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Stiles sighed as he tucked his hands into his pockets, unable to help the small smile that tugged at his lips as he watched Marz run around in her costume, seemingly finding classmates and friends as she went or, quite possibly, making new ones on the go. She was the biggest social butterfly Stiles had ever seen, it was impossible for them to go anywhere without her making at least one new friend and wrangling some poor passerby into a conversation. Luckily, she was cute enough that no one had ever seemed too upset about the whole ordeal. Most people seemed to enjoy the sweet chattering of the young girl.
Seeing that his younger sister was occupied with a couple of kids Stiles recognized from the elementary school and their moms, he tipped his head back and let out a slow breath of air. The sky was dark but he could still see a decent amount of stars. The twinkling of orange, purple, and white lights lit up his peripheral vision and the chorus of giggling, shrieking, and mechanical groans and screams filled the air. He loved Halloween, it had the best foods (candy) and it was such a fun time of year all around - hell, he still dressed up! Well… okay , that wasn’t exactly of his own accord, but still. He was dressed up! He was embracing the Halloween Spirit, yada yada!
“Let’s go, let’s go, let’s goooo!” Marz urged, gripping Stiles’ hand and promptly dragging him along the walkway, efficiently breaking up his moment of peace. Huffing a laugh, he decided he wasn’t all that upset.
Luckily, they were visiting the ‘Haunted Hollows’ this year instead of attempting the traditional trick-or-treat routes. It was something set up a few years back and had quickly grown in popularity. The residents of Beacon Hills who lived further out on the outskirts realized they were out of the way for trick-or-treaters and it made it difficult to celebrate either with their kids or their neighbors. So, in answer, a dozen or so neighbors - parents, grandparents, and overall good-doer citizens alike - gathered together and got the city to approve ‘Haunted Hollows’. It was set up in downtown, now expanding to include two side streets in addition to the main city square block, and was filled with different booths, cars, and stalls. The streets got shut down and the only cars allowed in were the ones used for the ‘trunk-or-treat’ stretch down one of the side streets, tightly packed together with various cars with their trunks popped, often with cheesy decorations and buckets of candy spilling out. The main square was reserved for the bigger setups, like those who did games, haunted houses, and booths!
This year, there was even a Graveyard Zoo with a few different animals dressed up or painted in animal-friendly paint - Stiles spotted a couple of ponies painted as skeletons, a rabbit in what looked like a vampire-style cape, and goats in what he thought to be the Seven Dwarves (there was definitely a ‘Sleepy Goat’). He heard from the rumor mill there was also a small guinea pig stall where kids could sit and hold guinea pigs, feeding them small treats. It was a whole thing.
Other stalls included a cheesy yet still spooky haunted house that worked through the town square coffee shop and grew to include the neighboring ice cream shop; every time Stiles got close enough, he heard a chorus of screams from the ice cream shop and it made him giggle to himself (get it? I- scream ? Eh, eh? No? Okay-). There was the cliche bobbing for apples, a cookie decorating station, a baked good tent where you could buy cheap homemade snacks and treats, and tables for trick-or-treating that grew to involve games or elaborate themes and decorations. It was… a lot. But in a good way! Stiles was enjoying himself. Or well-
He mostly was.
“Bilinski?! That you? What the damn hell is on your head?!”
Sighing, Stiles let his head dip down before he turned to give a tight, half-smile to Coach Finstock. The older man was- he was- well… Stiles wasn’t sure what he was dressed as. He looked like a pirate, what with the eyepatch and tattered vest, but he also had a set of fake vampire fangs that made his words slur just a bit, and he was also carrying… a Santa sack? A vampiric pirate Santa. That was Coach Finstock’s costume.
Okay.
“It’s a tiara,” Stiles said curtly, nodding. Coach wasn’t pleased, eyes ( eye* ) squinting as he looked him over, tipping his head side to side. Stiles was observant enough to also see a couple of guys from the lacrosse team walk by, smirking as they nodded his way and laughed. He was definitely hearing about this on Monday. And Tuesday. Probably all week. Okay, yea, this was going to be what he was remembered for in high school most definitely.
“You look ridiculous!” Coach announced bluntly. Thankfully, Stiles had at least one supporter.
