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strangerstilinski · 2 years ago

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SELENOPHILES OF BEACON HILLS | Teen Wolf Rewrite

Stiles Stilinksi/Original Female Character

chapter twelve

fic summary; after an already traumatic evening involving the unfortunate discovery of a gruesome scene, amber is convinced to hike through the woods with her two best friends in search of the other half of a dead body. but it's not as if she could ever say no.. not when stiles looked at her like that.

chapter word count; 8,101

chapter notes; it seems as if no one will be attending formal with their first choice. amber goes on a date but just can't seem to get stiles out of her mind.

masterlist

c h a p t e r t w e l v e

formality

With everything that had happened over the previous forty-eight hours, the last thing Amber wanted to be doing on Tuesday afternoon was walking through the woods or going shopping. Regardless, she found herself awkwardly sandwiched between Lydia and Allison as they followed a hiking trail deep into the preserve.

She wanted to be angry with Allison for everything that had taken place. For telling her aunt that Amber knew Derek at all, let alone that she was close with him, that she thought they were together. But Amber begrudgingly understood why she couldn't hold it over her.

If Allison truly had no idea what her family was up to, then Amber didn't feel right being upset with her for exposing something that she'd thought to be nothing more than teenage drama. Nonetheless, Amber couldn't help but feel antsy.

With Amber's trust for Allison nearly nonexistent, and her heart pounding in her skull with constant anxiety, she found herself looking over her shoulder obsessively as they trekked through the woods, practically waiting for Peter Hale to make an appearance at any second — Or equally frighteningly, Allison's aunt.

She wasn't entirely sure which would be worse.

"Allison," Lydia huffed in annoyance as her high heel caught on another fallen tree branch, continuing when Amber reached to steady her, "When you told us you needed to stop for an errand before we went shopping; a five mile hike in the woods.. Not what I was expecting."

"Lydia, we've only been walking for ten minutes." Amber laughed.

The redhead held up her hand in a signal for Amber to keep quiet, "Regardless."

"Mm," Allison hummed noncommittally, turning her attention to Lydia, "Before I forget, I wanted to ask you something. Jackson asked me to the winter formal."

"Did he?" Lydia questioned, going for casually unaffected, but not quite accomplishing it.

"You-? You didn't say yes, did you?" Amber asked incredulously.

Allison shrugged, "He asked just as friends. I wanted to make sure Lydia was okay with it first, though."

"Allison. They literally just broke up. Last week." Amber said in disbelief.

Lydia nudged Amber aggressively before speaking to Allison, "Sure," She told her, "As long as it's just as friends."

"Well, yeah." Allison said easily, turning to look at Amber out of the corner of her eye, "It's not like I'd take him into an empty classroom before lacrosse practice and make out with him, or anything."

Amber startled so hard she nearly tripped, reaching out to grab ahold of Lydia's arm as she stood upright again, "What?" She squeaked.

"Allison, that is so not what-" Lydia started, but Amber tightened her hand around the girl's arm and shook her head pleadingly.

"Allison, I am so sorry." Amber apologized seriously, "I know you and Scott had only just broken up, but it wasn't like that. I swear to you. And, don't worry, it's never going to happen again."

"I'm not worried," Allison brushed her off as they continued to follow the trail, "Like you said, Scott and I broke up. But, I really did want to make sure Lydia was cool with me going to the dance with Jackson before I told him for sure. You know, 'cause a good friend should check in first."

Amber swallowed at the dig, taking a breath to calm her irritation and continuing to walk between the two girls determinedly.

"Right, yeah." She said quietly, stuffing her hands into the pockets of her jacket.

Allison slowed suddenly and pulled the large canvas bag she was carrying off of her shoulder, letting it drop to the ground with a soft thud. She squatted down to unzip the bag and pulled out an archery bow and a hollow arrow that was missing a head.

Lydia and Amber both watched in confusion as Allison reached back into the bag to pull out a fist-sized, black conical piece of metal and began to screw it onto the top of the arrow.

"What does that do?" Lydia voiced.

Allison looked back at the two of them as she rose to her feet, lining the arrow up along the bow string, "We're about to find out."

Allison pulled back the string and released the arrow, shooting it forward where it embedded itself into a tree a few hundred yards away. The impact made a small explosion and the arrow shot out a series of sparks, the blast causing Amber to flinch a step back.

"What the hell was that?" She asked in surprise.

"I'm not sure." Allison told them, shaking her head and making a face like she was finally puzzling pieces together in her brain. Allison squinted at the arrow where it was still planted in the trunk of the tree, shooting off small flickering flames where the bark had caught fire.

"Well!" Lydia clapped her hands sarcastically, "That was fun, Allison. Any more lethal weapons you want to try out?"

A twig snapped in the distance and Amber's eyes darted to look around them in fear. She peered through the trees, looking for any sight of Peter Hale in either of his terrifying physical forms, but saw nothing. No sign of Kate Argent either.

"Hold this." Allison said quietly, delicately dropping her bow into Amber's hands and beginning to stalk off into the trees.

Amber turned to face Lydia, pawning off the bow into her unsuspecting hands as she followed after Allison.

"Hold this." Amber repeated to the wide eyed redhead.

"What? Why?" Lydia asked them.

"Because I thought I heard something." Allison answered over her shoulder.

"So what if you heard something?" Lydia questioned, trying to meet Amber's eye as she sidestepped to trace Allison's footsteps.

"So, I want to find out what that something is." Allison told her.

Amber turned her head to give Lydia what she hoped was a reassuring smile despite her underlying fear, "Don't worry," She told her friend, "It's probably nothing."

Lydia took an anxious step forward to follow after them, "What if that nothing is something and that something is something dangerous?"

"Shoot it." Allison supplied unhelpfully, nodding at the bow clutched loosely in Lydia's hands.

Amber sighed and shot Lydia a serious look, "Just stay here."

Allison and Amber veered off the path in the direction that they'd heard the noise a few moments before, both looking into the trees around them cautiously. They walked with careful steps in silence for a few minutes, listening closely.

There was a small rustle of leaves behind them and Allison's hand darted into her jacket pocket. Her arm shot out to aim a taser over Amber's shoulder as she pulled the trigger and Amber squeaked out a gasp, turning just as Allison's eyes locked on the threat she was electrocuting.

