Chapter Text
Ephemeral. That’s how you would’ve described your life a year ago. It had been ages since your family last stayed at a place for more than a few months. You were constantly moving, constantly readjusting to new environments, new friends, new challenges in school. You were exhausted. And worst of all you would find yourself, more often than not, spending most of your time outside of school alone.
But that all changed when you moved to Beacon Hills.
7:30 am.
You’d gotten ready for school like any other day. You woke up and got dressed, getting breakfast and a cup of coffee before continuing your usual morning routine. Halfway through brushing your teeth, you hear the unmistakable honking of a certain light blue jeep coming from the driveway.
Rushing down the stairs, you grab your backpack, opening the front door to your two best friends waiting for you, Radiohead blasting over the stereo.
“Get in loser, we’re going shopping!”
You roll your eyes at the quote, knowing sooner or later you were going to regret showing Stiles ‘Mean Girls’. Locking the door, you turn around. Your heart warms when you see him grinning at you, right hand still on the steering wheel as he leans ever so slightly out the driver’s side window, his left arm draped casually over the side.
Scott leans forward in the passenger seat, popping out from behind Stiles, “Yeah, dude. Senior Year, let’s fucking gooo!” he yells, a dopey smile plastered on his face.
You smile fondly, head shaking in disbelief at the two before getting in the backseat, dropping your bag on the floor next to two skateboards, tapping your fingers along to the current song.
“Are you guys planning on hitting the park later?” You ask, looking up to the front at Stiles, who in turn adjusts the rearview mirror until he sees your reflection, turning the music down enough that he can hear you.
“-Sorry, what?” He asks, bringing an arm around the passenger seat to glance back at you.
You look back down, “-The boards. Are you guys planning on hitting the skatepark later?”
Scott looks back at you before turning to Stiles, desperately trying to conceal a mischievous smirk that threatened to spread across his face and ruin the surprise, “Oh, we’re going to the skatepark, alright.”
You look between the two of them, befuddled, a smile cracking on your face as you let out a short and muffled laugh, “ What ?”
Scott looks over at Stiles expectantly, waiting with baited breath as he pulls the car out of your driveway, obviously eager to tell you about whatever plans they had today.
“We’re not going to school, at least not right now,” Stiles says with a smirk, turning his attention to you with a proud nod before focusing on the road.
“We’re skipping?” You ask, smile and befuddlement growing.
“Yeah, baby!” Stiles exclaims, drumming his hands on the wheel excitedly, “-You get to spend Senior Skip Day with your two favorite people!” Looking at your reflection, a grin blooms across his face as he continues, “We can drive around listening to music, skate, actually go shopping, get some food- ooh, maybe get you a real breakfast?” Stiles points a finger at you through the rearview mirror, raising his eyebrows, “-Whatever you want, buddy!”
Scott lets out small sounds of excitement, playfully pushing at Stiles’ shoulder until he was shrugged off, looking back at your surprised face giddily.
The two of you shoved at each other lightly, the anticipation of the day's activities making you all too antsy before settling down in a few minutes. As the drive went on, the three of you falling into a comfortable silence aided by the music, a thought crosses your mind.
“-Wait,” You start, individually meeting both their gazes, “I thought Senior Skip Day was next week?”
You watch Scott nervously rake a hand over the back of his neck, ducking his head after hearing you finish the question.
" Wellllllll , about that," Stiles trails off, hesitantly looking from you to Scott as he drives by a nearby neighborhood, passing students waiting at their bus stop who you definitely recognized as being other seniors.
“Oh, okay. So we’re actually just skipping school, huh?”
“What? No, dude,” Scott sputters, “Just hear him out, okay? Let him cook.” he says, trying to appease you as he taps Stiles’ shoulder, waiting for the rest of his pitch.
Stiles braces himself, straightening up as he glances back momentarily, holding up a finger, “Well, first of all, it’s our Senior Year, so jot that down.” Folding your arms you let out a sarcastic sound of confirmation, brows raising as he continues, “Secondly, we’ve put more than enough hours into saving this town to deserve a day off school.”
