*morphs in from the darkness from whence she came.*

Finally, Stiles/Lydia interaction. Also, my favorite chapter so far, so hopefully you guys like it too.

Perfection was the simplest way to explain Lydia Martin's appearance that Tuesday. Her long hair was curled and flowing down her back. Her dress was green and not too short. While on her feet was a stunning pair of brand new, black suede, Christian Louboutin ankle boots that her mother had happily purchased in an attempt to both soothe her daughter and make up for months of parental neglect.

The outfit might have gone a little overboard, but yesterday's had been a disaster and the last thing Lydia needed was for the entire school to question her sanity based off of one too many t-shirts.

Her heels clicked on the tile as she walked down the hallway with a sense of purpose. Allison's little tidbit of information about prom had pissed her off for some reason that she couldn't exactly put her finger on. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that she hadn't been sleeping very well…but seriously, how dare Stilinski not tell her! It threw off the last tiny threads of hope that Stiles was secretly a huge asshole and she didn't really need that right now along with everything else.

She could see that his hair was sticking out in the back as she approached him. The hair, that was another thing Lydia still wasn't used to. It was thick and kind of gorgeous. God, what nerve he had! Reaching out, she grabbed the sheriff's son by the arm and kept walking which meant that he had to follow her or risk them both falling over. He stumbled a bit, but didn't resist once he could tell it was Lydia who was practically dragging him down the hallway.

"What the hell Lydia?!" Stiles yelped indignantly, but he still didn't try to pull his arm from her tight grasp.

As she continued her brisk pace without a single word, with a shocked bumbling Stiles trailing behind her, Lydia wasn't oblivious to the scene she was making. Nevertheless, her game face was on she assumed that most of her fellow students would just think Stiles was finally going to be reported for stalking her or something. By the time the bell finally rang, Lydia was opening the door to her favorite empty office and forcing Stiles inside.

"Seriously, what the hell?!" he snapped as he got his footing. He clearly never realized how strong Lydia was and she could almost feel as he wrote it down on his mental "Lydia Martin" checklist. "I really can't afford to be late again-"

"Why didn't you tell me what really happened at prom?!" Lydia replied and, without missing a beat, she closed the door, pulled down the shade and turned to him. Better to cut to the chase then to draw this out any longer than it needed to be.

Stiles shook his head in just a tiny bit of confusion as he stared at her for a second before responding, "I don't-"

"No," she said, taking a step forward. "No, you do not get to play dumb this time Stilinski. You know exactly what I'm talking about."

Comprehension dawned on him quickly, his eyes leaving her face and training themselves on the floor as he fidgeted. Stiles sighed and cleared his throat before looking back at Lydia, "This is about Jackson, isn't it?"

"Of course this is about Jackson! It's about how you let him lord the fact that he saved me over my head for months! What, were you just going to wait for the perfect opportunity to tell me so you could use it to your full advantage or something?"

"What? No!" this time Stiles stepped forward as he replied, "How can you think that?" He was offended and she knew it, but for some reason Lydia couldn't stop herself.

"How can I not? You don't make any logical sense!"

"I don't get why you're pissed about this. In case you forgot, you were in pretty bad shape. I didn't want to hurt you anymore than you already were. What was I supposed to do?"

"You're supposed to not actually be so damn nice all the time!" Lydia practically shouted at him as her hands flew in the air. She could feel the blood rushing within her and the red head knew that her face probably matched her hair by now. "Guys aren't really like that. Most guys just act nice, but they never really mean it like you do."

"Well, I'm sorry that I give a shit Lydia! It's not like I can turn it off. You don't know how much I wish that were possible." Stiles's voice rose above her own and she was stricken. He'd yelled at her before, but never in an attempt to hurt her and, despite what his words meant, this time it had.

The room around them was quiet for a while after that as Stiles's chest rose and fell. She wasn't sure what to say and neither of them knew how much longer they would have before someone with a modicum of authority found them. At the moment, they were both standing barely three feet away from each other and she couldn't remember how that had happened. It seemed just a second ago that he was halfway across the room.

