A/N: Thanks to Soul of the Wind who beta-read this chapter for me and sorry for taking so long, feeling a bit under the weather at the moment.

Weregrrrl13, well Lydia ought to be used to creepy things by now ;) There will be enough time for Peter and Lydia, although the other characters won't be forgotten either ...

sharonpijl, thanks, I've include more of those little moments between them and hope to keep that trend up.

SecretsofNelle, We'll see if Peter really always gets what he wants. *eg*

Chapter 21 - The Grand Scheme

Lydia felt warm when she woke up, but it wasn't the heat of another body that made her feel this way. As she looked around her, she saw that the sun was shining on her. The blinds were wide open allowing the dark satin sheets to absorb all the warmth. Lydia assumed it was closer to noon by the position of the sun. There was no alarm clock or watch to give her a more precise idea of the time.

Stretching under the covers she was not quite ready to get up; not because Lydia had not slept well, but because it was so comfortable. As she yawned and turned, snuggling against the blanket, she heard Naira and Peter's voices from behind the door. They were talking about going someplace and doing something together now that Rubèn was in need of more rest.

It turned out, they were of course waiting for her, because obviously she could not be left alone. Lydia sighed, she hated to be reminded of the fact that she had not only a homicidal werewolf coming after her but also a bloodthirsty zombie lord who was powerful enough to murder her in her sleep. Making her wonder if maybe her parents mundane life wasn't that bad in comparison. It certainly wasn't an option for her anymore, she was stuck in this supernatural mess.

Curiosity won out. Lydia wondered what the others were up to and she certainly wanted to know more about what they were doing now that they knew about one of the beings involved in the killing spree in Beacon Hills. She put on the robe and freshened up in the bathroom, deciding that she might shower later, if she knew for what occasion to get dressed. Not that she had the best selection of clothes with her.

They weren't surprised to see her, most likely having heard her in the bathroom. Naira was sitting at the dinner table while Peter sat on the couch with the laptop on his knees.

"Slept well?" he asked.

It seemed kind of obvious that he knew she did. Lydia didn't felt like allowing him to take credit for that. "I would have slept even better if had my own bed to sleep in." She wanted to add that have her bed to herself but she knew that wouldn't have been the case.

"I don't blame you for being upset, but we're going to solve this," Peter said, carefully weighing his words. "Then we'll see about where you really want to sleep."

Lydia shook her head, almost admiring his persistence. Nonetheless, there was something about this notion that whatever happened, she was bound to see just how much better she would be off with him, that really made her feel uncomfortable.

Even though she had begun to feel surprising comfortable with the arrangement so far. Lydia was aware she shouldn't feel this way and guilt over it put a damper on everything.

The way she had left things with Aiden was absolutely horrible. Even though she hadn't exactly wanted it to go that way, she knew the damage was probably too great overcome. It might be fixable if she cared enough, if she honestly loved Aiden. That was the most glaring problem: she just did not. She liked him, Aiden had worked wonders when it came to distracting her from feeling miserable about Jackson dumping her not once but twice, but she hadn't been ready or even wanted something permanent.

For the longest time she had thought Aiden was perfectly alright with this. As it turned out he did care more about her than he had let on. Lydia thought maybe him going up against Kali and thus by extension Deucalion showed that and she just didn't want to see it for what it was. He, and also Ethan, had done nothing but look out for her to the best of their abilities, even though sometimes Aiden's reactions had been less than helpful.

Now, Lydia was asked by the woman who shot Ethan, if she wanted breakfast. "I'm not sure if you drink coffee, but there's tea." Naira continued, seeming rather happy with offering. "I must say even for a bachelor kitchen, Peter's badly stocked. But I went out and bought some oranges and fresh toast."

"Thanks," Lydia answered a bit taken back, "I guess, I should eat - sounds like you have something planned for today."

Naira smiled and walked over to the kitchen, "Might take a moment, not sure you've time to get dressed though."

"That's okay, we're in no hurry," Peter said and shut the top of his laptop. "Yoon won't be able to come by until later tonight, but she'll try to find out more about our Zombie Lord problem."

Then there was this pause as if he thought about telling her something else and Lydia took the continuing silence as a sign that Peter decided against that. She wasn't having any of that. "What is it?" she demanded to know.

Exhaling and exchanging glances with Naira, Peter finally threw up his hand. "Why not? You have a right to know. Last night, probably shortly before you went to sleep, there was another attack."

