Stiles stood outside the front doors of the school. He was nervous, tapping his hat against his thigh. 'Where are they?' he thought, checking his phone again and looking out into the parking lot, searching for the familiar brown hair and uneven jawline of this best-friend, or the long strawberry-blonde curls of his girlfriend. Then he saw a shiny blue prius pull in and stop. The passenger side opened and Lydia stepped out followed by her mom from the driver's side. Lydia looked up at the steps and saw Stiles. When she saw him her whole face lit up and she waved, making a 'be there in a sec' gesture. Stiles watched as she hugged her mother who said something to her. Lydia responded then turned and hurried towards him.
It had understandably taken her a long time to forgive her mother for committing her to Eichen House earlier that year, and during the month long period where she was still recovering from the mental and physical trauma and torture and wouldn't talk to her mother, she had stayed in the Stilinskis' spare-room. Kira had offered as well and everyone had expected Lydia to accept, but she had chosen Stiles, saying that she felt obliged since he had, after all, saved her and also that she felt more at home there. During that time Lydia and Stiles had grown even closer, talking about anything and everything. Stiles caught her up on what they'd been learning at school, then she taught it to him. It hadn't come as as surprise to anyone when they had officially started dating.
Now when Lydia reached him Stiles pulled her close and kissed her. She kissed him back before pulling away with a smile saying, "can't ruin the lipstick." Stiles just laughed and reached down to hold her hand.
Just then they heard laughing behind them and turned to see Scott, Isaac, Kira and Malia rounding the corner of the school. Scott and Kira were holding hands and Isaac was in the middle of making a snarky comment. When they saw Stiles and Lydia all four grinned in hello. Kira let go of Scott's hand and ran forward to hug Lydia, stumbling in her black heels. Laughing, Lydia caught her. Scott greeted Stiles by slapping him lightly on the back and giving him a solemn sort of nod.
"Come on Scott; it's graduation not a funeral." Scott smiled but still looked nervous.
"Stiles, my man." Isaac said sarcastically, punching him on the arm.
"Isaac." Stiles replied. The two of them had always had the 'I bet I can fit more marshmallows in my mouth then you' kind of friendship, but they were there for each other.
After everyone greeted each other they stood in a line: Malia, Kira, Scott, Stiles, Lydia, Isaac, in front of the open doors.
"You ready?" Scott asked his pack, then reached down and took Kira's hand, then Stiles', who took Lydia's and so on.
"For the biggest change of our lives." Kira added.
"Well I don't know about you guys, but the biggest change in my life was three years ago when my idiot of a best-friend got himself bitten by a werewolf and I had to deal with it." Stiles said, and everyone gave a nostalgic smile.
"Really?" asked Isaac. "I thought the biggest change was when Lydia finally noticed you." He ducked to avoid Stiles' punch, then yelped when Lydia pinched him.
"If I had never gotten bitten, Lydia would never have noticed you in the first place." Scott pointed out, then added in a softer voice, "So much would never have happened." He trailed off, looking down and everyone was thinking the same thing: that Allison would never have died. Well everyone except Malia since she had barely known her -Malia was thinking about how hungry she was.
Lydia squeezed Stiles' hand on one side and Isaac's on the other then said, "If she were here she would be so so proud of all of us. Look how far we've come."
Scott nodded, "Lydia's right of course. We've come so far, we can take one more step together." He looked around at his pack, -minus the sophomores Liam, Hayden, Corey and Mason, and of course, Allison. For a second he thought of Allison; of her strength and bravery. She too had undergone so much change; from a innocent girl to a powerful huntress who would do anything for her friends. Scott took a breath, letting himself remember that night two years ago when she had died in his arms after saving Isaac's life. He remembered the aftermath, Lydia sobbing on Stiles' unconscious body, Allison's father numb but focused, Stiles later blaming himself to no end, and Isaac, torn apart with a grief that threatened to break him. But they had gotten through that, and in a way Allison's death had been the reminder they all needed: heroes don't always survive. Scott knew that none of them had forgotten that day. Stiles, Lydia, Isaac, Kira, even Malia who had barely known Allison all thought of her and he knew she would forever live on.
He looked at his pack. They all had looks of determination on their faces and Scott locked eyes with each of them. Malia, the tough werecoyote who -with help from her friends- had learned so much, mainly that people were friends not food. At Kira the determined kitsune who had learned not to fear the fox inside her. At Isaac, Derek's first Beta turned Scott's resilient fourth pack member who had slowly learned -with the help and influence of Allison- that no one could be strong all the time. Lydia, the genius banshee who had gone from a very confused outsider to one of the most important members of Scott's pack and learned -with lots of help from Stiles- that its what's inside that counts; and finally Stiles, the human that always figured it out and Scott's best-friend since preschool who had stuck by him when shit got real and had really been the only one that could have chosen to opt out and have a normal life but he hadn't, because Stiles didn't give up on his friends. Scott didn't know what he would have done without him, without any of them.
"We're going to be late." Was all he said, then all five of them stepped into the school together.