It takes a toll on all three of them.
On Tuesday, when Lydia picks up Ariel from pre-school and tells her daughter that they'll have dinner at Stiles' for the first time that night, Ariel throws a fit on their way to the car much to Lydia's embarrassment, saying in between cries and shouts that she doesn't want to talk to Stiles. Because the little girl doesn't say that she doesn't want to see Stiles specifically, Lydia decides that they're going anyway. Still, just like the night before, Ariel doesn't address him even once during the evening, hurting him like he's hurting her.
Lydia can quite literally see how both Stiles and her daughter become more and more heartbroken as time passes and no solution to their conflict is reached. In fact, she doesn't think she's ever seen Stiles nor Ariel sadder than when she takes her daughter's hand and they leave for the night, following the plan so that Stiles finally gets to spend his first night at home alone ever since his accident.
On Wednesday, as agreed, Stiles is supposed to stop by for breakfast but when he calls Lydia to say that he's about to leave to meet the girls, Lydia has to tell him that Ariel didn't sleep well during the night and that she woke up earlier than usual, so the girl had already eaten. Stiles ends up staying put, skipping breakfast altogether until Lydia stops by and forces him to eat. After his physical therapy session, Stiles and Lydia have lunch and spend the afternoon together as planned, but whereas they could have taken advantage of that alone time to move some of his things back to his place or even to enjoy themselves, truth is those hours are spent discussing how they can make things better; how they can make everything right again.
They come up empty-handed, with nothing more than what they had already agreed on a couple of days before.
Both Stiles and Lydia pick up Ariel from pre-school that afternoon and have dinner at Lydia's. Surprisingly, Ariel doesn't throw a fit this time, resolving to keep quiet throughout the meal. Still, the little girl eyes Stiles constantly as if to make sure that he's still there but no words come out, and truly she's only scared of pushing him away any further. She doesn't understand what it is she did wrong to make Stiles want to leave.
Stiles spends the night there, yet the girl doesn't talk to him until Lydia puts her to bed, nor does she say a word the next morning as well.
And Thursday it's when it starts becoming worrying.
During breakfast, Stiles and Lydia really notice that Ariel has been eating less and less the past few days, having lost some of her appetite. It only concerns Stiles and Lydia further, so when they take her to pre-school Lydia makes sure to tell Cora about it so that the teacher can keep an eye on the little girl throughout the day.
It's when they learn from Cora that a couple of the kids in her class have their parents going through a divorce or a separation, and that because Ariel and Stiles had become so close so quickly - and also the whole ordeal his accident arranged (that even though unintended, ended up changing their routines so much) - it's only normal to expect that at the very least, Ariel is rather confused. Confused about what having so many new people around her and her mother means; about what Stiles - albeit temporarily - moving in implies. Confused about what it suggests now that he wants to leave. Regardless, Cora promises that she'll keep an eye on Ariel.
Stiles stays until late again, determined to figure out a way to make the little one stop hurting but it proves fruitless. During dinner, both him and Lydia try more than once to strike up a conversation with Ariel but she seems even quieter than in the last few days, sadder, and barely touches her food during the meal.
Lydia wants to believe that she lets Ariel go to her room after realizing that forcing the little girl to eat won't be the answer, hoping that she'll come around in an hour or so if she gets hungry. But it isn't the whole truth. A part of her just wants Ariel to leave so that she can cry.
After all, Lydia is heartbroken too.
She has only cried in front of her daughter a handful of times, and in all of them Lydia hated herself for it. Your children aren't supposed to see you suffering, and aren't supposed to hurt because of it. It had happened when Lydia felt alone and didn't have Natalie around to help out, or when Ariel did something for the first time and Lydia knew that her little girl would probably never have her father around to witness it.
Being a single parent can get lonely, and up until moving to Beacon Hills Lydia had only been able to rely on herself, and sometimes on her mother whenever the woman could. Yet she often wonders what it would be like, having raised Ariel with a father who was present, who was there for everything and anything that came at them even if Lydia knows it could never have been Jackson. Not with his temper and his wrong views of the world, not with his lack of responsibility and compassion at the very most. Had he ever changed, or had he been different, Lydia doesn't have a clue of where they be today.
And yet, despite loathing the thought of Jackson ever being in her daughter's life, Lydia dreads all the moments when Ariel will need a father and suffer with the absence of a parental figure as she gets older; the moments Jackson won't be a part of that Ariel will for sure ask Lydia about one day.
