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"So, does anyone have plans for the Saturday before Halloween?" Erica shouted as she burst through the front door of the packhouse, knocking over a, thankfully closed, can of paint by the corner of the stairs. Boyd followed at a more leisurely pace, closing the door with a fond shake of his head before righting the can and disappearing towards the kitchen where Isaac was putting together lunch for everyone.
A chorus of negative replies echoed through the house with one strong, "Yes," sounding from Derek at the top of the stairs. He was working with Stiles on fortifying the new handrail they'd installed to replace the one that had been there until Scott had gotten on the losing end of a playful brawl with Isaac and fallen through.
"Derek," Erica whined as she raced up the stairs, jumping on him from halfway down, pouting when the attack barely budged him from his stance. "I told you weeks ago I wanted to plan a horror movie night to celebrate Halloween!"
"You told me two days ago when you got that email telling you what movies were coming to Netflix in October and I told you I had something to do that night." Derek spoke with the patience of a parent to an unruly child and Stiles hid a smile behind his hand.
"But you wouldn't tell me what you were doing, so I thought you were lying," Erica moaned.
"I never lie," he said with a straight face, eyebrows narrowing when Stiles snorted and then busied himself with cleaning up the tools around the handrail so no one would trip and fall.
A wicked smile crossed Erica's face. "So, if I asked you about the dream you had-" She was cut off when Derek hip-checked her, sending her crashing through the handrail he and Stiles had just fixed.
"Oops," he said when Stiles smacked him on the thigh, the highest he could reach from where he kneeled on the floor.
"Time to head back to the hardware store," Stiles said, standing up and brushing his hands off on his jeans.
He took a step down, his foot landing on Erica's dropped cell phone that shot out from under him. His body tilted toward the Erica shaped hole in the handrail, a scream rising in his throat as his arms flailed. It should say something that he wasn't even surprised by Derek's hand shooting out to steady him, but what did surprise him was that Derek didn't let go of his elbow until they were outside and standing between their cars.
Stiles readied himself for their usual argument about which vehicle to take, opening his mouth to pour out all the logical reasons to take his jeep instead of Derek's Camaro, stopping when Derek tossed his keys to Stiles. "You drive," he said, climbing into the passenger side of his own car.
"Whaaaaaa?" Stiles asked, scrambling to grab the keys because of course he dropped them and then climbing into the driver's seat and turning to stare at Derek instead of starting the car. The wolf had his head leaned back against the seat and his eyes closed, lips pressed tightly together. Everything about his body screamed at Stiles to leave him alone, so he did the exact opposite. "What's going on? Is this about the horror movie night?"
"Just drive," Derek growled and Stiles watched him for a moment, finally starting the car when there was a flash of red beneath Derek's barely closed lids.
Silence reigned in the car, making Stiles uncomfortable. He wanted to find out what was bothering Derek, tease it out of him as only he was able to do, but there didn't seem to be any getting through to him; he was touchier than normal. Mentally, he went over the phases of the moon and determined that the full moon wasn't due for a couple of weeks, so it wasn't a lycan-based problem.
They pulled in front of the hardware store, Stiles parking near the back of the lot where it was emptier and less risk of anything happening to the Camaro. Derek started to open the door and Stiles laid a hand on his shoulder, stopping him. When he looked down at the hand and back up to Stiles in disbelief, Stiles glared at him. "I'm not taking my hand off," Stiles told him, counting it as a win when Derek's lips quirked a bit at the corners. "Talk to me."
"No," Derek said, shrugging Stiles' hand off and getting out of the car, bending down to look back into the car. "You coming?"
They went into the hardware store, going directly to the section they needed, greeting the employee who they'd gotten to know over the last few weeks of home repairs. "Didn't you just do this?" Alan asked and Derek rolled his eyes before smiling brightly, a knot forming in the pit of Stiles' stomach.
"Clumsy friends," Derek told him with a wink, grinning when Alan laughed and led him over to the handrails they'd picked up just a few days earlier, Stiles following behind, trying to reign in his emotions when he saw Derek glance at him over Alan's shoulder, nostrils flaring.
They made it back to the packhouse, finding it empty and a note from Scott saying they'd all decided to go to a movie, the info at the bottom. "They went to see It, both of them, at the retro theatre. We'd probably make it if we left now?" Stiles asked.
