Author's Notes: Chapter 4 is going to cover the rest of the summer, and the morning of the first day of school. So exciting!

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Daydreams & Nightmares

Chapter 4

The next month seemed to fly by for Delia. Every morning, like clockwork, she'd go out for her run. When she got back, however, things soon got unpredictable and busy. If she wasn't hanging out with Lydia and learning all the social customs that Lydia happily taught her, she was hanging out with the guys. When she spent time with the boys, fast becoming her boys, they were usually playing video games or watching movies while pigging out on pizza and curly fries. The total opposite applied to Lydia, who's favorite pass time was anything that had to do with clothes or makeup, and cheerfully joined her for lunch at healthy, and expensive, restaurants downtown.

Delia loved hanging out with her friends, though sometimes she wished they could all hang out together. That wasn't an option though, as Lydia didn't have a clue who they were, even though they had all gone to school together for years, and seemed completely uninterested in getting to know two guys who weren't popular enough to be on her radar. This annoyed Delia greatly, but eventually she just accepted it as the way Lydia surprisingly genius mind worked.

Stiles, on the other hand, was ecstatic that she had made friends with the red head. Apparently he'd been in love with her since the third grade, and saw her as a way to bridge the gap between their respective social statuses. Delia didn't have the heart to tell him that that was probably never going to happen, no matter how much Lydia liked her. She'd also come to the conclusion that the bitter disappointment she felt wasn't because she felt sorry for him, but because she was jealous.

In the month since they'd met and he and Scott had started hanging out with her to make up for ridiculing her aunt, she had developed quite a crush on the boy. She didn't even notice at first, and it wasn't until her mother had pointed out the blush on her face as she laughed about something Stiles had texted her that she realized that she liked him as more than just a friend. Of course, since he now frequently asked her about Lydia, she figured she had zero chance, so why even try?

She wasn't sure if Scott knew how she felt, but if he did, he didn't say anything. He was slowly becoming the brother she never knew she wanted. He teased her just as much as Stiles did, but he was also oddly protective, and always kind. He'd help her with just about anything she asked him to, except maybe shopping. Poor guy was asthmatic, she discovered shortly after becoming friends, so he never joined her on her runs. Stiles didn't either, and she knew it was because he was just too lazy to get up early and go running.

Lydia had, bravely, tried to join her one morning for a run. Barely half way through, however, and she was gasping for breath and pleading for Delia to stop for a break. She declined the offer to go running again after that. Lydia was very good at power shopping, but not so great at anything pertaining to exercise. Delia resigned herself to running alone once again, but used Lydia being out of shape as a fun way to tease the girl.

The days passed in a flurry of activity and discovery, peppered with some really great family moments with her mom and aunt. They had both met Lydia, and were completely taken with the girl. Only her mom had met the boys though, and gave Delia the best night of her life as her mom pretended to be stern and mean while the boys cowered in fear. Her aunt had stayed in her private quarters that night, suffering from a migraine. The next morning she listened, delighted, as she and her mom recounted the boys' look of confusion and surprise when Lily had flipped the switch and became her normal sweet and sassy self.

Now it was the night before the first day of school, and Delia found it very hard to sleep. She was just too wired with anticipation and excitement to settle into a restful state. It took hours, but eventually she could feel herself drifting off. Right before she fell asleep completely, however, there was a tapping noise at her window. At first she dismissed it as the branch of the tree outside her window; the wind must have picked up a bit. A few moments later, though, the tapping returned, this time in an obvious pattern. She sat up, confused and sleepy, and peered through the window. Outside, she could see the silhouette of a person crouching on the roof.

Wide awake and shaking, she groped for her phone on the bedside table. They'd had break ins before, but they'd never come in through her bedroom window! Just as she was typing in the lock code, moments away from dialing 911, the tapping came again, accompanied by a whisper.

"Delia! Wake up, dude!"

Delia sighed, all traces of fear leaking from her body. It was Stiles, stupid ADD Stiles, outside her window. She threw off the covers and padded over to the window, a frown on her face. She pushed the window up and Stiles tumbled in, landing in an uncoordinated heap. He hurriedly straightened himself up, before doing a double-take.

