Allison stood at her wardrobe, rifling hurriedly through her clothes. Lydia was perched on the edge of her bed, her legs crossed elegantly, watching the dark haired girl with a bored expression. Skyler lay on her back on the bed, playing with the end of Lydia's long red waves. The two girls on the bed were already made up and dressed, Lydia in tight jeans, with a light blue blouse and dark navy sweater and her hair in long wavy strands, and Sky in a a black skater skirt with a baggy wine coloured sweater and black Converse, her hair in a messy braided bun. Allison still hadn't decided what to wear, or if she was going to do her hair, or anything of the sort.

"Hmm, pass," Lydia said as Allison held up a shirt. She placed it back into the wardrobe and pulled out another, "Pass. Let me see." She stood, moving to Allison's closet and flicking through the tops quickly. "Pass, pass, pass... Allison, my respect for your taste dwindles every second." She paused, tugging a sequined shirt off of a hanger and holding it up to Allison. "This."

Allison took the shirt and smiled at Lydia as the door to her room opened. Skyler's head snapped up. Mr Argent wandered into the room. He stopped a few steps in, still holding the door handle.

"Dad," Allison's tone conveyed her annoyance, her mouth was pursed and her eyebrows pulled in slightly, "Hi."

"Right, I'm sorry," he smiled tightly, looking around as if being in the room made him uncomfortable, "Completely forgot to knock."

Lydia threw herself on the bed in the most subtly seductive position she could manage. Skyler lay back, raising one arm over her head and stretching out her long legs, crossing them at the ankle. Allison rolled her eyes at the girls, she hated the way they both shamelessly flirted at her father. Sky even winked at him. "Hey Mister Argent," they chorused.

"Dad, do you need something?" Allison cut them off, giving them a gentle glare before returning her attention to her father.

"I wanted to tell you that you were staying in tonight," Mr Argent avoided looking at the girls lying sprawled on the bed as elegantly as possible.

"What? I'm going out with my friends tonight!"

"No," her father insisted, "There's some animal out there attacking people." He was using his parenting voice, It was the one Skyler's mother had used when she caught Sky clambering in her bedroom window steaming drunk when she was fifteen.

"Dad..." Allison didn't even finish her complaint, just balled up her top and threw it on the bed by Skyler's legs. She knew that her father had made his mind up at this point that she was not going out.

"There's a curfew, no one out past nine thirty," he tried to reason with Allison, rationalise his decision. "No more arguing." He left the room just as suddenly as he had entered, leaving the three girls slightly slumped in defeat.

"Someone's Daddy's little girl," Lydia singsonged, sitting upright on the bed.

"Sometimes," Allison shot back, her eyes steely, "But not tonight." The dark haired girl moved over to the window, pulling on a beanie as she went. She opened the latch and pushed the window up, sliding her body through the opening. The other two girls followed her, watching as she walked to the edge of the roof.

"What are you doing?" Lydia asked, sounding nearly apprehensive.

Allison replied my standing for a moment on the edge of the roof and then front flipping onto the grass of the lawn. Skyler smirked down at Ally, Lydia simply watched her with a shocked admiration. She grinned up at the girls, her self-satisfied smirk was surprisingly not obnoxious like it would be in other people. Allison was so humble that it was fun to see her take pride in herself.

"Eight years of gymnastics," she whispered, throwing a thumb over her shoulder, "You coming?"

"We'll take the stairs, Skyler grinned at her friend, she could feel Allison's excitement at the prospect of a date with Scott, even if it was a group date. "I think your parents will get suspicious if no one descends the stairs, but the room is still empty when they come upstairs. Be out in a minute."

Skyler shut the window quietly and took Lydia's hand, dragging her to the door. She had begun to look forward to the bowling trip over the last day and a half. Stiles, Lydia and Allison were basically her closest friends and Scott was really starting to grow on her. She had to dislike him a bit after he left Allison at Lydia's party, but that was just friendly solidarity. The only real downside to the evening was Jackson. He was a dick.

The two girls reached the bottom of the stairs, passing Mr Argent as they hurried to the door.

