A/N: So I definitely did not intend for this installment to be quite this long, but here it is. This is only part one though. I got to about 7k words in and decided this needed to be broken up. So this is part one and part two is about halfway done so it will be up soon. It just works better this way I think. I figure it's probably a good thing too since I won't be able to update really as school is starting up. I am really sad that I don't update this like I used to but I think I've written everything I've ever wanted to write for this but I still occasionally get ideas for this fic. I don't intend to stop writing for this fic anytime soon but the updates are just a lot sparser now and I'm sorry for that. I still write other Stydia fics though and they are fluffy too, I just don't include them in here because they don't quite fit. And this chapter is adjusted a bit to fit some of the newer characters in. Anyway, I wish I wrote more for this and more often like I used to and I still want to, but life and other story ideas get in the way. But I still have ideas for this fic, so it's not going away anytime soon, you just might have to be patient with the updates, as you have been for the past year and a half. I am so grateful that you all still read and are interested. These chapters combined will be kind of long so I hope that they hold you over for a while. I'm going to try to get the next part up ASAP. If you want to follow me on Tumblr my URL is: stileslydiamartinstilinski and I am always on there! Thanks so much, hope you enjoy this chapter!
Packing for a camping trip was not something Lydia Martin ever imagined that she'd be doing. Scott had tried to sell it as a pack bonding experience and a vacation away from all the craziness for a little while. Sleeping on the ground in a tent though, was not something Lydia considered to be a vacation.
The idea hadn't really appealed to her but with enough prodding and coaxing form the rest of her pack she figured she would never hear the end of it if she didn't go. Plus Stiles and his puppy dog eyes paired with his best "Come on Lydia, it will be fun" speech, that was hard to turn down, even though she totally could have if she wanted to.
She kind of hated to admit it to herself, but the truth was Lydia was totally falling for Stiles. And she kind of had been for quite some time if she was being completely honest. She had always knew he was in school but they barley ever talked after elementary school. Oh but now, but now he was probably one of the most important people in her life. He was for sure one of her favorite people to spend time with, even if he was annoying and hyperactive. And lately they had been spending a lot of time together, not always for supernatural crisis's either but for study sessions or going to see the latest Marvel movie. It was just easy to be with him.
He had broken up with Malia months ago now and Lydia had thought maybe something would have happened between her and Stiles now. It was August now and they had broken up in February. During all of her free time in the summer they had spent together and she knew they were getting closer but still nothing about their status had changed and no expressions of feelings had happened. But they still had fun together and always flirting even when it was unintentional. She didn't hate the way things currently were between the two of them. Flirting was fun, but she was just wondering if it was ever going to more than that.
Lydia wasn't too interested in the whole camping thing but knowing that they were going to be staying in cabin for the weekend made the idea a little bit more bearable. And it would be nice to hang out with her friends, sans supernatural creatures. She also might have been looking forward to flirting with Stiles some more. Maybe she would finally figure out if he was actually interested in her.
Currently her biggest problem though was deciding what to pack. She had no idea what outfits to wear or what other supplies she would possibly need. Her normal attire really didn't seem like too appropriate camping wear. She just decided to pack what seemed the most suitable for the excursion and she might have even made sure they made her look pretty good too. Even if she wasn't going to be wearing her normal attire of skirts and dresses, didn't mean she couldn't be cute in a tank top and shorts combinations.
Once Lydia had packed everything she could think she would possibly need while still trying to pack lightly she decided to turn in to prepare for the early morning wake up that would come all too soon. As she set her alarm for the morning and checked her Twitter feed one last time before bed she hoped that all of her apprehensions about roughing it wouldn't come to fruition.
The morning came earlier than Lydia had wanted and she tried to soak up the feeling of her comfortable bed before she willed herself to get up and get a hot shower to help wake her up. But the thought of spending time with Stiles all weekend was kind of making her excited, not that she would admit it to anyone. Once she was dressed and ready, she headed downstairs to grab something to eat before the trip. She cautiously carried her suitcase down the steps and wondered if maybe she had over packed, but she didn't let the thought linger for long before grabbing a yogurt from the fridge.
A few minutes later the doorbell rang and her best friend Allison was on the other side, along with her boyfriend Isaac Lahey. The two had been dating for quite some time and Lydia was glad to see that Allison and Scott were both able to be happy for themselves and each other dating new people. Although Lydia knew it was only a matter of time before those two found their way back to each other.
"Oh hi guys! Here come inside." Lydia encouraged her friends by opening the door wider so they could move past and come into the house. Her two friends stepped into the house and Lydia led them into her living room. "Here we can sit while we wait for everyone else."
"So are you excited about the trip yet Lydia?" Isaac questioned with a glint in his eye, remembering how much of a fight she had put up.
"Definitely not, apprehensive is still the best word to use. I can't believe I let you all talk me into this." She rolled her eyes, to sell her disgust, hoping they wouldn't sense the tiny bit of excitement running though her. To her that would mean that they had won in their attempt to get her hyped for the trip and Lydia was not interested in losing anything.
