Shout out to The City Of Books :D Thank you for your sweet comment and I am glad you are enjoying the story :)

xx

SSC

Later That Night..

Stiles tried to get through his summer reading list, honestly he did but his mind was on the fact that Ariel was going to be coming over later in the night and he had no idea when. He was cleaning his room in haste, shoving clothes into the cupboard or the laundry bin, picking up fall sheets of paper and whatever junk was on the floor. He stopped reaching for the book on the floor and stood up alert. He heard a slight rustling sound outside his window.

Stiles dropped everything and rushed to his computer desk and sat down on the chair, trying to seem casual while his heart raced from the sudden exertion. Ariel came in through the window, throwing her legs over the sill and then standing in front of the window. She took one glance at the interior of his room and smiled in his direction.

"No need to clean your room, it wasn't that messy to begin with." He dead-panned and her smile widened.

"Nothing gets past you does it." He said, spinning around in his chair to face her, she shrugged casually.

"You already know the answer to that."

"It was rhetorical."

"I know I just like annoying you." She teased and Stiles rolled his eyes. Ariel walked over with her usual confident air, he watched her carefully. She had either forgotten or decided to not wear her beanie that evening because her dark red hair was tumbling over her shoulders in waves. He wondered if that was her original hair colour or not. There was a strap across her left shoulder to her waist that was connected to a small green duffle bag, large enough to carry a A4 notebook.

"Here," She pulled out an Mp4 player from within her jeans pocket and waited for him to accept it. Stiles took it and began to browse through the list of songs on the screen, his face twisting into one of distaste.

"Nicki Minaj?" He asked clearly judging her, she smirked.

"It's not mine I…borrowed it from a friend."

"Borrowed like borrowing my pills, that kind of borrowed?" She winked and leaned back against the table like she had done the previous night.

"You do catch on quick." She mused "Don't worry he won't miss it all that much, we share most things anyway."

Stiles didn't know why he was threatened by her word, who was this man she keeps referring to. Ethan was it? Is he a friend or more than a friend? He couldn't be a sibling since she denied ever having any.

"Your book, I am quiet pleased with the ending though I want to find out if she stole from Pierpont or not, I absolutely hate cliffhangers." She had pulled out the novel from within the duffle bag and handed it to him. Stiles placed the Mp4 player on his desk before reaching out for the book.

"I don't know I kinda like them, gives the reader room for their own imagination." He said then his eyes suddenly sparkled and he spun around to face his laptop screen again "Speaking of, do you know who these two are?"

Stiles brought his mouse cursor over a minimized webpage and maximized it. Ariel leaned over him to peer at the two images on the screen it was of Miley Cyrus with her recently cut short bleached hair and another of Katy Perry in a very provocative outfit. Stiles watched her response very carefully, her dark brows furrowed as she gazed at the two celebrities with a look of genuine uncertainty.

"No, are they important?" She asked averting his gaze to him. Stiles pressed his lips together to suppress a gratified smile and shook his head.

"Nope, but these two are." He brought up a picture of Mickey and Donald.

"They are cartoon characters. I don't see how they are relevant." She mused, Stiles was getting accustomed to her lack of knowledge of mainstream media.

"You need to be educated on the wonders and imagination that is Disney." Ariel watched as he picked up a DVD with a bunch of drawn animals as the cover. It was placed there conveniently and she knew he had planned for her to see it.

Oliver and company

It was written over the cover and she looked to Stiles who was wiggling his eyebrows suggestively. She was confused and intrigued for the first time in a long time.

Stiles had watched the Disney classic plenty of times as a kid and teen, so he wasn't at all interested in the movie but more on her reactions to each scene. They sat on the floor of his bedroom staring up at the laptop screen. Their backs leaning against the foot of his bed. Ariel's mesmerizing blue eyes were wide in fascination while watching the many colours and animations of the show.

"Animals do not talk and they certainly do not dance and sing." She would comment at each scene where Dodger sang through New York while being chased by Oliver in pursuit of the hotdogs that were so unjustly taken from him.

