A/N: Hello, hello! So, I first got the idea for this fic after watching a [*coughs*bootlegversionofa*coughs*] Broadway show called First Date starring Zachary Levi and Krysta Rodriguez, while I was on a train on my way to New York in November. Seven months later, I decided that I finally had the inspiration to sit down and write this fic, so I did! The title comes from the final song from the musical that inspired this fic. I will admit, that this went in a completely different direction than what I'd originally pictured, but I think I like how it turned out. I have already started a part two to this story, so if you would like to see more of this, let me know!

FYI, the line breaks typically signal a POV change, but there are a couple of exceptions. I've given this to two people to read (Shout out to AubreyStilinski (on here) and deathcabjenny (on tumblr), and neither of them said this was an issue, so I apologize if it gets confusing. I can go back and write POV's at the beginning of each section, but I felt that it took you out the story. Let me know if I need to fix that.

Please Review!

Something That Will Last

"I think you'll like him." Allison told me over lunch yesterday.

"Have you even met him? I mean... what do you even know about the guy?" I didn't try to hide my disdain as I cut into the grilled chicken in front of me.

"Well, his name is Stiles-"

"What?" I nearly choked on my food. "What the hell is a Stiles? What kind of name is that?"

"A nickname apparently, but it's what Scott has always called him. Speaking of Scott, he's Scott best friend, and you like Scott, right? Like...He seems to have good taste in people. I mean, he's marrying me, and he likes you! Come on. It can't be that bad."

I sighed. Scott McCall was the epitome of a good guy, but..."I'm only in town for a couple of days. We were supposed to be doing wedding stuff." I couldn't disguise the whine in my voice.

"And we will!" She assured me. "This is only one night. Plus, Stiles is going to be Scott's best man, and you're my maid of honor. You two were bound to meet sooner or later. We're just moving things along. We've been wanting to set you two up for a long time." She took a deep breath, "And yes. I have met him. I think he's exactly what you need."

I raised my eyebrows. "What I need? What's that supposed to mean?"

Allison shook her head. "Nothing...it's just... you haven't had a good track record with guys in the past, and he's not the same douchebag you normally date."

I huffed as I had another thought, "What's the purpose of a date with him if he lives here and I live on the other side of the country? I'm not starting a long distance thing with a guy I just met."

"That's the beauty of it all. He just got transferred to New York, and he got an apartment about 20 minutes from yours. He leaves a week after you head back."

"Oh I see," I nodded finally catching on. "You want him to have a friend in the city when he gets there."

Allison actually looked surprised for a moment. "I didn't even think of it that way." And she was being honest, I could tell.

I rolled my eyes. "Fine. One date." I agreed.

"For now." She shrugged.

That was the conversation that led me to where I was now. Standing in front of a small cafe and peering through the window. Every table sat more than one person, except for one. It was right in the middle of the dining room. The guy at the table had brown hair, and was wearing a button up long sleeved shirt, a light blue color-almost white-and black slacks. He had a jacket draped over the back of his chair which reminded me of how cold I was in the short red dress I was wearing. I took a deep breath and hugged my jacket closer. This was it. Now or never.

"What the hell." I shrugged and open the door.

"I hate you so much." I told Scott through the phone.

"Hello to you too."

"I've been sitting here since 6:30 and I'm starting to get looks."

"I thought you guys were meeting at 7:00?"

"Yeah, well," I looked at my watch. "It's 7:15 and she still hasn't shown up."

"Look, Lydia's always fashionably late. Sorry, I should have told you to tell her 6:45."

"Well, then how long should I wait before I call this a wash?"

"Give her til 7:30...maybe 7:45."

"7:45?!" A few people around turned to look at me. I gave them a look and waved my hand to tell them to turn back around. "At 7:45 I'll have been here over an hour."

"Well, you're the one who got there half an hour early. Did you text her yet?"

"Not since we planned the time and place. Should I?"

"At 7:45. To let her know you're leaving and you're sorry you couldn't meet up."

I groaned. This was torture. "Thanks for nothing." I told him and hung up. It was now 7:16. I couldn't stop my hands from sweating and my leg was bouncing under the table. This was stupid. This was so stupid. Damn Scott McCall for making me feel like I owed him a favor. I didn't owe him anything. Especially, not a date with some girl who didn't bother to show up on time, or even text me to let me know she was running late. This night was not starting out well. A glance at my watch told me she was now 17 minutes late. God, this girl had to be the most selfish, most inconsiderate, most-

"Stiles?"

Most beautiful girl I had ever seen.

His light brown eyes met mine. He was kind of cute, I thought to myself. Maybe tonight wouldn't be all bad.

"Ly-Lydia?" He seemed surprised.

"Not what you were expecting?" I asked him in a playful tone as I shrugged my jacket off my shoulders.

"Honestly?" He started. "I was beginning not to expect you at all." He suddenly seemed to snap out of whatever thought process was happening and stood up. "Here, let me get your chair."

It was my turn now to be surprised. I don't think any of my dates prior had ever pulled a chair out for me.

"Thank you." I told him sincerely and took my seat. "I hope you weren't waiting too long. I was trying to leave the hotel and I kept forgetting things. Then, when I was finally in the cab, I see that it's after 7:00 so I go to reach for my phone... that I swear was in my hand the first time I walked out of the room... but I guess I set it down at one point. So then, I had to decide whether to ask the cabbie to turn around so I could go back and get my phone to text you to tell you I was going to be late, or just be late and hope not to come across like a complete bitch."

He looked down, a blush creeping into his cheeks. "Well, to be fair... the word "Bitch" never entered my mind."

I chuckled, and pulled my lower lip in over my teeth as I looked down at the menu.

"So, I see that your date showed up after all." I looked up at the waiter, who looked as shocked Stiles was. I could tell he'd definitely been here longer than 7:00. "Can I take your drink order?"

"Can I get a glass of Moscato?" I asked the waiter politely.

He nodded and turned to Stiles. "And you, sir? Are you sticking with water?"

"Uh..." He seemed to be looking over all of the drink options and finally nodded. "Yeah. For now."

"Very well. I'll give you a minute to look over your menu and I'll be back with your drink in a moment."

