VERY SLOPPILY EDITED FEEL FREE TO POINT OUT ANY GRAMMAR OR SPELLING MISTAKES! Enjoy!

-

Stiles seemed to be taking out all the anger he had built up inside of him into the basketball. He dribbled madly across the concrete floor, forgetting any kind of technique and most definitely not using his finger pads to gently push the ball down, like his basketball coach had told him so many years ago when he first started playing basketball. Instead, he thoughtlessly slammed his hand against the rubber ball and sent it plummeting into the floor.

Scott knew something was wrong with his best friend, seeing as Stiles was the second best player on their 8th grade basketball team for the Beacon Junior High School. Scott was the best, of course, he was the captain of the team, but he knew his friend wasn't bad at playing the game and knew how to actually dribble the ball, not just hit it as hard as you can.

It only took him one try to hit the ball away from Stiles, which told Scott that something was definitely wrong, since he was leading on the offense. "Dude," Scott panted, grabbing Stiles' shoulder so he wouldn't scamper away and retrieve the ball. "What the hell is up with you? You're sucking so bad today," Stiles let out a heavy sigh and ruffled his sweaty hair (they were playing outside on Scott's driveway and summer was quickly approaching).

"The end of the year dance, man. It's only one week away and I still don't have a date." Scott groaned in frustration.

"Just freaking ask Lydia already! Times a-wasting! Lydia got so hot this year, before you know it, guys'll be lining up in the street for her."

"Scott, please, for fucks sake, do not ever describe Lydia as hot again. Ew. I've known her since we're in diapers. And- even if I did ask her- there are so many reasons why I shouldn't." Scott tried to intervene but Stiles just kept listing. "1. She's my best friend, besides you, of course. 2. She most definitely doesn't like me. 3. I do not want to get beat up by Jackson." This earned a quizzical look from Scott.

"Wait- Jackson? Like likes Lydia? No way, I thought he had it for Allison," He crossed his arms defensively, and Stiles understood why. Scott had the biggest crush on Allison and asked her to the dance 3 days ago.

"Yeah," Stiles confirmed, "I overheard Nathan Cloff and Ian Lyder talking about it in the locker room after gym the other day." Stiles' mood plummeted.
Only Scott knew this, but Stiles actually did have a crush on Lydia. And if Jackson, the most appealing guy to girls and school liked her, she was a goner.

"Don't worry," Scott reassured, giving Stiles' shoulder a squeeze. "You'll get your chance."

-

"Lydia, come on! Stop waiting for Jackson to ask you to the dance. He's a jackass." Allison sighed, pulling a light purple dress of the rack, showing it to Lydia. The strawberry blonde shook her head no, telling her the embellishments looked tacky.

"Jackson is not a jackass," Lydia swore, admiring a floor length sky blue gown. "He's just... He just doesn't sugar coat things." She pulled out the gown from the rest of the dresses and showed it Allison. The other girl just shrugged and moved her hand in a so-so motion, and Lydia nodded before putting the dress back.

"And Jackson does not take pity on losers. I find that quite admirable." Allison rolled her eyes at the comment.

"What, losers like Stiles?" She said accusingly, and Lydia stiffened, looking at Allison with a confused look on her face. "I heard Stiles talking about it to Scott the other day. You know that black eye he had?"

"That's- that's from basketball. He wouldn't lie to me." Lydia said, shaking her head. Allison gave her friend a raised eyebrow, taking a baby pink dress off the rack for show. When Lydia saw it, she squealed and insisted that Allison try it on.

"Of course he would tell you that, because he's embarrassed, Lydia."

"Stiles, embarrassed, around me? No way, he's my best friend, besides you." Allison laughed to herself, earning an annoyed look from Lydia.

"God, for the smartest person in the whole 8th grade, you're so, so blind." Allison rolled her eyes again and Lydia was about to interrupt but the other girl intervened. "He likes you, dumbass!"

Lydia stopped searching through the dress rack and let her mouth hang open. There was no way, at all, that Stiles liked her back.

