Stiles moaned in his sleep, and rolled over in the king-sized bed stretching his arm to where Lydia should be. He tried to pull her closer, but only got a fist full of bed sheets.
"Lydia?" He murmured, his brain a thick fog from sleep.
"Over here, babe." She said quietly, sitting in one of the arm chairs the hotel situated in the room. She was drinking water from a paper cup, flipping through Cosmopolitan magazine.
Lydia was already dressed for the day, wearing a long-sleeved floral print dress, hair twisted and pinned up out of her face. She pressed the lock-button on her phone, lighting up the screen. "I was going to let you sleep for another five minutes before I kicked your butt out of bed." She smiled.
Stiles stretched and yawned, slowly shaking the sleep from his mind. "I'll start getting ready," He promied. "I just need to get a coffee before we get on the road."
"There's a Dunkin Donuts right before the exit to get back on the highway." Lydia said as she closed the magazine. She got up and opened the curtains, letting the sunlight stream into the room.
Stiles yawned once more as he got up from the bed and unzipped the duffel bag that lay on the floor by his feet. He picked his outfit for the day (a dark grey henley and some jeans) as he strolled into the bathroom, toothbrush in hand.
Lydia made the bed and packed up the last of her things, turning the TV on as she heard Stiles turn the on the shower from the other room. She perched herself on the edge of the arm chair once again, flipping through the news and infomercials, seemingly the only things on at this time of morning.
"Okay!" Stiles thumped his hands on the steering wheel of Lydia's car as if he were playing the drums. "Lets get this day started!"
"God, you have a lot of energy for someone who hasn't even had a sip of their coffee yet." Lydia mused as she set her coffee down in the cup holder.
"Well, Lydia, I'm just excited that on this beautiful day I'm on a roadtrip with my beautiful girlfriend, whom I love, and that, y'know, she's stuck in the car with me for nine whole hours." Stiles rambled, smiling at Lydia as he reversed out of the Dunkin Donuts parking lot.
"Well, it'll be more like eleven or twelve if we make up the time we lost yesterday." Lydia said as she looked at the small notebook she kept in her purse full of notes about this trip. Stiles made the turn onto the highway, his foot even on the excelerator.
Stiles nodded, "Right, right." And reached to turn on the radio.
They drove along for the next hour, comfortable in their silence, the only sound the highway beneath them and the radio. Lydia lazily circled patterns on Stiles' right hand, which rested on her bare knee. Lydia reached to look at her phone to see if they were making good time.
Stiles yawned and fiddled with the stereo to change from the boring, staticky radio to a playlist he made on his phone.
"Oh God," Lydia whined as she heard the familiar beat filling up the car. Stiles turned it up louder.
Sweat, baby, sweat, baby sex is a Texas drought came through the speakers as Lydia moaned once again. "You're not seriously playing this song." She looked pointedly at Stiles.
"You want it rough, you're out of bounds, I want you smothered, want you covered, like my Waffle House hash browns." Stiles sang along loudly.
"Stiles!" Lydia couldn't help but laugh, even if the song was terrible.
"Come on, Lydia!" Stiles yelled over the radio. "I know you know it. Sing with me!"
Lydia, still smiling, shook her head. "No way."
The traffic started to slow in front of them, and Stiles slowly jammed on the breaks as the continued to sing the chorus, miming humping the drivers seat.
"You are such a goober." Lydia said good naturedly.
"Love, the kind you clean up with a mop and bucket, like the lost catacombs of Egypt, only God knows where we stuck it-hieroglyphics, let me be pacific, I want to be down in your South Seas! But I got this notion that the motion of your ocean means small craft advisory. So If I capsize in your thighs, high tide, be minus five. You sunk my battle ship - please turn me on, I'm Mr. Coffee with an automatic drip-"
"Stiles." Lydia interrupted.
"-So show me-"
"Stiles." Lydia interrupted again, turning down the volume so he would hear her. "Now I want Waffle House. There was a sign back there for the next turn off, I'm hungry."
"You know that song isn't about food or coffee, right Lyd?"
Lydia smacked his arm gently, laughing. "Of course I know what that song is about, but you mentioned Waffle House hashbrowns and those are my favourite."
"You want them smothered, want them covered?" Stiles sang as the traffic started moving once more.
"Well done with chili on top, and a side of bacon," Lydia smiled. They had never been there together.
"Oh God, that sounds delicious. And a peanut-butter waffle. Yes. Where the hell is this exit?"
