Sorry for the wait. :)

Chapter 18

Stiles was able to make it through the entire car ride, without falling asleep. Once he had gotten inside however, he and Malia made it upstairs to the bedroom and crawled into the bed.

That was it, the moment his head hit the pillow he was out.

Malia curled around Stiles's lifeless, limp form and molded herself around his back – after what felt like forever, she had managed to fall asleep herself.

They laid that way throughout the morning and halfway through the afternoon until Kira came into the room. She had meant to be quiet, trying not to wake them – but she had stumbled, and Malia immediately sat bolt up ready to fight the intruder.

Once she realized it was only Kira, Malia relaxed but still regarded her with a raised eyebrow.

"What're you doing here?" Malia questioned, curiosity piqued.

"I'm security today." Kira replied with an almost guilty looking smile, "The Sheriff had to pull a double because of those kids, but he's on his way home now. I'm just here to be sure you've got back-up in case Stiles wakes up…with an appetite."

Malia nodded in understanding, before sighing and looking down at Stiles with a wistful expression on her face.

"Are you okay?" Kira asked sounding sympathetic as she took a seat at Stiles computer chair – her eyes on the Werecoyote.

Malia hesitated before answering. Over the past year, she had grown to accept Kira and Lydia as her friends. And friends talked to each other about their feelings, right?

Malia couldn't figure out why it was so hard for her then.

She exhaled sharply before eyeing the Kitsune thoughtfully.

She'd hoped she wasn't making a terrible mistake by trusting her.

"I don't really know." Malia admitted, "I mean…yeah, I guess I'm okay. It's just…I don't really know how to feel about all this."

"What do you mean?" Kira inquired sharply.

"Don't get me wrong…I…I love Stiles, I really do." Malia confessed, "But all this, everything is just happening way too fast."

"Are you saying you want to break up with him?" Kira asked, her eyes shifting toward Stiles. She hoped that he couldn't hear them.

"What?" Malia demanded, her face adopting an almost insulted look, "No, I'm not saying that at all. What I'm trying to say is, this whole thing with the vampires and him is making my head spin! I just want to kill this new guy or whatever, figure out how to help Stiles, and get the hell through high school."

Kira nodded slowly, relief flooding through her system as she leaned back into her seat.

"We'll figure this out." Kira encouraged, "We'll get rid of this vampire, we'll get Stiles comfortable enough to go back to school, and we're all gonna graduate together."

"How're you so optimistic?" Malia couldn't help but wonder aloud.

"Derek's the pessimist of the pack – you couldn't have two downers now, could you?" Kira joked with a half-smile.

Malia gave a halfhearted chuckle, as well as a small smile of gratitude. She looked back down toward Stiles, and kept her eyes on his face for a moment.

He looked horribly pale, and it showed in the way the light from the open window shone on his face. She remembered how just a few weeks ago, she'd thought his daytime restlessness had followed him into sleep as well – because it was a rare thing to see Stiles ever sit still.

In his sleep, he would kick, he'd roll over, and ever have random spasms or twitches.

But in this moment, and for the past couple nights – once he lay in the bed, he would lay throughout the day in that same position and never move a muscle.

It was unnerving to see, he didn't even breathe.

"I hate when he sleeps now." Malia muttered, regarding Stiles with a sad look. "He just looks so dead."

"Do you wanna go downstairs, and watch some TV?" Kira offered, "It'll help take your mind off things for a little bit."

Malia truly thought about it for a moment before she finally shook her head in response.

"No," Malia muttered, "I think I want to be here when he wakes up."

Kira nodded curtly before picking herself up out of the chair and leaving the bedroom quietly. Before she headed down the hall though, she lingered in the doorway for a moment.

Kira finally turned her head toward Malia to find her looking back at her, looking almost nervous. For a split second, Kira thought about asking her why she would look at her that way when she remembered what Scott had told her about Malia before she'd even met her.

She's never really had anyone to confide in ever – and Kira was truly flattered to have her be the first person to ever be this personal with.

Even if Malia did looked very freaked out.

"Don't worry." Kira said, "this'll be our secret."

Malia seemed to be put a little more at ease at Kira's words and gave a halfhearted smile before slinking back into pressing herself against Stiles.

Ready to go back to sleep.

Only about an hour or so after Kira left the room, Stiles began to stir in Malia's grasp. She had groaned at being disturbed, but didn't seem to awaken.

Stiles opened his eyes and noticed that the sun was still out. Quickly he looked over toward his alarm clock on the nightstand beside him, and noticed that it was a little after five thirty in the afternoon.

It would be dark soon, but it was the earliest he'd woken up on his own since being turned. Stiles smiled to himself at his mild accomplishment, before turning his head to look behind him where Malia was fast asleep.

Her long hair was in front of her face, and Stiles couldn't help but reach toward her and gently tuck her hair behind her ear.

Malia startled awake at the contact, looking panicked for just a moment before she noticed that it was only Stiles who had woken her up. He didn't seem to be rabid, she noticed immediately – the revelation relieving her greatly.

"Hey, sorry. I didn't mean to startle you." Stiles whispered with a lopsided grin.

"Don't worry about it," Malia assured as she reached up and gently grasped his hand that still rested on her face, "You're just so cold now."

"Sorry." Stiles muttered, his grin sliding as he adopted a more guilty expression. "My blood's not pumping…so I wouldn't say I'm cold per se, just room temperature."

"Don't be sorry." Malia responded with a silent breathy chuckle. "It's not like you can help it."

"I know…" Stiles agreed, though his face revealed that the guilt still remained. "I just kinda feel like me becoming…or I mean – since I've turned, it's just been one thing wrong after another. I don't know when I'm gonna be able to manage this."

"Stiles," Malia replied, her face turning serious. "You were turned into a vampire, you can say it."

"I don't think I can without turning it into a joke," Stiles admitted with a mirthless chuckle, "It's just too weird to say out loud."

Malia didn't respond to that, she could definitely get where he was coming from. A few days ago, they hadn't even known that vampires exist – and now they're stuck in this seemingly endless nightmare.

Stiles gave her a quick smile before making a move like he was going to get up, but Malia quickly grabbed his wrist lightly to stop him.

He looked back at her with a curious expression as she gently tugged him back down.

"You're gonna figure this out." Malia assured, a sort of confidence clear in her voice. "And I'll help you…the way that you helped me."

A genuine smile spread across Stiles's face as his half lidded eyes peered into hers. Without a second thought, Stiles leaned in and kissed her mouth softly, as if he were afraid he'd break her.

Malia kissed him back, slightly more roughly than Stiles' initiation.

After a moment or so, the couple pulled away and stared at each other for a couple seconds.

"You're kind of amazing, do you know that?" Stiles said into her ear.

Malia grinned back at Stiles, her eyes shining at him in an entire 'non-supernatural' way that made Stiles chuckle softly before pushing himself into a sitting position.

"We should get moving." Malia stated matter-of-factly, "We need to figure out how to get you trained, and find a way to put this other vampire to bed without putting you down with it."

"Oh, I don't know…" Stiles retorted with a smirk plastered on his face, "I could probably use a centuries-long nap, myself."

Malia nudged his arm playfully, returning his smirk. "Not if I have anything to say about it."

Stiles gave Malia a genuine smile before giving her a quick kiss, and making his way to his feet. After such a good morning, he couldn't help but fear that it was going to be a very long night.