Howl at Midnight// Teen Wolf// Stiles Stilinski

VI

I got my ass handed to me in every video game they had. Streets of Rage, House of the Dead, Daytona , and Street Fighter. It didn't matter the kind of game or the rules, I was bad at it. The only game I bested Stiles in was Dance Dance revolution and he said it was because I had done ballet for so many years. He was right. Even still, despite my crippling loss it was one of the best nights I had in a really long time. Maybe ever.

"So," he started with an irritating smirk in his voice and I groaned. Stiles was oddly competitive. For a guy who sometimes acted like he didn't know how to talk to girls, gaming was gender-neutral. "Are we going to talk about Boxer?"

"No." I answered flatly but he chuckled. I guess I had technically won the boxing game too, if you counted hitting it so hard that it breaks winning. Yet, as bad as I'd proven to be at video games I still felt like a winner. Stiles and I had found mutual ground tonight. A space we could walk between that connected our worlds. We'd spoken about everything imaginable, from Star Wars to childhood dreams to the things they kept us up at night. Stiles feared being invisible as much as I feared being crazy. I didn't have the courage to tell Stiles that I had always seen him in vivid color and as we pulled in front of my house I wished I did. Stiles Stilinski might have thought he was the side character in someone else's story, but in mine he had a leading role.

He cleared his throat, "We're here." I glanced at my house and then back at him. My mind spun for ways to make this last longer.

"Walk me to the door, Stilinski." His eyes lit up as he nodded at my request. We walked deliberately slowly to my front door, enjoying each other's company in the comfortable silence. He didn't feel the need to fill the space with words, and I was happy to just be besides him. In the 4 hours I spent playing and replaying every video game with Stiles I came to learn more about him than I knew about myself. I recognized how he rubbed the back of his neck when he was nervous, how his nose wrinkled when he was restraining himself from an insult. The way his eyes lit up when he beat someone else's score, and the way he shoved his hands in his pants when he was feeling lost. I had always had feelings for the Stiles I thought I knew, the awkward loudmouth who I shared classes with. But the Stiles I was coming to know? Oh, that one would be the death of me. And death was a grand adventure.

Stiles' hands were in his pockets now, as he watched me contemplatively. I didn't know what to do anymore than he did so I rocked back and forth on the heels of my feet.

"Thanks for the great night," I silently cursed myself as my voice cracked, "I needed this with all the," I stopped and inhaled but he knew what I was going to say. We'd gotten around to talking about my own questioning sanity over his third slice of pizza.

"Yeah." He smiled softly, "me too." We continued to stand there for a moment, unsure of how to end our hang out. He looked at me and I thought I'd seen him inhale sharply, but nothing about him gave any particular emotion away. Another moment passed before Stiles took his hand out of his pants pocket and walked closer to me. I paused, counting the seconds that passed as his gaze flickered from my eyes to my mouth and back again. I was acutely aware of everything around me. The rustling of the trees, Stiles' Jeep engine still running, a distant car passing. It was all so vivid around us, but not as vivid as him. Stiles' gaze flickered again as he seemed to be having a conversation with himself and just as I thought he was going to make some grand gesture he stuck his hand out. For a handshake.

I stared down at his outstretched hand for several beats, and then burst out laughing. He didn't move his hand even as his face reddened at my insistent laughter. I shoved his hand away and threw myself into him, wrapping my arms around his middle. My chest still shook slightly with laughter.

"We can hug, weirdo." He didn't say anything as his arms came around me and hugged me back, his heart beating wildly in his chest. I squeezed him a little tighter, if only to preserve the moment.