Chapter 1

Stiles was sitting in his apartment that he shares with his best friend- Scott. Scott was out on a date with his girlfriend- Allison. So Stiles was alone when he heard loud noises, followed by cursing outside his door.

He got up to check it out. He opened his door and saw a beautiful woman with red- no, strawberry blonde hair. She was carrying a large box into the previously vacant apartment next to him- well, vacant after Malia passed away- then she dropped the box, for the third time. "Dammit!" She cursed.

"Let me help you with that." Stiles said jumping in and grabbing the large box out of his new neighbors hands. He took it inside and set in on the floor, he looked around, and boy, did it look different, empty.

"Thank you so much!" The woman said gratefully, snapping Stiles out of his thoughts. "The thing was just so heavy." She sighed.

Stiles smiled at the beautiful woman. "Not a problem at all." He told her. "Stiles Stilinski, by the way. I live in 113, right there." He introduced, pointing at his apartment next door.

"Lydia Martin." She said smiling at her cute neighbor. "Would you like some water or something? It's really all I have here." She said with a faint smile.

"That'd be nice, thanks." She grabbed a bottle of water out of her fridge that was hooked up less than an hour ago and handed it to Stiles. "So, what brings you to Beacon Hills?" He asked casually. "Not many people come here, we're sort of a hidden gem."

"Oh, my boyfriend suggested I transfer out to BHU, so we could go to the same school." Stiles nodded, still in a bit of a daze, it's been so long since he'd been in this apartment. "Um, are you okay?" She asked him, noticing his longing eyes.

"Huh? Yeah, I'm fine. It's just been a while since I've been in here is all." He said with a fake smile. "So, what are you studying?" He asked trying to change the subject.

"Majoring in forensic-chemistry. Do you attend there? Or do you work in the town or something?"

He shook his head. "I was majoring in psych, but my roommates dad recruited me into a division of the FBI, right here in beacon hills." He told her. "Not as scary as it may sound." He joked, after seeing her eyes widen. "I should go, Scott should be back soon, my roommate. See you Lydia."

Lydia nodded in understanding. "See you Stiles."

"Wait, did you have anymore boxes that you needed help with?"

She shook her head. "No, the rest of my furniture's not coming until tonight."

"Well, if you need any help, just knock." He said with a smile. He was also a bit eager to leave the apartment, it's been a few years, but he really loved Malia. He still isn't completely over her death.

XXX

"Hey Scott, Allison. How was the date?"

Scott nodded. "Pretty good man. I saw that someone was moving in next door." He mentioned, trying to make it sound subtle.

"Yeah, she's nice. She's transferring to BHU."

Allison smiled. "I'm gonna go introduce myself. I know that I don't technically live here, but I'm here all the time, so… yeah. See you guys later." She kissed Scott and hugged Stiles. She went next door and knocked on the door.

"Hi..." Lydia said to the smiling brunette at her door. "Can I help you?"

Alison smiled. "I'm Allison Argent, my boyfriend lives next door! Scott, Stiles' roommate. I'm over all the time, so you might see me a lot. And Stiles said you're transferring to BHU? Well I go there too! Oh my God, I'm babbling." She said and stopped talking.

"Uh, hi Allison, I'm Lydia Martin." She said laughing. "Come in."

Allison stepped in. "I'm sorry, I talk a lot, but so does Stiles."She told her.

"He seemed quiet to me." Lydia said.

Allison nodded. "Yeah, that's probably because of Malia." She said without thinking. "I think we could be friends."

"I'd like a friend." Lydia said smiling. "If you don't mind my asking, who's Malia?" Allison's smiled faded a bit. "I'm sorry, you don't have to answer that."

"No, no. It's okay. I didn't know her for long, she was Stiles' girlfriend. She lived here, actually." Allison sighed. "A few months after I met her, she died. Stiles doesn't really like to talk about it."

Lydia nodded. "Sorry I asked. It's none of my business." She said sympathetically. "How about we go out for coffee or something sometime?"

"Sounds great! Tomorrow? Wait, when do you start school?"

Lydia lightly chuckled. "Tomorrow."

