It’s just the first day of classes, so there isn’t any homework yet. Stiles has deliberately scheduled all five of his classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays this term because last term had been rough having class every day of the week. It makes for a long two days, but it’s totally worth it when he knows he’ll have time to get all his homework done and still have time to play, too. That’s all he can really ask for as he embarks on the second half of his freshman year in college. The first semester went really well, even if he dislikes living in dorms and can’t wait until they can get an apartment next semester, and he hopes the second term is even better.
Scott’s last class today ended over two hours ago, so Stiles is a little surprised he isn’t back to the dorm yet. Knowing Scott, he probably got distracted on the walk across campus. Stiles knows how popular Scott is, everyone who meets him falling under his spell when he flashes that sunshine smile and displays an earnest interest in how they’re doing. Stiles is not popular at all. He’s too much of an asshole for most people to even try getting to know him, and there’s only a small handful of people he considers friends. He’s cynical, hyperactive, lacks a filter, and is pretty damn opinionated. Compared to Scott’s sincere friendliness and habit of considering everyone he hasn’t met yet as a potential friend, Stiles is a distrustful, obnoxious ball of energy. They’re totally opposite in a lot of ways, but that’s probably why they balance so well.
Fortunately, Stiles doesn’t really care what anyone thinks about him, and he isn’t interested in expanding his friend circle if it means being fake or pretending to be someone he’s not. Scott’s his best friend, has been since they were five year old, and he loves Stiles, so why worry about anyone else? Besides being best friends, their relationship has been more than that since they were sixteen, and Scott had kissed him during the middle of a rant about Call of Duty. Now, they’re best friends who fuck. A lot. In his mind, Stiles calls Scott his boyfriend, has maybe even referred to him as that when he’s indulged in casual conversation with the classmates who don’t mind his somewhat abrasive personality, but they’ve never actually talked about labels or discussed the specifics.
They’re just Scott and Stiles.
The sound of the door opening pulls Stiles out of his thoughts. He pauses the Youtube video he’s been half watching and looks up with a grin. “Scotty, how were your classes today?”
“Wonderful.” Scott flashes a goofy grin that makes Stiles sit up straighter. “I think I’m in love, Stiles. Her name is Allison, and she’s in my American Government class, and she’s beautiful and smart and amazing. We went for coffee after class and talked for hours. She’s got a sense of humor that reminds me of you, a little, but maybe not as sarcastic.”
“Oh.” Stiles feels like someone has stuck a sword through his belly, each word Scott says like a twist of the knife. “That’s…that’s great, buddy,” he forces out, faking a smile as he looks away because he can’t stand seeing Scott’s happy smile and excited expression.
“I think you’re going to love her, too. She’s pretty awesome, and she’s looking forward to meeting you. I think we might be able to have fun together,” Scott says happily, sitting on Stiles’ bed and bouncing a little. “But we’ll talk more about that later. Right now, I want to know how your classes went. Was it as long a day as you expected? Any favorites yet?”
“They were fine. Definitely a long day, but I at least had time for lunch.” Stiles shrugs, no longer feeling like talking about anything because Scott’s in love with some girl he just met. The fact that Scott doesn’t even realize why Stiles might not want to hear about this perfect Allison actually hurts. Sure, Scott hasn’t ever called Stiles his boyfriend, but it’s been two and a half years of going out and having sex and being together in all the coupley ways.
“Just fine?” Scott frowns slightly as he moves his arm around Stiles’ shoulders and pulls him against his side. “Are you okay, Stiles?”
“Sure. Of course.” Stiles shrugs Scott’s arm off his shoulders and gets up. “Why wouldn’t everything be okay? I mean, you fell in love at first sight, Scotty. That’s just awesome.” He grimaces when he hears the bitter tone to his voice. Running his fingers through his hair, he walks to the door. “I’ll be back later.”
“What?” Scott stands up. “Where are you going? I’ll come with you.”
