HEATH LEDGER ❤️

I read the entire Urban Dictionary so I could converse with the other uniformed officers.

Okay, so I’m responsible. I’m organized. But hey, I can be a kook.

VOID/STILES X READER

OUR LITTLE SECRET

Part 14 (fin)

a/n: this is it! 2+ years in the making comes to an end! you can truly see just how much has changed in my writing in that time which makes me both embarassed and also proud hehe. i would like to say the sincerest of thank you’s to every person who was here for this whole ride, and every person who might stop in after it’s over. i LOVE YOU so much! i hope this 13k word finale gave you everything you wanted.

gif lilpieceofmyworld

tagged:   @lowkey-falling-apart  @fangirllanie @myfandomiscooler@satininsatin @sprinklesandsugarcubes   @trashymxrphyy @whatsupuser  @bojabee @kylobien @bitchhstopp @fox-in-a-mousetrap-8 @golddaggers@wolfie-posts @persassyismyspiritanimal @88charlotte88 ​@yuukiahim @random-stupid-stuffs @itsdiorhoe @debraf90 @thesadisticweirdo @keyvalkyrie @pancakefancake @honeymilk-4 @uknowforget @charmed-asylum @juno-huh @yy0ng @angelabsantos1 @elizbetholsen @voiddylx @colie87 @bylercourt @honeymilk-4  (some don’t work i’m sorry!)

X

The rest of the night felt like some sort of fog had carried over the girl. What followed her encounter with the nogitsune was a flood of memories in non sequential chopped sequences that caused rushes of pain straight to her sweaty temples. Stiles had come sprinting to her aid, scooping her up in his arms like she weighed nothing and slamming doors open with his feet to get her inside. At first it was too blurry to even see, so all she could focus on were his self directed murmurs and the occasional “sweetheart,” which he uttered more in a panic to himself than to her. Then there was the sound of running water, and then the water itself, cold on her skin, making her blink and reel back in silent protest as the droplets came cascading down her cheeks like dew. As she honed her vision on the blaring white bathroom lights above her, the luminescence itself seemed to leak down across the room and cloud her entire line of focus.

When she opened her eyes again she was standing in the vet’s office alone with Void Stiles, whose face was withdrawing from her lips as she came to consciousness. Her first reaction was instant confusion, but when she went to move her lips into coherent speech she found herself unable to do so. No, her hands moved like on strings, her breathing fell out of her usual rhythm, and it was simply as if she were trapped in her own body without the capacity to utilize it. The nogitsune frowned a beautiful and broken frown, his brows creasing as he gingerly brushed a thumb to her unmoving cheek, the gesture sending a crackle through her skin.

“I don’t have long at all,” he tilted his head an inch to the side, the corners of his mouth twitching. “We never did.”

She could feel everything, and yet-

“God, I didn’t want it to be like this, his eyes drifted to the ceiling as he tucked his trembling lower lip between his teeth.

“But it’s just-” he paused, sucking in a deep breath to steady himself, “it’s just for now, okay? A-and then I’ll put you back. And you’ll remember this, and when you do it’ll all be fine, because I’ll have fixed everything.”

Footsteps sounded outside as the girl’s friends approached the door, and Stiles’ eyes narrowed with frustration and hurt.

“But if I didn’t,” he said, now quickly grasping her cheeks between each of his hands and staring deep into her eyes, so deep that she knew it was for her and only her, “I’m sorry.”

She didn’t say anything, of course.

“I’m sorry,” voiced again, sounding far less sure of himself than moments ago.

And the glower in his eyes seemed snuffed out, like he had no faith this would be a moment to look fondly back upon, so he did all he could to keep himself together.

“I love you, okay?” his voice broke, a tear hitting his hollowed cheeks. “God, I love you so much.”

“(Y/N)?” came Isaac’s voice from outside.

Stiles squeezed her cheeks gently against his palms, unable to look at her a moment longer, his whole image melting away into a distorted haze, his final words echoing as if he were in an empty corridor, miles and miles away, the whole world disintegrating around them.

“Don’t forget that, okay?”

When she opened her eyes again, it was with a throaty gasp and a mouthful of water spluttering from her lips upon the tiled floor, her hair a tangled wet mess on her face as she grabbed the nearest thing she could to stabilize herself.

“It’s okay. it’s okay, I’m here,” a soft and urgent voice came, squeezing her back.

“Stiles,” she coughed, sending more water down her neck.

“I’m sorry,” he arched back, “I was just trying to snap you out of it, you went out cold there for a few minutes.”

Everything was starting to come back into focus, only for real this time. Stiles was pushing strands of hair back behind her ears, his huge golden eyes the first thing she adjusted to. He crinkled his lips into a little smile, squeezing his palm gently to the side of her face. Then, remembering what had happened earlier, his lips resumed their frowned position.

“(Y/N),” he breathed hesitantly, “what-”

She brushed her knuckles against her damp cheeks, staring at him inquisitively.

“What do you remember?”

She dropped her eyes to her lap with a sigh of annoyance, “dunno. It’s like everything came back but… but I can’t actually put my finger on it since it’s just flashing through in pieces and I have to wait for it to all sink in.”

Stiles gave a knowing nod, “yeah, same with me. It took a while before I remembered it all.”

She moved her gaze back to him, not really knowing how to respond so just giving a little nod.

“Um,” Stiles paused, sifting through the silence and trying to find something to say.

“You should probably get some rest,” he decided.

“Kay,” she said.

Stiles scooped his arms under hers to help bring her to her still shaky feet. Then there was a moment where he just stared desperately into her eyes like he wanted to say something, but he didn’t. Exhausted and flustered, the girl forced a half smile and nudged past him to get out of the bathroom.

“I’ll sleep on the couch,” she said.

“No, I-” stiles protested.

“I’ll sleep on the couch,” she said again.

Stiles, defeated, gave a nod.

She turned, walking out the door frame and getting two steps down the stairs before she had a change of pace. She froze, turning on her heel to look up the stairs and to the bathroom, where Stiles was slouched against the doorframe, his big hazel eyes fixated on her. She just kind of stared for a few seconds, then, making up her mind, moved up the stairs, towards Stiles, and threw her arms around his neck. He responded instantly, wrapping his arms around her in the kind of death gripping hug she needed. And in it, she told him what she wanted to. Wanting to say it anyways, she nuzzled her nose against his neck, her fingers gripping the soft chocolate hair against the back of his head as she murmured into him.

“I don’t know what I would’ve done if you weren’t-”

Stiles held her even tighter, pulling his head back, his tall frame arched over her shorter one and his lips aching to kiss her forehead.

“I’m here,” he said. “I’m okay.”

She pulled out of his neck and nodded, eyes darting between his. Feeling like there was nothing else she could say, she let go, then wordlessly slipped back down the stairs and onto the sofa. The girl plopped down flat on her back and staring at the ceiling whilst pulling a thick grey quilt over her legs. She focused her breathing, relaxed her muscles, and awaited what she knew would soon come. After what was probably an hour, her head panged familiarly, and she shut her eyes.

Allison sat outside the school with her, both girls propped up on the top of the green plastic table and staring out at the few kids left who were trickling out of the school. It was quiet for a minute, but then Allison had her fingers laced through the girls’, and her big brown eyes fixated intently upon her. Her chestnut hair cascaded down her shoulders, her expression set with fondness, and seeing her there, living, breathing, and glowing under the sunlight, sent the sort of piercing fire into the girls’ heart that makes a person just want to die right there. She wanted to say something, squeeze her tighter, give her any sign of presence, but she couldn’t.

“You can talk to me (Y/N), you know that?”

Almost mechanically she responded, “yeah.”

Allison didn’t move, she just blinked her lashes and tried again, “you haven’t talked about the nogitsune at all and I just want you to know tha-”

“Yeah,” she cut her off, “I know.”

Allison frowned a little, “there’s nothing you want to talk about?”

A cool breeze swept up a little cloud of leaves near their feet, and sent a little shiver of goosebumps up her arms, and she pondered in silence before responding.

“Okay,” she found herself stiffening up, “what was the master plan?”

“The what?” Allison almost chuckled.

“You were gonna kill him, but I stayed out of the loop. And so I never knew.”

Reading the expression on Allison’s face, she found herself adding on, for extra effect, “and now I’ve lost him anyways.”

Bingo.

Allison bent her head with a sort of shame and confusion, hesitating to respond, “it was like a…like a divine move?”

“Divine move?” she repeated, her brows coming together.

“Yeah,” Allison said, raising her doe eyes back up to the girls’.

