The drive to Lydia's house was silent and cold - two things that Lydia would have never used to describe her and Stiles' relationship. The boy sat beside her, his mouth drawn into a thin line as his gaze never strayed from the road. Nights had finally settled over them, the dark skies doing nothing to appease Lydia's sinking heart. She felt sick, unsettled.
She stole a look, a quick glance from underneath her lashes, at Stiles. His skin looked pale in the moonlight, his normally warm eyes dark and unfocused.
Tears leaked into her own.
The ride was both painfully slow and too quick. Stiles pulled up outside Lydia's house and she hesitated as she placed her hand on the door handle. Stiles killed the engine but made no move to climb out of the car. He sat looking at the steering wheel, his hands keeping their white knuckle grip.
Lydia's throat was painfully dry and when she spoke, her words came out cracked and desperate.
"Stiles, I'm - Stiles, I'm so sorry".
A shadow of a smile graced the boys lips, but in the dark, it appeared more like a smirk. A humourless chuckle rose from his throat and he rubbed his hands across his eyes tiredly.
"I guess I should have realised that 'Special Friends' really did mean just that".
Lydia frowned, her small hand reaching out to him before she decided against it and drew back.
"Friends, right? Special or not, just friends", he scoffed.
The girl shook her head sadly but the boy didn't look in her direction to see. Instead he listened to the door open with a soft click before she climbed out.
Lydia took her time closing the jeep door carefully, all the while watching Stiles through the window. Rain fell slowly and heavily from the navy skies, matching her mood and concealing her tears.
Still, he avoided her gaze.
Once Lydia stepped away away from the jeep and onto the safety of the sidewalk, Stiles revved the engine and peeled away from the curb with a harsh squeal.
Lydia's lip threatened to quiver. In all the years that Stiles has offered her a ride, picked her up and dropped her off... He had never, ever, drove away before making sure she made it into her house safely.
Standing outside her home, night finally fell with the cold rain. It was only then, as she watched the jeep drive into the distance, that Lydia allowed herself to cry.
She snuck in without much noise, her lips hidden between her teeth as she held back vicious hiccups that threatened to explode from her throat. The door clicked shut and her boots scraped against the carpet.
From the living room, the television was muted and silence fell over the Martin household.
"Lydia? Is that you, honey?"
Her mum called from the sofa, her voice soft with sleep.
The teenager took a deep, gasping breath as swallowed the sadness in her voice.
"Yeah... Yeah Mom - I'm just going to head to bed. Tired, um... Yeah, night!"
"Night sweetie, love you".
She responded in the same manner, her voice full of false cheer that almost killed Lydia. She made it into the safety of her bedroom before she closed the door and slumped against it, releasing her breath in violent rasps that she could hardly contain.
She stood for several minutes against the cold wood of the door, her rain damp clothes growing colder against her skin. Finally, with slow, wooden movements, she stripped the wet material from her skin and climbed into bed in only her underwear, the delicate lace still imprinted with Stiles touch. Under the blankets, she shivered. Checking the phone one last time, she ignored the missed calls from Allison and angry texts from Matthew.
Lydia threw the device to the floor and thought of her best friend.
Stiles was barely aware of the red digits slowly changing on his dashboard. He sat in his driveway as the jeeps engine cooled down and the cold night air seeped into the cab. Despite the shivers that wracked his body, he felt numb.
The image of Lydia standing on the pavement in the rain was burned into his mind. He drove away from her for the first time ever.
Angrily, he slammed his fists on the wheel, the jeep groaning in response. Throwing open the door, he jumped out and into the cold rain and half ran, half jogged to the door. The empty house was dark and the wind howled instantly from outside.
Making his way upstairs, he pulled off his shirt before haphazardly chucking it through his open bedroom door, his converse soon following with heavy thuds. By the time Stiles had unbuckled his jeans and belt, he has the shower running hot water, the bathroom slowly filling up with steam.
Stepping under the spray, he sighed. Bracing his arms against the cold tiles, he let his head fall forward and the water run through his hair, turning the chestnut locks to black. From inside the shower cubicle, he kept his attention to the noises outside the screen. Specifically for the sounds of a phone ringing or vibrating.
