grndelwald and Cindersoul's comments on Ao3got me hyped so I churned out a new chapter asap. Be like them lol.
The pacing of the story is kind of divided by days so far, with the first chapter being the 6th of September, then the second being the 8th and now this being the 9th, and it might continue like this for a bit before any time skips happen, especially since I'm taking the time to establish certain bonds and connections before jumping into plot-heavy stuff.
September 9th, 2009
Stiles' first day of school - and everyone else's third day - starts fine enough. He showers - checking once again where a bite scar was supposed to be and finding nothing -, puts on some jeans and a green t-shirt and, just to annoy Caroline, shrugs on a gray shirt before going down for breakfast. Caroline is already on the table, munching on a bagel and apparently pouting.
"Why the long face?" He asks while grabbing a seat and bagel for himself, already reaching for the plate of eggs.
"I told her no coffee," Aunt Liz says as she walks in from the kitchen, two teacups in her hands, "have tea instead, it's supposed to be good for you."
"You don't even like coffee if it's not in a venti cup and loaded with more calories than I eat in a day," Stiles points out as he accepts the teacup, it smells like apple so he doesn't mind trying it, "since when do we have tea though?"
"It's the principle of it," his cousin whines but doesn't reject the tea either, taking a sip and looking pleasantly surprised, "is this like, spiced apple?"
"Since I got it from a friend last night," Aunt Liz replies as she sits down with her own cup of tea and half-eaten bagel, "and I figured, with you here, we may as well start eating more healthy," she shrugs, "it's supposed to be apple crumble."
Stiles takes a sip of his own, savoring the fruity and nutty taste with an earthy aftertaste, it's definitely got apple, almond, and cinnamon but he can't tell anything else apart, "I can see it."
"I probably won't have time for breakfast too often, and you two have lunch at school, so I'll see you for dinner most days," Aunt Liz explains in between bites, "barring any emergencies, at least. Ready for school?" she asks him.
"Ready as I'll ever be," he shrugs.
His aunt finishes her tea and bagel in a hurry before dropping a kiss on each of their heads and hurrying off to work. It takes Caroline less than a minute to drop the smile and look at him.
"Now that you're living here, she makes time for meals, huh?" she comments in an annoyed – and slightly hurt – tone.
"I didn't ask to be here," he points out, "just enjoy the benefits, I guess."
She sighs, "Fair enough, I'd hate to get dragged to another state last minute so I suppose I have to be lenient."
"Thank you, your majesty," he jokes, and she makes a point of looking down her nose at him and nodding imperiously before they descend into chuckles over their silliness.
Stiles tries not to miss his jeep too much from the passenger seat of Caroline's 2006 Dodge Charger, which they climbed into once done with their breakfast. It's a pretty sweet car, he'll give it that, but Roscoe has an emotional component that money just can't buy, built on memories of riding on it with his mom and handing her tools to fix it, then fixing it up himself years later once he got his driver's license. The ride to the school is short, less than ten minutes, and the building is a lot noisier with everyone milling about outside. it takes them a while to find Bonnie in the crowd, but Stiles is rewarded with another hug when they finally walk up to her, followed by Caroline who looks ready to pout about her own lackluster reception once again, at least before Bonnie rolls her eyes and gives her a hug as well.
"So, where do I get my schedule?" He asks as they make their way into the school, Caroline hanging on to his elbow while Bonnie walks on his other side. He can feel the looks they're getting while walking down the halls and it's honestly a very different experience from his time at Beacon Hills High School, but not entirely unwelcome.
They stop at a locker and Caroline moves to open it before answering, "We'll go with you. Unless you'd rather get lost looking for your class?"
"I'm good," he trades an amused look with Bonnie before they walk off to her locker.
A couple of minutes later, they finally get to grabbing his schedule, along with the number for his locker. They drop off some of his materials and make their way to their first class, which they happen to share, opening the door right as the bell rings.
"You're late," the man in front of the class tells them, "Ms Forbes, Ms Bennett, sit down."
Damn, first class of the day and already getting singled out? This must be Mr Tanner.
"Technically, we're right on time," Stiles quips, still standing at the door since he wasn't told to sit.
