A/N: I'm not great at proof-reading my own work, mainly because I get bored, so if you spot anything that's too annoyingly wrong to live, let me know and I'll sort it out. Thanks!
Psst. Also, on my profile, there's a link to my polyvore account, where you can check out Adria's outfits. Just incase you needed a visual aid or whatever. Kay.
I don't own Teen Wolf. Shock Horror.
Rosa didn't come home that day.
It wasn't that she didn't come home in the ominous, 'oh-no-what-if-something-happened-to-her sense', but more in the absolutely infuriating 'I-know-you-know-it-was-me-and-I-don't-want-to-fac e-you-yet' sense that was so typical of Rosa. Adria knew she had a slim to non-existent chance of her aunt coming home before nightfall, but she sat quietly in her room anyway, staring out of her window to catch any glimpse of her aunt's car. She drifted off to sleep a few times, but was quickly awoken by a strong gust of window rattling the windows, or the loud roar of a flashy car as it sped down the road.
Adria found herself grateful that it wasn't a driver like that that found her out on the road this morning. They probably wouldn't have been as concerned as Stiles was. Or even stopped to check on her. But, then again, if the driver hadn't stopped, she wouldn't have been assaulted with questions about how she ended up in the woods before dawn. Of course, Stiles would be the curious type. He just couldn't accept what had happened and let it lie. That was just Adria's luck.
When 4 o'clock rolled around and Rosa still hadn't come home, Adria gave up glowering to the street outside her window. If she wanted to stay at the café and avoid Ade until she was so exhausted she had to crawl home, then fine.
Adria needed to get ready for the party anyway.
At just after five, Lydia pulled into Adria's driveway. Rather than getting lost and being late, Lydia decided she would go to Ade's before the party and pick her up, along with a suitable outfit.
This, of course, meant nothing that Ade owned.
"No."
"No way."
"Urgh, no!"
"What are we, going to a job interview?"
"Lydia! Oh my… just pick anything. Anything at all. Seriously, at this point, I'll be happy to go in my underwear."
"Well, that would definitely make a statement."
"I was exaggerating!"
"Okay, alright. Move, I'll find something." Lydia shoved past Adria to her closet, pulling clothes out and throwing the ones she didn't like over her shoulders. I'm going to have one hell of a mess to clean up after this party, Ade thought, as a black dress landed over her head. "There, try that one on." Ade pulled it from her head, smoothing her hair back down as she considered the dress.
"I don't know, Lydia. My Mom bought me this a few months ago for a party, but I wasn't really sold on it."
"Why not? It's pretty."
"I know, it's just… not really my thing, I guess? I'm not really one for tight dresses and sequins."
"Would you at least try it on? Please? I bet it would look great on you." Lydia pouted a little, and looked over at Ade with an expression that she was sure has never failed to manipulate someone to doing whatever Lydia wanted. And Adria was no exception to this rule.
"Urgh. Okay. But I'm just trying it on."
Ade was sure she heard Lydia mutter something along the lines of "for now" under her breath, but Lydia's smile never faltered.
Adria looked around for a minute, waiting for Lydia to leave so she could change, but when Lydia just raised her eyebrows expectantly, Ade just sighed and ducked into her bathroom instead.
"Oh, please, I've seen it all before. Or have you forgotten that we share a locker room with half of the girls in our grade?"
"Yeah, well, it's different when everybody is focused on themselves; no one pays attention to a semi-naked girl when there's a room full of them."
"Well. That can't be said for everyone. I know a few people who would pay plenty of attention to a semi-naked girl, no matter how many other semi-naked girls there were… They'd probably pass out from excitement, but they'd still pay attention."
Ade struggled to pull the dress down over her body, pulling the hem as far down her thighs as she could. Not that that was very far. "Why do I feel you're speaking from experience?"
"Well, in freshman year, some guy wandered in to the wrong locker room, and when he saw us all getting dressed, he started breathing really heavily. He tried to run out, but…" Lydia trailed off as Ade opened the bathroom door, still hiking the dress down. "Oh, you are so totally wearing that."
"I don't know. It's a bit sparkly. And a bit short. I don't like short."
"Are you kidding me? You look hot. Like, the entire lacrosse team are going to be drooling over you all night, hot."
"… I'm not entirely sure I'm comfortable with that."
"Okay, well think of it this way. Everyone at the party tonight is going to be thinking how exceptionally beautiful you are. Expect for me of course. But I set the bar far too high for anyone, so you'll be a close second."
