A/N: Hey there guys.
I'm finally back with the update and I gotta say 'Thanks to every one.'
Thanks for the views, the follows, the favorites and the review. XD
Hope you enjoy this new chapter as I enjoyed writing it. Also before I get hit in the head with a fluorescent light, again, I want to apologize for not including the disclaimer in the last chapter... you know before i get sued or something.
DISCLAIMER: Teen Wolf and its characters do not belong to me and this fic is purely for the purpose of entertaining.
Now that that's out of the way lets roll.
Have fun. :)
Chapter 2. - After sunset
Today had been a day off from most of his responsibilities back in the office, mostly because everything for the week had been already solved by Wednesday and every pending detail was left on hold for next week. So for the next two days Derek was mercilessly being drag around town by both his uncle and older sister, and being today Friday with the clock signaling that it was now four in the afternoon all he wanted was for the day to be over, have a nice relaxing evening and have a good night sleep. Of course the other two Hale family members had no such intention.
"Der Der! Look!" the perky call from his sister made him mentally growl. "Don't you think those shoes would look pretty nice on me?"
Derek took a quick look at said shoes before shrugging. "Whatever."
Laura just frowned at him. She was very well acquainted on Derek language so she instantly glared at him after traducing the 'whatever' supplemented by the shrug. The translation being: 'I don't really give a damn. Now fucking buy something so we can get the hell out of here.'
"Oh really?" she said in a very distinctive emphatic way for Derek's liking to which he frowned with concern (concern for himself that is), "Then how about instead I buy that shirt over there, then take it to mom and casually comment on how adorable you would look with it, huh? Der Bear?" she finished with a smirk.
As the young Hale turned around to see said shirt his eyes were opening wide and his jaw was almost down on the floor. "Hell no!" he immediately yelled making several buyers spring up frightened, "Don't even think about it! I swear Laura, if you as much go and buy that shirt I'll tell father about the little incident in the pool!"
The Hale sister gasped. "You dirty little voyeur!" again even more people turned their head towards the two arguing siblings. "I knew you were spying on us!"
"Believe me my dear big sister, it was the last thing I could've ever wish for. I had nightmares for the next three weeks!"
As the ranting, the screaming and the guilt trips carried on Peter was just standing a few feet away from them, fighting to contain the outburst of laughter that was menacing from blowing out of his throat. So to help distract the laughter he turned his head looking at the piece of cloth that, indirectly and unwillingly, started the now ensuing verbal war. The shirt was black with a very… flashy (being the most appropriate word that came to his mind) printed image on the center of the chest. Said shirt beared the image of a very cute and chubby teddy bear snuggling a big and bright red heart that had the words 'I need a hug' printed on it. With the image of a frowning Derek bearing said shirt on his mind a well contained laughter once again fought to emerge from within him, making him choke and bend over forcing Peter to sustain himself from the nearest wall available.
Peter knew exactly why Derek refused immediately at Laura's threat. Probably most people would assume that it was fucking obvious but, truth be told, the determining factor for Derek's refusal was to involve his mother on the matter. If there was one well known factor to the Hale Family it was the usual bitterness in the boy's personality, which was very well displayed through the day-in and day-out by his usual frown. If Laura had owned her ranting-trademark then Derek had the award for trademarking the frown. Usually the Hale boy would reject and neglect anything that didn't immediately appeal him in any way whatsoever, usually scowling at Laura whenever she tried to drag him into something or ignoring Cora's barking; however, the only available way for Derek to cave in and actually agree to do anything at all was through his mother. Talia Hale was the only person in the world who was able to persuade Derek to do all the things the boy would never do in his right mind. Even now Talia is still the only person who can make Derek do anything… needless to say that as any other mother her usual weapon was guilt… just sometimes.
When a half-contained laughter came to his ears Derek stopped his debate with Laura to look back at his uncle who was now on the verge of really bursting into laughter, so bend by it that if it wasn't for the hand holding onto the wall he would already be rolling on the floor. The young man frowned knowing exactly why his uncle was trying so hard to not laugh, and Laura who had follow his gaze to their uncle also got the message, which is why she was victoriously grinning.
After more several shouts security finally took action.
On their way back from the shopping mall (more like they didn't really have any other option after being thrown out) Derek was driving with his usual frown, Laura was on the passenger seat whining about the rest of the stuff she couldn't get to buy, and Peter was merrily humming in the back seat while scrolling pictures on his phone. 'Another typical Hale Shopping evening.' Derek thought to himself. As much as Derek would've appreciated the much needed silence of a ride back home, being with Laura in a whiny mode didn't really help much.
Not at all.
After driving for a few more miles and hearing to the famous Laura-Hale-Ranting Derek had finally decided to focus his sister's bickering into another oral fight, all it took for it was for Derek to make another snarky comment about her behavior and then hell could break loose. Both Hale brothers started another argue about who was the most infuriating of the two, or who did the most embarrassing thing, or who was the most annoying. 'Both if ask me.' Thought Peter slipping on his headphones to drown the shouting in loud music. An hour later the shining black Camaro was parking in front of the Hale Manor with both brothers having dry throats and hoarse voices, while Peter had his usual smugly face and swaying to the beat of whatever tune he was listening to.
The family members got out of the car and moved the few bags (most of them being a third of what Laura actually had intended to buy or so she said) inside the house leaving them on the couch of the big living room.
"Well at least I got that smooth cream I needed for my legs." She commented in a nonchalant tone while signaling the last bag that Derek was placing down.
Derek quickly looked back at her with a hint of disgust. "I hate you."
"Ok you two." quickly said Peter when he foresaw another debate between the glaring brothers. "Could you please try act like civilized brothers? I think we had enough bickering back on the mall and all the way back. Don't you think?"
Before they could even open their mouths to argue another voice interrupted. "Uncle Peter!" Cora entered the living room running to hug the older male.
"Hey there beauty." he hugged her a few seconds before she backed up without breaking the hug to look at the man.
"You're a terrible uncle you know that?" she pouted. "You've been here since Monday and I just got to see you today!"
Peter smiled. "Well my dear you know how awfully busy I can get, but don't worry I'll make it up to you." he lightly pinched her nose.
"By being busy he means getting plastered every night." said Derek smirking.
"Or getting one or several people into the same bed." added Laura smiling.
"Or both." finished Peter with an amused smile when both brothers sighed.
"Ugh that is so like you Peter." groaned Laura while rolling her eyes.
"Well it sounds like fun." said Cora smiling devilishly. "Count me in next time."
