THE DARKEST HOUR ² ✶ stiles stilinski

⠀⠀⠀𝒊𝒙. gasoline

⠀⠀⠀Willow stepped to the door on quiet footfalls, placing her hands gently against the door, and leaned her face close enough to look through the peephole. Then, as she noticed Stiles' distorted figure on the other side of the door, she sighed.

⠀⠀⠀"It's just Stiles," Willow told Lorelei, turning back to give her an exasperated expression before opening the door.

⠀⠀⠀"Hey," Stiles greeted with a frown. He looked between her at the door and Lorelei staring at him with a raised eyebrow from her bed. "Lydia asked if we could meet her in their room."

⠀⠀⠀Willow nearly asked 'what for?' but with everything that happened around them lately, she stopped herself and instead said, "Okay, let me get my shoes on."

⠀⠀⠀Stiles nodded, awkwardly standing in the doorway as Willow made her way to her bed to get her shoes.

⠀⠀⠀"Everything alright?" Lorelei asked, raising a brow.

⠀⠀⠀"Yeah, everything's fine," Stiles answered, scratching the back of his neck.

⠀⠀⠀Willow turned to Lorelei, and, for a moment, she could have sworn her eyes had no color, but then they were normal and left Willow questioning herself. Willow smiled at Lorelei to try and reassure her, and the older girl smiled back, waving her hand in goodbye.

⠀⠀⠀"Alright," Lorelei assured them, turning back to the TV. "I'll probably be asleep by the time you come back, so just be quiet when you come in."

⠀⠀⠀"Will do," Willow replied and walked out, closing the door behind her. "Is everything alright?" Willow asked when they were a couple doors down the hall.

⠀⠀⠀"I don't know," Stiles said with a frown, glancing at Willow with a worried expression. "Scott's been acting a little weird."

⠀⠀⠀"More than normal?" Willow asked.

⠀⠀⠀"I don't know. Let's just see what Lydia and Allison have," Stiles sighed, stopping in front of their door and knocking on it.

⠀⠀⠀Lydia opened the door with wide eyes, staring at Stiles, then Willow, then back to Stiles.

⠀⠀⠀"I thought I told you to come alone," Lydia told Stiles, her frown deepening.

⠀⠀⠀Willow rolled her eyes, annoyed by her comment like she wasn't even there. Despite Willow and Stiles being on better terms, her disdain for Lydia had not been cured. They barely spoke in the last six months since Lydia learned about the supernatural, and Willow wasn't really in the mood to start now.

⠀⠀⠀"Out of the four of us, Willow is our best bet in fighting whatever is happening," Stiles argued with her, frowning in response as well.

⠀⠀⠀"Stiles," Willow called out, her voice coming out softer than she intended but showing vulnerability in front of Lydia wasn't exactly something she felt like doing at the moment. "I don't have my powers."

⠀⠀⠀Stiles looked down at her and grimaced, realizing he had forgotten that with her dying, she'd lost her powers as well.

⠀⠀⠀"What?" Lydia asked, turning from Stiles to look at her directly for once. "What do you mean you don't have your powers?"

⠀⠀⠀Willow sighed, growing irritated.

⠀⠀⠀"Can we not talk about this in the middle of the hall?" Willow asked under her breath.

⠀⠀⠀Lydia paused for a second, still staring at Willow but decided she was right and let them inside. Allison was on the other side of the room, nervously chewing on her thumbnail, and only raised her eyes to greet them.