Stiles found himself tracing the outline of her curves with his index finger. The sun from his window hit her back in this way that made her skin glisten. He can't believe that he had been graced with her presence. That he, Stiles Stilinksi, had been intimate with Lydia Martin in the most intimate way possible. He had never felt so close to someone in his life. As he studies her bare back and perfectly messy hair, her body begins to stir . She's waking up, he realizes as she flips over underneath his covers She's so much prettier without makeup, Stiles thinks to himself as he breathes in her plump pink lips, long lashes and rosy cheeks. Her eyeballs start to move under her closed lids until they flicker open slowly. Her green orbs meet his doe-brown eyes and she becomes lost in him. Here he was, this boy who had fawned over her since the third grade, and she was just now seeing how beautiful he is. She almost felt regretful, she thought that she had known love with Jackson but with Stiles, it was different. His love overwhelmed her. But in a good way.

"Hi." Lydia whispers, blinking hard as she stretches her legs. Stiles smiles at her cute mannerisms.

"Hey, beautiful." He says pushing a strand of her back. Lydia is so attracted to him and it seems that even after last night she's still not close enough. So she scoots closer, placing her hand on his chest and her head on his heart. Stiles is a bit shocked by this show of affection, for a second he hadn't quite believed that this was real, but as he strokes her hair, he knows it is real. "I could lay here with you forever." Stiles says kissing her forehead. Lydia simpers and pats his pectoral with her hand.

"What time is it?" Lydia says as Stiles gingerly wipes sleep from her eyes. The boy reaches behind him to his bedside table and clicks on his phone. 7:10.

"About 7:00. Why?" Stiles replies. Hearing this, Lydia sits up and throws the cover off her body with a sight sense of calm urgency. She has no qualms about strutting around his room naked. She silently slips on her visibly dirt covered underwear. Slips into the tshirt Stiles had given her last night and the oversized sweatpants too. She flips out the hair that had gotten caught underneath her collar and studies herself in the mirror. Good enough. She slowly turns towards Stiles, watching her with a quiet sense of adoration and admiration.

"C'mon. What are you doing?" She says looking at Stiles as if he had done something stupid. Stiles scrunches his thick eyebrows in confusion.

"Where are we going?" He says sitting up in the bed. Lydia rolls her eyes and picks up something off the ground and throws them at the brunette boy. Stiles palms them in his hands. Boxer shorts.

"Take a shower. We're going to my house." She says before walking out of the room and down the hall.

Stiles sighs and puts the boxer's down quickly. "Well, then."

After Stiles washes they promptly head to Lydia's. Slowly Stiles edges his hand over the console between the two seats and put his hand on her knee. The drive is over quickly.

"Why are we here, Lydia? We have to be at school in a half an hour," Stiles whines as Lydia hops out of his Jeep and bounds to the door, ignoring him. Stiles groans and clicks his door open and follows Lydia into the house reluctantly. "Lydia?" He shouts through the empty house. His voice echoes back to him about three times. Such a big house with no one to live in it, he thinks.

"I'm in my room Stiles!" She calls back. The boy nods to himself and makes his way up the stairs, remembering exactly where her room is though he'd only been her, like, once. He forgets to knock and barges into the girl's room and automatically regrets it when he sees her in just her ( now clean) underwear sitting at her vanity mirror, applying makeup. Stiles smacks his hands over his eyes.

"Um, Sorry. I'm so sorry. I should've knocked. I-"

"Will you calm down? You've seen every part of me there is to see." Lydia's voice says. Hesitantly, Stiles pulls his hand down. Lydia had continued to do her make up. Stiles slowly get used to her bareness easily and begins to converse with her.

"You're beautiful without makeup." Stiles says and even as the words slip past his lips he can't help but think about what a cliché he is. Lydia rolls her eyes and blinks at Stiles.

