#htmylasks

Stiles tapped his fingers on the table as Leah worked on their lab report. The class was finishing up and the two of them had successfully finished their lab, much to their Physics’ teacher’s surprise. The rest of the class had broken out into soft whispers as they worked on the final worksheet. Stiles glanced over to Leah to see her filling in the blanks, the goggles they were made to wear sitting a top of her head. 

Getting bored, Stiles reached for one of the magnets on the table. He grinned to himself as he reached over to tap Leah and get her attention. She looked over at him, already unamused. Stiles held up the magnet and grinned at her,

“Did you swallow a magnet?” He asked, waving the magnet around, “Because you're attractive.” He looked at her with a proud smile on his face. Leah made a face and leaned back from him. 

“Oh my God, are you flirting with me?” Leah asked, scrunching up her features as she looked at Stiles. Stiles paused and tilted his head to the side, making a face,

“Uh, yeah, thought that was obvious.” Leah laughed at him, shaking her head a bit as she turned back to the worksheet. 

“Obviously not.” She sang out as the bell rang. Stiles twirled the magnet in between his fingers and made a face, 

“Well I was so.” Stiles pushed his chin out and blinked a bit, “Thanks for that.” He dropped the magnet to the table as Leah finished the lab report. 

“You can do better.” Leah patted his shoulder before pushing out of her chair and slinging her backpack over her shoulder. Stiles sighed as he watched her hand in the worksheet to their teacher.

A knock at Stiles’s bedroom door made him turn away from his dresser, going over and opening it to see Leah on the other side. Her arms were crossed over her chest and she looked angry. 

“Hey--.” Stiles awkwardly said as Leah pushed by him and went into his room. She whirled around to glare at him,

“You left me there!” She suddenly yelled out, throwing her arm out for emphasis.

“Hey, no, you told me to leave!” Stiles immediately reacted, stepping forward and pointing at her. Leah made a face, waving her hands around as little frustrated noises came out of her mouth,

“I was alone in there! Freaking out! By myself!” She managed out.

“I thought you wanted to be alone!” Stiles responded. Leah’s eyes widened at him and she let out a groan, turning in a slow circle,

“You’re a fucking idiot!” Leah’s back was to Stiles and he took in a breath, looking to the side and tapping his finger in his palm before stepping closer to her, 

“If you had asked me to stay, I would’ve.” Stiles seriously said, “I know how hard and scary those things are, but I thought you wanted to be alone.” Leah swallowed, arms crossing over her chest, 

“Well, I didn’t.” Leah grumbled out.

“Yeah, I get that now.” Stiles stared at her, waiting for her to turn around and Leah let out a small scoff. “You okay? Everything...all good up there?” Stiles motioned to his head even though she couldn’t see him and waited for her to respond, but she was quiet. 

Stiles stepped up closer to her, reaching out to her as Leah turned to face him. Tears had already started to form and her lower lip began to tremble as Leah shook her head. Reaching out, Stiles wrapped his arms around Leah’s frame and brought her against his chest, feeling and hearing her burst into tears. 

“You really didn’t have to come with me.” Leah rolled her eyes at Scott as he fell onto her dorm bed, “You’ve got freshmen orientation tomorrow too.” Leah reminded him as she climbed over him and onto the bed. 

“Yeah, I know, but I wanted to.” Scott said, shifting so Leah could lay down next to him. She gave him a small smile as she rolled onto her back, “Besides, it’s only a three hour drive back to UC Davis.” Scott looked at her, giving her a comforting smile.

It had taken almost all summer, but the two friends were slowly getting back to normal, or as normal as they were. It had taken awhile to get their friendship back after the Ghost Riders had royally fucked with their heads.

“Guess we’re not teenagers running around Beacon Hills in the middle of the night looking for the next supernatural threat.” Scott commented as he flipped through the brochure of student activities.  

“Do you wish things had happened differently?” Leah suddenly asked, looking over at Scott. Scott’s brow furrowed as he put down the brochure, “I mean, in general.” Leah added on, “Do you wish you’d never gone out into the woods that night?”

