Milkshake - C.H
Summary: Cora Hale is arguably the most intense person in all of Beacon Hills, and everyone who isn’t afraid of her is kind of in love with her. And you aren’t really an exception. The only problem is that Cora Hale has never actually dated anyone, and you’d rather be her friend than another in a long line of awkwardly rejected acquaintances. That is … until you get a more than a little tipsy at one of Lydia Martin’s parties.
Word count: 1.5k
A/N: Is this in character? Probably not. Does it follow canon? Definitely not. Do I really care? That one’s debatable. Regardless, I had a ton of fun writing this so I hope you enjoy! 💛
“You’re staring,” Stiles pointed out, drawing you back to reality.
“I’m not staring,” you said defensively. “I’m just …”
“Watching her dance across the room with some guy, hoping she’ll see you in the middle of her twirl and that she’ll stop and come over here and just lay one on ya?” Stiles asked with an annoying smirk on his face.
“Is that my fantasy or yours, Stilinski?” you asked, folding your hands over your chest.
“Come on, Y/N,” Stiles laughed, tugging at your arms so they fell at your sides. “Go shoot your shot. Cora Hale doesn’t bite … much.”
You rolled your eyes and pushed him away. “Whatever. She’s with Justin so I’m thinking I’ll just get loaded and make out with someone else.”
“Sounds like a plan!” Stiles called after you as you walked away to find something to refill your solo cup with.
You thought about your relationship with Cora as you poured whatever alcohol you could find in Lydia’s kitchen in the cup. You’d met way back in freshman year when Derek dropped her off at Beacon Hills High and she threatened to punch the senior who was harassing you. A hurried thank you later and you two became fast friends. The only problem is that you’d been in love with her since that first day when she slammed Derek’s car door so hard that you felt it from the rack you were chaining your bike to.
Every snarky comment and heated argument only made it worse for you. She was strong-willed, and stubborn, and a complete pain in the ass, but she was the first one to ask if you were okay after Peter attacked you at the school. She was the one that pulled Jackson off you when he went all murdery in sophomore year. She brought you soup when the alphas beat you up so bad that you missed school to heal. She was always there when you needed her.
And you were there for her every full moon. When you all thought Derek was dead, you were the one that held her until she cried herself to sleep. You were in the stands cheering her on at every soccer match. You helped her with homework when she couldn’t figure how the hell to factor polynomials. You were there when she was dared to key Harris’ car (and the detention that followed). So it was no surprise when, after one drink too many, you were throwing up in Lydia’s bathroom and she came to find you.
“Woah, how much did you drink, angel?” Cora asked, bending down to scoop your hair into her hands. Angel. She always called you her angel because you always kept her from doing bad things, and she was the little devil on your shoulder that told you to just have fun every once in a while. Not because she was in love with you - that was just wishful thinking.
“Maybe a little too much,” you hiccupped, looking up at her. The bathroom light made a perfect halo around her head and she looked so beautiful. Like your angel.
“Yeah, I’d say that’s more of a definitely than a maybe.” She dampened a facecloth and dabbed your cheeks lightly. Her hands were warm as they held your face up gently. When she got up to find a toothbrush from the hordes of unused toiletries the Martins kept for guests, you almost reached out to pull her back. Almost.
Cora made you brush your teeth and rinse out your mouth, and then she guided you through the house and to the kitchen. Upon request, you sat on the counter and watched her dig through the cupboards for food.
“What do you want to eat?” she asked. “I’ve got popcorn and-”
“I want a milkshake,” you said.
“A milkshake?”
You nodded and laughed at the face she was making. “You just need, like, ice cream and a blender. Pleeeaaasssee, Cora?”
Cora sighed and rolled her eyes, eventually giving in. “Okay. But don’t tell anyone. Can’t have the rest of those dumbasses thinking I can be nice.”
“Mmmm, but you’re always nice to me.”
Cora didn’t answer as she took out the blender and whatever else she needed to make the milkshake. You watched her carefully as she did so, trying to absorb every moment. The party was still going hard throughout the rest of the house, but it felt like you two were the only ones in the world as you sat in the kitchen.
Cora had, mistakenly, left the can of whipped cream within your reach, and you leaned over - almost falling backward off the island - and grabbed it. Cora rushed over when she heard the clattering, but it was too late; you’d already squirted like half the can into your mouth.
“Y/N!” She put her hands around yours, trying to pry the can out of your hands. You were laughing too much to put up much of a fight, but she wasn’t doing too good of a job either. “That’s really disgusting, you know that?”
“You want some?” you asked, mouth still kind of full. You tilted the can up, ignoring Cora’s cries that no, she did not want some.
You started pouring too soon and she was squirming so much that the whipped cream went everywhere. On her face, down her dress, splattering on the floor, even in her hair. It didn’t matter though, because you were both laughing way too much to care about the mess.
“You owe me a new dress,” Cora said once the laughter died down. She took the can from your hand and turned to put on the counter behind her, but you held onto her shoulders and pulled her back to face you.
“What if I make it up to you?” you asked. You were equally covered in whipped cream due to how close you and Cora were and what a spectacular failure you’d committed earlier.
“And how do you plan to do that?”
She looked so pretty, even covered in whipped cream and with her hair all messed up. It made your drunk little heart want to explode. Without any hesitation, you cupped her face in your hands and pulled it up to yours. You felt her hands snake around your waist and pull you a touch closer. Your cream covered hands made their way up to her hair, but neither of you were too worried about the sticky situation anymore.
“Woah, what happened here?”
You both pulled away at the sound of Stiles’ voice, but you were still holding onto one another. Looking at him with your arms around one another, it was a painfully awkward moment.
“I wanted a milkshake,” you told him.
“She wanted a milkshake.”
Stiles leaned against the doorframe, popping a chip into his mouth and chewing obnoxiously. “Uh, huh,” he said. “And where does the, uh-”
“Oh, my god. What did you do to my kitchen?” Lydia rushed in, setting down empty bowls and staring at the wreckage. Her huge, worried eyes only made you and Cora laugh. Any awkwardness that arose when Stiles interrupted completely disappeared.
“Don’t worry, Lydia. We’ll clean it,” Cora promised.
She didn’t look convinced though. Stiles bumped her arm and she took a breath, forcing a smile on her face. “Whatever,” she said eventually. “I’m just glad you two finally got together. You’ve been in love since like freshman year and it was getting kinda annoying.”
She stormed out and you laughed again as Cora made space for you to hop off the countertop. The two of you cleaned up the mess you’d made, laughing along the way and kissing a few more times, before the party ended and Cora drove you home. You held her hand the whole way.
“So you’ve really been in love with me since freshman year?” you asked. You played with her fingers when she parked the car in your driveway and looked at her.
“Why do you think I call you ‘angel?’” she asked.
“Because you kind of flirt with everyone.”
“No, I don’t.”
“Uh, yeah, you do,” you said. “Like everyone in our friend group has had a crush on you at some point or another.”
“No, they haven’t!”
“Uh, yeah, they have. You Hales are all so intense and you don’t realize that makes everyone in a five-mile radius fall in love with you.
“Well, I didn’t have a crush on any of them.” Cora got a little awkward and stared straight ahead. Even after all you’d been through, she still got weird whenever she had to talk about herself. “I only had a crush on you,” she mumbled.
“What was that last part?” you teased, leaning closer to poke her side. “You only had a what?”
Cora caught your hand and rolled her eyes, turning to look at you with a smile on her face. “I said I only had a crush on you, angel.”