Aria eats her ham and cheese omelet while listening to her father talk joyfully about work. She eyes Derek every so often out of the corner of her eye, she could have sworn he caught her every time.
"So, is Lydia excited to have you back?" Her Dad asks, after finally finishing another one of his, 'hey kids remember that your dad is a hero' stories. Happily biting into his burger with great care.
"Yep, she's already eyeing a new guy, as you can imagine." Aria says, cutting a piece of her omelet. "Well not really new for her, new for me." Aria loosely explains, only recently being brought to date about Lydia and Twin A(B)'s history.
Stiles seems taken back, his eyebrow suddenly lurching, "Really? Who is it? Not that I care or anything... pfff. Don't tell me, actually tell me, who is he, do I know him?"
Aria shrugs, "It's one of those twins. I hate them."
"Now now now, don't be so judgmental. Have you ever talked to them? They could be perfect gentlemen, Aria." Her Dad takes a sip of his diet Dr. Pepper, hoping to wash down the burger sticking to his throat, "Give them a chance."
Aria looks at him boldly, "They tried to kill me." She says matter-of-factly. She gives him a soft smile, taking a bite of her omelet.
Her Dad chokes on the soda he'd been drinking, looking at her with wild eyes. Aria could have sworn out of the corner of her eye she saw Derek chuckling along with Peter. Aria glances at her Dad innocently.
"Aria, why didn't you tell me you were being bullied?" Her Dad asks, trying to lessen the situation.
"I'm not being bullied, Dad. They want to kidnap me and let their leader, Deucalion, bite me. Though Stiles has informed me that you don't believe a word we say about werewolves." Aria innocently sips out of her Pepsi, looking up at him through her eyelashes.
Her Dad sighs, leaning back in his chair, his eyes still wide, "Aria, if you're in any danger, the Sheriff's department can help you. Is it sexual harassment?"
Aria rolls her eyes, looking to Stiles who just shrugs as an answer, "It's fine, Dad. I've got it under control. Just harassment, I was kidding around." She stabs her omelet angrily, feeling defeated.
Her Dad nods slowly, relief returning to his eyes, "You really should give them a chance though." He finally comments.
So her casual confession to her Dad didn't shape out that well. Not well at all, actually. If anything, he now thought his daughter was a dramatic nutcase, but hey, at least now he can't say she didn't warn him.
Aria sits beside Issac in Philosophy as they type away on their essay due next week. She folds up her legs in criss-cross fashion, biting her finger as she thinks about what to write next.
"You know, I don't think I've ever asked you out on a date." Issac idly comments from beside her.
Aria turns to look at him, "Are you trying to tell me I'm easy?" She asks with a quirked eyebrow.
Issac laughs, "The opposite, actually. Scott's mom is working tonight and Scott is out with your brother, you should come over, we could have a movie night or something. Hold you when you get scared, all of that."
"I don't get scared." Aria says confidently, jutting her chin up into the air.
Issac smirks, "Sure you don't. So does it sound like a date?"
"Sounds pretty similar to one." Aria says, "I have my car back now too, so that means I'm officially making a jailbreak. Specifically from my brother. Should warn you, Stiles said no more boys, not that I listen to him, obviously, so might want to keep it quiet, especially from Scott."
Issac nods, pursing his lips, "Sounds like a date then."
Aria grins, turning back to her essay, typing away. Her, Aria Stilinski, had a date tonight. And for once it didn't involve most of her internal organs being rearranged and being slammed against forest floors. It felt nice to be normal, just for a little bit.
Later on, Aria gets ready, finding a nice cardigan and a skirt. She puts on black leggings so the bruises that were now yellowing wouldn't show. She puts on some pink lipstick lightly and curls her hair. She grabs her car keys, bidding farewell to the empty house. She gets into her car, starting it up. Happy to hear the little vehicle roar to life beneath her.
She rings Scott's doorbell, and Issac happily answers.
