I'm so sorry again about the last chapter. I know I broke more than a few hearts with the emotional kiss between Lydia and Stiles, but it gets better, promise. If this isn't enough, wait for the next chapter. I promise fluff.

This one goes out to Azeret who called my story 'the best Stydia fanfic [she's] ever read.' I'm not sure if that's true, but you totally made my day and I needed that. I hope everything for you gets better, and if you want to chat about anything, PM me :)

(^That comment extends to any of you who are having a hard time. It may not be an instant reply but I'll always do my best to help, and we fans have to stick together and support each other, especially in times like these when we have to wait until January for new episodes. Jeff Davis overestimates our willpower and adoration for Dylan.)

One more thing- I'd like to direct you guys over to a story by a good friend of mine- lucawindmover. Her story is called Moving in the Dark, and if you like Circles, you'll like this one too. It's incredibly well written and I'm addicted to it, not to mention that she is the nicest person, so check it out.

Love you guys,

X

E.G.

X

Stupid Cupid

Winter isn't nearly over, Stiles Stilinski thought as he made his way up Scott's driveway, having parked his Jeep just down the street. The pearly clouds were echoed in his pale grey sweater and the cool, crisp air of the afternoon perfectly matched his gloomy mood. Despite the hours of veritable fun ahead Stiles wasn't happy. It had been nearly three weeks since he and Lydia had spoken, and Stiles had thought that time would heal his wounds, but it hadn't. In fact, all it had done was increase the exponentially large hole in his chest. His ADHD hadn't helped matters either, and Stiles had been running every day, leaving almost straight after he got home from Lacrosse practice to escape his father's curious gazes and his own traitorous thoughts. In fact, the only reason he was spending time with Scott today was because Scott had pleaded. Allison had filled him in on what had happened, and Scott had proposed a guys day, saying that Lydia and Allison were having one. Stiles raised his right fist and knocked on the solid front door of the McCall house, only waiting a second before turning the knob and stepping over the familiar threshold and hooking his jacket over one of the hooks in the hall.

"Hi, Stiles. How are you doing?" Melissa McCall stepped out from the kitchen to Stiles' right, wiping her hands on a dishtowel. She was smiling brightly, and it was then that Stiles noticed the smell of chocolate chip cookies (his favourite) that was permeating the house. A small smile grew on his face.

"Good thanks, Melissa. Where's Scott?"

"Scott should be home from work in about ten minutes. Deaton asked him to run an emergency errand and he couldn't really say no. Do you want something to eat?" Melissa was still smiling at him, and then Stiles knew.

"Scott told, you didn't he?" Stiles asked Melissa. She moved across the room to hug him. Stiles accepted her embrace and returned it, the comforting feeling of being held overtaking him. Melissa had been his maternal figure after his own mother had passed away, and she knew Stiles almost as well as she knew her own son.

"I guessed. When Scott didn't leave this morning to go and see Allison I knew something had happened, and since you're the only other person in his life he'd take a day off for..." she trailed off.

"You figured it out for yourself," Stiles finished for her, pulling back. Melissa touched her hand to his cheek, and smiled wanly at him.

"So how have you been?" she asked.

"Honestly? Not great. I'm working on it though. Thanks, Melissa. For everything."

"You're more than welcome Stiles. You know that you're always welcome here if you need some space, even if Scott isn't home. Claudia, well... your mum would have wanted that."

"I know. And thanks. I- I really appreciate it," Stiles' voice cracked as he thanked her again. Clearing his throat he then gestured towards the kitchen she had just vacated. "Are any of those cookies actually ready to eat? I'm starving."

"...And then I told him to leave. I just didn't know what else to do," Lydia confessed to Allison. "I really like him, Alli, and that's why I don't know if I can put him through that."

"So, what you're saying is, you basically turned down an offer from a guy who is not only adorable and caring, but knows how smart and funny you are and isn't intimidated because you were scared?" Allison surmised, her eyes flicking over Lydia's face.

"Yes," Lydia admitted. They were sitting on Lydia's bed, each holding a mug with a small, chocolate cake baked inside- Allison's specialty. Lydia's hair was a mess, and she was in sweatpants instead of her usual silky pyjamas, but right now she didn't give a damn. These three weeks without Stiles had been torturous. Any time she looked at him, he blatantly ignored her and looked in the other direction. He had even gone as far as turning and walking in the other direction when they were alone in the hallways early one morning. She was distraught and angry (mostly at herself, but a little at Stiles) and all Lydia wanted was to go back and change how that night had gone.

