Archive of Our Own

Derek Hale was not having a good morning

In the last hour alone he had run out of hot water and had to take a cold shower, he burnt himself making waffles and then he dropped a glass of orange juice and shattered the glass on the kitchen floor

All before nine in the morning

But it was ok

It was FINE

He was starting his first day at work and it was his DREAM JOB

No more crappy commercial gigs

From here on out it was smooth sailing.... right?

"Daddy are you ok?"

"I'm fine Princess, just finish your cereal ok? Aunt Laura is going to be here to pick you up really soon," Derek said quickly, leaning down to pick up his backpack and set it on the counter

Just as he was making his way to the fridge he heard the phone ring, sighing in releif and rushing to answer it

"Laura?" he almost shouted

"Hey Derek,"

He frowned, that was... not what he was hoping for...

"What's wrong?"

"How do you know something is wrong?"

"Because you only greet me like a normal person when something is terribly, terribly wrong, now what is it?"

There was a long pause over the phone and the longer it went on the more anxious Derek became

"I can't babysit today, I'm sorry Derek, I'm so sorry, they changed my shift at the last minute and I can't get out of it,"

Derek felt his world shatter

He had no babysitter...

He couldn't just call up someone else, it was too late for that, but he couldn't take her to some kind of daycare either

Daycare and werewolves don't typically mix....

"It's fine," he said a moment later

"I promise I'll figure something out,"

It was at that moment that he glanced over, watching in horror as his daughter fed his lunch to the dog...

So much for a great first day....

~+~

"Ok, what do we remember about Daddy's work?"

"Um... be good, don't interrupt, and don't touch anything?"

"Right, and if you're good and don't get in trouble all day?"

"Toy store!!"

Derek sighed, nodding slowly and smiling

"Toy store," he agreed

He didn't care how much he had to bribe his five-year-old, it was well worth it if she could behave during this

Not that she ever had a problem behaving but he knew that being on a TV set was a new and exciting experience for her, one she had only barely experienced a few times for a quick tour on his days off, she had never been there when he was at work and he knew that a full eight-hour day would take a massive toll on her

On top of that, he just hoped the people in charge would let him keep her on set....

He had just gotten past security and parked in the lot when it occurred to him that he didn't know where to go

They were shooting on location his first day, not at a studio....

Crap...

"Daddy do you know where we're going?" the little girl frowned

Derek winced, if even his daughter had caught onto him that meant it was pretty blatantly obvious that he was lost...

"We'll find it Vannie, I promise," he said quietly, effortlessly picking her up and starting to wander towards the first set of trailers he saw

He had no idea if he was going in the right direction or not but it was worth a shot

"Excuse me, who are you?"

Derek winced, turning around and staring at the woman behind him

She had long, strawberry blonde hair, soft green eyes, and make up that was so perfectly done that it made Derek seriously question his own skills....

And he was a professional

"I um... I'm Derek Hale, new mak-"

"Oh Derek! It's nice to meet you, I'm Lydia Martin, head of the make up department,"

Well that would explain the make up being so on point

"And who would this be?" she smiled, directing her attention to Derek's daughter

"I'm Savannah Hale, I'm five!" she said brightly

Lydia grinned from ear to ear, obviously pleased with the answer

"Well aren't you just cute as a button?"

"I'm really sorry I brought her Miss Martin, I just... my sister cancelled and I couldn't find another sitter-"

Lydia held up a hand, a firm and slightly annoyed look on her face

"First, address me as Lydia- not Miss Martin, it makes me sound old, and second, don't apologize for bringing this sweet child here, alright? Things happen, it's understandable, if you're comfortable with her being here far be it from us to stop you,"

Derek blinked in surprise, a slight smile flittering across his face as he stared across at the woman

"Well um... thank you, really,"

Lydia smirked, tilting her head and turning on her heel

"Good, now that that's settled, come with me, you have alot to get used to and not much time to do it,"

~+~

In the last three hours Derek Hale has learned three things about working on The Dead Walking

1. Lydia Martin rules with an iron fist
2. There are alot of zombies
3. For a post-apocalyptic horror show full of death and despair everyone sure does appreciate having a kid around set

In his fourth hour he learned something else about The Dead Walking:

Stiles Stilinski is the most pleasantly insane person he's ever met

Rewinding for a moment, Savannah was busy coloring in an empty chair a few feet away from where Derek was applying some zombie make up and somehow, some way, things were surprisingly peacefull

"Alright, you're all done,"

The zombie in question leaned forward, smiling(?) at herself in the mirror and glancing up at Derek

"Thank you, this looks so great!!"

"No no, really, thank you," Derek smiled back, waving to her as she headed out of the trailer to go find her mark

"Well aren't you fitting in smoothly?" Lydia winked, smirking as she started to apply a base coat to a new zombie

Derek was kind of relieved that they weren't doing an entire hoard his first day at work, just a few zombies to get killed in the woods

It would be alot easier for him to stretch his artistic wings concentrating on only one at a time than it would for him to be part of a conveyor belt of other artists working on a hoard together

"You really think so?" he smiled shyly

"I do, and I bet your next project will agree,"

He stared across at Lydia in confusion, eyebrows pinching together as he grabbed his clipboard and glanced down at the next person on his list

And that's when he saw it

The next name on his list:

Stiles Stilinski

As in: One of the biggest stars of the show Stiles Stilinski

Derek didn't exactly know what to do with this information, but before he even had time to process it he heard the door open

And sure enough, there was Stiles Stilinski, already in costume and walking towards him

Derek might just faint...

"Hey! You must be the new guy, Derek right? I'm Stiles, pleasure to meet you man," he said politely, holding his hand out for the make up artist

Derek just blinked himself back to awareness (somehow) and reached out to shake Stiles' hand

"Really, it's... it's my pleasure, nice to meet you too Stiles,"

Stiles glanced over, his face suddenly lighting up like a Christmas tree

"You have a kid!!" he cried

And that... had not been the reaction Derek expected at all...

"Oh my God I LOVE kids!!"

Derek just smiled shyly again, watching as Stiles ran over to greet his daughter

"Vannie, why don't you tell Stiles your name?" he suggested

The little girl perked up, hopping down from the chair and approaching Stiles confidently

"My name is Savannah Hale and I'm five-years-old!" she said brightly

"Oh yeah? That's awesome! Five is a good age, I'd tell you how old I am but then you'd think I was ANCIENT, like a MUMMY, I'm really old," Stiles teased

"Not REALLY old... just KINDA old..." Savannah giggled

"Awww but the fact that I'm old AT ALL just hurts my feelings," he said with a pout

"Sorry," Savannah giggled

"Awww it's ok, you know, you're right, I AM kinda old," he winked teasingly

Savannah just giggled, swaying from side to side cutely as she stared up at him

"Savannah sweetie, why don't you go get yourself a snack from the snack table? Officer Rosemary will take you there to make sure you find it ok," Lydia said sweetly

Savannah glanced up at Derek, who hesitated for a moment before finally giving a small nod of approval, watching in interest as she looked up at Stiles next

"Don't worry, I'll be right here when you get back, I'm in it for the looooong haul," he said with a wink

That seemed to reassure the little girl and she gave a happy nod as she hugged Derek's leg and sprinted out of the make up trailer

"What'd you do that for?" Stiles complained, not even noticing that Derek immediately abandoned his station and went to the window to look for Savannah

"Because you know how you are, if I hadn't intervened you never would have sat still for your make up," Lydia said with a huff

"Why not?" Derek asked worriedly, glancing away from the window as soon as he saw Savannah with the security guard walking towards the food table

"Because when children are around Stiles turns into a child himself," Lydia hummed back

"Hey, I do not," Stiles pouted, slowly sitting down in the make up chair as Derek started getting his tools together

"Stiles, when Boyd brought his neice over you ran off set to play that ridiculous phone game with her,"

"Pokemon Go is not ridiculous Lydia, it's a sport of kings,"

"If that's your excuse then why did you spend half of Liam's last party screwing around with his sister's easy bake oven?"

"Um, because you should always have adult supervision when using an easy bake oven?" Stiles scoffed back

Lydia rolled her eyes, glancing at Derek's slightly worried expression and tilting her head

"Are you ok?"

"Yeah it's.. I'm fine I just... I hope bringing Savannah with me didn't cause a problem, I don't want to get behind on my first day because she's a distraction,"

"Hey, it's ME you're talking about, I get distracted by everything," Stiles shrugged easily

"It's true, he got distracted by a salt shaker once," Lydia shrugged

"Um, excuse you it was a STAR WARS salt shaker, who WOULDN'T be distracted?"

Lydia rolled her eyes, her attention turning back to a still anxious looking Derek

"Don't worry, she's fine, Stiles may get distracted easily but he's also pretty professional and knows when to shove his paternal instincts down and actually work- most of the time anyway, just don't bring your pets to set with you, the only thing that distracts him worse than a kid is an animal,"

"She's right, there was even one time I saw a cat dash across set and chased it for two hours,"

"You know you're just making things worse on yourself right?" Lydia asked flatly

Derek just shook his head, somewhat tuning out the rest of their conversation as he got to work

He had a feeling he was going to fit in here pretty well

Three months later...

"Stiles!!!"

"Vannie!!"

Derek swore his daughter knew the cast of The Dead Walking better than she knew anyone in her neighborhood...