“And what exactly was the divine move?” she urged on.

Allison opened her mouth to respond, then quickly shut it.

“You know I don’t think it’s the best idea for us to talk about-”

“Allison,” she urged, a growl rasping up in her throat.

Hearing her tone, she quickly adjusted herself, and softened her gaze.

“I’m sorry,” she said sweetly.

“It’s okay,” Allison’s brows creased unsurely, something in her face seeming unsettled. “I just-” she started, “I just don’t think it’s a good idea.”

The nogitsune in her wanted nothing more than to grab her throat and choke the words out of her, but clearly that wasn’t the way to procure results, so he, or it, stayed patient.

…

“Hey sleepyhead,” a soft voice arose the girl.

“Stiles?” she groaned, rubbing her sweater sleeves over her bleary eyes.

“That is in fact my first name, yes,” he responded.

She snorted lightly and reached up to swat him but he moved his shoulders cleanly out of the way.

“What time is it?” the girl asked, noticing only a few feeble rays of sun entering the living room.

“Eight,” he said.

She gawked at the boy, her vision clearing, “that is a violation of our friendship code. You know that I will not get up before ten unless-”

“Unless Stiles Stilinski is buying your ass waffles,” he finished for her.

The corners of her mouth twitched, “you’re for real?”

Stiles smiled down at her, a gentle glowering smile that made her heart race, and all he did in reply was jangle his keys tauntingly above her nose.

…

“Mmmm,” the girl hummed as she wrapped her cold fingertips around the steaming mug of coffee before her.

Stiles sat across from her in the faded red booth, his eyes strangely assertive as if analyzing her every move.

She brought the steaming liquid to her dry lips and furrowed her brows at him with contemplation.

“What?” she said.

“What?” he fired calmly back.

“What is that?” she said.

“What is what?” Stiles retorted.

“That…look,” she said, wiggling her finger at his startled freckled cheeks.

“I’m just,” he laughed nervously, shaking his head pathetically. Then his smile faded, and he tapped his nails unsurely on the plastic-y countertop, “you look tired.”

She pursed her lips, “yeah I- I didn’t get much sleep,” she said truthfully.

“Mhm,” he said knowingly, his gaze unflinching from her face.

She stared back, the diner lights casting a neon purple sheen over the curvatures of Stiles’ face.

“What did you see?” he asked

“Huh?”

“What did you see? In your vision last night?” he repeated himself.

“How did you-”

“Been through this before, remember?” he frowned knowingly.

“Right,” she mimicked his frown. “I saw-”

It was as if the next word was stuck in her throat, causing her strain and a sudden case of dry eyes as she was trying to choke it out.

“I saw Allison.”

“Oh,” his shoulders relaxed, his whole demeanor softening at the name alone.

“Hey, hey,” he coaxed her gently and reached his hand out, wrapping his long slender fingers around her shaking hands. They felt like a million degrees against her cold skin.

“Sorry,” she said, clearing her throat and blinking quickly, “sorry.”

He pulled her closer yet, boring his eyes deep into hers, “don’t be.”

The girl’s jaw jiggled as she suppressed a sob.

“God. I’m so sick of crying.”

Stiles didn’t know how to reply.

She sucked in a deep breath, her eyes moving to the fingers that were intertwined with her own.

“When is it going to end, Stiles?”

He rubbed his thumb against her wrists, sending shivers through her arm, “I don’t know.”

The waitress stopped by their table, setting down their waffles awkwardly when she saw their moment and slinking quickly away. The usually yummy syrupy smell today only upset the girl’s stomach, making her feel nauseous. The seat felt hard under her, and the light felt as if it was now burning through her iris’.

“It’s not working, by the way,” she sighed, creasing her brows in discomfort.

“What’s not working?” he said sincerely.

“This,” she released his hand. “This whole thing of distracting me.”

Stiles pressed his tongue to the inside of his cheek, being his only reply.

“It’s not going to work,” she reiterated solemnly.

“I know,” he sighed eventually, moving his hands awkwardly around his own mug and staring thoughtfully into it. “But something about- just…” he thought, “something about you forgetting for even a second…”

“Could make you forget too?” she finished.

He didn’t move, “yeah. You know, coming here, like we used to, I just thought we could let ourselves be happy, even if for a second.”

He moved his huge brown eyes slowly to hers, “you don’t deserve this, (Y/N).”

“And you do?” she scoffed jokingly.

Then, seeing his expression she added, “right?”

“I mean this whole thing started with me-”

“Stop.”

He did. And then he tried again.

“It all started b-”

“STOP.”

He grimaced, narrowing those eyes at her.

“Shut up Stilinski,” she shook her head, “for once let me take the blame, okay? I opened myself up to the darkest and most vulnerable part of myself that I could and it ruined me. And it ruined everything. Now I have to live with that. Not you.”

She could tell he wanted to fight back but she could also tell he wasn’t about to try. The neon signs buzzed annoyingly over their silent fight.

“Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to piss and it’s going to be wonderful and I’m going to be so happy,” she mocked him bitterly.

His eyes widened a little, and he opened his mouth as if to stop her or something, but then shook his head, his chocolatey hair toppling over his forehead as he restrained himself. She threw him a glance and slid out the booth, her boots tapping the floor softly as she hurriedly paced to the restroom. The second she walked in, she turned the corner and threw her back into the cool tile behind her, her eyes shut as she sucked in slow breaths, held them, counted, then let them out again. When her eyes opened again, she shifted her body a little so she could see her own reflection in the mirror. Something about it was hideous. Not in the traditional sort of conceptualization of beauty, but in the utter desolation in her eyes that comes with the sort of earth shattering, world turning, absolute hellish nightmare of one’s life. Frustrated, she turned the knob on the old tap, and cupped her hands under the cold water. She practically slammed her face into her palms, gasping as she lifted her face back up. Only this time she wasn’t standing where she was supposed to.

Well, she was still in the bathroom, at least that much was clear. But she was about three feet away, at the entrance of one of the stalls. Then it became apparent in her reflection, where she wore different clothes, that this was not the present at all.

“(Y/N),” came a voice.

It was Stiles. He too, was out of his current apparel. Then, as she always did in these memories, the girl responded mechanically.

“Stiles?”

He just stared at her, almost scarily though. There was some sort of weird fire ablaze in his eyes and he held himself with far more confidence than usual.

“You’re aware this is the women’s restroom, yeah?” she found herself laughing awkwardly and approaching the sinks as if unphased.

He cocked his head to the left, following her slowly and blinking quickly as he struggled to read her. She could see him in the reflection behind her, slowly coming forward into the mirror’s frame.

“I know,” he half whispered half breathed, his voice low.

She lifted her eyes inquisitively.

“I just- you came in here and then I was following you and I just- I couldn’t wait another second.”

Her heart rolled uncomfortably in her chest, her lashes fluttering, “wait for what?”

Then, in the mirror, she saw him press into her from behind, ever so gently, as two large hands came snaking around her waist before squeezing softly at what lay below them. She stared at him in the mirror, her body absolutely frozen, but he was so in awe of her that he wasn’t looking back. He nudged his nose against the back of her neck, the touch sending crackles down her spine, his breath cool on her as he grazed his lips up to her earlobe and down to her neck. The moment before he could attach his lips to her, she snapped out of it, just for a second.

“Stiles-” her voice wavered softly.

His eyes met hers in the reflection, big, golden, and famished.

“Do you not want this?” he phrased enticingly.

Her brain seemed to crash altogether, Void Stiles apparently wrecked at how to process this. But then, knowing she loved Stiles, and he was her, that would then make it so he needed to play it off as such.

Seeing her confliction, he raised his lips, his expression slipping for just a second.

“Oh. Wait. Do you actually not want this?” he said, his voice dropping its sexy husk altogether and resuming panicked Stiles tone.

Void Stiles, realizing what needed to be done, stopped actual Stiles’ hands from falling from the girl’s waist, capturing his fingers in her own and turning slowly to face him, her eyes trailing first from his collarbones up to his glowering eyes. Then she kissed him. With absolute force. As one might do with someone they love. She was kissing him and it was hard and it was fast, and her hands were cupping his face and then he was shoving them off to grab at her face instead. Their lips sent him arching his head to the right, then to the left, approaching her lips at every angle he could. His hands were forceful as he practically lifted her straight into that kiss, her startled moans drifting through his mouth as they went stumbling across the bathroom and into the wall. He pinned her there with such force that she couldn’t even squirm, she had no choice but to submit to the kiss and let it become her.

