Chapter Text
“I really hate you right now.”
Scott snorted as he looked to his left, blinking rapidly to try and clear out his stinging eyes, and found Malia glaring back at him. It wasn’t the first time she’d said those words tonight, though she did sound a little more serious than she had half an hour ago. He might have been worried, if there wasn’t just a hint of teasing behind all the exasperation in her voice.
“You don’t hate me.”
“I do. It’s all your fault,” she grumbled, as she lifted her hair up and fanned the back of her neck with her hand. “It’s, like, nine thousand degrees out here. This sucks.”
He couldn’t argue with that. It was entirely too hot out, despite the fact it was long past sundown, had been dark for more than an hour. Beacon Hills was in the middle of a brutal heatwave, the worst he could remember, three whole days of ridiculously high temperatures, the kind of heat that never seemed to go away, no matter the time of day. There was just no respite. It was like living in an active volcano, and what made it worse was it had come out of nowhere. All the forecasts had been calling for relatively cool weather, didn’t seem to have an explanation for being so completely wrong. The last he’d looked, they were predicting a cool down in another couple of days, but given their recent success rate, he was more than a little wary about trusting that and getting burned.
As he wiped the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand, he tried not to think about how different things could have been. If only he was at home, where there were fans and cold showers and ice cream, things he could use to try to trick his body into forgetting it felt about a minute away from literally catching on fire. Instead, he was out in the middle of nowhere, not so slowly roasting to death.
No, he couldn’t argue with her assessment. It really did suck. But that didn’t mean he was just going to stand there and accept all the responsibility, like some kind of pushover.
“Hey,” he said, holding up his hands and shaking his head, “don’t blame me for this. All I did was ask if you wanted to help. You could have said no.”
“I should have said no. Then I wouldn’t have wasted two hours walking around in literal Hell.”
That drew an amused huff from him, mostly because it didn’t feel particularly far from the truth. The heat that had seemed so oppressive in town was somehow even worse out in the woods. He figured it must be because of the trees, how they cut whatever little breeze there might have been. It was absolutely still, no air movement, nowhere they could go to take a break, try and cool down. Stifling, like being under too many blankets, making it hard to breathe. Making it hard to do anything, even something as simple as walking, or trying to catch a scent.
If they weren’t doing something important, he would have thrown in the towel about ten minutes in, and gone home as fast as his legs could carry him. But when the Sheriff asked for help in finding a missing hiker, he couldn’t just refuse or quit because of his personal discomfort. No matter how much he wanted to.
Except the worst part was, as it turned out, he could have done just that, and it wouldn’t have changed anything. After hours spent traipsing through the woods, fruitlessly searching and roasting in the unbearable heat, Sheriff Stilinski had texted to say they’d found the guy sitting in a convenience store on the other side of town. Apparently, he’d never actually gone hiking, just told his family he was, then spent the day at the mall. They’d officially wasted their night looking for somebody who wasn’t actually missing.
All things considered, he understood her annoyance. But he still wasn’t ready to take the all the blame. Some of it, sure. He’d asked. He didn’t have to do that. But that was the extent of it.
“Hey, if you didn’t want to stick around…” He trailed off and shrugged. When he’d asked her to come along, he’d honestly been expecting a quick rejection. It had been more of a reflex than anything else, calling her. He’d assumed she’d say no, for all the same reasons he was now regretting leaving his house. But she’d said yes. That was on her. “You could have bailed at any time. I mean, I would have got it.”
“Are you kidding me?” He could see the humour in her eyes, peeking out from behind the irritation, as the corner of her mouth twitched. “Bail and leave you out here all alone? You’d be lost in five minutes flat. I’d have to come back tomorrow just to find you.”
“Wow,” he said dryly. “Your faith in me is just... overwhelming. Thanks so much.”
She shrugged. “What can I say? I just know you.”
“And how bad I suck, apparently.”
“Exactly. You get it.”
They shared a smile then, the familiar teasing helping distract from their discomfort. He couldn’t help but feel grateful in that moment, for her being there with him, for agreeing to come along. As pointless as the whole exercise had turned out, as much as he’d rather be elsewhere, it would have been worse if he was alone. It was better with someone to talk to, better with someone to commiserate with.
Things were just better when she was around.