"Um, why aren't you wearing pants?" he asked, his voice breaking slightly. She gasped and dashed back towards the bed, having completely forgotten that she'd gone to bed in just a tank top and some undies. She grabbed the duvet and wrapped it around herself, before turning back to him and praying that the dark was hiding her no doubt crimson blush.

"Because, Stiles," she said, annoyed and embarrassed, "I was sleeping. You know, that thing you do at," she glanced at her phone and groaned, "one in the freaking morning? Seriously Stiles?" she asked, exasperated. Stiles shook himself, wearing an odd expression on his face and blushing slightly.

"Well," he cleared his throat, "we came to pick you up. There's been a development Mrs. Hudson!" he cried, immediately being shushed frantically.

"Okay," she started slowly, "first thing, I'm assuming that when you say 'we,' you mean you and Scott?" She got a nod in reply. "Second thing, shut up or you'll wake my mom. She's super cranky if she doesn't get her rest, got it?" Another nod, followed by a grin. His hands were moving around, fiddling with the draw string on his hoodie, shoving themselves in his pockets, pulling out and playing with whatever he'd left in there the day before. He couldn't stand still, he just couldn't. She sighed, lifting a hand to head.

"What kind of development, Mr. Holmes?" she asked, playing along for the moment. This made him fidget more as his grin grew.

"You're never going to believe it, Mrs. Hudson, but my dad got a call earlier about a couple of joggers finding a body in the woods. Half a dead body," he said enticingly, "and Scott and I are here to pick you up so we can go look for the other half." He stood there with his hands on his hips, looking proud of himself and his clever idea. She stared at him, long enough for his grin to falter and fade, before walking slowly up to him. When she was within range, she gave him a good whack on the side of his head, making him yelp.

"You moron! What in the fudge monkeys makes you think I want to go dead body hunting?" she asked incredulously, ignoring his murmuring about half a dead body. "You woke me up at one in the morning so we could all go traipsing through the woods in the dead of night, looking for half a dead body – shut up," she warned him as he opened his mouth, "instead of sleeping blissfully in our beds like any sane 16 year old would be doing the day before school started?"

He seemed to deflate at her question, looking around for a possible answer. All he came up with, was, "...yes?"

She rolled her eyes and sighed, then pointed out the window. "Leave Stiles, I'm not going out with you guys tonight. Tomorrow is my first day of being normal, and I'm not going to ruin it by running around all night, looking for nightmare fuel." He opened his mouth to protest, before thinking better of it. He just shuffled his feet and nodded, looking dejected.

"Yeah, okay. Sorry I woke you." He sulked his way out the window, making her feel a little sorry for the guy. She stopped him before he could close her window.

"I didn't mean to be, well, mean, but tomorrow is really important to me, okay? Just..." she peered into his warm brown eyes through the darkness, "just, be careful. You and Scott. Okay?" Stiles flashed his dimples at her with a smile.

"Don't you worry about us, Mrs. Hudson," he declared. "Dr. Watson and I are on the case, and we'll be okay. Promise," he swore with a wink, before making his way stealthily across the roof to the trellis wall connected to the wall of the garden. She had to admit, he was pretty good at sneaking around. She waited until she heard the Jeep start up and take off before she shut her window, listening carefully to see if her mother had woken up. When nothing alerted her to movement, she trudged back to bed.

She was now fully awake again, and she doubted she could fall asleep anytime soon. Stupid Stiles, she thought. Stupid Stiles and his stupid habit of listening to his dad's phone calls, and his stupid need to be curious about everything, and his stupid cute face, and stupid whiskey colored eyes... She found herself blushing again as she remembered how it felt as his eyes took in her bare legs. How could she not notice the breeze on the skin of her thighs when she got out of bed? Embarrassed and tired, she dug herself further into the plush blankets of her bed. Just breath, Delia girl, she told herself. Breath, and forget about troublesome cute boys. Tomorrow's too big a day to get distracted by pretty eyes.