"Can you explain to me again why you're scared? Because I'm not seeing the problem here, Lyds," Allison asked her. Lydia snapped to focus again. Why was she scared? Was that a trick question? Lydia drew in a great breath and then let out what she had been feeling.

"Because in my last serious relationship, the guy turned into a homicidal lizard who was being controlled by a psychopath you went on a date with, and then my rebound guy turned out to be an alpha werewolf who could merge into a huge monster with his twin brother," Lydia's voice was getting shrill. "Then, out of nowhere, everything- or nearly everything, barring Scott of course- is normal again. And we all just went back to our lives like nothing had happened, and I finally found a friend who is not only my intellectual equal, but someone I have an insane connection with and then I had to go and ruin it by telling him the truth. I thought that he wouldn't want to like me anymore because I had lied to him and that everything like that would be over, but now he wants a relationship. But I can't give that to him because he deserves better than a damaged, neurotic girl who has insane control and trust issues." Allison's mouth was hanging open in shock, and Lydia huffed out the rest of her breath and took a grumpy bite of her cake and ice-cream, casting her eyes downwards.

"You think Stiles is too good for you?" Allison sounded breathless.

Lydia swallowed and looked up. "Of course I do, Allison. You seriously think that after spending nearly nine months getting closer to each other I didn't notice anything new?"

"I didn't say that Lydia. Don't make this an attack on me. I'm just surprised is all. You didn't even know who he and Scott were when we met; now you're in love with him," Allison said, the crinkle between her eyes smoothing out and a small smile beginning to form on her lips, one of her dimples popping out.

"I am not in love with him, Allison. I just don't want to hurt him. I'm not the girl he thinks I am, and the sooner he realises that, the sooner he realises he should move on," Lydia said, ignoring the niggling thoughts in the back of her mind telling her that Allison was right.

"Okay, Lydia. Look, I know you're having trouble dealing with all of this, so we don't have to talk about this anymore, but just so you know, you're going to have to deal with it some time. If you leave it too long, Stiles might never forgive you," Allison advised, taking her friend's hand and squeezing it tightly. Lydia returned the pressure.

"I know, Allison. I just... I don't know what to say for him to forgive me."

"Just tell him the truth. You owe him that," Allison replied.

Stiles had practically inhaled six cookies and was starting on his seventh when Scott walked through the front door.

"Mom! I'm home," Scott called, his heavy boots stomping as he rounded the corner into the kitchen.

"Kitchen, honey," Melissa informed her son.

"Smells great in here. Oh, hey Stiles. Sorry I wasn't around when you got here. I had to-"

"Run an errand for Deaton. I know, your mum told me. It's okay," Stiles said, munching on the sweet, baked dough in his mouth.

"Cool. Listen, Isaac's out for the rest of the day. He's got a job at that movie rental store in town now, so I thought we could play some Call of Duty. Kick some pre-pubescent ass from across the world," Scott announced, joining his friend at the island in the middle of the kitchen and picking up a cookie.

"I was feeling more like watching a movie. We haven't done that in ages," Stiles suggested.

"Actually that's not a bad idea. You grab the popcorn and I'll get the soda," Scott agreed, and the boys split away from the counter in the synchronised movements only best friends could master.

They were halfway through Hansel and Gretel when Scott paused the movie and turned to face Stiles.

"What's up man? Bathroom break or something?" Stiles asked, confused.

"When are we going to talk about it, Stiles? Because I got a text from Allison earlier today telling me that Lydia was still upset. So what gives?" Scott questioned bluntly.

"I really don't want to talk about it," Stiles said, idly rattling the kernels left in the bottom of the popcorn bag.

"Well that really doesn't matter, Stiles. Something bad obviously happened if the two of you are refusing to talk to your best friends about it. We can't help you if we don't know what the problem is. What did you do?"

Stiles snorted. He wanted to tell Scott. If anyone could help him, it was going to be his best friend.

"I kissed her back. I'm not sure that's a very good reason for being upset, considering she kissed me first," Stiles told Scott.

"Wait, What? Dude, she actually kissed you? For real this time? None of that 'on the cheek' shit you were whining to me about a month ago?"

"For real. There was tongue and everything this time, though," Stiles answered.

"Wait, this time? You were holding out on me!" Scott sounded incredulous.

"Not intentionally, man. But- honestly- if I had known what I'm about to tell you, I'm not sure if I would have said something."

