The sheepish smile is nice. In some ways, so is the way that he talks over her. They'd often done that before.

She's missed him and it's really good to have him back. She will warn him against losing touch with her again. She'll bug him until he returns her calls and emails then ream him out. She won't let Stiles slip away again. Not too long. She doesn't pull away from him; she burrows deeper into him, eyes closing, tears springing up.

"I missed you too," she tells him, her voice a little more broken than it was a moment ago. She's cried plenty since her mom died and stayed in bed for weeks, but this is the first time someone has held her like this since her mom died. If Stiles isn't careful, he'll have a mess on his hands.