Beacon Hills County
{Small town. Huge Possibilities}
Lillian's hazel eyes scanned over the wooden words carved into the old, rickety welcome sign as her father's truck drove by. The noticeably old sign had seen better days as it appeared bleached, with its green hills drowned out to a mediocre pale color, and the yellow font chipped at the edges.
This was it. For the love of-
She couldn't even finish her thought as she rubbed her temple with her middle and index fingers in frustration. Supposedly, this was going to be her new home until she was off to college. She couldn't believe that he had said yes! This had to be some sick joke, right?
To this job in this town?
The air was noticeably tense between the two occupants, as it had been for awhile even before her father mentioned moving. Both of their eyes focused on the long stretched out road ahead. Nothing struck Lillian as appealing and soon her eyes flickered down to her phone that was in her other hand.
She hated it here.
Point, blank, period.
She's heard the stories of Beacon Hills. All of the strange and mysterious, unexplainable incidents that have taken place within the last couple of years. The supposedly "rabid animals that suddenly appeared four years ago". She's not stupid, and neither is her dad. They both knew that the town was fishy. They knew well: Beacon Hills is a dangerous place. Like a black hole- a void. A beacon for craziness.
However, she kept her protests to herself. Her dad wasn't going to listen to her bitching and moaning and it was far too late to even try. Their new home was ready. She was already transferred to the high school in the area. Her new life was already beginning, even if she didn't want it to. Just the thought alone of having to go to an entirely new high school- not that the last one was any better, however- made her feel on edge. The mere thought made her feel sick to her stomach. It felt as though she couldn't breathe. And every time she tried, they came out shallow. Her father glanced over at her, seeing the disgusted look on her face. She was more quiet than usual, he was at least expecting a comment here and there.
"You may not see it yet, but you'll like it here. I can promise you that. The high school is great, the restaurants here are some of the best, and…"
Her father's voice soon faded as Lillian gazed out the window, losing herself in her own head as he continued talking at her, not to her. And as she usually does when she did this, she nodded every once in awhile to show her apparent acknowledgment. When really, his voice faded into nothingness, and her thoughts were all she could hear.
They were all she could ever hear really. And they were more louder than usual, nearly suffocating.
A few days had passed since the move. The U-Haul emptied and gone, their new house was barely being filled up. The living room and kitchen were fully furnished. It was as if it was a mask to cover how the second floor was nearly hollow. Upstairs, in the bedrooms and bathrooms, there were still boxes everywhere, untouched.
While Mr. Sanders was just too busy transferring over his paperwork to his new office, Lillian showed no interest in putting in the effort to make this place her new home.
Riiiiiiiiiing.
Lillian's eyes shot open as her alarm went off. A blank wall with boxes stacked up on each other stared back at her as she wiped the sleepiness from her eyes. The nerves set in immediately as she realized that it was her first day of school.
In an effort to not go, as soon as she knew she was in earshot, she started coughing violently and groaning in faux pain. She tried putting on the best act that she could, hoping her father would tell her to stay home for the day.
Well, emphasis on tried.
She tried playing sick. Her father saw right through the charade. Instead of being able to stay at home and survive another day she had even less time to get ready.
Her fingers drummed on her bag as she bounced her leg against the leather of the car seat. She began to see students walking in the direction they were driving. The longer they went north, the more and more people she saw, all with backpacks or bags hung over their shoulder. Their mouths moving in passing conversations.
"Ready for your first day?"
Her father's voice made her jump. She glanced over at her dad for a few moments, somewhat annoyed. Then, almost automatically, she faked a smile, putting on a face like nothing was bothering her. However, she couldn't hide the sigh that passed her lips before she spoke.
"I, uhm, yeah. I guess so."
Another moment of silence.
"It already looks like it's going to be a long day today. I'm mostly likely going to be at the police station by the time you get out. You're probably going to have to ask for a ride home," her eyes widened a bit as he said this, "Is that alright? I'm sure someone won't mind giving you a lift."
Her objective of the day was to get through with minimal talking. But, of course, he was oblivious to the fact that his daughter had zero social skills. Hell, he thought that she was going to miss all of her 'old friends' back in Diamond Heights. When in reality, she only had two max, whom she rarely spoke to unless they needed something from her.
"U-Uh, dad, I-I don't..."
Her voice faltered. After a few seconds, she just nodded her head as the words failed to deliver. There was no point in trying to explain herself.
