Stay with Me (Stalia)

Chapter 21

"What are those?" Malia asked immediately when she opened the door.

"They're...flowers. It's romantic." He informed her as he held them out to her.

"Oh yeah, Lydia and Kira were telling me about that. Thank you, Stiles, they're beautiful." She gave him a genuine smile and sniffed the flowers, "And they smell amazing". She opened the door wide for him and he got his first glimpse of her outfit. She was wearing a flowy electric blue dress that went down to her knees. The plunging neckline made it difficult for him to keep his eyes away.

"Wow...Malia you look amazing." He stammered and she beamed again.

"So do you," She said taking in his black dress pants and dark red button down shirt. "I've never seen you so dressed up."

"Yeah, I reserve it only for special occasions, which this certainly is."

"Our first official date."

"Yep, sorry it took me so long." He said with a crooked grin, knowing she didn't really mind. His mom had pointed out to him that he had never actually taken Malia out on a real date. Sure they had seen movies and eaten together, but they had never gone to a nice restaurant and made a big deal about calling it a date. Stiles knew he had to change that. This was both of their first relationships and they both deserved to do it right.

"You don't need to apologize, you know I don't care." She said in her honest way. "I should put these in water right?" She continued before he could respond. He nods at her,

"It keeps them fresher longer."

"Okay, I'll be right back" She gives him a smile and walks back into her house, but as she's walking away he hears her mutter, "They would've stay a lot fresher if they were still in the ground." Stiles felt a ridiculous smile break across his face. Malia could just be so wonderfully refreshing sometimes, she made him question the silly things and focus on the important things. She didn't need him to bring her flowers to show how much he cared for her, all she needed was him. That was all she expected of him. That being said, as Malia came back into view Stiles vowed to try chocolate next time.

"Ready?" He asked. She nodded in response and hooked her arm in his. He led her to his jeep and they both climbed in. He had picked the restaurant specifically because it had venison. He wasn't sure how Malia would feel about cooked deer, but since she had made her feelings about deer clear he figured it wouldn't hurt to try. Who knows, maybe she would end up liking cooked meat better than raw meat.

*****

Malia wanted to punch something or throw up or cry. She didn't know how to deal with the emotions that were coursing through her body. If she was a coyote still she might go hunting to help with what she was feeling. How did humans handle all of these feelings?

"I can't find anything!" Lydia said as she slammed her laptop shut. Malia looked at the clock to see that their 48 hours was up.

"We have to head to the loft," She said, "Maybe someone else found something."

"Yeah maybe" Lydia murmured as she stood up, but Malia could see the doubt in her eyes. Malia's stomach was a jumble of knots as they entered the loft. Everyone else was already there and looking pretty glum. Scott cleared his throat as the two girls sat down.

"So, um...I wasn't able to find any other way to reach Stiles or pull him out of his coma. Did anyone else find anything?" Scott's announcement was followed by a long and painful silence. Malia looked anxiously around the room, but most people were avoiding eye contact and no one was saying anything. After a moment, it became clear that no one had been able to find anything. "No one?" Scott prodded. A few people shook their heads at this, but everyone still remained silent. The longer the silence stretched the more Malia felt like something was going to burst inside of her. A pressure started in her stomach and spread throughout her entire body until it was all she could do to keep from screaming. Just when Malia felt as if she was reaching her breaking point, Deaton cleared his throat.