"Scott?" Allison questioned at the same moment that Amber worriedly exclaimed, "Scott!"

They both watched as Scott dropped down onto his back in the leaves underfoot and twitched, his body tight with pain.

"Trigger finger-" He said through clenched teeth.

"Oh! Right!" Allison realized suddenly, looking down wide-eyed at the device in her hand, "Oh, god.. Oh, god!"

Amber reached over to help her flick the off-switch with fumbling hands and they both dropped to the ground on either side of him as soon as the current of electricity was cut.

"Scott, oh my god. Are you okay?" Amber asked frantically, reaching to pull the taser barbs out of his chest where they'd planted themselves through his sweatshirt.

"I am so sorry!" Allison apologized.

Scott took a pained breath as the barbs were ripped from his pecs and pushed his head back into the ground underneath him, "'s my fault. Totally my fault." He told them quickly, "I'm fine-" Scott's whole body spasmed violently with the word and Amber flinched back as he jerked.

Allison looked at him worriedly, "We didn't know it was you. If I'd known it was you I would've-"

"Still pulled the trigger?" Scott joked through clenched teeth, body convulsing again slightly.

"No! Of course not-" Allison laughed anxiously, "I-I'm so sorry."

"Are you sure you're okay?" Amber asked him, leaning back to sit on her heels.

"Yeah. I think so." Scott told them, beginning to sit up and smiling at Allison.

"What were you doing here, anyway?" Allison asked with a confused smile, "Were you.. Following us?"

"No!" Scott denied a touch too quickly, his eyes bouncing between the two girls nervously before settling back on Allison, "Not at all. I mean, your dad told me that you run this trail sometimes and I was hoping to catch you alone."

"..By following me." Allison laughed quietly.

"Well," Scott said slowly, "Yeah."

Amber snorted and Allison tilted her head at him, "What for?" Allison asked.

"Oh!" Scott exclaimed suddenly, reaching into the pocket of his jeans before pulling out the necklace he'd pilfered from Allison's house the week before, "I found this at school."

Amber watched as Allison gasped and quickly grabbed it from his outstretched hand, "Thank god! I was beginning to think it was stolen."

"No!" Scott said quickly, eyes flicking to Amber for only a second, "No, just lost. Definitely not.. Stolen. By anyone." He said unsuspiciously.

Amber rolled her eyes and got to her feet, brushing her hands off on her jeans while Allison laughed at him.

"Well, thank you for finding it." Allison told him gratefully, "And for bringing it."

"You don't think I'm a total stalker now, do you?" Scott asked nervously.

"Mm, no." Allison hummed with a smile, "I just think you're weird. Like you always are."

Scott and Allison also climbed to their feet and once they were standing upright, Allison quickly wrapped her arms around his torso, pulling him into a tight embrace. Amber rolled up onto her toes and dropped back down awkwardly, averting her gaze and looking into the trees around them for a moment as they hugged.

Allison pulled back suddenly and collected her taser, stuffing it into her pocket and grabbing Amber by her wrist to lead her away. They walked back toward the trailhead and Amber pushed her legs to keep up with Allison's quick stride, looking at the ground attentively so as not to trip over anything. Once they made it back to the trail and Scott was out of sight, Allison looked at Amber in the corner of her eye and began to speak.

"So, listen," Allison started before taking a deep breath, "I was thinking.. Lydia should go to winter formal with Stiles."

Amber tripped over her feet but kept pace beside the other girl, "Stiles?" She squeaked.

"Yeah." Allison told her, "You know that Lydia is going to end up going with some douchebag jock and that's not what she needs right now. She should go with a nice guy. Like Stiles."

"Lydia.. And-and Stiles." Amber repeated dumbly, heart in her throat.

"Don't you think Lydia deserves that?" Allison asked pointedly.

Amber sighed, "Would.. Will this make us even?" She asked quietly, picking at the cuticle on her thumb with her pointer finger beneath the sleeve of her jacket.

Allison smiled at her softly, reaching out to hold Amber's hand in hers for a moment, "Yes. Yes, it will." Allison told her honestly.

Amber nodded determinedly, pushing down her disappointment. Lydia and Stiles could go to the dance together — It was fine. She could totally handle it.

It wasn't as if Stiles would've asked Amber anyway.

When the three girls arrived at the mall an hour later, Amber had already messaged Stiles to meet them for dress shopping. As they approached the escalator to take them to the formalwear section of the large department store, she got a text from her best friend, alerting her that he was already upstairs waiting for them.

Amber's eyes drifted over to Allison as they stepped onto the moving staircase and she frowned at the distracted look on the other girl's face.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Amber asked.

Allison stepped up onto the stair behind her and Lydia, adjusting her purse over her shoulder, "Nothing's wrong. I just, I have a lot on my mind."

"Tell me about it." Amber grumbled under her breath, heart stuttering in her chest as her mind drifted and she worried about Derek.

Lydia tilted her head at the both of them and blinked, "Well you both could smile, at least." She told them, "You ever hear the saying, 'Never frown. Someone could be falling in love with your smile'?"

Amber grinned, wide and fake, turning to Allison as she leaned against the moving railing, "Smile, Allison. Remember who I invited to come here at your request?"

Allison nodded, reaching forward to pat Amber on the back with a sigh, "You're right. I mean, as far as apologies go, that's probably as good as it gets."

Lydia frowned at them in confusion and pursed her lips before turning to face forward again as they all stepped off of the escalator.

"So, Lydia.. I actually need your help with this part of my apology." Amber whispered into the redhead's ear as they walked into the store.

"What?" Lydia questioned, her eyebrows furrowing in confusion.

Allison stepped up to put her face between Amber and Lydia's heads, wrapping her arms around their shoulders, "Lydia, you're going to cancel on whatever dumb, 'roided-up jock you said yes to, and you're going to go to the dance with somebody else."

"Who?" Lydia frowned.

"Him." Amber supplied, pointing her finger across the store.

Stiles was standing at the perfume counter a few yards away, sampling the scents laid out in front of him. He lifted one of the pretty bottles up and spritzed it into the air, accidentally spraying himself in the face as he did so.

