There was a rapid knock on Luna's front door.
She quickly switched the gas off at the hob, before throwing her dishcloth over her shoulder to keep it well out of the way as she made her way to see it was.
Naturally, stood there waiting for her to answer rather apprehensively, was a very anxious and uncomfortable looking Stiles.
"Oh! Hey Stilesy," Luna smiled, giving him a warm hug as she always did. But instead of his hug back being just as jolly and jovial as it always was, this time Stiles' arms tightened around her even more. It was needy, and so far from what she was used to. "Oh dear," she frowned, as he buried his face directly into her shoulder with a weakened little sniff. Luna couldn't figure out what was going on, hesitantly lifting her right hand to stroke the back of his head. She could sense that something was wrong from how dangerously hard Stiles' heart was beating against his chest - and therefore, against her own. "Stiles?! Oh my god, what's going on now? Are…are you okay?" she murmured worriedly, unsure of what else to say in that moment.
"I…I just got my dad fired," Stiles sniffed quietly into her shoulder. Luna's head jerked back in surprise, and she carefully lifted his face up by his chin to stare into his eyes for herself to see if he was being truthful. But it was obvious that he was - she could see the sorrow painted all over his face, and it just made her feel so much more anxious for him than she was before.
She hated when Stiles was like this, because it wasn't normal. He was a lot of things, but he was hardly ever straight up sad about…well, anything really.
"Oh god, Stiles. You're…you're being serious?"
"Yup. Jackson's lawyer parents demanding an injunction against me for their son got my own extremely innocent father fired. Well, that and me stealing police property to help corner the guy, of course…But he'll never know that!"
"Goodness," Luna frowned empathetically. "I'm so sorry. How did he take it…?"
"That was the worst part! He didn't even shout at me, Loo. I just feel so…" he trailed off and shook his head helplessly, unsure of what else to say.
"Oh god. I am really so, incredibly sorry Stiles. Do…do you think maybe it's time the we tell him about…everything that's going on?" Luna asked him hesitantly. "I mean, the actual truth? Just in case it gets anymore serious than this?"
"I mean, I don't know! You're the whole 'Moon Council' girl, here to keep peace amongst the 'supernatural nations' and all - do you think it's worth it?" Stiles challenged her back, flipping the script on her.
Luna screwed her mouth to the side for a couple of seconds before finally shaking her head.
"Maybe not."
"Yeah, me neither."
"Here, come in," Luna nodded to him, pulling him in by his arm and dragging him into her house anyway. She shut the front door behind him whilst Stiles stepped through to her kitchen, ready to make himself at home as always.
"Oh! Were ya cooking?"
"I was indeed. Giant Stuffed mushrooms," Luna smiled as she walked into the kitchen to join him. She switched back on the stove with a pleased sigh and lifted the frying pan slightly so that Stiles could see her tasty meal for himself. "You should try-"
"I should try what, eating literal fungi? Noooo thank youuuu," Stiles pulled a face, shrugging off his jacket with an added dramatic shudder. "Wait- that idiot isn't here, is he?"
"Idiot?" Luna repeated amusedly.
"Lahey," Stiles pulled a little face. Luna rolled her eyes and nudged his knee with her slipper.
"No, and you gotta be nicer about him, Stiles! Seriously, the least you could do is try," she hissed, turning off the stove. Stiles sighed and said nothing more about him - until his eyes lit up.
"Hey, are you coming to Lydia's party tomorrow night?" Luna's eyebrows knitted together as she stirred the stuffing with her wooden spoon.
"Oh, I'm pretty sure she invited me the other day but truthfully, I wasn't gonna bother attending. It's another full moon, which means I'd have to-"
"You'd have to what? Wait, do you have to do stuff on full moon nights? Like, are you hired to do…like…a shift and stuff?" Stiles asked intriguingly as he flopped onto her couch with a huff.
"No Stiles, not a shift," Luna giggled knowingly, leaning against the wall again. "I get a lot stronger on full moon nights and it makes me feel confident and borderline untouchable…but that's it. I do have to be alert, though. A lot of crazy things can happen, so the first indication of madness means I'd have to go report it back to the Moon Council - you know this."
"Oh, of course. I totally get all that but I still think you should come with us. C'mon, this is the perfect chance for you to hang out with us as friends, not supernatural work colleagues!" Stiles nudged her playfully. Luna cocked her head to the side, contemplating his words.
"You really think people would want me there?" she frowned a little nervously.
"Are you kidding? They'd love to have you there!" Stiles was yawning whilst Luna took a comfortable seat opposite him. "Like definitely. Without a doubt. As in, at this point, you have very little choice in the matter cos I've kinda decided for you. You're going, and we're all gonna have a blast."
Luna burst out laughing and ran her fingers through her hair, whilst Stiles, once again, found himself staring at her in what felt like admiration. Whenever she thought carefully about something, her plump pink lips pouted, her eyes squinted slightly and her head leaned back slightly in contemplation.
For Stiles, it was the stuff of dreams.
His dreams, to be precise.
"All jokes aside, I'm not really up for anything this weekend Stiles, least of all a 'let's get it started' kinda party," she responded once her laughter had finally run out and the thinking had stopped, before finally falling back onto her soft sofa again.
Stiles made a sad pouty face and leaned himself against the back of the chair with his arms folded in a slightly childish protest.