Lydia laughed, and tried to stretch to see the exit. "Up there a little bit, I can definitely see it."
"Okay I know you like this song!" Stiles turned the volume back up so the song filled the car.
"What is love, baby don't hurt me, don't hurt me, no more!" Stiles sang.
Lydia smiled because, yes, she definitely liked this song. She started to nod her head to the beat as Stiles continued singing.
"Woah oh oh oh, woah oh." Lydia sang, taking over the background lyrics. She stretched out her arms, and belted out the lyrics like her life depended on it.
"Night at the Roxbury is your favourite movie, right?" Stiles joked as the song finished.
Lydia raised an eyebrow. "You know I hate Will Farrel." She quipped.
"Please, I saw you watching Step-Brothers the other day!"
"Okay, that's his only good movie. And Night at the Roxbury is okay, too."
"So you won't watch Anchorman with me?" Stiles pouted.
"Only if you'll watch An Affair to Remember with me." Lydia laughed.
"Yeah, no thanks." Stiles turned at the exit to lead them to breakfast.
"You would probably like it."
"Lyd, you know I like action. I like comedy, I like horror, but that romance shit, I just-"
"Did you forget about last week? I caught you cuddling Prada while watching The Notebook. I wasn't even there." Lydia smiled.
"I uh, I didn't know you saw that." Stiles sniffed as he pulled into the parking lot of the Waffle House.
"It just made me fall in love with you even more." Lydia leaned over and kissed Stiles' cheek.
She unclicked her seatbelt. "Come on, babe, I'm starving."
Lydia had been driving for what seemed like the entire day, but in actuality had been about four hours. Stiles had fallen asleep beside her about thirty minutes ago. It was getting dark around them, and as much as she hated drinking them, she was relying on Stiles' Red Bull to keep her awake.
They were about an hour from their destination, but Stiles had been driving most of the day and besides, he was asleep. She could do this.
She yawned once more, took a sip of the Red Bull she had cracked open, and rolled down the window just the slightest bit. She hated the noise it let in, that undeniable highway noise, but the cool air was helping her stay focused on the road.
Stiles stired beside her, hugging his arms closer to his body. She leaned slightly towards him and flicked on his seat warmer, trying to counter-act the open window. She straightened in her seat, gripping the steering wheel tighter.
"Lyd?" Stiles murmured beside her.
"Mm?" She replied lightly, not daring to take her eyes off the road.
"Pull over." He replied gently. "I can take it from here. You look wrecked."
"It's okay." Lydia said, still not taking her eyes off the road. "You drove all day."
Stiles reached over and gently placed his hand over hers. "Lydia, you haven't blinked since I woke up. How much further do we have to go today?"
"About 50 minutes. I can -" A yawn took over her mouth. "I can do it."
"Lyd, pull over." He said again gently. "And roll up the window, it's freezing."
Lydia nodded, knowing it was the smart thing to do. Her boyfriend was a saint, that's for sure. She changed lanes, put on her blinker, and slowed to the shoulder. "Theres so much traffic..." She murmured.
"Well, here." Stiles mumbled as he climbed into the back seat, hovering ontop of a box. "Okay, this is a little uncomfortable." He laughed. "Plop your cute little ass in the passenger seat so I don't hurt myself back here."
Lydia laughed and swung her legs over to the other side of the car, maneuvering as best she could. She leaned her head back against the rest, stretching. She buckled her seatbelt as Stiles climbed back to the front of the car, putting on his seatbelt, too.
"Hey, babe, there's a playlist on my phone if you're tired of listening to... whatever the hell this is." He said as he guided the car back into the flow of traffic.
"There have been no good stations for miles!" Lydia complained. "You were charging your phone, so I figured I'd play the radio for a bit... it was either this, country, or classical."
"I thought you liked classical?" Stiles questioned, looking at her.
"Mostly for studying or sleeping." Lydia smiled. "It definitely wouldn't have been helpful fifteen minutes ago."
"Unlock my phone and put on the playlist."
Lydia reached forward and grabbed Stiles' phone out of the cupholder it was resting in. "I'm not listening to The Bloodhound Gang again." She laughed.
"Put on the one called 'Lydia'."
She cocked an eyebrow, intrigued. There were loads of playlists saved on Stiles' phone, titled 'Party Time', 'Throw Back', 'Car Jams', 'Sad Songs for Sad Days', 'Mom', 'Shower Time', 'Songs for My Love', and finally, 'Lydia'. Her eyes hovered over 'Sad Songs for Sad Days', but she did as she was told and picked 'Lydia'.