"Like hell you will." barked Derek almost immediately. "You may be already twenty-one years old but you're still a kid." when Cora started to glare at him Derek smiled remembering something important. "Besides what about Isaac?" the teen blushed at the name of the curly haired blonde, looking away from Derek as if she didn't understand what he was talking about.
"Oh don't you worry my beauty." says Peter making all three brother to look at him while putting an arm around Cora's shoulders. "We can include your little friend as well." he smirked.
"Peter." the stern voice that echoed through the big hall made everyone froze, even Peter.
When everybody turned their heads towards the entrance of the living room that connected with the lobby they saw a tall woman with long dark hair and eyes carefully studying everyone, matching and expectant look on her face that was alternating between doing a frown and making an amused look. Her arms were crossed over her chest and her foot was tapping the floor, indicating she obviously heard every word of the conversation and was waiting for a thorough explanation.
"And exactly in what will you be including my dear children?" the look on her face turned inquisitive.
"Well my dear, sweet and loving sister." he sweetened his words while letting go of Cora and walking over to the older woman. "I just wanted to provide some great and totally healthy fun to my dear family, namely Cora, who I couldn't see since I arrived in town." the older Hale rested his hands on both shoulder of the woman making an apologetic and smiley face. "I assure you, it has always been my duty as uncle of these children to protect them from harm."
"Well that's very nice of you." her smile made all three Hale siblings to look at her cautiously, "Just don't force me to put a restraining order on you, ok?" Peter smiled mischievously.
"You can count on that my dear sister." he said kissing her in the temple.
"Relax mom," said Laura nonchalantly, "It's not like Peter would introduce us to his secret drug dealing business."
"Unfortunately with someone like Peter you can never be sure." Added Derek receiving an amused look from his uncle.
"I still think it sounds like fun." said Cora with a playful look on her face.
"You should also keep thinking about what your father told you yesterday young lady." said Talia, and just before the young Hale girl could protest she raised her brown as a warning for her daughter. "Now."
Last Wednesday Cora had, yet again, tried to get ahold of Derek's Camaro by tricking him, again. Needless to say that she came with another intricate story to soften her big brother and convince him to lend her the Camaro just for the rest of the day; however, it was thanks to Isaac's naiveness that her plan was ruined, again. Her father had grounded her for the weekend and, instead of driving her brother's Camaro, she had to spend the rest of the day yelling at the curly haired blonde, again.
"Ugh fine." she said with an exasperated sigh and left the room, her stomping echoing.
They remained in silence hearing the echoing of Cora's heavy stomping until it was completely out of hearing range. "Now," said Talia suddenly, "As for you two," she signaled Derek and Laura making both siblings nervous, "Can I ask why did I got a call from the shopping mall, again?" when she saw both siblings ready to make excuses for themselves (or more like ready to blame each other) she raised a hand to stop them, "Ok, both of you just listen," she cleared her throat, "I don't care who started what or whose fault was it, what I do care is that both of you need to stop fighting over every little thing and you need to stop giving to any kind of social media more reasons to be on our tails. Now, since I'm starting to get a headache, why don't kids go to do whatever you're supposed to be doing now, ok?" With that she headed for the kitchen pressing her temples.
The remaining three Hales stood there in complete silence, eyes fixed on the exit the woman had used. When Peter figured that his sister was no longer within ear range he smirked at the siblings. "You kids really like to get into trouble, right?"
"Well if Laura knew when to shut up this wouldn't happen, although that's probably never gonna happen." Derek said all snarky crossing his arms and awaiting his sister's comeback.
Laura, on the other hand, merely stared at him with a blank expression for a few seconds before speaking. "You're lucky mother is just two rooms away from us." Having said that she took her bags from the couch and headed for her room, making light steps unlike her younger sister.
Derek was struggling to fight back the urge of a dumbfounded expression while Peter just shook his head with amusement.
"Well my dear nephew, I have to go as well. Important business calls to make." The older Hale went to the couch to grab a bag of his own and walked to Derek to drape an arm over the younger man's shoulder. "Now, before I go, Do you remember what I told you on Monday?" he looked at the boy with an expectant look.
Derek groaned before answering. "Peter I usually try to forget everything you say to me. Life is already exerting enough without your mental-scaring sex adventures." he complained brushing off his uncle arm from him. "And, by the way, remember that mother is here so no booty calls, please."
The older man gasped in disbelief (feigned of course). "You offend me Derek. I am capable of performing calls that do not involve sex. Also FYI, those are preventing tales my dear nephew." he said smirking, "And you are lucky that I'm willing to share them with you. Now, returning to my question. Do you remember or not?" he crossed his arms.
The younger Hale sighed. "Yes, I do remember, unfortunately of course. You said to not make any kind of plans, remarking the same words as you did, for next Saturday night."
The man grinned. "Yes, correct my dear Dery-boy. Tomorrow night is a Hale-Male-Only night. You and I are going out to have a hell of a night."
Derek stared at him like he had grown a second head. "I don't like the way you're saying that."
Peter who was already walking out of the living room stopped at the entrance at looked back at Derek with a foxy grin. "Believe me Dery-boy, you're going to like it and you will also thank me for it. Of this I am sure."
Derek remained silent, focusing only on the sound of his uncle's footsteps fading away. Once he couldn't hear them anymore he let out the breath he didn't know he was holding, feeling a little bit disturbed by the last words of the older man. It's not like Derek wasn't used to Peter's weird choice of words or his even weirder way of using them, nor even that most of his uncles' speeches weren't even something to think much about anyway (more like he didn't want to think about them anyway). What really had disturbed Derek was the tone and mysterious grin that Peter used with his last words, almost as if he was able to see something that nobody else could. A treat that he only had seen in his mother… and the thought of his uncle able to do the same was scary.
Rubbing his face with both hands Derek took the last bag resting on the couch (the only thing he got to buy no thanks to Laura) and headed for his room. He would first take a shower and then go through some papers in the comfort of his bed.
"I still think option B is better." he said with a frown.
Everybody groaned at the voice of the messy-mop boy who was seated on the floor, an arm draped over his girlfriend's leg who was sitting on the love chair of the small living room. Allison had her hand resting on the back of Scott's neck with a thumb gently brushing it.
"Honey, we already told you why it isn't." she gave the boy a smile.
"Okay enough." said Lydia who was seated on the only chair of the kitchen table, tapping her red fingernails against the old looking wood of the table. "You're just being childish because Jackson got the right answer before you." said blonde snorted.
"What a baby McCall."
Scott gasped. "That's not true. Besides you just got it right because you're sitting right next to Lydia." he said pointing at the redheaded girl.