Jackson already wasn't there for the first time Ariel crawled or when she took her first steps. He didn't hear her first word (something along the lines of ana, because the little redhead was obsessed with bananas by then and always wanted more) nor was he there when she mastered potty training. The same way, he won't be here when Ariel loses her first tooth or wants to learn how to ride a bike, when she learns how to write and how to read. Ariel won't have a father who can scare off possible love interests when she's too young to even think about romance, or someone to take her to father-daughter dances. Lydia doesn't even want to think what Ariel will say if she ever wants to get married and doesn't have a father to walk her down the aisle.
Tears threaten to spill down Lydia's cheeks the second that Ariel is out of her sight, and Stiles is on his feet in an instant, pulling Lydia closer and wrapping his arms around her as tightly as he can manage, as if he can will her pain away just because he wants to. Lydia sobs quietly into his chest until Stiles pulls back and wipes her cheeks, kissing her hairline and whispering comforting words that Lydia can't quite make out.
They're silent while they clean up the table and do the dishes. They're silent when Lydia goes help Ariel change into her pajamas and returns to the living room just as conflicted as she'd left. They're silent as they cuddle on the couch, Stiles' arms wrapped around Lydia's frame comfortably as they rack their brains for a solution.
After a few minutes of closeness - of closeness and protection and care because Stiles always wears his heart on his sleeve, always, and makes the simplest thing feel like more -, Lydia pushes a hand against his chest and sits straighter, entwining her fingers with his. "I can't stop thinking about what Cora said," she admits bashfully, barely a whisper.
Stiles responds just as quietly. "I know," he says, running a hand through his hair. "Lydia, maybe..."
She nods because she already knows what he's going to say. "I think it's time to talk to her about Jackson."
"Yeah," he murmurs, leaning in a little. "Have you uh--" Stiles looks down at his lap where their hands are. "Have you given any thought to how you'll do it?" He asks, almost timidly because maybe this is overstepping a boundary. Maybe a boyfriend asking his girlfriend how she'll tell her daughter about a father she knows nothing about is a bit too much.
Lydia nods slowly, gazing down as well. "I uh-" She licks her lips, feeling her mouth suddenly dry. "I have but... How do you tell a 4 year old that her dad won't be a part of her life even if he's out there in the world somewhere?" She practically hums.
Stiles cups her cheek with the hand that isn't holding her own places his lips on her forehead, kissing her gently. "You'll figure something out," he says, assuming that it's not his place to interfere in this matter. "Have you talked to your mom about it?"
She nods again. "Yes. We always thought we had more time," Lydia confesses. "We always thought this would only happen when Ariel was older, when she could understand better." She bites on her lower lip nervously before continuing. "But then we came here, and we met all of you, and that alone was bound to change things. And then you..."
"I'm sorry," he whispers sincerely.
She tries to dismiss it because it isn't true. All that Stiles has ever done for them was for the better; this mess was meant to happen anyway even if he was just a friend of the family like the others, if only not as gravely. "No, Stiles. That's not what I--"
"Maybe I shouldn't have gotten so attached right off the bat. And I definitely shouldn't have gone after that robber, that was so stupid!" He chastises himself. "I shouldn't have accepted to come here, that only made things worse..."
"Stop," Lydia murmurs softly, shaking her head slightly. Her green eyes call for him until he's holding her gaze, helpless at how entrancing she can be sometimes. "I don't want you to apologize for any of it, not ever again. I don't want you to apologize for looking after my daughter, for caring for her so deeply like you do. I don't want you to apologize for trying to do what you thought was right or for accepting help when you needed it. Stiles..." Her voice breaks and Lydia takes a deep breath to calm herself down before the dam breaks again. "What's done is done, and I don't think we did wrong. I think it was unavoidable, sooner or later."
"Maybe if we'd waited..." He tries to justify, hating that part of the reason why Ariel is hurting is him.
"Then it would have happened anyway," Lydia tells him, believing this to be true. It's all she's been thinking about lately. "And what? We would just not give in to our feelings? You'd pretend you don't enjoy spending time with Ariel like I know you do?" She says lightly, trying to cheer up their moods a little, a barely there smile on her lips.
Stiles laughs through his nose, picking up on what she's trying to do. He rests his forehead against hers. "In my defense, you two are pretty lovable. It's pretty hard to ignore it and I'm weak. I never stood a chance."