Ofcourse, to be fair, they didn't spend alot of time in the neighborhood so there was that

"How's my favorite fruit cup?" Stiles beamed, crouching down and picking up Savannah in a tight hug as he spun around, causing the girl to cheer and scream excitedly as she hugged him back

"I can't believe I haven't seen you in a WEEK!" he said with a fake gasp

"It's Daddy's fault," Savannah grumbled sourly

Derek just rolled his eyes at that, sighing quietly

"I told you, we were shooting on location and it would be too hot for you to be there all day, it's better that you stayed with Aunt Laura,"

Ofcourse now that they were back to studio filming the heat wouldn't be a problem, not that Savannah really understood that yet apparently

"It's ok, don't blame your dad alright? He was just trying to make sure you were healthy and didn't get hurt, seriously," Stiles encouraged

Derek felt a slight pang of annoyance that Savannah so easily listened to him and not to Derek, but he knew how kids this age were by now, everyone was a better authority figure than their parent, it was nothing new and Savannah had already done this with both of his sisters by now...

"Ok," the little girl said with a heavy sigh

"That's my girl, noooow because I missed you so much I have a present for you!"

"Really?!" she squealed

"Uh-huh," Stiles grinned, standing up and running over to the backpack that he had set down near set

"Stiles you really shouldn't have," Derek warned carefully, not wanting to crush his daughter's fun but not wanting Stiles to feel obligated or like he had to buy Savannah's attention or anything

"Oh hush, it was no trouble," the actor insisted, handing a bubble purple gift bag over to Savannah and watching with excitement as she tossed the tissue papper out and reached in

"Oh!! Daddy look! Look!" Savannah cried, holding up a little t-shirt that said "Grimm *** Dickenson 2016" on it

The last names of the main charectors of The Dead Walking

Made sense, Savannah had been so sad when Derek explained to her that they didn't make that shirt in her size

"How did you get a shirt like this so small?" he asked in confusion

"Eh, I know a guy, it wasn't a problem, turn it over," Stiles encouraged excitedly

And when she did... he saw "Hale for Secretary Of State" written on the back...

"Daddy look! Look! It's our name!" Savannah cried, jumping up and down

"I see that baby,"

"What does the rest of it say?"

"It says 'Secretary Of State', it's a political position,"

"Ohh..." she mumbled, clearly not as interested as she had been a moment ago

"Why don't you go show Lydia your new shirt huh? She's in the last room at the end of the hall, don't go anywhere else ok? You'll get lost," Stiles suggested

Derek was a little annoyed that Stiles was already so comfortable telling Savannah what to do but he knew he meant well so he let it go- atleast for now, maybe he was just overreacting...

Besides, Savannah had already told him a hurried goodbye and run off...

"Ok, cool, now that we have some alone time, I need a favor,"

Derek's eyebrows raised, frowning worriedly, the last time he heard something like that he had ended up playing 7 Minutes In Heaven at his neighbor's sweet sixteen party...

"That sounds ominous, what do you want?" he asked anxiously

"I just need a liiiittle bit of help with Scott,"

"With Scott?" he repeated slowly

"Yeah, see Scott and I have had this prank war going for the last six years, it's a show tradition! I just need a little help from you this time,"

Derek tilted his head, arms crossing over his chest as he waited for a better explanation, after all a prank could be switching someone's socks... or murdering their goldfish and anything in between, and Derek was alot of things but goldfish murderer was not going to be one of them

Stiles rolled his eyes, huffing and waving Derek to follow him

"C'mon, walk with me," he encouraged, turning and starting down the studio hallway

"So part of our contracts say that we can't get any major body modification that would be visible on screen, so no giant face tattoos or shaving our heads or getting giant peircings like for gauges or anything, so I need YOU- my favorite make up artist- to give Scott a fake tattoo,"

"I thought Lydia was your favorite make up artist?"

"Yeah well she doesn't get involved in our games so she's nocked down a peg, will you do it?"

"Isn't that kind of thing a little harsh for a prank war?"

"He snuck into my house and wrapped saran wrap on all of my toilet seats," he huffed

"He broke into your house? For a prank war? Isn't that awfully extreme?"

"Eh... not really, we've done worse, last year he painted 'Scott's Pet' on my car and I filled his trailer with chickens,"

Derek paused, glaring at him

"CHICKENS?"

"Yeah, you know, the little silky kind? Like the ones that girl from Tumblr petitioned for?"

"I .... don't know what that means..."

"It doesn't matter, anyway, I glitter-bombed his car a couple of weeks ago and he tried to get me back on Monday but just ended up glittering himself again so he was rightfully a little chapped at me,"

Derek just shook his head, he couldn't understand these prank war things but... if Stiles wanted a favor and it was all in good fun he supposed it couldn't hurt...

"Won't he wake up?"

"Nah, he may be a werewolf but he sleeps like a rock, God help him if anyone attacks him in his sleep, he's toast,"

Derek froze, eyes wide like a deer caught in the headlights of life

"What? Did you really think I was in the dark? Dude, I work on a set full of supernatural creatures, I'm a witch myself, but I've had to disguise my scent since some of the others get distracted by it when I'm working- fun fact, apparently the scent of magic drenched in sweat is very distracting,"

Derek didn't really know how to process this, he had been spending the last few months being so cautious of not letting his powers get away from him- Savannah too- and knowing now that he could have loosened the reins a little...

It kind of sucked, actually

"Derek... you ok?"

He blinked back to reality, shaking his head slightly and turning back to Stiles

"I'm fine, so... fake tattoo? If Scott is a werewolf though won't he know it's fake? Surely you can't apply a real one in his sleep, what with the blow torch and all,"

"Scott often forgets he's a werewolf, he was bitten when he was sixteen so it's still kiiiind of a new thing for him, not something that registers in the shock of a moment you know?"

Derek understood that, some mornings he still woke up forgetting he had a daughter until he heard her moving around in the house

"Alright, and do you have any specifics for this thing?"

"I'm thinking... something a frat boy would get at the biggest party of the year- and on the inside of his hand, there was alot of talk about Scott's charector losing a hand last season but they sided against it because it'd be too expensive to CGI his hand out of every scene so this'll really freak him out,"

Derek rolled his eyes, shaking his head slowly

"Just his hand? That isn't going to get you anywhere, look, step aside, let me do my work,"

And it was in that moment, walking towards a sleeping werewolf celebrity intending to use his make up powers for evil instead of good, that Derek realized he was in way too deep already....

~+~

Scott screamed for a full two minutes when he woke up and found that a massive tattoo sleeve encompassing his entire hand and arm had been forced upon him

Stiles laughed so much he cried

Derek withheld the fact that it was a fake tattoo until Scott seriously started to panic

He also made Stiles promise that if the saran wrap on the toilet seat trick should ever make it's way to Savannah's ears he would be held personally responsible

"That was seriously the best," Stiles snickered, shaking his head as he leaned back in the make up chair

"I cannot BELIEVE you actually talked me into it..."

"It was so great!! Ofcourse I'll have to watch my back for a wile, Scott's gonna have it out for me for this one,"

"Just as long as you don't try to use me as a living sheild," he muttered back, trying to get Stiles to hold still so that he could finish adjusting his make up

"Oh Derek, I would never do anything THAT cruel to you," he promised, batting his eyes teasingly at him

Derek just grunted quietly, reaching out for his comb to adjust Stiles' hair

"Five minutes till clear!" Lydia shouted from across set, making Derek huff in frustration

"So um... Derek... do you think you'll be able to have someone else watch Savannah tommorrow night?"

Derek glanced up, eyebrows raising as he grabbed the bottle of mist next to him

"Yeah...? I mean I guess so but I'll have to double check, why do you ask?"

"Well I was wondering if you .. might want to come have dinner with us tommorrow night,"

He blinked, mouth falling open a little, because... dinner... an invitation to dinner sounded like.. like a DATE at first

Atleast until he heard the word "us"

"Define 'us'?"

"The cast and some of the crew? Tommorrow is Josh's last day so we're having his death dinner, we're going to the steakhouse on main, about an hour away from here,"

"Um.. I guess I can if Laura's free to babysit... what's a death dinner?"

"When somebody dies on the show we have a dinner to honor them, they're usually pretty fun, it's a great chance to be together as a family for the last time with that particular member you know?"

"Huh... that actually sounds pretty interesting... I guess I could ask Laura if she's available to sit..."

"Great!" Stiles grinned, making Derek roll his eyes as he spritzed more water onto the other, trying to make it look like sweat

"Still, Stiles, be still..." he sighed

"Sorry sorry," he muttered

He wasn't really sorry though, sure a little sorry that he had messed Derek's work up but mostly he was just excited

He was going to get to see Derek outside of work- sure it might be in a group setting but it was a start right?

~+~

"Hey!! You made it!"

Derek couldn't remember the last time he had been to a social event that didn't involve people under the age of ten, it was a little odd being surrounded by only adults again actually

He just smiled gently at Stiles as he headed over to the table, apparently they had the entire restaurant to themselves, wich was ... actually kind of nice, Derek had never been to a private party like this before

"Yeah, sorry if I'm a little late, I wanted to make sure Vannie was eating a decent dinner before I left," he said with a small shrug, taking the empty seat next to Stiles and trying to rid himself of the anxiety that was bubbling up under his skin

"Awww you're such a good daddy," Stiles laughed, wich only served to make Derek blush

"So where's our guest of honor?" he asked, trying to get the focus off of himself

"Josh is just taking care of a few last minute details, you know, end of life photoshoots and stuff, he'll be here in a few minutes," Lydia answered briskly

"Is it always like that?"

"Not at all, the schedule just ran a little late today and he's heading out to New York tommorrow so he couldn't really just do it in the morning,"

That made sense he supposed....

"So Derek, I've been dieing to ask, does Savannah's mother really not mind that she's on set with you sometimes? I mean The Dead Walking is a pretty adult show, it doesn't bother her at all?"