"I don't wear makeup because I think I'm ugly. I'm not ugly. But, you know, I have thought about it. Do I subliminally have self-esteem issues?, Do I secretly think I'm ugly? No. I just like make up. But I appreciate your cliched compliment." She purses her lips as she puts the finishing touches on her face. She turns to Stiles, "Its cute."

Stiles smirks. And even though he knows she is patronizing him, he can't help but smile at the fact that she had called him cute. "You're the best, Lydia Martin." He says turning to her photoboard. Kodaks of her and Allison. Stiles is surprised to see himself up there stuck between a picture of Scott and Isaac. "Why do you keep these?" he inquires. Lydia glances at the photoboard.

"So I know what is reality and what isn't. You all are what keeps me grounded. If I ever feel like I'm about to fly off the supernatural tangent I look at those pictures and I remember that I'll be okay. That you all would do anything for me." She states eloquently. Stiles is a bit surprised, but then again Lydia has been used as a pawn between the living and the dead from the beginning of all this. It was understandable for her to need a kind of talisman to keep her sane. And thats us, her friends we're her talisman, he thinks. He continues to study the wall and becomes even more surprised by a picture of Jackson with that infamously cocky smile. One, singular picture of the handsome,strong-jawed boy which was slipped behind one of Lydia and Allison and some girl from his Governments class. He pulls it out carefully.

"I would've thought you'd thrown this away." Stiles says wiggling the picture in his hand. Lydia raises her eyebrows as she looks up to see what he is talking about it. Something registers on her face. Lydia reaches out out the picture. Stiles reluctantly puts it in her palm, silently he begs her not to love Jackson again. She stares at it for a moment as if it a long lost treasure, as if it is actually him and not a captured moment from before everything got all screwed up. However, she promptly rips it in half and throws it into her wastebasket.

"I meant to throw that away a long time ago."

…

Lydia looks out the window of Stiles' car at the bustling school. If Stiles and her walked into school together people would know. Not that she's ashamed or anything, it just Stiles isn't exactly like the guys she'd been with before.

Yeah he's much better, she thinks.

"Its okay if you don't want to walk in with me. I get it." Lydia looks over at Stiles after he says this. And though he says he gets it, his eyes say different. He looks hurt. Lydia put her hand on top of his.

"No its not okay. Its not gonna be like that between us anymore, Okay?" Lydia says apologetically.

Stiles glances up at her, "Really, Lydia, Its fine."

Lydia rolls her eyes at him for the third time that morning and leans over the console to kiss him. He is bit shocked and his lips are tense at first. But slowly they soften and his lips meld with hers. He smiles against her mouth and pulls away,

"Lydia, are you my girlfriend?"

Eyeroll count: 4

"We had sex once. I'd hardly consider it a relationship."

Stiles looks hurt by her words. "It wasn't just sex, Lydia. And you know it. It meant something to me."

"Losing your virginity will do that."

"Lydia."

"Okay. Fine. It meant something."

Stiles smiles at this. He likes the fact that he can break her so easily. "So you're my girlfriend now?" he says hopefully. Lydia's lips tug at the side of her face in uncertainty Finally she gives.

"You can hold my hands in the hall." Stiles smiles at her giddily, knowing she'd give. At least a little. "But that's it." she stares at him for a moment so that doesn't get some wise idea to tongue her down in the hall, or grab her ass. When she think he gets it she hops out of the car and walks around to the sidewalk. Stiles gets out on his side. Lydia continues to walk and throws her hand behind her. "C'mon , boyfriend!" she calls over her shoulder. Stiles struggles to keep up as he slings his back pack on with one hand and grabs her hand with the other.

To Lydia the trek from the sidewalk to the school building seemed to be taking an eternity. Maybe it was the many shocked faces of her classmates as she held hands with the epitome of social suicide. Or maybe its the whispers she is hearing, all the nasty things they're saying. Funny how everyone loved her when she dated Jackson and was hooking up with Aiden. Superficial idiots, she thinks.

Eye roll count:infinite

…

"I'm sorry. I just don't get it. You guys are dating now?" Scott whispers to Stiles while the teacher's back is turned to the board. Stiles shakes his head as if he doesn't quite get it himself.

