Stiles gripped the bulk of her travel mug and was going to use it to brain the next fucking jock that decided that she was fair game to pick on. She was well into hockey season, and she would check the next asshole who touched her.

"Hey, Stilinski!" a guy called out, and as soon as he was close, she checked him into the wall.

"Don't even with that shit," Stiles said.

He held up his hands and looked a little scared.

"What do you want?"

"Nothing, I promise."

"What did you want?" Stiles asked.

The guy swallowed.

"That's what I thought. Tell the next guy I'll stomp on his nuts if he tries it after I check him."

The guy nodded his head and scrambled away from her.

After that, the spooky house wasn't nearly as spooky, considering that she knew that none of the fuckers were going to mess with her anymore.

Stiles sighed when the door she opened went right out into the yard behind the frat house. A man was standing there with his arms over his chest, glaring at her. "Can I help you?"

"Are you okay?" the man asked.

"I'm fine. Thank you, now move out of my way."

"Your pants are torn, and you had Jimmy scared shitless," the man said.

"Oh, is that his name? What about the other five assholes who were assaulting me in there?"

"Assaulting?" the man growled and turned around. He looked around and went right for where the guy Jimmy was standing.

Stiles wondered who the hell he was. Though she tended to not deal with frat guys on the whole. She only came here since the rest of the team was, and they wanted to bond as a group. Stiles was a sophomore on the team and played since she got onto it her freshman year. She hadn't played hockey on a high school team since Beacon Hills didn't have a girl's team, and she wasn't allowed on the boys, which kind of sucked since Stiles had led the local intramural team to wins as captain her last three years of school. The Beacon Hills Cyclones hockey team had sucked so bad they were in last place all four years that Stiles had gone there. The lacrosse team allowed girls to play, so she never understood other than the coach was a misogynist asshole.

The man was yelling at the other guys of the Frat so much that Stiles was pretty sure that they were going to shit their pants. He pointed at Stiles, and then the five that had been tormenting her walked over. She was treated to five minutes of apologies as the guys did it in front of everyone. Then they were gone, back into the house and hopefully up to the third floor where they wouldn't bug anyone else.

"Sorry about them. They are not used to the way that things are around here anymore."

"What?" Stiles asked.

"I took over as head when I started here this year."

"You are a freshman?"

"No, I'm a legacy member, and there were a lot of issues with this Frat. My Uncle and other alumni were very worried about this chapter being shut down, so I moved schools and joined up with the knowledge that I was taking over. I was in a brother chapter at my old school. The old head is currently in jail for rape. My Uncle made sure of that."

"Derek Hale," Stiles said.

Derek's eyes narrowed at her. She just grinned at him.

"How do you know that?"

"Well, I could say that I just know all of the guys on campus, but in reality, you look a lot like the rest of your family."

"You are from Beacon Hills?" Derek asked.

"Yup."

"I don't recognize you."

"Eh, you wouldn't. Your family and I didn't run in the same circles. I should head over. Thank you for talking to them. I am not sure if I am the only one they harassed, but I wouldn't be shocked if I was. They really take exception to me being on the women's hockey team."

Derek's eyes followed her as she made it all the way over to where the team was. A few girls were asking about him and wanting to know if he asked her on a date.

Stiles learned that he was on the basketball team and was captain of it. He was in his junior year after deferring a few years to get travel with his Uncle. He was getting a business management degree before going to cooking school to become a chef. It was more than she wanted to know about him without talking to him herself.

Derek kept on looking at her, though. Every time she turned around and looked, his eyes were on her. It didn't feel malicious. As the Sheriff's daughter, she had learned when eyes were bad and when eyes were good. Derek didn't make her feel like she needed to knee him in the groin and run away screaming fire.

"Someone has an admirer," Stacy said as she took off her helmet when practice was called to a close.

"What?" Stiles asked. Her helmet was already off, and she had half of her pads off as well. She was good at getting out of them quickly. Stacy turned her head, and she could see where some of the boyfriends usually sat during practices was the boyfriends, plus Derek Hale. He was reading a book, but as Stiles looked at him, his eyes came up, and he scanned the players until he landed on her. His head jerked back down. Stiles was too far away, but she was pretty sure he was blushing.

