Heoo! It's me, Mario! You guys, my internet sucks right now, so sorry about any spelling and grammar mistakes!

"Can you give me a ride? Allison is going with scott and my aunt needed the car..."

Stiles stood in the middle of his room, staring at the message on his phone. How couldn't ignore Lydia's request, not now that he had read it... Or could he? No, of course he couldn't. They lived in the same neighborhood, he had no reason to not pick her up.

"Pleeease?"

Maybe he was afraid to alone in a car with her? Afraid of what it might happen, what it might make him feel? Nonsense. He had nothing to fear. Stiles was definitely not worried about the things he thought he felt the last time they were together. He was determined not to care so much about things that weren't... Well, important. Lydia was his friend, and he had no problem giving her a ride. That's what friends are for. They give rides.

"Its okay if you cant, i can get a cab"

"No, im on my way", he quickly typed back, shoving his phone on his pocket afterwards. He hung his backpack on his shoulder, grabbed his keys and left his room. Stiles locked the front door on his way out and walked to the blue Jeep parked by the sidewalk. It was old, rusty and beaten up, but also his treasure. He sat behind the wheel, threw his backpack on the backseat and started the engine. The drive to Lydia's lasted less than fifteen minutes, so he was soon parking outside her house. He texted her he was already there and Lydia didn't take long to leave the house, closing the door behind her and walking to the car.

"Nice car," she said, smiling as she climbed in. She furrowed her brow, stuck a hand underneath her leg and from there, she took out a candy wrap. "It's very... you."

"That is the best compliment a car can receive, thank you," he said. Lydia scoffed and rolled her eyes, but couldn't help but smile.

"Hey, your face is getting better," she pointed, turning her body on the seat so she was facing him. Stiles shrugged.

"I don't think so." His cheekbone was now colored with tones of purple and a light green, just like his eye, which was still a little swollen. The cut on his lip hadn't healed yet and it bothered a lot. Stiles could imagine the stares he was about to get as soon as he arrived at the school. "It looks like it's getting worse."

"No, it's getting better," she said, raising a hand and bringing it closer to the side of his face, her skin hovering over his skin. "See this greenish tone around the edges of the bruise? It means it's healing. It'll be gone in a few days."

Stiles ignored the feeling of anticipation caused by the proximity of her touch and just rolled his eyes.

"Why do you have to know everything about everything?"

"I read," she proudly answered, straightening her back. Stiles scoffed and shook his head. The rest of the drive went on a comfortable silence, and he even asked himself why the hell he was even worried about being alone with Lydia. Now the fear didn't make any sense, and maybe it never did.

He parked his Jeep outside the school and they both climbed out.

"Hey, Stiles," Lydia called, elbowing him lightly. She pointed her chin to Malia, who was on her way into the building. Stiles took a deep breath.

"Ok, here I go," he said, hooking his hands on the straps of his backpack. After another deep breath, he began walking towards the blonde.

"Good luck!" Lydia said loud enough so he could hear her. Stiles raised both his thumbs to her then turned his walk into a jog so he could reach his girlfriend.

"Malia!" He yelled. The blonde stopped in her tracks and slowly turned around to face him. Stiles slowed his pace until he stopped in front of her, panting lightly. Malia had spent the rest of the weekend avoiding him, and thought he perfectly understood why she did it, the radio silence only made him feel worse about what happened. So he had time to rehearse his apology, come up with a mentally written scrip with his most sincere - and touching - words. "Can we talk, please?"

Malia just stared at him for a while, clearly deciding whether or not his words were worth listening to while Stiles began to sweat under her gaze. Then she let out a heavy sigh and shrugged.

"Fine," she finally said. Malia walked over to one of the picnic tables on the patio, climbed on the bench and sat on the table. She crossed her arms and legs and looked at him with an arched eyebrow. Stiles nervously licked his dry lips, took a deep breath and sat beside her.

"I'm really, really sorry about our fight last Saturday," he started. "I didn't explain myself correctly, and the whole thing was just a huge misunderstanding..."

"Oh, no, I understood very well the part where you said you are in love with Lydia," she interrupted him, her voice stone cold.

"I was in love with her," he clarified. "I was, past tense, as in I'm not anymore." Stiles sighed and turned his body to Malia, who still faced forward. "You need to know the whole story."

