This is probably one of my favourite chapters :D, hope you guys like it too :)

Also the song on the right "Last time" by Taylor Swift and Gary Lightbody, one of my main inspirations for the story, I have heard the track a few dozen times and I am still not sick of it.

Kudos for those who noticed who had inspired my character Ariel, yes it was Sherlock. I love him :')

xxx

SSC

As promised Ariel didn't show up that morning and her absence affected him more have liked. It did give him time to catch up on his reading though he was constantly distracted by the thought of her.

He waited drearily for the time to pass by. Sometime during the evening when he was browsing through a webpage his phone suddenly beeped. He lazily picked it up and gazed at the text, he perked up when he recognized the ID.

I am bored.

-Ariel.

He grinned and began typing his reply eagerly.

Ever been to an arcade?

What's an arcade? He dead-panned at his reply. Stiles didn't even know why he wasted precious chemical energy to be surprised.

Yeaaa I think it's time you texted me your address.

No need. The phone beeped in a quick reply. He didn't even get to ponder the meaning when the door bell suddenly rang. He leaped up from his computer chair and rushed down the stairs and swung open the front door, coming face to face with Ariel in all her dark red hair and electric blue eyes.

"It's freaky how you do that." He pointed out, she grinned and shrugged.

"I know...my timing is impeccable." She said rather smugly and he couldn't help but smile.

''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

They arrived at the mall and Stiles seized his jeep to a stop in the parking lot before they exited the vehicle. They walked through the long crowded halls of the mall and up the escalator heading for the arcade. Stiles watched the way her electric blue eyes absorbed everything around her, watching the people in different shapes, sizes and ages. It was moments like this where he wondered what thoughts went on behind those gorgeous eyes of hers. Feeling his stare on her she looked to him and smiled gesturing to a couple near the food court.

"That one is fighting her own desire to eat a burger to lose weight for her wedding." She pointed out. Stiles followed her stare to the slim brunette sitting by herself with a tray of food on the square table before her.

"The engagement ring on her finger, the pale fatigue looks on her face and the way she is hungrily reading the McDonalds menu and picking at her plate of rice?" Stiles presumed and Ariel looked to him, surprise clear on her face.

"Yes, well done." She commended, he grinned smugly. She averted her gaze back to the woman, her stare softening.

"People are so fascinating aren't they? Trying so hard to fit society's vain idea of beauty by starving themselves for one glorious moment in their lives—unless she is trying lose weight in fear of losing her fiancé— then that's just silly."

He took note of the clear distaste on her face, not that she was trying to hide it or anything.

"Why is that?" He asked, she shrugged seemingly nonchalant and began to walk again in her leisurely pace. Stiles mimicked her movements.

"If he truly loved her, he should care less about her appearance, but judging from the expensive cut of that diamond ring I am going to assume he is just as vain as she is." Stiles was astonished by her words. It made sense Stiles had to agree the world was strange, but more than that he was amazed by the amount of wisdom the female possessed. She wasn't like most girls he came across in school, her priorities were a blur but she had morals and didn't allow vanity and society to cloud her judgment.

It was rare and pure.

"We should have come here; this is like a gold mine for analyzing people." She randomly stated her eyes darting around the many people shopping and spending their time at the mall. He grinned and nodded in agreement.

They arrived at the entrance of the arcade and Ariel stopped to stare at the blaring sign above the place. There were loud noises, screams and laughter emitting from the place, mixed with the hounding of various beeping sounds.

"What is this place?" she asked uncertainty in her eyes.

"It's an arcade, Scott and I used to come here all the time. I held the highest score for Street Fighter but that's nearly an year now, I wonder if…" Stiles voice trailed to a stop when he realized that she was lagging behind. He turned to find her rooted to her spot and staring in a daze.

"Aren't you coming? Don't tell me you are scared." He teased, she looked to him her seriousness refusing to elevate from her face.

"I don't get scared I just—there's a lot of noise in there, I don't do well in noisy places." She mumbled he watched her for a moment. Never seeing her so unsure about anything before. He stepped to her and the movement snapped her out of her thoughts and she gazed at him.

"Think of it as my hypothetical tree, it would be inconsiderate if you didn't climb it since I climbed yours." The soft insistency in his honey brown eyes made her relax a little, the absurdity of his words made her grin.

"Well since you put it that way."

Ariel was extremely alert as they winded their way through the many games and people. The noises were extremely distracting and the amount of people in the large space made her feel slightly dizzy. There were devices in all shapes and sizes, some where large boxes with a screen that children were gesturing and screaming at. The place was dark and bright at the same time, from the several beaming, flashing colours emitting from every corner and crevice of the room.

She was glad he was standing beside her, it made everything a lot less confusing. He had handed her a fist full of gold coins she helped pay for. It was some token of some kind. Judging from all the slots in those strange boxes she guessed it was the payment needed to operate the machines.

They stopped in front of one of the boxes, but in front of it was a three by three feet square mat with translucent coloured tiles with arrows on them. She stared perplexed before averting her gaze to the screen in the box that lit on when Stiles put the coins in the slot. He was gesturing for her to get on it. She stepped in to the centre of the strange pad and then looked to Stiles asking him for guidance.