"Thank you." I said sweetly. Stiles was studying his menu like he was going to be quizzed on it at the end of the meal and I tried to think of what I wanted to ask first. The question coming to the forefront was 'How long have you been waiting?' but I wasn't sure I wanted to know the answer to that, knowing I would either feel guilty or creeped out. Getting here too early would make him seem a little over-zealous, then that would beg the question 'why' and I don't think I would like most of those probable answers.

"Do you know what you're going to eat?" Stiles asked, looking up only slightly from his menu.

"Oh..." I hadn't really been looking at the menu. I glanced down, saying the first thing I saw that sounded good. "I think I'm just going to get the tuna niçoise salad."

He looked up with his eyebrow raised. "For...an appetizer?"

I shook my head. "No, for my meal."

"That's it? Just a salad?"

"What are you trying to say?" It came out really defensively, but I was slightly irritated.

"N-no-nothing." He said quickly, shaking his head. "Sorry... I..." I saw him wipe his hands on his pants as he blushed a bright red. He was really nervous. Had this guy ever even been on a date before?

I sighed. I had to remember, Allison said he was a good guy. He wouldn't have been the type to say something purposefully demeaning or insulting. "It's okay." I told him calmly. "I'm sorry."

"No! I'm sorry!" He said quickly. "I'm just-" We were both grateful that our waiter came back at that moment, placing my wine down in front of me. I gave him the order for my salad and Stiles ordered a strip steak cooked medium. Medium...very middle of the road as far as cooking instructions are concerned. I wondered what that said about him as a person, if anything.

As I handed the waiter my menu I made a decision, "He'll take a rum and coke."

Stiles's eyes widened, and he waited until the waiter walked away before he began, "I don't know if rum and coke is such a good idea."

"What, you don't like rum?"

"No, that's not it at all. Rum and coke is actually the manliest drink I like."

I wasn't sure how to approach that statement. "Well, then what's the problem? You need to loosen up. I figured a drink would help."

"My concern is what will happen if I loosen up." He mumbled it, but I could still understand him.

"What? Does like alcoholism run if your family?" I asked nonchalantly as I took a sip of my wine. His eyes widened and it was then that I realized what I'd said and nearly choked on my drink. "Oh my God! I can't believe I...That was so uncalled for. I'm so sorry." I could feel my cheeks burning and I looked down at my lap, unable to meet his eyes.

Then I heard a chuckle and was able to breathe a sigh of relief. "Wow, we really are pros at this dating thing, aren't we?"

"Tell me about it." I mumbled and let out a nervous laugh.

"I just meant that I get extra chatty when I drink, and with the way this date has been going so far...well..."

I nodded. "Point taken." I took a deep breath and we settled into an awkward silence. I think we were both afraid to speak, wondering who was going to make the next rude comment. "So... Stiles...How'd you end up with a name like that?"

He chuckled. "It's an old family nickname. It comes from my last name, Stilinski."

"What's your real name then?"

He was taking a sip of his water when he shook his head. "No. That's something you have to earn."

"And how do I do that?"

"Let's put it this way. Outside of my family, I've only told two people my first name. Scott, and m- my ex."

I wanted to ask him about his ex. Was this date some sort of rebound thing? Was the ex the reason Scott and Allison couldn't get us together before? Oh God...was the ex from high school? Like... has the dude not been on a date in 10 years? Was he still a virgin? I began to panic internally, hoping my face was still cool on the outside. The waiter dropped off Stiles's drink and promised he would bring our food when he returned.

I decided not to bring it up. The only kind of talk with the word 'ex' in it that was suitable for the first date was 'sex'. And the only reason there would be any sex on the first date, was if we had such a good time on the date, I needed to have a good time after the date too. Or if the date went horribly for me and I didn't want him to leave without a consolation prize.

Shit. I was going to have to sleep with this guy, wasn't I?

I stared at the drink that the waiter had just placed in front of me. Why did I even mention Malia? There's no "ex" talk on the first date. Everyone knows that. Finally, I grabbed the the rum and coke and took a huge gulp. As long as the talk of exes stopped right there, there may still be a way to salvage this date.

"So..." I began after a moment. "How do you know Allison?"

She smiled. "We were roommates in college."

"At Stanford?" I regretted asking as soon as the words left my mouth. That's the school Allison went to, of course that's what she was talking about. Luckily, she didn't seem to notice. Maybe she thought I was asking because I couldn't remember. She nodded politely. "What was your major?"

"Molecular biology."

I could feel my eyes widen. "Wow. What are you doing with that?"

"I'm leading a study and teaching at NYU."

"Wow." I said again. This girl sure had it all put together.

"What about you?"

"What about me?" I'd asked her several questions, I wasn't sure which one she wanted me to answer first.

She seemed to realize this, and ran her finger along the rim of her wine glass as she thought about it. "Hmm...well...let's start with how you know Scott."

"I've known Scott all my life. Our moms were best friends. If I wasn't at his house, he was at mine."

"Were?" I met her eyes and she blushed and looked away. "Sorry, it's just...the way you said it, made it sound like..."

"My mom..." I began to tell her before I could even process what I was doing. "Died when I was nine."

"Oh my God...I'm...I'm so sorry. I didn't mean.."

"You're fine," I smiled and swallowed. "But, yeah...that really solidified our friendship. He was there for me like no one else could be." She looked like she wanted to say something else but kept stopping herself. "Go ahead and ask." I told her with another smile.

"How did she..."

I looked down as I tried to push the images of my mother in a hospital bed out my mind and replied, "She had a disease called frontotemperal dementia. It's when-"

"I know what frontotemperal dementia is." My first thought was surprise, but my mind quickly rationalized it. With her major, she'd probably heard about it before. Although, as my eyes met hers I saw the shock written on her face, and she continued with her statement. "That's what my study is about."

I felt my stomach do a flip, and for a split second, I wondered how appropriate it would be to just kiss her right now. "That's probably why Allison and Scott..." I trailed off when she began to shake her head.

"I never told them." She looked back at her drink. "I don't bore my friends with my work. Most of them either don't understand or don't find it interesting."

"Well," I began. "You can always talk to me about it."

She smiled and nodded. "I'll remember that." She took another sip of her wine."So, what do you do for work? Allison said you were just transferred to New York."