"The Zombie Master?" Lydia felt somewhat numb, she knew there wasn't anything she could've done to prevent it but she still felt badly about the bodies piling up and wondering how many more there would be before she was able to find these particular body parts.

"Two students - probably a year below you - they were making out in a parking lot and had their romantic time cut short," Peter rolled his eyes. "I suppose their parents were now wishing they'd been a bit more open minded about their sons being gay."

"We don't know any names yet - just that they were 16 and went to Beacon Hills High school."

"And that they both disregarded curfew," Lydia said flatly.

If she had ever questioned the value of that arbitrary deadline to stay home, she had now proof that it had it's use. But it couldn't be the answer to everything, teens should be free to make out in a car in the middle of nowhere. After all not all parents were so open minded and let their sons or daughters bring their boyfriends or girlfriends home.

"It's a bad time to be a teenager in Beacon Hills," Peter mused and then added, "Well, not sure there is ever a good time to be one."

"So what else are we doing today?" Lydia asked to change the topic.

Whatever Peter and his pack had planned for today, she hoped it was nothing that would create more conflict between them and her friends. That was spot she didn't want to be caught in the middle of. It was bad enough that was able to give Peter an alibi for one of the killings, which she hoped would not be necessary, but useful and also aggravating if her friends kept insisting Peter was behind those killings.

Even though they should be happy, that with her help Peter had identified one of the killers or rather the puppet master behind the killings, Lydia imagined her friends being less than thrilled that the answer came from Peter. Yet, it seemed to make so much sense that he'd be able to do this, given how he was always looking for more knowledge and had was part witch, too.

Peter leaned back and made himself comfortable on the couch. "Since Rubèn is out of commission, at least when it comes to fighting, Naira's going to spar with me. So we're heading out into the woods."

"Oh wonderful," Lydia rolled her eyes. She had never been too fond of the great outdoors and since her two day naked sprint through the woods Lydia had grown a deeper dislike of it.

"Not much of a nature child?" Naira said amused from behind the kitchen counter.

"That's probably my fault," Peter admitted but without the slightest hint of guilt. "Without intending to I've made her run naked through the forest ."

"For two days," Lydia fumed, not believing the unintentional bit.

Peter grinned. "If only I could figure out how I did that …"

There was no telling if he was serious about it, but Lydia wasn't amused. She gave him a scathing look before she heard Naira speak up. "Well, nature child after all."

Lydia wanted to say something as she felt flustered by the comment until she saw the smile on her face and realised it had been meant humorously. That was certainly more than she could say about the other kids at school. She had done her best to ignore the looks and whispers but ultimately Lydia couldn't deny that the way everyone had looked at her as if she were some kind of freak. That had gotten to her.

It had been one of the reasons why she had felt so close to the vision of the younger Peter, who had made her feel somewhat normal. Of course, when she had found out who he was and that he hadn't even been there, the betrayal had stung even worse. At least, if not physical he had been real after all, but for a time she had felt like one of those lunatics: going out of her mind with a voice telling them what to do. It had exactly been that, with the difference that the voice had been Peter and he had been all too real in the end. This whole supernatural thing wasn't a made up unnatural fantasy anymore for her. It was part of the natural word even though it couldn't be quite explained by scientific methods. At least it defied most tools of observation and that made it so hard to make sense of all of this. Like the Greater Zombie master reaching out to her through her dreams and for some reason Peter blocking that.

Lydia didn't need to wait long before, Naira brought her a fantastic breakfast. The type of breakfast her mom had made for her before she had outgrown playing house: none of that icky fatty stuff that clogged the pores, but delicious whole wheat toast, low fat bacon with relatively fresh salad and an orange already peeled with the slices ready to be eaten. Rounded up by a steamy cup of tea.

"It's not much," Naira said and sat down, "but I already used the other stuff to make sandwiches for later. And I hope I did alright, 'cause usually Rubèn does all the cooking."

Not sure if Naira was again bringing up that he had been badly injured to make it harder for Lydia to be mad at her for shooting Ethan or if she was honestly worried about the outcome. Then Peter said from the couch, "If Rubèn or anyone complains they can do them the next time."

The two women looked at each other and laughed. Peter sounded like this was totally irrelevant to him, as Naira had pointed out earlier: typical bachelor kitchen with a bare minimum of supplies. Clearly, those bookmarked restaurant pages where the main source of Peter's dinners.

"So what does Rubèn do then, when he's not chasing crooks with you?" Lydia decided to ask, surprisingly out of real interest. While it was certainly not accurate, when a man cooked that immediately made her think he might be a chef.