“No, he doesn’t!” Marz argued defiantly, rejoining her brother after successfully snagging her Halloween Rose Mrs. Rhodes. They were those little wooden ones, dyed orange with black tips, and had a lollipop stuck in the center, which Marz had already pulled out and popped into her mouth. Stiles could see her lips were stained a red color; cherry, of course, her favorite. No way she was waiting to eat that one.
Coach Finstock gave the younger Stilinski a bit of a stink eye, looking her up and down. Apparently, he had no holdbacks for children as he promptly responded, “Yes he does.”
“He’s a princess!” Marz argued, causing Stiles to groan and blush in embarrassment. He wasn’t about to correct her, she had begged and pleaded for them to be ‘matching’ this year; he was not going to let a little thing such as pride ruin one of the happiest nights of his young sister’s life, goddammit.
“But he’s a boy,” Finstock argued, again. Wow. Arguing with a 7-year-old. Surprisingly unsurprising for Finstock, really. But still.
“Boys can be princesses,” Marz stubbornly insisted, crossing her arms. “Stiles is the prettiest princess!”
Finstock had just opened his mouth to argue once more, when Stiles tugged Marz away, insisting they go visit Mr. Barnes’s booth and maybe buy one of those candy apples from the Beacon Bakery booth after. Once they were a few yards away, the vampiric pirate Santa that is Coach Finstock well out of view finally, Marz sharply tugged on Stiles’ hand until he was squatted down to her level.
Now, Stiles was facing a deep frown, crossed arms, and all the displeasure of a 7-year-old could convey in a glare. Marz was not happy - presumably, with him.
“What’s up, buttercup?” Stiles asked, knocking a curled finger on the underside of her chin, trying to lighten the mood. It got a twitch of a smile before the deep frown returned. Damn, so close, Stiles thought.
“Do you like being princesses with me?” came the question finally, asked quietly and much too softly for Marz to be properly angry. No, Stiles realized, she was upset; sad.
Fuck .
“Of course! I love being a princess,” Stiles exclaimed, reaching up to remove his tiara. He held it in the air, making a show of twirling it side to side as if to make the plastic gems catch the twinkling string lights strung up across the square. “I mean, look at this tiara! It’s just, wow, Marz, it’s one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen. And don’t get me started on all the cool dresses princesses get to wear, I’m so jealous yours didn’t fit me! I have to be in these boring ole jeans while you have this neat dress. Being a princess is the coolest, most awesomest thing ever - I wouldn’t want to be anything else for Halloween.”
Marz’s smile slowly returned as Stiles spoke, giggles spilling out of her as he exaggeratedly motioned between her dress and his jeans, rolling her eyes in what Stiles knew was exasperated fondness (which was a bit concerning that she had mastered that specific look at such a young age; he was blaming their father’s influence for that one). Still, it worked. She seemed appeased.
“And princes!” Marz announced, adding onto the reasons why princesses were the absolute best, her excitement blooming. “Only princesses get to find their Prince Charming.” Stiles wanted to snort. He was in no way, shape, or form finding his ‘Prince Charming’ in this lifetime, let alone tonight.
“Right, right - how could I forget about good ole Prince Charming? He’s just the cherry on top of this whole princess lifestyle, a definite plus to the whole shebang,” Stiles easily agreed, earning an approving nod from his sister. “Now come on, Princess Marzena, we need to meet the rest of our adoring citizens!”
Marz scowled at the use of her full name (a trait Stiles took full credit for - ungrateful brat didn’t realize how cool her full name actually was, she just wanted to be a copy-cat even though her name was pronounceable and not at all horrendously concerning to look at). Nonetheless, she took her older brother’s hand and continued on the walkway, tugging him along happily from booth to booth. They were sure to see Mr. Barnes then bought not one but two candy apples from Beacon Bakery; the second one was wrapped up and stowed in Marz’s candy bag but Stiles was sure they’d be munching on it long before he tucked Marz in for bed that night. He wasn’t their dad, he didn’t have to preach about sugar consumption or hazard about decent bedtimes; he was the cool older brother, he got to let Marz stay up until 11 and eat too much junk food and watch PG-13 movies. It was a rite of passage, goddammit!