"Nah. I'm gonna work on the railing," Derek said, moving towards the stairs. "You can go." His tone was dismissive, so Stiles gave a wave and headed out the door, his mind reeling with Derek's strange behavior.
It'd been a crazy couple of years since Scott had gotten bit and Derek became Alpha. Circumstances threw Stiles and Derek into life-threatening situations so many times that he'd thought they'd become close. He considered Derek a friend and a couple of times he'd thought maybe there was a chance at something more, hoped there was something more. After today, he wondered if his overactive imagination was convincing him that there were things where there weren't.
If only he could figure out what was bothering Derek that day; he'd been fine when Stiles had gotten there, smiling and even making Stiles a cup of coffee the way he liked it. He'd specifically asked Stiles to help him with the railing. They'd made jokes and teased the rest of the pack as they'd worked and then he'd shut down. He'd shut down when Erica had shown up and brought up the movie night. Stiles looked up at the screen just as Eddie descended the stairs of Center Street Drugs in the second movie, wincing when Pennywise appeared. He didn't hate horror movies, but his life had become enough of one that it had become harder to watch them.
"Oh my god!" Stiles whisper-shouted, slapping Erica back when she smacked him on the back of the head. He jumped out of his seat and hurried out of the theatre, jumping into Roscoe and driving back to the packhouse.
His tires squealed and dirt kicked up as he slammed on his brakes when he pulled in next to Derek's car, relieved to see it here. He was falling out the door of the jeep when the front door of the house flew open and Derek leapt down the steps, landing a few feet from Stiles, grabbing him and throwing him against the door of the jeep. He crouched down in front of him, back to Stiles, hand pressed back against his chest to hold him still.
"What is it?" he asked, words slurred by his fangs and Stiles took a minute to catch his breath, his mind still in the front seat of the jeep. "Are you hurt? Is anyone else hurt?"
Stiles' brain finally caught up and he wrapped his hands around Derek's wrist, squeezing gently and stepping out from behind his hand. "Woah, everyone's alright. They're all still at the movie being scared out of their wits."
"Then why did you race in here like a bat out of hell?" Derek asked, straightening and turning to him, face fading back to human as he did.
"I get it," Stiles told him.
"Get what?"
"Why you don't like horror movies," Stiles explained. "Why you're pretending to have plans to avoid Erica's movie night. I get it. Our lives mirror horror movies, so there's no escape in watching them. And if our lives are bad, then yours-"
"Stiles," Derek interrupted. "I like horror movies. I just have plans that night."
Stiles opened his mouth but shut it again, at a loss; he didn't want to argue with Derek and strain things between them. "Okay," he finally settled on.
"Okay?" Derek asked, quirking an eyebrow doubtfully.
"Okay," Stiles repeated.
"Okay," Derek echoed with a nod before turning back and heading into the house, stopping in the doorway and looking over his shoulder. "Are you coming in? I made risotto."
Stiles' stomach growled and he raced up the stairs, shoving past Derek and heading to the kitchen, laughing when he was grabbed around the waist and carried the rest of the way into the kitchen where two bowls were already set at the table. "Had a feeling," Derek said to his questioning look and sat down in one chair while Stiles sat across from him, the both of them falling into conversation and comfort as they ate the delicious food.
The weeks passed and Derek avoided the topic of movie night. He'd gone so far as to hang up on Erica one night after she'd called him five separate times. He was grateful that Stiles seemed to have dropped the topic and had even told Erica to leave him alone a few times; however, Derek had his doubts about Stiles' ability to let go. The Saturday before Halloween while Erica and Lydia got the house set up for movie night, still trying to convince Derek to stay even as he walked to his car to leave, his suspicions about Stiles were confirmed.
Although Stiles hung back, the unique cadence of the Jeep's engine rang in Derek's ears and he could just catch flashes of blue in the rearview mirror as he headed down the highway. Out of the entire pack, Stiles knew him better than any of the others, a fact he'd never thought possible when they'd first met. He couldn't even explain how the young man had weaseled his way past Derek's defenses, but it was like one morning Derek had woken up with the man settled deeply within his heart; something he didn't dare share with Stiles even though he managed to share everything else.
