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Pink and red envelopes fell to Lydia's feet as she opened her locker. She rolled her eyes, and didn't even bother to pick them up from the dirty school floor. After grabbing a textbook and another notebook, Lydia shut her locker before gracefully stepping over the Valentine's on the ground. She felt eyes on her back as she walked down the hall. For a second guilt surged through her. But this happened every year. Hopefully freshman filled her locker with cards and candy. Usually she thought it was cute, but this year she did't care at all. Because none of those cards were from Stiles.
Lydia didn't even need to look through the cards to know that. Over the past few weeks it seems Stiles had become completely uninterested in her. Romantically anyways. They hung out all the time; doing homework, or even just sitting around talking or watching movies. But there was something to his body language that made Lydia believe his feelings for her were gone. He was relaxed, and very open with her. She didn't mind it except it made her nervous he was over her. Because, of course, Lydia was now into him.
Sighing, Lydia rolled her eyes at herself.“Into him.”That seemed like such a silly way to describe her current feelings towards Stiles. It felt so much stronger than that. He was there for her in ways no one had ever been. He'd been through a lot too, and she wanted to stick with him through it all. No matter how bad it got.
Lydia walked into the lunch room, and immediately took a seat. No point in getting lunch; she had no appetite to speak of.
“Rough day?”
Lydia jumped slightly. She hadn't heard anyone sit down next to her. She turned slightly to see Scott giving her a concerned look. No wonder she hadn't heard anything.
“Um, kind of.”Lydia responded with a shrug.
“I saw a pile of Valentine's in front of your locker.”Scott gave her a cheeky smile.
“Yeah. So?”
“Any good ones?” He asked
“Do you think my face would look like this if there was?” Lydia quipped.
Scott nodded. “Good point.”
Lydia suddenly remembered something, and sat up. “Hey...did you get a chance to talk to—”She looked around quickly, seeing if anyone they knew was around. They were in the clear, but she lowered her voice anyway, and whispered, “Sties?”
Scott looked away. “Uh, maybe.”
“Maybe...yes?”
“Yeah. Yeah, I talked to him.”
Hope surged through Lydia. If anyone could find out Stiles's feelings for her it would be his best friend. For awhile now, Scott had been the one Lydia turned to when it came to all things Stiles. After all, those were the only things Lydia couldn't talk about with Stiles. She's tell him about what they did, or what they talked about, and how she felt. It started as her just going on and on about Stiles (it was strange but she couldn't shut up about him), and then suddenly Scott just gave her a cocky smile. “You like him.”He said in a matter of face tone. Lydia had just responded with a string of curse words because getting feelings for Stiles was one thing she wanted to avoid. From there though it only took a little while for Lydia to beg Scott to ask Stiles about her.
“And? What did he say?”
Scott contorted his face. “I can't say.”
“What?!”Lydia leaned forward so quickly that Scott instinctively flinched.
“We—well—” Scott stuttered. “Well, Lydia. He's my best friend, and I promised I wouldn't say anything.”
“Oh! You promised!” Lydia rolled her eyes, and for once wished Scott wasn't always so good. “Tell me, Scott. What was the point of agreeing to talk to him about me if you're not even going to tell me?”
Scott stared for a moment, and then shrugged.
Lydia groaned. “Great. This is just great.”
“If it makes you feel any better, I haven't told him anything about what you've talked to me about.” Scott said.
“Thanks.” Lydia mumbled.
Scott suddenly sat up with a look of concentration on his face. “Stiles is coming.”
Before Lydia could say anything else, she saw him walking towards her and Scott.
“Hey!” Stiles said cheerfully, sitting across the table from Lydia.
“Hey!” Scott and Lydia said in unison.
“How's everyone's day been?” Stiles asked.
Scott nodded. “Good, good. No complaints.”
Silence fell over the table as it was clearly Lydia's turn to respond, but her mind was elsewhere. She was completely distracted by the red envelope sitting on Stiles's lunch tray.
“What the hell is that?” She asked. Her tone was sharper than she meant it to be.
Stiles looked down, and then smiled. “Oh, yeah! It's a Valentine I found in my locker. Not nearly as many as you, Lyds. But still pretty cool, right?” He had a goofy expression on his face. It was adorable. Lydia wanted to smack him.
“Who's it from?” Scott asked, giving Lydia a side glance.
Stiles shrugged. “Doesn't say. It's just signed 'your secret admirer.'”
Lydia snorted. “That's cliché.”
The smile disappeared from Stiles's face, and Lydia felt guilty. He was so excited about getting a Valentine, but Lydia was just ruining it. Obviously it was jealousy. But her feeling towards Stiles were no excuse. After all, this person didn't even sign there name. Until they revealed their identity, they were no competition at all.