The girl kept her eyes on her notebook while the blonde, who was sitting in the same way near Lydia as Scott to Allison, frowned. "Or maybe it means I do pay attention to class," he smirked, "unlike some daydreamer that stares at his phone's wallpaper all day."
In an instant Scott's face was redder than a tomato while Allison was very surprised by the information. The blushed boy tried to make a comeback but all words got stuck in his throat and could only stammer a few words, while his girlfriend remained calm and kept the rubbing over the boy's neck. An amuse smile on her face.
"Really Scott?" asked the girl making Scoot blush even more, "You know baby, I actually thought you did as much," she said making the boy look at her with surprised eyes, "But all day?"
"I just- I mean- Is not-," as he stammered more and more Allison's smile just got wider.
"Oh sweetie, that's so cute." she said launching herself to hug the boy.
"Oh come on you two," groaned Jackson, "Quit it with the honey rain, will ya?"
"To be fair you're the one who started the fireworks with your comment." said Lydia nonchalantly.
"What? Now you're on their side?" the blonde turned to her with an annoyed face.
"Okay, enough you guys," said Stiles from the green bean bag he was sitting leaning against the wall line were the living room and the kitchen joined, "We're getting sidetracked, again." he made a loud groan. "Could we please get back to the real deal here? We're supposed to be studying for our next test."
"Well we could if McCall could stop being such a baby."
"And you're cheating." said the messy-haired boy immediately.
Once the boys started discussing, once again, Stiles sighed in frustration. "Girls," he called them out, "Could you please help me out here?"
Both girls looked back at each other, thing that the scrawny teen didn't like at all, before they once again turned to him. "Apple pie?" they said at the same time.
Stiles groaned again burying his face in his hands. "Fine, whatever, I don't care but just- please."
Both girls made a pleased smile, and after Allison gave a significant look to Lydia, the redheaded girl cleared her throat. "Quiet!" she yelled scaring both Scott and Jackson while Stiles merely flinched. He was definitely never going to get used to that. "You two idiots better stop it now or, I swear to god, I'll make the rest of the day a living hell for both of you." While the two arguing boys paled in fear Stiles shivered, mostly because he knew Lydia since long ago and he was very well aware, just as everybody else, that she indeed had the power to do so.
The most terrifying thing was that Lydia only needed the rest of the day, maybe just a few hours or even less than that, to make them feel true hell. Everybody, including Allison, knew how true this fact was.
After a few seconds of silence Lydia spoke again. "I want my share with extra frosting, ok?" she said after giving Stiles the ever so enigmatic (and bit creepy) smile of hers and then she went back to reading her notes.
Silence filled the room for a whole minute, so Allison decided to break it. "So let's pick up where we left." She said grabbing her notebook before placing a small kiss on Scott's temple.
Stiles also grabbed his notebook while muttering 'thank you.'
For the next hour or two the group continued their studies as much as they could, of course it goes without saying that both Jackson and Scott kept digressing every now and then either by sliding away from the topic or get caught in another stupid discussion only to be immediately shut up by one of Lydia's yells.
Finally the study session came to an end when Stiles' phone rang with an alarm he had set himself; it was already four in the afternoon.
"Well I guess that's as good as we can manage for today." said Allison stretching up her arms.
"No thanks to these two." when both guys looked at her with offended looks she added. "No seriously, you guys just kept bickering back and forth like a couple of wolves fighting over the last bunny leg."
"I wouldn't have said anything if Scott weren't such a baby."
"Well if you hadn't been cheating..."
"Cut it out!" another yell from Lydia once again appeased the teens.
Stiles decided to take the dirty dishes and glasses to the sink, leaving them to dunk for a while so it would be easier to wash them later. He turned around and smiled at the scene. Lydia was still scolding the guys while they looked like a couple of puppies bending their ears down with an apologetic look on their faces. Allison merely stood behind the bossy girl with an amused look on her face, almost retaining a grin. This made Stiles smile. Their friends were the most precious thing he had in school, in this big town, in this cold world.
Life has been really hard for him since a few years back.
Suddenly a buzz in his pocket snapped him out of his thought, he quickly scrambled to reach his phone form inside his pocket, glancing at the screen that marked two new text messages. For just a fraction of a second Stiles frowned at the name tags in screen and huffed as low as possible, grateful that Lydia's scolding was louder than the sound traffic was giving off.
"Um guys," Lydia suddenly stopped her ranting and everybody turned to him, "I need to go out for a moment, so just close the door on your way out." he said quickly heading for the door.
"Hey dude, hold on." the scrawny boy was suddenly stopped when Scott's hand gripped his elbow. "Is everything alright?" he looked at his friend with a concerned look.
"Let him be McCall, he's probably just late for a date or something." said Jackson.
"Ugh no jackass, I don't have a date I just need to go to speak to the landlord."
"The landlord?" asked Allison looking puzzled.
"Yeah, you know." answered Stiles gesturing the room. "The owner of the place I'm living in right now." Allison rolled her eyes with a defeated sigh, very well used to Stiles' sarcasm.
"But dude what's wrong?" asked Scott again, another worried look on his face.
Stiles sighed, his friends could be very nosy when he least needed it. "Nothing man, chill." he quickly said trying not to make a big thing out of it but then when Scott's look wouldn't go away he added "I just need to renew my contract with him. Remember? Every resident of the building needs to make a contract to use an apartment."
"Ooooh." said both Allison and Scott which made Stiles snort with amusement.
"Now, if the 21 questions are over I would like to go and catch the landlord before he vanishes again." having said that he quickly went outside closing the door behind him. The others remained quiet for a few minutes.
"Is it me or was he kind of jumpy?" asked Jackson staring at the door.
"Well he certainly looked kind of anxious." said Allison, "Then again he sometimes worries too much, don't you think?"
"Maybe he's just worried about the test," said Scott nonchalantly, "I don't worry for him, he's going to be alright. He's quite smart and has a scholarship after all."
"Maybe you should also get yourself some smarts McCall." said Jackson laughing, "Just first learn how to use them." Scott just gave him the finger.
Allison took a few steps aside and smiled while watching the boys bicker yet again, until her eyes drifted to Lydia. The redheaded girl was still staring at the door, her eyes fixed in a blank glance to the wooden piece. Allison knew her friend too well and that look was the one she had every time she had a hard time understanding something, which was a rare sight considering that the girl was quite clever to always catch onto something hidden beneath words and actions. All that lead to one only thing. Did Stiles just lie to them about seeing the landlord? Or even yet. What was it? Was it something so bad that Stiles didn't want them knowing about it? By the look Lydia's eyes were starting to twitch around Allison figured that her friend already was making more questions than answers inside her mind.
