Chapter Text
Lydia walked down the hallway to the make-shift bridal room – an empty apartment in Derek’s complex – taking a deep breath. She had just gotten into a shouting match with the florist, which was a bad idea on her part considering Lydia’s knack for screaming.
“Everything okay?” Cora asked, her brow furrowed in concern.
“Perfect,” she said, giving her a smile. “They will have everything there within the hour.”
“Awesome,” the younger Hale sighed. “I don’t know how I’d do this whole maid of honor thing without you. She should have given that title to you.”
“You’re Derek’s sister,” Lydia reasoned. “Of course Braeden would want you to be the Maid of Honor. How’s she doing, by the way?”
The hesitation on Cora’s face was enough of an answer.
“She’s freaking out, isn’t she?”
“I’ve never seen her like this.”
With a short nod, Lydia made her way into the room, where Braeden was nowhere to be found, but Malia was sitting by the door.
“She’s locked herself in,” she explained. “I can’t get her to come out.”
“Well, at least there aren’t any windows for her to escape through in there,” Lydia quipped, smoothing out her dress before knocking on the door. “Braeden? It’s Lydia. Can I come in?”
“I’m fine,” she snapped through the door, her voice hard. Lydia could hear the fear underneath the tough exterior. “I just need a few minutes.”
“You’ve been in there for half an hour,” Malia called out.
Lydia shot her a look. “You’re not helping.”
“Sorry,” she shrugged, standing up and walking across the room and busing herself with the makeup on the vanity.
“You’re not going to be ready in time for your big day if you don’t get out of there,” Lydia reasoned.
“Is that really such a bad thing?” Braeden asked.
Sighing, Lydia closed her eyes for a moment before speaking. “You don’t really mean that, Braeden. I know how much you love Derek, and you wouldn’t have gone through all of this stuff for a wedding if you didn’t want to marry him.”
“This is just so real,” she said, her voice more vulnerable than Lydia had ever heard it. “I don’t know if I can do this.”
Lydia turned around to face Cora and Malia. “We need reinforcements.”
‘’’’’’’’’’
“Are you sure this looks okay?”
“It looks great.”
Derek took a deep breath, staring at himself in the mirror as he buttoned his tuxedo jacket. After a moment, he turned to look at Scott. “Are you sure?”
“Yes,” Scott nodded, standing up from the bed and making his way over to Derek. “It’s perfect.”
“Okay,” he said. “It’s just…I’m not used to seeing myself in a suit, I guess.”
“It’s not like we’ve had very many occasions to wear them,” Stiles offered, messing with his tie.
“Not happy ones, anyway,” Derek muttered. “Are you guys ready?”
“Yeah,” Scott nodded. “Stiles?”
“I’ll do my tie in the car,” he said, leaving it to hang around his neck. It was a deep purple, because Braeden had insisted on having purple as the main color. He didn’t care as long as he got to be the one to put the ring on her finger.
“Come here,” he said, waving Stiles over.
“Why?” Stiles asked, confusion on his face.
“Just come here.” Derek walked over to Stiles, grabbing his tie and beginning to tie it.
He sputtered as Derek worked on the tie, pushing up the knot to tighten it when he was done. Stiles squeaked, grabbing it as soon as he was done and loosening it.
“You didn’t have to do it so tight,” he said, smoothing it out gently before putting his jacket on.
“Let’s go,” Derek announced.
They made their way down the stairs of the loft, Derek grabbing his keys. “We’ll carpool.”
“I can drive the bike,” Scott said.
“No,” he said. “I’m not going to let my best man chance ruining a rented suit.”
His phone rang, and he pulled it out to check the ID.
“What’s up?” Stiles asked.
“It’s Lydia,” he told him before answering. “Lydia? Is everything okay?”
“Not really,” she answered. “You need to talk to your bride.”
“I thought that it was bad luck to see the bride before the wedding?” he asked. He usually wasn’t a superstitious person, but he wasn’t going to take his chances in the current situation.
“It never says anything about talking to her on the phone,” she told him.
“Okay,” he nodded. “Let me talk to her.”
There was a shuffle and the click of a door opening and then slamming shut before he heard his fiancé’s voice. “Hello?”
“Hey, is everything okay?” he asked, making his way over to the couch and sitting down.
“Fine,” she told him, trying too hard to be casual.
“Bullshit,” he shot back. “Cold feet?”
“No,” she insisted. “Not really. I’m just…processing.”
