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“Come on, Lydia. I'm your best friend. You can tell me anything.”
Lydia rolled her eyes, and continued to stare at the magazine in her lap. “There's nothing to tell.” She said in a singsong voice.
“Bull!” Allison retorted with a smile on her face.
The two girls were sitting in Allison's bedroom. Allison had just picked out her prom dress, and had now moved her focus to grilling Lydia about Stiles.
“It's pointless to lie to me about this.” Allison continued. “I know you like him. It's so obvious. Your face lights up whenever you see him or hear his name.” She laughed.
“Lies. All lies.” Lydia said. She kept her eyes on her magazine, but she wasn't really reading it. She'd even been on the same page for the past ten minutes.
“Lydia, look at me.”
With a long and dramatic sigh, Lydia did as her friend asked and looked at her.
Allison had a sly smile on her face. “Stiles Stilinski in a wet black t-shirt.”
Despite her resisting, Lydia suddenly realized that the corners of her mouth were going up.
“Oh my god!” Allison said. She tossed her head back and laughed. “Look at that smile!”
Lydia sat back quickly and covered her face with the magazine. “Shut up!” She shouted from behind it. “How could I not smile at that? I mean, it's just so—so ridiculous and—and stupid to say! And—and—you have no idea what you're talking about!”
“Nice, Lydia. Very eloquent.” Allison continued to laugh. “Just admit it. You've got an itch that only Stiles Stilinski can scratch.”
Lydia snorted. “Please, he wouldn't know how.”
“Wouldn't it be fun to teach him though?” Allison said with a big grin.
“Well, it's—” Lydia paused for a moment. Talking about it, let alone thinking about it, was difficult for her. “It's not just about that.”
“What?” Allison asked while sitting up. “You and Stiles?”
Lydia nodded.
“But it's about something.”
“I—I guess so. It's just—”
“Lydia, I know I've been teasing you, but seriously, you can tell me anything.”
Lydia knew that was true, but she still felt nervous. She was always nervous about talking about her feelings. It made her feel so exposed. Allison was her best friend though. She would never judge her.
“Alright, I'll tell you. But Allison, I swear to god if you say 'I knew it!' I will—”
“I won't say that. Promise.”
Lydia took a deep breath. “I do have feelings for Stiles.” Allison kept her promise, but a small smile came across her face. It wasn't a teasing one like before though. This one made it seem like she was genuinely happy. “But it's—it's different.”
“From with other guys?” Allison asked.
“Yeah.” Lydia nodded. “I've never ever EVER felt this way before. We've grown so close this year and he's just like become this person that I can't imagine myself living without.”
“Aw, Lydia.” Allison said happily. “You have to tell him.”
“What? No. Absolutely not!”
“Why not?”
“Because I don't want our friendship to change after he rejects me.”
“Rejects you? Lydia, you have officially lost it. There's now way that Stiles Stilinski would ever reject Lydia Martin.”
“Maybe that was once true, but not anymore.” Lydia said with a shrug.
Allison looked at her skeptically. “Do you know that for a fact?”
“Well, no. But—”
“But nothing. Lydia, if this past year has taught you anything you should understand how short life is. You have to tell him. Not just so he knows, but for yourself. Besides, he likes you. He's always liked you.”
Lydia shook her head. “He did. But he probably doesn't now the he knows me better.”
“If anything, knowing you has made him love you more.”
Lydia felt her face heat up, and her stomach knotted up. “I don't know...” She said softly.
“Well, I do. Lydia, ask him to prom and then tell him how you feel. Please. I know you won't regret it.”
***
It was an hour until prom started. Lydia stood in front of her bedroom mirror. Her dress was light pink and strapless. The front came down just above her knees, but went down on the sides. In the back it was long, nearly touching the ground. She spun slightly, causing the bottom to flow out. Standing straight once again, she continued to look in the mirror, and took a deep breath.
Lydia thought back to the other night, and her conversation with Allison. After she'd left her house, she was set on calling Stiles and following Allison's advice. But once she was back in her own room with her cell phone out, all her courage had gone just as quickly as it'd come. However, now that she stood here in her beautiful dress, she didn't feel happy. She just felt disappointed in herself.
Allison was right. Lydia need to tell Stiles how she felt. Not for him, but for herself. Every time they were together, Lydia felt like she was lying. She wanted to throw all her cards on the table. And even if he didn't feel the same, at least she'd feel lighter having gotten rid of a huge secret.
“Ah, screw it.” Lydia went over to her purse, and pulled out her cell phone.
Stiles picked up after two rings. “Hey, Lydia. I was just about to give you a—”
Lydia quickly cut him off. “Alright, Stilinski. Here's how it's going: I'm all dressed and ready to go to prom. You're going to come to my house, pick me up, and take me there. But you're going to do more than that, you're also going to be my date. We're going to dance, talk, eat, and drink. And have a freaking amazing time.” Lydia paused for a quick breath, but resumed talking before he could say anything. “I'm okay with showing up fashionably late, but don't take too long. It's short notice to get a corsage, but you have plenty of time to make yourself presentable. Okay?”
“Okay.” Stiles said immediately. “But you're not allowed to make fun of whatever tie I wear.”
“Deal.”
Stiles didn't say anything else. Just hung up the phone. Lydia smiled to herself, and started doing her hair.
***
Lydia was sitting in the living room when the doorbell rang. She hopped up quickly, and ran to the door. Stiles was standing there in a pair of black dress pants, a dark blue button down shirt, and a red tie with Christmas trees on it. She couldn't stifle her laugh.