"He actually has a Master in Chemistry and a bachelor in Mathematics", Naira began and then looked in Peter's direction as if she wasn't sure if she should continue. Lydia looked over as well and Peter just shrugged. "Rubèn is going to be your new chemistry teacher."

"You really planned this out," Lydia said feeling slightly chilly about this.

Naira smiled. "Well, it wasn't that hard to get the permanent teaching positions - not with Rubèn's credentials, the ongoing killings and the high school's reputation for teachers dying an unnatural death."

That was a good point, their substitute teachers had changed every other week, but the thought of one of Peter's betas being in the school in an official capacity was weird. It would create tension with her friends. Since she felt actually hungry she just gave an agreeing nod and finished her breakfast in silence.

Almost, since she still had two orange slices left when the door of the guestroom opened and Rubèn walked out.

On his chest and belly were deep reddish scars, where Ethan claws had torn him open. Lydia realised she had forgotten how dangerous both Twins could be. Just because Ethan seemed more reasonable didn't mean that he couldn't be dangerous either, whether he started this or not, those injuries looked pretty serious. Despite his overall healthy skin tone, Rubèn looked rather pale and his steps were taken with care.

"Morning?" he said looking around.

Lydia assumed he was looking for a clock, being just as disoriented about the time as she had been when waking up. Now, that she thought about it, she had no idea what time it was either. It just hadn't occurred to her to ask after the warm welcome from Naira. Watching her go over to her man and carefully hug him, kissing him and wishing him a good morning, it was so hard to see her as someone who shot people unprovoked. It wasn't much different from seeing Ethan with Danny though, only that she knew from the others about the twins beating each other up and their readiness to engage in violence. There was Boyd, as much as they might regret that in hindsight - they had helped to kill him.

"Look at you, mi forajido", Naira said, kissing him gently on the lips, before she leaned against his shoulder. "I thought those wounds would never close."

Rubèn wrapped his arm around her and rested his head on hers. Lydia had to admit they were really cute couple for people over thirty.

"I told you he'd be fine." In a swift move Peter stood up looked at his wounds before rolled his eyes. "There's nothing sadder than seeing a wolf being so domesticated."

Ruben laughed a bit and then snuggled up with his cheek against Naira's hair. She on the other hand reached for a cushion from the sofa and threw it into Peter's face. Lydia was sure he was quick enough to grab it before the impact but Peter just let it hit and fall back on the sofa. Making a mental note of this, she was sure that this might prove useful later if she wanted to throw Peter off guard. Maybe not cutesy little nicknames but some gentle affection was certainly something that got to him.

"I assure you, when he's in top form, he's everything but," Naira said and let out a suggestive little growl.

"TMI," Peter stated, even though he and Rubèn shared a very meaningful looking glance.

Remembering the incredible intensity of the sex during that ritual, Lydia began feeling warm and like she understood exactly what those two meant. "I'm going to get dressed," Lydia said and practically fled the scene.

"I'm going to get you a shirt," Peter said to Rubèn before he followed her into bedroom. Lydia had expected him to say something to her but instead he went to the mirror covered wall of wardrobes and took out a shirt and a sweater.

"I need to get a working cell phone - with my number or at least I need to be able to give my parents the new number," Lydia sighed, the thought that her parents would get involved in this and got hurt scared her.

"We can go shopping tomorrow, then you can call them," Peter looked at her as if he tried to read for what purpose she wanted to contact them. In theory she could complicate everything by telling them parts of what happened.

"What if they call today, what if they already called?" Lydia pointed out. If he was worried that she intended to make trouble, she was willing to admit that she had no such intentions. "I honestly don't want them to get involved. I want to make sure they stay away for as long as possible."

"Don't worry, they won't interfere," Peter told her calmly.

Despite his neutral expression the words alarmed her. "What do you mean?"

"I tell you about it later," he said turning towards the door.

"No, you tell me now," Lydia wasn't going to let him get away with it. She was just a bit surprised with how loud she had spoken. Peter stopped in his tracks and looked at her for a moment. "If you insist."

"I do," she said again wondering if there was ever anything that upset him. The only instance she recalled was his reaction towards Deucalion which sent a shiver over her skin.

"No, reason to fret, it's nothing bad," he leaned against the commode holding the clothes for Ruben in front of him. "You remember the potion I used for the bath?" She nodded, feeling even more tense at this reminder, and Peter continued. "I ordered a little charm from the same witch. Your parents believe you are already eightteen."

