A/N: I had a chapter seven on here, but I really didn't like it. I felt it was too rushed, and I wasn't crazy about the ending, so I rewrote it. If you read it before, you need to read this one, because it's a lot different. Also, note the rating change. There is smut at the end of this chapter, and mine is pretty explicit, just so you can't say I didn't warn you.

Lydia sighed at her reflection in the bathroom mirror for what seemed like the hundredth time in the last ten minutes. She couldn't do this She had decided that she was going to take Erica's advice and ask Stiles out properly. She had a plan. Lydia Martin didn't do anything without a plan, okay? And she had even gone so far as to write a speech – or, at least, what counted as one. She was only going to use it if she found herself not sure what to say – which was a quality that Lydia didn't really have, but hey, anything could happen. She had been the most popular girl at Beacon Hills High School for a reason, after all. But, looking back at her reflection, she decided that she couldn't do this. She wanted to; God, did she ever. But she just couldn't.

The thing that was baffling her the most was the fact that Lydia didn't fret over stupid things like asking boys out. Hell, she was the one who had made the move on Jackson back in the seventh grade, and then again, it was she who had made the move on Aiden sophomore year. She wasn't scared of boys. She'd never been scared of boys. But this time, here with Stiles, it was different

Stiles had been in love with Lydia for a long time He had mentioned once or twice that he'd been carrying a torch for her since the third grade, and for some reason, the way that Lydia had treated Stiles before, when they were kids, made her want to be better to him. After all, Stiles was a good guy. He was honest and loyal, smart and strong – and she wasn't just talking about physical strength, either, although he had gotten a lot more fit since she hsad been gone. No, Lydia was talking about his will, his whole being. He was emotionally strong, having been through hell and still standing. Stiles was one of the strongest and most put together people that Lydia had ever seen.

Lydia wasn't in love with Stiles – she wasn't She had come to admire certain things about him, and she appreciated him a hell of a lot more now than she did before, but she didn't love him. She was in like with him – and good God, she really did like him – but it wasn't love. For the first time in her entire life, Lydia's brain wasn't working the way that it should; none of her thoughts were coming out quite right Normally, Lydia thrived under pressure, but right now, nothing was making sense She was just trying to figure out a way to ask Stiles to dinner. It was an easy question, and she was pretty sure it was also a guaranteed yes, but she was fucking scared. She had never been scared to ask out another person, not ever.

"That's it," she said to her reflection. "I just can't do this. Erica's wrong. Isaac and Ethan are wrong." She sighed heavily before growling in frustration. She couldn't do this, and she knew it. "What the fuck makes him so special, anyway? He's just a guy. C'mon, Lydia, you've asked tons of guys out in your life. What's so fucking special about this one?"

Lydia knew the truth, though; there were about a million different things that made Stiles special. He was unique, and even though Lydia rejected the whole unique is better than normal thing back in high school, she was all for it now. Stiles thought differently than everybody else and he was fucking smart, okay? He had gotten them out of more binds than anyone else because of the way he thought.

Lydia was frustrated. Since it was after three o'clock in Beacon Hills, it meant that it'd be six in Boston and Erica would be home from work. She booted up Skype and logged in. Since Erica had the app on her phone she was always logged in, and Lydia video called her.

"Hey Lyds," Erica said when she accepted the call. "Wow, you look like shit."

Lydia forced a smile, "Gee, thanks Eri, that's exactly what I wanted to hear."

Erica just laughed. When she noticed the pained expression on Lydia's face, she stopped laughing, "What's up?"

"I can't do this, Eri," Lydia said. "I can't ask Stiles out."

"You're a fucking banshee who has actually battled supernatural creatures and ran with a wolf pack for several years, and you're afraid of asking out a guy?"

Lydia groaned, "Why do you have to put it that way? I know it sounds ridiculous. He's just a guy."

"You can do this, Lyds," Erica said, "although I don't know why you need a pep talk. You've never needed a pep talk to ask any other guy out in your life, have you?"