“Sorry.” Lydia said while looking away. She felt embarrassed.
“It's alright.” Stiles said with another shrug.
Lydia opened her mouth to say something, but before she could she noticed someone else walking towards them. “Oh crap!”
“What?” Scott and Stiles said in unison.
“Aiden's coming over here.” Lydia responded without trying to keep quiet or anything. She knew he was probably listening with his werewolf hearing, but she didn't care. Lydia wanted Aiden to know all about her new disdain towards him. None of this deterred him though, and he walked right up to her side.
“Hey, Lydia.” His voice was causal. “Saw that mound of Valentine's outside of your locker.” He chuckled. “Those freshman are pathetic.”
“You would know wouldn't you.” Lydia said with a smile. She noticed Stiles stifle a laugh.
Aiden shot him a look, but continued. “So what are you doing tonight? Wanna hook up?”
Stiles snorted. “Really? You're not even going to ask her on a date first? You're just going straight for that?”
Aiden turned on him sharply. “Would you just mind your own business, Stilinski!” He looked back to Lydia, now irritated. “Well, what do you say?”
“No.” Lydia answered quickly.
Aiden laughed. “No? Why not?”
“Because I don't like you. And I don't know how many different ways you'd like me to express that before you finally get that.”
Stiles jumped in again. “Maybe you should skywrite it. Oh! Or get it tattooed on your head.”
Lydia laughed.
“Fine!” Aiden yelled. Stiles had clearly pushed him to his limit, so Lydia made a mental note to thank him for that later. “Have fun being alone on Valentine's Day, Lydia!” He turned and began walking away.
Lydia could have just left it. She should have just left it at that. But something came over her, and she stood up. “Who says I'm going to be alone?”
Aiden chuckled as he turned back around to face her. “You're not? You have a date or something?”
Lydia crossed her arms and nodded.
“With who?”
Dammit. She didn't plan this out well. Everyone in the cafeteria was silent and watching them. And now Lydia was about to mortified in front of all of them. But the silence didn't last too long before she heard a chair scrapping as someone near her stood up.
“With me.” The voice came from Stiles.
Lydia, along with everyone in the room, looked at him quickly. She tried not too look shocked, but it was hard. Not only did Stiles just save her from embarrassment, but he announced to the whole school that they were going out. On Valentine's Day!
Aiden didn't say anything else, just shook his head and walked away. And with that, all of the other students returned to their own conversations.
Lydia sat back down and stared across the table at Stiles. He gave her a small smile and shrugged. “So, want to have dinner with me tonight?”
***
Two hours after school ended Lydia was exiting her car, and walking up to Stiles's front door. Before knocking she took a deep breath. She'd been spending so much time here recently yet for some reason she felt nervous. Maybe because this time it was for a date.
Stiles and Lydia had decided to have dinner at his place. He said that he'd cook. Which made Lydia laugh. She couldn't picture Stiles cooking. But he insisted so she agreed.
Lydia finally knocked. She heard shuffling come from behind the door, but it wasn't Stiles who answered the door.
“Lydia! How are you doing?” Sheriff Stilinski asked happily.
“Great! How are you?” Lydia asked as he stepped aside so she could enter the house.
“Pretty good. You look very nice this evening.”
Lydia smiled at the Sheriff. She always enjoyed talking to him. Stiles was lucky. “Thank you.”
A door closed somewhere else in the house, and then Stiles emerged from around the corner.
“Wow!” He stopped in his tracks at the sight of Lydia. “You look beautiful.”
Lydia blushed and looked down at her light pink dress. With it she wore white flats, and had a red ribbon in her hair. “Thanks.” She quickly cleared her throat, not wanting to leave anytime for an awkward silence. “So, what's on the menu tonight?”
Stiles crossed his arms over his chest. He was wearing a maroon button down shirt, black tie, and slacks. “We're having spaghetti and meatballs with garlic bread.”
“Mmmm.” Lydia smiled. “Sounds delicious!”
The Sheriff snorted. “Don't get too excited. It's all frozen.”
“Dad!” Stiles whined. “You didn't have to tell her that!”
Lydia laughed. “It's okay. I'm used to frozen food. I'm sure it'll be great.” She glanced over at Stiles's Dad. “Um, are you joining us?”
“Nope.” Stiles said quickly. A coy smile came over his face. “He has a date.”
Sheriff Stilinski rolled his eyes. “Oh boy. You're going to tell everyone about this aren't you?”
Stiles nodded at his father.
Lydia looked at the Sheriff with wide eyes. “Seriously? That's awesome! Congratulations! So...who's the lucky lady?”