Pulling into the parking lot of his destination, Derek got out of the Camaro and leaned on the hood. He saw Stiles drive by once and as he passed a second time, he raised his arm and gestured for Stiles to pull in. Derek saw his shoulders drop as his turn signal lit up and he pulled into the empty spot next to Derek. "How long did you know I was following you?"
"The end of the driveway," Derek told him.
"I'll leave," Stiles said. "I shouldn't have imposed. I..."
"You were curious and hate when people keep secrets," Derek said, opening his car door again and reaching in, pulling out two canvas camp chairs and two blankets; he’d been prepared for Stiles to end up there with him that night, he just hadn’t been sure how it was going to happen.
"Especially you," Stiles said, stopping Derek in his tracks. "I know it's stupid, but I thought we were becoming close, even friends."
"We are," Derek confirmed, handing the blankets over to Stiles. "I should've just invited you. I would’ve but I thought you'd like to hang out with the pack.”
He mumbled the last part, but Stiles must have picked up on it and bumped his shoulder against Derek's saving him from further embarrassment as they started to cross the parking lot towards the two-story building in front of them instead of commenting on it beyond, "I am." Derek grinned. "So, where are we?"
"Edison High School," he responded, bypassing the building, following a sidewalk around until a football field appeared in front of them, lit up with people milling around. "Every year they host an outdoor movie festival fundraiser for the school district."
Stiles was distracted by a large poster hanging to the left of the gate across from a table set up as a ticket booth, two women sitting behind it. " Scooby Doo 1&2, Monster House, Hocus Pocus , and ending with A Nightmare Before Christmas! " Stiles exclaimed. "This has gotta go all night! That's at least ten hours of movies!"
"It does," he told him, turning to the women behind the table. "Good evening, Karen. Trisha. How are you?"
"Derek! You made it!" the blonde woman said, leaning around him and waving at Stiles. "And you brought a friend."
"Oh my god!" the dark haired woman squealed, standing up and coming around the table and grabbing Stiles by the cheeks. "Is this Stiles?"
"This is Stiles," Stiles said, nodding his head and shaking the woman's hands loose from his face but she grabbed his hands and swung them between them.
"He's adorable!" she said, turning to the woman at the table. "Karen, isn't he just the cutest?"
"Thank you," Stiles said, giving Derek wide 'help me' eyes. Taking pity, Derek reached over and pulled Stiles to his side. "Down, ladies. What would your husbands think?"
They giggled, actually giggled, as the dark haired woman took her seat. "Sorry, dear," she apologized and held out a hand. "I'm Trisha. I teach French. This is Karen, she works in the front office making sure everything runs smoothly."
"Stiles. I'm a research assistant at Beacon Hills University Library," he said, shaking both of their hands as Derek dug out his wallet.
"Oh we know, sweetie," Karen said. "This one never shuts up-"
"Ten dollars apiece, right?" Derek asked, handing over a fifty dollar bill and refusing the change. He took their tickets and dragged Stiles through the gate, hoping the heat he felt in the tips of his ears wasn't obvious in the fading sunlight. People greeted him, calling his name and waving from across the field as he searched for a good place to sit, finally settling on a spot near the middle of the field next to a man he recognized.
"Mr. Hale," the older, bald gentleman greeted, rising from his chair to shake Derek's hand and pull him into a one-armed hug. "Is this the infamous Mr. Stilinski?" he asked, turning his attention on Stiles who gaped at everything going on around them.
"Stiles, this is Mr. Stacey, the superintendent for the school district and the mastermind behind this event," Derek explained.
"Don't let him lie to you," the man said. "Three years ago this event was one movie in the auditorium and barely drew in fifty people. Then he comes along with grand ideas and it's the biggest fundraiser we have." A tall blonde woman called his name from near the concession stand. "If you'll excuse me, I promised Ms. Romjin I'd take a shift at the concession stand. A pleasure to meet you."
Stiles turned to Derek and flailed his arms around. "What the hell is going on?"
"A movie fundraiser for the school district," Derek said, matter-of-factly, as he set up the chairs, pushing Stiles into one before dropping one of the blankets over his head.