Yes, likes her back.

Lydia had acknowledged that she liked Stiles a while back, but shoved her feelings aside because she didn't want to like him. She didn't want to fall for her cute and nerdy best friend, she wanted to have a perfect love story and fall for the the hot jock. If only the naive girl could understand that the perfect love story doesn't exist, and the right person from her was bluntly thrown at her time and time again.

-

"Love fucking sucks."

It was the first thing Lydia had said all night as she and Stiles laid on the roof above his bedroom, sharing a bottle of Mountain Dew and sour gummy worms in silence. Stiles looked over to her as she was yanking a gummy worm from her teeth.

"I mean, it just does. Love is horrible. Who even came up with love? They need to die." He chuckled at Lydia's comment before taking the soda can from her hand and taking a sip, looking up to the stars as he mulled over her words.

"I dunno, Dia. I would help you kill the person if we ever found him tho." Stiles put his arms behind his head and lay back on the slant of the roof, grabbing a gummy worm and devouring it. Lydia huffed and lay down with him.

"Would you kill Jackson for me too?" She said, taking a sip of Mountain Dew. Stiles furrowed his eyebrows as his heart skipped a beat. He flipped over to face her.

"I thought you liked Jackson?" The boy said confusedly, trying with all his might to refrain from saying oh please tell me you don't, just say it.

"Yeah, I do, but he still won't ask me to the dance! So I still don't have a date."

"That makes two of us." Stiles said, flipping on his back and eating a sour gummy worm.

"Wait, we could make this fun." Lydia said like she just had the best idea of the century, sitting up and staring at him. Stiles just raised an eyebrow. "Since we don't have dates, there's no boundaries. We can kiss anyone." This made Stiles sit up, he and Lydia both knew they hadn't had their first kisses yet. What the hell was she getting at?

"I bet you $25 and a soda that I can kiss someone at the dance before you do." She said mischievously, hoping in the back of her mind that this would result in her locking lips with the dreamy Jackson Whitmore. Stiles contemplated this challenge for a moment, before jutting out his hand and shaking Lydia's.

"You're on, Martin.

-

On the Friday of the dance, Stiles' picked up Lydia on his old beach cruiser bike from the 70s. He got it at goodwill for $13.67. Lydia was absolutely terrified of the thing, so he made sure to put an extra layer of duck tape on the pegs so ensure her safety.

And no, do not think for one second that Stiles is literally taking Lydia to the dance, that he's taking her to the dance. They were competitors now, not dates.

But oh, when Lydia walked down the steps of her mansion like home, he wanted to be her date. So, so badly. So badly that it seemed to choke him. Or maybe that's just how tight his dad tied his bow tie.

She wore a royal blue dress, the front of the skirt reaching just below the knee and the back brushing her ankles. It had small cap sleeves by the sweetheart neckline, and fit her so well it seemed to cascade down her body like a waterfall. As she waved goodbye to her mom, Lydia swiftly walked across the pavement, making eye contact with Stiles and smiling, pushing a lock of curled hair behind her ear. If only Stiles could see she was blushing under all of her makeup.

"Where do you want me Stilinski, front or back." She said, gesturing to the pegs on his bicycle. Stiles started choking on laughter and Lydia rolled her eyes, finally looking at him with a grumpy 'what'.

"That's what she said."

"Shut the fuck up," she said, smacking him upside the head.

"Ok, ok, fine. Well, in the back your dress might get caught in the wheels, but it also-"

"Front. Definitely front." Lydia said as soon as she heard the threat to her beautiful gown, stepping in front of the bike and putting her feet on the pegs, one on either side of the front wheel, and hoisting herself until she was sitting in between the bike handles, accidentally grabbing Stiles' hands in process- they both blushed furiously.

After Lydia reminded him one more time about the bet he sold his soul to, Stiles began to push the pedals down the street and towards the junior high, commenting on how 'heavy' Lydia was. She retaliated by smacking his face without even turning around. About 7 more minutes of bickering and joking passed before the pair hopped off the bicycle, locking it at the bike rack and walking into the gym.