Lydia let her gaze lock with his and it was easy to tell that he hadn't been sleeping well either. In fact, compared to Lydia, Stiles looked as if he hadn't been sleeping at all. The only light in the room came from a small window in the corner, but with it she could see that there were bags under his eyes and his t-shirt was more wrinkled than usual. That shirt was red though and the color suited him, all dark eyes and too pale skin.

With a heavy breath she said, "I can't feel indebted to you Stiles. I won't let myself be won like a prize in some stupid raffle. I'm better than that."

His face softened as she watched him and his arm lifted as if he was going to reach for her, but he stopped himself, "Lydia, I-"

Before he could say, whatever it was that he was going to say, something hit the window with a crash causing both of them to jump and turn toward the sound.

"What the hell was that?" Lydia whispered even though just seconds ago she and Stiles were basically screaming at each other. Whatever it was had fallen out of sight, but not without leaving a red stain on the glass.

Stiles looked back at her with his usual determined look. That was when Lydia realized that she was gripping his arm for the second time that day. As soon as she let go he said, "No clue, but I'm obviously going to check it out."

"What if something breaks the window and tears your head off because you're the idiot in the horror movie that decided to investigate the creepy sound?!"

His arms flailed a bit as he replied "Well, I don't know Lydia! Are your banshee senses tingling at all?"

"I don't know! I'm still not sure how this works!" she snapped back as she nervously twisted a heel on the floor, "Why don't we just leave it alone?"

Stiles paused and despite the situation, he smirked, "Come on, you know for a fact that by the time second period comes around not knowing will be eating you up inside."

"No, you mean it'll be eating you up inside or possibly outside, literally, if you go anywhere near that window!"

"Fine. You can stay here or leave, but I'm going to investigate." And with that, his back was to her as he moved toward the source of their latest argument.

Not even a second later Lydia hissed out a "Damnit Stiles," and followed. It was a tight fit, but after Stiles pulled the window open, they were both able to squeeze through. The two of them had their heads stuck out a window on the first floor of the school and Lydia couldn't help but feel ridiculous.

At least, that was until the dead bird on the ground caught her eye. Its neck had broken in such a way that the fragile bone was sticking out of its skin. Cringing, Lydia pushed herself back into the room and turned away from Stiles and the window. Her fingers lingered on her mouth in shock as she waited for Stiles to join her.

But he didn't, his head still hung out the window as he stared at the bird. Lydia's heart started to race as she thought back to that day in Ms. Blake's office, about the suicide ravens.

"Stiles, get back in here!" she yelped as she immediately tried to drag him inside, but he resisted.

"Lydia stop!" his shouted as he hand gripped her wrist and held it in place. It seemed to take forever, but he finally pulled away from the window and said, "You've gotta see this…" Those amber eyes of his held nothing but astonishment and that was what convinced her to look back at the dead bird.

Except, there was no dead bird….

A live one now stood where the dead one once lay. Its markings and colors seemed to be exactly the same. The bird's head was black, as were the tips of its wings and tail, but its body was covered in white feathers. Before Lydia could look closer at what appeared to be a blood stain near its neck, the bird ruffled its wings and flew straight toward her. Quickly, she stumbled back into Stiles, who apparently had been watching over her shoulder, and he caught her before she fell. Together they stared open mouthed at the creature that was now staring back at them from the windowsill.

For a moment there was nothing but complete silence, but soon the bird's eyes began to glow a bright red. Then it let out a terrible screeching sound, which had both students covering their ears, before it spread its wings wide and flew away.

Stiles's hands fell back on Lydia's arms as they continued to stare out the window, their eyes following the bird's path until it wasn't even a speck on the horizon.

"What…" Lydia started as she stood up straighter, not bothering to feel awkward about Stiles's hold on her, "the…holy hell…was that?"