"Well I didn't know it was for that!" the yell from Scott brought Allison put her thoughts.
"It was on the fucking instructions McCall!", Allison giggled when he saw Jackson raising his voice to reach the same tone Scott's voice had, the blonde's face was starting to get red.
"Okay enough." said Allison standing in between the boys, placing her hands each on both guys shoulders. "Scott, remember that we need to meet my Dad in the storage, which is a bit far from here." she adjusted the strap of her backpack, "So let's get going."
"Oh shit, that's right." he quickly scrambled away to grab his backpack as well, "Lets hurry up. I don't want your Dad to shoot me with another of his fancy-super-high-tech guns." he winced at the memory.
"Scott it was an accident." groaned Allison.
"Ally, please. Do you really expect me to believe that a highly trained gun expert like your dad could just shoot a bullet by mistake at the door that, coincidentally, was being open by me?" he gave her a disbelieving look.
"I told you already, they package had just been delivered and the trigger was more sensitive than what he thought it was."
"Oh please, I'm pretty sure your dad heard me coming down the sidewalk from five miles away and just seized his chance." he said stepping out and walking to the elevator.
"Scott." she whined running behind the messy-haired boy.
When both Scott and Allison's voices couldn't be heard Jackson assumed that both had gotten into the elevator. So snorting with amusement he went to close the door while shaking his head. Those two could be a real entertaining show sometimes. He turned around to see Lydia staring at space with a lost look on her face, a look that he knew very well. Her girlfriend was trying to unravel something she couldn't understand very well… which said a fucking lot.
"What's wrong babe?" he asked, concerned that someone as smart as Lydia had trouble understanding something.
"Hmm?" she said turning her to eyes to the blonde man. "I'm sorry, what?"
"What's wrong Lyds? You seem awfully distracted. Something bothering you?" he held both her hands in his.
"No." she said fully returning from her torpor but when he saw Jackson frowning at her with concern she added, "It's nothing. Come on let's go too." she patted his cheek. "Your dad must be already out of his case and waiting for us." she took her bag and started to walk to the door.
Jackson knew Lydia very well, and if she had already changed the topic it meant either that she didn't want to talk about or it wasn't worth the effort. Best not to insist and piss her off. "Let's go then." he also grabbed his pack and paced after the redhead girl.
They both started to make small talk about other things on their way to the elevator, mostly Lydia saying what to do for the weekend. So closing the door behind them the apartment remained silent with nothing but a few echoes of the voices trailing down the hallway to the elevator.
He checked his wristwatch one more time before huffing with annoyance, he felt uneasy and anxious because he wanted this to be over with as soon as possible. Also he didn't want anybody to see him there, hence why he was sitting the table that was the furthest one away from any window. He wanted to think that his friends took their sweet time leaving his apartment, which meant (hopefully for him) that he had been able to slip in here without any of them spotting him. He made a slight jump when the waitress was putting his coffee in front of him, so immersed in his thoughts that he never noticed her approaching. Once he was alone again he took a glance at his watch once again.
"Waiting for someone?" a stern and low voice caused the boy to look away from his watch. Stiles frowned.
"In fact I am, and you're late." he said unimpressed (and bit angry) by the man standing before him.
The man was tall with lean strong built muscles hiding under a white button up shirt, sleeves folded over his elbows. Strong and hairy hands hiding in the pockets of his khaki colored slacks, with brown dress shoes. Bright short blonde hair vaguely coifed with a few loose forelocks and big dark grey eyes boldly checking Stiles from top to bottom.
"Stop that." he said exasperated and the man smirked.
"I'm sorry my dear young man, but you must understand that it can't be helped." he took the seat across from the boy.
"Ok, cut the courting crap and get to the point." Stiles took a sip of his coffee.
The man grinned. "Well the thing is I called you because next weekend-"
"I'm not going to work that weekend." he interrupted immediately, knowing where this was supposed to go. "You know I made arrangements to have that specific weekend free."
"Lovely," he said chuckling, "As I was saying, next week there's an event, a very important one and, even though I promised you that weekend off, I really need your help for this event." he smiled at the young man. "Especially for Sunday."
"Well, I'm pretty aware of what the event is about," he paused taking another sip, "And I already said that I'm not doing it." the boy crossed his arms over his chest, a frown forming in his face.
The man giggled. "My dear and beautiful boy," he paused smiling at him while Stiles only glared at him, "May I remind you why are you involved in this?"
Before saying anything Stiles kept taking sips from his coffee, closing his eyes and taking in every word the blonde man said. Not that he was particularly excited about this "event" or anything. He was not ignorant and knew pretty well what the other man was talking about, but he was really wishing not to be part of it for various reasons. He opened his eyes and saw the other man with his chin gently resting over his intertwined fingers, elbows on the table and that smile with a hint of sassiness that made Stiles insides unpleasantly wrench.
"Remember," said the man first when he saw Stiles opening his mouth to say something, "The only reason why I'm doing this is because is the anniversary. You know I wouldn't even dream of bothering you with this if it weren't something really important." he gave the smile again.
"I know." he answered trying to sound nonchalant about it. Obviously he couldn't.
"So?" the boy raised his brow in confusion at the question. "I can tell by the look on your face that you're dying to input some conditions." he smiled at the boy again.
Stile only took another sip of his coffee. He hated when other people ('Mostly this bastard') were able to pick on his inner thoughts. "Well, I do." he finally said, "I do have conditions for you. If you want me to help out with the celebration."
"Ok then." he gestured for him to continue, "I'm listening."
"First," he paused raising a finger, "No private sessions," when the other man raised a brow he quickly added, "They tend to take too fucking long and I will not waste too much time, especially time that was supposed to be free, ok?"
The man nodded.
"Second," another finger was risen, "Remember the special clause that was added to my contract?" he waited for the man nod, "Well I'm using it on Sunday," when Stiles saw him frowning he quickly said, "That day I will start working only after midnight."
The man tilted his head for a moment. "I see," his grin became somewhat satisfied. "But won't it cause you problems on Monday?"
"Monday next to that weekend is free for me." he said finishing his coffee. Using a tone that was clearly saying it was none of his fucking business.
"Ok then, I'll make sure to tell my secretary so she can make the proper arrangements." he said with another smile that made Stiles' stomach churn.
"As long as we're clear on that I won't complain." he finished crossing his arms over his chest. Another frown in his face.
"Well," he paused lifting up his head and untangling his fingers, "I'll need to re-work the schedule for Saturday and make a few calls, but otherwise everything else is no problem at all."
"Ok then," he said tossing a few dollars over the table, "Then I guess we're done here." he said ready to leave.
"Wait."