"Straight home for you two, I'm hoping," he called after them.

"Sure, Mister Argent," Sky shouted back over her shoulder, "Bye, sir."

The two teens tumbled onto the drive, Allison was already waiting by Skyler's car, which she had gotten back from the mechanic the day after the party. Sky unlocked the car, Allison slipped into the backseat, keeping low and Lydia sat gingerly on the passenger seat, acting like the heavy metal albums, books and empty Reese's Pieces packets could pass on some horrible disease.

"You alright there, Lyds?" Sky snorted in amusement,

"Your car is disgusting," Lydia picked up a CD by 'The Darkness' and flicked it onto the ground.

"My car," she responded, turning the keys in the ignition , "Has character."

They arrived at the bowling alley a few minutes late. She could see Scott and Stiles standing by the Jeep, and Jackson standing by his Porsche, already sulking. All three girls exited the car at the same time, drawing the attention of the boys. Stiles eyes flickered to Lydia for a moment, then over to Skyler with a smile that faltered as he took in her attire. He gaped open-mouthed at her, it was probably the first time he had seen this much of her skin on display. She stopped a few feet away from him. Allison walked past her and immediately latched her mouth to Scott's, Lydia doing the same to Jackson on the other side.

"Hi, Sky," Stiles kept his eyes on the bottom of her thigh that was displayed by the skirt, "You look legly. Lovely! I meant LOVEly."

Skyer laughed, glad that she had waxed before her legs before leaving her house tonight. "You look legly too, Stiles." She told him, her face splitting into a wide grin.

"Shall we?" He stepped to the side, waving his arm to usher her inside.

She curtsied at him, and skipped merrily by him, pinching Scott's ass on the way inside. She smirked and Stiles chuckled as they heard Scott give a terrified squeaking sound.

Five minutes later, they sat by their chosen lane, preparing for the game. Allison was standing by the ball dispenser, picking up each ball as they emerged, weighing them in an almost expert fashion. Jackson was standing behind Lydia, vertically spooning her as he showed her how to throw the ball correctly.

Skyler and Stiles were arguing good-naturedly about who truely deserved the Iron Throne. "Daenerys is the trueborn heir to the Iron Throne, her father was the king."

"Yeah, the Mad King," Stiles shot back, "That was mad, hence the name. And he was beaten by King Robert. That shows he wasn't worthy, and seeing as Joffrey, Tommen and Myrcella aren't even his kids, the throne should go to his brother, Stannis the Mannis."

"King Robert did NOT beat Aerys, Jaime Lannister did. So, does that mean Jaime is worthy of the Iron Throne?" Sky raised an eyebrow. "And Stannis is so not the mannis. He had the sexy times with Melisandre and they made a creepy ass shadow baby."

"Fair point, but... But..." Stiles paused to think for a second.

"You can't think of a counter argument, can you!?" Skyler exclaimed, dancing a bit in her seat. "And Daenerys has dragons!"

"Alright, alright," Stiles nudges her in the side with his elbow, grinning like a child even though he had just lost an argument.

"Wait, wait, wait," Skyler held up a hand, making Stiles furrow his eyebrows in confusion. "Can you smell that?"

"Smell what?"

Sky sniffed the air dramatically. "Me achrae athnajaharoon."

All she got in return was a facial expression that clearly asked 'what-the-hell'. She rolled her eyes, huffing jokingly at the look on her friend's face. "It's Dothraki for 'smells like victory'."

Stiles stared at her in silence for a few seconds before speaking. "You are such a nerd."

They burst out laughing at the same time, falling into each other. They only broke apart when they heard a interrupting cough, reminiscent of Dolores Umbridge. Lydia was standing over them, a disapproving pout on her face.

"If you two are quite finished? We're starting."

They sat up straight, watching as Lydia moved to take her first turn. Both of them were trying to calm themselves down after laughing so hard, Sky still hiccuping gently. She felt a warm pressure on her hand as Lydia lined up the ball, Jackson standing behind her, showing her how to bowl. Stiles had reached down, seemingly without even noticing, and had begun to play with the index finger of her left hand. She smiled widely as she felt him curl the finger in and then pull it back slightly.

