𝟗. ❙𝟏𝟗𝟎 𝐛𝐜: 𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐝 𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐚𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐞

❛ 𝑮𝑯𝑶𝑺𝑻𝑭𝑨𝑪𝑬 ❜

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•☆.⭒✻❙ 𝟏𝟗𝟎 𝐁𝐂: 𝐖𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐄𝐃 𝐕𝐈𝐂𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐘 𝐎𝐅 𝐒𝐀𝐌𝐎𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐀𝐂𝐄 ❙✻⭒.☆•

❝ 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐭𝐥𝐞𝐬? ❞

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𝑨 𝑳𝑰𝑻𝑻𝑳𝑬 𝑹𝑬𝑺𝑷𝑬𝑪𝑻

𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒆

❛ i'm so in love with you ❜

𝐸𝑉𝐸𝑁 𝐴𝐹𝑇𝐸𝑅 𝑆𝑇𝐼𝐿𝐸𝑆 𝐻𝐴𝐷 seen Jolene use her siren abilities -- one of her greatest secrets -- he still wanted to spend time with her. It would take a lot more than the supernatural for Stiles' feelings towards this girl to disappear.

He invited Jolene over before he was going to stick by his word. Stiles had experienced many strange things in the last few hours, so Jolene Dalton being an ethereal creature was not shocking.

Jolene was sitting on the floor of his room with her back against his wall, drawing as she always seemed to be. Stiles was laying on his stomach across from her, ever so often glancing up at her while he read a book on werewolves, one Jolene had given him.

They were enjoying the peaceful silence. They were two people that could spend hours in comfortable quiet and enjoy it just as much as the thrill of getting to speak to one another. Both Stiles and Jolene were so deeply infatuated with the other person that they'd take any quality time they could get.

It wasn't quiet for too long since something was picking at Stiles' mind. "So, um, I don't need to be afraid of you, do I?"

Jolene looked up from her drawing as he continued, "'Cause of the whole...siren thing."

"No." Jolene responded simply as her focus moved back to her drawing of Winged Victory, a sculpture she always dreamed of seeing. Stiles did furrow his eyebrows as he started to fidget with his bookmark. "So, I don't need to be afraid of the fact that you can control minds?"

"I don't do it unless I have to. Besides, it's like the lamest thing I can do." Stiles was actually pretty interested in her capabilities. Whatever this curse she had proved to only be a good thing so far. Scott had tried to kill them and Jolene protected them. Not to mention the fact that she got Scott to shift back to his normal self. It was safe to say that Stiles felt much more secure around Jolene in terms of her supernatural control. He only ever felt nervous around her, this was a nice, natural shift.

"What else can you do?"

"Well, I can read minds, but only when I choose to. And I can make illusions." Jolene explained. She could see that Stiles was confused as to how she made illusions, and really, there was no other way to explain it than to show him.

They heard a knock at the door, so Stiles stood up. He opened his door, assuming it was his father coming home from work late, but there was no one there. He furrowed his eyebrows and went to close the door, but there was yet another knock. Stiles knew no one had knocked on the door, he could see that there was nothing but air in front of him. He looked back at Jolene, who wore a small smile.

It suddenly hit Stiles what was happening. She had created the knocking sound that seemed completely real. "Oh, that's awesome."

Stiles walked back and sat down next to her, their arms brushing against each other, which made Jolene sit up straighter and her heart beat faster. Stiles did want to know more about the mind reading and how much she might have known about him. "So...you read minds? Is that like a thing you do all the time?"

"No. People's inner voices are really loud, so I block it out."

"Oh, okay, good." Jolene looked up at him, sending him a curious look. That statement clearly meant he was hiding something -- his love for Jolene -- but he had to very quickly cover it up and change the subject, "Just 'cause...you know, like privacy. And you're kinda like Professor X, so that's cool."

Jolene bit the inside of her cheek and looked back down at her drawing, muttering, "I've actually never seen any of the X-Men movies."

"You've never seen Batman and you've never seen the X-Men movies? And here I thought you were perfect." Jolene covered her face with her hands and slouched a little more, leaning against Stiles, who laughed at her reaction. He regretted his words as soon as he said it, not realizing he let his mouth move faster than his mind, but it created a nice moment between the two.

