01

Leaning back against the wall, Scott watched as the room full of teenagers laughed and danced to the loud music. Lydia's annual Christmas party was in full swing, a couple hours in, most people in one of the pleasant stages between painfully sober and falling down drunk.

Not for the first time, he found himself wondering why he'd even bothered coming. Originally, he'd made the choice to skip it, not one for big crowds, especially lately. But Lydia had pushed and cajoled him, telling him the captain of the lacrosse team had to be there, had to set an example, or the whole thing might be a dud. And since this could be her last big party of their high school years, he couldn't possibly let that happen. So he'd agreed to be there, had told himself it would be good to get out, socialise, maybe meet somebody, have a little fun. Kira had been gone for months, and he was definitely feeling the absence. But now, sitting there, bored out of his mind, and feeling absolutely no desire to get up and try to mingle, he couldn't help but question his decision.

As he scanned the room, it looked to him like he might be the only one there not having a good time. Stiles was over in the corner, dancing clumsily with a blonde girl he didn't recognise. Corey and Mason were sitting along the far wall, talking animatedly about something, both smiling widely. Lydia was in her element, somehow managing to sneak in a dance or two as she constantly patrolled her house, keeping an eye on the dozens of party guests spread throughout. Liam and Hayden were around somewhere, though he hadn't seen them in awhile. If he had to guess, they'd found a quiet corner somewhere and were taking advantage of it.

Sighing, he leaned his head back and stared up at the ceiling, internally debating whether or not he could slip out without Lydia spotting him. After a moment, he decided that no, he probably couldn't. And it was Christmas. He didn't want to hurt her feelings. Which meant he was stuck there for now.

"Come on," he muttered to himself, straightening up and looking back out over the room. "It's a party. Gotta get out there, meet people." But despite his own words, he made no move to stray from his spot, just unable to muster up the will to actually get out and join the crowd.

"You could smile, y'know?" Starting violently, Scott whirled around and found Lydia standing behind him, hands on her hips and her festive Santa hat perched crookedly on her head. "It's a party, not a funeral."

Snorting, he shrugged sheepishly and leaned back against the wall. "I know, I know. Sorry."

"Don't be sorry," she chided, nudging him with her elbow. "Be proactive! Get out there and get busy. Mingle, dance, be merry! It's almost Christmas, Scott!" Grabbing his arm, she pulled him away from the wall and shoved him forward, out into the room, showing surprising strength for somebody so small. When he looked back at her and frowned, she motioned him forward, shooing him on with both hands. "Go on! Find some pretty girl and make her day! Or don't. Just stop lurking by the wall like a creeper!"

Shaking his head, Scott turned and waded into the crowd, feeling her eyes on him the whole way. A couple girls eyed him as he passed by, but he kept moving. The concept of actually stopping and trying to talk to anybody just felt incredibly exhausting. Angling through the mass of people, he made for the far wall, where all the furniture had been pushed to make room for dancing. He figured if he could sink down low enough in a chair, Lydia might not spot him and take another crack at getting him to socialise. As he approached the spot, he found he wasn't the only one who'd had the same thought. Malia was there, sitting low on the couch, and watching the crowd in much the same way he'd been. She looked up as he dropped down heavily beside her.

"Hey," he muttered, leaning toward her to be heard over the music.

"Hey. You look like you're having a good time," she observed dryly.

He huffed out an amused breath and nodded, pursing his lips as his eyes scanned the crowd. "Kinda wishing I'd stayed home," he confided, as he watched Corey and Mason leave the wall and head onto the floor.

"Why'd you come?"

"I don't know. Lydia sort of talked me into it. And I thought it might be a chance to cut loose a little bit, y'know, have some fun, if you can believe it. You know how Lydia's parties are. It's like a... a lost night or something. Seemed like a good opportunity to tune out real life for a while and have a good time." He shrugged, smiling sheepishly as he shook his head. "Hasn't worked out."

Suddenly, he caught a flash of red moving through the crowd and immediately sank down as low as he could. A grin spread across Malia's face as she watched him try to peer through the mass of bodies, to see if he'd been spotted. "Are you hiding from Lydia?" she asked, amusement dripping from every word.

