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The first time that it happened when was right at the beginning of the evening when Stiles opened the door to let Lydia in. Just like every time he saw her, he couldn’t help but notice how beautiful she looked. He let his eyes roam over her appearance for a few seconds and when he saw Lydia blush he smiled at her.
“You look beautiful!” He simply said and Lydia smiled back at him, her blush deepening. Ever since he had broken up with Malia, Stiles was finally able to compliment Lydia openly again and so he did whenever he got the opportunity. He had been shy about it in the beginning, but as soon as he had noticed that Lydia seemed to like it, he had made it his mission to make her smile with his compliments as often as possible.
“Thanks!” Lydia said while walking through the door. As she passed him, Stiles was already starting to close the door behind Lydia when suddenly, somehow, their hands brushed. Lydia turned around to look at Stiles and suddenly something in the air seemed to change around them.
Stiles just stared at her with his mouth half open, trying to find something to say while at the same time trying to slow down his heartbeat. Lydia looked at him with wide eyes and he wasn’t entirely sure, but there was something in her eyes that looked a lot like anticipation to him.
It wasn’t like they had never touched before. They had even held hands in numerous occasions and hugged loads of times before, but most of the time these things happened while they were in some kind of danger. Stiles couldn’t really put his finger on it, but this situation was definitely filled with tension. He was debating what he should do about it, when suddenly the door he was still holding onto moved and Allison and Scott pushed through the door, causing Lydia to move further into the house.
Stiles looked after her for a second, before greeting his friends and inviting them inside. Scott gave him a weird look before his gaze flickered over to Lydia briefly and then he seemed to understand. He mouthed “sorry” at Stiles when he was sure that the girls weren’t looking at them and patted Stiles on the back encouragingly.
Scott walked over to the girls to give Lydia a hug before taking Allison’s hand and gently pulling her towards the living room to get the movie night started. Lydia followed the pair but threw a shy smile back over her shoulder at Stiles which he immediately returned. When he got to the living room Allison and Scott were already sitting on the couch and he was once again reminded of why he hated having movie nights at his house.
There was a sofa with three seats and two chairs and with Allison and Scott already on the sofa, there was no way how Stiles could sit next to Lydia. He saw Lydia hesitate for a few seconds before dropping down on the sofa next to Allison after the brunette had patted the empty space to help Lydia out. Stiles chose to ignore what he had just witnessed, convinced that he was reading way too much into it, just like he always did when it came to Lydia.
He had accepted that he had no chance with her a long time ago, but he had noticed a lot of little things lately that made it really hard for him not to get his hopes up. Ever since he and Malia had broken up a few months ago, Lydia and Stiles had gotten closer again and he was sure they had never been as close as they were now.
But it was hard for Stiles because ever since the break-up he had finally allowed himself to acknowledge his feelings for Lydia again. He had learned to push his feelings to the back of his head when he was around her so that he could be a good friend. But lately he had started to notice the way she looked at him sometimes and it was getting harder to push his feelings and hopes down.
He slumped down on the chair that was closer to Lydia and tried to get comfortable. Stiles had been able to convince them to watch Star Wars with him and he had been really excited about it, but now it was overshadowed by the disappointment of not being able to sit next to Lydia. He started the movie and when the opening credits rolled, Stiles’ mood was already a little better.
“Oh, I forget the snacks!” He suddenly exclaimed when they were already half way through the movie. He turned around and noticed that neither Scott nor Allison were even paying attention to the movie.
“Scott! Seriously? I finally get you to watch Star Wars with me after all these years and now you’re making out with Allison instead of watching it?” Stiles accused him and Scott simply shrugged apologetically at him with a crooked smile.
Stiles huffed and made his way to the kitchen to get the snacks he had prepared earlier. He mumbled to himself angrily, not believing that he not only couldn’t sit next to Lydia but had also just found out that Scott still wasn’t watching his favourite movie of all times.
“I have to admit,” Lydia started, suddenly appearing in the doorway, “the movie is not as bad as I thought it was!” Stiles gave her a genuine smile because coming from Lydia, it was almost as if she had said it deserved an Oscar.
“I’m glad you like it!” He said, trying to carry all the bowls at once.
“I didn’t say I liked it!” Lydia smirked while walking over to him to and Stiles just shook his head at her. “Do you need a hand?” She asked with a raised eyebrow when she noticed his struggle. Without waiting for an answer, Lydia took a bowl from Stiles’ hands and Stiles’ heart skipped a beat when her fingers accidently brushed his again.
It was the second time that night and just like before, neither of them knew what to say for a few seconds. But this time Lydia seemed to recover quicker.