The blonde shrugged again, like she couldn't care less if he was willing to sit there and explain himself of not, but Stiles knew she did care. He could see right through the armor she put on, he could understand what she was feeling even though she put a lot of effort into not showing any weaknesses. Malia had her own defense mechanism, which kept her from getting hurt, and it only got stronger after what happened with Theo. Stiles knew the only way to deactivate it was to be honest, and that was the plan.

"As you know, Scott, Allison, Lydia and I were best friends when we were kids. I don't really remember when I started to have feeling for Lydia, it just happened. Scott was the only one who knew... Well, I recently found out that my dad knew too, so that probably means a lot of people know. The important thing is that Lydia never knew... As far as I know, at least," he said, never taking his eyes off of her. Malia had lowered her head, silently listening to him. "So when she left, I... Man, I was a mess. I couldn't believe I was losing another person I loved. It was just... awful. It was hell."

Stiles wrinkled his nose as he remembered the time right after Lydia's departure. By then he already knew how it felt like to have the floor taken away from under his feet, how it was like to feel the walls crumbling down around him; he had lost his mother when he was seven, he was familiar with that kind of pain. But knowing all that didn't make losing someone so important any easier. Even though Lydia was just moving away, he suffered. Stiles had relied on the exchange of texts and emails, the phone calls that happened time to time, but even that was nothing but a band-aid; it wasn't enough. And when they grew more and more distant until they lost touch, he bled again. The world didn't feel the same; it was graceless and colorless, and he was trapped in it.

The boy shook his head, pushing away the memories. He couldn't get lost in the past anymore, he had to focus on the present.

"It took me years to get over her. I couldn't be in love with Lydia anymore, it didn't make sense. I had to convince myself to get used to her not being here, and that I had to go on with my life... Until, eventually, I didn't hurt anymore. I forgot about her. And then I met you," he continued. The bell rang inside the building and the remaining students hanging out at the patio quickly went to their classes, but neither Malia nor Stiles moved from their table. "I have to admit that I did find you a little intimidating when Allison introduced you. I think it's because you kind of hated boys back then. So I thought: hey, maybe if I'm cool enough, she won't hit me. You know I have the tendency to make people want to hit me, so yeah, my plan had its flaws. But, it worked."

A bubble of laughter escaped Malia's lips, and Stiles smiled when he noticed she was struggling to keep a straight face.

"I had to meet you to know how amazing you are. Not just because you're beautiful, funny and confident, but also because of your personality and the fact that you're stronger than me. In every way. And yes, you're a little intimidating, but it's really hard not to like you, Malia. Even I, recovering from a heartbreak, couldn't help myself." Stiles held one of her hands sitting on her lap and squeezed it lightly. Malia finally turned her head to him, looking him in the eye. "I'm not with you because you made me totally forget about Lydia. I'm with you because I love you. And I don't want you to doubt that, 'cause it's the truth."

Malia was still silent, but the look on her face was way softer. Stiles waited for her, had already said what he wanted, never taking his eyes off of her. To his surprise, she let go of his hand, hopped off the table and hung her backpack on her shoulder. He did the same, standing in front of her.

"Your face looks terrible," she simply said. Stiles frowned, but smiled at the same time.

"Uh, thanks?" He said. "Does that mean we're okay? I can't tell."

To answer his question, Malia leaned in and laid a quick kiss on his lips. Before Stiles could properly react, she pulled away, turned her back to him and started to walk away, not towards the double doors of the building, but towards the parking space.

"Hey, where are you going?"

The blonde stopped walking and turned to him. "I don't know about you, but I really don't feel like spending my time in class today," she answered. Stiles was still confused, so she clarified her plan for the day. "You still have a lot of making up to do."

Malia had a smile playing on her lips, and this time, he fully understood her intentions. "I do?" He asked, grabbing his backpack and going in her direction.

"Yeah, you do," she said, resuming her walk to his car. "But you won't be speaking so much."

Stiles almost stumbled on his feet as he sprinted towards her. Malia chuckled when he put his arm around her shoulders, and neither of them looked back as they left.

Xxxx

"Wow, did you see his face?"

"Such a pity. I wanna take him home and take care of him."

"I heard the other guy got way worse. Apparently he didn't even show up today."

