Fanfiction gives us all the power to change the world we love into something else, like when two straight characters are put together. So to tell someone that their writing has something wrong with it, or they're doing something wrong, or not writing a character correctly is being a complete douche. This is all about expression and fanon, so don't tell someone they're doing something wrong, because with fanfiction, it's all just idea's we're writing out, so nothing can be considered wrong. At least that's how I feel.

But anyway, please enjoy this next chapter.

Lydia tried to hide her blush from them by walking slightly ahead. It wasn't like they had been staring into each other's eyes or some gooey shit like that. They knew each other so well. With all the crap they had been through, it wasn't surprising people would see it like that; like they were good together. Were they?

She also had to hide her look from him when she had first seen him. He looked good. Who would have thought Stiles had a body to show off. The muscles were very obvious in his perfect fit shirt. Had he always been hiding that from her? She kicked herself from noticing his body, she shouldn't be doing that. Though, she was amused at how uncomfortable he obviously felt in the shirt.

"Why are you trying to run from this?" Chase had caught up to her, she looked back to see that Maxxie and Stiles were a few strides behind them. His voice was kept low just for her, but she was worried Stiles would hear. Why was she worried?

She stuck out her chin, "I don't know what you mean? We have known each other for a long time; been through a lot a fucked up shit. Of course we are going to be close."

Hitting her with a sad smiled; he grabbed her arm and put it around his. "Not like that. You should have seen you guys. It was as if you two were the only people around. You guys completely forgot about us."

Not answering him, they walked in silence. Up ahead they could see the neon sign of the club. Maxxie caught up with them and grabbed Chase away from her. They went straight to the door, Chase waved at the bouncer and they were waved through. Lydia looked over at her friend with a raised eyebrow.

Chase shrugged, "My dad owns a few clubs."

"Of course." Stiles said as he came up from behind her. He smiled over at her and she let a smile out. "Alright, let's dance."

Stiles smile fell off his face, "I'm just gonna go get a drink or something."

Maxxie pouted at him. "Come on Stiles, you came here to have fun right? So have fun."

"Let him get his courage up, even if it's the liquid kind." Lydia teased and followed the two boys into the middle of the dance floor. She wasn't going to drink; she didn't need it to have a great time. Bouncing and swaying to the beat was like a kind of drug to her. It was like being swept into a stream and letting go of everything, just letting yourself move with the current. You had to let it take you where you needed to go.

After a while of dancing with abandon, she looked around for Stiles. She found him leaning up against the bar, looking straight at her. Pretending not to notice him looking, she kept dancing but watched him too. She laughed out loud as a guy sidled next to him and start talking to him. Waiting for him to go all red with shyness and deny his gayness, she was shocked to see him smile at the guy and then point toward her.

Had he just used her to get the guy to go away? She looked at the guy and he smiled watching her with him. They started talking some more and then the gay guy slapped him on the back with an obvious good luck coming from his lips. The guy walked away and he went back to staring at her, watching her like she was hypnotizing him. His eyes never left her, so she decided to look back.

He noticed her looking and raised his glass in her direction, smiling. Who was he? Where had this Stiles come from? The Stiles she knew would have blushed and looked away. It couldn't be because of alcohol because this was an under twenty-one club, so there wasn't any. She pondered this and raised a hand to motion him to come dance with her.

The fight could be seen in his eyes. Would he take her invitation, he might even know it was out of the realm of what Lydia would do normally. Had she changed? In just two days? Was it being away from Beacon Hills? It didn't make sense that she would go from being unattainable, to giving Stiles Stilinski a chance to dance with her.

After what felt like forever of just watching him, she gave up and turned away. Of course he hadn't changed, he would always be too scared to try something with her. It was another reason she wouldn't give him a chance; she didn't want someone who would be shy with her, it was so annoying it made her angry.