"That's just the problem," Lydia said.

"You like him, that's the problem," Erica said. Lydia just looked unimpressed.

"I know you were the one to make the moves on Jackson and Aiden, but that was years ago. How old were you when you got together with Jackson?"

"Thirteen," Lydia mumbled.

"Exactly. And Aiden came when you were seventeen. You're completely different now. A lot of really deep shit has happened since then. You have every right to be a little scared – you've been through a lot in your life."

"A little scared?" Lydia asked incredulously. "No, I'm not just a little scared. Hell, I'm fucking terrified."

"I wish I could help you. Just buck up and do this, Martin. I know that you can do it, and Stiles really likes you. And I know that you really like him, too."

It was then that Lydia heard the front door to the apartment open and close and then Stiles called out, "Hey, Lyds, you here?"

Erica laughed, "I'll leave you to it, then, Lyds. I want an update after your first date." And with that, Erica disconnected the call.

Lydia knew it was now or never, so she walked out into the apartment and walked straight up to Stiles. He smiled when he saw her coming, but his brown eyes were watching her, intrigued. Lydia could tell that Stiles wasn't one hundred percent sure what was going on, but that didn't matter. Knowing that it was now or never, Lydia absentmindedly licked her lips before going up to him and kissing him.

She didn't expect the kiss to be very good; in fact, she figured it would suck. She had way too much anxiety in her to give him an incredible kiss, but when their lips met, the kiss wasn't terrible. When their lips slotted together, Stiles let out a low moan. It made Lydia want. She wanted more of him, and she wrapped her arms around his neck as she attacked his mouth with her own. Stiles was so totally on board with kissing her, but after a minute, he broke the kiss and looked at her.

"Not that I'm not happy to see you or anything, Lyds, and believe me, I totally am, but what's going on?"

"I like you Stiles," Lydia said, deciding to just be bluntly honest. She needed to just get it out. "I really like you, in fact, and I was wondering…do you wanna catch dinner or something?"

"You're asking me out? Like, on an actual date?"

Lydia just nodded dumbly.

"Wow," Stiles said, which honestly almost sounded like a squeak. "You want me? I'm no one's first choice. Well, except for Scott, but you know how tight he and I are, and –"

"Look, Stiles, you don't have to go on an all-out rant," Lydia said, cutting him off. "This is actually pretty nerve wracking for me, so a yes or no would be fine. I'd actually prefer it. So, what do you say?"

Stiles nodded, a small smile on his lips, "Yeah. That'd be pretty awesome."

Lydia couldn't hold back her grin.

-x-

"Come on, Lyds. They raised me and Scott, I'm pretty sure they can handle a one-year-old for a few hours." Stiles was in the living room of his apartment, dressed in a pair of grey slacks and a green button up shirt that Lydia insisted "made his eyes pop", feeling so very uncomfortable because he hated dressing up He was always one for jeans and hoodies, or flannel shirts, or even graphic t-shirts, but definitely not dress clothes. It just felt wrong to him. He had always hated dressing up, no matter the occasion, but right now, he was trying to reason with Lydia. "I know you're anxious about leaving Kristy, but Dad and Melissa are the best there is, okay? Unless you want to leave her with your mom."

"Not with my mom, no," Lydia said. "Knowing my luck, the minute we left, the alpha pack will ambush them and…" her voice trailed off. "Maybe we just shouldn't do this."

"No, I'm not letting you do that this time," Stiles said, slightly agitated. "Not again."

It was almost three weeks later and they were about to go on their date. Well, hopefully. They had to reschedule it three different times because the same thing always happened – it was what was happening now. Lydia was afraid to leave her daughter. She had never really been apart from Kristy for something as trivial as a date, and she was worried that the moment she got out of sight, Deucalion and Aiden would come for her.

"Dad carries a gun. He has several in the house. In fact, Chris taught him how to make wolfsbane bullets, too, and he has a ton of those. He's even used them before, so he know how, considering this is Beacon Hills and danger just doesn't give us a day off. We've had rogue werewolves and every other fucking thing you can think of. Dad will protect Kristy.. You know that, right?"