He bounces one of her curls, "Curly, eh?"
Aria offers him a smile, "I had extra time." She loosely explains, not wanting to seem like she was trying too hard. He leads her into the living room, taking her hand.
"Now, this is the living room, equipped with tissues, popcorn, and typical movie theater candy. Along with a fine set of horror movies I've picked from, not in an attempt to force you to cuddle with me, contrary to the popular belief." Issac explains, a bounce in his step.
Aria picks the scariest one, thinking hey, she's tough as nails. Though by the end of the movie, she was clutching to Issac for dear life.
"Did I ever mention I hate scary movies?" She mumbles into his chest.
"Don't think it ever came up." He says, and she can just hear the smirk in his voice. When the movie is finally over, Aria sighs in relief. "Ready for round two?" He asks, picking up another scary movie that looked even worse than the other movie.
Aria's eyes must have gotten bigger because he sets the movie back down.
"Guess not." He grins, sitting down next to her, taking her hand in his. He runs smooth circles around the top of her hand, "How is training going with Derek?"
"You really want to talk about Derek during our date?" She asks pointedly.
Issac shakes his head, chuckling as if he's embarrassed, "Well no, not really."
Aria rolls her eyes, looking back at him with a small smile, "So what do you want to talk about then, wolfboy?"
Issac throws back his head, laughing, "Wolfboy? That's a new one!"
"Old but a classic." Aria grins.
They laugh all throughout the night and Aria feels normal for once. She doesn't think about being a true Alpha. For once.
She gets home to see the front door is unlocked, she walks in quietly, pushing open the door only to hear it creak. She growls to herself but keeps pushing. She goes inside, seeing the living room lamp on. She walks into the living room to see a blind blonde man sitting in a chair, impatiently tapping his walking stick.
Aria pulls out her phone, texting Derek, we've got trouble, there's a blind guy in my house.
She turns to walk out but a woman with long toenails blocks her path. Politely waving at her, as if them breaking into her house was the most normal thing in the world.
"Aria." The blind man says, smiling, standing up, "We haven't had a chance to chat."
Aria swallows hard, "Who are you?"
"I'm called many things, but Deucalion seems to be a fan favorite." He wraps both of his hands on the top of his walking stick, smiling right at her. "I'm sure you've been alerted to the fact that I've been coming for a while now."
Aria watches him walk around the living room, his stick tapping against the hard wood floor. She stays silent.
"You know why I'm here. Contrary to the belief of your group, I'm here to give you a choice." Deucalion reaches out for a photo frame, setting it face down, he turns to look at her. Which is strange.
"A choice?" Aria asks shakily.
"Yes, Aria, a choice." Deucalion walks towards her, "You can either become the strongest werewolf the world has seen, a real true Alpha, one of the toughest predators nature came up with or you can stay a pathetic human, only prey for the rest of the world. Plagued by your weakness."
Aria feels a lump building in her throat and she can't talk.
"Tick tock, Aria. There's only so much time before I make the choice for you." Deucalion walks even closer towards her, only an arms length away. "Think about the power, Aria. A girl like you must love power. The strength, the effortless life of being a wolf. You dream about it, don't you? You've seen it? The small glances between the mirror, you see it, the red eyes."
Aria glances up at him, unsure as to how he even knew that. Her heart speeds up, like a scared child.
"Fate might already have a plan for you, Aria. If it's not me who bites you, it could easily be someone else. That Derek Hale, I'm sure he's dying to bite you, make you part of his pack."
"He'd never do that." Aria stammers.
"Is that so?" Deucalion taps his stick again, "Is that really what you believe?"
"He'd give me a choice."
"I'm giving you a choice."
Aria stays silent. She clenches her fists, biting her lip. She couldn't breathe, her heart was beating wildly in her chest and she kept looking at the door. Hoping for someone, anyone, to come through the door.
She didn't want to have a choice.