Lydia Martin believed herself to be independent, free and very intelligent. Lydia Martin never needed anyone else and no one could get her to admit otherwise. Lydia has never had a healthy relationship, even a good friendship. Not until Allison Argent entered and exited her life ever so briefly. Now, on the last day of junior year, Lydia was feeling her absence more than ever. She needed her best friend and she needed her to always be there. Lydia Martin had began to lean on someone else in Allison's absence and Lydia Martin was scared shitless of what it was doing to her. Yes, she could talk and joke and discover with the rest of the pack, that was the easy part. But when it came to understanding her and knowing just how to make her feel better, a certain doe-eyed boy could lift her spirits higher than even her mother could.
Stiles was slowly becoming Lydia Martins anchor to the here and now.
He had come and stayed by her side from the moment of Allison's death and she was just figuring it out. She was leaning so much on him, he was practically carrying her.
"Hey man," Lydia heard Scott speak to his best friend as she walked up behind Stiles, "Did you ever talk to that Malia girl again?"
Lydia stopped in her tracks, hoping to god that Scott didn't notice her presence.
"Malia? The girl from Echo House?" Stiles looked at Scott, closing his locker.
"Yeah, that one. You know, the one you had sex with!" Scott was shamelessly patting Stiles on the back. Extremely proud of his friends recent loss of virginity.
Stiles replied, "Could you keep it down!?"
"Well?"
Stiles sighed and they started walking away from Lydia, so she trailed, "No, I have not talked to her. Have you? She was supposed to find you?"
"I think I overheard Derek saying that he ran across her first and started helping her."
"But, y-you're the alpha."
Scott scuffed, "So? He's more experienced."
"Whatever," Stiles pulled at his backpacks straps like a child.
Lydia was starting to feel extremely out-of-place and decided to run up between her two oldest friends, "Hey!"
The boys were pushed apart, both putting on a smile for their companion. If Allison had been there, it could have felt like the old gang.
"Hey, did you hear that we have a pop quiz in Couch's class?" Scott mused, trying to stop feeling like a third wheel.
Lydia tilted her head towards him, "Nope."
"How'd you know?" Stiles questioned. He subconsciously putting his hand on the small of Lydia's back, guiding her through the maze of teenagers.
"When has he ever been discreet?"
The pair laughed at their friend as he went down a different hallway.
"So? Quiz on the last day of school. How could this day get any worse?" Stiles joked.
Lydia glanced up at him, feeling the heat of his hand on her back, "I would think of a few ways."
"I don't even want to know. Could get jinxed and all that."
"Fair enough."
A few hours later Lydia was sitting at the pack's usual lunch table. She had decided to skip eating and was just waiting for the others to join her. Lydia's mind kept circling back around to the conversation she eavesdropped on that morning. She couldn't pinpoint why it was occupying her thoughts so much or why she even cared so damn much. She knew he was a boy, and boys needed to feel like men. So obviously, their conversations would turn toward that but she had never envisioned Stiles being a virgin. He was just too damn pretty; what girl wouldn't jump at the opportunity?
Oh, right. She didn't.
"Ahoy!" Stiles made a grand entrance, sitting to her left at the rectangular table. Kira came and occupied the seat across from him shortly after.
Lydia just smiled.
"Why aren't you eating, Lyd?" Stiles asked, stuffing his face with some chips.
She shook her head in amusement, "Just not hungry."
"Sure," He scooted his tray over some, it now sat directly in the middle.
"I'm fine."
Stiles gave her a disapproving look, "Lydia, stop being so stubborn and eat something."
She huffed, looking over the options he had given her, "I'll pass."
He was the one to huff this time before he got up to grab her something else. He quickly returned with one shiny green apple.
He offered it to her, they heard a laugh come from Kira, "Come on, Lyd."
"Fine," She accepted because she just couldn't deny how good that apple looked.
"Good," Stiles kept staring at her.
She noticed and decided to ignore it, biting into the fruit.
"You guys haven't seen Isaac around, have you?" Kira asked, drawing only Lydia's attention.
Lydia shook her head, "I thought he was with Mr. Argent?"
"He told Scott that they had to come back to get a few things," Kira swirled her straw around in her cup.