“Sorry!” Lydia grabbed another bowl from the kitchen counter, extremely careful not to touch him again, and turned around to walk back into the living room before
Stiles could say anything in return. He knew that it was just a small, innocent brush of their hands, but he couldn’t help but feel as if that meant more to their relationship than that. And the fact that Lydia had apologised for it only strengthened his suspicion.
After a few moments Stiles followed Lydia back into the living room and found her standing in the doorway, unsure of where to go. Scott and Allison were full on making out now with Allison lying on top of Scott and that’s when Stiles lost it.
“Seriously?” He almost shouted while he pressed past Lydia and went to place the snacks on the table in front of the couch. Allison and Scott at least had the decency to look apologetic even though Stiles didn’t really buy it. He walked over to them, pulled Allison off of Scott and over to one of the chairs even though she protested loudly.
“You will sit here for the rest of the movie,” He instructed and purposefully ignored the pout on Allison’s face. He then turned around to Scott, who was just moving to get up from the sofa. “and you will stay exactly where you are!” He added with a stern face, looking from Scott to Allison and back. He didn’t miss the small smile that graced Lydia’s lips as she watched the situation play out.
When Stiles was satisfied with the outcome and Scott and Allison were pouting in their respective places while still somehow managing to flirt with each other at the same time, Stiles sat down on the sofa. He would never admit it, but he had not only separated the two to stop them from making out or because he wanted Scott to watch Star Wars.
It had been the perfect opportunity to finally be able to sit next to Lydia. There were only two options for her now and Stiles prayed that she would choose to sit down in her previous seat, that happened to be right next to him now. He looked over to Lydia expectantly who was still lurking in the doorway and when she noticed his gaze she finally started to move.
Stiles watched her every move as she walked over to the table to place the snacks next to the ones he had brought in. She looked over to Scott and Allison for a second and when she saw that neither of them was paying attention to her, she looked back and forth between the remaining chair and the sofa. A small smile graced her lips and Stiles could tell that she was only doing this to annoy him, but he stayed silent.
When Lydia finally made her way over to him and sat down next to him, he couldn’t help the smirk that took over his face. She noticed his smirk immediately and lightly shoved his shoulder with her elbow before making sure that they weren’t touching anywhere.
Stiles didn’t know why she was doing it, but he could tell that she was avoiding any body contact with him. They had spent countless movie nights next to each other, whispering about the plot with Lydia pointing out all the scientifically wrong aspects and Stiles defending the movie. She had even fallen asleep with her head on his shoulder more than once and he had no idea why she was acting like this now.
A small voice in the back of his mind kept telling him that Lydia had been acting differently towards him ever since he had broken up with Malia and because of the situations they had found themselves in earlier he had a hard time ignoring that voice. There was no denying the change in Lydia’s behaviour and it had only increased now that Malia had left to look for her birth mother a few days ago.
It seemed as if every touch suddenly meant so much more than before and Stiles couldn’t help but wonder about Lydia’s feelings. Was it possible that Lydia had developed feelings for him and had never acted on them because had been with Malia? He couldn’t come up with any other logical explanation and lately he had caught her looking at him more than usual. And the way she was looking at him was also different than a few weeks ago but he couldn’t quite put his finger on it.
Up until now he had always avoided thinking about the possible meaning of her glances or their hugs that seemed to last longer than normal sometimes. He didn’t want to get his hopes up, but with the way she was acting lately, especially today, it was proving to be impossible for him not to wonder about her feelings.
Trying to push all of his thoughts to the back of his mind for now and just enjoy the time he could spend with Lydia, he turned the movie back on. Even though Allison and Scott were further away from each other, they were still holding hands even though they both had to lean over the edge of their seats and it looked utterly uncomfortable.
But Stiles couldn’t pull his gaze away from their intertwined hands and he felt jealousy well up inside of him. He had the overwhelming urge to take Lydia’s hand but he knew he couldn’t. Even with the possibility that she had feelings for him he wouldn’t risk to jeopardize it by pushing her.
He finally managed to watch the movie for a few minutes but then Lydia stirred next to him, shuffling in her seat as she was trying to get comfortable. He was always aware of her and immediately noticed and for a brief moment he debated putting his arm around her, but he quickly decided against it. A few weeks ago he would have simply pulled her legs over his and put his arm around her and she would have leaned into him and gotten comfortable.
But Lydia had been avoiding to touch him the whole evening and even apologised when their hands had touched earlier, so he knew that he couldn’t just do that, even though there was nothing he wanted more than doing exactly that.
To stop himself from reaching over to her he took a bowl of chips from the table and offered them to Lydia. She looked at him for a second, shaking her head slightly, but Stiles put them between them anyways. It was always the same with Lydia when it came to snacks. He offered them to her and she declined, but after a few minutes she would cave and take some.