Amber watched with an endeared smile as he sneezed cutely a couple of times in an attempt to dislodge the perfume invading his nostrils. He dropped the bottle back onto the counter offendedly before he seemed to notice the gaze of the three girls looking over at him and lifted his hand to give them an awkward wave.

Lydia looked at Stiles with her face pinched in disgust for only a moment before her eyes darted over toward Amber.

"Please?" Amber asked the redhead with a small smile.

With a deep frown, Lydia sighed, "Fine."

"Oh, don't frown, Lydia." Allison grinned as she released the girls and started to walk over toward the juniors dresses, "Someone could be falling in love with your smile."

Once the two girls were alone, Lydia turned to Amber sharply, "Are you sure about this? I mean, I know you-"

"I'm sure." Amber assured her, "If you go to the dance with Stiles, Allison will totally, one hundred percent forgive me for kissing Scott. It's just one night. I-If it makes her feel better, it's worth it."

"You didn't even kiss Scott. Remember?" Lydia prompted, "He kissed you."

Amber sighed, "Yes, Lydia, I know." She peeked over at Stiles again where he was still waiting patiently, "But I don't want Allison to know that, alright? He still loves her, and she'll be devastated."

Lydia pursed her lips in thought before pulling out her phone and flitting her fingers across the screen as she typed out a text message.

"What're you doing?" Amber asked suspiciously.

"If I'm going to the dance with Stilinski, there's no way I'm letting you go alone." Lydia stated.

"What does that mean?" Amber questioned nervously.

Lydia's phone pinged with an incoming text and the redhead grinned, "It means your date will be here in a few minutes to help pick out a color scheme."

"Wh-" Amber started, but Lydia was already prancing off after Allison and toward the formal dresses.

With a sigh, Amber finally made her way over to Stiles, anxiety pulling at her chest.

"Hey, hi." He said quickly when he noticed her approaching, standing upright from where he had been leaning against the perfume counter, "So you-"

"I need you to be Lydia's date to the dance." Amber interrupted in a rush, playing with her fingers nervously.

"I- You- What?" Stiles seemed to deflate, a confused look on his face.

"I-I need you to take Lydia to formal." She reiterated, "With Jackson dumping her and now him going with Allison.. She was gonna end up going with some dickhead from the football team and.. I want her to go with someone good. Someone- Someone nice."

"And.. You want that person to be me?" He questioned slowly.

She nodded regretfully, "Yeah. I-I know she's not your favorite person in the world but-"

"Not my favorite person in the world?" Stiles repeated incredulously, "Amber, she barely knows I exist. Up until that night at the school I don't think she'd ever even looked me in the eye. She's not going to agree to-"

"She already did." Amber interrupted, "She already agreed to go with you."

His eyebrows rose in surprise, "She did?"

"Mhm," Amber nodded, trying to gauge his reaction.

"Well, I- Okay." He finally agreed.

"Okay." She repeated, biting down on her lip and grabbing his wrist to lead him over to where the other girls were already flipping through racks of dresses.

"So, are you going to the dance alone?" Stiles questioned, watching Amber closely as she pulled out a dusty blue dress, "You and Scott could always-"

Amber shook her head in response, fingering the material of the dress before throwing it over her arm and moving on down the rack, "No, Lydia already found me date."

Stiles poked at a hideous yellow dress and frowned, "Oh, god. She did? Who?"

She shrugged and pulled out a silky evergreen colored dress, draping it over her forearm as well, "I'm not sure. I'm just hoping it's not some-"

"Hey!" A voice called out a few feet behind them, "Amber, hey. Hi."

Amber and Stiles both turned and watched as Ben Davis came to stand in front of them. The boy was breathing heavier than a day at the mall typically called for, as if he'd run all the way from the parking lot into the store. His normally effortlessly styled dark hair was messy and loose, a small strand curling down over his forehead.

"Oh, hey, Ben." Amber greeted with a smile.

"Davis." Stiles acknowledged lamely.

Amber rocked back on her heels as a short silence settled between the three of them, "So.. What's up?"

"Oh!" Ben shook his head, "Sorry, I- Lydia texted me. She mentioned you were interested in going to formal. With me."

"Oh my god, duh." She laughed, reaching out to squeeze Ben's arm reassuringly, "I'm so sorry. Yes. Yeah. That would be great."

Ben's posture seemed to relax and his eyes flicked over toward where Stiles stood with a cute frown on his face as he looked between Amber and Ben. She blinked and moved to give Stiles a gentle push in the direction of where Lydia was browsing with five hangers already cradled in her arms.

"Stiles, go help Lydia with her dresses." She urged.

He nodded reluctantly, pouting at her cutely before he turned and walked away. As soon as Lydia noticed him standing beside her, the dresses she was holding were thrown into his unsuspecting arms and she pulled him over toward another rack.

"So," Amber started slowly, flipping through the dresses in front of her with a determined focus, "Are there any colors you're adamantly against wearing for a tie or shirt or whatever?" She asked, pulling out another dark green dress that she thought was pretty, "Because so far I've been drawn to green and then the I have one blue but if you have any preferences I'm sure I can find something-"

"No, those are great." Ben reassured quickly, reaching out to take the dresses from her arms and holding them out carefully by their hangers so as not to wrinkle them.

She smiled in thanks, using her newly freed hands to flip through the dresses more quickly. She pulled yet another evergreen colored dress, this one slightly racier than the others, and she chewed her lip in thought as she studied the neckline and the hem. After an admittedly long minute, she held out the dress for Ben to look at.

"Okay, forget you're a guy for ten seconds." She told him, "Pretend one of your little sisters is sixteen and going to a dance.. Be honest with me. Is this dress too slutty?"

Ben gaped at her for a moment, before furrowing his brows seriously and studying the dress in her hands. He reached out to take the hanger from her and held the dress out over her chest in focus as he tried to picture what it would look like on the girl in front of him.

"I think it's nice," He told her after a moment, "I think- I think it'll look really good on you."

She smiled up at him, "Not too slutty?"

He shook his head with a laugh, pulling back to add the dress to the collection in his other hand, "Not too slutty."

"Just slutty enough?" She teased, wiggling her eyebrows.

Ben laughed loudly. He looked around them in embarrassment when he noticed Lydia, Stiles, and Allison had all glanced over at the sound.

