Back to Basics (completed)

Goodbyes

Lydia spent the remainder of her summer break in isolation. She couldn't face Stiles and she couldn't exactly hang out with all of his friends without him. The only person she ever really saw was Allison, who constantly tried to convince her to go see him but there was always something holding her back. 

When the first day of senior year came around, Lydia was nervous to say the least. This would be her first time seeing Stiles since that night. They got into a routine that lasted all senior year, everyone hung out at lunch and on the weekends like they did the year before. The only difference this year was that there was a constant noticeable silence between Stiles and Lydia that never ceased.  Lydia was a little disappointed that Stiles never tried to talk to her in those first few days of school, but she understood. He got shot because of her, she couldn't expect him to ever forgive her after that. 

As the months went by, Lydia started accepting that her and Stiles were really over. She had applied to all of the further away colleges that she liked, wanting to get away from this town that no longer felt like a new beginning. She had received responses from all of the schools saying she was accepted and she decided on Columbia. Even though she hadn't talked to Stiles, she had heard from Allison that he was going somewhere local, he didn't want to be too far from his dad. 

Lydia had received three more poems over the course of the year, and she hung them up with the others. She was currently packing boxes, getting ready to move. Her moms company had offices all over the country, so she was transferring to their New York office so she could stay with Lydia. They were moving right after her graduation so that she would have the summer to get comfortable with New York before school started.

Allison was currently lying across Lydia's bed, watching as her friend pulled clothes out from her closet and packed them into boxes. 

"I can't believe you're leaving in a week." Allison said sadly. Lydia looked over at her friend, seeing tears form in her eyes.

"Ally you're moving too, just not til the end of summer. And you're moving pretty close to me, so we'll be able to visit all the time." Lydia told her, trying to reassure her that everything was going to be okay.

"I'm gonna miss everyone. No one else is going out east like us. They're all staying around here." Allison said sadly.

"Yeah but you'll be back for holidays right? I mean your dad is staying here so you're gonna come back to visit him, right?" Lydia asked her friend who just nodded in response. 

"Lydia are you really going to leave without talking to Stiles? It's been almost a year and you guys can still barely even look at each other." Allison pushed. 

"He doesn't want to talk to me Ally. He got hurt because of me, I put him in danger. I can't expect him to forgive me for that. He could have died!" she said, growing frustrated at Allison's persistence. Allison pursed her lips and looked down. She knew that wasn't the real reason and she knew Stiles wasn't angry about that, but she couldn't tell her the real reason, it wasn't her business.

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The whole group had arrived at the school, all wearing their matching graduation gowns. They made their way inside with the rest of the students and waited for the ceremony to begin. After a few minutes they were all directed into a line and ushered into the gymnasium. Before long, they were being called up one by one to get their diplomas. Allison was the first of her friends to go up and Lydia cheered loudly as her friend shook hands with the principal and posed for a picture with her diploma. Lydia was the next one from their group, and it passed in a blur. She posed and then made her way back to her seat. Scott was after her, and then Stiles, Malia and Kira was the last of them. 

In what seemed like no time at all, they were being called the graduating class of 2016 and everyone jumped up, throwing their caps in the air. Lydia made her way towards Allison, who had found the rest of their friends. They were all hugging and congratulating each other. She hugged all of her friends but paused when she was face to face with Stiles. He had a nervous look on his face as well, but quickly covered it with a small smile. He opened his arms and she took a step forward, wrapping her arms around his waist, his twining around her back.

"Congrats Lyds." he said quietly. She pulled back and smiled up at him.

"You too Stiles." she replied. That was the end of their encounter and she quickly turned back to listen to the rest of their friends. They all had plans to go out for dinner all together with their parents, so they all split to find them. Dinner was full of laughs and pictures, most of them goofy. She surprisingly even got one with Stiles. After dinner they all said goodbye and left to their respective houses, except for Allison who had claimed she was staying at Lydia's until she left, which would be in two days.

The girls spent the night and the next day goofing around and packing up the rest of Lydia's stuff. In the blink of an eye she was suddenly standing on her driveway staring at the moving truck being filled with their boxes. All of her friends had shown up to say goodbye, even Stiles. Allison couldn't stop crying and had to be held back by Malia when Lydia climbed into her moms car. She gave Stiles a small smile and he waved in response, leaning back on his jeep. As her moms car pulled out of the driveway and started down the road out of Beacon Hills, Lydia looked in the side mirror and saw Stiles looking at the ground, hands in his hair and looking extremely frustrated. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, turning away from the mirror and not looking back.

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Author's note:

The end! So this is the end of this story unfortunately, but don't be too sad because there is going to be a sequel. Thank you so much for reading and I'll post the name of the sequel here once it's up.

xo