-

Student council must have finally used all of the ticket and fundraiser money, because the dance was so, so much nicer than any other one they had before.

There was a disco ball set up in the middle, with pieces of silver and midnight blue fabric branching out from it until it connected with the side walls. There were star lights hung around the perimeter of the gym, and there was a buffet table complete with chocolate fountain and punch bowl. The rest of the tables all had silver table cloths that seemed to shimmer in the light, perfectly matching the cheesy dance theme- under the stars.

"Alright Stiles," Lydia spoke loudly so he could hear her over the extremely loud music. "It's 8:00, which means there's 2 hours of the dance, and I intend to beat you in that time. May the best one win." She said with a devious smile, flipping her hair over her shoulder and strutting away, and Stiles lost her in the crowd.

As much as he did like Lydia, and only wanted to kiss Lydia, he would not give her bragging rights. So, he puffed out a sigh and began to walk around, observing all the girls he could and scoping out the options. Soon enough he ran into Scott, who was dancing happily and smiling like a puppy with his date Allison.

"Hey dude, did you finally ask Lydia to the dance?" He asked Stiles, Allison leaning over his shoulder to join in on the conversation as well.

"Nah, I made a bet with her tho."

"You WHAT?" Allison shouted.

"Yup. The first one to kiss someone before the dance ends wins." He said matter-o-factly, flashing a lop-sided smile. Allison groaned and rolled her eyes.

"Why can't you two just swallow your overly inflated egos and go out already! We can even do a double date or something!" She yelled, and Scott nodded his head. Stiles just shrugged it off, saying it wasn't meant to be, even though everyone actually knew it was.

He danced with Scott and Allison for a couple more songs before sauntering off again, trying to decide which girl to kiss. Kira Yukimura? No, she's too new, he didn't want to scare her. He checked his watch and almost screamed when he saw there was only an hour and 15 minutes until the dance ended. Stiles quickly looked around for Lydia, her bright strawberry hair being able to stand out among the other students. When he saw her, his heart dropped to his stomach. She was twirling her perfect hair and giggling her heavenly laugh with Jackson, and he seemed to have complete crazy eyes for her.

Stiles took a deep breath, letting it out with all of his disappointment before going back on the prowl, now more determined than ever to win the bet.

He told himself that he didn't care, and was just playing the game for fun, but didn't realize it was just a distraction. Scott and Allison, on the other hand, could tell.

"It's so sad, seeing her throw herself at him like that." Allison said, peaking over his shoulder at Jackson and Lydia.

"And it sucks seeing Stiles like this. He's liked her since the third grade." Scott mentioned, seeing Stiles look at the two in defeat. Allison nodded sadly, before sighing.

"They're both so freaking stubborn. If they could both just get over it, they would be happily dating by now." She said exasperatingly. Scott agreed, smiling sadly at her.

-

Another 45 minutes passed and Lydia was getting desperate. She couldn't help but glance over at Stiles chatting it up with Malia Tate and feel something spark up in her. It's not jealousy, she told herself, just competitiveness.

She was out to win, and wouldn't stop until she had $25 and a can of soda safely in her hand.

So when a slow song came on, Lydia didn't hesitate to sling he arms around Jackson's neck, feeling his hands circle around her waist. They swayed back and forth, a dreamy smile on her face as she looked into his eyes. Everything was perfect.

So why didn't it feel perfect?

Every now and then, Lydia would let her eyes wander to Stiles, slow dancing with Malia Tate. That same feeling of 'competitiveness' spread through her, so she took a deep breath and turned back to Jackson. He raised an eyebrow.

"What're you looking at?" Jackson questioned.

"Oh, just looking to see if my friend got a girl." The words left an unbelievably sour taste on her tongue.

"Who, that Bilinski kid? He couldn't get a girl if he tried." He chuckled, and Lydia's eyes widened in horror. Jackson narrowed his eyes.

