Here's another prompt, this time by imperialimpala: "LYDIA DISCOVERS THAT STILES CAN PLAY THE PIANO..."
Hope you like it!
I don't own Teen Wolf.
Lydia opened the front door, Stiles following her in. She dropped her book bag by the door as Prada scurried up to her.
"Hi, baby," she said, picking the dog up. "Did you miss me?"
He tried to lick her face in response.
"Not the face!" she said, cringing away from his tongue. "You know better."
She put Prada down, and the dog ran straight for Stiles, jumping on his leg to get attention.
"Hey, buddy," he said, leaning down to pet Prada.
"Do you want something to drink?" Lydia asked as they stepped into the living room.
"Uh, yeah, sure," he replied.
"Okay," she said. "Go ahead and get the books out, and I'll be right back."
He sat down and unzipped his bag as she turned and went to the kitchen.
She grabbed two Dr. Peppers and the big bag of Ruffles on the counter as an afterthought.
Just as she was about to enter the living room again, she heard a note being played on the piano. She stopped, listening.
After a moment, more music drifted out into the hallway. She smiled as she recognized the song.
Peeking silently around the corner, she saw Stiles standing at the grand piano, using only his right hand to play the melody.
"Not bad," she said as he finished.
He jumped away from the piano, and scratched the back of his neck. "Sorry, I, uh –"
"It's fine," she stopped him, walking to the piano to stand next to him. "It should be played by somebody."
"You don't play?" he asked.
She shook her head. "My parents tried to get me to play when I was little, but I never took to it. I preferred to just simply read."
"Oh," he nodded. "Then why do you have a piano?"
"Decoration?" she guessed, shrugging. "I don't know. I've never heard it played except for my dad's business parties, and even then, only the Christmas ones."
They stood there awkwardly for a minute before Stiles took a Dr. Pepper.
"We should, uh, probably get started on the project," he suggested.
She had almost forgotten that's why they were there. They had been partnered on a Chemistry assignment, and had come to her house to work on it. But that's not she wanted to do right now.
"Can't you play some more?" she asked.
"I'm not that good," he said, ducking his head down in modesty.
"You're better than me," she argued with a smile.
"No," he said. "I'm really not that good. I haven't played in years, and –"
"Please?" she asked, almost begging. She didn't care that he wasn't that good. The sound of the piano being played, echoing throughout her house, was amazing. It gave it a warmth that she hadn't felt in a long time. It almost made it feel like home again.
He looked at her for a moment, and then sighed. "Okay."
She took the soda from him and set everything on the coffee table. When she turned around and walked back towards the piano, Stiles had already pulled out the bench and was sitting on it. She leaned her elbow on the edge of the piano to watch him.
He looked up at her nervously. "I, uh, haven't really played in front of...other people before."
"Really?" she asked, surprised. "Don't people usually have recitals when they take lessons?"
"I didn't take lessons from a teacher," he said, looking at his hands that were placed on the ivory keys. His long fingers looked like they belonged on a keyboard. The usual spastic movements he would make stilled as they settled on the cold, unused instrument. She wanted to watch him all day, to hear the music he could make. "My, uh, my mom taught me."
Her eyes snapped back up to his face, but he was still looking down. Stiles never talked about his mom. She knew that Mrs. Stilinski died when he was young, and while she didn't know how, she knew that it had been painful for both Stiles and Sheriff Stilinski.
"Oh," was all she could say, looking down at her own hands.
"Yeah," he replied with a small smile, obviously remembering. "She was amazing. Her fingers just…flew across the keys, and she just lost herself in the music."
Lydia tilted her head, resting it on her hand. "She sounds really cool."
"She was," he said softly.
"Did, uh," she started, unsure of how to ask. "Did you continue to play…after…?"
"No, uh, not really," he answered, tapping a key with his forefinger, but not hard enough to where it made noise. "It was something I did with my mom, and it was, um, way too hard for my dad to hear the piano, you know…"
He took a breath and scratched under his eye.
"But," he continued. "I, uh, I remember one song. It was her favorite, and she would always sing it to me. When she, uh, started teaching me piano, it was one of the first real songs I learned, and I worked really hard to master it because I knew she loved it so much."
"The one you were just playing?" she asked quietly. He nodded.
Slowly, she sat down next to him and grabbed his hand. "Thank you for playing for me."
His brow furrowed in confusion. "But I haven't played anything yet."
"I mean before," she said. "Even if you weren't trying to play for me."
"I can still play some more if you want," he said.
She bit her lip and nodded slowly. "If it's okay."
"Yeah," he replied. "It's actually kind of nice to play again."