"That's adorable. He's not really tried to get close to anyone. The guys in his Frat call him a robot."

"Eh, just gotta get used to the way the Hales act is all."

"You know of them?"

"Yeah, she's from Beacon Hills," Aurora said as she came up to them after finishing her laps for mouthing off.

"That's right."

Stiles tuned out the girls' chatter as she headed into the locker room. She looked up at Derek again to see that he was watching her. Well, he knew her last name, and that meant he knew exactly who she was. If he came back, she might see about talking to him.

Taking her time with showering, Stiles was the last out of the ice house. She stopped when she saw a black Camaro parked in front of the exit. She knew that car. Everyone in Beacon Hills knew that car. It was Derek's. It had been his gift from his Uncle when he turned sixteen. Everyone had thought he would wrap it around a tree, but he never had.

"Boo," Derek said from behind Stiles.

Stiles turned around to see Derek putting out a cigarette.

"Those will kill you," Stiles said.

"Not me, they won't," Derek said.

"Because cancer is scared of you?"

"No. Other reasons."

Stiles saw the flash of his eyes. Werewolf. He tried to hide it, but he was unable to.

"I see."

Derek growled at her, but Stiles held her ground.

"That doesn't scare me. My Uncle is scarier than you, Mister Beta."

"You don't smell like a Pack."

"Nah, my Uncle's Pack is based in New York. I'm not part of them, but I spent some of my summers there learning all about it from when I was knee-high to a grasshopper as my Dad says."

"The Sheriff is a good man."

"Figured out who I was, huh?" Stiles asked.

"Hungry?" Derek asked instead of answering her.

"I could eat. I usually hit up the diner two blocks over after practice. Got to refuel, or I'm gonna wake up and eat cookies."

"I'll drive you."

"Mister Beta, my Dad always told me not to get into cars with strangers."

"Stiles," Derek said, a hint of ice to his tone.

Stiles just laughed, but she headed toward his car. She waited for him to rush over and open up the door. She dropped down into his seat, glad that she was leaving her gear in the locker room since there were enough lockers this year for both the men's and women's teams to have one each.

"So why me?" Stiles asked when Derek got into the car and started it up.

"What do you mean?" Derek asked.

"Well, you are the hottest shot on the basketball team at the moment, head of the biggest frat on campus, and then you are going after me?"

"The hottest women's hockey player we have, and who will be captain next year? Everyone is willing to talk about you and how you saved the team. That's why the guys went after you. The men's team sucks this year, and the women are outshining them at every single turn. You guys did last year as well. Why wouldn't I want you?"

"Hmm," Stiles hummed before she looked out into the street as Derek slowly drove them to the diner. "And my family?"

"The Pack in New York? Why would they really make a difference? I would, of course, ask him to date you and your father if tonight goes well."

"Oh, you will have to ask more than my Uncle. You'll have to ask his Mate as well. She's my Aunt. She's biologically my Aunt, and you've met her before. Once."

"Really?"

"Yeah, she was the one that came to town to arrest Kate and Gerard and took them back to New York to face trial there."

"Your Aunt is Celeste Gajos?" Derek asked.

"Yes. Still want to ask."

"No wonder Peter laughed his ass off when I brought you up. Shit." Derek parked the Camaro.

Stiles waited for him to freak out, to leave. To tell her to leave. He did none of those things.

"This just turned a hell of a lot different, Stiles. I can't...can you call her?" Derek asked.

"For a single not-date?" Stiles asked.

"Yes, for a family that old and respected, yes. If I didn't know, she wouldn't be out of sorts, but I would know if I didn't ask her. Kaïs would be able to figure out that we are lying as well."

Stiles patted her coat pockets until she found her phone and dialed her Aunt. She put it onto speaker as soon as it started to ring.

"Stiles, honey-" Celeste stopped, and Stiles heard a murmur. "Who is with you?"

"Derek Hale, Ma'am."

"Ah. It's been a long time since I last saw you. Well, in person. I watched your game last year in person. You do well at hiding what you are. Is something wrong?"

"Well, I asked Stiles onto a date, and she knew what I was when she saw the flash of my eyes."