She smiled as she scrolled through. "How many songs are on here, Stiles?"
Stiles' fingers drummed the steering wheel. "I don't know," He shrugged. "Can I have a sip of this?" Stiles gestured at the half-drunk Red Bull.
Lydia nodded.
"You have a lot of favourites." He smiled when he put the can back in the cup holder. "At the top you'll see Frank Sinatra and Elvis, and that song by Judy Garland you really like. Then it goes to the few songs by Van Halen you like, followed by songs from the '80's. There's a couple '90's hits in there, you can see where I'm going with this." Stiles changed lanes and went just a touch faster.
Lydia reached forward and turned the seat warmer down. She smiled at some of the songs on the list.
"There's some R&B and rap in there because, even though you never play those in front of Scott and Malia, well, let's face it - I know you iTunes password."
Lydia laughed.
"Those Bryson Teller songs are growing on me, you know. Then you have your Beyonce, Halsey, stuff like that. Closer to the bottom is the stuff you're probably more interested in right now."
"I love this song," She exclaimed as she chose a song. To Be Alone by Hozier filled the car.
Lydia reached out and put her palm against Stiles' thigh. "I love you." She said earnestly.
"I love you too, Lydia. So much."
They drove along, Lydia's favourite songs filling the car.
"You can go to sleep, you know." Stiles murmured. "I know you're tired."
"I am tired, but I hate sleeping in cars." She said sheepishly. "I can never fall asleep in them. Plus, that Red Bull is fucking me up. I go from almost passing out to being wide awake and everything in between - oh, God, I love this song!" She turned the volume up as Speak in Tongues by Machineheart played around them. "Plus," Lydia scratched her forehead. "We're almost there."
"So I take it from you not being able to sleep in the car, that you've made other arrangements for tonight?"
"Of course." Lydia blinked. "I made a hotel reservation for every night. Did I not tell you that when we started our journey?"
Stiles burst out laughing. It was such a Lydia thing to do. If it was him and Scott on this roadtrip, they would've just drove until they were tired, crashed for a couple hours in the car, and started off again when they woke up. But not Lydia. Everything was planned to a T.
"What!" She demanded.
"Nothing, nothing." Stiles smiled. "You just still surprise me. You make me fall more in love with you all the time."
Lydia smiled up at him. "That's what I like to hear. I need a nice hot shower and then a nice warm bed."
Lydia noticed an exit sign on the side of the road. "That's our stop, the next exit. Just a few miles."
The next thing Lydia knew, she shot straight up in bed, gripping at the sheets.
"Lydia? Lydia, it's okay!" Stiles tried to calm her, rubbing her back. "It's okay, what happened?"
Lydia looked around. They were in a king bed in a nice hotel suite, a large TV in front of them on mute. Pillows were stacked up around them. She took a deep breath as she looked at Stiles.
"I don't know. I don't remember falling asleep, or what startled me."
"Well it's okay, Lyds, I'm here." Stiles kept rubbing her back.
She still had her dress on, her hair twisted up on her head. She took another deep breath and nodded.
"Okay, I'm going to shower, I'll be right back." She sat on the edge of the bed and stretched. "How long was I out?"
"Well," Stiles started as he looked down at the clock-radio beside the bed. "I carried you from the car about an hour ago? I think. And you've fell asleep right before we left the highway, so yeah, about an hour. So much for not sleeping in cars."
She hated that something as simple as 'I carried you from the car' made her heart do flip-flops. She was such a girl about some things.
"You carried me from the car?" She cocked her eyebrow and knelt down on the bed beside him. "That is so sweet." She murmured as she placed kisses along his jaw bone.
"Well you know," Stiles whispered as he caught his lips with his own. "I'm your knight in shining armor."
Lydia smiled against his mouth. "Cheesy." She whispered back. "But I like it." She kept his bottom lip between hers.
She sat up, gently breaking the kiss. "I have to go shower." She said huskily.
"Do you have to?" Stiles whined.
Lydia nodded, one foot on the floor, the other leg bent at the knee, still on the bed. She grabbed Stiles' hand. "But I'm going to need you to come with me." She tugged him off the bed with her.
"Well, if you need me to..." Stiles took his shirt off in one fluid motion. "I'll wash your back." Now it was Stiles pulling Lydia to the bathroom.
"My hero."