A big loud "what" was burning in her mind but it came out just as feeble little word. Two weeks before her birthday her parents had told her about this new job offer and that they would spend a lot more time in L.A., that when she turned eighteen they would rent out the house, under the condition that she could still live there. Lydia hadn't taken it serious at this time but it explained a lot about her mother constantly taking so many clothes with her. With all the killings they had almost moved away and just Lydia insisting that she wanted to stay here had convinced them not to. So much about her parent's behaviour made suddenly sense.

But she had been too wrapped up with her research and spending time with her friends that she hadn't really noticed. Lydia was used to her parents never having much time. She was good at ignoring stuff if she wanted to.

"You planned all of this," Lydia felt all the colour drain from her cheek. "This wasn't about protecting them, you wanted them out of the way so you had better access to me."

He shrugged. "I've always said you're smart. In a way, I did protect them - maybe not from this particular danger - but being around a banshee is dangerous for ordinary people."

It should come as no surprise, she had know he had been planning this but the implication for this far reaching plan were truly sinister. Sooner or later she would have noticed that her parents weren't returning then the charm would have been exposed. Unless, she kept silent which she most likely only have done if something threatened their lives and without the killing sprees she was pretty sure that threat would have been Peter.

Too speechless for words, she let him walk out and sat down on the bed. Every irrational, emotional part of her wanted to rush out of the door, but she was too numb. As she began thinking about the consequences, she realized the way things were she couldn't just do that. The situation was too serious and whatever Peter wanted from her was a worry that could wait until people stopped dropping dead every other day.

Trying to stand up her knees trembled badly and she let herself sink down again. Lydia told herself she shouldn't be surprised that Peter had a sinister plan. It was good to find out now, as she had already felt too comfortable here. It was her own mistake for forgetting what a manipulative and ruthless bastard he was.

After taking in a few deep breath she stood up, got her clothes out, and then set a new record for the quickest shower of her life. She had no intention of hanging around for long in the bathroom. Being naked was only half of the problem. Seeing that her neck had turned blue and purple along with the cold surroundings of this bathroom made her think about Deucalion's attack on her.

Instead she rushed back to the bedroom and was glad that she had packed some sensible clothes for being outdoors. Lydia put on jeans, a shirt and a sweater. Around this time of the year walking around the woods in a short skirt wasn't the best idea. She just wished she had a better selection, because this sweater wasn't a good match with these jeans. The shoes weren't the best either for whatever they planned to do later on.

As Lydia walked into the main room, she saw that Rubèn was also fully clothed and busy eating a late breakfast. With Naira at his side he sat facing the sofa, where Peter lounged with a particularly bored expression. They looked at her briefly when she entered the room but didn't stop their conversation.

"... you think they know?" Rubèn asked.

"They'll find out soon enough, Deaton knows already - secrecy doesn't count for much anymore," Peter replied and got up.

"What secrets?" she asked.

Naira smiled. "Yoon said you've already figured it out."

They had been talking about Yoon being Peter's emissary and Lydia wondered what the Twins might do to Yoon if they knew. Had they already figured it out? There had to be a reason why Ethan showed up at the shop. It had to be something he noticed in the shop. It had occurred to her before but it only made her wonder if she hadn't chatted so long with Yoon all of this might not have happened. Throwing her hair back, she took a deep breath refusing to accept that her wanting to talk to someone was in any way responsible. The twins only wanted to protect her. In doing as much, they also decided whom she is allowed to talk to and Lydia didn't like that one bit. If they were simply protecting her, they would head her wishes, but they went a step further and were controlling her. Just as Peter tried to do and she had enough of it.

"Do you honestly think that the twins would go after Yoon, if they found out?" Lydia asked all of them even though a more urgent request burned on her mind.

Peter shrugged. "With those two? Who knows? They aren't exactly known for being great thinkers. Putting Yoons abilities and her wit against their brute force, I'd bet on her every time."

"You know her best," Naira agreed seeming less worried.

Rubèn wasn't as easy convinced. "Is it really your confidence in her or do you merely not care that much. After all you never really trusted the druids."

"I've reasonably faith in her," Peter said entirely unoffended by being questioned like this. "The moment I got to know her, she'd be the perfect emissary for me. Honestly, I'm probably the only alpha who'd accept Yoon."

"So are we ready to go then?" Naira said looking at Lydia.

This was the moment, taking a step forward, Lydia put her feet firmly on the ground. "Not yet, before we go, I want to call my parents."