As Stiles pulls off down the road heading into town you huff out a laugh, head shaking as you snipped back, “Yeah? Well, last time I checked I didn’t do any supernatural crime fighting here,” earning a dismissive hand wave from Stiles, “- Senioritis .”
Your eyes almost pop out of your head upon hearing that, “-Senioritis?? Stiles, I transferred here less than a year ago! I could get held back!”
You weren’t entirely mad, really, or all that surprised. You’d been made acutely aware of all their mid-day absences once the teachers noticed you hanging around their group, warning that you didn’t need anymore distractions from your schoolwork.
“Oh, come on Y/N, you’ll pass,” Stiles reassures rather nonchalantly, craning his neck while making the final turn on the way to the park, “Also, what does it matter what day it’s on anyways? We’ll just stay at school on the real skip day.”
Stiles looks in the rearview mirror, his hopeful outlook on the speech failing when he sees your still critical look, “C’mon, Scott, back me up here. He’ll make it, right?”
Scott turns around in his seat almost as if on cue, “Yeah, dude. You’ve got nothing to worry about,” looking between the two of you he continues, “-And if you don’t pass, or don’t get into the college you want, you can just take a gap year.”
You bark out an incredulous laugh, “- A gap year?! A gap year doing what? For why?”
The car stops once Stiles rolls into the parking lot and takes the keys out, head lolling back to show you the most exuberant expression you’ve ever seen, “To hang out with us!-” Stiles says, getting out of the car and going around to invitingly open your door, “-Doesn’t dicking around with me, Scott, and the others for a year sound so much more appealing than some stuffy lecture hall?”
You find yourself shaking your head in disbelief again, unable to really understand why you were even considering going along with a plan like this.
“I’m sure you two will do plenty of ‘dicking around’ at UC while I repeat the twelfth-grade,” You mumble, stepping out of the car none too begrudgingly, hearing Scott control a snicker as he also left the car.
You watch Stiles reach back into the car, pulling out his and Scott’s skateboards as what’s probably the worst part of their plan pops into your mind, “And don’t forget, I still don’t know how to skate, never had any time to learn.”
“Oh, dude, don’t sweat it. We can teach you.”
In the blink of an eye you hit the ground, Stiles’ skateboard zipping out from underneath your feet as your hands make contact with the rough concrete. The placating words dance around in your head as you feel the ground scrape against your palms. ‘We can teach you.’
‘We can teach you’ my ass, you thought.
The two boys recoil almost in sync, their faces scrunching up in a cringe that smoothed over once you stood up, dusting yourself off, “Yup! Walk it off man, you’re good!” Stiles looks back at Scott unsurely, the wolf shrugging as he watches you unwittingly try to balance yourself on a slight incline.
“He’ll be alright, right?” Stiles says distantly, looking back and clocking the same mistake Scott did. A twinge of guilt surges through him at seeing you hurt, even if it isn’t that bad. He starts lamenting his and Scott’s lack of preparation skills when there’s a pat on his shoulder, “-Oh, he definitely won’t be.”
Stiles pivots quickly on his feet, heading your way with a clap of his hands, “Okay! Y/N, listen, you just gotta relax a little, okay?” He motions you to step off the board, picking it up and leading you back to a more even patch of ground, setting it down between you two.
“Alright, hold out your hands,” Stiles says smoothly, despite the clear concern, following his own instructions and doing the same.
You pick up your foot, moving it to the top of the board before Stiles stops you, “-No, Y/N, hands first. We’ve been at this for more than half an hour already, I’m not watching you bite it again.”
You bring the foot back to the ground, reaching your hand out as you glance back over at Scott, who, from what you could tell, had been tuning into your little lesson. He’s standing by the tree you parked by, a hand clasped tightly around his mouth as to not laugh at the apparent double entendre.