"I uhh.." I was hesitant to answer because my job was a big reason that Malia and I had broken up. "I work for the FBI." It was her turn to be surprised. "I was lucky enough to be in Northern California for the first couple of years, but I got a promotion, and that promotion requires me to move across the United States."

"Are you excited?" She asked me.

I nodded and took another swig of my drink. "Yeah. I mean… a little nervous if I'm honest. I've never been out of California, aside from training at Quantico. I'm moving away from friends and family, but I think it'll be good. It's definitely a needed change." I took a deep breath. "I mean, you obviously made a similar move. Did you grow up in California before you went to Stanford?"

She tapped a finger on her glass and got small smile on her face. It was the same smile she got when she was talking about being roommates with Allison. This must be her happy smile.

"Yeah. In San Francisco."

"Was New York always the plan?"

"Well, I did an internship there the summer of my junior year and fell in love with it. I applied for several different positions across the US when I finally graduated and it came down to NYU or a couple of places in California. I didn't feel there was any competition."

"NYU offered more money didn't they."

She laughed and blushed slightly. "Yes. They did."

"I knew it."

"So, I have the tuna niçoise…" The waiter had come back. He placed her salad in front of her then held my steak out in front of me. "And the strip steak medium."

"Thank you." I told him and he nodded.

"Can I get you anything else?"

I shook my head and looked at Lydia who was shaking her head 'no' as well. "No, I think we're good." I replied.

I reached for the pepper to season my salad and Stiles immediately cut into his steak. It was then that I realized he didn't have any condiments for it.

"Oh," I began. "Did you forget to ask for the steak sauce?"

He shook his head and took a bite. "I like to eat my steak sans sauce."

"Really?"

"The mark of a good steak is one that requires no sauce. One that is seasoned so well it doesn't need anything to mask the flavor or lack thereof. If it's not a good steak, I ask for sauce, but I always like to give the chef the benefit of the doubt."

"So?" I asked, looking at the steak and back to him.

He smiled. "No sauce."

"Good." I matched his smile. We got quiet while we ate, but something kept nagging me in the back of my mind. "How recent was your break up?"

He nearly choked on the steak he had just put in his mouth and quickly took a sip of his drink. "Are we really talking about this?"

"I know. I'm breaking a rule of my own. No 'ex' talk unless there's a 's' in front of it, but I'm just…curious. If you don't want to talk about it that's fine." I don't really know why I asked anyway. Maybe because the longer I sat here, the more I could see myself actually liking this guy and if I was a rebound girl then…I just needed to set my expectations properly.

He swallowed then took a gulp of his drink, efficiently draining it.

"Excuse me." He said to our waiter who just so happened to be passing by at that moment. "Can I get another one?" He asked, tapping his glass.

The waiter nodded and took the empty glass.

"I'm sorry." I apologized. "Forget I asked-"

"No…uh…it's okay. Um…it's been a little over a year."

"Oh!" I was surprised, but a little happy that I wasn't a rebound. "What happened?" I started this conversation and now I couldn't stop myself.

"We were friends in high school but fell out of touch after graduation. We ran into each other a few years later. One thing led to another, then I blinked and all of sudden, we'd been together 5 years and were planning a wedding. I went on an assignment. I was supposed to be gone for two weeks, but it only ended up being a week and a half. I didn't tell her I was coming back early. I thought I'd surprise her."

"Oh no…"I knew exactly where this was going.

"Oh yes…" He grimaced.

"Did you know the guy?"

He raised his eyebrows as he replied. "I knew the girl."

"Did you know she was-"

"Bi?" He shook his. "Not until that moment. It was doubly shocking."

"So she's bi?"

"Yeah, She loves guys…she just loves girls too."

"What did you do?"

"You mean after she invited me to join them?"

"She did not!"

"I wish I was making this up."

"You didn't say 'yes' did you?"

The severity in which he shook his head told me that he we was telling the truth. "No. I just left. And had to live with Scott for a couple of months until I could get another place."

"You let her keep the place?"

"I didn't have much of a choice. It was in her name. She lived there before I did. My lease was ending and her roommate was moving out and it was a lot closer to everything."

"That sucks. And you haven't been on a date since then?"

He chuckled. "Am I that obvious?"

"You keep wiping your hands on your pants. You're nervous. You work for the FBI, probably hunt down criminals for a living, yet the five foot three strawberry blonde in front of you is making you nervous? This isn't something you do all the time."

"You're a regular profiler."

I laughed. "I'm just perceptive."

"Did you need more wine?" The waiter was back.

"Yes please." He had a carafe in his hand and refilled my glass. When he left I looked up and saw Stiles staring at me. "What?"

Her happy smile. She smiled her happy smile because of me. My hands didn't feel sweaty anymore. I loved that I made her smile that smile. It was a renewed confidence that took hold.

"Nothing." I told her unable to hide my smile. "So, I told you my story. What's yours?"

She took a deep breath. "The exact opposite of yours."

"Your fiancé walked in on you in bed with another woman?"

She laughed. "No. I've never been in a relationship that's lasted long enough to even get to the fiancé stage. Or even the moving in stage." There was her happy smile again. "You're actually the exact opposite of any guy I've ever been on a date with."

"Really?" I wasn't sure how I should feel, but her happy smile… She was looking at me with her happy smile. "So, I'm not your type?" I joked.

"Not typically." At least she was honest. "I tend to go for the bad guys, but then like I said…it never lasts." As I studied her, a confused expression must have shrouded my features because she asked. "What?"

"Nothing." I told her a shook my head. "I just… I can't picture you dating a bad boy."

"Why's that?"

I shrugged. "I mean… I could be wrong, but bad boys aren't typically smart. I figured they'd find you intimidating. Or you'd find it boring."

She shrugged. "That may be the reason it never works out. I think I sort of set a standard for myself in high school, and just haven't been able to raise it." She looked down. "Maybe subconsciously I just don't think I deserve to be with a good guy."

I wasn't sure where the honesty was coming from.

"Hey," He said seriously and a jolt went through my body as his hand landed on mine. My head shot up so I could look him in the eye. "I only just met you, but I can already tell you are a strong, smart, and beautiful woman, that only deserves good things. Don't let shit guys make you feel any less of yourself."

I felt the corners of my lips turn up in a smile and looked back down at our hands.

