Thanks for the feedback last chapter and to all who read! Hope you enjoy this chapter too :) Remember it can be found on AO3 and tumblr if you prefer that format!

I do not own Teen Wolf.


The weekend passed in a blur as they always do when you want them to last, and Stiles didn't see Lydia again until Calculus in the middle of the week.

When he arrived at his usual time, he saw Lydia sitting in her usual spot front and center, unable to help himself from smiling slightly when he saw her glance back. He gladly took his rightful seat and let out a relieved sigh at the familiar comfort. He swore he caught her smiling as she turned back around.

Their shared legal ethics class was the next day, and he even contemplated taking the empty seat next to her near the front. He wondered if they were just going to be friendly allies now or on the path to friends.

Since starting college, he hadn't really made friends. He was friendly with a few people, like his roommate, but he had a best friend back home that couldn't compare to anyone and he was too focused on his studies to bond with people at parties or other get-togethers since normally he avoided them all together.

He had never really been the best at making friends anyways, so it didn't bother him too much, but it wouldn't hurt to have someone to hangout with during his sparse downtime.

Stiles sat a couple rows back from her, against the window side, pulling out his notebook and gazing out of the window as he waited for class to begin.

Midterms were next week, and then it was just a few short weeks until Thanksgiving break. He'd finally be able to go home and talk to his best friend Scott face-to-face rather than on Skype, catch up properly with his dad, and sleep in his own bed. His dorm bed wasn't so bad, but he knew going home would probably give him the best sleep all term. He wondered if his nightmares would stop once he went home.

His ethics professor walked in and interrupted his thoughts, forcing him to face the front.

"Today we're going to go a little off course, due to some recent events. In this class, I'm supposed to be instructing you partially on how to conduct yourself professionally in the legal world, wherever your path may lead you. So let's say you're a lawyer, or a police officer, or just someone on a jury, since some of you may be taking this class and not seeking a legal position. Let's say a girl in her first year of university comes to you, or is on the stand, and is filing a report for being raped on campus during a frat party. She knows who the perpetrator is, but he denies it. What information would you need to gather to build a case?"

Stiles spoke out without raising his hand, which thankfully was encouraged in the class. "Do you mean details, or do you want basic information like where it happened and what happened?"

Professor Callahan nodded. "I want everything you think should be collected. So yes, her account of what happened is obviously crucial. And then where it happened is important. What else?"

"Well, if you know where it happened, you might be able to find witnesses that can testify for certain things, like seeing them together or overhearing something." Lydia piped up from her spot, causing Stiles to smile a little.

He didn't know how he missed her being in his class before. She often spoke up in class. He never really paid anybody much mind, but now that he sort of knew her, he wondered how he had ignored her existence.

"Good. Very good." the professor said with a nod. "What else?"

"Isn't whether or not she's been drinking a factor that needs to be explored?" Stiles added, since it went quiet after Lydia spoke.

"Why is that important?"

His professor was challenging him, if the spark in her eye was anything to go by, and he swallowed nervously.

"Well, if she wasn't coherent enough to offer consent or too uncoordinated to fight off an attacker, I think that's important to consider."

She beamed. "Excellent. What else?"

"Well, the opposition will probably want to know what she was wearing, because apparently if her skirt is too short she's asking for it." Lydia inputted, bitterness catching her tone towards the end.

"Exactly! Good, very good! And what is that an example of?"

Stiles hadn't missed the passion in Lydia's voice, and felt a pang. It sounded as though she had heard that phrase before, possibly targeted at herself. He thought of her short dresses and skirts he always saw her in. He saw it as feminine expression, but he knew others might see it as an invitation.

"Rape culture." he voiced quietly.

Lydia glanced back at him, looking concerned, but he averted his gaze to look outside, not sure he wanted her to see the emotions on his face.

He didn't know her, not at all, but he never wished a girl to have to endure the absolute callousness of some people. He had been raised to believe that girls were people too, and that they deserved respect and had much more to offer than their bodies.

Professor Callahan continued on with the lesson, her passion for ending rape culture inspiring, but Stiles wasn't as involved as before. For some reason, Lydia had gone quiet too. He hoped it wasn't because the conversation was too sensitive for her.

When class ended, Stiles made a beeline for the door. Lydia watched him go, not sure why she felt the need to run after him and check to see if he was okay. They weren't friends. He had saved her from a technology issue, and she had stolen his preferred seat. That was all they had between them. Some awkward run-ins.