She felt hands slide around her waist, and she let herself press back into the obviously nice body. Well, since Stiles was too chicken to come to her, she would dance with this stranger and enjoy it. She started to move against him and he moved with her. Man, this guy could really move, his hands never left her waist and that was weird, most guys would be trying to cop a feel.

Snagged a gentlemen had she? She might just have to take this one home, see if she could change that. He didn't even have a boner, though she could diffidently feel something, she found as she ground back against him. What kind of dude could move against her like this and not be able to not have one. Not to mention how amazing he smelled, like the outdoors, just like the woods from back –

She turned around real fast and put her hands around Stiles' neck. Lydia looked up into his eyes and found him looking back. The look in his eyes was different than she expected, just like his dancing. It was like he knew she hadn't known it was him at first, he was amused. They kept moving together, getting lost in each other's gaze until the song ended. Stiles pulled away, reluctantly and grabbed her hand, pulling her toward where Chase and Maxxie were watching them with knowing looks.

Of course they had seen everything. They were obviously trying to get her and Stiles together. She wouldn't let it happen though, no matter how great it was to dance with him, being surprised at how he moved as if he had been doing it for ever. Not to mention how he had looked at her hungrily from the bar, exciting her. Jeez, who were they anymore?

Lydia pulled her hand out of his and tried to ignore that he didn't react to that. It was like he hadn't even noticed. Chase raised an eyebrow at her but she turned her face away. Like she needed him to give her that disapproving look.

Maxxie started pushing through the crowds to get out the door. "Yeash, two hours straight of dancing was great, and I would deff go longer, but I'm starving."

The boys led them to a restaurant about a block away. They claimed a booth and ordered their food pretty quickly. The service here was great.

"I thought you guys were from Maine, yet your father owns clubs here and you seem to know the layout pretty well." Stiles asked as he took a sip of his drink. Lydia found it awkward to be between the wall and him, while the boys sat across from them. It was like some terrible double date shit.

Chase shrugged, he did that a lot. "Well I live with my mom, but come down here a lot to visit with my dad. So, yeah I have a lot of experience around this place."

"What about you guys; anything fun to do in your town?" Maxxie asked.

Stiles snorted. "Well, there's fantastic hunting."

Lydia choked on her drink as she tried to hold back her laughter. "Stiles, that was uncalled for." She said when she could breathe again.

"But you laughed." He smiled as she hit him on the arm, trying to hold back her smile.

"Why do I feel like there is some other meaning behind that?" Maxxie asked.

Stiles sighed. "Well, you see, back in Beacon Hills we have some friends who-"

"Stiles." Lydia stopped him, grabbing his arms. She looked at him, incredulous. What the hell was he thinking, did he really think it was okay to talk to these people, who were pretty much strangers, about their lives back home.

He frowned at her. "What's wrong?"

"Do you really think it's okay to talk about that here?"

"Why not? It's our life, shouldn't we be able to talk about it freely; when we want."

Lydia gave him a look that showed just how stupid she thought he sounded. "Are you kidding me Stiles, we can't just talk about it to everyone. It was an unspoken rule at home; doesn't that also apply everywhere else in the world?"

Stiles glared at her. "Lydia, that was Beacon Hills, which is across the country. I think we are fine to talk about it if we want."

"Do you really think that that stuff only happens in Beacon Hills, Stiles? It is everywhere, including New York. So yeah, I think you should shut up about home."

"Fuck you, Lydia." He stood quickly and stormed out of the restaurant. Even with how fast he had left, she still got a glimpse of tears starting to fall. Shit. She would not take it back though; it was common sense not to talk about it. For all they know the two gay guys that had befriended them were wolves, or worse, hunters.

"Maxxie, follow him to make sure he makes it back." Said boy ran out the door after him. Chase turned to Lydia, who had lowered her head into her hands, closing her eyes. "Wanna tell me what all that was about?"

She sighed. "Let's just say that we left a lot of friends back in Beacon Hills."

