When the doorbell rang, Lydia allowed Derek a good five minutes to wait for her before she decided to descend the stairs to meet him. It was only proper. She smiled at her reflection in the mirror, dressed in her sparkling and satin green gown with her strawberry blond hair pulled up into a messy coif, curls spilling over and bouncing next to her face and tickling the back of her neck. She wore high-heeled black heels whose satiny finish matched the black satin bow at her waist. Grabbing her handbag from her bed, she figured the five minutes were up, and she left her room behind.
Descending the staircase which led to the foyer and the front door, she eyed the opening in the wall where she would first get to see Derek before he could see her. As she passed it, she glimpsed him through the hole and her heart leapt to her throat. She didn't know what she'd expected, whether it be him showing up in his usual get-up of a leather jacket and jeans, but what she saw was not what she'd been anticipating. His tall, muscular frame was bedecked in a perfectly fitted tuxedo, the stark contrast of his white shirt and bowtie against the black of the suit instantly marking him as an image of attractiveness. He had refused to shave, a note that made Lydia smile in amusement because of how stubborn he was, but somehow the scruff only made him more smoldering. Her heart picked up its pace, and she knew he would be able to hear it, so she tried to calm herself as she passed the wall and became bathed in the light of the chandelier in the foyer.
The sequins on her green dress tossed dancing sparkles of emerald light around the room as she glided down the stairs and caught Derek's eye. His eyes widened slightly, catching her mother's attention so she turned and looked at her daughter with a wide smile. She'd been keeping Derek company while Lydia made him wait. "Oh honey! You look beautiful! Let me get a picture."
Her mother shoved her toward Derek, and she stumbled slightly before he caught her with his arm around her waist. Uncomfortable, she smiled shyly up at him before looking at the camera as her mother exclaimed, "Say cheese!" The flash went off, and Lydia blinked, feeling momentarily disappointed as Derek's arm instantly moved from her waist and dropped to his side. She smelled, now that she was close enough to him, that he'd bothered to put on cologne, and that realization made her appreciate his presence even more.
"What is wrong with this thing?" her mother griped, smacking the camera with the palm of her hand. "Something's wrong with the flash, and it completely washed you both you. All I can see is a horrible glare. Let me take another."
"We should really be going," Derek interjected, smiling politely with what was probably the first smile Lydia had ever seen on his face. Realizing that her mother would never get a clear picture of them without Derek's eyes messing with the camera's lens, Lydia nodded fervently and grabbed Derek's hand, pulling him after her toward the door.
"He's right, Mom. We're going to be late, and I'm the head of the Prom committee!" she chirped, dragging Derek along toward the door. Her mother protested, wanting another photograph, but they escaped just in time to refuse her.
As soon as they were outside, Lydia self-consciously dropped his hand and glanced down the sidewalk to see a sleek black limousine awaiting her. Her eyes widened in surprise, and Derek had to gently push her to keep her walking toward the vehicle. "Wow... this..." she paused and glanced over at him, but realized she was going to blush so she looked back at the limo. "This is nicer than I thought."
Derek smiled a small smile and opened the door for her, beckoning her inside and following after as she climbed in. "I may not have gone to my own prom, but that doesn't mean I don't know how it's done." When they were seated, Lydia smiled and inspected the inside of the car, looking everywhere but at him. She didn't want her heart to betray how very handsome he looked in his tuxedo.
"This is for you," he said, reaching toward her with a white carnation corsage. She smiled brilliantly and took the flower, pulling it on over her wrist and securing it where she would wear a bracelet. "Thank you. It's beautiful," she admitted, venturing a glance at him. Instantly, she noticed the matching boutonniere pinned to his lapel, and her heart did a somersault.
Lydia loved romance and romantic things, and Prom was the epitome of everything romantic to her. She had never dreamed she would be going to her Junior Prom with Derek Hale, but it was turning out more pleasantly than she'd imagined when she'd agreed to go with him simply so their plan could go off without a hitch. She looked away from him and out the tinted windows as thoughts of Peter's plan ran through her mind. Looking the way he did tonight, she could easily imagine herself romantically involved with Derek. Any teenage girl in her right mind would want to kiss him right now, but she still felt guilty for feeling that way. If Derek thought of her any way at all, that was only as a friend, and she wasn't so impetuous as to believe people could fall in love in just a few weeks. She had grown to appreciate Derek's company, to be entertained by his presence even and to recognize his little pet peeves she was so good at exacerbating, but they weren't in love.
And those thoughts led right back to Jackson. He had been the last boy she'd been in love with, and he had broken her heart and then led her to believe she still had a chance. As far as she knew, it was all a part of the kanima and none of the kiss at Scott's house had anything to do with the real-Jackson. Part of her hated not knowing, but another part of her - a stronger part - realized that she was moving on. Naturally, she was forgetting him and the hurt he'd caused her, and her heart was ready for something new. She'd tried something new with Scott, but he hadn't been the one. She'd really only wanted him because he was popular, and she loved experimenting, but it had upset Allison and she didn't want a boy to come between the two of them. Their friendship meant more than a boy.
Of course, there was Stiles, but he was too innocent and sweet for her. She knew he loved her - he'd confessed as much to her at the Winter Formal - but she could never be with him. She knew somehow she would end up breaking his heart, and she couldn't bare the thought of that. She loved the playful, happy-go-lucky Stiles who was enamored with her, and the thought of that changing for the worse kept her away from him romantically. Sometimes, romance only got the in the way and didn't make things better.
