Monstrous ➳ Dunbar

[ in which they are closer ]

It was nearly dark by the time Sydney and Liam began to head back to her house. Sydney's heart was racing, her stomach doing somersaults inside of her as she walked beside the boy she had grown to like so much. She had honestly expected her day off from school to be spent eating ice cream and crying over various deaths whilst having a Criminal Minds marathon on Netflix, but she was glad she got to spend it with Liam instead.

Whenever she was with the boy, it was as if everything else around her didn't matter anymore. Not once had she thought about the dead pool or her so-called "best friends" turning out to be professional assassins that were after her and her friends. Not once had she thought about almost being decapitated only the night before. Not once did she think about being a teenage werewolf that had more weight put on her shoulders than any fifteen-year-old should ever have. And there were plenty of moments were she had just forgotten about it all.

And it was all because of Liam, and she was thankful to the boy for it.

They walked in silence for a good ten minutes, a comfortable silence that only made Liam want to slow his pace even more so that he could only be in Sydney's presence for a while longer. He was completely star struck at the sight of the girl in his hoodie beside him, which were the words Mason had described to him many times. Only now was he just beginning to believe what his best friend said was true. He was intrigued by the girl and wanted to spend every moment he could with her. Honestly, Liam had no idea how Stiles Stilinski- the boy who took part in kidnapping him several times and assumed he was on steroids- could have such a beautiful sister. They looked nothing alike, with Sydney's soft, pale skin with light hair and hazel eyes. He was falling for Sydney Stilinski, and he was falling for her hard.

"I wish it was always like this." The girl's soft voice pulled Liam out of his thoughts. She was watching him carefully, her eyebrows pulled together as she took in every detail of his face.

"Like what?" Liam questioned, turning to look at her and cocking an eyebrow. His lips were pulled into a wide grin- one that he was unable to control due to the fact that he had danced with the girl beside him for over ten minutes only moments before.

Sydney blinked a few times, holding her gaze to his before turning to face forward once more. Her hands were stuffed in the pocket of his hoodie, the tips of her strawberry blonde hair still damp from her fall in the stream. "Where we are just normal teenagers. Where we don't have to worry about dead pools or being assassinated or full moons or anything," she mumbled with a sigh, the soles of her Chuck Taylor's shuffling against the sidewalk beneath her. "Where we could just focus on keeping good grades and gossiping with our friends- who don't happen to have homicidal tendencies."

Liam pursed his lips, nodding slowly in agreement. He reached over and casually slipped his hand into Sydney's, entwining their fingers and squeezing lightly, "After all this is over, then I'll make sure that happens."

"Thanks, Liam," Sydney smiled at the boy beside her, though it disappeared after only a mere second. "But I won't count on it. It's been nearly a year, and we've defeated countless supernatural monsters. We've lost people- friends that we loved as a family. But stuff just keeps on happening."

"Well then, I'll just have to try even harder." She felt Liam's lips press to her temple for a moment, and she couldn't help the grin that spread across her lips. Maybe this was the year where everything was going to change, and it was all because of a simple transfer student.

It was another good fifteen minutes before the pair reached the end of Sydney's road. The girl looked over at Liam, a mischievous look stretched across her face.

"I'll race you," she challenged and stopped in her tracks, pulling Liam backwards with her. He raised an eyebrow at her questioningly before a smirk spread onto his face and he nodded . He stood right next to Sydney, so that their feet were starting at the same point.

"Just so you know-" Liam rubbed his hands together, narrowing his eyes at the girl beside him. "I'm going to beat you."

Sydney scoffed, her hazel eyes rolling in her sockets as she readied herself to run, "You shouldn't lie to yourself, Dunbar."

Liam cocked an eyebrow at her, shooting her an apologetic look before taking off down the street. He was already half way to her house before she even had a chance to react.

"Liam!" She screamed, and he shot her a sly smile over his shoulder before turning back around. Sydney shook her head and took off after the boy, her feet stomping against the sidewalk as she ran as fast as she could possible manage. She caught up to him in a matter of seconds, zooming past him and heading towards her house only a few blocks away. She stopped in front of her driveway, her hands resting on her knees as she struggled to catch her breath. Liam was by her side only seconds after she arrived at the bottom of her porch, glaring at the girl playfully. He followed Sydney up the steps and across the front porch, holding her hand in his for support. She kicked off her shoes, which were still damp from her fall in the stream, and let out a sigh of relief. Liam shoved his hands into his pockets, smiling at her dumbly as he fought to find the right words to say.

"I had fun today," Sydney beat him to it, her voice soft against the cold wind that was starting to pick up. "Thank you."

"Don't thank me," said Liam with a modest shake of his head.

"I don't just mean for today, either," Sydney said quickly. "I mean for all the times that you've been there for me, and- and for just being my friend, I guess." Suddenly realizing that she was rambling, she cut herself off, feeling her cheeks heat up in a blush, and shuffled her feet nervously. Liam chuckled lightly- a laugh that made her stomach dance. His foot tapped against her porch, his blue eyes focused on the sheepish girl on front of him.

Sydney suddenly looked down, realizing that she was still wearing the gray and red hoodie that belonged to Liam, "I should probably give this back to you, huh?" she asked, laughing a bit as she moved to pull the sweatshirt over her head.

"No," Liam quickly said, holding up a hand to stop her. "Keep it. It looks better on you, anyway." When Sydney only responded with a mere shrug, he pulled his hands out of his pockets and held out his arms to her expectantly, wriggling his eyebrows. A soft giggle fell from Sydney's lips as she wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling herself against his chest. Liam rested his chin on top of the shorter girl's head for a moment, his mind swarming with thoughts like bees around their hive.

They were closer now, they both knew that, but Liam wondered if they were close enough to get away with what he was about to do. Finally mustering up enough courage, Liam pulled away from her slightly, though his hands were still resting on her small waist. Her hazel eyes stared into his questioningly, sparkling happily in the brightness that shone from the porch light. He reacted quickly, almost nervously, leaning in and only giving Sydney a moment to realize what was happening before his lips were pressed against her. Almost as soon as they made contact, her eyes closed, straightening up a bit so that she could kiss him back. Liam's hands shook violently from where they were resting on her hips, as did hers, still wrapped lazily around his neck.

The kiss only lasted for a few seconds, far too short for Liam's liking, before he found himself pulling away. His heart sounded as if it were about to leap out of his chests, his hands were now shoved in his pockets to hide how much they were shaking. It worried him that he had made the wrong move- that it was too soon or that she simply didn't want to kiss him- and it didn't help him that much as Sydney just stared at him in silence. Her expression was unreadable to him, but her insides were dancing while her heart fluttered around in her chest.

Liam still faced the girl as he slowly backed off her porch, who stared after him in silence, then turned on his heel.

Without another word, Liam Dunbar turned and walked away from the girl that he had fallen for. The girl that still stood on her front porch, wishing for him to turn back around and kiss her once more, just so that she knew it wasn't a dream. The last thing Sydney saw of him was the outline of his figure, disappearing into the shadows of the night as he walked down her street.