Work Text:
Something was going on with Malia.
Kira would know, because she had made it her mission in life to know Malia inside out. Not because she was a creep or anything; she just really – really – liked the other girl and wanted to know her as best as she possibly could. Lydia thought it was ridiculous, but Allison thought it was cute, so Kira figured it was more than alright, especially since Malia actually seemed to like spending time with her.
The point was, she knew Malia, and the Malia who had sidled up next to her locker before first period was different. Not in a bad way, definitely not, but still different enough that Kira wondered if something had happened overnight.
They had spent the previous day together, had even gone to a movie – not on a date, but it was close enough that it had made Kira’s heart flutter happily – and Malia had been completely normal then. So what on earth had changed in the last twelve hours or so?
She had tried to ask Allison and Lydia, but they had always found Malia a little strange, so they hadn’t really noticed anything more going on with her that day. At any other time, Kira would have been delighted to realise she truly did know Malia better than anyone else, but all it meant at the moment was that she had no one to talk to about Malia’s behaviour.
“You don’t see it either?” She pouted at Stiles over lunch, glancing over at the door every two seconds to make sure Malia wasn’t about to stomp in and shatter yet another expectation. “I swear she’s acting even more out of the ordinary than usual. For one, she showed up at my locker before class, which has definitely never happened before. And she held my books for me before chem. And I’m pretty sure she tried reaching for my hand at some point.”
“So she’s flirting, so what?” Stiles shrugged, glancing at Kira as though she was a particularly dull specimen of a human being. “Seriously, the two of you are always making heart-eyes at each other, so this can’t be any different. Maybe she’s decided to up her game now that the two of you finally went on that first date you talked about all night.”
“It wasn’t a date,” Kira hissed, her cheeks heating up at the term. God, if only it had been something more than a hangout between friends. But no, Malia and she had done movie nights a hundred times before, and there had never been anything romantic between them, so there was no reason for this time to be different. They had never cuddled – or at least, almost never – and certainly hadn’t kissed. And Kira couldn’t remember having a girlfriend conversation with Malia, so… “I swear, Stiles, that can’t be it. Something’s up with Malia, and I can’t tell if it has to do with Malia herself or with me, or if it’s a completely different matter, or-”
“Are we still talking about Malia?” Lydia sighed exasperatedly as she sat down next to Stiles, stealing a bunch of her best friend’s French fries along the way and grinning when Stiles rolled her eyes at her. “Because I just had my last period with her, and she seemed completely normal. Maybe slightly happier than usual, but it’s always a little hard to tell when it comes to Malia.”
“She’s definitely happier,” Kira agreed, flushing an even darker shade of red when both her friends sent her a knowing look. “Oh my god, it’s not that weird for me to know when my crush is happy! Scott told me you used to keep tabs on Lydia’s entire family when you still liked her, Stiles, so you’d better keep your mouth shut on this one.”
“That is disturbing,” Lydia grimaced, shooting a disgruntled look in Stiles’ direction. “I’m so glad you’re over that.”
“Yes, yes, so am I,” Stiles rolled his eyes. “Now can we please focus on the topic at hand? Namely Kira’s latest love interest and her inability to realise her crush is absolutely requited. I’m not saying you two should just make out already, but…”
“But just make out already,” Lydia cut in, smiling smugly when Kira choked on her food. “Seriously, you two are worse than Scott and Isaac, and I didn’t think that was possible. You know Malia is far too blunt to lie to you, so just ask her how she feels about you or what changed overnight to make her so happy, and voilà.”
“It is not that easy,” Kira grumbled, but she had to admit Lydia had a point. If there was one thing Kira loved more than anything about Malia, it was the fact that she wore her heart, feelings, and thoughts on her sleeve. It was mostly accidental, and Kira knew their friends sometimes found it a little strange, but she thought it was absolutely endearing.
As someone who had always struggled with speaking up and saying things when they needed to be said, she couldn’t help but admire Malia for her ability to just… speak. It was the first thing she had liked about the other girl, actually, but she had never even thought to use it to find out about Malia’s feelings for her.
Part of it was because it felt too easy for her, almost like a cheat – since Malia really never lied, not when it came to human things she hadn’t quite grasped yet – but mostly, Kira was just afraid she wouldn’t like the answer. Malia was a hard person to get a read on, just like most of the supernatural beings in Kira’s life, and she was just so great. Sure, she still struggled with her humanity, and she sometimes didn’t realise she couldn’t insult people to their faces, but none of her flaws had ever bothered Kira.