“Don't even bother.” Stiles said shaking his head. “He won't even tell me!”
“Aww. Why the so secretive?”
“Well, I just want to test the waters so to speak. Who I'm going out with...well you kids are all going to make a big deal, so we agreed to keep it between us for the time being.” The Sheriff answered.
Lydia bit her lip, and glanced at Stiles. He had a curious look on his face. She wondered if he figured it out like she just did. She wouldn't be surprised, it was terribly obvious who the Sheriff's mystery date was.
“Well,” He continued. “I need to get going. You two have a good time. Stiles—”He pointed at his son. “You know the rules. And please, for the love of God, don't start any fires when you're using that oven.”
Lydia snorted. “Is that something that's happened before?” The Sheriff just raised his eyebrows at her, while Stiles stared at the floor. Lydia sighed. “Well, that doesn't surprise me. Don't worry, Mr. Stilinski. There won't be any fires on my watch.”
He nodded, and opened the front door. “Good. Well, see you both later.”
And just like that, Stiles and Lydia were alone.
***
Stiles burnt the garlic bread. And burnt almost seemed to be putting it mildly. The kitchen got smokey, and the bread was the color of charcoal.
“I told you that you shouldn't have put the whole box in at once.” Lydia said, shaking her head as they both stared at the bread now in the garbage.
Stiles groaned. “I can't believe I did that. Okay, that's not true. This is very much like something that would happen to me.”
Lydia nodded. “It is.”
“Well, what now?” Stiles asked.
“We still have the spaghetti and meatballs.”
“Yeah, but we can't eat those with out garlic bread!”
Lydia laughed. “Yes, we can. I promise you, Stiles. It'll be fine.”
A half hour later, and the rest of the food was done. Stiles set the table, and served the food. Despite the burnt bread, and partially uncooked pasta, Lydia had to admit she was impressed.
“This is good!” Lydia commented when they were both half way through their meals.
Stiles let his fork fall out of this hand, causing it clang against his plate. “You don't have to lie, Lyds. This is awful. I ruined it all.”
“Don't be dramatic.” Lydia said. “This is great. Really. Plus, I”m—I'm having a lot of fun. I like hanging out with you.”
Stiles looked slightly surprised. “I like hanging out with you too, Lydia.”
She smiled at him, and set her fork down too. “Thank you for what you did today. Jumping in as my Valentine's date, I mean. It was really sweet.”
He shrugged. “You'd have done the same thing.”
If Stiles had said this months ago, Lydia would have laughed. Why on Earth would she have done something good like that for him? But now he was right. She would do that for him. She would do anything for him. It made her happy that he knew that.
Stiles began poking his food with his fork. Lydia just stared at him though. Suddenly she couldn't stand it anymore. She couldn't stand that he didn't know the extent of her feelings. But she didn't know how to tell him.
“I'm glad I took a chance on you, Stiles.” Lydia spoke quietly, and her voice cracked. “I'm glad we're friends.”
Stiles looked up, and smiled. “Me too.”
“But—” Lydia started. “I have to admit that I was a little disappointed there wasn't a Valentine from you in my locker today.”
Well, there it was. And there was Stiles staring at her with the widest eyes. She couldn't read his expression though. Was he disgusted? Was he pleased? She tried to stop herself from freaking out, and just waited for him to say something.
But he didn't. Instead Stiles just pushed his plate forward, stood up, and left the room. Lydia had no idea what to do. She was shocked. She wouldn't have been surprised to be rejected by him, but to this extent? Just when she was considering that maybe she should leave, Stiles reemerged. Lydia stood up as Stiles walked towards her.
In his hand was a red envelope with a red rose. Lydia felt her heart speed up as he gave it to her.
“I chickened out.” Stiles said. “I wanted to give it to you, but I just didn't want to screw up our friendship if you didn't feel the same. Because I can't stand the thought of not having you in my life at all. But here's it is. A Valentine from me. It's only one, but know that I've wanted to give you one every year since we were in third grade.”
Tears filled Lydia's eyes but she held them back as she smiled. “I—I don't know what to say. Except that, I—” Dare she? Dare she say the thing that's been on her mind for past few weeks? The thing that took forever to admit to even herself. She glanced down at the rose in her hand, and then to the boy that stood before her. And there was her answer. “I love you, Stiles.”
Stiles leaned in quickly and kissed her. Lydia smiled against his lips, but then kissed him back. After a few moments the broke apart. They pressed their foreheads together, and held hands.
“I love you too, Lydia.”
And then they kissed again. And again. And again. Lydia forgot all about the pile of Valentine's laying in front of her locker. She didn't care about them because she finally had the only Valentine she needed.