Lydia sighed, "Yeah, I do," she said finally. "But I can still worry, okay? It's a mother's prerogative, after all."

"Look, Melissa isn't working tonight, and Scott, Ally and Mel are gonna be over there, too. Scott's a good alpha and he will protect Kristy. You know that. Please, Lyds, you deserve a night off sometimes, too."

Finally, Lydia just nodded, "Okay, Stiles. Sure. I'll just go finish getting ready."

"Sounds like a plan to me," Stiles said, plopping down on the couch and looking at Kristy, who was pretty entranced in an episode of My Little Pony. He sighed and Kristy looked at him, her big green eyes just watching his brown ones.

"You know, Kristy," Stiles said, sighing, "Your mama just worries way too much. You're going to be just fine with your Uncle Scott, right?"

Kristy just babbled back at him, not really saying anything at all. Kristy did say a handful of words, but she never used any of them unless she damn well wanted to.

It only took Lydia half an hour to get ready, coming out into the living room, and Stiles couldn't help it. Every time he saw her, she just took his breath away. Because of the scars, Lydia didn't really like showing off her body that much, but she was wearing just a nice, simple green dress. She looked nice, but not overly dressy. She looked simple and very beautiful.

"You look nice, Lyds," Stiles said, his voice soft. Lydia just smiled, "Thanks."

Lydia almost freaked out when they arrived at the sheriff's house to drop off Kristy. Stiles wanted to go in, but Lydia said, "I can do this if you want. I just wanna talk to your dad for a minute about Kristy. It won't take very long."

"I'm going to go in with you," Stiles said after a moment. "No offense, but I don't think I trust you."

"That hurts, Stiles, really," Lydia said sarcastically.

"So how different is a banshee baby than a normal baby to take care of?" Melissa was asking. Lydia just shrugged.

"Not that different, I guess. She's a normal baby. The only thing you've got to watch out for is that she lets out banshee screams every so often. She can't help it. The pack medic back in Boston told me that she'd be able to learn how to control it as she gets older. The banshee screams are the worst, though. Let me put it this way: if she lets one out, I'll know it, because I'll be able to hear her from three towns over."

"Things are gonna be fine, hon," Melissa said. "I remember what it was like when I left Scott with someone new for the first time when he was a baby. It's nerve wracking, I know, but John and I are going to take good care of her."

"Just…" Lydia's voice trailed off as she thought about what she wanted to say. "I know that Deucalion and Aiden are out there, and I know they want Kristy. Please protect her."

"You have nothing to worry about, Lydia," the sheriff, who Lydia didn't even realize was in the room, was saying to her. "You have my word. Nothing bad's going to happen to your daughter tonight."

Lydia smiled briefly, "Thank you."

-x-

"I made reservations at the new French place in town," Lydia said. "I figured since I asked you out, I'd pay for it."

"I guess, if you want to," Stiles said. "I feel a little weird about taking your money, though."

"Don't do that macho man bullshit with me, Stilinski," she said. "Jackson was always like that. He wouldn't let me pay because I was the girl. I am paying for you, whether you like it or not."

Stiles shrugged, "Fine. I don't have a problem with that."

Dinner went really great. The conversation, which was what Lydia was worried about the most, flowed almost flawlessly. Stiles had really changed over the years; he was no longer awkward and unsure of himself. He was laughing and flirting with her, and it felt nice. It felt really nice to be with a guy who found her attractive. With Aiden, it was all about sex, but he never even told her she was pretty. Having someone acknowledge that they thought she was aesthetically pleasing made her feel really incredible.

After picking up Kristy and driving back to Stiles' apartment, Lydia put Kristy to bed and then met Stiles in his bedroom. She had taken up sleeping in there. She didn't feel any safer than she did when she was all cuddled up to Stiles – and boy, was Stiles ever a cuddler. He didn't even mind being the little spoon, which really kind of made Lydia happy. Unlike Jackson and Aiden, Stiles was pretty secure in his masculinity – he didn't worry about feeling macho at, like, all.