"So, what gives?" Scott asked, interest obviously piqued.

"You remember that night at Greenburg's house the summer before ninth grade?" Stiles asked Scott.

"Yeah. The night you got your first- oh my God." He said it as though there were a full stop between the words. "It was Lydia Martin. You had your first kiss with Lydia Martin! How did you not know?"

"She left the cupboard first and vanished into the crowd. I never figured she was missing because she kissed me. I figured she was off somewhere getting a drink or kissing some other guy. But- and this is important too- it wasn't just my first kiss, Scott," Stiles informed him.

"Lydia too?" Scott breathed. Stiles nodded. "Well, consider my mind blown. But how is that even possible?"

"No idea. But it happened. So the other night she started asking all these personal questions and then she asked me what the best kiss I ever had was, so I told her my first kiss. Which, yeah, at the time it was. But then she kissed me and I recognised her. She has this really strange thing she does with her lips that feels so-"

"Stiles I really don't want to hear it!" Scott covered his ears and gave his friend a look.

"Anyway, so she kissed me, and then I asked her if it had been her in the closet that day. It was, obviously. But then she freaked out even more than she usually does and I have no idea why. She asked me to leave, so I did, but I don't know why. That's pretty much it, man," Stiles finished talking.

"Are you going to find out?" Scott asked him. Stiles had to think about it. He loved her. No questions asked. But he wasn't sure if he could take the truth.

"Hopefully soon." Scott left it alone then, clapping Stiles on the shoulder and pressing play on the screen, but even Gemma Arterton walking around in a skin tight leather costume couldn't distract him.

"It's so painful to watch them pretend they don't feel each other," Allison whispered to Scott on Monday afternoon while she was changing her books. Each had been with their respective best friends all lunch, and both of them had noticed the pained looks on Stiles and Lydia's faces when they accidentally spotted each other.

"I know what you mean. From what you told me, they should already be together," Scott agreed with her. Allison bit her lip, feeling slightly guilty about betraying Lydia's trust. In the long run, both she and Scott knew that when it came down to it, they needed to know the emotional state of their friends, but it wasn't easy to tell her boyfriend someone else's secrets, especially when he had his foot permanently attached to his mouth.

"But that's just it- she thinks he's too good for her. I was totally shocked when she told me that, but the more I think about her feeling that way, the more I think that she actually might be in love with him," Allison told Scott.

"I think they both are. In love with each other," Scott clarified, watching his best friend dart small glances at Lydia, who had her face buried in her locker organising her extremely large stack of textbooks and pretending not to care that she had eyes on her.

"Without a doubt," Allison agreed, her dark umber eyes sliding up slightly to meet Scott's sepia coloured ones. As they locked eyes, Allison was glad that she and Scott didn't suffer from the drama that plagued Stiles and Lydia. Sure, they had their problems, and sometimes they had serious arguments, but there had never been a question of whether or not they were right for each other or that they loved each other.

"I love you," she told Scott, and gave him a quick chaste kiss which he returned.

"I love you too, Allison," Scott replied, and tucked a few strands of her hair behind her ear. Allison broke the gaze and turned to watch Lydia again.

"We're going to have to keep and eye on them, Scott," she said, hooking her fingers through his before shutting her locker door.

"Agreed. But we have to wait. At least give them a chance to work it out for themselves," Scott said. Allison knew he was right. But Friday was Valentines day, and if two people couldn't work it out for the most romantic day of the year, then silver couldn't really kill werewolves.

It was Friday, and Lydia still had no plans for the weekend. Scott and Allison were spending a romantic weekend in his bedroom, and her usual partner in crime was still conspicuously absent. Today was Valentines day, and Lydia had not been asked on a single date, or even offered a rose or chocolates. To make matters even worse, pink and red decorations had gone up in the school over the last few weeks advertising to send a rose or a large candy lollipop to your friends or your current romance. As it was, Lydia was grumpy. But when she saw one of the bright posters in the hallway, she stomped over to it and ripped it straight off the wall, crumpled it into a ball and dropped it, grinding it into the floor with her heel before storming away down the hall. They weren't really needed anymore, and she needed to take her anger out on something. As she reached her locker, she spotted Stiles at his, just over the hall. He closed the door, and saw her coming, quickly scuttling away from her like a rat from a snake. This only worsened Lydia's black mood. She had to explain her actions him, and there was no better time than now.