(And if they had, she had long since forgotten about it.)
“Well then, don’t expect us to help you any more than that,” Lydia huffed. “I’ve had my fill of pining friends for a lifetime, and I’m not sure I can handle any more, no matter how cute you and Malia would be together.”
It was nothing Kira hadn’t heard before. Stiles, Lydia, and Allison had all assured her that Malia and she would make a wonderful couple, but it was hard to plaster their words onto the reality she had built inside her mind. A reality which included a lot of pining, imaginary confessions, but very few actual get-togethers.
“Maybe she’ll go back to normal this afternoon,” Kira finally sighed, not wanting to let her crush and all the mixed feelings she had about it ruin the time she had with her friends. “Now, why don’t you tell me about your love problems or stories or whatever else it is you have on your mind.”
She let herself get lost in her friends’ tales for the rest of the lunch period, and she had almost forgotten about Malia and her bizarre attitude, right until her second afternoon period. She shared the history class with Malia, but neither of them had ever talked to each other – mostly because Kira really didn’t want to get detention with her own father. Besides, Malia tended to sit near the middle whereas Kira liked sitting slightly more to the back of the room, which was why she startled badly when her friend sat right behind her, grinning widely when Kira shot her a questioning look.
“What are you doing here?” She hissed underneath her breath, feeling bad about her tone when Malia’s eyes turned wide and sad, almost like a kicked puppy. Damn it, she had probably been taking lessons from Scott again. “I’m not complaining, you just don’t usually sit here.”
“Well yeah, but isn’t this something I’m supposed to do now?” Malia frowned, as though she had been following a set of rules Kira didn’t have access to and was now confused because Kira wasn’t following them along with her. “I mean, spending time with you and keeping you company and all that?”
Kira was definitely missing something. She knew she should ask, should question Malia about her sudden change and get to the bottom of this latest mystery, but… Well, if Malia thought she was supposed to be spending more time with Kira, who was Kira to stop her? It wasn’t like she was hurting anyone by letting whatever this was happen, and Malia also looked okay with it, so it had to be alright.
“Right,” she smiled as genuinely as possible, hoping it didn’t come out looking half as forced as she felt on the inside.
“Perfect,” Malia grinned, and that was that.
Except it wasn’t really, because Malia’s behaviour kept on being a little off as the day passed. Nothing was majorly different about her, but she was a little more present, a little more tactile, a little happier, and Kira was starting to grow more and more certain that she was missing something. Possibly something very important, if Malia’s huge smiles were anything to go by.
She was loathe to say anything, loathe to point out that something was going on with Malia, because – as ridiculous as it was – Kira actually liked the extra attention. Whether or not Malia liked her back, she enjoyed spending time with the other girl and hearing her laugh and chuckling at her dry comments when the teachers said something stupid.
She wasn’t in love with Malia, but there were times when she knew it would be so easy to take that extra leap of faith. It would be so easy to get lost in the memory of Malia pressed against her, their bodies swaying in sync. It would be so simple to lean in closer and get rid of the pesky distance that always seemed to separate them. It would be so easy to listen to Malia for hours on end and never get bored, falling more and more in love as time passed.
And alright, maybe Kira was already halfway there, but at least she had managed to hold some of her emotions back. That had to count for something, right? Especially since her self-control had been thoroughly tested as the day lagged on and Malia didn’t show any hints of going back to the way things had been the day before.
She even laced their fingers together, smiling crookedly as she dragged Kira towards the Lacrosse field. And if Kira’s heart stuttered a little at the action, no one but she had to know. And Malia. And possibly the other werewolves – Scott and Isaac – who had been around after her last period. Thankfully, the boys hadn’t said anything, had only waved at Kira and Malia as though seeing them walking hand in hand was the most natural thing in the world.
Then again, wolves did have a strange sense of what was appropriate, so maybe this was all a coyote thing. Maybe Kira and Malia had finally spent enough time together for Malia to consider her pack or whatever the coyote equivalent was. That certainly made a lot more sense than the other conclusions Kira had drawn during the day, so she would go with that until Malia told her otherwise.
Her crush thankfully didn’t follow her into the locker room, and Kira made quick work of her clothes before joining the rest of the team on the field, letting herself join in on the general enthusiasm of playing lacrosse with friends. She may have missed a shot or two once she had realised Malia was sitting in the girlfriend section of the bleachers, the one usually reserved for partners, but a sharp call-out from Coach was enough to get her back on track.
