AN: Okay. It is ridiculous how much I giggled at the end of this chapter whilst writing it...I don't know how it happened or what even really happened...this chapter wasn't initially supposed to unfold like this at the end but clearly it just sort of did and I found it rather cute to be honest. No kiss yet but I think you'll all like this one. Review and tell me what you think. I somehow started writing a romcom, lord knows how that happened! xxx –A

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Chapter Eight

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"So, now what do we do?" Stiles was already becoming annoyingly agitated, bouncing on the balls of hits feet, wearing down the floor boards with all his pacing.

Lydia knew just what to do.

"We have a case!" Lydia huffed as if it were obvious.

"A case?" Stiles went blank.

"Indeed Stilinski." Lydia said as she stood up and went to rummage through Stiles' backpack pulling out an unused note pad, blue tack and pens. Stiles just stared on confused, unsure whether to interrupt.

Lydia tore a few pages out of the neglected notebook and stuck them up in a row on the largest expanse of unoccupied cabin wall she could find. She wrote across them in large cursive script: The Case of the Curious Cabin.

Stiles always became focused and eerily calm whenever scribbling all over his transparent board in his bedroom with a grease pencil. All Lydia had to do was turn around and grin before Stiles strode over to her snatching up a pen.

"Do you wanna be Holmes or do you wanna be Watson?" He said.

...

They started their 'investigation' with the most obvious source of information that might reveal some of the cabin's history; having ploughed through the many, many books that had been building up dust for god knows how many years, Lydia and Stiles had discovered...well, absolutely nothing quite frankly but they remained resolute and determined.

"Ok, it's four hours in and I think we deserve a break. I need the bathroom." Lydia said decidedly, jumping up. A small dust cloud formed in the air when she put her heavy book down beside her on the old couch. "Ah shit..." She paused on her way to the toilet.

"What?" Stiles head shot up from among the yellow-stained pages of an old encyclopaedia.

"We forgot to drain the tub." Lydia sighed.

"Oh, I'll do it...you go to the bathroom." Stiles offered, making to stand. Lydia nodded in thanks and made her way to the washroom. When she came back out into the main living area expecting to see Stiles bent over the bathtub ringing out their wet clothes, Lydia was no doubt surprised as she immerged to find him, as still as a statue, staring peculiarly into a random kitchen cupboard. Lydia couldn't see inside but their meagre rations were now just a cluttered pile of stuff at his feet. Had he dropped them?

"Stiles...what..." One of his hands hung loose by his side, the other still clung to the small handle of the cabinet in what appeared to be shock.

"Lydia you gotta see this..." He breathed barely managing to move a muscle.

Slowly, step by step, Lydia warily made her way over to the small kitchenette and stood shocked, a few paces behind Stiles' line of sight.

"Oh my god."

"I know."

"Oh my god!"

"I know!" Stiles yelled aggressively turning to face her.

Lydia's eyes had not left the, now filled to the brim, kitchen cabinet.

Baking supplies.

Non-perishables.

Oils, vinaigrettes, you name it!

"Am I going insane Lydia?"

"Well if you are I am!" She yelled back before ripping open the remaining cabinet doors.

"Oh my god Stiles, there's fruit and vegetables in here!"

"What?!" Stiles ran to look for himself but before he could Lydia ran towards him and pinched his forearm with a remarkable amount of strength for such a tiny girl.

"OW! What the hell did you do that for?!" Stiles yelled. She then proceeded to slap him hard across the face.

"Ahhhh! For fuck's sake Lydia! I am awake ok...this is not a dream!" Stiles hollered, catching on and seeing her distressed state...pinched her on the arm as hard as he could.

"Ow! Stiles you bastard!" She screamed rubbing the pain away from her arm vigorously. "Thank you!" She huffed.

"You're welcome!" The panicked yelling and physical abuse finally seemed to come to an end after that and soon the inevitable pregnant pause seemed to follow.

Neither of them could say anything for a good long while.

...

Stiles Stilinski had never gone so long without talking. He and Lydia sat on the floor of the shabby kitchen area...staring into space.

"I thought this kind of shit only happens in Harry-fucking-Potter!" Lydia jumped at his sudden outburst that left both of them panting.

...

Lydia spoke again after a few more moments.

"I'm sorry I slapped you in the face."

"Yeah, me too." Stiles answered.

Conversation carried on trickling into the silence like this until slowly but surely the amount of time between either of them talking was so little that they actually began to talk like normal people again.

...

"Stiles, what actually happened?" Lydia: the ever sensible one.

He sighed, leaning his head back against an old wooden panel before explaining.