Stiles yanked the blanket off his head and glared at Derek. "Do not play dumb with me, Sourwolf. You're too smart for that!" He jabbed Derek with a finger. "Why does everybody know you? And me?"
"I volunteer as an assistant basketball coach for the school. My coach from high school is head coach here now," he explained. "I've been doing it for about five years now."
"This is your top secret job!" Stiles shouted and Derek nodded. "Why didn't you tell us?"
Derek sighed, dropping into his chair before standing again and dropping his blanket on the ground next to Stiles chair and sitting on it, leaning back against Stiles' legs so he could talk without watching his face, knowing that if there was even an ounce of judgement, he'd run like hell. "Here, I'm Derek Hale, assistant coach. I'm not Derek Hale that lost his entire family in a fire. I'm not Derek Hale, Alpha. No one here has any expectations from me except to show up and help the team."
Stiles was silent for a long time and Derek could feel the itch to slip into his wolf form and run until he felt safe again. Just as he was about to stand, he felt Stiles' hand grip his shoulder, strong and comforting. "You are all those things, all of the time, but I get it," he finally said and Derek relaxed against his legs, blinking back tears when Stiles' arms went around him in a quick hug, his cheek pressed to the top of Derek's hair.
Stiles pulled away too soon, smacking Derek across the back of the head. "Now, why does everyone know who I am?"
Derek jumped to his feet. "Concessions," he spat out before hurrying away, hunching his shoulders as he heard Stiles' hiss out only loud enough for him and a select few others Stiles was unaware of to hear that the conversation wasn't over.
Taking his time, he made sure to stop and talk to every person he could identify by more than name and then spent too much time picking up one of everything that he thought Stiles would enjoy. By the time he'd run out of excuses to stay away, the first movie was starting. Dragging his feet, he made his way back to where he'd left Stiles. The young man looked up at him from the space he'd rearranged, collapsing the chairs and laying out the blankets. He spotted Stiles' duffel bag that he kept packed and in the back of the Jeep along with a couple of other items set up as makeshift pillows.
"I thought this would be more comfortable," Stiles explained as Derek stood over him, arms full. "You can set up one of the chairs if you don't want to sit down here."
Derek moved carefully to his knees, allowing Stiles to help him empty his arms. "I think I got enough to last through all the movies."
"Dude, I'm going to be knocked out by the end of the third one," Stiles said, laughing as he tore open a pack of Reese's Cups, offering one to Derek who took it with a smile before arranging himself to lean against Stiles' duffel bag.
The first movie, Scooby Doo , drew laughs from both of them and Derek grabbed Stiles, covering his mouth when he started speculating about starting their own Scooby Gang with Derek in his full shift as Scooby. They ended up wrestling, Derek keeping his strength to normal human level, until they managed to knock over Stiles' soda soaking one of the blankets and earning a stern look from Mr. Stacey, although Derek caught his quiet chuckle when he returned his attention to the movie.
"Hey, Coach," a tall boy said as he approached the two of them during the intermission before the second movie. "My mom saw that you'd spilled your soda on your blanket." He gestured over his shoulder to Trisha who was waving and winked when she caught Derek's eye. "We have extra blankets and pillows, if you want."
Derek was speechless, but Stiles didn't have that problem. "That would be awesome," he said and the boy nodded before returning to Trisha who loaded him down with blankets, a couple of pillows and a beat up cardboard box which he gave to Stiles when he returned. "I'm Stiles," he said to the boy as he helped him pull out an inflatable loveseat from the box, complete with pump to inflate it.
"I know. Coach's boyfriend, right?" he said as he got the pump going. Derek choked and jumped to his feet again to run to the concession stand under the guise of getting Stiles another soda, keeping his attention on Stiles and the boy, hopefully without their notice.
"Well, it's nothing official," Stiles said, smiling at the boy, his voice calm but Derek could hear his racing heart even from a distance.
"You should make it that way. He's nuts about you," the boy said. "I'm Zack. It's nice to finally meet you."
"You, too, dude," Stiles said, waving to Trisha again as Zack walked away. Then he turned his attention to Derek as he returned, a new soda in his hand. Stiles' grin widened. "What exactly do you tell people about me?"
