"Stiles, trust me - I know how you feel-''
"Allison, I really, really don't think you're understanding the full situation here'', Stiles paced back and forth in the Argent's hallway, his worn out converse burning holes on the rug, he sighed; rubbing harshly at his face with fidgeting hands.
The girl struggled for words, "Look, maybe I do-''
"Ally, I am one hundred percent sure that this is not a thing you and Scott went through, okay-''
Allison huffed in frustration and stood in front of her friend's path, blocking him from moving by grabbing him by the shoulders. He stood wide eyed as she stared up at him.
"Would it make everything a lot easier if I told you that I knew everything?''
Stiles gaped at her, mumbling slightly, "Everything? Lydia, told you everything. You know… everything?''
"Everything''.
A blush crept up the back of his neck and Stiles felt his cheeks heat up as his friend smirked up at him, eyebrows raised and a gleefully smug sparkle in her eyes.
"Great''.

"So please, please dear god, enlighten me as to why she's away with him? On a date?''
Allison was perched on the edge of her sofa, watching once more as Stiles paced his way from the hallway into her living room and then back again.

"Stiles, I told you - I don't know! It's Lydia, who know's what's going on in her head...''
"You do''.
Allison looked up from the floor and she tried in vain to avoided meeting the boys gaze.
"You're her best friend, Ally, you know exactly what's going on in her head''.
The girl had the right to look guilty and she moved her stare to the wall behind Stiles' head, trying to ignore the look of hurt and frustration etched onto his face.
"Exactly, she's my best friend - she'd kill me if I started telling everyone and anyone the things she trusted me with''.
"Hey, no, no no...'' Stiles was quick to stand in front of her before dropping to his knees and meeting her at eye level. His brown eyes were soft and as sad as she had ever seen. Allison sighed.
"I'm not everyone and anyone, not to her, Allison - not anymore'', he gulped nervously, "She came to me last night, she called me up at three am, not the other way around''.
Stiles laughed humorlessly, "Lydia was the one who told me that she didn't want me to stop, to stop… kissing her''.
He wiped a hand over his face in frustration as Allison held onto his every word, her head tilted as she listened and her brows furrowed with empathy.
"I held her all night, she's let me do that so many times now. Lydia, Lydia wears my shirts to bed - she let's me wash her hair when she's too drunk to do it herself! She wanted me to kiss her - she told me she did - and I am not going to let his dickhead take her away from me cause she's too scared to let me know that she actually cares about me!'' Stiles finished his tirade with a heavy sigh, his chest heaving as Allison nodded back slowly.

He stood, walking away from her with his hands behind his head, he pulled at the hair on the nape of his neck - only hearing Allison's words as he looked out of the window with stormy eyes.
"You know it's more than her just caring about you, right Stiles?''
He sighed, giving a half hearted shrug as he dropped his chin to his chest in defeat.
"Stiles, she's crazy about you! You've just given yourself all the evidence you need two minutes ago! Lydia is falling for you more and more each day and she's absolutely terrified'', Allison frowned, stepping forward to give the boy a good natured shove on his shoulder, "You get that, right? You're supposed to be the smart one, for christ's sake''.

Lydia stood shivering in the airy cinema, the empty seats around her only emphasising the fact that Matthew sat so close on her other side. A group of teenagers near the back row sniggered their way through the adverts and threw popcorn at each other, making her frown. She pulled the hem of her skirt down to her knees, crossing her arms as she tried to keep the goosebumps at bay.
"Oh, hey, are you cold?''
She smiled tightly as Matthew spoke to her through a mouthful of chocolate. Deciding that wearing his jacket wouldn't be as bad as getting hypothermia during a terribly cliche horror movie called ''Ouija'', she nodded.
Instead of shrugging off his coat and handing it to her like she expected, he moved even closer and boldly placed his arm around her shoulder. He pulled her small frame into his own and she stiffened - his body unknown and strange to her.
He didn't smell like mint and gummy worms, his hands weren't ridiculously large and rough against her skin. He wasn't tall enough for her to tuck her head safely under his chin. He wasn't -.

"Stiles, please tell me how you plan on finding out where they even went?''
Allison stood with her hands on her hips as Stiles pulled his hoodie over his head with a total lack of grace and sophistication.
From beneath the material, he mumbled back, "I'll just drive around town until I see her or she answers her phone''.
"Are you being serious?''
The boy eventually pulled his head through the correct opening and yanked furiously at the hem of the material. He stood tall, staring down at his friend with raised eyebrows.
"You're being serious, oh my god''.
Stiles opened his mouth to argue but nothing came out, and instead, he patted down his pockets, looking for his car keys.
"Okay, I'm calling Scott'', Allison shook her head in exasperation, watching as Stiles dropped to all fours and hunted under her sofa for the keys to his jeep.

The movie dragged on and on, and with each passing minute of high pitched, horror music; Matthew's hand seemed to be edging lower towards Lydia's chest.
She gritted her teeth and wriggled away from him with a sudden force he wasn't expecting and he jumped back with a grunt. The old couple two rows behind them hushed him impatiently.
He frowned at Lydia and smiled unapologetically, "Yeah, I'm warm now, thanks''.
They were only forty minutes into the film and Lydia had lost count of how many fake, whining screams the half naked actresses had bleated out. Frankly, she was insulted.
She took a sip of her drink and watched with morbid curiosity as Matthew's hand came to rest on her bare knee, his eyes still trained on the screen as a smug smirk fell onto his lips.

