Mysterious ways

Chapter 11

Everyone is sitting on the warehouse's living room's floor finishing dinner. Scott is so excited that Isaac is back that he hasn't left his side since the beta arrived. Same goes for Derek, who hasn't lost sight of Cora.

Since the two of them got there, Derek showed them around and led them to a cabin for themselves while the others went back to the lake to get their clothes back. In the following hours everyone was introduced, stories were shared and all the catching up done. It's already late when everyone cleans up the kitchen and settles in again for another movie, all of them in pairs sitting or lying on the floor with the lights dimmed down.

It's not like Cora knew them well so she figures it's not her place to say something. Isaac, however, has been biting his tongue ever since he saw Stiles and Lydia holding hands when the group joined him, Cora and Derek by the warehouse a few hours ago. And it was weird, because to Isaac everyone else seemed conscious of what was happening but no one was saying anything; actually, they were more like avoiding noticing it.

Stiles and Lydia certainly didn't seem aware of the attention they were drawing to them and continued holding hands and standing close to one another the entire night, so Isaac figured that they were finally together but maybe it was recent; that should justify everyone's looks, like they probably just hadn't adjusted to Stiles and Lydia being a couple yet. But halfway through the movie there's definitely something Isaac is not catching and it's bugging him.

Lydia's sitting on the floor beside Stiles with their backs against one of the couches and their legs stretched out in front of them, barely touching, hands clasped on top of their bellies. When she thought no one was paying attention to them, Lydia grabbed one of Stiles' hands and moved it away so she could lean on his chest. His arm moved automatically to wrap around her waist. Not that anyone would notice their rosy cheeks in the darkened room but Stiles and Lydia are both blushing when they stare at each other, the movie completely forgotten.

Everyone else notices, however, when they kiss.

It starts slow. Lydia's fingers fiddle with Stiles' and she brings his hand up so that she can kiss his palm and his knuckles while Stiles kisses her forehead, her temple, her cheek. Lydia giggles quietly; it's not like some of the others aren't making out and cuddling too anyways, so she turns to Stiles and looks into his eyes like he means the world to her, which is true. She moves unhurriedly, holding back a bit until she's sure he's okay with it.

Disentangling their fingers, her hand moves to caress his cheek. When he smiles back at her, something inside of her warms and it's such an unfamiliar feeling to her that she just wants to drown in it. When she looks at him like that, like she's melting, Stiles just wants to kiss her so he does. Lydia meets him halfway and they kiss softly, their lips moving in sync and for a moment, they forget they are surrounded by their friends and it's just the two of them in their own world; nothing else matters.

Then Isaac speaks, confused. "Am I missing something here?"

Well, he was.

Everyone in the room was aware that Stiles and Lydia were kissing and, like they have been doing lately, just chose to not say something about it. Still, everyone couldn't help but to look at them. Only Isaac didn't see in time the signals Scott and Derek were sending him and he blurted the question out.

It's not like it's really his fault. He assumed that Stiles and Lydia were together but then seeing them kissing and everyone seeming a little uneasy at what was happening and all the scents, the sexual tension mixed with the others' restlessness, were too overwhelming for the beta.

Had he known what was happening, he'd kept his mouth shut.

Stiles and Lydia break the kiss idly like they are not really mindful of the situation, but blushing inevitably when they turn to face the others. No one says anything but what could they say, really?