Still, when Lydia made it back to her dorm, she couldn't seem to get him off her mind.


Friday came again, and just like always, Stiles seemed to need an extra dose of caffeine to get him through it. He had one class left and then was heading to the library to get a jump on his work.

He wished he could study in his dorm, but it was always too loud there, especially on the weekends. He found it much easier to concentrate at the library.

"Honey, your order's ready at the end." the barista called out, to who Stiles assumed was himself since he had been in a daze. He awkwardly headed towards the end, which is where he was supposed to be waiting anyways, but as he reached for the drink, he realized it wasn't the right thing. He had ordered coffee, and what was sitting there was clearly something fancier, if the multiple markings on the side and whipped cream was anything to go by.

Stiles retracted his hand immediately, stepping back, hoping no one had noticed his slip-up.

A perfectly manicured hand closed around the beverage, and Stiles peeked up to see who, by now, he should really just expect.

Lydia smiled at him as she took her drink.

He flashed her a quick smile as he stuck his hands in his pockets and rocked back on his heels, waiting patiently for his drink to be ready.

"I didn't even see you in line." Stiles commented, feeling like they needed to break the awkwardness between them at some point. Especially since it looked like running into each other was going to be the norm from now on.

If their orders were so close, she must have been only a person or two in front of him.

"I didn't see you either." she said with a shrug. "Um, how's your week going?"

"It's uh… I'm glad it's over." he finished, causing her to laugh a little. He tried not to smile, but it was impossible not to after hearing the sound.

"I'm with you. Callahan's essay has been kicking my ass." she explained, taking a sip of her fancy concoction. "Have you ever noticed you and I are the only ones who ever speak up in her class?"

Stiles nodded at that, grinning now. "Yeah. You'd think an ethics class would be cause for more controversy and spark some debate."

"Right?!" she giggled.

A loud voice broke their attention. "LYDIA! Coming?!"

Several feet away, someone was clearly impatient for Lydia's return. Stiles couldn't help but notice how buff the guy was. It seemed Lydia had a type.

She looked awkward suddenly, turning to glance at the guy before pivoting back to Stiles.

"I should let you go. I've got to get to class anyways." Stiles said, his drink arriving at the perfect moment. "I'll see you around, Lydia."

"Yeah." she replied half-heartedly, returning to her companion's side.

"Who was that?" Stiles heard the guy hiss at her.

"He's nobody." she dismissed quickly, irritably, and Stiles felt something twist in his gut.

He didn't know why it hurt. He and Lydia weren't anything. He barely knew her.

But he couldn't seem to shake the feeling of slight betrayal, hating himself for believing she might actually care about him in some small way. The way he did for her.


Stiles got through his final class and headed to the library immediately. Midterms were creeping up quickly, which meant the due date for his ethics essay was closing in quickly. He needed that textbook.

He had glanced at the paper Lydia had printed off the week before and he knew it was a draft of the final paper, which meant she should be done with it now. His days were lessening for him to finish, and he hadn't even started properly.

His grades had to stay high for him to keep the scholarship that was funding the majority of his education. Without it, he'd be out of there.

Arriving at the library, he spotted Lydia over in the history stacks, a new athletic guy engaging her in conversation. His arms were crossed as he leaned closer to her, no doubt trying to show off his biceps as he clearly attempted to flirt.

She looked pretty indifferent, but had on a sly smile, so maybe it was just her ploy for enticing him. Stiles wasn't exactly highly knowledgeable in the flirting techniques of women.

Spotting the ethics book in her arms, Stiles rolled his eyes and sunk into a seat across the library.

He put his headphones in, cranked the volume, and tried to focus on something other than the nagging anxiety that was building in his chest over the fact that he needed a textbook he couldn't afford to buy and couldn't seem to get a hold of in any other way. He had already tried finding an electronic copy to no avail, and he was really starting to get concerned that he was going to have to break into the library in the middle of the night to steal it.

The library had a rule on textbooks—they weren't allowed to be checked out. So unless Lydia stopped hogging it, he was doomed.

He really should have made it his top priority to get the book before now, because likely she only had it the handful of times he actively sought it out. It was hard to balance everything though—he had many assignments all due at the same time—but this was a term paper that was being used in place of a midterm exam, so it was incredibly crucial to his final mark.

