Prelude

Chapter 20: Personally, I'm A Fan Of Ignoring The Problem Until It Goes Away

"We're all soulmates?!" Guinevere asked loudly, arms moving to make a circling motion to everyone in the room. 

"Not all of us, no." Scott said quickly. "Jackson and Ethan are soulmates but they aren't mated to you. Erica and Boyd are the same way, they're soulmates but not with you. Liam isn't your soulmate, Lydia and Peter are soulmates but Lydia is mated to you as well. Peter isn't though. Me, Isaac, Malia, Stiles, Parrish, Derek and Lydia are all mated with you." Scott explained, pointing to people and looking around their little group as he spoke. Guinevere staring with a gaping mouth. There was a moment of silence where she didn't move, still in shock, and then her phone rang, snapping her back into the present as she swallowed and straightened up, pulling the mobile from her back pocket and answering the call. 

"Hi mom." She said, schooling her voice into something stable and not completely s h o o k. 

"Hey, baby. Even though Dallas is looking good and everything, I'm still going to stay up here for a while. Drayton is arguing for time off and they're locking shit down. Suspected terrorism and all that jazz. Your dad should be on the flight home tonight but we want you to stay at Lydia's for another night so if you need to swing by to grab your school stuff, text your dad before you go in so he can turn off the alarm." 

"Okay. Tell Drayton to kiss Dallas' big toe to make him feel better." Guinevere could hear her mom laugh on the other end as she stared past the group in the living room, all staring at her. 

"I will, sweetheart. Love you."

"I love you too. Bye."

"Bye." Her mom hung up and Guinevere slid her phone back into her pocket. 

"Okay," she started, "let me get this straight." Stiles looked like he was biting his tongue. "Well, technically bi, but that's a different topic for a later date." She waved it away. "All of you, are in love with me?" Scott looked around as everyone hesitated before nodding and mumbling their confirmations. 

"Pretty much, yeah." She took a deep breath in. 

"God, I need therapy." She mumbled. "Okay, here's how this is going to go down. I'm going to take the rest of today and all of tomorrow to get my head on straight and figure out when my life became the plot of a badly written fantasy novel, and the rest of you are going to be somewhere that isn't around me." Everyone nodded, moving to stand up and scatter. "Except you two!" She pointed to Ethan and Jackson. "I don't care what kind of shit you're dealing with or not dealing with right now, you're taking a self care day with me because not even five hours ago you were unconscious and you were on the brink." Ethan and Jackson shared a look before they shrugged and nodded. "So glad you both agree but it wasn't a suggestion." She told them as she walked towards the stairs to go put her pajamas back on. 

When she came back down, Lydia was setting a basket of pampering items on the counter and Ethan was sitting on the couch, flicking through movie titles as he looked for something that interested him. Lydia gave her a careful smile and disappeared upstairs to change her clothes while Guinevere looked through the basket of items and pulled out a face mask. She settled down on the floor in front of the coffee table with her back to the couch where Jackson had rejoined Ethan with his own face mask on and once Lydia had applied her own face mask, Ethan started the movie he had picked: The Princess Diaries.

Two hours later and Guinevere was sitting on the counter next to the stove, laughing as Ethan made Indian butter chicken for their mid afternoon meal while arguing playfully with Jackson about Harry Potter versus Percy Jackson while Lydia signed the form for the window replacer guy. The window was completely replaced now, a truly phenomenal feat considering it took up most of the wall, and all the glass and debris had been cleaned up. Lydia came back into the kitchen and she sat down next to Jackson.

"I think I'm with Ethan on this one. Percy Jackson is definitely more baller than Harry Potter." Guinevere announced her allegiance, making Ethan raise his hand for a high five which she gave.

"Oh, Guin. How you wound me." Lydia said, clutching her heart dramatically.

"Percy Jackson is a total badass and what was Harry Potter? Dead in the first book if he hadn't met Ron and Hermione."

"The same could be argued about Percy." Lydia shot back.

"He survived eleven years without them."

"So did Harry."

"Okay, fair enough." Guinevere allowed. "Let's talk mentors. Chiron went to Percy's school and was his teacher just to ensure his safety."

"Dumbledore ran the school that Harry went to."

"He placed him in an abusive home and raised him like a pig for slaughter!" Guinevere responded. 

"Fair enough!" Lydia yelled back, making Guinevere smile. They continued talking books and movies for a while before their food was done and then Ethan and Guinevere became best friends as they banned against Lydia and Jackson to defend Mean Girls.