They continued on their trek, making it to the trunk-or-treat area and promptly filling Marz’s bag to the tippy toppy with candy galore (and those junky Halloween erasers Ms. Patt’s insisted on handing out every year, sigh). It was another hour or so before they made it to the other side of the square and to the second side street included in the Halloween festivities. This one was a newer addition and had mostly small games - cake walk, balloon darts, candy races, and so on - as well as another half dozen or so elaborate booths. There was a booth set up for photo taking, hosting a plethora of little hand signs, cheap costume grab items, and a cheesily decorated background. The table in front had a large bowl of candy with a decent dent in it and a couple of the newer-style Polaroid cameras, ready to be used. Another booth was pirate-themed, the hosts of said booth making a cardboard cut out of a ship (well, the front half of a ship, at least). They had a barrel of apples set up for bobbing for apples and a wooden bowl filled with fake costume jewelry, coins, and jewels - a ‘treasure chest’ ready to be taken from if one succeeded in bobbing. There was even a small area/booth set up like a cinema, kid-friendly films playing on a projector with chairs set up. A few kids and parents were currently watching ‘Monster House’; Stiles was tempted to join them for a bit.
However, that idea was quickly dashed when Marz gasped exaggeratedly and began darting off toward another booth on the opposite side of the street. Stiles followed exasperatedly, trying to keep up. It wasn’t until they reached the elaborate booth that Stiles realized its theme - Disney.
Of course, there had to be at least one Disney booth, he thought with amusement.
“Sti, Sti! Look!” Marz said in wonder, looking at all the Disney decor. They also had a projector, playing snippets of random films. It was a bit of a mishmash of things, though the overall booth had the background of the iconic castle - string lights all around, tufts of shimmering fabric making the lights catch and giving a more whimsical feel to the space. The booth was set up with several tables and seemed to have backdrops on either side, one of which was being used for a photo as a little girl dressed as Tinkerbell posed with an adult Tinkerbell, giggling as her dad counted down and announced ‘cheese!’.
“I see, Marz, it looks really cool,” Stiles smiled, looking around at more of the decor. It was elaborate, he gave them that. They had multiple buckets of candy, all different themes from Disney movies (Mickey Mouse-shaped rice Krispies, apple-shaped gummies labeled ‘Snow White’s Favorite’ - which, okay, a bit morbid - and even Swedish Fish packets from ‘Ariel’s Kitchen’ - Stiles thought that one may also be a bit morbid, considering). It was a Disney fanatic’s dream come true and a true wonderland for kids, Marz was no exception.
“Why hello there, little princess!”
Stiles turned to see Tinkerbell standing in front of Marz, smiling happily. Marz seemed starstruck; she may love princesses, but Tinkerbell was another fan favorite. Stiles may just be forced into green tights next year (sigh).
“Tinkerbell!” Marz squealed, before frowning and looking at her with a small squint. “Princesses.”
Tinkerbell frowned a bit in confusion at the word. Marz huffed, rolling her eyes as if she was the only one here with a lick of sense.
“Princesses, You said ‘princess’, meaning one, but we’re both princesses - you left out Stiles,” Marz grumped, crossing her arms. Seems she was still a bit touchy about that.
“Oh! But of course, I am so sorry I didn’t see Princess Stiles before,” Tinkerbell quickly amended, looking over at Stiles with an amused grin before bowing exaggeratedly, “Your Highnesses.”
Marz was extremely pleased and began talking to Tinkerbell excitedly. Stiles wasn’t sure how it started, but the Tinkerbell Woman was all too happy to comply, answering questions and stuffing candy from various bowls into Marz’s already too-full bag. As they talked, Stiles noticed the other booth attendees. There was a girl dressed up as Cheshire Cat, an older couple dressed up as Mickey and Minnie Mouse, another couple dressed as Ursula and Gaston (an odd pairing, Stiles thought, when he saw Gaston kiss Ursula before snagging a piece of a candy apple she was holding), and a few others. It seemed they came from various movies, all presumably dressing up as their favorites.
