A/N: So I don't really have an update schedule. This story kind of owns me right now. I'm always writing it in my head, even when I shouldn't. Yeah, I know I'm pretty annoying to pretty much everybody, but I have to thank my husband because he's really patient about everything. I'm not going to let this story go like the others – which, I finally got them off my flash drive (it was a bitch doing, by the way) so I'm going to be working on those, too, just FYI. Comments/concrit is really important to me, it helps me become a better writer. And as always, thanks for the reviews that I've already gotten!
Oddly enough, things didn't get weird after that. This confused the hell out of Lydia; things should have gotten weird. She knew Stiles, well the Stiles from six years ago, would have made a bigger deal out of this than necessary. When Lydia woke up the next morning, it surprised to her to realize that she had actually slept until noon. Her first instinct was to check on Kristy. Shit, if she slept until noon, Kristy had been up for hours. She leapt out from under the blankets, and checked her room first. Kristy's crib was empty, so she slowly made her way out into the living room. What she saw, she did not expect.
Stiles had bathed and dressed Kristy. He had fed her. And they were watching TV on the couch, Stiles holding the little girl. Lydia wasn't sure what the hell was going on, because this wasn't the Stiles from a month and a half ago. Something different was happening.
"Hey, Stiles," Lydia said slowly. He turned around as Kristy stood on the couch, her hands gripping the back.
"Mama," Kristy got out and Lydia smiled.
"Yeah, baby girl, I'm here," she said, picking up her daughter. Then Lydia looked at Stiles, "What's going on?"
"You had a nightmare," Stiles explained slowly, as if it was the most obvious answer in the entire world. "I thought you could use the extra sleep."
Lydia dropped a kiss on Kristy's forehead, "Yeah, but it's today. I needed to be up today."
Stiles shrugged, "What's so special about today?"
"It's Kristy's first birthday."
Stiles' eyes widened, "Really? It's her birthday and you're just now telling me about it? We need to give her a party."
Lydia shook her head, "That's not necessary. We're just going to have lunch with my mom. We don't really need much more than that."
"Lyds, you're pack. Your daughter's pack. It's her birthday. We need to give her a party. Or at least a pack party." He got up and pulled his phone out of his jeans' pocket. "Do whatever you wanna do with her today, but meet me at my dad's tonight. Around six."
"Uh, okay," Lydia said, not one hundred percent sure what the actual hell was going on here, but she had decided not to question it. It didn't do well to question Stiles; you barely ever got a real response anyway. Nobody thought like Stiles did.
-x-
Of course, Lydia couldn't go to lunch with her mother alone. Finding out how much Aiden had changed over the last few years had made the pack even more protective of both Lydia and Kristy. Scott finally put his foot down and said that that Lydia could go anywhere she wanted, as long as one of the pack went with her. Most everybody had jobs except for Derek, so he usually accompanied her whenever she wanted to go somewhere. He did work with Stiles sometimes, but they must've thought that babysitting Lydia would a better use of his time. It wasn't like Derek needed the money, anyway.
"It's good to see you, Darling," Natalie Martin said to her daughter as Lydia entered the house, followed, of course, by Derek. Natalie smiled at him, too, "It's good to see you too, Derek. How's your uncle?"
Derek smiled, "He's good. He's been asking about you. He's really smitten."
Natalie grinned and Lydia was confused, "Something is happening here," she finally said, handing Kristy to Natalie. Natalie started talking to her granddaughter and so Derek took a minute to explain things to Lydia.
"Peter and your mother," Derek said, hoping that Lydia wouldn't freak out by the news, "they're kind of a thing."
"Kind of a thing?" Lydia asked, her voice rising a little. "What kind of a thing?
Derek smiled for a moment, "He's, uh, well, he's courting her."
Lydia's eyes widened, "What?!" she asked. "How can you even allow that?! How can Scott even allow that?! You do remember what he did to me when he became the alpha, right?"
"He's different now. Since you've been gone, Peter's changed. He's a law abiding citizen, part of the pack. He's changed."
"Uh huh," Lydia said sarcastically. "I totally believe that."
"It's actually really creepy," Derek said after a moment. "He really likes her. I mean, I haven't seen him like this with anyone since the fire."
