Do you ever have those moments where you wish you could be in any other situation than the one you're currently in? Although it didn't look like it, Lydia Martin was definitely in one of those situations.
It had been a harmless gesture. Her friend Allison had wanted to go out and finish the week off with a bang. Well, that and a lot of drinks. They had both dolled themselves up and headed out to their favourite club. And of course, as soon as they'd arrived, Allison had been noticed by a puppy-eyed, brown haired cutie with whom she immediately went and started up conversation with. This left Lydia to her own devices, standing at the bar sipping a drink almost too sweet to handle. Puppy-boy's friend hadn't fared too well either, sitting awkwardly at the booth where his friend and Allison were chatting away.
Lydia knew she looked good. She was wearing one of her favourite dresses and her make-up was immaculate. She also knew that this meant she would get some sort of attention from the opposite sex. What she didn't know was that this attention would be from one of the sleaziest guys she'd ever laid her eyes on.
Currently she was nodding aimlessly at the guy who'd sidled up beside her at the bar. He wasn't bad on the eyes but as soon as he'd started talking only about himself and his money she'd tuned out. She kept her features rearranged into something resembling interest, but her eyes were darting about, looking for some sort of excuse to get her away from the conversation. Bathroom was out of the question; he would only follow her there and wait under the guise of being a gentleman. Usually she would take advantage of Allison in this situation, but she was off with puppy-boy and Lydia had no other options. So she stayed in the conversation, resisting the urge to throw her drink in her companion's face. Her eyes were still searching for an excuse as she heard the dreaded question.
"So, you want to get out of here?"
Lydia's eyes snapped back to the guy in front of her, her brain fumbling for words as she felt an arm slide across her shoulders. She nearly jumped a foot into the air as she turned her head to see who was touching her.
"Hey babe, did you get the drinks okay?"
It was puppy-dog's friend, grinning wildly but awkwardly as he tried to reassure her with his eyes that he was there to help her. She paused for a moment, not sure how to react, as he moved his mouth to her ear.
"You look like you want to be anywhere but here, just play along," he said, his breath ghosting over her ear.
"Uh, yeah, I did honey," she stuttered, brain still processing the situation.
"Wait, you didn't get mine?" he replied in mock outrage. Her eyes flew back to the sleaze who had been attempting to chat her up to find he was staring at them in confusion. She frowned, trying to remember his name but couldn't.
"Um, this is my boyfriend," she stated, as she felt their bodies being drawn closer together as he tightened his grip around her.
"Whatever," the sleaze replied, loping off with a swagger indicative of his personality. Lydia breathed a sigh of relief. She visibly relaxed and shrugged out of her rescuers arm.
"I'm Stiles, by the way," he introduced, holding out his hand and winking at her.
For some reason Lydia laughed, the sight of the awkward boy winking setting her off.
"Lydia," she replied, taking his hand with the intention of shaking it only to have him tightly grasp hers.
"You do know we have to keep up this charade for the whole night now? If he sees us apart he'll only try and talk to you again," he said seriously, but with a joking glint in his eye.
"I guess you'll just have to introduce me to your friend. He is hitting on my roommate after all," she smiled, grabbing her drink in her other hand and leading him over to the table where Allison and puppy-boy were sitting. She soon found out that puppy-boy was actually called Scott and coincidentally went to the same university as her and Allison.
The group of four continued getting to know each other, talking about anything and everything. Scott and Allison soon went off on their own, their intentions clear. Lydia turned to Stiles.
"Don't even think about it," she said, her mouth quirking up at the side.
Stiles froze before realising she was only playing and let out a laugh. He wrapped his arm back around her shoulders and Lydia felt herself sinking slightly into his embrace.
"We will have to leave together though, just in case that guy is hanging around."
Lydia shook her head, another laugh escaping her. The duo sat there, continuing to talk and drink, and eventually flirt, until the clock ticked over to morning.
They did end up leaving together, ending up at Stiles' apartment. They would both adamantly say that it was for pretences only, but Scott and Allison knew that it was for a different reason.