Proud with how firm her voice sounded, she tried to match it with stares. The two betas looked confused at them, she had seen Naira briefly as she spoke and could make out Rubèn's surprised mimic behind Peter. As in most situations he wasn't really phased by this open challenge, she was sure he let her sweat for a moment on purpose. If he said no, she doubted that the other two would side with her, so Lydia knew this could turn potentially nasty if Peter didn't let her call them.

"Of course," he finally said and picked up the spare cell from the couch table and rose. As he handed it to her Peter calmly stated leaning in: "Just don't blame me, if you break the spell and bring them back to the battlefield."

Lydia felt a frown appear on her face. She hated it so much that by serving his own nefarious purposes, Peter had actually removed her parents out of harms way. "As long as I don't contradict their beliefs about my age, that shouldn't be a problem - should it?"

"I'm confident you'll find the right words." Peter stated despite having hinted that she might not.

Somewhat annoyed and not really feeling obliged to be grateful, she took the phone and strode back to the bedroom. Her mother's cell phone was one of the numbers she could remember easily despite always using the built-in phonebook to call her. The cell rang for a long time and Lydia feared her mother might be away from it, getting a facial or pedicure.

Then her mother's curious voice was on the line. "Eleanor Martin, who is this?"

Hearing that voice, however posh it sounded, was making Lydia feel a lot better. "Mom, it's me, Lydia."

"Oh, Darling, something wrong with your phone?" Her mother's spot on conclusion made her laugh a bit hysterical for a second. It was so right and yet such an understatement. Luckily, she caught herself in time and replied much calmer: "Someone destroyed it. I thought I better call you in case you got worried."

"Oh, that is so thoughtful - but you've always taken care of yourself and I'm sure once that nice young man moves in, you'll be much safer with everything going on."

There her jaw dropped again, suddenly she made the connection between her parents mentioning that maybe they could rent the place out and Peter's little memory alteration. Her parents had not planned to go on a long spring break trip to connect business and pleasure. Her mom had not just moved more clothes to her dad's place because they were getting back together. As always they had talked to her about this life changing events in such a discreet way that it totally gone over her head. Lydia felt a bit ill, when she realised that her parents had actually mentioned not three weeks ago that they'd hoped there be time for the three of them to get acquainted with whomever would move in once Lydia would be eighteen.

Which for her parents had been last week - but as always her dad's job had come first. If they ignored her sweet sixteen why not her coming of age birthday?

Lydia had no doubt that Peter had been able to charm the hell out of her parents, enough to entrust the house and her safety to him. They probably hadn't counted on this happening so soon, they had after all said at the end of spring break the wanted her to meet someone. Holding back a groan of frustration, she asked: "Yeah, I've met him."

"Oh, that is wonderful - has he mentioned when he's moving in? I'd feel so much better knowing there's a man in the house."

Lydia doubted her mother would feel that way if she told her that it had been Peter who had attacked her after the formal but she held her breath. "Probably as soon as the repairs are done," Lydia had begun, "There was a break-in today, my windows got damaged and now I'm staying with friends."

"Oh my, are you alright?" Her mother said concerned. "Is the damage bad? Should we come back?"

"No need," Lydia said and sat down on the edge of the bed. "Everything will be taken care of. I'm fine."

"I know we probably should've involved you more, but there was so little time. We signed the lease yesterday so tomorrow the lawyer should have it. Why not let Mr. Hale handle this," her mother said sounding unsure if she should trust Lydia's assessment of being fine.

"Don't worry, I'm sure he will," Lydia replied, doing her best to hide the cynicism in her voice.

"If there's anything that troubles you - do remember going to therapy - it helped you so much the last time," her mother said fairly enthusiastical.

She had of course no idea that her visions and most of her erratic behaviour had ebbed away because she hadn't a psychotic undead werewolf spooking through her head anymore. It was a reminder how much removed her mother was from the reality of Lydia's life in Beacon Hills. Lydia couldn't resist to find out what could possible have compelled her parents to place that kind of trust in a person they barely knew.

"I know you mentioned this," Lydia sighed recalling how she had been totally uninterested in hearing about someone renting the house under the condition that she could stay there, "but honestly what do you even know about him?"

"Don't worry, we vetted him thoroughly - trust us, Darling," her mother said, being so blissfully ignorant toward the truth. "He hasn't even gotten a parking ticket and he's so nice. Don't you think so?"

"Yes, he seems very nice," Lydia lied through her teeth - literally - while putting an emphasis on seems that swept by her mother.

"Oh, I'm sorry," her mother began, "your dad and I are invited and I still need to get dressed properly."

