Later that night, when Melissa had forced the Reynolds girl, Stilinski boy, and her children to go home after getting Lydia to the hospital again, the McCall siblings and Annie, now joined by Sam Reynolds, were huddled up in the living room of the McCall home.
As it turned out, Sam had spent the day finding an apartment for himself and Annie. He explained that he knew it was better to be in Beacon Hills as betas with a pack rather than fending for themselves as omegas. Much to everyone's dismay, he had indicated that he would be joining Derek's pack.
Annie, however, was adamant on staying with her friends, "Sam, Derek's changed. He's not in the right mindset to be our alpha right now. I'm staying with the McCalls."
Kat stepped up to her best friend's defense, "He's going power hungry, Sam. Trust us, you'd be better off as an omega than in his pack."
Sam shook his head, unable to listen to them talk about one of his only childhood friends like that, "Der wouldn't do that. He's not that kind of person."
"He has, though," Scott suddenly spoke up, trying to convince the man that meant so much to his sister and Annie that they were correct, "Annie and I watched him kill his uncle in cold blood because he wanted the powers of an alpha. He wants his own pack, but you'd be making a bad decision to join it."
Sam was still against hearing the facts and was quickly shrugging on his coat to leave. "Annie, I'm coming to get you tomorrow. We're joining Derek, and that's final."
--
Annie had left the McCall home for a tutoring session with a classmate, mumbling something about needing extra credit for Mr. Harris's class, before slamming the front door and hastily making her way to her car.
Scott left as well, eager to meet up with Allison and make sure she was okay after the day's events. So, now, Katarina was left alone with Kota, her emotions running on high. She had been getting this sickening feeling in her stomach, telling her something was wrong. Ever since she got out of the hospital and Lydia went missing, the feeling had been lingering over her, making her irritable and nervous.
Suddenly, she stood from the sofa, looped Kota's leash around her neck and left the house. She didn't know where she was going, or what she was doing, she just needed to leave.
After nearly an hour of walking aimlessly around Beacon Hills with her dog, Kat stood outside of Stiles's bedroom -- she knew they left the door into the kitchen unlocked -- with her fist raised but not moving. She didn't know why she went to him, she could have gone to Scott or Annie - either one of them could have been home by now. But, her feet led her to the Stilinski house, teary-eyed and all.
Suddenly, the door opened and Stiles almost walked right into Kat's raised fist. He spazzed and almost fell to the floor. Kat couldn't even bring herself to laugh at the behavior she always adored as she let her fist pathetically drop to her side.
"Kat? How'd you get in my house? And why are you here at one in the morning?" Stiles asked after he recovered, the shock on his face quickly being covered with worry when he saw that tears were brimming her eyes. "Are you okay? Did something happen?"
Kat opened and closed her mouth like a fish out of water, unable to form an answer. She didn't even know what was wrong, she just had a deep, dark feeling settling in her stomach and she was scared. Something was going to happen, but she didn't know what.
She shook her head with a whimper and stepped into him, wrapping her arms around his waist in a tight hug. Stiles reacted almost immediately and let his arms close around her shoulders and waist, hugging her with just as much force as she had.
Kat's body shook with quiet sobs, staining Stiles's t-shirt with tears as he moved her into his room. He let Kota walk into the room and shut the door before he turned to her, his hands on her face as he wiped the tears off of her cheeks.
"Are you okay?" He whispered, making her meet his eyes. Even with tears coating her lashes and blurring her irises, he still thought her eyes were the most beautiful pair he had ever seen.
"Something bad is coming, Stiles," Kat quietly whispered, hiccupping from her sudden hysterics. She started stuttering, "Th-the new Argents in town, Derek's new status, I-I don't know what, but there's something bad about to happen."
Stiles nodded, trying to figure out how to help. He hated seeing her that upset, "What can I do?"
Kat shook her head, shrugging slightly as she said, "Just . . . Just let me be here for a while. Please."
Stiles's mouth fell open. He had dreamed about that scenario hundreds of times (although, it usually never had any tears). Though he wouldn't admit it, he longed to be the one Kat went to when she was upset. And now he was.
Stiles began to stutter, "I--uh, yeah, totally." This time, Kat had calmed down enough to crack the tiniest of smiles at his behavior. Stiles ran a hand over his buzz-cut hair before motioning to his bed, "Y-you can lay th-there, or, uh -- "
Kat cut him off with a small grin and a faint, "Thank you, Stiles."