You roll your eyes, looking back at Stiles when your hand slots into his. Silently, you hoped Scott’s eavesdropping hadn’t continued, knowing without a doubt the wolf would catch the little skip in your heartbeat when you and Stiles’ hands made contact.
“Okay, good ,” Stiles praises, looking from the ground to your hand, “-Now step up.” You follow through with the direction, right foot steadying on the board as he lets out a sigh, “Okay, and now same with the other side,” he continues, offering you the opposite hand with a cautious look on his face.
You timidly outstretch your other hand, Stiles grasping it in turn before giving an expectant nod at you slowly picking your leg up and placing it at the opposite end of the board.
You did it, you made it, you managed to step on it without falling, you- you were holding Stiles’ hands, looking into his eyes as he searched your face for any uncertainty or preemptive signs of slipping. You became very aware that you were in public right now, subconsciously thanking every higher entity that there weren’t tons of people at the skatepark on a Friday afternoon, still keenly focusing on how strangely intimate the whole thing felt.
The few people around paid your trio no mind, smoking as they sat on the edge of the concrete bowl, listening to what sounded like 'Taking Back Sunday’ from a mini speaker. All of them being completely engrossed in their own conversations.
Stiles takes a deep breath, “Okay, I’m gonna slowly let go,” you make a mental note of the way his tongue darts out, nervously wetting his lip as he takes a small step back, “I’m gonna slowly let go, don’t worry about trying to move,” taking another step back, you feel his hands loosen their grip, “just get your balance under control, okay? That’s the first step.”
Slowly he lets go of your hands altogether, taking one step back, then two, keeping you at arm's length. Your eyes widen in disbelief at the feat, excitement bubbling up at your newfound stability.
“WHOOP! WHOOP!”
Scott shouts from over the way, turning his attention from a girl that stood next to him, talking. Your smile blooms a little further as he starts making his way over, Stiles looking back at him with a huff of laughter before focusing back on you.
“Okay, Okay, you’re doing great,” Stiles says, doing a final once over of your still uncertain stance, “Push off with your foot- no, your right foot!” he corrects as you wobble in place, eventually stilling with a wild look in your eyes.
Whew .
“I swear, one of these days you’re gonna give me a heart attack,” Stiles pinches at the bridge of his nose, “-just push with your right foot, and coast.” As Scott reaches his side, Stiles murmurs to him, something you could vaguely make out about how stupid it was for them to not bring helmets.
Pushing off the ground you feel the wheels carry you, picking up your foot as you get more momentum, unknowingly placing it on the tail end of the board. The board teeters back and you slip, skateboard rocketing out from underneath your feet. Arms flailing, you fall backwards, making harsh contact with what you were assuming would be the hot concrete.
Your eyes peak open when you notice the lack of head trauma, glancing down at the familiar hands braced under your arms and grimacing as your brain registers the shrill skid of wheels accompanied by splintering wood.
You look up, just now fully comprehending what happened, “-How, how did you?”
Stiles looks down at you, face shocked and mouth agape the same as you, “-I -I don’t, I don’t know.”
Absentmindedly, you notice the sounds of rapidly approaching footsteps. Neither you or Stiles make an attempt at moving, eyes locked in contact as you both settle down from the spike in adrenaline you’d experienced.
Well, this is intense.
“Stiles? Dude? How the hell did you do that?” Scott asks. You clear your throat and stand up once he reaches the two of you, disbelief covering his face, “I didn’t even catch it happening by the time you were already running over!”
Scott gives a few pats to your shoulder, “- You good ?” he sighs, ruffling your hair after you give him a flurried nod.
“- Oh, shit. -You guys, we gotta go .”
You and Scott turn around, gazes following the direction of Stiles’ worried glance in confusion before spotting a nearby truancy officer. Your heart sank when the officer did a double take at the three of you, looking over to where the skateboard laid, broken.