They both went back to watching the movie, but Stiles couldn’t get entirely lost in the movie because a part of his brain was still occupied by the strawberry blonde girl next to him. Sure enough, a few minutes later Lydia hesitantly grabbed some chips from the bowl. Stiles was sure that Lydia had noticed the small smile that graced his lips, but if she did, she didn’t acknowledge it.
Stiles was paying close attention to her so their hands wouldn’t end up in the bowl at the same time, but when the bowl was almost empty and his favourite scene was playing, Stiles was distracted for a moment. When he reached into the bowl his hand suddenly touched Lydia’s instead of chips and he pulled back as if he had been burned.
Lydia turned to look at him and he looked back at her with wide eyes. He apologised because that was what she had done when she had accidentally brushed his hand, but he felt weird doing it. Lydia just smiled at him and shrugged her shoulders before turning her head back to the movie. Even though it was quite dark in the room, Stiles thought he saw a blush form on her cheeks.
He reached into the bowl to force himself to look anywhere but at Lydia and took the last few crumps of chips before placing the bowl back onto the table. He wiped his hands on his jeans and it took all of his concentration to keep himself from looking over at Lydia. He would never understand it, but it was like something was pulling on him when it came to her sometimes.
He felt Lydia place her hand on the couch, next to her leg, and, taking a chance, he mirrored her actions. He didn’t really think that she would reach out to hold his hand but he had to at least give her the opportunity. He was convinced that he was reading way too much into her actions and there was no way he would make a move.
He was trying very hard to concentrate on the movie but he simply couldn’t do it. He was hyperaware of Lydia’s hand being this close to his own and it was almost causing him physical pain not to reach over and take her hand in his. And just when he thought he couldn’t bare it any longer, he felt the slightest of brushes on the side of his hand.
Stiles froze for a few seconds, unsure of what to do. He waited for something else to happen and when nothing happened he feared that he had only imagined it. But then he decided to be bold. He moved his hand towards Lydia’s carefully, pushing out his little finger to brush over the back of her hand softly, before placing his hand back in its original position.
He only had to wait for about a minute until he felt Lydia’s fingers move over his hand more deliberately this time. Her index finger drew a soft pattern on the back of his hand and Stiles tried to suppress a shiver and let a small smile take over his face. He discreetly looked over at Scott and Allison, making sure they were still too engrossed in each other to notice what was going on just a few feet next to them.
When Lydia pulled her hand back this time, Stiles couldn’t wait before he moved his hand to hers again and let his fingers move over her hand until he felt like it had been way too long and forced himself to pull his hand back again.
Lydia didn’t waste any time either, tracing patterns on the back of his hand again before she suddenly took his hand in hers and turned it around. Stiles heart skipped
a beat when he thought she was going to intertwine their hands, but then she continued to draw patterns. It felt like an eternity before Lydia let go of his hand, but Stiles wasn’t complaining at all.
He wasn’t sure what this meant exactly, but he decided to be bold and just go with it. They both got bolder with each time their hands met and after a while Stiles decided that it was worth a shot. When it was his turn again, he moved his hand to hers carefully and softly brushed the back of her hand with his fingers again, before gently pushing his hand underneath hers.
Lydia immediately caught on and moved her hand a little so that it was easier for Stiles to intertwine their fingers completely. He kept tracing patterns with his thumb while Lydia did the same but from then on, they didn’t let go of each other. Stiles let out a shaky breath he hadn’t known he was holding when he noticed that she was okay with it and could finally relax.
Much too soon, the movie was over and when Scott shuffled and let go off Allison’s hand to stretch, Stiles was unsure of what he was supposed to do, but Lydia decided for him. She let go of his hand after squeezing it gently and for the first time since their hands had touched, Stiles looked over at Lydia. She was avoiding his gaze, her eyes seemingly glued to the TV where the credits rolled.
Scott got up from the sofa and turned on the lights, causing all of them to simultaneously groan at the too bright light. When their eyes had adjusted, Stiles avoided looking at Lydia so Allison and Scott wouldn’t get suspicious and Lydia seemed to do be doing the same.
“I’ll be right back!” Lydia excused herself and walked in the direction of the bathroom.
“So, are you guys up for another movie?” Stiles asked and Scott looked at Stiles with a huge grin on his face.
“It’s pretty late already, so I think we should get going!” Scott answered while the grin on his face was only getting bigger and bigger. Stiles was just about to ask Scott why he was grinning like that when he continued. “Oh, and I think you and Lydia should talk, or you know, not talk, because whatever the two of you have been doing during the movie, both of your heartbeats have been beating like crazy…!”
Stiles blushed bright red and Allison’s face suddenly mirrored Scott’s perfectly while Stiles couldn’t help the smile that found its way to his lips. He scratched his neck nervously and looked at the ground, trying to hide his smile, but it was no use.