She was walking home. There was no doubt about that.
"See ya later, sweetie!" she hears as the sound of the passenger door closing rang in her ears. The noise even seemed to capture the attention of others as they looked in her direction. Or maybe they were looking at someone else? Whichever the case, she suddenly felt as though she was naked, exposed, as all of these new pairs of eyes looked her way.
She made herself as small as possible as she sped to the entrance, navigating through the crowd that was forming to go inside.
She pauses as she gets inside. So many faces. And not a single one she knows. That feeling alone makes her feel inferior and alone as if she weren't already feeling that way.
She didn't belong there. She knew that.
Her only saving grace was that she had her classes and locker sent through email the day before. Fewer people she had to talk to, the easier the day was going to be.
She silently prays that she's on the right path as she begins walking down the main hallway while glancing up at the locker numbers. Even if she wanted to ask, everyone around her seemed to be engrossed in chatty conversations and overall ignored her small presence. She finds herself squinting harder than usual as the numbers blur together.
Goddamnit forgot my contacts again.
She mentally facepalms herself in frustration as she has to move closer to the metal doors, almost as if she's hovering over them, to make her eyesight readjust. Even then, the font is too small to distinguish properly.
Come on, where's 1076?
She stops in front of one in particular as she believes that she has found her locker. Yet, she's barely able to make out the last few digits. Her face is so close to the metal that it looks as if she's smelling it. And she can. It doesn't smell good.
Is that it? ... I-I think that's it... Uhm right?
She debates in her head if what she's seeing is right. The last number looking like a '6' but then again, if she is to tilt a bit to the right, it doesn't. A bell goes off and Lillian jumps. Everyone around her starts to move a bit faster, ending their conversations, as they all know that it means that they now have little time left.
Deciding to not stop someone and ask for help, she takes the risk. She starts to put in the combination that she's memorized- hoping for a miracle that it works on the first try.
"Wait, 'switched'?" Scott exclaims as he walks down the hall side by side with his best friend, peering over at the paper in the paler boy's hand, "That literally makes no sense."
"Yeah, I know," Stiles says, trying hard to not get upset.
"Why the hell would they do that?"
"Maybe it's a mistake. Or maybe they're fucking with me. I dunno, this is stupid."
"How many of your classes?" Scott sighs out.
"Like three of them, man." Stiles sighs as he looks down at his new schedule in dismay. It's the beginning of a new semester and it was already starting off on the wrong foot. Getting handed a brand new schedule when he loved his old one put him in a sour mood, "Algebra II with you, World Studies with Lydia, and Honors English with Lydia and Megan are now gone. Poof." he says with hands and a poked out bottom lip. For the first time, he had a schedule that he liked, now that was ruined for him.
"Hey, how's Megan doing by the way? I haven't seen her since before the break?" Scott asks in both a bland, yet 'I'm-kinda-interested-to-know' tone, "Sometimes I forget she's my beta."
Stiles was too focused on all of his new class changes to answer him right away or notice his tone. He was in his own head. It was weird. The classes were all at the same academic level, nothing higher or lower, yet they were rearranged. A different order. He never requested for a change and he was pretty sure his teachers didn't request one either- yet here the new classes were in his hands. And there was nothing that he could do but pout.
"Uh, she's doing fine. Oh, and her birthday is in a few months." Stiles finally says to answer Scott's question.
"In a few months? So?"
"Remember the last time I forgot about it?" Stiles shivers at the flashback as he remembers her outburst, "And we weren't even dating then. I have to start planning early."
"A few months early? That might be a bit extreme-" Stiles dismisses his comment.
"Y'know, I was thinking of giving her this customized…"
Stiles stops. Immediately. Whatever he was going to say was gone in an instant.
"What?" Scott asks when he notices that his friend had stopped talking mid-sentence.
He looks up from the ground and glances at Stiles, following the direction of his eyes. The golden brown hues were focusing on a brunette girl who was at his locker and twisting the combination knob in visible frustration. Stiles cocks his head to the side as his eyes dart down at his schedule and then back at the girl a couple times, his brows furrowed in confusion.
"Wait, did they change your locker too?" Scott asks.
"No, no they didn't."
