A/N: originally posted on AO3 December 21st, 2017, as part of a Sciles gift exchange on tumblr. I'm ladybug114 over on AO3, too, if you want to check out my other stuff- I'm way more active over there. Hope you enjoy this fluffy little thing, and review if you liked it!

Their First Meeting

"Wow, Stiles, that's quite a creation," Claudia said, smiling down at her five-year-old son, who was at that moment quite consumed in building a sandcastle. Stiles loved playing in the sand, and the playground near their house had an enormous sandbox that was perfect for all of his…. architectural experiments.

Right now, for example, he was completely wrapped up in building a tower of sand that reached the sky. It was getting quite tall, and Claudia had to admit that she was actually impressed. The base was large enough to support the structure, and it really seemed like Stiles had planned it out ahead of time.

As Stiles bent down to pick up more sand, another young boy, probably around Stiles's age, climbed into the sandbox and waddled over to where Stiles was crouching. "Hey," the new kid said, grinning at Stiles, "I like your tower!"

Stiles didn't look up, and Claudia sighed. Stiles often had trouble making friends, even when they were literally staring him in the face. "I think someone wants to make friends, Stiles," Claudia said, trying to encourage her son.

The boy just kept grinning, even when Stiles still didn't respond. "My name's Scott," he stated proudly. "I wanna help you build."

Finally looking up at the other boy, Stiles responded, "It's my tower."

At that, Scott's smile actually started to drop. "I know," he said, and Claudia noticed that his voice had gotten quieter. "But I wanna help. Helping is nice, right?"

Stiles was silent for a moment, and Claudia got the impression that he was analyzing Scott, trying to decide if he was good friend material. "Fine," he finally said, and Scott's face lit up. "But don't mess it up."

Scott just nodded enthusiastically, and soon the two boys were building the tower together, Scott making it wider and Stiles continuing to make it taller.

After a minute of peaceful building, a voice shouted from the other end of the playground, "Scott!"

"Uh-oh," Scott whispered, looking up towards the source of the voice.

Stiles looked up too, asking, "Is that your mommy?"

As Scott nodded, Claudia saw a woman coming in their direction, looking a bit frantic. "Are you Scott's mom?" she called out.

The woman quickly turned towards the sound of Claudia's voice and smiled gratefully, walking quickly over to the sandbox. "Yes, this little rascal belongs to me," she said, shaking her head a bit. "He just loves to run off when I'm not looking."

Claudia grinned. "I've got some experience with that. I'm Claudia, and this is my son, Stiles."

The woman smiled back. "I'm Melissa, nice to meet you. Scott, are you playing nice?" Melissa asked, looking down at Scott and Stiles, who had resumed the building of their tower.

"Yes ma," Scott said, grinning up at her. "Sorry I ran off. I wanted to play in the sand."

Melissa sighed, but smiled back at her son. "Well, just let me know next time, alright?"

Scott nodded vigorously, but Claudia could tell that Melissa didn't totally believe her son. If this really had happened before, she didn't blame her. "Do you guys live in the area?" Claudia asked.

"Yeah, right down the street, actually," Melissa replied, keeping a close eye on her son. "I'm guessing I'll be seeing the two of you more often, it seems like Scott and Stiles are getting along."

Claudia looked down at the two boys, and saw that Melissa was right. Stiles was actually smiling at Scott and letting him make building decisions, something that she had hardly ever seen before.

She didn't know how she could tell, but Claudia knew in that moment that Stiles and Scott were going to stay friends for a long time.

Stiles's First Loss

"I'm… I'm sorry, Stiles," Scott said quietly, his voice shaking a bit. He didn't know how to do this, didn't know what the right words were. They were only eight, they shouldn't be dealing with something like this.

In the three years since they met on the playground, Claudia's and Melissa's predictions had come true. The boys stayed close, and the two families saw each other many times, both on the playground and at school, especially when Scott and Stiles ended up in the same first grade class. The two boys were practically inseparable now, and Scott knew that supporting Stiles in this moment was the biggest responsibility he had ever held.

"I just… can't really believe it," Stiles said after a moment, and Scott could see silent tears running down his face. "She's my mom, Scott."

"I know," Scott said, but he didn't, not really. He still had his mom, he could see her on the other side of the room, keeping an eye on him as always. He still had both of his parents, even if his mom and dad did fight sometimes. Stiles only had his dad, and Scott couldn't even find him in the room.

"Hey," Scott said, nudging Stiles and forcing him to look at him, "You know that we're always gonna be best friends, right?"

Stiles smiled, rubbing the tears from his eyes. "Yeah, I know," he said.

"So you can be sad right now, but you can't stay sad, because how could you? I mean, come on, you've got the best friend in the entire world."