He wanted to be proactive and do another part of the assignment, but he wasn't sure how to do any of it. He knew the assignment required him to have some online journals as references outside of the textbook, but he had no idea to find legitimate academic ones. It was his first semester of college, and it seemed like all of a sudden the weight of it was pressing down on him. They had certain expectations of things their students should know how to do without further instruction, and online database searching appeared to be one of them.

It also didn't help that there was a group of about six or more sophomores sitting a few tables over that were loudly chatting about everything outside of academics, making it hard for Stiles to concentrate on anything but trying to tune them out with his iPod. Which, despite the loud volume, wasn't proving very easy.

He buried his face in his hands, trying to focus his breathing. He wasn't a stranger to panic attacks but having one in the middle of the school library was not on his wish list for the semester.

"Stiles?"

He lifted his head to find Lydia, now alone, watching him in concern.

"You okay?"

"Yeah… yeah, I'm fine." he said, turning down his iPod and cursing himself internally at the way his voice shook slightly.

Worse, Lydia seemed to notice.

"What's wrong?"

He sighed as he leaned back in his chair. "Well, for starters, I need that." he said, pointing to the book in his arms. "Every time I try to get it someone has it, and usually it's you, and the due date is creeping up and I don't even have the full assignment directions because they're in the book, which I didn't buy because it was way too expensive. And I can't even attempt to collect some potential sources because I don't even know how to do online journal database searches, because all that comes up when I Google is Wikipedia and some other shifty looking sites. And I need to provide a copy of my sources in a couple days to prove I've been working on the paper, which clearly I haven't been. And that 'study group' over there is practically turning into a rave party it's so damn loud. I can't hear myself think. And I'm going to lose my scholarship and have to go back home and my whole future is going to go down the drain, all because I'm inept at college and can't even get one fricking textbook."

He knew he was rambling, but he couldn't help himself. His anxiety was bubbling over and this was the result.

Lydia seemed to absorb this before picking the book out of her arms and placing it on the table in front of him.

He immediately felt guilty.

"Lydia, no, you had it first—"

"Do you not need it?"

He sighed. "Yes, I need it, but—"

"Well, then, shut up and take it. Come find me when you're done. I can help you with the online database search."

And without another word, she flipped her hair over her shoulder and walked off.

Stiles stared at the textbook in his hands in shock, gripping along the sides as if testing if it was real. After all this time, it seemed impossible that he finally had his hands on it.

The clicking of heels made him look up and he saw Lydia returning with a grimace.

"Why don't you just come upstairs with me? I've got a room, and you can't even hear those dimwits up there." she said, jerking her head in direction of the 'study group'. "Plus, then we can share."

Stiles couldn't find any viable reason to argue. He gathered his stuff quickly, following her lead.

"Are you sure you don't mind me being there? I don't want to mess with your study schedule."

Lydia flashed him a stunning smile over her shoulder as she shrugged. "I've had worse company."

As her curls bounced against her back when she faced front, something in Stiles' chest did something similar.


It was the second floor, so the private study rooms were different, but still comfortable. Perhaps even better than downstairs.

Stiles took the seat adjacent to her, eager to show his appreciation for her lending him the book and lying it between them after he flipped to the appropriate page.

Lydia looked amused as she watched him copy out the full assignment directions from the book. "Did you really wait this long to ask me for it? I'm sorry I seemed to be hogging it. I thought everyone else except me bought it when I kept lucking in."

Stiles didn't look over, continuing to write, but the pink that formed on his cheeks was enough of an indicator that he was listening. "I didn't want to bother you. You had as much right to it as I did. But thank you, for lending it to me now."

"Well, it's public property."

"Are you always this argumentative when someone tries to express their gratitude?"

Lydia did her best to hide her smile, pulling her own work towards her and pulling out a blue highlighter.

"So you managed to remember them today." Stiles commented quietly, smirking a little, and Lydia stared at the writing utensil in her hand in surprise.

That was Stiles that day?!

God, how had she been so oblivious to him?

"Yes. Normally I'm much more prepared. I had one of my other ones, but I use different highlights for different subjects, so I couldn't mess with my system."

Stiles looked up, clearly intrigued. "You do?"

She nodded. "Pink is for Legal Ethics, yellow is for English Lit, green is for Calculus, and blue is for Biology—"

"WAIT a second." Stiles said with a look of near utter disgust. "You use BLUE for Biology, and green for MATH? What kind of logic is that? They should be switched!"

