Gravity

Stiles stood in the school hallway putting books into his locker when he noticed a beautiful girl across the way. She had long dark hair and something about her just sucked him in. He couldn't stop looking at her. Suddenly she noticed him staring and gave him a kind smile. He smiled back and returned back to his locker to notice that Scott had suddenly appeared.
"Hey bro." Scott said. Stiles jumped back.

"Holy-"

"You okay? I noticed you checking out that girl."

"Yeah… she's just, really pretty. I've never seen her before."

"Neither have I…" Scott looked down at his watch. "Shoot. I have to go meet Kira. I'll see you in class." Scott said. He left and Stiles looked back at the girl who was now walking his way. She was walking past him when he decided to talk to her.
"Hey!" She turned to face Stiles, giving him a smile.

"Hi there."

"What's your name?"

"I'm Stephanie."

"Stiles. Stiles Stilinski."

"Your parents named you Stiles Stilinski?" She asked, eyebrows raised in disbelief.

"It's a nickname… My actual name is way too complicated. You probably couldn't even pronounce it. Stiles is easier, trust me." She laughed. "What's your last name?"

"I'd rather not say. I have a relative here, I actually just transferred a few weeks ago, and I'd rather not have anyone know we're related."

"A few weeks? How have I not seen you?"

"I've noticed you… I always see you with a girl."

"Oh. Malia. Yeah, we were dating."

"Were?"

"Yeah, we just broke up."

"Oh. I'm sorry. Why?"

"It's… complicated."

"Oh. Well I'd love to help you figure it out."

"Thanks. How about bowling? Tonight?" Stiles asked hopefully. She looked at him for a moment and smiled.

"Sure." She replied, still smiling.

"I'll see you later." Stiles said.

Later in Coach's class Stiles was telling Scott about what happened when Stephanie walked in. Lydia was sitting with her newest boyfriend laughing and smiling on the other side of the classroom, which killed Stiles, but he couldn't let anyone know how he felt; especially not Lydia. So he turned to Stephanie, who was talking to Coach.

"What's your name?"

"I'm Stephanie."

"Got a last name?"

Stephanie whispered it into Coach's ear.

"Ah, geez. Take a seat next to Stilinski." Stephanie awkwardly walked over to the seat beside Stiles, feeling uncomfortable with everyone staring at her.

"Hey, Stiles."

"Hey. Ever gonna tell me your last name?"

"Maybe…" She teased.

After class Stiles and Scott were walking to their lockers talking.

"She's cute, Stiles."

"Yeah, she is. I just wish I knew her last name."

"She won't tell you?"

"Nope."

"Hmm… you know what this means. We have to find out."

"I bet you it's Greenberg."

"Nah, it's gotta be Mahealani."

"Dude, she's not even Hawaiian."

"Well find out. We'll see who's right. 50 bucks." The two shook hands and left school for the day.

Stiles was walking Stephanie to her front door after their date. It had gone well, Stiles won both games, helped her knock down a few pins, and they'd shared milkshakes. It was a night full of fun and flirting that sadly had come to an end.

"Well, here we are." Stiles said nervously.

"Yeah… I had a great time, Stiles."

"I did too." Stiles leaned in and kissed her. It was sweet and romantic and he liked it. As he pulled away, the front door opened and he saw a familiar face. It was Greenberg.

"Hey, time to come in. Hey, Stiles."

"Hey, man." Greenberg went back in the house and shut the door.

"So… your last name is Greenberg." Stiles said proudly.

"Yeah… Let's just keep this between us."

"Well I… have to tell Scott. We made a bet."

"Fine, but no one else."

"Deal." Stiles kissed her again and said good night. He went back to his jeep and drove to the gas station. When he got there he noticed a certain strawberry blonde pumping gas. He'd pulled in at the pump next to her without realizing it.

"Oh geez." He stepped out of his car.

"Hey Stiles." Lydia said looking up at him.

"Hey, Lydia."

"Where are you coming from?"

"I just dropped someone off, actually."

"Oh… Scott?"

"No, um, that new girl, Stephanie actually."

"Oh." Lydia realized that Stiles had been on a date.

"Yeah… we went out, actually."

"Oh. Well she's lucky." Lydia smiled.

"How would you know?"

"I guess I wouldn't… Malia would."

"Are you seriously bringing up Malia? Lydia, I broke up with her for you. You decided to start dating what's his face instead of me. I broke up with her to be with you, and you started dating him. You have no right to be mad at me."

Lydia felt tears flooding her eyes, but she quickly wiped them away.

"You're right, Stiles. You wanted to be with me and I just started dating someone else. Just like when I realized that I'm in love with you, and you started dating Malia."

"Lydia, are you kidding? How was I supposed to know that you felt something for me?"

"It should have been pretty obvious, Stiles."

"You shouldn't be with him."

"You shouldn't be with her."

"We're a team, Lydia."

"We were. We aren't anymore. And we won't be ever again." Lydia's boyfriend came back to the car.