“Hey! You said you wouldn't make fun of it.”
“Sorry. Really, I'm sorry.” Lydia said, trying to stop laughing. “It's just you look—you look—”
“Like someone who was finally able to dress himself for the first time?”
Lydia shook her head. “No. You look great. Really. Very—very Stiles.”
“Very Stiles.” He said nodding and smiling. “I like that. And you—you look beautiful.”
“Thanks.” Lydia said. She smiled and looked down, trying to hide her red face.
“Well, it may have been too late to get you a corsage, but I did get you this.” Stiles pulled his hand from behind his back, revealing a yellow tulip.
Lydia smiled. “Oh, wow.
“I know it's not much.” Stiles said shrugging.
“No, Stiles. It's perfect. I love it.” She took it and then looked up at him.
Stiles held out an arm for Lydia. “Shall we milady? Your carriage awaits.” He gestured towards the jeep with his free arm.
Lydia giggled, and took his arm. “We shall.”
***
The radio cut in and out as Lydia continued to hit the shuffle button. Stiles glanced away from the road for a moment to look at her.
“Hey, Lydia?”
“Mhm?”
“Uh, you going to pick something? I'm getting a headache.”
Lydia sighed. “There's nothing good on.” She then clicked the power button and leaned back.
“Okay.” Stiles said with a shrug. His eyes had returned to the road.
Lydia stared at Stiles. For some reason she thought it would help her find the way to tell him how she felt. She could feel her stomach twist up. Maybe she would be able to come up a beautiful way to explain it to him. Maybe she just need to start saying something, and then the rest would just come out easily.
“Take a picture, Lydia. It'll last longer.”
“Uh, what?” Lydia jumped.
Stiles just laughed. “Nothing. Just commenting on your staring. Something wrong?” He asked curiously.
“Um, no. Nothing's wrong, but I—I need to tell you something.”
Stiles turned away from the road to meet her eyes. “Alright. Um, what is it?” From the tone of his voice Lydia could tell that he knew it was something important.
“It's, uh, about me and how I feel about you.”
“Burning hatred?”
Lydia gave a small smile. “No. Quite the opposite actually.”
Stiles suddenly gripped the wheel, and Lydia could tell that he was trying to keep his emotions in check. She wondered if this was in her favor. “How far opposite?”
“About as opposite as you can get, Stiles.” Lydia answered.
Stiles slowed the car slightly, checked his mirrors, then finally pulled over to the side of the road. He turned to Lydia again. “Are you serious, Lydia? Like one hundred percent serious?”
Lydia nodded at him with a serious face. “Absolutely.”
“Alright.” Stiles took a deep breath which made Lydia nervous. “I just—I need to hear you say it. This—this is important to me. And I don't want there to be any confusion, okay? So can you—can you just say it.”
Despite the uneasiness she felt, Lydia decide to just take the plunge. “I care about you, Stiles. A lot. More than I thought I ever could. Becoming your friend this past year has meant so much to me, and I don't want that to ever stop, but—but I want more too. That's—that's what I needed to say. I understand that you probably don't feel the same but—”
“Don't feel the same?” Stiles said as his face broke out into a huge grin. He laughed. “Your joking, right? Of course I feel the same, Lydia!”
Lydia smiled. “Really?”
“Yes! I always have. I mean over this year my feelings have only grown.”
Lydia laughed. “Oh my god! I really didn't think you'd feel the same.”
Stiles suddenly opened his door and hopped out of the jeep. He walked around to Lydia's door and opened it. Lydia tried to keep her smile from taking over her whole face as she spun around, hanging her feet over the side of the jeep. Stiles walked forward so his knees touched the side, and he slowly reached out for Lydia's face. She shut her eyes for a moment as his hands gently touched her chin. When she opened them his face was close to hers. They both quickly closed the bit of space between them. Stiles pulled Lydia in by her waist as they kissed passionately. Lydia wrapped her legs tightly around him, and found his hair with her hands. Lydia quietly moaned as Stiles's lips went down from her lips to her neck. Then he snapped his head back up suddenly, looking up at her.
“We should probably go to prom, right?”
“Um,” Lydia started, trying to reorientate herself. “yeah. Well, probably. But we're only a little late. What's a few more minutes?” She shrugged and gave Stiles a sly smile.
“Nothing.” He answered. “A few more minutes late is no big deal at all. But we should definitely go. Eventually.”
Lydia nodded in agreement. “Definitely. We're going to go and dance and—and do whatever else people do at prom...”
“Oh! Uh, punch. People drink punch at prom. And food? There's food, right?”
“Most likely.”
“So we got food, punch, and dancing. Sounds like a good time.” Stiles said while nodding.
“Especially the dancing. We're all about the dancing. Remember?” Lydia asked, thinking about the last dance, only the good part though.
Stiles nodded and pressed his forehead against Lydia's. “I do. That was—an interesting night. I think you deserve a redo though. We can work out some of the flaws this time.” He smiled.
“That sounds great. You better have been working on your moves though.” She laughed.
“Oh, Lydia Martin. You are in for a treat. I got amazing moves.”
Stiles then held her close, and pulled her out of the car, spinning her around as he did so. Lydia giggled, and held him tightly. When he stopped spinning, they looked at each other.
“I swear to god. If this turns out to be a dream, I'm going to be so pissed.” Stiles said, smiling down at her.
“That makes two of us.” Lydia said before leaning into kiss him.