Sorry this took a bit longer to upload. My computer's hard drive decided to become disconnected, so I needed to get that fixed. But here ya go, chapter 3! Probably 2 more to go!

Lydia was used to crazy shit blurting out of Stiles' mouth at any given time. The guy's ADHD prevented him from being able to filter pretty much anything and that led to some serious accusations and interesting conversations. However, even with the knowledge that Stiles' mind typically moved at one thousand miles per minute, she still couldn't believe his latest theory.

"You have got to be kidding me." Lydia scrunched her nose and narrowed her eyes at Stiles. "You want to risk getting detention for the rest of the school year because of a bracelet you saw our literature teacher wearing? Are you actually serious?"

"It wasn't just any bracelet, Lydia!" Stiles threw up his hands and gave her a wide-eyed stare, frustration oozing out of him. "It most definitely had some weird Celtic pentagram-looking symbol on it…maybe."

She pursed her lips. "Is it definite or maybe? Because it can't be both and they have very different outcomes."

"Definite, okay?" Stiles ran his hand through his hair, successfully making it look messier than it already did. He was starting to look a little mentally unstable with the wide eyes and bedhead. "You remember the last time we had a run in with something Celtic, don't you?"

Closing her locker door with a sharp snap, Lydia quickly turned her head in his direction, watching with relish as a long piece of hair hit him squarely in the forehead. "Oh, no. I've completely forgotten about our other literature teacher who sacrificed people for fun and tried to strangle me with a garrote. Can you remind me since it's clearly not jumping out at me?"

Stiles gestured to her with an open palm, his eyebrows drawing together in exasperation. "Always so sarcastic. You're lucky I like you so much." He furiously scratched at his nose, shaking his head in the process. "Anyway, since I obviously don't have to remind you about Derek's crazy ex, can you please just agree to help break into this woman's classroom with me?"

"Fine," She patted him on the shoulder and stepped past him. "But only because I like you so much," she called over her shoulder, her voice light and teasing.

4:30 pm found Scott, Stiles, and Lydia sitting in the library with their books spread out across the table though none of them were even attempting to do their homework.

"Can we please get this over with soon? We've already wasted two hours here and I'm starting to get hungry." Lydia paused from filing her nail to nod her head in Scott's direction. "And I don't know if you've noticed, but Scott's stomach is definitely about to eat itself."

Just as Lydia finished her sentence, Scott's stomach growled loudly and he flashed a cheeky grin. "Lyds is right. Let's see if Miss Walsh is gone for the day so we can get out of here."

"You're both babies, I just want you to know that," Stiles said, standing up to stuff his books haphazardly in his bag. "Babies who are really overdramatic."

Lydia followed his lead, placing her things neatly in her cross body bag before clasping it shut. "Well, guess who's going to treat these two babies to dinner tonight?"

"Ah, yes! I haven't had filet mignon in so long," Scott laughed. "Aren't you in the mood for some steak, Lydia?"

"Ha ha. Very funny, guys, seriously," Stiles bumped his shoulder into Scott's arm. "But Lydia doesn't even like steak. She prefers pork. Don't you, Lyds?"

"I don't know," Lydia drawled, tapping her chin as she fell into step with the boys. "I may just have to try some filet mignon tonight to double check."

Stiles shook his head and attempted to hide his smile as Scott let out a loud snort. "You guys are the worst."

"Yeah, yeah, we know," Scott quipped back. He stopped outside of the literature classroom, his hand hovering over the doorknob. "Now let's check this place out, not find anything suspicious, and get out of here."

"Not you too, Scotty!" Stiles whined as he followed him into through the door. "You can't be skeptical like Lydia or we'll never find anything."

"Stiles," Lydia said from Miss Walsh's desk. "That is the least scientific mindset I've ever heard. You can't come in here certain that you're going to find something. Confirmation bias will color your search and make anything you find less credible due to your overwhelming need for something to support your hypothesis."

"Okay, Freud, I don't need a psychology lesson." Stiles rifled through one of the teacher's bins. "I'm just saying that you shouldn't be too close-minded either."

Lydia gave him a flat look and continued scouring the neatly stacked folders placed on the desk. A few feet from her, Stiles was muttering to himself as he examined sheets of paper, his eyes darting over the words quickly before he swiped them away onto the floor. She watched as his face scrunched in frustration, her own eyebrows drawing together in concern. His search for anything remotely supernatural was becoming more and more frantic and mind consuming, and she was sure that he was only averaging about three hours of sleep per night.

A loud noise from across the room jolted her out of her thoughts and she subconsciously shot towards Stiles. At the same time, he stepped forward and threw his arm out in an attempt to shield her from any threat. She peered over his shoulder and saw Scott smile guiltily at them, a box and its contents strewn all over the floor at his feet.

"Sorry, I dropped the box."

Sighing, Stiles carded his hand through his hair and shook his head disbelievingly. "How are you a werewolf?" He asked, striding across the room to help throw the items back in the box.

Scott shrugged, his mouth pulling into a crooked smile. "Well, I don't think we're going to find anything to test Stiles' confirmation bias," he directed at Lydia, his hand raising to show off a picture encompassed in a light green frame. "I think the scariest thing in this room is this autographed photo of Nicolas Cage, to be honest."