He slowly took his hand away and I immediately missed his touch. "Or maybe the thought of being with one person for the rest of my life terrifies me... so I surround myself with guys that I obviously have no future with."

He chuckled as he cut another piece of steak. "Well, I can't give you a pep talk for that. That's just something you've got to decide for yourself. What I can say, is that I believe when it's the right person, it won't seem so scary and you'll change your mind."

I may be changing my mind over the course of this dinner.

I continued eating my salad, staring at his hand that rested on the table and willed it to reach out and grab mine again. It didn't work.

"So, what do you do at the FBI?" I started a new topic, and crossed my legs, hoping to "accidentally" touch his. It was as if his touch had suddenly become a craving and I needed it back. Unfortunately, my legs were too short to reach his and I quietly sighed to myself as he answered.

"I'm a field agent." He smiled to himself. "Special Agent. That's the promotion. I finished my two year probationary period. I'm joining the missing persons division in New York."

"You're a real life superhero."

He shook his head slightly. "If I'm being honest, I'd say you're the superhero. I mean, what you're doing with your study..."

I shrugged and looked down. "We haven't found anything yet. You're actively saving lives. We're just creating theories on how to do it."

"It's something though." He was looking at me with such sincerity I wanted to cry.

"How are we doing over here?" The waiter came back to ask.

"Great!" I smiled, grateful he came over when he did so that I didn't actually start crying.

"Can I get you a dessert menu?"

"I'd like to look at one." Stiles nodded. The waiter nodded and walked away before Stiles explained, "I want to see what they have, I just don't know if I'll get anything."

"I got the salad so that I could get dessert." I admitted.

"Really?" He chuckled.

"Hell yeah! Dessert is the most important part of the meal."

"Here you are." The waiter gave one to each of us before taking our empty plates away.

"Oooh." Stiles's eyes had become huge as he looked at all of the different offerings. "They have a chocolate chip cheesecake!" He flopped the menu down. "Well I know what I'm getting."

I laughed. "You like chocolate chip cheesecake?"

"I just like cheesecake in general."

"Well, then I think you're going to love New York."

His eyes got wide in realization. "Oh my God! New York cheesecake! I totally didn't even think about that!" He shook his head and gave a playful groan. "I'm going to spend so much money."

I laughed again. "I'm sure you'll survive."

The waiter came back and I ordered the triple fudge brownie sundae while he ordered his cheesecake.

"You're a chocolate fan?" He asked once the waiter left again.

"I love chocolate. Like..forget diamonds. Chocolate is this girl's best friend."

"So if you ever decide that marriage doesn't terrify you, you'd want to be proposed to with a Hershey bar?"

"Hershey?" I scoffed. "Please. It better at least be Ghiridelli or Godiva."

"What about a Lindt truffle?"

"Hmm," I pretended to think. "That one would have to be taken under special consideration."

We both laughed at how silly this conversation was getting.

"So," He began, "What is your stance on dessert sharing?"

"My stance on food sharing in general, is number one : ask before you steal somebody's food, and two, unless they offer you more, take only one bite. I order what I want for a reason."

He nodded in approval. "I like those rules. I feel the same way."

"Alright, cheesecake and brownie sundae. Enjoy." The waiter placed the desserts in front of us and placed two spoons on a napkin on the side of the table. We both reached for the spoons at the same time, my right hand landing on top of his left. I closed my eyes and breathed in the moment. As if finally taking a hit from the drug I was now addicted to. I opened my eyes again and realized I was holding his hand tightly in place. I felt embarrassment creep into my cheeks as I hesitantly let go and began to pull my hand away. He quickly reached for my hand again, cradling it softly the way he had done earlier, and rubbed his thumb across my knuckles in reassurance. Then, he reached across the table with his right hand to grab the spoons and hand me one.

The exchange had all happened silently.

"I notice you're left-handed." He finally broke the silence, before taking a bite of his cheesecake.

"All my life." I smiled, and took a bite of my sundae.

"That makes things convenient." I glanced down at our hands. It felt so natural, like I'd known this girl all of my life. It felt like we had more of a connection than Malia and I ever had. Or maybe I was crazy. Maybe it was like that feeling, when you eat something when you're really hungry, and it's the best meal you've ever eaten...but it's just because you're so hungry that any meal would be the best meal you'd ever eaten. Was that what it was? Because it had been so long since I'd been on a date, is that why I felt like I did?

I looked up at her, her happy smile scribed onto her lips. No...that wasn't it, because she felt it too.

"Do you want to try some?" I asked her, pointing at the cheesecake with my spoon.

She nodded. "Yeah, it looks really good."

"It is." I went to put some on my spoon, but then hesitated. Was using my spoon appropriate? Did I feed her? Should I just let her get her own bite? "Uhh..."

"You should do it." She told me, as if reading my mind. "I don't want to take too much."

I chuckled and cut a piece with my spoon and held it out, giving her the option on taking in her hand or in her mouth. Oh God...why did that thought sound so sexual? As she took the spoon from me something clicked.

"Ohhh!" I said in realization. She quirked an eyebrow at me as she took the bite, but then her eyes popped open.

"Oh my God! That's amazing!" And now everything was going to sound sexual. I'm pretty sure I gripped her hand tighter. "What was that "oh" about?"

"I literally just realized what you meant about "'ex' without an 's' in front of it'."

She covered her mouth as she stifled a laugh. "And now I know what you're thinking about."

I didn't think about that. I felt my cheeks turning bright red again. I shook my head as I tried to explain myself. "Uhh...that's not..."I laughed nervously. "I wasn't thinking...about that...really...it was a...how's your sundae?"

"Smooth recovery." she giggled. "And it's delicious. Did you want to try a bit of mine?"

"I really really want to, but I'm so full, I think I'm going to be sick if I eat another bite of either dessert."

She shrugged. "Fair enough. More for me. You should have ordered a salad."

"I know. I'll just never learn."

The waiter came back with the check and set it down. I quickly grabbed it before she could protest. Reluctantly, I let go of her hand, so that I could get my wallet out of my pocket and pull my card out.

"How much do I owe you?" She asked.

I know I looked confused when I looked up at her. "I'm a good guy, Lydia. Remember? I'm paying. You can pay next time."

