Part 2/3

The warm blankets tangled around Lydia, her bright hair fanned out around her pillow; dulled slightly by the lack of light in the room. Her racing mind kept her from falling into synch with the rhythmic pattern of Brad breathing next to her. The only thing she could focus on were her rabid thoughts from dinner the night before, which were all constantly fighting for a spot in the forefront of her mind.

She really wanted to hate Jennifer, and maybe if she were still in high school she could have pulled it off, but the truth of the matter was, the brunette was one of the sweetest people she ever met, and Stiles deserved somebody like her. Not to mention she was completely okay with the unusual factors in their lives, which someone like Brad would surely run from if he knew. She felt sick just thinking of Brad trying to assimilate into that life.

A thought she had been so good at suppressing suddenly forced its way into her brain, breaking her carefully sculpted restraints and making the blankets around her somehow even more suffocating. She still had feelings for Stiles. She groaned slightly to herself, pressing her face into her pillow.

She'd left town to escape all of this, to start fresh, but something was always pushing her back and for once she didn't mind being pushed around. She didn't want to run from her problems anymore. Exhaustion began to cloud her mind, and she quickly slipped into a fitful sleep, her thoughts still rampaging through her brain.

"Lydiiiaaa, Lydiiiiaaaaaa." Lydia's doe eyes sprung open at the sound of her name being dragged out like some kind of ghost, which really wouldn't even be that weird for this town. Rubbing her eyes, she groaned, turning away from Kira who was trying, and failing, to shake her friend awake.

"Lydia, it's time to wake up." Kira said, pushing a hand through her thick, raven colored hair.

"Ten more minutes." Lydia mumbled into her pillow, largely resembling a little kid who didn't want to get up for school.

"Come on, we're going to brunch! Just us girls, it will be fun! Me, you, Melissa, Jennifer-" Kira was cut off by another groan from Lydia.

"Fine, I'm getting up." She said, realizing for the first time that Brad wasn't in bed anymore. How long had she been asleep? Glancing at the clock, the bright numbers told her it was 10:00. It had certainly been a while since she'd slept that late.

Trudging into the shower, she heard Kira squeal behind her and yell to be ready in a half hour. The warm water felt soothing against her bare skin, relieving some of her pent up tension. After she finished, she carefully applied her makeup and slid into a casual dress, her heels clicking on the perfectly finished stairs as she descended them down to the kitchen, where Kira was.

"Oh good, you're ready! The guys already went out and we're gonna meet the girls at the restaurant." Kira chirped excitedly, grabbing her keys and leading Lydia out the door. The quickly reached the restaurant; a quaint little cottage looking place Lydia remembered slightly from high school as a place her mother used to go with her friends. The chipping sign read "Toast" in weathered blue paint. The pair entered the restaurant, immediately spotting the other women already there.

"Hi, you guys made it!" Melissa said, standing to hug each of them.

Lydia smiled, returning the hug and sitting down in one of the cushioned seats. She politely greeted everyone else at the table, which consisted of her mother, Malia, Cora, Braeden and Jennifer. She'd managed to answer most questions about herself last night, so brunch was mostly just her half listening to Cora's latest relationship problems and Melissa's engagement story for the thousandth time. She was munching on her salad, thinking maybe this brunch wouldn't be so bad after all, when his name came up.

Lydia's neck snapped up, resulting in a sharp pain that was numbed by her adrenaline in the moment. Her green eyes immediately focused on Jennifer, who was going on about how she and Stiles met by fault of her spilling pumpkin spice latte all over him. Lydia almost barfed at how much her story sounded like a romantic comedy. She managed to choke out a "How sweet!" along with the rest of the women.

"So, Lydia, Stiles tells me you guys were close in high school." Jennifer tried to spark a conversation between herself and the strawberry blonde.

Lydia faltered for a moment, "Yeah, we were all close." She gestured towards Kira and Malia.

Jennifer nodded her head, remembering Stiles telling her something about dating Malia in high school. "Oh yeah, you and Stiles dated! He had a crush on you since like grade school, right?" Jennifer asked, turning towards Malia.

Lydia almost choked on her piece of lettuce, sitting straight up in her chair. The were coyote's eyebrows furrowed for a moment, "Uh, no, we actually didn't meet until junior year... He had a crush on Lydia for a while, though." Malia finished meekly, distracting herself by shoving a fry into her mouth.

Jennifer looked at Lydia, the tension at the table rising like a helium filled balloon. Her emerald eyes peered up from the salad in front of her, which had suddenly become very interesting.

"Yeah, he used to like me, but it never amounted to anything. We're just good friends." Lydia smiled, easily masking her emotions through years of practice, but secretly dragging her sweaty palms down the skirt of her dress.