"She's known what you guys are for longer, but she doesn't like to broadcast it. I'm not that stuffy, Derek; you don't need to fear Kaïs or me. She's a woman now and can make her own decisions. Though, this does mean that if you guys start to get serious, I will have to come out and talk to your mother. Stiles didn't want to be a Hunter, but she's still family. Robbie took over."

"Robbie bit me when he was younger. I hit him with a broom for it," Stiles said.

"I look forward to hearing that story sometime. And the Sheriff, Ma'am?"

"Oh, you get to handle him all on your own. Talia is aware that he and Stiles know about us. I would never tell anyone in the area."

"Talia offered the bite to Mom without knowing that she had family who was Werewolves. Mom laughed at her. It was funny to me."

"Yes, you were listening in when you shouldn't have been. She's nosy as hell, Derek," Kaïs said.

"Butthead!" Stiles yelled into the phone. Derek was laughing, which was good to Stiles. She would rather have him laughing at her than freaked out.

"Enjoy your date and make sure to get yourself something sweet, Derek. She's gonna want half even if she gets her own."

"Hey, it's in season. This means that I can eat the desserts as long as they aren't too horrible, and they do good peanut butter milkshakes here."

"Go have fun on your first true date."

Stiles groaned as Celeste hung up.

"First real date?"

"High school was hard—Sheriff's daughter who refused to act like a girl and who played hockey. I didn't play for Beacon Hills since they didn't have a girl's team. I joined the intramural team that the city had. We did pretty good, won everything that we could all of my years there. I got a good scholarship here to help this program. I had better, but this is close enough to home."

"Do you get to go back often?" Derek asked.

"When it's not hockey season, yeah. Which isn't a lot, really, but Dad gets to come up for home weekend games. Which is the main reason that I wanted to stay close."

"I understand."

"I'm hungry," Stiles said.

"I can hear your stomach growling. Did you not eat before practice?" Derek asked.

"Oh, I did. A good meal too, but I ran my ass off today. I will make captain next year, maybe later this year. Our last captain was voted out since she was a bitch and got kicked off the team. She threw a fit."

"Ah, yes, I remember hearing about that." Derek got out of the Camaro and ran around to open the door for her.

Stiles narrowed her eyes at him, but she got out. "I can open it myself, you know."

"I know that, but it's a show of respect for wolves. I respect you, so I will open doors for you and let you go in first. I will only fight battles you want me to fight, outside of my frat brothers being horrible assholes."

"Did Jimmy tell you how hard I hit him?"

"After seeing you check some of the other girls, I think you went easy on him."

"Well, I wasn't sure if I was putting him into a wall, a door, or just a fake wall for the haunted house. So I didn't want him crashing into anything horrible. If I had known he was going into a wall, I would have hit him harder."

"We will have to play around sometime when we can get onto the ice alone. I've not skated in years. We used to take holidays and head up north, sometimes northeast. Dad's family lives in Minnesota. Skating on lakes was interesting." Derek waved for Stiles to walk in front of him, so she did as they headed to the diner.

"Mom knew an ice faerie who used to freeze the lake near the place we went to every Christmas when Dad could get it off. I skated on that lake once from sun up to sundown."

"Yeah?" Derek held the door open for Stiles, and she said nothing as they went inside.

"Two?" the waitress asked as she walked over to them.

"Yes," Derek answered.

"Any of the booths that are on the left side. Sara will be right over."

Derek laid a hand on Stiles' lower back and directed over to the booth that he wanted. He looked like he wanted to sit in the one that would have an eye on not only the door but the entrance to the back, so Stiles sat on the other side. She watched him as he looked at the menu. Stiles knew it by heart and knew exactly what she wanted. Sara probably wouldn't even ask her what she wanted. Though with Stiles being here with Derek instead of alone, she might.

"So what do you do for fun, besides strap metal blades to your feet and play on ice?" Derek asked.

"Oh, you are going to pay for that," Stiles said as she picked up the menu and slapped him on the hands with it. Derek laughed and took it from her to set it aside.

"I like to read. Fantasy, science fiction, spy books. I don't go much for the romance but don't mind it as a subplot."

"I love to read. Uncle Peter had every single book out there on Arthurian myths. Even the romance ones. I read them all. I devoured every book in the library at home. Then I started on books at the library in town."

