Well, uh, this is my first crack at fanfiction (and my first crack at Teen Wolf fanfiction). It was originally just the bottom paragraph, which accompanied a fanmix I made, and... Now you have this, I guess? Constructive criticism would be greatly appreciated.

What Jackson wants and what Jackson does are two massively different things. Jackson wants to look at Lydia and tell her that he loves her, tell her all the wonderful, heartfelt things that she deserves to hear and then some. Jackson wants to be able to put aside all the defense mechanisms and just tell her that he cares, that he loves her and that she really is wonderful and beautiful and so many other things. what Jackson does is call her names and start arguments and point out her flaws, while she does the same thing to him. What Jackson does is keep her at arms' length, because that's who he is and what he does, no matter how desperately he wants to be different.

What Lydia wants and what Lydia does aren't that different, except when Jackson is involved. Jackson complicates things, tries to hold her at arms' length even though she already knows so much about him - knows the way he ticks, the way he thinks, knows about his family. She loves him, she really does - truly and completely, the way anyone loves a first love. Jackson just keeps her from showing it, really showing it - all the insults and instigated arguments have made her come across cruel, but that isn't what she is. She's just a girl who is trying to prove that she really does care.

It's not that they don't care about each other; it's that they clash. They're both attractive and intelligent and skilled, and they both know it. They're similar enough that, where there should be kisses and gentle declarations of love and affection, there are harsh words and harsher looks and anger. It's not that they don't care; they just can't find ways to put aside the way they've forced themselves to be in a dog-eat-dog world to love each other. They want to, you can see it, hear it: in the way she'll smile at him when she thinks he can't see her, and the way he brushes her hair back from her face while she sleeps, and the words whispered to each other in the dark of her bedroom when her parents are out of town. It will just take more time than they have to work through their own issues and say it, so for now, they'll hash it out with hurtful words and meaningful glances and kisses in the dark.