She slapped him away without any hesitation, mentally cursing herself for accepting his offer in the first place. She ignored his baffled stare and with her lips set in a grim line, she grabbed her bag from the floor and stood.
"Excuse me, I need to go to the ladies room''.
Without waiting for a reply, or to see if he had even heard her, she squeezed past her date and took the stairs two at a time, ignoring the scoffs of the underage teens at the back. With a deep sigh, she stepped into the harshly lit lobby and pressed her back against the closed door.

Finding a seat by the popcorn counter, she dropped into the hard, plastic chair. Lydia cursed under her breath as she thought of the boy she had left behind that morning, the boy she hadn't heard from since. She thought back to last night, how he listened to her drunken mumblings and washed away her tears. She had woken up in his shirt, tangled around him and so blissfully content.
Then she ruined it.

Before the tears of frustration could spring to her eyes, she grabbed her bag from the floor, searching through it with determination until she dug out her cell.
Five missed calls, three voicemails.
She breathed a sigh of relief at seeing his name, even on her phone screen. Lydia even whispered it under her breath, just to make sure she was sure she read it correctly.
Three voicemails, all from Stiles.
"Hey, Lydia, it's me again - pick up your phone okay? Or call me back, I really need to talk to you' - like urgently''.
The banshee listened to each one with a growing sense of dread, her heart was heavy and her throat was tight.
The last message ended with a harsh beep and a digital voice asked her again and again if she wanted to keep, delete or listen to the message again.
Instead she hung up and scrolled through her list of favourites until she landed on 'S'. With the press of two buttons, the image of a grinning, sleepy Stiles came to life on her cell and the dial tone started.
By the time it had rung three times, the small red bar at the top of her screen flashed angrily at her and her cell faded to black.
"No, no, no, no, no!'' Lydia gaped at the device with disbelief, pressing the on switch over and over again, only for it to tell her she needed to charge it.
"Fuck!''

Stiles jeep grumbled it's way down the main street and away from Allison's house. Scott sat beside him in the passenger seat, his arms crossed and his expression fallen into a scowl.
"I cannot believe you actually called me up to be your sniffer dog''.
Stiles scoffed and pretended to act hurt, "I think you'll actually find that your girlfriend called you, not me''.
"Yeah - that's why I was stupid enough to answer''.
Stiles rolled his eyes and gripped the steering wheel tighter, looking out on the busy sidewalks for a familiar flash of strawberry blonde hair.
"She's got to be around Beacon Hills somewhere, right?''
Scott merely grunted and started fiddling with the dials for the car radio.

"Dude!'' Stiles turned the wheel suddenly, jerking the car to a stop in the mall parking lot. He batted Scott's hands away from the important buttons and glared at him.
"Hey, best friend?! Mind helping me out? Seeing as you were the one to tell me that I've stupidly been ignoring the fact that Lydia may like me back after all these years?!''
Scott sighed and he opened the car door. He let himself out as he called back a "fine'', to his friend. His eyes turned apologetic as Stiles joined him.
"Please don't shout at me - you know I hate it when you shout''.
"Sorry bro''.

"Lydia wears that perfume that smells all fruity and flowery, yeah?'' Scott sniffed the air experimentally, trying to block out the scent of horny teenagers and burnt pizza from the nearby diner.
"Yeah, like strawberries and apples - just the tiniest hint of cherry...'' Stiles trailed off as his best friend squinted at him.
"Bro...''
"She spends the majority of her time in my bed, okay?!''
"Whatever'', Scott moved towards the doors to the cinema, smelling popcorn, cherry gummy worms and the emotional scent of vulnerability.
He sniffed again, watching as Stiles awkwardly waved to the passing couple who shuffled their curious children away from the strange boy inhaling cinema posters.
"Well?''
Scott smiled, "She's in there - they're in there''.
Stiles gaped at the alpha with wide eyes, "Are you sure?!'', he stuttered.
"Yup, I can smell Lydia's perfume, gummy worms, a little bit of your bedroom and a whole lot of regret and anger''.
"Yeah, that sounds like Lydia'', he smiled sadly before looking up with a confused expression, "Wait, you can smell my room, me? In there?''
Scott nodded.
"On her, on Lydia?''
He nodded again, giving his friend a shove towards the doors.
"What about you? Don't you need a ride home?'' Stiles glanced towards the blacked out doors with nervous eyes and fidgeting hands.
"Nah, I'll be happy to jog back. I told Allison I'd pick us up a some Chinese food on the way home'', the boy grinned cheerfully and began walking backwards, away from the cinema.
"Good luck!''

Stiles stepped into the lobby, the multicoloured walls and mismatched carpet becoming disorienting to him under the harsh lights. He smiled and waved politely to some girls he knew from Maths class and looked around the area with hopeful expectancy. It was practically empty.
He moved towards the screening rooms at the back and past the cafe, pausing and almost tripping over his feet as he spotted a small, curled up mass of strawberry curls.
"Lydia?''