"That is easily the weirdest and, oddly, the most genuine compliment I've ever gotten."
"So you'll wear it?" The excitement radiating from Lydia was contagious, and Ade couldn't help but give in.
"Yes, I'll wear it." Lydia smiled brightly, clapping her hands together. "However…" The smile dropped from her face. "If anyone tries to grope me tonight, I won't be held accountable for their broken faces. Or any permanently damaged appendages."
Lydia smiled again, before nodding in agreement. "If anyone tries to grope you tonight, I might be."
Adria got out from the passenger side of Lydia's car when they pulled up to her driveway, and looked up at the impressive structure that was the Martin home. Mrs Martin was away on a weekend spa trip with a friend, according to Lydia, so Lydia would be able to house the party without her mother being round to witness the carnage.
The inside of the house was more impressive than the outside, if that's possible. The whole house was light and pristine, and reminded Ade of a display home. Aside from Lydia's room and the small den off from the main living room, where there were pictures of the Martins, old books and other family belongings, the house could have belonged to anyone.
It wasn't long after they arrived that Allison turned up, who complimented Adria on her outfit, and then helped the two of them set up for Lydia's party. Adria and Allison were laughing at Lydia's attempts to hang her fairy lights around the pool while wearing five inch platform heels when the twins from school, Ethan and Aiden, arrived, along with Danny. Aiden quickly moved from the porch to help Lydia string the lights, and Ade couldn't help but smile at their interaction.
"They're cute, aren't they?" Ade turned to find Danny at her shoulder, looking over at the couple with a small smile on her face.
"Very," Ade agreed. "Sometimes, she talks like she's not the girlfriend type, and then I see her with him, and it's like she's a different person."
"It's habit," Danny explained. "Last year, she had Jackson. He was my best friend, they dated for ages, then they broke up and she was completely heartbroken. Then just as he was realising how much he loved her, he and his family moved to London."
"Ouch." Ade could only imagine how that must have felt. She'd never been in love before, but she'd seen heartache enough to guess at what Lydia had gone through then.
"Yeah. She went through this period of sleeping with any good-looking guy who looked in her direction, and then dumping them straight after. It was the same with Aiden to begin with. And now…" Danny shrugged. "They ended up genuinely caring about each other."
Ade turned around, focusing her attention on Danny instead. "Why're you telling me all of this? Isn't that kind of a betrayal of trust or something?"
"I don't know you. But Lydia likes you. And when Lydia likes someone, actually likes them, it means either they're a good person, or they're exactly like her. And the latter isn't always enough. If Lydia classes you as a friend, as she seems to, then it's essential that you know as much about her as possible, so you know what to expect with her."
"Oh. Well, in that case, thank you. For the heads up."
"You're welcome." Danny smiled a little at Ade, a smile that she couldn't help but relax around.
"What about you?"
Danny's face slipped into a look of slight confusion, before asking, "What about me?"
"How were you, with your best friend leaving?"
"You know what, I can count on one hand how many people have asked me that question, and that includes my parents." He smiled outright now, and slung an arm over Ade's shoulder, before steering them back towards the house. "C'mon, let's get us some drinks. Get this party started!"
By nine o'clock, the party was in full swing. The garden looked scenic and the clichéd plastic red cups were everywhere. Ade had trouble not crushing them under her feet as she made her way around the house. Lydia was trying to introduce her to everyone at the party, which seemed to be pretty much everyone from the school. The hostess had since disappeared, but Danny was quick to step up and keep her from getting lost in the sea of partying students. And, as of yet, no one had tried to manhandle her. The night was almost a success, in Adria's book. She only needed one more thing to perfect her night.
Answers from Stiles.
She hadn't seen him all night, though she had seen Scott and Isaac pass through the kitchen, so she could only assume that he was here too.
Ade pulled away from Danny, letting him know that she was going to find Lydia, and made her way through the crowd. Hell, she hated crammed spaces. Actually, she wasn't a massive fan of people in general. Her mom had always told her she got that from her aunt, but Ade didn't like to think the two of them had anything in common.
Ade slowly made her way up the stairs, towards Lydia's bedroom, trying to ignore the growing ache in her temples.
Stiles sat on Lydia's bed, watching her pace back and forth in front of him. Her hands were flying about in front of her, as she tried to explain herself.
