▸Shape Of You - Ed Sheeran

"My mother had a hypnotist who helped her quit smoking." Lydia said as she wrote on a notepad. The rest of us were looking for a lighter and a candle. "She had me see the same one when I was 10."

"You smoked when you were 10?" Scott asked, turning to face her as he opened a locker.

"No. I bit my fingernails." Lydia told him. "Just find a lighter or a candle, please."

"Too much?" Malia held up a blowtorch with a lit flame.

"Uh...it should work. I think." I frowned, looking through the cabinets.

"I got one." Scott ran up to us, holding up a small white candle. He saw the blowtorch in Malia's hand, perking an eyebrow. We went to the table. Biting my lip, I slowly took a seat. Scott placed the candle on the table and Malia lit it. "What's that?"

"An induction script. One of us is going to talk Nevah through this." Lydia held up the notepad.

"I'm nervous. Should I be nervous?" I looked at my friends with wide eyes.

"You'll be fine." Lydia smiled, giving my shoulder a squeeze. "It's better than freezing yourself into a trance-like daze."

"I want to read it." Lydia handed the script to Malia. "So I just read?"

"Well, you have to soften your voice. Keep it relaxed but not monotone .Go for clarity, not volume. Try it." Lydia explained.

"Take a deep breath and look at the candle." Malia awkwardly read the script.

"Uh," I gave her a sheepish smile. "Not really working."

"I'll try it." Scott grabbed the script and started to read it. "Take a deep breath and look at the candle. Feel the muscles in your body begin to relax. Your hands relaxing. Your eyelids relaxing."

Taking a deep breath in, I followed Scott's instructions. Soon, I felt myself go into a daze. When I opened my eyes, I was in the Preserve.

"As you relax, imagine you're sitting in front of a TV. When you turn the TV on, it's going to play memories from your life. The remote gives you total control. You can play any memory you want. All you have to do, is hit the button."

In front of me was a TV and I had a control in my hand. Anxiously licking my lips, I turned the TV on. I was looking at my schedule in the school hallway when Stiles walked up to me.

"Nevah?" I hummed and looked up to see Stiles. "What are you doing here?"

"I was forced to enroll into Tartarus." I grumbled, waving my schedule.

"Oh." Stiles grimaced. He licked his lips anxiously. "You believe me right? About Theo?"

"Yeah, why?" I said, shoving my schedule into my black skinny jeans. I was too lazy to put it into my backpack. 

"I need your help."

"Are we getting his ass caught?" I arched an eye brow. Stiles grinned and nodded. "Say no further. What do you need me to do?"

"Try to find a memory of Stiles. A memory where you felt a connection with him." I heard Scott say.

I hit the button again. I was in my room, bundled up in a blanket. My nose was red, showing that I was sick. I was IM'ing Stiles.

"Why are you staring at me like that?" Stiles pulled me out of my thoughts.

"What?" I hummed, looking at his eyes again.

"You were zoned out for a bit just staring at me."

"I can't look at my handsome boyfriend?" I perked an eyebrow, a lazy grin on my lips.

"Well," Stiles started with a smirk. "If you get to stare at me, then I can get to stare at you, too."

"You already do that." I chuckled. Stiles shrugged, not ashamed of the fact. Yawning, I covered my mouth. "Sorry 'bout that."

"Nah, it's okay. Go ahead and go to sleep. You look like you're about to pass out any second now."

"You sure?"

"I'm sure." As soon as Stiles said this, sleep started to toll on me.

"Okay," I murmured, my eyes closing shut. "Goodnight Stiles. I love you."

"Find another memory. Keep looking for Stiles. Find another memory."

I changed channels again. I was lying in a hospital bed, Stiles playing with my fingers.

"He uh...Theo did something to him I guess. I don't quite know. He had surgery a couple of hours ago and he was doing fine. He was healing. But a couple of minutes ago, they told me he got worse. He's...he looks pretty bad." Stiles breathed out. A tear streamed down his face. My heart ached. I scooted over on my bed, and patted the empty spot. Stiles looked at me confused.