When her eyes opened again, she was back in front of the sink, staring dumbfoundedly down as the still-running water poured all over the bowl, her hands grasping at either side of the surface for balance. Her heart practically leaped through her throat, a film of sweat on her brow as she slammed the tap off and marched quickly outside the restroom. Her eyes met with Stiles’ from across that shitty old diner and that look on his face told her he knew instantly.

“Stiles,” she commanded, fast on her feet as he retracted into the booth, sinking down beneath the table as if that would stop her from seeing him.

“Stiles.”

Two brown eyes peered at her from just above the table, the voice below it muffled and casual, “oh hey (Y/N) what’s up?”

“What the hell was that? Wha- I-” she fumbled, grabbing him by his collar so his look of shame was forced to meet her own ablaze eyes.

“What is anything, really-” he started in a stupid voice.

“Stiles,” she growled him down.

“Fine! Fine. Jesus. Just, let me go okay? You’re scary when you do that and,” he paused, pursing his lips with into a dumb little smile “weirdly arousin-”

She threw the boy back into the booth to shut him up and moved in beside him, folding her legs on the base of the seat and rotating to face him.

“That was real, right?” she asked, dropping her demanding tone for something more gentle.

He sighed, averting her gaze and staring down into his lap, “yeah.”

“Is that what you meant? When you brought me here before? You brought me into the bathroom and tried triggering my memories there, but then you said it wasn’t powerful enough.”

“Because it wasn’t,” he rubbed sadly at his freckled cheeks, “apparently.”

“But, Stiles,” she grumbled and twisted agitatedly at a strand of hair, “it’s- I mean it’s not like that wasn’t important.”

“Yeah well,” his eyes moved up to hers, “not enough.”

She let her hands drop from her face and instead moved them together in her lap, her face set.

Stiles just looked at her, something sad behind his eyes as he shrugged, “whatever.”

“No, Stiles. Not whatever,” she shook her head. “Why didn’t I know about that? That was so weird and you just seemed so,” she paused, “un-Stiles like.”

“It was weird?” he laughed sourly.

“No!” she said quickly. “Not what I meant. No, no. It was good-”

His eyes widened with surprise.

“I mean it was- it wasn’t. I mean, not that it wasn’t not good or good-”

He smiled a little, shaking his head with amusement, “(Y/N).”

“Right,” she stopped, laughing awkwardly. “Sorry. I just meant…it was like it was you, but you were strong, and very forward, and intimidating, you know?”

“Who said I can’t be those things?” he puffed his chest out.

“Stiles.”

“Right,” he unpuffed. “Good point.”

“And,” she said, “and you tried to kiss me.”

“Yeah,” he said, “about that.”

He rubbed his lips together and resumed his fidgeting, clearly off-put.

“Well, you see, Allison actually came to me. She’d said you were acting kind of weird or something,” he explained.

“Right,” she said knowingly, thinking back on her memories.

“Said you were talking about the nogitsune and acting out a little,” he continued. “Obviously you were heartbroken about him at the time, so at first I wasn’t so surprised. But I’d realized you kind of kept your distance from me, too. I mean, again I thought you just needed time but it was like, like you wouldn’t talk to any of us, not even me, you know? And when you did you were just really distant. Then Allison mentioned that you’d asked about the divine move, how we planned on taking him down before he got better.”

She watched him, grasping every word with her utmost attention.

“And that’s when I realized. Maybe,” he rolled his shoulders, “maybe something had happened. I mean I didn’t know but I wasn’t taking my chances, you know? So I had to find out. I had to prove it was really you.”

She furrowed her brows, “and so you kissed me?”

“Yeah,” he shrugged simply, “I did.”

“Um, Stiles,” she smiled a little timidly, “how…how was that supposed to prove anything?” she phrased carefully.

He said his next words slowly and meaningfully, like it was the most sure thing to come out of his mouth.

“Because you wouldn’t have kissed me back.”

The girl felt the familiar sensation of her heart rolling around her chest, and her lips parted but nothing really came out except for “oh.”

He laughed pathetically, turning away from her and smiling brokenly down at his plate. She just sort of sat there, unsure of what to even label the feeling that washed over her. Stiles’ freckled cheeks burned feebly red under his embarrassment.

Then his phone buzzed, and he grabbed at it urgently, breaking the butter-thick tension.

“Stiles?” she asked.

He looked up timidly, then back at his phone.

“It’s nothing.”

“Stiles,” she said, more forcefully this time. “Don’t lie to me.”

He rubbed his lips together, then stood up, saying nothing as the girl followed him quickly out the diner and into the cool morning air. The sweet smells dissipated into the thick air and (Y/N) found herself squashing her fingers into her pockets for warmth as they went. Stiles sped up even faster, itching to get to his bright blue jeep. He waited until he was in the car to speak to her.

“My dad has been with Scott.”

“And?”

His hands gripped the steering wheel uncomfortably, his eyes narrowing as they stared forward into the parking lot.

She felt the air sucked from her lungs, afraid to ask again, “and?”

His eyes moved to her, unblinking as he awaited her reply. When she just looked back at him he cleared his throat.

“Look. I’m telling you because-” he shook his head, “because all of these lies tore us apart. So, if you’re going to tell me I can’t do what I’m going to say, or that we need to try to find another way, now would be the time to get it out, (Y/N).”

She didn’t say anything, she only grinded her teeth harder against each other.

He glared angrily at her, “do you see what I’m insinuating?”

She nodded.

“No-” Stiles started, blinking with frustration, “because you wouldn’t be acting this way if you did.”

“What way?” she responded flatly.

“You would tell me,” he shook his head, “you would tell me this is the wrong thing.”

She shook her head, “no.”

“(Y/N), we’re going to kill him,” Stiles fired out loudly, his eyes huge. Then, hearing his own words, he shrunk back against his seat.

The girl pressed her tongue to her teeth, leaning forward to gain his attention before whispering softly, “I know.”

Stiles flickered those huge hazel eyes to her, “you do?”

“I do.”

She turned away from him, staring icily out of the glass while Stiles brokenly tried responding to her flat reply.

“Why?” he said, angrily now, like he wanted her to fight with him. “Then why won’t you protect him? You’ve done it every other time. Why not do it again?”

“No,” she hissed. “Not this time.”

She turned her nose to the glass now, pressing it to the cold surface and closing her eyes. They were both quiet for a minute, and then she heard Stiles turning his keys, and the engine roaring to life. She blinked her eyes open to look at his hardened face and downturned lips.

“You care about him?” he asked.

“Yes,” she whispered through her lips.

He looked softly upon her, watching the thoughts churn around her head. It’s not that it didn’t hurt her, because it did, and there was no changing that.

“But I care about Allison more.”

His shoulders fell, lips creasing even further down. Then he nodded slowly, seeing she had nothing else to say, and turning his focus back to the road.

…

As it turned out, there were many leads in the case against Void. Isaac and Allison’s father chased the lead she’d been pursuing prior to her death and cracked the code to defeating the Oni. All it took, as Allison had laid it out so simply for them, were her silver arrowheads. Meanwhile, Derek, Ethan, and Aiden, upon learning about the failed use of the nemeton bark to cure the nogitsune, sought a counter of the same strategy; the triskelion box. If Void’s essence was correctly displaced, he could be caught within the confines of the box of nemeton wood. In order to do that though, would require a-

“Divine move,” Stiles said.

The girl, along with Stiles, Scott, Lydia, Kira, and Isaac, stood around Stiles’ string filled crime board. Each piece was pinned perfectly in place to the flat surface, the plan awaiting its starting horn. Stiles’ blinds were pulled protectively closed for no apparent reason, making the room dim and on edge. Piles of clothes and papers lay strewn across his room like a battlefield of his chaos.

“Wait. No-one actually explained to me what that was,” the girl realized aloud.

“Well, we were just trying to prevent you from leaking our only hope out to Void Stiles,” Malia reasoned.

“And that’s fair. But he never found out, and I’m on your side now, completely and fully,” the girl explained gently.

The six of them looked timidly at her, then at each other, no-one daring to say what was clearly on their minds.

“Look,” she stated blankly, feeling both a little stung and a little guilty, “you either trust me or you don’t.”

They all exchanged nervous glances, Stiles’ room filled with a ballooning awkward silence that was popped only by him.

“The divine move is how we end this all.”

The four others looked worriedly at Stiles, who seemed unphased by their judgement as he continued along without a care.