"I don't know, but we're something. I mean she let me walk her to her locker and hold her hand. I don't exactly what that means..." Stiles trails off thinking about the way her hand fit so perfectly in his.

"That's definitely something." Scott replies. Trying to not sound as jealous as he is. Why couldn't it be like that with him and Allison? And then he instantly feels guilty. Stiles had been fighting for Lydia for years and Scott had only just met Allison freshman year. I mean the fact that he hasn't known her as long doesn't make his love her any less real, but his affair with the raven-haired huntress looks like child's play in comparison. Yes he needs Allison, yes he loves her. But not the way Stiles loves Lydia.

…

"Lydia, you can't just play around with his feelings. If it isn't real to you, you've got to stop it. Now." Allison warns her best friend. Ah, what a hypocrite she is. Here she is talking about not leading someone on and it seems that all she had done last year was broken Scott's heart every time she so much as looked at him. Lydia squints her eyes at Allison.

"Do you really think that lowly of me? That I would just use Stiles and discard him like a dirty tampon?" Lydia say mocking her friend. Allison rolls her eyes.

"I've seen you do it before."

Lydia shakes her head and rests her pencil on her notebook having doodled Stiles' name into her notebook about a billion times. "No, Allison. Stiles, he's different. I want him more than I've wanted anything." Lydia mutters forgetting for a moment that she was talking and not thinking. Allison smiles to herself. "He's still a big dork though." Lydia says trying to save herself from her accidental show of passion.

Allison rolls her eyes and nudges her friends with her shoulder,"Too late, babe. Your heart's already on your sleeve."

Lydia laughs with her friend as her mind begins to wander back to him. Stiles. He makes her vulnerable even when he isn't there. Just the idea of him makes her want to be open and honest. Lydia's body shudders from a non-existent breeze of cold air. She thinks harder and grows more fearful of Stile's power over her. She had never felt so weak in her life. But her least favorite part?

She kind of likes it.

…

"Okay, so what happened between you and Lydia?" Scott inquires finally. Stiles shakes his head.

"Everything. I can't even explain it to you." He says remembering how she had looked so gorgeous this morning.

"Did you guys...?" Scott trails off knowing that Stiles would know what he means.

Stiles pauses. He knows that Lydia will kill him if it starts buzzing around school but Scott is his best friend. He won't tell. So he presses forward. He nods. "Yeah. Yeah, we did. And it was, well she, was amazing."

Scott's eyes widen in disbelief. He isn't a virgin anymore? "Well now you have to tell me." Scott says finally. He is still quite perplexed as to why Lydia would give him the time of day. Stiles sighs and pats his lap trying to think of where to begin.

"Well, I guess it started yesterday."

…

SUNDAY. 1:00 AM

Bzz...Bzz..Bzz

Stiles' phone vibrates on his bedside table. He groans and turns over trying to ignore it.

Bzz...Bzz...B-

Stiles picks up the phone as the caller ID comes into fuzzy focus. Lydia? Lydia is calling me? He slides to answer.

"Whats wrong? What happened?" He says quickly, instantly worried.

"I don't know. I – I'm lost." Lydia says hazily over the line. Stiles sits up quickly in his bed.

"Lost? Lydia what are you talking about?" Stiles says slipping on a pair of pants, cradling his phone between his ear and shoulder.

"I'm in the middle of the road, naked and I don't know how I got here." She says, her voice becoming less fragile as she comes to. Stiles stands suddenly. Its freezing outside and she's exposed to the cold He shoves his feet into some converse and grabs his keys.

"Okay do you know where you are? See any road signs?" There's some shuffling on Lydia's side of the phone.

"Um yeah. Danica Drive." She says. "Please hurry."

"Ill be there in two minutes. Okay. I promise."