"But green's my favourite highlighter colour and math is my favourite subject. And who cares? It just matters if they're sorted properly."

"Oh my god, who on earth would make a science course blue. I mean, underwater biology, sure—"

"You mean marine biology."

"—maybe even microbiology. But Biology? Studying plants and organisms and—"

"What's so blue about math?!"

"Math just IS blue, okay?"

Lydia rolled her eyes. "Wow, with an argument like that, I can see why you're taking Legal Ethics. You're going to make a great lawyer."

"I'm not studying to be a lawyer." Stiles said in a grumble under his breath, still looking like choosing any colour but green for a science course was the biggest insult to colours everywhere.

"What are you studying to be then?"

Stiles opened his mouth and then closed it. "I haven't… fully decided yet." he replied honestly.

Lydia settled back into her seat, trying to refocus on her work. She didn't know why her heart was beating so fast. Had arguing with Stiles really got her that riled up?

Glancing over, his eyes looked like they were still sparkling with energy, even though they were downcast to the book next to him.

Without meaning to, Lydia found herself observing him, watching the way he chewed on the corner of his thumb as his eyes scanned the page. His eyebrows were furrowed in concentration, his hair a haphazard mess from his earlier tugging, and she felt a sudden craving to reach over and smooth it back.

Lydia immediately dropped her gaze back to her work and cursed herself internally. What the hell was wrong with her?!

She told herself repeatedly that she couldn't be getting a crush on some random guy that she had just met when she barely knew him.

She was grateful she too wasn't in the running to become a lawyer. She wouldn't make a good one either.


Stiles hadn't expected anything more out of his and Lydia's study session the night before—he had a good time, he felt they got along well despite their random bickering, but he hadn't assumed anything. He knew that being invited to share a book wasn't a one-way ticket into spending more time with Lydia and joining her in the future.

Which is why he was surprised when he felt someone tap his shoulder as he strolled into the library.

He turned around to find the 5'3 strawberry-blonde smiling up at him.

"Still need this?" she asked, wiggling the book in front of her tauntingly. "I snagged a study room again if you're interested."

He couldn't help his face from melting into a grateful smile. "Definitely. You sure? I didn't cramp your style too much yesterday?"

She shook her head. "Nah. Plus I might need to borrow a couple of your highlighters again…"

"Aha! So that's what you're really looking for… just using me for my supplies…"

"Well, you could stay down here, book-less, and with the visiting high school if you'd rather."

Stiles finally noticed that there were a lot more people in the library than usual and spotted a familiar face among the crowd.

"Stiles!" the younger girl squealed excitedly, rushing over and throwing her arms around his neck.

"Hey, Becca." he laughed at her enthusiasm. "What are you doing here?"

"Field trip. Your school has quite the impressive library, so naturally they assigned us a super-hard essay and wanted us to take advantage of the resources." the fifteen-year-old brunette explained with an eye roll. "I was hoping I'd run into you." she added, eyes full of sparkling excitement as they looked into his.

He smiled. "It's good to see you. How are things? How's your brother?"

"Danny's good. Off ruling the technology world. I'm doing fine. School's a pain, but what else is new."

"I feel you there. School is kicking my ass. And I'm kind of swamped right now actually, so I sort of have to go, but you should get back to your class anyways… it looks like they might be moving on without you."

Becca turned to see the crowd heading towards the stairs. "Shit. Thanks. See you!" and she scampered off.

Stiles exhaled and turned to find Lydia looking amused.

"What?"

"Nothing. It's just cute that you make the young girls swoon."

He grumbled as he followed her, face turning pink. "Shut up."

Lydia was having too much fun. "Friend's little sister?"

"Yeah, we used to play lacrosse together back in high school."

Lydia hadn't ever really contemplated what kind of guy Stiles was in high school. He was a jock?

"Danny was the goalie. I was the one on the bench mostly." he added, seeing her surprised look and knowing where her mind had gone. He wasn't exactly built like an athlete.

"So you spent a lot of time spectating with the families?"

"Essentially." Stiles said as they spread their books out on the table, now inside the private room. "Danny got hurt once, so I waited at the hospital with his sister, and, I don't know, kept her mind off things and tried to keep things light, and she's sort of been… attached since."