“Processing?” he asked. “You’ve had over a year to process.”
“It just hasn’t felt this real until now,” she admitted.
“Yeah,” he said. “I get it. Look, if you don’t want to get married today, we don’t have to. I told you that I want to spend the rest of my life with you, marriage or not.”
She was silent for a moment, contemplating.
“Braeden?” he asked. “You still with me?”
“Yeah,” she said. “And we’re getting married tonight.”
“Okay,” he said. “See you at the altar?”
“Technically it’s not an altar,” she teased. “But yes, I’ll see you at the altar. I love you.”
“I love you, too.”
‘’’’’’’’’’
Lydia watched as Derek and Braeden danced in the middle of the makeshift dancefloor, almost oblivious to the people around them. It was starting to get dark, but there were enough lanterns under the canopy to keep everything well-lit.
“Hey, sweetie,” Melissa said, coming up beside her with an extra glass of champagne. “You look beautiful.”
“Thank you,” Lydia told her. “So do you.”
“Well,” she said. “It’s not often that I get to dress up, so I try to take advantage.”
“I understand,” Lydia said. She took another look around the room, admiring the various shades of purple woven in with the crème across the ceiling of the canopy, leading down to the ground. “The outside wedding and reception was a great idea.”
People brushed past them as the dancefloor started to fill up again, and the Sheriff made his way over to them.
“May I have this dance?” he asked, holding out his hand in question. Melissa shifted over, gesturing to Lydia, but he raised his eyebrows at her in question.
“I think he was asking you,” Lydia clarified.
“Oh,” Melissa said, blinking in surprise. “Of course.”
She took his hand and they made their way to the floor and started to dance.
“They look like they’re having fun.”
A set of arms made their way around her waist, and she leaned back into Stiles as they watched the people they loved dance.
“Do you want to have fun, too?” she asked, raising an eyebrow as she looked back at him.
“I am having fun,” he told her. “Aren’t you?”
“Of course,” she said.
“So how bad was Braden freaking out earlier?” he asked. “I didn’t even think that she capable of freaking out.”
“Pretty freaked out,” Lydia admitted. “But as soon as she heard Derek’s voice, she was okay.”
“I personally would never think that Derek’s voice is a calming thing, but to each their own.”
Lydia couldn’t help but snort at Stiles’ remark. “It’s not calming to you because you annoy him.”
“Hey,” he said, mocking offense. “I think we’ve gotten along pretty well over the years. I mean, I was one of his groomsmen.”
“Yes, you have,” she nodded. “I’m proud of you.”
She brought one of his hands to her lips, kissing it softly. “I love you.”
“I love you, too,” he said, placing a kiss on her cheek. “Now come dance with me.”
‘’’’’’’’’’
The Pack watched as Derek put the last suitcase in the back of the car, getting ready to head to the airport to start their honeymoon. It had taken quite a bit of convincing, but they had finally decided that it would be okay to leave for a couple of weeks, something they hadn’t really done since coming back with Isaac.
“Are you sure that you guys are gonna be okay?” he asked, raising his eyebrow at Scott in particular.
“We’ll be fine,” Scott promised him. They all knew that Derek was nervous, partly because the older wolf was actually doing something for himself rather than for everybody else, and that hadn’t exactly ended well in the past. “I already told you, if we really need you, we’ll call you.”
“I know you just said that to appease me,” Derek said, a smirk on his face. “But I’m going to hold you to that promise. If we come back and Beacon Hills is in shambles, I will strangle you.”
“I know you will,” Scott nodded.
“Hey,” Stiles said with a shrug. “If he won’t call you, I will. I have no problem ruining your honeymoon for the Pack.”
Derek rolled his eyes, but couldn’t quite his the smile forming on his lips. “I’ll keep that in mind when you get married.”
With a wink in Lydia’s direction, he shook Stiles’ and Scott’s hands, saying goodbyes.
Braeden’s arms were suddenly around Lydia, squeezing her tightly.
“Thank you for all of your help,” she said. “I appreciate it, and I know that Cora does, too.”
“It’s not a problem,” Lydia assured her. “I love weddings, especially when I have a hand in planning them.”
“Well, hopefully one day soon, you’ll get to plan one of your own,” Braeden teased. “You did catch the bouquet after all.”
Rolling her eyes, Lydia sighed. “If I’m the one that’s getting married next, then no one is getting married for a while.”