"And you must be the one that's two days late, Mr…" Tanner goes to check the roll call, and his brows climb up slightly before looking back at him, "Stilinski. Are you familiar with the Battle of Gettysburg?"
"Yeah, that's me," he shoves his hands in his pockets just as he shoves down the annoyance of being put on the spot by the teacher in front of the whole class, "sure am."
"Then you won't mind telling me when it was fought," it was very clearly not a question.
"Uhh…" he combs his brain for useless memorized dates and actually remembers this one, "1863."
"Correct," the man begrudgingly announces before pointing at an empty chair near the front, "Sit, don't be late again," Tanner turns back to address the whole class, "Today's topic…"
"Yessir," he mutters before sliding into the indicated seat, tuning out the teacher as he starts preaching about Gettysburg.
Welcome to Mystic Falls High School, I guess.
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"Sorry, we're late!" Caroline announces, dragging him by the arm to one of the tables outside the Mystic Grill, where Bonnie and Elena were already waiting for them.
"Hey," Bonnie greets, pulling out the chair on her right for him. He drops into it like a stone, giving her and Elena a tired smile, "don't look too excited to hang out with us," she teases.
"He's regretting his life choices," Caroline explains in an amused tone while calling over a waiter.
"Sure am," he agrees before turning to the more silent girl in the group, "Hi Elena, good to see you." He hadn't seen her since he attended her parents' funeral in May, Aunt Liz and Caroline had gone and he'd accompanied them since he had been in town for summer break at the time.
"You too, Stiles," she looks conflicted for a moment before adding, "I already told the girls this but you'd already left so… sorry for the silent treatment."
"It's fine, I get it," he assures her, "I mean, when my mom died I was so out of it I had to repeat the year, everyone deals differently."
A loud clap from his right has everyone looking at a forcibly cheerful Caroline that very clearly doesn't want them to remain on a morbid subject, "Come on, what's everyone ordering?"
They occupy themselves with ordering a couple of drinks before the conversation quickly goes back to school matters, especially due to Caroline dumping a pile of Comet Night pamphlets on top of the table for them to help her fold.
"What life choices are you regretting this time?" Bonnie asks, looking amused as well.
"Too many AP classes," he groans, sagging into the back of the chair, "who thought it was a good idea to let me sign up for those?"
"My mom, who wants you too busy to go looking for trouble," Caroline points out.
"I was going to say hi in French, but you weren't there?" Elena added, looking curious.
"AP Latin," Stiles explains, fishing his schedule from his pocket and throwing it on the table for Elena and Bonnie to examine since Caroline had looked at it already and had been pointing him from classroom to classroom since that morning.
Both girls' eyebrows climb up as they read it, with Elena looking back up seemingly impressed, "Careful Caroline, he's gunning for your valedictorian spot."
"As if anyone would trust him with making a speech," his cousin teases, taking the schedule back and flicking it at Stiles, "so, we're all helping pass out the Comet Night pamphlets at the square, right?" Stiles barely opens his mouth before Caroline interrupts, "You don't have a choice, it's mandatory socialization."
Mandatory socialization, Stiles mouths to himself incredulously, making the girls chuckle.
"Maybe," Bonnie shrugs, "I was talking to Grams and she said the comet is a sign of impending doom. Last time it passed over Mystic Falls there was lots of death, so much blood and carnage, it created a bed of paranormal activity."
"Your Grandma told you that? Witchy Grams?" Stiles asks, perking up at the subject.
"How do you know about Witchy Grams?" Caroline asks, "Bonnie only told us this week!"
"What do you mean? Everyone knows Bonnie's Gram is a witch, she read my cards when we stayed over last year, and she always knows when the weather's gonna be bad" Stiles gives her a slightly incredulous look, "Did you just tune me out when I talked about it?"
"Y'know, this is why she likes you better," Bonnie jokes, "but yeah, according to Grams I'm also a witch. My ancestors were these really cool Salem witch chicks or something, she tried to explain it, but she was looped on the liquor so I kinda tuned out," she admits "Crazy family, yes. Witches? I don't think so."
"Ye of little faith," Stiles mock scolds, and they're briefly distracted by the waiter bringing their drinks to the table.