"How did the bow magically appear on that poodle's head?" She demanded when Georgette sang so narcissistically about her radiance. Ariel seemed to like the song numbers though. H

e saw the way her gaze softened at the song "Good Company" and the occasional way she would smile at Oliver's antics. It was human and made him see clearly into her heart. He started making a mental list of all the heart warming, soul clenching animations to show her.

"How are they ever going to mate?" She was astounded by Tito's infatuation with the lean tall poodle.

"He is a Chihuahua judging from the height disadvantage he would need a step ladder of some kind or launch himself onto her from a very high position." Stiles had to laugh at the mental image she painted.

The movie ended with Dodger's signature song, Stiles paused the animation at the part of the credits, and Ariel blinked out of a stupor and looked to him.

"Is that it?"

"Yes, are you disappointed?" He asked.

"Despite the absurdity, I liked it, the Fagin person reminded me of Bobby."

"Bobby?" Stiles asked curiously, how many men did this girl know?

"The homeless man that lives near my flat." She answered with a subtle shrug of her shoulders.

"Did you move here from England?" His question surprised her. She looked to him with the corners of his lips curving upwards.

"Why do you say that?"

"It's the way you talk and your accent, it's not too thick but I couldn't exactly place to another state in this country plus you use big words."Stiles knew he was taking a little leap in making an assumption like that, but the question had been nagging the back of his mind for a while. Ariel stared for the longest time as if trying to see through him, but then her smile widened and her eyes glittered, impressed.

"I suppose that is a giveaway, my parents were British I guess being around them I adapted their speaking patterns and I always commended myself for having a wide vocabulary." He was taken aback by the information, but then his keen ears caught on to every word she said.

"Were British?" He echoed soft and carefully. His heart was pounding because in some super intuitive way he felt he knew the answer that was about to leave her lips.

"That's pretty self explanatory isn't it?" She murmured averting her gaze to the carpeted floor.

"What whoa—I am sorry I didn't."

"It's alright." She cut in to his stuttering apology "I hardly remember and it has not fazed me in the slightest-not like your mother's death did to you."

It was his turn to feel under the spotlight, especially from the way her arctic blue eyes were honing in on him.

"How did you know about—"

"The pictures, the lack of four basic food groups in your diet and the understanding in your eyes." He felt naked and vulnerable and he reacted defensively.

"Do you have to be this abruptly blunt?" He snapped.

"I can't help myself." It was brief and almost unnoticeable but she winced and there was remorse clouding her blue eyes. Stiles immediately felt guilty for being so harsh and his throat felt heavy with an apology he wished to utter but she quickly stood to her feet.

"I should go my uncle is probably looking for me. I didn't tell him where I was going." She was already making her way to the window as he got to his feet. Stiles cursed himself for her sudden need to retreat.

"Yeah okay um so I'll see you tomorrow?" His words made her freeze and turn very slowly to him.

"You still want to see me?" She asked uncomprehending, he nodded.

"Yeah I mean, I thought you wanted music and stuff and the whole deduction thing was kinda cool so uh—"She was suddenly in front of him, peering up at him.

"I didn't scare you?" She was puzzled which baffled him.

"With what? The fact that you told me what you were thinking, it's a little refreshing honestly I am usually around people who kinda keep their thoughts to themselves—"

"Not that but the fact that I am an orphan and I have no qualms on the matter…it doesn't scare you?" There was so much wonder and doubt, like her entire belief system hung at the edge of a cliff and all it took was the impact of his words to push them over.

"Sometimes saying that is just a defense to how you really feel." He expressed his opinion and chose his words extremely carefully. There was a flash of some palpable yet unreadable emotion in her eyes before the cold blue returned and she glared at him, a sinister smile curving at her lips.

"You think you know me well enough to say that?" There was a slight warning tone in her words, cautioning him to tread carefully but amazingly he was unaffected by the hostility.

"It's just a theory." She was taken back. Her expression softened to one of complete astonishment and they simply stood standing and staring at each other in the middle of his room.

"Stiles you in there?" The sudden knock and call from startled them both. Stiles's glanced over his shoulder at the door where the pounding emitted from.

"Yeah dad I'll—"He looked back to find an empty space where she was. His gaze immediately fell to the window where the plastic shutters were rattling from her hasty exit.

"…be right there." He mumbled in disbelief.