Lydia didn't want to admit it, but she found it absolutely adorable. Stiles seemed like such a nice guy, and someone who you'd want by your side during something like that. There was something that was so interesting to her about him; he had so much more to her than she originally imagined. She still didn't really know him, but the more she learned, the more she realized how complex he was.

He could be neurotic and OCD, he could be sweet and considerate, and he could be resourceful and intelligent. She wasn't used to people she couldn't figure out quickly. It seemed like every moment she spent with him, she'd find another new thing about him.

And when they were apart, she found herself wondering things about him. What was his real first name? What kind of life had he had growing up? Did he have a lot of friends at college? She always saw him on his own, but maybe that was personal choice when it came to studying.

"What are you working on?" Stiles asked after a few minutes, pulling Lydia out of her distracted thoughts.

"Hmm? Oh. Just a partner assignment for English Lit."

"Don't you need your partner for that?"

"Trust me, he's useless. It's better for both of us if I handle it myself."

"Not really fair to you, though." Stiles noted.

"I know. Next time I'm not taking pity on him. He's in our legal ethics class too."

"Oh, you mean Aiden? The one who sits in the third row?" Coincidentally, also the guy who interrupted their chat at the coffee cart that one time. Stiles tried not to feel pleased that Lydia seemed less than over the moon about him.

"Yeah, the one that always tries to partner with me? He's too much of a slacker. But I don't know anyone in the class, so rather than be partner-less, I say yes like an idiot. I don't know why my backbone has evaporated since I got to college."

Stiles smiled. "Just ask anybody. That's all I ever do. Plus, when people don't know you, they're less likely to take advantage since they're not sure how decent at the class you are."

Lydia chuckled. "Okay. I'll remember that."

Stiles let his eyes linger on her face for an extra moment, enjoying the warmth that spread through him knowing that he was the cause for her smile.


Time passed quickly, and Stiles joining Lydia for studying became the norm after a couple times of sharing the book, so she didn't even bother asking him to come anymore. He would meet up with her and they'd go together, even after the assignment had long since been done and over with.

It was nice that they had two classes together, since they could work through complicated equations or controversial topics with an ally, but they worked on their other classes during their study sessions too.

It became their routine—getting together after classes for the day to work on school work.

Stiles found he was more prepared for his classes than ever, and used any time between assignments to read ahead in the textbooks. He felt better about participating in them now that he was actually knew what he was talking about.

He and Lydia seemed to be friends now, or at least they were by his standards, but a part of him wondered what happened to all those guys that seemed to be hanging around her before they started hanging out. Maybe he just never saw her with them because they always had predetermined hangout times, but he found it odd. He knew the guy that was her typical partner had all but disappeared, but if Lydia had said no to him like she was planning, than it was understandable why he wasn't running around kissing her ass.

Stiles remembered at the coffee cart, when Aiden had irritably asked why she had been talking to Stiles, and she had told him that he was 'nobody'. It made more sense now—Aiden had felt threatened that Stiles would steal Lydia away. He clearly knew they were all in the same class. It was the only reason that made sense to Stiles anyways.

None of the other athletic guys Stiles had seen Lydia with seemed to be around either. Lydia seemed to be a pretty popular girl, often breaking away from a few girls after class to meet him. He hadn't been introduced to anyone, but it's not like she owed it to him either.

Truth be told, he was just grateful to have her in any way. She was incredibly smart, quick-witted, and definitely could keep up with even his craziest of ramblings, which very few people could. She also had this hidden kindness to her, underneath her layer of snark and indifference—she really cared about people. It was obvious from the way she had rescued him with the textbook thing and even went so far as to help him with his database searches.

She could've just brushed him off, told him to wait his turn, anything but invited him into her study session and therefore into her life. He would be forever grateful that she took pity on him that day, because she was quickly becoming his closest friend at college. She didn't have stiff competition, but still.

She was also very, very easy on the eyes, but he wasn't about to concentrate on that fact for too long.

Lydia suddenly groaned out loud, shoving her papers in irritation.

"Having an incompetent lab partner should seriously be illegal in the education system."

Stiles couldn't help but laugh. "Having trouble with your report?"

"I'm 90 percent sure she didn't even collect the data from the actual control group, so it's absolutely pointless. I have no reference point. God, why doesn't she just drop out? I don't understand why they give us assigned partners but then we are not allowed to switch if we have to."

"Well, now that midterms are over, I think a lot more people will drop or switch out. Some people don't realize post-secondary isn't high school. You can't coast along and slack off and expect it'll get you anywhere."

