STUPID LOVE

Summary: Lydia Martin wasn't supposed to feel nervous about a guy. Lydia Martin wasn't supposed to cry in front of anyone. Then again, Lydia Martin wasn't supposed to fall in love with Stiles Stilinski. One-shot.

Rating: T

Word Count: 2817

Author's Note: This was based off of a Season 4 opening idea I saw on Tumblr. When I read it, I was inspired to write a nice oneshot about it! It's a bit angsty, but has a happy ending. I hope you enjoy it! Please remember to leave a review as well! :)

Lydia sighed, pacing around her room. "Stiles, over the past year, we've been getting to kn...No, too cliché," she muttered to herself. "Stiles, I love...too forward." She let out a scream of frustration, then let herself collapse on the bed. She put her hands on her face. "What am I going to do?"

Her phone buzzed, and she sprang up to check it.

Scott: pack gathering tonite mine around 3

She looked up at the clock and groaned. It was two thirty. Would she tell Stiles how she felt tonight?

Lydia couldn't figure out the source of her feelings. She's cared for him since she became part of the pack, but not in a romantic sense. But, once Allison and Aiden had died, she started spending a lot more time with him. She began to notice the little things - how he knew exactly what she needed and when, how he would lightly touch her arm whenever they were walking together - and she realized: She had fallen in love with Stiles Stilinski.

Lydia had never been so nervous with a guy. She always knew what to do, but there was something about Stiles that made her shy. She didn't want to mess up with him. All those years ignoring him, and now, she can't imagine a life without him in it.

She shook her head, then held it high, looking in the mirror. "You are Lydia Martin. You are Lydia Martin. You do not get anxious about asking a guy out, nor do you let a guy control your life." She straightened out her dress confidently, giving her signature smile. She flipped her hair and made her way downstairs.

"Mom, I'm going over to Scott's!" she yelled out. Then, she muttered, "Not like you care."

The pack meeting was...interesting. It was the first pack meeting that Malia had experienced, so she wasn't quite familiar with their...customs.

When Malia sat down, Lydia stared at her for a good minute before Malia gave her an annoyed look. "Is there something wrong?"

All heads turned towards the two of them. Lydia stuttered. "Um, it's just...you're sitting..." She paused. "You're sitting in her seat."

Malia's features softened. "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean..." She stopped when Stiles lightly grabbed her arm.

"It's best if you just sit over there for now."

The rest was more settle. She stared at Stiles for a while, admiring his features. When she accidentally caught his eye, she began to stare off into space, which accidentally happened to be Scott. "You okay, Lydia?" he whispered when no one was paying attention.

She snapped out of her daydream. "Yeah, of course!" She smiled cheerfully. He gave her a doubtful look but didn't question her.

Next, Lydia began to plan what she was going to say to him. Her mother tried to reassure her that Stiles wouldn't care how she told him if he really loved her, but she cared. She wanted it to be perfect. She twirled her hair in her hands, planning conversations in her head.

"What do you think, Lydia?" she heard Stiles ask.

She jumped. "What?"

"Kate's obviously after Derek, right? She's just been keeping low!" he continued, not seeming to notice that she had no idea what he was talking about.

Scott jumped in. "We all know Kate isn't one to wait. She likes to pounce on her prey the first moment she gets, and she didn't. I think it was just a warning not to get in her way."

Lydia coughed. "Or maybe this is exactly what she wants," she said quietly. "You guys are sitting here bickering about what to do, when she's sitting in the background smirking at everyone's panic."

The rest of the meeting consisted of them arguing over whose theory was most likely.

"Lydia Martin, you can do this," she told herself as she watched Stiles walk towards the door. "Stiles!" she called. "Wait up!"

Stiles looked back and smiled when he saw her. "Yeah, Lyds? What is it?"

"I wanted to talk to you. Walk with me?"

He nodded. "Sure."

They barely walked two steps out the door when a voice called out. "Stiles, I almost forgot!" Suddenly, Malia popped up, pulling Stiles in for a short kiss. "See you tomorrow?" she asked.

"Of course," he replied.

That's when her heart shattered. Malia trotted off, and Lydia was frozen. "Are you two...a thing?" she asked cautiously, not letting her voice break. Lydia Martin, you do not let guys control your feelings. Especially not Stilinski.

Stiles smiled. "Yeah, we are. Isn't it great?"

She blinked multiple times to keep the tears back. How had she not noticed? She should've noticed. She should've noticed the way he had his hand on Malia's shoulder. She should've noticed the way she leaned into him. Hell, if she didn't notice then, she should've noticed when he fed her a chip. Her lip began to quiver, but she managed to force a smile. "Yes, great. Congratulations."

"So, what did you want to tell me?" he questioned.