Jolene scolded herself as well for reacting in such a way. Then again, Stiles' lighthearted laughter made it all better. Her head was leaning against his arm as Stiles asked, "Do you know any superheroes?"

"Yes! I watch the other Marvel movies. And there's Raphael and Michelangelo who are kinda like the superheroes of the Renaissance." Jolene expressed as she moved her position so that she was laying on her back and rested her head in his lap. Stiles felt his heart drop to his stomach, it too beating far faster than it ever had before. Jolene is a touchy person, she shows her affection by hugging, holding people's arms, leaning against them. This only happens when she felt comfortable enough with someone. So, it had only happened with Lydia, and now Stiles.

"Are you talking about the turtles?" Stiles questioned, trying to keep the conversation normal and not make his voice tremble with anxiety.

Jolene glanced up at him before she held her sketchbook above her head, resting her pinky against the edge and continuing to work on some of the shading on the wings. "I'm gonna pretend like you didn't say that."

"I'm gonna pretend like you didn't say you've never seen the X-Men movies. Or Batman!" Stiles brought the conversation back to what he thought to be blasphemous.

"Well, you've never seen a horror movie. And you called Rafael and Michelangelo 'the turtles!" Jolene shot back with a small laugh. Stiles returned the laugh, this conversation bringing joy like no other. He never thought Jolene would ever speak to him let alone have her head rested on his lap, drawing away.

"What if you agree to do an X-Men marathon with me and I'll learn about the artist turtles?" Stiles offered, making the best of both worlds, but there was one addition that was bugging Jolene. She moved her sketchbook out of the way so she could see Stiles. She held up her pinky and asked, "And you'll watch horror movies with me?"

"Only if you watch the Batman movies with me." Stiles interlocked their pinkies, agreeing with her. Jolene proceeded to kiss her hand while they were interlocked. He nudged his hand towards him a little, Stiles never having seen anyone make a pinky-promise that way, but he complied. Stiles kissed his hand, locking in that oath before Jolene took her hand back to continue lightly shading.

"You know, with all these marathons, we're gonna have to spend more time together." Stiles pointed out, trying to ramp up to...well, he didn't even know. The logical step would be to ask her out, but Stiles knew to stay in his lane.

"I don't think that's such a bad thing. We have to help Scott anyway."

"Yeah. Plus, I kinda want to see the horror movies. I know you'll pick the right ones to watch." That caught Jolene's attention. Horror movies are her life, her blood, her soul. It's one of the only things that brings her peace in her life. Jolene is next to an expert in horror movies, she could name thousands and detail them. No one had ever been interested in Jolene's passion. It was quite alienating. "Really?"

"Yeah, if you're interested, I want to learn about it."

It was almost unbelievable to Jolene that Stiles was this sweet. In the years she's known him, Stiles has remained just as clumsy, kind, and all around eccentric. She always admired his sweet nature that was completely subconscious. Even just the way Stiles looks at her was filled with innocence. It was a shock that someone could be this perfect.

This feeling went both ways.

Stiles watched Jolene for a moment. He noticed how her eyebrows furrowed slightly when she was focused. It was adorable to him. He too loved the 'REDRUM' tattoo on her wrist. It was small, barely noticeable, but still beautiful.

All of a sudden, Stiles' trance was broken when Jolene ripped apart her drawing into seven small pieces. Stiles put his hands on her to stop her. "Woah, what are you doing?"

"It's bad?"

"This is bad?" Stiles scoffed as he took the seven pieces and looked at the fine, focused details of her version of Winged Victory. Jolene hated that he was holding it, hated that he was looking at it. That drawing was completely horrific all because of one small aspect, "It's not perfect."

"So what?"

"If it's not perfect, it's nothing." Jolene expressed as she sat up, moving to lean against the wall next to him.

"Who taught you to think like that?" Stiles laughed, having never heard someone disregard a masterpiece all because it wasn't flawless. Jolene looked down at her hands and muttered, "Myself."