That was something he’d come to understand lately. They’d been spending a lot of time with each other over the last few months, first during everything with the Wild Hunt, and even more lately, as they paired up, keeping each other company while the rest of the pack were busy with their own relationships and lives. They were the unattached ones, and he'd been happy to have a friend to pass the quiet hours with over the summer. Whether he was helping her with her summer school homework, or they were just hanging out, watching a movie, they had a good time. They spent their free time together, ate together, did just about everything together, and the more they were around each other, the more he realised how much he liked being with her.
A good friend. That was how he'd seen her at first, one he was getting closer to. He certainly hadn’t been looking for anything else, hadn’t expected things to change. But somewhere along the way, they had. A gradual process, but one that had hit home for him in a single moment, a sudden realisation that he wasn’t seeing her as just a friend anymore.
It had been just another day, entirely unremarkable, and they were up in his room, studying. He'd been sitting in his chair next to his bed, watching her chew on the end of a pen as she read through one of her textbooks, face scrunched up, trying to puzzle through the information. She'd looked up, caught his eye, smiled, like she had a hundred times before. But this time was different. This time, there was a sudden swooping sensation in his gut, and his world abruptly tilted off its axis. He'd felt it before, recognised it, knew exactly what it meant.
And it scared the absolute hell out of him.
This was Malia. He couldn't feel that way about her. There were too many complications. They were pack, their lives already so entangled. She was Stiles' ex. She was one of Kira's best friends. She’d become one of his best friends. He didn't want to screw that up now. He couldn't be falling for her.
So he bit back the urge to say something, do something about it, and committed to carrying on like nothing was different. He’d been there for her, helping her try to graduate, spending more hours with her than without, all the while trying to pretend he wasn’t watching her, thinking about her, picturing what the two of them could be together. It was the hardest thing he’d ever done, being that close to her and not allowing himself to even try for anything more. But the idea of saying something, making a move, and screwing up everything was just too much to get around. He couldn’t do that, couldn’t take that risk.
As difficult as it was, if the price for making sure their friendship stayed strong was putting aside his romantic feelings, he was willing to do it. For both of them. Even if it killed him.
“Scott? Are you okay?”
Her question, the sliver of concern in her voice drew him from his thoughts. The realisation that he’d been staring hit him, and he was immediately grateful the temperature already had him flushed, as he felt the heat rising in his cheeks.
“Yeah, sorry.” He gave his head a shake, flashed her a sheepish smile. “I’m good. Come on, let’s get out of here. Uh…” He paused, looked back down the trail. “Back the way we came, you think?”
“Screw that.” She jabbed a finger off to their left, off the beaten path. “We’re going that way.”
Before he could respond, she turned and plunged into the woods, moving in the direction she’d pointed out. He hesitated, peering into the dark, trying to figure out why that way was the one she’d chosen. The ground looked rough, and anything that was going to make him work harder right now was the last thing he wanted. But she was rapidly putting distance between them, so after a second, he gave the mental equivalent of a shrug and took off after her.
After fighting through the trees and uneven terrain for several moments, Scott took a branch to the face and ended up with a mouthful of leaves. He could hear Malia laughing up ahead as he spit them out, and bit back an annoyed growl.
“Where are we—”
“Shh.” Stopping, she turned back toward him and held a finger to her lips. “Listen. You hear that?”
Frowning, he raised an eyebrow, but when she just held his gaze, an expectant look on her face, he decided to humour her. Letting out a sigh, he closed his eyes and concentrated, trying to pick up whatever she was talking about. It took a second to filter out the usual sounds of a forest at night, insects and small animals creeping in the dark, but eventually, he heard it.
Engines. Cars. Traffic in the distance.
His eyes popped open. “Is that—”
“Civilisation? Yep.” She looked entirely too smug as they started forward again. “We’re almost out.”
A minute later, as he was still wondering how she’d known they were so close to the edge of the woods, they stepped out of the trees and into a big, empty field. Any questions he may have asked fled his mind then as the slightest of cool breezes touched him, bringing him the first bit of relief from the heat he’d felt in hours. Throwing his arms up, he grinned and tilted his head back, looking up at the star-filled sky above. Finally, he could breathe properly again. Or, almost properly. Better, at any rate.
“You feel that? That breeze?” Closing his eyes, he spun in a circle, arms extended out as far as he could, a wide grin on his face. “Ah, it feels good.”