It wasn't often that Derek brought up the fire, so Lydia wasn't going to push. She just rolled her eyes.
Natalie gave Kristy back to Lydia and said, "I've got lunch fixed in the kitchen. And yes, I actually cooked."
"I didn't say a word," Lydia said. She didn't really have to; everyone knew that Natalie Martin's cooking skills were practically nonexistent. "Not one word."
Her mother had made just a grilled chicken salad for them to share, and had cooked some French fries for Kristy. Lydia had known that she would; French fries were, after all, Kristy's thing right now, and whenever Natalie had come up to see her daughter and granddaughter in Boston, she had always liked to get Kristy's favorites. Conversation passed easily, with them eating and chatting.
Finally, Lydia decided that she would just go for it, "So, Mom, how come you never told me about you and Peter?"
Natalie practically choked on the drink of coffee she had just taken, but recovered quickly, "What about us?"
"Well, Derek tells me you two are kind of a thing."
Natalie hesitated, and then Lydia's eyes grew wide, "Holy crap, you weren't even going to tell me, were you?"
"Well, Sweetheart, I know that you and Peter have…issues."
"Well, yeah, we have issues. He left me bleeding out on the lacrosse field! I could have died."
"But you didn't," Derek added. Lydia glared at him.
"Not helping," she said.
"Things have changed a lot around here, Lydia," her mother said, trying to ease the tension. "Peter's not as bad as he was. I mean, granted, I never really knew him when he was the alpha, but still…he's good now. Sane. We have lunch twice a week and sometimes we go out to dinner or catch a movie."
The one thing Lydia had been afraid of since, hello, werewolves, was the fact that her mother could get hurt at any time. Lydia understood why Stiles had kept the sheriff out of the loop for as long as he did; he didn't want his father to get hurt. Lydia's dad had died only a year after her high school graduation and she didn't want to lose her mother, too. But this was different. Peter Hale had been a threat the last time she had been back in Beacon Hills, and she was worried that he would end up hurting them. That was the one reason she hadn't allowed Peter to be around Kristy yet, even though he was, technically, part of the pack.
"Do you like him?" Lydia asked softly. She noted the surprised look in both Derek and her mother's eyes.
Natalie nodded, "Yeah. I like him a lot, actually."
Lydia nodded, "Okay, but if he does anything to hurt you, he's dead. And this time, I'll make sure he can't come back from it. I can be very…creative."
-x-
When Derek and Lydia got to the Stilinski house later that night, Derek went inside, but Lydia didn't follow him right away. He had Kristy in his arms as he walked through the house, but Lydia stayed on the front porch. She hesitated at going in right away because she wasn't sure what to think of this. Sure, they were pack, family, but she barely knew them anymore. She'd been back in Beacon Hills for a month and a half, and she realized that things were changing. For one, she was feeling things for Stiles that she shouldn't. It all started last night, when he tried to comfort her after her nightmare. Why he even cared anymore, Lydia had no idea. And while their cuddling wasn't anything romantic, it still felt good to be held. The closeness of him with her had been a huge comfort, and she felt safe. It was the first night in a long time that she had slept the whole night. Sure, other nights she didn't have nightmares, but she woke up several times a night, mostly because she didn't feel safe. But Stiles, even with his humanness, made her feel safe. She knew that Stiles could protect both her and Kristy if he needed to – and Stiles was a loyal bastard. He'd never let anything happen to her – let alone anyone in that pack. They were his family.
Lydia was nervous. She wasn't sure why she was nervous. She had known these people forever. And sure, what she had told Stiles last night about being afraid of the werewolves was true; the wolves had a lot of power, and Aiden was a prime example of what could happen when you just let your humanity go. He wasn't a human anymore; he was one with his wolf. Lydia knew Scott was a good guy and would never let that happen, but there was always the allure of the dark side – holy shit, did she just really think that? Wow. She really had to spend less time around Stiles. It was bad enough he had roped her into watching Star Wars with him – which, even though she'd never actually admit it to him, she actually kind of liked.
Melissa McCall stepped out onto the porch, and Lydia was torn from her thoughts. Melissa just smiled at her.