Stiles groaned looking at the ceiling. "Now what?"
"Please." he gestured the seat. The boy sighed with resignation and took his seat again.
"Anything else?" his tone made it clear that he really didn't want to be there anymore.
The man smile again and Stiles felt like he was starting to lose control over the urge of just punching the guy right across the face. "You do realize what is at stake here, right?" he said never losing his smile.
"I'm not an idiot," he paused leaning forward on the table, "I would have my share of trouble if anything ruins the reputation of the Pack, so stop treating me like I don't know what the fuck is going on. I hate that." Stiles leaned back to his seat crossing his arms again. "Is there anything else?"
"No." he paused a moment, "That would be all… for now." he smiled.
"Thanks, and next time make sure you just text me this kind of things instead making me go through this shit." he said quickly standing up and leaving the place without looking back.
The man remained seated without moving from his place, his smile still in place and body unfazed even when his pocket started to shake with his phone's vibrator going crazy. With delicacy proper of a noble he slipped his hand inside the pocket, gently pulling out the phone and placing it over his right ear after hitting the accept call button.
"Alpha speaking." he quickly said sounding very cheerful.
"Someone sounds very happy today." the voice of a woman came through.
"I am actually." he said chuckling. "What news do you have for me?"
"Well I'm pleased to inform, your majesty, that our little twins are finally back in town." she chuckled.
"Ah, splendid." he said checking the time in the clock hanging on the restaurant's wall. It was half past six.
"So," the voice caught his attention, "How did it go with our number one star?"
"Well I'm happy to inform you that he's in." he made a devilish smile.
"Well that's no surprise," she said nonchalantly, "You always manage to get what you want. It's not really that much of a revelation you know."
The man chuckled. "Well, my dear and efficient Miss. secretary," she heard her made and amused snort, "It all depends on how you approach the situation and use the weaknesses of others against them for your own advantage."
"And that's why you're the boss."
"Precisely."
"So," she paused for a moment, "What's in for this weekend? I ask because you know we still haven't decided on this weekend's theme. Also I ask because Aiden has been a fucking pain in neck with that."
"When is he not?" he asked earning a laugh from the woman. "Anyway I have been thinking about that and I was wondering that since Easter holidays are not that far away, How about we go with a carnival theme? Maybe something Brazilian."
"Hmm…," the long pause made the man smile with amusement.
"You're actually overthinking it? I never would've guessed you would have second thoughts."
"Urgh." she made a loud sigh, "No you idiot, I was already planning ahead for details and decorations."
The man laughed. He should have known better about her ever efficient secretary, this being one of the many reasons that always reminded him of why they worked together. "So I guess that means you don't need me anymore, right?"
"You can bet your sweet ass on it." they both laugh for a few seconds before the woman spoke again. "So since you're going out of town for the weekend, should I mail you the details later? Just so you can know how is it gonna be. I don't want you all snarly and ripping my head off later."
"You're just never gonna let me forget that, right?"
"Ever since that, I learned the true essence of my duty." she giggled. "Now, Do you want me to mail you the info or not?"
"Just text me the important things, I don't really think I'll be able to check my email during this weekend."
"Understood. Thy will be done."
The man chuckled. "See you next week Miss Efficient Secretary."
"See you next week Mr. Alpha Boss."
Once the line was off the man slipped the phone back into his pocket, and checking the clock once more he tucked his hands in his pockets and left the place.
Even though he managed to convince his favorite kid to work for him on his supposed free weekend (which he still was smirking for that victory) he still had many thing he needed to left resolve before he absented himself for the weekend.
"Yes, I know already." his voice was whispering to the phone, carefully listening to the answer on the other end of the line.
"I see, what else did you find out?" he said nodding at everything being said through the line.
"Really?! I thought that had been cleared years ago." the man frowned, not liking the information he was receiving.
"Damn it," he complained rubbing the bridge of his nose and sighing.
"Ok listen, I need you to-"
"Dad?"
"Look my daughter is here so I need to go." he paused his movements hearing to the voice on the other side. "Don't worry about it, as soon as I get my hands on it I will personally give it to you." He stopped again listening to the reply on the other side and rolling his eyes at the answer.
"Dad where are you?" the voice of the girl echoed again.
"In the back office honey!" he yelled to his daughter, turning his voice low again to answer the phone. "Don't worry, leave it to me. And seriously laid off that weird tone, will you?" and not really eager to hear the answer to that he hung up the phone.
"Dad?" when the man turned around he saw his daughter appearing at the door.
"Ah, Allison." the man quickly stood up to go and hug the young girl.
"Hey dad." she said before opening her arms and receiving her father's hug. "I'm glad we made it on time," she paused backing a little to face her father without breaking the hug.
"Well I still had a few things to sort out before heading out. Besides, is not like I was going to go leaving you two behind" The man took a few seconds to look through the door, "By the way, where's Scott?"
"Well," Allison was the one to break the hug stepping back with a playful smile, "He said he would wait outside for us."
Chris frowned with confusion. "Why?"
"Well, for starters he said he wasn't too eager to get shot, again." she smirked.
Chris was slightly trembling because of the half contained chuckle. "How many more times do I have to apologize to him for that?" the girl only sharpened her eyes, "Honey, you know it was an accident. The trigger was way more sensitive than what I thought it was."
"True," she paused to nod, "the trigger in that rifle indeed was very sensitive, but I don't really think that my bow was sensitive at all." she crossed her arms looking at her father with a reproachful expression. "Or that it had a trigger for that matter."
"The string wasn't well adjusted," he shrugged, "Actually you ought to be more careful with your bow honey."
The girl gaped. "Oh my god, you're really trying to blame me?"
"Now, now honey. You know you need to assume your responsibility." he said in a fatherly tone taking his coat from the rack and walking out from the office.
The girl gaped again. "Like the time you accidentally shot a magnum bullet near Scott's head?"
"Well if Scott had made it clear he was in the room instead of sneaking around I wouldn't have gotten all jumpy." he shrugged.
"Dad, we got there together" she turned her eyes to the ceiling, asking for patience. "Oh," she said suddenly remembering something, "And how about the time when Scott was helping you to clean the shotguns and you accidentally made yours shoot at Scott's feet?"
"Honey you know that is was actually Scott who shot himself at his feet, nobody asked him to unlock the weapon." he shrugged while walking out of the office. Allison was trailing behind him.
"Well you should've told him you know?"
As father and daughter kept bickering back and forth (mostly just Allison remembering old accidents) they both made it to front of the storage where Scott was waiting for them, sitting in a lotus position over a couple of empty squashed boxes stacked together. The messy-haired boy smiled when he saw both Allison and his father come out of the storage (mostly because he saw Chris's hands devoid of any kind of weapon that could potentially blast a hole through him). He quickly jumped from his place to greet the older man.