"I don't tell them you're my boyfriend," Derek muttered, surprised when the smile disappeared. "But I guess I talk about you. A lot."
"A lot, a lot," Zack called from where he was sitting and Stiles looked at Derek, eyes narrowed in suspicion.
"Born," Derek said, sighing. He'd hoped to keep everyone's identity a secret, but clearly Trisha and Zack weren't as concerned with secrecy. "Mom's side. He's literally a son of a bitch," he hissed, ducking when Trisha threw another pillow at them none too gently.
"What happened to being regular Derek?"
"They didn't know my family. Trisha moved here from England about two years ago," he explained. "They know I'm an Alpha, but I'm not their Alpha." Trisha's eyes rimmed with red for a moment.
"Ah," Stiles said, smiling. "Does Scott know?"
"Scott's aware of their pack, but he doesn't know about me coaching here. Only you know." He tilted his head to the side, considering. "Unless Erica managed to follow me here one day, but I don't think she's quite managed it yet. I usually lose her somewhere near the mall."
Derek grinned when Stiles threw his head back and laughed, his eyes locked on the way it elongated his neck and he felt an all-too familiar itch in his canines, but he reeled it in. Stiles was his friend. Granted, the friendship was tenuous at best, but it was still there and he didn't want to do anything to spoil it, despite the grumblings of his wolf whenever Stiles was around. The sound of the second movie starting got Derek moving. Stiles laid back on the loveseat, a blanket tossed over his lap, Derek sitting on the ground leaning back against it, his head near Stiles' chest. The boy's heartbeat, always audible to Derek, was deafening but he knew he wouldn't be paying much attention to the movie anyway.
Stiles was remarkably quiet during the movie and Derek kept looking back to check if he'd fallen asleep, even though his heartbeat was still rabbit fast. One of the times he glanced back, Stiles' eyes jumped up to the screen and Derek felt the tips of his ears grow warm at the thought that he'd been watching him.
"Someone feels the same way," Trisha said, her voice barely audible to Derek and when he looked over, she and Zack were grinning like idiots. He started to growl, stopping when Stiles' hand brushed over the hair at the back of his neck.
"All right?" he asked, voice soft and slightly slurred and Derek was reminded of Stiles' comment about passing out by the third movie.
"Yeah. You getting tired?" he asked, leaning his head back against Stiles' chest and turning slightly to take in his face.
"Mhmm," he said around a yawn that bounced Derek's head slightly from the expanse of his lungs.
"We can leave if you want. Get you back to Beacon Hills and to bed," Derek suggested.
"Nah. We can stay till the end. I'm just going to rest my eyes for a bit," he said, turning to his side, but moving closer to the edge of the loveseat so he could keep contact with Derek. He put his hands under his cheek and closed his eyes. "Wake me up for Hocus Pocus . I love that one."
Derek smiled as Stiles' breathing and heart rate finally fell into a steady rhythm and he turned his attention back to the screen just in time for the villain to ask Scooby who he thought he was. "Scooby. Dooby. Doo!" he called out along with some of the others in the crowd, it was something that had been done since the first year of the film festival and Derek secretly loved it; it reminded him of howling with his pack.
"I like you silly," Stiles whispered and Derek was surprised to see his eyes open when he looked back at him.
"Are you calling me silly?" Derek asked in mock outrage as Stiles began to giggle, his eyes already blinking sleepily again as he did so.
"Yep and I like when you are. You don't let yourself be silly enough," he said, reaching out and poking the tip of Derek's nose with his index finger. "Boop!" he said, breaking into giggles again.
"I'm gonna 'boop' you, if you keep it up," he growled lowly.
"Now, Derek, there are children present," he heard Trisha call, voice raised enough for Stiles to hear as well and both of them blushed and hurriedly looked away from each other and back up to the screen as the villains were unmasked.
Derek turned back when the credits started rolling, humming along with Ruben Studdard singing, grinning when a couple of the kids got up to dance along with Scooby and the rest on the screen. Stiles' eyes were closed again, a soft smile on his face and Derek decided he would let him sleep instead of waking him to witness the craziness around them. Pushing himself to stand, he made his way to the restrooms stopping when Zack called him, racing to catch up. His human buddy Will, Karen's son, next to him.