“Married people get doctorates all the time,” she sing-songed, and Lydia could definitely believe all of the champagne that the new bride had drank during the reception.
“I’ll think about it,” Lydia told her, gently pushing her towards the car. “But if you don’t leave soon, you’re going to miss your flight.”
Braeden moved to say goodbye to everyone else, and Derek pulled Lydia into a hug next.
“So I guess you know that there’s a hold on training for a couple of weeks,” he joked.
“I figured as much,” she told him. “But I think that I can manage. If I really need to train, though, I can always go to Cora.”
“I would love to see that,” he laughed. Then he squeezed her tighter and kissed the top of her head quickly. “Be careful, okay? And make sure that Scott calls me if anything happens. I don’t care how little it is.”
“I will,” she assured him. “Now go. Have fun with your wife.”
The newlyweds got into the car and drove off, leaving the Pack to watch after them. Once they turned down the street and out of sight, Stiles spoke up. “We’re not calling them, are we?”
“Nope,” was the unanimous answer.
“That’s what I thought.”
‘’’’’’’’’’
Melissa opened the door to the house, kicking her heels off as soon as she was inside. Not for the first time, it crossed her mind that she needed to create a pair of heels with the soles of her nursing shoes. She would wear them every day if that was the case.
Or she could always get the secret from Lydia.
“Are you gonna be okay?” The Sheriff asked, coming in behind her.
“I’m a big girl, John,” she reminded him, making her way into the living room. “I’ll be fine.”
“I know,” he nodded. “I just have to make sure, you know?”
“I know you do,” she said. “But if you wanna stay, I have some beers in the fridge.”
“I’ll take one,” he said. “You sit down, I’ll get them.”
“I can get them,” she argued.
“You’ve been in heels all day,” he reminded her, raising a brow. “I think you deserve to sit.”
She narrowed her eyes at him for a moment before surrendering. “Fine. But only because I actually want to get out of this dress.”
He chuckled as he made his way to the kitchen. “You know, if it was anyone else, I might take that the wrong way.”
“Good thing it’s not anyone else, then,” she called back, making her way up the stairs.
There was a time that she would actually want him to take it the wrong way, if she was being honest. After all the years of basically co-parenting their boys, there was definitely a bond there. But she knew that it probably would never happen. He had loved Claudia too much to ever properly move on from her, and honestly she respected Claudia too much for that. A part of her wished that she had loved someone like that, but at the same time, she was glad that she didn’t. It made moving on from Rafe a lot easier.
She quickly changed out of her dress, thankful that she had decided on one without a zipper to make it easier. Changing into sweats and a t-shirt, she decided to go ahead and take her hair down and take her makeup off. It wouldn’t take too long.
By the time she had finished scrubbing her face, she heard footsteps down the hall. “Melissa?”
“In here,” she said, taking the main clip out of her hair and starting on the bobby pins.
John appeared in the doorway, holding two beers in his hands. There was a mixture of hesitation and bemusement on his face. He kind of looked like a teenage boy who wasn’t sure if he was allowed to be there. It might have been adorable.
“You can come in,” she told him, taking on a teasing tone. “My dad doesn’t have a rule against it, I promise.”
He laughed, finally stepping into the room. “All these years of knowing each other, and I can honestly say that I’ve never been in your room.”
“Well, you can’t say that now,” she teased him, taking the full beer from his hand and taking a drink.
“What would the neighbors think?” he asked, pretending to be scandalized.
She pretended to think for a moment before responding. “It’s about damn time.”
“Fair enough,” he nodded, a smile on his face.
“You should hear that nosy old lady next door,” she told him. “’When are you going to marry that Sheriff? He’s always at your house, you might as well make an honest woman out of yourself.’”
John coughed, choking for a moment on his beer. “She thinks we’re sleeping together?”
“No matter how much I tell her no, she never believes me,” she shrugged. “But I’m just a little too old to care what other people think.”
“Well,” he said. “When you tell me things like ‘I want to get out of this dress,’ I can see where she gets her ideas.”
Melissa rolled her eyes, putting her drink down and going back to taking her hair down. “Are you sure you’re not taking that the wrong way?”
“I’m not,” he told her. “But apparently other people are.”
“It’s stupid,” she said. “Some people refuse to believe that a man and a woman can be good friends without anything happening between them.”
“True,” he said. “I can’t tell you how many times some of my deputies have teased me when you come down to the station.”
