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𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐒𝐈𝐗

𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘵𝘰𝘮

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That night, Sawyer had arrived at the ice rink with the rest of his friends, ready to try and have one night of normalcy. One night where he didn't have to worry about weird lizard people or new werewolves that had a target out for both him and Scott. He was going to spend this night having fun with his friends and try to pretend he was still a human being and not a supernatural creature.

Sawyer hadn't been ice skating since he was nine years old and he went ice skating in Rockefeller Center in New York with his aunt, uncle and brothers for Christmas vacation. He had been able to see the big tree get lit up in all of its beautiful vibrant colors ranging from reds to purples as it lit up the black pavement of the streets. The lights had reflected beautifully in Sawyer's big eyes and he had all but begged Devin to go again someday. He definitely wanted to go back one day with his own kids . . . if he ever had any.

The empty ice rink was filled with the squeals of laughter from Allison as she tried to teach Scott how to ice skate. Scott was like a toddler learning how to walk for the first time and was so unsteady on his feet that he had crashed down to the ice at least five times already. For a werewolf, Scott wasn't very swift on his feet and Sawyer teasingly poked fun at his best friend as he passed him by on his own skates. It was almost like riding a bike and Sawyer had warmed up to the skates in no time.

Lydia skated around the rink like she owned the place, twirling and spinning around like a figure skater. He had momentarily forgotten that Lydia had in fact done figure skating when they were younger and whatever she learned must have stuck around. Her strawberry blonde hair flowed behind her like a beautiful light fire and it was almost memorizing to watch the girl twirl effortlessly, a glowing smile on her beautiful face. She seemed so carefree and at peace regardless of whatever relationship issues she had going on with Jackson at the moment. 

Stiles was in between on his skating. He wasn't flailing around like a deer on ice like Scott, but he also wasn't fully steady on his feet like Lydia was. The pale boy had stumbled a few times and clutched onto Sawyer's light blue hoodie sleeve so he wouldn't topple down to the ice below his and Sawyer's feet. It was now just him, Stiles and Lydia since Allison and Scott had disappeared suddenly off the ice and Lydia was in her own world on the other side of the ice, knelt on the ice for a short break since they'd been skating around for a good half hour already.

"Stop falling for me, Stilinski. You'll look desperate," Sawyer mused at the boy, chuckling when he had to catch Stiles again when the boy's skate got caught on a piece of ice that had a small dent in it. As the Stilinski boy tried to right himself again, his other skate got twisted in the other and it sent the two boys toppling to the ground with Sawyer taking the blow since he'd heal and Stiles would be in pain for days. He groaned as the pain shot down as his spine as he laid out on the freezing ice with Stiles' wait on top of him.

"Shit, Saw, I'm sorry. I don't know what's wrong with me today," Stiles apologized frantically, trying to find the right footing on the ice so he could get up and help Sawyer up. "I'm usually never this bad on skates."

"You know, I never expected you to be on top, Stilinski. Always saw you more as a bottom," Sawyer grunted when Stiles finally was able to push himself off. He accepted the hand that Stiles held out for him and allowed the spastic boy to pull him up, clutching onto Stiles' hands until his feet were properly placed again. "You surprise me every day, baby boy."

Stiles jokingly rolled his eyes at Sawyer and shoved the boy's shoulder, laughing along with him when the curly haired boy couldn't hold his laughter in anymore. His laugh was like music to Stiles' ears and he could listen to it on repeat every day for the rest of his life and not have a single complaint. It wasn't often you heard a genuine laugh come from Sawyer Bowen and when you did, it was almost always because of Stiles. Something about the Stilinski boy just made Sawyer grow soft and fuzzy inside and he couldn't help himself but feel more comfortable around him than anyone else. 

Not that Sawyer Bowen would ever admit to something like that. 

However, whatever small moment the two boys were having as they both seemed to drift even closer to each other subconsciously, a piercing scream ripped across the room. Sawyer startled and whipped around to see Lydia still knelt on the ice, clawing it as if trying to get to something stuck beneath the thick slippery substance. Stiles and Sawyer quickly skated over to her and dropped down to either side of her, but saw something but white snow and ice beneath her fingers. 