The waiter hadn't gone far and took the folder back almost as soon as I'd sat it down.

"There's going to be a next time?" She asked. I looked back at her, suddenly registering what I had said.

"Well...I hope so." I told her truthfully.

Her happy smile. "Me too." I felt my stomach do a flip.

"Good." The waiter brought back my card and a pen for me to sign the check, which I did quickly. "Are you ready to go?"

She nodded and gathered her jacket off the chair, and I took mine as well. We walked out into the brisk night air and we both shivered.

"I forgot how cold it was out here." She said.

"Me too. I was going to offer to walk you back to your hotel, but I feel like we'd both end up with hypothermia."

"You didn't bring a car?"

I shook my head. "My jeep doesn't like to cooperate when it's this cold."

"How's it supposed to survive in New York?"

"Oh, it's not making the trip sadly. But, the uh...the bureau is paying for a new car for me."

"Fancy."

"Yeah... Want to share a cab?"

She nodded. "Sounds good."

I flagged one down and opened the door for her, and she thanked me before climbing in. She gave the driver her hotel and we were off.

"So when do you go back to New York?" I asked.

"Friday. That gives me two days to adjust back to the time change before work on Monday."

"Oh yeah, that's right. New York is like three hours ahead."

"No," She shook her head. "California is three hours behind."

"Oh yeah, I'm sure." I chuckled.

"It's true." She smiled.

Then something clicked. "Shit." I muttered.

"What?"

"I honestly, didn't even factor in the time change when I made my plans. I'm supposed to be at an orientation at 7 am the morning after I get there. Which would be like 4 am here... which is the time that I'm probably going to go to bed the night before."

"Well that was poor planning." She joked.

"Tell me about it. And I can't even move into my apartment until the day I get there. I didn't factor in the time change. I was just like 'oh, this apartment becomes available the day before orientation. This is perfect!'" I groaned.

"Well, if you need to come in earlier...you can always stay with me for a few days."

"Really?!" I looked up at her, relief flooding my body.

"Yeah! It's fine! Seriously."

"Oh my God, that would be great. Maybe we can talk about it later."

"Yeah, absolutely." The cab stopped, in front of a hotel."This is my stop." Lydia said. I reached for my wallet, but Lydia was already handing money over to the driver.

"I was going to get it."

"You can get it next time." She smiled smugly.

I got out of the car, so that she could climb out as well. "I'm going to walk you up." I told her. "Just give me a minute."

"Okay." She smiled. Her happy smile. My heart did flips every time I saw it.

I leaned back into the cab. "Give me 10 minutes. I'm just going to walk her up and I'll be right back."

"If you're not back in ten minutes I'll congratulate you by leaving."

I let out a small laugh. "Okay."

We walked into the elevator, and I'm not sure if I was the only one feeling the tension. I was doing everything in my power not to throw myself at him. The whole cab ride home, I kept imagining what his lips would feel like on mine. When I offered him my place I got excited at the idea of domesticity with him for the few days it would be. And I only just met the guy.

We got off on the 7th floor and I followed her to room 760.

"Well, this is me." She motioned to the door. I stared at the door, and all of a sudden the nervousness from earlier had come back full swing. What was I supposed to do now?

"Cool." I nodded. "I...I had a really great time tonight."

"Me too. Allison was right. You're a really great guy."

"I'm a good guy," I jokingly corrected.

She chuckled, "Maybe I do deserve a good guy."

I shrugged. "That's what I was trying to tell you."

She licked her lips and I glanced down at them.

He looked at my lips. This was it.

"Have a good night." He told me and held his arms out...for a hug? I smiled, softly and wrapped my arms around his waist. While the hug felt amazing, and I now wanted a hug from him everyday, it wasn't what I was expecting. I felt his lips against my cheek as he pulled away. "See you soon." He smiled and walked off.

"Yeah, you too." I told him before opening the door.

I. Chickened. Out. What. The. Actual. Fuck. Was. Wrong. With. Me. Seriously?! She wanted me to kiss her. Hell, I wanted to kiss her. So what the hell happened?

I walked back out to the cab to see it still sitting there, which only made me feel like more a jackass. I opened the door got inside.

"Ah, so you didn't get lucky... tough break. kid."

"I didn't even kiss her." I groaned as my face fell into my hands.

I walked inside my room and took my jacket off, then saw my phone laying on my bed. I had several missed calls and texts from Allison- most of which were asking me how it was going.

I hit 'call back' on one of the voicemails.

"Oh my God! Tell me everything!" She yelled enthusiastically when she answered the phone.

"Well, first of all," I began as I stepped out of my shoes. "I'm about to put you on speaker so I can change into my pajamas."

"Okay." She replied as I tapped the speaker button.

"Okay, can you hear me?" I asked as I put the phone down on the dresser.

"Loud and clear."

"Okay, well I was late getting there." I unzipped my dress and let it fall to my feet.

"Shocker." I opened one of the drawers to find some bottoms.

"I couldn't let him know because I left my phone at the hotel." I found a pair of sweatpants and threw them on. It was so cold outside I couldn't think about just wearing shorts.

"Which explains your lack of communication with me."

"Yes, but to be fair, it's probably for the better, because I would have murdered you if you interrupted dinner like that." I found a T-shirt and threw it over my head.

"So it went well?"

Before I could answer, I heard a crash of thunder and rain began to pour. "Holy shit." I said, as I peaked out the window. "Where did this rain come from?"

"Lydia!" She whined.

"Yes," I told her before flopping onto the bed. "It was amazing. He's so nice and genuine, and I felt like I've known him my whole life."

Allison squealed on the other end, "Oh my God! I'm so happy you liked him."

"Yeah... I do.."

"Wait...what's that in your voice? What's wrong? What happened?"

"Nothing..that's sort of the problem. Well... not really a problem just... He didn't kiss me goodnight."

"He didn't?"

"No...for a minute I thought he was going to, and then he hugged me and kissed my cheek." I lifted my finger to touch the spot where I still felt his lips burned into my skin.

"Maybe he just didn't realize you wanted him to kiss you."

I shrugged "Maybe...but I don't think that's likely."

"Maybe he was just trying to be a gentleman."

"That feels like a more plausible answer."

"Well, I'm glad your date went well. I'm picking you up at 9:00 tomorrow morning to go dress shopping. Be ready."

