Hello everyone.
I know I said I would post a new chapter on Monday, but this week was the week from Hell.
Just. No.
There are three words to describe this chapter and they are, emotional roller coaster.
Also, some more background on what happened between Warren and Stiles.
Enjoy and let me know what I'm doing right.
(;
An hour later, Warren had changed into an oversized tee shirt and was sitting at her kitchen table with several of her mothers research notebooks, her tablet, her own notebook, the bottle of Scotch and a glass. She was quite comfortable as she read through the notebooks, making little notes as she went along, till she realized that she was not alone.
After nearly nearly two years of being hip deep in the supernatural, Warren had developed a few senses regarding her safety and one of them was knowing when she wasn't alone.
With her hand on the gun she kept on the chair next to her, Warren looked up, pointing the gun as she did, only to be met with a shriek. "Seriously!"
When she saw it was Stiles with a bag of Chinese take out in both hands, she placed the gun on the table and stared at him. "What is wrong with you?"
Stiles's eyes grew big as he set the bags down and stared at her. "Me? What's wrong with you? And when the hell did you get a gun?"
Warren took a deep breath as she folded her legs under her and made sure none of her bits were showing. "Jack gave it to me after I got out of the hospital the last time. What are you doing here? Its supposed to be a guys night."
Stiles shrugged as he walked around the kitchen as if he owned it and grabbed two plates. "This is what we do. I help with research."
"Stiles,"
"You're one of my best friends Warren and I know this isn't easy for you. So I'm here to help." When he was like this, it was hard to be mad at him, to hate him because he acted as if what had happened between them, didn't happen. It was easy to remember why she was in love with him.
Stiles sat down with the plates and opened the bags of take out. "So, I got all your favorites, which is lucky because they happen to be mine too and," He stared at the bottle of Scotch for a moment before looking up at her. "How much had you had to drink?"
She picked up her glass, took a sip and shook her head. "Not enough to resist the urge to burn these."
He nodded. "Yeah, I would suggest more, but I need you to have a clear and level head while we do this."
She said nothing as she finished off what was in her glass and poured herself another one. "I would offer you some, but I know you're more of a Jack man."
He made a face. "I don't like Jack like that, you know that and-" He stopped when he realized what she had meant and chuckled. "Yeah, I am." He muttered as he started divvying out their proportions, then pushed the plate towards her.
Stiles watched as she picked at the food with her chopsticks, only occasionally taking a bite. "What's going on with you?" He asked bluntly as she just gave him one of her classic looks and took a bite of her food. "Talk to me Warren, you've never not talked to me before."
Before she could say anything, there was a knock on the front door, which gave Warren the chance to run away from the question for a little bit longer. When she opened the door, she was surprised to see Jordan standing there with a grin on his face. "Hey."
"Hey." She smiled back, about to ask what he was doing there since he was still in uniform when Stiles walked up behind her.
"Oh, hey Parrish, whats going on?"
Stiles looked between Warren and Parrish, then just to Warren. "I came to drop off her coat. She left it at my place last night."
Parrish handed Warren one of her many button ups and smiled at him. "Thanks. I completely forgot about it this morning." He nodded, noting for a moment that she was not wearing pants.
"Okay, is no one going to mention why you were at his place last night?" Stiles inquired as Warren towards towards him.
"Well, remember how my car was at the bar? Parrish just wanted to make sure I was safe. You know, doing his duty." She looked back at Jordan who nodded. "I'll see you around." She nodded as well and watched him leave before she turned back towards Stiles.
But she said nothing as she angrily walked away. "What the hell was that?" Stiles stared at her when she would not answer, he just went on. "No, seriously, that's where you were last night? At a deputy's house. Are you kidding me? You and-"
"Stop it! Stiles you are not my boyfriend!"
Stiles made a face. "I know that."
She snorted. "Do you? Because you act more like my boyfriend then my best friend."
"I just want you to be-"
"Oh don't you dare say safe. I live in Beacon Hills, I run with a wolf pack, I'm never going to be safe. So wrong answer."
When Stiles didn't speak, she took a step towards him, her voice low. "You think because we slept together that it gives you the right to act jealous? Well news flash it doesn't, especially when you're fucking someone else."
Stiles jaw tighten as he stared at her. "Do you know why the nogitsune went after you?" She only looked at him. "Because he knew how I felt about you and he was trying to break me. If you were dead, it would have been the last,"
Warren covered her mouth with her hands and shook her head. "No, you do not get to blame ignoring what we did, on that."
"I almost killed you Warren,"
She shook her head. "No, he almost killed me and you pretending like we didn't happen and running to Malia almost did me in." She held back the tears she knew where trying to escape. "Do you have any idea what it felt like to wake up and see you holding her hand? To know that something had happened between you two at the moment?"
When he said nothing, she continued. "I wished he hadn't have missed."
A few tears rolled down her cheek and when Stiles went to brush them away, she shook her head. "You need to leave. I have a lot of work to do and," She took a deep breath. "You just need to leave."