Stiles hands, or rather shoves, the baby blue paper into Scott's chest, making the boy take a step back as it catches him off guard. Stiles begins walking over to the side of the hallway and stops when he's about two lockers away from the brunette. His mouth begins to open to say something to her…
But then he stops…
The words are never released as he gazes at her profile. He admires her long, dark eyelashes. Her face structure. The way that she is biting the side of her lip as she was trying to concentrate with all of the noise surrounding her. He even catches the light, subtle freckles that dot on her rounded nose that was upturned as she squinted.
He mentally stops himself when he realizes seconds later that he's staring. He sighs to himself as he shakes his head, refocusing. With an oddly quickened heart rate, he moves in closer until they are only a few feet apart.
What does he say to her? Does he come off friendly? No, no intimidating, she's trying to break into his locker- No, no, she must be new. He's never seen her before…
"Uh, h-hey there," he greets a bit too loudly. He sees that she jumps and tenses up at the sound of his voice.
Shit, too loud. Too loud. Good going, Stiles.
Her eyes don't seem to want to meet his as she stares at her shaking hands, or well really, any part of him in that case. However, after a moment with lingering hands on the combination, her gaze moves to the left and into his eyes.
The direct contact catches Stiles off guard as he finds himself gazing back into the hazel hues. Lillian sucks in a breath when he doesn't look away and she then quickly retreats her eyes back to the metal door. Stiles clears his throat, he was expecting to have his heart pounding in his throat. He tries to ignore it.
"I think you have the wrong one. Locker. I think you have the wrong locker. This is, uhm, my locker… yeah. At least I should know that, due to the fact that I've had it for the past few years. Well, y'know, Unless they changed that too. At this point, I wouldn't be surprised. It feels like someone has it out for me or something."
It takes her a moment through his rambling for the fact to finally register that for the past two minutes she was trying to break into someone else's locker. Completely embarrassed, her face turns a light pink as her fingers slowly releases the metal knob.
"S-Sorry," she tells him in a low voice that he can barely hear, "I-I didn't mean to- I just…"
"I'm guessing you're new?" he tries, his face moving closer. She doesn't return his gaze and only nods, "Okay. So, uh, what locker was you looking for? I could help with that if you want."
She really, really, didn't want him to. But what other choice did she have at this point?
"...1076."
"Oh, really? Well that's right here," he points to the locker directly next to his', 1075, and gives it a light tap, "You were just one off," there's a drain of color in her complexion for a split moment as she realizes that she's right next to him. He gives her an amused smile, "Hey, it happens to the best of us," he tells her as he refers to trying to open the wrong locker, "Sometimes more than once," he adds.
She says something under her breath that Stiles can't hear and puts the combination in again as she takes one step over. As soon as she puts in the last digit and pulls, as if like magic, the lock clicks open. Again, embarrassment washes over her body as she closes her eyes and cringe.
"For fuck's sake…" she mumbles. She opens her locker and finds that she was already delivered her textbooks beforehand for all of her classes, one of the only silver linings of her day so far.
"Oh, what class do you have right now?" he asks her as he glances at his watch. His voice makes her jump again as she didn't realize that he was still there. With shaky fingers, she gets ahold of her new Physics book. Her digits trembling as they tap alongside the cover, "I can show you-"
"I have to go. Bye," she quickly says as she loudly shuts the door. With her head down low walks right past him. His brows furrowed together, a bit confused at her shyness, and turns his body as he watches her leave, her body small and fragile looking the farther she goes.
"Name's Stiles!... By the way… yeah," he attempts to say but before he's done, she turns the corner and is out of earshot, "Huh. Well, that was... that…," he speaks his thoughts out loud as he continues looking down the hallway to where she once was. Scott strolls over to his friend, shoving the schedule right back into his chest with the same amount of force and with a light smirk. Stiles' back lightly hits the locker as he continues staring down the hall.
"You really know how to talk to girls," Scott teases as he heard the whole thing, and cringing the entire time at the awkwardness between the two, "Phenomenal work my friend."
"Oh, ha ha ha," Stiles sarcastically says with a glare, "Not like you could've done any better."
Stiles says this and as soon as he does, the two look at each other.
"Yeah, you could've."
"Yeah, I definitely could have."
They say at the same time. Stiles glances at his friend.
"You didn't sense anything, did you?" Stiles asks. Scott shakes his head, knowing what he is referring to.
"No. She isn't supernatural. Just... shy. You nearly scared her to death."
"Yeah… yeah, I got that part," Stiles says, mostly to himself. The second bell rings above them, signaling that they only have a few more minutes left. Stiles runs his hand through his hair as he almost forgot about his new schedule, "Ah shit, ugh, gotta go. Catch you later."