"I will. Bye, Allison."

I hung up the phone and went into the bathroom to take my makeup off. I'd effectively managed to smear my eyeliner when I heard a knock at my door.

"Shit." I muttered as I looked at myself in the mirror. I looked like a clown. I walked over to the door and peaked through the peep hole. It was Stiles, and he was absolutely soaked.

The fact that I looked like a hot mess completely left my thoughts when I saw him and I immediately threw the door open.

"Stiles?"

He took a deep breath. "Mieczyslaw."

"Gesundheit."

He shook his head. "My first name is Mieczyslaw."

He was telling me his first name? But..."Why would you-"

Suddenly, his lips were crashing into mine and fireworks were exploding behind my eyes. His hands were in my hair and our tongues were entwined.

When he finally pulled away we were both breathing heavily. "I'm sorry I didn't do that earlier."

"I'm sorry too."

It was 9:30 when I opened the door for Allison.

"You told me 9:00!" I said.

She looked me up at down. "And you're still not dressed." She gave me a funny look. "What happened to your face?" Oh yeah... I never went back to taking my make up off. Before I could open my mouth to reply, she cocked her head to the side. "Is the water running? Were you about to take a shower?"

"Yes." As soon as the word left my mouth, the water turned off. Allison quirked her eyebrow and gave me a look that said to explain.

"Hey Lyd," the door to the bathroom opened. "Do you think my clothes are dr-Allison!" He'd had a towel wrapped around his waist, but he held it tighter. "He-hey... friend."

She bit back a smile, and looked at me. "I thought he didn't even kiss you goodnight."

I shrugged. "He came back."

"You told her that?"

I turned back to him. "You told the cabbie."

"Well, I didn't know the cabbie." He mumbled as he opened the door to the balcony.

"For the record." I turned back to Allison. "We didn't..."

"Yeah, no." Stiles agreed as he walked back in with his clothes and tossed my pajamas onto the bed. "I'm a gentleman."

Allison gave us a confused look. "We were letting our clothes dry." I clarified.

"Yeah," Stiles agreed. "I got her all wet when I kissed her."

"I'm sure you did." Allison smirked.

"Allison!" I yelped.

"Not like that." Stiles said, as I saw him try to hide the blush forming in his cheeks. "It was raining and...you know. Forget it, I'm going to get dressed." He walked back into the bathroom.

"Nothing happened. We just talked all night." I told her, then grabbed her arms, and lowered my voice. "But, oh my God. Did you see how he looked just now? I don't think I had time to properly enjoy that view."

She bit her lip. "Are you wet again?"

I slapped her arm."You're incorrigible."

"But you love me."

Stiles emerged from the bathroom again, fully clothed.

"Still a tiny bit damp." He said, referring to his clothes. I immediately shot Allison a look before she could open her mouth to say anything. "I guess I'll leave, so you guys can go shopping."

"Alright." I told him. I tried to smile, but I couldn't hide my disappointment. He cocked his head to the side, as if trying to read my expression.

"I'll see you tomorrow." I felt my smile brighten, and he smiled too.

"I can't wait." He looked down at my lips, but then his expression changed as he glanced at Allison. I rolled my eyes, before using my hand to turn his head back to face me. He smiled again and reached his hand up to stroke my cheek, before bending down to meet my lips with his. The kiss didn't last nearly as long as I would have liked, but I was aware that we had an audience."Bye." I told him and bit my lip.

"Bye." He replied, and eased past my best friend in the doorway. "Bye, Allison!" He called once he was already walking away.

"Bye, Stiles!" She giggled and pushed herself in my room, closing the door behind her. "Oh...my...God!" She squealed.

"Shhh! Calm down!"

"I mean," She began with a huge smile on her face, "I knew you guys were perfect for each other, but..." She stopped suddenly and looked confused. "Wait...what did he mean he would see you tomorrow?" Her expression changed to one of realization. She threw her hand over her heart as she continued, "Awe! Is he coming to see you off at the airport?"

I bit the inside of my lip. "Um...not exactly."

She was confused again, and she let her hand drop to her side. "Then what did he mean?"

"He's going to be at the airport," I assured her. "He's just...going to be... on the plane...with me."

"What?!"

"Yeah, he decided that he should get there early. He changed his flight last night."

"But...he can't move in for an entire week!"

"Yeah..."I nodded. "He's going to stay with me."

Her mouth dropped in surprise, but there was still a smile behind her eyes. "No me diga!"

I rolled my eyes. "Is Scott trying to teach you Spanish again?"

"No, I've just been on an In the Heights kick. Lin-Manuel is a genius." I nodded. This was a true statement. "No, but really...you really like him. Don't you?"

I nodded. "I do...I really really do."

"I'm so happy for you." She smirked. "And he must really like you too, because there's no other reason he would kiss you with your face looking like that."

"My make up!" I groaned and ran into the bathroom.

*Five Months Later*

I knocked on Allison's door. She had to have been waiting, because she opened it right away and hugged me tightly.

"You're here! I feel like it's been forever since I've seen you!"

"It's only been five months." I laughed as she pulled away and ushered me inside.

"Okay, then. Five-ever. How are things going?"

"In general?" I asked, a smile playing at my lips.

"Well, yeah…but more specifically with you and Stiles."

I bit back a smile. "I found someone to take over my lease."

She quirked an eyebrow. "Why?" I didn't have time to answer before her eyes widened. 'Wait! Are you guys moving in together?!"

I smiled and nodded.

"Oh my God! Lydia! That's huge! And really fast…"

"I know! This is so unlike me. But God, Allison… I've never felt this way about anyone. Ever." I gushed.

"Have you told him you're in love with him?"

"Only every chance I get." I had looked away from her, but she'd gotten really quiet. I finally turned back to her, her eyes were wet. "Allison? Are you okay?"

She nodded. "I'm just so happy for you! You're like a totally new person." She smiled. "And...I'm really excited about our double date."

"Me too." I told her truthfully. "We don't have any couple friends our age."

"I feel like I'm going to be weirded out." Scott said as he stared straight ahead at the video game we were playing in my old bedroom.

"Why?" I asked as I mashed buttons on the controller.