Stiles laughed at that, and Scott grinned back at him, pulling his best friend into a hug.

Correction, Scott thought. Stiles didn't just have his dad. He also had Scott.

Stiles's First Crush

"Scott," Stiles said, plopping down across from him at lunch, "I think I'm in love."

Scott just rolled his eyes, not looking up from his sandwich. "You're not in love, Stiles," he said immediately.

Stiles frowned. "Well how do you know that?"

Sighing, Scott finally looked up from his lunch. "You're only nine, Stiles. You can't know that you're in love yet, it doesn't work like that. You just… have a crush, that's all."

"You just don't understand me," Stiles huffed, pulling out his own lunch.

"Alright, then, who are you 'in love' with?" Scott asked, throwing up air quotes.

"Her name," Stiles said, pausing dramatically, "is Lydia Martin."

Scott couldn't help himself-he burst out laughing. "Stiles, come on. If you're going to pick the love of your life right now, why are you picking a girl you have absolutely no chance with?"

"Oh come on, I totally have a chance with her," Stiles protested.

"You totally don't," Scott countered, grinning at his best friend.

Stiles grumbled to himself for a second, and then spent the rest of lunch waxing poetic about Lydia Martin, while Scott tried to ignore the weird pit forming in his stomach.

Scott's First Loss

Stiles was home alone, playing video games, when the phone rang. "Hey, this is Stiles, who's this?" he asked into the phone.

"Um, hey, Stiles."

"Scott?" Stiles asked, sitting up straighter. It sounded like his best friend was crying. "What happened, are you okay? What's going on?"

"Um," Scott started, and then Stiles heard him sniff. "Um, my dad just left, and I don't think he's coming back this time."

Stiles felt his hand clench around the phone. He didn't know the whole situation, but he had been at Scott's house enough times to know that he did not like his best friend's dad. He also knew, though, that now was probably not the best time to bring that up. "Scott, I'm so sorry," he said instead, trying desperately to find the right words to say. "What happened?"

"Um, well, he was drunk, and he and mom were fighting, again, and… um."

"Scott, what happened?" Stiles asked again, feeling himself start to panic, just a little bit.

Scott sniffed again. "I went upstairs to where they were. I just wanted to talk to them, try to get him to calm down, because I don't like it when they fight, but he was just kind of, um, flailing I guess? And he bumped into me and…" Silence.

"Scott," Stiles said quietly into the phone after waiting for a moment, "Scott, did he… did he hit you?"

"No!" Scott said quickly, almost frantically. "No, like I said, he just bumped into me, but, um, it made me trip, and I fell down the stairs. And… and mom freaked out, and told him to leave and not to come back, and I'm pretty sure she meant it this time."

"God, Scott, I'm sorry."

"I just… if I hadn't gone up the stairs, then it wouldn't have happened, and he would probably still be here."

"No, no, no," Stiles interrupted, getting up from the bed, completely unable to stand still anymore. "Scott, no, there is no way this is your fault. It's totally his fault, he shouldn't be coming home drunk all the time, okay? This is not on you."

Scott was still sniffling, just a little bit, but he responded, "I guess."

"Do you want me to come over?" Stiles asked, already rooting around his room for his shoes. "I can be there in like fifteen minutes."

"Um, are you sure?" Scott asked, and Stiles could tell how much he wanted to say yes.

So Stiles said it for him. "Yeah, dude, I'm on my way now. I'll leave my dad a note or something, he won't care."

"Thanks, Stiles," Scott said quietly, and Stiles grinned.

"Best friends for life," Stiles responded, and then hung up the phone and ran to his best friend's side.

Scott's First Crush

"Dude," Scott said as they left English class, "Did you see the new girl?

"Considering she was introduced to the entire class, yes, Scott, I did see her," Stiles responded, rolling his eyes.

"Okay, but, I mean… she's super pretty, right?"

"Why are you asking me?" Stiles laughed. "Dude, have you even spoken to her?"

"I have, actually," Scott said proudly, grinning at the look on Stiles's face. "She asked me if she could borrow a pencil, and I said yes, and gave her a pencil."

Stiles whistled. "Wow, call the presses, Scott McCall has got himself a girlfriend!"

Scott shoved him, laughing. "Oh shut up, dude. She looked really nice, though, maybe I could at least try to be friends with her?"

"Yeah, good luck with that," Stiles said, and pointed at something behind Scott.

Scott turned around and immediately groaned. The new girl, Allison, was standing next to none other than Lydia Martin, who was laughing at something she had just said. As Scott and Stiles watched, they saw Lydia start to twirl her hair and Allison blush a little bit, looking at her shoes.

"Huh," Scott said, turning back to Stiles. "Well that's an interesting development."