"It's, just, you know… You were panicking, I was panicking, and I didn't know what else to do!" She stopped and turned to Stiles. "Do you know what I mean?" Stiles opened his mouth to respond, but with what he wasn't sure, but before he could, Lydia resumed her pacing and one-sided discussion. "It was the only thing that came to mind. It was either that or have you pass out or something. I wouldn't have a clue what to do if you passed out, everyone else was missing, or looking for your parents, and you were the only one there. I couldn't handle all of that alone!"
"Lydia, I-"
"No, Stiles. I need to talk this out. Because, at the time, I didn't know how I felt about Aiden. I thought it was purely a physical thing, that he was using me to get to the pack, but now… I don't know. I have feelings for him."
"Lyd-"
"I have feelings for you, too, that's what's confusing me." Stiles' eyebrows shot up into his hair, and his mouth dropped open. Lydia Martin has feelings for me. The girl I've been in love with since the third freaking grade kissed me, and has feelings for me. Time to freak. "I mean, I'm not entirely sure what I'm supposed to do with these feelings, because they're new, and I was not expecting to feel them for you-" ouch "-or for anyone after Jackson, but then Aiden came along, and that turned into something I wasn't planning for, and you were always there when I needed to, ready if I needed saving, and you've always been so nice to me, and you see me for me, rather than for Lydia, the beautiful, popular one. And you know me. I mean, how do you know me so well? I had barely spoken to you before the winter formal in last year. Yet, you know me better the 99 percent of the people I know. How is that possible?"
Stiles' quickly snapped his mouth shut, and tried to find the words. In the end, he shrugged, and said, "I notice you. All the little things." Lydia frowned at his response, and sighed.
"Why did you have to say that? Why couldn't you have just said 'I say what you want me to say', or 'I check you out a lot'?" She lowered her voice to imitate a more masculine tone as she gave him her suggestions, making Stiles smirk. "Anything. Any other response would have sufficed. I swear, you do this on purpose."
"Do what?"
"Confuse me! And make me doubt and second guess everything I do."
Stiles stood up and wandered over to Lydia, where she stood, arms crossed over her chest, the dejected pout on her face pulling at his heart. "Lydia, I don't want to make you doubt anything." He put his hands on her upper arms, but stayed a small distance away, to not make her feel crowded or pressured. "Everything you do, you do for a reason. Because it's what you want to do." God, it pained him to say this. "So if you decide you want Aiden, and want to ignore whatever feelings you have for me, then I'm not going to judge you for it." She looked up at him, and he licked his lips in preparation of what he was going to say next. Or maybe to try to draw Lydia's attention to his lips. Hers certainly had his attention, so it was only fair. "So you tell me what you want. From me, and from this whole situation, and I'll do it." If anything, Lydia looked more confused by what he had said, and it frustrated him that he couldn't resolve all of her issues for her. He sighed. "Look, Lyd-"
"No, shut up."
Stiles was taken aback by that, and it showed on his face. "What?"
"Shut up." Then Lydia did something that, while he had hoped, Stiles had not expected to happen again. She kissed him.
It wasn't the deep, romantic kiss that Stiles had been daydreaming about since his panic attack in the locker room, but it was a kiss nonetheless. A Lydia Martin kiss, and they were definitely top of the range.
He barely had time to register what was happening and to close his eyes before she was broke the kiss, his head unconsciously following hers faintly as she pulled away. He tried to say something, anything, to convey all of the feelings that had started bubbling up under the surface from the moment she pressed her lips against his, something grand and passionate that was sure to make her choose him over the wolf-boyfriend she had, but all that came out was a feeble, "eh?"
Lydia bit her lip, looking around, as though trying to align her thoughts. "All I know is that I wanted to do that. So I did it." She nodded, agreeing with her own statement, before turning on her heel and marching over to her bedroom door and throwing it open. Before she could move much further than the threshold of her doorway, though, she walked right in to Adria, who had just made it up the stairs.
"Oh, Lydia, hey. I was looking for you." Adria's face morphed from one of surprised delight to quiet concern. "Is everything alright? You look a little… freaked."
"Uh huh. Yeah, I'm fine. Wasn't feeling too great. I'm fine now though. How's the party?" Ade opened her mouth to respond, but instead just moved out of the way as Lydia sauntered past to answer her own question. Once Lydia was gone, Adria turned back to an absolutely stunned Stiles, who was still stood in the same place, wearing the same expression, that he had when Lydia kissed him.