"Why would he be at school?" Lydia was trying her hardest not to look at Stiles, his eyes still on her. Was there something on her face?
"To get things out of his locker? I don't know. It was a shot in the dark," Kira said just as Scott walked up and sat next to her.
The Alpha greeted the group and said, "How is everyone on this lovely last day of school?"
"Fantastic," Kira sent a shot of light into the air like a firework, from her finger.
Scott turned around a few times, trying to see if anyone caught it, "Kira!"
His voice held only affection for the girl.
"Lyd."
She pulled herself out of the pretty-much-and-totally-a-couple's conversation and looked at Stiles.
"Lyd, what's wrong?" Was her mood that obvious to him only? She couldn't stand the way he could read any emotion just from her face.
"Nothing. Drop it," She didn't mean to sound a bit snooty but that's just her natural defense.
He noticed but kept on, "Come on, talk to me Lydia. I know you, and somethings on your mind."
"That's it, Stiles. There's just something on my mind. I'm not upset, I'm just thinking. Alright?"
"Nope. Tell me."
"Can you stop being like that for like five minutes?" Lydia was even getting aggravated with herself; her voice held that much vinegar.
Stiles physically pulled back, looking extremely hurt, "Like what? Like myself? Sorry if I care, Lydia. God, sometimes I don't even know why I try."
"Sti-" She called after him as he got up to throw away his tray. He only ate half of his lunch. He then continued to walk out the doors and step outside.
Lydia could feel her friend's eyes boring into her but she could care less about what they thought. She needed to go after him. So she let out an upset sigh and threw her bag over her shoulder, heading in the direction Stiles went.
She quickly found him sitting on a bench a few feet away from the doors. He hadn't made it far before he needed to sit down and not hit something. Something about Lydia Martin always made his emotions heightened. He cared far too much, he got frustrated way too easily, and he allowed his heart to grow in her presence. He didn't notice her until she hesitantly took a seat next to him. He had his elbows on his knees and his back was hunched.
"Stiles."
He glanced at her, raw emotion on his face.
"Stiles, I'm sorry."
He looked between his shoes and the cars in the parking lot a few meters away from them.
"Stiles, I'm sorry for snapping at you like that. I don't know what got into me."
He now held her gaze, his expression was bitter, "I know what got into you. You let it happen again, Lydia."
She raised her eyebrows, "What happened?"
"You let your walls come back up. That cold exterior you used to have. God, Lydia, I honestly thought you had gotten over that and had grown. Hell, I even let myself feel pride for having some reason to do with it. You were growing into yourself but the second someone actually cares about what's going on with you.." Stiles used his hands to demonstrate how he felt.
Lydia looked at her hands. They were clasped together on her lap, "I'm sorry."
He let out a defeated sigh and turned completely toward her, "Lydia. What's going on?"
"It's like I said, Stiles. And no I'm not talking about it. I came out here to apologize for my behavior. That's it," They made eye contact.
"If it's worth you falling back into old habits, then it's important enough to talk to me about," He made a good argument.
Lydia sighed, "I can't talk to you about it. I guess that's what's bothering me the most.. I don't have anyone else to talk to."
"Why can't you talk to me, Lyd?"
"I just wish Allison was here. I just need her," Lydia's voice was barely a whisper but of course Stiles still heard.
He scooted closer to her, leaning in for a hug, "Lydia. I'm sorry."
"It's not like you're a bad friend or anything. Don't you start thinking that, okay?" He had paused his motions to let her talk, and then he nodded to let her know he understood, "Okay. Good. Because you are far from that. I just don't have any other friends. I am not going to talk to Kira about this, it's just too weird. We're still getting to know each other. I just... I don't know anymore."
"You just need your best friend."
"Yeah."
"I'm sorry, Lydia. I wish I could do something," He completed his actions and held her head against his shoulder with his hand. The hug was comforting.
Lydia held on to his arm for dear life, "It's not your fault and you don't have to do anything."
"I still wish."
"We need to get going to class," She stated, pulling back to look at him, "Are we okay?"
Her eyes showed more vulnerability than he'd ever seen and he quickly nodded, "Obviously. You can't get rid of me that easily."
"I never wanted to get rid of you in the first place," Lydia smiled up at him. Enjoying the moment before the bell sprung them out of it and they made their way back inside. ϟ