Scott watches as Stiles leaves, who looks a bit confused as he goes down one hallway and then a few moments later comes back and goes in the opposite direction. Scott bites the corner of his lip, wanting to tell his friend something else, but not knowing if he should. About Stiles' chemo-signals when he was talking to the girl. How Stiles felt deep down during the exchange that only lasted about a minute. But felt like a century. The way his heart was beating wildly in his chest and throat…
He didn't even think that Stiles knew he felt this way in the short amount of time. But Scott could practically feel everything. The girl wasn't different but everything she was feeling was masked with pure anxiety. Scott shook his head, knowing that telling Stiles all of this wasn't the best idea. He sighed and kept their first encounter in the back of his mind as he walked away.
...
Stiles went down several hallways he wasn't used to at this time of day. He usually had his Physics class at the end of the day, but now it was his first. This transition made his head spin. As he was trying to navigate, he felt arms around his waist from behind and judging from the firm grip, he knew it was his girlfriend Megan without looking.
"Oh, hey, Meg-" Stiles was interrupted by a rough pair of lips slammed into his, as she snaked herself in front of him. He stopped walking entirely to pull her away gently. She smiled up at him, mischief in her eyes.
"Hey, I've been looking for you. Had to sniff you out, babe," her eyes glowed a neon yellow as she moved in closer and Stiles' eyes widened as he started to panic a bit, pulling her away to the side, and looking around to make sure no one was around.
"Megan, your eyes," he hisses low, "I thought you said you were working on it. I thought we were working on it."
"I-I mean- I have been," she tries to convince him, but he looks at her sternly. It's been six months since she was bitten by Scott. She wasn't entirely new at this. She had to learn. Before someone sees something they're not supposed to, "Maybe I do need some help. Maybe you can help me?... Just… not here," she said in a low, sexual tone in the shell of his ear as she begins kissing it.
"Megan-" Stiles tries to say, before his eyes close and a soft moan accidentally emits out. This only fuels Megan's actions as her lips go to his neck, "We can't-"
"Can't hear you," she says against his neck. He was falling putty in her hands.
It was no lie that Stiles and Megan's relationship mainly consisted of sex. A good 70% of it was sex. That was a known fact. And it wasn't necessarily that Stiles didn't entirely enjoy it, he was a hormonal teenage boy after all, and the sex was good.
… But there is a large part of him, especially after the whole honeymoon phase, that wanted his first real relationship to be more... Well, wholesome than sensual. And the first word to describe their relationship was, well: sexy. Stiles didn't always want that. That wasn't what he always wanted.
Of course, Stiles had tried multiple times to tell her this. He wanted to slow things down and just be a regular couple; study together, go to a movie. He wanted to have the type of relationship where they could talk all night on the phone. However, whenever he mentioned this, it would be to no avail. As with each time, Megan would look as if she were listening, and then presume to stick her hand down his pants. Resulting in, well, more sex.
Stiles finally snapped out of it as he begins pulling her away from his skin.
"Megan, stop," he manages and she just rolls her eyes as she starts pulling him with her.
"Come on," she started pulling on his arm, "We'll be having fun in a minute."
"That won't be necessary, I-"
"Stiles, let's go," she started tugging harder. He pulled back.
"Megan, I have to-" she didn't let him finish.
"Stiles-" they were starting to get looks.
"Megan, seriously." he hissed back at her, she was shocked by this. But she was more shocked by the fact that he was resisting her.
"Wait, are you telling me no?" she said as she pointed at herself, "Come on, I've been waiting for you," she goes back to his ear, "All morning I've been thinking about us being in that supply closet. Come on, don't you want me?"
A lump forms in his throat, and he's not sure if it's from the sexual tension or for his desire to get away from her. He moves his head away from her.
"I- I- I just- I'm telling you not right now," he backed away from her. He's finally able to break free, but that doesn't stop her from following him into the next hallway.
"Come on if you're worried about getting caught, we won't," she said with a roll of her eyes that he couldn't see, but feel, as his back was turned.
"Actually, we have been caught, three times. That poor janitor was scarred not once, but three times." his tone came off as annoyed. And Megan took offense to this as walked in front of him, his steps staggered as he almost runs her over. Yet with her enhanced strength, she is able to take on his full body weight as he runs into her like a wall. Her hands find their way to his hips, her fingers encircling the loops of his jeans.
