"He will always love Lydia, that’s not just a crush kind of thing. The way I look at that in the show is that this is the girl that he has had that in love with crush on since you were eight, but you know when your eight and you have that first crush, and then when your nine you have that next crush that new girl in the class, then as you get older your crushes last longer and longer kind of thing. I think he is one of those such hopeless romantic souls that he has literally set his sights on Lydia when he was eight years old and his love has only grown since. Like he is just head over heels, that is his girl. He even acknowledges the fact that she is bat sh** and even acknowledges that yeah she is horrible to me as well, but for some reason he just loves her." - Dylan O'Brien.

In the 3rd Grade, when Stiles Stilinski was 8 years old, he fell for a pretty, intelligent and popular redhead by the name of Lydia Martin. Unfortunately, due to their unequal social status, and Lydia's superficial desire for social superiority, she was unaware of his existence, and would later begin a more socially suitable relationship with captain of the lacrosse team, Jackson Whittemore. For years, Stiles was forced to adore her from afar, and his hopeless crush strengthened and evolved into intense love. 8 years later, werewolves, kanimas, and hunters render lives into constant upheaval, and in times of desperation, people turn to those they would least expect. In an unexpected twist of fate, Lydia's source of safety, comfort and love became Stiles Stilinski. However, fate was not in Stiles' favour as he had to repeatedly watch the love of his life love someone else. And yet, hope remains alive within him and us, as this thread celebrates the endless, passionate and unrequited love Stiles Stilinski has for Lydia Martin.

“I credit the actors with making that scene great. Um, I can’t remember what I said to them but I think it was “be surprised at what happened” and both Dylan and Holland brought it to a different level. That’s one of the great things about actors and being collaborative with actors is they’ll sometimes tell you as a writer where to take the story and seeing those sparks happen, they are good together - aren't they? We’re definitely gonna be exploring the complexities of their relationship. I always like to say that Stiles and Lydia, it was just a crush - a boy having a crush on a girl, complete objectification of a girl who is the prettiest girl in the school. He was in love with her. But he reveals later in the first season that he knows a lot about her and that he knows that she’s smart and he knows that she’s gonna go off and win some Nobel Prize and she tells him it’s gonna actually be the mathematics medal. The Fields Medal. So you know Stiles’s feelings are real but he has to learn to be an adult as well. He has to learn what adult love is like and that’s not necessarily seeing her for just her beauty. Seeing her for her power, seeing her as someone who can help save the lives when necessary - not as a damsel in distress and just someone to be protected.”
— Jeff Davis on Stydia when asked “I definitely saw that Lydia didn’t expect that connection that she felt when she kissed Stiles so is that relationship something we’re gonna get to explore more in 3B?" - AfterBuzz TV Podcast (55:26) [x]