Scott hesitated for a second, keep close watch until he was sure their friend wasn't coming over. "Yes," he said emphatically, after letting out a sigh of relief. "She's just very..." He spread his arms, frowning, searching for the word. "Forceful."

She snorted softly. "She is that."

Now that he was safe, at least for the moment, Scott focused on his companion, who'd gone back to watching the crowd. "Surprised you're not out there," he said, nodding toward the floor.

"I was. Just needed a little break."

He opened his mouth to say something else, but paused then as Stiles suddenly came into view, still with the blonde girl from earlier. From the corner of his eye, he saw Malia's lips tighten into a thin line as she spotted them. Things had been strained between the former couple for a little while after everything, as they danced around each other, unsure of where they stood. It got awkward enough that he and Lydia had finally stepped in and forced the two to talk things out. Things had improved after that, as they seemed to settle in as friends, but looking at her face now, he wondered if maybe things weren't quite so clear-cut after all.

"Hey," he said softly, reaching over and touching her arm, drawing her attention to him. "You okay?"

"I'm fine." The response was automatic, sharp and accompanied by the clenching of her jaw and narrowing of her eyes. But he knew her, knew when she was posturing, and met her look with a raised eyebrow. She held his gaze defiantly for a second, then sighed and rolled her eyes, all the fight leaving her in an instant. "All right, so maybe I'm not completely fine. But I'm getting there." As she spoke, her eyes darted back to the floor, where the blonde had grabbed Stiles by the hand and was leading him away.

"It's hard, isn't it?" he asked softly as they watched the girl pull their friend from the room. When she turned, a questioning look on her face, he gestured toward the door they'd just walked through. "Seeing him with somebody else."

"Not hard. Definitely a little strange," she admitted. "He was mine, and now he's not, and it's weird seeing him with other girls. But we've been through for months now." She drew in a deep breath and nodded resolutely. "We're over and I'm okay with that."

Scott nodded, and they lapsed into silence. He couldn't help but think about his own split. It hadn't been easy to let Kira go, but she knew what she needed, what was best for her, and he wasn't about to get in the way. She'd made it clear that she loved him, but she didn't want either of them to get hung up on waiting for the other. There was no way to know when her training would end, when she'd regain the control she needed to be around people again. So they'd said their good-byes and ended things as friends. For the first few weeks, he'd been hopeful she'd come back soon, but that faded over time, and finally he'd accepted the reality, that waiting around for something that might never happen was neither smart nor healthy. He needed to move on with his life.

"You know what I miss the most?"

The question, asked in a voice much softer than he was accustomed to hearing from her, drew him from his own thoughts. "What's that?"

"The... I don't know, intimacy, I guess. Of being with someone." She leaned back and looked at him, a frown twisting her face. "And I don't just mean sex. I mean all of it. I didn't really think of it when we were together, y'know? I just—I knew I could go to him whenever I wanted to and it would be okay. I could tell him anything. I could fall asleep with him and know he'd be there in the morning. I always had a place to go when I needed it. And then suddenly I didn't. That was just... just gone." She shook her head. "I didn't realise how much that meant until I didn't have it anymore. You know what I mean?"

He knew exactly what she meant. He'd struggled with that himself after Kira left. Was still struggling with it, if he was being honest with himself. That sudden lack of closeness had been jarring, uncomfortable. He couldn't count how many times he'd reached for his phone intending to text her with some little thing he'd thought of, or something funny he'd seen, only to realise she wasn't going to answer. It left him feeling a little empty inside.

"Yeah, it's not easy," he said softly, a sad smile on his face.

"But relationships are hard too." She waved her hand weakly toward the crowd, full of couples, dancing and enjoying themselves. "It's not all like that. Every time I think about trying again, I start thinking about how the hell I'm supposed to explain everything to some random guy. Am I supposed to tell him I was a freaking coyote for eight years? That seems like a good way to make a normal person run away screaming. Or do I try to hide everything? How are you supposed to explain away why you suddenly have fangs or glowing eyes? I mean, my control is way better now, but still."