Stiles was just enjoying the level of effort and trying to figure out how many people he could wrangle into taking a picture with his younger sister (shut up, so what if he’s a bit of a pushover for her - she’s 7! And way too cute! And also very conniving…). However, such plans and thoughts halted when he heard Marz squeal once more. Quick as can be, he saw Marz dart off to the side to a new person, leaving a slightly bewildered Tinkerbell in her wake.
Chuckling, he moved to see who caught her attention, only to choke on nothing as he was met with the sight of perhaps the prettiest man he’d ever seen. He saw, just for a second, the slight scowl on the man’s face that made his lips turn down and his eyebrows knit together before a dazzling grin broke across his face once he caught sight of Marz.
He had beautiful eyes, the color hard to pinpoint from so far away but catching the twinkle lights nonetheless. His smile was wide and sincere, a bit bunny-like with the elongated front teeth, and his laugh was soft from when he crouched down to be level with the young girl who was now bombarding him. Stiles was certain this man had walked out of a Disney movie or was the source of inspiration for the movies. There was no way this wasn’t a fictional man.
“Are you Prince Charming?!” Marz asked excitedly, bouncing in place as she grabbed his arm. The man seemed a bit shocked by how forward she was but his shock turned to amusement and fondness as he nodded.
“Correct, princess, I sure am,” he answered before bowing his head. Marz squealed with delight. Stiles was rolling his eyes, a bit shocked at how excited she was. Marz was always more excited about the princesses than the princes, but he guessed a prince was the final piece to her puzzle - costume - whatever. He also couldn’t deny her excitement over said prince, Stiles would be squealing too if Prince Charming was looking at him with such kind eyes.
“Perfect! Come on, come on,” Marz suddenly said, pulling the guy as she tried to dart away. The man stumbled slightly, confusion quickly taking over his features, but allowed himself to be pulled. Stiles felt himself blushing, stepping forward and preparing to pry his sister away and apologize profusely, but the little brat beat him to the punch line.
“Stiles look! I found him!” Marz announced, looking up at her older brother with the world’s widest grin. Stiles scrunched up his eyebrows, frowning in confusion. He looked towards the guy being held hostage by his sister who looked just as confused, before shaking his head and looking back at Marz.
“Marz, I don’t kno-”
“It’s Prince Charming!” she cut in emphatically, groaning when Stiles made no indication of understanding. “Remember? The best part of being a princess? I found him! I found your Prince Charming.”
Stiles felt his face go fire engine red, eyes closing as he processed the words. He was terrified to open them again, sure he would combust if he even so much as glimpsed at Prince- nope. He can’t even say it, think it. Can’t .
“Marz, that’s not- he’s not- I didn’t mean- you can’t just kidnap princes!” Stiles finally settled on, earning a pout from his sister. He had squatted down to look her in the eye, trying to convey his words directly while also avoiding direct eye contact with the… guy. She didn’t seem the least bit remorseful and gave him a defiant look despite her pleading puppy pout.
“But he’s the cherry on top!” Marz whined, and Stiles would be slamming his face repeatedly into a brick wall right about now if he wasn’t concerned it would scar his younger sister for life and require a hefty therapy bill addressed to their father. He was regretting every life choice he’d made up until this point.
“Marz,” Stiles said, staring at the ground as he flexed his hands in front of him, trying to physically grab the words out of thin air. “I can’t- we don’t just–... ugh. Okay, what if this is someone else’s Prince Charming? I can’t just steal another princess’s prince, that’s not very princess-ly.”
Marz seemed to deflate at this. Of course, she had no issues with kidnapping a random guy but doing a non-princess-approved act and encroaching on another princess’s territory was taboo. Go figure. Stiles was tired of these damned princess politics.
“Nope! He’s free and in the market for a princess!”
Stiles whipped his head up to stare wide-eyed at the new voice, seeing the girl dressed up as Cheshire Cat grinning at him from behind one of the tables. She dressed appropriately as her grin was, indeed, very Cheshire. He wanted to murder that damn cat.
Alternatively, Marz was delighted with this news.
“Ah, what I think she means-” Prince Charming said, clearing his throat and catching Stiles’ attention. The angle was a bit awkward as Stiles had to look up from his half-crouched position on his one knee, staring straight up at the man who was sporting a blush almost as intense as Stiles’ own. The guy was rubbing the back of his neck and seemingly at a loss for words.
