Hello everyone! It's me, back from the proverbial dead. I've been trying to tidy up my digital life thus I haven't been very active in updating my fics here on FFn. That said, it seems like many people are migrating over to AO3 so if you prefer using that site now, I can be found using the pseud raspberrylimonade.
I am also raspberrylimonade on tumblr and stlnskissmartin on twitter if you wanna talk or ask me stuff.
Our Since Forever
Can be seen as a companion fic to Love Begets Love.
"Stiles do you wanna come to my house later? Me and Lydia are gonna do our science reports!"
"No, I'm going to visit my mum again."
"Oh okay. Maybe I can ask my mum to bring us there later."
"Yeah, see ya, Scottie."
"Mr Stilinski, we understand that Stiles has been missing classes due to his circumstances, and additionally hasn't been completing his homework…"
"Eh, yes. Is there any way he can make up for his missing coursework? With remedial sessions, perhaps?"
"That is possible, but do note that he also missed a few important tests. There will be a make-up test arranged, but he has to pass or he may be held back a grade."
"So if I don't pass I will still be in third grade next year?"
Scott and Lydia are waiting outside the office when Stiles and the sheriff come out. This is the first time any of them have been inside and they are curious. What does the inside look like? Is there a giant TV? What did you talk about?
When Stiles tells them the news, their excitement quickly dissipates. They've always had this grand vision of getting through school together. The idea that Stiles suddenly won't be with them is unthinkable. Stiles can't not be in the same class.
Lydia holds his hand as they walk sullenly towards the parking lot.
"I don't want you to be in a different class," she mumbles.
The sheriff brings them to the parking lot where he hands the trio over to Natalie, who will drop Scott and Stiles at the hospital before she and Lydia head home. The drive to Beacon Memorial is unusually quiet, and it's only when they've parked in the hospital visitor's lot does Lydia speak up.
"Mum, can I stay with Stiles?"
"He needs help with his homework," she explains. "If he doesn't pass his tests he will be in a different class next year, but I can help him. I got full marks on all my tests."
Natalie looks at her daughter, who still has her hand in the other boy's, sees the fire in the eight-year-old's jade green eyes. Noah briefly mentioned Stiles' predicament, and there's something heartwarming about how Lydia is so resolute on them staying together.
"Alright," the woman relents. "You will stay with Scott and Stiles, okay? Don't go wandering off unless Scott's mum is with you."
Scott beams at the mention of his mother, and takes Lydia's other hand. Lydia nods in agreement, and Natalie leads the trio of kids into the hospital.
It becomes their routine. Everyday, Lydia follows Stiles to the hospital to tutor him while he visits his mum. Claudia Stilinski always compliments Lydia's dresses and hair clips, and tells her stories of Stiles as a baby. Scott accompanies them when his mother is working an afternoon shift. Sometimes Lydia's mum works late, and the girl follows Stiles and the Sheriff home and they continue the tutoring there. Sometimes they go to Scott's.
Weeks pass, and the day before winter break Stiles finds himself being asked to stay behind while the rest of the class are dismissed from homeroom early. The teacher hands him a stack of papers - his test papers - and he folds them before he sees anything, hurrying out of the classroom. Lydia and Scott are waiting for him outside, and they fix him with expectant looks as soon as he emerges.
"What did you get?" Lydia asks.
Stiles shakes his head. "I don't know. I haven't checked yet. What if I fail? What if I wasn't good enough? I won't be in the same class as you next year…"
Scott lightly places his hand over Stiles' folded papers, as if petting an injured animal. "Check together?" he suggests.
Stiles gulps, but nods anyway. He looks to Lydia, who grips one edge of his papers and they count to three.
Small eager hands flip the papers open and rifle through them, nearly tearing the sheets apart to see all of Stiles' grades.
"Stiles you passed!" Scott exclaims, slapping his friend's arm in happiness. "You passed everything!"
Stiles, in a state of disbelief, merely grasps on to Scott's hands and pulls the other boy into a hug. "I passed," he breathes.
Then he releases Scott, turns around, and spots the girl, beaming proudly with her hands clasped in front of her. He can't help the sudden surge of she looks so cute crashing through him, and wraps his arms around her too.
"I passed," he says.
"You passed," Lydia repeats.
"Oh my god you're a genius." Stiles pulls away, but his hands slide down Lydia's arms and take hold of hers. "Lydia, you're so smart, will you marry me?"
"Married?" Lydia's proud beam turns into a scoff. "We're too young."
Stiles' face falls immediately, and he quickly arranges his lips into a pout. Lydia knows he is exaggerating, but something in her chest twists at seeing his disappointed expression, so she squeezes his hands and searches for words that will make him smile again.
"Maybe if you ask me in ten years I'll say yes," she tells him.
Stiles grins and leans over, and then he feels the skin of Lydia's cheek beneath his lips. When he pulls away, Lydia is still smiling at him, but her eyes are wider than usual, and her cheeks are tinged with a bright shade of pink. Scott is making gasping noises behind him.
Oh. He just kissed Lydia. On the cheek. His grin is splitting his face, and he feels like there is confetti fluttering around in his chest.
Ask me in ten years, Lydia had said.
The same day his mum gets to come home form the hospital for the weekend, and that's the first time Stiles tells his parents he will marry Lydia Martin one day.