"It's a dancing game, you see the colourful arrows?" He asked gesturing to the flashing lights under her sneakers, she nodded "You have to step on the ones they show on the screen, following the dance steps— and that's how you win the game."

"Interesting, why didn't you say so before?" She wondered rubbing her chin in thought. He watched the way the lights from the screen clearly reflected in her eyes making them seem mystical.

"I thought you would deduce it." He joked. She grinned before focusing her stare on the screen.

"I'll give it a shot."

"High score, wow!" The A.I from the game chanted as Ariel scored more points while moving her legs rapidly to the pace of the arrows scrolling up the screen. Stiles, along with a small group of spectators stared with mouths wide open.

She was so focused and determined, her intricate foot movements precisely in cue with the arrows that guided her, but there was also such a graceful balance in set. He could only stare unable to look away along with the rest of the teens who had gathered to watch.

Ariel stopped, her heart racing and a satisfied smile pinching her lips. The screen blared enthusiastically and congratulatory, she never remembered having such fun and exerting her muscles at the same time. She glanced at Stiles and her smile fell at the sight of the various eyes that stared at her in wonder.

"Hey, can we have a turn now?" Someone broke the silence, she looked to find an annoyed young girl glaring up at her. Ariel took in the sight of her custom sneakers, tight black pants and the 'I love dance' badge pinned to her pink top. Ariel realized she was intruding on the twelve year old's favorite game...and attention.

Silently she stepped away from the mat and to Stiles with the other still staring after her. Awkwardly she retreated behind Stiles's broad body to hide from the awe in their eyes. The younger Stilinski noticed this and smiled her away before they left the game in the direction of another.

"That was amazing!" he exclaimed, she smiled crookedly.

"Thank you, it was quite vitalizing." She replied and he liked how brightly she smiled, it lit up her blue eyes.

"You haven't even broken into a sweat, which is odd." Stiles pointed out. She looked to him condescendingly from the corner of her eyes.

"Yes, it's called stamina."

"Oh ha-ha," Stiles uttered sarcastically, with a roll of his eyes, but then his gaze fell to a very familiar game that consisted of plastic toy guns that instantly made him grin evilly "Let's see how you do in a little dinosaur slaughtering."

Ariel gladly accepted the challenge.

They exited the arcade and headed for the food court. Stiles had to conclude that she was more equipped to handle games that required full body movements, games with joysticks didn't appeal to her. He was surprised by the amount of fun they were having. Being active seems to have made her more open than usual, cracking jokes and teasing him frequently, sometimes it was almost flirtatious.

Not that he minded. Stiles shamelessly began to think of another full body required game that teenagers were so hormonal over.

He shook his head to rid of that thought, especially when she seemed so oblivious to his blatant ideas. He quickly averted his stare from her pretty face to an ice cream kiosk nearby and he perked up in excitement.

"Tell me you like ice cream." She followed his gaze and smiled.

"Bet you can't guess my favourite flavour." The dare in her words ignited a challenge in him.

"Considering you don't seem to like chocolate all that much, I am going to guess Strawberry." Her eyes narrowed at him, a defiance flaring in her stare.

"Dairy or sherbet?"

"Sherbet," He answered quickly.

"Popsicle or cup?"

"Popsicle,"

"Damn, I'll have to give you an A for that." She sighed nudging her shoulder playfully against his before leaning back and giving his body a once over.

"Let's see, you look like a mint and chocolate chip man." She mused, he gaped at her words reeled by her discovery.

"How the heck did you guess that?"

"You smell minty so that was pretty obvious and I saw a stack of Baskin Robbins napkins on your shelf once and they are the only ice cream parlor in this region that promote the flavour." Was it strange that he found the fact that she had smelled him—appealing?

"You seem to know your ice creams." He pointed out. She nodded in agreement as they approached the booth. They stopped in front of the glass counter that displayed the many flavours of ice-cream in tubs. The man asked for the orders and Ariel told him and he wandered off to fulfill their requests, she turned to him again.

"I do, it's the only dessert I enjoy, that and gummy bears." She confessed smiling fondly.

"Ah gummy bears, I love biting off the heads of those little bastards." His words sparked some fond memory from her.

"I used to reenact gruesome historical moments using them, I would bite off their heads or chop them in half and—"She stopped in her animated explanation at the way he stared at her in utter fascination.

"What?" she asked, he beamed down at her.

"As deranged as that sounds. I can picture little Ariel playing with her half eaten gummy bears. I bet you used the Popsicle sticks in your Salem Witch Trial reenactments."

"Ohh that's creative, you should have been my gummy bear playmate." She said and Stiles was warmed at the thought. The cashier handed him the ice cream which Stiles insisted on paying. He waited for her to collect the change for him before handing her, her Popsicle. Te tried to ignore the thrilling spark the moment their fingers brushed.

"All the maiming and chaos we could cause on the simple life of the gummy bears, how perfectly horrid—insert evil cackling."

