VI
The next day after the full moon, Leo stood in the gym with the rest of his class to do the rock climbing wall. His mind was still halfway out of it ever since the night before where he unexpectedly overpowered a werewolf with some type of powers. Nothing was making sense to him and no one could give him answers.
The only other person who knew of what happened that night was Stiles. Who was currently avoiding him for whatever reason. It hurt Leo's feelings slightly that he was being ignored right when he felt he needed someone the most. Especially because Stiles knew of everything that was happening in this town.
"You know, my abuela always said to speak your mind or else, your brain is going to explode from holding everything in"
Leo jumped slightly at the voice right next to him. He came face to face with Nathan. The boy who had ran into him the day before and who also flirted with him. He was dressed in black fitted shorts that stopped right before the kneecaps and a black Nike muscle shirt that fit him a little too good.
"I'm afraid if I speak my mind, nobody would be leaving this place happy" Leo told him truthfully. "Although, it is nice seeing a friendly face"
Nathan smiled.
"So tell me. What's got you so caught up in your head that it took you longer than a minute to realize I was standing next to you?" Nathan asked.
Leo was lost at words for a second trying to come up with something to say. He obviously couldn't tell him the whole truth. That would most definitely make him sound insane.
"Have you ever talked to someone, like as a friend, but the moment you actually need them as a friend... they're not there like you expected them to be?"
Nathan seemed slightly shocked that he actually received a real response from Leo. His mouth opened then closed like he was trying to come up with the right answer.
Leo shook his head with his eyes closed and mouth pinched.
"I'm sorry. That was stupid to-"
"En las malas se conoce a los amigos" Nathan recited in a perfect Spanish accent. Something about the way he said made Leo almost entranced. "Sorry, that's just something else my abuela use to say. In others words, it basically means-"
"You know who you're friends are in bad times" Leo smiled slightly. Nathan looked at him surprised, an unreadable look in his eyes.
"What? Never seen a white boy understand another language?" Leo glared playfully. He was feeling awkward by the way Nathan was now looking at him.
"You just took me by surprise, that's all. But it did give me a whole other reason to ask you out on a date" Nathan nonchalantly shrugged trying to hide his nervousness.
Leo suddenly became very aware how open Nathan was with his sexuality. It was something he had questioned since he first met him and wasn't sure if he was reading into things the wrong way but now it was abundantly clear. He felt his cheeks start to get hot and he knew he was becoming a hot mess.
"I, uh... oh wow, I did not see this coming" Leo talked fast trying to form words. Nathan only smiled at the flustered boy before him. "I don't know how to respond to this" Leo admitted. He felt like a horrible human being. If that's what he can even be called now.
This was the first time he's ever received this kind of attention from a boy and he was honestly scared to show this kind of display in front of other people.
"How about this. We're next to go up after Scott and his girlfriend. If I beat you to the top, I get to take you out on date. If you beat me, we can just forget about this whole embarrassing situation" Nathan offered.
Leo could only smile while shaking his head.
"I've never been one to back down from a challenge"
"Sharp! Diaz! You're up!" Coach yelled.
"Good luck, cariño" Nathan murmured leaning close to Leo's ear while laying a hand on the small of his back so lightly that it tickled before it was gone just as fast as it came. Unbeknownst to both of them, a set of eyes noticed their close proximity, a frown set on his face.
A minute later, the boys were strapped up properly and then darted to the wall to climb. Leo would be lying if he said he was confident in winning this. It was fun to do as a child because he could pretend to be Spider-Man but it was just a whole hassle to get to the top for no reason. So caught up in his head, he hadn't realized he was ahead of Nathan by a few feet.
How he got so far up so quickly blew his mind. He knew for sure that he had never been this athletic to do what he was doing with half the struggle he used to have.
From his head spinning with so many questions, Leo's foot slipped off one of the rocks making him fall at least two feet before he caught himself. That gave Nathan the boost of confidence he needed to jump up the last few inches and hit the bell on top. The Mexican boy looked down to Leo with a smirk and cocky shrug.
"Hate to say it, but a deals a deal"
Leo laughed.
"Yeah, yeah. I let you win" he smirked back warning a raised eyebrow. Before he could hear a response, Leo kicked off the wall to drop down to the ground and landing on his feet with the help of the rope. The small smile planted on his lips stayed plastered as he started in clipping the gear. The next people to go up walked up to switch places. It just so happened to be Stiles up next so he was the one to help Leo take off the gear.
"So, what was that about?" Stiles finally asked as Leo laid a hand on his shoulder to balance himself and slide the loops off his legs.
The slightly smaller boy furrowed his eyebrows together. "Out of all the things we could talk about, you're asking me about the conversation I had with a boy?" Leo bluntly responded.