"Hey, I get it. You're preaching to the choir here." Leaning back, he pursed his lips, then blew out a heavy breath. "I've thought about all that too. How many times has one of us had to drop everything and rush off to deal with some new threat? Sorry I had to bail on our date, but a giant monster in bone armour and a freaking bear skull was trying to murder all my friends so I had to go tear its head off. Not really an explanation for somebody who doesn't know about... everything." She let out a snort at that and he smiled. "It wasn't anything I ever had to worry about with Kira, or with Allison. They were always right there with me. But now..."

"Yeah." She sighed, then buried her face in her hands and let out a little frustrated growl. "Why does it have to be so hard? I don't want hard, Scott. I want easy. Is that too much to ask?"

"No, of course not." But even as he said it, he couldn't help but wonder if maybe it was.

Silence reigned between them again as they both stared out at the crowd, lost in their own thoughts. Sitting there, on the outskirts, as happy couples and friends danced and laughed and had a good time, Scott suddenly felt painfully, hopelessly lonely. Frowning, he looked at her and saw a lot of what he was feeling mirrored in her face, her eyes.

Abruptly, Malia huffed out a breath and rose to her feet, swinging around to face him and holding out her hand. He had just enough time to shoot her a bemused look before she grabbed his arm and dragged him to his feet. "Come on," she said, nodding toward the dance floor. "Enough talk. You said you wanted to have fun, right? Let's dance."

With an amused smile on his face, he didn't resist as she pulled him onto the floor. He could use a distraction. When she arched an eyebrow in challenge, he grinned and shook his head, giving her his other hand and letting her pull him close, get him moving. For the first time all night, he finally let go and gave into the music, the atmosphere, and just went with it, feeling her move with him, around him, carefree and easy. The rest of the room, the people fell away as he concentrated on her, on letting go of his thoughts and just dancing. It was easy with her. He didn't have to try, didn't have to force anything like he would have with somebody he wasn't close to.

"Having fun?" she yelled over the music, cheeks flushed, eyes flashing as they moved to the beat. He just nodded, unable to get the grin of his face.

He really was having fun. It felt good to be close to, to be touching a pretty girl again, even if she was just a friend. It felt good to move and sweat and not have to think about anything but that. His cheeks hurt from grinning, and from the look on her face, he figured she was enjoying herself as much as he was. When a new song came on, even more up-tempo than the last, she let go of him and spun around, pressed her back against his chest. His hands dropped to her waist as she moved against him, her hair flying his face. When she looked back over her shoulder and winked at him, he couldn't help but laugh, caught up in the moment.

Scott wasn't sure how long they spent out on the dance floor, but he was in no hurry to leave. He was relieved when the music changed to something a little slower though, the heat starting to get to him a bit.

"You're a better dancer than I thought," Malia said breathlessly, her arms loosely thrown over his shoulders, looking into his eyes, a little smirk on her face.

He shot her a crooked grin. "Thanks, I think. You're not so bad yourself."

Suddenly, one of the people around them bumped into her from behind, driving her into his chest with enough force to send him stumbling back a couple steps. He tightened his grip on her waist as he steadied himself, fully expecting her to turn around and tear into the guy. But instead, she stayed tight to him, her face pressed into his shoulder. He looked down, a little confused, just as she looked up and met his gaze.

"What?" he asked, frowning at the unfamiliar expression on her face. It was almost like she was assessing him, considering.

Abruptly, she pulled back and grabbed his hand. "Come on." Before he could reply, she started pulling him toward the door. He stumbled over his own feet, nearly crashing into a nearby couple, but quickly righted himself and let her drag him through the crowd and out of the room. The next room was full too, people sitting around, drinking and talking, but they didn't stop, heading over toward the staircase that led up to the second floor. As they reached the stairs, she went left, around the side and down a short hallway that led to a bathroom. More confused than anything, he let her lead him inside, stepping back and watching as she closed the door, then turned back toward him.

"Malia, what are—"

Before he could get the words out, she pushed him back against the wall, wrapped her arms around his neck, and kissed him.