"I know that's where you..." Stiles stopped.

"Where I met Kate, yes. I don't mind talking about it. I know that you know about it. I mean, it was all the news in Beacon Hills. It's nothing new."

"Dad called Aunt Celeste when he found out that the Argents were in town. He knew they were bad news with what Mom had said."

"Mom said that the Gajos family was why the Argents left in the first place."

"Mom told them to leave. She wasn't part of the hunting side of the family, but she was a power in her own right."

Derek nodded his head.

"I don't want to talk about that. I want to talk about you and me, not them."

"That sounds good."

"Okay, Stiles..." Sara stopped as she looked at Derek. "Oh, a date?"

"Yes," Stiles said.

"Do you want your normal?"

"Yes, please."

"And for you?" Sara turned to Derek.

Derek ordered a massive meal with french fries.

"And for your milkshake?"

Derek looked at Stiles.

"I'm getting peanut butter."

"Hmm...strawberry, please."

"Sure and water for you both?"

"Please," Stiles said.

As soon as Sara laid down four straw, Stiles picked up two and started to strip one down.

"So, you are going to school for business management and then will be heading to culinary school."

"Yeah, but I'll be staying here. I will, of course, be in my own apartment. I have it now, but I stay in the frat house. I have access, though, so we wouldn't have to go back there if things progress. I don't ever want to take a date back there, even if she could beat the shit out of them."

"Dad and the Deputies taught me how to fight and how to do it well. I can take care of myself, but yeah. It's not a good night when I go back somewhere and get leered at."

"So last year, no one asked on a date?"

"No one that I would actually date. I had a few, but most of them were after getting me into bed, and that was it. I am not a tower to be climbed. Why did you ask me out?"

"You didn't smell scared; you smelled pissed off at what they had done. You are ripped, but I didn't know that when you were running around the frat house. I mean, you kept your body pretty covered up but out there, when you were taking off your gear, I could see it."

"You liked that?"

"What that you can take care of yourself? Yes, I do. I don't want some meek little woman to cook and clean. I want a girl who can take care of herself and be a good person. You have your issues. I've heard all about your pranks on Coach Finstock. I've heard from Cora what I figure is the worst of what you have to offer."

"She doesn't know the half of it. I leave my wet towels on the floor."

Derek laughed and looked up before leaning back. Stiles looked to the side to see Sara coming back with the waters and the milkshakes. Derek slid Stiles' milkshake closer to her, and she dropped her straw in, leaving the paper on the table for her to play with. Guys like Derek had asked her out before, and she had always turned them down, but Derek seemed like he was better than the others.

"And what else do you do that is horrible?"

"Chew with my mouth open when I'm excited. I talk with my mouth full."

"Well, I get cranky when I don't eat."

Stiles laughed and pulled her water closer to take a sip before she started to work on her milkshake.

"What are you going to college for?" Derek asked.

"Education actually. I want to teach and coach."

"Not going further than college with hockey?"

"Nah, I want kids and a family, and I want to be around for them. I plan on coaching the same team I played on in Beacon Hills. There is also talk of maybe me getting onto being an assistant coach until the other leaves. She's thinking of moving away in about a decade to where her family grew up."

"Long term plan there."

"She's very focused and driven and also likes to plans things out. It was good for me when playing on her team. She was good for me. Especially after my mom died."

Stiles talked a little bit about hockey and why she loved it. Derek talked about his passion for cooking. They ate and talked long until it was past time for Stiles to go to bed.

"Oh, shit," Stiles said when her phone dinged. It was a message from Aurora.

"Is it really that late?" Derek asked.

"Yeah," Stiles said. She looked for the check, but it wasn't there. She remembered Sara dropping it off. "Where is the check?"

"It's a date, Stiles. That means I get the check," Derek said.

"Fine. Only cause I know that you guys are loaded. So how do you feel about driving me back to my dorm?"

"Sure."

Derek was a gentleman and walked her all the way to her dorm room.

"I'll text you with my schedule for basketball practice," Derek said.

"And I'll send you my schedule. I had fun, despite the freaking out the family aspect."

Derek laughed, showing off his teeth. It would have looked scary to anyone else, but to Stiles, it showed how much he trusted her even after such a short time.