Lydia looked down, no longer able to look at his eyes. "Oh, I just wanted to thank you for...being there for me after everything. You helped me get through it. You're a good...friend. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to get home. I promised my mom that I'd be home by five," she lied.

Stiles smiled his stupid smile, and pulled her into a hug. She wanted to punch him. Hard. He couldn't see her pain. He's always been able to see her pain and now he's blinding by Malia. Stupid Malia.

Lydia felt betrayed. She had been becoming good friends with Malia, and she goes and claims Stiles for her own. But it wasn't her fault. It wasn't Stiles' either. If only she had not been so stupid and pathetic, she would've realized how in love she was with Stiles, and she would've had him before Malia even entered the picture.

After Allison and Aiden, everything was dark. She felt like the world had come to the end. It was never going to end.

But that first day of grieving, he had come by her house with a bunch of Reese's Pieces and a collectible edition of The Notebook. He held onto her as she cried, pressing kisses to her forehead. From then on, he became the light of her life. The small light in a room of darkness, but it was enough to light up the room. If only she told him then.

If only she told him then.

Her bed had never been so inviting. It was only five, but she was exhausted. She locked her door, climbed into bed, and buried her face in her pillow.

Stupid love. Stupid Stiles. Stupid Malia. Stupid everything.

Lydia screamed into her pillow, letting the tears stream down her face. How could she ever let herself get so invested into a guy?

Because she couldn't help herself.

Her phone was buzzing off the hook, but she didn't care. Her light was gone. Once again, there was only darkness.

She was so sure that Stiles still liked her. Where did she go wrong? When had it faded?

It was all her luck, to love a man just as he stops loving her. He had found better. He found someone he didn't have to wait eight years for, or have to deal with constant bitchiness.

Lydia cried, not only for Stiles, but for the friend that couldn't be there for her. Her face still buried in the pillow, she sobbed at her lost friend. She was only seventeen.

How could life treat her so cruelly?

She wanted everything to stop spinning. She wanted all the noise to stop. She wanted everything to end.

So she screamed.

Her voice was muffled by the pillow, but it was still strikingly loud. Her fists pounded against the bed in anger for all the things in life that go wrong with her. Love. Stupid love. Why did she ever think it could be so simple? Did she really assume she'd tell Stiles and it'd be a happily ever after?

It felt like hours that she had been crying when she heard a frantic voice. "Lydia? Lydia!" It was Scott. The voice became quiet. "Lydia, what's wrong?"

"Just leave me alone," she screamed through the pillow.

"Lydia, you're a bit of a mess. Have you even seen what you've done to your room?"

Tears in her eyes, she looked up. Her vision was blurry, but began to clear. She focused on her room, and realized that everything was scattered, shattered, ripped apart, or ruined in some way. She shook in fear. "I did this?"

Scott nodded. "It seems so." He sat down on the edge of the bed. "What is it all about?"

Lydia bit her lip and wiped a tear from her cheek. "I...Life is cruel."

"I agree. Is there something specific? You don't need to tell me anything you don't want to, but sometimes it helps to vent." He gently laid a hand on her shoulder in comfort.

She nodded. "I fell in love. And I thought he liked me back, but he didn't." She fell against her friend. "God, Scott, I feel so stupid! I've never felt so hopeless about a boy in my entire life!"

Scott rubbed her back comfortingly, letting her cry on his shoulder. She sniffled. "What do I do?" she asked him. "He used to be the one that made me realize that there was a point to life. But, now...now I can't find one."

Scott was right. Sometimes telling people your problems could really help you.

Because not one minute later did none other than Stiles Stilinski pop into her room. "Lydia, guess wh - Oh, hi Scott!" he said sheepishly. "What's going on? Lyds, you okay?"

At that, she sobbed harder, and Scott knew. He just knew. Suddenly, everything clicked. Her odd behavior at the meeting, her becoming close to Stiles...

Scott shook his head. "She doesn't want to see anyone right now."

Stiles frowned. "But you're here."

Scott shook his head. "I don't think she wants to see you."

Stiles' expression was filled with confusion, worrying, and a sort of anger. Stiles awkwardly backed out of the room, the disappointment visible on his face. Scott looked down at Lydia. "I'll be right back."

"Don't tell him," was all she whispered.

The next few days were miserable for Lydia.

She avoided Stiles like the plague. She knew most of his daily habits, so she'd go the opposite direction. So ate lunch in solitude, under a tree and behind a wall where no one could find her.

The hardest part was classes. She tried to sit as far away from him as possible, but Stiles was persistent. He'd try to switch seats with whoever was sitting next to her, but thankfully, the teacher would notice and scold him.