“Really?” she asked, turning to look at him, amused. She had definitely brought him dinner a lot since Stiles had gone off to college – a promise she had made to the boy to make sure his father kept eating healthy – but to think that other people thought something of it that it wasn’t was definitely…interesting.
“Really,” he nodded. “A few of them have dubbed you ‘the Sheriff’s girl.’”
“Well you can tell them that I’m nobody’s girl,” she told him, searching her hair for any hiding pins.
“I do,” he insisted. “But it doesn’t stop them.”
“I imagine,” she said. “Some people are ridiculous.”
She watched him shrug through the mirror, bringing the bottle to his lips. “I don’t think it’s that ridiculous.”
“You don’t?” she asked, turning around and picking up her beer. She followed his hands as he crossed them over his chest, and noticed – not for the first time – that something was missing.
“No,” he said. “I mean, we have known each other a long time, and we’ve practically been raising our kids together for just as long. Why wouldn’t people think that?”
“I guess,” she shrugged. “But do you really want everyone thinking something that’s not true?”
He didn’t respond for a moment, taking another drink as well as a deep breath. “We could always make it true.”
He eyes widened in shock as she looked at him, unable to speak for a moment. “We, uh, we probably shouldn’t be talking about this while we’re drinking.”
“You and I both know that it takes a lot more than half a beer for me to get drunk,” he reminded her, giving her a look full of things left unsaid.
“Is, um…” she trailed off, not knowing how to approach the subject. “Is that why you aren’t wearing your wedding ring anymore? You know, it’s a little bit ironic, me noticing that you’re not wearing a wedding band at a wedding…”
“I haven’t been wearing it for a few weeks,” he admitted, taking a few steps towards her. “I’ve always known that Claudia wanted me to move on, be happy, but I just couldn’t imagine doing it without betraying her. That’s why I kept wearing the ring. But lately, I’ve just felt…I’ve felt like she’s almost been bugging me about it. It’s like this little voice in my head, saying over and over again ‘just kiss her, you idiot. You know you want to. You’ve wanted to for a long time.’ That voice has been there for a long time, but I could always push it back because I didn’t want Stiles to think that I was trying to replace his mother. But as he got older and was able to understand that it wouldn’t be that way, and I realized that he kind of already had another mom anyway – not one that replaced her, but was a mom to him just the same – I got scared. I kept making up stupid excuses. But it’s just gotten harder and harder to make those excuses.”
He got a little bit closer to her, and for a second, she felt like she couldn’t breathe. She hadn’t felt this way since she was a teenager, and she wasn’t completely sure how to take it.
“So,” he continued. “I finally decided that I should listen to that little voice – if who the voice was talking about was okay with that of course – and kiss her. Is that okay?”
Slowly, she nodded, still partly in shock. He looked at her for a moment, his gaze dropping to her lips before he leaned in and touched his lips to hers.
The kiss was gentle, sweet, and nervous. In a way, it was like her first kiss all over again. She kissed him back just as gently, placing a hand on his chest.
He pulled away too soon, a goofy grin on his face.
“Are you sure about this?” she asked, unable to help herself. “I know how much you loved Claudia, and I loved her, too. I don’t – I don’t want you to –“
“I’m sure,” he told her. “I am. But if you’re not, then we don’t have to do anything.”
She thought about it for a moment. Was she okay with it? She was friends with Claudia, and she had always pushed away any thought of anything happening because of that. But he was right. She had told both of them that she had wanted John to move on when she was gone. To be happy. For a long time, she had thought that as long as John had Stiles that he was happy. She never pushed the dating thing too much – even with other women – because he was how much he hurt over Claudia. She saw how deeply he loved. Between how deeply he loved, and how deeply Claudia had loved, Stiles had no chance in hell. Part of her hadn’t have wanted John to get hurt like that again.
But if he was willing to try it. If he was willing to be with her, she knew that she would try her damned best to make sure that didn’t happen. Because she loved him.
Finally, she nodded. “Okay. I’m sure.”
He grinned again. “Okay.”
‘’’’’’’’’’
Stiles phone rang, and he reached into his pocket to answer it as he tried to untangle himself from a sleeping Lydia.
“Hello?” he whispered, standing up from the bed and making his way to the hallway.
“Dude,” Scott’s voice came through, his voice in a whisper. “You won’t believe what I just saw.”
“What?” he asked, his voice laced with worry. “Is everything okay?”
“Yeah,” his best friend said, excitement in his voice. “It’s great. Did you know that your dad is here?”