“While the nogitsune can’t exactly be destroyed, it can change form. It did with me, and you, and now it will again. You saw how it uses those insects within its transition, that being its most simplistic form. Obviously then, all we need to do is, y’know, make that change happen.”

Kira perked her head up a little, her voice trusting now.

“With this,” she said, lifting her gleaming blade from its sheath.

“And this,” Scott added confidently, firing out his razor-sharp claws with a nervous smile.

“And the box,” Isaac chimed in. “Once I get it from Derek and the others.”

Stiles nodded to her, indicating their trust, his face sure.

“It’s only a matter of time. Until then, we keep our eyes out for the nogitsune.”

“And what do we do until then?” she asked nervously.

Stiles looked at them before turning to peer carefully at his board, his hands coming up to rub his chin with unease.

“We wait,” he said.

“And what do I do?” she said a little nervously, wondering how she might fit into it all.

Stiles didn’t even move before replying, “you stay out of the way.”

The girl tilted her head, her brows knitting with surprise, “what?!”

Her five friends suddenly seemed completely dissociated from the two, their eyes moving anywhere but her or Stiles. It was obvious at once that this was something previously decided, likely by Stiles, and unbeknownst to her only.

“I’m going to pee,” Isaac decided confidently as he strode out.

“And I’m going to-” Scott started, his words unconvincing, “go pee with him.”

Lydia and Kira made the least convincing smiles she’d ever seen, popping her a thumbs up for luck as they shimmied awkwardly out of the room and left her alone with Stiles.

He still didn’t move or say anything, his back to her as he looked over their plan for the millionth time in the last hour. A slow patter sound came as the first sound of rainfall emerged from outside. The girl felt a progressive annoyance growing over her, realizing he had no intention of talking first. She pulled open his blinds to look at the grey clouds and falling rain as it slapped the window, and she stayed like that until her impatience got the best of her.

“What the hell, Stiles?” she fired after a few minutes.

“Hm?” he grunted softly back.

“What the hell do you mean by that?” she flared up again, her cheeks growing red with anger.

“I trust you (Y/N), I do, but it’s not a good idea,” he spoke to his board.

“Why?” she retorted. “I’m as much a part of this as you. Maybe more, even, okay? And if it’s about me being some sort of distraction to the plan or something, you’re wrong.”

Her hair started falling in chunks before her eyes, and she blew it out with a puff of air as she rambled on at full speed.

“Y’know it might even be a better idea, right? He’ll be more vulnerable with me around, and it’ll be easier to throw him off that way. And also, strength in numbers, right?”

Stiles said nothing.

“Right?” she repeated, her lashes fluttering as her heart beat uncomfortably quickly in her chest.

Still nothing.

“Asshole,” she spat sourly, hoping that would stir some response out of him.

“ASSHOLE,” she said, loud this time, but still eliciting nothing.

When he remained still, her shoulders fell.

“Fine. No reply, no fight. I’m coming,” she decided.

“You’re not,” he said cooly.

“Why?” she tried again.

Stiles shifted his feet uncomfortably, his fingers dipping uneasily in and out of his pockets as he restrained himself. She had no idea what was going through his head and she couldn’t even read his face, which drove her even more crazy. Crazy to the point that she lunged at him, her actions fueled on fire and anger and passion and God knows what else.

“WHY?” she screamed, grabbing at his arm and forcing him to her.

She was taken aback immediately, stepping back as she saw Stiles’ reddened face and the burning red that matched his bleary eyes. He wore this broken expression completely unfitting of his tone, and his lips trembled like an earthquake as crystal tears went streaming from his eyes.

“BECAUSE I CAN’T LOSE YOU!” he screamed right back, his voice so hoarse that half of it came out scratchy sounding.

The girl’s eyes grew as she stumbled nervously back even further, her eyes darting over him rapidly and heart freezing in place like ice.

“Stiles-”

“No,” he cut her off, his voice cracking as he put a hand between their bodies. “No.”

“Stiles please-”

“I can’t,” he said again, his voice creaking hoarsely as his tears caught on his rounded pink lips.

“The others all have something that protects them,” he trembled. “Claws, weapons, supernatural powers,” he went on. “Allison didn’t. And neither do you.”

“And neither do you,” she whispered instantly, her heart beginning its thaw.

Stiles shut her out, “I’ll be fine.”

“You’re walking into a death trap!” she hissed, whatever sadness he was spewing out now wrapping itself around herself. “If he has it out for anyone it’s you!”

“You think I don’t know that!?” he continued through his mangled sob. “I do. I do, okay? But I also have too much to lose if I don’t try.”

She heaved in a deep breath, her lip catching between her teeth to stop its shaking.

“So do I.”

He shook his head again. And again. And again.

“Even if something happened,” he defended, “it wouldn’t be the same.”

“Of course it would,” she said through a short and desolate laugh.

The girl put a foot forward to approach him, but he only retracted a step back in return. Now his watery golden eyes were averting hers, and his tears were coming slower, too. She saw a familiar loneliness in his expression that she knew too well, and then the fear of what it might do hit her at full force.

“Stiles you can’t fight this battle with this flurry of emotions on you. It’ll only get you killed,” she said quietly.

“That can’t be helped,” he laughed bitterly, rubbing his lips together. “There is no getting rid of it.”

“Why?” she pleaded gently with him.

He rubbed his palm to his eyes quickly and attempted to steady his uneven breaths as his eyes bounced around the room.

“Because you love me?”

She didn’t fear the words as they came. They simply did. It was never something she brought up first, never something she even let herself recognise alone. But now, with the world coming crashing around her, it was as natural as ever to bring up the long unspoken truth.

Then Stiles’ eyes moved up, and his jaw pulsed as he bore his gaze into her. He seemed to come to a similar revelation in that moment, as his tears came to a stop and his voice hardened.

“Because I’m in love with you,” he said back.

Her chest rose up as she sucked in a puff of air, her shoulders tightening. Now that they’d started this thing, they had to go on.

“I’m in love with you, (Y/N),” he said, swallowing down the lump in his throat. “But that’s something you’ve always known, whether you feigned ignorance or not, right?”

She clenched her teeth, her lids drooping, “yes.”

“So you lied,” he proposed. “All this time, you lied.”

“No,” she shook her head harshly. “I just-”

He raised a brow at her, his voice on edge now, “you just what?”

“I wasn’t ready to let myself accept that yet,” she finished, sure in her reply. “I knew it before you told me, and I knew it after you told me. I know it all the time. I know it in the way you look at me, the way you touch me, and the way you don’t,” she continued through a low whisper. “I always knew, deep down. But everytime you cracked open that vulnerability into my life it wound up shutting close my own.”

Stiles nodded, not even trying to conceal his hurt this time around. She sympathetically tilted her jaw, stepping a little closer to him. Stiles pressed his tongue to his cheek with a pained little wheeze and burrowed his hands into the back pockets of his torn jeans.

“With you it was always simple. You’re Stiles. Sweet, funny, kind, Stiles. But then-” she faltered, “then you showed me this part of yourself I’d never seen and it scared me. The way it made me feel was new, and frightening, a-and it made me,” she closed her eyes, “made me feel something I didn’t understand. But I couldn’t let myself into that feeling or I knew it would consume me, Stiles. Because suddenly you were-” she stopped.

His big hazel eyes glued to hers, his manner softening as for the first time ever, she did the heartfelt talking.

“Suddenly you weren’t Stiles my best friend. You were something else. But something else was scary and uncertain, and meant losing that simplicity in the process. And that’s when Void came along. He was…also scary and uncertain.”

“And you chose him,” Stiles said.

She laughed mockingly, her lips tilting sloppily on her face.

“Where am I, Stiles? Right now, where am I? Am I choosing him now?” she said, staring him dead in his eyes.

Stiles opened his mouth a little, his words less aggressive “you did when there was a choice.”

“I did because it was the easier choice.”

This shut him right up.

“With Void, there was passion, and excitement,” she laughed sadly. “But there was also nothing to lose, and that made it easy,” she said. “Still. I ended up proving my own self wrong because there was, in fact, something to lose, and that was the unexpected.”

Stiles nodded, running his tongue over his lips knowingly, “love.”

She nodded.

“And that made me even more afraid of you. Because if losing love with him felt like- like this-” she shook her head, “how could I live with knowing I could lose you?”

She stepped a little closer, and the pieces came slowly together in Stiles’ head as he let her speak.

“Why didn’t you ever talk to me like this?” he both shrugged and sighed together.

“Because by the time I realized, I was already in love with Void. And what kind of person would that make me if I did?” she admitted guiltily, her breath short.