At first, he was too surprised to do anything, going rigid as she worked her lips against his. This was Malia, Stiles' ex, one of Kira's best friends. Dancing with her was one thing, but kissing her? That was another thing entirely. She was a member of his pack. She was a friend. She was... a gorgeous girl, pressed up against him, and kissing him like she meant it. All those thoughts flashed through his head in an instant, disappearing as quickly as they came as he relaxed into the kiss, his hands going to her hips as he gave into her insistent efforts.

"Wow," he said, a little breathless, when she eventually pulled back and looked at him, cheeks flushed, eyes bright. "Are you—I mean... what... I—"

She cut off his stumbling efforts with another kiss, crushing her lips against his as her fingers tangled in his hair. He didn't think this time, pulling her tight against him and giving back as good as he got, revelling in the taste, the feel of her, of kissing someone again.

Slowly, they broke apart again, breathing heavily, and Malia trailed her hands down his shoulders, pressing them flat to his chest. For a second, they just looked at each other, eyes locked.

"So..." he finally said, dragging out the word. "You, uh..."

"You came here to have fun, right?" she interjected, as he struggled to find the words. Snapping his mouth shut, he nodded. "So did I. I'm lonely, Scott, and I know you are too. Now, we could go back out there and find somebody to kill time with. But we're both single. We like each other already. I know you find me attractive." She tapped her nose at that point and smirked as his cheeks flushed. "So why don't we just, y'know, give it a shot, see what happens? It's just one night."

For a moment, Scott was frozen, looking into her eyes as he considered her proposition. He saw the merits, he couldn't deny it. He was lonely. She was attractive. And hooking up with somebody who he already liked and trusted sounded better than some random girl he'd never spoken to before. There were obvious issues there too, of course. They were friends, which could get real messy, not just between them, but with the rest of the pack too. Was it worth it?

Before he could go too far down that path, a part of him gave the mental equivalent of a shrug. He was tired of over-thinking things, of putting other people ahead of himself. They both wanted the same thing, and were completely capable of giving it to each other. That was simple. It wasn't like she was asking him to marry her. She just wanted to have a little fun. That only had to be as complicated as they chose to make it. Maybe in the morning, he'd worry about Kira, about Stiles, about all the ways things could go wrong. But for now, it was just too tempting, too easy not to give in.

"You know what? Yeah," he said, nodding as his heart started to beat a little faster, anticipation rearing its head. "Yeah, let's—let's do it."

She arched an eyebrow, a little smile twisting her lips. "Yeah?"

"Yeah," he repeated, nodding again, voice stronger, more certain. "You're right. We're both single. We both want the same thing. So, I mean, why not, right?"

This time, when she came in to kiss him again, he was ready. Turning the tables, he reversed their positions, meeting her challenging gaze for a second before he slid his hands under her and lifted her off the ground, walking her back and setting her down on the sink. Her legs wrapped around his waist as he slanted his lips over hers. She let out a little moan and leaned her head back as he kissed his way along her jaw and down the side of her neck and back. When he nipped playfully at her lower lip, a little growl burst free and her eyes flared blue.

"Upstairs," she murmured, locking eyes with him as he pulled back a bit. "Lydia's got a bunch of guest rooms..."

"Let's go."

-l-l-l-l-

As he buttoned up his shirt, Scott looked over at Malia and couldn't help but grin when he found her looking back at him. Neither had said a word since they'd finished, just sharing a lingering kiss before they separated and redressed on opposite sides of the room.

If he was being honest with himself, he was a little surprised at how comfortable the silence was. Now that he wasn't distracted by her or the heat or anything else, he half-expected to feel a little guilty, or at least strange about things. He'd just had sex with one of his closest friends, a member of his pack, the ex-girlfriend of the guy he considered his brother. But there was none of that. He felt good about what had just happened, and not just because it had been amazing. They'd both needed a release, a little closeness, an escape, and they'd found it in each other. He couldn't bring himself to feel bad about that. The only negative he felt was a slight twinge of apprehension at the thought that maybe she wasn't feeling as good about things as he was. She was grinning just as much as he was, every time he looked over at her, but he couldn't read her mind.