Derek licked his lips, looking down and rubbing the back of his neck anxiously

"Um... actually... Savannah's mother isn't .. she's dead, so... I'm the only one raising her... and I think it's fine, I expose her to horror as much as she wants me to, I think if you introduce it to kids early on it can help them not be scared of it later on in life, as long as you know your child and you know their limits and what they can and can't handle ofcourse, I really rely on Savannah to tell me when something scares her or makes her uncomfortable, and so far I think it's working out pretty well,"

"That's really cool," Kira, one of the lead actresses, chimed in

"I mean about the horror movies, not about your ex, oh God I'm sorry-"

"It's.. it's fine, I knew what you meant," Derek added in quickly

"So! Why the name Savannah?" Lydia asked a moment later, apparently trying to clear the tense air that had started surrounding the table

"It was my mom's home town, she moved to California when she married my dad, she always said she wanted to take us to visit there some time but... never really got a chance, so..."

The fact that that seemed to only make things worse had Derek sinking in his seat

"You know, when we said 'death dinner'...."

"Liam," Scott warned quickly

"It's really ok, I ... I'm used to it, I'm really sorry,"

For existing he wanted to add

"I brought the mood down an-"

"Don't apologize," Lydia interrupted

"Derek you're part of our team- our family- now, we want to know about you,"

Derek wasn't really sure how he felt about that, he had been part of jobs before that were freindly and he knew other casts that considered their members family but.... he had just never been part of one himself...

"Josh is here!" one of the other cast members shouted, making Derek jump as he glanced out the window and saw the car pulling into the parkinglot

"I'll go get him," Stiles offered, standing up suddenly and holding his hand out for Derek

"You coming?"

Logically there was really no reason for Derek to go but.... for some reason he found himself hand-in-hand with Stiles anyway, going to retrieve a cast member he barely knew for really no reason

It was ... strangely wonderfull, this family thing

~+~

"Heeeey there's my man!"

Derek groaned and rubbed his aching head, he really, really shouldn't have stayed out so late last night, he barely slept...

He had been out until two in the morning and didn't even get home and in bed until three-thirty, he had to be up at six to get ready for work...

"You doing ok?" Stiles snickered

"Yeah I just.... barely slept... how are you so chipper this early in the morning?" he sighed

After all, he knew Stiles was out just as late if not later...

"Mm? Oh coffee," he shrugged back

That figured...

"I see..." he mumbled

"Do you not drink coffee?"

"No, not really,"

Stiles made a disappointed face, as if he was offended by that very notion, and to his credit he probably was on some level

"Where's Vannie?"

"With my sister, I figured I really don't need to be watching her wile I work when I'm this tired,"

Stiles hummed quietly in consideration, giving a slow nod and smiling slightly

"Guess that's a good point, you really aren't used to being out and about late are you?"

"I'm not, I haven't been in.... a very long time, I just had started getting used to Savannah's sleep schedule so I'm even less used to it than I was a few years ago,"

Stiles frowned sympathetically, giving him a gentle pat on the back

"Sorry to hear that big guy, anything I can do to help?"

"Not unless you have some sort of magical rest remedy that will help me feel like I got a decent night's sleep," he muttered back

Stiles grinned, wiggling his eyebrows teasingly

"I'm a witch remember? I can do that,"

Derek had actually forgotten about that, it had been so long since he'd been around another person of the supernatural community who he wasn't related to...

"You're also at work, and you have to be in my chair in twenty minutes," he reminded him

"Pft, I can make it in ten, I've already got everything I need in my car, just trust me ok?"

Derek knew he should decline and head into the work room to set up but he was just so tired.. he found himself giving in without too much of a fight

"Perfect! Come with me then," Stiles hummed, grabbing his hand and dragging him out to the parkinglot

Part of Derek still wanted to argue but... the feeling of the other's skin on his was keeping him quiet

~+~

"Ta-da!"

Derek glanced up from the instructions he had been re-reading, eyebrows carefully raised at the actor as Stiles offered him a suspicious looking mug

"What is that?"

"Oh just a little potion, it'll cure your ail," he winked back

Derek didn't actually believe that really- not that he doubted Stiles' ability as a witch, he just didn't think there was really anything that could make him feel more rested considering how terrible and off he felt, and to be honest...

The crap in the cup looked pretty terrible, like the sort of thing one would expect from a really bad Halloween movie, purple and steaming and thick...

There was no way in hell he was going to swallow that

"Derek?"

He blinked, looking up

"You zoned out for a second there... did you fall asleep?"

So apparently he was drinking that

Swallowing roughly, he reached out and took the mug, trying not to look directly at the ... stuff.... before closing his eyes, holding his breath, and tossing it back

It skated across his tastebuds in a bitter, slimey sort of way and he almost gagged but he forced himself to swallow anyway, handing the mug back to Stiles with a shakey hand

"That was really great man but you weren't supposed to drink it, you were supposed to rub it on your forehead,"

Derek's eyes shot open, a look of utter terror falling over his face as he stared across at the witch

"Kidding, kidding! I wouldn't have let you drink it if you weren't supposed to, really,"

"You're hilarious," Derek muttered back dryly, though he had to hand it to Stiles, he could already feel the potion- was he really calling it that?- starting to work

"Sorry about that man," Stiles said sympathetically

"It's.. fine, it's alright, but seriously we need to get back to the make up room before Lydia has us both for breakfast,"

"Fun fact, Lydia actually has a variety of fruit and french toast for breakfast plus a protein enriched smoothie, no meat, so we're safe until lunch,"

Derek paused, pursing his lips

"I don't know how you know that... and please, never tell me,"

"Can do," Stiles shrugged, taking his phone out of his pocket as he followed Derek

"What are you doing?"

"I'm gonna take a video of you doing your awesome work, is that ok?"

"Sure, it's fine with me, is it alright with the producers though? I know they're pretty strict when it comes to anything that could possibly be spoiler material,"

"Yeah they're fine as long as I don't give anything away, I mean last season's cliffhanger didn't involve me at all so as far as the audience knows I'm still alive,"

Derek wasn't too sure how much he trusted that, the producers seemed pretty harsh about anything even resembling spoilers but .... Stiles was the veteran here and if he said it was ok then who was Derek to argue?

"What do you want me to do?" the werewolf asked as he finally made his way back to the make up station

"Nothing, just be your usual sunshiney self,"

Derek rolled his eyes, gently pushing Stiles into the chair and pulling his binder closer to see what Stiles needed for today's shoot

He tried to concentrate on getting his supplies together, laying out the tray of make up brushes he needed and starting to open up the new color pallette

"Hello people of the internet! Guess who's getting dead?"

Derek smirked slightly as he started filling up his spray bottle with water, listening to Stiles talk into the video

"Unfortunately I can't tell you why I'm in the make up chair today, but I CAN tell you one thing! I can tell you the name of our newest make up artist, say hi Derek!"

Derek turned, eyebrows raising as he stared at the tiny screen of the phone

"Um... hi..." he mumbled a bit awkwardly as he started tightening the cap on the spray bottle

"Everybody, this is Derek, be nice to him! He's made of 20% beard scruff and 80% teddy bear fluff, awww how cute!"

"What?" Derek squeaked, squirting himself with the spray bottle and, in the process, tripping over a box under the table

Stiles stopped filming abruptly, setting his phone down and turning to inspect the other

"Dude, you ok?" he asked worriedly

"C-Cute?" Derek squeaked, because... had he really just heard that right? Did Stiles think he was cute?

"Yeah, scruff and fluff, it rhymes, cute!" Stiles grinned back, hopping out of the make up chair to help Derek up

The wolf groaned, resisting the urge somehow to crawl under the table and let himself die of embarrassment

~+~

Derek was utterly relieved to be home, hoping that now since work was behind him he could just move on from the entire video ordeal

Unfortunately, fate was not nearly so kind

"Daddy Daddy!! You're on the internet!!"

Derek groaned, staring up at the ceiling

How did his daughter know about that? She didn't even have access to the internet unsupervised!

"Sooooo how's my sweet little brother? Are there any bruises on your back or just on your ego?"

Ofcourse, it WOULD be Laura's fault, ofcourse

"Shut it Laura," he grumbled, turning to look down at Savannah, trying his best to put on a warm, calm smile

"Vannie, sweetie, can you maybe go up to your room for a little wile so I can talk to your auntie Laura about something?"

"Do I have to?" Savannah pouted

"I'd really prefer it if you did," Derek insisted gently

The little girl groaned, sighing but not arguing further and trudging up the stairs

"Alright, how do you know about that?" Derek grumbled as he glanced back at Laura

"You mean you don't know?" she asked seriously, though there was a clear hint of amusement in her voice

"Know what...?"

"Derek... your video is all over the internet," she snickered, taking her phone out of her pocket and handing it to him

"Google your name,"

His eyes narrowed, he had never understood people Googling their own names and honestly he was a bit wary of it, but at the same time...

The moment he had pressed "enter" he found news articles popping up, wich....

The last time news articles had included his name was when Savannah's mother died...

Though scrolling down and actually reading the headlines proved to show that these "news" articles were not nearly so bleak

"Watch Dead Walking's Stiles Stilinski's Adorable New Snapchat" one had read

"Dead Walking's New Make Up Artist Is As Cute As Stiles Stilinski Implies" read another

"Dead Walking's Stiles Stilinski Posts "Cute" New Snapchat"

Derek groaned, running his hands over his face, they all had links to the video...

"Click on one," Laura encouraged from over his shoulder

Derek glared, nose wrinkling but doing it anyway- he knew he was going to regret it but for some reason he just bit the bullet and... well....