Lydia smiles genuinely this time, her eyes shining for the first time in days with something that isn't tears. "I think I know the feeling..."
He thinks of kissing her, but then it also crosses his mind how Ariel could walk in on them. How it could make everything even more complicated if she didn't understand that either. "I should go," he says instead. "I don't want to push it with her."
Lydia must have been thinking the same thing because she straightens again, pursing her lips nervously as she's reminded of the pressing matter at hand. "Maybe. I don't even know anymore... You staying could help but would confuse her more, but on the other hand you leaving..." Lydia yawns despite herself, tired from the last few days wearing her out. "I don't really know..."
"Lydia, you look exhausted," he mumbles, concern in his voice. "You haven't been resting at all, you're always worried..." Stiles gets up from the couch and, still holding her hand, pulls her up as well. "Why don't I head home? Maybe you can get Ariel to eat when I'm gone, and then you can try and get some rest--"
"You know I can't sleep when I'm--"
"Nervous. I know," he finishes. "I can call you and talk to you until you fall asleep," he offers with a kind smile.
"You're not that monotonous," Lydia jokes lightly, trying to disguise the uneasy feeling that tugs at her heart at the thought of him leaving again.
"But I know how to calm you."
And in truth, he does. Lydia chooses not to tell him that it has more to do with his touch than his voice for the time being. "That you do," she concedes even though she doesn't want to. Not if he means he gets to leave.
Lydia follows him to the front door in silence and Stiles comes to a halt. "So..."
"So..."
"Call your mom," he suggests. "Tomorrow's Friday so maybe she can come this weekend?"
"She has a parent-teacher conference tonight, but I'll call her tomorrow morning," Lydia agrees. "And then we'll decide how to talk to Ariel. Maybe with her around it'll be easier..."
Somehow, they both doubt that. "We can call Melissa too. I know that they all keep telling us to just give it some time but I... I don't want this to drag more than it has to. I'm worried about her, Lyds..." And Lydia can hear the pain in his voice. "She's not eating, she's not talking..."
"Then stay," Lydia pleads quietly.
"I don't know," Stiles mutters under his breath. "I don't think I should."
"Nonsense," Lydia replies. Ariel loves you, Stiles. She's just hurt." The redhead takes hold of his hands and pulls him a little closer to her as she leans against the wall. "And I want you to help me figure this out."
"Lydia..."
"Stiles, this isn't your fault and I don't blame you for any of this. This was going to happen eventually, and if it's happening now... Well, we'll figure it out. You and me." She bites on her lower lip nervously and Stiles sighs. "Stiles, ever since we met..." Her voice quiets and Lydia smiles softly, her green eyes set on his amber ones. "I've seen you give away all you have, all of you just for a chance to make the ones you care about happy. You made me believe that it was okay to trust someone again. And I want to trust that Ariel needs you, and that I need you, and that maybe you should stay until this is resolved."
Stiles pecks her lips softly because this has been taking a toll on them too. Whereas just one week ago they were starting to explore more of each other and enjoying any free time they had without Ariel to make out openly, now they're constantly close to one another but nothing much happens anymore. It doesn't feel so right. And so now Stiles kisses Lydia so that she knows that he misses her too, that he wants this to be over in the best possible way even if he doesn't know how.
The comfort is shortly lived when he remembers that just a few doors down the hallway, one of the people in his life he cares about the most is hurting.
"I don't think she wants me to," Stiles says sincerely, sad as Lydia as ever seen him. "If Ariel doesn't want to see me, I don't want to force her to, so... Maybe I should go..." He mumbles again but he doesn't want to, not at all.
Lydia is just about to kiss Stiles in reassurance when they're both startled by a door creaking down the hall, and into view comes little Ariel. She's holding Missy, the girl's favorite stuffed monkey clutched to her chest as she sobs. Lydia holds her breath and can hear Stiles do the same.
There's a faint "Don't..." that they barely hear, and yet Ariel's raspy, tired voice resonates as if she'd shouted. "Don't leave. Please, don't leave again, daddy."
There's silence. Silence between Stiles and Lydia, who just stand in place, still holding hands and closer together than Ariel is used to see them but neither makes to move. Silence from Ariel after she'd said the words too, because she'd been listening in on their conversation ever since they stepped into the hallway and she doesn't want Stiles to leave, and now that she's said it Stiles isn't moving at all.
