Lydia turns around to see a woman with a stroller in front of her, a big smile on her face. The brunette has her hair shorter now, around her shoulders. When Lydia knew her, her hair was long. And she's a little taller, but not much, and she still looks as beautiful as Lydia remembers her.
"Oh my god, Allison! I found you!" She almost runs to the girl and they hug for a long time.
"More like I found you. When did you get here?"
"Just last week. I lost my phone last month and your number was in it," Lydia explains. "I couldn't reach you, sorry."
Allison hugs her again. "I don't care. You're here now, that's what matters." They both smile.
Lydia can see Stiles coming closer to both of them but doesn't pay him much attention. This is not about him right now. She turns to the stroller where a beautiful baby girl is asleep. "And who's this?"
"This is Claudia. She's six months old."
"She's beautiful." Lydia can't help but to let out a screech.
Stiles takes a peek at the baby and brushes his fingers on her cute little cheek fondly. "Shh. Lydia, you'll wake her."
Allison pretends to look confused. "Wait, you two know each other?"
Stiles and Lydia look nervously at each other and try to hide their faces, now getting rosy. Obviously Allison notices, but doesn't say anything.
Lydia is the first to speak. "Hmm I only met Stiles this morning. Ariel just started preschool here today and..."
Allison cuts her off. "Who's Ariel?"
Stiles answers. "It's her daughter. Oh just wait for her, Ally, she's gorgeous."
Lydia is perplexed that Stiles would answer for her about something so personal since they barely know each other. She's so perplexed, in fact, that she even missed the way he called the brunette by her nickname. But it didn't really bother Lydia what Stiles said, she notices. And the way he said it was... Well, caring, for the lack of a better word. He already sounds more invested in her daughter's life than her father ever did.
Allison looks shocked. "God. Lydia Martin, a mother? That's something I never thought would happen." There's a smirk all over her face that Lydia returns.
"I could say the same about you!" Lydia bites back. They both laugh.
"Well this is fun and all, but I have questions," Stiles intervenes, feeling a little out of place. The girls turn to him. "Okay. First, how do you two know each other? And second, Ally what are you doing here?"
"What do you mean, what am I doing here? I came to pick up Eric. It was my turn."
"Allison, I know you've been tired and all, but you gotta pay attention. I texted you this morning offering to come pick him up, and you actually replied saying 'thanks, you're a life saver'," he says, mimicking Allison.
Allison looks stunned. "I did?"
Stiles tries not to laugh. "I love you, Ally, I do. But you need to rest, like asap. And now, back to question one."
Lydia was amused seeing their interactions and was lost, again, paying attention to his hands. Stiles seems to move them a lot when he talks. Distracted as she was, Lydia didn't even notice that Stiles was talking to her, so thank god Allison answered his question. "We met when Lydia was attending college. I worked at a bar she used to go to."
"Oh so you've known each other for a while..." Stiles is cursing Allison in his head so bad right now. Why on Earth hadn't she ever mentioned Lydia?
"Yeah, a few years. We still kept in touch for a while after college, but then life happened like it always does and we kind of drift apart, I guess..." Allison says, looking a little sad.
Lydia continues, addressing Stiles. "Allison was actually the friend who kept telling me about Beacon Hills. She had been away for a few years when we met, but after her mom passed away she kept telling me she wanted to come back and would tell me great things about this town. She made me feel drawn here." She turns to Allison. "And I wanted to find you; I could use a familiar face around here." Both girls smile.
Okay, so maybe Stiles shouldn't have cursed Allison. How rude of him. He's about to open his mouth when Allison interrupts him, a little aggression in her tone.
"Wait, are you still with that jerk Jackson?"
Lydia blushes and shakes her head no and, as if on cue, Ariel and Eric come running to them. She whispers to Allison. "No, but maybe we can talk about it some other time?"
Allison nods, but is doing it in slow motion because her eyes are fixated in the cutest little girl she's ever seen (aside from Claudia, of course). "Oh my god, is that Ariel?"
Stiles grins. "What did I tell you?"
Lydia grabs Ariel by the hand and expects to see Eric by Stiles' side, but the boy is with Allison. And they actually look alike. "Wait, Eric's your son too?" Allison nods, her hand playing with the boy's hair. Lydia turns to Stiles. "So what does that make you?"
"Brother-in-law. But Ally is actually like my sister."
"Awww." Allison makes a face. "You're the best, Stiles."
He smiles at Allison, then at Lydia. "She just says that to make me babysit. Ouch." Allison pinched him in the arm.
"Shut up. You love it." Allison laughs, but her attention is suddenly requested by Eric. She bends down a little, enough for the boy to whisper in her ear. Lydia glances at Stiles to catch his gaze but he's looking down, making faces at Ariel. The girl is actually laughing back at him.