“I’m meeting someone,” Stiles lies, looking at Scott then looking away. “We’ve got to discuss some projects coming up this term in our world cultures class. You’d be bored.”
Scott’s about to say something when his phone buzzes. Glancing at it, he smiles dopily. “It’s Allison.”
“Wow. You just had coffee with her, and she’s already texting. She must be besotted with you, buddy.” Stiles smiles wryly. “Smart girl, obviously. Knows someone special when she meets them. I’m glad you’ve found someone who makes you smile like that and makes you happy.” He clears his throat before he adds ‘I thought I did but I was wrong’. “I have to go.”
“Stiles, wait.” Scott looks up from where’s texting, the expression on his face almost enough to make Stiles stay, but he can’t. He can’t fake his way through this right now.
So Stiles ignores Scott’s request, hurrying out of their room and taking the stairs because he needs air. He can’t breathe, and it hurts. Hurts so much. And he doesn’t know what to do about that because he’s honestly never really considered the possibility that Scott didn’t feel the same way about him. The idea of Scott falling in love with someone, especially someone he seriously just met, isn’t something Stiles ever expected to happen. Stiles wishes he was overreacting, but he knows Scott even better than he knows himself, in many ways, and Scott isn’t the type to throw around the word love casually. Scott is also the type to totally believe in true love and love at first sight.
When he leaves the dorm, he heads to Rosewood Hall, which has his favorite dining hall. The dessert station is open until ten, so he knows he’ll be able to drown his sorrows in sweets. It isn’t very crowded this time of night, so he’s able to get a slice of chocolate cake, a piece of cherry pie, and a strawberry milkshake in no time. Impulsively, he adds two cupcakes to his tray, knowing he’ll end up taking one of them back to Scott as a silent apology for freaking out.
After all, it’s not Scott’s fault that he doesn’t love Stiles back.
His favorite table is empty, so he walks over and sits down, enjoying the privacy and view of the courtyard outside that this table offers him. Stiles starts on the chocolate cake first, sipping his milk shake in between bites. The cake is rich and overly sweet and exactly what he needs right now. He’s licking chocolate frosting off the prongs of his fork when someone approaches his table.
“That looks delicious. Maybe I should have gone with chocolate.”
Stiles looks up and sees Dimples standing there, looking slightly nervous but also confident. “It’s too rich, but it’s really good,” he says, glancing down to see that she has a slice of German chocolate cake and a bottle of water. “That looks pretty tasty, though.”
“They make the best desserts here,” she says, flashing the dimples that first caught his attention last semester in Anthropology. “Do you mind if I sit? Or would you rather be alone?”
“You can sit, as long as you don’t start debating me about the effects of colonization on Papua New Guinea,” he teases, remembering one of their many debates in Intro to Anthropology last semester. The class had been huge, and he hadn’t ever learned her name, but she’d always kept him on his toes whenever they had discussions in class. Sometimes, he’d swear she was deliberately arguing against him just to argue even if she didn’t agree with what she was saying, but that might be his hope that no one would believe some of the stuff she said.
“Why would I want to remind you about how thoroughly I demolished every point you ever made?” She grins as she sits down. “You know, you can only blame yourself for those debates. If you didn’t look so cute and sexy when you got flushed while you were arguing your opinions, I wouldn’t have provoked you so often.”
Stiles blinks at her before he ducks his head, feeling a faint flush on his face because did she really just call him cute? And sexy? “I seem to remember destroying most of your arguments,” he points out, looking up at her from beneath his lowered lashes. “So you were deliberately provoking me?”
“It’s the only time you’d stop looking at your phone or taking notes.” She shrugs. “I tried to approach you a few times, about maybe studying together, but you never hung around long enough for me to actually talk to you."
”There’s this amazing invention called email,” he says, arching a brow as he looks at her. “You could have just sent me a study group request.”