"I went to drain the t...ah shit." Before he continued Stiles went over to the bath and pulled out the plug from beneath the murky waters and once satisfied with the gurgling noise of the drain, made his way back to sit down next to Lydia's left side.

"As I was saying, I went to drain the tub," He began again. "and then I realised how friggin' starving I was and the food on the table was shamefully mocking me and my empty stomach so I was trying to put it back in the cabinet. Out of sight, out of mind, you know?" Lydia nodded. "And well, when I opened the cabinet...there was no room for me to put the shitty stale crackers anyway!" Stiles finally huffed. "Like what the fuck is happening right now? Lydia I think my head is gonna explode, I'm not even kidding."

"We've got to put this on the board." Lydia jumped up and though she felt slightly ridiculous doing so scribbled down 'magical, food-regenerating kitchen cupboards' on a piece of paper and pinned it to their pathetically empty mood board. It was a start at least.

...

A series of neon post-it notes from Stiles' never-ending, Mary Poppins-like backpack had now accumulated around Lydia's new addition to the wall. They read things like:

How did the food get there?

When did the food get there?

But the big question laying on Stiles' and Lydia's mind at this very minute was:

Can we eat it?

...

"I'm just gonna put something out there Stiles and call me crazy but I think there's only one way to find out?"

"What?" He asked and Lydia pointed to a very high-priority, orange post-it just beside her.

"I think we actually have to try and eat the food in order to know if it's safe and edible." He looked at the freckled girl as though she had just spent the past ten years of her life locked up in Eichen.

"No offence Lydia but...are you crazy? What if it's poisoned or some kind of Alice in Wonderland shit happens to us because we so stupidly ate the cake that said eat me?! You actually want to eat the suspicious food that somehow made its way through the raging snowstorm outside, got through that solid door of ancient oak that's at least two inches thick and defied all laws of gravity to end up in our kitchen cupboards!? No way in hell." And before Stiles could dwell on the notion that he rather enjoyed the verbalisation of that fact that he and Lydia were currently sharing a kitchen and living space and would be for the foreseeable near future by the looks of the weather outside, he spun around to tear the post-it from the wall. "I am really hungry but we are not eating that witchcraft! You hear me?" He finished turning back around to face her. The problem being Lydia was no longer there.

In front of the corner kitchen unit, stood Lydia leaning against it rather comfortably. She was smiling slightly, twirling among her delicate fingers a rather delectable looking green apple.

"Lydia..." Stiles' heart seemed to stop all together and he eased forward just a fraction, arms out relenting, silently pleading her not to take a bite.

He blinked and Lydia just knew he was about to charge straight for her but before he could rip the juicy fruit away from her grasp she had already sunk her teeth into the thing, consuming a bite as big as she could manage. A munching sound filled the cabin, though, to Stiles it was more like a deadly crunch.

"NO!" He ran to her, holding his breath in wait, he lightly cupped her arms as she swallowed. "Lydia what did you do!"

Lydia's eyed seemed to squeeze shut in agony. "Oh my god, Stiles." Her big doe-eyes shot open to stare up at her best friend. He looked terrified, clutching one of her arms more forcefully and palming her delicate cheek with his free remaining hand. She still held the dripping apple up only an inch away from her lips.

"Lydia!"

"Oh my god, Stiles..." She said again. "An apple has never tasted so good." And then she began to laugh...so freely, I might add.

"W...wh..what?" Stiles could breathe again and he too allowed himself to smile, his gaze never straying from hers. "You nearly gave me a heart attack!" He grinned.

The apple now appeared more tantalising than ever he decided, its waxy coat shone as the flames of the fire flickered and Stiles could resist it no longer.

He bent his head low, his forehead unintentionally brushing Lydia's own and the banshee seemed to stare openly at him, expectantly even and all of sudden he took a big chomp from the glossy green orb, straight from Lydia's own hand and she squealed with laughter yet again.

"No, get your own!" She playfully grumbled but Stiles was having none of it and wrapped his arms tightly around her in a firm hug going for another bite. Lydia had no way of escape and it resulted in her too trying to devour as much of the apple as she possibly could whilst Stiles munched on the other half.

With their noses knocking together, midriffs rubbing against the other, Lydia couldn't help but gloat with a mouthful of apple: "I told you so!" Stiles merely quirked an eyebrow and nodded in acceptance before releasing Lydia from his grasp. He simply finished chewing, wiped the juices away from his mouth with hem of his old t-shirt and kissed Lydia on the temple.

"You told me so..." He confirmed with a sweet smile and went to pick up the old rations that previously lay forgotten on the floor.

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AN: Haha! Please review this x -A