"So," he finally said, breaking the silence as he stepped toward her, over near the door. "That was... all right, right?" He winced at the uncertainty in his voice.

Instead of replying, she reached out and fisted her hands in his shirt, yanking him toward her. His arms instinctively went around her as she pressed her lips to his, this kiss softer, gentler than any of the others they'd already shared.

"Yeah," she said a second later, as she pulled back, lips quirked up in a little smile. "It was all right."

"Any regrets?" he murmured, looking into her eyes.

"No," she stated decisively. "You?"

"None. I, uh, did you want..." He gritted his teeth, then let out a sigh and shook his head, a sheepish smile creeping across his face at the questioning look that formed on hers. "This—this stays between us, right? Not that there's anything wrong with it!" he blurted out when she started to frown. "It's just—did you want... people to know?" He didn't say the name, but he knew she'd know exactly who he was talking about.

Slowly, she shook her head. "No, you were right earlier. This is a lost night. We needed each other. Now everything goes back to how it was."

They fell silent again, just staring at each other, neither quite sure what to do next. Scott knew they had to get back out there, before Lydia came looking for them. But he was reluctant to go, to end their encounter, and from the look on her face, it seemed like she was feeling the same. Once they went through that door, they were just friends again, two people with their own problems and own lives. He didn't think anything had changed in that regard, but it was so easy to pretend when they were still together, close, their brief moments of intimacy a taste of what they'd both so sorely been missing.

"I guess we should probably..." He trailed off, nodding toward the door without breaking eye contact.

"Yeah," she said, and he could hear the same reluctance in that single word that he was feeling. He couldn't but smile then, glad to know she seemed to be just as hesitant to put an end to whatever it was they'd just experienced.

Shooting him one final soft smile, Malia finally turned and reached for the door knob. Cracking it open, she peeked out into the hallway, making sure nobody was lingering outside, then opened it wide and stepped out. He followed her out, closing the door behind him, and waited until she disappeared around the corner before he slowly made his way back toward the on-going party. Stopping next to the stairs, he watched her back as she disappeared into the next room. Then he headed in the other direction, toward the kitchen, deciding a drink sounded pretty good at the moment.

When he got to the kitchen, Scott found a young couple making out, but they quickly vacated the room when he walked in. Shaking his head, he huffed out an amused breath and grabbed a soda out of the fridge, downing half of it in one shot as he looked around. Every surface was littered with empty bottles and plastic cups and the other remnants of a successful party.

As he leaned back against the counter, wincing a little at the scratches Malia had left on his back, the door swung open and Lydia stepped into the room. She paused briefly when she saw him standing there, then continued forward. "I thought you'd snuck out," she said, joining him at the counter.

"Nope. Just doing what you said," he replied, unable to keep the grin off his face. "Mingling, being merry, and all that."

She hummed softly, eyes slightly narrowed as she looked up at his face. He kept his expression purposely blank, heart suddenly pounding hard. Lydia was smart, and entirely too observant. If anybody was going to figure out what he'd been up to, it would be her. But after a brief moment that somehow felt like an eternity to him, she relaxed, a wide smile spreading across her face as she nodded.

"Good, I'm glad. This is really going well. Much better than my Halloween party."

Scott let out a snort at that. "Hey, that wasn't really anybody's fault. I mean, sure, Stiles was kind of responsible. But he was just trying to make things more... thematic, I guess."

One eyebrow arched in disbelief as she looked at him. "Thematic? He nearly poisoned everybody!"

"It was an accident. Those canisters were not properly labelled. And it was pretty cool at first, all foggy and spooky. Until, y'know, everybody started passing out."

"Oh yeah, it was great," she said dryly. "The fact I was able to convince anybody to come tonight is a minor miracle. And I had to promise not to let him anywhere near this place until everything was set up." She sighed and shook her head, frowning heavily. "Why are we friends with that doofus? It's basically like committing social suicide."

