I've had this idea for a while now and have finally decided to follow through on it. The reaction to my idea on tumblr was so sweet that I knew I had to get the prologue out quickly. I really hope you enjoy the beginning, but be prepared that the fic might move kind of slowly in regards to Stiles and Lydia's relationship. Slow burn is the way to go. I apologize in advance for the Stalia and Lydia/OC, as you're going to hate it.

If you have time to, please review and let me know what you think! Not only are reviews inspiring with getting chapters out faster, but they make me feel like I'm doing something right.

Troubled Times

Prologue

Lydia ran her fingertips along the edges of the cardboard box situated on her lap, smoothing back the flaps slowly. She wasn't prepared for whatever was inside; that much she was sure of. She sucked her lips into her mouth anxiously, dilated eyes flickering over the label with a shudder of her heart. "For Lydia" was neatly written in Allison's calligraphy. A fist seized her heart and tears rimmed her eyelashes with a sudden ferocity as she pondered the implications of what opening this box meant. Her eyes glazed as she thought of the exchange she and Chris Argent just had.

"She was putting together a box of memories of the two of you as a Christmas present," Chris told her gruffly, scratching his chin as he studied the young girl's quizzical expression.

"Why?" She drawled, carefully lifting her eyes to meet those of her dead friend's father. They were severely lacking emotion, especially for someone whose daughter died six weeks ago. He was good at hiding that sort of thing, she could tell. All part of the hunting business; it must be.

"Because she loved you," If Lydia was breathing before; she was choking on oxygen now. She swallowed a harsh intake of air along with the lump in her throat. This man, someone she hardly speaks to, should be the last person to see her get blubbery, especially when it was over his own daughter. Lydia scolded herself; whatever she may be feeling was nothing compared to his pain.

Noticing the inner turmoil mixed into her long period of silence, Chris placed the box gently on her dresser. He cleared his throat to clear the tension caused by her sudden wave of sadness before speaking, "I'll just leave this here."

Lydia nodded slowly, not trusting her voice. She kept her eyes trained toward the floor and her face turned partly away until the werewolf hunter finally made his exit, the wooden flooring creaking beneath his heavy boots.

Now she was sitting here, brave front all but vanished, far too anxious about opening a box than any one person should ever be. If she told herself it was going to be okay, maybe it would be. Maybe every other problem invading her noisy lifestyle would fade into nothingness if she just pretended they weren't there. Suddenly hesitant, Lydia quickly moved the box from her lap onto the bed as if it had burned her. If she was going to ignore the rest of her problems, she should start with the box. Why bring back painful memories?

A fresh pain sliced her heart. There was nothing painful about the beautiful moments she shared with Allison. Every little moment she tried so hard not to take for granted, but somehow still felt she did.

This was too much pressure.

Lydia's decision was made for her when her cellphone began buzzing with an oncoming call from Scott. It was so clearly a sign that she didn't need to open the box, at least not right now.

After shoving the offending object under her bed, she answered with a mock-cheery voice laced with enthusiasm, "Hey!"

"Be ready in five minutes, I'm picking you up."

This time, she didn't have to fake her excitement. Spending time with Scott still managed to guarantee a good time – at least when it was just them. "Where are we going?" She spun to face her closet, already having an internal monologe about possible choices. It all depended on the destination.

Her face fell when she heard the uncontrollable feminine giggling in the background of Scott's car. He wasn't alone. "Scott?"

"What - ? Sorry, Kira's trying to tickle me while I'm driving, like a MANIAC!" Lydia could picture him turning to Kira and jokingly directing his "anger" at her, a goofy grin on his face that should be there all the time. Kira was good for Scott, that much Lydia knew. She just wished she didn't feel so… third wheely. "Oh and Stiles and Malia are here too!" fifth wheely…

"Hi!" "Hey hey!" Came Stiles and Malia's shouts from what Lydia assumed to be the backseat. It was more than likely they were taking Scott's new car, as it had quickly but surely become his true love.