"The Dead Walking is currently involved in it's darkest season yet, with frontman Rich Grimm (played by Scott McCall) ending last season by declaring war on bad guy Degan (Chris Argent) but there's one star who doesn't seem too bothered by the current events! Stiles Stilinski, who plays heart-throb Danny Dickenson on the show, posted this fun snapchat this morning wile getting his make up done, featuring TDW's newest make up artist who goes by 'Derek', we've learned the mysterious new artist is Derek Hale, who's credits include work on The Vampire Diaries, Victor Frankenstein, and Solstice, to name a few, and according to Stilinski, he's pretty 'cute'- we feel you Stiles, we feel you, check out the video down below to see if you find Hale as cute as Stilinski says he is!"

Derek wanted to throw the phone against the wall.... then go out to the woods and hide in a cave for the rest of his life....

~+~

It was a kind miracle that he didn't work again until Monday, what with Friday's scenes only requiring the bare minimum of make up artists and apparently only the senior crew members as they were filming some big secret that they couldn't risk getting leaked yet

Derek understood, he was just glad he had a few days for that terrible video's influence to blow over

"Hey Cute Stuff!"

Or not

"Hi Erica," Derek said with a sigh

Ah Erica Reyes, the apocalypse's very own supermodel

Or atleast she probably could have been if they had taken her charector in another direction

"I guess you've seen the video too huh?"

"Oh honey," Erica said with an air of sympathy, "Everyone on earth has seen that video,"

Derek just hung his head, groaning lowly in his throat

"Where's Stiles anyway? I need to ask him about something,"

"Ohhh... you should be finding out in three... two... one..."

The next thing Derek knew he heard a loud, ear-splitting scream coming from Stiles' dressing room, followed by

"SCOTT MCCALL I'M GOING TO MURDER YOU!"

And finally Scott running across the studio laughing so hard he was choking, followed moments later by a very angry Stiles

"I don't get it," Derek frowned, eyebrows pinching and nose wrinkling

"The prank war continues," Erica snickered back, wich was, apparently, a grave error as Stiles stopped in his tracks a moment later to glare at her

"Erriccccaaaaa, you're supposed to be on my side!! Batman Bros for LIFE!"

"I'm not NOT on your side," she shrugged back

"You helped Scott!"

"I'll help you get back at him if you want,"

Somewhere in the studio, Scott could be heard by anyone with werewolf hearing shouting "Traitor!" but no one seemed to care much

"Cool, thanks, I'll hold you to that, Derek, are you in for revenge?"

Derek knew helping him that ONE time was going to come back to bite him...

"I'm NOT getting involved," he insisted

Stiles rolled his eyes but atleast he didn't push

"Alright, one for the revenge club, I'll hit you up later Catwoman!"

Derek just shook his head, feeling annoyed with himself for not even having asked Stiles the question he had wanted to ask him

"What is it that Scott did anyway?" he finally questioned

Erica just grinned wolfishly and handed her phone over, pressing the "play" button on a video and snickering as Derek watched

And watch he did, as Stiles danced around the screen in his underwear singing "Hit Me Baby One More Time" as he got dressed

That was pretty much one-upping the fake tattoo idea alright...

~+~

When Derek woke up it was to the sound of a phone ringing and it was only just light outside

Groaning lowly, he rubbed his eyes and started reaching for his phone, blindly grabbing it from the nightstand and answering the call

"Hello?" he grunted lowly

"Derek? Hey I.. I need a favor,"

The voice had Derek sitting up, blinking the sleep out of his eyes and frowning deeply

"Stiles? What's wrong?" he asked worriedly, after all it wasn't like Stiles could be calling at seven-thirty in the morning

"I need you to drive me to the vet's, if you can, they're opening in an hour and I have an emergency early appointment,"

"Alright, ofcourse, just... is everything ok?" he asked worriedly

"Yeah, yeah yeah, I just... my dog... I had to change her groomer recently and to make a long story short I think she has some kind of rash now, she's red and itchy and has been up all night scratching... I need to get her to the vet but I'd have a hard time driving and holding onto her at the same time, I don't have any kind of pet carrier so-"

"I'll be there, you don't have to explain," he interrupted

"Derek are you sure?"

"I'm positive, give me your address,"

"Ok... ok, thanks Derek...."

The werewolf sighed, running his fingers through his hair

"Yeah... no problem,"

~+~

"I'm really sorry about this Vannie, I know this isn't how you wanted to spend your Saturday,"

"It's ok Daddy, I get to play with Stiles' puppy!"

That was the good thing about small children, he supposed, there was always a very simple silver lining

"I promise after this we'll do something fun ok?" he reasoned, giving her a kiss on the forehead as he got out of the car to retrieve Stiles

He would have left Savannah at home but Laura was still at work and he had no one to watch her, wich meant that leaving her at home wasn't an option

Oh well, atleast she was used to early mornings...

"Stiles?" Derek called, reaching out to ring the doorbell only to jerk back when the door suddenly swung open

"Heeey Derek, I literally could NOT be more sorry that I ruined your Saturday,"

There, standing in the doorway, was Stiles, clad in sweats and holding a bundle of blankets with a little black and tan dog inside them

"It's really not a big deal, I'm a parent, I'm used to all sorts of unusual circumstances,"

Plus, he got to spend time with Stiles away from work, wich was a silver lining on it's own

"You driving? Or do you-"

"I'll drive, you hold onto -.. what's her name?"

"O-Oh um, Scully,"

Derek couldn't help the smirk, nodding as he lead Stiles and Scully towards the car

"So, you're an X-Files fan too then?"

"Ofcourse!!" Stiles beamed, slipping into the passenger's seat

"I'm sorry your puppy is sick Stiles, it's always really scary when our puppy gets sick so I know you're scared," Savannah chimed from the backseat

"Aww thanks kiddo, it's ok though, she's not THAT sick, she's just got a bit of a rash,"

"Is she gonna be ok?"

"I'm sure she is, it's just a little rash, she just needs a little medicine," Stiles shrugged back

Really Derek was just relieved that the car ride was no problem, he had been worried that all the hassle would be difficult to deal with but they seemed to get to the vet's office without a hitch

"Do you need us to come in with you?" Derek asked as they stepped out of the car, he wasn't sure if Stiles wanted the company or preferred they stay in the waiting room, so it was probably better if he asked than assumed

"Well I mean... you don't have to but if you want to-"

"We want to!!" Savannah chimed, looking up at Derek with a bright smile

"Yeah, we want to," Derek confirmed with a small nod

Stiles just smiled a little shyly, stepping into the office as soon as the nurse called them in

~+~

Two hours and $85 later they discovered that Scully did, in fact, have a rash

The incredible thing was that it only took about five minutes to figure that out- the rest of the time there was spent waiting on the vet to get the medicated shampoo for from the back

"Sorry I made you guys go through all of that, I know it was a pain," Stiles said a bit shyly, rubbing the back of his neck

"Really, it's alright," Derek assured him, smiling softly at the actor and looking down at Savannah

"We're going to head off to the movies after this anyway, right Vannie?"

Savannah grinned, nodding excitedly

"Mm-hm!! Daddy said on the way over to see you that we could go see Ice Age! Do you wanna come too?" she asked brightly

"Really? Is that really ok?" Stiles asked with clear excitement as he glanced up at Derek

"Well... ofcourse, if you really want to," Derek replied, a little surprised that Stiles was actually interested, after all it wasn't like they were going to see Star Trek or anything...

"I'd love to! I mean I'm a huge Ice Age fan you know? I was wanting to see the new one anyway,"

Derek wasn't sure what he was more surprised at, that Stiles had so willingly agreed, or that Savannah had invited him along on their trip to begin with

"Is that ok with you Derek?" Stiles asked a second later, glancing up at him a bit worriedly

"Ofcourse it is," he said a little too quickly, wincing at how .. eager... he sounded

"Awesome! Perfect! So then should I look up showtimes on my phone?"

Derek nodded shyly, breathing a sigh of releif, if Stiles had noticed how quickly he had jumped at the chance for the actor to come with them, he hadn't mentioned it

~+~

"That was AWESOME! I can't believe it's getting bad reveiws,"

"Daddy what are 'reyous'?"

"Reveiws," Derek chuckled, gently patting Savannah on the head

"Ohhh... what's a reveiw?"

"It's when people write about weather they like something or not,"

"Ohh... why are the reveiws a bad thing?"

Derek was about to (attempt to) answer her when he started hearing what sounded suspiciously like camera clicks...

Turning around, he glared when he saw a small gathering of people taking pictures of them, some were clearly just fans of Stiles but others...

Others he knew were paparazzi...

Before he could even try to get Savannah away from the cameras Stiles already seemed to have it covered, taking off his jacket and gently draping it over Savannah's head

"Do me a favor sweetie and keep this on ok?"

Savannah just gave a little nod, clearly not sure what all the fuss was about but taking Stiles' word for it anyway as she grabbed onto his hand and clung a little bit closer

"And you, c'mere,"

Before Derek knew it Stiles had caught him by the arm, pulling him against his body with Savannah on his other side as he put his sunglasses on and tilted his head down

Derek copied him, his focus mostly on Savannah as he tried to follow Stiles out and ignore the cameras

It was quieter than what he was used to seeing on TV, probably because Stiles was only a niche star and not some kind of A-lister like Taylor Swift, but even still it was... deafening

He felt like he was fighting his way through a massive flood of people even though there were probably only a dozen or so, if that many

He wondered how Stiles managed it, how he could make his way through this, how he could live like this...