"What, that's not going to be a problem, is it? I don't like it when my date hangs out with losers." His smile was sickeningly sweet, and she felt her mouth drop open, taking one last look at her best friend across the gym. She looked back and smiled at him, a grin faker than Barbie.

"No, not at all."

The song ended and the two broke apart, smiling and blushing at their feet. Lydia felt nasty inside, like she had just broken something dear to her. This was torturous, what she needed was air. Or punch. Punch is better.

"I'm gonna go grab some punch, I'll be right back." She said, walking across the gym, catching sight of Malia and Stiles on her way. They were practically hugging now! She let out a frustrated sigh, by why? Why was she letting this little thing get to her? The little devil in the back of her mind kept saying 'you like him, that's why!' But she pushed the thought to the darkest corner of her mind and left it there, quickly brushing off her dress for invisible crumbs and pouring herself a glass of punch.

After she got her punch, Lydia sat on the bleachers, hunching over as she looked around for Allison, because what she needed most during this chaotic moment was her best friend. When she finally found her dazzling brunette hair and baby pink dress, she noticed that Allison and Scott still had their arms around each other even after the slow song ended. Lydia, not wanting to ruin the moment, just sat silently drinking her punch, before pulling out her hot pink razor phone and checking the time.

'It's 9:45 already?' Lydia's eyes widened as she realized there was only 15 minutes left to kiss Jackson. With determination, Lydia marched to the bathroom to touch up her makeup, maybe even applying some more lipgloss for good measure.

She shoved open the metal doors and walked through the hallways to the girls bathroom, set and ready to finally kiss-

"Jackson?" Her voice croaked, seeing her dream guy locking lips with Malia Tate. He broke off the kiss when he heard her voice, looking at Lydia with wide eyes before walking over to her.

"Look, Lydia, you're a nice girl, really, and your hot too." Lydia's heart cringed at his comment. 'Was that all I was to him?'

"But, you're just not what I'm looking for. Sorry," Jackson gave a sideways smile that somehow now looked devious instead of adorable. He turned his back to Lydia and held Malia's hand, before walking out into the school courtyard. Lydia sat staring at where they once were, her eyes welling up with tears. She began to walk to the old storage closet her and Stiles found half way through 7th grade, deeming it as their hideout whenever either of them needed to get away.

She wiped her tears as she entered the hideout, sinking on an old desk with her back against the wall. More tears seemed to blur her vision but she blinked them away.

Why would he do that to her? He lead her on, called her his date, slow danced with her, and was acting like the ultimate dream guy! Allison was right, he was a jackass and he was not the perfect guy for her, Lydia realized. The perfect love story doesn't exist, and all she wants right now is-

-

Stiles sighed as he watched Malia walk into the hallway. His attempts at kissing someone were futile, and time was slowly ticking. He checked his watch to see there was only 10 minutes of the dance left, and decided to give up. It was horrible, letting her win so easy, but there was nothing left for him to do. He tried flirting with Erica, Malia, even attempting to woo the third most popular girl in school, Kaitlyn Weeber. All of his attempts failed, and now he just wanted to find Lydia and wave a white flag.

He walks over to Allison and Scott, they probably knew where she is.

"Hey, have either of you seen Lydia?" He asked, pulling the two away from each other.

"Nah, why? Finally gonna buck up and ask her out?" Scott laughed, and Stiles gave him an evil look.

"No, I'm going to accept defeat and let her win. I'll go check the hideout." Stiles finished, and Allison gave him a knowing smile, being more sensitive than Scott.

The door to the hideout creaked open as he pushed it. A graveyard of school desks, chairs, white boards. And filing cabinets littered the room. It was cramped and musky, and Lydia sat behind a stack of desks on a single desk, sniffling away. His mind filled with concern.

"Hey, Dia? You ok?" He asked cautiously, weaving his way between old furniture until he sat on a desk across from her. She huffed.

"No." Was all she said, not bothering to wipe her tears now, she had cried in front of Stiles before. "I-I just don't get it. Why me? I didn't do anything to anybody." She said, burying her head in her hands. "Love fucking sucks." Lydia was starting to sound like a broken record.