“My dad’s at your house?” he asked, confused. He knew that his dad and Melissa hung out, but this late? He looked to his dad’s bedroom door. “Why?”
“I don’t know,” Scott said. “All I know is that your dad and my mom are curled up on the couch asleep, with a movie playing. Like…curled up together.”
“Are you serious?” he asked, forgetting for a moment to lower his voice. “So are they like…a thing?”
“I don’t know,” Scot repeated. “But they sure look like they are.”
“Why didn’t he tell me?” Stiles said. “If they were dating, I definitely would want to know.”
“I guess we can ask them in the morning?” Scott suggested. “I really don’t want to wake them up. They look kind of adorable.”
“Okay,” he said. “But I will be over there first thing in the morning, okay?”
He hung up, making his way back into his room, where Lydia was sitting there with bleary eyes. “Is everything okay?”
“Apparently Melissa and my dad are a thing now,” Stiles explained, a smile on his face.
“Really?” she asked, wide awake. “Well, it’s about damn time.”
‘’’’’’’’’’
The due date was hard. Lydia had been doing better after going to the group with Stiles, but there was something about that date that had made Lydia slowly start to fall apart again. It was probably the fact that she had hammered that date into her brain as the day that she was supposed to have her daughter in her arms. Or maybe it was the fact that she had still felt somewhat empty without Addyson, and the date was a reminder that she hadn’t been able to protect her. It was most likely a lot of things at once, just like anything with grief, but instead of being excited that she had just graduated high school, she was simply trying to keep her head above water. Stiles tried to be strong for her, tried to be that rock for her, but it had affected him just as much as it had her, so both of them were just messes.
She specifically remembered that night. Stiles had come over, determined to make sure that she didn’t completely break down. They had started just talking about going to Stanford – because of course both of them had gotten accepted – and making plans for classes and dorms, but it quickly turned to a conversation about whether it was right to go to Stanford.
“Did we make the right choice?” she had asked quietly, her voice barely above a whisper. “Is it really okay to go to Stanford just because Addyson isn’t here with us?”
He had thought for a moment before he replied. “I think so. To me it just…it doesn’t seem right go along with the plan if she isn’t here for it.”
That had quickly gone into a conversation of what-ifs and regrets, and they ended up curled up together under the blanket that Cora had gotten Addyson, both of them trying to keep the other together.
A year later, and it didn’t seem to be much easier. Because she couldn’t help but feel like she should be planning a birthday party, but all she could actually do was look at the things in her box.
She laid everything out on her bed, picking up the Mets bib with a fond smile. As much as it still hurt, she had gotten to the point where she could smile at the memories instead of wanting to block them out.
There was a soft knock at the door, and she looked up to see Stiles standing in the doorway, a small smile on his face. “Hey.”
“Hey,” she said. “What took you so long?”
“I was trying to convince Dad to go on an actual date with Melissa,” he told her, coming into the room and sitting next to her on the bed. “He was going to cancel because of the day, but I told him not to worry about it.”
“That’s good,” she said. “He should have fun. Have something good, you know?”
“Yeah,” he nodded, his eyes landing on something with a smile. “I still can’t believe that Scott got this for her.”
He picked up the stuffed wolf that was complete with a collar tag that said Scottie on it. Scott had given it to them last summer, when he found out that they had made a treasure box for Addyson. He had bought when he first found out that they were keeping her, and was going to give it to them at the baby shower that never happened.
“He wanted to make sure she knew that Uncle Scottie was always watching out for her,” she said, rubbing the head of the wolf lovingly.
“Do you think we would have told her?” he asked, his voice soft as he brought the wolf to his chest like a child would. “Like, she would have grown up knowing that the things that went bump in the night were real?”
“It’d be too hard not to tell her,” Lydia shrugged. “She would’ve found out anyway, so why wouldn’t we have been honest with her from day one?”
“Because two year olds can’t really keep secrets?” he suggested. He reached out for the box, picking at the torn edge. It was just simple cardboard, something she had pasted scrapbook paper onto and written Addyson’s name with a calligraphy marker. “This thing’s been through a lot.”
“Yeah,” she nodded, confused at the sudden change in subject. “Cardboard’s good to move with, but constantly going back and forth? It definitely has its limits.”
“That’s what I was thinking,” he said. “That’s why I kind of did something.”
She narrowed her eyes at him, not sure how to take his comment. That could mean anything knowing Stiles. “What exactly did you do?”