And then everything was quiet, he was in the car with Savannah in his lap and Stiles had slammed the door behind him, the noise started and ended again quickly as Stiles himself slid into the car and hurried to get it started

"Stiles! My car seat!!" Savannah shouted, pouting as she scrambled her way out from underneath the jacket

"Sorry pumpkin, hang on twelve seconds for me ok?"

Savannah pouted but quieted down, allowing Stiles to press the pedal down and take off as quickly as he could out of the parkinglot

Derek definitely didn't know how Stiles lived like this...

"Ok Vannie, you can move now," Stiles instructed after about a minute of driving- well, more like speeding- through some shortcuts and back alleys

"What did they want?" Savannah frowned, carefully taking the jacket off of her head and climbing into her car seat, letting Derek strap her in from beside her

"They wanted pictures of us," Stiles replied quietly, taking a long, heavy breath

Derek could hear the tiredness in his voice, the near... sadness... of it

As if he was ... resigned.... to living this way

The thought hurt Derek's heart, it made him feel ... angry...

That Stiles would somehow have to live with this for the foreseeable future, that he didn't have any choice...

It was disgusting!

"Pictures? That's it? But there are pictures of you everywhere! Why do they want more?" Savannah pouted

"You know.... I actually don't know honey," Stiles replied quietly

"It's because they like Stiles so much that they want more, they want more than he wants to give to them actually,"

Derek was deciding to use this as a teaching moment- because according to all of the parenting guides that was something you should do every chance you got

"But... that's so mean...." Savannah pouted

"If Stiles doesn't want his picture taken they should leave him alone,"

"You're not wrong kiddo, I just wish these people thought like that,"

"You know.... there's nothing to say that they can't hear about it anyway," Derek mused slowly

"What do you mean?" Stiles asked in confusion, tilting his head

"I mean, what if we could get more people thinking like Savannah?"

Stiles started to grin slightly, eyes practically sparkling

"Are you thinking.... what I'm thinking?"

Derek gave a slow nod, lips curving up into a grin

"I think I am,"

~+~

"Can you tell me why you're sad?"

Savannah nodded slowly, pouting as she stared up at the camera

"Those people that were chasing Stiles.... they were being really mean to him and it wasn't fair... there are plenty of pictures of Stiles, they don't need more!"

"Well, I must say, it's quite a compelling little video," Lydia mused, arms crossed over her chest as she stared down at the phone screen

"Do you really think it'll do any good?" Derek frowned

"Well, I don't think the paparazzi are suddenly going to stop being the same useless pusballs they've always been no, but I DO think it could help put the issue of the paparazzi and the way they torment people back into the spotlight and open up the discussion again, and you know that's just as important,"

"Well, I don't know about JUST as important... but if it helps-"

"It'll help," Lydia interrupted, a slight smile on her face as she reached out to place a hand on his shoulder

"I'm sure that it will,"

Derek gave a slight nod to that

He was honestly just happy to help in any way that he could

Seeing Stiles go through what he did had been... terrifying, nothing he ever wanted to experience again, certainly nothing he ever wanted Savannah to experience again, and the thought that Stiles had to just live with it... it broke his heart

The idea that he could do something- ANYTHING- to help him atleast eased that pain

"How's Savannah doing, by the way? I know that an experience like that can be frightening," Lydia mused

"I think she's pretty much ok, she was a little spooked but once we got to Build-A-Bear she seemed to forget all about it,"

"Sounds about right," Lydia smirked, glancing over her shoulder as Stiles jogged up towards them

"Ok, need a little adjusting, apparently the humidity has caused some of my blood to smear in the wrong direction,"

"Well, that's not a sentence you hear every day," Derek teased, waving the actor towards the make up station they had set up on location

"It is on this show," Lydia smirked back

Derek just grinned, bowing his head a little as he nodded in agreement

He had come to learn that on this show, you were going to hear alot of things you otherwise never would

~+~

Apparently the video was something of a success

It wasn't like it had gotten millions of veiws or anything, but it had gotten a few hundred thousand- wich was good in it's own right- and more importantly it had raised alot of the discussion again about paparazzi and what was going too far, something that was greatly needed, especially these days

One thing he hadn't expected though was that he had somehow gained a little bit of recognition himself

Apparently there was a small group of fans who knew him (or rather, knew of him) through their interest in Stiles, and that... was not something Derek had ever expected to happen

Personally, Derek always thought it would be kind of astounding if he ever even got his name out in the business world, he had never thought that he'd have fans

(Or people who were fans of Stiles who ended up liking him he supposed)

Oh well, if it would help get the word out about the press, he was alright with it

He just hoped that the relaxed attitude wouldn't come back to bite him at any time...

The video had been up for about a week now and Derek was just happy that he hadn't seen another paparazzo since

(Though he knew that was most likely just because he hadn't been off set with Stiles recently, nothing to do with the video)

Speaking of Stiles though... he was starting to wonder where his new best freind had run off to....

"Hey Lydia, have you seen Stiles?"

The other make up artist glanced up from her lunch, eyebrows raising at him in surprise and confusion

"You mean you don't know?"

"Know what?" Derek asked worriedly

He didn't like her tone

He didn't like the way she asked that

They were working on a show where the cast was basically glorified canon fodder who could be killed off at any point in time and all of a sudden he was immensely worried for Stiles' career

"He's not going to be here for the next three weeks," Lydia answered casually- as if that somehow WASN'T a big deal

"What- why?"

"Well, he just isn't needed, this week's episode is a bottle episode, then the next two they're going on some invasion mission wile his charector is off on some sort of solo expedition, so Stiles went to LA to shoot some episodes of American Horror Story,"

Derek frowned, narrowing his eyes at the thought

He hadn't been working here long, mind you, but he had already grown so attached to Stiles and he actually didn't remember ever working without him for more than three or four days- a week at the absolute most

Sure some of that was just Stiles coming to visit set but still....

He couldn't imagine what things would be like going an entire three weeks without his friend here...

He knew that, realistically, this was the absolute WORST place to get attached to someone

Stiles was his co-worker, his co-worker at a job where either of them could come and go at any time- especially Stiles, who was, as previously mentioned, virtually canon fodder

But he couldn't help it

He and Stiles had connected on a deeper level (as corny as that sounded) and they were just... such good freinds.... it actually hurt to think about doing the show without Stiles- even if it was only temporary...

"Cheer up," Lydia noted suddenly, effectively drawing Derek's attention back to her

"You have alot of cool zombies to work on today,"

If this had been any other time, Derek would have felt almost instantly better

But now... now it just felt like some sort of hollow victory, if even that....

~+~

Two days after Stiles left for LA, he surprised Derek with a phone call

Derek hadn't actually expected Stiles to keep in touch when they weren't working- despite the little trip they had had to the movies a week prior- but somehow, miraculously, he did

It was completely unexpected too, not even during work hours

He had just been making dinner for Savannah when the phone rang, and, figuring it was probably one of his sisters or maybe his manager, he picked up with a casual "Yes?"

He hadn't quite been expecting what was coming next

"Hey Derek, it's me, do you have a second?"

"Stiles!?" Derek squeaked, nearly dropping the spoon he was using to stir the macaroni and cheese with

"Um... yes? Everything ok?"

"Yeah, yeah, sorry, just... you just took me by surprise is all,"

"Oh.. um, I hope that isn't a problem or-"

"No no, it isn't, I'm just making Vannie dinner, um, what's up?"

"Not... not much just... how are things?"

Derek didn't believe the "not much" answer for a single second

He could hear the nervousness in Stiles' voice, he could hear that something was wrong- very wrong, but he didn't want to push unwarranted, especially when it was over the phone and he had such a small gauge for reactions to go by

"Things are fine here... you sure you're ok?"

The line was silent for a few moments before he finally spoke again, and when he did... Derek felt a pit form in his gut

"No... no I'm not, but it isn't anything I can talk about over the phone... are... are you busy Saturday?"

"No... no I'm not busy, I'm free," he replied quietly, swallowing as he moved to start stirring the pasta again

"Cool, cool, um... I'm gonna be home Saturday night, think we can meet at my place?"

"Yeah, absolutely, but I thought you were going to be in California for the next three weeks?"

"Technically I am, no one else knows and I fly back Sunday night, but I just... I really need to talk to you,"

"Ok," Derek said softly

"Ok, I-"

"Is that Stiles!?"

Derek blinked, looking down as Savannah jogged up towards him

"Um.... yeah... yeah it is,"

"Can I talk to him!?" she squeaked eagerly

"Oh... honey, I don't know, I mean it's daytime in California right now, we wouldn't want to bother him-"

"Is that Savannah?"

Derek paused, turning back to his conversation with Stiles for the moment

"Yeah, she wanted to talk to you about something,"

"Well by all means let her! I ALWAYS have time for my favorite little princess!"

Derek blinked with only minor surprise before leaning down and handing his phone to his daughter, watching with amusement as she hurried off into the hall, pausing and putting one hand over the phone as she turned and glared at Derek

"Don't. LISTEN!" she ordered, hugging the phone as she ran off again

Derek just snickered, lips quirked up into a grin as he turned back to the food

He hoped that things would be ok

He hoped Stiles wasn't in any kind of serious trouble, that he was alright, but...

But he couldn't do more than hope for right now, he just had to wait for Saturday to come so he could settle his anxiety

~+~

Saturday came quickly, thankfully, and Derek was relieved for it

The sooner he could find out what was going on with Stiles, the better

After all, the sooner he could find out what was wrong, the sooner he could stop worrying, and maybe even help fix it...

He took in a deep, slow breath as he took a step towards the front door, he didn't even get his fist raised up to tap on the door before it swung open, a visibly tired and distressed Stiles standing in front of him

"Come in," he said immediately, stepping aside to give Derek room to slip in

He didn't like the way this looked, the way STILES looked, it was.... "concerning" was putting it mildly

"Alright, do I need to call a paramedic or something?"