"That's what makes it so hot- don't know if you're gonna get caught or not," she yanks him into a lustful kiss, but feels the frown against her lips and leans back, "What the hell is wrong with you?"
"I'll see you later, alright." Stiles boldly says, despite the look on her face telling him not to, as he releases himself from her grip. He could hear her growling behind him the further and further he went.
…
Three periods later, it was lunchtime. An half an hour of socialization. Up to this point, Lillian was somehow able to avoid the major of social interaction with her peers. She was seated in the back of every class she had so far, which sucked for her eyesight but she didn't complain. Her neighbors didn't pay much attention to her and that was all that she could hope for. Not to mention, she hadn't seen that brunette boy since early in the morning.
Well, he was in two of her classes, Physics and English. Which so happened to be back to back. Which resulted in Lillian awkwardly following behind Stiles, and Stiles debating if he should talk to her or not. He didn't. But he acknowledged her presence with a glance.
Regardless of that, she hadn't seen the sight of him since then…
Lillian's back slid down the metal surface of a couple of lockers as she sat down in the empty corridor. She pulled out her brown paper lunch bag in the still silence. She gazed around, there wasn't a soul in sight. However, unbeknownst to her two hallways down, Stiles and Megan were in the janitor's closet.
"Baby, just make this easy for me." Megan's voice was hot against Stiles' face, her lips on his cheek as her hands were practically ripping apart his flannel buttons.
He couldn't believe he fell for Megan's ruse. It seemed innocent when she asked him to walk with her to put her books in her locker. But as soon as no one was in sight, Megan yanked him into the janitor's closet that was conveniently beside her locker.
Now, she was on top of him trying to pry off his shirt. His backpack was discarded without care as she threw it in the corner against the shelves. The dim, rusted light that shined above them provided little visibility.
"Meg, I'm not having sex in the janitor's closet!"
"It's not like we haven't done it before. Remember? Three times," she's managed so far to get the first few buttons off, but he resists as he buttons the loops back up.
"Megan stop."
"Fucking grow a pair-"
"Meg!" he yells at her, growing tired of the antics. She stops. For the first time, she was listening and really looking at him. Finally out of whatever haze she was in. But soon, she once again seems to look through him as she sees nothing wrong in what she was doing. He tries to sit up, but she was in his lap, "What is up with you lately?"
"Stiles," she attempts to kiss him again to shut him up, but he dodges it. He places his hands on her arms, pulling her away at a safe distance.
"Seriously, what's up?" she sighs out. She yanks her arms from out of his grasp and starts re-buttoning her top, seeing that he's not going to budge. The moment was ruined. Any arousal she had disappeared.
"Just…," she sighs again and tries to get her thoughts together. She runs her fingers through her hair in what seems like frustration. Her words come out slow, almost thoughtful, "Do you ever feel as though things are going to change..? Just like… a gut feeling? Like one day everything seems normal. The normal that we know… And then... something that you can't explain just… changes?" she questions him. He's taken aback, surprised at how serious she's being. He nods his head, "Yeah, well-" she stops, her enhanced hearing picking up on the squeaky wheels of the janitor's cart down the hallway.
"What?... Meg, what is it-?"
"Old dude is gonna be here in 10 seconds. Gotta go!" She says quickly, getting off of Stiles' lap as she grabs her bag and fixes her blouse. She steals a kiss as Stiles stands up before dashing out. Her scent lingers as she is soon out of sight within seconds.
Stiles, completely frazzled and disoriented, tries to recollect himself. His flannel is opened in odd spots, his hair is a mess, and his skin was flushed. He snatches up his backpack and exits the closet, before meeting the gaze of the confused janitor. Covering his face, even though it is too late in trying to hide his identity, Stiles runs in the opposite direction. The disapproved grunts of the old man fades away as Stiles rounds the corner.
He soon becomes lost in the hallways and huffs in and out deep breaths of relief once he feels that he is at a safe distance. Stiles collects himself as he glances around, he wasn't familiar with this part of the school. A soft crunchy sound catches his attention. The sound wasn't foreign to him, but it took him a moment to figure out what it was.