Or mostly back on track. She was rather distracted during their mock game, and she apologised to her team at the end, although they all dismissed her concerns with a wave of their hands, glancing over at Malia as though they knew exactly what was going on. Maybe Kira should have asked them what they thought, because she still didn’t have a clue what was going on.
Her thoughts ran wild as she showered and took out a set of dry clothes, getting ready for the group outing Stiles had planned as a celebration of their last practise before one of the season’s big games. Malia would be there, she knew, because Malia was always there. Malia was as much a part of the group was Scott was, no matter how new she was compared to some of them.
It was yet another reason why Kira had found herself falling for Malia rather than someone like Scott, or even Allison. They had a lot more in common than most people assumed. Sure, Kira was slightly more book smart than Malia, and a lot shier, and their interests didn’t always match up, but they also shared so many experiences. They were both relatively new to Beacon Hills and the school. They were both a little too awkward for most people – although bless their pack for accepting them so easily. They were both mostly reserved, even if they showed it in different ways, and they both struggled with control.
She knew some of their friends didn’t understand why Kira would ever want to date someone like Malia, but it made sense to her. Malia made sense to her, more than almost anyone else did. Maybe it was because she had been paying such close attention to her ever since she had entered their lives, but a part of her knew it was because they had always been drawn to each other, in a weird way.
A jet of cold water hit her, and Kira cursed as she realised she had let the shower run for too long. She bolted out as fast as she possibly could, wrapping herself in her towel and drying herself quickly, hoping her friends hadn’t been waiting around for her. They all knew she tended to think too much and forget to check the time, and Stiles had heard all about her Malia woes, so there was a good chance they were already gone.
But there was also a good chance they were waiting for her, so she picked up her pace and stumbled into her clothes ungracefully, hoping she didn’t look like the mess she currently felt like. She had grabbed one of her favourite shirts that morning, maybe in the hopes of impressing Malia or something, but now she wondered if it had been a mistake. Malia hadn’t been reacting the way she usually did, so maybe this would ruin things for them or-
Goddamnit, she needed to hurry up.
She shoved her dirty clothes into her lacrosse bag, hauled the whole thing onto her shoulder, and trotted out of the school, not even breaking a sweat. Lacrosse training and fighting with the pack had done wonders for her physical health, and she had never been happier for it. Showing up in a pretty shirt was one thing, but showing up with a pretty shirt covered in sweat stains? Not cute.
Not that she needed to be cute for- Oh who was she kidding, of course she was trying to be cute for Malia. At this point, even the coyote was probably aware of her feelings, given the way her heart always sped up around her and how breathless she got when Malia changed in front of her without a care in the world. There was also the way Kira had forgotten to breathe for a full minute when Malia had taken her hand, and how flustered she had been when she had pulled Kira into a crushing hug after third period.
By the time she reached the parking lot, she was mostly hoping for her friends to be gone so she didn’t have to deal with Malia quite yet, but Fate had rarely been kind to her. The entire group was hanging around Stiles’ jeep, laughing and talking and enjoying their normal teenage lives, the ones they rarely got to have with the amount of supernaturals in the area.
Kira’s heart clenched a little at the sight of Malia, leaning against the hood of the jeep and smiling brightly right at her. Her eyes flashed bright blue, twinkling in the sunlight, and Kira wondered how on earth she had made it this long in Malia’s company without kissing her. She was beautiful, and she deserved to be kissed, and if Kira was a little less of a coward, that was exactly what she would have done right then.
Unfortunately, Kira was a bit of a coward, so she only smiled at Malia as she joined the rest of the group, ignoring their friends’ confused gazes. Even Scott had apparently picked up on the strange thing happening between the two of them, which was saying a lot. The boy was kind and wonderful, but he also tended to miss the obvious until it was waved right in front of his eyes.
“That colour looks great on you,” Malia interrupted her thoughts, and Kira stumbled straight into the girl at her words. Seriously, saying things like that shouldn’t have been allowed, at least not without a warning before. “I mean, you always look beautiful, but you look even more beautiful today.”
Kira swore she heard Lydia cooing behind them, but she refused to give her friend the satisfaction of turning around. Instead she gulped and dragged Malia a few feet away from the rest of the group, well aware that she wasn’t gaining much privacy, considering most of their friend group was made up of werewolves. Still, it would keep Stiles, Lydia, and Allison out of her hair, which was exactly what she had been aiming for.
“What’s going on?” Malia frowned, having obviously finally caught onto the fact that something was different. “Are we not going out with everyone else?”
Then again, maybe she hadn’t caught on.