It was meant as sarcasm, but it was said seriously

He was sniffing as discretely as he could, trying to get a read on any potential illness that may be plaguing his freind

"No no, nothing like that," he muttered back, moving towards his couch and flopping down, scrubbing his hands down his face and taking a slow, anxious breath as Derek moved to carefully sit in the chair in front of him, obstructed only by the coffee table

"Stiles.... you're scaring me, what's going on?"

"It's nothing you should be afraid of," Stiles said with a quiet sigh, swallowing tightly and slowly turning his gaze towards Derek

"Somebody's going to die,"

The werewolf went utterly cold, his breath catching with shock as he stared at the witch

"W-What...-"

"On the show," Stiles clarified a second later

And thank God for that, really, Derek had been this close to having a heart attack...

(If werewolves even could have heart attacks that is)

"What.... do you know who-"

"No, no we don't know who it's going to be yet, just... we got the scripts for the finale', there's another cliffhanger death,"

"And you're afraid it might be you," Derek concluded

That would make sense, no wonder Stiles was so distressed

Not only was he afraid of losing his job, he was afraid of losing everything associated with it too- the freinds, the FAMILY he had created there....

"When will they tell you?"

"I don't know, I have no idea... they're keeping the secrecy on this one so tightly that I'm afraid we won't find out until we get the scripts... MONTHS from now..."

"I don't think they'll really make you wait that long, I mean, that would just be cruel and unusual..."

"Yeah but they really want to keep this thing a secret," Stiles replied quietly

"Stiles I don't think they'd go THAT far... when do you usually find out about deaths?"

"I don't know, it depends... if you're the one dieing then you might know two years in advance or you might get a phone call a week in advance, it just.... depends, I guess, if you AREN'T the one dieing you might not even find out until the death scene is filmed, depending on who you are,"

Derek narrowed his eyes, biting the inside of his lip

He wanted to be comforting, to be reassuring, but if death news was already that sketchy....

"That reminds me, you know you CAN'T tell anyone about this right? Because seriously, if I'm not dead now, they'll DEFINITELY kill me off if they find out I told anyone, and we'll both get fired and most likely sued,"

"Stiles, who would I even tell? You can trust me,"

"I know... I know I can, sorry, just... double-checking,"

Derek gave a slow nod, reaching out and very cautiously taking his hand, squeezing it in what he hoped was a comforting gesture

"Stiles, it's going to be ok, you're a fan favorite- THE fan favorite, I really don't think they're going to kill you off,"

"That's just the thing though, being a fan favorite on this show either gets you an extra life or it gets you killed, they're going for an emotional impact here and I can't say much- well... hell.. I've already broken that rule, look, EVERYONE on the chopping block is a fan favorite ok? Well, almost everyone, and in the comic books it's Mason's charector who gets killed- BIG fan favorite, this is their big chance to do something risky and what if I'M that something?"

As much as Derek wanted to argue...

Stiles had a point

Derek had watched the show long before he had ever started working on it, and he knew that fan favorites often ended up dead, if this was as big of a deal as Stiles said it was...

Maybe he really was at risk...

But that didn't mean Derek had to feed into Stiles' anxiety

"Stiles, you're going to be ok, alright? I promise,"

"You can't promise that, you don't have any proof," Stiles frowned back

"I never said I promised that you wouldn't get killed off," Derek corrected

"I said that you were going to be alright, and you are, be it on this show or not, you ARE going to be ok Stiles, you're an AMAZING actor, who's already getting other work and is highly sought after, no matter if you end up being ok on the show or not, you WILL be ok- I know that much,"

Stiles was quiet for a few moments, and Derek couldn't tell if it was because he just didn't know what to say, or because he was really taking in the advice Derek was trying to give him and considering it

Either way he counted it as a win

"You're kind of amazing, you know that right?"

"I'm really not," Derek snorted back

"No, no, you really are... and you DEFINITELY deserve dinner for your troubles, how about I order something in?"

"That... actually sounds pretty good," Derek agreed with a slight smile

"Super, got any preferences for what you want? I can order pizza, Chinese, anything that delivers really,"

"Um, I'm not picky," Derek shrugged back

"Alright, how about pizza then? I can order it now, we can watch some movies if you want, I mean as long as you aren't needed back at home anytime soon,"

"No I'll be fine, my sister is with Savannah for the night and I don't have to be up early for anything tommorrow,"

"Ah, so we're not heading out until later in the day then?"

Derek blinked, tilting his head in confusion and raising his eyebrows

"What do you mean?"

Now it was Stiles' turn to be confused, tilting his head to one side and raising his brows

"We're going shopping tommorrow right? I mean, when I talked to Savannah earlier she sai- ... she didn't clear this with you at all, did she?"

"Nope, she didn't even mention it," Derek sighed back

Stiles looked like he was about to apologize, but Derek rushed to beat him to it

"I'm so sorry that she did that, I kno-"

"Dude, seriously, you don't need to apologize, I love Vannie ok? I know that alot of people are all ... persnickety about kids and always make you feel like they're BOTHERING them but I am NOT one of those people, I love kids, and she could NEVER bother me,"

Derek was quiet for a long moment before taking a deep breath and allowing a soft smile to fall over his face

"Thank you," he said quietly

Honestly, Stiles making that statement meant more to him than most people would ever understand

There was nothing that felt worse than people rejecting your child or making you feel like your child was some sort of burden on them

It was hard enough being a single father, the last thing he needed was the constant bemoaning of most of the adults he socialized with, so Stiles was a breath of fresh air- to put it mildly

"Actually, if you don't mind it, I really don't mind going with you and Vannie tommorrow, I mean I hope that's not weird but... well, I'll be in Cali for the next two weeks so..."

Weird- no, but surprising? Absolutely

"Um, it isn't weird, are you sure you want to though? I mean it's just going to be Savannah and I shopping for my sister's birthday, it'll probably be pretty boring,"

"Are you kidding? You two are never boring, besides, if I'm being honest, I could really use the break from having anything to do with my job, and if I'm not doing something here then I'll just go back to Cali sooner and that's all ... it all reminds me of work,"

Derek understood that, there were times when he was frustrated with a job or had just lost or been passed up for a job and even seeing a compact on a store shelf brought on a wave of frustration or depression

No wonder Stiles wanted a few hours to escape...

"You're welcome to come with us, but I'm definitely having a talk about Savannah about inviting people to do things behind my back,"

"As well you should, I wouldn't have agreed if she hadn't promised that you were the one who actually wanted to invite me,"

Derek paused, eyebrows raising

He had heard plenty of times that he had supposedly given Savannah permission for something before, but this was the first time she had actually blamed the entire thing on him

...

Oh yes, they would definitely be having a talk when he hung the phone up

~+~

"Ohh! Stiles look, it's your face!" Savannah squealed excitedly, hurrying to tug Stiles and her father towards the poster hanging in the poster rack a few feet away from them

"Yep, that's my face alright, but let's not get too close to it ok? We don't want other people noticing and trying to take me away from you guys right?" he added with a small grin

And it would be a shame after all, Stiles had bothered to wear a baseball hat and sunglasses in the store to prevent from being noticed, the last thing he needed was a poster calling attention to him

Savannah seemed hesitant for a moment, but all around agreed, turning and leading the two of them over to a shelf of POP Vinyls instead

"Is it weird to have your face on a poster?" she asked curiously, picking up one of the toys and squinting at it, trying to read the name

"Um... kind of, yeah, you get used to it, but there's always phases of surreality- you know, feeling weird about it, sometimes it's easy to deal with, sometimes it isn't, it just depends," he shrugged back

Savannah gave a little nod, though it was clear that she wasn't actually paying much attention to him at this point, more absorbed in the little POP figures that she was currently examining

"I couldn't imagine it, having my face on posters... on t-shirts, on toys, on.... anything in any store," Derek mused softly

"Good," Stiles huffed, wich caused Derek to pause and stare at him in confusion

"I mean... it's good that you don't want that, trust me, fame is nothing to be envious of, despite what people like the Kardashians would have you believe,"

"Trust me, I don't value their opinions," Derek snorted dryly, picking up a book to look at getting for Laura- since that WAS what he was actually here for

"Yeah well... again- good," Stiles agreed

Derek was quiet for a moment, eyebrows raised as he turned to look at Stiles

"So.... this thing about fame.... is it something you learned after you started acting or-"

"Oh, well... yes and no, I mean I never wanted to be famous, actually, but I didn't know how ... difficult... fame was until I actually started working on Dead Walking and started being involved in things like fan stuff and paparazzi and all of that,"

"You didn't want to be famous but you became an actor?" Derek asked in surprise

"Well yeah, I mean... I act because I love acting, I never intended or wanted to be famous, and how many actors are there that have successfull careers without being 'famous'? Jennifer Morrison has an enormous acting career but it isn't like you'd see her on TMZ,"

"That's true," he mused slowly, looking down in consideration as he rolled that over in his mind

"I really just didn't think about the consequences, I never thought that I would be successfull enough to have a fanbase, to be honest I always thought I'd be lucky just to be able to keep the lights on you know?"