Stiles tugs you in the direction of the jeep, Scott grabbing his own board and following behind you two, “-Y/N, it doesn’t matter, okay? -Just forget about it, we gotta go.”
After your brief brush with death, the three of you decided to go to school, picking up the latter half of the day’s classes.
You tried apologizing to Stiles on the way over for breaking his skateboard, but he always brushed it off, saying it was better the board than you.
Splitting off from the other two you make a beeline to your History class, flinging the door open in the middle of what was clearly an open-book test, the teacher giving you an unimpressed look before nodding at your empty seat next to Allison and Kira.
You’d arrived pretty late, so after the test was done there was about fifteen minutes left to class. The teacher said that since school was ending soon everyone could talk amongst themselves, but really you think it was because nothing in the curriculum could fill the time.
Looking to your left you see Kira and Allison already deep in conversation, so you pull out your phone. School was such a stark contrast to hanging out with Scott and Stiles this morning, the monotony of high school coming right after had almost made you forget everything that went on. Soon after you pull out your headphones, there’s a tap on your shoulder from the kid sitting next to you.
“Hey,” The boy says, his voice a low whisper.
Ah, this kid . You thought.
The two of you hadn’t talked much, and you didn’t really know his name. You knew he was on the lacrosse team, recognizing his face and brown hair from the times you’d wait outside the locker room for Scott and Stiles. You wished you took them up on more of those ‘movie night’ offers, it was fun the times you went along.
You look back to the guy on your right. What was his name, again? Lee? Leo? Liam ?
“-Do you know them?” The boy asks, eyes pointed in the direction of the two girls next to you. You look over and then back at him, seeing the shorter-haired boy with deep skin next to him give you an awkward wave, “Uh, yeah, we’re friends. -Why?”
The boy turns back to his friend, speaking in a hushed tone for a while until the other gives him a sharp smack to his shoulder with an emphatic expression. He turns back around to face you, leaning in, “Can you ask if they want to go to a party tonight?”
" Aand ?" Lydia asks, leaning against the lockers with her arms crossed.
After you told Allison and Kira about their party invites, the two of them texted about it in the groupchat, saying they wanted everyone to come with them if they decided to go.
Scott shrugs at the offer, grabbing the things needed for his next class out of his locker, “I mean, yeah, it sounds fun enough, but do any of you really feel up to partying tonight?”
Malia responds first, looking at Scott with the slightest hint of confusion, speaking as if it was a given, “Uh, yeah . How could you not?”
Scott rolls his eyes, looking over to Allison and Kira in question.
“I mean,” Kira starts, shrugging with her already gathered books in hand, “We wouldn’t have mentioned it to you guys if we didn’t want to go.”
Kira looks over her shoulder at Allison, who gives a warm nod and smile in response, “Yeah, it could be fun! Either way, around this time next year we won’t be going to high school parties anymore. We might as well.”
Scott throws back his head with a slight groan, “How are you guys not tired with the past four years we’ve had?” He closes the locker’s door, continuing as the rest of you walk down the hall with him, heading to your own classes, “Like, the only thing any of us should have enough energy to do at this point is sit at home on the weekends playing dominos.”
Stiles slings an arm around Scott’s shoulders, “Ahhh, got that old man syndrome, huh, Scott?”
Scott stops in his tracks, whipping his head around to look accusingly at Stiles, “- And you,” he looks from Stiles to you, then back again, almost double-taking, “- Both of you. I thought you two hated parties?”
You think for a moment, “Yeah, but I also didn’t want to play hooky with the two of you this morning. That ended up being pretty fun, right?”
“Hell yeah,” Stiles says, reaching over to give you a fistbump, neither of you missing the hushed laughter that came after Scott rolled his eyes again.
“Whatever. I’m just saying, this guy invited the two pretty girls to a party, not the three dudes . -What if it’s invite only?” Scott asks, seamlessly weaving around the other passing students until you reach his next class.
