I Love Him But I Can't (Scallison)

What Was It Like?

Lydia's parents consented to her staying with me till the custody battle was settled and my parents didn't mind having her around after she apologized for her mother's comments. We were currently sitting in my room and doing homework.

"Thanks for letting me stay. It really means a lot."

"It's nothing Lydia. We're practically sisters."

"What was it like moving around so much?"

"Lonely. I never really stayed in one place. Never got to make friends because I'd just end up leaving them behind in a couple of months. I mixed up teachers names so many times that at one point I gave up calling their names and just asked them questions. Towards the end, I just stopped reaching out to people. Staying alone made it easier to leave. Don't get me wrong, I was still invited to parties and asked out, but I turned down all the dates and went to at least one party at each school." I shrugged. "I decided that I wouldn't date till college because the moving wasn't good for relationships. Then I came here, I made friends, I got a boyfriend, and I practically have a second family. What's it like growing up in one place for your whole life?"

Lydia smiles and says "It seems boring, but I'm lucky. Everyone knows everyone here. Scott and I-," but she stops and gets a worried look.

"Lydia, you can talk about your past with Scott. It'll be nice to hear. I'll get to know what he was like when he was little."

Lydia smiles and says "Scott and I had started walking and it was my mom that had brought us to the park. The town was talking about Scott secretly being my dad and Melissa's son. That's why Melissa and Raffaele argue all the time." She gestures to the walls. "The walls may have ears to hear our secrets, but this town has their own version of them."

"Come on, tell me about Beacon Hills. I want to know as much as I can about this town."

"Well, Scott will be in a lot of these stories and I think I might actually have some pictures of us when we were small." She moves closer to me and smiles. "The way Melissa and my parents say it, Scott and I meet when we were two. I was wandering the small park and I was in the sandbox when a girl shoved me. Scott helped me up and we've been friends ever since. He's always been such a sweet guy and he never let popularity rob him of that. He's always lent a helping hand to anyone who needs it."

"What's your favorite memory of him?"

Lydia looks down at her hands and says "When I was twelve, my parents were in the process of their divorce and they forgot my birthday. Scott watched the Notebook with me four times and stayed the night so that I wasn't alone. My parents didn't remember for another two months. Scott was the only person that stood by me. He's always stood by me. You have a great boyfriend."

"Yeah, I do. I just wish it wouldn't have gone the way it did. I still feel terrible for hurting you."

"It's ok. Scott and I have always been friends and we both knew that we wouldn't last as a couple forever. Our parents were the ones pushing us to date. That wasn't our first fight. We'd never fight before we started dating. We'd disagree but never to the point where we'd stop talking. That changed when we started dating. Little things sparked big arguments." She laughs and looks up at me. "Our fights stopped coming as frequently when you came. It's almost like you helped us realize that we were better off if we stopped pretending to be the perfect couple and went back to being best friends."

"How did you and Scott start dating," I asked. It was completely out of my control. The question had just seemed to come out. "I'm sorry. It's none of my business."