All in the Timing (a Stydia AU)

Chapter 13: A Trip To The Vets (Part 2)

Stiles POV:

Stiles was using all his might to keep his eyes on the road. If he thought driving the jeep with Lydia sitting in the passenger seat holding his hand was distracting before, now it was ten times worse. The car was completely silent, except for the radio that played quietly, and there was so much tension in the air that Stiles felt like he would suffocate if he didn't open a window soon. He wouldn't though, even if he had a free hand to do so, because Lydia had told him a few days ago that she hated how it messed up her hair, and it was against Stiles' nature to purposely do anything that would upset her.

Lydia was absent mindedly tapping her fingers on Stiles' hand, which was resting on the stick shift, to the beat of the barely audible song and staring out the window. Thinking, no doubt. Lydia had recently been getting distracted in her own head more often than not, which was totally out of character for her. Especially in the middle of a class, Lydia was usually the one student in class who never took their eyes off the board unless it was to look at the teacher or her notes. Though Stiles guessed it was justified right now, so he didn't say anything. She had just found out that Stiles was her actual soulmate whether she liked it or not. And that she would have to let go of Jackson if she wanted to fix her emotional tether, which Deaton had said would happen Lydia and Stiles made an appearance at the dance together. It was a lot to process.

So no one said anything except Scott who muttered an awkward goodnight when Stiles dropped him at his house. After a little while Lydia stopped tapping her fingers to the beat, and just let her hand rest on top of his. It stayed like that for roughly three minutes and twenty two seconds before Stiles finally opened his mouth- not that he was counting or anything!

Stiles gulped, "Hey Lydia? I, uh, I know you probably don't want to hear this from me right now, like it's probably really bad timing or unfair to your decision or something but uh... I just wanted to tell you that I- shit I'm going to sound so- okay, do you remember in the third grade when our homeroom had every class together? Well we were walking to the gym and I remember overhearing you talking to your little friends about how bad you were at dodgeball, we were starting our dodgeball unit that day, and how you were worried that no one would pick you to be on their team. You sounded so miserable, like not being chosen first was your worst nightmare," Stiles laughed shaking his head, "I guess it was just about the coolest thing in third grade though wasn't it. So I- I gave all my lunch money to Greenburg so he would let me take his place as team captain; Jackson was the other team captain of course. You were totally infatuated with him then, always covering your timer when you were around him- yeah, I noticed that. Anyway, when it was time to choose teams, you kept glancing at Jackson and winking at him and doing things to get him to choose you. It was adorable, really, I would've been on my hands and knees- Um, so you were obviously hoping he would pick you, but when he didn't, when he chose Danny instead, you looked completely humiliated. I knew how important being chosen first to be on a team was to anyone's social status back then so I- I chose you. You were shocked to say the least, amazing how you didn't even look at me then, huh? Too busy looking at the ceiling to hold your chin as high as you could, or stealing secret glances at Jackson I guess." Stiles chuckled again at how ridiculous everyone was back then. Then he cleared his throat, still struggling to keep his eyes on the road, "You're probably thinking this story is pointless, but really what I'm trying to say is- no matter who you choose, I'll choose you. I'll always choose you Lydia."

After that, the unsettling silence from before filled the jeep. Stiles waited for her to laugh, scoff, say something- anything! But she didn't, not for the rest of the three minutes it took to get back to the Stilinski house. By the time Stiles parked next to his dad's cruiser, he was basically swimming in his own sweat waiting for an answer.