"Um. Stiles?" He didn't, couldn't, respond. His brain was still foggy and he was utterly perplexed. Though, that's how he's felt after every time Lydia Martin even looked in his direction for the past eight years. "Stiles? Are you alright? You're not going to throw up or anything are you?" Stiles could only manage to shake his head, and Adria just manoeuvred him so he could sit back down on the edge of Lydia's bed. "I'm, uh… I'll get you a glass of water." Lydia Martin kissed me. Not because I was having a panic attack, or for a dare, or to resuscitate me, but because she wanted to. Lydia Martin wanted to kiss me. Lydia Martin has feelings for me, and kissed me.
"Lydia Martin kissed me." Adria turned back from her way to Lydia's bathroom, her shock evident on her face.
"Lydia kissed you?" Stiles nodded, slowly coming out of his daze.
"She has feelings for me, and she kissed me."
"She has… Wait, what about Aiden. You know, Lydia's boyfriend. Or, whatever they are."
"I don't know." Stiles sat up properly now, seemingly clear-headed and focused. "She said she was confused, because she has feelings for both of us, and that she doesn't know what to do about it. Then she kissed me. And left. What do I do with that?"
"How am I supposed to know, I've known Lydia for less than a week. Hell, I've only known anyone at this party for a week, at the most. How the hell am I supposed to know what to do? I didn't even know you too had a thing going on."
"Well, I mean… We didn't. We don't. We kissed once, because I was having a panic attack, and she was the only one there, and she read somewhere that holding your breath can stop a panic attack, and she thought kissing me would make me hold my breath, and it worked, so that was fine, and since then, apparently, she's realised that she has feelings for me, because I've basically been in love with her since I was eight, and I've always been nice to her, and made her feel good, and now she's noticing it and neither of us really know what to do anymore, and I'm just really confused." And with that last remark, he flopped down onto the bed on his back, one arm over his eyes.
Adria walked over and sat next to his whining form, trying to think of something to say to comfort him, or distract him from his misery. All that she could think of was, "So, Lydia was telling me a story this afternoon. Apparently some dude in freshman year walked into the girl's locker room, completely by accident, and totally freaked out."
"Yeah, I know. He saw a lot of things most fourteen year old boys only dream of, and ended up whacking his head on the fire extinguisher when he turned around to get the hell out of there. I think I still have the bump on my head."
After Ade had managed to stop laughing, and cheer Stiles up to what he assumed was the best of her ability, they returned downstairs to join the party. Lydia was nowhere to be found, though Stiles wasn't sure if he was happy about that or not. One on hand, her not being in his line of sight meant that he wouldn't be staring at her all night. On the other hand, it probably meant she was off somewhere with Aiden. Just the two of them.
That thought made Stiles just a little bit sick.
"Drink?" Stiles turned from scanning the party to Adria, who had returned to him with two cups of something, probably alcoholic. He quickly snatched the cup from her outstretched hand and downed it in one go. Definitely alcoholic. And a tad disgusting. He scrunched his face up in repulsion, and put the cup down on the table beside him.
"That's revolting." He turned to Ade, whose face portrayed shock and just a touch of admiration.
"Well, I don't think you're supposed to drink it like that, but hey. To each their own."
"Yeah. I'm gonna find something a little less gross."
After a few more cups of punch, Stiles had managed to swill out the horrible taste that had created some sort of film around his tongue, and was sitting at the edge of the pool, staring into the water. He couldn't be sure how much time had passed, it had been a bit of a blur for Stiles, but the party had died down, so there were not many people left out in the garden. A few stragglers, some girl passed out on one of the deck chairs, and a very drunk guy thinking it would be clever to balance himself on the edge of the pool as his friends looked on cautiously. Everyone who remained at the party was inside, where Stiles could hear the steady beat of the bass coming from. He felt rather than saw Ade crouch down next to him, folding her legs underneath her in a surprisingly graceful manner. She looked over at him for a few minutes, neither of them talking, before he finally broke the silence.
"So… Having fun at your first Beacon Hills high school party?" His eyes didn't leave the gently rippling water, his mind spellbound by the slow movement.
"It was definitely an event I'll remember. Though I'm sure it's one you'd rather forget." Stiles let out a breathy, humorless laugh at her assumption, nodding his agreement.