"Oh no you don't Stilinski," she muttered under her breath and quickened her pace. Stiles looked over his shoulder, spotted her and ducked into the nearest door- or so she thought. As it swung closed, Lydia saw the sign on the front of the door. The men's bathroom. If Stiles thought that that was going to stop her, he had another think coming. Lydia tossed her tresses over her shoulders, then straightened her dress and pushed open the door to the mens room. As she turned the corner, several startled faced turned toward her.

"Everyone who isn't Stilinski, finish your business and get out now," she commanded. The boys rushed to obey her, pulling up their flies and hurriedly washing their hands before booking it out of the room. When only she and Stiles were left, she met his eyes.

"What do you want Lydia. Because last time I checked this was the men's room," Stiles almost spat, venom in his voice. Lydia felt a small lump begin to grow in her throat, but she swallowed it down.

"Look, I know you don't want to talk to me right now. But I need to tell you what was going through my head the other day. We can't keep going around like this, Stiles. So can we please talk?" Lydia begged. Stiles' eyes seemed to soften, and he uncrossed his arms.

"You want to talk, talk," he instructed.

"Okay, so I know I hurt you the other night. I'm incredibly sorry for that, Stiles. I thought that by pushing you away I would be keeping you safe, but I was really keeping myself safe. The truth is, I'm not emotionally ready for a relationship right now. I have trust issues, and while I trust you, I don't trust myself. I care about you too much to let you in further than friendship because if we did get together, I know I would break your heart. You deserve better than what I can give you, Stiles. And that was why I pushed you away. Not because I don't like you, but because I'm not ready to be myself with another person yet," Lydia blurted. Stiles' mouth was hanging open. "You're supposed to say something now, Stiles."

"I- uh. Okay," Stiles says, smiling.

"Okay, what?"

"Okay, we can just be in each other's lives like this. It was what you asked me that night. I'm not saying I'm entirely okay with it, but I can live with it. Especially after what you just told me. I forgive you," Stiles was smiling wanly at her. Lydia launched herself at him, sobbing. She wrapped her arms around his neck and cried into his shoulder. His wiry- yet strong- arms came up and wrapped around her waist, and he held her until she cried herself out.

"I thought I lost you," she told him, sniffling.

"Well, you haven't, okay? I promise, Lydia. I'm not going anywhere," Stiles whispered into her hair. They pulled away from each other, and Lydia grabbed her compact out of her purse, checking her now ruined makeup.

"Look, I have to get to class, but I'll come over to yours tonight. Seven?" Stiles asked her.

"Seven sounds great. Don't eat beforehand. I'll get something for dinner," Lydia told him, smiling, before putting the compact away, recognising it was a larger job. She turned to the large mirror on the wall, and pulling a small make-up case from her bag she set to work on her eyes as Stiles left the bathroom.

Stiles knocked on Lydia's bedroom door that night with apprehension in his stomach. Ms. Martin had let him in on her way out of the house, and Stiles had locked the door behind him as instructed, before making his way up the staircase and past the window seat to Lydia's door. He was nervous to the extreme, and most of his uncertainty was because he didn't know what would happen once he spoke to the girl on the other side. It had taken him a good minute to raise his hand, and another entirely to actually rap the door with his knuckles. Ten seconds after, the door swung open, revealing Lydia dressed in the lilac coloured dress from earlier in the day, but now barefoot and smiling.

"Hey," she greeted him, pulling the door a little wider to let him through before shutting it behind him. Stiles stood awkwardly for a second, before ditching his backpack on the ground and taking his usual seat in her desk chair. Lydia moved back over to the bed and opened the pizza box resting there, taking one look at the pepperoni and chuckling; it had been made into a hear shape.

"You'd think that at least pizza companies would have the good sense not to make people feel like they're alone on Valentine's," Lydia joked.

"Yeah, especially since most of their customers are probably ordering it just to make sure they don't have to go out and watch other people being happy," Stiles continued. Their eyes met, and Stiles knew that everything was going to be okay.

"Well, dig in before it gets cold. And please help me rearrange this disgustingly happy portrait of love," Lydia said, picking up a slice of pizza, and moving the pepperoni slices around so they were even, before biting into the doughy base. Stiles happily picked up a slice and took a large bite. Everything was back to normal. Or, almost, anyway.

Oh, also- the contest is now up and running, so head over to my profile page for the details. You do have to be a member of the site to enter (as you need to PM me), but honestly it takes about two minutes and you could potentially win the chance to have advance access to content or get your own personal one shot (all ratings and nearly all ships). So, if that sounds appealing, hit me up.