· 1st Time They Hold Hands
During a lacrosse game, Scott seemed to get seriously injured when Eddie 'Abomination' Abramovitz hit him hard enough to send him head over heels. He crashed to the ground and every seat in the stands took to their feet in shock. Coach shouted for no one to move until the medics could survey the damage and Stiles remained by the bench, tortured and gnawing on the netting of his lacrosse stick. The sound of the crunch when Scott hit the ground echoed and rose in volume in his imagination.
From where the girls' sat, Allison clambered down the steps to the edge of the field speedily and stood practically in front of Stiles, on the tips of her toes to make out what was happening. Her panicked whispers did nothing to calm his worse fears.
During the stagnant interim, Lydia stood up from her seat and went through the milling crowd, and like a good friend went straight to them and tucked herself in between. Stiles felt like he would stop breathing until he felt her secretly, unobserved, slip her hand along his.
While facing forward he glanced to the side, he dropped the lacrosse stick and frowned for what felt like forever while he slid his palm along her hand until their fingers entwined. Her bright-green eyes captured his attention and her breaths guided him to calm. Alone and invisible in a sea of people, they waited tethered together until the on-site medical professionals called the 'All-Clear'. Allison darted onto the field to better assess and the other players moved into plays of anxious roaming but he still stood on shaky legs.
Finally, when Scott's groggy voice could be heard clearly summoning Stiles to come carry him to the locker room and change him out of his gear, Lydia's eyebrows rose with amusement and she released him.
It wasn't just that she went over to hold his hand, or how natural he felt no matter how fiercely he squeezed but it was the pang they felt upon letting go that said they needed to experiment again with the hand holding thing. And they couldn't wait for another time when things were emotionally falling apart.
The next time they held hands, it was for less than 4 seconds when Stiles caught her heading upstairs to Physics, while he was meant to go downstairs to World History. He meant to tell her he'd be late for their study session because he had to swing by the station and bring his dad a late lunch. He caught her by the hand and held it for a gentle count, of one-Mississippi, two-Mississippi, three-Mississippi, four-Mississippi before she smiled, nodded and continued onto class.
The next time they held hands was when they were late sneaking back to the school campus and they were made to wait at a red-light. He kept tapping anxiously on the dashboard, so she covered his hand with hers and held it there longer than a four-Mississippi count. She said she couldn't bear his road rage, so then at each red-light she held on a little longer.
From then on Lydia would hold out her hand for him to take and help her into the passenger seat of his Jeep, or he would put his hand out for her to take when hopping down.
Then when her tapping pencil distracted him during chemistry class Stiles had no problem reaching over and keeping her hand still, keeping her hand in his, or keeping it calm under the table.
Then he reached for her when he had no excuse and she reached for him when she knew no one would notice or they held on when they did not realize they'd done it at all.