"That's nice," Lydia muttered with a frown. "Where are we going?" She didn't even want to bother anymore, but she'd already expressed an interest in going. Who knows; maybe she'll even have a good time? If she was going to start pretending things didn't bother her, she'd have to act like her post-Allison's death anxiety didn't exist anymore either. According to basic psychology, if you force yourself to smile, you can trick your brain into thinking you're happy. Lydia forced her lips to lift upwards, but felt stupid, so she instead decided psychology was overrated.

"The movies! We could all use a night off." Great, the perfect place to fifth wheel.

"Nothing scary," Lydia asked rhetorically, all but telling him she wouldn't stand for it. She had enough voices in her head as it was. They all suffered from nightmares, and if Scott was smart enough he'd say –

"No," he told her firmly. "Comedy all the way."

Lydia nodded, pressing her fingers to her plump scarlet lips. "Okay, I'll be down in two minutes."

"Don't keep us waiting!" Scott told her as he hung-up, leaving Lydia to drown in her closet for another five minutes before she found a simple dress that would bring out her glowing skin and bright strawberry head of hair.

Lydia left her house with a bounce in her step, her hair swinging behind her with a matching peppy expression adorning her face. Judging by the oblivious looks on their faces, she was doing a good job of keeping up appearances. As per usual, she was keeping her emotions to herself, because it was easier for them all. Granted, Scott and Stiles weren't anxious to share their innermost thoughts, but they at least acknowledged them. Lydia pushed her thoughts away as she pulled open the backdoor to Scott's car.

"Pippi Longstocking!" Scott teased.

Lydia was about to insult him, but was caught off guard by the proximity of Stiles and Malia.

Malia's hands were splayed on the seat beside her, completely still as Stiles' hand covered hers, rubbing his thumb over the back of her hand and swirling it over a small beauty mark near her thumb.

This was a new development; an entirely completely 100% new development. Since when were they a thing? Lydia shook her head at them, pausing in the open door of the car. As always, no one noticed that she hadn't even gotten in yet. Kira and Scott were rock-paper-scissoring (there has to be a shorter name for that) over which movie they would see.

Finally noticing the other girls hesitation, Malia and Stiles turned their heads to look toward Lydia and followed her shocked line of sight. They immediately jumped apart, pulling their hands away like a child caught with its hand in the cookie jar. Stiles' face was beat red; he sank into his seat sheepishly, the polyester material squeaking.

Scott glanced back toward his friends. "What are you waiting for, Lyds? Get in." He took in her flushed appearance. "Are you alright?" He frowned.

"Of course!" She chirped, climbing into the car beside Malia as if nothing had happened. She reached for her buckle, only sparing a look at Malia when locking it into its rightful position.

Scott looked to Kira for her input, wondering if he was the only one detecting a strangeness about Lydia today. She simply shrugged at him, offering a reassuring half-smile.

Malia exposed her teeth to Lydia, in a surprisingly friendly way, somehow having the social skill to pretend she hadn't done anything hand-holding like with Stiles in a similar fashion as Lydia was. "Your dress is cute."

Lydia was taken off guard by the werecoyote's compliment, as she'd never given her one before. In fact, she'd shown little to no interest in even getting to know her as a person. She didn't even seem to enjoy her presence.

"Thank you…"

"It would look so much better on me," Malia didn't even realize her words were insulting, moving her fingers to touch the hem of Lydia's dress without permission, testing the material. "This is cotton right? I never had cotton when I was a coyote. Now I love cotton! Stiles bought me a cotton pillow," Malia turned her head to Stiles happily, baring her teeth in a wide, almost innocent smile.

"How nice of him," Lydia managed out, her eyes burning a hole into the side of Stiles' skull. He stayed facing Scott's seat, squirming under her gaze.

The ride got progressively easier as time passed, and before long they were finding their seats in theater 12. Kira was holding the jumbo popcorn to be passed among the four of them (though it was mainly hers), already shoveling buttery pieces into her mouth.

Lydia realized she drew the short straw when she got the aisle seat, right beside Stiles. If she had to deal with his hand holding problem during the entire movie, she was going to have to take more than a couple of bathroom breaks.