"Come sit here." I whispered. Stiles nodded, getting out of his seat and sitting next to me. I immediately wrapped my arms around him, giving him a hug. Stiles snaked his arms around my waist, crying into my shoulder. Tears pricked my eyes at the sight. He shouldn't have to go through this. He doesn't deserve this. I rubbed my hand in circular motions on his back, trying my best to soothe him. "He's going to be okay. We'll find out why he isn't okay? We'll help him."

Pressing the button again, the screen changed. I tapped on Stiles' Jeep window, scaring him. Stiles looked at me in bewilderment. I gave him a look and pointed at the window. He sighed and cranked the window down.

"No, you aren't coming with us." Stiles immediately said.

"Well, I wasn't going to ask that since Wolf Boy over there," I pointed my chin at Scott, "left Puppy alone and sad. Plus me, you guys are ditching me here."

"Okay, we aren't ditching you. We're trying to protect you." Scott said. I rolled my eyes.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." I waved my hand in dismissal. I looked over at Stiles with a cheesy grin.

"Oh God, what do you want?" Stiles let out.

"Can I borrow your Star Wars movie collection? I'm gonna show Mason and Liam how the real classics look like." Stiles stared at me in shock and then grinned.

"Finally someone who loves Star Wars! You see that, Scott. She likes Star Wars. Nevah, who is a demigod and fights monsters for a living, has seen the freaking movie!"

Tears were starting to weld up in my eyes. I pressed the button again. Stiles and I were sitting on the couch at the McCall's.

"So, uh...you like me?" Stiles' lip twitched upward. He was trying to hold back a smile. I blushed, pressing my lips tightly together and nodded. Stiles smiled. "I uh, I like you too."

"We're so awkward at this." I nervously laughed out, running a hand through my hair.

"Yeah, yeah we are." Stiles chuckled out. "It sucks that you're leaving and we are barely admitting our feelings for each other."

"Yeah." I mumbled out, playing with my fingers. "Yeah, it does. I, uh, I never intended to like anyone or anything like that during this quest you know? I um, I've never actually had this type of feeling before. I'm so used to fighting, running for my life, saving the world, being with the friends and family, ya know. I...this feeling is totally foreign. I never really realized I have feelings for you until people started to point it out. We're literally Aphrodite's ship."

"I'm sorry what?" Stiles looked at me with shock. "The Greek love goddess personally wants us together?"

"Oh yeah. She loves heroic love stories." I rolled my eyes. Looking up through my eyelashes, I saw Stiles rub his jaw. "She visited me at the hospital and then about an hour ago as a dove...she wasn't too happy about me stating that I can't be in a relationship."

"You don't want to be in a relationship?" Stiles asked, staring at me in surprise. I sighed.

"It's harder to explain. For one, I've never been in a relationship. Second, I'm going to be in New York and you're going to be here. I don't even know if I will ever see you guys again. Or...or if something bad happens." I painfully admitted, looking down at my hands. "I don't want to go through that type of pain. I can't. I'm terrified at the thought."

"Well," Stiles said, interlacing his fingers with mine. I looked up at him, staring at his honey colored eyes. "We can make it work, yeah? Give it a try? I understand what you're afraid of. I get it. I won't push you into something you aren't comfortable with. We can take it slow. Long distance relationships can't be as bad as everyone makes it out to be, right?"

"Are you sure?" I asked.

"Totally." Stiles smiled at me. I smiled back, leaning my head against his shoulder.

"Okay. Okay, we can do this."

The screen changed again. My legs were wrapped around Stiles' hips as he held me up. We were in his house.

I traced my finger over Stiles' jawline. A faint smile was on my lips. My heart was fluttering. The one thought that was currently racing through my mind was: I love him.

"Did you just get here?" Stiles murmured, his eyes drifting to my lips.

"Just a few minutes ago. I dropped off my bags at Scott's. I wanted to come see you as soon as possible." I soflty replied. Stiles grinned and nudged his nose against mine. Our lips molded together in synch. I could feel my heart beating faster. Can he feel it?

"So making out, then cuddles?" Stiles asked with a goofy grin. I laughed and lightly smacked his shoulder. With a chuckle, Stiles set me on the ground, his hands now placed on my hips.

