After Stiles got home from the Founder's Day kick-off party, he tucked himself into the warm cocoon of the duvet and stayed lying in bed and staring at the unfamiliar ceiling. All he wanted to do was call his dad and beg to go home. But he couldn't...he had promised his dad that what Stiles needed was to get away from Beacon Hill's, so he couldn't just turn around now and say 'sorry, I was wrong'. So, he didn't. It would just be moving from one place he didn't feel safe in, to another and back again.
Stiles promised himself before he came to Mystic Falls that he would try, and he is going to. He is going to try his hardest to work through his problems one normal day at a time. There are no bad memories in Mystic Falls. It's small and quiet and the perfect place for Stiles to pull himself back together again. Stiles is not going to allow one insignificant vampire change that.
He doesn't want to be part of the supernatural again. It only causes him problems. So, Stiles is going to just ignore it even if that means ignoring a part of himself.
It took hours before Stiles felt comfortable enough to fall asleep. So long in fact that Stiles was sure he heard Tyler slamming his bedroom door closed. Once he managed to fall asleep however, his mind was plagued with nightmares. Memories of his time as the nogitsune filled his head along with the nogitsunes memories themselves.
Stiles woke up several times that night...screaming to be let go or to please just wake up. He was glad the house seemed to be sound proofed and that his room was so far away from Tyler's, otherwise he likely would have awoken him.
When it was finally morning Stiles got out of the bed and walked into the bathroom. His aim was to just go to the toilet, brush his teeth and then leave the room to put some clothes on. Instead, Stiles found himself staring at his reflection in the mirror. He was pale...paler than usual and he had dark circles below his eyes making it obvious that he hadn't slept very well. His cheeks were gaunt and his eyes that once sparked with life looked dull and lifeless. He looked haggard.
Stiles must have been standing there for a long time because there was suddenly a knock at his bedroom door.
"Yeah?" Stiles calls out.
"Dude, hurry up or you will be late for your first day of school." Stiles could hear Tyler call through the door.
He looked at his phone where he found a message from his father wishing him luck on his first day and the time which read...6:48am. Crap.
Stiles quickly rushed through his morning routine and grabbed any clothes he could get his hands on as well as his school bag before opening the door. Only to walk right into Tyler who was apparently still waiting for him.
"That's what you going to wear?" Tyler asks shocked. "I thought you only wore that outfit yesterday because it would be comfy on the flight...not that it was your actual style."
Stiles looked down at his jeans, graphic t-shirt and plaid then looked back up, "What's wrong with it?"
"Nothing, nothing. I just didn't realise that you were a hipster." Tyler says.
"I'm not a hipster and I will have you know that I was wearing this before being a hipster became mainstream." Stiles says indignantly.
Tyler chuckles at that, "Sure thing hipster."
Stiles just rolls his eyes behind Tyler's back as they both walk down the stairs and towards the dining room.
"Good morning boys." Carol says from where she is sitting with a cup of tea and some fruit in front of her.
"Good morning mom."
"Good morning, Carol." Both boys say at the same time causing Carol to smile.
"Where's dad?" Tyler asks looking around the room.
"He had to leave early something about city hall. Why don't you boys sit down and eat with me before you leave."
"That's not..." Tyler starts to say before looking at Stiles who has already sat down and has started helping himself to some cereal.
Carol smirks at this knowing that her son was going to do what he did every day and leave without breakfast and is now unsure what to do as he is the one giving Stiles a ride to school.
"Fine." Tyler says before sitting down.
The three of them eat in peace before Carol decides to speak up.
"Miss Mystic Falls is happening this weekend." This causes Stiles and Tyler to look up at her from where they have been eating.
"Okay?" Tyler asks hesitantly.
"I was just wondering if either of you would be willing to help me teach the girls the dance they need to know." Carol says coyly.
"Nope." Tyler immediately denies.
"What...what is Miss Mystic Falls?" Stiles asks.
"Miss Mystic Falls is a yearly pageant that we throw to celebrate the hard work the ladies of Mystic Falls have done to help our community." Carol explains before Tyler rolls his eyes and interjects.
"It's basically a beauty contest. Whichever founding family has the prettiest daughter wins."
"Tyler!" Carol admonishes. "Miss Mystic had been around for generations and is not some glorified beauty contest. The girls of this town work hard to help our community and they deserve to be celebrated for their accomplishments."
"I don't mind being you dance partner Carol." Stiles says before Carol can go on.
"Thank you, Stiles." Carol says gratefully.
After the boys have finished breakfast, they both walk out of the mansion and towards Tyler's car. Tyler keeps glancing over at Stiles making Stiles feel more and more uncomfortable.
"What is it, Tyler?" Stiles finally says.
"I just...you know that you don't have to help my mom with Miss Mystic, right? You could have said no. We weren't going to just kick you out." Tyler asks hesitantly.
"I know that Tyler but I just...I just need to be doing things anything to take my mind off stuff." Stiles admits.
"Stuff like what happened in your old town? Or like your nightmares?" Tyler asks as casually as he could.
Stiles closes his eyes for a second before opening them and looking at Tyler from the passenger seat. "I'm sorry man, I hope I didn't wake you up."
"It's fine. You don't need to apologise for that. I get it. Well, no I don't but...you know what I mean." Tyler tries.
"I know what you mean. But yeah, I'm doing it to get out of my own head and maybe tire myself out enough that I can have a dreamless sleep." Stiles admits.
Stiles first day of school went well. Having to stand in front of several classes and introduce himself was a nightmare that he is happy to never go through again. But otherwise, it went well. Stiles did his best to not annoy any of his new teachers with too many questions, in fact Stiles managed to ask zero questions. Unfortunately, because Stiles was coming in halfway through the year, every single one of his teachers handed him make up work that had to be done before the summer so the school could show his grades as if he had been there the whole year.