She laughed in the velvety way that did strange wonderful things to his insides.

"Captain Carnage and Lieutenant Massacre—I am clearly the Captain." Ariel stated before taking a lick of her ice-lolly.

"Uh how come I am the Lieutenant?" He demanded pouting.

"Your dove like innocence isn't going to fool anyone, virgin." She sneered jokingly, he gaped in outrage.

"Oh that's a low blow." He murmured.

"How would you know, you never had one."

He froze, staring at her

She grinned wickedly her lips stained cherry red.

He cleared his throat and took a nervous bite of the biscuit cone of his ice cream "I was not expecting that, you are dirtier than you seem to be aren't you?"

"Positively filthy." She uttered with gleaming eyes Stiles liked the way she enunciated it was pleasant to the ears. A midst the teasing there was a magnetic charged attraction between them. The intensity of her look made him forget about his frozen dessert— the white cream melted down the sides, threateningly. But he could care less. All he could concentrate on was her pretty face and the pounding of his heart.

The sudden shrill sound of her phone cut through their ogling. She blinked rapidly and he saw the way her blue eyes hardened before she dug out her phone and pressed a button, immediately seizing the persistent tone.

"Sorry about that," She grumbled though her stare never left the device. He stood there patiently while licking at his ice cream cone.

"I should be heading back." She stated Stiles felt his heart fall into his stomach, disappointed by her quick need to leave.

"Yeah okay, um—do you want me to drop you off?" He offered, he had tried to many times before but Ariel always seemed insistent on walking and he had a fear of rejection. Now he wondered why he was taking the chance. Maybe it's because he is a gentleman and didn't want her to walk home alone...maybe it's because he wanted to be with her just a little longer.

She seemed to be deliberating whether to take his proposal or not, but then a smile grew across her face and he awaited the polite refusal.

"That would be nice, yes." He wasn't expecting that answer and nodded frantically.

"Okay great."

''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

They drove through a lonely stretch of road but Stiles never felt so complete even though there was silence between them and the soft music from his speakers filled the air.

"Mumford and sons?" She questioned, he grinned.

"You are learning. " He mused glancing at her, she smiled.

"Indeed, I'll have to say Babel is my favourite."

"I am sensing a pattern, you like upbeat songs." He noted, Ariel glanced at him from the corner of her eye.

"Yes, they are the most motivating when I run through the forest." Running, the activity suited her nature. He could picture her with her hair in a high ponytail swinging back and forth. Her keen focused eyes staring in to space, her lips parted in each heavy exhale.

They arrived at the town and she gave him directions and they eventually parked in front of a tall apartment building.

"This is where you live?" He pondered leaning more to her side to take in the sight of the building.

"Yeah, what did you expect?" She asked sensing the doubt in his voice.

"A looming tower with dark stormy clouds conveniently swirling above it with occasional bolts of lightning for dramatic effects,"

"That's sounds lovely, but last time I checked my surname was not Frankenstein." She remarked wittily.

"What is your last name?" She stared silently for a moment. Stiles worried if he crossed a line but the urge to know what gnawing at him.

"Carden." The name rolled out so easily.

"That's shockingly ordinary." He said

"Shockingly." She echoed, she turned slightly in her seat to face him better "Why didn't you ask me before? I know you had been dying to."

"Probably the same reason I didn't ask it when I had the chance on the tree." He replied softly. Playing with the leather covering of his steering wheel to distract himself.

"Why is that?" She asked.

He sighed and gathered his next words very carefully "I wanted you to be comfortable enough to tell me, prying it out of you seemed a little too insensitive and you have this hypothetical, towering excessively fortified brick wall."

"Well obviously a brick is loose somewhere. I better cement it extra good helping of stubborn." She joked, her eyes glittering at him.

"We all have walls. the force of sarcasm is strong with yours."

He stared wide-eyed in disbelief. The girl was full of surprises tonight.

"Was that a Starwars reference?" He asked itching to smile widely, she shrugged carelessly.

"Starwars reference I made yes hmm yes." Stiles laughed whole-heartedly and Ariel watched fondly the his body curled forward while racking with laughter. The sight of his smile made her heart feel all warm and strange.

Stiles didn't even think she was paying attention during the entire Starwars marathon but she was and he was so glad. He didn't remember laughing this hard in such a long time.

"Well good night Stilinski." She whispered the moment his chuckles died down. He looked to her and smiled brightly and nodded. There was a slight confliction in his eyes, like he was dying to do or say something, and he was. Every bone in his body wanted to lean over and kiss her but the thought scared him, he barely knew her long enough to feel this way right?

She stared at him for a moment with those electric blue eyes. He saw a tenderness in them he had never seen before but it was ephemeral and she turned away to exit the Jeep. He struggled to form words, even as she jogged up the short steps of the pathway and to the main entrance. He was still babbling to himself.

Heaving a heavy breath he waited for her to close the door.

"Night...Ariel." He whispered terrified by the longing he heard in his voice and heart when he watched her walk away.