Stiles hand had not moved from where he had tried to cup her cheek as she walked back into the kitchen and a moment later came with a bag of food. "Please." He nodded as he started walking out, only looking back at her once as she disappeared into the kitchen, watching her shoulder shake and in that moment he hated himself a little more.
Two hours later, Jordan appeared back at her door and the moment the door was closed, she wrapped her arms around him and hugged tight.
When she pulled away she took a deep breath. "Sorry, I just really needed a hug after the day I've had."
He nodded as he looked around, noting that she was alone. "Wanna talk about it?"
She snorted as she shook her head. "Not really."
He nodded again. "Is everything okay with you and Stiles? I mean I'm going to go out on a limb and say that he's the best friend you're in love with."
"Yep."
"Why was he here then?"
Warren ran her hands through her hair. "He was trying to pretend like it was old times,"
"But its not."
She shook her head. "But its not." She agreed as she exhaled sharply again. "Do you want anything? I have Chinese and-" But she was cut off with his lips on hers and honestly exactly what she had needed and she was glad that he wanted the same thing she did.
It wasn't love, they both knew it, but it was going to be fun for as long as it lasted.
Warren didn't sleep that night. Jordan had gone home after she explained that everyone would be at her place early tomorrow morning for their Sunday morning breakfast ritual, she couldn't sleep. She couldn't get the fight that she had Stiles had had out of her head.
If Derek was still himself, she would have gone to him for help. He always knew what to say in these kinds of situations. As she sat at the kitchen table, she could remember how she felt when Scott and Stiles had told her that he was back in town.
Warren remembered the whole, wanting to marry him by sixteen and will never deny that she had liked how he had grown up when she saw him again, but they were also different by then; they had both lost so much and she was already in love with Stiles by then.
Grown up Derek knew about how she felt and deep down it was one of the reasons why she rejected the bite when Derek had offered it to her. Had she not loved Stiles, she would have taken it in a heartbeat, but she had to be on his side, not Derek's when everything was happening.
Warren rested her head on the table and did not notice when the sun was starting to rise. What she did notice was Scott standing in her kitchen, staring at her. "What Scott?"
"Whats going on with you and Stiles?"
She groaned heavily as she lifted her head from the table and saw that he was standing there with his hands in his pockets, watching her carefully. "Trust me, you have enough on your plate. You don't want to know."
Scott cocked his head to the side and Warren was reminded of a confused puppy, which made her smile. "I love you both, and there is something not right between you two."
When she said nothing, he nodded. "I know he was here last night. When he came over, he didn't have enough food for all of us and he ordered everything that you like. What's going on?"
Warren sighed. "Are you asking as Scott or my alpha?"
"As Scott. You know the guy you've been best friends with since you were about yay tall." He held his hand up to a point, which made her laugh.
"So, last year?"
He laughed as well before taking a seat at the table. "What's going on?"
She wanted to tell him, but he really did have too much to worry about at the moment and honestly, she knew eventually they would work it out. "I'm not used to sharing him with anyone but you, but I'm working on it."
She knew he didn't really believe her, but he knew that if she was being untruthful about something, that it was for a good reason. Scott nodded. "Okay then, I know you'll talk to me when you're ready."
She nodded as she looked at the clock. "Get started on the pancakes, I'll get the bacon." He grinned widely as he hopped up from his chair and started getting everything he needed for the pancakes.
About twenty minutes later, everyone began to pour into the house, including Stiles and Malia who were holding hands as they walked into the kitchen/ dinning room area. "Mornin troops." She said cheerfully as she sipped her coffee and made a face at Scott as he flipped another pancake.
"I was just about to start the eggs. Stiles could you grab the pancakes out of the oven." He nodded and did as he was asked, brushing up against Warren in a strange way that nearly made her drop the pan, but thankfully she quickly recovered.
Malia looked around the room and made a face. "It smells weird in here again." She then looked over to Warren. "Did you have someone over last night?"
Everyone turned and looked at her, but Warren was busy cracking eggs. "Well?" Scott asked as she rolled her eyes at him.
"Nope. Stiles dropped off dinner for me because I always forget to eat while I'm researching and while he was here, Parrish dropped off my coat, so nope. That was about it till Scott got here this morning."
Scott knew she was hiding something and that someone had been there last night, but unlike Malia who was still learning social graces, he knew better then to ask.
Malia only nodded as she sat at the table and played with the fork at her spot. "Did you make,"
"Canadian bacon for you? Yes I did." Malia smiled at her and Warren smiled back because as much as she did not like the whole, Malia being with Stiles, she knew that it was hard for Malia to readjust to being in a human society and that she was taking all of her social cues from the pack around her.
As part of the pack, she didn't want to fuck that up. While she finished up the eggs, Lydia walked in, looked around and beelined for Warren.
