Heart pounding Stiles scrambles out of bed with Lydia's panicked voice running through his brain, her desperation obvious as she asked him to come to her. He drags on his clothes from yesterday and in his mad rush he ends up putting both of his legs in the same trouser leg and as a result stumbles into his bedside table. Stiles hisses and bites his tongue to avoid the swear word forming in his lips when pain blooms at his hip. He looks to his father's door as he creeps past, praying that he hasn't woken him up.

Climbing into his jeep, Stiles rubs at his eyes, trying to clear the foggy haze of sleep that has settled there. This particular Tuesday night is misty and cold, Roscoe has trouble spluttering to life as if the cold as seeped into the car. He watches the glowing green of the numbers on the dashboard as they flick from 2:35 to 2:36. Finally, the engine gives a roar which dies to a purr in seconds.

As his jeep slows to a stop outside Lydia's house Stiles cuts the engine and jumps out. Lydia must have been watching from her window because the front door opens quietly less than a minute later. Her pale skin glows in the moonlight and her red hair looks as if it is setting the mist on fire. She pulls him inside and silently they climb the stairs to her room.

She looks tiny, standing hunched over in the corner of the room. 'Sorry,' she says in a small voice and Stiles realises she's standing there so she can see the whole room. So nothing can sneak up on her. 'I didn't have anyone else to call.'

Walking towards her Stiles pulls her in and wraps his arms around her, not sure what else he should do. A thousand apologies couldn't make up for the emotional pain he'd caused this girl. It's a couple of minutes before he finally feels her relax into him and realising how tired she must be, guides her to the bed so she can lie down and kneels beside her.

'What's wrong Lydia?' Stiles whispers.

Lydia presses her palms together and Stiles notices that her whole body is shaking. There's a pause and Lydia wrinkles her nose, trying hard to find the right words.

'In the past few weeks… well, I suppose it's been months…' she closes her eyes, trying to get the words out. 'I've been having these nightmares and they're all the same. Everybody dies.'

'Who dies, Lydia?'

'People I've seen on the street earlier that day, teachers I've hated and liked, people I love. My family, my friends… you.' The end of the sentence is just a whisper and as she finishes it she looks into his eyes and all Stiles can see in them is utter fear and panic. 'Lately they're getting worse, almost every night and it's getting hard to separate them from reality when I wake up.'

'Oh Lydia,' Stiles breathes, covering her hands with his and sitting on the bed beside her. 'We have the tape now, and we know who the benefactor is. We'll figure this out,' Stiles murmurs as he rubs soothing circles on her back, 'I promise.'

'Will you stay?' She murmurs from his chest.

'For as long as you need me, Lydia.'

Settling down beside her, Stiles feels her wriggle her way across the bed until her head rests on his chest. Stroking her hair as she slips into sleep he drops a sleepy kiss on her head before resting his head on the pillow.

'Stiles,' Lydia says gently, somewhere above him. The ends of her strawberry blonde hair tickle his face and even with his eyes closed he recognises the scent, all strawberries and cream.

He mumbles something along the lines of, 'I want to be woken this way every morning,' and finally opens his eyes to see Lydia sitting on the edge of her bed.

'Thanks, Stiles, for last night,' Lydia says, brushing her hair.

'No problem.'

'I really mean it. It's been a long time since I've slept that well.' She sits fiddling with the tips of her hair. 'And I um, I hope this won't cause problems with Malia.'

'Why would it?' Stiles replies, with a slight edge to his voice that Lydia can't place. Now that Stiles is fully awake he has the chance to appreciate how good his night's sleep was too.

'I'm going to see Meredith today,' Lydia says with a small smile on her face.

'Malia and I promised we'd listen to the tape and see if we could make any sense of it. So I guess I'll see you later. And Lydia,' Stiles pauses at the door, 'call if there's anything you need.' It's as he's walking down the stairs that he hears her go to her bathroom, singing the whole time.

ALL CONTRACTS TERMINATED

There's an instant flood of relief upon seeing those words on the phones of the people who'd come to kill them but only for Lydia is the relief replaced with a nagging feeling in the pit of her stomach. A little voice in the back of her head telling her something isn't right and as the day goes on she can never quite shake it.

Stiles drives home smiling, relief spreading through him a little more with every minute that passes. His smile only brightens when he sees his dad's cruiser in the driveway, figuring he must be done with Meredith at the station. He only realises just how hungry he is when he pushes the door open and immediately smells pancakes.

'You're the best dad in the world, did I ever tell you that?' Stiles says, entering the kitchen.

'Never,' Sheriff Stilinski smirks at his son over his shoulder and places the food on the table, which is already laid with the appropriate toppings for a pancake dinner.

The sheriff raises his eyebrows slightly, 'no Malia tonight?'

Stiles rubs the back of his neck, uncomfortable, 'we, ah… we actually broke up.'

'Really?' the sheriff hesitates, 'this doesn't have anything to do with Lydia, does it?'

'No,' Stiles says, 'it was actually Malia's idea to break up.'

'You guys are still friends though right?'

'Yeah.'

'Good, Malia's a nice girl and it can't be easy for her, I like her.'

Stiles asks the next question hesitantly, 'do you like Lydia?'

'I like Lydia a lot,' the sheriff looks across at his son, 'I'll ask once more, is there something there?'

'For me there's always been something there… I don't know dad, I left when she needed me most.' Stiles gets up and clears the plates, indicating the end of the conversation.

'Lydia?'

'You told me to call, if something was the matter.'

'What is it Lydia?' Stiles asks, a slight edge of panic creeping into his voice, 'what's wrong?'

'At first I was relieved it was all over but now the voices are getting louder. I know something else is coming, Stiles. We have to be prepared.'

'I trust you Lydia - I'll let the others know.'

'Thank you, Stiles.' She takes a shaky breath, 'And, Stiles.'

'Yeah?'

'This time I don't think we're going to get out unscathed.'

That night Stiles and Lydia fall asleep in their own beds, desperately wishing that they were falling asleep next to each other.