"I don't know." I teased, walking away from him. "Cuddling sounds better to me."

"Wha-Nevah! Don't do this to me!" Stiles whined. I grinned and skipped to the living room. I jumped onto the couch, instantly curling up into the arm of the sofa. Stiles let out a groan and went to close the front door. Of course, being the dramatic person that he is, he stomped his way back to me with a pout. He sat next to me and laid his head on my lap. "Hey."

"Hi." I beamed at him. I ran my fingers through his hair. "So, cuddles it is then?"

"I still want to make out." Stiles shrugged.

"Hmm...maybe."

"You're doing this on purpose, aren't you." Stiles narrowed his eyes at me.

"Yes, yes I am." I chuckled.

"That's it. Tickles for you it is!" Stiles sat up.

"Wait! Wait no! Stiles don't you da-" I laughed as soon as his fingers were a few inches away.

"Why are you laughing? I haven't even tickled you yet!" Stiles laughed.

"I don't know! I've always done this! It's not my fault!" I defended myself. Stiles smirked and brought his hands closer to my sides. I squealed, trying to put as much distance between us.

"Oh, this is gold!" Stiles cackled. I giggled and tried to get up from the couch. "Oh, no you don't!"

Stiles wrapped his arms around my waist and tugged me back onto the couch. I was laying on top of him, our noses only centimeters away. My breath hitched in the back of my throat. I blushed at the positon. Stiles' eyes drifted to my eyes and then my lips. He placed a hand on my cheek, rubbing soothing circles into my cheek bone.

Stiles pressed his lips against mine. I closed my eyes as I savored it. His soft lips molded perfectly against mine. Our lips moved in synch. Stiles moved his other hand under the hem of my shirt, placing it on my hip. I sadly couldn't do anything with my hand, since I had to keep myself propped up. We kissed for what seemed eternity to me, before we broke apart.

"Now we can cuddle." Stiles smirked.

I heard people talking behind me. Turning around, I saw myself sitting on the hood of Stiles' Jeep. He stood in front of me.

"I killed Donovan." Stiles blurted out, avoiding eye contact with me.

"What?"

"That night when I stayed late at the library? When I told you guys that my jeep had died and the hood fell on me?" Stiles tucked in his lower lip in between his teeth. "What actually happened was, yes, my jeep did die. And yes I was fixing it. But it wasn't the hood that caused me to get my shoulder hurt."

"What was it then?" I whispered, suddenly afraid of what really happened. Stiles glanced at me before he slid the collar of his shirt down his shoulder. My breath got caught in my throat. There were dark dots, scabs, forming in circles on his shoulder. It was where there was a smaller circle within a larger one and the pattern continued for a bit. I glanced up at Stiles before gently touching it. The rough scabs made me shiver. I drew my hand back, looking up at Stiles who was already staring at me. "What caused that? What happened? Was it Donovan?"

"It was Donovan." Stiles nodded, pulling his collar back up. "He um...he was half-wendigo."

"The cannibals' right?"

"Yeah. He, uh, he had this circular mouth on his hand and he bit me. I managed to get him off of me with my wrench. I ran inside the library to hide. He found me. He kept talking about my dad. I had to get away from him, so I climbed that scaffolding in the library. He followed me and he grabbed my legs. I-I couldn't shake him off of me. He was going to bite me again." Stiles put his face in his hands. He sighed and looked back up at me. "I took out this pin, hoping that it would get him to let me go. Poles fell down and Donovan let go of my leg. When I turned around...Donovan stood on the floor with a pole straight through his chest. He died. I killed him."

"Hey, hey." I got off of the jeep and held his shaking hands. I made sure to make eye contact with him. "That wasn't your fault. You were defending you self. I should know, okay? I do that for a living. I have to kill monsters to keep them from killing me, my friends and innocent people. Stiles, you are no different. You had to save yourself. You didn't mean to kill Donovan. It's okay."

"But will Scott think that?" Stiles mumbled out, drifting his gaze towards the ground.

"He would be stupid not to."

"That's when it happened." I muttered, tears starting to stream down my face.

"When what happened?" Scott asked.