Pulling his hand out of hers, he set them back on the keys. He started playing, incorporating the chords with his left hand. She started humming along softly and he glanced at her with a smile.
As he started again, he decided to sing with the music.
"You are my sunshine
My only sunshine
You make me happy
When skies are gray
You'll never know dear
How much I love you
Please don't take my sunshine away."
He played it a few more times before she spoke again. "Teach me."
"What?" he asked.
"Teach me how to play it," she answered.
"Okay," he smiled. He showed her the notes, and within twenty minutes, she was playing the melody as Stiles played the chords.
By the time her mom came in from work, they were still playing, and had tried different tempos and different methods. They were playing a staccato version of the song right then.
Her mom peeked her head into the living room.
"What are you doing?" she asked curiously.
"Stiles taught me a song on the piano," she stated simply. "Well, the melody atleast."
"Really?" her mom asked in surprise.
"Yeah," Lydia said.
Stiles pulled out his phone. "I gotta go. I'm supposed to have dinner with my dad at the station tonight."
"Okay," Lydia replied, getting up from the bench with him. "I'll see you tomorrow."
"Yeah," he said, picking up his backpack. "Sorry we didn't actually study."
"It's okay," she dismissed. "I had fun."
"Yeah," he nodded with a small smile. "Me, too."
He left, saying bye to her mom on the way out. Lydia picked up the empty soda cans and took them to the kitchen.
"So," her mom said, following behind her. "I try to get you to play piano almost your entire childhood, and all it would've taken was having a cute teacher?"
"I – uh – pfft," she was caught off-guard by her mother's comment. "He – I mean – he's not – we're not –"
"Honey," she interrupted, laughing. "I was just teasing. You really like him don't you?"
"Like him?" Lydia asked. "Well…yeah, he's my friend, and he's sweet, and kind and protective. He's…he's a cool guy."
She wanted to stop the butterflies that were in her stomach, but she couldn't. She could feel the blush spreading on her cheeks, and her mom noticed it.
"Just a cool guy?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.
Lydia took a deep breath before pulling her lips in, looking down at the island counter. "I, uh…I don't know." She placed her palms on the counter and leaned on them.
"You don't know?" her mom said.
"No, I don't," she replied. "I mean, yes, we're friends, but…there's something else. He makes me feel…" she bit her lip, trying to find the right word. What was the right word? He made her feel so many things, usually all at once, that she couldn't identify them from one another. But out of all of the emotions, she could only place one word, and it was too simple of a word. "He makes me feel…happy? I don't know. Like I can do anything, like I can be anything."
"How so?" her mom asked, tilting her head and leaning on the island herself.
Lydia shrugged, a small smile playing on her lips. "I…I don't have to choose with him. I don't have to hide anything. I used to have to hide the fact that I was smart, but I don't have to pretend with him. He knows how smart I am, and he doesn't care. In fact, he encourages it. And he knows all of my flaws, but he still looks at me like…like he doesn't care. Like I'm still perfect to him."
"He accepts you for who you are," her mom told her. She just nodded.
"Honey," her mom continued, placing a hand on her cheek. "Do you know how rare it is to find someone like that? To have someone accept you for who you are, flaws and all, and still think that you're perfect? I still haven't found that." She moved her hand to under Lydia's chin, gently bringing her face to look at her mother. "But the important thing is…Do you feel the same way?"
She looked into her mother's eyes and thought. Did she feel the same way? She had accepted his quirkiness and hyper-ness and his…did he have any flaws? Yes, he had his quirks, and yes, he was broken – all of them were after everything that had happened to them – but she didn't see any of that as flaws. She saw it as parts of him.
Maybe that's how he feels about you, idiot, a little voice in her head told her.
Maybe she didn't feel as strongly as he did – because dear God, could that boy feel – but you know what?
"I'm pretty damn close," she answered with a breathless chuckle.
"Then let it happen," her mom said. "I'm not saying that it'll happen immediately, but if both of you feel that way, it will happen."
Lydia nodded, and her mom leaned forward and kissed her forehead.
"I know I'm not an expert in love," her mom stated, "but I know you shouldn't push it. Or push it away."
"Thanks, Mom," Lydia said.
"No problem, sweetie," she replied. "Now what do you want to do for dinner?"
They settled on Chinese, and Lydia went back to the living room as her mom ordered the food. She sat down at the piano and played the melody that Stiles had taught her. It sounded lonely without Stiles playing the chords, but she played anyway, because he taught it to her.
She sang along as she played, and smiled at the memory of him singing it to her just a little while ago.
"You are my sunshine
My only sunshine
You make me happy
When skies are gray
You'll never know dear
How much I love you
Please don't take my sunshine away."
Tell me what you think!