"I'm sure you're going to have an amazing time Lydia. It's not that bad, I mean we are staying in a cabin, it won't exactly being roughing it." Allison offered, trying to not make the trip seem so bad.
"Yeah I know but everyone is coupled up, you two, Scott and Kira, I know Malia and Theo have something going on, and all of us on one place, we're bound to run out of hot water." She argued back at her best friend.
"Not everyone is coupled up Lydia. Mason, Liam, and Cora are all single, and so is Stiles." Allison was sure to say Stiles' name with a wink in Lydia's direction and she waited for a reaction but Lydia let nothing show, she just huffed out a breath of air and pretended hearing Stiles' name hadn't affected her. Allison has suspected Lydia was starting to catch feelings for Stiles but the strawberry blonde had yet to confess anything to her yet. For now she was dropping hints but pretty soon she was going to have to just outright ask her friend about it.
"Yeah Lydia I'm sure you can find someone to hang out with while the rest of us are somewhere making out." Isaac added before leaning down to give Allison a peck on the lip for effect, both with wide grins covering their faces afterwards.
Lydia rolled her eyes in disgust. "All I know is that I better not ever feel like a third wheel."
"I think you'll be alright." Allison smiled; knowing Stiles would always be there following her around, there was no way she was going to be feeling like a third wheel.
The three of them were soon interrupted by the doorbell again and Lydia went to go see who it was. When she opened it she found Scot and Stiles on the other side. She tried not to let her eyes linger too much on how good Stiles was looking in just jeans and a in one of his stupid blue teen shirts that was making his eyes pop particularly.
"Hey Lydia, are ready for the trip yet?" Stiles joked, knowing how much of a protest she had put up when they had been planning for the trip. It earned him an eye roll, but he would have been surprised if it hadn't.
"Here Stiles, since your so excited to get going, why don't you go and pack my suitcase?" She told him wheeling her suitcase over to him as well as her cosmetic bag that Stiles swore was heavier than her suitcase with all of her clothes and shoes.
"What is in here? Bricks?" He asked with overdramatic movements as he pretended like he was incapable of transporting the bags as he started off in the direction of her driveway.
"Yes Stiles, I packed bricks for our camping trip." She said grabbing her purse from the hallway table.
"You know I could have just carried it." Scott said.
"Yeah but it is more fun this way isn't it?" She inquired and Scott couldn't argue.
"Everyone else should be here in a few minutes, maybe we should get Allison and Isaac's packed into the cars." Scott suggested.
She nodded. "Alright, I'll go tell them and then I'll lock up." Scott agreed and Lydia went into the living room to tell her friends it was almost time to go.
After Allison and Isaac had went to get their bags out of her car, Lydia made sure to lock the front door before strolling down the path to her driveway. Everyone who was going on the trip was now there in the driveway and they looked like they were having a somewhat heated discussion. "What's going on?" Lydia asked Kira as she came up on the group and saw Stiles with an annoyed look on his face.
"No one can decide on who's riding with who." Kira giggled at how trivial the issue was.
"You would think with all the crap we've dealt with, figuring out who is going in what car should be a lot easier." Lydia responded.
"You would think." The issue was that while everyone was friends, no one exactly wanted to spend a few hours in the car trapped with their ex and their new significant other. Eventually it was decided that Malia and Cora would be riding in Theo's truck. Scott and Kira would be taking Liam and Mason with them in Kira's car. And Allison and Isaac would be riding with Stiles, who was very unimpressed with the idea of having to be around Isaac that long.
"Okay fine, if I'm taking that thing with me," Stiles said, pointing to Isaac who glared at him incuriously, "then I'm taking Lydia too, she's the only thing that's going to stop me from killing him." He was half joking, half serious.
Lydia hoped she wasn't blushing and tried not to read too much into what he had said. "Yeah that's probably true, he doesn't really listen to anyone else." She said to the group and no one could really disagree with her.
"Alright now that everyone knows what's going, I think we should probably get going." Scott said and everyone agreed and began to clamor in their respective vehicles.
The ride was about three hours without counting the stop early on in the trip for a bathroom break and to load up on gas and snacks. Lydia actually enjoyed the ride to the cabin. It had been pretty relaxing apart from the two times Stiles and Isaac started to argue about something no one else would ever argue about. But once Lydia and Allison had intervened the argument was able to be quelled, even if their annoyance with each other didn't quite subside. But it probably never would.
Other than the bickering between Isaac and Stiles it was a fairly relaxing ride. Lydia had ridden shotgun the entire way and had been given control of the music and there were hardly any complaints. Stiles complained when she put on the classic summer jam "Call Me Maybe" but she had heard him singing along to it under his breath and she couldn't help but smile.