“That you’d have ignored.” She snorts and waves her fork at him. “I heard other people talk about how you never answered their emails regarding assignments and studying, and I overheard some of the rude retorts if they tried being flirty and coy. I thought debating you was a more unique flirtation tactic, but you never did come up to me after class, so I guess it didn’t work.”
“You’re hot,” Stiles tells her, huffing a laugh. “And smart. I had no idea someone like you would even be trying to flirt with me. And I think you’re obviously a little unhinged because there weren’t people in that class trying to flirt or be coy with me. Besides, I have a boyfriend, so I can look and fantasize but I wouldn’t ever betray that.” He stabs his fork into his cake. “I mean, I thought I had a boyfriend, but now I’m not sure what we are exactly. We never talked about it, and that was probably pretty stupid.”
“If you didn’t have him, would you have been interested?” She takes a bite of her cake, tongue flicking out to lick at a piece of coconut that sticks to her lip. “Or would you be interested even if you were with him?”
“I’m bi, if that’s what you’re asking.” Stiles sucks his fork into his mouth to get every last trace of frosting. When he notices Dimples staring a little too intently, he decides to have some fun with it. He licks at the prongs in a rather deliberate way, watching her face flush and feeling rather pleased with himself. After the hurt he felt when he realized Scott didn’t feel the same way about him, it’s sort of a stroke to his ego that this beautiful girl seems interested in him. “As for the rest, I don’t know. I’d never cheat, if that’s what you mean.”
“No, you don’t seem that type at all, or else I wouldn’t have been interested. Anyway, you aren’t single, so it’s probably pointless to even discuss it,” she says, leaning over to stick her fork into his slice of pie. Brazen. He likes that.
“I didn’t think I was, but it turns out we weren’t on the same page.” Stiles rubs the back of his neck. “He met someone today who makes his entire face light up, and he told me he’s in love. I wouldn’t really believe him if I didn’t know him so well. He’s not going to say something like that if he doesn’t mean it.”
“And he told you he doesn’t want you anymore?” She looks at him curiously. “He said he was wanting to date this girl instead of you? He loves you, doesn’t he?”
It feels good to talk to someone about this who doesn’t know him. “Yes, he does, but he’s never smiled about me the way he smiled about her,” Stiles mutters. “We’re best friends, and we love each other, but I stupidly thought he was also in love with me.”
“Did you talk to him about any of this, Stiles?” She dimples when he looks at her in surprise because she knows his name. “I asked around about you when I saw you in class last semester and realized I was attracted to you. I know your name, Stiles Stilinski, and I know you’re a bit of an asshole with trust issues, neither of which is actually a deterrent for me. I mean, I’m pretty competitive, I like to be challenged, and I think you’re a triple threat. You’re smart, you’re sexy, and you’re intensely devoted to things you care about.”
“We didn’t talk,” he admits reluctantly, mind reeling from the fact that this girl is interested enough to find out about him. Not to mention the fact that she’s obviously a little deranged because she thinks he’s sexy. Cute and sexy aren’t compliments he receives. Like ever. Other than Scott whispering how hot he is when they’re fucking, but that isn’t really the same. “You’re rather bold, aren’t you?”
“Yep.” She smiles. “I just don’t see any point in not going after what I want or playing the part of demure and shy innocent who can’t approach men she wants to know better. Besides, when I never had a chance to get to know you last semester, I wasn’t about to miss this opportunity when I saw you sitting here.”
“You probably should have waited,” he tells her honestly. “Right now, I’m not really in the best mood for flirting and playful games with a hot girl. I mean, my heart’s kind of broken, and he might not be in love with me, but I am in love with him, you know?”
“I know.” That’s not Allison’s voice. Stiles looks up and sees Scott standing there. “I know, Stiles, and you’re wrong. I’m in love with you, dumbass, and you’d know this if you hadn’t run away before I could even explain anything to you.”