Stiles stayed hanging out with Tyler for the majority of the day as the boy introduced him to most of his friends. It was clear to Stiles early on that he would not be making friends with them, but he still acted as politely as he could until he could finally make his escape. They reminded him to much of some of the boys from his old lacrosse team...he didn't need that type of toxic masculinity in his life again.
He now found himself standing in a room filled with couples as he danced with Carol. She had shown Stiles the dance briefly before the couples had arrived. Which he was thankful for as it meant that he wouldn't make a fool of himself in front of so many people. The dance itself was quite simple but still the couples seemed to keep getting it wrong. Stiles hoped that the second group of couples they would be teaching today would be better.
"No! No! There's no touching during this part. It's about the simple intimacy of the near touch. Very nice Amber!" Carol says disciplining a couple that Stiles has been trying to ignore as the man is a vampire and the girl is...well she is human but the aura that Stiles can sometimes see around her suggests that she is a little something more. Luckily being able to see their auras didn't send Stiles into a panic attack like it did with the last vampire Stiles saw.
"Thank you, Mrs Lockwood!" Amber exclaims obviously excited about doing well.
It's the day of Miss Mystic when Carol suddenly walks up to Stiles, who is sitting in the sitting room of the Lockwood's mansion, reading a book.
"Stiles I have a favour that I must ask of you." Carol announces as she enters the room.
"What is it?" Stiles asks while setting down his book.
"Caroline's boyfriend is unable to make it to Miss Mystic, so we need a stand in. Would you be able to do it. I would ask Tyler, but I can't find him anywhere." Carol explains.
"Sure, I can do it." Stiles agrees before realising that means he is going to be dancing in front of a large crowd of people.
Stiles goes to try and talk himself out of what he has just agreed to but before he can Carol says, "Oh thank you Stiles, I'm sure Caroline will be thrilled. It would be horrible if she had to drop out now, especially after all the hard work she has put in."
Just like that all of Stiles' excuses die on his tongue and his anxiety sky-rockets.
Welp, it looks like he needed to go a grab his suit from the other day.
"I'm going to need a different tie." Stiles says causing Carol to look at him.
"What?" She asks confused.
"Well, I can wear the same suit from the founders party, but my tie was a dark purple and I wouldn't want to clash with..." Stiles trails off realising he has forgotten the name of the girl he is supposed to dance with.
"Caroline and you are correct. Let me go and look for a plain black tie in Richard's things." Carol says before getting up and walking out of the room.
That was how Stiles found himself standing here back in the founder's hall and listening to Mayor Lockwood rattle off names.
"Miss Tina Fell, escorted by Bartholomew Whitmore."
Stiles wonders if he is related to Jackson Whitmore. Jackson's adopted family does come from old money after all.
Stiles watches as Tina walks down the stairs and into the arms of her escort. Looking up the stairs Stiles can see Carol, Caroline and the girl with the weird aura.
"Miss Caroline Forbes and her escort Stiles Stilinski." Mayor Lockwood announces causing Stiles to stand up straighter and offer his arm to Caroline as she makes her way downstairs.
She takes his arm while smiling a thousand-watt smile and they start walking through the crowd towards the garden at the back of the founder's hall.
"Miss Elena Gilbert, escorted by Mister Stefan Salvatore." Hearing Mayor Lockwood, Caroline tenses slightly and her hold on Stiles becomes tight.
"Hey, relax. I've seen the list of everything you have done for this pageant. You have practically already won. This is just a formality." Stiles says quietly causing Caroline to look at him before smiling a real smile that makes her eyes sparkle.
Once all couples are standing in there spots the music starts and the dancing begins. Stiles feels so anxious he swears he is going to throw up. But he luckily holds it in until after the dancing has stopped and the participants are allowed to start interacting with the crowd.
At which point Stiles walks to the closest bathroom he finds and throws up everything he has eaten that day. Stiles takes several deep breaths before standing up and turning towards the sink. Then he sees it. The mirror has been broken and there is blood covering the shards.
Stiles immediately leaves the room now feeling even more shaky than he did before.
"Are you alright?" Stiles turns towards the voice and shakes his head before pointing towards the bathroom.
The man looks at him a little longer before walking into the room and seeing what Stiles just saw.
"Okay, let's get you out of here and into the fresh air and then I'm going to find the sheriff. Is that okay with you?" The man asks him gently.
Stiles just nods at the man who promptly walks him to the nearest exit.
Stiles has been sitting outside of the founder's hall for a while before suddenly an ambulance turns up and the paramedics get out and move towards the woods surrounding them.
He stays sat where he is. His usually curiosity telling him to follow them, but he just ignores it. It's none of his business plus they have to return to the ambulance eventually.
Which they do...with a girl who is most defiantly bleeding. The girl, who Stiles recognises as Amber is bleeding from her neck profusely.
Likely a vampire bite, Stiles thinks.
As he is sitting there and watching the paramedics pack her up into the back of the ambulance he doesn't notice as his arms start producing dark veins as his body unconsciously absorbs the pain and chaos radiating from the girl.
Eventually the ambulance leaves, taking Amber to the hospital and Tyler comes looking for him.
"He man, dad says it's time to go." Tyler says.
Stiles simply nods his head and stands up to follow Tyler to the car.
The car ride is quiet, and they all stay quiet even as they get back home.
Once Stiles has made it to his room, he removes his suit and takes a nice warm shower to help remove the anxiety of the day.
In the morning Stiles will wake up surprised as he has the first dreamless sleep he has had in months.