Laura smoothed her skirt one last time, chasing away an imaginary wrinkle as she glanced at the clock. Again.
Her papers were perfectly arranged, the new markers for the whiteboard lined up in a neat row, and her lecture notes were typed in 14 point Garamond for easy perusal. She was ready. She was going to prove that she could finish her Master's degree and learn how to lead the pack when her mom is ready to step down. Prove that there's certainly no need for Peter to take any of the responsibilities meant for the Alpha-elect; she'll do it all just fine.
The creak of the door opening startles Laura out of her musings, she's a little ashamed to note that her claws have come out. The first students start filing in, claiming seats in the small lecture hall and conversing quietly among themselves as they settle in. She can’t help but smile at the small nods of acknowledgement they throw her way.
Two minutes before the official start of class, Laura starts to write her office hours and email on the whiteboard, as she finishes up, a flurry of motion and the scent of autumn and spice drag her attention toward the door.
A tall, lightly muscled guy with dark hair and wide, amber eyes is half-stumbling into the room. His face is dotted with freckles and Laura is startled again to find herself thinking of tasting them. She's actually leaning slightly in his direction, taking a deep breath to learn his scent.
He recovers gracefully, re-shouldering his bag and catching his notebook before it can fall. Laura tries not to notice the way his forearms flex where his plaid shirt is rolled up. Their eyes meet, and the color of his catch Laura off guard, but more than that, it's how he seems to look into her that takes her breath for a moment.
He tilts his head a little, a familiar gesture that puts Laura oddly at ease. His lips quirk in a quick smile, and Laura feels as though she's been judged favorably.
He sits in the front row, and Laura has to force herself to look away from his hands as they arrange his pens and pencils in front of him.
She checks the clock again, sees that it's time to begin, and moves back to her desk. Taking a deep breath, she finds her earlier confidence and begins.
“Good afternoon, everyone! Welcome to Criminal Theory 306, I'm Laura, Dr. Griffin’s teaching assistant, and I'll be leading your Wednesday classes, and I'll be here Fridays as well. If you have any questions…”
It takes her less than ten minutes into the bullshit intro class to realize that the kid--Stiles-- is brilliant. He's funny and charming to boot. Laura kind of hates him.
Stiles is from her home town, and they know basically all the same people. It should be nice, but it puts her on edge.
Doctor Griffin loves Stiles. He tells Stiles his theories are “clever” and “interesting”. He jokes that they're lucky Stiles is on the side of the law, because otherwise they'd all be in trouble. He wants Stiles to consider teaching. He invites Stiles to a lecture that Laura is attending with him.
Laura has been working with Doctor Griffin for a year and a half, and he has never joked about her intellect.
Stiles smiles at Laura like they know each other, like they know each other's secrets. He still smells like everything good about autumn. He laughs with his whole body, and he doesn't notice the way half the girls in class, and at least two of the guys, are halfway in love with him.
Doctor Griffin claps Stiles’ shoulder like a proud father, Stiles smiles, big and genuine, and he winks at Laura. It makes something hot and electric flash through her, but it's all mixed up with jealous ire. Laura grips the back of the chair she's leaving on so tightly it cracks. She winces, but before she can make an excuse to distract her mentor and her...rival?...Stiles sweeps in and redirects his attention away, leading him out of the room easily and throwing Laura a look she can't interpret.
The wave of gratitude chases away the annoyance, but the confusion remains.
Stiles wears a tie and vest to the lecture. Laura hates it; no one should look that good in real life. He compliments her dress without being creepy, he even flushes a little when he does it, which of course just makes him hotter. Dammit.
Stiles charms everyone at the little meet and greet thing, Griffin gushes about him and Laura tries to smile politely. When she accidentally makes eye contact with Stiles, he looks surprised, then looks quickly at Griffin, then back to her before his eye twitches in annoyance.
She's totally unprepared for it when Stiles gestures at her and says “Really though, none of us would have any idea what's going on without this woman over here, no offence, Doc, but Laura keeps us all in line.” His tone is light, but he's radiating sincerity, and the words he chose feel deliberate. They also feel pretty amazing.
And just like that, the alumnae they were talking to are terribly interested in Laura and her thesis, and Griffin is heaping praise on her. Stiles bumps her shoulder lightly with his own, and she returns the gesture. When she turns to flash a thankful smile, she swears that he bares his neck to her.
She doesn't have time to process that, as her mentor poses a question about her research, so she shakes off the shock and lets the thrill of talking about her thesis--and the spice and autumn smell of Stiles-- distract her.
They seem to spend a lot of time together, but Laura can't bring herself to be mad] when she comes home from trading ideas and talking about Star Wars over coffee and notices she smells a little like him.
Stiles comes in to the first class after break smelling like other wolves, and Laura can't quite swallow a growl. Stiles seems to be the only one to notice it, his eyes going wide as he scrambles to meet her at her desk, hands splayed out in a soothing gesture.
“Laura,” he says, just audible to her enhanced hearing. “I should've warned you, I'm so sorry, but i promise I'm not a threat, I was visiting some friends at home. They uh, know your mom, you can call her if you need to, she knows me, too.”
Laura can tell he's being honest, knows he wouldn't lie to her, really. But there's a sour note in his scent that has her anxious anyway.
He closes his eyes for a long second before putting his hand on the desk next to hers, close enough that she can feel the heat of it. She wishes he would move it the last centimeter.
When he speaks again, his voice is heavy. “Please just… please don't be mad. I don't want us to not be friends.”
“We’ll talk later, Stiles,” she says, it's less comforting than she wants it to be, and Stiles stiffens. She quickly moves her hand over his and squeezes gently before moving away entirely. He smiles, mostly to himself, and Laura feels like she did something right.
Stiles knows about werewolves, and knows Laura's whole family, her whole pack. Even the newest members that Laura hasn't met because she's been away so long.
Like with everything else, Stiles has thrown himself headlong into learning everything he can, and Laura is afraid that soon he might know more than she does. It doesn't feel like it did with class stuff though, she's not jealous or threatened by his encyclopedic knowledge; she's fascinated by his enthusiasm and his curiosity.
She might be falling a little bit in love.
Laura asks Stiles to read her thesis over Thanksgiving break. They drive back to Beacon Hills together, and it's far more comfortable than it should be.
Stiles wasn't kidding about knowing her mom, and Laura is both flabbergasted and overjoyed to see how easily Stiles and his dad integrate into her family. She's not even surprised when she feels the beginnings of a pack bond forming in her chest; a faint but very real connection tying her to the two men. She knows when she becomes alpha, the bonds will strengthen and become more defined, and she can't wait to carry her pack with her that way.
Laura's whole family loves Stiles. He's thick as thieves with her little sister, Cora, has a difficult to define, but intense friendship with her brother, Derek, even Peter is smitten (in his own weird, slightly dangerous way).
Stiles has notes on Laura's thesis.
They're all, of course, insightful and well articulated. What aren't compliments, are ways she can strengthen her argument, or challenges to her hypotheses and articles that address them.
He tells her “You're kind of brilliant, you know,” and he's smiling in that way that makes her heart beat heavy against her ribcage, and he radiates sincerity and a little bit of awe, and Laura wants to kiss him.
Stiles kisses back like he argues, eagerly and earnestly and it's perfect.
Laura doesn't hate it even a little.