When she met Stiles in his bedroom, the first thing she did was lunge forward and kiss him. The feeling of his lips on hers was a feeling that she could easily get used to – she had gone the last two years without any contact with someone like that, and now that she had it, she was almost drunk on the sensation.

Still kissing him, she started unbuttoning his shirt. When he realized what she was doing, he broke the kiss, looking at her, "Are you sure, Lyds? I mean, I know it's been a while for you –"

She snorted, cutting him off, "It's only been a couple years," she said. He shrugged.

"Still," he said, his eyes watching hers, "I don't want you to feel like you have to do anything. I'm happy with you just being here with me. I've been perfectly happy just cuddled up to you at night."

One of the things that Lydia loved about Stiles was the fact that he didn't expect anything from her. He always made sure that she was comfortable, and Lydia was pretty sure that Stiles didn't know how to take advantage of anyone. Lydia took half a step back, her hands over Stiles', and said, "I'm sure. Trust me, Stiles, I won't do anything I don't want to do."

Stiles nodded, and Lydia finished unbuttoning his shirt, peeling it off of him and threw it behind her. It landed in the laundry basket and Stiles laughed, "Good aim." Lydia snorted. Licking her lips, she pushed him backwards so he landed on his back in the middle of the bed, and she straddled him. Leaning down to kiss him, she whispered, "Is this okay with you?"

For a moment, he reminded her of the awkward, sixteen-year-old virgin he had been once upon a time. He took a deep breath, "Jesus Christ, Lyds, it's so good, so, so good with me. I'm totally up for whatever you wanna do. So okay."

His rambling made her stifle back a laugh. She kissed him once more before grinding her hips down onto him and he let out a moan.

They made out for a few moments and it felt awesome. Finally, deciding she had had enough, she slid off of him and started unbuttoning his pants. He lifted his hips so his pants and boxers slid off with ease, and Lydia licked her lips as she looked at him hungrily. He had really changed since she had been gone, and god damn, had he filled out. Planting a kiss on his lips, she started kissing her way down his body, and then, with her eyes never leaving his, she took him into her mouth.

Lydia wasn't a huge fan of blowjobs – they were all right, they just weren't her favorite thing to do – but she was good at them. She licked him from base to tip before relaxing her throat and taking him as deep as he would go. As his cock hit the back of her throat, she hummed around him, and Stiles almost lost it. When she looked at him again, his eyes were closed and his mouth was halfway open. As she took him into her throat, he groaned.

"Shit, Lyds, close," is what he said, and it amused her how he couldn't even string together a simple sentence. Licking him once more, she pulled off with a dirty pop.

"So, so good," he said, once he got his breathing under control. She smiled at him smugly. She was really glad that she could do that to him.

He sat up, stripping her dress off of her and kissing her lips gently. Once he got her all the way undressed, he lay her down and said, "God, Lyds, you're fucking perfect." He kissed his way down her body, starting with her lips, but she shook her head and he looked at her. "What?" he asked her

"Don't want this right now, Stiles," Lydia said. "I want you, inside me. I need to feel you"

Stiles shook his head, "No way, Lyds. It's been a long time for you and I intend to show you just how much I care about you. I'm going to worship your body like you deserve, not fuck you like some kind of fucking animal. You deserve to be loved, Lydia, and that's exactly what I intend on doing."

Lydia wasn't sure what to say. She had never had someone look at her the way that Stiles was looking at her right now. Not Jackson, and definitely not Aiden. This whole thing made her extremely uncomfortable, so she said, "Don't, Stiles Don't do that to me."

"Do what?" Stiles asked, confused.

"The way you're fucking looking at me like I'm something special. I can't handle that. It's making me feel uncomfortable."