“Malia, what the hell has been up with you all day?” She asked, probably sounding a little more defensive than she had intended. She made sure her words came out a whole lot calmer. “I just… Something’s been going on with you, and I have no idea what it is. The others told me you’ve been the same around them, which means it has something to do with me, even though I can’t think of a single thing that’s changed between yesterday and today, and-”
“You can’t?” Malia’s lips curled downwards, and her gaze shifted away from Kira’s. “I thought- Never mind.”
“No, hey, don’t never mind me,” Kira said sternly. “I’m not saying you’ve been acting in a bad way; I just think we misunderstood each other somewhere along the way and I want to make sure we’re on the same page now. So what did you think? And don’t give me any bullshit. I may not have superhuman senses, but I know you well enough to tell when you’re lying.”
“I thought we were dating now,” Malia blurted out, shocking Kira into silence. “Last night, I asked you out and you said yes, and my dad told me that was how relationships were supposed to work, so I thought we were together.”
“What?” Kira gaped, racking her mind for the memory of this infamous conversation she couldn’t remember. “Malia, when did you ask me- oh. Malia, you asked me if I wanted to go out, and then you took me out to the movies, which is what we’ve been doing every week for the past few months. I had no idea you were trying to ask me to date you.”
“You didn’t?” Malia asked, her brows furrowed together as though she couldn’t understand how her words might have been misinterpreted. “But I thought you liked me.”
“I do,” Kira sighed. “I really do. I just didn’t know you did too.”
“Well of course I do! I asked you out!” Malia exclaimed, narrowing her eyes at their friends when Scott and Cora started snickering loudly. They shut up immediately, and Malia turned back towards Kira. “I asked you out, and I thought you said yes, so I thought we were girlfriends. Is that not what you want?”
“Is that not- Malia, I would love to be your girlfriend,” Kira murmured, hoping her cheeks weren’t burning quite as brightly as she thought they were. There was just something about the thought of Malia and her as girlfriends… “But maybe you should ask me out again? Make it a little more obvious? I mean I would have expected a hug at the very least, or a peck on the cheek, or even an actual kiss. Not that I want you to feel pressured to kiss me, because that’s definitely not- holy crap.”
Malia’s lips were on hers, swallowing her words before they could come out and making Kira feel like her brain had been turned to mush. The kiss was far from perfect, and it was clear neither of them had much experience in the matter, but Malia’s lips were warm and her hands were gentle against Kira’s cheeks, and she all but melted into the embrace.
Their kiss couldn’t have lasted more than twenty seconds – not that Kira was counting – but it felt like minutes by the time they pulled apart, both flushed and staring at each other as though they couldn’t quite believe they had just done that. Malia recovered quickly, grinning at Kira brightly, and Kira forgot about all her reservations, all the reasons why their first kiss shouldn’t have happened-
“Oh my god, Malia, they were right there!” Kira buried her head in the crook of Malia’s neck, gesturing at their friends and flailing when the entire group waved back at her mischievously. “You kissed me in front of our friends! At school! You kissed me!”
“Yeah,” Malia said dopily, sounding far too pleased with herself. “I did.”
“You’re ridiculous,” Kira groaned, but she was smiling just as widely as Malia – her girlfriend? – and she honestly wasn’t sure anything would be able to ruin her good mood in the next couple of hours. Couple of days, if she was being honest with herself. “I can’t believe I like you.”
“Well, we all make poor choices sometimes,” Malia shrugged. Before Kira could correct her and tell her that Malia was the furthest thing from a bad choice, there were lips on hers again, cutting off all thoughts of protesting. The kiss was even shorter when the first, and Kira narrowed her eyes at Malia when the werecoyote grinned at their friends cheekily. “Had to give them another show, since they seemed to have appreciated the first one so much.”
Kira should have been embarrassed. She should have been mortified at kissing Malia so blatantly in front of their friends, but then her gaze met the other girl’s, and she looked so happy. She looked like she had just been handed the moon on a silver platter, and Kira hoped she would be able to make her look like that every single day, even if it meant having to deal with very public displays of affection all the time. For Malia, she could get used to it.
She took a deep breath, focused on the girl in front of her and her warmth and her smile and the way she was still holding onto Kira’s face even though they were no longer kidding, and then she acted.
Their third kiss was just as wonderful as the first two, and so was their fourth, their fifth, their sixth… Their friends caught onto what they were doing after the tenth, finally leaving Kira and Malia alone to do whatever they wanted to.
And if that happened to be more kissing? Well, Kira certainly wasn’t complaining.