Jolene has always been self critical. It never helped that her aunt Bowie was such a perfectionist and her best friend was the epitome of beauty. Jolene always felt she was playing catch up. She was trying to be just as gorgeous, trying to be just as smart, just as talented, just as effortless. Nothing was ever good enough. She knew she'd never be as perfect as Lydia. It's why she knew she'd never be with Stiles.

"Well, I think it's perfect, so I'm keeping it." Stiles couldn't see anything that was imperfect about Jolene's art. Her mind seemed to only make perfection. Jolene didn't want him seeing it. She was embarrassed enough to look at it herself, she wouldn't want Stiles of all people keeping it. "Stiles-"

"You said it was nothing." Stiles cut her off to make his point."

"It's embarrassing-" Jolene tried to take it from him, but Stiles held it far enough away that she couldn't reach.

"Your nothing is my something. I like this. What are you even gonna do with it?"

"I don't know. Throw it out?" Jolene brushed it off as she tried to take it from him again, leaning over him a little, but Stiles was still able to keep her away from it. He did wear a teasing smirk, seeing as how they were quite close and this confidence really came out of nowhere. "Then why can't I have it?"

Jolene let out a breath and leaned back against the wall. "You're incredibly frustrating."

"No. I'm fun." Stiles corrected as he got to his feet. He held his hand out for her to take, but did keep her ripped up drawing behind his back so she wouldn't be tempted to take it.

Jolene but the inside of her cheek to keep herself from smiling, which really didn't work. Jolene took his hand, which helped her get to her feet. He brought her over to his bed where the two of them sat down so they could uphold their promise. Stiles pulled up one of the X-Men movies so that they could start, knowing that she at least already liked Marvel. Jolene was a little distracted, however, since she saw Stiles had taken a photo of he and Scott out of a frame. He began to try and piece together her drawing.

Jolene, with her back against his headboard, watched with a small smile as he tried to rekindle her artwork. She had this creeping feeling down her spine just looking at that drawing; she wanted to burn it. But Stiles saw that it was important enough that he could go through the trouble of bringing it back to its former glory, and that is why made her heart skip a beat.

Jolene brought her knees to her chest and held her arms in her lap, doing everything in her power to focus on the movie and not Stiles, but him and his infinite and angelic beauty made it difficult. Luckily for her, she had suddenly gotten a text from Danny and read it aloud, "It's Danny. He says that Jackson has a separated shoulder."

"We should call Scott." Stiles very carefully set the pieces of paper down to not lose his progress while he stopped the movie for a moment. He video-called Scott on his laptop, who answered quite quickly. He had been waiting for information about Jackson, so h was lucky that Jolene was friends with Danny. Immediately, Scott assumed this was what it was about, but the second party distracted him a moment. "Uh...Stiles, is Jolene with you?"

"Scott, remember what I said about questioning me? You. Lobotomy." Jolene didn't want to deal with Scott, who was constantly wary of her and confused by her presence. Scott was simply shocked that Jolene Dalton was speaking to he and Stiles. And the fact that the girl that Stiles constantly rambles about in the most loving way was in his house was even more of a shocker.

"So, how bad is it?"

"Bad. Jackson has a separated shoulder." Stiles explained, which made Scott instantly feel guilty. "Because of me?"

"Because he's a tool." Stiles corrected.

"But is he gonna play?"

"Danny just said that they were counting on you for Saturday." Jolene informed, having been the one got the text message. Scott sighed, conflicted by his desperation to be a star lacrosse player, which he had been working towards for so long, but he too didn't want to harm anyone. Playing lacrosse meant risking the shift.

Very suddenly, Scott saw Jolene lean forward as if she was trying to find something. She had spotted some strange shadow while Stiles was still working on very perfectly fitting her drawing in the frame. Scott was confused by the looks while Jolene nudged the boy next to her. She pointed at the screen and Stiles too saw that strange figure.

Stiles began to type in the speech feature to make sure that whoever or whatever was behind Scott wouldn't be alarmed. However, once he was able to tell Scott that there appeared to be someone behind him, the call disconnected. Scott was left to his own.

❝ 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬𝐧'𝐭 𝐚 𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐤. 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐜𝐫𝐚𝐳𝐲 𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐰𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐧. ❞

:𝒑𝒔𝒚𝒄𝒉𝒐

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