"I'm sorry, daddy," she cries, sprinting into his arms because she wants to do everything in her power to not let him go. Stiles can only fall to his knees to catch her, looking up at Lydia in bewilderment. The girl sobs against the crook of his neck, holding on as tight as she can. "Don't leave, daddy. Don't leave..."
None of them moves. Stiles has an expression on his face that Lydia can't quite decipher, thoughtful yet mixed with something else that she can't quite put her finger on. After a moment, he locks eyes with Lydia again, murmuring "Maybe it's time for that talk, after all."
Lydia nods, worrying her lower lip. "Ariel, honey?" Ariel doesn't look up nor does she let go of Stiles. If anything, she holds on to him tighter. "Can we talk to you?" She asks in a high-pitched voice, and Stiles knows that Lydia is on the brink of tears as well.
The little girl nods but doesn't look at either of them, not wanting to let go for anything. Stiles picks her up wordlessly, holding on to her just as fiercely, and heads to Ariel's bedroom with Lydia in tow. Putting her down, Ariel is reluctant to break the contact so Stiles holds her hand with one of his, grabbing hold of one of Lydia's with the other. All three sit on the bed, Ariel in between both adults and Lydia reaches for a blanket to cover Ariel with. If only because it's a cold night or out of nervousness, Lydia isn't sure.
"Honey, we... We know you must be confused with everything right now," Lydia starts, running her fingers down the girl's fiery hair. The girl just looks wide-eyed between them.
There's a moment of uneasy silence. Then "Ariel, I'm not... I'm not your dad." Stiles takes a deep breath, as if letting out the words pains him. "You know that, right?"
Ariel had said it instinctively. It had just come out. She'd realized that Stiles was leaving, and being so young she thought that it could mean forever, and in that moment all she wanted was for him to stay. Not knowing how to answer it, Ariel asks instead "Then who is?"
Lydia swallows dryly. Ariel had never asked because she'd only been in daycare for a few months before joining pre-school here in Beacon Hills, and other than that she'd always been with Lydia and Natalie only. Naturally, being around so many fatherly and familial figures now was bound to lead to this, sooner or later. "Your father..." Just how much information do you share with a 4 year old? Lydia bites on her lower lip worriedly runs one of his hands up and down Lydia's back soothingly. Lydia smiles at him briefly and pulls her daughter closer to her, hugging her sideways. "Your father is not around, Ariel. He is... Far, far away and he's not coming back."
The girl looks up, very serious and still teary. "Why?"
"It's uh- It's hard to explain. You will only understand when you're older, sweetie. For now, you just need to know that we can't count on him, and when you're older I'll tell you more about it, alright? It's just you and me, kiddo."
Stiles gives the girl a moment to process it, watching her frown as she tries to make sense of what she's been told. "But you're not alone, alright?" He says, and Ariel focuses on him. "You will always have your mom, and your Nana, and all of us, Ariel. We're all here for you. Me, Eric, Uncle Scott and Aunt Allison, Grandpa and Grandma..." Ariel had made a habit of addressing everyone the same way the other kids did and mostly it was endearing, but now it had Stiles worried it could make the situation worse.
"But you're leaving..."
Ariel could as well have slapped him. It's an understatement to say he'll be glad if Stiles never has to hear that hurt tone in her voice ever again. He opens his arms to her. "Come here," he says, and Ariel leaves her mother's comforting embrace for Stiles', sitting sideways on one of his legs and resting her head on his chest. Lydia starts crying silently again, Stiles notices, but by now they're all emotional. He beckons her closer too and Lydia sits beside them.
"You know how Eric likes me a lot?" Stiles asks Ariel, who nods looking up at him with wide-eyes, attentive as he's ever seen her. "Okay, so if you ask Eric, he'll probably tell you that he never wants me to leave his house either. But I have my own house, munchkin, you know that." He speaks slowly and softly, making sure that she's keeping up with what he's saying. "I have my own things there, and my room, just like you do here. And you love your room too, don't you?" Ariel lets out another sob but nods in response regardless. "Well then, I love being in my house just as much as I love being with Eric and Claudia at their house, or just as much as I love being here, with you and your mom."
"Stiles stayed with us because of his accident," Lydia continues. "He was hurt, and he needed our help so he could get better. But now he's better, so it's time for him to go back home again."
