It was a bright and sunny day, specifically the day before school started back up again. Everyone in the pack was excited about it, it was their senior year. So on their last semi-official day of being juniors, Lydia and Stiles were cruising around in the jeep. They were letting everything run free, not worried about anything until ten that night when they needed to sleep. Stiles kept glancing over at his friend while he drove. She was lounging in the passenger's seat with one hand out the window and the other holding her hair down on top of her head. Her sunglasses were the circled kind and he couldn't help but think she was the only one he'd ever seen that could pull them off.

"Did you want to go anywhere special today?" He asked, leaning back with only one hand left on the wheel.

Lydia pursed her lips as she thought, "Not really. How about you?"

He looked over and saw her kicking off her short black heels, "I don't know. I mean, the mall is always an option."

"Oh, god."

"What?" He was utterly confused.

Lydia put both hands over her face, she looked stressed out, "Do you remember the last time we were at the mall together?"

It took him a minute of combing back through his memories before he landed on dress shopping for the Winter Formal. Back when he hardly even knew this girl and was still completely obsessed, "Oh. The formal?"

"Oh my god. I am so, so, so sorry! I was such a bitch to you!" Lydia wanted to smack her old self for ever being so superficial.

Stiles reached a hand over to cover one of hers, that now laid on the arm rest, "Hey. Back then I was a total spaz, so I really didn't care."

"Well, I do now. God, I was horrible. How did I ever turn out that way?" She was now asking herself more than her best friend who just squeezed her hand, "What in the hell happened to me? I mean, now I'm alright... right?"

"Of course, Lydia."

"But you're definitely not the best person to make that judgement, are you? Oh, I can't stop wanting to kick my old self in the ass," Lydia was close to ranting when his voice brought her back to the present.

He pulled her hand up and kissed it gently, "You are one hundred percent better than when you started high school. And I, for one, know that something happened to you in middle school and after that you just didn't want to let anyone in. Nothing was wrong with you, you just put up a really rough outer wall. You are one of the most caring people Beacon Hills has ever seen and if anyone tries to disagree with that.. they'll have to deal with me."

Lydia just stared at him, truly seeing all the honesty of his statement in his features, "Then let's go make it up. Do it over."

"How're we going to do that, again?"

Lydia looked back out her window with a powerful smirk, "I've got a few things in mind."

An hour later when they were done eating literally everything in the mall's food court, Lydia threw her small, dark grey purse over her head and across her chest. Then she practically pulled Stiles' arm out of the socket, trying to get him to hurry up and move out of the food court. He just laughed at her excitement before having to run to ketch up.

Now they were walking at a decent pace, side by side, with their hands interlocked.

Lydia's bright pink smile sent a wave of excitement through his body, "Let's try this one."

She dragged him toward a family boutique with a small town vibe to it.

Stiles questioned, "So what exactly are we looking for?"

"You'll know when I want you to know," Lydia played the mysterious card while holding up a bright, but somehow deep blue, wool button down against his chest.

He eyed her suspiciously, "What're you doing, Lyd."

"Hold that," She was pleased with her choice of shirt for him and started to turn away, "Please."

She sent him an innocent smile as he carefully took the shirt.

Lydia made her way over to the accessories and started going through the ties. She was exceptionally glad that he had worn black skinny jeans and some blue Vans that day. Or else she probably wouldn't have been able to get him a simple outfit. This way, she only had to change him out of his grey long-sleeved shirt, which she was not opposed to him wearing, considering it showed off his new muscles. She smiled at one tie in particular. It was a simple black bow tie and she knew it would look great with his shirt.

She held the bow tie out towards him with a content glimmer in her eye, "Here."

"Lydia, what is all of this?" He took the bow tie without hesitation and followed her over to the counter.

She pulled out her wallet and sat the items on the table, waiting to use her credit card.

Stiles noticed, "Lydia why are you buying me clothes?"

"Just shut up and take the free clothing!" Lydia had a very amused smile on her face that she just couldn't hold in.

"I don't want you buying me things," He tried to get his point across.

Lydia silenced him with a look whilst handing the cashier her card, "Stiles, you'll just have to trust me."

He let out an audible huff as she dragged him back out of the shop, handing him his clothing bag.

She began walking with determination toward a decently sized dress store. Stiles caught up and slipped his arm over her shoulder, "We are not doing what I think we're doing. Are we?"

