A/N: Guys! We're so so so close! Please continue to review/favorite/follow.

Also, let me know, for the sequel, do you guys like these chapter lengths? These are roughly about 3 pages long in Open Office. Right now I have 2 chapters written for the sequel and they're each over 30 pages long. Would you guys read that much per chapter, or would you like them shorter? I don't want the length of the chapter to deter anyone from reading the story. But would you rather have longer chapters and maybe not as frequent updates, or shorter chapters and more frequent updates? I've gotten one vote for longer chapters, but I just want to see what everyone thinks.


05221986

Beacon Hills, Ca.

1501 Hours

The Ivy B&B

Stiles and Lydia spent the rest of night and the first part of their next day just being together and enjoying the Bed & Breakfast. They found the common area that was filled with books and board games. Lydia began searching through some of the books on the shelves, coming across a Japanese to English dictionary. She flipped through a few pages, finding the kanji for 'self' that they had become so familiar with the year before.

Lydia looked back at Stiles who was on the other side of the room, probably touching things he shouldn't. She turned back to the dictionary and scanned a few more pages, seeing the kanji for 'memory.' She quickly closed the book. Thinking about the fact that she wouldn't have these memories once they made it back only made her upset.

"Hey, Lydia!" Stiles said, thankfully pulling her out of those thoughts. "I found a chess board. Wanna play?"

Lydia shrugged. "Actually, I don't know how."

"Then I'll teach you." He told her, and began laying the board and pieces. "It'll be fun." She put the book away and walked over to Stiles who began explaining the rules. It was about an hour later, around 4:00 pm when a girl with curly auburn hair and blue eyes walked in.

Lydia had been facing toward the door so she saw her when she came inside. "Stiles!" Lydia whispered and hit his hand.

"What?" He was preoccupied on his next move. Lydia was a fast learner and he was beginning to think she was going to win.

"It's her." The words took a moment to register before Stiles turned around to see the teenager.

"Hey, Dad." She said happily as she walked over to the man who was at the front desk and kissed his cheek. "Brought you something." She lifted the bag she was carrying. "Picked it up at Tate's after school."

The man licked his lips hungrily as pulled the Styrofoam box out of the bag. He popped it open to reveal a salad, and the look on his face turned to frustration. "I told you I wanted a a bacon cheeseburger."

"And I told you that I wasn't going to be responsible for giving you a heart attack."

He picked up a piece of lettuce and bit into it with a grimace. "There's no flavor. What am I even supposed to eat this with?"

She shrugged. "A fork."

"Aubrey..."

"What?! I'm kidding. There's salt and pepper in the bag."

"Salt and pepper? That's it?"

She nodded. "But not too much salt. That can't be good for you either."

He sighed and closed the lid on his salad. "At this rate I'm going to die from starvation."

"Well, at least it's not a heart attack."

"Ha ha." he said sarcastically.

"So..." She started slowly. "There's a graduation party on Saturday at Beacon Beach. Is it okay if I go?"

"I don't see why not." He sighed. "Just make sure it's okay with your mother."

"Yay! Thank you, daddy!" She threw her arms around her father's neck and then quickly ran out.

Stiles exhaled as he turned back to the game board.

"Did you go get?" Lydia asked. He moved his rook to capture her king.

"Now I have. Check."

Lydia smirked and moved a knight. "Checkmate."

"What?! Wait...how did that... when did you..."

"You were right, this game is fun. Wanna play again?"

"Maybe later." He said with a sigh.

The next morning, Stiles woke up to Lydia shaking him.

"Stiles!"

His eyes popped open, senses on all alert until he realized she was smiling. "Lyd, what...what's going on?" He looked to the window. "It's still dark outside."

"I know. Come with me." He got dressed and Lydia was wearing an over-sized sweatshirt that hung off of one shoulder. She led him to spot at the top of a small hill that looked out over the school.

"Why are we here?" He asked her.

"Because," She began as she pulled him down on the grass. "This is a really great spot to watch the sun rise." She sat in front of him, and he held her close, lacing their fingers together. He moved her hair with his free hand and kissed her neck and shoulder, sending tingles up her spine. Lydia sighed against him.

"God," He mumbled into her neck. "I love you so much."

"I love you too." They sat there, watching the sun rise, and then they sat there a little longer. They watched everybody show up at the school and heard the bell ring at 8:00 signaling the start of the day.

"We should figure out what time that party starts tomorrow at the beach." Stiles suggested. "So we know when to be there."

Lydia nodded. "Good idea." They were about to get up from their spot on the ground when another vehicle pulled into the school parking lot. Stiles froze. "Stiles?" Lydia asked as she looked at him, then turned her head to see what he was staring at.

A powder blue jeep had just pulled in. It hastily parked and a brunette stepped out, her purse spilling over in the process.

"God dammit!" Her voice carried through silent parking lot. She bent down to pick up all of her belongings and rushed toward the school.

"Miss Pasternak," A teacher greeted her. "Late again I see."

The brunette sighed. "I'm sorry. My alarm clock didn't go off this morning."

"You do realize that this is the third time month? That means you have detention. And on the the last day of school too."

"Can you please make an exception... just this once?" She pleaded.

"Go to class, Claudia. We'll talk about this later."

Lydia looked back at Stiles, tears brimmed his eyes and he swallowed them back. "Your jeep belonged to your mom?" She asked finally understanding his attachment to the thing. Stiles nodded and finally stood.

"When I was little, she would take me around in it. After she died, it just sat there, rusting. When I turned 15 and got my permit, I started working on fixing it up. By the time I got my license it was ready to drive again. So yeah...there's just a lot of memories and time put into it for it to go to waste."

Lydia nodded and reached her hand toward his. "I get it." He smiled and she pulled him along until they actually reached the school parking lot. They looked around for a flier anywhere that would tell them what time the party started.

Stiles finally saw a piece of paper sitting on the dashboard of a vehicle that said Graduation Party Beacon Beach 2:00.

"So, now what?" Lydia asked him.

Stiles smiled. "Now? I want to show you something."

He took her hand and they walked to the park. There were parents and their young children playing on the swing sets and jungle gyms, so the teens stayed further back.

"What is this?" Lydia asked him.

"That." Stiles said, pointing to the top of a slide. "Is where I first realized I loved you." Lydia inhaled and turned to him with wide eyes. Stiles continued, "I'd seen you around, but we had never really had a conversation. My mom was starting to get sick, and she had forgotten why she was here. She left me. I went to find her to tell her that I was ready to go and she wasn't there. So, I climbed to the top of the jungle gym. It was the highest point, and I could look out and see if I could see her anywhere." He shook his head. "She was gone. So I sat in the corner. My dad always told me that if I was lost to just stay put and he would find me. So I stayed, and then a little girl walked up to me. She had passed by me a couple of times to go down the slide, but this time she stopped.

"What are you doing up here?"

"Waiting for my dad to find me."

"Are you lost?" He shrugged. "Are you playing hide and go seek?" He shook his head. She groaned. "You're confusing."

Stiles smiled. "I'm not lost because I know where I am. I just think my mom is lost. I don't think she knows where she is. But my dad will find me. He always does. He always figures it out." There was silence. "Do you want to sit down."

She shrugged. "Okay."

"Your hair is really red."

She scoffed. "It's strawberry blonde. I'm Lydia."

"I'm-"

"Stiles!" His dad called.

"What's a Stiles?" Lydia asked.

"Dad!" He called and positioned himself him at the top of the slide. With a look back at the girl he said, "I'm a Stiles! See? I told you he'd find me. Bye, Lydia!" He slid down and ran into his dad's arms and they held each other tightly.