Author's Note: Holy cow can you believe this is the fortieth chapter? Crazy! First off, thanks for reading and please keep reviewing! I love the review they mean so much to me! Second I said before I was thinking about re-writing Stiles & Lydia's first time. I don't know if it would be any better but I would definitely try to make it that way! Thirdly, okay so I really wanted to continue with The Beach Trip, but I only had a few ideas left for it, but someone else posted a similar story to where the group goes on a trip to the beach and I guess it just seems really similar to me and I just am kind of deterred from writing any more about the subject. It makes me so sad to go back and look at it too, that was like my summer thing for the story and now summer is over. I mean I guess I could do something beach-y next summer but after seeing the other fic I'm annoyed. So yeah. Anyways this chapter is kind of short but I hope you like this chapter.

It was one of those days that just made you want to hide under the covers and sleep until you couldn't remember all of the things that had happened. Most of the time Lydia didn't let things get to her but she woke up with an intense headache and nothing had improved from there. Hardly any day in Beacon Hills was one filled with sunshine and rainbows, but today was especially crummy. At least she had good people around her to at least make it easier. At least they understood her bad day, because they all had theirs too.

It all started the night before when she couldn't get any sleep. When she tossed and turned all night, longing to be able to catch a few hours of restful sleep. But it was hard to get any sleep when the group was dealing with a new mythical creature on the loose. This month it was the Sphinx. She wished things could be as peaceful and serene as they had been at the beach over the past summer. At least she could look back on it though. And she had gotten a nice souvenir from the trip as well, a thoughtful, kind, and caring boyfriend.

"Hey." The familiar voice said from behind her locker door. She smiled softly, feeling some of the stress she had going on, lessen. It was definitely still there, but it came subdued with just his presence.

"Hey." She said as she shut her locker and leaned in for an intended quick peck. She turned and began to walk away, expecting him to follow; instead he grabbed her wrist lightly, making her turn back towards him in confusion and annoyance.

"Hey." He said again, leaning down to kiss her as he cupped her cheeks with his hands. As annoyed as she was, it all seemed to just melt away just had her lips melted into his. It was longer than a peck but shorter than anything that included tongue. "What's wrong?" He asked as he pulled away and looked down at her face.

"Nothing, I'm fine. Just a little tired." She said biting her lip softly.

"Okay." He said, knowing there was something else in her green eyes that spelled out something more than 'a little tired.' "You know you can talk to me, about anything right?"

"Of course I do." She said offering a smile, and giving him another peck. He let his hand fall to his side and she grabbed it, and dragged him down the hallway with her. She wondered how he knew her so well, how he knew when she wasn't exactly telling the truth. But being with him did make her genuinely happy and he made her feel normal again. She didn't care how many people still stop and stared when they saw the pair walk down the hall. The only reason she cared was because she figured it made Stiles feel awful. But he acted like she was all that mattered when they were with each other, she was pretty sure he could care less about what his classmates thought of their relationship. If she was good enough for him then she was happy, for herself and him.

"Do you want me to carry your books?" He asked.

"No, I think I've got it." She said, gesturing to the two small books in her arms.

"Uh, okay. Are you sure you're just tired though?"

"Positive." If she felt worse later, she would tell him all of her woes. But she was okay after seeing him and she didn't feel like letting the hallway patrons see her in disarray, especially so early in the school day.

The day pressed on and Lydia struggled to keep her eyes open in all of her classes. She could feel her boyfriend's eyes on her, constantly, just like she did every day. Today was different though, because he was just trying to figure out what was going on in her head. He did that every day too, but now it was because he just wanted to make her feel better. Her stress level went up though because just about every hour it seemed like one of their friends was leaving the school. First it was Scott, then Isaac, then Allison, then Boyd, then Erica, and then Cora. Lydia cringed when her phone rang after lunch; she knew it couldn't be anything she would willingly ever want to deal with.

"Have you been feeling any weird…vibes lately?" Allison asked the resident banshee. Lydia took a shallow breath and rolled her eyes.

