some of us are only human

Lydia couldn’t help but grin at the compliment. She’d come a long way from being the girl who used to pretend she was dumb. Now, getting called smart was probably the best thing you could say to Lydia. The strawberry blonde could tell Stiles had something else on his mind while she was talking. It was written on his face that he was only half-listening, but before Lydia could ask what was up he told her. Her eyes widened immediately in a bit of shock when he mentioned adopting. “Thank you for the clarification.” Lydia chuckled lightly. Eventually she knew she was going to start a family with Stiles, but she definitely wanted to at least be married to him before they started having children. A pet, however, was totally doable. “Yeah?” Lydia began, a smile growing wider on her face the more she thought about the idea. She hadn’t had a dog since Prada passed away a few years ago, and Lydia was certainly interested. “I actually love that idea.” She finally said. “Okay, forget the movie.” Lydia shook her head. “We’re getting my laptop and looking up dogs that are available for adoption.” It was no secret that Lydia could be a bit of an impatient person.

Sometimes he started talking and didn’t clarify exactly what he meant so he was glad he remembered to in this situation. Did he want to have children with Lydia? Well, yeah when the time was right. He was painfully aware that kids didn’t always come that way - his mom and dad joked about him being a happy accident when he was younger and it dawned on him exactly what they meant by it many years later. A puppy was definitely something he always wanted, however, and he thought that would be a cool thing for them to do together. “Seriously? Okay. Cool.” He knew he shouldn’t be surprised that she was very excited about this but it did take him a moment to catch up. “Oh. Okay. Yeah, cool...do you have a size preference or any preference?” He had done a lot of research when he was about twelve or thirteen in order to convince his dad to let them get a rescue but it didn’t work. Finally, he was getting to have the puppy he always wanted - Scott aside.

“A mix. One book was in French, I wanted to see how much I understood. Only needed to use a translator a couple of times.” Lydia shrugged her shoulders. She did tend to gravitate towards textbooks just because she enjoyed the knowledge it contained, but Lydia occasionally loved a good novel as well. A guilty pleasure of hers would easily be cheesy romance novels. Of course no one except Stiles knew that. “The apartment was quiet without you though.” Lydia was still getting used to having her powers back after going a couple of months without it. The quiet bothered her with the voices in her head, and now that she was relearning control, it was rough. Alas, the banshee would much rather be going through that than not have her powers at all. She was beyond thankful and genuinely happy to have them back. “You want to watch a movie or a show? I’m sure there’s a couple you need to catch up on.”

“My girlfriend is the smartest,” he replied, grinning at her. He was glad that she seemed to be really happy that she knew most of the words. “Your so smart...I could kiss you,” he told her, leaning down and doing exactly what he said he would do. Stiles knew that she would never tell him no unless something really, really bad happened. Her comment made him frown a bit. Stiles knew that neither one of them liked to be alone. Sure, they liked their quiet moments, but they had both been through so much trauma that being alone was almost suffocating. He honestly felt that way with a lot of people, too, which was why their were times during training where it was almost too much. “Uh...probably,” he replied, almost not hearing what she said at first. “But...so...Lydia, before we do all that...what do you think of us maybe adopting? Not a kid...I mean, in case you were thinking that’s what I meant...I mean like...an animal. A pet. Maye a dog?”

Lydia rolled her eyes playfully in response. She certainly didn’t think Stiles was lame. Well, maybe back in her earlier years of high school that thought had crossed her mind. But over the years, and after everything they had been through together, Lydia began to see Stiles in a different light. And now he was her absolute favorite person in the world. Even being separated from him for a few weeks was torture. “Looking forward to it.” Lydia said with a grin before getting everything settled on the couch and waiting for Stiles to return. “Just reading, and counting down until you got home. It was honestly kind of pathetic.” Lydia scrunched up her nose before laughing. She moved over to make room for him to sit next to her on the couch. “It’s been uneventful, as you know.” Stiles may have been gone but they did video chat every second they were able to. They both kept each other pretty in the loop. “But I managed to read eight new books in two weeks, which is a record for me.”

Stiles plopped down on the couch next to Lydia once he was comfortable after his trip. He was glad to be back in their apartment with her by his side. The other people he was with at training had people they loved back home - whether it was significant others or family members - but some of them didn’t quite understand how much Stiles missed being with Lydia. Then again, he knew that none of them had been through the trauma he had been through with Lydia and his pack. They just couldn’t understand because they hadn’t almost lost the ones they loved the most multiple times. “Eight books? Damn, Lyds....were they textbooks or novels or a mix?” he asked her. Stiles knew Lydia tended to gravitate towards textbooks but novels could be fun, too. At least he heard that. His ADHD made it hard for him to concentrate so he tended to read graphic novels, comic books, and manga when he had the time.

What was she sorry for? She wasn’t a habitual apologizer, yet the words had slipped out before anything else could. Not that there was a script for this. A society acceptable set of lines to run through like when you called someone on the phone. A cold laugh fell from her lips. “I—I don’t know.” Just as Stiles met her eyes, Allison was overcome by the need to avert hers. It was a need to strong to resist. “For surprising you, I guess. For not knowing what to say. For being so flustered.” Oh how she hated being flustered and awkward and at a loss for explanations. Allison pulled her head up, eyes darting around the surrounding coffee shop. No one was looking yet the idea that they were settled heavily on her shoulders. “Can we sit? Please?”