"Hey, Coach!" they both said when they'd caught up to him.
"I'm sorry if my mom’s embarrassing you," Zack told him. "I think she means well, but..."
"Don't worry about it. She reminds me of my sister, Laura. She'd probably be doing the same stuff if she were here." He chuckled as he thought about his sister. "Although, she'd be a lot more blunt."
Will laughed. "More like, 'Get your head outta your ass, Derek, and ask him out?'" he asked, voice pitched into a higher octave.
"Language," Derek said but could barely speak through his laughter.
"Mom's right," Zack said. "Pretty sure he likes you, too. You should ask him out."
Derek gave Zack a knowing look as Will hurried over to his mom, giving her a hug and picking up his little sister to spin her in circles, her laughter reaching them. "I'll ask Stiles out as soon as you ask Will out," he said.
"Amen!" shouted Trisha and Zack shoved Derek, hurrying away when Will looked over at them, eyebrows furrowed in confusion.
Shaking his head, Derek headed into the bathroom, his mind occupied with Zack's words. He began to wonder if maybe everyone was right about Stiles. It wasn't like Derek hadn't smelled his arousal when he was around Derek, but that wasn't all that he wanted from a relationship with him. He wanted Stiles to want to be with him for more than just what he looked like, for more than just the physical and he wasn't sure if Stiles felt that way about him.
***
Stiles had been drifting in and out of sleep, but when Trisha shouted something he sat up and fell off the loveseat. Looking around to see if anyone had seen him making a fool of himself, his eyes met Trisha's and she stood up, approaching him slowly. Monster House starting up behind her.
"Derek is a good man," she said, studying Stiles' face.
"He is. A good man, a good Alpha, a good friend," Stiles agreed.
"He deserves nice things," she continued. Stiles narrowed his eyes, nodding before tilting his head and waiting for her to continue. " You are a nice thing."
The laughter that burst out of Stiles took them both by surprise and Trisha giggled. Reaching out, she held out a hand to touch Stiles' cheek dropping it before she made actual contact, laughing again. "Someone doesn't like that," she whispered as Derek came up behind her.
"Trisha," Derek said, voice heavy with warning but lips twisted into a soft smile.
"Derek," she returned, winking at Stiles before turning and returning to her family.
"What was that about?" Derek asked, stepping closer to Stiles.
"Are all Alphas crazy?" he asked, laughing when Trisha and Derek both growled and Zack walked by shouting, "Yes!"
"I have no argument against that, apparently," Derek said.
"Wanna watch a movie?" Stiles asked after the silence went on between them, their eyes locked on each other.
"I'd rather get out of here," Derek confessed. "Go somewhere to talk."
"Yes, please," Mr. Stacy said. "Your unresolved sexual tension is distracting."
"Oh my God!" Stiles shouted, arms flailing. "Does everyone have something to say about us?"
There was a resounding "Yes!" from a large part of the crowd and Derek started laughing as Stiles looked around him, stunned. He threw a glare at the general populace before turning back to clean up their stuff. "Just leave our things there," Trisha said. "I'm sure Zack and Will are more than happy to use them."
"Mooooom," Zack whined.
"Good, meddle in someone else's love life now," Derek said, picking up the two chairs and blankets he'd brought while Stiles shouldered his duffel.
They walked in silence back to the vehicles. "So, where are we headed? The packhouse is full of people."
"It's always full of people," Derek pointed out.
"And you love it," Stiles teased.
"I love it when you're there," Derek corrected and Stiles tripped over his own feet and would've faceplanted if Derek hadn't grabbed him by the arm. "We'll meet back there."
"But-"
"Just meet me there," Derek said, climbing into his Camaro. "I'm going to make a stop on the way."
Stiles watched him drive off, head spinning as he dropped down to the ground next to his Jeep, head in his hands, elbows on his knees. If Derek was stopping on the way back to the house, he ahd time for a minor freakout before hitting the road. "Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck." He looked up when he heard footsteps, fully expecting Trisha and surprised to see Will.
"Sucks being a human crushing on a 'wolf, doesn't it?" he asked, settling onto the ground next to him.
"Wait..what?"
Will laughed. "I've known for a couple of months now," Will explained. "About Zack and his mom and Coach Hale."