… Plastic…
Pivoting to the right, he was surprised to see the brunette girl with the timid eyes. She wassitting by herself in the empty corridor. Lost in her own world as she listened to music through earbuds. Stiles was sure that he could hear her humming. He isn't sure how, or if, he should approach her, but his feet move on their own. Softly and barely noticeable. He's a few feet from her when she finally registers that he's there. She's frozen in her spot as he slides down next to her, his arm almost brushing against her as he plops down. She looks at him in disbelief as she scrambles to take her earbuds out, being conscience of the fact that they were loud and he could probably hear the music blasting into her ears.
Apart of Stiles questioned why he took interest in this girl. Enough interest to sit next to her during lunch and make sure she wasn't alone. There was something about her that intrigued him.
"Hiya." he starts, she glances at him and then quickly averts her eyes when he looks back, "Seems like we can't get away from each other," Stiles tries to make the atmosphere light. But Lillian still seems stiff and tense, "Who were you listening to?"
"I-It doesn't matter, some stupid band," she says in attempt to change the subject. At her old school, none of her "friends" listened to the music she liked. She assumed most people didn't. She didn't think that his boy would either.
"You don't strike me as the type of person to listen to a stupid band."
Was that a compliment? She paused for a moment.
"I'm sorry if I freaked you out earlier," he says sincerely. She cringes to herself as she remembers the collision from a few hohou ago. She shakes her head.
"Y-You didn't, it's just- I'm not good with people... That's all. Never have been."
"Me neither. I'm definitely not. People either find me annoying or not focused at all."
He tells her, her lips turn into frown. She didn't find him annoying at all. She takes a quick glance, it being enough for her to notice how disheveled he was.
"Um, what happened to your shirt… and your hair?"
"Uh, let's not talk about that," he mumbles, as he tries his best to fix his hair and readjusts his clothes.
"... Why are you here?" she asks. She without a doubt knew that he had friends. Why was he here with her?
"I was going to ask you the same," he looks at her and again she meets his eyes, and the second she does, she looks away and past him, "You seem pretty lonely sitting by yourself."
"I like being by myself. I like the quiet," she tells him genuinely. She was always the type of person to keep to herself, never the loud or party type. Complete wallflower.
"Oh. Well, I'm not bothering you, am I?"
He asks, now regretting that he might be ruining her alone time. Her eyes flicker over to him as she shakes her head.
"N-No, you're fine."
"You sure?" she looks at him with furrowed brows and somewhat amused eyes.
"Yeah,... I'm sure."
She says as bites into her ham and cheese sandwich that she packed that morning. There's a pause. Stiles fidgets with the end of his sleeve.
"Y'know,... I didn't catch your name earlier."
"My name?" she says with her mouth full and quickly swallows, "Why do you want to know?"
"I-I mean, there's n-no particular reason," he stumbles, "I mean- I've been running into you all day and- I just… you look like a… Valerie."
She gives him a strange look and he looks back at her with confused-like puppy dog eyes. Innocent. Endearing.
"Not a Valerie I'm presuming?"
"Nope," an ever-so-slight smirk makes the corner of her lip tilt up. He examines her a bit more, looking at her long brown locks, her soft cheeks, and round nose. And sees her ever-so-light, subtle smile. Lillian turns away again as he seems to be studying her, trying to figure her out. But she's warming up to him, even if it's only a little.
"Kimberly? You're a Kim."
"No."
"April? Or are you more of a May?"
"Wrong and Wrong. And my birthday is in August."
"Huh… Julia?"
"Uhm, how many times are you going to guess?"
"Until you tell me. I mean I have like 50 different guesses off the top of my head," he shrugs, "Well, at least you know my name, right?" she gives him a blank look, mimicking her mind as she blanks on what his name could be. He sighs and holds out his hand, "Stiles. I'm Stiles."
"... Lillian," she sees that he's trying, genuinely, and with a small voice tells him her name. She reaches over and gently shakes his hand, his grip soft as their palms meet. No one's ever been interested in knowing about her... So it's weird for her. And when she sees him smile, she's confused, "What? Not what you expected?"
"No, it… It's a pretty name. Just like the flower."
She tries hard to stop herself from blushing as her mouth opens, closes, and then opens again.
"I-I-I don't find it very appealing. In elementary-"
"I think it suits you perfectly."
He tells her genuinely. She pauses. Her mouth closes and her hands fumble with her water bottle. Stiles catches her smiling to herself shyly as she brings the drink to her lips. He reaches into his bag, the sound of plastic rips through the air as he opens a bag of chips. He pops a few in his mouth and looks at Lillian.
"Want some?"
...