"But you can finally get to know everybody! You can get to know them outside of the school when they're…you know, actually human and not running around looking for a giant lizard monster thing. We barely have any time to do normal teen stuff anymore this could be a perfect opportunity to do so," he pointed out with a cheeky grin on his face. "And you know, with the recent tragedy with my dad which should totally see me grounded, this would really boost my spirits…?"
Luna couldn't say no to that face - ever, in fact. So she let out a reluctant giggle and sighed, before shaking her head and sitting back up straight.
"Fine. I guess I can turn up there for a little while, and-"
Luna wasn't even able to finish her sentence. Stiles suddenly ran over and tackled her in a huge bonecrushing hug, before pushing her onto the sofa and tickling her mercilessly, prone to her squeals and giggles.
It felt so good to be with him again.
"You're the best you're the best you're the best!" he yelped between each tickle. Luna eventually managed to heave him off with a playful groan. She sat herself up properly once more, with an added smile lingering on her lips.
"Okay, so what do I even wear to an event like this?" Luna frowned, leaping up to focus on her reflection in her living room mirror. Her hair, beautiful and sheer white as it was, was now a mess thanks to Stiles' surprise attack launch. The strands were sticking up like spiderwebs on a frosted morning.
"I have no idea. You can wear pretty much anything! I mean it's not THAT kinda party, so you can still keep it chill and stuff," Stiles told her quietly, watching her fix herself up in the living room mirror intently. "To be fair…you could wear anything and still look insane."
Of course, those last words were even quieter than the ones before, leaving Luna totally oblivious to them.
…
Luna was true to her word and met Stiles outside of Lydia's house party the evening after. She wore a black cutout bodycon dress that clung onto her figure, and provided a perfect contrast to her white hair curtaining her delicate face, whilst her black velvet heels were the perfect fashionable finishing touch to the whole look.
Stiles spotted her walking from a mile off and couldn't help but feel his heart begin to race dangerously against his chest in a sudden panic. He even found himself grabbing Scott at one point to keep himself steady, his knees weakened and knocking together.
Scott sensed his best friend tensing next to him and blinked over at him in confusion.
"Stiles? What are you-"
"Hi guys," Luna beamed as she apprehensively approached them, her cheeks rosy and full of joy. But she quickly sensed the weird mood around her and started to feel mightily uneasy, unsure of what was going on. "Oh god, am I late?" Stiles opened his mouth to speak, but naturally, no words came out.
So Scott nudged him sharply in his ribs.
"L-late? Late…no…not…hot," he managed to splutter finally as if he'd just caught his breath. Luna smiled at his comment, ducking her head slightly in embarrassment at how flustered she got him. Scott simply rolled his eyes and gently steered them both inside the music pumping venue, which was already full to the brim with teenagers drinking, cackling away far too loudly and shouting obnoxiously over the songs.
Everything Luna somewhat loved about being a reckless teen was right there in front of her.
Stiles casually glanced to his left just in time to notice both Lydia and Allison approaching them through the sea of people. They both looked beautiful, as always, and Luna felt the slightest bit insecure beside them both - but she was incredibly careful not to show it on her face.
Confidence was key of course.
"Hey…you came!" Lydia beamed brightly.
"Of course we did," Scott stated as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "There's food, music and drinks - why wouldn't we come?"
"Great question…although that makes us sound like freeloaders kinda," Stiles agreed with a grimace, clapping Scott's shoulder. "Alright lets get the drinks going!" The group squealed and got the party started - and Luna was admittedly thankful she came.
…
The good times barely lasted, though.
The day after the party, Luna was waiting for the Moon Council to pick up her call. She was internally freaking out. So many things had happened in town within such a short space of time and she had no time to warn the Moon Council of any of it until it was too late - so she was absolutely petrified of this meeting today and what they would say to her about it. "Luna Kylpse," Helena, the leader of the Moon Council, sighed, leaning back in her chair as Luna presented herself in front of them through their digital screen. "This one isn't looking good from where we're sitting. A Kanima? Controlled by a mortal? Both high school students? How did he even get into knowing about the supernatural? And why is it seemingly so easy in Beacon Hills? What the hell is going on?!"
"Helena, that's a great question…they're all great questions, and I know how bad it looks," Luna groaned regretfully. "And I am so sorry about keeping it so quiet. It…it somehow escalated in ways that I couldn't keep up with-"
"I mean yes, that's more than evident," Helena muttered, twirling her pen between her fingers in thought.
Luna knew where this was going already. She could tell from the slight sadness and disappointment in Helena's face. Luna's heart dropped into the pits of her stomach.
"Helena-"
"Your risk of safety is not worth it. Absolutely not worth it. Luna, we're taking you off of Beacon Hills - you're clearly under-equipped for that stupid down," Helena decided in front of the board who gave nods of agreement on the side.
Luna's heart sank immediately.
"What?!"
"Whatever is happening over there is far too much for you to handle, which absolutely isn't your fault - it's ours. We can't leave the safety of a town in the hands of some teenagers! What happens when the madness spreads? When it goes from local, to regional, to national news? We won't have the time to fix the damage caused-"
"Hang on Helena, those 'teenagers' literally saved the entire town on multiple occasions. Are you insane?" Luna scoffed angrily, cocking her head to the side. "Don't downplay their abilities! You have absolutely no basis to do this!"
"Insane? No. Wise? Yes. You're off. We'll get your mother to re-locate you immediately. I'm sorry, Luna, but we're done here, and you are more than done there."