"No. Not yet."

"Well that's a good sign I think."

"I do have a really, terrible headache though." She admitted as she stood outside of the bathroom, waiting for Stiles to wash his hands after he had somehow gotten the contents of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich all over his hands.

"What's wrong?" Stiles mouthed to Lydia as he walked out of the doorway and stood next to the strawberry blonde.

"Do you think it has something to do with what's going on?"

"Honestly I don't know."

"Well do you think that you and Stiles can come over to Derek's apartment while we try to sort all of this out. That way if you feel something, we can know sooner."

"Um yeah that's fine." She sighed, wishing for a normal day for once. "I'll see you soon." She said hanging up and stuffing her phone into her bag.

"What's going on?" Stiles asked, still in a state of confusion.

"They need us." Lydia said.

"Right now?"

"Sounds like it. You want to drive?" She asked.

"Yeah I can do that." He sensed she was annoyed that she didn't want to go, although he wasn't sure why exactly. But then again protecting the town from evil creatures wasn't something he always wanted to be involved in.

"Thanks." She said, relived to at least have that pressure off of her shoulders. And if she was lucky, maybe he would forget to bring her back to the school and instead take her home. Therefore obliging him to take her to school in the morning. He was the one person she could stand at such early hours.

"Not a problem Lyd." He said taking her hand and intertwining their pale and slender fingers, he felt her body relax a bit when he did so. She smiled at his nickname for her, loving that he finally felt comfortable enough to use one. They were fast approaching the "babe"/"baby" stage too. Lydia was always a sucker for the honeymoon phase.

They drove to Derek's apartment, one he had bought shortly after returning from his getaway after the Alpha pack and the Darach almost destroyed the entire town. But everyone was gathered around his coffee table when Stiles and Lydia arrived. They spent hours upon hours 9until it was way past nightfall) discussing what they all knew about the Sphinx and trying to decide who or what it was and who it was going to kill next. Lydia began to feel dizzy and faint, side effects she was chalking up to the headache. Stiles, who was sitting right next to her, sensed her body tensing up.

"Lydia." No response, as her eyes were fixed straight ahead. She could feel that all too familiar feeling wash over her. "Lydia? Lydia, what's wrong?" He said grabbing her hand and squeezing it, she was finally able to turn towards him and managed to catch his eyes.

"Stiles." She said panicking, knowing what was coming next. "I think I'm going to scream." She managed to choke out to him, everyone else in the room staring. He was able to process what she said just before she let out one of her infamous wails that lasted a few seconds. Causing the werewolf members of the group to shudder and cower. All Stiles could do was hold her hands to convey that he was still there, that it would be all over soon.

"Lydia, Lyd. You're okay, its okay." He told her as she finally managed to silence the obnoxious scream.

"I'm sorry." She whispered apologizing for the annoyance she had cause the wolves, still unable to control much about her ability.

"It's okay Lyd." He said running his thumbs back and forth on her cheeks, tears threatened to spill over the brims of her eyelids but his touch calmed her significantly.

"What happened? What did you see Lydia?" Derek asked, demanding to know what was going on.

"Lydia, what did you see?" Stiles asked, looking into her eyes, making her focus.

"It was at the community park. But that's all I could make out. I'm sorry." She said placing one of her hands on top of Stiles' attempting to force herself to calm down.

"It's fine Lydia, don't be sorry." Allison told her. "That helps us, more than you know."

"Okay we have to get out of here, get to the park." Scott determined.

"Do you need us still? I think I need to take her home." Stiles asked as he moved so that one of his arms was draped over Lydia's shoulder, holding her next to him.

"No, I don't think we need anything. You've helped plenty, way better than our conspiring. Take her home; we'll call you to let you know what happens." Scott said as everyone began to file out of the door, getting ready to hopefully capture the Sphinx and figure out what was happening exactly. Stiles drove her towards her house, but she protested and made him take her to his home. She stayed there on occasion so her mother didn't mind all that much, her mother actually liked Stiles. The sheriff didn't mind all that much either, Stiles was required to have a few more talks about the birds and the bees though, but he decided it was worth the embarrassment. And besides they had agreed to wait until the both of them were completely comfortable and emotionally ready for sex.