Chase frowned. "I don't understand."

"Not all of them are still with us."

xxx

Stiles wiped at his eyes angrily. It was his life, it was his whole life. He wanted to tell people all the shit he had been through; he felt it was his right. But she was right. Fuck her for being right. Fuck her for making sense. Fuck her for these stupid emotions, half the time wanting her, half the time wanting to hate her. Wanting.

He understood that there was a chance there were other people going through the same shit they had. To be honest, he wanted to find someone like that, to be able to talk to someone about his experiences, the everyday hell that was his life.

Stiles leaned up against a building and hit his head against the brick. He leaned his forehead against the building and closed his eyes. He was being so selfish. Sigh, he needed to go back and apologize, but he wanted to go back to his dorm and sleep.

He wanted to go home and sleep in his own bed.

"Hey."

Maxxie grabbed his arm and turned him around, forcing him to look at him. He looked worried and that made it worse. There was no need to make his friends worry about him, not when they couldn't make any of it better. Not only could they not help, but they wouldn't understand. Ha, they would think he was fucking crazy.

"Hey, Maxxie."

The boy nodded for him to follow him, and he pushed off the wall to walk beside him. They walked in silence for a few moments before he spoke. "So, I'm guessing you and Lydia have a big secret or something?"

Stiles let out a mock laugh. "Bigger than the pentagon."

Nodding, he let them fall back into silence for a block. "Want to tell me what happened? I swear I won't tell anyone, not even Chase."

"Maxxie, it's not that I don't think I could trust you, it's just that she was right, it's kind of an unspoken rule. I'm sure that the only reason Lydia and I are alive is because it was such a well kept secret, and that we had friends who were there for us."

He frowned at the sidewalk, obviously trying to work around the cryptic words. "So, do you guys have like gangs after you or something?"

Stiles snorted, "I wish that was it."

"You guys are some cryptic assholes, you know." Maxxie nudged him with an elbow and made sure he could see his smile. Gosh, he was such a good friend. Stiles didn't deserve him.

"Maxxie, you're an awesome friend." Stiles threw and arm over his shoulders.

He sighed. "Yeah, you guys are so lucky to have me." Stiles laughed and squeezed him in a hug and they walked back to the dorm in silence.

Stiles stared at his phone like he did on most days. It had been days since the argument and Lydia hadn't texted him back since then. He had sent her a text apologizing to her, but it seemed it wouldn't get accepted. On Thursday he gave up trying to text her; it was now Saturday. Also he had almost tried to wait for her after classes, or was going to until Chase called him a stalker.

"Don't you have class with her?" Stiles had asked on Thursday night while they were all working on homework.

Chase sighed. "Stiles, I'm not going to bug her for you, if she wanted to talk about it she would. Just, let it go."

Let it go? It had been going so well, he was making her laugh and smile, and then he ruined it. How could he let it go when she wasn't only a massive crush, but one of his best friends? He had hurt her by being stupid enough to think he would ever be able to talk about it to someone outside of their circle, which had grown so small.

The only people who texted him in the last few days, besides Maxxie and Chase, were Scott and his dad. He kept everything about Lydia from both of them; they didn't need to know about how he almost told their secret. All he talked about was how school was going, and teasing Scott that his position of best friend was in question when he talked about Maxxie.

He looked over at the two boys lying together; whispering to each other and laughing softly. That's what he wanted with Lydia; the kind of love they had. It wasn't like they were perfect; he had seen them during a fight a couple days before. There wasn't any screaming or anything, they just didn't talk to each other for a full day. The next night he was kicked out so they could 'make up.'

Pfft.

"Hey Stiles, we're going out to dinner, want to come?" Maxxie sat beside him on the bed and poked his arm, giving him a soft smile.

Stiles smiled back but shook his head. "Nah, you guys go enjoy time together. I'm just gonna go for a walk and grab a bite by myself."