"It's just...I've seen you by yourself, and I've seen Lydia by herself, and I've seen you with other people...but I've never seen you guys together. Allison said that when she saw you two after your first date, she was caught off guard."

"Hell, I was caught off guard." I chuckled. Looking back on it, I was pretty sure I'd fallen in love with her by the end of the night.

"Things still going okay with you guys?"

"They're great. When we get back, we're putting her name on my lease." The game suddenly paused, in the worst place imaginable. I was definitely going to die as soon as it started back up. "Dude!" I turned to Scott, who looked concerned. "What?"

"You're moving in together?"

"Yeah."

"Don't you think you're rushing it? I mean...you and Malia were together for years before you-"

"Scott," I began and put the controller down. "Malia and I...everything about her was forced. I mean... I loved her, but I don't think I was ever in love with her. Honestly, it was a situation where I thought... you know, we've been together for 3 years, and my lease is ending...how about we move in? And then... we've been together for almost five years, if we don't move forward we need to break up. So we got engaged. I mean... her sleeping with Kira was the best thing to happen to us. It got me out of a relationship in a way that I didn't feel guilty. The thing is...with Lydia, everything is so natural. It's not a situation of convenience. You have no idea how hard we've been trying to break her lease. Luckily, she found someone to take it over. It's been work. It hasn't been easy. That's what love is, dude. It's work."

Scott wiped a fake tear from his eye. "That's beautiful, man."

"Shut up." I shoved him jokingly. Suddenly, I heard the sound of my character dying, and I whipped my head back toward the screen where my side was tinted red. "You asshole!"

Scott laughed.

Allison and I were already sitting in the restaurant as we waited for the guys to get there. Since Allison and Scott were the ones who lived here full time, we left it up to them to choose where we ate. They unintentionally chose the same place where Stiles and I had our blind date.

The boys finally walked in and Stiles spotted me, and greeted me with a kiss. "You waiting for me inside a restaurant. This is new."

I chuckled. "Don't get used to it."

"Oh, don't worry I won't."

"Oh! You'll never believe it!"

"What?" He asked.

"Guess who our waiter is!"

"What?! No!"

About that time, our waiter came back with my glass of Moscato and Allison's water.

"Can I get the gentlemen some drinks."

"Hey, buddy!" Stiles said enthusiastically. "Dude, you're a big part of our origin story!" He motioned between us.

The waiter sighed. "Your girlfriend said you would do this. I'm sorry. I don't remember you."

"Oh ...yeah...that's cool. I get it." He looked down at his menu.

I sighed. "He'll have a rum and coke." I said politely.

"And for you, sir?" He asked Scott.

"Water, with lemon, please."

When the waiter walked away I put my hand on Stiles's. "Sweetie, he sees hundreds of people in a week. Thousands in a month. We were in here once 5 months ago. We just weren't that memorable."

"I waited almost an hour for you!" He whined.

"Oh wait!" The waiter had come back with the guys' drinks. "I do remember you! The kitchen was taking bets on when you'd finally give up and leave."

Both of our mouths dropped open in a gasp.

"How, rude!" I said in my best Stephanie Tanner impersonation. "I naturally run late."

"And I got here half an hour early."

He smiled smugly. "Which is why I won the bet. I had faith."

"Awe...well then you're alright in my book...uh..."

His eyes narrowed. "You don't remember my name, do you?"

"Did you ever give it?"

"It's Peter." I whispered.

"Peter!" Stiles exclaimed. "I knew that!"

He sighed. "Let me know when you're ready to order."

"It was five months ago! Honestly...how does he expect me to remember his name?"

I chuckled and I saw Allison take a deep breath. "Guys, we wanted to talk to you about something."

Stiles and I turned to look at our friends across the table.

"What's up?" Stiles asked.

Allison took another deep breath and grabbed Scott's hand. "I'm pregnant."

"Oh my God!" My eyes widened.

"I had no idea!" Stiles said at the same time.

Allison and Scott looked at us then turned to look at each other.

"You told her!" Scott accused.

"Well, you told him!"

"You mean we weren't convincing?" Stiles asked.

"Ehh..."Allison began. "Don't quit your day jobs."

"For real though... congratulations, guys." I told them with a smile. "And in Allison's defense, I kind of figured it out when I saw her sobbing into a celery stick earlier. I made her tell me."

Stiles shook his head. "Scott has no defense. I opened the door and said 'Hey, wanna play video games? ' and he goes, 'Allison's pregnant.' and I was like , 'Cool, so is that yes or a no on the video games?'"

Allison shot Scott a look. "Jerk."

"Have you thought about what you're going to do about the wedding?" I asked, realizing I never asked her earlier.

"Well," she shared a look with Scott. "We're trying to figure out the best way to push the ceremony back."

"But," Scott continued. "We don't want to wait to get married."

"Wait...what are you saying?" I asked as I subconsciously leaned forward.

Allison took a deep breath. "We want to get married tomorrow. With you guys as our witnesses."

One Year Later

"Introducing, Mr. and Mrs. Scott McCall." the Emcee announced. There weren't many people in the room that knew Scott and Allison had already gotten married officially a year to the day before.

"Look! It's Mommy and Daddy!" Stiles cooed at Scott and Allison's five-month-old son. They named him Christopher, after her father, but called him Topher to avoid confusion. "Look, at his cute little tux, Lydia!"

"You've pointed out his cute, little tux to me 6 times now." I smiled. "I've seen it."

"But it's just so tiny!"

It was safe to say that Stiles had baby fever, although we had both agreed that neither of us were in a place where babies would be a good idea. My study was about to start its first trial and Stiles was about to go undercover. We hadn't told anyone, but tonight was the last night we were going to see each other for a least a month. When we went to the airport tomorrow morning we were getting on separate flights and I already missed him. This would be the longest we were apart since we met.

Stiles nudged me and pointed to the center of the dance floor where it looked like Allison was about to throw the bouquet.

"Go!" He urged.

"But-" I tried to protest.

"Go." He said again.

"Fine." I sighed and followed everyone else out onto the dance floor. Without even trying, the bouquet landed right in my hands. Allison. I bet she did it on purpose.

Stiles passed Topher onto Melissa, and he took me out onto the dance floor after I came back and set the bouquet down.

"That felt wrong." I told him.