"What're you doing out here?" she asked. Lydia took a moment to just look at her. She hadn't actually seen Melissa since she got back to town, but she was still beautiful. She had aged a little, but she had aged very gracefully.
"Just thinking," Lydia answered. "Sometimes my thoughts kinda get away from me."
Melissa laughed, "Sounds familiar."
"Why don't you come in," Melissa said after a few moments of silence. "While this really is for Kristy, the rest of the pack'd like to see you, too. "
Lydia nodded, "Sure. Of course."
She wandered into the house. She saw Kristy on Ethan's lap as Kristy and Melanie watched a Winnie-the-Pooh movie that Melanie had in, and Ethan was deep in conversation with Scott. Lydia wasn't sure how Ethan was taking the news of his brother, and she worried about him.
"Lydia, come sit down," Ethan said, noticing her. Lydia must have been watching them for a little too long. Lydia shrugged, going over and sitting on Ethan's other side. "I wanted to talk to you," he continued, "about Aiden."
"Look," Lydia said, suddenly nervous about what he wanted to say, "I've thought a million times that I shouldn't have told you about Aiden's changing ways. Yeah, he's gotten more ruthless than he did with you around, but he's still your brother, and you love him. That's how family works."
"That's actually not what I was going to talk to you about," Ethan said, and Lydia relaxed a little. "Just tell me this, though. Are you afraid of me? Because I look like him? Because it seems as though you don't really hang around me, and I haven't actually spent any time with Kristy since the two of you got here. If you're afraid of me, I understand, considering – "
"I'm not afraid of you, Ethan," Lydia said, cutting him off. "I mean, yeah, you're Aiden's twin, and yeah, sometimes it weirds me out how much you two look alike, but then again – twin. It's a lot to take in, though – the fact that you're here and Aiden's…not. The two of you are as different as night and day."
"It's just the Kristy is my niece," he said. "I'd like to get to know the two of you."
"Well, I'm planning on sticking around for a while," Lydia told him honestly. "I have absolutely no ambition to leave Beacon Hills, at least not yet. I'm about three years away from my doctorate, and I was thinking about transferring to Berkeley. That way I'm close, but still living my life."
Ethan nodded. The party went on after that, with dinner – just takeout pizza, and Lydia was surprised that Stiles even let the sheriff have some meat lover's. Then they did presents for Kristy and Lydia was absolutely floored at the pack's generosity. Most of them made noise ("That's an uncle's prerogative, Lydia!" Scott had exclaimed, and Lydia and Stiles had both just glared at him) and they stayed until almost nine o'clock. During that time, Lydia had learned that Melissa and the sheriff ("Call me John, Lydia, please," he had said) had gotten together, making Stiles and Scott literal brothers, and had gotten married last year. She moved into the Stilinski house with the sheriff but didn't want to sell her house. Scott was talking about buying it from her and moving in there, but they hadn't made any decisions yet.
During the course of the party, Lydia found herself sneaking glances at Stiles. She noticed that he was more open to spending time with Kristy. Not that he didn't before, but Lydia remembered a month and a half ago when she and Stiles had the "I don't do babies" conversation. The thought made her laugh.
Stiles had made brownies – and Lydia noticed that Stiles was still taking care of the pack. Back in high school, when Stiles was anxious, which was a lot of the time, he took up baking. The joke was that if the pack hadn't been werewolves, they would have been two hundred pounds, at least.
Finally, when they were back at Stiles' apartment around nine thirty that night, Stiles had taken Kristy and put her to bed (Lydia had changed her clothes while they were at Stiles' dad's house) and when he came back out into the living room, Lydia was sitting on the couch with a hot mug of tea in her hands. She had actually went and bought her own green tea that day, in-between being at her mother's and then at the sheriff's. Stiles plopped down beside her and sighed.
Once again, Lydia thought about how Stiles sure had changed in the month and a half that she and Kristy had been staying there, and her mind went back to that first night. "What if I break her," Stiles had said, and considering the way he treated Kristy now, the thought made Lydia laugh.
"What's so funny?" Stiles asked.
"I was just thinking that you've gone a long way from the 'I don't do babies' and 'What if I break her' conversation we had when we first got here. You've really taken to her, I see."
