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It’s a relatively warm autumn evening and it is pack night. All the pack members that are away at college are home for a while and those that still live in Beacon Hills are glad to have the whole pack together again. Everyone is at the loft tonight, except the Sheriff and Melissa, who are on shift, and Argent, who’s away on business. They’re all chatting and catching up about school and the town and each other’s lives.
Derek looks for a break in the conversations to tell them important news.
“My sister, Laura, is coming home this weekend to meet the pack. As you know, she hasn’t been home in years and I expect all of you to be here to meet her.”
There’s silence in the loft for a few seconds and then there’s cacophony.
“Why does she want to meet us now?” asks Erica. “I wonder if she’s anything like Derek or Cora,” announces Stiles. “Why does it feel like she’s here to review us?” moans Isaac. “Is it a family visit?” asks Kira politely.
“Guys, she just wants to meet you and see if we’re doing well. She gave me the Alpha power so that she can pursue her dreams and she just wants to make sure we’re doing okay,” Derek explains looking slightly bored.
“You said she’s a musician, right?” asks Scott.
“Yes, she has to travel a lot for tours and gigs and wouldn’t be able to protect the Hale land. Plus, she has no interest in leading a pack,” Derek says.
“Will Cora be coming too?” Inquire Kira.
“No, she’s not coming this time.”
“Okay Alpha, my Alpha, we’ll be on our best behaviour!” exclaims Erica, a bit too loudly.
They soon return to their conversations about school. Some of the pack talks about Laura and speculate whether she’ll be like her siblings or completely different, but they quickly move on to more pressing topics, like what’s for dinner.
Derek wonders what Laura will think of his pack. Sure, he told her all about them so she knows who and what to expect, but he wants her to be proud of him. Of the little family he created after the fire. Laura never kept it a secret that she doesn’t want to be the next Hale Alpha, so when she left after high school to pursue her dreams and become a musician, nobody was surprised. After the fire, Laura, being the oldest child, inherited the Alpha power, but as soon as Derek turned 18 she gave it to him. She’s still technically part of his pack, but she’s such a free spirit and with all her travels, she doesn’t really have much roots left in Beacon Hills.
The pack is very busy cleaning the loft and creating a more hospitable feeling in the days leading up to Laura’s arrival. They make sure to stock the kitchen and Derek even bought that soap that Laura apparently likes so much. Derek looks visibly excited and happier and Stiles thinks that counts as a win in getting the Sourwolf to be more content with life.
Ever since Derek mentioned Laura’s visit, Stiles hasn’t stopped thinking about it. He knows she’s in a band but Derek never said the name. He hasn’t spoken much about Laura, or his family in general, at all. Stiles thinks it’s because of leftover guilt and grief from the fire, so he never pushed.
Over the span of a couple of days, Stiles searched for ‘Laura Hale’ on all social media platforms, but to no avail. He Googled her name and her name plus the word ‘band’, but found nothing. He really couldn’t stop wondering about her and her band. Maybe she’s in some Indie Rock band that only plays at hipster bars and cafes.
Stiles gave up on searching. He will find out all that he wants tomorrow anyway. He hopes she has some better interpersonal skills than Derek and Cora.
Today is the day that Derek will see his sister back in their hometown for the first time in years. He’s excited and a little bit nervous. He can smell the excitement and nervousness on his pack as well, but on no one stronger than Stiles. It’s probably just his regular anxiety intensified with meeting someone new.
The rest of the pack is slowly coming to the loft since Laura will be here in a few hours. The plan is for her to meet the pack and spend an hour of two with them, then she and Derek will go and spend some quality time together and afterwards they will all have dinner together when the Sheriff and Melissa are off shift.
It’s fifteen minutes before Laura is supposed to arrive and Stiles is a ball of nervous energy. He is bouncing everywhere and refuses to sit still, even for a moment. The rest of the pack seem like they’re waiting for something to happen, hopefully something good.
Derek hears her first. That undeniable Laura walk. He gets up so quickly that the humans in the pack startles. He opens the door before she could even knock and give her the biggest hug any of the pack members have ever seen him give.
They talk quietly among themselves before Derek leads Laura inside to meet the pack.
Laura is beautiful. She meets everyone in the pack with a radiant smile and a gentleness that Derek and Cora most definitely don’t have. Every pack member is enthralled by her and greets her politely and makes some small talk. All but Stiles.
It seems that Stiles’ brain has gone offline. He’s just gaping at Laura with an open mouth, to the point of coming off as rude. Derek gives Stiles a knock with the elbow in the ribs to try to get him back to the present, but it doesn’t seem to work too well.
“Stiles, this is my sister Laur-”
“Lzzy Hale!” Stiles exclaims so loudly the wolves wince.
Laura laughs a little bit before asking, “You like my band?”
“Yes!” Stiles exclaims, just as loudly as the first time, “But someone didn’t tell me Lzzy Hale and Laura Hale are the same person!” Stiles looks accusingly at Derek.
Laura laughs and says, “Yes, Laura is my name, Lzzy Hale is my stage name that I use with my band Halestorm. We usually tell that to people that might know me from my music before I get introduced, though,” she says looking amusingly over at Derek.
Derek avoids eye contact and folds his arms over his chest. “I knew Stiles was nervous to meet you and I didn’t think knowing he’s about to meet one of his favourite musicians would help him calm down,” Derek explains guiltily.
“Or you just wanted to see me squirm,” Stiles mumbles to himself.
The pack just looks at them in amusement. Everyone seems a bit surprised that Laura’s band is more well known than they thought. All except Lydia. Stiles of course notices it and calls her out on it.
“I just thought it would be fun to see you meet your musician crush unprepared,” Lydia says nonchalantly.
“Et tu, Lydia?” Stiles asks exasperated, flailing his arms everywhere.
Lydia just shrugs her shoulders and gives him a wicked smile.
“How did you even know? I searched Laura everywhere and found nothing!” Stiles asks puzzlingly.
Lydia gives him her best ‘you are so dumb look’ and says, “I just asked Derek of course.”