Skyler looked up as she heard a girlish groan of disappointment. Lydia had only managed to knock down three pins, even with the, no doubt, expert help of her boyfriend.

"Oh," Lydia moaned, sticking out her bottom lip and breasts at the same time, pushing herself against Jackson's chest. "I'm so bad at this."

"You're up Jackson," Sky called, not wanting to witness anymore of Lydia and Jackson's horrific display of coupley-ness.

Jackson hit a strike. Allison also hit a strike. Sky wasn't surprised, even the way Allison had held herself when choosing her ball showed that she was serious about the game.

"You're up McCall." Jackson and Lydia's heads both swiveled around in perfect unison to give Scott a challenging look. It was actually really scary.

Scott stood, looking very unsure. Allison shot him a reassuring smile that seemed to do nothing to steady the floppy haired teen's nerves. Sky looked over at Stiles, he was wearing an almost amused grimace on his face. She tried to suppress the laugh bubbling up in her throat. Scott chose a ball and stood at the 'Do Not Cross' line of their lane.

"You can do it, Scott!" Allison called as gently as possible.

Scott took a deep breath, drew his arm back, then snapped it forward again, letting the bowling ball fly. Skyler could tell from the second that he let go, that the ball was going straight for the gutter. She didn't claim to be a pro at bowling, but she used to go to the bowling alley at least once a week with her friends in Kansas. She groaned internally the second the ball hit the gutter, the smile slipping off both her and Stiles' faces. She heard the all too familiar sound of Jackson's haughty laugh.

"Jackson!" Sky was surprised by the venom in Allison's voice. "You mind shutting up?"

Sky had to agree with her. He was being a dickhead. Scott had obviously over exaggerated his bowling abilities to impress his new girlfriend, and Skyler really felt for him. She would've claim to be a fucking rocket scientist if it meant that, for a moment, Stiles would look at her the same way he looked at Lydia. She realised how pathetic that was, but she also didn't care very much.

"I'm sorry," Jackson managed to force out between gales of laughter, "I'm just flashing back to the words 'I'm a great bowler'."

"Maybe he just needs a little warm up," Allison snapped back, the usually sweet girl was starting to lose her temper.

"Yeah, maybe he needs the kiddie bumpers," Jackson laughed again, Lydia joining in this time. Skyler rolled her eyes aggressively at her friend. She knew that Lydia was loyal to her boyfriend, but would it kill her to have a little empathy with Scott in this situation. The boy in question was standing, ready to take his next turn. His face was a bright red that indicated that he heard exactly what Jackson had been saying about him.

"Just aim for the middle," Allison tried to sound jokey as she imparted her admittedly useless advice. If Scott could aim for the middle, he would have done so already.

"Oh, God," Stiles groaned, burying his face in his hands. This was going to be stomach churningly embarrassing.

"How about you just aim for something else other than the gutter."

"Shut up, jackass." Sky practically snarled, making Stiles jump a small bit, sliding away from her in what looked like a mixture of fear and admiration. Jackson stared at her in shock, not even composed enough to shoot back a clever retort. "Your go, Scott."

He dragged up an unsure smile, then turned to face the lane. Just like last time, he wound up and let the ball go with enough force to nearly make a dent in the bowling lane. She heard Scott whisper to himself gently as the ball slid further and further to the side, eventually ending up in the gutter again. There was a collective groan from Scott, Allison, Stiles and Sky and a self-satisfied snort from Jackson.

"Oh, great job McCall," he was trying to calm himself down, fighting the laughter. "Man, you are a pro."

Scott trudged back over to the seating area and threw himself down next to Allison. He gave her an apologetic smile that threatened to slip off his face at any second. He glanced over Skyler's shoulder at Stiles who nodded his encouragement and reached over Sky to pat his best friend on the shoulder.

"Don't worry," Allison murmured to her boyfriend as Sky stood to take her turn, "We just started."