Stiles snorted. "What, my first crush very obviously flirting with your current crush? Yeah, sorry man, but I don't like your chances."

"Wait," Scott said, looking at Stiles curiously. "Do you not have a crush on Lydia anymore?"

"Uh, no," Stiles said, awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck. "I, um, finally got over that one."

Scott opened his mouth to ask what had made Stiles so uncomfortable all of a sudden, but at that moment, the bell rang.

"I'll see you after class," Stiles said, clearly relieved that that conversation was ending so soon. "Real sorry about that girl, man, guess you'll just have to find a new one."

And with that, Stiles walked away, leaving Scott alone in the hallway, trying to figure out what the hell had just happened.

Their First Prom

"I still can't believe we agreed to do this," Scott muttered as they walked up the driveway, but Stiles just grinned at him.

"Come on, man, if our friends need help, we help them."

"Yeah, well, I'm still not sure why they're our friends."

Stiles just shrugged and rang the doorbell. "Probably because they saw two lonely nerdy outcasts, and you were right about Allison being an absolute sweetheart?"

Before Scott had a chance to respond, the door opened, revealing Lydia Martin grinning at them. "Allison," she called back into the house, "our lovely dates are here!"

"Coming!" Allison shouted back, and then Lydia turned to face Scott and Stiles.

Her smile dropped, just a little bit, and Scott had to fight the urge to take a step back. They might be sort of friends now, but Lydia still definitely intimidated him. "You're going to stay quiet about this, right?" she asked, staring them down. "Allison's parents are super intense, so she's not ready for them to know about us yet."

"We get it," Stiles said, smiling at her. "You guys pretend that we're your dates for the pictures, and then we can just go our separate ways once we actually get to the dance, right?"

"We don't have to separate entirely," Allison said, appearing behind Lydia with a grin. "I know you guys might not totally believe us, but we are your friends. We can still hang out together."

"Told you so," Stiles said, nudging Scott in the side.

Lydia laughed, and the smile made her look much less intimidating, much more like someone who would actually befriend two losers just because her girlfriend wanted them to. "Alright," Scott said, grinning at Stiles, "let's do this."

"You know," Lydia said later, while Scott and Allison were rocking out on the dance floor, "you should ask him to dance with you."

Stiles almost dropped the cup of punch that he was holding. "Sorry, what did you just say?" he asked, staring at her in disbelief.

Lydia grinned at him. Stiles could see a calculating glint in her eye, and he was reminded in that moment that Lydia was probably the smartest person in their entire school. "Scott is your best friend, right?" she asked innocently.

"Yes, obviously," Stiles scoffed.

Lydia nodded slowly. "But are you sure he's… you know… only your best friend?"

Stiles shook his head quickly. "Sorry, Lyds, I'm not entirely sure what you're trying to imply here, but Scott has been my best friend since we were five, and that's all that's going on here."

"Whatever you say," she said, patting him on the shoulder before skipping out to join Scott and Allison on the dance floor.

"It's not like that," Stiles muttered to himself, and then begrudgingly followed her.

Their First Date

"So, uh, do you wanna grab pizza or something before we head to the movie?" Scott asked as they walked down the hallway, and Stiles noticed that his hands were clenched tight around the straps of his backpack.

"Yeah, sure," Stiles agreed, looking at him curiously. "The movie isn't until eight, right? So I'll pick you up around six, we can eat and still get there early enough to get good seats."

Scott nodded, a bit too enthusiastically. "Yes! Yes, yes, that, um, that sounds good."

"Dude, you okay?" Stiles asked, stopping Scott with a hand on his shoulder.

Which made Scott jump practically five feet in the air.

Immediately, Stiles snatched his hand away. "Um, sorry? Seriously, you're really jumpy today, you sure you're good?"

"Yes," Scott said quickly, starting to back away. "Yes, yeah, totally fine, um, I'll see you tonight, okay, bye." With that, Scott turned around and practically ran down the hall, leaving Stiles to stare after him in confusion.

"And people say I'm the weird one in this friendship," he muttered, staring at Scott's back as he retreated.

Luckily, Scott seemed at least mostly back to normal that night. They went out for pizza, ate way too much, annoyed the staff with how loud they were, and then headed to the movie theater. Stiles barely paid attention to what was happening on the screen, it was some new romantic comedy that Scott had suggested, but both of the lead actors were cute, and there were a few funny scenes, so he wasn't too bothered by it.

After the movie, the two climbed into Stiles's jeep to head home. "That was fun," Stiles said, pulling out of the parking lot. "I feel like we don't hang out enough anymore, just the two of us. You know?"

"Um, yeah," Scott agreed, but he wasn't making eye contact.

Stiles glanced at him curiously before turning his eyes back to the road. "Hey, you good?" he asked. "You seemed a little weird this morning, and you're doing it again now."