Caroline takes a sip of her pink lemonade before turning to Bonnie, "If you do turn out to be a witch, feel free to conjure up the number of that guy from last night."
"What guy from last night?" Stiles asks, narrowing his eyes at Caroline.
"Just this tall, dark, and handsome type that I saw at the grill when we were picking up your dinner," she shrugs.
"Why didn't you just talk to him?" Elena asks, playing with her half-empty bottle of water.
"I dunno, I was drunk," she replies dismissively before turning her focus to Elena, "Speaking of guys, how are things with Stefan?"
"Yeah, we noticed you making eyes at each other in class," Bonnie points out.
"And by we, she means everyone noticed," Stiles adds in a teasing tone, "I didn't even know the guy and could point him out now."
Elena looks down with a slight blush and a small smile playing on her lips before caving, "he came by to check on me after the attack, and I invited him in to talk."
"...and?" Caroline encourages.
"And nothing," Elena replies.
"You and Stefan talked, all night?" his cousin asks in mild disbelief, "There was no sloppy first kiss or touchy-feely of any kind?"
Elena just shakes her head, looking down at the pamphlet she's folding instead of at them, "Nope, we didn't go there."
"Not even a handshake?" his cousin sounds a little indignant, "I mean, Elena, we are your friends," he and Bonnie both watch as she motions to the three of them, "You are supposed to share the smut."
Stiles chokes on a sip of his Italian soda and earns himself three amused looks.
"What? I don't care about the smut, I'm pretty smut-free, may as well live vicariously through other people," he points out in his defense.
"There's no smut," Elena adds, "we just talked for hours."
"What is it with the blockage? Just jump his bones already," Caroline urges her and Stiles raises his brows at her when she adds, "It's easy: Boy likes girl, Girl likes boy, sex."
"Profound," Elena replied, unamused.
"There's probably a bit more to it than that," Stiles feels the need to point out.
Elena starts to stand and gather her things, causing Bonnie to frown, "Where are you going?"
"Caroline's right, it is easy," she replies, "If I sit here long enough, I'll end up talking myself out of it instead of doing what I started the day saying I was gonna do," she pushes her chair back into the table and walks away.
"Use protection!" Stiles yells after her, earning a slap on each shoulder from the two other girls.
"Shut up, everyone's looking this way now," Bonnie scolds, but she's chuckling so it hardly has the desired effect.
"So, with that out of the way," Stiles motions absently in the direction Elena left, "tell me more about your witchy powers."
"She doesn't have any," Caroline insists.
"She's right, I mean," Bonnie glances around for a bit before lowering her tone, "I do get these feelings, but it could be nothing, right?"
"What sort of feelings?" Stiles leans in curiously, "Witchy feelings?"
"Maybe," she shrugs, "I can't exactly control it, it just happens sometimes, or when I touch certain people," she explains.
"This is the first I'm hearing about this," Caroline points out, holding out her hand, "do me, then."
"It doesn't work like that- I think," Bonnie says but grabs her hand anyway, waiting a moment before shaking her head and letting go, "Nothing."
"What about me?" Stiles asks, imitating his cousin.
Bonnie rolls her eyes but indulges him by also grabbing his hand, "See? Not-" she pauses, frowning slightly at his hand before glancing back up at him with a puzzled look, "I don't- you're warm."
"So he runs a bit hot? Not that big a deal, we knew that from movie night cuddles," Caroline points out.
"That's not what I mean," Bonnie seems to realize she had yet to let go of his hand and does so, "It's like- light warmth. Like the sun. Kind of makes you want to be close to it," she tries to explain, but Stiles only looks confused and Caroline probably feels the same, "nevermind, it doesn't matter," she shakes her head, "so, any plans for tonight?"
I linked photos of Caroline and Stiles' cars to the chapter in Ao3 but this website doesn't let me do that so if you'd like to see it, just search up this story name or Yumeori on Ao3 and you'll find it there.
Full disclosure, sometimes I ask for you guys' thoughts and opinions to check if some more subtle detail or other was noticed or if it only looks obvious to me because of knowledge bias, aka I know what's going on so I can see it but others might not.