Sky hit a spare. Seven on her first attempt, and the remaining three on her second. It wasn't the best, but it certainly wasn't the worst and she was inwardly thankful for that. Even if it was selfish and rather bitchy, she was a tiny bit happy that someone was doing a bit worse than her. She really did want to impress her new friends. Well, one or two of them at least. Skyler acted like she didn't give a shit what anyone said, but deep down she really did want people to like her.

Stiles hit a strike. It looked like he didn't even bother trying. She wondered if he had an above average talent at bowling to make up for his lack of skills when it came to lacrosse.

"That was pretty damn impressive," Sky grinned at Stiles as he sat down next to her.

"Thanks," he smiled back shyly, "I spend all of my free time bowling. It's like my superpower."

"Like in 'Misfits'?" She asked, pulling at the drawstring of his hoodie.

"Exactly, I'd be Nathan." He looked pleased for a second, and then his face dropped. "Well, I wouldn't- I would be less of..., uh, I wouldn't be a pervert!" He practically shouted the last part of the sentence, drawing the attention of several people nearby.

"I think you'd actually be more of a Simon," Skyler tried to bite back her laughter, "But more outgoing, and less starey."

Stiles laughed, and then tried to do his best impression of Simon, which just made him look both terrified and constipated. Sky cracked up as he looked deep into her eyes, making Stiles break out laughing too as the others took their turns bowling. Lydia was doing no better, even with Jackson's assistance, Jackson, Allison and Stiles were still going strong, Skyler was doing an average job and Scott had managed to knock down two pins in the first three rounds.

Scott stood up again, looking like he'd rather be anywhere else in the world but right here. This time, Allison stood up with him, holding his hand and moving towards the ball dispenser and pulling him to his usual bowling spot. Skyler watched as Allison whispered in his ear. Out of the corner of her eye, Sky could see Stiles throwing Skittles into the air and trying to catch them with his mouth. Lydia was aggressively ramming her tongue into Jackson's mouth as Jackson watched Scott and Allison over Lydia's shoulder.

Allison kept conversing with Scott for nearly a minute, before standing on her tip-toes and muttering gently into his ear. He tensed as she turned and skipped away, back to sit by Sky and Lydia.

"What did you say to him?" Lydia asked, raising a perfectly shaped eyebrow.

"Um, I just gave him something to think about," The dark haired girl responded coyly.

Scott hit a strike. And another. And another. And another. And another. And another.

"That is seriously amazing," Allison exclaimed, watching her boyfriend, her face filled with adoration. "Jackson, how many strikes is that?"

"That's six." Jackson growled, sounding almost animalistic in his rage. "In a row."

"It somehow just clicked, I guess." Scott was smiling up at Allison, his eyes were wide and his mouth hanging a bit open as he gazed at her. It made Skyler feel a bit sick. Well, sick and jealous. She wanted someone to look at her like that, specifically an ADHD ridden, pale, spazzy teen that had just sat back down beside her after hitting another strike. They fist bumped, blowing it up, and Stiles even made an explosion sound.

"Maybe it's a natural talent," Allison smirked, running her hand up Scott's arm possessively.

"I could use a natural talent," Lydia uncrossed her legs, standing so that she was seriously invading Scott's personal space and biting her lip as seductively as she could manage. "You mind helping me this time?"

Skyler sat up straight, stunned that Lydia would be such a bitch. She was shamelessly flirting with her best friend's boyfriend right in front of her, and in front of her own boyfriend too. Sky cleared her throat loudly, catching Lydia's eye and glaring at her. Her redheaded friend just smirked and turned back to Scott, looking at him expectantly.

"Uh... No! You're good!" He nearly shouted at her, moving closer to Allison as if for protection. "Go for it."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence," Lydia's voice was icy, like she was irritated that a boy she had ignored for sixteen years was not immediately jumping to help her the second she bit her lip and shoved her breasts out.

"I'll help," Jackson jumped up, desperate to assert his Alpha male status for the first time since Scott started to kick everyone's ass at the game.

"How about if I try this one on my own?"