She didn't care that she was staring at him, or that if someone chose to look at her at that moment she'd look like a complete stalker. It wasn't like anyone really noticed her anymore either. Malia and Kira were shiny new pack members and the boys seemed to really like them.

Lydia's face twisted in revulsion as she watched him suck down his extra-large soda, greedily sucking the liquid through its too-large straw. He popped off its covering and sipped down the last few drops, shuffling a few large pieces of ice around in his mouth. When Lydia started wondering how cold his tongue was right now, she knew she had to get her mind off it,

"You drank that whole thing already?" Lydia gaped at him. "The previews started two minutes ago."

Stiles slowly turned his head to make eye contact with her, moving so cautiously she wondered if he thought she was going to bite it off. Maybe he was still on edge from the car ride and his not-so sneaky relations with Malia. Lydia almost shook her head at herself; "relations" was not a good word to use. Her eyebrows knitted together as she considered the prospect. Were they having relations? Had they kissed? Her heart started beating more wildly as her thoughts got away from her. If they were cozy enough to just be holding hands then they must be at that point in whatever it is that they are. That point where you're comfortable…

"A man gets dehydrated after a long day's work." Lydia wanted to comment on the fact that he'd been hanging out with Scott all day, she wanted to brag about how she just so happened to know that soda would only further dehydrate someone who clearly needs water. Instead, his honey eyes were making her feel self-conscious. Why were they doing that?
Stiles' eyes furrowed in concern, lowering his chin at her, "Lydia are you okay?"

"What?" She blinked several times, trying to collect herself while she still had the chance to recover from this loss. "Yeah, I guess I'm just a little dehydrated myself. I should've gotten water."

"Hm," he shook his cup of ice, hearing it rattle against the plastic. "I appear to be out of soda, so it looks like I need to take a trip back to the snack stand." He displayed his palm to her as if he were offering to eloquently take her hand. "Care to accompany me?"

Lydia tried to fight the urge to smile but it was unstoppable, as well as the pink hue of a blush ripening her cheeks. "What about –," she glanced toward Malia but didn't finish her question. She wasn't supposed to know about that. His smile began to disappear. "Okay, sure." It was back, and so was hers.

"We'll be right back," Stiles told their three friends, shaking his drink at them as he had with Lydia, "refills."
Scott was annoyed, "Well hurry up, the movie starts in a few minutes!"

Stiles followed behind Lydia as she briskly exited theater 12, heading back down the hall they came through.

"Mind slowing down a tad there, Lyds?" He raised his brows at her as he finally caught up, now walking beside her.

"Sorry, every time I wear heels I strut."

"You only wear heels," Stiles told her pointedly. "Which I think is dumb by the way."

They moved to stand behind a pair of men on line, Lydia's eyes narrowing at his accusingly.

"Why is my expensive and excellent taste dumb to you? Do you know how badly I've damaged my feet to wear these things?"

"Easy there tiger," Stiles put his hands up defensively before continuing, "I just mean, why do you need to always wear heels? You can't just be comfortable in a pair of flats or sneakers or some other girly shoe that feels nice for your toes?"

Lydia smirked at his way of speaking before answering honestly, "Looking and feeling beautiful is… important to me."

"Now I know for a fact that you're not as smart as you think you are," Stiles told her with certainty, rocking on his feet as he waited for the cashier to finish with the family of three. He wasn't even facing her, as he already knew exactly what her face looked like right now.

"How do you figure?" She genuinely wanted to know what kind of jab he was going to make next. She'd probably be able to counter with something even slyer.

"Because…makeup? Shoes, dresses, skirts? Perfectly curled hair and perfume and long painted nails? It's material stuff," he dares look her in the eyes, seeing she's clearly still confused. "You take that all away and what's left?"

"I am," she whispered, mostly to herself, beginning to understand, though not in a way he particularly meant for her to.

Stiles heard anyway, his cheeks slowly dimpling as he gradually exposed his bright teeth in a wide smile. "And you're beautiful."

Her eyes lingered on his back as he finally took point at the front of the line, telling the man at the concession stand his and Lydia's orders. She heard him mutter a thanks, digging into his pockets for spare scraps of paper.