“Yeah,” she replied, amusement colouring her voice. “It’s really nice. Now it only feels like we’re standing in a furnace, and not, y’know, on the surface of the sun.”
He huffed out a breath and looked at her, found her studying him closely, the corner of her mouth quirked up in a little smile. “What?” he asked, reflexively mirroring her expression back to her as he dropped his arms a bit, a little self-conscious under the unexpected scrutiny. “Something on my face?” He swiped the back of his hand across his mouth. “Leaves?”
“No. No, you’re good.” The smile never left her face as she continued to eye him.
“Okay…” He shifted nervously, not quite sure how to react to the way she was looking at him. There was a strange softness in her gaze, one he was pretty sure he’d never seen before, and he couldn’t figure out what he might have done to prompt it. Unless the heat was just getting to her. Chalking it up to that before he could overthink it, he flashed her an uncertain smile and gestured toward the far side of the field, where he could see houses in the distance. “We should probably get going, huh?”
“Yeah, come on.”
For just the briefest second, he almost thought she was reaching for his hand, before she turned on her heel and started across the field. Shaking his head, he quickly fell into step beside her, chiding himself for being stupid.
Maybe the heat was getting to him.
Side by side, they made their way up toward the houses and what had to be the road, judging by the growing sound of nearby traffic and lights he could see in the distance. Beyond that, there was a series of five blinking red lights extending up into the sky, some kind of tower. Which was actually helpful, because he recognised that particular configuration. Pulling out his phone, he texted the Sheriff, letting him know where they were, where they could be picked up.
“Sheriff Stilinski,” he explained, when Malia shot him a questioning look. “Don’t really feel like walking all the way home.”
“Why’s that?” she asked, voice dry. “Afraid of a little exercise?”
“Yeah. And afraid I might literally melt,” he replied, as he slipped his phone back in his pocket. “Come on, I think we can get to the road through there.”
Moving slightly to their left, they aimed for what looked like a narrow path that led up between the two nearby homes. As they drew closer to the first house, he couldn’t help but look longingly at the massive pool sitting behind it. The ring of solar lights encircling it made the water look so blue, so enticing. He’d always wanted a pool, ever since he was a little kid, but there was no way his mom could have afforded it. The desire had died down a bit as he got older and started to understand the reality of his financial situation, but the heat had it flaring back up. Seeing one now, the urge to just jump in was almost overwhelming.
“I won’t tell.”
Pulled from his thoughts, he looked at Malia, bemused. “What?”
“The pool.” She gestured at it, and even in the dark, he could see the amusement dancing in her eyes. “Go ahead and jump in. I won’t say anything. I bet it feels great.”
“No, I shouldn’t…”
His words were hesitant, but he couldn’t have kept the longing out of his voice if he’d tried. The temptation was just too strong. Nobody would be coming to pick them up for a little while yet. It was dark in the house, no lights on. The owners either weren’t there, or were sleeping. The neighbours were far enough away they wouldn’t hear anything short of someone screaming bloody murder. He could be in and out quick, just a dip, not nearly enough noise to wake anybody up or draw any attention. No harm, no foul. It would be so easy.
By the time he realised what he was doing, his shirt was up over his head and he was already half-way to the water. His shoes and jeans joined his discarded shirt on the grass a second later, and then he was jumping in, taking the plunge.
The instant relief from the heat was incredible. Even though the water wasn’t actually all that cold, couldn’t possibly be, it was such a stark contrast from the unbearably hot air, it felt like heaven. Scott swam the length of the pool off his initial dive, staying under as long as he could, revelling in the coolness, until the need for oxygen finally forced him up. He breached the surface directly across from where he’d entered and floated there, still mostly submerged, completely unable to keep the massive grin off his face.
“Told you so.”
Squinting, he found Malia standing at the edge, not far from where he’d jumped, smiling down at him. “Huh?” he asked, pushing his hair back from his forehead, legs kicking, treading water.
She raised an eyebrow. “Feels pretty great, doesn’t it?” He nodded. “I was right.”
His grin widened. “First time for everything, I guess.”
Her laughter was the last thing he heard before he dove back underwater, going down to touch the bottom, then skimming along it in a straight line. He took his time, enjoying the feeling of the water flowing over him, around him. It was like being in another world, one where he was weightless. One where he wasn’t three seconds away from catching on fire.
