott cancelled because he knew they would all be busy, besides who would want to spend time with him anyway. The weeks leading up to Christmas were the busiest time for his dad so he knew that asking his dad to watch a movie with him wasn't even an option. He was barely home these days anyway. Stiles couldn't shake the depression he felt. He loved Christmas but was the point if he couldn't spend it with the people he loved.
After waiting five minutes for the crowd to disperse and realizing they weren't going to leave anytime soon, Stiles decided to just settle with a cheesy sci-fi flick. As he turned to go to pay, he found a familiar pair of sapphire eyes staring at him.
"That's what you're getting?" the older boy asked as a smirk crawled onto his face. Stiles was confused. Was Jackson really acknowledging him in a public place? The world must be ending.
"Yeah, only because I couldn't get past those vultures over there," Stiles yelled, his arms flailing in the air, he had sort of hoped the crowd would hear him but they didn't.
"Tell me about it, this was all I could get before I had to get out of there or they would have torn me apart." Jackson chuckled as he held out his hand to show Stiles the movies he had gotten. The nightmare before Christmas and It's a wonderful life.
"No way! Those are like two of my favorite movies of all time!" Stiles screamed, drawing some attention from the crowd. "I have an idea...how about a trade? Stiles had unknowingly grabbed Jackson by his arm, but didn't make any effort to let go when he realized what had happened. The warmth of his leather jacket felt so soothing against Stiles skin and the feeling of Jackson's chiseled muscles sent waves down his spine. Stiles pushed the thought out of his mind before he went too far.
"No way, have fun watching sharktopus," Jackson laughed but made no effort to escape the amber eyed boy's grip. He enjoyed it actually. The grip around his biceps felt nice, even if there were two layers of clothing separating any actual skin to skin contact.
"Please, you can't let me go home and watch this stupid movie by myself," Stiles whined, tightening his grip on Jackson.
"Oh, by yourself huh, I just assumed you would be watching with your dad seeing as McCall is training tonight," there was a serious sense of concern in Jackson's voice that Stiles had never heard before. Suddenly he was very aware of how close they were to each other and pulled away, trying to distance himself from the elder boy.
"He's working tonight so it's just me...again," The sorrow in his voice was pretty clear and with that Stiles turned away and headed towards the counter. The conversation had taken a more serious turn than he was expecting and he wasn't sure if he wanted to talk about his Dad with Jackson, they weren't exactly the best of friends, sure being in the same pack had brought them closer together in the sense that they didn't really rip on each anymore but they had never really talked to each other and the fact that they were almost having a conversation had taken Stiles completely off guard. He hadn't intended on saying the last part of what he said but it just slipped out and he thought that if Jackson hadn't thought of him as weak before, he did now.
"Hey don't worry, I'm by myself tonight too," Stiles didn't even realize that Jackson was trailing behind him but after processing what he had heard he spun around, almost falling over and found himself drowning in a sea of piercing blue sapphire. Gathering his thoughts, he managed to say, "You...alone? What about one of your million girlfriends? What about Lydia?" Jackson was pretty sure the entire store could hear Stiles but he didn't make any mention of it.
"Well Lydia and I aren't really together anymore and my parents are out of town, oh and apparently all of my million girlfriends had plans" Jackson let out a light chuckle and stared directly into the boy's amber eyes. They stood like that for a while before Stiles broke the contact.
"Well enjoy your movies," Stiles gestured toward Jackson's hand as he stepped backwards but was stopped by a delightful sound.
"Wait Stiles," the sound of his name on the boy's lips almost made Stiles melt and he had no idea why. Jackson had said his name a lot of times but this was the first time he said it with a hint of kindness. "Since you're free tonight... and I'm free tonight... maybe we could watch a movie together...if you want I mean...If you don't I'm sure I could find someone else...I mean it's me," Stiles was taken aback by the sight before him. Jackson was fidgeting, rubbing the back of his neck, looking at the floor and Stiles could have sworn he saw the boy's cheeks go red.
Stiles didn't have time to process the information he just blurted out," YES!" He was just so excited that he didn't have to spend the night alone anymore. He flung the DVD aside and grabbed Jackson by the shoulders, "You won't regret this. The Stiles will make this the best night of your life!"
"I'm kinda regretting it already," Jackson whispered under his breath but Stiles had already taken off running toward the door calling behind him, "Come over for around 8 o'clock and don't forget the movies."
As Stiles got into his jeep, he couldn't stop smiling. He wasn't going to be alone tonight and he was so excited but excitement wasn't all he felt. There was a weird feeling in his stomach that he couldn't place but just blamed it on his only eating 5 chocolate bars for lunch. He started his jeep and sped home wondering if two hours was enough time to make his house presentable.
