Stiles
Stiles hadn't realised the Jeep had stopped outside Scott's house until he heard Melissa tapping against the car window.
Her face was full of concern as she looked at him through the glass. She had been calling his name for the last few minutes but he had been in a kind of trance. The events of the evening with Lydia, playing heavy on his mind.
"Stiles! It's really late, is everything ok?" she asked.
He looked over at Scott's mom. She was dressed in hospital gear and holding her car keys. He presumed she had been called into work.
"Yeah, I just need to speak to Scott for a minute" he replied climbing out of the vehicle.
"Of course you do" Melissa sighed with acquiescence. Then scanned her watch noting the incredibly unsocial hour.
She really should think about setting some boundaries around acceptable behaviour but it was 'Stiles'. He was almost like a second son. She just couldn't say No to the boy who had always been there for Scott.
"Well you know where he is and I seem to remember you have your own key" she conceded then climbed into her own car to set off to work.
Stiles entered the McCall house and headed for the bedroom he knew nearly as well as his own. He walked in without knocking ready to shake his friend awake.
"Hey Scott I really need to talk…" Stiles stopped abruptly at the scene he was presented with.
Scott was awake, very much awake. He was halfway through undressing his girlfriend. Right in the middle of pulling Kira's shirt over her head.
"Seriously dude! Your Mom hasn't even left the driveway yet and you're at second base"
Kira screamed and fell off the bed at the shock of seeing Stiles stood in the doorway.
"What the Hell Stiles!" Scott shouted, embarrassment clear in his voice as he climbed over the bed to check Kira was ok and help her back on with her clothes.
Intruding on an intimate moment hadn't seemed to bother Stiles as he continued to stand in the doorway. He had more important things to discuss.
"I really need your advice Scott"
Scott glanced over the his bedside clock ready to give his best friend an earful at the rude late night interruption but there was something about Stiles' lack of composure that made him stop.
"I think that means its time for me to leave" Kira announced suddenly feeling that she had become the third wheel in the room.
"No, no, you don't have to leave. You're kind of one of the guys so you might be able to help" Stiles said instantly regretting his turn of phrase, as he looked at the slight hurt look on her face.
"Not that I think of you as a guy. It's just that you're part of the group and you're on the lacrosse team and easy to talk to…definitely not a dude though. If anything I think you're pretty hot. You have that sexy Japanese schoolgirl thing going on and …."
"Stiles!" Scott yelled stopping his friend digging himself deeper into trouble with his nervous rambling.
"What is it that you want?" he added pointedly.
Stiles could see his friends expression harden. His eyes grow darker with impatience, the wolf in him beginning to make an appearance.
"Ok, Ok" Stiles said with his hands up in kind of an apology at objectifying his best friend's girlfriend. He paused then trying to organise masses of thoughts in to something he could verbalise.
He looked down at Scott and Kira who were now fully clothed, sat on the end of the bed, ready to plea his case.
"So…I've had a really weird night with Lydia" he began and watched as his friend narrowed his eyes with suspicion
"With Lydia….what were you doing with Lydia?" Scott asked.
Stiles instantly felt the photo of Peter and the music festival in his hoodie pocket. He couldn't tell Scott about that. About his decision to go back to Mexico. He knew the Alpha would insist on going along and Stiles couldn't let that happen. Allison's dad may have struck a deal with the Calavera's to leave Scott alone but he didn't that would still apply if his buddy was standing in Araya's own back yard.
"I err…we were….following up a lead on the identity of the desert wolf" he said trying to keep everything vague.
"…and she was acting like she was 'into' me. Like actually really liked me" he said remembering the moment Lydia pressed herself up against him in that tiny space under the stairs.
He could feel an erratic heartbeat that took his breath away just thinking about it now.
Scott rolled his eyes then seemed to pull his hair with annoyance.
"Lydia! I can't believe we are back to this thing with Lydia. I thought we had gotten past this Stiles" his friend said clearly recalling years and years of obsessive stalker-like behaviour Stiles had carried out in hope of getting the girl of his dreams to notice him.
But he needed Scott to understand that this time it felt different. This interaction between him and Lydia was more than him looking desperately for something that wasn't there.
"What exactly has she done to make you think that she had feelings for you?" Scott asked with very little patience in his voice
"Well…she kind of hugged me, and there was a way she looked at me in class the other day and…." God, the evidence sounded pretty weak when he said it out loud.
Scott was staring at him with a kind of sad knowing expression. Trying to tell his friend that he was once again reading into something that wasn't there.
"She said I was her best friend" Stiles said, trying to add weight to his argument. Scott just nodded soberly.
"That would make sense. Since….Allison you've been there for Lydia, I get how she would see you as a best friend, but that doesn't automatically mean she wants to get in your pants, dude" Scott lectured
Stiles looked up to the ceiling, deep in thought. There had been one more moment that had made him consider Lydia's feelings. That was the sheer panic in her face when he mentioned returning to Mexico. He had known that look. He had displayed that look himself. But he couldn't tell Scott about that one. It would reveal the Mexico plan and that couldn't happen.
In the waiting silence Scott reluctantly spoke. Regret in his tone as he asked the question.
"Is everything all right between you and Malia?"
That brought Stiles' attention swiftly back from the hypothetical's and 'what if's' swirling about his head.
"Everything is fine, why would you ask that?"
"It's just that since you got together with Malia, the whole persistent Lydia 'thing' had stopped and now all of a sudden it's back" Scott said pointing at his friend, indicating the return of all the nonsense.
Stiles' demeanour changed at Scott's words. He slumped back into a chair over by the computer, feeling guilt at thinking about Lydia when he had a girlfriend back home. His head fell into his hands.
"Do you still like Malia?" Scott asked pushing the conversation, trying to get to the bottom of what was really going on.
"Yeah, I like her, she's great" Stiles said honestly.
"Do you love her?"
Stiles looked down at the floor shaking his head "No" he mumbled quietly.
"Do you think that you could eventually love her?"
Stiles this time looked his friend in the eyes, guilt brimming in his own. He didn't need to give an answer, It was clearly written in his face. He doubted he would ever be able to give Malia his heart.
"Maybe all this talk of Lydia is just your brain's way of telling you to end it with Malia " Scott announced sympathetically.
"No no. That's not going to happen" Stiles convinced himself.
The simple fact was he had no intention of ending things with Malia. He just couldn't do that to her. He might not love her but he did care about the girl. She had been through so much in her life and he just wanted to help her through it.
But all his friends words were making sense. Self doubt over Lydia's actions had started to set in. He really wanted to believe that this time it felt different. But now he wasn't so sure.
A cough sounded in the room and Stiles looked over realising Kira was still there sitting quietly. She had listened to everything without making comment but now seemed to want to weigh in on the conversation. She approached her words nervously.
"I know I don't know you as well as you know each other but I have always had the impression that Lydia is a very confident and opinionated person"
It was a fair assessment of the strawberry blonde and Stiles waited for Kira to continue.
"She's the sort of person that when she wants something she just goes straight out and gets it"
Stiles just stared at Kira as sudden realisation sunk in. Her words were so true. He remembered how Lydia had set her sights on one of the wolf twins the minute she saw them in school and didn't stop until she had one and she was doing the same with Deputy Parrish.
He had his answer. Once again Stiles had deluded himself that Lydia Martin had feelings for him. If she did then she would have surely told him. He felt like a fool for thinking otherwise.
Stiles stood up and apologised for ruining Scott and Kira's night, thanking them for talking him down from the 'Lydia ledge' once again.
It was time for him to stop all this nonsense and move forward with his life. He needed to concentrate on more important things like helping his girlfriend get some of her family back.