…

It was more like 4 minutes, but the brown eyed boy made it in a timely manner all the same. Considering he lives 10 minutes from Danica Drive. And she is there in the side of the road looking freezing in her delicate pink lace underwear which had been dirtied by the soil. He can't help but comment on how beautiful she is even though she's a popsicle. He remembers the first time he'd seen her like this, when she was lost for days wandering in the woods. He wonders if she still has the jacket he'd given her after his dad needed his back. He parks on the side of the street and hops out of the car, grabbing the goose-down jacket he'd snagged from home and throwing it around her shoulders. She shivers violently and her teeth chatter. He hooks his arms underneath her knees and picks her up like one would pick up a child or a wounded animal and places her gingerly in the backseat of his Jeep. Lydia curls into a ball, sucking her feet into the coat. Stiles gets into the driver's seat. Do I drive her home? He thinks. But instantly decides against it. Her mom is crazy-feminist and would probably think he kidnapped her or something. So he heads to his house.

…

When they arrive at Stiles' house, Lydia is warm enough to function. However Stiles still carries her bridal style through the door of his house so she doesn't cut her feet on anything. Kicking the door closed behind him, they stumble into his humble abode. Lydia looks up in subtle awe. She had never been treated like this, like a princess. Stiles lays her body on the couch pulling a cover over her. She stares at him all this time, perplexed by his genuine compassion for her.

"Just wait here okay?" Stiles says before running off doing god knows what. She nods still freezing cold and shivering. He comes back ten minutes later, clothes in one hand and tea in another. He gives her sweatpants, one of hist tshirts, and places the mug on the coffee table. "I'll leave now." he says, realizing that he had been lingering. He turns to leave.

"Wait." Lydia calls after him. Stiles turns back expectantly. Lydia sits up slowly, her muscles still mostly frozen, "Will you help me?" she asks starting to unbutton the coat, Stiles is shocked.

"Get dressed?" He asks hoping she means something else. However the ginger girl nods. Stiles is hesitant."Are you sure?" He asks again. She nods again. Stiles is more than caught off guard. He has seen Lydia naked before (without underwear) but by no will of her own. But now she is willing She wants him to see. She knows and she doesn't care. He kneels in front of her swiping her hands away from the buttons "I'll do it." he says unbuttoning the coat all the way. She slips it off her arms and then raises them. Stiles takes his old tshirt and slips it around her slender fingers until the hem comes to her hips. "Stand up" he orders softly, trying not to lose his cool. She does so, slowly. He grabs the sweat pant and holds out one leg hole for her, she puts her pointed foot in as id he is putting on glass slippers and not pj's. He does the same with the other leg and pulls them up to her hips. He ties them so they don't fall down. Lydia just looks on in wonder. He has not stared at her breasts or tried to catch a quick glimpse of her ass. He dresses her and does nothing but respect the wishes she had not set forth. She smiles once his face is level with hers.

"You're so good to me." she mumbles, more as if she is thinking it. Stiles smiles.

"I'm in love with you. I can't help it."

"Can't help it?"

"Yeah. To me, you're perfect. I don't want you for your body or your looks," Lydia looks down at this He doesn't like my body. Stiles catches this and continues "But I like both." Lydia looks back up at him, "I want you because I need you. And I'd do anything for you. I hope you know that, Lydia."

Lydia.

She likes the way he says her name. Like its more than a name, its a definition. Like she is an idea. She smiles slightly. "Even waking up at 1:00 am?" she jokes.