"Excuse us." As she pulled Warren out of the kitchen, she handed the wooden spoon off to Isaac and allowed herself to be pulled up the stairs and into her room.
Warren looked over for a moment and chuckled. "We have got to stop meeting like this." But Lydia did not look amused. Instead she walked over to Warren's stereo and turned it on.
Warren gave her a strange look, but Lydia pulled her over to the bed and made her sit down. "Lydia, you're hot and everything, but-"
Lydia rolled her eyes. "Shut up."
Warren looked at her defeated. "Okay?"
Lydia took a deep breath. "What's going on with you? Really?"
Warren rolled her head as she groaned, but stopped when Lydia smacked her arm. "What?"
"Tell me."
"Its not like we're that great of friends Lydia. This is not where I spill my heart out."
Lydia looked hurt for a moment. "Why not? You used talk to me when Allison was here, and now its like you're both gone."
Warren rubbed her nose roughly as she shook her head. "It doesn't have anything to do with you Lydia."
She nodded. "I know, just tell me."
When Warren didn't speak, Lydia nodded again. "Did you know that I screamed for you?"
Warren's head snapped towards Lydia who was staring off as tears began to well up in her eyes. "Before we lost Allison, before Stiles and the nogitsune split, you were here working on a way, trying to find an answer for how to stop everything and I felt it in my bones that we were going to lose someone. I screamed and called everyone and you were the only one that didn't pick up."
Warren looked over to the bloodstain on the floor, thinking about how it felt as if it was yesterday. "Derek was the first one and he kept begging for you to open your eyes and you wouldn't. By the time the paramedics got here,"
"My heart had stopped twice and Derek somehow got it going again. It stopped again in the ambulance."
Warren stared off. "They have no idea how I survived."
Lydia nodded and grabbed her hand. "I can't lose anyone else I care about Warren, I can't. Please don't shut me out."
Warren ran her hands through her hair and shook her head. "I know everyone is worried about me, and what almost dying did to me. That I didn't go help save Derek and how I've been acting, but its just. I need to deal with this in my own way, okay?"
Lydia studied her face for a moment. "Something happened with Stiles, didn't it?"
When she didn't answer, Lydia nodded. "Before the possession?"
Warren nodded. "Before the sacrifices. And I don't want to say anymore, because more people that don't need to know about this, already do."
Lydia sighed. "He loves you."
That broke her heart a little to hear. "He has a funny way of showing it," She was quiet for a moment. "Plus it doesn't matter. He's with Malia and I'm not going to ruin that for either of them."
Lydia patted her thigh affectionately. "You're a better person then me."
Warren snorted. "Come on Martin, there's breakfast and I am starving."
When they rejoined everyone downstairs, no one said anything about their strange disappearance, instead Scott handed them both plates and they took their seats at the table with everyone.
Once everyone was done with breakfast, Warren tried to clean, but Isaac stopped her. "Nope, you cooked. You don't clean."
He pulled on Scott's sleeve, causing Scott to whine. "Hey, I cooked!"
But Isaac dragged him over to the sink nonetheless and Kira followed.
"I'll get these over to them." Lydia muttered as she started grabbing plates, causing Malia to stand.
"Should I be grabbing plates too?" She asked Stiles as he shrugged.
"If you want. Scott and Warren did cook."
Malia sighed and looked as if she did not want to do it, but did anyways. Now it was just Stiles and Warren sitting at the table, which left her feeling slightly uncomfortable, which she never thought would happen with Stiles.
He broke the silence first. "So did you find anything in your mom's notes?"
Warren nodded as she took a deep breath. "I actually have some things for you to run down. I figured if you take half, you know, we'll get to an answer quicker."
Stiles nodded as he rhythmically on the table. "Good thing I brought my laptop. I can dive right in."
She nodded with a smile as she rubbed her hands over her face and stared off for a moment. "Well, everyone is welcome to stay. Stiles and I are going into research team mode, anyone is also welcome to join. There's a bit to run down."
"Did your mom not know anything?" Malia asked with a slight harshness to her voice, but Warren brushed it off, because she was still learning basic human decency.
"It wasn't a topic she was that interested in. At least not like this."
"Why don't you just call her?"
Stiles was up and over at Malia's side, muttering into her ear about not asking about Warren's mother, while everyone else in the room had stopped moving.
Warren stood and tried to remain calm. "But why not? I don't understand."
Warren walked over to where Malia was standing and stayed as composed as she could. "Okay, let me explain it in a way you'll understand."
Malia cocked her head at her, not sure if this was meant as an insult or not. "A family is like a pack, right?"
Malia nodded.
"Do you abandon your pack Malia?"
Malia stared at her, but then shook her head. "You're not supposed to, but I would if it meant I would survive."
Warren nodded. "Then apparently you and my mother have that in common."
She looked at Stiles. "I moved the research to the living room, I'm going to take a shower now." As she walked away, she heard Malia mutter about her smelling fine and still being confused about what she did wrong.
So, what did y'all think?