This time, when he surfaced, he found Malia in the process of slipping off her shoes. As he looked on, she took a seat at the edge of the pool and dangled her legs over the side, letting out a little relieved sigh when they dipped down into the water.
“That’s it?” he asked, gliding closer as she moved her legs slowly, almost like she was pedalling a bike. “You’re not coming in?”
“Nah, I’m good here.”
“Come on,” he said, laughing as he flicked a handful of water at her. “You’re not seriously just going to just sit there, are you? Jump in, live a little.”
“Nope,” she said, popping the ‘p’, as she used her foot to splash back in his face. “This is enough for me.” At his disbelieving look, she shrugged. “Hey, if the owners come out, I’m not gonna be the one who gets caught with my pants down. I’ll leave that to you. Me?” She whipped her hand around, pointed back out across the field. “I’m outta here.”
Putting on a hurt look, he frowned. “You’d really just leave me here to get busted?”
“I wouldn’t even look back.”
“Ooh, ouch,” he said, resting an arm on the deck and leaning against the side of the pool, next to her. “I thought we were friends.”
“We are,” she replied, flashing him a bright grin. “That makes it funnier. For me. Probably not for you, though.” Again, she used her foot to send a little wave in his direction, her grin widening when he mock-scowled at her. “Which is entirely your problem.”
He grunted, trying not to laugh. “Well, I guess it’s good to know where I stand.”
“I think you mean float.”
Snorting, he just shook his head, as he hooked his arms over the edge of the pool and let his legs rise up until he was almost stretched out flat, floating up near the surface. Closing his eyes, he let himself relax, let the slow movement of the water carry him up and down, almost lulling him to sleep. He knew they couldn’t stay too long, but for a few minutes at least, he was going to savour the peace and quiet.
As time slowly stretched on, he could feel the stir of the water around them as Malia kicked her legs gently, and he couldn’t help but smile. It was moments like this, where it was just the two of them, quiet and comfortable together, that drove home why he felt the way he did about her. He’d never met anybody he could just sit in silence with—or swim with, in this case—like he could with her, and somehow have it be the best part of his day. They could laugh and joke and tease, and it was great, but when it came right down to it, he didn’t need to hear or say anything to enjoy being with her. Just her presence was enough.
Really, it was a surprise he hadn’t figured it all out sooner. His epiphany that he’d fallen for her should have come much sooner, should have come the second he realised a few moments with her meant more than hours spent with anyone else. But he’d be the first to admit he wasn’t always quickest on the draw. He’d gotten there eventually, and that was what mattered.
Now if he could only figure out what to do next without completely screwing everything up, he’d be all set.
“Any big plans for tomorrow?”
Malia’s question, coming out of nowhere and breaking the comfortable silence, caught Scott off-guard. “Uh, no, don’t think so,” he replied, looking over at her, brow furrowed. “Why?”
She shrugged, leaning back, palms flat on the ground, gaze focused up on the star-filled sky above. “I don’t know. I was thinking about going to see a movie, maybe. It’s been a couple weeks. Thought maybe you might want to tag along.” Her lips curled up in a teasing smirk, as she looked at him from out of the corner of her eye. “Y’know, ‘cause the theater’s got air conditioning or whatever. We’d also have to turn off our phones, so if some other dumbass hiker disappears, they’ll have to call somebody else to—”
“Stop, stop,” he interjected, a full-blown grin on his face, “you had me at air conditioning.” They shared a laugh, and he let it settle for a second, before he added, “No, that sounds nice. I mean, it’s going to be torture listening to Stiles and Lydia fight over what we see, but that’s not—what?”
She let out another noncommittal hum, a twin to the one that had derailed his speech, and shrugged again. “I was thinking we wouldn’t bring them this time.”
He hesitated for a beat. “Oh. Okay.” It wasn’t like they hadn’t ever gone to the movies together, just the two of them. But when they had, it was usually an unplanned thing, a result of boredom and restless energy. Generally speaking, when they made plans like that, at least a few of their friends were involved. Which didn’t necessarily mean this was different, but there was a weird tension in the air suddenly, one he was nervous to even think about too deeply, and it had him on edge. “Just us, then?”
Her eyes still focused mostly away from him, she nodded. “Yeah. Just us. We’ll see a movie, get some food. It’ll be fun.”