After the water turned cold, he realized he'd been lost in thought for over an hour. When he stepped out, he glared angrily at his cell that told him he had no missed calls or texts.
That week, both Stiles and Lydia ignored each other. School went from painfully awkward to completely unbearable. The pack, minus Allison and Scott, had no idea what had happened to the pair and whenever they dared to ask, a human and a banshee became suddenly much more terrifying than anything else they had ever faced.
Stiles avoided Lydia in class and in the hallway, only stealing looks at the strawberry blonde when she say far across the table from him at lunch. She mainly kept herself busy by immersing herself in textbooks and nearly taking notes.
It was only when Stiles would talk to Malia that Lydia's head would whip up from her studies to glare at both of them with heat in her eyes.
Stiles would simply eye her back with his face void of any emotion. Lydia hated it, this cold, unwelcoming boy reminded her so much of the Japanese spirit that had once stolen her best friend.
Angry stares and ignoring each other soon turned into childish arguments and petty name calling. Pack meetings became a war zone and caused the rest of their friends to walk around on eggshells between the two.
Planning strategies became competitions that Stiles was always eager to win and Lydia resorted to simply calling Stiles an idiot at every chance she got. And she took all of the opportunities she could.
"You're an idiot".
Isaac sighed and rubbed his eyes tiredly as Allison looked at the clock above Derek's TV.
1.35 in the morning.
Lydia stood beside Scott, her hair piled messily on top of her crimson head as she waved maps of Beacon Hills woodland around manically. She jabbed a painted fingernail at one set of blueprints with a satisfied smirk.
"There's not a chance in hell we can go that way, we'd get cut off by the river and Derek's already told us-"
"Please, I beg you, keep me out of your arguments". The older wolf piped up from the armchair he was lounging on.
Stiles stood from his seat, accidentally awakening Kira as she slept beside him. She jerked and looked around the room at her tired and bored friends guiltily.
Running his hands through his hair, Lydia watched as it stood on end and stuck up at odd angles. Her eyes narrowed at the boy as he approached her and she became excruciatingly aware of his body warmth and his familiar scent.
"You see, princess, not everyone is put off by a little river, some people can manage to get their clothes a little dirty-"
"Princess?!", Lydia almost shrieked, "Excuse me, Stilinski, but that 'little river' is almost twenty feet deep and if you think-"
"We're going by second names now, huh? That's cute", Stiles narrowed his eyes at the girl, his own body towering over hers as he smirked sarcastically.
Scott wisely stepped away from the pair, his wide eyes meeting Allison's as he grabbed the last slice of pizza and decided to keep quiet.
"You know, I think I preferred it when they ignored each other", Malia said in a bored tone, her face scrunched in confusion as she watched Stiles and Lydia bicker insistently with each other routes and maps.
"I think it would be best for everyone, Malia, if you just stayed out of this, okay sweetheart?" Lydia bit out instantly at the sound of the coyotes voice, her icy worlds stunning everyone into silence.
Several seconds passed before Derek coughed awkwardly and nudged Liam awake. Scott remained speechless as he swallowed the last bite of his pizza and took to the floor once more, gathering everyone's attention.
With a knowing look, Allison took her best friends hand and pulled her into the empty space that Scott had vacated.
"Okay", the alpha began, "Stiles and Lydia made some, uh, really good points. So... Our main concern right now is what this pack of werewolves want. For all we know they could just be passing through".
Liam nodded at Scott's words while Isaac rolled his eyes, stealing the chip out of Kira's hand as she batted him on the shoulder.
"Derek and I will check out the river situation tomorrow, there might be a vantage point from that angle, who knows. Once we can get some more information on this pack, I want everyone to stay away and keep safe, got it?"
Everyone nodded and murmured their agreements as they gathered jackets and bags. Stifling yawns, they said their goodbyes to Derek and filed out the door. Lydia hugged everyone goodbye, waving awkwardly to Malia before turning away from Stiles, hearing him scoff at her turned back only made her heels click that little bit faster on the pavement as she walked to her car.
It didn't escape her attention that Malia hopped happily into the front seat of the jeep, before Stiles peeled away from Derek's building and down the empty road.