A/N: I just realized I never posted this story here for some reason, so here it is. The Stydia AU no one really asked for (well, Beth did, this is her doing, but you know what I meant) that has Stiles and Lydia meeting in the sand as little 5 year olds and falling in love as they grow older, summer after summer.

Parts 1 and 2 are up :)

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Part 1

"That's not a castle."

The sharp observation of the five-year-old that just approached her does nothing to surprise a young Lydia.

"I know," she remarks dismissively, but instead of going away like everybody else does, the boy sits on the sand in front of her and studies her work of art, his own bucket and plastic shovels forgotten by his side.

"Can't you do castles?," he asks in curiosity, and Lydia finds herself smiling knowingly at the boy, that she now notices has sunscreen smeared all over his face as if he'd run away from his mother when she was applying it.

"Of course I can." The boy seems marveled at whatever it is that she's building (Lydia doesn't even know what it is herself, in all honesty), and his eyes shine when she tells him that "I can do anything."

There's a shyness about him then, and Lydia can't really tell why in all her wisdom at five years of age herself, even if she is used to see it in the other kids' eyes before they leave Lydia to her doings. The boy is almost reluctant to let out "Can I watch you? It's really pretty" but he still does, and for some reason Lydia's cheeks flame and it's not from the California heat.

For some reason, the strange boy would rather stay and watch Lydia play with ordinary sand instead of leaving her be like everyone else does. Even so young, Lydia is already different from the other boys and girls her age, and they haven't really hesitated in making her feel like she doesn't belong.

But for some reason, he does.

Weird.

"Okay," she finds herself saying in a small voice, afraid that he won't want to play with her anymore if she keeps pushing her luck.

"And you know what?," the boy tells her a bit too excitedly, suddenly fueled. "I can build you a fortress! I'm really good at making fortresses," he mumbles proudly while jumping back to his feet, seemingly unable to sit still for long.

"Why?," Lydia asks, surprised at his sudden forwardness.

"Because your…" He gestures to the sandy building that Lydia has been working on ever since she and her mother got to the beach, unsure of what to call it. "The water will get to it if I don't," he resolves to say, lost for words.

Lydia tilts her head to the side, her fiery tresses gently dancing in the soft wind. The boy has a front tooth missing and looks thin enough, but something about him has Lydia deciding that he's up for such an important task. "Okay," she repeats, a soft smile on her lips.

Encouraged, the boy moves closer, and Lydia can tell that he has the prettiest brown eyes, more interesting than the dull brown she's seen on boys and girls in her classes back home.

Or well, her last home. She doesn't have that home anymore.

"I'm Stiles," he grins, and she notices that he has moles on his cheeks.

Wondering what kind of a name is Stiles, she simply replies with "I'm Lydia", and then there's silence.

Only after a moment of soft, embarrassed smiles does the boy, Stiles, breaks it. "Soooo…" He drags, his chubby cheeks reddening a little. "Wanna play?"

Lydia nods eagerly, happy to have made a new friend. "Can you teach me how to make a fortress?"

Stiles grabs the shovels at his feet and puts them inside his bucket, boldly holding her hand and pulling her along. "Yeah. And you can teach me how to build… That…" Lydia laughs silly at his lack of words, picking up her own shovels and following him to the waterside. "What's that?"

Little Lydia breaks into an explanation of what she thinks it is, and is pleasantly surprised when the boy asks questions and wants to know more instead of avoiding her. More so when she finds out that it's almost time to leave, a couple of hours later, and that the morning seemed to have flown by while she played with her knew friend under the watchful, delighted gaze of Lydia's mother and Stiles' parents, who were sitting on their towels just far enough to give the children some space to play around as they pleased.

There's a tiny swell of hope in Lydia's chest when her mother tells her, later that day, that by some odd coincidence the Stilinskis live in the same town that the Martin girls just move to, even if they ended up finding each other in a beach 30 miles away. Lydia is enchanted with all the stories that her mother tells her about when she and Mrs. Stilinski went to school together when they were young, and she's more than thrilled when she realizes that it means she'll get to see Stiles again.

Stiles was funny, and nice, and super enthusiastic about anything and everything Lydia told him. He laughed at her jokes and she laughed at his; Stiles told her that her hair was shiny and pretty like the sun, and Lydia expressed back how she was genuinely enjoying spending her time with him.

Lydia doesn't remember ever talking so much with anyone in her life, no matter that she's still rather young, nor does she remember ever feeling this included, and at five years of age Lydia thinks that she's just got her first best friend, and she thinks that she'd like to keep him forever.