Scott blew out a breath as he stared up at the ceiling, “That’s a pretty loaded question.” 

“Sorry.” Leah lamely responded, turning her head back so she was looking back up at the ceiling, “It’s just something I think about sometimes. You know? The what-ifs.” 

“Yeah, no, I get it.” Scott nodded, swallowing, “Same, actually.” He admitted, raising his brows and getting Leah to look at him. He turned his head, meeting her gaze, “I mean especially after everything with the Ghost Riders.”

“You mean us?” Leah asked, raising her eyebrows. Scott nodded slightly, keeping his eyes on hers. 

“I wish it did.” Scott quietly responded to Leah’s original question, “I wish we had happened differently.” Leah paused, eyes darting down away from Scott’s face for a moment before she looked back up at him,

“Really?” She asked, voice going soft. Scott gave her a gentle smile and nodded. “Since when?”

“Since after what happened during junior year.” Scott answered. Leah raised her eyebrows and her mouth dropped into a small ‘o’

“Oh.” She voiced her surprise, turning her head back so she was staring at the ceiling, “But I thought--I mean you acted like it didn’t change anything, I thought it didn’t change anything...” Leah’s brow was furrowed as she tried to put it together. “You didn’t say anything. You--you let me get back with Stiles and then you started dating Kira and--you didn’t say anything!” 

“I didn’t want to lose you.” Scott admitted as Leah looked back at him, caught off guard by everything.

“Lose me?” Leah repeated, “Scott, you--you’d never lose me.” She sputtered out, brow furrowing.

“I know, I know.” Scott tried to calm her down, turning on his side to look at her fully, “I know, okay? I just...back then, I didn’t...I didn’t want anything to change between us. And you were so in love with Stiles and wanted him back so badly...so if you were happy with him, I was happy.” Leah let out a scoff, rolling her eyes as she looked back up at the ceiling,

“That’s so dumb.” She managed out.

“But it’s true.” Scott seriously said, reaching for her hand and getting her to look at him, “So when the Ghost Riders came and you and I happened...it felt like it was supposed to be.” 

“But it wasn’t.” Leah responded, voice somber. Scott licked his lips and nodded, even though he didn’t believe her, “Scott, it was a trick.” Leah insisted, trying to get him to agree as her even though she began to feel butterflies in her stomach--knowing deep down she didn’t agree with herself, but she was scared to admit it. 

Scott swallowed and nodded again, taking his hand away from Leah’s grasp and going to sit up. Leah reached out for him, but stopped herself, not knowing what to do. 

“Scott, please don’t go.” Leah sat up as Scott swung his legs over the bed, sitting with his back to her, “You’re my best fucking friend and I can’t have you hate me.” Scott didn’t respond immediately, but he didn’t hate Leah--he could never hate her. 

“I...I should get going.” Scott quietly said, not knowing what else to do. He obviously didn’t want to leave his best friend, but he was feeling rather vulnerable and didn’t want to make anything worse than he already had. He figured space between the two of them was the best thing he could do.

“No, Scott--” Leah started as Scott got to his feet. She sat up straighter, propping herself up on her hand, “I want to talk to you about this.” She said.

“Leah, it’s fine.” Scott gave her a pained, tight smile, “It’s fine, really.”

“It’s not.” Leah shook her head as Scott went to grab his jacket, “Don’t leave it like this, please.” Scott turned back to her as he pulled on his jacket. He paused for a moment before he stepped over to her and placed his hands on either side of her face, tilting it up so she was looking at him.

“I’ll text you when I get back to UC Davis.” He seriously said, looking down at her. 

“Scott...” Leah trailed off, as her eyes began to water. She racked her brain, trying to think of something to say to make him stay. Scott gave her a small smile before kissing her forehead. 

Leah couldn’t do anything but watch him leave, quietly shutting the dorm door behind him. She wiped at her eyes, trying not to cry as she felt her heart break; she knew a part of her felt the same.