That left Stiles flabbergasted and Leo left him standing there speechless.
It angered Leo that Stiles had an effect on his mood. Nathan was able to get his mind off of things momentarily and actually get a laugh out of him and then Stiles makes it so easy to remember why he was in such a prissy mood to begin with. He was probably being over dramatic. It wasn't Stiles fault or problem with what was happening to Leo. But it still hurt that he knew what he was going through and he didn't even ask how he was doing. What angered him even more was that he knew from one of the many nights they had talked on the phone that Stiles was a naturally curious person. So, why wasn't he trying to figure him out?
Suddenly, the sound of a cry broke Leo out of his thoughts and back to reality. The person being Erica Reyes who was stuck on the wall hyperventilating.
"Erica! Dizzy?" Coach asked as he and the rest of the students moved closer to the wall. "Is it vertigo?"
That for both Lydia and Leo to pull a confused face. "Coach, that doesn't even logically make sense to this situation" Leo told him.
"Vertigo is a dysfunction of the vestibular system of the inner ear. She's just freaking out" Lydia pointed out, siding with Leo.
"Erica" Coach called out again.
Some giggles were heard from behind Leo.
"I'm fine" she called out in a strained voice.
"Coach, maybe it's not safe. You know she's epileptic" Allison said. That got Coach's attention for sure.
"W-wh-why doesn't anyone tell me this stuff?!" He panicked. "Erica. You're fine. Just kick off from the wall. There's a mat to catch you" Coach tried telling her.
Noticing how nothing was helping her, Leo decided to try things his way. He pushed Stiles and Allison out the way and started climbing up without any gear. "Sharp! What the hell are you doing?" Coach asked.
Leo ignored them as he reached Erica's level, doing his best to ignore the possibility of falling onto his classmates with no cushion.
"Hey Erica" Leo said. The frightened girl slowly looked at him through the corner of her eyes. "Just ignore them. It's hard for small minded people to understand what you're going through. You have to come down at some point"
"They're all watching me" she whispered as tears fell down her face and her fingers burning red as she gripped the rocks hard to hold herself up.
"Fuck them" Leo said sharply. "Right now, all you need to focus on is you and you only. I need you to trust me. Just let go and you'll be safely put down on the ground" Leo told her. His fingers felt like they were gonna start cramping soon as he had no support at all to help him stay up.
"You swear?" She asked.
"Erica. I have no reason to lie to you. Just let go"
And so she did.
And as she slowly cascaded down safely, Leo started making his way down also. But of course, life was not agreeing with him lately so he missed his footing. Catching air for just a second, he felt several pair of hands break his fall. Planting his feet on the ground he turned to face the people who caught him.
"I seriously do not have the mind capacity for this right now" Leo sighed walking away from both Stiles and Nathan who only awkwardly looked at each other. The laughter subsided when Leo turned back around to glare at the class. Surprisingly, it got everyone to shut their mouths.
****
First Person Point Of View
"Leo, wait!"
Stiles ran down the hallway, apologizing profusely to the people he was bumping into. Leo continued to ignore the calls of his name. That was until the spastic human caught up to him and jumped in front of him.
"You are one hard person to catch" Stiles wheezes out of breath.
"That's usually what happens when the person doesn't want to be caught" Leo smiled sarcastically and attempted to move around him but Stiles stepped in his way once again.
"Please just hear me out... okay?" Stiles pleaded and of course, I fell for the innocent dough eyed look his hazel eyes gave me. "I'm sorry for being... such an ass. I-I should've called or texted you- hell, I should've showed up to your house but I..." Stiles shook his head stopping himself from saying something.
"But what?" I asked him, trying to see if he would say what was on his mind.
"But I don't know! Okay! I don't know because I can't think around you and you make me nervous. My mind already moves at a hundred miles per hour and you make it go a million times faster. You-I- tuh-" Stiles let out a little growl as he looked down at his shoes. My mouth felt like it was dry and my feet were frozen in place.
What Stiles just said sounded like he just abruptly admitted he had some sort of feelings for me. What the actual hell am I going to do now?
"Stiles... it's okay" I finally said. He looked up at me with his eyes squinted as if he were trying to see if I was serious. "Look, I have to be honest. The only reason I feel some type of way is because I was scared. That night at the police station when Isaac tried to attack you, I had no idea what I was doing. And then right after the police cleared us, you left because Scott needed you. I get that he's your best friend, Stiles, but at that moment I needed my friend. I have nobody else to talk to about what happened that night" I finished telling him.
"I just... I figured you had Jackson to talk to" Stiles said rubbing the back of his neck.