Allison and Kira move to split off from the group, aiming to arrive at their classes on time. Allison passes by Scott, giving a few pats to his shoulder, “Even more of a reason for you three to join,” she walks down the hall, Kira following close behind and donning a smile as she turns around, adding to Allison’s point, “- Solidarity and all .”
With that Malia walks off as well, the attention of everyone left in your group drawing to Stiles, “-That’s actually a really good point,” he says, hand vaguely gesturing to where the other girls had just been, “-But also, how dare you ?” he continues, faux indignation lacing his words as he glances between you and Scott, “I’ll let you know that two out of three of ‘us dudes’ are also very pretty.”
He gives you a few consoling pats on the shoulder, causing Lydia to scoff out a laugh, eventually turning his gaze away from you, “ No offense, Scott, ” he says, looking him directly in the face with a smug grin.
Scott shakes his head, giving Stiles a playful shove before turning into the classroom; you, Stiles, and Lydia going off to do the same.
“So you meant what you said earlier?”
You lift your head up from the instruction packet, thankfully being paired up with Stiles and Lydia for your current science project.
“-What do you mean?” you ask back, still focused on trying to understand at least one thing in the exercise.
Stiles looks at the petri dish in the middle of you three, writing the number ‘84’ in one of the ‘characteristics’ boxes, chuckling lightly when he sees you look at his paper and do the same, “I mean earlier, when you said you had fun today. -You really mean that? Y’know, near death experience aside, and all .”
You look down at the soft reflection of lights against the black table, smiling to yourself with a huff, thinking back to the fall you had earlier today.
“Yes, I did.”
“Good,” Stiles says, a soft smile lingering on his face, mirroring the eye contact between you two.
Lydia looks up from her worksheet, playing around with the pen in her hand, “- So,” she starts, shooting both of you a look of confusion that’s pure sarcasm, “Exactly how much of you two’s lives have I missed out on in the span of one morning?”
“-About as much as they’ll miss if they keep getting distracted from the project.”
Stiles jumps when he hears the teacher’s voice, turning around to see her standing right behind him, “- Oh, holy,” he cuts himself off before she gets the chance to reprimand him, putting a hand up to his heart in shock.
The teacher leans onto your table with one hand, “Can either of you tell me what we’re studying right now?” she says, holding up a finger in pause towards Lydia when she opens her mouth to answer, “- Not you, I know you know.”
You look down at the papers in front of you, searching for the answer, “-Mycelium,” you say, brows raising in question as you look to the teacher for approval.
She gives a pleased nod, “-Correct. Now, can you tell me what Mycelium is?” she says, looking at you expectantly.
“-Mushrooms?” Stiles interjects, turning her attention from you as she clicks her tongue, “Close enough,” she says, hand retreating from the table as she stands back up, “They’re an integral part to fungi. -Maybe you two will be able to carry your weight until the end of the year.” She finishes, walking off to check on the other groups.
“- Fungi,” Stiles mutters under his breath, Lydia rolling her eyes as if she could tell what he was thinking.
“- I’m a fun guy,” Stiles whispers, looking up from his papers to catch you face-palming.
“-Okay,” Scott huffs, closing the trunk to the jeep, “-So we’re all going?”
“Definitely.” Malia confidently says, adding on a short nod before looking around at the rest of your group expectantly, Lydia adjusting her bag as she agrees, “Yeah, I’m in. I had enough credits to graduate last year, but it’d be nice to go to a party that’s not on a school night for once.”
“Great! It’ll be perfect,” Allison beams, hugging Kira to her side with a slight glance, “We’ll get to celebrate being seniors, celebrate getting out of this town, celebrate new friends ,” she shoots a smile your way after that, a warmth budding in your chest that blooms further when Stiles wraps an arm around your shoulders, pulling you in with a smile.
“-Ooh, speaking of which,” Kira exclaims, eyes drawing towards you, “-I know you don’t really like huge parties, so I figured maybe tomorrow night we could all just hangout. Y’know, chill, lowkey .”