"Yes." Ben agreed quietly, "Exactly slutty enough."

She grinned, "Okay. I'm going to go see how Allison is fairing on her own. I'm tasking you with picking one out that you think is nice and adding it to the stack," She said as she stepped away slowly, "No pressure."

Ben nodded seriously and turned to flip through dresses on the untouched rack behind him. Amber laughed quietly at his determined focus before making her way over to where Allison was browsing. She passed Lydia and Stiles on her way and the redhead threw another dress onto the large stack in the boy's arms.

"Oh, okay-" Stiles readjusted to avoid the pile of garments from toppling over, "So, are you just gonna-" He only narrowly avoided walking straight into Amber as he peeked over the heap of fabric, "You gonna try all these on now?" He called after Lydia, following her quick footsteps toward the dressing rooms, "Is this store open twenty-four hours?"

Amber shook her head as she watched him go and stepped up next to Allison, "You finding anything?" She asked, pointedly looking at Allison's empty hands.

Allison sighed, "Jackson told me he's going with a 'classic' suit, whatever that means. Pretty much, he told me I can wear whatever color I want. Which doesn't help narrow it down." Grabbing a red dress with a white belted sash off of the rack, Allison held it up in front of herself, looking in the mirror at the end of the row.

Amber frowned and was beginning to pull a different dress off the rack for her when a voice cut in from beside Allison.

"That's not your color."

Amber whirled around with wide eyes and found Peter Hale had slowly approached them, his gaze focussed on Allison.

"Sorry, if that was intrusive," Peter apologized with a charming smile, "But, considering your skin tone, I'd go lighter."

Amber glared at him and tightened her fingers around the hanger in her hand, swallowing nervously as the werewolf came to stand only a few inches away from them.

Allison nodded with a wary look, "Because I'm pale?"

"Fair." Peter corrected with a soft smile, "I mean, you can't call skin like yours pale. Not skin that perfect." His gaze seemed to finally drift over to Amber and he tilted his head consideringly, "Now, with your lighter hair, you could pull off a much darker color."

He was gesturing to the creamy white dress in her hands and she swallowed nervously as she took a step to place herself between him and Allison.

Amber held the dress out to the girl beside her even as she kept her gaze focussed on Peter, "It's not for me." She told him.

Peter nodded, pleased, "Yes, that's a much better color for her complexion." He agreed, reaching out to snag a deep green dress from the rack and moving to stand behind Amber, his chest flush to her back as he held the garment out in front of her body. He looked at their reflection, his eyes twinkling mischievously as the met hers in the mirror, "Your skin is perfect in a wonderfully different way. Still fair, but with such a lovely olive undertone-" He praised, mouth just above her ear, "Something like this.. It would bring out the green in your eyes, don't you think?"

She sucked her teeth and clenched her jaw for a moment before spinning around, pulling the dress out of his hands and hanging it back up, shooting him a fake smile.

"I actually already have something picked out in that color," She told him, "My date is holding it for me."

Peter raised his eyebrows, "Ah, yes. You're shopping for dresses with friends.. High school dance?" He guessed with feigned innocence, looking between the two girls.

"Formal." Allison volunteered, grabbing ahold of Amber's arm and tugging her a step closer to herself.

"Attention shoppers. To the owner of a blue Mazda. License plate 5 U N I 768."

The sudden announcement over the intercom system was loud and Amber and Allison both flinched in surprise.

"Did she just say blue Mazda?" Allison asked with wide eyes, "That's my car."

When Allison looked between her and Peter worriedly, Amber tipped her head toward where Ben was eyeing them from a few yards away with a frown.

"Go." Amber insisted.

Allison pursed her lips unhappily before jogging off toward the escalators.

"Scott." Peter muttered in irritation with a dark look.

Amber shot him an insincere smile as she backed away, "Thanks for your help!" She told him loudly, turning and walking with quick steps to where Ben was waiting.

"What was that all about?" Ben asked worriedly, "I was about to come over and check-"

"Oh, no, it was fine," She assured him, dragging him in the direction of the dressing rooms, "He was just really enthusiastic about us picking the right colors for our skin tones. I uh, I think he was.. gay.." She finished lamely, thankful that Ben couldn't see the grimace on her face from where he was following behind her.

"Oh." He frowned with a small nod, "Right, that.. Makes sense.. I-I guess?"

She smiled and pushed him down into the chair beside Stiles, pulling the hangers out of Ben's hand and turning to head to a changing room.

She hung the hangers on the back of the door and stripped down to her underwear. Before she pulled on the first dress, she cautiously peered down at the small cut along her stomach to check that it wasn't bleeding beneath the gauze she'd secured over the wound before she'd left the school with Lydia and Allison that afternoon. There were no red splotches seeping through the white material and she sighed in relief before turning to pull the foggy blue dress over her body, tugging up the zipper on the side and frowning at herself in the mirror in deliberation.

When she heard the dressing room door beside hers click open, Amber exited the cubicle quickly, following Lydia as she went out to the cluster of mirrors in the waiting area. The redhead was already spinning to look at her reflection from different angles in the semicircle of mirrors.

"That looks really good, Lyds." Amber assured her, eyeing the tight red dress in approval.

"Mm," Lydia hummed critically, "I think it's too much for winter formal."

Amber shrugged, "Maybe. You look hot though."

Lydia turned to face her with a grin, "Thank you." Her eyes trailed down Amber's body slowly and her smile vanished as her face pinched up in disapproval, "You, on the other hand.. That color is pretty but the dress is way too modest."

Amber stepped up to examine herself with a frown, "Yeah, I was kind of thinking that too.." She turned to look at the boys behind them who had been watching with barely concealed disinterest, "Ben?"

He sat up straighter in his seat, "Yeah?"

"Too modest?" She asked with a grin, raising her eyebrows playfully.

Ben snorted at the reminder of their earlier conversation, "Yeah. Yeah, definitely not the right degree of slutty."

Stiles and Lydia both frowned in disgust at the comment but Amber laughed loudly as she stepped back down from the platform.

"Alright, I guess I'll try another one then." She told them in amusement, pausing momentarily to rub her hand over the top of Stiles' short hair when he continued to glare between her and Ben.