"Hey, babe. Hey… Stuart, is it?"

"Stiles."

"Right." He got in the car and waited for Lydia.

"Goodnight, Stiles."

"Lyd-"

"Goodnight, Stiles."

Stiles went inside to pay for his gas. He pumped his gas, drove home, and went to bed.

The next day Stiles was distant. He hadn't seen or talked to Stephanie since the night before. He was putting books in his locker when Scott came up.

"You okay?"

"Yeah… you owe me 50 bucks, by the way."

"Stiles, you look weird. What happened last night?"

"We had an amazing date. We went bowling, I dropped her off, we kissed, I went to get gas, ran into Lydia…"

"Woah. You ran into Lydia?"

"Yeah. We talked. About us."

"What happened?"

"It doesn't matter. Nothing has changed. Nothing ever will change." Stephanie was walking up and Scott left them alone.

"Hey Stiles." She said smiling.
"Hey."

"What's up?"

"Nothing."

"Did something happen?"

"It's not important. I'll see you later." Stiles kissed her on the cheek and walked away.

Scott was walking to class when Stephanie approached him.

"Scott. Hey. Um, what's up with Stiles? Last night we had an amazing time and everything was good and then today he's a totally different person. I know it's nothing I did, and I'd rather hear it from him, but he's not talking to me. Please tell me what happened."

"I think he'd rather tell you."

"Well he's not and it seems important."

"Just talk to him. It's complicated."

Stephanie found Stiles later on.

"We need to talk. Stiles, there's obviously something going on and I want to know what it is. You can tell me."

"We can talk in my car."

The two sat in the blue jeep as Stiles began to tell her everything.

"I've been in love with Lydia Martin since I was 8 years old. It started as a crush, and in sophomore year, I thought it was love, I kept chasing after her. She was with this guy, Jackson, and I was single. I'd been single forever until Malia came along. At the end of sophomore year Jackson moved away. Lydia was finally single… until her and Aiden started fooling around. They were practically a couple when Lydia kissed me. There was a lot going on, and I was having a panic attack. All I remember was Lydia sitting in front of me talking. I don't even remember what she was saying. I remember she grabbed my face and kissed me. It took me by surprise, but when I gave in, it was like nothing else… I'd imagined it a million times, but it was even better than I thought it would be. That's when I realized that I was in love with her… for real. I wanted to be with her, but she was still with Aiden. Then Malia came along… and I was just trying to move on from Lydia. With Malia it was fun and easy. We were friends and we studied together, and hung out, but our "relationship" was just physical. When Lydia was finally single, we talked about everything, she wanted to be with me but Malia was in the way. I broke up with Malia and when I went to Lydia, she'd started dating this guy… No one I'll ever be with, will ever compare to being with Lydia. Something always brings me back to her. I love her."

Stephanie was staring at him when he finished his sentence. She was smiling, although on the inside she was kind of sad.
"I'm sorry, Stephanie."

"No, it's okay. I promise. You and Lydia are obviously meant to be together, and I'm not going to stand in the way of that. I think you both want to be together, so badly, but you won't allow yourselves to have something good. Something pure. Something real. I don't know why you won't let yourselves have it, but you should. I've seen you two look at each other in the hall. You wan't to be together. So be. It's that simple."

"In tenth grade I told Scott that my ten year plan to make her fall in love with me might stretch into fifteen…"

"Is the plan still in motion?"

"It is. It's definitely still in motion."

"Good luck, Stiles." She kissed him on the cheek and got out of the car.

Stephanie found Lydia with her boyfriend a few minutes later. She walked up to Lydia.

"Hi, can I talk to you?"

"Stephanie, right?"

"Yeah, we need to talk."

They stepped into an empty classroom and Stephanie turned to Lydia.

"So you're with Stiles now."

"Nope. We went out on one date and it was really nice, but I'm not the girl for him. You are."

"Excuse me?"

"Stiles is in love with you. And you're in love with him. It's so obvious. Just be with him."

"I… don't deserve him."

"What? Lydia…"

"I don't. I didn't even know he existed until a year ago. Yes, I love him. Yes, he loves me, but that doesn't mean we should be together. It doesn't mean that I deserve him."

"Lydia… there's no one better for him than you. He loves you so much. You deserve him. You truly do. You're beautiful and kind and smart and he knows it and loves you for it. He loves you for who you are. Lydia, be with him. It's true love. You deserve each other. I promise."

Lydia walked out and found her boyfriend.

"Hey, everything okay?"

"Yeah… we need to talk."

The next day Stiles walked into school looking for Lydia. He saw her at the end of the hall and yelled for her, walking toward her. She started walking toward him. Finally the two were right in front of each other.

"Lydia Martin, I-" Lydia shut him up immediately. She grabbed his face and kissed him. He kissed back and for a few seconds they forgot where they were. They separated, but Stiles leaned his forehead on hers.

"I love you too." She whispered.