I rolled my eyes and looked up at Stiles. Small scratches lingered on his skin. Frowning, I got out of his hold and cupped his face.

"What?"

"You're hurt. Let me go-"

"Nev, I'm fine. It's just scratches." Stiles said, grabbing a hold of my hands.

"But-"

"I'm fine." Stiles repeated. I sighed and nodded. He grinned and pecked my forehead.

"Thank you. For shielding me." I kissed his cheek. "I could have protected myself, you know?"

"Yeah, I know. Gotta protect my beautiful girlfriend. Even if it's from a dove." Stiles grinned.

"My hero."

"Nevah, what do you mean?"

"Oh, you think this is funny?" Stiles murmured at me.

"Hilarious." I grinned. Stiles narrowed his eyes at me. He grabbed the shoe again, pulling it towards him. The person kicked their foot away, resulting with Stiles hitting his head on a metal bar. My mouth dropped as a hallow clang sounded. "Stiles. Are you okay?"

"Ow." Stiles said, holding a hand against his forehead. He stumbled away from underneath the bleachers, using the metal rods to keep him steady. I followed after him, he seems clumsier than usual. He stopped next to the side rails of the bleachers. Then he fainted. I let out a tiny shriek and went to go help him up.

"Stiles? Stiles are you okay?" I shook him. He groaned and fluttered his eyes.

"I'm great." He muttered, blinking. He tried to stand up but he stumbled a bit. I gave him a look. "I'm totally fine."

"Stay here, I'll go get you an ice pack or something." I helped him up and leaned him against the bleachers. Once I knew he wouldn't faint again, I ran to the nurse station they had with the concession stand. I walked up to the stand and saw that it was currently abandoned. Tilting my head to the side, I looked around. No one was here. They won't miss an ice pack...right? Quickly grabbing one from the ice chest, I ran back towards Stiles. I gently placed it to the bump her grew. "Here."

"Thanks." Stiles muttered, staring at me as he raised his hand to hold the ice pack. I let go once he pressed it against is head. Stiles sighed, making a face as he propped his elbow against the bleachers.

"When what happened?"

"When I told him about my Mom and he trusted me about Donovan." I whispered. "That's when I started to like him. When I started to slowly fall in love with him."

"Nevah, remember how we first met, okay? How I didn't trust you and I ended up falling in love with you." I sobbed, tears streaming down my face. Stiles wiped the tears away. "Hey, hey. You saved our lives. You saved my life. Remember our dates, our laughs, our kisses..."

"Stiles, don't do this. Please, don't do this." I choked out. My heart was hurting. I can't do this. Stiles softly smiled at me. He ran his thumb over my lips, causing me to let out another sob. "Stiles, please. Please don't leave me."

Stiles pressed his lips against mine. I immediately kissed him back, snaking my arms around his neck. He pulled me closer as our lips moved in synch. The taste of salt made this kiss bittersweet. I ran my fingers through his hair, not wanting this moment to end. Stiles broke away, leaning his forehead against mine.

"I love you." I sobbed, pulling him into a hug. I cried into his shoulder. I felt a wetness on the top of my head. Stiles held me, placing his cheek against my head.

"Just remember. Remember that I love you." He breathed out, looking into my eyes. Suddenly, the driver's door flew open and Stiles was being dragged out.

"Stiles! No!" I screamed, trying to pull him back. Lydia held me back, to keep me from being taken with him. "No! Lydia, please! Please, let me save him."

"I saw him. I was there. I was the last person to see him." I wept. 

"Where? When did you see him?" Scott questioned.

"The Ghost Riders, they," I choked out. "When they took him." The candle blew out. "That was when he first told me he loved me."

A bright green light erupted in the room. The room started to rattle. Things were crashing onto the floor, but that didn't matter to me. I slowly stood up. The light was coming from the tunnel. I opened the bunker door and stepped out. White light was in front of me, only a few feet away. I went to the entrance and stopped, staring at it wide eyed. Malia, Scott, and Lydia were behind me. In that light, I saw a humanoid figure walk into the middle of the light. My heart swelled as I recognized him.

"Stiles?"

AHHH

IM EXCITED

ARE YOU!?

much love,

Lux xx