Stiles smiled, "She's addictive. I don't know what to say, Lyds, she's got your charming personality."
"Stiles, she's a year old."
"Yeah, well, nobody dotes on that little rug rat as much as Derek though, have you noticed? She's got him wrapped around her adorable little baby finger."
It was true, Lydia had noticed it. Derek had really taken a liking to Kristy, and Lydia figured it was because he was all about family. After taking Cora back to South America after the Darach nightmare, he really didn't have any family, other than Peter. And Derek had told Lydia himself that he was afraid to get into any more relationships, considering the last two girlfriends he had tried to kill him. Well, he wasn't sure if Jennifer Blake tried to kill him, but she was killing people, and that was enough for him.
"Hey, Lyds?" Stiles asked, snapping her back to reality. Lydia took a sip of her tea and looked at him.
"Scott told me what you told Ethan. You're not going back to Boston?"
"I'm torn," Lydia answered. "Erica and Boyd are there. And Erica and I have become pretty close, living next to each other for almost six years. If I stay here, I'm going to miss them like crazy, and I know Boyd'll miss Kristy. You think she has Derek wrapped around her finger? Boyd's ten times worse at least."
"Boyd, really? He's so…serious," Stiles answered and Lydia laughed.
"Whenever Erica's working and I need someone to watch Kristy, I always ask Boyd. He took good care of her and they both really love Kristy. Kristy and I may be pack here, but Erica and Boyd are my pack, and not going back to them is going to be a difficult decision. I haven't made up my mind what I'm going to do, but I do want to continue my doctorate."
"I miss them, too," Stiles answered after a moment. "It's been a long time since I've seen them face to face, but Erica and I used to talk almost weekly."
"I haven't talked to them since I got here," Lydia said thoughtfully. "I really ought to call them, or Skype them, at least."
Silence filled the living room, but Lydia noticed a long time that the silences between herself and Stiles were never uncomfortable. She enjoyed just being with him, and that thought almost scared her.
"Hey, Lyds?" Stiles said again, filling the silence. "What was that last night? I mean, did something happen between you and me?"
Stiles was asking the very question that had haunted Lydia's thoughts almost all day. Was there something between the two of them? She could feel her thoughts threatening to come through her head, so she turned to him and said, "I don't know. All I know is that last night was the only night since I've been here that I've actually slept all night. I feel safe around you, Stiles."
"I know. I mean, you told me that much last night. I still don't understand why."
"I know you can protect me and my daughter. I mean, I can protect us, to a point, but you are fiercely loyal and I know you're not going to double cross us. It's a great feeling. You know, to actually know that someone is there for us, no matter what. I mean, I went to Boston and practically ignored you for six years, but you still let me in. Why did you let me in, Stiles?"
"Because you're pack, Lyds. I love you. Not like that – I mean, my crush probably never wore off and you're more beautiful than you were six years ago, and you take care of your daughter, you were dealt a bad hand, but you've turned it around, and you're even more amazing than you were when we were in high school, but we're pack. We're family. If Derek and Cora taught me anything, it was that pack is family. They're there for you, and while not all family is pack, all pack is family. We love each other and we take care of one another. Even with Isaac, the guy I cannot stand eighty percent of the time, I know I can trust him because he's pack."
There were a few minutes where nobody said anything. They just looked at each other, and Lydia's gaze kept flicking down to Stiles' mouth. God, that mouth looked like it was made just for kissing. Stiles had changed a lot since high school, Lydia noted, but the biggest thing that surprised Lydia the most was that he really hadn't, at the same time. He was like this in high school, but she was just too stuck up to notice.
"If it's okay with you, Stiles," Lydia said, tearing her gaze away from his lips, "I'd like to sleep in your bed again, with you. It's nothing romantic – it's just that I really like the closeness. It makes me feel safe."
Liar! Her head screamed at her. She wanted something romantic with Stiles. It was an urge that was there, and it grew every fucking day. It was something she wanted more than anything, but she was afraid to make a move, so platonic is what she was going to settle for. Stiles nodded, silently, and Lydia smiled softly, "Thanks." She went to put her mug in the dishwasher and made her way to bed, leaving Stiles with his thoughts.