Lydia caught her breath after her scream, opening her eyes. She found herself leaning heavily on Scott, who was trying to hold her up and shield his ears at the same time. Hastily, she pushed herself away from him, grabbing her handbag off of the table. Scott looked at her as she moved, concern written on his features. "Hey Lydia, hold on, where are you going?"

She stopped, looking at him hastily, "Something's wrong with Stiles, I can feel it. I need to find him before it's too late." When Scott made to follow her she held out her hand. "I think it would be better if I went alone. You get Kira and Liam and- and let them know that I screamed. We failed Scott. He's gone." Before she could start to cry, she turned from him, rushing out of the room.

"Lydia wait!" Scott chased after her, grabbing her shoulder and turning her to face him. He smiled at her kindly, "If Stiles is in trouble, you need to get there quick. Take my bike, it'll get you there a lot faster than those heels." She forced out a small chuckle, sniffing and wiping her eyes. Giving him a quick hug, she rushed out of the station and jumped onto his motorbike. Fumbling for a few moments with the helmet, she finally got it on and started the ignition. In a matter of seconds she was off, speeding along the road. She had no idea where she was going, she was just following a feeling. It was as though something was pulling her, guiding her towards her friend. She sat for a while on the bike, with nothing but the growl of the motor to keep her company as she rode. Then, ever so slowly, a crackling sound started to grow louder and louder in her ears. Her skin began to feel hot, and she could have sworn she smelt smoke. Trying to stay focussed on the road, she did her best to ignore the strange symptoms.

However, they were persistent, and the crackling was only growing louder. When she blinked, and image flashed across her eyelids. Jeep, fire, Stiles. That was all she needed to see to make her speed up, well over the limit, in an effort to get to him in time. As she was approaching a sharp bend in the road, something told her to stop. She turned off the bike and jumped off, throwing the helmet into the grass. Turning a complete circle she looked for any sign of Stiles. Her feet carried her off the right, towards a small concrete building. Walking along the edge of the wall, her feeling of dread grew stronger, and she could actually see the smoke she had smelt before. Stepping out around the edge of the structure, she was met with a horrific sight. Stiles' beloved blue Jeep was upside down on the concrete, windows shattered with debris everywhere. There was a fire building around the crash, and smoke was billowing around the scene. Worst of all, Stiles lay unconscious in the middle of it all.

"Stiles!" She called out, running towards the scene. "No, no, no! Stiles, wake up!" There was no response. Growling in frustration, she ran her hands through her hair, trying to think of what to do. There was a loud pop as one of the wing mirrors shattered from the heat. At that, instinct took over and she marched towards him, her determination and care for Stiles pushing her forwards.

"Not today Stiles!" She kicked a chunk of metal out of the way.

"The world's already lost one Stilinski today!" She lifted a metal rod off of his arm.

"I'm not letting you go as well!" She grabbed him under the arms and heaved. He was heavier than she expected, and she fell back on her bum, glass cutting into her legs. She only allowed herself a small gasp of pain before getting back to work.

"No Stiles! This is NOT allowed. You don't GET to die. Not today! Come ON!" She heaved again, and this time he slid a little bit out of the wreckage. Encouraged, she tightened her grip on him. "That's right Stilinski, you don't get to bail on me yet! You need me Stiles, and I need you, so get your ass out of that Jeep. Right. NOW!" With one final heave she dragged him out of the window, not stopping till they were at a safe distance.

When they were finally far enough away, she dropped him, collapsing to the ground in an exhausted heap. As she lay there panting, staring at the night sky, she was shocked to hear a groan from her friend. Turning her head to look at him, she watched as he scrunched up his face. His eyes never opened, but his arm reached out, hand grasping for something. Out of instinct, she grabbed it, rubbing her thumb across the back of his hand reassuringly. Repositioning herself she inspected his head injury. It wasn't too serious, and with the ambulance now on the way, he should be just fine. Gently, she lifted his head and rested in on her lap, stroking his hair absent mindedly. "I mean it Stiles. You can't leave me. I need you, okay?" She hadn't expected an answer, so she wasn't too worried when no response came.

She looked away from him for a moment to try and spot the ambulance on its way. Still, she didn't miss the words that came filtering out of his mouth. They were quiet, and strained, clearly costing him what little energy he had left. However he still managed to make them perfectly clear. "Thanks, Lydia. You know-" a small cough interrupted his speech, but then he carried on, "-I think I might still be in love with you."

She froze, staring down at his features. Her heart was pounding and her stomach doing a good job of tying itself into an intricate knot. Opening her mouth to speak, she wasn't sure what to say. Somehow, the words found their way out without her permission. "I'm in love with you too." She hadn't even considered the possibility that she might be in love with Stiles, not until she said it. After that, it just seemed to make sense. She loved him, she really did. Struggling to believe how it had taken her so long to realise, she smiled to herself. "I love you, Stiles."

With great effort, he managed to open one eye to look at her. "Good, otherwise this would have been really awkward for me." She laughed in spite of herself, and seeing that he had made her smile, he closed his eye again, a contended grin on his lips. They sat together for a moment, Lydia still cradling Stiles' head, Stiles still holding her hand. The moment was almost peaceful until the blaring of sirens cut through the cold night air.

"Stiles, the ambulance is almost here. Not much longer now. You're gonna be just fine." She squeezed his hand reassuringly, and he squeezed it back. Just as the ambulance pulled up next to them, the fire of the Jeep reached the fuel tank. With a loud bang the vehicle exploded, sending shards of debris flying into the surrounding area. Thinking fast, Lydia threw herself on top of Stiles, shielding him from a few shards of glass which instead sunk their way into her left arm. After pausing to make sure it was safe to approach, two ambulance workers rushed over with a stretcher. Delicately they lifted Stiles onto the gurney before carrying him back to the truck. A third worker came over and guided Lydia over, sitting her down in the back next to Stiles.