"We can go as slow as you want," Stiles said.

"Slow?"

"I mean...Celeste told me what Kate's plans were, what she aimed to do with you. If mom hadn't done what she did, then she might have succeeded. We don't have to stick to the stupid pressure that most other college kids put on themselves. Dates are not all equal. I mean, this was fun, but we didn't get to see our true selves."

Derek was still smiling.

"You are nervous, aren't you?" Derek asked.

"Yes, asshole. Keep your nose to yourself."

"Not my nose. You are rambling and there at the end, kind of trying to sound like you know what you are talking about. It's kind of cute."

"Asshole," Stiles said again. Though Derek was the first person to ever tell her that her rambling was cute.

"At least you know that now and don't find out later. Cora tells me you are an asshole as well."

"Come by it naturally." Stiles gasped as Derek stepped closer to her, not quite boxing her into the wall beside her door but close enough.

"Can I kiss you?"

"Yes."

Stiles watched Derek as he finished out his practice. They had plans afterward, and since Derek was driving, it was better for her to just meet him here. There were Halloween parties all up and down the campus, but they were heading to a theater showing old-time monster movies all night long.

Derek looked up at her and smiled. It made Stiles' heartbeat flutter, and Derek had to have been listening as he grinned at her, the smug asshole. It had only been a month, with fewer dates than Stiles would like given their schedules, but they talked a lot over text between classes.

Stiles jumped when her phone rang, vibrating under her thigh where she had it so that she could feel it vibrating. She jerked it out and looked at the caller ID. It was her father.

"Daddio! How is Halloween night so far in Beacon Hills?" Stiles asked.

"Good. We've got record trick or treaters at the station, so the deputies working here are entertained at least. I'm getting ready to head out for patrol after eating dinner, so I thought that I would call and check in on you."

Stiles pulled the phone away and glared at her father's image even though it was just his profile picture that she had. He never just called to check-in. He texted when he did that.

"Uh, huh. Pull the other one, Dad."

"Fine, Celeste and Kaïs are coming into town and asked me to set up a meeting with the Hales at their convenience. She also said that it might be a good idea to try and figure out when you and Derek were going to be in town to do it. Derek as in Derek Hale? Why would you and Derek Hale need to be at a meeting between Celeste, Kaïs, Talia, and Gregory?"

"DAD!" Stiles nearly yelled.

Derek's eyes shot up to her, a frown on his face.

"Do you not listen when I talk?" Stiles asked.

"Talk about what?"

"I told you the next time you came up for a home game, I was going to introduce you to my boyfriend."

"Boyfriend? Wait, the eldest Hale boy is your boyfriend? How did you meet him?"

"He deferred a few years to go around the globe with his Uncle learning about food. He's only a year ahead of me in college. Derek asked her permission, and she made fun of him a little bit. We've only been officially boyfriend and girlfriend for three days. I didn't figure that you would want us to take off practice or classes to head down, and since you are coming up next weekend for my game, it seemed like a good time to meet him."

"He's not pressuring you, is he?" Noah asked.

"Oh my god." Stiles buried her face in her hand that wasn't holding up the phone and groaned.

Laughter had Stiles looking up. Derek was still in his practice jersey and sitting down in front of her. He held out his hand.

"Here's Derek, Dad."

"Hello, Sheriff. No, I am not pressuring her, and she is not pressuring me. We are taking things nice and slow. We are heading out for movies after I get done with practice tonight. Which is pretty much as soon as I head into the locker room to shower and change."

"I look forward to talking to you next weekend. I promise to leave my gun with special bullets at home."

"That's good, Sir," Derek said.

"Go back to getting ready. Hand me back to my daughter."

"Ugh," Stiles said.

Derek stuck his tongue out at her, and she flipped him off. Derek retaliated by leaning in for a kiss. Stiles gladly gave it to him before shoving him away. Derek pretended that she had enough force to actually tip him on his ass and then ran down the stairs. The rest of the team was heading into the locker room.

"So, you snagged a Hale."

"Dad, I haven't snagged him. We are just dating."

"Sweetie, no Hale dates."

"What?"

"Talia was the same way. She found Gregory and then married him six months later. Laura and Peter both are the same way. They found their person, dated them, and never let them go."