"Okay. Hmm let's see." Allison gets up, putting her hands on Eric's shoulders, facing Lydia with a big smile on her face. "Eric wants me to ask you if Ariel can come and play with him later."
Lydia stares at Ariel, unsure. She really wants time with Allison, it's one of the reasons she came to Beacon Hills. But should she?
Allison doesn't give her much time to think. "Please, Lydia, come. We have so much to catch up on. And you could meet the whole pack. We always get together at the park every afternoon. You'll love it. And Ariel will have plenty of other kids to play with. And besides it's Thursday. The week is already ending anyways and I'm sure Cora won't mind if Ariel is a little tired tomorrow. Hell, she'll love to get to know her better."
"I'm not sure I follow..."
"Cora is part of the pack. Our group, I mean. You'll love everyone. Please come. Pretty please." She's making Lydia puppy eyes now.
"Oh god, I haven't seen those in years," Lydia laughs, turning to Ariel. "What do you say? You want to play with Eric later?" Part of her hopes her daughter will say no, but the rest of her wants the girl to scream yes.
Ariel nods a little reluctantly now that the attention is on her, but manages a little smile.
"It's settled then," says Allison. "We usually meet in a park about three miles from here, but you'll never find our spot by yourself. So I'll meet you here at six and you can follow my car. Sounds good?"
Lydia looks at her watch. If she leaves now, they have time to go home and change, as well as to grab something to eat. "Sure."
"Great." Allison looks like a teenager, excited as she is. "Here," she hands Lydia her cellphone. "Just type your number and I'll ring you so you can save mine." Lydia obeys and before they all leave, Allison makes sure to make her move just like she and Lydia did for one another back in college. "Oh, and you should get Stiles' number too. You never know when you'll need it." Allison is grinning.
Both Stiles and Lydia go scarlet but they do it anyway, their hands touching again when they exchange phones bringing back that sensation of electricity running through them. They both pretend nothing happened because Allison can't take her eyes off of them, but they still feel it in their skin, that strange warmth.
Lydia and Ariel head home and Stiles offers Allison and the kids a ride so he can have the chance to bring hell on Allison.
Already inside his car, Allison speaks first. "Before you say anything, you should know I did it for both of you."
"What? Embarrass us to death? Gee thanks." He's frowning but wants to laugh at the same time. "I was gonna ask for her number, okay?"
"Well, Scott mentioned some girl named Lydia and that you guys had something this morning and that you, of course, forgot to ask her for her number. I just didn't know it was this Lydia and by the way I'm really, really glad it is. So I just gave a little push." She smiles, a little proud of herself.
"Oh my god. We didn't have something this morning, we had coffee. Just coffee, Allison. Why is everyone making such a big deal out of this?" His fingers are fidgeting nervously on the wheel.
"Maybe because it's been awhile, you know..." She's speaking lower now. "We worry about you. It's about time you get out there again."
"Allison, don't..." His voice is suddenly weaker, broken.
"Listen. Lydia is amazing and she's been through a lot too. You have no idea." His head turns to face her briefly to try and read her expression before turning to the road again. "Maybe this will be good for both of you. I'm not saying you should go and hmm..." She turns her head to her kids on the backseat and clears her throat. "... you know. Just get to know her, give it a chance."
Allison offers him a shy smile. And she means every word she said. Sure, she hasn't been with Lydia for years now, but things probably haven't been that good if the redhead moved miles away from home and still won't talk that openly about that jerk. And Stiles' torment is different, darker on its own way, but somehow Allison figures they may be perfect for each other. And she's sure they already picked up on it, even if they only met this morning. Those looks were so not innocent, but she chooses to not bring it up for now.
They drive quietly the rest of the way.
xxxxxxxxxx
Lydia is obviously nervous by the time she gets home. Why would she agree to go meet them? Of course that deep down she knows. Lydia craves human interaction, it's part of her biological needs. And to be fair it's been years since she hung out with anyone, probably since Allison, and she can see the light it could bring to their lives. Ariel would certainly benefit from it; she needs to be around people too. But it scares Lydia. When things started to go right in the past, something would go wrong and they would be again at square one. Lydia shakes her head at the thought. Jackson was the something that happened but he wasn't here now, so things couldn't go wrong, right?
She prepares a snack for herself and Ariel and lets the girl choose a few toys to take with her to the park while Lydia changes. In front of the mirror, Lydia stares at her image, remembering what she was like when she met Allison. Fierce, certainly, and a leader, just not with Jackson. And she would always dress like she was about to hit the runway, low necklines and short skirts. How times have changed.
She stills wants to feel a little sexy, though; it's been a while, too long really. Lydia takes off her clothes and finds a pair of skinny black jeans with a high waist and a white silk shirt that she knots at her waist on the side right above her jeans, with just enough cleavage to show what she's got but definitely not too much that it would be considered inappropriate. She ties her hair low to the side and curls it, and applies little to no makeup, just a little lipstick and mascara. Looking at herself again through the mirror, she can already see the difference. She might even look a little younger. And the fabric from her shirt is a little sparkly, contrasting enough with her hair and her eyes to make her look so much better.