Stiles laughed. "They never suspect the humans are going to figure it out, but we always do." Will shrugged. "I'm more confused by the crushing part. What makes you think I'm interested in Derek?"
"Dude, you followed him from Beacon Hills to watch a bunch of kid movies," Will told him. "Just like I gave up a Saturday night to do the same with Zack."
"Hey, some of these movies are classics," Stiles argued, trying to avoid admitting that he had a point. "Plus, I didn't know where he was going when I started following him."
"And if he hadn't stopped here and kept going, then what? How far would you have followed him?" Will asked, face serious.
Stiles opened his mouth to answer, unsure of what to say even though he knew he would've kept following Derek until he stopped no matter where that might have been. The ends of the earth wouldn't be too far, they'd been through too much together, saved each other's lives too many times. Will stood up, smiling as he brushed off the back of his legs.
"I'll leave you to think about it," he said, walking away.
"Hey," Stiles called, scrambling to his feet. "Let me give you my number. Us humans that run with 'wolves need to stick together." Will handed over his phone, letting Stiles input his number before sending off a quick text to give Stiles his. He waved and returned to the field.
Stiles stayed in the parking lot for a bit longer, staring after Will before his phone buzzed in his hand. Looking down, he saw a message from Scott. "Don't know if you were planning on showing up, but movie night got cut short. Derek's being a dick."
Stiles texted back a thumbs up emoji and got into his Jeep, preparing for the drive back to the packhouse and figuring out what he was going to say to Derek when he got there.
***
Derek paced the length of the living room, barely noticing the pillows and blankets that had been left behind by the pack after he'd interrupted their movie night. He'd asked them nicely to vacate and he only does that once so when they'd refused to move, he'd Alpha roared them out of the house empty handed and in Scott's case, barefoot. He'd feel guilty about the abuse of power later, especially if the rest of the night didn't go well.
He was nervous. More nervous than he could ever remember being in his life, even more than when he'd first started talking to Paige and trying to get her to go out with him. He'd spent many nights practicing his words to use on her and would be lying if he said he'd never imagined the upcoming conversation with Stiles. He'd gone every route from, "Hey, Stiles, you, me, together, yeah?" to "So, if I said you had a beautiful body would you hold it against me?" He shook his head at his own stupidity.
"Depends," Stiles voice spoke up behind him; he'd been so lost in throwing out conversational openers he hadn't even heard the Jeep pulling up. Fail wolf, that was him. Too bad it wasn't a Friday to make it perfect.
He turned toward Stiles, head hanging, eyes refusing to meet his. "Depends on what?" he whispered, heart tight as he anticipated a grand rejection.
"Depends on if you mean it or not," Stiles responded, taking a few steps into the room, looking around at everything scattered around the room. "Did you kill them?" He looked around again. "No blood, so probably not."
"I asked them nicely to leave," he mumbled.
Stiles snorted. "You Alpha'd them, didn't you?"
Derek finally looked up, his smirk mirroring Stiles' as he came back with, "I can neither confirm nor deny that accusation."
"Confirmation enough," Stiles declared, moving closer until they were only a few feet away from each other. "So, did you mean it?"
"Depends on what you heard," Derek said, hoping to avoid the topic altogether, Stiles' proximity reminding him he wasn't ready to risk all that he currently had for a chance to have everything he’d ever wanted; he was too much of a coward.
"I have a beautiful body?" Stiles asked, cheeks blotching with pink. Derek hesitated before nodding, his eyes locking with Stiles' who waved his arms at Derek and then at himself. "Are you confused? Did you mean to say that to a mirror?"
As was usually the case when Stiles flailed, it took Derek a moment to catch up and make sense of Stiles' rambling. "So, you think I have a beautiful body?"
"The word 'Duh' comes to mind," Stiles told him, poking him in the chest before laying his hand flat against it. "Is there a word greater than beautiful? Godlike, maybe?" he muttered, his words almost lost in the beating of his heart that was almost visible to Derek and he couldn't resist lifting his own hand to lay over Stiles' chest, mirroring him.
"So, I tried to put words together on the way here, tried to figure out what I should tell you, but you know..." He trailed off, removing his hand and running it through his hair. "Fuck."
