"So…" Allison traced her fingers over the armrest of the lawn chair. "Jackson's pretty hot." Allison wasn't sure why she'd been so focused on it throughout the day. He had gorgeous lips, perfect skin, and amazingly soft hair. She could see why Scott thought he was attractive.

"That's why I'm dating him," Lydia said.

Allison glanced at her. She knew there was more to Lydia and Jackson than physical attraction, more than social currency. Lydia had never told her, but she could see it. There were lots of tiny hints. Allison looked over the skyline. San Francisco was beautiful; she wished she'd been able to see the sunset. She pulled her phone out of her purse, it was almost midnight.

She shivered; the night had turned colder than she'd thought it would. Lydia shifted her weight, reached down to grab the blanket at the foot of the chair they were sharing. Allison smiled when Lydia draped it over them.

"I love Scott." Allison wanted that to be clear. It was one of, if not the most important thing in her life. They'd beaten odds that could have torn other people apart, both in a relationship sense as well as an actual physical sense.

"I know. He loves you too." Lydia brushed a lock of hair away from her face, turned to regard Allison. "I'm starting to think you might have a crush on Jackson though."

Allison turned away, didn't want Lydia to see the color in her cheeks. She couldn't get Jackson off her mind. Ever since they'd left the hotel room she wondered what he was doing. Part of her thought it was because he was with Scott, that they were together. There was another part of her, some baser part she'd not confronted before that told her she wanted him on a more primitive level. It was just so odd because she'd never really thought of him like that before, and she'd seen him soaked and wearing only a tiny pair of swim trunks. She'd liked what she'd seen.

She wondered if that's how Scott felt, not about the swim trunks specifically, but in general. If he had some rumbling desire in his belly that he couldn't put a name to. She rubbed her thumbs over her eyelids, she'd had a sort of headache ever since she'd drank whatever the group had shared in the hotel room.

"I thought hangovers weren't supposed to happen until the day after." Allison pouted, rifled through her purse looking for some pain relievers.

"I imagine it's probably due to whatever was in the bottles Stiles poured us. Something tells me he didn't manage to get it from the local liquor store." Lydia turned in the chair, retrieved a bottle of water from a shopping bag sitting next to them. She handed it to Allison.

"Thanks, Lydia." Allison took the bottle, poured a few Advil out of the small case she'd found in her purse. She washed them down with a mouthful of water, rested her head against the cool plastic of the bottle.

Her thoughts drifted for a few moments, content with the silence they were sharing. She'd had a lot of fun with Lydia through the day. The boys were going to be so jealous that they'd won the scavenger hunt. She glanced at the door they'd have to come through to join them. She wondered how much longer they'd be. She couldn't wait to hug Jackson.

Allison sat up, shook her head. Jackson? No, she couldn't wait to hug Scott. She couldn't wait to kiss him, watch him squirm a little nervously as her fingers brushed through his blonde… through his black hair.

"I think there's something wrong with me," Allison whispered.

Lydia reached out, placed the back of her hand against Allison's forehead. "You feel a little warm, but nothing too bad."

Allison looked away. Why couldn't she stop thinking about Jackson? "What am I going to do?"

"About what?" Lydia turned, pillowed her head with one hand against the back of the chair. "About Scott?"

Allison turned, mirrored Lydia's posture, but couldn't meet her gaze. "I love him."

Lydia nodded. "Everyone knows that."

"I'm just not sure that… I'm not sure that I'm enough for him." It stung to speak the words, to put them out in the open where another person could hear them. It was like confessing her greatest fears. She was terrified that giving voice to it would make it real.

Lydia rolled her eyes. "Of course you are, he practically lives and breathes you. Is this about him and Jackson?"

Allison chewed her lower lip. Jackson and Scott, she had no idea what was going on. She understood the history; she understood what had happened at the beach. What happened there hadn't stayed there. It came home with them, they'd all been changed by that single week in ways that none of them had been expecting when they left.

"Maybe he's gay and too afraid to tell me." Allison didn't want to lose him; he was just as important to her as she was to him.

Lydia scoffed. "Please, it's 2012. Things aren't always black and white. The world has a lot of grey in it. Not everything can be classified."

Allison glanced at Lydia's eyes; they were focused on her face, searching her for something. "It's not really 2012 yet."

Fireworks exploded, lit up the night. Booms from the explosions reverberated in her chest. They were up so high, caught in the middle of the show. Different colors painted the night, burning lines trailed through the darkness. Allison held her breath as she watched.

"Looks like we win," Lydia said.

Allison turned to look back at her. "It's midnight."

Lydia nodded. "No boys to kiss, what a bunch of losers."

Allison chewed her lower lip again. She thought about Scott, thought about Jackson. She knew what she was going to do. She'd just have to find the words to explain it, to let Scott know that she understood he needed time to figure things out. She wasn't going anywhere. She'd wait for him. She wasn't going to push him away. Scott lived in the middle of two worlds; maybe the Jackson thing was an extension of that. For some reason, tonight, it was like she could see Jackson the way Scott did. It made sense to her, she'd have to wait and see what happened.

"Just because boys aren't here doesn't mean we have to miss the midnight kiss." Allison tilted her head down, looked at Lydia through the hair that fell in her face. "Not like we've never kissed before."

"True," Lydia looked down at her hands. "No boys here to impress though."

Allison scooted closer to Lydia, felt the chair wobble as she changed positions. If Scott was allowed to try to figure out what was confusing him, she should be allowed to do the same. "Was that all it was about last time?" Lydia's perfume smelled wonderful. Her scent was so clean, so different from Scott or any of the boys. She wondered what it would be like to smell Lydia with a werewolf's senses.

"Is it all you wanted it to be about?" Lydia reached out, brushed Allison's hair out of her face.

"I don't know." Allison turned her face against Lydia's hand.

"That's okay; we have time to figure it out. Not just you and I, but Scott and Jackson too. None of us are going anywhere. We can figure out what it all means together."

Allison leaned forward, met Lydia half way. Their lips brushed together softly. Smooth fingers brushed along Allison's cheek, so different from Scott's lacrosse calloused hands. She didn't know what it meant, but Lydia had been right, they'd have time to figure it all out together. They kissed softly, gently, underneath the flowers of light blooming in the sky.