After three hours of driving they had finally made it to the cabin. The outside wasn't anything spectacular but the inside was a lot better than she had expected. The group had begun to file out of their respective vehicles and as quickly as possible and tried to find the best room possible. Lydia was slower at getting inside, everyone had rushed inside before she could even realize. She trailed behind everyone, annoyed that she had went to get her suitcase while everyone else had run into claim a room. So unfair.
The first room she walked by had been claimed by Cora, a room with two twin beds. Next she walked by a room with two sets of bunk beds and Liam and Mason we're already getting comfortable. If she didn't find a room she was going to end up in there and that was not a place she wanted to be. She liked them enough, but she wasn't interested in sharing a room with two, possibly three teenage boys if Theo didn't find a room, two younger than her. Boys her age were immature; she didn't need them any younger. She guessed if she had to, she could stay with Cora but she was really hoping for a queen sized. She wished Allison wasn't paired off with Isaac, she wouldn't have minded sharing a room with her.
The next room she found was being claimed by Allison and Isaac. Great. She came upon the next bedroom and Kira and Scott were looking quite comfortable. Damn. She needed to find that last room ASAP. She quickened her pace and came upon the last room and it was empty. "Yes!" But before she could even finish the word Stiles came out of the connected bathroom. "No." She pouted.
At that moment Theo and Malia walked past the doorway and groaned seeing that it was already claimed. "Damn it! Stiles can we please have this room?" Malia asked upset they had not gotten there first.
"Hell no, this room is way better than a room I have to share with two sophomores." Stiles responded and Lydia just watched the encounter. She figured she should start sucking up to Cora.
"Guess we're not staying together." Malia frowned looking up at Theo.
"I guess I'll stay with Liam and Mason. There's an extra bed in there."
"I think I'll stay with Cora." Malia decided as her and Theo shuffled out slightly annoyed. Even she knew it was better to share a room with her cousin than a room with three teenage boys, even if the object of her affection was one of them. But this meant that was the only bed left. In the boy's room… great.
"So you're definitely claiming the room then?" She asked, just knowing if she should truly accept her fate.
"Definitely" He said looking around and admiring the room. She nodded and sighed before moving to exit. "I mean…unless you want to stay here."
She quickly whipped her head around at the suggestion. "Really you're offering me the room?" She questioned slowly moving closer to where he was standing. Was he serious? Damn maybe she underestimated how much he liked her.
"Yeah I mean, you probably should have it. It's probably better I stay with those guys; you know they need someone to be in charge. I think I'm a suitable candidate." He was half joking, half serious.
"But you hate Theo." Lydia countered, she wanted the room but she wanted to make sure he was actually okay with it.
"Yeah I must really like you then huh?" He joked it came out way more serious than he had intended it to be.
Lydia tried not to bring attention to it. "Well why don't we both just stay in here?" The idea had come to her and before she could even process it, it slipped out of her lips.
"Aren't you trying to avoid staying in the same room as teenage boys?"
"Yeah but there is only one of you."
"Something my father is thankful for every day." He said, causing them both to chuckle and Lydia to roll her eyes. She was doing that a lot today. Well she felt like she did it a lot every day.
"Seriously though, you can stay here, I won't mind. I mean only if you want to of course. It's probably better than the other room though. I probably smell a lot better."
"That's probably true." He agreed with a nod of the head. He weighed the options in his head; no doubt he wanted to stay in a room with Lydia for the weekend. He still liked loved her still and he didn't want this to be a situation where he was taking advantaged but she was offering. He wanted to be sure he wasn't doing it for the wrong reasons but he also really didn't want to be sleeping in the same room as the guy his ex was currently hooking up with. Things with Lydia had just been so good lately and he was just worried that this could make thigs weird or awkward, but maybe it could move things in the right direction, but only if that's what she wanted. He'd dated Malia but he still was head over heels for Lydia, he just knew how to handle himself now, for the most part. And he only wanted to be with her if she wanted to be with him, it had to be mutual. But maybe this was a good first step. "Okay. I'll stay."
"Fantastic, but the price is retrieving my bags from your Jeep." She plopped down on the bed and gave him a signature Lydia smile and he feigned annoyance but honestly he was happy to do it.
"Alright, fine. I guess that's fair." He huffed as he exited the room but once he had walked into the hall he couldn't wipe the grin off his face. He was going to be willingly sharing a bedroom with Lydia Martin for a weekend. Fourteen year old him would be so proud of him right now.
When Stiles left the room Lydia finally exhaled in relief. Trying to be subtle was kind of hard. This would be interesting to say the least. They had fallen asleep in his bed together on a few occasions but those were accidents…most of the time. She just hoped he was still interested or otherwise this was all going to hurt because she really was falling. Even if she didn't want to, she wasn't interested in getting hurt and that seemed to happen every time she fell for someone This felt different though, this seemed so deep and therefore scarier. But this weekend seemed like the perfect time to test the waters more than she normally would. No supernatural emergencies to distract from leisure. She just hoped she was reading his vibes correctly. Maybe this could be better than anything that she's had before. Maybe.