Scott and Allison had ran around the corner to see what the screaming was about and froze at the door to the rink when they saw Lydia freaking out in Stiles and Sawyer's arms. Sawyer's eyes met with Scott's questioning ones and he lamely shrugged, not knowing what was going one either. He could practically smell the fear coming off Lydia in waves as her tears spilled down her rosy cheeks, her hand gripping tightly around the sleeve of Sawyer's hoodie.

What the hell was going on?

The next morning, Sawyer woke up to the sun light shining behind his eyes and a knock on his bedroom door before it swung open to reveal Devin. He was already dressed in his deputy uniform and sunglasses perched on the top of his head like he was about to head out for work.

"Hey, bud. I'm working late tonight with Noah, so I left you and Ricky money on the counter for dinner, okay?" Devin informed, hanging off Sawyer's door as the curly haired boy rubbed the sleep from his eyes. 

"Yeah," Sawyer mumbled sleepily, his brain still trying to make sense of the words that had come out of Devin's mouth. He had been up most of the night trying to figure out what could have spooked Lydia so badly. The group had left not too long after Lydia's little freak out with her going to Allison's so she wouldn't be alone and Stiles dropping Sawyer off at home. It was the first time a ride between Stiles and Sawyer had been silent since Sawyer usually spent most of it teasing Stiles about random things followed by Stiles telling Sawyer that he must be in love with him if he teased him so much. Which Sawyer would then deny even though it was extremely obvious Sawyer was attracted towards Stiles. He was the reason Sawyer even fully realized he was gay in the first place.

"Did you sleep at all last night?" Devin asked, noticing the lethargic way Sawyer climbed out of his bed and just grabbed the closest pair of clothing near him which was a pair of black jeans, maroon t-shirt and his maroon high top Vans. "You look like death."

"Thanks, Vinny. You really know how to make a brother feel better. It's a wonder you don't have a girlfriend," Sawyer quipped groggily, tossing his clothes onto the bed so he can change once Devin was gone.

Devin ticked an eyebrow up at his brother, not even surprised that the middle Bowen was still able to throw out a sarcastic comment even when he was sleep deprived. "Do you need to take a day?"

Sawyer sighed and rubbed his hand over his face, wishing more than anything that he could take a day. He hated school, but he never missed unless he was legitimately sick and couldn't get out of bed. He wanted to be like Devin and get into a good enough college so he can be at least something since right now he felt like nothing. 

Devin had always been Sawyer's biggest role model since he helped raise Sawyer and Eric and eventually getting them their own house to live in to be less of a burden to their aunt and uncle. He wanted to make his parents' proud and Devin instead of the constant screw up that Sawyer knew he was. Sawyer wanted to be better. He wanted to be able to turn to Devin in two years and jump for joy with his high school diploma in his hand, excited for his next journey through college. A cocky screwup like Sawyer couldn't get that if he took days because he was tired.

"No, no. I should go and make sure Lydia is okay after last night," Sawyer waved Devin off, dropping his hand back to his side. He had explained to Devin what happened to Lydia last night, hoping that he'd know of something that could have done that to her. Devin had chalked it up to everything crashing down around Lydia suddenly and she just snapped, which Sawyer wanted to believe. Though, with the track record of Beacon Hills and and Sawyer's friends, he knew it couldn't be something as simple as a minor psychotic break. Not after Peter bit into Lydia's side like she was a chew toy.

"Look at you, growing up and caring about the feelings of others," Devin teased his brother who shot him the middle finger in response. "Alright, well, if you're going to school, then hurry up and get dressed so you can have time for breakfast before Stiles shows up."

Sawyer's lip jerked slightly into a small smirk when he heard the engine of Roscoe outside his window. The boy always showing up way earlier than he needed to so he could eat breakfast with Sawyer if he was ready. Looks like today would be one of those days.

Thankfully, Lydia appeared to be just fine as if nothing had even happened at the rink the night before. Sawyer wasn't sure how the girl bounced back so quickly the way she did, but he was honestly just glad to see the Martin girl perfectly fine and dandy. He may not have liked Lydia before she walked around like she owned the place, but as he started to hang out with her more, he started to see she was actually a decent person behind the mask she put on for those around her. She was incredibly smart and he felt like she had only ever hid behind a faux personality to appease Jackson. Something that only made Sawyer's blood boil more over the douchebag lacrosse player.