The rain pattered harder now, flurrying past them and backdropping their conversation like a bystanding crowd.

“Realized what?” Stiles said, still oblivious as he rubbed his sweater covered wrist to his forehead with discomfort.

She let a short sigh out and tilted her head at him with a weak smile. Seeing her expression, his arm dropped, and his entire demeanor flipped. His brows came together as his eyes flickered with curious confusion over her face.

“(Y/N)-” he opened his mouth slowly. “Realized what?”

She drew closer now, so close their chests almost touched. Stiles, being taller than her, arched over her form as he looked down at her with those beautiful wide eyes.

“You said, when I kissed you, it had to be just me. Me wanting you and only you,” she phrased slowly, latching her gaze from his eyes to his lips and back up.

“Where am I, Stiles?” she said again.

He stuttered a wordless reply as she brought a hand to his cheek, rubbing her thumb against his freckled face with a timid smile.

“I wanted to kiss you that night. And when you told me you loved me. And that first night we lay in your sheets. And a long time before that,” she admitted. “Only now I’m not scared.”

He didn’t move, and he let every action and urge be her own as he awaited her finish.

“See, whatever the risk is, I’m not scared. Because…because the only pain worse than losing you is not even having you in the first place.”

She stopped, letting the rain go on a little so that her next words would be clear as day for him.

“I love you, Stiles Stilinski. I always did.”

Then she bent up on her toes and touched him. She didn’t kiss him, she just felt him. Felt what it was like to have him. She ran her fingers down the bridge of his pointed nose, then traced his jaw, his high cheekbones, and finally his rounded lips. She felt herself having to chew her own lips to stop from devouring him in that moment. Because she wanted it, bad, but she couldn’t. No, she would do it after everything was over, when the whole mess had come to an end, she decided. Feeling his piney-dark scent waft into her lungs, she slipped a little and re-caught her breath. Her fingers started twitching because she wanted the boy so bad, so she let them fall. Then, for just a second, she brought his hand up to her heart, so he could feel the truth in its alarmingly fast pound through her aching chest. She fluttered her eyes between both of his, practically going cross eyed from not being able to decide where she wanted to look first. She pursed her lips harshly, needing immediate distance to stop from doing what she wanted to do. His golden gaze looked unbelievingly down at her as she sunk back down to the balls of her feet. Then, feeling giddy and unbalanced, she turned and walked crookedly away to the door.

“You were wrong, by the way,” she stopped at the door.

She turned a little to catch Stiles’ glowering face and frozen position.

“About figuring out Void. It was clever, but also wrong.”

Stiles, still shellshocked, couldn’t even move his lips into a reply.

“I would’ve kissed you back.”

And she closed the door, drifting down the stairs on her hammering heart-rate.

Stiles followed her a few minutes afterwards, meeting the rest of the pack downstairs, where they did as Scott asked and waited. When told (Y/N) would be coming they all threw the still out-of-it Stiles a raised brow, to which he stuttered out something about being stronger in numbers, making her smile. Feeling cooped up, they moved outside onto the entrance to the house, sat down on the step ledge, and peered out at the sky of grey. Shortly after, Isaac sat slowly down beside (Y/N) and stared thoughtfully at the falling silver sheets with her.

“You finally tell him?” he said through a cheeky grin.

She felt her face go red as she turned her eyes to his upturned lips.

“How do you-” she started.

“Please,” he chuckled, “the idiot practically tripped down the stairs after you.”

She couldn’t help but snort a little, turning her head to give Stiles a look and seeing him opposite to her on the porch, his angled jaw bent towards the rain and his body unusually stiff. He seemed to be keeping a purposeful distance from her, which she brushed off.

“Got me,” she admitted, eyeing the curly golden haired boy and his gentle blue eyes.

He twitched his lips, a little sadder this time.

“Good,” he mumbled.

“Hey,” her brows furrowed, “what?”

“No, it’s just nice that you two, you know…you make each other happy,” he ran a hand through his curls and turned his head to the muddy ground.

“Isaac,” her shoulders sagged with sympathy as she put an arm around him.

Understanding what he had meant, she just held him there, his face stony and solemn with the grief of his loss. She rubbed her fingers softly against the back of his white tee until he was ready to speak.

“I’m moving to France,” he said suddenly.

“What?” she released him, shaking her head with surprise.

“When this is over,” he said softly, looking to her. “I’m capturing that bastard. And then I’m leaving.”

“Isaac-” she gaped with hurt.

“Hey,” he wrapped his fingers around her knee with a forced smile, “I have to do this. For me.”

His expression begged for understanding, and so understanding she gave him.

“O-okay,” she nodded slowly.

He smiled, kindly this time, “okay.”

And then his phone rang, precisely at the moment that both Stiles’ and Scott’s did. The whole group snapped to look at the three as the boys lunged for their devices and placed them to their ears, chattering quietly before dropping the calls and staring first at each other and then at the pack.

“The nogitsune attacked the hospital where my mom is,” Scott said, trying to convey a failed sense of calmness.

“And my dad at the Station,” Stiles said with a similar demeanor.

“And Derek’s got the triskelion box,” Isaac stated.

Lydia, Kira, and (Y/N) blinked at them wordlessly for a whole five seconds, the reality of the moment hitting them like a bus.

“Okay,” (Y/N) said calmly at last.

“Issac, Malia, go get Derek, Ethan, and Aiden, then meet us once we’ve tracked down Void. We don’t know if he’ll head for us or the box first. But if he knows about it, the boys are going to need your help to keep it out of his hands.”

Isaac and Malia nodded understandingly.

“Scott. You’ll need all hands on deck, so we’ll stick with you. We just need to get to Void at his next location and stop him before he wreaks more havoc.”

“Are we s’posed to wait here until word of where he is?” Kira fidgeted.

“No,” the girl shook her head. “I think I know where he’s going. Keep your phones close in case I’m wrong, kay?”

They all nodded, their eyes afraid but trusting as they looked intently at her with a sort of panicked admiration. Seeing the fear in their eyes, she rubbed her lips together and stepped forward.

“We’re going to do this,” she said, softly and confidently. “Together.”

They murmured in agreement, the pressure of the time at hand crushing the oxygen out of their lungs collectively. Then, seeing each other’s faces, they all collapsed into each other, their arms entangling as they formed one mass of collective love in their squashy hug. They let go, bleary eyed and short of breath, looking to (Y/N) for one final word.

“For Allison,” she smiled brokenly, her lip trembling.

They reached for each other’s hands, squeezing before disappearing into the rain, “for Allison.”

…

They divided and conquered, (Y/N) jumping through the rain and into Stiles’ cozy jeep as they slammed the gas and rumbled to their destination. Stiles, shaking droplets from his chocolate hair and onto his black hoodie, gripped the steering wheel with a sense of urgency.

“You were really good back there,” he said to the road.

“Thanks,” she replied to the road.

“Is your dad gonna be okay?” she asked.

“Dunno.”

Stiles flipped the windshield wipers on to clear the rain stomped glass, never peeling his focus from the headlights before him.

“Scott’s mom?” she tried.

“Dunno.”

She sighed with defeat, wishing well but feeling her stomach churn.

“Are you okay?” she asked him gently.

He paused this time, squeezing his lips together with focus, “dunno.”

She could practically see the million thoughts running through that boy’s mind, and it worried her further. As the car rumbled noisily, she thought truly of what they were doing. Herself, her friends, and the boy she was now outwardly in love with were walking head first into the boy she…had mixed feelings for- and his insane trap, armed only with a blade, some fangs, and a little hope alone. Without realizing, she had started tapping her foot annoyingly against her seat, her hands fidgeting at the window button beside her to give her something to do. She only realized this when she noticed Stiles doing practically the same thing. Her eyes moved from his tapping fingers to his shaking jaw, and she did the only thing she could think of. Leaning forward, she peeled one of Stiles’ veiny hands from the wheels and laced it through her fingers, looking at their long slender form and the way they molded perfectly against her noticeably smaller hands. Stiles seemed to calm at once, the movements slowing but his eyes remaining glued forward.

“Thanks,” he muttered adorably.

He used his free hand to turn into the Beacon Hills parking lot with a sharp turn, pulling up as close to the school as he could and parking. The others clearly were going a little slower, as Stiles’ jeep was the only vehicle to be seen and he had been going well over the speed limit. When he stopped the car, he took his hand back so he could lean forward against the steering wheel, still calm and quiet as ever. She awaited his words, which she could see him piecing slowly together in his cluttered brain.