"So was that what was bothering you today?" Stiles asked softly after both of them had changed into sleepwear. Stiles in a tee shirt and pajama pants and Lydia in a pair of his old basketball shorts and a V-neck she had been storing in one of his drawers along with a few changes of clothes in case things like this ever happened unexpectedly.

"I don't know." She whispered, as she did tears that had been backlogged fell from her eyes uncontrollably. "Partly. But the stress of it all too." She cried as he sat on the bed and pulled her to his chest.

"Shhh, it's okay. I know it sucks, but I mean at least we have each other, if that's any consolation." He chuckled; he knew all too well what it was like to be stressed out about paranormal junk in this town.

"It is." She admitted quietly as she took a few more minutes to sob into his shirt, honestly he didn't even mind. As long as it made her feel better, he would do whatever he had to. Ever since he was eight years old he did, even if it took her awhile to notice. She was worth every minute he waited for her. And he was glad she wasn't afraid to cry in front of him. She was glad she could cry in front of him and not have to explain everything in such vivid detail, because they sort of just subliminally got each other. So he sat there and rubbed her back, held her hand, and kissed the top of her head hoping it would make her feel better.

"Stiles." She said pulling away, her voice hoarse from crying and her face streaked with faint mascara lines, but as always she still looked beautiful to him.

"Hmm?" He moaned, not being able to keep his eyes off of her, using his thumb to wipe any excess tears from her face.

"I need to tell you something." The tone in her voice was serious and urgent but not in a bad way or in a way that made him feel nervous.

"Shoot." He smiled and placed a hand on his knee.

"I love you." He felt his heart plummet into his stomach, making the butterflies soar, his head went numb, his vision fuzzy, his lips tingled, unsure of what to say.

"W-what?"

"I love you."

"I'm sorry; did you just say what I think you said?" He asked, feeling the need to pinch himself about a thousand times. He always hoped this day would come but now that it was here it felt so surreal.

"Mhm." She smiled genuinely and nodded, despite her tear stained face. "I love you."

"Lydia." He breathed, he was about to say it himself. Something he had wanted to say for almost ten years, he was finally going to get to say it without sounding creepy or weird. "I love you." It felt good to say it, to let it out. The words tingled on his lips, it was literally the best feeling he could have imagined. She smiled at him warmly and he couldn't take it anymore. He moved his face towards her and kissed her passionately and fiercely.

"I"…he breathed, moving his lips from hers for a moment… "love"… he breathed again… "you." He finally returned to her lips and they kissed for a few more moments, reveling in despite the crummy day that had occurred they were both happy and in love.

"I'm glad the feeling is mutual." She laughed breathlessly.

"Oh it's very mutual." He emphasized as they moved back to the pillows on Stiles' bed and climbed under the covers, he turned the lamp light off.

"Thank you for being such a special person Stiles. Thank you for being my special person, always taking care of me and making sure I'm okay. You really are the best." She said laying her head on his chest and listening to his heartbeat steady after it had been so amped up due to the confessions of love.

"You're welcome. I'm glad you finally gave me a chance." He admitted kissing the top of her head.

"Best thing I ever did." She told him honestly, grabbing his hand that wasn't wrapped around her torso and stroking her elbow, and intertwined their fingers. It was her favorite thing to do and to look at how perfectly their hands looked together. He smiled at her kind declaration. "I love you." She whispered yawning before leaning her head upwards to kiss him one last time."

"I love you too Lydia." He was pretty sure he would never get used to this fantastic feeling inside his chest and he was perfectly okay with it.

A/N: Ok couldn't really think of a good mythical creature so I hope you're okay with the Egyptian Sphinx. I didn't write the chapter for the myths but for the relationship so sorry if that part is a bit weak.