"Yeah..." He said slowly as he grabbed my left hand and kissed the knuckle above the 2.5 karat diamond engagement ring that I'd worn for several months. He'd proposed on top of the Empire State Building at dusk, with a box of Godiva chocolates. The ring sat in an empty slot. "But if you didn't do it, then Allison would know that something was up."

"True." The truth was, we pulled a play from Allison and Scott's book and had actually gotten married the day before we left New York. While part of the reason was that, we didn't see a point in waiting any longer to make it official, a big part was for insurance and medical purposes. We knew he was going to be undercover somewhere and if anything were to happen, he wanted to make sure I would be taken care of and I wanted to know that there wouldn't be any issues for me to make any of his medical decisions should he be unable to...so that I could take care of him. And that's what marriage is about: Taking care of each other.

It all happened so close to their wedding though, we didn't want them to feel like we were trying to steal their thunder (we were still getting engagement congratulations from people we hadn't seen in a while as it was). We'd actually kept it a secret from our parents, and Stiles had lovingly left it up to me to inform his father once the reception was over (Noah Stilinski couldn't keep a secret to save his life).

We still wanted the big ceremony, but mostly for our friends and family who have been talking about our wedding since before Stiles had popped the question.

"I'm going to miss you so much." I whispered to him.

"Shh..." He said softly. "Let's not talk about that right now. We've been talking about it for the past week. Let's talk about something else...like how cute Topher's tux is."

"Seven. You mentioned his tux seven times!" I shook my head. "We've talked about this and we both agreed-"

"I know. I'm not saying we need to have one right this second. I mean...it takes nine months to cook anyway. I'm just saying that babies are cute, but baby tuxes are adorable."

"Baby bows are equally adorable." I told him, as I looked behind him at a baby girl that belonged to one of Stile's high school friends, Danny, and his husband Ethan. She was closer to a year old, but her head was small and the bow was almost just as big.

"Awe." Stiles had turned to see what I was talking about. "They are." He turned back to me with a puppy dog pout on his lips.

"Don't give me that look." I sighed. "When you get back, we'll revisit the conversation."

He smiled. "If you think that just because that's at least a month away, that I'll forget-"

"I know you won't. I won't either."

"I love you, Lydia Martin-Stilinski."

She smiled her happy smile. The one that I had pegged from the first time I had met her. "I love you too..." She paused and a quirked an eyebrow. "You know that I haven't officially changed my name yet, right?"

"Something else to put on your to-do list while I'm gone. Right after talking to my dad."

"Why do I have to-"

"Because he loves you more than he loves me."

"No he doesn't." She shook her head.

"Yes he does. He told me so."

"No he didn't." she laughed.

"Well, he didn't have to!"

My father's timing couldn't have been any better, because it was at that moment, that he walked up to us and asked if he could cut in. I raised my eyebrows at Lydia from behind his shoulder as I took a step away from her to allow him room.

"I rest my case." I smiled as Lydia tried her best not to crack up.

"What was he talking about?" I heard my father ask as I began to walk away.

"Nothing." She'd replied.

I sat back down in my chair, and a few moments later, Scott sat down next to me.

"Hey, congrats! People finally know!" I joked, but really...who was I to talk?

He chuckled. "Yeah...So uh...how's wedding planning going?"

I waved my hand. "This is your day, man. I don't want to talk about me."

He nodded, then sighed. "Dude, what's wrong?"

My head turned toward him quickly, as I scrunched my face in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"I mean...you and Lydia have been...weird... is everything okay? You guys aren't fighting or anything, right?"

"No! Not at all...nothing like that. I just..." I took a deep breath. "I don't want to ruin your day."

"My day is going to be ruined if I have to keep sitting here and watch you look like someone just told you Santa Claus isn't real for the rest of the night."

"Hey, what are you going to tell Topher about Santa?"

"Stiles," He said seriously.

I let out a huge breath and looked down. "I'm going on assignment. Deep cover. Projected time is about a month, but they said it's extremely likely it'll go longer."

"Shit.."

I nodded. "Yeah..."

"And Lydia? Does she..."

I nodded again. "Yeah, she already knows. I leave tomorrow. We're going to the airport together, but we're headed two different places. The rest of my team got there yesterday, but I was able to talk to my bosses about joining late so that I could be here today."

"When were you going to tell me this?"

I shrugged. "I was probably going to text you from the plane before I had to go radio silent." We both got quiet, and I stared at Lydia as I watched her dance with my father and laugh at something he said. "Will you do me a favor?"

"Yeah, what is it?"

"Can you and Allison just check in on her? It doesn't have to be everyday, but at least every couple of days? I know she's going to be busy with her study trials, but she's..." I trailed off.

Scott nodded. "I know. I get it. I'll make sure."

"Thanks." We were both quiet again for a moment, before I finally said, "No, really...Thank you."

"For what?"

"For...everything, really... but thank you for pushing me to go on that date. If you hadn't, I'd probably still be moping around this reception hall thinking about what my wedding with Malia would have been like. Instead, I'm the happiest I've ever been."

"Well you're welcome. I'm really happy for you, buddy."

"I'm happy for you too. I mean.. you've got a beautiful wife, cute kid...and where did you get that baby tux from?" And that was eight.

"This is it." I said as I bit my lip and held my my boarding pass in my hand. Stiles and I were pretty much in the center of the airport. My gate was on one side and his was on the other.

"It's only a month." He tried to reassure me. We both knew it would be probably be longer.

"Thirty days." I replied, sounding less convincing.

"I want to kiss you, but I don't think I'll be able to leave if I do."

I shook my head. "No...just give me a hug." He did. My tiny frame was swallowed in his embrace.

"I'll see you soon." He told me as he finally pulled away. I nodded as tears fell down my cheeks.

"Bye." I lifted the handle on my rolling suitcase as Stiles picked up the bag he brought and we both turned around and began to go off in the opposite directions. It felt like so much time had passed before I swiftly stood the the suitcase up and turned back around. "Stiles, wait!"

He was only about fifteen feet away. He suddenly dropped his bag onto the ground and turned around with a relieved sigh."Oh, thank God!" I ran toward him and he took a few large steps to meet me and lifted me off the ground as our lips collided. "I love you." He mumbled against my lips.

"I love you too."