"I'm okay. I could be better – I could be a lot better – but I've been worse." Stiles didn't know why he was telling her this, but there was something about her that made him feel okay, as if he could tell her these things. He didn't even have to think about it, words just started coming out. Maybe it was the drink. Either way, right now, he didn't really care.
"So, I forgot to ask." Ade moved around a bit, trying to find a comfortable position as she spoke. "I mean, I was totally out of it, so it didn't really register anything until this afternoon when I'd settled after my little midnight stroll. What were you doing driving around the woods so early this morning?"
Stiles didn't move his eyes from the water, but groaned internally. He should have known she'd ask something like this, but he'd had so much on his mind since this morning when he'd almost knocked her over that anything that wasn't a current problem didn't make it to the forefront of his mind. Now he wished he'd thought up a plausible excuse beforehand, so he wouldn't have to think one up on the spot, while his mind was fogged up with alcohol and heartache.
"Scott needed my help with something." Really, Stiles, that's the best that you can come up with?
"What would he need help with at five in the morning in the woods?"
Damn the new girl and her very reasonable questions. "Uh, car trouble." Yes, that makes sense. "He got upset about Allison-"yes, girls understand being upset about broken relationships, "-and he went for a drive, and the car broke down. He called me and I came to the rescue. As I do." When I'm needed. If I'm needed.
"Oh, okay. That makes sense." Ade nodded, and Stiles let the breath he didn't realise he was holding. But then she tilted her head to the side, a confused look on her face. "I thought Scott rode a bike."
Fuck. Wait. "He does, usually. He borrowed his Mom's car. You know, driving around the woods, alone, in the middle of the night is a bad enough idea in a car, let alone a bike." She nodded again, seemingly accepting of that answer, and Stiles felt his shoulders droop.
"Why're you lying to me?"
Stiles whipped his head around, just to make sure that it was Adria who said that, and that she was talking to him. She was looking at hi expectantly, her eyes, which were completely clear of emotion, a darker, deeper blue than he remembered.
"What?"
"You're lying to me. What really happened this morning?"
Stiles stammered for a minute, unable to form words. "I… I don't know what you're talking about. Scott had car trouble, an-"
"No, he didn't. I don't doubt that he may have had some form of trouble, that he needed your help with, but it had nothing to do with a car."
"What're you talking about?"
"I know when people are lying to me, Stiles."
"And how could you possibly know that? Unless you have extra keen senses that can hear irregularities in my-" wait.
"I just know, Stiles. Are you going to tell me what happened, or do I have to find out myself?" She couldn't be… Could she? No. "Fine." Surely, Scott would've smelt it on her. Or someone would've noticed something that pointed to that. "Oh, and Stiles?" Stiles looked up at Ade, who was standing, facing back towards the house. She looked over her shoulder at him, and he swore her eyes were getting darker by the second. "You were right, about the woods. They seem pretty dangerous. I'm sure I heard howling out there this morning. Maybe you should stay out of there. Wouldn't want to get yourself bit, now, would you?"
Stiles' face was enough confirmation for her. He knew. Somehow, he knew. Adria was confident that Stiles wasn't a werewolf, that he wasn't anything supernatural, not anything she knew of. Maybe a bit too smart for his own good, and a bit too stubborn, but he was definitely human. And he knew. The lying about why he was in the woods that morning, the way his face dropped at her mention of getting bit, they proved it. She could smell the lies on his, could feel it rolling off him in waves.
The trouble was, of course, that he knew something was up with her. The anger had gotten to her. Why couldn't she just harness her influence and get the truth out of him? Why couldn't he have just been honest and forthcoming with his knowledge of the supernatural? He just had to frustrate her, get her so worked up that she let too much slip, and now he would be suspicious.
And if Stiles was suspicious, so would anyone he told of our conversation. No doubt, he would tell Scott, they were best friends, and Adria could only assume that if one of them knew something, the other one did too. And if they knew about the Argents, or if Allison cottoned on herself, she would more than likely tell her father. All they had to do was do a bit of light reading from their family bestiary and she was toast.
Hell, that's if Rosa didn't get to her first.
A/N: Next Time on The Knight of the Full Moon - The pack get more than they bargained for when they confront Adria, and an old friend comes to visit(barely). How will the pack cope with their new found knowledge?
Sorry, always wanted to do that. Anyway, I've already started on this next chapter, so it should be up pretty soon. Yay! I'm definitely enjoying this story at the minute, and I spend any time I can working on it, so let's hope my excitement continues for a while.