Holding up his hands, Scott grinned and shrugged. "Hey, don't look at me. I've been friends with him since back when people would have said the same thing about me. You're the one who made the choice to chain yourself to this anchor."

"And I regret it every day."

Her severe frown lasted a few seconds when he burst out laughing, before slowly softening into a smile. While he got the amusement out of his system, she watched him closely, eyes focused on his face, assessing.

"What?" he asked a moment later. "Something on my face?"

She shook her head slowly, studying him searchingly. "No. I just—you seem different suddenly. Looser. I mean, I'm not saying you were sad or anything, but you've seemed really down the last few months." It was clear from her tone she knew exactly what had been sapping his good mood. "I can't remember the last time I heard you laugh like that. It's nice."

Scott didn't know what to say to that. He did feel looser, lighter than he had in awhile. And not just because of the sex. It had felt really good, really freeing to get out of his own head for a little while, to just live for a bit. And now, on the other side, he found that the heaviness wasn't pressing down on him quite so hard. At least not yet, anyway.

For her benefit, he shrugged and said, "I had a good time tonight. This party... it helped." Enough truth to feel authentic, and it didn't hurt to stroke her ego a bit. And from the smile that formed on her face, he figured it worked. Perfect deflection. "I think I'm gonna take off now though, if you don't mind. I'm kind of tired."

"Sure." She gestured around the room. "It's not like I need help cleaning this up or anything." When he hesitated, she rolled her eyes. "I'm kidding. Go. I'll get Stiles to give me a hand with all this. That's the price of my friendship. Oh, wait." He paused, already halfway to the door, and looked back, raising an eyebrow. "Tuesday. I talked to everybody else and that's the day that works best for everybody to do a Christmas lunch. Liam and Hayden are spending Christmas day with his parents, and Stiles has a thing with his dad, but everyone's free Tuesday. You will be there." It was clear from her tone she wasn't asking.

"Yes, Lydia, I'll be there," he assured her. She'd been talking about the lunch for weeks, wanting to get the whole pack together. He wasn't sure why it was so important to her, but it clearly was, and he wasn't going to be the one to mess it up. "I'll even come early and help you set up if you need me." At her surprised look, he grinned. "Hey, I'm in a good mood. Don't question it."

"Fair enough," she said, amusement colouring her voice. "Go on. I'll text you if I need you."

Raising a hand in farewell, Scott headed out of the kitchen and made his way toward the front door. A couple players from the lacrosse team waved to him, but most of the people he passed were either too drunk or too distracted to notice him. Outside, he paused and drew in a deep breath of cool air, taking a second to look up at the starry sky, before he headed for where he'd parked.

As he headed around the side of the house, he suddenly picked up a familiar scent and stopped. "I thought you'd gone back to dance some more," he said, smiling as Malia stepped away from the wall, toward him.

She shrugged. "Didn't really feel like hanging around anymore. Are you going home?"

"Yeah. Lydia actually let me go," he said, grinning. When she just nodded, he frowned, suddenly picking up on a weird tension in the air. "Is everything okay? Did you need a ride or something."

"Or something," she muttered absently, shifting a little and looking off somewhere to their left as she crossed her arms. He kept quiet, recognising the signs that she was building up to something, and happy to let her get there in her own time. "So, listen," she eventually said, eyes suddenly focusing on his. "I was thinking that... well, it's still early and... oh, screw this!" Before he could move or say anything, she stepped forward and kissed him, lips moving hungrily over his. When she pulled back a moment later, she cocked an eyebrow and said, "Lost night, right? Well, the night's not over yet."

He couldn't keep the smile off his face then. "No, it's not." Reaching out, he grabbed her hand, intertwining their fingers as they looked at each other. "My mom's working tonight, so..."

"Let's go."

AN: So, in most of my stories, it always takes some near-death experience or something of the kind to finally get Scott and Malia together. I wanted to do something a little different this time. With that in mind, this one's just gonna be a short little thing where our favourite couple just has a good time. The goal is to keep things light, so consider this a warning if that's not your cup of tea. I'll save the darkness for my next story. As always, let me know what you think.