A Short Story | Stydia

Something In The Way, Chapter 1/1

Author's Note:
Hey guys! Thank you for clicking onto my newest story. It's my favorite, although it is very short. Please do not forget to vote and comment! Thank you!

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  Time felt like it had finally stood still the summer that they had met. The warm Virginian breeze had slowed, and Stiles saw her as if she were in slow motion. Her red curls of hair blew softly with a bounce to them, and an innocent smile slowly made its way onto her pink, glossy lips. She wore a vibrant yellow sundress with daisies printed on them as she approached him. She was holding his best friend's hand. His best friend, Scott, tugged her lightly along to Stiles with a smile that matched hers. Her green eyes looked up at Stiles, hooded under her long, fluttering lashes. Her oval eyes gleamed in the summer sun, matching her bare skin that sparkled from body shimmer.

          When she introduced herself as Lydia, her voice was softer -almost tinier- than any that he'd ever heard before. Lydia looked up at Scott as he talked to the other boy; her lips parted in awe at his words. He spoke of adventure and the promise of summer fun. Stiles shamefully looked away from her, hoping that Scott had not seen.

          More boys approached the three, all wearing tanks and shorts of different colors. There was Theo, with his short, ugly brown hair, and Liam, who was the shortest and shyest of the boys. All of the boys were great friends, but Stiles was the one that held them all together. He was a very humble young man, but all of them knew that he was the leader of their group. They all looked up to him, and sometimes even dreamt of being him - because jealousy was a weird thing that could come from anywhere and feed off of anyone- but their loyalty to Stiles was stronger than anything in the world. He never doubted them, and they never doubted him. They loved each other.

          From that point forward, Lydia had become part of their small, but closely-knit clique. She didn't miss a single beat with any of them, for she had fallen in love with them all. Lydia never expected that warm summer day to change her life forever, but it had. It had given her four friends that she would forever cherish, until the very end.

          Their summer consisted of spontaneous road trips to God-only-knows-where, carnivals, and lots of hot nights on the back of Stiles's old truck, staring at the stars until sleep overtook them all. Lydia's presence with them felt right, as if she were the last piece to their puzzle; as if she were the thing that all the boys subconsciously longed for; as if she were the missing piece to their circle. Even Theo, hot-headed and moody Theo, felt it too. She was one of them, she had whatever it was that made these boys family. Lydia was more than just Scott's girlfriend; she was family too.

          But Stiles felt so much more for her than Theo or Liam. Because to them, she was just a friend. Stiles's feelings often made him feel guilty; dirty. He kept it inside himself, he kept it hidden. But on the long rides home, late at night when the moon was the only light source coming into the truck, he couldn't help but glance at her through the mirror. Sometimes she was asleep with her face against the cool window or Scott's shoulder, and sometimes she'd be awake, playing a game on her gigantic phone -- to which Scott would protest, almost every time that he saw it, that it was clearly too big for her little hands -- or she'd be curiously watching Stiles back, too, with her big green eyes.

          Stiles often found himself jealous of Scott time and time again. He couldn't help but feel it every time Lydia would cling to Scott's arm, or choose him to ride the roller coasters with her - especially when Stiles knew that Scott was scared shitless of them, and Stiles had loved them for as long as he had been tall enough to ride one. He felt it when Scott would win her stuffed animals at the carnival games. He felt it when they'd take pictures together. He felt it when they'd laugh together. He felt it every day.