The final bell chimed throughout the school at exactly 2:30. A mass of teenagers soon filled the streets as the students embarked on their after school activities. Having to walk home, Lillian was in no rush to go anywhere. She took it easy, being within the last batch of students to exit the building.
As she walked down the stairs, her gaze focused on the line of vehicles, where she saw all the cars parked in the junior lot. But there was one in particular that really catch her eye. It was a blue jeep. She didn't know why though, it wasn't new and it looked a bit beat up. There were nicer cars surrounding it, but the jeep, even with it appearing to be a bit run down… It just stuck out to her.
Yet, she shook her head, leaving the trance the vehicle put her in as she put her earbuds in and continued walking her way home.
Megan entered Stiles' jeep moments after Lillian left campus and with apparent anger. But at the moment, Stiles didn't notice as he greeted her and pulled out of his parking spot.
They got onto the street, and he glanced over, finally seeing that she was fuming in her seat as they were halfway to her house. He furrowed his brows as he kept on looking between her and the road. He didn't say anything, not wanting to get into a fight, they were about three minutes away from her house and maybe if he kept his mouth shut then-
"Who's the girl?"
Shit.
Stiles glanced over at his girlfriend, feeling his foot push harder on the accelerator. He was sure his heart was now beating out of his chest but he didn't know why, and he knew that she could hear it. The pitter-patter skyrocketing in a matter of seconds. But nothing had happened. He just talked to her. That was it. That was all. Despite that, the tension in the car was growing rapidly.
"W-What are you talking about-?" he pulls into her driveway.
"Oh now you want to play stupid? Fucking tell me!" she raised her voice. He was trying to find the right words to calm her down. It wasn't a situation to get mad at. Really, it wasn't. He knew that. He needed to get her to know that.
"Mega-" he reached over, attempting to touch her arm, but she stops him as she gets ahold of it. Her hand is rough on his bare bicep, his flannel no longer on. She stares daggers at him, her grip increasing at every second as she looked at him with disgust. He winces.
"Don't play this bullshit with me, Stiles! Who was she? I can fucking smell her on you!"
"Megan, stop! S-She was just the new girl! I-I was just talking to her!" her grip was getting tighter. She was strong before, and due to her now being a beta, she is even stronger. Her nails were piercing into Stiles' flesh, his skin was growing redder and redder by the second, "S-Stop! Megan- You're hurting me!"
"Why should I? You're hiding something, aren't you? I can hear your heart rate dumbass, there's something you're not tell me!"
"No, no there isn't, I swear!" she still holds onto him, her nails digging into his flesh, "I'm telling you the truth- LET GO!"
"MAKE ME!"
"MEGAN THIS HURTS-"
"SHUT THE FUCK UP-"
"MEGAN, PLEASE!"
Stiles yells out, tears at the brink of falling out. Relentlessly, she let's go. As she releases her hand, the imprint from her palm and fingers remain. Stiles hisses as her fingers leave his skin, the pain radiating like fire as her nails were digging into his sensitive flesh.
Growling under her breath, Megan storms out of the jeep, slamming the door to get the last bit of rage out of her. She runs her fingers through her hair, trying to calm herself down as she walked around, going over to Stiles' side of the car with resentment still in her eyes as there was a lingering sense of doubt. Stiles slowly peers over at her, not wanting to show that there were tears welling up in his eyes and a lump in his throat. He tenderly touches where the new bruise is going to be. He winces. He blinks away the blurriness and swallows down anything he wanted to say. Everything. Down his throat. Not out his mouth.
"Next time, that bruise will be the least of your troubles," she tells him bitterly. The air between them is cold and stiff. They're looking into each other's eyes and there's no warmth. She looks away uninterested and breathes out an, "I still love you."
There's zero sympathy and compassion in her voice, not even looking him in the eyes as she says it.
"I-I…" his voice breaks, but he regains some of his composure, "I... love you, too," he says slowly, but with all his heart, sincerely, "That'll never change."
She turns around, hair flipping back as she walks up the steps to her house. Not looking back as Stiles exits out of her driveway.
As soon as his car is turned around, as soon as he's sure that Megan can't see him, Stiles breaks down. He digs his fingernails into the wheel and fights back the lump in his throat but fails as a deep sob escapes. His vision is impaired as tears stream from his downcast eyes. He pulls over, having to stop driving as his emotions get the best of him. His hands shake violently against the wheel, arms stiff, as his head is bowed, hiding his shame from no one as his cries become silent.