"Want to talk about it?" Stiles asked, moving so that they were side by side. He lifted an arm up and rubbed her shoulder. She sniffled before speaking.

"As you know, I really wanted to win that bet. But it was just some stupid excuse to kiss Jackson. He's such a dick. Why didn't you warn me? Never mind, that's a bitch move, you were just being supportive." She said, looking at him with a fake smile. "Anyway, when I finally decided I was gonna go for it and kiss Jackson, I went to the bathroom to freshen up. And low and behold, he was out in the hallway sucking face with Malia. After completely fucking leading me on! Like who the hell does that? A j-jerk, that's who. God, w-why did I ever even l-like him?" She rambled, breaking down second by second. Stiles just sat there comforting her, before she finally pulled herself together.

"I need some fresh air," She said, standing up with a strong voice and Stiles could already tell she was getting over it. Not even the all mighty Jackson Whitmore could take her down. They walked outside onto the Patio that overlooked the courtyard, leaning on the railing and looking up at the stars, a comfortable silence between besides the dulled music from the raging dance.

"Stiles?" Lydia said, breaking the silence. He looked over at her. The pale moonlight reflected into her Irises and made them glow beautifully, the light of the stars illuminating her hair. She looked like a goddess standing before him.

"Yeah Dia?" He asked, pulling him from thoughts of how beautiful she is.

"Thank you, for always helping me out with dicks like Jackson," She said, cracking up at the end. Stiles let out a chuckle too. "Man, why did I even like him? He's not even on the basketball team," Lydia laughed again. Stiles checked his watch, noticing there was only 3 minutes left.

This was his chance. This was the thing that would change everything. Finally, after a long wait from 3rd grade, he was going to do it.

"Hey Lydia?" He asked, and she turned to him. "I-I was thinking, there's still a chance for the game," He felt a wave of heat spread across his cheeks. She gave him a quizzical look. "We can, you know, um, both win?" The end came out as a question and she blushed hard enough to rival her hair. Did he just ask her to kiss him?

"I-I mean, I don't want to lose," She stuttered back, taking a step closer to him. His blush intensified and his stomach felt like there were elephants pounding around.

"Y-yeah, me neither." He said, taking another step to where they were almost touching. He looked down on her face and the sight took his breath away.

His hands made their way up to her soft cheeks as he leaned down, her eyes fluttering shut. His closed as their foreheads lightly touched. He could feel the soft wind of her breath on his cheeks, her delicate hands on his shoulders, their heartbeats practically pounding out of their chests. Stiles gradually pulled her closer, and then he felt his lips touch hers.

It wasn't at all what he imagined his first kiss to be like, no, there was no words to describe the euphoric feeling that erupted from his lips and spread through his body, settling down in his heart. Stiles felt like he could walk on the moon and dance among the stars, taking her with him. He pulled Lydia closer, holding her cheeks in his hands, kissing her like it was the last moment on earth. He wasn't sure how much time passed, but when Stiles pulled away he was already wanting, craving more. But instead, he just let his forehead rest against hers, not bothering to hide the smile that was on his face.

"GET SOME!" He heard his best friend Scott yell, immediately pulling away from Lydia and feeling the blush once again crawl on his cheeks. Allison screamed as she jumped up and down, so happy she grabbed Scott and kissed him too.

"WE DID IT! IT FINALLY HAPPENED! IT FUCKING HAPPENED" She yelled, cheering and Lydia and Stiles stared at her like she was insane. Scott started jumping with her like a little kid.

Stiles chucked to himself, turning to Lydia with a sly smile.

"You owe me $25 and a soda," They said at the same time.

-

This is really long. Idk why, I didn't plan for it to be that way.

ANYWAYYYY I thought it would be cute if stiles nickname Lydia 'Dia' because I don't think he ever actually calls her Lyds in the show. :)

Also I have a really good idea for the next one shot, but it's gonna be more of a short story because it's really realllyyyy long.

CIAO BBS
Lucy 💘