"Stiles, she'll come around. I've seen you guys together, just got to give her time. Stop moping in the meantime, it's not your color." He smiled at him and the boy stood to follow Chase out the door.

Standing up, he slipped on his shoes and a jacket and left the dorm. The campus wasn't as crowded as it usually was, most likely cause of the lack of classes on a weekend. He found his way to the pretzel stand and ordered a pretzel and a burger; he was starving. There was one other person at the tables; a guy who was reading a medical book and taking notes.

He retrieved his food when the man called it out and started to eat. After sitting there for a while, eating in silence, he looked up to find Lydia walking toward him. She put down her bags on the table and then sat across from him. Pointing at his pretzel, after his nod, she pulled it toward her and started to eat.

They ate in silence for a while before Stiles spoke. "Chase tell you I would be here?"

She didn't look up, but he saw her hide a smile. "He just told me you said you were going to grab a bite to eat. I guessed you would be here." Taking another bite, she looked up with an apology in her eyes.

Stiles knew she wouldn't apologize out loud, didn't need her too. It was his fault but he nodded back and she smiled. "I wish you would have texted me and talked to me."

Lydia bit her lip before answering. "Yeah, but I just didn't want to talk about it. I was more mad because I agreed with you Stiles; I want to talk about it too. I was just scared tha-"

"Lydia." He reached out and grabbed her hand to stop her from continuing. She looked down at his hand, surprised, and he pulled it back. He was surprised himself. "You don't need to explain, I already understand, and I agree. It was stupid to think I could without consequences."

"Well, maybe it wouldn't be bad to tell Maxxie and Chase." He wasn't expecting her to say something like that. His surprise must have shown on his face because she smiled and shrugged.

"No." Stiles heard himself saying. Of course he wanted to tell them, but even with her acceptance of this, it was still not a good idea. Too many lives were in the play of this, they couldn't risk it on whim. "Think about it, they would think we were crazy."

She started laughing at that and Stiles watched her, mesmerized. "Go to dinner with me tomorrow. Just you and me." It came out without him realizing it, and he must seem just as surprised as he was. He really needed to work on thinking before he spoke.

Lydia cocked her head and sat thinking. "Fine. Tomorrow at eight." She stood and started to walk away, leaving him there shocked.

She had said yes! He was taking Lydia Martin to dinner. Well, he had taken her to lunch before, but this was different. This was dinner. He looked up and yelled at her. "It's a date." He smiled after her and could see her head shake, but he could tell she was laughing.

xxx

Dinner.

She still couldn't believe she had said yes to him. Wasn't she supposed to stop him from crushing on her? Wasn't she not supposed to like him back? What was it about being away from home that was causing her to let her walls down around him? It had been so easy at home, so easy to think it was okay to ignore him because he never had a chance. But why did her mind now let her think he did, to want to give him a chance?

All this was going through her mind as she stood in front of the mirror, shifting through her closet. Was she really worried about what to wear? This was Stiles, he was probably going to wear the same old jeans and t-shirt. It was also pretty clear that they would be going to a normal restaurant, probably the same one from the other night.

She settled on a sea green cocktail dress that would make her hair shine, and let said hair flow down her back; doing nothing more than straighten it. Lydia was almost embarrassed at how long she had spent on a simple dinner date with Stiles. She almost changed; she was so sure she would stick out like a sore thumb. He better at least look presentable.

When she opened the door though, he was more than she expected. Before her stood a hunk of a man wearing a dark suit, damn near a tux. His hair was cut a bit shorter and did up with gel. Lydia couldn't help herself but be impressed by him. When she looked into his eyes, she felt herself shiver. Stiles was looking her over, with a look that said he was equally pleased with her. She had to look away because his gaze made her self-conscious. It made her feel like she didn't deserve that hungry look in his eyes.

"Well hello Miss Martin, you are looking just as beautiful as always tonight." He reached for her hand and kissed it, smiling. Oh, well wasn't he enjoying himself.