"Mommy, you look beautiful." Lydia hadn't notice that Ariel had made her way into the room, so she jumps slightly, startled.
"You wanna help me pick up a necklace, sweetie?"
The girl nods and heads to Lydia's vanity. After a little bit of time for contemplation, she chooses. "This one." It's a long necklace with a starfish pendant in silver, Ariel's favorite.
"Of course." She smiles and kisses Ariel's cheek. "Are you ready to go?" The girl nods.
Putting on some sandals and grabbing her purse, Lydia takes Ariel and they head out the door.
xxxxxxxxxx
Allison and Lydia already passed the park's entrance but Allison keeps driving, so Lydia follows in her car behind the brunette. They stop by the edge of the woods and get out of their cars. Ariel almost runs to Eric and Lydia joins them as Allison gets Claudia on her stroller.
"Aren't we a little close to the woods?" Lydia asks, sounding a little hesitant.
"Oh right. Forgot that you've never been here. There's a clearing right over there..." She points to where Eric is currently leading them. Lydia can already see people there. "The boys turned it into a soccer field a few years ago. The Stilinskis put in a good word with the Mayor so the whole park was reconstructed. It had been left abandoned like twenty years ago. So the boys helped and it looks incredibly good now. Pretty much everyone in town comes here, we just spend more time here than anyone else. There are a few picnic tables for us too. At least that's where we usually sit, the girls, I mean. And the playground for the kids is close enough so that we can keep an eye on them and still check out the boys." She winks at Lydia, smiling. "And it's totally safe, I swear."
When they get there, Lydia knows she made the right choice. The clearing is beautiful and wide and there's green everywhere. Allison is waving at the boys playing on the field and Lydia heads with her for one of the tables. She takes it all in. There are eight men playing at the soccer field and another one on the sidelines, who she assumes is playing referee; she can hear his whistle from where she stands. At the tables, two girls wave at Allison and Lydia, one of them being Cora. At the next table sit an older couple with a baby and a guy with another baby on his lap. Children are all around them. In fact, there are a lot of children. Lydia smiles. She already knows they belong here.
As soon as they get to the table, Cora is already smiling. "I hope this is not too weird for you."
Lydia dismisses it quickly. "Of course not. I'm glad we came," she says, her hands resting on Ariel's shoulders.
Allison excitedly introduces her, turning her attention to both tables. "Well this is Lydia. She'll become part of our family in no time." She laughs and Lydia blushes, managing a smile and waving at them. Allison gestures to the girl sitting across from Cora. "This is Braeden. Derek's wife." She turns pointing to one of the boys on the field. "Three kids, somewhere around here..."
"Oh don't be like that," Braeden answers, smiling to Lydia. "She always does that. Somehow she thinks our kids are much more hyperactive than she expects hers to be. It's nice to meet you."
Lydia returns the compliment and whispers to Allison, her eyes glancing briefly to the man Allison had pointed at. "He works at a coffee shop, doesn't he?" Lydia is assuming he's the guy from this morning, the one that worked on the coffee shop, but the soccer field is a little far away for Lydia to be sure. But Allison smirks at her so yeah, he's the guy.
Turning her attention to the second table, Allison continues. "These are my in-laws, John and Melissa..." They wave at the girls. Allison makes her way to them and gestures for the baby girl in Melissa's arms. "... and this is little Emma. She's two. And this" she turns to the other man "is the nicest guy you'll ever meet in your life, I swear to god," says Allison, patting him on the back.
He extends his hand to Lydia and she shakes it. "I'm Danny. Allison won't shut up about you." he says smiling. "She made sure everyone knew you were coming."
"Yeah, I missed that about her. And this little guy?" She gestures to the baby boy on his lap.
"This is Noah. He's turning one this weekend."
Lydia smiles and lets one of her fingers be wrapped by Noah's little hand while babbling to him playfully and bringing Ariel along with her and closer to the baby as well. Lydia doesn't notice the two boys that come running towards the group from the soccer field.
"So you're Lydia, hmm?" she hears from behind her. Not recognizing the voice, the redhead turns around to face a brown-haired boy, who looks like he is attached to the hip with Allison.
The brunette speaks for him, grinning. "This is my husband, Scott." He shakes Lydia's hand, all smiles. "And I believe you already met Stiles." Allison gestures to the boy next to Scott.
Lydia figures she must be in some alternate universe. Right? Because Stiles is looking at her in a way that makes her insides clench and he's panting, probably from all the running, and completely covered in sweat, his hair wet and damp a tone darker than what she remembers from just a few hours before, and his t-shirt is gripping his torso in a way that Lydia is sure is illegal.
Oh, this will be interesting.