“You don’t have to lie to me, Scotty,” he says, feeling oddly defensive and vulnerable. “You’ve never smiled like you were earlier when you were talking about me.”
“I’d never lie to you, Stiles,” Scott tells him, looking hurt and upset as he sits down beside him.
“Actually, I don’t know what kind of smiles were involved, but there were a lot of goofy smiles when he talked about you earlier,” she says softly. “He’s head over heels for you, Stiles.”
“What?” Stiles looks at her and frowns. “Earlier?”
“I realized you must not know who I am, so I decided to try talking with you before you found out,” she admits, shrugging. “I know it’s a shitty thing to do, but you were upset, and Scott had texted me about you leaving. When I saw you here, I figured it was fate.”
“Wait, you didn’t tell him?” Scott looks at her and sighs, his expression the disappointed look he’ll give Stiles sometimes. “That’s not right. He deserves to know what’s happening. I mean, I fucked things up pretty bad, I realize, because I should have handled things at the dorm better than I did, but you should have been honest with him.”
“What is happening?” Stiles asks, looking from Scott to Dimples. He puts some pieces together and sits back in his chair, staring at her. “You’re Allison, aren’t you?”
“Yes,” she says. “Allison Argent. I met Scott in Government today, and I decided to make an effort to introduce myself so this semester wouldn’t become the regrets I had after not meeting you, officially, in Anthropology. We started talking, and I found out you were his boyfriend.”
“And she told me about her crush on you last semester,” Scott adds, looking at Stiles. “I put two and two together and realized she must be Dimples, the hot chick who always got you so riled up after class. So, we went for coffee, and we talked a lot, about ourselves and you and relationships. I wasn’t sure if I should even think about it, but you and I, we used to talk about it back in high school, if Lydia ever wanted to date us or if any girl was interested, so I thought about the possibilities.”
“What kind of possibilities?” Stiles isn’t sure how feels about Allison deceiving him when it’s obvious she knew who he was, knew about Scott, and she let him talk about stuff he wouldn’t have said if he hadn’t thought she was a stranger. “And, yeah, I remember getting off thinking about some gorgeous woman wanting both of us, but that was years ago, and most women aren’t likely going to want that.”
“It’s a good thing I’m not most women then. You see, Stiles, I want to date you,” Allison says simply. When he gapes at her, she flashes her dimples. “Both of you. At the same time.”
“Both of us,” he mutters, looking at Scott, who has taken his hand and is rubbing circles on the back of it. “And you want this?”
“It’s up to you,” Scott tells him. “You’re my life, Stiles. I know we’ve never really talked about us because I thought you just knew, like I know how you feel, but maybe I need to say it. You’re the other half of my soul, the love of my life, and you make me so happy it’s disgusting. While I did feel a connection with Allison when we met, I’d never choose anyone else over you. However, we both have a lot of love to give, we did used to talk about maybe trying to do a triad thing if it ever came up, and I thought maybe Allison would be a good person to try it out with if you were interested.”
“If it doesn’t work out, I hope we can at least be friends, but I already told you. I’m not afraid to go after what I want, even if it means unconventional relationships and sharing.” Allison bites her bottom lip. “Scott and I both want you, Stiles. What do you say?”
“I say that this is pretty overwhelming and I think Scott and I need to have a really long talk about stuff we’ve never really discussed before,” he says thoughtfully. He squeezes Scott’s hand, knowing they’re going to be good no matter what, then he looks at Allison. “After that, maybe the three of us can go out to dinner and see how a date goes.”
That’ll give him a chance to research polyamory and find out if this is a good choice for them or if it’s likely to end up hurting Allison because, well, Stiles realizes now that he isn’t going to lose Scott regardless of what happens between the three of them. Allison flashes her dimples and Scott’s got his sunshine smile on his face, and Stiles can’t help returning their smiles. Only time will tell how it all goes between the three of them, but he’s actually kind of looking forward to getting to know Allison better.