"Is your chemistry lab partner any better?"

Stiles shook his head. "Nope. Still doesn't know where anything falls on the periodic table and why some elements bond together and others don't. I've given up trying to explain things. I'm half sure he's stoned most classes."

Lydia rolled her eyes in sympathy. "Too bad we weren't taking the same classes. Looks like we both could use a competent lab partner."

Stiles pointedly ignored the way his heart reacted at her proposal that spending more time with him would be ideal. His whole argument that he only liked her as a friend was quickly going down the drain the more time he spent with her.

"Want me to proofread that?" she asked him, seeing the way he was dazedly staring at the draft of his Shakespeare paper.

"You wouldn't mind?"

"Not at all. It's much easier for someone else to read it. I have no idea what you're trying to say. It takes away the bias and makes it easy to see where the holes in explanation and presentation lie."

Stiles handed it over and took a swig of water, grateful for the break of rereading the same sentence eighteen times. After a while of working on the same thing, his brain just seemed to go completely offline.

Lydia started marking corrections, her lip between her teeth as she read along, nodding occasionally.

Stiles phone sounded and he pulled it out of his pocket.

When are you coming this weekend? Miss you bro!

He smiled and texted back his best friend quickly.

Driving down Thursday morning since I have my night class on Wednesday. Can't wait to see you!

"Who are you texting?" Lydia asked casually, sounding a little stiff, no doubt seeing how enthusiastic Stiles suddenly looked.

"My best friend Scott. He's just checking when I'm coming home for Thanksgiving. We haven't seen each other properly since the end of the summer."

Lydia smiled. "You must be excited then."

"Definitely. Plus his mom's cooking is amazing. Me and my dad have been going there for Thanksgiving forever, especially since his dad left, and now that our parents are dating it only makes sense. It'll be an interesting year." Stiles said amusedly.

"Your dad is dating his mom?"

He nodded. "Yeah, but it's cool with us. I've been best friends with Scott since I was four, so he's more my brother than anything. I couldn't ask for anyone better for my dad either, Melissa makes him really happy, and she's already like a second mom to me anyways. They spent a lot of time together over the years and it just happened, but me and Scott were really happy for them when they told us. This will be our first holiday as a more official family."

Lydia nodded. "That sounds really nice."

"So do you have Thanksgiving plans? Going home?"

She shook her head. "Uh, no. My dad travels all the time, even over the holidays, and my mom is spending it with her new boyfriend's family. I'd rather stay here than join that awkwardness." She held back the paper objectively. "Your paper's really good, by the way. I made some notes for you to think about, but otherwise it's good. Very direct, well explained, clear focus. You'll ace it."

"Really?!" he exclaimed happily, taking it back from her and skimming over her notes.

A thought suddenly struck him.

"Lydia, why don't you come home with me? Scott's girlfriend is going to be there, since her family is going away."

"She's not going with them?"

"Uh, no. They're um going hunting, and she's not really into that."

Lydia could understand that. She never understood why people hunted animals for sport. If they were trying to kill you, maybe. But just to put a 'trophy' on the wall? No thanks.

Stiles continued his persistence. "I'm sure she'd appreciate the extra company. Scott's house has a guest room, and even if it's occupied, we can stay at my house if need be. You shouldn't spend the holiday alone. And I'd love to have you there."

She pushed her hair back, busying herself with looking elsewhere, feeling her cheeks warm at his earnest suggestion. "It's really sweet of you to offer, but I wouldn't want to intrude. You haven't seen your family in months. And it's a holiday—you don't want to be bringing some random stranger into it…"

"Don't be ridiculous, they'll all love to have you there. And frankly, Melissa will kill me if she found out a friend of mine was spending Thanksgiving alone up here. Come. Please? We'll drive down in my jeep Thursday morning, stay a few days and then head back on Sunday morning. If you're having an awful time, I promise I'll drive you home early. And you'll have automatic control over the radio."

Lydia couldn't help herself from smiling after that, shaking her head in disbelief. He didn't leave her much room to argue. It was clear he really wanted her to go. And his family did sound really nice.

"All right, fine. But only if I get all of my assignments done before the break."

"YES! We will, I promise." he told her seriously, making a special point to get back to work, furrowing his brow exaggeratedly in concentration.

She laughed and shoved him playfully, rolling her eyes to the heavens in wonder of how she put up with such a goofball.