Sleep did claim her eventually, but it was broken and restless as she had weird almost-nightmares about dead bodies and a legless Stiles. When her alarm went off the next morning, she slapped at it with a groan. She felt like she had gotten no sleep whatsoever. Before she could fall back asleep, her mom burst into her room like a tornado in the desert.

"GOOOOOD MORNING, SUNSHINE!" she exclaimed loudly, bounding over to the window to rip open the curtains. Delia groaned again, burying her head underneath her pillow. Her mother clucked and started pulling at her blankets. "Now don't give me that! Today's your first day of school! You've got to get up and get ready." For a few moments, nothing happened except the tugging of covers, before Delia suddenly exploded from the bed.

"Today's my first day of school," she whispered, wide eyed. "Today's my first day of school!" she shouted, seizing her mother by the shoulders. "Oh god, today's my first day of school. Help," she croaked. Her mother laughed and pulled her in for a hug.

"Oh, baby girl. You're going to be amazing," she assured her, running her hands through her blonde hair. "Don't forget that you already have three friends to help you out today." Delia nodded and pulled back, a determined look on her face.

"You're right. Today is going to rock, and I am going to be absolutely awesome!" she cried, a tightfisted hand going up in victory. She glanced back at her mother, as if seeing her for the first time that morning. "Don't suppose there's coffee, is there?" she asked.

"I made a whole pot just a few minutes ago," her mom affirmed. "You can grab some after your shower. You look like you got no sleep at all!" She declined to tell her mother that she had, in fact, gotten very little sleep, and instead gave a salute and dashed off to the bathroom. After a quick shower and the brushing of teeth, she dashed down the stairs. She was in and out of the kitchen in less than a minute, pouring her coffee and her preferred sugar and creamer, only pausing to give her aunt a kiss on the cheek, before dashing back up the stairs.

Having already picked out her clothes the day before, okay, the week before, she pulled them on quickly. She had decided to go with a pretty white dress with purple flowers, layered with her favorite denim jacket, and a pair of chestnut brown wedge booties. To match her purse and her newly painted nails, she selected a pair of candy red stud earrings with a matching necklace; gold, with a small, red square pendant. On her arms went a bracelet with the initial 'D' carved into a circle charm, and a cute watch with red and white stripes.

She did her hair quickly, styling it in long, large waves and curls. Once done, she started with her makeup, keeping it simple with nude-colored eyeshadow and a touch of black liner and mascara. After spritzing on her favorite perfume, she looked herself up and down in her floor-length mirror. After a few moments, she swiped on some bright red lipstick. There, she thought. All done. She looked at the clock and found she had plenty of time, much more than she needed to get to school. She grabbed her purse, making sure it had everything she'd need, collected the binders and notebooks into her arms, and headed downstairs.

She was blinded at the bottom by a camera flash, startling her. Once the spots had cleared from her eyes, she spotted her mom and aunt giggling and looking at a digital camera. She huffed and walked by them to the kitchen.

"Could you at least turn off the flash if you're going to do that? I think my retinas may be permanently damaged," she drawled, sitting on her stool and grabbing a piece of toast from a plate.

"Oh, don't be a party pooper," her mother admonished. "We had to get that picture." Delia just rolled her eyes and continued chewing. She reached into the fruit bowl and grabbed a banana.

As she ate her small breakfast, she playfully ignored her mom and aunt as they pestered her about the upcoming day. When enough time had passed, and her mother had finally gotten annoyed by her bouncing knee, she kissed them both goodbye, grabbed all her gear, and headed out the door.

Delia's mode of transportation happened to be a bicycle; a sky blue bicycle with a wicker basket attached to the front. She loaded up the basket with her stuff, gave Mr. Toby a parting rub, and peddled her way out of the driveway. As she got closer and closer to the school, she fought to keep the butterflies at bay.

You've got this, she told herself. As it turned out, she did.

What she didn't have, was a single clue that her life was about to be turned on it's head and spun in different directions. Stupid wolves.


Okay people, you know what this means, right? Next chapter is going to start coinciding with the show, and then we'll really get cookin'!

~Sam