"But I'm not leaving, not to never come back. It just means that I'll get to sleep in my own room again and be around my things. I even have to go back to work in a few days, just like you have to go to school. But I'll still come here all the time, you'll see. Haven't I been here this week, even in the days I went home too?" He tries to reason, and the little girl nods again. "Well, then there you go," Stiles tells her, kissing the top of her head. "And every time you'll need me, for anything, I'll come running. I'll never leave you," he promises, holding her tight. "Never, never."
He can feel her sigh, even relaxing a little in his hold but uncertainty still laces her voice. "But I won't see you as much," she mumbles, fidgeting.
Stiles shares a look with Lydia, a look that he hopes she understands. "I think it's time," he murmurs to her, and Lydia knows what he means. In all truth, she doesn't even know what they're waiting for anymore. "Actually, Ariel, you will." He continues, and the girl locks eyes with him, hopeful. "You know that I care about you very, very much," he tells her, still hugging her tightly, "and I care about your mother a whole lot too. Almost as much as I like you," he says cheekily, and Ariel can't help but to let out a little laugh that finally starts to relax both adults. "Well, the way I feel about your mom is very special and uh-"
Stiles scratches the back of his neck, blushing a little and struggling to find the right words. Lydia purses her lips to suppress a smile before stepping in. "Stiles and I are dating, Ariel," Lydia states bashfully.
The little redhead looks between Stiles and her mother warily, studying them. "Like boyfriend and girlfriend?" She asks, curious.
"Yes, like that."
Her pretty green eyes shine. "Do you kiss on the mouth like grown ups do?" Ariel questions in a conspiratorial whisper, half-amused and half-shocked, as if she wouldn't want to get caught asking such a think.
Stiles laughs wholeheartedly, grinning down at red tainting his cheeks. "Yes, we do. Sometimes."
"But Ariel... That doesn't mean that Stiles is your father. Do you understand?" Lydia asks. "It means that Stiles will be around a lot but..." Lydia comes up empty, not really knowing how to say what she wants to say.
"It means that to the others," Stiles tries to help, "to Claudia and Eric, and Charlotte and her siblings, even to little Noah, I'm uncle Stiles. But to you... To you I'm just Stiles, Ariel. I'm your Stiles. And even though I'm not your dad, Ariel... I love you so, so much. Both you and your mom," he admits effortlessly, stroking her cheek fondly. "And so I'd like to be around for the two of you for as long as you'll let me. And I might not be your father, but I promise you I'll do my best to treat you as if you were my little girl."
Lydia's voice breaks, watching her daughter's watery eyes. "You already do."
Stiles grins at his girlfriend and lets out a sob himself. "So what do you think, Ariel?" He asks, not so much because he and Lydia want her blessing (even though, in truth, they do) but because he's afraid that she might be even more confused now than before.
"You're mommy's boyfriend, but you're leaving..." She drags, trying to process.
"Only sometimes, kiddo. But I'll come right back. I'll still be here tomorrow to spend time with you, and the next day, and the next," Stiles tells her. "So long as you want me around."
Lydia tilts Ariel's chin so that the girl faces her. "But Stiles is better now, honey. He needs to go back to work and back home. And that's okay because I have to work too. And you have school, and playtime with your friends so it's okay if Stiles isn't here all the time anyway, because we won't be here all the time either."
Ariel takes a moment before nodding. "But when will you be here?" She asks Stiles, apprehensive.
"I have work and your mom does too," he tells her, thinking about the next week and the ones after that. "And you have school, like your mom said. And like you, I want to spend with Eric and Claudia, and with Uncle Scott and Grandpa just like you want to spend time with your Nana. So we can have the rest of the time if you want. I can be here then" he offers, and Ariel starts nodding immediately. "Tell you what." An idea pops into his head and Stiles glances at the little table in one of the corners of the room, close to a small bookcase where Lydia keeps Ariel's drawing materials. "Why don't we get a cardboard, and some pens and pencils, and we make some plans? It could be our own little project. Would you like that? That way you can always check it and see when I'll be here next."
"A project?" Ariel's eyes light up. Playing with Stiles is never just playing houses or coloring a book. Everything has a project with him: there are plans and stories to go along, always something to keep on doing it, like a promise of more. So Ariel nods profusely, latching onto his neck and hugging him. "Yes."
Stiles kisses her temple, beaming at the girl's enthusiasm. "Alright, we can do that. All three of us, okay?"
Lydia smiles gratefully and nods too.