Nearly everyone’s attention in the group turns to you, trying to gauge your opinion on the idea before any of them make a decision. You look down, a hand coming up to scratch the back of your neck hesitantly, “-I, I guess so?”
“- Oh , come on,” You hear Stiles say from above, looking down at you while he speaks, “You only graduate once. -Plus, it’s Beacon Hills. Some don’t make it to graduation at all . The fact that all of us made it this far without being severely maimed warrants a celebration.”
You look up at the other boy, cherishing the security of his arm still being around you. There was a hint of domesticity to it, it was a through-thread you’d been able to draw between your interactions all year, but for some reason today it felt like those fuzzy feelings had been amplified times ten.
“I start my college classes this weekend,” you say looking into his eyes, the faintest hint of a plea in your voice as the arm retreats back to his side.
“Hey,” Stiles says, somewhat firmly, “-You don’t have to go to either if you really don’t feel like it.” His hand grabs at the shoulder closest to him, giving it a reassuring squeeze, “- But ,” he continues, head quirking to the side with a grin, “-I do think it’ll be fun. Y’never know, maybe it could be exactly what all of us need. - Getting out of the house for once, having fun .”
The expectant look on his face is playful, knowing all too well that you cave under the pressure of puppy eyes. The longer you wait the more eager for an answer he gets, anticipatorily biting his bottom lip; an action you try not to focus too much of your attention on.
“- Yes, fine. I’ll - I’ll be there.”
"That's my boy!" Stiles all but shouts, arm pulling you in again with a little shake.
“Alright, so it’s settled,” Scott moves over to the passenger side of the car, throwing his backpack in the seat, “-we should start heading home if we’re actually planning on doing this ‘Party Weekend’ thing. I’m gonna need some serious downtime after the morning we’ve had.”
“Oh, yeah, for sure,” Stiles says, digging the keys from his pockets, “-Wait, so we’re all on board, right?’’ holding up a finger he points at everyone yet to agree, “-Party Weekend? Party Weekend? Party Weekend?”
You gaze up at him taking everyone’s attendance. There was always something so endearing about Stiles just being his regular goofy, adventurous self. The smile that tugged at his face was always so warm and kind, you truly didn’t know how you’d been able to ignore it for so long.
You were so wrapped up in Stiles’ words, you didn’t notice Lydia looking at you from the corner of her eye until an amused ‘hm’ came from her direction, causing your head to whip around, face flushed.
You’d honestly forgotten she was standing right next to the two of you, and from the knowing look she was sporting you figured she’d been paying more attention to the two of you than everyone else, who were already starting to dissipate.
Sure, you’d always thought Stiles was… interesting to look at. Part of the reason he caught your eye when you got to Beacon Hills was because he’s attractive, but you assumed he was straight with how much the rest of the pack talked about his dating life. So up until now, you’d kind of just compartmentalized your feelings, bottling them up and shelving them, hoping you’d eventually forget they’re there.
Maybe it was the proximity, or the suggestion of Stiles calling you his . Maybe it was because of the year coming to an end, or the fall from this morning, or- hell, maybe it was the underlying anxiety you’ve been feeling all day. It felt like you were going crazy
Lydia turns back to you with the same knowing look on her face from before, a small smile creeping on her face at your flustered expression, watching Stiles move from your side as he put things in the car.
“Please, don’t tell me you’re going to act like none of that just happened,” Lydia says, a sickeningly sweet smile stretching across her face once you catch her eye.
You look back at the car, seeing the two boys pile themselves in and wait for you. Turning back around to address Lydia, you adjust the strap to your backpack, hoping to shake off any obvious signs of embarrassment, “I’m sure I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
She scoffs out a laugh at that, “- Ookay, suure .” Taking out her own keys, Lydia unlocks her car, looking back at the three of you one more time before giving you a pat to the shoulder, “Enjoy the ride home.”