There was only one incident - well, close to an incident. She had almost ran into Stiles and Scott in the hallway, but quickly backtracked and hid behind a series of lockers. She sighed, banging her head against the wall.

Lydia knew she couldn't avoid him forever, but she didn't want to face him quite yet.

"What the hell did I ever do to her?" she heard Stiles ask Scott.

Scott replied, "Remember what you told me? The guy always apologizes. And if you don't know what you did wrong, that means you definitely did something wrong." His eyes found Lydia's and she whimpered. He gave her a soft smile before slapping a hand on Stiles' back and leading him away from Lydia.

Scott hunted her down during lunch.

"Lydia, you have to talk to him eventually."

She looked up. "Tell him he's free to do so when he breaks up with Malia," she said sarcastically.

"I'm serious!" Scott argued," "He's heartbroken right now!"

"That makes two of us," she muttered.

"He's been looking for you every day at lunch. And when he isn't, he's complaining to Malia about how girls are never clear." Scott crossed his arms. "At least tell him what's wrong. He'd be willing to give you time if you just told him."

Lydia looked up angrily. "And what I'm I supposed to tell him, huh? 'Stiles, I know you were in love with me for eight years, but now that you've finally gotten over me, I've decided I love you'? Scott, I had my chance. I had my chance and I missed it."

Scott patted her shoulder softly. "Just talk to him." And he left.

She pulled her legs into her chest and rocked herself lightly. "Stupid, stupid, stupid!"

"Lyds?" A soft voice spoke.

Stiles.

She immediately shot her head up. Biting her lip, she asked, "What are you doing here?"

He cautiously sat next to her. "I saw Scott walking away from here, and figured it was worth checking. I needed to talk to you." She opened her mouth, but he shook his head. "Lydia, I want to say something. I need to say something. You're everything to me, and it hurts like hell to know that I did something that made you act like this. I'm sorry. Whatever it is that I did, I'm sorry."

Without thinking, Lydia flung herself towards him and pressed her lips against his. She felt him flail before somewhat relaxing into it. She pulled away, and saw the shock apparent on his face. "Oh God," she exclaimed, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have done that."

Lydia began to shake as she began to pack so that she could flee from the embarrassment, but Stiles' angry face stopped her. "What the hell, Lydia?" he nearly screamed, "Is this what it's about? Some sort of weird power thing?"

She shook her head, but he continued. "Is this all to prove that you're the boss of our friendship? Or better yet, do you realize you care for me, except you can't be caught dead with some nerd like me?"

Tears were forming in her eyes. "No, Stiles-"

"I thought you changed," he said, his voice cold. He stood up. The tears began flowing down her face as she began to sob uncontrollably. "Well, Lydia, I'm not taking it anymore. You can pity yourself, I get the hint."

"I love you!" she blurted out. Her voice cracked.

Stiles froze. "W-what?"

Lydia stood up, wiping the tears. "I love you," she said bravely. "I love you more than anything. And I was going to tell you that other night, but then...then I found out you were with Malia. You were over me. And it broke my heart." She fell and let her knees slam down on the ground, bring her hand to cover up her sobs.

She felt arms bring her into an embrace. "Lyds, I'm sorry. I am so stupid. I should have realized."

She pushed Stiles away, and screamed, "Go away! Please, just leave me alone!"

Heartbroken, the pair separated from one another, leaving both in tears.

The weekend was a blessing. After the argument with Stiles, the days were filled with Stiles' sorrowful glances. Lydia continued to stray away from the group, ranting to Danny about all of her problems. The fact that he knew about all the supernatural business made her rants easier - no need to censor anything.

She once ran into Stiles in the hall, and just their luck, Malia ran up to Stiles, took his hand, and kissed him passionately. She ran to the bathroom and cried.

Lydia was finally able to relax. No more Stiles to worry about. Yet, she couldn't stop thinking about him. She continuously tried to think of ways to fall out of love with him, so that they could go back to their normal routine, but she couldn't think of anything. She couldn't imagine no longer loving the awkward idiot. In her mind, he became the only guy for her.

She had confided in Kira to tell her most of the story, and she was very understanding. Kira gave her a bit of company during lunch, and they made plans to have a movie night that very evening.

The doorbell rung, and Lydia frowned. It was an hour before Kira was due to come. She slid out of bed and made her way downstairs. She flung the door open only to see Stiles.

Lydia had no time to react before he stepped forward, grabbed her face, and crushed their lips together. She grabbed onto his shirt, pulling him inside.

He pulled away, caressing her face. "I broke up with Malia. I asked her if she'd choose coyote over me, and she said yes." He kissed her softly, which she replied enthusiastically, a smile on her face. "Lydia Martin, I love you too."

With those words, the darkness was gone. There was only Stiles.