Stiles swallowed and looked at Derek's back as he finally made it into the locker room. She wasn't sure if he heard her father or not.

"Are you okay?" Noah asked.

"Yeah, I am. I am just a little shocked. We met once, and he was waiting for me after practice to ask me on a date. He smokes and drives a Camaro; everyone calls him a bad boy."

"He took over as head of Peter's old Frat, didn't he? To shape it up? I heard him and Chris talking about it the other day."

"Yes, his frat brothers have all shaped up. They are nowhere near as horrible as they were before. They still have parties and get too drunk, but they don't abuse women anymore. Derek scared the shit out of them. He's grooming another guy to take over since he just has one more year after this one. He's gonna see how the guy does next year. A freshman this year. He doesn't trust any of the people in the current junior class. Look, I'm going to get off of here; you try and figure out how you missed that I told you I was dating Derek Hale, and I'll see you soon. Love you."

"Love you too, sweetie," Noah said.

Stiles packed up her stuff and looked around to see where the other girlfriends were. She didn't sit with them since they liked to talk about make-up and stuff, and she just wanted to read and maybe lust over sweaty guys who ran up and down the floor.

Derek wasn't outside, so Stiles leaned against his Camaro as she waited on him. He came out dressed in a shirt that proclaimed what he was wearing as his costume. Stiles wasn't dressed up, but the fact that Derek down that shirt was great. Derek opened up the driver's side door and tossed his backpack inside before shutting it and walking around to Stiles' side. He put his hands on the roof and leaned over to nuzzle at her neck, inhaling the scent of her before he kissed her.

"Hey," Derek said.

"Hi," Stiles said.

"So, your Dad is fine?"

"Yes, he must have been distracted right when I said your name. I wondered if someone had spilled it to him, given how he didn't react, but now I understand. He's fine. He knows the Hales are good people. He knows all of that, so he's not gonna worry. He said something, though that I want to get your opinion on."

"Go," Derek said.

"Do the Hales date around?"

"Yes and no. I thought that Paige was my person that I would be happy with for the rest of my life, and then she died of bite rejection. Then there was Kate, and she twisted my head around. We can and will date around if we don't meet someone who we think is our person early enough. Mom's grandfather didn't meet the lady who would be his wife and Mom's grandmother until he was forty. He dated around to make sure that no one thought anything of him. We don't date seriously with any one person until we meet our person."

"Your Mate," Stiles said.

"Yes."

"And I'm...I'm your Mate?" Stiles asked.

"Yes. I didn't want to bring it up until we were better at knowing each other. You hadn't brought it up, so I wasn't sure that it was something that your Aunt had taught you."

"I've heard Kaïs call her his Mate, but I wasn't...It didn't click until Dad said something. So this is like super serious for you."

"Yes, but that doesn't mean I won't let you go if you want that. I'm your first serious boyfriend, Stiles. I get it. I do, so we can just stay like this until everything is good and you are ready for everything. There is no timeline on any of this. We could date for the rest of our lives, and I would be happy."

"You don't need to put a ring on it?" Stiles asked.

"Please never sing that again," Derek said with a groan. He scented her again, his body shifting just a little closer.

Stiles tipped her head into his and moved until she could kiss him. He wrapped his arms around her and pressed their bodies together from shoulders to feet. She understood why he scented her all the time now. Telling everyone who met her that she was off-limits, at least if they were Supernatural.

"Let's go get our spook on, and then maybe we can head to your apartment? Not for sex but just...cuddling and spooning and maybe a little oral?" Stiles was sure that Derek could hear how her heart was racing a little. She wasn't ready for more than that, but she thought maybe she was ready for oral, maybe a little hands.

"Sounds good. I have late classes tomorrow, and I know you do as well. We can do that. Whatever you want, however far you are willing to go. Even if that means it's not as far as you think, and I have to go jerk off in the shower."

Stiles nodded and smiled. Derek drew her back from the car to open the door. He waited until she was seated before he leaned down and kissed her cheek. Then he was moving around the Camaro to get into the driver's seat. This was too fast, but sometimes it felt like it was too slow. She knew now that Derek was serious; this wasn't some big frat thing and a long con. He was in this for the rest of his life.

The End