"The world may never know," Lydia smiled up at him as they walking into the store. She subconsciously interlocked her hand with the one over her shoulder and began playing with his long fingers. They stayed like this, together and smiling, for the half hour it took her to finally pick up a dress and love it. She then told him to wait on a couch outside the dressing rooms while she tried it on. This was something very different for Lydia, she normally had a few options with her but she had this gut feeling this dress would do it. So as quickly as she could, she pulled her spaghetti strapped and floral romper off. Slipping on the short grey dress, Lydia fell in love. It was sleeveless and their was no cleavage since the top stopped just below her neck. The only pattern on it was a soft swirl that blended into the color of the dress. She loved it.

"Aren't you going to show me? You know, a guy's opinion and all that?" She heard Stiles yell and decided she didn't want him to see her in it yet.

Within a few minutes she was back out of the dressing room and rushing past him towards the cashier.

Once they both had a bag and were casually walking down the corridor, Stiles spoke, "We are so doing what I thought we were."

Lydia just shook her head and lifted his arm over her should so she could play with his fingers again, "I still don't think you know whats going on."

"Lyd, it's been over a year and I still remember every part of that dance."

He noticed her jaw set, "I do too."

"So why are you trying to make up for it like this?" He asked, genuinely not understanding why their train wreck of a first official date wasn't good enough. It was kind of ironic to think about it as the first date, considering what happened with Peter. The world they comfortably lived in now laughed at that night.

She let out a deep sigh, "Because I was rude. And if I hadn't been so stupid and gone looking for Jackson then I would never have met Peter the way I did."

"You were concerned about Jackson and you had every right to be."

"Not then. Not that night. That was the night I was supposed to spend with you, don't you get that? You were such a good guy, you didn't care about being second on my list of priorities and I was wrong to not have put you first," She confessed.

"Lydia, that was a long time ago."

"And that is exactly why I'm making up for it now. Because now we know each other, Stiles, and I know you deserve better than that."

He looked down at her in awe and kissed her temple. It was a simple action but if Lydia was truly honest with herself, it signified the moment she knew. The moment she figured out that she want to be with him. In ever way humanly possible, she was ready to let him in and just be happy together. They were practically already dating, she just needed to make that one last leap because she knew he wouldn't.

It was eight 'o'clock when they finally parked the jeep. Stiles had followed Lydia's every instruction and was surprised when they showed up at the abandoned parking lot of some store from the late 1990's. There were cracks all throughout the lot and most of them had relatively short grass growing out of them. Lydia was now directing him to leave the car and face toward the building. He asked why and she just threw him his shirt and pushed him out the door.

"What a dork," Lydia said to herself while she climbed into the back seat with her own bag.

A few minutes later she had slipped on the dress and triple checked her hair. Glancing in front of the car, she saw Stiles finally decide to change out into his formal wear and she was enjoying the view of his bare back. His muscles rippled as he pulled the button down over his shoulders. She admired his subtle movements while he put on the bow tie. Turning around, Stiles had no idea that Lydia's breathe hitched at the sight. He was handsome in every sense of the word.

She jumped out of the back seat and on to the concrete. He threw his bag into the front seat before waltzing around the car to meet her. Only, once he caught sight of her he stopped dead in his tracks, with his mouth hung open. She smiled up at him and he felt his heart melt. His hand ran slowly through his hair, trying to calm his nerves.

"Stiles..." Her voice trailed off. She took a few steps towards him, giving them about a foot of space between them.

He cleared his throat, "You look really, and I mean really, beautiful."

"Thank you," Lydia moved some hair behind her ear, glancing toward the ground.

Stiles let out a breath and stepped toward her, extending his hand. She took it with an embarrassed smile painted on her face.

He led her to the front of the car and then he turned toward her, "Come on," he nodded his head toward the jeep.

"What?" She let him put his hands on her waist.

"We're going up there."

Lydia raised her eyebrows at him. He just continued his movements and she was quickly sitting on the hood of the jeep. He then got up him self and stood on it. Stiles pulled her to her feet and chuckled at her expression. She looked like a child about to get on their favorite ride at an amusement park. Stiles then repeated the same motions until they were standing on the very top of the jeep.

"So why're we up here?" Lydia asked, griping his arms for dear life. She raised her eyebrows at the ground with fear in her eyes.

"To dance," He wrapped his arms around her petite waist, "Obviously."

"Oh, god."

"What?"

She just shook her head and ran her hands up his arms and over his shoulders. He started to sway and she pulled one arm around his neck with the other clutching his shoulder. He let out a shaky breath when she rested her head on his shoulder. Lydia heard this and her face light up like holiday lights.

"Thank you," His voice brought her out of her daydream. She raised her head to look at him.

"For what?"

"Redoing that night," His mind stopped spinning the second he saw her chuckle and look utterly gorgeous. She always seemed to keep him grounded.

"This one is a lot better."

"Yeah." ϟ