“Yeah, right. Uh, sounds good. Tomorrow night?”
“Tomorrow night.” She finally looked directly at him, their gazes locking, and he felt his heart skip a beat at her bright smile. “It’s a date.”
“Yeah, yeah. Uh…” He trailed off, cleared his throat, not quite sure how to ask what he was about to ask. Not sure if he wanted to know the answer or not. Not sure if he could handle that answer, regardless of whether it was the one he wanted to hear, or one he dreaded. Stalling for time, he focused on his own feet, slowly paddling, until he just couldn’t hold it in any longer. “Just… when you say ‘date’… what do you mean?”
For a second, she was quiet, just looking at him, and all he could do was hold his breath and wonder if his feelings were written all over his face. It certainly felt like they were, and he really didn’t know if that was a good thing or not.
“What I mean,” she finally said, speaking slowly, like she was carefully choosing her words, “is that we—”
Whatever she was about to say was lost then, cut off by what Scott initially thought was thunder. A rumbling boom from somewhere in the distance, far enough away to not be completely deafening, but disturbingly loud all the same. It was only when he saw Malia’s eyes focus on a point over his head and widen dramatically that he turned to look for himself. For a second, what he was seeing didn’t really register, his mind still on the moment, on whatever she’d been about to say. There was just a strange orange glow in the sky over the city, one that almost seemed to move and dance as he watched it. It took a second boom sounding out, not quite as loud as the first, but accompanied by what was unmistakably a massive ball of flame that he realised he was looking at a fire. A big one.
“What the fuck?” he breathed.
“Holy shit!” she blurted out at the exact same time.
For a moment, they were both frozen, staring in disbelief as a plume of smoke rose up to the sky above the city, blotting out the stars. “Jesus,” he finally said, as long, thin tongues of flame reached up high in the air, flickering in the dark. “That’s… that’s gotta be a huge fire.” He could hear the awe in his own voice. “Look at that. That’s… that is crazy.”
Malia didn’t say a word, and he couldn’t blame her. He was reeling more than a little himself, knocked off-kilter by the whiplash of the abrupt shift from where the night had been, to what they were seeing now. He couldn’t look away, even as a part of him was quietly asking if he should be doing something, helping in some way. Which he knew was ridiculous. It was a fire. What was he supposed to do? He could fight a lot of things, but he couldn’t fight a fire. All he could do was get in the way of the people whose job it was to actually do that. And it sounded like they were getting started, the faint sound of sirens starting to filter out, coming from all over, all racing to a point somewhere in the heart of the city.
“Should we… I mean, should we do something?” Malia asked after a moment, sounding exactly as uncertain as he felt.
“No, I don’t think so,” he replied, still unable to tear his eyes away. “We’d probably just be in the way, right?” A sudden flash off to his right had him turning in that direction, frowning when he saw a light had been turned on inside the house. “We probably should get out of here, though.”
“Yeah, good call.” She was already moving as she agreed, rising and extending a hand back down to help him up out of the pool.
As quickly as he could, Scott grabbed his discarded clothes and started pulling them on, struggling as they stuck to his wet skin. He kept one eye on the house as he tugged his jeans into place, just in case anybody came outside. Fortunately, nobody did, which came as a relief. The last thing he wanted to do right now was run. While the time spent in the water had helped cool him off, he was already warming up again after just a few seconds back on land, that oppressive heat not abated in the slightest. The longer he could go without exerting himself, the better.
Once he was dressed, he rejoined Malia, who was still standing next to the pool, staring back at the fire. The glow was even brighter now, the flames shooting higher than ever, clearly visible on the horizon, burning out of control. They stood in solemn silence for a moment, just watching, looking up at the ever-expanding cloud of smoke in the distance, barely visible against the dark sky, but haunting in its scope. The smell hadn’t made it all the way out to them yet, but with that much smoke in the air, it was only a matter of time.
“We need to go.” Her voice was strong, steady, determination ringing in every syllable, and when she turned to look at him, he could see the resolve on her face. “We’ve gotta get over there. We need to do something.”
He couldn’t argue, his own drive to act, to help screaming that exact thing at him. “Yeah,” he said, jaw clenching tight as he nodded decisively. It didn’t matter that this wasn’t their usual scene. A fire that big, people were going to need help. They could help. They had to help. “Come on. It’s a long walk back to town.”