Stiles watched as Lydia threw her head back, a peal of laughter escaping her throat and her strawberry-blonde hair catching the dying light of the setting sun. Smiling softly at her, he picked up the planner still at Scott's feet and threw it in the box. "Scott's right. Let's go get some dinner, team."

"Hey, who's the alpha here?" Scott jokingly asked. "I'm the only one who gives commands in this pack."

"If that were true, then your whole pack would be dead, little Scotty," Stiles shoved at Scott's shoulder. "We all know that Lydia and mine's teamwork and combined brainpower are the only things that have kept us alive this long. So you're welcome."

"Yeah, yeah," Scott drawled, slinging his arms Stiles and Lydia's shoulders and pulling them closer. "I've said it once, and I'll say it again: You guys are pretty good together."

Digging her fingers into Scott's side, she laughed and leaned forward, catching Stiles' eyes for a moment. His lips quirked up and his eyes softened before he turned his head back towards the front doors of the school.

They walked into the parking lot, the setting sun warming their faces and casting a strange six legged, hunchback shadow on the asphalt. Scott's hips bumped into the other two's bodies with each alternate step he took, and he felt happier than he had in a long time. He hoisted himself into the Jeep and watched as Stiles opened the driver's side door and helped Lydia make her way to the back seat, his hand resting comfortably on her lower back.

Straightening his seat, Stiles climbed into the car with a groan, and took off towards the closest fast food restaurant.

"McDonald's doesn't have steak," Scott playfully swatted at Stiles' chest.

"Nope, and you don't either," He quipped back, shoving his hand in Scott's face. "But I'll treat you to the fancy McRib."

Lydia made a gagging sound in the backseat and scooted towards the front of the car. "That thing literally looks like it's made out of plastic and silly putty."

"Well, you can tell me if it tastes like it looks." Stiles pulled into the McDonald's parking lot and put Roscoe in park.

"Hell no. Absolutely not." She poked the side of Stiles' neck before he slid out of the car. She pushed the seat forward and ducked her head as she jumped onto the blacktop. "I'm not suffering from food poisoning tonight, thank you very much."

She grabbed onto the loose sleeve of his plaid shirt as she followed him into the restaurant. Looking back at Scott with a grin, she winked at him as she said, "But Scott's definitely dying to try it."

Scott watched with interest, as Lydia played with the hem of Stiles' sleeve, seemingly oblivious to what she was doing. He shrugged and raised his eyebrows, "Sure, I'll try it. I've dealt with worse things than food poisoning."

Lydia and Stiles stared at him with equal sneers of disgust and disbelief.

"It's your funeral, man." Stiles shrugged his shoulders and gave Scott a dopey look, his mouth pulled to the side.

Scott watched as Stiles stuttered their order to the cashier, grabbed the tray, almost dropped the tray in his beeline towards the closest table, and allowed Lydia to slide into the booth before he followed after her. Scott slid into the seat across from them and looked at his McRib with concern.

"Okay, so that's not what the picture looked like at all."

"Like I said, it's your funeral." Stiles gestured at him with a fry. "I tried talking you out of it."

Stealing the fry from Stiles' hand, Lydia shoved it into her mouth before flashing Scott a smile. "Eh, his werewolf stomach can handle it."

Grabbing the plastic fork on the tray, Scott cut into his meal with difficulty. "If you don't see me tomorrow morning, you know why."

They ate their meals quickly; in Lydia and Stiles' case because they were so hungry, and for Scott because he wanted to get his torture over with as soon as possible. As he forced his gelatinous meal down, he couldn't help but notice the change in his friends' behavior. In the months after saving Lydia from Eichen House, they had seemed to be getting closer, but as Scott watched Stiles' unabashedly grab Lydia's milkshake and take a long and obnoxious slurp from it, he was starting to think that something was shifting in their relationship that wasn't just friendship.

After dropping Lydia off at her house and seeing her safely inside, Scott decided to broach the topic with Stiles as he pulled out of the Martin's driveway.

"So, how are you and Lydia doing?"

Quirking his eyebrow up in confusion, Stiles looked at him from the corner of his eye. "The same as always. Why?"

"Just seems like you guys are getting closer, like the type of closer that you want."

"You mean like into dating territory?"

"Yeah, kind of." Scott shrugged and turned to face Stiles. "Why don't you tell her how you feel?"

With a heavy sigh, Stiles pressed on the brakes and came to a stop at a red light. "I'm working on it. It's just…I don't know. I just don't want to push her away because she's not ready to admit anything."

"So you can tell she's into you too?"

"Yeah, totally. But, I don't know. Lydia is pretty closed off and hesitant when it comes to her emotions." Stiles averted his eyes from the road for a moment to shrug hopelessly in Scott's direction. "I'm definitely working on it though. Just have to find the perfect time to talk to her about it."

Scott patted his shoulder sympathetically. "Eh, don't worry about it too much. You have the rest of senior year to figure out how to confess your undying ten-years old love to her."

"Oh, gee thanks, Scott. That's real sweet of you." Stiles nodded, a sarcastic tilt to his lips. And then quieter, he said, "I've got the rest of senior year though."