"Anything, Lydia." Stiles says, saying her name the way she likes. Lydia takes note of the fact that he is being much smoother than usual. Maybe he's just groggy, she thinks. But knows he is wide awake. Why had she fought him off so long? For Jackson? For Aiden? I mean she had loved Jackson, yes, but in love with him? No. And Aiden? she hadn't even considered him as anything more than a plaything for when she got bored. But Stiles seems different to her. Older, more capable. Capable of what? Well of that she isn't sure. She has known him all her life, but only now did she see him. Really see him, as more than a sarcastic pest. Every decision she made was for someone else. Jackson, she really hated him sometimes, but other times, when no one was watching, he could be so great. Of course she wasn't perfect either, she had told Jackson to take steroids and looking back on it she can't help but cringe. But now she has friends, real ones and she knows she's changed since then. And she could never imagine saying such a superficial thing to Stiles. He deserves only the best. He has waited so long for her. A boy that would wait that long for someone deserved love. Most guys when asked to be 'just friends' flip a shit. Going around school spreading rumors and just generally talking shit as if they deserved to get the girl. Nice Guys don't get anywhere. Nice Guys don't ever take a chance. And all those assholes who can't respect a girl's wishes aren't Nice Guys. Nice Guys are like Stiles, they wait. They'll wait forever if they have to. They never pounce. They never just kiss her. And for some odd reason she know that he has to kiss her. She needs him to kiss so that she knows she can have him. All to herself. Her green eyes meet his doe-brown ones. He seems lost in her. He glances down at her, realizing she is staring, and then at her lips.

"What are you thinking about?" Lydia inquires

Stiles doesn't even take a moment to think before saying. "About kissing you." His eyes grow wide once he realizes what he has said. "I'm so sorry. I'll leave-"

"Then do it."

"Do what?"

"Kiss me."

Stiles looks confused. "You want me to kiss you?" He says utterly ignorant. Lydia nods. And that is all he needs. A long awaited green light. He leans down, his eyes flick to hers as he tilts his head. They seem to beg for him. He kisses her the way she needs to be kissed. It is gentle. It lingers. Lydia can't help but think about how it makes her feel like she will be okay, even if she's crazy. His kiss makes her feel like he will be there for her even when she doesn't want him, even if she didn't love him. His kiss is like the first drag of a cigarette, the first taste of addiction.

Love him.

Does she ...love him?

"I want to be yours." She whispers pressing her body as close to his as her loose fitting clothing will allow. He sucks in a breath.

"Lydia," He wheezes trying to back away, but she stuff her hands in his back pockets and starts to kiss his neck. He rolls his head in pleasure, but realizes whats happening, what she is trying to do and pushes her away. He speaks to her sternly as a parent would to a child, "Stop, Lydia, I love you and I care about you. I'm not gonna use you when you're vulnerable."

Lydia hears this and her thoughts are confirmed. Stiles Stilinski is the only person she'll ever need.

Ever. She cups his face in her hands.

"I can't believe I overlooked you for so long. I always had this idea in my head of what you were like and I convinced myself that it would never work. That you couldn't protect me the same as Aiden and Jackson. I convinced myself that you were a loser and not worth my time." Lydia says. Stiles rolls his eyes and runs his fingers through his hair.

"Great pep talk, Lydia." He says trying to pull away. Lydia tugs him back, holding tightly to the cuff of his shirt.

"But I was wrong. And I'm sorry for how long you waited for me to get off my high-horse. And I want nothing more than to give you a real apology." she says continuing her advances. She presses her chest into his so their faces are only centimeters apart. Stiles' breathing grows faster.

"A-Apologize. For what?"

"For not loving you. The way I should have:" And she kisses him again. Pressing her plump pillows against his with intent and steam. Stiles pulls away.

"Um-Uh.. May-Maybe we should go upstairs." He stutters. Lydia smirks and starts walking up the stairs. She whips around when she realizes he is not following, her strawberry-blond mane flowing to her back.

"Are you coming or not?"

Stiles smiles though he is having a panic attack on the inside. "Yeah. Yeah. On my way, Lydia."

Oh my god, he thinks, am I dreaming? But he shrugs, because if he is, its the best fucking dream ever. He bounds up the stair case after her bracing himself for what would be the best nightmare in his life.

…

MONDAY. 9:30 AM

"Oh my god, Stiles." Scott says his eyes wide in disbelief. Stiles nods.

"I know, man."

…

"Holy shit, Lydia." Allison whispers. Lydia shakes her head slightly, trying to fight a satisfied smile.

"I know..."

END OF CHAPTER