"Hi," Stiles looked up and smiled. It didn't quite reach his eyes. He knew they were in an awkward situation here. He knew Joey had to be feeling as uncertain as he was, for a number of reasons.
She knew his history with Malia, pretty much. She didn't know Malia was a werecoyote, or that she had lived as a coyote for eight years before he and Scott found her and forced her to turn back to human. She knew Malia had been in Eichen House with him, that she hadn't been around people for a number of years and that she had latched in to Stiles just as he had latched on to her.
They had a tense and highly intense relationship back in Beacon Hills. Stiles hadn't been able to get over Malia just because he'd been here and she wasn't. He still loved her, he would always love her. But he had moved on, finally. He hadn't been exaggerating when he told Joey he wasn't the same kid he'd been when he was with Malia. How could he be the same kid, all these months living in the apocalypse, surviving on his own for nearly a year before he found community in the camp.
"Hey," he said, and it sounded lame. Not good enough. She deserved so much more. He wanted to embrace her, wrap his arms around her and hold her close. He wanted to kiss her and reassure her they would get through this. It was just another person coming into camp it didn't really have to be a big deal. Except it was, because it was Malia.
He drew a breath, held it for a moment, then let it out. It was because of Joey, and Joey's influence on him, that he was even upright. Because really, he wanted to be curled up in a corner, against the wall, rocking back and forth. It wouldn't take much to send him over the edge into the bottomless pit of panic and anxiety.
"So...Malia's here. I don't want that to change anything for us." HIs voice shook, wavered, and cracked like a preteen.