“Are you okay?” he asked finally, snapping his head to look at her.

She tilted her head to the side, “y-yeah. I think.”

He just stared at her.

“(Y/N), that’s- you know who we’re- what we’re-” he fumbled, resting his head onto the steering wheel.

“Yes I know Void Stiles is in there,” she finished for him softly. “Yes I’d be lying if I said I don’t have that part of me that for some godforsaken reason still cares. Yes I have no idea what the fuck is going to happen or if I’m coming back out of that building, Stiles,” she stressed.

He raised his big golden eyes sadly up to hers.

“Yes I don’t know-” she paused, catching her breath, “I don’t know if you will either.”

He tilted his face sadly up at her.

“If I don’t-” he started.

“Shut up,” she stopped him, “please.”

“If I don’t-” he tried again.

“Don’t,” she said through her teeth, her cheeks flaring up with heat. “Tell me when it’s over.”

Stiles did his little nervous face rub thing and blinked his beautiful lashes at her.

“I-” she sighed at him, her heart racing at just the sight of his face, “I can’t have this be my last memory of you. A telling of your own demise.”

Stiles chewed his lip, then, shaking his head, gave a weak but genuine little giggle.

“What?” she glared.

“Sorry,” he grinned his white teeth at her. “The love of my life told me she was in love with me today, and while that’s a moment I’ve pictured in my head a million times over it was never one that was immediately followed by us dying. And now I’ve spent the possible last hour of my life with a brain so fried with disbelief that I let her walk out on me and proceeded to say nothing to her.”

She grumbled incoherently, not seeing how this was amusing.

His smile fell, “I’m an idiot. So please, let me tell you. If I don’t make it out of this-”

Infuriated that he’d have another go at it, and not sure how else to make it stop, she clicked off her seat belt and went diving out of his car and stomping out into the pouring rain. It hit her shoulders like bullets, her hair and clothes sticking to her face instantly as she pushed through the empty parking lot and through the sheets that smacked her skin. She ignored the noise of the car door behind her, and the approaching footsteps, and she turned only when she was grabbed from behind, Stiles spinning her by her shoulders to face him. She went slamming straight into his muscular chest, knocking the wind out of her lungs and making him go stepping backwards with a wobble.

“Don’t,” her voice cracked.

She hadn’t even realized there were tears coming from her eyes as they blended so easily with the rain. Stiles, seeing this, shook his head and swung his head sideways with hurt, his eyes going huge and sad. He brought his hands up from her shoulders to her face, grabbing her so tightly in his palms that he could pick her up.

“DON’T SAY IT,” she had to practically scream over the rain to hear herself.

He opened his mouth, but seeing her face, shut it. The rain cascaded down his beautifully bent frame, narrow shoulders, and freckled cheekbones, and at any other time she could’ve just stood and marvelled at the sight for hours. To signify sincerity, Stiles mimicked zipping his lips, then raised up his pinky in a promise. She narrowed her eyes a little, hesitantly wrapping her own pinky around his before releasing a sigh and attempting to turn. While he let her pinky go, Stiles quickly had a firm grip around her wrists, and she went spinning once more into him, only this time as she turned, she saw in his big hazel eyes everything he wanted to say in only a split second. For the second it happened, he was arching himself down, grabbing the girl’s hips, and quite literally lifting her right off of the ground and crashing into his lips. She didn’t even try to stop herself this time. That was it. One taste of his lips and she was utterly gone, her hands flying up to grab the back of his head in one swift motion. His own hands gripped her by her cheeks, giving him full control over her lips. And he did control her. He dominated her movements, forcing a hard, fast, desperate kiss like she’d never felt. His tongue went in her mouth and she let it, revelling in how good it felt to be kissed like this, like the world could end in the next moment, which it very much could. He kissed her like a boy so in love with her for years would when he finally got the chance. He kissed her with such emotion, like she could feel every single kiss he’d wanted to give her before was now meeting her lips. They went stumbling back, Stiles’ back hitting the jeep, a flurry of water droplets pelting them as the two molded their lips in perfect harmony together. And when he did let her go, water dripping down his face like a Greek God’s, she was smiling, and he was too.

“I LOVE YOU!” he screamed over the rain.

“I LOVE YOU!” she screamed right back.

He laughed, a dazzling laugh so beautiful it broke through they grey clouds, and he kissed her gently, one more time, as Scott’s car rounded the corner. The headlights illuminated the two as Scott, Lydia, and Kira came out of the car, just in time to see, well, nothing. Stiles and (Y/N)  stood feet apart, meeting them halfway in the rain.

“READY?!” Scott roared.

“READY!”

The group went bustling into the school halls, the doors coming closed behind them and immediately silencing the rain behind them. It was scary, how it went from pattering to instant and dreary silence. The halls were empty and lightless, and devoid of life. The pack signalled each other wearily as they made down the hallways. Their footsteps were the only sound as they rounded the first corner, meeting another empty hall. And then they turned another corner.

“You sure he’s here?” Kira whispered.

“It’d make sense. The hospital, the office, and the school. He’s taking them down one by one,” (Y/N) said softly.

What she didn’t add was that this was also where the whole story, well, her and Void’s story, had really begun. But, after enough empty hallways, she was starting to doubt her own theory.

“Maybe he intercepted Isaac with the box,” Scott said.

“Maybe,” Lydia said.

No-one spoke then. It was almost worse, not knowing. She wanted to put a brave face on but truthfully she was terrified. Her heart was in her throat and a layer of sweat gathering on her brow, her breaths coming just as shakily as everyone else’s. They were turning down the final hallway, seconds from losing hope, when she saw it. It was practically the most terrifying thing she’d ever seen. While he wasn’t necessarily moving or doing anything, it only proved to frighten her more. For there, still as a statue, stood the unmistakable silhouette of Void Stiles, who waited patiently for them. His back was turned to the others, but his jaw was at a perfect left angle. His arms were folded behind his back, and his voice was deadly low when he spoke.

“Hello.”

Not one person responded.

“Rude, not to reply,” he said, turning.

What little light there was illuminated his face as he did, and it was ghostly pale as ever, the dark rings marking his eyes distinct even in the shadows. His eyes went from person to person, starting with Scott, then Lydia, Kira, Stiles, and-

“(Y/N),” he cocked his head with an infuriating little smirk, “how kind of you to attend my funeral.”

Suddenly, all confidence she had in her ability to face him seemed to disappear, and her tongue went dry and stiff in her mouth.

“That’s-” he laughed, a sarcastic, bitter laugh, “now that’s hilarious. The woman I love has come to put me down.”

She screamed as he appeared instantly before her, his nose brushing hers as he bared his teeth at her. Kira lunged forward but Void vanished back to the end of the hall again.

“Sorry. Wanted to see that look in your eyes. The scared one. The too afraid one,” he grinned. “No, you can’t do it, can you?”

Suddenly she felt a breath on her ear and two hands on her hips. They were unmistakably his, and so was that low little whisper, just loud enough for her, “you still love me.”

This time Lydia went to grab at him, but, again, he vanished.

“You hate me,” he said, now loud enough for everyone to hear, “but, still,” he smiled crookedly.

She absolutely hated seeing him like this. Like how he used to be. There was no good in that thing’s soul. There was only cruelty in his dark black eyes, hooded with a fiery anger that had no intention of being snuffed out. He really was gone this time.

“Ah,” he tsked softly, “you’re all so cute. You and your divine move. Aww,” he cooed sympathetically. “You caught me. Boo hoo. But I still know you’re motive. You’re trying to get me in that damn box and it’s not going to happen. My oni already took care of your little messengers, so what ever part of your little plan factored them in is gone,” he laughed happily. “Poof!”

“What did you do to them?!” Scott growled.

“Oh, you know how it goes. I produce Oni, Oni do their job, yada yada. You’ll remember, right? Because of Allison.”

Knowing both his tricks, and that Malia and Isaac were equipped with silver arrowheads, boosted her confidence, but apparently not enough for Scott, who bounded forwards with a growl, Stiles unmoving as the alpha went to grab him. He waited until the very last moment to reappear just before the hall doors, teasing, “come get me.”

On fire with rage, the five went bursting through the hall doors, gaping when they all fell through into a frozen flurry. Where the outdoors normally was lay a whole new snowy realm, in which the nogitsune, in its true form, stood. (Y/N) gasped in horror, as this was her first time seeing the bandaged, black mouthed demon before her, who stood in the clouds of white with its disgusting arms pulled back. Around them were decaying trees, a frozen lake, and a never ending expanse of white.