"Can you stay sometimes?" Ariel questions, getting up on her feet excitedly as if she wants to start right away, the blanket falling falling from her shoulders.
Stiles is quick to put it back in place, tucking her in tightly in amusement and making her giggle, the smile he loves so much now etched on her face. "Yeah, I guess I can, some times. And maybe sometimes you can come and stay with me too," he offers, and Ariel beams.
"Really?"
"Really, really," he tells her wholeheartedly. "We can even make a fort in the living room like I do with Eric, if you want."
Stiles promises himself right then to make sure that Ariel has a smile this bright on her face every single day. "Can mom come too?" She asks excitedly.
"Of course."
"Stiles says we can make a fort," Ariel singsongs, and Lydia can only grin at how excited her little girl seems to be now, feeling a little more settled.
"Tomorrow though, munchkin," Stiles reminds her and Ariel's smile starts to slip away. He tickles her, smiling brightly until it's contagious and Ariel's laugh echoes through the room. "I'm sleeping at my house tonight, remember?"
"Can't you stay?" She asks immediately, enthused about the prospect of Stiles being around more often. She doesn't want to have to wait.
Lydia wants him to desperately say yes but refrains from speaking her mind in front of her daughter. After all, the reasons why she wants him to spend the night, after everything that's just happened, aren't at all suitable for a child to hear.
Stiles lets her go and gets on his feet, picks up Missy from the floor near the bedroom door where Ariel had let it fall to the ground. With one of the stuffed monkey's arms, he pokes her nose teasingly. "I'll be here before you're up for breakfast, you won't even miss me."
Ariel stares at him intently for a moment, then raising her left hand in between them. "Pinky swear?" She asks innocently and yet in all seriousness, and Stiles is touched at the vouch of confidence.
Grinning brightly, he places Missy on the bed and gets down on one knee so that they're at eye-level. "I'll do you one better." Raising his hands, he stretches both his little fingers. "I'll double pinky swear!"
Stiles and Lydia almost want to laugh at Ariel's reaction. As if he'd said the holiest thing, her eyes widen and she inhales deeply, slowly reaching to entwining her fingers with his and shaking on it. "Okay," she accepts, her eyes alight.
Stiles smiles warmly at Lydia, who's watching the interaction as if it's intimate, sacred, completely amazed. On a whim, she bends forward to kiss Stiles' cheek affectionately and they exchange a look that conveys more than words.
Had a "Ewww" not been heard, Stiles would have properly kissed his girlfriend the way he actually wants to. Instead, he and Lydia start laughing at Ariel's exclamation of disgust and surprise at the display of affection.
"Don't you Ewww us," Stiles chastises playfully, "or I'll have to kiss your cheek too."
Ariel beams, eyes glinting with mischief and liveliness, sticking her tongue out at him and saying "Not if you can't catch me" before taking off, a little girl in a pink pajama with auburn tresses running behind her as she flees into the hallway.
Maybe this was what she'd needed all along, Lydia thinks as she can't do anything but watch as her daughter leaves and Stiles scrambles after her, both laughing like they hadn't in days. Someone who'd just be here for her, despite the emptiness that Lydia knows her daughter feels every time Stiles is out the door. Someone who makes it feels so natural to love.
Lydia would know. She feels the same way.
xxxxxxxxxx
She takes a minute to herself, to wrap her head around everything before getting up to follow them, and it's in times like this that Lydia wishes she had photographic memory to imprint some moments into her brain so that'd she would never, ever forget them.
Like when she finds Stiles in the middle of the living room holding a giggling uncontrollably Ariel up in the air, spinning until he's out of breath and can't do it anymore. Or when they finally settle and Lydia asks if Ariel's hungry, and the three of them spend a good half an hour in the kitchen preparing a couple of healthy snacks for the little girl and watching her eat, indulging her in answering questions that come as easy as they used to before this happened. Or when Ariel asks Stiles to read her a bedtime story after days of adamantly denying him of doing so (Stiles replies that no, he won't read her a story. That he'll read her two and Ariel is absolutely delighted, as if Christmas came early). Or when she checks on them after cleaning the kitchen again and changing into her nightwear, and finds Ariel tucked on her bed, curled into Stiles' side as he continues to whisper the story to her even though the little girl is fast asleep, finally worn out.
Lydia just stands and watches the scene, heart tight in her chest as she's overcome with emotion. She lets him finish the short story, allowing him to enjoy this because she knows that reading to Ariel is one of his favorite pastimes.