She was so wrapped up in her thoughts that she didn't realize they had reached the Prom until the limo came to a halt and the door swung outward to release them. Coming to her senses, she climbed gracefully out of the car and gazed up at the high-end hotel the school had rented for the occasion. For a while, the Prom committee had been planning to hold the event in the gym at the school, but at the last minute a generous anonymous donor had donated a large sum of money for the celebration, and they'd been able to rent the ballroom in the nicest hotel in the city. The tinkling lights and music wafting from the hotel caught her up in their music, and she glanced over at Derek in a dreamy daze as he offered her his arm to escort her inside. Smiling brightly, her eyes shining with the magic of it all, she laced her arm through his and allowed him to lead her inside.
The instant they entered the dance, every girl in the immediate vicinity glared jealously at her. With her shimmering green dress accenting her hair and eyes, and the most handsome man in the room on her arm, Lydia instantly became the point of contention for every girl attending, excluding the few - like Allison - who only had eyes for one boy. "It appears we've made an impression," Derek murmured to her in a low voice. Her nose wrinkled as she giggled and nodded in agreement, walking with him toward the crowd.
The group shifted, and suddenly, Lydia was face-to-face with the one person she hadn't been prepared to see: Jackson. He was as breathtaking as Derek, yet completely different in every way. His sandy blond hair was spiked perfectly, and his gray-blue eyes cut into her, making her feel he was tearing an image of her into his head instead of admiring. She instantly felt exposed and vulnerable as she always did around him over the past month or more, and she drew herself up defensively. Then, he smiled and she physically relaxed, her arm which was still wrapped through Derek's going limp and falling to her side.
"Jackson," she whispered, her voice more listless than she'd intended, and she clutched her handbag as he moved closer. His gaze cut over to Derek, and he sneered at him in his over-privileged way, eyeing the other male like a peacock with his feathers ruffled.
"You came here with him?" he asked, stressing the 'him' as if it was a disease. Instantly, she felt affronted and stared icily at him. "What does it matter to you who I come to Prom with? Derek asked me, and I said yes." Derek crossed his hands over his waist and stood watching Jackson blankly, so nonchalant and calm he was like an island of ease in the middle of her tempestuous confrontation.
Jackson laughed at her, that biting laugh that got under her skin and made her feel like a child, a patronizing sound. "He's the only option you had?" he asked meanly, his eyes filling with false-pity as he looked back at her. "How pathetic."
Her anger rankled and her jaw set firmly as her body tensed with rage. "I could have gone with any boy in this school if I wanted," she snapped, "But none of them seemed..." she ran her eyes up and down the length of him as if appraising a horse for sale for a worthy quality, "...adequate."
Sniffing scornfully, she turned on her heel and marched away, leaving them both as she disappeared into the crowd. Now she felt the need to clear her head before she bit someone's head off in anger. It was all too much: Derek overwhelming her with his undiscovered handsomeness, Jackson ridiculing her on the very night she'd intended on saving his life. She suddenly found herself wanting this night to be over badly, the night she'd planned for most of her high school career up until this point.
Leaning over on the voting table where people submitted their votes for Prom royalty, she took deep breaths and tried to calm her nerves. She was Lydia Martin. She could handle this and much more.
"Are you alright?" asked a familiar voice behind her. Standing, she turned to face Stiles with a pleasant smile on her face. "I'm fine."
Her sweet Stiles smiled innocently at her, his hands shoved into his pockets and his tuxedo jacket forgotten on the back of some chair somewhere more than likely. He glanced back and forth between her and the dance floor, and she instantly read the look as his desire to ask her to dance. Reacting out of a need to get her mind back into the dance and off of Jackson and his rude behavior, she reached out and grabbed Stiles's hand, dragging him toward the floor.
"Come on, I'll prove it to you," she piped, pulling an exuberant Stiles along after her. The song was up-tempo and they danced easily to it, her spinning around in a giggly circle as Stiles guffawed and generally had himself a wonderful time. When the music slowed, he moved as if to leave, but she held him and forced him to stay, wrapping her arms around his neck to pull him closer. She felt so safe with Stiles, and although she knew it wasn't fair for her to take advantage of his friendship when he clearly wanted more, she needed him as her friend right now. With the turbulence of Derek and Jackson and Peter, Stiles's presence refreshed her with its uniqueness. He had little to no idea about her plan with Derek, and his ignorance made him welcome company.
"You look beautiful tonight," he whispered breathily next to her ear as the music grew quieter and he pulled her close to him. Her heart constricted guiltily, knowing he was getting the wrong impression with her wanting to be with him. Pulling back from him slightly, putting some distance between them, she smiled politely up at him.
"Thank you for dancing with me," she replied simply, changing the subject in an attempt to lead his mind away from her and somewhere else.
"Anything for you, Lydia. You know that," he responded, his doe eyes wide and bewitched by her nearness.
"You're a good friend, Stiles," she commended, "You will always be a good friend."
The words seemed to sink in this time, and his gaze hardened as did his arms around her back. He knew he could never be more than a friend to her then, she felt it in the stiffness of his body. Hurt flashed across his eyes, but he was too much of a gentleman to blame her for it. Besides, she imagined he didn't even know she knew he was so in love with her. She watched him, seeing his heart breaking and feeling her own shrivel painfully at his agony. Not realizing just how infatuated he was with her, it hurt her more than she expected when his arms dropped and he cleared his throat uncomfortably.
"I, um... need to find Scott... make sure he's ready," he excused himself, leaving her on the dance floor with her mouth open to apologize a moment too late.