I Am An Animal~Stiles Stilinski~

Fresh Start Fever

"Five." Grace said emotionlessly. Lydia's glare deepened in confusion.

"What?"

"It's been five years this August, not four." She said, her voice level and calm as she continued to glare at her sister. Lydia seethed and without warning, her hand whipped round to slap her sister across the cheek. Grace stumbled slightly but remained upright, bringing her hand to her cheek in surprise, still smirking slightly. Mrs Martin screeched at Lydia's attack but Grace through her other arm back, silently warning her mother to stay out of it.

"I don't care how long it's been, you. Left. Us!" Lydia's voice had risen to a shrill scream as tears of anger stung her eyes. Grace flicked her hair out of her eyes and once again stood tall, staring level at her sister who was struggling to keep her emotions in check.

"I left for personal reasons; it was nothing against you, or mom. I left because I needed a change from this town so me being the young, naive as hell kid I was back then went with Dad without a backwards glance. It killed me to leave you two, but at the time I thought I was going with the best option. Turns out ol' Rob Frost wasn't so wrong, the best laid plans often go astray..." Grace trailed off as she became pensive, but that wasn't enough for Lydia.

"So what, living as a Daddy's girl was too much for you? Getting to go to all those amazing foreign places was too good for you?!"

"Actually, quite the opposite," Grace chuckled bitterly, "I hated it. Constantly moving, never staying in one place long enough to make friends... Dad was hardly ever around long enough for me to even attempt to be a Daddy's girl. So, I went in the opposite direction. Thought if I acted out enough, maybe he'd notice me then. So I went wild. Changed my look, my attitude...got mixed up in things I shouldn't have been mixed up in, with people I should never have got mixed up with..." The house was silent now as Grace divulged her activities in her absence, both her mother and Lydia listening in silent shock. "Things started to get real dark and...completely out of control. By the time Dad eventually intervened, there was nothing either of us could do. He didn't see me as his daughter any more, probably why he had no qualms with throwing my ass out on the street." Grace bit her cheek as the memories began to painfully shove their way to the forefront of her mind in vivid flashes: ill lit rooms filled with pungent smoke, stumbling home in a drug-induced haze, finding her hotel room locked with a bag and a note from her father telling to leave and not bother calling. Her mother reached out as if to comfort her, but then withdrew her hand, disheartened by the cold, distant look on her daughters face. However, Lydia paid no attention to her sisters pain, and was determined to continue her advances.

"So now you have nowhere else to go you decide to try and mooch off of us? Unbelievable," she scoffed but was quickly silenced by the same steely jade green eyes she often saw in the mirror glaring daggers at her.

"No, actually. See that was two years ago. For the first few months I tried doing things on my own, trying to prove to myself I didn't need anyone else's help. God knows what I was thinking at the time. I ended up being taken in by a group of people that saw I needed help, who became like my family; they helped me out of my dark place and I know if it wasn't for them I wouldn't be standing here," Grace finished firmly, glancing at both her mother and her sister. For a few moments each of them stood in silence, solemnly weighing up the information they had just been presented with. But that silence was shattered by a knock on the door, which shook each of them out of their reverie. Mrs Martin was the first to react, dashing to the front door whilst wiping at her eyes. Lydia and Grace remained staring each other down, neither daring to be the first to look away. The door opened and a tall, lean boy with a buzz cut stood awkwardly in the doorway.

"H-Hi, Mrs Martin," he greeted with a crooked smile. Mrs Martin forced a smile back at him, moving aside to let him in. She turned to her two daughters, still locked in an unspoken battle.

"Lydia, sweetie. Stiles is here," she said. Lydia sent one last glare towards Grace before turning to a confused Stiles, who altered between looking at Lydia with pure adoration and staring at Grace in confusion. Grace also turned to face the boy, eying him up and down with amusement as he stood fidgeting. With a shake of her head and a slight chuckle, Grace strutted in front of her sister and up to him, standing almost toe to toe.

"So, you must be my sisters date to the formal. Don't you look dashing in a suit," she purred, running her hands down the collar of the jacket. He visibly stiffened as his face went pale.

"Grace!" Her mother chastised, "leave the boy be."

"Uh, Lydia? W-why is there two of you? Not that I-I'm complaining, but uh..."

"What, you don't remember me either Stilinski? I know it's been five years but I definitely remember you," she smirked up at him as Stiles face went from embarrassment to confusion to amazement in a matter of seconds.

"Grace?" He gasped. She laughed at his reaction.

"Ding ding ding! Give the boy a prize!" She mock-cheered. Lydia finally decided to intervene, grabbing Stiles' wrist and dragging him out of the house.

"C'mon, let's just get this over with," she grumbled as she left through the door, with Stiles looking back over his shoulder.

"It was nice to see you Mrs Martin! W-welcome home Grace!" He called as he was forced into his jeep by his date. Mrs Martin shut the door behind her and turned to watch her daughter who averted her eyes to the ground.

"I... I really am sorry for leaving you, Mom," Grace whispered gently, looking up at her mother with genuine regret, "I swear, if I could take it all back I would never have left Beacon Hills, or you, or Lyd..." Her mother continued to watch her daughter, her face tight with emotion. Grace took another breath before continuing, "But Lydia isn't that far off. I don't have anywhere else to go. Plus, I really do miss you guys...so I was wondering," Grace's voice caught in her throat as she watched her mother's eyes begin to fill with tears, but of what emotion she couldn't quite figure out.

"I was wondering if you'd be willing to take your worthless daughter back," she rushed out, eyes once again darting to the floor. Mrs Martin took in the image of her daughter; previously she had stood confident and tall, now she seemed afraid and unsure of herself. Grace's mother took one uncertain step forward, paused, and then strode across the room to sweep her daughter up in a tight, overwhelming embrace.

"You don't even have to ask," Mrs Martin whispered gently into her daughters hair as she stroked it soothingly. Grace's eyes slammed shut tightly as hot tears spilled over, allowing herself to relax into her mother's arms, resting her chin on her shoulder, feeling a type of security she hadn't felt in a long time.

"Welcome home, sweetheart."

A/N

wooo first chapter! so we get a little more on the character of Grace and her history, obviously there is a lot more to be revealed but that's for later chapters;) so I'm starting from season 1 episode 11 which means alot of you know that things are about to get REAL interesting!! I can't wait to get further into this, I've kind of already got plans for season 3:') ah well, hope you like this! I would really love some comments, it would help me out with my writing and maybe encourage me to publish quicker..? C'MON YOU KNOW YOU WANT TO

Naomi x