Lydia spun, cocking her hip as she observed the the pins. She strode forward purposefully, and rolled the ball. It was going to hit the pins dead center. Un-fucking-believable. Lydia was pretending to suck to make Jackson feel good about himself, and when Jackson wasn't the winner anymore, she decided to stop fanning his ego. Allison and Skyler looked at each other in astonishment, both obviously arriving at the same conclusion. Lydia had hit a strike.

She turned around, a self-satisfied smile on her face. "I think I'm getting the hang of this thing." She flounced back over, the eyes of all three boys following her. She lowered herself daintily into the seat between Allison and Skyler.

"That was sort of perfect form." Allison whispered to the strawberry blonde.

"Was it?"

"You know, you can stop pretending to suck just for his benefit." Both girls were smirking at Lydia now. That was why Skyler liked Allison and Lydia, they didn't take any bullshit.

"Oh, trust me," Lydia had a superior grin on her face, "I do plenty of sucking just for his benefit."

"And that was a mental image I really did not need in my head," Skyler slapped her hands on her knees, pushing herself up,"I'm gonna go get a Coke and pretend I never heard that."

Scott had won and Stiles had come second. Jackson was pretty damn furious about this, and stormed off to the arcade section moments after their board had displayed the final results. He was currently playing on the pinball machine as Scott hovered near him. Sky wasn't quite sure why. It's not like they were friends or anything. Allison and Lydia were sat at a table, probably comparing their sex lives or something else women folk discuss. Skyler was perched on a stool next to Stiles, both of them drinking red slushies.

"So, where did that incredible talent for bowling come from, Stilinski?" Sky narrowed her eyes and sucked some icy deliciousness into her mouth. "Are you secretly part of the MI5 bowling division or something?"

"Yup," Stiles popped the 'P' and pretending to shoot her with his finger, "I'm the James frickin' Bond of bowling." He winked at her and leaned backwards, trying to look cool and casual. His elbow extended to lean on the counter, but the boy had obviously misjudged the distance between his arm and the surface behind him, and fell backwards off the stool, only just managing to keep himself from falling by grabbing the sleeve of Skyler's sweater and dragging her with him.

She began to laugh, something that was becoming near constant around Stiles. He matched her laugh with his awkward head-ducking, half laugh half smile. It was like he was embarrassed to have made Skyler laugh. She only noticed after about a minute that Stiles had gone quiet. She looked up and saw that he was watching what looked like an incredibly tense conversation between Scott and Jackson. Why the hell were they even talking? They didn't like each other, and Sky was fairly sure that neither of them had anything positive to say to the other.

"What's that about?" Sky was curious. Stiles turned to face her, his features were scrunched into a mask of confusion.

"I don't know," he seemed to be reluctant to admit this. "But I think Scott should stay away from him." Skyler wasn't sure what he meant. Did he actually think that Jackson might hurt Scott? Or just that Jackson was a dick?

"Yeah, I guess," she agreed, biting her lip. This conversation had taken an odd turn, and it was obvious that it was making both of them uncomfortable. She tried to diffuse the tension with an offhand comment. "At least he's hot."

"He's hot?" Stiles pursed his lips, his body tensed like a coiled spring. Skyler wondered if she had said the wrong thing, but couldn't think of why what she had said would piss him off.

"Why are you friends with him?" Stiles sounded like she had personally offended him in some way.

"I'm not really," Sky tapped her index finger off of the slushie cup, she wasn't sure how she felt about the way he had said that. It felt accusatory. "I mean, sure he can be a dick, but he's Lydia's boyfriend and I'm gonna have to be around him quite a bit. I try not to bicker with him. And he can be alright sometimes."

"But he's constantly a dick!" Stiles voice raised suddenly, glaring at her like she had done him a great wrong. Skyler jumped a bit, shocked that he would talk to her like that. "He's arrogant, and he treats people like shit and he acts like he's better than everyone! And he checks you out! He's always staring at you when you or Lydia aren't looking! He's a dick, Sky!" She ducked to avoid his flailing arms.

"What the hell is the matter with you?! He's not a bad person deep down," Skyler snapped. The evening had been pretty good up until Stiles had inexplicably lost his temper. "But yeah, he is arrogant, and he does treat people like shit and he does think he's better than others! I never said he didn't act like that!"