Lydia smirked at him. "I can't place what it is, but there's something that makes me feel that we are way overdressed for dinner."

He raised an eyebrow at her and held out his arm. She wrapped her own around it and led them to a waiting limo. A fucking limo. Who the hell was this new Stiles? Where had all this class and romance come from? Something told her he had a little help from a gay man named Chase.

"Miss Martin, this is New York; you are never over-dressed here. Especially where we are going." A chauffeur opened the door for her and she climbed in and Stiles followed her.

She gave him an appraising view and shook her head at him, amazing. Surprised; at him for obviously going all out; at her for being impressed. "Well, well, well. I was not expecting this."

Stiles shrugged, smiling. "Don't worry, there's more surprises to come."

Lydia scoffed at him and looked out the window. "What? Are you going to propose?"

Her eyes closed as he laced his fingers in hers and scooted closer. She felt his breathe on her ear as he said softly, "That's for later in the future."

Kiss me! No don't. Oh fuck, just kiss him. Shut up. Lydia fought with herself for a few minutes before the decision was made for her. He reached out and grabbed her chin and turned her face to him. Stiles captured her eyes and she was scared of what he would find there. But that's where she decided that if he kissed her she wouldn't pull away.

Why the fuck not? He would treat her better than she could ever ask for. Money wasn't even in the question, even if it was a factor; he was going to the same medical school she was. It didn't matter that back home she wouldn't have even said yes to him; that life was across the country and they were two different people without all that baggage.

He kept looking into her eyes, not letting anything on his face let clear what he was seeing or feeling. Damn, she wanted to kiss him. She wanted him to just take his chance. If he didn't do something soon she would go crazy. As if knowing what she was thinking, he pulled back and smiled. They sat in awkward silence for the remainder of the ride. Eventually the limo stopped, and the chauffeur opened the door and they climbed out.

Lydia found herself standing at the end of a pier, looking out over the endless ocean. The very last rays of the sun could be seen on the horizon, a thin line of red-orange clouds. Above them the stars were starting to come into being and were looking down over a simple table with a pair of candles and two silver lidded dishes.

Her date came around and grabbed her hand and led her toward the table where he pulled out a chair for her. She sat down and Stiles walked around to sit across from her. This was the most romantic thing someone had ever done for her, and she suddenly realized she wasn't surprised that it was Stiles. It was so him to do something like this.

Stiles smiled and pointed at the sunset. "It's nearly the same color as your hair." She rolled her eyes and his eyes shined with amusement. "So Miss Martin, I can tell you weren't expecting this."

He reached out and grabbed a wine bottle from beside the table which she hadn't seen and poured it out into two wine glasses. Taking hers, she sat back, "I was expecting tried romance, not spot on."

Beaming, he took a sip of his wine and sat it back in his seat, mimicking her. "I'm glad I can surprise you."

"Surprise is an understatement, Stiles."

The smile became more inward as he reached out and lifted the lid off her tray, showing the very Stiles she was expecting. There was a burger and fries and beside it was a pretzel and cheese. Lydia couldn't help but start laughing and he laughed with her.

"There's the Stiles I know." Reaching out, she grabbed a fry and popped it in her mouth.

Stiles lifted his own lid and took the hamburger in his hand. He shrugged, "I was on a budget."

She cocked her head at him. Did she really want to be bought? No. This was more perfect than she could have imagined. If she were honest to herself, she always expected it to be Stiles to make her feel more emotions than she wanted. It wasn't something she really wanted to feel the gentle tug off the edge; it definitely wasn't this pushing she now felt, and she was tipping. The damn thing she called a heart was tipping over the edge and falling; falling for this boy she had been pushing away for years.

Trying to keep her voice steady at the rush of air from her lungs, from the lung collapsing feel of falling, she smiled. "Pass the ketchup."

Well, hope you all enjoyed it.