Harshly swallowing the lump in his throat, he nodded and watched her retreat to his bed, lying on top of the covers and snuggling into his pillow closest to the wall. He suddenly felt very awkward, and words started falling from his mouth, "I can go get you something to drink. We don't really have anything but water and milk. Oh, we do have whiskey, if that's how you're feeling. Or if you're hungry I can find something to snack on -- "
"Stiles," Kat finally said, wiping her teary eyes with her sleeve before holding her arm out towards him, "Can you lie with me?"
Kat surprised herself with her request. She didn't even comprehend what she had said until it was lingering in the air between the teens. By looking at Stiles's face, she knew hers mirrored it with the same amount of shock and slight embarrassment.
With pink-tinted cheeks, Stiles spastically nodded and moved to his bed, lying on his back and not knowing what to do. Kat didn't either, but her body acted on its own and suddenly she was lying on her side, flush against him, with her head resting on his chest, the top of it just under his chin, and an arm slung across his torso.
Stiles resisted the urge to happy-spaz as his own arms wrapped around her, tightly holding her body to his. Kota jumped onto the bed and curled up behind Kat's knees, letting her chin rest on her owner's thigh.
Kat could hear Stiles's rapidly beating heart, but as he became drowsier, his heart slowed to a comforting pace. For the first time since she was welcomed back to Beacon Hills by her brother and his mother, she felt completely and utterly safe. She felt that, as long as they remained together in that room, nothing could touch them. Nothing could harm them.
--
Everything felt as if it were happening in slow motion. The words hung in the air, making it thicker than it already felt. Katarina's eyes were locked on the man's in front of her, the bright, shining blue captivating her. She didn't recognize him, but a feeling that could only be described as love came to her mind when she looked at him. The grin on his face was spreading so agonizingly slowly that Kat felt her heart tear with it. Only, it wasn't tearing with sadness, no, it felt that each tear was being filled with a happiness so immense that it would burst.
"You what?" Kat asked, letting her own face split into the largest smile she had ever mustered.
"I love you," the man in front of her said, stepping towards her and emphasizing each word with a step. "And I will until I take my last breath. Which may be tomorrow when we're ambushed. But I love you, and I pray to god that you feel the same."
Kat let out a giggle, covering her mouth with her hand and closing the space between herself and the man. They were chest to chest, and his hands immediately landed on her waist as she gingerly placed hers on his jaw. "Of course I feel the same, you goon."
--
Katarina's eyelashes fluttered on her cheeks before she pulled her eyelids open, squinting as the light filtering into the room from the window infiltrated her vision. She blinked and immediately took in the blue walls and messy desk, which was not covered in old, tattered journals, but a laptop, printer, and possibly hundreds and hundreds of papers. She was not in her own bedroom.
She lifted her head, disturbing her dog as she looked around, and found that she had been laying on a chest. Stiles Stilinski's chest, to specify. A small smile tugged on her lips, and her slight panic of waking up in an unfamiliar room was washing away, quickly being replaced with content. She found herself thinking that she would love to wake up next to him more often.
Suddenly, Stiles groaned slightly and started to stir in his sleep. Kat froze. His eyes moved under his eyelids as he woke up, his long lashes pulling his eyelids open. He too squinted as the bright light flooded his vision, but blinked it away as he refocused his eyes. They met Kat's with a pleasant gaze.
"'Morning," he yawned, unwrapping his arm from around Kat's waist to rub his eyes free of sleep. Kat smiled as she watched him. He looked adorable when he was just waking up. "Wait," Stiles's voice was scratchy and unused. He cleared his throat, "What're you doing here?"
"Oh," Kat quietly said, her morning voice making her sound sick. She nervously chuckled, not knowing how to explain why she came over to his house and promptly fell asleep on him. Her eyes wandered, trying to think of an excuse, but they instead found his bedside clock. It read 6:46. She cursed and jumped up, scrambling to her feet and smoothing out her hair, "I, uh, forgot about the early morning practice. I gotta go."
Kota lazily slid off of Stiles's bed and patiently waited for Kat to loop her leash around her neck. With one spared glance to Stiles, Kat nodded and ducked out of the room, her cheeks as pink as her winter formal dress was the day she bought it.
--
Long time, no see! I apologize for this, I don't have any excuse, honestly. But, y'know, more Kat/Stiles fluff, so that makes up for some of it. I've been planning out how I want this season/book to go and I am pumped for the rest of it. I hope you guys are, too.
Anywho, I hope you guys liked this chapter, I had so much fun writing it, and I will see you all in chapter five! :) <3