"Lyds, you are special," Stiles said, kind of hating himself for making them have a heart to heart while he could be making her come "You are so very special, and neither Jackson nor Aiden could appreciate you the way you deserve to be appreciated"

Lydia was silent, so Stiles said, "I love you, Lyds, and I have for a very long time. I think you are very special and I want to show you how special I really do think you are. Now shut up and let me make you come."

The last part seemed so out of character for Stiles that Lydia laughed, but it made her feel better, so she said, "So sorry, Stiles Please, continue"

"Thank you," he said sarcastically, and Lydia felt something in her chest. As he kissed his way down her thighs, spreading them open and licking up her slit, Lydia felt that same thing in her chest again. Sex had never been like this with Jackson or Aiden; it was never fun. But right now, here with Stiles, this sex was fun. She felt like she could say or do anything, but when with them, it had to all be seriousness. She was really starting to like this uninhabited sex, and wanted to tell him as much, but as he went down on her, Lydia's thoughts were pulled in a completely different direction.

Stiles was just so good at this, at eating her out, that she briefly wondered how many girls he had gone down on to get this good. When that thought entered her mind, she shook it out almost immediately. She didn't want to think about how Stiles was so good at what he was doing; she was just thankful that he was. She didn't care about how he got his experience as much as how he was making her feel using it.

Her orgasm came almost unexpectedly; when she came, it hit her with the same force as a freight train, it was that intense. She bit her bottom lip so hard she tasted the metallic tang of her blood, but she didn't want to run the risk of waking her daughter. Stiles sucked up her come and he groaned at the taste. As he climbed back up her body, he said, "God, Lyds, you taste just as good as I always thought you would."

"You thought about this a lot then?" she asked, and for some reason, it didn't bother her at all that Stiles just admitted to having sexual fantasies about her.

"Almost every day for, like, ever," he admitted. Lydia just giggled.

"Switch places with me," he said, and Lydia got up on her knees. Stiles lay down and he said, "Straddle me, Lyds. I want you to ride me."

"Got any condoms?" she asked, almost as an afterthought. She was on the pill, so she was pretty okay with having unprotected sex with him, but she wasn't sure how he felt about it. She trusted him. He sighed, "No, I wasn't exactly expecting you to jump me."

Lydia shrugged and told him that she was on the pill and it was okay if he wanted to still go through with it. Taking a minute to ask, "What if you get pregnant?" he was surprised at her answer.

"I already have one kid, I'm really not that worried about it," came her reply, and Stiles wasn't sure what to think, but he thought fuck it. ""Ride me, Lyds. I can't wait to feel you."

So she slowly lowered herself down onto him. It had been almost two years since she had had sex the last time and even though she had a well-used vibrator, it definitely was not the same. He was a little bit bigger than she was used to and she grimaced unintentionally.

"You okay?" he asked, noting the look on her face. She just nodded.

"Yeah," she said. "You're just a little bigger than I'm used to. It's a stretch. It doesn't hurt, not exactly, it's just…different."

"We can stop if you need to," he was saying, but Lydia shook her head.

"No, just give me a minute. It feels good, it's just a little…overwhelming."

Allowing herself time to adjust around him, she started moving slowly. A moan escaped her lips, "God, Stiles, you feel so fucking good."

Stiles knew he wasn't going to last long, but was determined to make Lydia come before he did. He looked at her, "Touch yourself for me, Lyds. I want you to come."

She reached down and rubbed her clit in slow circles and she shuddered, "I'm close, Stiles. Really fucking close."

"Do it, Lydia. Come on, come for me, I wanna see you."

She let go with a low moan, once again biting down on her lip so she wouldn't yell, and came around him. It felt absolutely fucking wonderful and he didn't last much longer after that. He exploded inside of her and let out a low moan as he did so.

He slid down off of him and curled up next to him, all of the sudden very sleepy, "God Stiles, I never imagined it would be like that. Sex has never felt like that before."

"You're special, Lyds, like I told you," Stiles said, kissing her on top of her head. "You were meant to be worshiped."

She smiled, "Thanks, Stiles. I mean it, thanks for everything." And with that, she fell into a dreamless sleep.