Somehow, she had spoken to Stiles without recognize. Somehow, for the briefest second, she had forgotten the face of a close friend. But just as the last sound left her lips, things clicked. Allison recognized. And oh God. What sort of greeting was that? Her throat constricted. There was a pang in her gut. “Stiles, I’m– I’m sorry.” Her chatted clattered as she quickly rose to her feet. “I didn’t mean–I tried to contact you, but–” She began to reach out with trembling fingers, from nerves instead of the cold in that moment, but stopped just short of touching. “I don’t know what to say.”

“Thank God the FBI didn’t change you too much. At least you still allow me to check in on your six-pack. You know, I was starting to get worried that you’d come back way cooler than me and too good for me.” Lydia quipped with a grin. She was proud of Stiles for following what he really wanted to do. She knew how hard he worked, and also how he finally was able to make the time to go to the training. In the past, the timing just never added up. Lydia was happy this was done now. “Chinese is perfect.” Lydia nodded. “You want to go get settled and I’ll order the usual? Meet me back in the living room when you’re done?” The banshee offered. She figured Stiles would want to change into different clothes before relaxing for the night. “But I do have to ask that if you want to take a shower you at least wait until later for me to join you.” She added playfully.

“I’ve never been cooler than you and I seriously doubt that I ever could be. As for too good for you...yeah, that will never happen. I think you are seriously underappreciating how truly lame I am.” Stiles was just happy to be back with Lydia. He knew that after he graduated college he would go for full training that would last months and months before joining the FBI but for now he was done for a little while at least. Stiles nodded his head and was about to head that way when her voice stopped him. He leaned back in and kiss her lips before placing two or three kisses on random spots on her face. “I think I can handle waiting for a joint shower.” Stiles sent a wink her direction and headed to their bedroom. He definitely missed their bed. After changing to a pair of sweats and a t-shirt, Stiles went back to the living room. “What were you up to before I got here?”

lydia gratefully accepted the kiss. it hadn’t been that long since she’d kissed stiles, but truthfully it felt like ages. it was true that distance made the heart grow fonder- as if being even more fond of stiles could even be possible. “i think i’ll have to be the judge of whether or not your six pack is better.” the banshee added with a grin. she kept her hand intertwined with stiles’ even though they had stopped hugging now. the two of them were always connected with one another, each feeling the need to be constantly touching. and being away from stiles for a few weeks just further fueled that need. “i’m sure you are tired, though. we can just relax for the night. want to order in some food?” of course, lydia was no chef. and she didn’t want stiles cooking anything when he was probably exhausted. she reached for his things to help him bring them to the bedroom. lydia would officially help him unpack later, but for now that would do. “what do you feel like eating? i’ll be nice and let you pick.”

“I am not going to object to you checking in on my six-pack, obviously. I would be more than happy for you to judge it.” Stiles winked at the strawberry-blond in front of him. Being with her in person again made everything feel right again. “I’m a little tired. Not too bad, though. The drive back is the hardest part of the whole thing though. I was trying really hard not to get a ticket for speeding back to you.” As Lydia grabbed his suitcase, he shuffled his workout bag over his shoulder better and followed her to the bedroom. “We can grab takeout. I don’t even know what I feel like, honestly. Maybe Chinese. Does that sound okay to you?” 

lydia was thrilled to see stiles return home from fbi training. she had basically been counting down the seconds until he got back to their apartment. it had been rough without him, of course, but lydia was finally in a good place where she knew she’d be okay on her own. the only sadness she felt while he was gone was because she missed him. she’d cleaned the apartment at least fifteen times, trying to distract herself since every time she glanced at the clock it barely moved. eventually the time came where lydia heard the front door open and a smile grew across her entire face. “stiles!” lydia made her way out of the bedroom to practically leap into stiles’ arms. “i missed you so much.” lydia mumbled, wrapping her arms around him tightly. it wasn’t that long, but lydia spent almost every second with stiles. being away from each other for even an hour was hard. “i want to hear all about the training.” they spoke on video chat, of course, so lydia was kept pretty up to date. but she wanted to hear if there was anything else she’d missed.

Once he had Lydia back in his arms he finally felt like everything was right in the world again. It wasn’t that things were wrong while he was gone. He just felt like he was missing a huge part of himself. It was hard to imagine a time where Lydia was not his girlfriend. Thankfully he did not have to worry about that anymore. “I missed you, too,” he told her, rubbing her back as he hugged her. “Maybe after I kiss you first,” he told her, grinning before leaning down to place a kiss on her lips. “Much better. It was good...I mean, you know much of what happened already. I’m honestly tired but my six pack is definitely better than it was when I left.” Stiles chuckled as he let his suitcase fall out of his hands and hit the floor.

@lydisms​

location: the coffee haus open

beacon hills wasn’t that cold. not when allison had survived winters in philadelphia and upstate new york. she was pretty sure the residents of beacon hills wouldn’t know their heads from their rears if it started snowing around here. but despite repeating that over and over in her head, it wasn’t sinking in. she was cold. couldn’t wrap her thick cardigan tight enough cold. knee high socks weren’t good enough cold. hot caffe mocha couldn’t warm her up cold. at least, it hadn’t yet; allison brought her drink to her lips again, hoping it would finally do the trick. as the rich liquid hit her tongue, she noticed the figure lurking over her. she swallowed as her stomach did a somersault. was it someone who recognized her? they were looking expectantly. “sorry, i think i spaced out. did you say something?” she asked.