The school day had continued on as usual, Sawyer rolling through the motions with Stiles and Scott. Scott had confronted Erica about who the third member of Derek's pack would be, which lead him to nowhere with the girl's new bitchy attitude that came with her pretty face. It was really sad because Erica had always been such a nice girl and Sawyer would occasionally say hi to her if he passed her in the classroom. Now that she was a werewolf, Erica seemed to think that she owned the school and the world around her now that she had a little bit of power.

Sawyer's day came to a sudden freeze when he walked into the lunch room with Stiles to see Vernon Boyd missing from his usual table and wasn't anywhere in the room. With how things were going lately, that didn't sit right with either Stiles or Sawyer and they had instantly gone over to Scott who sat alone at a table, looking upset over something. Sawyer had made a mental note to ask Scott what was bothering him once they figure out if Boyd really was what Stiles and Sawyer were starting to think he was. 

So while Scott had ran off to go check the ice rink to see if Boyd had ran there to hide and work, Stiles and Sawyer sped off towards Boyd's house in the hopes he was at either one of the places. Stiles had all but thrown Roscoe into park right outside of Boyd's house before the two boys scrambled out and over to Boyd's front door where Stiles banged on it. Sawyer stood back while his eyes expertly flickered around the windows for any signs of life and his ears perked up as they tried to pick up any sound that be Boyd. However, he didn't hear a single heart beat or sound inside the house. 

Sawyer took a step back as his eyes drifted back over to Stiles who continued to bang on the front door, checking in the window on the side of the door. "Stiles, I don't think ━ " He was cut off when his back hit against something behind him and he whipped around to be mere inches from Erica's face. He let out a small scream and stumbled back into Stiles who was knocked back into the front door at the force. 

"You know, for a werewolf, you're pretty oblivious," Erica taunted, smirking at Sawyer who tried to steady his racing heart. He wasn't sure if it was from the scare or the fact that Stiles' was pressed up against his back from when he'd stumbled back into the pale boy. "What are you two boys doing here?"

"Uh, nothing, we were just looking for, um . . . Boyd," Stiles responded, lightly pushing Sawyer over to the side so his back wouldn't be pressed into the iron of the front door cover any longer. He let out a sigh of relief when his back was off the iron and rubbed his back where it was sore.

Erica giggled as the two boys disentangled from one another and tilted her head at them. "It's really how funny how both of you seem to only be looking in my eyes, especially you, Stiles."

"I . . . uh . . . " Stiles fumbled over his words as he tried to form a coherent sentence over being caught. He wasn't really sure why he wasn't interested in Erica's new look. Or he did know and still wasn't sure how to process it fully. "You just . . . you have beautiful eyes."

"I have beautiful everything," Erica corrected him, a flirtatious sort of look taking over her features even though it was obvious neither Stiles or Sawyer would be giving in to her.

"And apparently a new found self-confidence. Congratulations, Erica, you finally learned how to use your mouth to defend yourself. Now we'll be going," Sawyer quipped, going to walk past Erica when she shoved both Stiles and Sawyer back up against Boyd's front door. 

Erica sent a fake smile Sawyer and Stiles' way and tilted her head patronizingly once again. "Aw, you guys aren't going anywhere?"

Stiles audibly gulped and subconsciously moved closer to Sawyer, the closeness of the Bowen boy always bringing him comfort when he was stressed or upset. Their hands brushed against each other and sent a shock between the two, both of their stomachs going warm and fuzzy at the touch. Not that either of them would admit to that. "Um . . . why ━ why not?"

Erica hummed and held up a transmission from a car and Sawyer blinked in surprise when he realized it was from Roscoe. Sawyer seriously needed to work on his focusing his hearing because he really should have heard Erica ripping that piece of the Jeep. "You're having car trouble."

Before either boy could try and how she did that, Erica pulled her hand back and knocked both boys out using the transmission. 

AUTHORS NOTE

Hi hey hello

I am so sorry for sleeping on my boy for the past month, but I hope I made up for it with the cute Stiles/Sawyer moments. I am dying for these two to just get together already, but it's all apart of the process and growth! I promise the wait will be worth it!