As fate would have it

Chapter 1

Summary: Lydia and Stiles have been sharing an apartment for two years when Lydia is invited to her cousin Jade's wedding. (Not so) Accidentally, Jade is told that Lydia will be taking her boyfriend as a plus one, but truth is Lydia is actually single. The duty of having to pretend he's dating Lydia falls, of course, on Stiles, but as it turns out pretending isn't really that hard.

Author's note: Fake dating Stydia fic. Canon-divergent post S4 and set in the near future.

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They've been living together for the better part of two years. And no, he's not dating Lydia Martin.

Trust him, he'd know.

He has repeated that sentence so many times for the last two years that it's probably printed on his forehead by now.

Sure, they are great together and have made out occasionally during that period - more often than occasionally but, well, technicalities – yet no, they are not dating. In fact, it's in times like this that he loathes her, wishes he'd never taken up on her offer because they are so close that the redhead knows exactly what to say to get to him and he hates it. And okay, it's not like he doesn't know what to say to get to her because he does, but that's not important right now.

What's important right now is that Lydia might have come up with the worst idea ever and it all began with a call from Natalie...

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They are two weeks into summer break when, one late afternoon, Lydia comes out of her room and makes her way to Stiles, who's sprawled on the couch reading a comic. "Mom wants to say hi," she tells him with a smile.

He takes the phone from her eagerly, forgetting his reading promptly and throwing the comic book to their coffee table. "Hey Natalie," he greets vivaciously.

"Stiles! How is my favorite spazz?" The older woman teases from the other side of the line, a playful tone in her voice as always.

"Perfect. I think I'm turning into a couch potato though, and it's your daughter's fault. She doesn't encourage me to get out of the house." Lydia sits beside him and punches Stiles in the stomach a little harder than necessary, making him sit up promptly. "Ouch!" Lydia laughs. "You know, your daughter just physically assaulted me," he exclaims exaggeratedly to an amused Natalie. "The only reason I'm not dragging her ass to jail is because I need her to help me pay the rent."

And because you like my ass, Lydia mouths. Stiles smacks her with a pillow.

Natalie laughs freely to his ramblings as always, engaged in the conversation. Hearing from Stiles makes her day every time. He continues. "How are things back home?"

"Oh you know," Natalie sighs. "Same old boring Beacon Hills, nothing much ever happens here." Even after a few years, Natalie continues oblivious to the supernatural.

"Yeah I know, right?" Stiles muses.

"Is that him?" Stiles hears a younger voice call, a woman who's obviously not Lydia's mom.

"Who's that?" He asks curious. In response, he hears giggling from the other line and finds a slightly apprehensive Lydia staring back at him.

"Oh honey, you'll meet her soon, don't worry," Natalie clarifies. "It's Lydia's cousin Jade. She's visiting."

He catches the other woman saying 'Hi' in the back. "Well, tell her hi for me," he mutters. "And please let her know that you Martins are gonna be the death of me one day. At this rhythm, I'll have met your whole family in a year, Natalie, and putting up with Lydia is more than enough, you know?" He mocks, raising an eyebrow at the strawberry blonde and laughing, successfully avoiding her blow this time.