"You suck at words," Stiles pointed out.
"The word 'Duh' comes to mind," Derek mimicked.
"Okay, no," Stiles retorted. "Only I am allowed to mock. Now let me finish." Derek nodded and gestured for him to continue. "You suck at words, but you are seriously loud with emotions." Stiles moved over to the couch, settling into the middle and patted the cushion next to him, waiting for Derek to sit down. "Do you remember the kanima?"
"Who could forget Jackson?" Derek laughed, the sound dying on his lips when he took in the serious expression on Stiles’ face.
“You were just threatening me for information on the kanima and suddenly it was there, knocking Erica to the ground." They both shuddered at the memory and Derek still felt the slice of fear that one of his betas was in danger, but it had paled to the feeling that raced through him when the lizard-like creature had turned its attention on Stiles.
"You turned your back on it to save me," Stiles continued. "For a split second, maybe longer than that, but at least for that moment I saw that my safety was important to you." He ran a hand through his hair, tugging on the ends before his eyes met Derek's. "That there was a chance I was important to you."
"You called him an abomination," Derek said, head down, voice almost a whisper, but Stiles' hand brushing his cheek told him he'd heard. "I could tell from your voice that you meant it, that the kanima was an abomination but that werewolves weren't." Derek swallowed past the lump that was growing in his throat with each word he forced himself to speak. "That I wasn't an abomination. A monster."
"Even when we hated each other, I never thought of you as a monster," Stiles said, smile small as he brushed his thumb over Derek's cheekbone.
His eyes drifted shut under Stiles' ministrations. "I never hated you," he admitted. "I was frustrated by you." He smiled when a laugh burst out of Stiles. "You jumped in with both feet, unafraid of what your friend was going through."
"I was always terrified," Stiles said, his smile wide when Derek's eyes shot open. "Terrified of doing the wrong thing and someone dying."
"You were always there to save us," Derek assured, raising his hands to rest on Stiles' hips. "The vet's office, the pool, the hospital. I could always count on you." He took a deep breath. "It's been a long time since I could count on someone."
"Back at'cha, big guy," Stiles said, grinning when Derek laughed, his shoulders relaxing under Stiles' hands when he moved them to his shoulders.
They stared at each other, eyes moving over faces as Derek tried to come up with more words, more ways to make his feelings clear now that Stiles had shown him that he wasn't averse to the idea of Derek feeling something other than friendship. He opened his mouth to speak, but Stiles beat him to it.
"Are you gonna kiss me or what?" he asked, throwing Derek off guard in a way that felt like his stomach at the top of the first hill of a roller coaster and he couldn't wait to go over the edge.
"Definitely not or what," he said, leaning in and brushing their lips together.
They kissed for awhile, teasing touches of lips and tongue until Stiles pulled back and smiled. "I never thought..." he trailed off and kissed Derek again.
"I would've brought you to the high school sooner if I'd known it would lead to this," Derek said, smiling and pulling Stiles into a tight hug, his heart filling when he buried his face in Derek's neck and sighed, the breath teasing his collarbone where it peeked out of the top of his shirt.
Looking around the room, his eyes fell on the nest of blankets and pillows the pack had left behind. "Wanna watch a movie?" he asked.
"We never got to watch Hocus Pocus, " Stiles pointed out, pulling away from Derek but tangling their fingers together.
They settled into the nest, Derek's back against the couch and Stiles moving into the vee of his legs, back against his chest, wrapping Derek's arms around his waist. He fiddled with the remote, pulling up Netflix. "Dammit, they don't have it."
Derek stilled his hand after a moment of searching. "That one," he said.
Stiles choked out a laugh. " Cabin in the Woods ? Seriously?"
"The werewolf is badass," Derek said, putting on an affronted look when Stiles laughed.
"The unicorn is badass, the werewolf sucks balls," Stiles told him.
"Shut up," Derek said.
"Make me," Stiles countered and he did in his new favorite way, laughing as Stiles bit at his lips. "Alright, fine, we'll watch this. Erica will never believe you wanted to watch this."
"It's not as scary with you," Derek told him, laughing when Stiles pinched his side, pressing a quick kiss to his lips before settling in to watch the movie together. From that moment it became Derek's favorite movie.