"Not much faith in yourself?" Derek guessed

"Not much faith in Hollywood, or in myself I guess," he shrugged back

Derek nodded slowly, taking a step closer to him

"You should have more faith in yourself atleast, as I told you last night, you're an incredibly talented actor Stiles,"

"And I think you're a little bit biased, but thanks," Stiles teased back, smiling in amusement as Savannah picked up yet another POP Vinyl

(He was amused, but he had a feeling Derek wouldn't be in about ten minutes)

"I am NOT biased," Derek snorted back, ultimately deciding to forego the book and look for something else

"Hey... Derek?" Stiles asked a moment later, sounding a bit quieter and more subdued than he had earlier, wich immediately drew Derek's attention towards him

"About last night... thank you, I really, really needed that,"

The werewolf blinked in confusion, slowly tilting his head

He didn't really see that there was anything Stiles should be thanking him for, but he knew that didn't necessarily mean Stiles wasn't going to anyway

"Daddy! Do you think Aunt Laura will like this?"

Derek looked down, eyebrows raising as Savannah held up a doll towards him

"A Superhero Girls doll?" he asked skeptically

"They're collectable!" she chirped happily

"Collectable huh? Well, I guess she might like that, if she can keep it in the box and put it on a shelf forever and never, EVER play with it that is," he replied with a small smirk

Savannah's face fell, a look of concern and second-guessing falling over her features

"Oh.. well.... maybe she wouldn't want it after all,"

"Uh-huh," Derek smirked

"Then..... can I have it?" Savannah chimed hopefully

Derek frowned slightly, eyebrows raised, but staring at the hopefull, pleading face....

He sighed loudly, shoulders sagging

"Fine, but the next thing you pick up better be for Aunt Laura,"

"Ok!" she squealed happily, hurrying off to look at something else

Derek heaved another sigh, turning to glance over his shoulder at the warm, slightly amused look on Stiles' face

"What, you think I'm a push-over too? Or that I spoil her too much?" he assumed

After all, that's what people usually thought (or said) when it came to him giving into Savannah so easily

But Stiles was different, he wasn't like everyone else, and Derek should have known that from the start

"What? No no, nothing like that, I was actually just thinking about how lucky you are,"

Now that was a new one, Derek had been called alot of things in his life but "lucky" typically wasn't one of them

"Stiles!! Can you get this down for me!?" Savannah's voice rang out from an aisle over

Stiles' face turned softer, happier, and he turned to tail to run towards her

"On my way Vannie~"

~+~

The next two weeks had Derek feeling like he was moving through mud

And not the sploshy, wet, squishy kind either

The thick, gooey, ankle-deep kind that sucked you down and tried to rip out your soul

He felt like time was practically standing still and he hated it

He still heard from Stiles here and there but it wasn't often

Laura kept a watch on social media for him but Stiles didn't post much- wich was understandable, Stiles had never been much of a social media person

But it still caused him to feel... frustrated

Frustrated and anxious and wishing beyond all reality that the two weeks would just hurry up and be gone already so Stiles could be back in his life

It was somewhere in this amount of time that he started realizing just how attached he had become to the actor, and that...

That scared Derek

He had sort of always tried not to get too attached to anyone, but especially co-workers who changed from project to project

He knew from past experience that that never ended well

He would just end up getting hurt in the worst of ways, he knew from experience, he had been there before

And yet....

He couldn't quite bring himself to try to distance from Stiles at all

He couldn't quite manage to apply that same logic to Stiles here and now and all he wanted to do was get even closer to the actor

It was a seriously bad decision, but still one that, somehow, someway, Derek wanted to make

So when Stiles finally returned, Derek felt like a weight had been lifted off of his chest

"Hey Big Guy, I've been looking for you,"

And that was certainly music to his ears

"You have?"

"Yeah, I've got some good news for you,"

Derek's heart leapt, excitement and hope rushing through him

Did this mean that Stiles had heard back from the showrunner?

Was he safe?

Was he going to be here next season?

"What is it?"

"C'mon, we'll talk in my trailer,"

The fact that he didn't want this discussed publicly only fueled Derek's hopes that his assumption was correct, after all, what else would Stiles want to talk about in private?

He didn't hesitate though, following the actor to his trailer and waiting with what was practically baited breath for Stiles to shut the door behind them

"I got a new job,"

Well that went the exact opposite of the way Derek had been hoping

"Not ... not to replace Dead Walking," Stiles noted, apparently having noticed the less than enthused look on Derek's face

"But just... during the hiatus, it starts next month and ends before Dead filming starts again, Derek... it's a Marvel movie,"

"Marvel?" Derek breathed in amazement

To get a role- a GOOD role- with Marvel was....

It was what everyone in entertainment wanted these days, not just actors, but directors, writers, special effects artists... make up artists....

And if Stiles was doing Marvel-

"Guardians Of The Galaxy, I don't know what the role ACTUALLY is yet because they want to keep it under wraps but I auditioned and I got the part and ... and I just so happened to run into someone else wile I was there,"

"Oh yeah?" Derek asked curiously, eyebrows raising

"Yep, I just so happened to run into one of the make up artists there and dropped your name... and got you an audition, of sorts, kinda, I actually have no idea how the hiring process works for people who aren't actors but she wants to talk to you atleast,"

Was he serious?

"Are you serious?"

"Dude, I do NOT joke about Marvel, atleast.... not in this context,"

He couldn't believe it

Getting a job with a Marvel movie.... it was enough to make him practically hold his breath

Ofcourse he didn't have the job YET but the very fact that anyone over there even knew his NAME...

"Um... Der? I didn't break you did I?"

Derek blinked, snapping out of his own thoughts and returning his attention to Stiles

"Um.... no, no you didn't break me, I just.... thank you.... really, I... I could never thank you enough for this,"

"Don't worry about it, this is one of the only things I really get to ENJOY about showbiz- sharing job opportunities with freinds so we can keep working together, so it really isn't like it's a selfless thing," Stiles shrugged back

He may say that, but Derek knew better

To start asking about getting jobs for your freinds when you yourself have only just gotten the job and haven't even started yet....

Stiles was taking an enormous risk for him, no matter how the meeting had gone down or how nicely things were said, and Derek appreciated that deeply

"C'mon, I don't know about that werewolfy nose of your's but I smell food,"

Derek was... amazed, in some ways

How Stiles had just gone from dropping this bombshell on him to "Oh Kraft services is out" was totally beyond him, but he shook it off, following the actor back out of the trailer and trying his hardest to stay focused

~+~

The next week was refreshingly calm and upbeat

The episode they were filming was unusually light-hearted, and the mood around set was pretty great

Plus Derek had spoken with the woman Stiles mentioned at Marvel and he was set to have a meeting with her in two weeks with his portfolio

Ofcourse, it was essentially the calm before the storm

The next week things were almost as bad as the previous two

They were filming the finale- that dreaded cliffhanger- and the energy was completely different than it usually was

Gone was the light-hearted joy that was usually always exhibited among the cast and crew, now there was just a heavy sensation that crushed down on everyone in the studio, a heavy mourning of what was to come

Derek didn't know what to do with it, how to process it, he was used to the energy being so much more... breathable...

But this just felt suffocating

Everyone was in a state of mourning, and Derek felt almost... out of place for wanting to mourn with them

The last day on set was somber, everyone saying goodbyes and promising to see eachother soon, and Derek didn't know what to make of the greif stricken looks on their faces

~+~

The next few weeks Derek spent at home, waiting on filming to start on Guardians Of The Galaxy 2

It was nice being able to spend the majority of his time with Savannah, especially knowing that she probably wouldn't be able to visit the set at Guardians like she did when he was filming Dead Walking

Stiles kept in touch with him to a degree, mostly phone calls and the random text message here and there, but he was in California for the first few weeks of the month filming a couple of cameos on other shows

It wasn't until the last week before they were set to film that Stiles contacted him to meet again

"Sure, I can meet you for lunch, just name the time and place,"

"Cool, how about the little bistro on the square? The one with the flowers out front?"

"Rosie's? Yeah we can meet there,"

"Great! Is two o'clock on Thursday alright? I don't get in until tommorrow so..."

"That sounds good to me,"

"Ok, ok good, is Vannie coming too?"

Derek paused, thinking that over for a moment

On the one hand he knew that she loved seeing Stiles and she probably wouldn't get to for a wile but... on the other hand...

"I think I should let Laura have her on Thursday, I've been spending every day with her lately, wich is great, but I'm going to be alot more scarce once Guardians starts and I want to start getting her used to that again, atleast by a little bit,"

"Probably a good idea, there's almost certainly going to be nightshoots and long filming days so..."

"Exactly,"

"I did bring her back a gift from LA though, I did a little voice role in a new Pixar movie so I brought her back a Luxo ball,"

"Really? She'll love that, thank you.."

"No problem, ahh... crap, I've gotta run, I'll see you Thursday?"

"Ofcourse,"

"Sweet, looking forward to it,"

Derek smiled softly, bowing his head

"Yeah... yeah, I am too,"

He bit his lip as Stiles said a quick goodbye and hung up, leaving Derek with a warm feeling in his chest and a relaxed smile on his face

~+~

"Thanks for meeting me,"

"It was really my pleasure," Derek insisted, glancing up at the actor across from him

"I can't thank you enough for the ball, Savannah is just going to adore this,"

"Oh don't mention it, it was no problem, I'm just glad she'll like it,"

"I don't think there's a kid alive who wouldn't," Derek teased slightly

Stiles nodded slowly, looking... oddly nervous as he bit his lip

"Stiles? ... .You ok...?"

"Y-Yeah, yeah, I just... I'm actually kinda glad you showed up alone this time, there's something I wanted to talk to you about,"

Derek's eyebrows raised, concern starting to pool in his belly

"Really? Why's that?"

"I heard from Liam a few days ago, apparently, even though they aren't telling anyone who IS getting killed off, they're starting to let on about who ISN'T,"

Oh

No wonder Stiles wanted to talk to him alone and seemed so out of sorts....