"I could give you a tour around campus, if you want. Then afterwards, we could have coffee?" Allison suggested.

Lydia nodded at her newfound friend. "I'm sure Jackson will be glad that he won't have to skip practice to give me a tour." She said with a smile.

"I'm gonna head back over, see you tomorrow?" Lydia nodded. "Great! Meet me on campus at about 8. Sound good?"

"Sounds great Allison."

Allison smiled. "Bye Lydia." She said and went back over to see her boyfriend.

XXX

"Hey Lyd, practice ran late." Jackson said to his girlfriend when she answered the door for him.

Lydia kissed her boyfriend at the door. "It's okay. I made a new friend, Allison. She offered to give me a tour, so you don't need to skip practice in the morning."

"Good, I would've had to rush the tour anyway. There is absolutely no way I'm gonna miss a whole practice for you." He told her as if it was obvious.

It hurt her, but she didn't show it. "Yeah, I know. That's why I took Allison up on her offer."

"Okay. Did you make anything? I'm hungry."

Lydia looked at her watch. "Wow. I didn't realize how late it was." She said to herself.

"Obviously." Jackson remarked.

Lydia rolled her eyes. "I was just going to order in. I haven't gone shopping yet, so I don't have anything to cook. What do you want?" She asked him.

"I wanted a home cooked meal after a long practice, but I guess I'll just settle for chinese, since obviously you can't do anything right." He spat at her.

She sighed. "Why did you want me to transfer out here Jackson? You came home, told me it'd be good for me. I've been here for a day and-"

"And what Lydia?" Lydia looked down, fighting her tears. "You think I actually wanted you to come? Your mom told me that you've been waking up screaming in the middle of the night! She thought you'd be better off out here! Not me! It's not like you ever do anything right. She begged me to convince you to move here, to transfer!" He told her angrily.

Their fight was interrupted by a knock at the door. "You need to leave. I'll see you tomorrow." She went over and opened the door and saw Stiles standing there. "Stiles, right?"

"Uh, yeah. Is everything okay?" Stiles asked as Jackson pushed past Lydia, then him and left the apartment. "I heard yelling."

"I'm fine, thanks for checking in." She told him. "Sorry, we argue a lot, sometimes it gets heated."

He nodded. "It's fine, we played lacrosse together in our freshman year, before I left. He's a dick." He said, not thinking and causing Lydia to laugh. "Sorry." He apologized, shaking his head. "I don't always think when I talk." He joked.

"It's fine. He can be a bit of a dick, but he's a good guy… for the most part." She shook her head, scolding herself for getting off topic. "Anyways, I'm fine." She told him. "And the moving truck should be here in a few minutes, with my furniture. If it's not too much trouble, would you and maybe Scott mind helping me. I mean if it's not too much trouble."

"It's no trouble at all. Scott is… stronger than most, so he'll be a big help." Stiles told her. "Hey, this may seem odd, but I made too much food, so do you want some chicken?" He asked awkwardly.

She laughed at his awkwardness. "That'd be nice, thank you Stiles."

They walked into Stiles' and Scott's apartment. "Hey man," Scott said, without looking up from the work he was doing. "Is she okay?" Scott looked up. "Oh… Hi, you must be Lydia."

"That's me." She said with a smiled. "You must be Scott."

He nodded. "So, are you okay?"

"I'm fine, thank you both. And Stiles said you'd be okay with helping me move my furniture in, after eating, of course."

Stiles came in the room with three plates. "Little help Scott?" He said, struggling with a plate balancing on his arm.

Before Scott could get up to help, Lydia grabbed the plate off of Stiles' arm. "Thank you Stiles, and you too Scott."

The three ate in awkward silence, until they heard a truck outside. Lydia got up and looked out the window. "That'd be my furniture." Lydia said.

XXX

Lydia saw Scott and Stiles lifting a couch together, she noticed that Stiles was having a hard time and his side was barely lifted off the ground.

Meanwhile Scott's side was lifted pretty far up off the ground and he was putting hardly any effort into it.

'Could he be a…? No, he can't be.' She shook the thought out of her head and laughed to herself at Stiles' over dramatic facial expressions.