"Hey Mr. Argent." he smiled as wide as he could.
Chris smirked when he saw Scott approaching; the kid had made a slight shiver. "Hello Scott." he took the boy hand shaking it a bit tightly, the young one flinched. "Thank you kid, it's good to know that I can count on you to watch over Allison for me."
"No problem sir," the boy kept shaking hands, "Wherever she goes I go too to protect her." he said with a big smile… and starting to get nervous when the older man started to tighten the grip even more.
"Excuse me," both turned to her, "Do I have to remember you both that I don't need any protection?" She turned to Scott, "Last time I helped you to practice for one of your lacrosse games I literally wiped the floor with you because I turned out to be faster than you." Leaving Scott with an embarrassing blush Allison then turned to her father. "And you," she smiled internally when she saw the older man tensing, "Did you already forgot the little target competition we had last month? My bow outnumbered your rifle, rifle." posing her hands on her hips Allison made a disbelieving look. "Do you honestly still think I need protection?"
"Honey," the man had an enigmatic smile on his face, "When I said that I could count on Scott to watch over you, I meant that I count on Scott to serve as bait for whenever you run into trouble."
Allison started to giggle when she saw Scott's face, the boy was gaping at Mr. Argent like a six years old whose pet dog had just been taken away.
"I'm joking Scoot," he draped an arm around the boy half hugging him, "relax kid."
Even though he really did want to relax his features showed otherwise; then again, if people knew all the 'jokes' that Mr. Argent constantly pulled out on him then nobody could really blame him for being a bit stiff.
Allison only shook her head. "By the way, dad." the call made both guys turn their eyes to the girl. "Are we gonna do that special training you told me about last time?"
"Sure honey," he said leaving Scott's side to hug his daughter, facing the boy without breaking the hug, "Sorry Scott but this weekend will be a father-and-daughter thing only."
"No worries ," the boy quickly answered waving his hands. "Allison told me days ago that you guys had planned something, so I'm already aware." he finished with a smile.
"I see." the man gave the boy a significant look.
"Well I better get going," the teen said after a few seconds of awkward silence. "I promised my mom I would take her grocery shopping."
"Well then don't keep a woman waiting," said Chris quickly, "Cause you know what they say," he leaned closer to the boy using one hand as if to hide his mouth lowering his voice to whisper, "They can be deadly."
"Definitely." replied Scott also whispering. Both men suddenly felt a nudge in their rib cages.
"Ok, if the sexism display is over," Allison getting closer to Scott and poking him in the chest, "You need to go and help with the shopping," she paused turning to her father, "And you and me are going to talk later."
"See, I told you." said Chris.
"Totally." replied Scott.
Both now had a fist digging in their sides. "Ok, enough. It's time to go." she said pushing Scott away, getting closer to his ear to whisper. "The usual." When Scott gave her a nod she pushed gently. "Now go, before Melissa kills you."
"Don't worry I got it." he said running a few steps and stopping to wave at the Argents. "Bye Ally, Bye Mr. Argent" he said with a big smile and disappearing into a corner.
Allison, who was waving at Scott, stopped once the boy was out of sight. "Now," she said turning to the older Argent, "Can you please stop that?" she said with an exasperated tone.
"Stop what?" he said innocently.
"Stop trying to scare Scott away, will you?"
"Come on honey," he said giving the girl a quick kiss in the cheek, "You know I would never do that." 'Not like you can actually scare him away' he mentally added.
"Just like you didn't with the boyfriends I had before Scott?" she asked crossing her arms.
Chris didn't answer to that. He merely tucked his hands in his jacket's pockets, making a goofy smile and staring at space as he remembered all those punks he used to scare away by simply using the pump-action to load his old shotgun he used to have in display on the living room, back on the days when Allison was starting High School. Scott was the only one who, instead of instantly sweating like crazy and fidgeting in panic, quickly went to the display case saying over and over how cool it was for him to be able to handle all kinds of fire weapons. His inner smile grew even wider when doing the pump-action the boy simply kept ranting on and on about how awesome it was. He was the first boy in that house who had given him a sincere smile instead of a forced one. Chris would never say it out loud, but in that very moment he knew Scott was the right one for his daughter… but that didn't mean he couldn't have a bit of fun with the messy-mop kid.
At Chris' mutism Allison shook her head while sighing. "Anyway," she started, "What about that training you promised?"
"Ah yes, the training." Slowly said Chris putting an arm around his daughter's shoulders, "Why don't you and I go for some Chinese take-out?" he saw the girl's face beaming, "Then we can start making preparations for it, how's that?"
"Nice," she said smiling, "Then let's go." she said sneaking away from her father's arm and running up ahead a few steps. "By the way," she pause turning back to the older man rising up her right hand to show him the car's keys she had stolen from him, "I'm driving this time." and without another word she ran to the lonely red Toyota Sienna parked in the side of the storage building.
Chris only smiled as he saw the girl happily climbing into the driver's seat. So the man tucked his hands into his jeans' pockets, shook his head and traced behind the girl, embracing himself for yet another agitated car ride.
Thank god for seatbelts.
Laura was resting on her king size bed reading her latest emails on her laptop, elegantly stretched in the middle of the mattress wearing a light gray nightgown that reached as far as her thighs. Her fingers were sliding across the mouse pad with a delicacy proper of a woman of high society, as she lay over her belly she swayed her toes up and down in a playful manner while rolling around the ankles. As she began to reply to several messages making her fingers glide across the keyboard with swift movements the sound of her room's door being opened suddenly came to her ears, still unfazed she kept typing.
As the sound of the quick typing remained steady Laura felt the side of her bed sink under another weight, said person sprawled across the edge letting out a resounding groan.
"Bored already little sis?" asked the older girl not looking away from the screen.
"Like you have no idea," complained the younger one.
"I see," she said deadpanned.
"Seriously Laura!" Cora said turning around her body to end up in the same position as her sister, "I'm pretty sure that if this keeps up I'll die of boredom." she sighed sinking her face in the bed's duvet.
"Highly unlikely little scamp," she stopped her typing turning to see Cora, "At least not until I see a vulture mercilessly pecking away at your skull." she ruffled the younger one's hair.
Cora groaned pushing the ruffling hand away. "Well then give me something to scare the vultures away," she turned her face to the side to see Laura, "And don't call me scamp." She pouted.