She skipped over the first two dark green pieces she'd picked out and quickly pulled on her favorite. It settled over her skin comfortably and the hem fell lower on her thighs than she'd worried it would, though the fabric parted and cut up her legs a few inches in the center, it didn't come up so far that she needed to be concerned about flashing anyone. The low cowl neckline showed off her ample chest without displaying her breasts too obviously in the way a v-neck or a strapless dress would have.

Bouncing excitedly on her toes, she pulled the door to the dressing room open and nearly ran into Lydia as she exited. Amber reached up to grab Lydia's arms and the redhead blinked at her wide-eyed for a moment.

"That dress is perfect." Lydia told her, stepping back to drag her quickly toward the large mirrors.

She stumbled as Lydia tugged her back up onto the platform and positioned her this way and that before stepping back with a nod of approval and heading back into her dressing room. Amber blushed underneath all of the attention and turned around with a nervous grin, holding her arms out for the boy's to assess her.

"I skipped right to the one we both liked." She told Ben, her eyes flicking over to Stiles anxiously for a second.

"It's great," Ben agreed, "It's good. You look really pretty."

She smiled before angling her body slightly toward the other boy, "Stiles?" She asked gently, "What d'you think?"

"I- Um," Stiles started dumbly, "It- Good. It looks good. You're perfect. I mean, it-" He shook his head in frustration, "It looks perfect.. On you."

Amber stood frozen for a moment at the compliment, something fluttering violently in her stomach as she slowly nodded. She actively struggled to tear her gaze away from the constellation of moles dotting Stiles' cheek to look over at Ben.

"I guess this one wins then!" She announced enthusiastically, hoping to deflect attention from the way Stiles' comments had affected her.

The boys both nodded, eyeing her dress distractedly.

"Right," She said after a second, fighting the urge to look over at Stiles again, "I'm gonna go get changed then."

She rushed off toward the dressing room and closed the door, leaning back against it and thumping her head against the wood dramatically.

Stiles Stilinski was going to be the death of her.

On Wednesday afternoon, Amber tossed her Chemistry notebook across the bed with a huff and flopped onto her back. She fell perpendicular to where Stiles was sitting upright and dropped her head to lay across his knees.

"How am I supposed to focus on things like school and formal when Derek is out there, chained up at Kate Argent's mercy and-"

"Scott will figure out how to find Derek, alright?" Stiles sighed, "Besides, the guy's a werewolf. He'll be fine."

He dropped his textbook onto the bed beside them as he spoke and reached out to grab a lock of hair that had fallen across her face, pinching it between his fingers before letting it drop down onto his thigh. He moved a hand to rest at the top of her head and tangled it into her hair, his fingertips scraping gently through the strands.

She looked up at him sadly, "What if they kill him?"

He continued massaging her scalp softly and shook his head, "They're not gonna kill him, remember? Not until they figure out a way to track down Peter."

She heaved a deep breath and nodded against his legs. Her eyes traced over his face from below and she paused with a soft smile as she noticed something at the tip of his nose. She reached up and pressed her finger softly into the tiny groove that started at his cupid's bow and continued up onto the tip of his nose.

"What are you doing?" He laughed, pushing her hand away from his face.

"The little dip above your lip," She started, poking at his nose again, "It keeps on going along the bottom of your nose. I never noticed it before."

"Stop it," Stiles laughed again, grabbing her fingers in his free hand and tugging them away from his nose, "I don't even know what you're talking about."

"It's kinda like the dimple some people have on their chins," She explained, her eyes flicking back and forth between his and the tiny divot in the skin between his nostrils, "Some people have a butt-chin. You have a butt-nose." She told him with a quiet laugh.

"I have a butt-nose?" He repeated in disbelief, still trapping her right hand in his grip, "Thanks so much."

Amber reached up to touch his nose softly again with her unrestrained hand, tracing her fingertip along the tiny groove.

"It wasn't an insult," She murmured, "It's cute."

"Alright, alright," Stiles told her, removing his hand from her hair to pull her other hand away from his face, "Well, we can't all have perfect noses and perfect lips and- And perfect everything else."

She blinked up at him silently for a few seconds, continuing to study his face even after he averted his gaze to look around the room.

"But you do." She told him in a hushed voice, watching his eyebrows furrow before he looked down at her again, "Anyway!" She continued quickly as her nerves got the better of her, "We should get back to studying. I only have until five so we need to-"

"What's happening at five?" He asked curiously, watching as she sat up to grab her notes again and flip through to the next page.

"Oh, Ben and I are gonna go get dinner." She told him distractedly, reading through her notes with a frown.

"You and Ben are going on, like-" He paused, "An actual date?"

"Mhm," She hummed, "He said he wanted to do a, and I quote 'pre-date date.'"

"A pre-date date." Stiles repeated slowly.

"Yeah, I mean, we don't really know each other all that well and if we're gonna be spending all of Friday night glued to each other's sides-"

"Right." He grumbled, drawing out the word slightly.

Her attention tore away from her notes moved to the boy beside her, "Is that cool? I know that only gives us another hour to study but-"

"It's fine," He reassured her quickly, "This unit's not bad anyway. I don't think we have much left to go over."

She smiled in relief, grabbing a highlighter and flopping onto her stomach beside him to compare their notes from class that day. They studied for another thirty-two minutes before there was a loud knocking from downstairs. They both looked up in surprise and Amber rolled off of the bed, abandoning their books to head toward the hallway.

"I'll go see who it is." She told Stiles quickly.

She made her way downstairs toward the front door nervously, and when her hand finally wrapped around the knob, she hesitated for a moment in a panic, worried about who might be on the other side. She wondered in terror it would be Kate Argent again, here to violently question both her and Stiles, or the possibility that it could be Peter, making a home visit to do his own version of an interrogation on how he might be able to locate Derek.

She pulled her shaking hand back and moved to peer out the window beside the door, tugging the curtain back a couple of inches until she could see who was standing on the front porch.

It was Ben Davis.

She moved back to the door and flipped the lock before swinging it open to reveal the boy on the other side.

"You're early," She greeted him, leaning back to look at the clock on the wall, "Like, really early."

"I know," Ben admitted with an embarrassed wince, "Sorry."