“What she means,” cut in yet another voice (Tinkerbell, Stiles noted), “is that he is most certainly available and happy to be your Prince Charming, Princess Stiles!”
Stiles closed his eyes once more, dragging in a deep breath. He was not going to survive tonight. He was going to die of embarrassment. The blood rushing to his cheeks was going to make his head explode and he was going to permanently scar every person on this damn street until their dying day. Mark Stiles’ words!
“Go on then,” Marz urged, shoving at Stiles’ shoulder. He gave her an exasperated look which she simply met with a roll of her eyes as she waved at Prince Charming. “You have to ask him to marry you! Go on, Stiles!”
“Yea, come on Stiles, you’re already on one knee,” Cheshire purred from behind them, a maniacal giggle following suit.
“Isn’t it the prince who proposes?” Prince Charming asked, either in genuine confusion or trying to redirect the conversation. Marz wasn’t having it either way.
“Princesses can do whatever princes do,” she flatly responded, giving Derek a challenging look that made his eyes widen just a bit. Glad to know Stiles wasn’t the only one who bent to Marz’s will; he swears she’s actually an evil sorceress or something.
“I, uh, well,” Stiles began. “Would you, Prince Charming, like to uh… yanno, marry me? Or… whatever?”
Marz groaned, Tinkerbell snorted, Cheshire laughed evilly, and a chorus of chuckles and giggles all around notified Stiles of their ever-growing audience. He didn’t even want to look around to see who all was bearing witness to this. He was going to have to move away, out of California - maybe out of the county - after tonight.
Princess Charming, however, gave a shy smile before extending a hand down and helping Stiles stand up. Quietly, so no one but them could hear, he responded, “I think marriage might be a bit sudden, but I wouldn’t say no to a date.”
Stiles stood stock still, eyes wide, as he stared at the other man. He was surely hallucinating. This had to have been a dream. Maybe he did already die, after Marz dragged this poor man over to him and tried to force him on her perpetually single, lonely brother and now he was just hallucinating in his final moments. He was probably sprawled on the street, ambulance sirens in the background, seconds from kissing this sweet, sadistic world.
However, when Prince Charming’s lips began to tick down, eyes nervously casting to the side, Stiles decided even if it was a damn hallucination, he was going to go out with a fucking bang (heh).
“Yes! Yes, that- yes , a date would be great. Marriage can totally wait, no rush here,” Stiles wanted to bite his tongue off, realizing what he said and how it sounded. But Prince Charming just laughed and shook his head, offering Stiles a bright smile. Maybe he wouldn’t have to bite off his tongue.
“Maybe I’ll have an answer next time you ask.”
Prince Charming’s smile turned into a smirk, teasing and coy. Stiles wanted to smack his beautiful, perfect face. With his mouth. And maybe his tongue. Repeatedly.
Marz seemed content with the turn of events as she watched Stiles swap phones with Prince Charming and share numbers with one another. There was a small round of cheers and clapping, a few obnoxious ‘whoops’ from Cheshire Cat that made Stiles stick his tongue out at the girl. She grinned and flipped him off in return. He’d have to watch her if she ever hung around Marz - he could smell the bad influence from here.
After a few minutes, everything calmed down and the few passerbyers walked on chuckling and Prince Charming’s (“Derek,” Pri- Derek corrected, laughing when Stiles had referred to him as ‘Charming’ when asking where he’d want to go on their first date) family showed them mercy and went back to their own activities. Stiles and Derek set up plans for their first date for the next night at Ruby’s Diner and Derek had snuck Marz extra candy with a wink. It was the perfect end to the night as Stiles and Marz waved their goodbyes and began walking back to the car.
“Being a princess is totally cool, isn’t it?” Marz sighed happily, swinging their joined hands as she skipped along the sidewalk. Stiles couldn’t help the bright, loud laugh that spilled out.
“Being a princess is the coolest ,” he agreed, thinking of Derek and his stupidly pretty eyes and his annoyingly cute smile and their date tomorrow night. He takes it back - princess politics are the best if dating Derek is what he gets out of it.
He was never giving back this damn tiara.