“There’s an easy way to make this all end,” the nogitsune spat through black foam. “A sacrifice,” it proposed.

The snow caught in the girls lashes as she stood bent forwards against the snow with her friends, unexpecting of the change, as were the others. Not knowing what to do given the circumstances, she spoke.

“What do you want?!” she said.

She knew the plan but there was no way to get close, especially with the nogitsune’s mind tricks bending their surroundings at will.

“You,” it growled through its pointed teeth, the bandaged man filthily standing out against the white snow.

“But,” it spat, “I can’t have that. Now without him.”

The nogitsune brought a shaky finger up to Stiles, whose face went whiter than snow itself.

“Kill him,” it growled, “and I’ll let you all live.”

“Liar,” the girl hissed, recalling his words from long ago, “never trust a fox.”

“No,” it argued, “not this time.”

Kira, fed up, jumped forward with her blade unsheathed, but the nogitsune knocked her to the snow, which turned to cement under her. She groaned out in pain as their surroundings changed, and they stood outdoors near the school, where, beside them, lay a bleeding Isaac and Malia.

“You can still save them,” it said through the leaking substance in its mouth.

“No,” the girl breathed in horror, seeing her friends bleeding out on the pavement beside her.

“This isn’t real!” Lydia shrieked with fury. “STOP IT THIS ISN’T REAL!”

“But you can’t know that for sure,” it foamed at the mouth.

Their surroundings changed again, this time into what was literally just an endless void of black as far as the eyes could reach, with nothing above, below, or around them. The group huddled together instinctively, their bodies all shaking with visible fear.

“I can’t get close enough,” Scott said to them under his breath.

“We have to,” Lydia breathed through her bleary eyes.

The nogitsune started flickering their surroundings again, so fast nobody could even catch where they were by the time it had changed again. Finally, he settled for the familiar snowy backdrop. Kira struggled to get back on her feet, slowly dragging her body up and stumbling back to her friends.

“There is no divine move,” it spat with amusement. “I’ve already won the game. I have you exactly where I want and I could have you dead in seconds,” it leered.

“So who shall I start with?” it taunted, “(Y/N)?”

“I’ll do it.”

Stiles had said it so softly almost nobody heard at first.

“Kill me,” he said, louder this time. “Just don’t hurt them.”

“Stiles!” the girl retorted in protest.

“Please,” he laughed softly. “He’s right. We’re cornered and you know it. We can’t- We can’t do what was supposed to happen,” he said through his teeth, still reluctant to reveal the divine move to nogitsune, still grasping onto the shred of hope that might save them. But why would he do such a thing if he was about to let himself die?

Stiles stepped backwards towards the nogitsune, his eyes communicating silently to the girl as he extended his hand for Kira’s blade.

“You have to do it,” he told (Y/N) softly.

She looked at him, nodding with understanding and taking the sword.

They both turned to the nogitsune, who rattled with amusement as Stiles fell to the snow on his knees and awaited the next move. The girl looked down at the shivering boy and back to the filthy nogitsune with her pleading eyes. She breathed shakily as she gripped the blade with both hands and raised it above her head. She counted down as the silver gleamed in the snow, and so came what needed to be done. Five, the blade came to position. Four, it was swinging up with determination. Three, it was coming swishing through the air. Two, it flew down towards the ground. One, she released it. Stiles flinched and her friends all screamed. Only it never made its target. It instead flew towards the nogitsune’s feet, whizzing past the ground and connecting with its legs just as Stiles rolled out from under her and she lunged forwards towards the demon. The blade met flesh and it youwled out in pain, her fist simultaneously connecting with its front. The nogitsune’s eyeless face drew up to look at the girl, and the bandages fell from its face as the world disappeared from around her, along with all of her friends.

“W-what?”

It was dead silent. The girl looked around in a panic at what she knew to be the tunnels Void had kept her in previous to Allison’s death. All of her friends were gone, and it was just her and Stiles. Void Stiles, that was, with his second face on. But there were two of him, and two of her, too. The other her was collapsed on the ground, and the other him was crumpled down beside her.

“What’s going on?!” she gaped, looking up at present-day nogitsune.

A faint dripping sound reached her ears, the tunnels a bluish and dank place.

“(Y/N),” he said softly, his eyes horrified as he looked around himself and reached a shaky hand out to her.

She went stumbling away from him with shock, her face revolted, “don’t touch me.”

“Wait,” he begged, “please.”

And his voice was so soft and gentle that she almost believed him. But-

“Stop,” she hissed through her teeth. “Don’t pull this- this act-”

“No,” he begged with desperation. “Please, I- I need you to understand. Please take my hand.”

The still image around her buzzed a little, and the girl, still overwhelmed, shook her head.

“Tell me what you want,” she ignored him. “I don’t care. Just stop this. Stop hurting them,” she pleaded.

“Take my hand,” he ignored her.

“What kind of filthy trick do you think this is?!” she spat through a sob.

His pale skin was hollow and his chapped lips were bent into a broken frown. The bright purple rings beneath his eyes sunk deep in the shadows of the tunnel. And his slender white fingers reached for her with certainty, his purple veins standing out against his white flesh.

“Take. My. Hand.” he stressed each word softly, his voice smooth like silk.

She took in a rattling breath, and hated herself for how much that voice swayed her. Also, seeing no other option, she obliged. She took a slow step forward and extended her fingertips, ever so slowly lacing them through his frozen ones. And then something unexpected happened. She felt the frozen picture around her moving, and it slowly came to life as both she and Stiles touched. Her hand warmed his cool skin as she realized what played before her was a memory. The final missing link in her post-body-transfer blackout, and one she didn’t even know she was missing. Together, they stood back and watched.

“Hey, hey,” Stiled lay sprawled on his knees, the girl’s body lying limp in his arms.

She was unresponsive, and the shock in his eyes triggered something in him.

“(Y/N), wake up,” he begged, shaking her harder and scooping her tighter to his chest.

He ran a pale finger down the side of her cheek, moving the hair from her face.

“Please,” he choked quietly, his face stricken with panic.

And then, with a rattling breath, the girls mouth opened, and a small firefly fled her lips as she did so.

The girl gasped to life, sitting bolt upright in Stiles’ arms and grabbing him for support as the creature flew itself back into the nogitsune’s body. He shook unsteadily and panted with relief, bringing her into a death gripping hug.

“What- what’s going on?” she mumbled in confusion, blinking her eyes up to the leaky ceiling and instinctively wrapping her arms around his front.

“You’re okay,” he cooed, bringing his fingers gently through her hair. “You’re okay and that’s all that matters.”

She was so disoriented that she just sat there and hugged him until she had the strength to speak.

Her eyes seemed to realize something, “you- you stole my body.”

“I know,” he grimaced apologetically, “I know and I’m sorry. I’m sorry, I was just trying to save myself, a-and then I was gonna put you right back.”

She stared up into his glimmering black eyes, “and did you?”

He sighed with defeat, “no. No. No, and it’s so much worse than I thought.”

“Wha-” she started.

“No,” he silenced her. “Listen. Listen, okay? There’s not much time.”

He fought her with his gaze, and she lost silently to his battle, nodding with defeat.

“I took over, just long enough to find out this divine move of yours because, I- Im selfish, okay? I’m not meant to die. I can’t die. But then-” he rambled, “then your friends started catching on to me. And it’s also when I realized a lot of very badly timed things.”

She looked at him, bewildered, and signalled that he may go on. He wrapped a hand around hers and pulled her up to her feet, continuing.

“When I took over Stiles’ body and they separated me. There were two of us, and the only way to sustain that supernatural imbalance was for me to hurt people, right? And so when I didn’t I got very weak, and that’s why I started feeding again, it was all that could keep me alive. The nogitsune feeds on pain when it’s itself because it wants to. It feeds on pain when it’s possessed a body because it needs to. But then, you see-” he said, “I split again. Only this time I possessed you. Except I hadn’t been feeding since you caught me, and so I was already weak. And I didn’t want to use your body to feed, but if I didn’t I would die. So, and I’m sorry, but I double split again, so I could feed and do it in this body instead of yours. But that made me even weaker, and hungrier, and crueler. And this was only a few days ago. Right after you took me to Deaton. I’ve been slipping in and out of it ever since,” he said.

“What are you saying?” (Y/N) shook her head with confusion.

He squeezed her hand gently and pressed on.

“I realized that I was feeling less and less like myself, rather, like the me who you made me, and more and more like the demon I originally was. I was blacking out and going practically crazy, but then I just figured it out!” he exclaimed.