"No, no, that's okay," She reassured him quickly, "No biggie, I just need to-"

"This is for you." He interrupted, looking adorably nervous. His arm shot out to hand her a beautiful pink rose that she had somehow failed to notice when she answered the door.

"Oh!" She said in surprise, taking the flower, "I- Thank you." She smiled and looked down at the flower, twirling the stem slowly between her fingers and watching it spin around.

"I bought you a bouquet of flowers." Ben blurted out suddenly.

Amber's eyes dropped down to the single flower she was holding between her fingers and blinked.

"I-I did get you a bouquet of flowers," He corrected, "But then my little sister told me that was way too much for a first date and I was gonna look desperate. So we eventually settled on one and she just kept the rest," He explained, shoving his hands into the pockets of his jeans and staring at the small pink flower with a frown, "-But.. Now that I'm thinking about it, I think I might've been conned out of a bouquet of flowers by an eight year old."

Amber laughed and stepped back into the house, gesturing for him to follow her in.

"Well I think the single rose is very classy," She told him, guiding him toward the kitchen off of the entryway, "I just need to run up and change my shirt real quick," She pulled at the sleeves of the ratty hoodie she was wearing, "If you give me like five min-"

Stiles suddenly came bounding down the stairs behind her, feet thumping as he descended the hardwood steps, "Who was at the door?" He asked, stumbling to a stop in the kitchen with a frown, "Oh. Hey, Davis."

"Stilinski." Ben nodded in acknowledgement with a smile, "What's up."

"Stiles and I were studying for Chem," Amber explained as she walked over to pull a tall drinking glass out of the cupboard for her flower, "We work really well together."

"Right, yeah. You guys are lab partners, right?" Ben asked conversationally.

"Among other things." Stiles said vaguely, narrowing his eyes and leaning against the doorway.

"Uh, right. Sure," Amber agreed awkwardly, "Anyway, so. I need to go get changed-" She started, looking at Stiles and nodding her head toward the stairs behind him, "Is your backpack still in my room?"

"Yeah," He affirmed, keeping his gaze locked on Ben, "Would you mind grabbing it for me? I'll stay down here and keep an eye on your date." He said the word with distaste and Amber snorted as she brushed past him.

"Be nice, will you?" She whispered, squeezing Stiles' shoulder as she walked by. She turned to look at Ben one more time, "Five minutes." She promised.

She rushed up the stairs, brushing her teeth in the bathroom quickly before heading to her bedroom to change her shirt. She was tugging her oversized sweatshirt over her head when she suddenly noticed that all of Stiles' books were still sprawled across the top of her bed. With a sigh, she moved to close and collect them all, bending to stuff them into his backpack and zipping it up. Once she'd gotten Stiles' things together, she grabbed a soft tight-fitting sweater out of her closet and pulled it over her head.

When she got back downstairs, the two boys were sitting in awkward silence at the kitchen counter. Ben's gaze was on the flower where it rested in a glass on the countertop opposite of them, and Stiles' gaze was focussed on the doorway that led upstairs as he tapped his fingers restlessly against the stone of the counter.

"Sounds like you guys are having a riveting conversation." Amber joked, holding Stiles' backpack out to him.

Both boys stood from their stools quickly and looked at her like they were waiting for direction.

"Okay-" She said slowly, "Stiles, I'll see you tomorrow?"

He frowned and pulled his bag over his shoulder, "Yeah, I'll see you tomorrow." He stepped toward the doorway of the kitchen and hesitated before turning back around, "Are you driving to school or did you want a ride?"

"Oh, right! Um, can you give me a ride tomorrow?" She asked, "I mean, do you mind? If not, I can-"

"I don't mind." He assured her quickly, his gaze flicking over to Ben one final time before he turned to leave.

"You ready to go, too?" She asked the boy beside her.

Ben nodded, following behind her as she slowly walked toward the front door and tugged her shoes on.

"You look really pretty." Ben said quietly as she stood upright again.

She blinked in surprise at the openness of his simple compliment, "Oh, I- Thanks." She said quietly.

She turned to lock the door behind them when they stepped outside, her mind stuck on his sweet comment about her appearance.

A small smile took over her face as her mind brought up flashes of the night she and Stiles had gone to the lacrosse party to watch over Scott. She recalled the way he'd looked at her in the darkness of the Jeep before he'd told her how nice she looked. Her stomach fluttered at the memory.

She shoved her keys into her pocket with a shake of her head and turned to look up at Ben's handsome face while he walked her over to the passenger side of his car.

She was on a date with Ben and was going to be great.

The date had gone pleasantly well.

They'd gone to a burger place out of town that apparently hosted a trivia night every Wednesday, though when the hostess had told them this, Ben had paused awkwardly and looked over at his date in obvious distress.

Amber laughed and grabbed an answer sheet from the table beside the door before pulling him over to a table where they had eaten what was quite possibly the best burger she'd ever had. They'd also managed to lose spectacularly at trivia, answering a whopping six out of twenty-five questions correctly.

Upon stepping out of the restaurant, she'd spotted an ice cream shop across the street and had looked at Ben with wide excited eyes until he laughed and pulled her to the other side of the road and into the store. He'd paid for her to get a vanilla milkshake and she sipped on it happily, trying her very hardest not to focus on the fact that her favorite milkshake in the world was still from Mal's Diner.

Once her stomach was filled with a good portion of the cold ice cream, she shivered violently and Ben suggested they go back to sit in the warmth of the car while she finished her shake. Nodding with obnoxiously chattering teeth, she followed him down the sidewalk and back to the spot where they'd parked along the street before dinner.

Inside the car, Ben kindly cranked the heat and she sighed with another violent shiver as she felt the hot air blow out across her skin. Neither her ancient car nor Stiles' Jeep had heat that worked so well. She leaned back into her seat comfortably as the temperature in the vehicle rose quickly. She sipped on the final dregs of her milkshake as Ben continued a story detailing some of the trouble his little sisters loved to cause him.

When she finished her drink, Amber slid the styrofoam cup into the pocket on the side of the passenger door and out of the way. She pulled her leg up and turned in her seat to face him but found him already looking over at her with a soft smile on his face.