"Sure, mom," she replied disillusioned, "have fun."

"Thank you, darling and call if there's anything."

After ending the call, Lydia let out a deep sigh. While she knew she couldn't have know about her parents being bewitched, it was still typical of them to make these decisions almost completely without her. It hurt. Lydia was used to being left alone ever since she was little, but seeing how fast her mother jumped at the chance to resume their socialite big city life was particularly painful.

Yet, it had been easy for Lydia not to disrupt the spell. She knew her mother or even her dad wouldn't come back to Beacon Hills any time soon. With another sigh, she fell back on the bed and stared up at the ceiling.

While Lydia had come to appreciate the fact that Peter helped her with the Greater Zombie Freak that went after her in her dreams and was willing to stop the killings, she hated the precision with which he was taken over her life. It made her feel powerless and weak, especially since she didn't trust herself with him. It was an all around infuriating situation.

Getting a better idea about what Peter's long term plans were was making her afraid was else she might discover. This current crisis was clearly just a roadblock for him and Lydia had the feeling that Peter would turn his attention to the other werewolves as soon as it was out of the way.

Even though Lydia had heard Peter enter the room some time after she had hung up, she didn't bother to acknowledge his presence: she was excessively staring holes in the ceiling. He sat down on the bed next to her and Lydia was aware that he was staring at her. It was like he was trying to break off a staring contest. Lydia wasn't in the mood for games. So she sat up and the moment she saw that amused curl of his lips, she reacted almost involuntary.

With one hard push she nearly got him off the bed. Instead of falling over the side, Peter caught his balance and with a quick motion he pushed her back. Seconds later he straddled and thus trapped her. Peter began slowly leaning down towards her. Angry and overcome with a slight feeling of panic, she slapped him. Which was doing nothing, Peter didn't even stopped his movement.

Remembering vaguely what Allison had told her about self defence, Lydia aimed with her palm for his nose and put all her energy into the hit. It was no effort for him to grab her wrist and the other when she tried to slap him with her free hand. Both hands were now trapped behind her head and Peter was just inches away from kissing her.

Lydia shivered despite this feeling of intense warmth going through her body. Her nipples were hard and rubbed against the fabric of her shirt with every impossible long breath she took.

"Get off of me!" Lydia yelled.

Her voice was filled with anger, but she felt it shake a bit. It wasn't like she could stop him, even though she wasn't entirely sure she wanted him to. Lydia felt that if this kiss happened, she wouldn't be able to say no once it was over. When it came to sex, she never saw a good reason to say no to a hot guy, but this was different. There were plenty of reasons to say no to Peter.

It seemed to work. He stopped and then in a quick move sat upright. A very calculated looking disappointment loomed over his face. Seconds later Lydia felt his weight being lifted from her and Peter stood beside the bed. "Here, I thought you wanted to express your anger in a more constructive way."

"Give me a bottle and I'll be happy to express my anger appropriately," Lydia shot back.

"That didn't seem to do you much good last time," he said clearly amused. "With your apparent need for closeness, I just went to the obvious conclusion."

Peter might try to turn this into her sending the wrong signal to him but she wasn't going to let him. His smirk alone told Lydia that this whole scene had been a demonstration of power. She considered whether this was also a warning. Her attempts to throw him off by initiating contact had worked and maybe this was his way to tell her to stop.

"Believe me, when I'm in the mood for sex, I'm more than capable to use very clear words."

It was true and yet saying it to Peter felt weird, but she needed to make this clear. There was still the chance that Peter wouldn't really care, as he had clearly demonstrated on her birthday. Yet, Lydia appreciated that she had backed up immediately, when she told him to. She liked to think that the ritual had been a one time occasion.

"You think far too much about sex." Peter replied with a shrug. "I actually just wanted to kiss you." Then he looked at her just long enough to take in the sour look on her face, before he turned and walked out of the room. When he reached the door, he asked. "Are you coming?"

"I guess me not going isn't an option?"

It was more a rhetorical question, but she got her answer almost the next second. "No."

As protesting needlessly wasn't her style and getting some fresh air was certainly not the worst thing in the world, she stood up, got her jacket and walked out into the living room with her head held high. Peter had already slipped into a grey jacket and she wondered where Naira and Rubèn were. Without saying much more, Peter opened the door of the apartment and waited until she had walked out. Then he locked it and they headed towards the elevator.

A/N: Next chapter two characters finally return to Beacon Hills - hope it won't take me so long to get that chapter ready to post.