The ride to the hospital was quick, and full of bustling ambulance workers trying their best to aid the teenagers. Two of them were sitting in the back, one keeping an eye on Stiles, tending to his head wound, while the other worked on removing the glass from Lydia's arm. It was an older woman, who spoke with a gentle, slightly rasping tone. "That was very brave what you did back there. You saved that boy's life."

"It wasn't brave. It was the right thing to do."

She clicked her tongue disapprovingly, "Now now, don't sell yourself short Lydia. You pulled that boy out of a burning car, looked after him, shielded him from an explosion. Why, you're a hero."

"I'm not a hero."

Before the nurse could respond, Stiles spoke up through his oxygen mask, "She's my hero." Everyone in the ambulance broke into laughter, and Lydia was relieved to see that Stiles was still his funny self. He reached out once more and took her hand, holding it firmly as the vehicle shook. The old nurse smiled fondly at the sight.

"You've got yourself quite the girlfriend there young man." As soon as she spoke, the awkwardness in the compartment became smothering. He dropped her hand, and Lydia bit her lip, looking away from him. The nurse, noticing her blunder, hastily tried to salvage the situation. "Just friends? Oh well that's lovely. And I'm sure you're boyfriend will be very worried about you Stiles."

Lydia snorted as Stiles raised his voice indignantly. "Boyfri- I don't have a boyfriend! I have a girlfriend, or at least, I used to. Not really sure what's going on with that right now."

"Oh my, I'm really making a mess of things aren't I?" The nurse was flushed and clearly flustered, and decided to turn away to find some bandages for Lydia's arm. Stiles slid his gaze slowly over to Lydia, curious to see her reaction to the events. She had blushed a bright shade of pink, and was pressing her lips together the way that she often did when she was around Stiles. He felt privileged that he had a look that was specifically assigned to him. He remembered very clearly the first time he saw it, back in the lacrosse game she had come to watch, where he had actually been allowed to play. She had cheered him on, before pressing her lips together shyly as she clapped. Ever since then it had been impossible to forget, and whenever he saw it, it made his heart swell.

She caught him staring, and raised an eyebrow, "What are you looking at Stiles?"

"Just the massive lipstick smear across your face."

"What?!" She whipped out her compact, inspecting her face. When she saw her pristine lipstick, she couldn't help but laugh, giving his hand a playful nudge. "Ha ha. Very funny Stiles." He caught her hand before she could take it away, and wrapped his fingers around hers. She smiled at him, raising his hand to her lips and kissing it gently. "I can't believe I never realised how much I love you."

He grinned, wincing slightly as a male attendant strapped his foot up tightly. "I knew you did. Even if it was gonna take you forever. I knew you couldn't resist the Stiles Stilinski charm."

Laughing she stuck her tongue out at him. "What can I say, that ten year plan of yours must be super effective."

His expression changed to one of mild horror. "You knew about that?!"

"Allison told me about it. Scott accidentally mentioned it to her, made her promise not to say anything. But she told me anyway, just before we went on that ice skating date."

Stiles groaned, "I swear to god, if I don't die, I'm gonna kill Scott."

She rolled her eyes, "Oh don't be so dramatic, you aren't gonna die. I know you won't."

His whole body relaxed. "Oh good. That's reassuring, I was worried, y'know? But if you say I won't, then I won't, not yet anyways." An easy smile formed on his lips, and he closed his eyes. Lydia felt his grip grow slack as his head flopped to the side. One of the attendants spun round in the tight space, and seeing that he had lost consciousness, swore under her breath. Luckily, they had just reached the Memorial Hospital, and they were both rushed out on hospital beds. They carted Lydia off to the minor injuries ward, while Stiles was taken away to the ICU. The last glimpse she got of him was as he was wheeled through a pair of swinging double doors, into a dimly lit corridor. Sighing in a mixture of frustration and relief, she lay back on the bed. She was about to fall asleep when Melissa ran up to her.

"Lydia? Oh my god what happened?"

"Stiles, he was in a car crash. I pulled him out of the wreckage, this is just collateral damage." She laughed, showing off her arm bandages.

Melissa ran a hand through her dark hair, puffing air out through her cheeks. "Oh my god. Where's Stiles?"

"They just took him through to the ICU. Do you think you could go keep an eye on him, keep me updated?"

Melissa smiled sweetly at the young girl, nodding her head, "Of course Lydia. Why don't you call Scott and let him know what's going on. Hopefully you find the Sherriff soon, so he can see Stiles." Lydia bit her lip and remained silent. Seeing the change in the girl's mood, Melissa frowned. "Lydia, what's wrong? Did something happen?"

Tears were forming in Lydia's eyes, and when she tried to blink them away, she only ended up forcing them to run down her cheeks. "I- I- I screamed his name. That's only ever happened once before, when Alison-"

Melissa raised a hand to her mouth, clearly doing her best not to break down in front of Lydia. "Oh god. I can't believe- poor John. Oh no... poor Stiles. I can't believe this is happening." The woman slumped down in a chair and began openly sobbing. Lydia rubbed the woman's shoulder in an attempt to comfort her, and reached for her phone with her free hand. Without speaking she wrote a hasty message to Scott:

Meet at Hospital. Stiles in ICU. Bring the pack. Your mom knows.

She hit send before pocketing the phone, urging Scott to get here with everyone else as fast as they could.