"What?" She asked shyly, biting at her lip nervously under his rapt attention.

"You just look really pretty," Ben admitted quietly, "Your cheeks are all pink from the cold and-" He paused.

She blinked, fidgeting in her seat, "And?"

He huffed out a nervous breath, "And your lips are all shiny from your milkshake and I really want to kiss you."

She blinked in nervous silence at the confession.

"Would that be okay?" Ben continued quietly, "If I kissed you?"

With a nod, she swallowed and leaned forward in her seat slightly, watching him shift closer. She felt him let out another breath against her mouth and then his lips were pressed softly against hers.

He reached up a hand to hold the side of her face and the gentle press of his fingers behind her ear made nerves erupt in her stomach. She leaned further into his space and fisted a hand into the front of his shirt to pull him closer. When he opened his mouth against hers, Amber let her tongue trace lightly over his lip and his grip on the side of her face moved to tangle lightly in the hair at the back of her neck.

When his left hand dropped to rest on her waist, she groaned quietly into the kiss and the brush of his tongue against hers was quick before he moved to press soft kisses along her cheek. His lips slid down and left small pecks to the side of her face and she let out a shaky breath into the quiet air of the car as he moved in the direction of her neck.

His mouth trailed down to place a kiss to the sensitive skin below her jaw and she clenched her hand tight where she had fisted the fabric of his jacket. She thoughtlessly tipped her head back to give him better access to her neck and when his teeth bit down softly on the sensitive skin, she couldn't hold back a quiet moan.

"Stiles." She whimpered softly as she tilted her head back further.

Ben pulled back quickly, still hovering above her where he had leaned into the passenger seat, "What?" He asked.

"What?" She repeated, still feeling dazed.

"Did you just- Did you just call me Stiles?"

"What? No." She denied immediately. The pounding of her pulse in her head slowed and cleared her mind painfully fast, her stomach dropping, "Did I?"

"You definitely did." Ben answered, leaning back until he was fully in his own seat again. He was twisted sideways to face her still and the car remained silent for a few long seconds.

"Oh. My god." She finally said, horrified. She put her hands over her cheeks to hide the flush embarrassed that covered them, "Oh my god. I-I am so sorry."

"I, uh.. No worries." Ben turned to face forward again and drummed his fingers against the steering wheel. Amber couldn't help the fleeting image in her brain that the action brought up of another boy's fingers doing the same and she shook her head violently to clear out the thoughts as he continued, "So, um. I should get you home then, I guess."

He shifted the car into drive and they pulled out onto the road. Her heart felt like it was residing somewhere in her gut and she felt physically sick from the embarrassment.

"Please don't- Don't tell anyone that I-" She pleaded, losing her voice and dropping her trembling hands into her lap.

Ben laughed quietly, "I'm not exactly about to brag about it in the locker room. What would I even say? 'I was so good that she moaned some other guy's name.'"

"Fair point." She laughed quietly, still feeling slightly sick.

They drove in silence for five long painful minutes before Ben broke it, gripping the steering wheel tightly, "So, you and Stilinski, then?" He prompted, gaze flicking over to her for a second.

"Oh, uh. No." She told him, "Just friends."

"You, uh.. You think about all your friends like that when other people are kissing you?" He asked amusedly, raising his eyebrows.

"N-no," She laughed awkwardly, "I guess I don't."

He nodded slowly, a small smile of acceptance on his lips, "Did you still want to go to winter formal together on Friday?"

Her head snapped around to look at him in surprise, "You would still be my date to formal?" She asked incredulously, "After that?"

He shrugged, turning his attention to smile at her reassuringly before looking back out at the road, "I got the most attractive girl in school to agree to be my date. If I let that opportunity pass me by, I'd never forgive myself."

She blushed awkwardly, "You really don't have to flatter me after I just ruined our pre-date date."

"It's hardly flattery if it's the truth." He told her, "In all seriousness, I'm not going to cancel on you two days before formal. And it's not exactly a hardship to hang out with you as friends. Of course I'm still gonna take you."

"God." She whined quietly, distressed at how nice he was being, "You really do not deserve this."

"I mean, now that I know, I honestly feel kind of stupid for being so blind to it before," Ben said, "You and Stilinski, I mean. It's pretty obvious when I'm looking back on it now."

"It is?" She asked with a frown.

He snorted quietly, "Yeah, it is."

She sighed a deep sigh and thumped her head back against the headrest, remembering the feeling of Ben's mouth on her neck. She couldn't forget the brief moment, with his lips and teeth on the underside of her jaw, where her mind has supplied her with a picture of Stiles' mouth instead.

The image was now burned into her brain, and she wondered if it would ever fade.

#stiles stilinski x oc #selenophiles #stiles stilinksi fanfiction #stilesfic #dylan obrien fanfic #stiles stilinski #stiles #teen wolf fanfiction #teen wolf fic #teen wolf rewrite #tws1 #1x11 #*

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tired-college-student-writing · 5 years ago

Text

The Misconceptions of Malcolm Bright: Amicus certus in re incerta cernitur

Summary: Malcolm Bright never shut up.

Malcolm Bright was never still.

Chapter 1: Semper Progredi

Chapter 2: Luctor et Emergo

Chapter 3 (here)

Chapter 4 _______________________________________________________________________ Malcolm hadn’t spoken since the Unis had shown up. Barely made a sound since Gil had crashed through the police tape and pulled all three Whitlys into a hug as Malcolm and Ainsley were being checked over by the paramedics. He couldn’t seem to look anyone in the eye since Dani and JT had arrived, smothering Bright in reassuring remarks and hand squeezes, to his good hand of course, as he and Ains were loaded into the ambulances.

It hurt them all to see as he started to shut off, the normal manic energy of their brilliant idiot flickering out until all that was left was a husk.

Gil and the Whitleys knew the look in his eyes, had seen it twice before. Once right after his father was arrested, and once during his senior year… when he had tried to take his own life. It had taken months for the look to leave each time, for his tongue to start working again, for him to meet their eyes again. It hurt, it hurt him to the kid like that, to see him such a husk of his normal self, a hot air balloon that shriveled up until the flame could be light again, but he could deal with it. He knew how to offer comfort, how often to check on Bright so that the kid doesn’t get lonely but doesn’t think Gil is babying him, and what food to bring that would be easiest to force the kid to eat.