"Ok hang on a sec," she paused. Laura then started to shift her comfy position, lifting up her body to sit over her legs in a lotus position, placing the laptop over her crossed legs and facing her sister. "Now," she said facing Cora, "What do you need to talk about?"
"Need?" she said with a confused expression, "I just need not to be bored."
"Really?" she said cocking her brows, her expression clearly saying 'You really think I'm going to buy that?'
"Yeah." she said face planting the covers again.
"Ok then little sis, enlighten me this please." she paused and put the laptop aside, getting closer to the young teen. "How come you decided to come to me, your older sister, when, if you were just bored as you claim you are, you could've just went to annoy the fuck out of our dear brother? As you always do since you were two years old."
"I really hate you sometimes, just so you know." she said without moving her face from the duvet.
"Maybe." Laura replied patting her shoulder. "But seriously Cora, What's gotten into you?"
"Nothing." she quickly said.
"Then tell me, How come you say you're bored when you're clearly and utterly frustrated? Better yet I'd say you're angry."
"I'm not." she said raising her voice without her face leaving the mattress.
Laura groaned, now she was the one feeling frustrated. Whatever was bothering her younger sister to make her sulk and complain like this (Which it was saying a lot from Cora Hale) then it had to be really getting a toll on her. Remaining in the same position Laura now crossed her arms across her chest, carefully eyeing her.
"Nothing is wrong, okay?" Cora said from the same position, "So quit staring at me like that."
"Staring like what?" Laura said feigning confusion.
"Like you're trying to shove drills through my skull." the younger turned her face finally facing the older Hale girl. "You usually use that look to scold Derek."
"Well, Derek deserves it for being a massive dick with me-"
"Like you don't deserve it sometimes?" interrupted the girl with a smirk.
"As I was saying," said Laura again marking her words, "Usually Derek does things that deserve this look." She said making her drilling eyes, "And judging by your behavior you're making me feel like you deserve it just now, you know?"
Cora groaned face planting the covers again. "I hate it when you get all motherly-inquisitive on me."
"Don't worry," she said patting Cora's shoulder, "I'm sure you'll get it soon. It's kind of like..." Laura paused to carefully arrange the words in her mind, lightly scrubbing her chin with her free hand, "It's like an exclusive Hale-Female-Only treat." Laura smirked.
After a few seconds of silence Cora finally lifted herself from the bed, arranging her body to be in the same position as her older sister. Carefully eyeing Laura, her expression hardening as if to properly arrange whatever thoughts were crossing the younger one's mind.
Laura finally decided to break the silence. "Okay, seriously, you're starting to freak me out." getting a little bit closer Laura rested both hands on Cora's shoulders. "What's going on sis?"
Cora eyed Laura once more. The room was starting to feel a bit stuffy.
"Cora." Laura said with her expression turning into a worried one.
Finally Cora dropped her head, sighing with frustration. "I don't know." she said in a low desperate tone.
"You don't know." Laura repeated.
"Okay," Cora said lifting her head to see Laura, "I am frustrated and I am angry, I'll give you that much." she dropped her head again, "But I just can't tell why, okay? And that's what frustrates me even more." She finished burying her face in her hands.
Laura sighed. "Well," she started, "At least now you admit it."
Cora returned to being silent again, which caused Laura to take her hands away from her sister's shoulders and cross them again. The older girl was carefully eyeing the younger one, mentally listing all the possible reasons that could've caused the teen's mood.
It was a fact that Cora had a very fickle temper, constantly shifting from one side of the spectrum to the other. Said spectrum consisting only of two phases: neck-snapper and party-soul. So it was understandable if seeing a depressed and frustrated Cora made Laura feel quite lost, mostly feeling lost for words of comfort. Hell, even Derek, who had the same amount of empathy as a rockslide pouring down the side of the Grand Canyon, would've felt quite lost watching this side of their younger sister. Whatever was going on inside that little head in front of her it was quite the turmoil if it was able to take away Cora's usual behavior, and since talking didn't seem like it was going to get them anywhere Laura decided to take another course of action.
"Ok, let's go scamp." she said patting her sister in the knees before getting up from the bed.
"Go?" she repeated following her sister with the eyes. She saw Laura heading for the closet, putting on a pair of sky blue sweatpants and a loose white T like the one she was wearing.
"Yeah, that's what I said." she said motioning to the door. "Now, let's get going."
After a few seconds of silence, Cora shook her head sliding to sit on the side of the bed. "Go where? To do what?"
Laura simply smiled. "You'll see."
Having said that Laura took Cora's hand, pulling her out of the room.
The door of the room slammed muffling the voices of a confused Cora demanding for answers and the laughter of an amused Laura.
The laptop resting on the bed, which was still on, made a beep noise announcing an email for its owner.
A mail that would go unread for the rest of the weekend.
The silver colored Porsche was parking in the driveway of an expensive looking house, the neighborhood surrounding the house also looked expensive, which it was, considering how many houses around had space enough for at least three swimming pools… and it was just the front lawn. The screech of the expensive tires scared off the few bugs lying around the lawn and the silence followed by the screech was broken by the opening of the Porsche's doors, the clap of a pair of expensive pink high heels was followed by the clap of a pair of black dress shoes equally expensive. The last sound to join was the soft squelch of a pair of white sneakers.
"I get it ok?" said an exasperated Jackson, "Next time I'll make sure to double check it, all right?"
"Jackson," said Lydia turning to look at him, "We already agreed to let it go, okay?" she cocked a brow.
"Son," called Mr. Whittemore already climbing the steps of the front porch, "Could we please leave this for another time? I'm tired, hungry, and I can also smell dinner from here." he said motioning to the front door.
Jackson only glared at him cocking his brows as if to say 'Dad could you please let us handle this?' Fortunately Mr. Whittemore was a quick one for his son's expression, so dismissing them with a wave he went inside the house.
"Ok, now we can talk." Lydia suddenly said. Earning her a surprised look from Jackson.
The blonde snorted. "I don't know how is it that I keep getting surprised by you." he started ruffling his own hair, putting both hands behind his head weaving his fingers.
"Because," said Lydia shrugging, "As Stiles would say 'I'm awesome', so there is no real mystery there."
"Yeah," agreed Jackson, "Sometime I just keep forgetting that."
"Honestly Jackson" said the girl getting the blonde's attention again, "You really thought I would just buy the act of you getting angry at every stupid little thing with your dad being right beside us? If there's one thing you usually avoid at all costs is making a big fuss in front of your parents." The blonde winced at the truth of those words remembering why he was like that.