"Doing what again?"

"I don't know, acting uncomfortable?" Stiles answered with a shrug. "Listen, dude, if you don't want to hang out as much anymore, then you can just tell me-"

"No!" Scott practically shouted the word, and Stiles quickly looked at him in surprise. "I mean, no, no, I still like… um… hanging out with you," he said, much quieter this time.

"Right," Stiles nodded, but he definitely didn't feel any more at ease after that comment.

They drove the rest of the way to Scott's house in silence, but when Stiles finally pulled into Scott's driveway, he felt like he needed to say something. "Scott, seriously, if something is bothering me you would tell me, right?"

"Yeah, no, I would, I just…" Scott sighed, dragging a hand through his hair. "It's really dumb, okay?"

Stiles shut the car off, turning in his seat to face Scott. "Dude, if something is making you upset or uncomfortable, it's not dumb at all, okay? You know you can trust me with anything."

Scott smiled at him, quick, and then lowered his gaze. "Alright. Um. When you asked to go to the movie, and then I said we should get dinner first, I was sort of, um, thinking that it was…" Scott paused, swallowed hard, and finally finished in a rush, "I thought it could maybe be a date."

Stiles was frozen. He didn't know what he had expected Scott to say, but it certainly wasn't that. Scott thought… Scott thought they had gone on a date? Scott had wanted them to go on a date?

"Oh, god," Scott said, staring at Stiles with wide eyes. "Oh god, I fucked up, I shouldn't have said that, I'm so sorry." Moving frantically, while Stiles still sat frozen in the driver's seat, Scott pushed open the door to the Jeep and practically fell out of it. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, just, um, pretend I didn't say anything, okay? I'll see you on Monday. Bye." With that, Scott slammed the door shut, turned around, and ran into his house.

"Wait," Stiles said, reaching toward the door just a moment too late. He was left staring out the window as his best friend in the world ran away from him.

Their First Kiss

Scott was panicking. Why had he admitted that? He wasn't exactly sure when this crush on Stiles had started, but it was probably at prom the year before. Watching Lydia and Allison dance together, seeing how happy they were, Scott had found his thoughts, and his eyes, wandering towards Stiles. Stiles, his best friend since they were five. Stiles, who had been with him through everything. Stiles, who he trusted more than anyone else in the world. Stiles, who he was definitely in love with.

And Allison had talked to him that night, had nudged him and told him that he should just talk to Stiles. How she had noticed before Scott himself, he had no idea, but he hadn't taken her advice. Maybe he should have, and this whole situation would have been avoided.

Because now Stiles definitely hated him. What had he been thinking, telling Stiles about how much he wanted this to be a date? Of course it would ruin everything, of course it would drive Stiles away, of course…

Someone was knocking on the door.

Scott hadn't made it very far into the house in his panicked escape, so in just a few seconds he was pulling open the door.

It was Stiles.

"Scott, please, I'm sorry, you just took me by surprise, I didn't mean to react the way I did, I just…"

"It's okay," Scott said, holding up a hand. He didn't want to hear this. He didn't want to hear Stiles apologizing and trying to make this all okay. "Stiles, I get it. If you, um, don't want to hang out with me anymore, I get it. Just… just tell me, okay? Don't drag this out."

Stiles shook his head frantically. "No, Scott, you don't get it at all. I, uh, I didn't react the way I did because I was mad at you or upset or anything like that."

Scott didn't know how to process what Stiles was saying, so he didn't reply.

"Look, at prom last year, Lydia talked to me. She told me that she, well, had been watching us interact, and it made her realize some things about us. And I, um, definitely didn't believe her at first." Stiles laughed quietly, rubbing the back of his neck. "I don't know why I didn't, but I didn't. At least, not until tonight."

"Stiles, what are you talking about?" Scott asked, staring at him. "Just get to the point, okay?"

"Well, if you insist," Stiles said with a smirk, and then he leaned in and they were kissing.

They were kissing.

Stiles was kissing him.

They were…

Scott pulled away. "Stiles, what-"

"Shit," Stiles said, and his eyes were wide. "Did I totally misread the situation here? I thought, y'know, you wanted to go on a date with me, that probably meant that you wanted to kiss me, and I realized that I really wanted to kiss you, so, I did?"

Scott felt a smile growing on his face. "No, I think you read the situation perfectly. I just, I want to make sure you actually mean this? You're not just saying this to make me feel better, right? Because that would be a pretty shitty thing to do."

"No, no, definitely not," Stiles said quickly, shaking his head. "You're my best friend in the entire world, but you're also a little more than that. And, um, going on a date with you sounds… awesome."

Scott was definitely grinning now. "That," he said, "sounds awesome to me too."