Edrisa, JT, and Dani weren’t used to seeing him like this. They were used to reigning the off the wall Malcolm, pulling him back from the edge of unintentional self-destruction. They were used to the ungodly terror coursing through his body as his own mental unrest caught up to him, calming him enough that his hands would only tremble with their normal restlessness instead of shake.

They’ve never seen him hollow before.

But they tried.

Malcolm’s hospital room quickly became the break room of the team, the hangout between sections of their cases, the place they would bring paperwork to complete. JT always sharing the details with him, snarling him gently as if the profiler was quipping right back at him.

Edrisa was quick to start bringing enough food to feed everyone that may stop by, light easy to stomach meals, some that Gil would bring him himself, others he knew the other wouldn’t eat but the thought meant more to Malcolm then anything else.

Dani was always offering a hand to hold or gentle fingers running through Bright’s hair, never being offended when he pulled away from her soothing touch, but watching for his hands to shake or his eyes to go glassy for her to touch him again, grounding him without a word.

It made Gil’s chest swell with pride, as he and his detectives sat in various places around the hospital room keeping the catatonic man company, to see how the kid’s support group had grown in just a few short months.

“Do you know any sign?” JT asked one day glancing up from his paperwork, hands moving with sharp precision. Malcolm’s eyes flickered with surprise before he raised his hands. Gil felt his breath catch. This was different, only a week into his shut down, and there was an emotion crossing his face, even for a split second, usually, it was almost a month before anything changed in him.

A little. why do you know it?

Dani and JT’s faces broke into massive grins and Gil felt his stomach swoop at the uncertain movements. Questions, he was asking questions, usually, he wouldn’t start asking questions until his voice came back, even when given other means of communication.

“My daughter is deaf,” JT explained, “Sensorineural Hearing Loss due to the cord being wrapped around her neck during birth if your nerd brain wanted specific, which I know it did.”

“We’ve been learning sign language since she was diagnosed,” Dani jumped in, hands moving to, “She’s not fond of keeping her hearing aids in for more than a few hours so it makes things easier on her.”

Daughter… What is her name?

“Delilah,” JT supplied with a soft grin, “Delilah Opal Tarmel. We call her Dot for short.”

“She’s a little spitfire,” Gil found himself saying around the lump in his throat, hands shaking as they started moving too, “got her Daddy wrapped around her little finger already.”

JT scowled at him, “Like you and Edrisa aren’t as gone for Dot at I am.”

Can I… will you tell me about her?

JT snorted, “Well duh, I don’t need a reason to ramble about my little girl, you can meet her after you get out of here too, she’s been begging to meet her new ‘uncle’ since you crashed Tally and my date night. Was gonna introduce you at the New Year's Eve party I was throwing but she understands you’ve been a little busy. We’ll do it when you’re feeling up to it.”

Malcolm stiffened, wide eyes flickering up towards JT’s face but stopping short, Uncle?

“You’re part of the team,” JT scoffed as if it was ridiculous for Malcolm to even ask, but Gil could see the tenderness in the man’s eyes, “That means as far as Dot is concerned you’re her Uncle Malcolm, just like Dani is Auntie Dani, Edrisa is Auntie Eddie, and Gil is Grandpa Gil. You don’t argue with four-year-olds on family, man.”

The smile Malcolm gave was barely an upward twitch of the lips but it took all of Gil’s willpower not to break down sobbing.

JT and Dani both dove right into the stories of Dot, telling Malcolm everything they could think about the little girl from her dimpled smile and mischievous hazel eyes to her latest science experiment that made a mess in the kitchen. Even if Malcolm wasn’t looking at them, barely even moving, they knew he was soaking up every fact about the little girl that he had yet to meet like a sponge, making sure that when he did meet the girl that dubbed him Uncle without even seeing him he would be able to treat her like a princess.

Gil snapped a picture of Malcolm’s shakily signing a question about Dot’s favorite animal, weasels, to send to Jessica and Ainsley. He knew they wouldn’t believe it, wouldn’t believe that so soon after the kid’s shutdown that he was peeking through the cracks already, timidly testing the waters to see if it was safe to exit his self-made cage. They had been prepared to wait months to see this much improvement, but…

Gil’s phone buzzed before he could send the picture off, and he wanted desperately to throw it at the wall, but he knew he couldn’t do that. Not when he was on the clock. The detectives eyed him with slight reluctance as he answered the phone and relayed the new case to them.

No matter how much they wanted to stay, they couldn’t, not when two bodies lay dead in a bowling alley not five minutes from the hospital. They slowly said their goodbyes, postponing the inevitable for as long as they could, before they finally had to turn towards the door, promising to be back for lunch with Edrisa in tow.

Something caught the edge of Gil’s sleeve, barely even a snag, but it made him freeze all the same.

Malcolm had grabbed him, tugging on the fabric gentle enough that if it had been any other circumstance he would have thought it would be an accident, but no… Malcolm had reached out to stop him, initiated contact like he never had during shutdown before.

“Everything okay, kid?” He asked as softly as he could, knowing his detectives had turned back to.

After a second Malcolm’s hand let go of Gil’s sleeve.

Stay Safe

Gil’s couldn’t stop the smile from forming on his lips as he squeezed Bright’s shoulder.

“We will, and we’ll be back to tell you all the gruesome details later alright?”

Thank you

No one voiced aloud how those words didn’t seem to be focused on Gil’s statement at all.

It wasn’t until they made it to his car that his knees give out. Dani and JT didn’t comment as he slid to the floor with his back pressed against the car door, didn’t comment on the tears teaming in his eyes, or the way his whole body shook worse than Malcolm’s hands.

They didn’t comment on how his goofy relieved grin never faded in its intensity.

They knew what he was feeling, how the events since Christmas had been affecting him, but even if they did comment it would change anything.

No matter how overwhelmed he was nothing could ruin his mood.

Because his son was going to be okay.

#prodigal son #malcolm bright #gil arroyo #dani powell #jt tarmel #edrisa tanaka #tally tarmel #OC child #after 1x11 #hospital #mentions of thoughts of suicide #suicide attempt mentioned #mental health issues #PTSD

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