When he's done and Ariel is left sleeping soundly, Stiles and Lydia leave the door ajar and exit the room. He helps her tidying the living room and turning off the lights for the night because Stiles knows that she has to be exhausted just like he is, just like Ariel was, and so assumes she'll head to bed as soon as he leaves and that maybe more talking can be left for tomorrow.
Before he can even think of actually heading for the front door, however, Lydia takes one of his hands wordlessly and leads him to her bedroom. He thinks he sees a flirtatious look on her face, but he isn't sure until the door is closed behind him and Lydia raises on her tiptoes to kiss him passionately, the way she's wanted to do for so many days now.
He kisses her back just as chaotically, turning them around to pin her against the closest wall until they're out of breath, making out with an urgency that makes it seem that they maybe they don't need oxygen to breathe after all, trying to make up for lost time.
Lydia is panting when his mouth leaves hers. "Fuck," she mutters, licking her lips. "Do you have any idea just how good you are?" She says the words as if she can't believe them herself, as if he's a god sent to Earth and all she can do is stare in wonder. "Do you know how hot it is?!"
Stiles chuckles and leans down to kiss her again. "You need to get some sleep," he murmurs jokingly, kissing her forehead affectionately.
Lydia cups his cheeks ad makes him face her, saying the words as sincerely as she feels. "Sometimes it's like you don't even know..."
Stiles can feel just how heartfelt the words are, just how much Lydia means it, and when they kiss this time it isn't as desperate or as rushed.
And it isn't as inconsequential. "Lydia..."
The way he says her name the makes her shudder, reverberates through her chest as if he'd shouted instead of whispered, and brings to the surface questions that her own words had asked just before. But whereas Lydia was willing, Stiles is apprehensive as if he isn't sure if they should do it.
Lydia fiercely disagrees. "Stay."
Stiles looks into her eyes, trying to unveil all that the invitation suggests. "I was supposed to head home."
"Stay," she repeats, and there's a small smile tilting the corner of her lips up.
"We just told your daughter I'm not supposed to stay over all the time," he tries to reason, deciding that before actually agreeing with his girlfriend and deciding just on which terms this night is going to go, he should first rule out all the reasons why he shouldn't.
"So long as she sees you for breakfast, I don't think she'll complain," Lydia quips quickly, her smile growing and growing. "Stay."
"She's down the hall!"
"And we're here. Stay."
She's openly grinning now, and Stiles wants nothing but to kiss her smirk away. "You know, we had a plan for this, remember? No funny business until the doctor gave the all clear, which should only be next week. Remember that?" He asks teasingly, even though he wants to see it through just as much as she apparently does. "Remember that?"
Lydia clicks her tongue and bats her eyelashes at him, biting on her lower lip enticingly. "With all due respect to you plan-making skills, Stiles, fuck the plan."
He takes a step back in feigned shock, placing a hand over his heart for good measure. He's missed this, the flirtatious banter back and forth they'd had for the last few weeks whenever they were alone. "I can't believe this. Is this how your trying to seduce me?"
Lydia laughs through her nose, cheeks reddening despite herself. "Is it working?"
Stiles eyes her carefully, and to Lydia he looks a little out of breath, bewildered with the factuality of the proposition. She can practically see the gears working in his head. "No," he replies simply, and Lydia frowns. "I actually had a plan, you know? Besides the plan..."
Because the doctor would only give him the all clear next week and Lydia's birthday is on Sunday, that's why. Besides, he's a very proud plan maker no matter what Lydia says.
Regardless, deciding that maybe giving her a few more days to think it through so that she's sure that this is what she wants, that this is where she wants and is comfortable with having their relationship go, Stiles kisses her cheek and opens her bedroom door, making to leave. Looking over his shoulder, he whispers softly. "I'll just see you tomorrow, okay?"
Lydia almost lets him go. She almost lets him slip from her fingers that night, almost tells herself that maybe she's rushing into this. That maybe they aren't ready but she aches. Aches for him every time he leaves, and knows he aches for her just the same whenever she's the one who goes. Catching his hand before he can sneak out of the bedroom, Lydia stares deeply into his brown bright eyes. "Stay, Stiles. Please."
Her voice comes out strained and her face is suddenly serious, as if she's never meant anything more in her life. As if she isn't scared of what it means anymore.
Stiles moves and closes the door behind him.