“It’s not bad,” he promised, getting up from the bed and heading back toward the door. “It’s in the Jeep. I’m gonna grab it real fast. Wait here.”
“Stiles –“
He was already gone, his loud, excited steps already halfway down the steps. Too confused to do anything else, she stared at the doorway and waited for him to come back. She should be used to Stiles’ quirks by now, but somehow he still surprised her.
His footsteps came back up the stairs, slower and heavier than before. Whatever ‘something’ he did was probably big.
When he came through the door, he was holding a large wooden box, stained a slate gray.
“You didn’t,” she said, wonder filling her as he walked over to the bed and placed the box on it. On the top was Addyson Claudia in white script, with a set of two circles, one within the other, underneath. Above her name was a set of arrows crossing each other diagonally. Reverently, she traced their daughter’s name. “This is…it’s perfect.”
“I thought so, too,” he said, sitting back down next to her.
“And you designed this yourself?” she asked, looking at him in question.
“Yeah,” he nodded. “I wanted it to be perfect.”
“Well, you succeeded,” she told him with a smile. She leaned in to kiss him, long and hard. She honestly couldn’t have thought of a better way to honor their daughter. Somehow, in an odd way, it felt like she was celebrating her, instead of wallowing in grief.
They pulled out of the kiss only when they needed air. She rested her forehead against his, not taking his hands away from his face. “Thank you.”
"It’s nothing,” he said. “I’m just sorry that I didn’t do it sooner.”
“Don’t be,” she told him. “I needed this today.”
“Me, too,” he agreed. “I love you.”
“I love you, too” she said. Her phone went off, and she reluctantly moved to check it.
“What’s up?” he asked.
“It’s a reminder,” she answered. “I need to get ready for movie night.”
“Are you sure that you still want to go?” he said, taking her hand and squeezing it gently. “We don’t have to. They’ll understand.”
“No,” she said. “I want to go. And besides, why would I let you miss the chance to watch Scott finally watch Star Wars?”
He tilted his head in acknowledgement. “I take it back. I’ll drag you kicking and screaming.”
She rolled her eyes at his jest, forcing herself off of the bed and towards the vanity to get ready.
‘’’’’’’’’’
“Does everyone have their snacks and drinks?” Stiles asked. “Everyone’s been to the bathroom? Nothing’s going to interrupt this rite of passage?”
“Okay, I think that’s going a little overboard,” Scott said.
Stiles spun around to face his best friend, pointing a finger at him dramatically. “I am not going overboard! Star Wars is a rite of passage that every person on this planet should have the honor of watching. The fact that you made it to college without seeing it is criminal!”
“Okay,” Scott said, holding his hands up in surrender.
“Just start the movie,” Derek cut in, curled up with Braden in one of the recliners.
Stiles looked around at the Pack, who all nodded or shrugged in response, and only then did he sit down in between Scott and Lydia and pressed play.
There was something about Star Wars that had always made Stiles indescribably happy. He knew that it was because his mom was the one who got him into the series, sitting at home and watching the original trilogy with him during his first sick day from kindergarten. When the prequel trilogy came out, they made it a tradition to go see it in the theatres opening weekend. After she died, watching it was a way to keep her memory alive. It was the reason that he had insisted that Lydia and him went on opening weekend for the new one, despite the fact that they both had tests to study for.
The only other thing that had made him as happy as honoring his mom through Star Wars was when he had found out that he was having a daughter. He had decided as soon as they decided to keep her that he would teach their child in the ways of the Force – metaphorically speaking, unfortunately – but he had never gotten to do that. But he could honor the day that she was supposed to be born with the thing that he was most excited to share with her.
As the opening credits rolled across the screen, Stiles looked at Scott, who already looked enthralled. Part of him wanting to lean over to him and say ‘I told you so,’ but he wanted his best friend’s first time watching it to be free from distractions, so he let it go.
Lydia leaned into him, and he put his arm around her as she settled the popcorn between them. She had been quiet since going over to Scott’s, but at least she was up and out of the house, the complete opposite of what she was able to do last year. While he knew that neither of them would ever be completely over what had happened, it was nice to see it get a little bit easier.
He kissed the top of her head, shifting to get more comfortable, and finally looked at the screen to watch the movie. It wasn’t often that the Pack got a night like this to enjoy, so he was going to take advantage of it.
Their lives may not be perfect, but they were still good.