Swapsies||Chapter 2
In which Lydia turned on the night of the dance, therefore taking Isaac’s place in Derek’s pack.
"Someone saw you? Like, actually, honest to God, saw you in wolf form?” Erica voice resounded around the basement space. Lydia flinched at her pack mate’s loud words. “Oh, say it louder, Reyes,” Lydia spat. “I’m pretty sure Canada didn’t quite catch that!” Lydia looked down on the scene from where she sat on top of the subway car. This was her usual spot during pack meetings. It was a height dominance thing. She was at least three inches shorted than Erica, the next shortest of the group, and she didn’t even want to try standing next to Derek or Boyd. She just settled on the roof, where the height difference wasn’t an issue and she could snap and challenge ideas without feeling in any way inferior to the rest of the pack. At first Derek had pestered her to come down, saying that she wasn’t being part of the pack, as if physical proximity was the reason for her detachment. Eventually he realised that she wasn’t going to come down.
Boyd stood a few feet behind her, leaning against the supporting frame that held up the whole warehouse. He was staring thoughtfully into the subway car, pondering his next words. Boyd wasn’t one to say much, but when he did the whole pack listened. He opened his mouth and addressed Lydia, though not looking at her. “Are you going to tell Derek?”
Lydia let out a high-pitched laugh. “Ha! No. It’s not that big a deal, anyway. It was the middle of the night, the guy probably thinks he hallucinated the whole thing. I mean, what’s the alternative explanation? Werewolves exist?” Her phone buzzed next to her, reverberating through the metal roof, so even someone without heightened hearing would notice it from the floor. She unlocked it, skimmed the message and smiled slightly. “Well, it’s been fun,” She turned around in her seat and slid off the ridge , catching the door of the car to slow her falling down, before dropping to the ground and making a beeline for the stairs. “but I’ve got a movie to catch. Tell Derek he was late, and I’ve got better things to do with my time then wait around for his sorry ass.” She trotted up the stairs, but stopped halfway up at the sound of Erica’s voice. “Lydia, he’s going to be pissed. This’ll be the fourth pack meeting you’ve missed. In a row." She stressed the last sentence, trying to get the redhead to see reason.
"It’s also the fourth meeting he’s been late to. In a row." She mocked, starting up the stairs again, faster now, feeling oddly claustrophobic in the spacious warehouse. "He’s only—" Erica paused.
"Seven minutes late." Boyd supplied
"Yeah, last week it was three! That’s the difference between unsynchronised watches, not lateness." Erica was yelling now, Lydia being almost at the door.
"You’re just looking for a reason to run!"
The red wolf stopped just beyond the door frame, eyes flashing gold for a hundredth of a second. The door slammed like twenty football players had run into it. Lydia ran to Allison’s car, opening the door and slamming it with an equal amount of force. “Woah.” Allison’s voice was flat. Spying Lydia’s distressed expression, it adopted a more concerned tone. “Lydia, you okay?”
Lydia turned to Allison quickly “What? Oh, no, don’t worry. I’m fine.” she plastered on what passed for an alright expression. “Just need to get out of there.” When Allison’s look didn’t fade she added. “Just pack stuff. Allison, I’m fine!” She said exasperatedly. “Let’s just get to the movie, okay? Don’t want to keep lover boy and Stilinski waiting, do we?” She fixed a bright smile, one she knew was convincing enough to look like she was trying, but lazy enough that Allison would see right through it.
The hunter cocked her head and gave her a concerned look. Aced it. "Thank you so much for doing this. I owe you one."
Lydia nodded “That you do.”
"No, really." Allison turned to properly face her friend, and Lydia sighed internally, not in the mood for the gushy stuff that was heading her way. "You’ve been so good these past few months. I couldn’t have gotten through this without you. And you’re going through all your own crazy changes, and you’ve just been so selfless, and just—" She took a breath, "Thanks".
Lydia smiled again, secretly thanking the gods that her best friend was terrible at reading people. Because Lydia Martin was not being selfless. By focussing on Allison’s ‘forbidden love’ troubles, no one had really pointed out her own. And she was perfectly fine with that. Lydia Martin had never been selfless, and she was not starting now.
As Allison drove away, and all through the movie, through Allison and Scott’s overdose of cuteness and Stile’s thousand clichéd moves made on her, at the back of her mind, Lydia had a little movie of her own playing. The blue-eyed boy running off into the night, as Erica’s words played like a record on repeat in the background. Maybe she was running, but from what?