Kira was the one to break the tension, babbling on about holiday plans. "So, you're all coming to my house for Christmas Eve tomorrow, right?"

This elicited a chorus of excitement from everyone else at the table, giving Lydia a nonverbal okay to mentally zone out again. By the end of brunch, Kira had decided to with Braeden to help her find a late Christmas gift for Derek, leaving Lydia to take the car alone. She turned on the radio, allowing the music to drown out her thoughts for a while. She took a detour to stop and buy a single red rose, and then continued on her way to her destination.

An eerie feeling washed over her as she pulled up into a parking space. The afternoon light coated everything in its path, drawing shadows from the headstones surrounding her. Her heels sunk slightly into the grass as she made her way towards the stone with her best friend's name carved across it. She placed the rose atop the stone, blinking back salty tears.

"Hey, Allison." She began, a few tears escaping her watery eyes.

"I'm sorry I haven't been to visit you in a while, I guess I just thought starting over would be easier." She drew in a breath, allowing her normally restrained thoughts to pour shamelessly out of her mouth.

"It's just; I don't want to run anymore. I know I'm stronger than this and smarter than this, but... It's just so hard you know? And then there's him-"

"Lydia?" Lydia whipped around, her loose curls smacking her in her face, a few strands sticking to her damp cheeks. Her heartbeat sped up at the sight of him behind her.

"Stiles." She responded, messily wiping the moisture from her face.

He took a step closer to her, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, um, just emotional I guess. I'm fine." She said, trying to hide behind her perfectly designed mask once again.

Stiles recognized the flicker of emotion in her eyes, and took another tentative step towards her.

"Yeah, I was just visiting my mom. The holidays are always hard." He said in a whisper.

"Yeah." She sobbed, unable to keep her emotions from being unmasked. The dam behind her eyes suddenly broke, causing a flood.

"Hey, hey, hey." Stiles took one more step forward, closing the gap between their bodies and pulling her into his embrace.

She shook in his grip, an earthquake radiating through her small frame. She buried her face in his neck as he tightened his grip on her. After a few moments she pulled away slightly.

"Sorry." She said, raking a hand back through her copper hair.

"Don't be, you know I think you look really beautiful when you cry." He gently wiped away her fallen tears.

Lydia laughed, remembering that night he told her that in high school. Stiles smiled at her, his honey eyes meeting her emerald ones.

"You okay?" He asked, a deeper meaning hidden in his tone.

"I will be." She answered, her breath hitching in her throat as he leaned closer to her. Her eyes were about to flutter close when a harsh ringing sound caused them to jump apart, Stiles flailing his arms awkwardly.

"Sorry." Lydia said, fishing her phone out of her bag. It's not like that was totally cliché or anything… she thought sardonically to herself.

"No, it's- it's okay, totally fine." He said, taking a few more steps backward.

"It's Brad," she said starting to head towards her car again, "I'll see you tomorrow? At Scott and Kira's?"

"Yeah, yeah I'll be there." Stiles smiled, giving her a wave.

Lydia smiled before turning her back to him and answering the phone disappointedly. Her smile was instantly wiped away at her having to leave Stiles behind.

"Hello?" She answered.

"Hey, babe." Brad's voice carried over through her phone. "I was wondering what time you're planning on getting back."

Lydia sighed, "I don't know, maybe in an hour or so. I have some things I want to do." She said, planning on driving around town for a while and maybe visiting with her mother.

"Ok, I was just wondering. I have a surprise for you. I'll see you later." He said before hanging up the phone.

Lydia had never been so unexcited for a surprise in her life.


Brad slid his phone back into his pocket, a smirk playing on his lips.

He turned back to the pretty blonde at the end of the bar, ready to continue flirting with her before something caught his eye.

That hot brunette from dinner last night just walked through the door. Malia? He thinks her name is.

"I need to go." He bid the blonde goodbye and started towards Malia instead.

"Hey, you're friends with Lydia, right?" He asked once he reached her.

Malia turned towards him, "Yeah, and you're Brad right? Lydia's boyfriend? I'm Malia." She said with a smile.

Knew it he thought smugly. "Yup." He said, leaning closer to her. "I noticed you at dinner last night, I couldn't forget this body even if I tried." He purred, his hand roaming over her hip.

Malia jerked away, holding back a growl. "What the hell?" She yelled, drawing attention from the people around her.

"You're disgusting." She pushed him away and strutted out the door, ready to call Lydia.

"Well you dress like a slut! You shouldn't be such a tease!" He screamed after her, rejection not gelling well with him.

He glanced around at the surprised faces staring at him and pushed open the door, searching for another bar in this godforsaken town.

Hope everyone's enjoying this story so far! Sorry it took me so long to update. Please feel free to leave a review, they help a lot :)

-xx KaterinaPetrovah