Chapter Two: Friends
Malia focuses on the rhythmic heartbeats that circle the classroom. It became a thing of hers, stopping and listening, just to put her focus into something else instead of the thoughts that swim around in her head. She couldn't drown them out completely though, unfortunately.
The bell rang, signaling the next period. She shoots out of her seat and makes a beeline for the door, finding herself outside in a matter of seconds. Malia had been like this lately, always feeling as though she's out of breath. Being outside with the calming affects of nature surrounding her made her feel somewhat normal again.
But what she didn't anticipate was the hollow feeling in her chest as she walks in on a intimate moment between Stiles and Lydia talking closely together near the far end of the lot. Stiles is leaning into her, his eyes engaged in every move she makes. Lydia has a smile on her face and her eyes sparkle when he looks at her. They don't even notice her standing there.
Malia feels anger course white hot through her veins, which then bleeds into resentment, and then finally dulls into an aching sadness. She begins to turn her head away just as Stiles' gaze trails unexpectedly over to meet hers. His familiar caramel eyes hold hers for a lingering moment until she breaks eye contact. She immediately feels the loss of the warmth that bloomed in her chest whenever he'd look at her. These days she spends her time avoiding his gaze more than anything. They're still friends, but some heart breaks are harder to swallow, especially first loves. She tucks a stray piece of hair behind her ear and feels her eyes mist over with unshed tears, but she quickly wipes them away before he can see. Malia runs her fingers through her hair and lets out a huff, annoyed at herself and how he still has an effect on her.
She feels a heavy hand on her shoulder and looks up and sees a pair of warm brown eyes peering back into hers. They belong to someone else who has also been on her mind a lot these days.
"Hey Scott." She greets him with a smile that doesn't quite reach her eyes.
Scott can sense her distress and thinks of all the ways she must be blaming herself for Stiles falling back into his Lydia fixation."You know it wasn't your fault, right? You didn't do anything wrong. Some people just don't realize what they have right in front of them." He says, nodding his head towards the couple that are now aware of the two of them standing there.
"Yeah yeah, I know..." Malia mumbles, making patterns in the ground with her combat boot.
"Are you okay, Mal?" He asks concerned, hooking his finger underneath her chin and lifting her up to meet his eyes.
She gives him a weak smile. "Yeah, I'm fine, Scott, I promise. I just... miss him, you know?" She admits reluctantly, intertwining her fingers with his. She meets his gaze again. "But I think I'm going to be okay again soon." She finishes with a conspiratorial vagueness in her voice. She squeezes his hand and leans into his shoulder, loving his natural, earthy aroma that always puts her at ease. His arms cocoon around her with the sweetness of her favorite sweater and she steadies her breathing to match the rhythm of his heart beat. She had come to love the easy lull of solace that she felt around Scott. Sure, he is her alpha and it's understandable that he's able to ground her. But there is something about Scott that only he can provide. There's something in the way that his fingers caress her back and the way he whispers reassurances in her ear that make her wonder what it would be like to be his girl.
He's her own personal brand of morphine with an addictive quality.
Scott had become her crutch over the past couple of months, always there to catch her when she slips away for a while. She knows that whatever she tells him is in confidence and while Stiles is his best friend, he would never share her secrets with him. He had become good at making her laugh, like really laugh. They'd been in the library once during their free period that they share together and overheard this poor boy failing miserably to ask this girl on a date. Gregory, his name had been, possessed the worst pickup lines known to man. Malia remembers the boisterous, breath-stealing laughter that erupted out of her when Scott began making up some cheesy lines of his own, reciting them to her in a goofy manner.
It had become their thing.
They walk back into the school hand-in-hand, something that had become comfortable for both of them and didn't immediately scream romantic.
At least that's what Scott had told Stiles when he questioned him about it a couple weeks back.
Most people didn't ask questions or stare for too long before Malia's eyes would flash hotly in a dangerous warning. This usually kept people's mouth shut before their bogus comments or judgments slipped out. Scott was her friend, and she can damn well hold his hand as she pleases. Everyone else could fuck off.
And that is the exact response Liam got when he didn't heed her warning and tried to joke about how "coupley" they looked together. That earned him a slap on the head from Hayden and an eye roll from the others. If Stiles had been uncomfortable with the offhanded comment, he didn't say anything, just merely coughed to clear the awkward silence that followed.
"Malia, I have a new line for you, and I think it's my best one yet." Scott says excitedly, a glowing smile lighting up his whole face.
"Is it highly inappropriate?" Malia asks, quirking an eyebrow at his giddy smile and returns it with one of her own.
"Extremely... But not untrue." He says with a shrug and shit-eating expression, waiting for her to ask what it is.
"Alright, McCall, lay it on me." She says casually, but really she's curious about what it is this time.
Scott coughs to clear his voice. "Ahem, okay. So Malia, my favorite Jello, which is raspberry by the way, jiggles almost as much as that ass!" He exclaims, throwing his head back in laughter at her stunned face. His face blushes red partly in amusement and also in embarrassment as he bends over with his hands on his knees and continues to chuckle to himself.
Malia's tinkling laughter echos through the halls. "Scott! Oh my god, you're terrible!" She swats him playfully on the shoulder and pinches his side which earns her a rewarding "ouch!"
"Okay, okay, my turn." She says. She brings her fingers up to rub her chin in contemplation. "You smell like trash. Can I take you out?" She grins slyly with a wink, giggling uncontrollably at this gaping expression on his face.
Malia closes his mouth with her index finger, delighted at his speechlessness.
"Hey Mal, I was thinking. Do you want to grab some pizza later? Maybe go to a movie or something... We could see that one thriller that you've been talking my ear off about." He rambles out nervously, trying to gauge her reaction.
She stares at him oddly. "You mean how we usually do? Like two friends hanging out, or like... a date?" She asks curiously, looking him straight in the eye.
Scott can feel his palms begin to sweat. He's afraid to clarify that he was in fact talking about a date, considering he was trying to be subtle in his way of asking her. He didn't want to run her off by being too pushy. Besides he still needed to talk to Stiles about his growing feelings for his ex-girlfriend. Maybe it's best if he waits to ask her...
"Yeah, as friends..." He says, shifting backwards awkwardly from foot to foot.
Malia frowns at his change in demeanor.
Why is he acting so weird... And why does his chemo signals smell so funny...?
Malia wonders if it's bad that she actually feels disappointed with his answer.
"Okay, yeah sounds good. Does 7 o'clock sound okay?" She asks, trying to keep the chagrin out of her voice.
Why did she want Scott to ask her out on date? They're just friends... Best friends. That's all, right?
But she can't help but notice how attractive he looks when he smiles or the way his eyes light up when he sees her walking down the hall. The primal side of her is turned on by the animal she gets a faint glimpse of when Scott shifts into his wolf form. His red eyes command attention and her coyote purrs at the thought of him dominating her.
Damn
There she goes again. She caught herself with these thoughts more than once. Dirty, uncharacteristic thoughts about Scott that make her feel hot and bothered when she thinks too long about him. Those feelings begin pouring out of her like an overflowing sink and she wonders if he notices but it too polite to say anything about it.
Bless him.
"I'm gonna go. I'll see you later?" She reiterates to make sure he hasn't changed his mind.
"Okay, bye Mal." He says.
He watches her as she turns and leaves and can't help the excitement that shoots down his spine at the thought of seeing her tonight.