"Oh, I left my money in my purse," Lydia confessed, patting her pockets gently. She didn't want him to think she was ripping him off.

He offered her a strange look, like she was giving him useless information. "It's okay, I'm paying."

"I'll pay you back when we get back to the movie."

"Don't even worry about it." He received his change, shoving the quarters and dollar bills into a jumbled mess back in his pocket.

Lydia silently drank her water as they made their way back to their seats.

"Hey," Stiles whispered to Malia, seeing as the movie already started without him. The lights were dimmed now and Scott didn't even notice his friend's late arrival, too engrossed in the film and the way Kira's giggle caused his heart to clench.

"Hi," Malia murmured, her eyes flickering down to his lips when he swiped his tongue over them, moistening the surface and leaving a glistening sparkle on his bottom lip. There was so much she wanted to do with him in that moment, but kissing him in front of their pack would leave little to be left a secret. Although there was a very big chance Lydia had some idea about what was going on between the two of them, she didn't know how far it went. She didn't know that Malia took Stiles' virginity and it connected them in some shape or form. They both wanted to explore what that meant, but during that "figuring it all out" beginning phase, it needed to just between them.

"What's on your mind?" Uttered Stiles, admiring Malia's thoughtful expression.

"You look good."

First, he looked confused; then surprised. It ended with his face jumping in happiness. "You too."

Barf. Lydia kept her chin in her right hand, elbow leaning against the armrest on the aisle's side. It was the farthest she could get from Stiles and his annoying flirtation with Malia that she could plainly hear. They were completely nauseating and they didn't even care.

Finding herself bored with the film, her eyes trailed away from the screen. Why did anyone like Adam Sandler, anyway? She didn't think he was funny. Her eyes stopped on a young man when she saw that he was already looking at her. His dark gaze involuntarily caused a shiver to run up her spine, but not in a bad way. He was good looking, but not intimidatingly so, his eyes brightly colored but gaze piercing and almost mysterious. It was in that moment that Lydia decided she wanted to know his name.

The corner of one side of his lips jumped upwards, a makeshift smirk being sent her way. Lydia didn't even bother to self-consciously scope the area and make sure that look on his face really was for her, because she just knew it was. The stranger moved his hand to run it over his bushy black hair, thickened and swept over. Then he offered a small wave.

Lydia inadvertently blushed, her eyelashes fluttering at him from across the aisle and a few rows back. She shook her hand at him responsively, discreetly holding it against her chest to prevent attracting the attention of her friends. She didn't need them to end this moment quite yet, as it was actually starting to turn her on. She almost frowned at herself. What kind of girl finds a hook up at a movie theater? It was only going to make her appear desperate. She turned her head away from the attractive gentlemen to focus her eyes on the screen, though her head was elsewhere. She wasn't going to give in just because he was cute, no way; besides, tonight was about friends, and if she ditched them that would be a questionable choice of action on her part. From the corner of her eye, she could see that he was still staring at her expectantly, waiting for her to meet his longing gaze.

"Want some?" Stiles' voice shook her out of her haze. She blinked at him. "Want some popcorn?" He repeated, holding the jumbo bucket outwards to her.

"Uhuh," she nodded at him, gracious for the distraction. Without acknowledging his shocked expression, she shoveled handfuls of the food into her mouth. Maybe that would turn away the stranger looking her way, maybe he'd just think she was some pig. She continued to force the popcorn into her mouth for another few moments.

"Lydia!" Kira's voice scolded. The redheaded girl turned to her left to see Kira leaning forward in her seat to make contact with her, just a few seats away. "Don't eat all of the popcorn," she snapped.

Embarrassed, Lydia handed it back to Stiles, who automatically continued the passing of it until it got back to Kira. His eyes were questioning hers, but he said nothing. By the time Lydia looked back where the stranger was sitting, there was no one there. She frowned as she realized he'd left. That was weird.

Lowering further into her seat, Lydia made herself comfortable as she realized there would be no escape at this point. It was her, her marginally oblivious pack, and Adam Sandler. God help her.