"Jackson is in his own little world. He's actually the last person I would tell any of this to" I confessed. Which was true. Jackson may be my best friend but he wouldn't be able to help me with this. He wouldn't want to help me figure out why I have whatever I have but instead, he would want me to go play hero or wonder why he couldn't have it too.
"I'm sorry... I didn't know. Maybe if you gave me, I don't know, a do over or something, I can make sure to be there for you when you need me?" Stiles asked hopefully.
I tried my hardest but my body failed me as a smile graced my lips. "Fine, Stilinski. You're forgiven. Hopefully you can forgive me too for being such a bitch to you" I teased.
"Actuallyyyy"
I tilted my head curiously to the eager boy in front of me.
"For you to be totally forgiven, you're gonna have to join me to the ice skating rink tonight at 8. Scott's taking Allison and Lydia wants to go so I figured why not invite another friend. So what do you say?"
I pretend to think hard about my decision even though I knew the answer already. In the back of my head though, Nathan popped up. For some odd reason I felt guilty accepting the invite to hang out with Stiles and I don't know why. As quick as the thought came it disappeared.
"Fine. But, I'm supposed to be doing something with Rylee tonight so do you mind if she tags along so she won't be totally upset with me?"
"The more, the merrier" Stiles beamed.
"Well, I'll see you then" I told him.
He jumped up excited as he started to run away. I couldn't help but laugh at his naturally carefree self.
****
"Tell me again why I got dragged along" Rylee complained as we walked up to the doors of the ice skating rink. The lights inside were on meaning the rest were already here.
"Because I was not going to leave you home alone yet again" I told her. I then wrapped an arm around her shoulder as I pushed the doors open to the rink and seen my friends just putting their shoes on. "Besides, it's not like you had anything else better to do"
In return, I only received a glare. Ignoring her attitude, we walked toward Stiles and Lydia that sat on one of the seats to put their skates on. It didn't take long for them to notice us and when they did, my body suddenly got that nervous feeling. Like I didn't know how to react around people and all I wanted to do was hide under my covers while watching Grey's Anatomy.
Through the corner of my eye, I could see Rylee looking at Stiles then back to me with a knowing smirk. So many comments ran through my head to say to her but my mouth was frozen shut as Stiles eyes suddenly glanced over my body. I'm not sure if he meant to do it so obvious or if he even meant to do it but my cheeks were burning up knowing he was looking me over. Imagining what he was seeing through his eyes, I pictured myself in the light pink shirt currently on my body, with black slim fit jeans, and my white Nike's.
"Finally. Someone that I can actually talk to" Lydia smirked referring to me.
"God forbid that you got stuck alone with the nerds" I feigned a panic expression with a playful hand to my chest.
"I'm not liking the attitude you're giving me tonight" Lydia pursed her lips. I rolled my eyes playfully before kissing her cheek.
"You know I'm only messing with you Lyds" I told her. She flipped her hair over her shoulder with a smug look which told me I was forgiven. "Uh I'm sure you remember my sister Rylee"
Rylee offered a sarcastic smile and a wave in which Lydia gave her the same thing. A glance at Stiles and I knew things were getting awkward with the females.
"Lydia, can you please play nice?" I pleaded. She raised an eyebrows making me roll my eyes. "Fine. I'll convince Allison to watch The Notebook with you"
"Why didn't you just lead off with that?" She scoffed. She went to get up but groaned. "Could it be any colder in here?" She complained.
My sister and I watched curiously as Stiles fumbled around in his bag before pulling out a bright orange sweater and offer it to her. "Here"
A small laugh escaped me at the dumb look Lydia have him like she couldn't believe he really just said that to her.
"I'm wearing blue. Orange and blue, not a good combination" she grimaced.
"But it's the colors of the Mets" I answered along with Stiles who's head whipped back toward me with a perplexed expression. Before he could react to what we said, Rylee was shrugging off her grey cardigan and handing it to Lydia.
"Here. This should be a better match"
I really hope I hid my surprises face better than Stiles because we were both thrown off. Lydia looked perplexed like she didn't know if she wanted to say what she really wanted to. "Don't worry. I still have my long sleeve on, I won't be cold" my sister assured referring to her black long sleeve she wore.
"Thank you" Lydia responded quietly. It got quiet between the four of us. "Well... lets go get your skates" Lydia demanded.
Nodding at my sister to see if she was okay which she smiled back, I turned my attention back to Stiles as the girls walked away.
"I guess I should go get m-"
"I already grabbed yours earlier" he said pointing to the skates that I hadn't noticed. "And yes, I remembered your shoe size. Very important detail to know"
I smirked at his words. "Is it now, Stilinski?"
His cheeks turned a rosy red along with his ears. "Oh shut up" he barked throwing his orange sweater at me. I caught it in my hands all while smiling at him.
