Not a Valentine's date

Chapter 7

Stiles had already called his dad when Lydia met both him and Natalie in the kitchen. He can't shake the feeling that he keeps letting his father down and his break up with Malia is just another thing to add to the pile. Stiles didn't say much over the phone; he knows he'll have to hear all about how he just screwed up a perfectly healthy relationship – yeah, right - when he gets home. On the upside, lunch went well. He can't say that he had fun; it doesn't seem like the right thing to say when someone broke up with him barely 12 hours ago, but for all intents and purposes, Stiles did have fun. Lydia is a lot like Natalie, something that Stiles didn't know, and the woman actually appreciates his jokes and always has a comeback to his sarcasm on the tip of her tongue, much like Lydia. He likes her.

After lunch, Natalie says that she has to meet a friend for coffee; again, not so subtle. Stiles and Lydia are left alone and when they finish cleaning up the kitchen, they start heading towards the living room.

"So, what do you wanna do?" Lydia drags the words a little, not sure of what to expect.

Stiles scratches his neck. "Would you mind if I stayed, at least until dinner?" He starts babbling. "I really don't want to go. I mean, if it's not too much. Maybe I should leave..."

"Stiles," she smiles, "I'll go get some blankets."

Lydia quickly runs upstairs and Stiles sits on the couch waiting for her, suddenly nervous. When she comes back, the feeling vanishes. She sits beside him not too close and gives him a blanket, keeping another one for herself. They curl up on the couch, their legs touching slightly.

"I'm sorry about earlier, in the kitchen," he lets out. "I kissed you and I think I got too close, it was out of line."

"You kissed my forehead, Stiles," she chuckles, holding back the need to roll her eyes at the boy. "I was there too. And I was the one who hugged you."

"Yeah, but..."

"Stiles, I didn't back away, did I?" She waits until he shakes his head. "I don't want your apologies, okay? It's not a big deal." She pauses briefly. "We're friends, right?"

It should be an easy question to answer. Instead, they both blush, abashed. That was so not something just friends do and they both know it. "I uh... Can I try something?" he asks.

She nods reluctantly and waits to see what he has in mind. Stiles slowly reaches for her hand and when he touches her, Lydia's breath catches in her throat and it's there, she knows, whatever it is.

"You feel it too, don't you?" Stiles asks, looking at their hands with a questioning look on his face. "Like if I let go of your hand and then I grab a hold of it again," he demonstrates, "you feel something, like a current is flowing. It's not just in my head, is it?"

Lydia shakes her head and entwines their fingers tentatively. The current seems stronger. "No, I feel it too. And it' not just with the touching, I felt it when we were in the kitchen side by side working on the counters. I think it's the closeness, you know, and maybe the touching enhances it."

"So what do you think? Is it the tether?"

She shrugs her shoulders. "I guess. But why now? I haven't felt it before."

"Me neither. I don't know."

"It doesn't feel like it's a bad thing, though."

"And it's not like it feels good, either. It's more like it feels..."

"Right," she whispers. "It feels right." Lydia purses her lips and gives him a small smile, one that he returns wholeheartedly.

Stiles tries not to think too much of it because this is Lydia. Surely a different Lydia from the one he had such a boyish crush on, a much better version of her; more mature, smarter, stronger, more fierce and undoubtedly more beautiful, and she just tangled her fingers with his and told him it feels right. His heart starts beating fast in his chest and his mouth goes dry so he tries his best to fight his impulses. His crush on her may be long gone but his feelings for her aren't; they just got sidetracked. He changes the subject. "Why weren't you at the party last night?"

Lydia looks down at their hands a little saddened. She shouldn't expect him to be interested in her, not when he finally took her off her pedestal and moved on, when he got to know the real Lydia and stepped away to start dating someone else. It's not even right of her to be jealous; she never had Stiles in the first place. She'll just have to settle for his friendship. "I just wasn't in the mood."

"You are always in the mood for a party, Lydia."

"I haven't been in a while..." And she hasn't. Not since Allison, since Aiden, since the Nogitsune, since Malia.

Yet again, he feels guilty for neglecting her over the werecoyote. He knows that Lydia has been distant from the pack but he couldn't get through to her, she wouldn't open up about it. Now is as good time as any to give it another try. "Is everything okay?" For a second he sees a sparkle in her eyes, like they lit up, but a moment later it's gone.

She lets go of his hand and starts fiddling nervously on her lap, giving him a fake smile and hoping he'll leave it at that. "Yes, of course."

He knows better. "Lydia..."

She looks down at her hands and answers a little more sharply than she intends to. "We're supposed to be talking about you, not me."

"Yeah, right. Sorry," he mumbles, rubbing the back of his neck.

Lydia knows that she made him uncomfortable so she takes it back. It's not really how she meant to say it but she's struggling to find the right words. "No, I'm sorry. I just... I don't want to talk about me." She gets a little closer and takes his hand again, smiling apologetically, her cheeks turning a little rosy. "This right now, it's about you, okay? You don't have to talk about what happened if you don't want to, and honestly I just suck at letting people know that I'm here for them but I am, Stiles. I'm here for you."

Stiles smiles first and then starts laughing quietly, rubbing his eyes in the process. "You should tell that to yourself from three years ago. That Lydia Martin would be pissed to know that you're here right now, holding my hand and making me feel better. She would have loved that," he says sarcastically, teasing her, trying to lighten the mood and change the subject again so that he doesn't say the wrong thing, namely what he thinks she doesn't want to hear.

"Hey, don't be mean now," she chuckles, smacking his arm. "I didn't know you back then."

Involuntarily, he rubs his eyes again and yawns. "Well, I'm glad we're here nonetheless."

He gives her his goofy grin and she laughs, looking back at him fondly. God, she missed it. "Me too, but I think you should rest some more."

"I'm not tired."

"Yes, you are." He makes a face and she laughs again. "You want to yawn again, don't you?"

He was trying to hold it in to prove his point. "Yeah." He yawns. Lydia gives him a triumphant look. "But I'm not that tired," he replies.

"But you are. Why don't you lay down for a bit?" she offers.

"You don't mind?"

"I thought we'd already established that you're here for me to comfort you, so shut up and do as I tell you," she says playfully.

He has a witty answer for her but decides to let her win; she's right after all. Plus it's a Saturday afternoon, it's not like he has anything better to do. Moving around, he lays down on the couch and stretches. Lydia moves too, encouraging him to rest his head on her lap. When he gives her a suspicious look, she simply says "What? I like playing with your hair."

He sees her blush at the comment but chooses not to say anything, instead pulling his blanket over himself again and relaxing into the couch and into Lydia, who is now running her hand through his hair lazily. He could do this more often.

"I missed this," he murmurs, looking up at her green eyes. "I mean, not this." Stiles gestures between them. "No, not this. We never did this..." He starts mumbling but he can't help it; eloquence went out the door when Lydia Martin started playing with his hair. "Not that I wouldn't miss this if we've done this before, of course I would. I- I missed us, like hanging out, just the two of us, you know? Not like..."

She cuts him off. "Stiles?"

He shuts up immediately. "Sorry."

She chuckles and smiles. "I missed you too."