"Then why do you like him?!"

"Why do you like Lydia?!"

Skyler hadn't bothered correcting him about liking Jackson, she was too pissed. What the fuck was wrong with him?! They were both standing now, practically toe to toe both irrationally angry.

"She acts the exact fucking same!" Sky was the first to talk again, she could feel a warm prickling sensation at the back of her eyes, but she refused to let them fall. It was such a stupid thing to cry over. Her and Stiles were having a silly fight over nothing, she needed to get over herself. "So, why do you like her so much!?"

"She's not actually like that! She's smart, I know she is! And she can be nice, otherwise, why would you be friends with her?!" Stiles stumbled over his words. "I understand that she's not a total bitch, I've liked her since third grade!"

"Well, maybe you should get over yourself, and her," Skyler tried to draw herself up to her full height, but she was still shorter than Stiles, "'Cause that's really pathetic, and so are you."

Skyler turned and walked away from the shocked teen. She regretted what she had said the moment it had passed her lips, but she was too hurt and full of pride to turn back and apologise. She felt the tears begin to slip down her face. The way he talked about Lydia made her sick to her stomach, it made her want to scream and cry and hit things. She knew she would have to make up with him at some point, but right now she wanted to go home and eat chocolate fudge peanut butter brownies.

She brushed past Scott, who tried to grab her arm but she shook him off. He yelled after her, and even Jackson tentatively called her name. She sped by the two girls, avoiding their worried looks and hug-ready arms.

"I gotta go," she muttered as she side stepped them, "I feel like shit. I'll see you tomorrow."

Once she hit the parking lot, Skyler broke into a run. She just wanted the familiar warmth of her bed and a hug from her mom. Sadly, only one of those things was possible. She sat in her car for a few moments, sobbing against the steering wheel. Stiles probably hated her now. How could she have said that to him? She was such a bitch. She cried the entire drive home, her tears obscuring her vision several times, nearly causing her to crash her car for the second time in two weeks.

Her father's car wasn't in the driveway when she arrived home, but Rebecca's silver Hummer was. The door was unlocked and she stumbled in, still trying to dry her eyes. All she had managed to do was smear mascara across her face.

"Skyler? Is that you?"

"Yeah," Sky tried to make her voice sound light and airy, but it just shook with repressed tears. "I'm home."

"Honey, are you okay?" Rebecca stepped out into the hall, her eyes widening in shock when she saw Skyler's tears stained face.

Skyler was almost terrified at how comforted she felt when Rebecca called her honey. She took a few steps forward, stopping just out of reach of Rebecca.

"Sky," her voice was gentle, like she was talking to a wounded animal. "What happened?"

Skyler crossed the distance between them, hugging her father's girlfriend for the first time since she had met her. Skyler's head fitted neatly under Rebecca's chin. They stood in the hallway, hugging and crying. When they finally pulled apart, Rebecca looked straight into Skyler's eyes.

"Now you don't have to tell me what's wrong, but I am going to go into the kitchen and make some brownies, chocolate fudge with peanut butter frosting, and you are going to go to your room, get into your pyjamas, bring down some blankets, go into the living room and set up 'Starter For Ten'."

Skyler stared at Rebecca in surprise for a second before nodding mutely and heading towards the stairs. She paused, her foot resting on the first step. She bit her lip for a few moments, contemplating whether or not to turn around. She pivoted, turning to face Rebecca's back as she entered the kitchen, slipping an apron over her head.

"Rebecca," Skyler called after the older woman. She turned back, an eyebrow raised and a soft smile on her face. "Thanks. For everything."

"You're welcome, sweetie." Rebecca's smile wasn't motherly, it was more sisterly, or like a friend. "Now go on. Get ready."

Skyler checked her phone as she climbed the stairs. Stiles hadn't texted, he was obviously mad at her and had every right to be. She had fucked up, and she knew it. She would be the bigger man and text him first, apologise to him. She would text him first. But she would do it tomorrow.