"Don't worry. I remember your shoe size too" I winked sitting down next to him to put my skates on.
"And don't you forget it"
I almost choked on my spit when those words came from him. He didn't even wait for a response, as he decided to walk away at that moment with a proud smirk like he accomplished something. That cheeky bastard. If anything, those words are expected from me. Stiles had a whole other side that I'm just starting to meet.
It didn't take long to put my skates on and get on to the ice to catch up to Stiles.
"So tell me Stiles, what's something that no one knows about you?"
"What do you mean?" He asked, smiling softly at when he finally looked at me. I shrugged as we skated next to each other, balling the end of the sleeves to the orange sweater I now wore in my hands.
"I mean, we've talked night after night on the phone but I still feel like there's so much more to you than what you're telling me. You claim to be an open book but we both know we're too much alike when it comes to letting people in to know us. Every time we start getting into a deep conversation or about our childhood, you back off. Why is that?" I said.
Stiles visibly swallowed as he stared straight ahead. I almost thought I went too far but disregarded that when he finally spoke in a shaky voice.
"When I was a kid, I would stay at Scott's house all the time. Not that much has changed. But his parents were always arguing before they split up and I tried my best to get Scott's mind off of it... on one of the last few nights his dad was actually there, he had been drinking a lot... I don't even think Scott remembers or if he forced himself to forget but- but his dad convinced us to sleep naked together one night" Stiles sighed. His eyes were becoming glossy but he wasn't letting the tears fall.
"Stiles, please, you don't have to continue" I tried to stop him because I knew where this was going. If I had known he was going to give me an answer like this, I would've never let him relive this as he explained to me.
"It's okay. I'm- I'm okay, Leo. As far as Scott knows, all we did was sleep together with no clothes so I guess that's when he started becoming comfortable to undress in front of me" a single tear slid down his cheek. "What, Uh, what he doesn't know is that his dad stayed in the room after he fell asleep and he... he started to touch Scott but I didn't let him go far enough. Scott was such an innocent kid- I couldn't..." Stiles trailed off shaking his head. I could see him struggling so without hesitation, I linked my hand in his and gave it a soft squeeze to assure him I was there for him.
"We didn't... I'm still a virgin" he mumbled. "But that night, his dad made me touch him in places a child shouldn't touch. But what I think made it good for him was that he made me do all of it in front of Scott who laid right next to me with no covers on us. All these years, and I haven't told not a single soul, not even Scott. My dad would have the whole town aiming down Scott's dad and I don't think I can handle the... embarrassment of people knowing I was put through that. Hell, the embarrassment Scott would have because his dad touched us like that. I can't let anyone know. You can't tell anyone" Stiles rushed out like he realized what he just told me.
"Stiles, you can trust me" I assured squeezing his hand once again. "Why did you tell me this though?"
"Because you're the first person to notice the open book I portray only shows certain pages I want people to see" Stiles told me.
We had stopped skating, facing each other fully now. My heart was sitting in my throat and my eyes sting from the tears threatening to spill but I knew I couldn't cry in front of the boy who was holding it all in. So doing the next best thing, I wrapped my arms around Stiles neck and engulfed him in a hug. For a second, I stood there with my arms wrapped around him until his arms encased my torso and his face squished into my shoulder where he released a couple of sniffles.
"You never have to hide yourself from me Stiles. We can be little girls together" I joked lightly earning a laugh from him as well.
That's when a scream ripped through the air.
It felt as if a thousand sharp knives flew straight into my brain over and over again. My hands covered my ears quickly as a silent scream of pain left me, my body falling into Stiles's. It could've only been five seconds but it seemed like it was five minutes that I was dying in pain. My mind couldn't focus on anything and for a second, my vision became so blurry I thought I had passed out. Like a flick of a switch, everything zoned back in when the scream stopped. I finally sucked in a gulp of air as my vision returned and my motor functions as well.
"Leo! Are you okay?" Stiles asked while he held me in his arms.
"What the fuck was that?!" I panted.
The both of us looked across the ice where Rylee was struggling with a frantic Lydia who was clawing at the ice and crying her heart out.
"Something tells me it's bad"
________
Okay, okay, okay
Please accept that I know I'm writing about Scott's dad, Rafael, doing certain things to the children. The actor who plays him and the character Jeff Davis came up with, has no connection to this version of Scott's father whatsoever. Like I stated before in the previous chapter, I'm leaning towards a darker and more serious scenes. I'm sorry if this is not what you liked but I felt as if it would be a good addition to Stiles's background with my fanfic.
Anyways, look at Stiles being cheeky with my mans Leo. Thinking he slick 🙄😂