Ever since Jackson's parents disclosed to him about his adoption he went on an emotional rampage over who he really was, not that his feeling towards his now adopted parents had changed since he still regarded them a his family. But that discovery certainly did pull several strings of curiosity. Who was he really? Who were his biological parents? What had happened to them? Why did they have to leave him behind? Did they not love him? What was the true story behind it all? So no one could really blame him for starting to feel really depressed at the thought of not being wanted. No one was able to appease his anger and confusion and sadness at that time, when he felt that everything around him was nothing but a fragile bubble of reality which didn't belong to him at all. Feeling lost he started to wonder about life itself, its worth, his life, his worth. Falling into depression more and more. A depression that no one was able to best: not his adopted parents, who he still thought of as family; not Lydia, the girl he loved; not Danny, his best friend in the entire world; not Scott, the one he started to consider a good friend and rival, not Allison, his girlfriend's best friend whom he had grown fond of because of her kind and considerate heart.
In the end it was Stiles who settled him back in the ground.
It was senior year at high school one day during lunch break, everybody was carefreely eating their meals when the sound of a tray falling on the floor startled everyone around. Several of the questionable foods served by the cafeteria were now smearing the floor and forming a disgusting looking dough. One of the freshmen, your typical geeky looking boy, made the horrible mistake of not looking where he was going while carrying his meal for the day, all this obviously causing the boy to bump into someone who was also distracted with something else. Said bumped person being Jackson Whittemore. Following the natural law of High School, What happens when a geeky looking sophomore student bumps into a senior jock student? Hell breaks loose.
When the poor boy realized who was the guy he had the bad luck to run into he immediately knew he was in for some serious shit, and to make things worse by that time Jackson had been in his usual cranky mood because of the adoption thing for a month already. So naturally the young freshman immediately apologized over a thousand times in a few seconds, probably fearing for his life in the hands of the blonde jock; however, Jackson wasn't going to feel satisfied by a stupid boy's apology. He had been humiliated in front of the entire school by a measly worm; the compensation had to be equal. Feeling his emotions brewing like a hot stew Jackson's first idea was to punch the poor boy for insulting him; he even went as far as to devise many other kinds of humiliations. So the blonde grabbed the kid by the collar of his button up shirt, took enough space to swing his arm to make a jab in the face, and as his fist started to fly directly to the kid's mug many people in the place (including Danny who had felt completely powerless about the whole situation, mostly because he had failed to stop his blonde friend in previous occasions) flinched when the arm was halfway through… until it was suddenly stopped by another hand, a hand firmly containing the fist. Said hand belonged to Stiles.
Stiles had confronted Jackson many other times, mostly by withstanding the usual bullying he used to receive on a daily basis. The scrawny teen didn't really mind that so much, at least not in front of people, so whatever stupid thing the blonde jock did to him didn't really bother him and he would just cope with the situation and never bowing down his head. This time, however, was completely different, not also because it was all clearly unfair and unnecessary but also because Stiles, just as Danny, could see that there was something amiss in Jackson's behavior.
Standing up against the blonde, Stiles confronted Jackson asking for his reasons to be rude to the kid when he had already sincerely apologize for his mistake. The jock obviously not caring the less for anything at all started to bark and pour his frustrations on the scrawny boy instead. When Stiles realized that reasoning was not going the get through the other's thick skull he then braced himself for a good fight, same fight for which later they had to spend the entire afternoon in detention.
Later in detention, forced together in a small room where neither of them had any way of escaping, the so awaited conversation came. Mostly it was Jackson trying to beat the crap out of Stiles while screaming and trying to free himself from all that anger he had built since weeks ago. The scrawny boy who had merely put up with the punches finally snapped at the blonde, pinning him to the ground by sitting in his stomach, screaming all the truths he needed to hear once and for all. He told the blonde how much he knew about his situation. Stiles, who was very good at researching and inquiring, told him that he already knew pretty much the whole story, mostly the relevant aspects. The blonde boy who was about to snap at him for butting into other people's lives was silenced again by a screaming Stiles, said screaming teen saying how much of an asshole he was being to his parents. As soon as he heard the blonde immediately answering that those people were not his real parents Stiles slapped him right across the face before screaming that he was a bigger idiot if that's what he thought. He told him how real parents weren't those who just gave birth but those who gave the children they loved a true life; he told him how those people willing to do anything for a child that held their love were the true parents; he told the blonde how those people he no longer regarded as his parents had given and would always give everything they have only for him; he told him how lucky he was to have both parents still alive and loving him no matter what.
Although those words had managed to soothe some of Jackson's anger what really did make all of it disappear was the feeling of something warm dripping on his cheeks. Stiles was crying. The boy's eyes were looking at him, not with the pity he always saw in others or the feigned condolence he hated so much, but it was pure and true empathy. Jackson could practically hear it clearly like a scream.
Stiles was crying for him.
Stiles was shedding the tears he could not.
Stiles was telling him that he understood his pain, if not exactly, better than anyone.
So finally shaking away the loneliness he had felt for a good time and crumbling under the heaviness of the truth placed before him, Jackson cried. His vulnerability forced him to seek refuge, and without anyone else to hold on to he clung to the scrawny teen. Crying into his chest and letting his tears wash away all what he had locked away for what he felt as a very long time.
That's how Jackson and Stiles became friends.
Lydia was the only one who knew the story.
Ever since then Jackson felt like becoming not entirely his old self but a new and better him (it was actually more like not being a total asshole in Stiles' words), and oddly enough it was all thanks to a fearless and scrawny-hyperactive-annoying-as-fuck-but-kind kid.
Ever since then Jackson made a resolution of never again hurting his parents' feelings, he never again wanted to see that hurting look in their faces, he promised he would never again give them a reason to worry for him. Hence why the blonde would always have the best and most educated behavior when hanging out with his parents.
"Jackson!"
"Huh? What?" the startled blonde came back to reality.
"Seriously," groaned Lydia, "Look I don't really care what were you remembering," she crossed her arms, "But can you at least tell me why you did that display of being so angry?"
"Hey I was-"
"Look," she immediately interrupted, "I don't care if you were really angry at something or whatever, okay? What I'm really wondering is why you did all that just so you could get to talk to me alone." she placed her hands on her hips, eyeing the blonde with an expectant look on her face.
"I never said I was the sharpest tool in the shed." he shyly scratched the back of his neck.
"You're definitely not." she replied with a smirk.
Jackson sighed and rolled his eyes. "Anyway," he closed the distance between them, placing both hands on Lydia's shoulders. "Lyds," he paused looking directly into the redheaded girl's eyes, "There's something important I need to tell you."
The girl's heart skipped a beat and everything else just vanished to her.
A/N: Well hope you people liked it. Feel free to give me your thoughts about it. ;)