Lydia, who was putting some books in her locker, immediately stopped to hear the two girls talking. She turned her head and saw Theo walking down the hallway with his equally muscular friends by his side. That girl couldn't have been more wrong: Theo looked a hundred times worse than Stiles. He had two black eyes, one of them barely open, a swollen lip, a nasty cut on his eyebrow and colorful bruises. Seeing his beaten up face, Lydia remembered the promise of revenge he had made the night of the party, and she froze.

She knew it was probably not true, but she couldn't help but ask herself if Theo had anything to do with Stiles' absence. Now that Lydia had no reason to trust Theo, if had become easier to believe he could do terrible things.

"Theo!" She called, closing her locker. Theo turned to her, and a malicious grin grew slowly on his face. He said something to his friend and walked alone in her direction. Lydia gulped, and thought her seemed to body refuse to let the space between them grow smaller, she didn't move, and waited until he was standing right in front of her.

"Lydia, Lydia," he said. "How can I help you?"

"What did you do?" She bluntly asked. Theo arched his eyebrows.

"I'm not sure I follow your question, beautiful."

"Don't call me beautiful," she cut him off. "Stiles didn't go to any of his classes, and I know he came to school today. Did you do anything to him?"

Theo stared at her with a blank expression on his face for a few seconds, then he laughed.

"What, you think I lured him into an empty classroom and knocked him out?" Lydia narrowed her eyes as he laughed again. "You really think I'm that stupid?"

"I wouldn't be surprised," she said. Theo shook his head, as if he was disappointed at her.

"I'm not in a hurry to get my payback," he said. "You don't need to keep waiting."

Lydia took a deep breath to calm her nerves. Now that she was face to face with the real Theo - or maybe just the Theo she had refused to see, she was disgusted with herself for wanting so much to be with him.

"I won't let you get near Stiles," she hissed. Theo faked a chocked expression, that only pissed her off. "Whatever your plan is, it's not gonna work."

"What are you going to do, tell the cops?"

"Exactly."

"No you won't, and you know why?" Theo stepped closer and leaning in, drawing her mouth close to her ear. "Because if you open your mouth, I'll send him before they catch me. I'm not kidding. If the cops come after me, you will regret it. And so will him."

His closeness made Lydia hold her breath, and his words made her shiver. Theo had a dangerous glow in his eyes - which could easily be madness too, - and she knew that he meant every word he said. Lydia didn't really want to know the things he had in mind while making such threats. She was one of the only - maybe the only person who knew about his plans, and he thought she wouldn't do anything to stop it? Lydia would not take this deal.

"Theo, please," she pleaded, grabbing the front of his shirt with both her hands. "Don't do this, please, I'm asking you... I'm begging you. I'll do whatever you want, just don't hurt him..."

Theo looked down at her hands, fisting his shirt, then slowly lifted his eyes. The begging left a bad taste on Lydia's mouth, but she stood her ground. That malicious grin slowly found its way back to his face and it was a terrifying view. The redhead was afraid of what was coming next, but she knew she would do everything she could to protect Stiles.

"Whatever I want?" He asked.

"Anything," she said confidently.

"Be my revenge."

Lydia frowned, confused. "What?"

"Imagine seeing someone you love dating someone you hate. It must suck right? Even more if you can't do anything about it."

The girl let go of his shirt and took a step back, understanding immediately the meaning of his words.

"You're disgusting," she spat.

"Hey, it was basically your idea!" He said, smiling widely. "So you're gonna be my girlfriend, and I want you to be convincing. I want him to believe that you're madly in love with. It's that simple."

Lydia restrained herself not to lay one more punch on his face. His proposal was absurd and indecent, and it was not surprising at all that something like that would come from a jackass like Theo. Pretend to be his girlfriend would be hard and dirty job, and it would put her in a position she had never imagined herself in. But it was worth to break a few of her rules it that meant Stiles would be fine.

"If I say yes," she said, controlling her voice, "do you promise to leave Stiles alone?"

"I promise." Theo raised a hand as if he was making a serious oath. Lydia knew his word wasn't worth much, but the promise did relieve her a little bit.

"And for how long will I have to put up with this?"

"Undetermined," he answered. Lydia opened her mouth to argue, but he lifted a finger to silence her. "This is my revenge, Lydia, I'll say how this is going to work. Are you in or not?"

She took a deep breath. Stiles had protected her many times before; it was time for her to do something in return.

"I'm in."