"And?" he asked hesitantly

Stiles swallowed, looking down

"And... Liam's charector is safe, far as I know, they called him a few days ago and said they wanted him to work on his archery skills for next season, it'd be pretty hard to use archery if you're dead,"

"That's good, right?"

He gave a solemn nod, clearly not as enthusiastic as Derek was- and that was saying something

"Stiles.... you're going to be fine, I swear it," Derek added again

"I know, I mean... I know what you're saying but I'm still nervous,"

Derek was quiet for a few moments, watching the witch across from him before leaning forward and gently nudging his shoulder

"Hey.... do you want to do something fun?"

"Like what?" Stiles perked, tilting his head

"You'll see, do you trust me?"

"Explicitly," Stiles grinned back

Derek smiled back, a warm sensation forming in his chest

"Good, I'll prove your trust is in the right place,"

~+~

"This place is beautifull, I'll give you that much,"

"Just wait until you get to experience it fully," Derek challenged with a slight smirk

"And what IS the full experience, if I may ask?" Stiles asked with a slightly teasing grin as he followed Derek a little bit deeper into the woods

The woods in Georgia were beautifull, thick and green, sure there were bugs- by the million it felt like- but he was used to that by virtue of being on The Dead Walking anyway and had developed quite a good spell to ward them off

He didn't know why Derek had brought him out here but he could already feel the tension starting to drain a little

Nature was good for that, it always reminded him of just how big the world was and just how small his problems were in comparison, how deep and vast and beautifull the planet really was and how strangely trivial life in general seemed to be

It was hard to fuss about things like finances and work and other mundane and societal worries when surrounded by plants and animals, things that had survived millions of years and kept thriving, things unbothered by social structure...

"Stiles?"

The witch blinked, looking back up at the other man and tilting his head

"Huh?"

"I asked how long it had been since you last practiced any magic,"

"O-Oh... ah... you're probably not going to like the answer to that, it wasn't recent, I can say that much,"

"You need to find more time to practice your magic, even if it's only for a few minutes every day, supernatural powers are just like muscles and they have to be exercised or they'll start making you sick,"

"Yeah I know, just... hasn't exactly been convenient for me lately," he explained quietly as they finally came to a stop in the center of the woods

"I know, and I understand, but I still think you need to try to find a way, atleast give my idea here a shot and see what happens ok?"

Stiles gave a quiet nod, rocking back on his heels

He had no problems with trying anything Derek suggested to him, not only because he was willing to try anything at this point, but because he truly trusted Derek and believed in his opinions and ideas

"Ok Boss, what do you want me to do?"

"Just do some magic, any kind you want, whatever comes easy to you, don't concentrate too hard, just... be free with it, do whatever you feel, follow whatever direction your magic is pointing you in,"

"Ok, and what are you going to do in the mean time?"

"Stretch my own supernatural muscles," Derek shrugged back, reaching down to lift his shirt up and toss it over his head

"Oh," Stiles squeaked back, his face turning a bit red

"That doesn't bother you does it?"

"Nope, no, not ... not at all," Stiles replied back, clearing his throat and turning around as he heard the zipper slide down on Derek's jeans

"Sooo uh... you got any requests? Magic wise?"

"Just do whatever makes you comfortable," Derek repeated

Stiles snorted, rolling his eyes and preparing a clever retort- or what he hoped was a clever retort- as he turned around... and promptly found that a retort probably wasn't going to do him any good, considering Derek was in his wolf form now and wouldn't be able to respond

"Right.... you just gonna stand there or are you going to go running?" he asked curiously

Derek replied by sitting down, staring up at Stiles innocently, almost as if he were waiting on something

Stiles, just taking a guess at this point, figured that he probably needed to start working on his magic in order to satisfy his werewolf freind, though... he still wasn't entirely sure what to do...

He never had been good at making decisions about this sort of thing....

But he supposed he could figure out something....

Slowly, he sat down on the forest floor, taking a deep breath and closing his eyes, letting the sensations of the forest, the natural world around him, wash over his body and bring his magic to the surface

He could feel the power vibrating beneath his skin, bringing his breath out in slower, deeper huffs, letting the electric pulses travel through his fingers as the magic started to seep out

He raised his hands, his magic building in slow, even streams as he brushed his fingertips across the ground, flowers starting to sprout up everywhere, from every inch of grass he touched

It may not be the most showy or flashy use of magic, but it was calming, and it brought a peace to his mind that he hadn't had in ages

~+~

"Thanks for that Derek, really I... I haven't felt that at ease in a long time,"

"I figured as much, don"t mention it," Derek shrugged back, stretching out his arms and rolling his shoulders as he and the witch started heading out of the woods

"I mean I always knew exercising my magic was important, but I never realized how bad it could make me feel if I didn't do it enough, it's kind of like sex that way isn't it?"

Derek blinked, his throat suddenly going dry and his face starting to turn red

"Um..."

"Oh... sorry, was that TMI?"

"O-Oh, no no, it's... it's fine really," Derek replied, clearing his throat

"Are you sure? Because you look pretty embarrassed,"

"I- ... it's just.... being a parent I guess, I haven't even been able to THINK of anything PG-13 or worse since before Vannie was born,"

"Oohhhh right... I guess you probably haven't been laid since before she was born either huh?"

"Not even close, wich is fine, I've never been dependent on sex or anything so I don't really mind it,"

Stiles let out a quiet hum, nodding slowly at the new information

"Yeah, I think it's been like.... two years for me, dating isn't exactly a private thing for me anymore you know? Not to mention that I don't have time to actually go looking for someone,"

"Sounds like a tough job to have,"

"Not as tough as being a parent I'm sure," he snorted back

"I don't know if anything is as tough as being a parent, but ofcourse nothing is as rewarding either," Derek replied with a soft smile

"I'm sure it isn't," Stiles said with a soft smile

He really meant it too, he honestly and fully believed that there was nothing more challenging and rewarding than being a parent, and Derek was lucky that he could experience that

"Do you mind if I ask you a personal question?"

Derek blinked in surprise, eyebrows raising

Stiles was usually a very blunt person who never bothered asking about such a trivial thing, but...

"Ofcourse, what is it?"

"Do you ever plan on dating again? I mean... I know alot of single parents wait until their kids are adults first..."

"I.. don't really know, I mean I don't think I'll ever actively LOOK for a partner, even after Vannie is an adult, but at the same time ... if the right person comes along and Vannie likes them- if it's someone that I really, honestly am able to fall in love with... then I wouldn't mind giving it a try, ofcourse Savannah is my first priority- always- so if I ever were to be with someone her opinion would be the most important to me,"

"That's good, about Savannah I mean,"

"I'm glad you think so," Derek smiled slightly

Stiles was quiet for a moment after that, giving a slow nod of consideration

It was kind of weird, thinking about Derek dating someone

The thought bothered him, he knew why but... it didn't make it bother him less

"Stiles?"

The witch blinked, looking up at Derek again

"You ok?"

"Yeah," he said quickly, clearing his throat

"I'm fine,"

And he was.... well, he was fineish he supposed.....

But that was good enough, right?

~+~

Three weeks later, not long after filming began on Guardians Of The Galaxy 2, Derek was interrupted half-way through cooking dinner by the sound of a nock on the door- a very hurried, rushed nock that had him quickly putting down the vegetables he was chopping and racing to the door

The second he opened it Stiles practically flew in, wrapping his arms around Derek's neck and giving him an overjoyed, excited kiss

It took the make up artist by quite a bit of surprise- but it was happy surprise, a surprise he would have settled into if it had only lasted long enough

But Stiles was pulling away nearly as quickly as he had jumped forward and Derek was a little bit shell-shocked by it all

"I'm alive!" he squealed happily, grinning from ear to ear as he bounced around in front of him, kicking the door shut behind them

"I mean I.. my CHARECTOR is alive!! I got the call today, they asked if I had horseback riding experience and then suggested I get some, I'm ALIVE!"

"That's great, I'm happy to hear it," Derek beamed back with excitement

"I just... ahh... I'm so relieved!! I don't know what it's like to feel this relieved!" he said with shakey laugh

"See? I told you everything would work out,"

"I know I know I just..."

Stiles didn't seem to be able to finish any sentences at this point, his excitement far outweighing his logic as he jumped forward and gave Derek another kiss, though this one lingered a little longer, held a little better, and it had the wolf's heart beating a little louder

When Stiles finally seemed to realize what he was doing he leaned back, his face starting to turn red as he stared at Derek, waiting for a reaction

"I.... sorry I... I shouldn't have do-"

Derek didn't bother letting him finish, plunging in and sharing in another kiss, this time initiated by himself

Stiles took decidedly less time to respond than Derek had the last two times, eagerly wrapping his arms around the other's neck as he held him closer, pressing his body a little harder against the wolf

"Don't.... don't apologize, believe me," he breathed, leaning back just enough to take a breath before leaning in a little closer and giving him a second kiss, this one slower, gentler, more chaste than the last

"I don't think there's anything to apologize for," he explained quietly

Stiles grinned, closing his eyes and leaning in a little closer, only-

"You're kissing!!!"

Immediately, both men stumbled backwards, turning bright red as they stared in horror up at the staircase where Savannah was standing, gobsmacked and excited

"Daddy!! Does this mean Stiles is coming to my birthday party!?"

Stiles turned to look at Derek, eyebrows raised and a smirk resting on his face

"I SWEAR I was going to tell you tommorrow," Derek noted meekly

Stiles just smirked, chuckling quietly as he looked up at the staircase, wrapping an arm around Derek and leaning closer to him

"Don't worry Princess, I wouldn't miss it for the galaxy,"