“Well, we’ll see you tomorrow! We need to go right now! Tell Lydia we said bye!” Allison said, pushing Scott towards to front door. They were out the door before Stiles could even really comprehend what was happening and just as the door closed, Lydia came back into living room.
“Did they just leave?” She asked disbelievingly and that’s when they heard an engine roar to life, followed by a car leaving the driveway. “They couldn’t even wait until I got back from the bathroom?”
“They said something about curfew…!” Stiles mumbled quietly and looked shyly at Lydia, who was still avoiding eye contact.
“Well, I guess I should get going, too.” She said, making her way towards the front door.
Stiles had hoped that she would want to talk about what had happened during the movie, but that didn’t seem to be the case. He was debating whether he should mention it or risk that they would never talk about it. He needed to make up his mind quickly as Lydia was already half way to the door and Stiles decided to throw caution to the wind.
“Lydia, can we talk abo-“ Stiles started but was cut off by Lydia.
“Goodnight, Stiles!” She said and that was all the answer he needed. Lydia clearly didn’t want to talk about it and Stiles knew better than to push her, even though he wanted nothing more than to know what that meant.
Stiles followed her to the door and stopped a respectable distance behind her when she had reached it. Her hand was already resting on the door handle but she hesitated to open it.
“Lydia?” Stiles asked quietly when she didn’t move.
A few moments later, Lydia took a deep breath and then she turned around and kissed him. Stiles stood frozen as Lydia wrapped her hands around his neck and moved her lips over his. Before it had even registered that Lydia was kissing him, she suddenly pulled away. Her hands dropped to her sides as she stared at him with wide eyes.
Stiles’ heart was beating a mile a minute and his brain failed to comprehend what had just happened. He felt as if he was paralysed while he was trying to understand that Lydia had just kissed him. When it finally did register, it took him another moment to realise that he hadn’t kissed her back. He could suddenly see the insecurity in Lydia’s eyes and he was just about to say something, when Lydia spoke.
“I’m sorry… I don’t know why… I mean, I’m sorry!” She stammered and Stiles couldn’t remember a single situation where Lydia had stammered. She turned around and was just about to open the door when Stiles finally seemed to snap out of his trance.
“Wait!” He exclaimed while he grabbed her arm and turned her back around to him, pressing his lips to hers gently. Lydia let out a relieved sigh, before wrapping her arms around Stiles’ neck again and kissing him back. And this time Stiles wasn’t frozen.
He let go of her arm and instead wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her closer to him. She immediately obliged and erased the remaining distance between them by stepping even further into him. Stiles moved one of his hands from her waist into her hair and tilted her head gently to deepen the kiss.
Stiles’ mind was racing as he was trying and failing to comprehend that he was really kissing Lydia Martin, but he tried to ignore any thought that came into his mind because he had much better things to do than thinking in that moment. Lydia was standing on her tip toes due to their height difference and Stiles helped support her weight with the hand that was still wrapped around her waist.
When he felt like he needed to pull away to catch his breath, Stiles placed his hands on either side of her face and gave her one last lingering kiss before pulling away slowly. Lydia’s eyes were still closed when Stiles opened his, but a few seconds later they blinked open. She let out a shaky breath as she looked at Stiles.
Stiles was sure that all of his feelings for her were displayed in his eyes and he felt as if a huge weight had been lifted off his heart because he was finally allowed to let them show. Lydia’s eyes were alight with emotion as well and for a few moments they simply looked at each other, catching their rapid breaths.
“Don’t ever apologise for kissing me!” Stiles whispered. “Never apologise.”
Stiles gently brushed strands of hair out of Lydia’s face before slowly leaning in again and kissing her again, softly this time. Stiles was intent on putting all of his emotion into this kiss and Lydia seemed to be doing the same, keeping the kiss slow and soft. When they pulled away again, Stiles took a deep breath.
“Do you… um, do you want to stay here tonight?” Stiles asked shyly and Lydia smiled at his obvious insecurity. “My dad is going to be at the station for the whole night! Not that is matters, since we are just going to sleep together! And by sleeping together I actually mean sleep!” Stiles rambled until Lydia cut him off by pressing a quick kiss onto his lips and Stiles revelled in the fact that it already felt so natural to be kissing her even though his heartrate still sped up.
“Let’s go!” She simply said, taking Stiles’ hand in hers and leading him towards his bedroom.
“We should probably talk about all of this first, anyway, before we… you know!” Stiles started rambling again, trying and failing to hide his nerves.
“We will have plenty of time to talk in the morning, Stiles…” Lydia replied and Stiles decided that it was probably best if he just stopped talking and started following Lydia’s lead.