“Wh-what?” she blinked up at his urgent, dark eyes.

“That cure Deaton tried giving me,” he said. “It was supposed to repress the dark parts of myself so that only the one side of me would show, while the evil side was contained. And it worked,” he breathed, “but it worked in reverse.”

Her heart stopped and she gaped at him in disbelief, “s-so?”

“So it’d been repressing the good instead of the bad. The nogitsune is repossessing me as an evil spirit and trapping down the good parts. And the divine move isn’t shit to me anymore because as soon as this demon catches up to me I’m going to go right back to being your worst nightmare. See, because-” he organized his thoughts, “when I say I don’t want to die, the nogitsune means it in the unbeatable supernatural kind of way. And that’s what it was to me, at first. But not anymore. I mean it in the-”

He looked at her, his eyes softening, “in the I-have-something-to-live-for way.”

She felt her body relax, unable to stop herself from glowering at his words.

“And ever since I repossessed this second body, the anti-cure has been working even faster because I’m in such a fragile state. And I realized all of this as your friends realized you weren’t you. And I panicked and fled here so I could give you back your body and explain it all to the only person who would listen. And now they’re all on their way here. And I’m running out of time.”

He finished his speech short, sweet, and desperate.

“What do I do!?” (Y/N) said with alarm.

“I have no clue when the nogitsune is going to take me under again,” he said. “But when it does, I might be gone for good. So I need you to remember everything I’ve told you, tell your friends, and somehow temporarily put me down.”

“How?!” she said.

“I don’t know, hit me really hard. Or if I’m him, use that damn divine move,” he shook his head and stared her down frantically.

“You have to get me back to Deaton. Have him re-do the ritual, and this time it’ll work as it should, flipping its original effect and putting down the nogitsune for good.”

She nodded, her heart leaping bounds in her chest.

“Do that for me, okay?” he asked.

“Mhm,” she breathed shakily.

“And if you can’t,” he stressed urgently, “put me down for good. And then don’t ever let me back out.”

“You know I can’t-” she protested at once.

“(Y/N), dammit I don’t have time for this. Promise me.”

He cupped either side of her face with his hands boring his gaze down into her, and rubbing his thumb against her skin until she calmed just enough to give him a sad little nod. She didn’t cry. She was too overwhelmed. She just breathed heavily and stared at him with a mixture of emotions and a quivering lip.

“One more,” he whispered, “just in case.”

“One more wha-” she began.

He silenced her with his lips, and she fell still, kissing the boy as he kissed her, with a sort of gentleness he’d never mustered before. He squeezed her lightly and assuredly, and when he pulled away it was he who was crying. He blinked through his long lashes, and she touched away his teardrops as he gave her one last smile before collapsing to the ground.

“Stiles!” she bent down.

He released a low groan, and flung his arm out to push her away.

“GO!” he demanded.

“Stiles-”

Then she saw his eyes, flickering in and out from dark to just plain lifeless. And a moment later, he was glitching in and out of it completely, from Stiles’ body to this bloody and bandaged mess on the cold and wet ground. He convulsed violently, a scream leaving his lips.

“GO NOW!” Stiles cried out in pain.

Her heart raced as she gave him one last glance and turned with panic towards a possible escape. Her feet hit the shallow puddles as she went, her boots skidding to a stop as the nogitsune, in its filthy and terrifying form, appeared before her. She yelped out, clutching at her hammering heart and restraining a scream.

“Your friends are here,” it spat through a soggy black foam. “And so are my Oni. Such a shame it will be when someone is hurt.”

“No-” she shook, “no I’ll find them-”

“Too late,” it said jovially, “one is already gone.”

Her heart just seemed to vanish altogether.

“No,” she gasped, her heart failing her now as tears burned at her eyes, “NO PLEASE.”

“The girl loved you,” it went on cooly, liquid dripping from its mouth, “ran headfirst in here when she found out you were gone.”

She knew at once.

“Allison.”

“Allison,” it repeated through a low rattle.

She couldn’t handle that. Her knees gave out, and she went grasping at the grimy wall as she fell hard onto her knees, the earth shattering beneath her. All of it went away. Everything. And she cried out her friend’s name with a similarly earth shattering force.

“Don’t worry,” the nogitsune clicked, “you’ll soon forget.”

The girl’s face burned, her eyes red, tears all down her face, her hands deep in the pool of dirty water as she sobbed uncontrollably into the ground.

“You’ll forget,” it said calmly, reaching a bandaged hand towards her.

And then she did forget.

The memory stopped, and the girl, silent, felt her throat close. She turned to Stiles, who was already staring right at her, his face knowing.

“See,” he whispered.

“Oh- oh my god,” she choked softly, the pieces coming together like a puzzle.

Stiles’ pale face stared kindly at her, and his ringed eyes were filled with empathy.

“He took that memory,” Stiles said. “Only I could give it back. But- but that me out there, the one you’re fighting right now-”

“Isn’t actually you-” she breathed.

“Only the worst parts,” he finished.

“Oh my- FUCK-” she brought her hands to her face with anguish and raked her nails down her skin. “That night you tried coming to me, when I turned you away-”

“That was me,” he nodded. “That was the last time I was me.”

She burrowed her face deeper in her palms, “and I turned you away. You wanted to tell me, and I turned you away.”

She stifled a cry and slammed her boots into the ground, kicking up a flurry of water as she turned and then slammed her fists into the wall. Stiles let her let out the anger, just staring softly at her with understanding.

“It’s okay,” he said affectionately.

She raised her red eyes up to him, shaking her head, “I’m so sorry.”

“It’s okay,” he cooed again.

“Come here.”

And she slinked, with no energy, into his arms, collapsing into his embrace. And it felt so good and familiar to be there, wrapped in Stiles’ arms, right where she belonged. He whispered softly to her, caressing her skin and planting the softest of kisses to her forehead. It was he who let her go, and he gave her a look she knew too well.

“You can’t,” she tilted her head. “I love him.”

He nodded surely, his eyes sad, “I know. I know that. It’s okay.”

And he let his thumb brush her skin for just a moment longer, just one last time.

She looked up at him, and somehow, in that moment, there seemed to be a resolve between them both. This was all going to end. She knew that now, she could feel it in her blood. All she had to do was finish it. 

“How do I get out of here?” she asked finally, staring at the frozen time around them.

“I let you out. Just like I let you in. But when I do, you’ll go back, and I won’t be me, okay?”

She nodded, flickering her eyes over his face.

“You know what to do?” he asked. 

Get him down. Knock him out. Use the antedote. Save the boy.

“I do,” she said, having never been more sure of herself.

“Ready?” he breathed, twitching his lips up into a little smile when she nodded.

Then he brought his hand to hers, fitting it snugly against her palm, his eyes closing as that soft voice rang out around her, echoing as he spoke.

“Three. Two. One.”

fin.

a/n2: soo, epilogue?

The category is arms

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Fem!Reader Summary: The three times Bucky Barnes was late.  Word count : 865 A/N: This was written for @buckybarnesbingo​​ romance fluffathon! I hope you guys like it. Prompt: Cutie, Chocolate, Cupid

The three times Bucky Barnes was late.

- The first time - 

The bakery was bustling. People slowly milled about practically zombies without their morning coffee. The morning rush went by quickly and you were so run off your feet you barely had a moment to breathe in between the lattes,cappuccinos and muffin orders thrown at you.

Finally the rush died down, leaving the bakery almost empty save for one of your regulars, an old man named Herb enjoying his tea over the newspaper in the corner.

The tiny bell over your door rung and it almost surprised you. Looking up from your bowl of brownie mix, a tall man with a baseball cap tipped low on his head was walking in.

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5 First Kisses with Bucky Barnes

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Reader Summary: 5 first kisses with Bucky Warnings: light smut A/N: It’s been a while since I’ve posted a one shot. I know there’s a million different 5 types of something floating around and this is my take on it hahah. Come let me know what you think! Word count : 2,195

The first first kiss

Your mother always told you that your first kiss would be magical. It’d feel like the world had stopped spinning around you. Your hearts would beat as one, breaths mingling as you felt electricity prickle through your veins but the older you got, the less you believed her. Until, you met Bucky Barnes.

It had started in a quaint bookshop when you had tripped and sent your small stacks of books flying. An array of colourful paperbacks flew on to the wooden floorboard as you landed with a muted ooft. Most people had seen what happened but when you seemed relatively unscathed they turned back to perusing the stacked shelves. So when you saw someone crouch next to you, you were surprised.

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