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No-one said anything about it when Stiles gained a little weight in his first year of college.
Derek thinks they call it the freshman fifteen.
Maybe it was more noticeable to Derek because he was the only one who hadn’t seen Stiles in an entire year.
It looked good. Better.
Better than the sickly kind of skinny Stiles had become in his last two years of high school.
It would have been fine if it stopped there.
It didn’t though.
——-
Four years later
——-
"I think it might be time for an intervention." Lydia says while flicking an invisible piece of lint from the sleeve of her blouse.
Scott turns to her with a dopey grin on his face, happy to have the whole pack together for once. “What?”
She looks at the kitchen-door meaningfully. The door Stiles just dissapeared through.
"Huh?"
Lydia rolls her eyes at Scott, gestures to the door and then pats her stomach.
"You’re hungry?" Scott asks.
Jackson scoffs. “She means Stilinski and his recent bout of obesity.”
It’s Scott’s turn to roll his eyes. “Oh come on, that’s ridiculous”.
"Well he’s not obese," Lydia concedes, "but he’s certainly a little overweight."
"So he’s gotten a bit heavier," Scott says grudgingly, loyal as ever, "so what?"
"So…maybe it’s time to do something about it now it’s still easily reversible.”
"Don’t you think you’re exaggerating a little bit?" Scott says with a frown.
"How much has he gained over the last four years?" Lydia asks pointedly, "And more importantly, how much will he gain over the next forty if he doesn’t change his lifestyle?”
Scott looks around the room for support. “Come on guys, it’s not that bad, is it?”
Finally Isaac gives an awkward shrug. “He is getting kinda heavy man.”
Stiles chooses that moment to walk back into the room, carrying a huge bowl of salty popcorn. He sets the bowl down on the table, grabs a large handful and drops down onto the couch next to Derek. “Hey dude, how’s work?”
"It’s okay." Derek tells him. He’s been working as a maintenance worker on the hiking trails and bike paths near Beacon Hills. Not for the money of course, but it keeps him busy and gives him a valid excuse to roam around and keep a close eye on the pack’s territory.
"Wow man, don’t talk my ear off." Stiles gives him a fond look and pats his leg.
"How about you Stiles?" Lydia asks "When are you going to start your new job?"
"I’m starting at BH high school in three weeks when miss Ferguson starts her maternity leave." Stiles says with a wide grin.
Scott beams at him. “Who would have thought…my buddy the history teacher.”
Derek can’t imagine enjoying a job as a teacher of all things, but Stiles looks ecstatic about it. Scott said he’d wanted to do his student-teacher internship at Beacon Hills high school too, but there hadn’t been a spot available for him.
Too bad, because they could have used his help when that omega came through town last year and Stiles was stuck at Berkeley.
"So what will you be doing the next couple of weeks" Lydia asks innocently.
"Enjoying my well-earned vacation, catching up with you guys-"
"-joining a gym?"
"Yeah- what?"
"Subtle, Lydia" Scott grumbles.
Kira jumps in. “What we’re trying to say is, we love you, and we want you around for a very, very long time, and we’re a little bit concerned for your health with your recent…ummm-” She falters while trying to think of the least offensive way to say it.
"You’re getting fat Stilinski" Jackson says bluntly.
"Jackson!" Scott growls.
"What, it’s true."
Stiles looks down on himself with a look of surprise. Like he hadn’t even noticed the weight-gain. Then he shrugs. “Actually, I’ve been stable at this weight for like a year.”
"Well maybe it’s time to get off your arse and do something about it." Jackson sneers.
"Hey," Stiles says, affronted, "I exercise plenty."
"Video-games don’t count as exercise."
"Jackson, shut up." Scott hisses.
"Did you- Is this what you guys were talking about while I was in the kitchen?" Stiles says, and the pleased look he’s been wearing all day slowly starts to disappear. "You all think I’m fat?”
"No." Scott says emphatically and even Lydia shakes her head.
"It’s not that- well…oh be honest Stiles. You’ve gained somewhere between 30 and 40 pounds over a period of 4 years," Lydia says, "You were skinny before, so a little weight gain wasn’t a bad thing, but if you keep going at this rate there will eventually be consequences for your health."
"Not to mention your chances of getting laid." Jackson adds.
Stiles sends Jackson a satisfied smirk. “Didn’t seem to bother anyone at Berkeley.” Then he turns serious. “Okay, so maybe I could stand to lose afew pounds…I’ll watch what I eat a little more alright?” He says, obviously hoping that’ll be the end of the conversation.
No such luck. “Why don’t you join one of those boot-camp training programs?” Kira says excitedly. “That could be fun, right?”
"How about…No. I’m sorry Kira, you know I love you, but I am not using my limited funds to pay some ex-army goon an exorbitant amount of money to yell at me.”
It’s completely silent for five seconds and then…”Derek can do it.” Lydia says with a wicked gleam in her eye.
And suddenly the attention of the entire room switches from Stiles to him.
And there’s a chorus of agreement among the pack.
"Yeah, you can train with him."
"You only work part time anyway."
"You already spend like a third of your time exercising"
Derek looks at Stiles, who winces sympathetically, and then at Scott who’s looking at him with a hopeful smile and he knows he might as well agree right away because otherwise there is no way he’s getting out of this without disappointing his alpha and the rest of the pack. “Sure.”
And that’s how two days later he finds himself at the preserve with Stiles to begin his new ‘training program’.
Stiles is wearing a track suit and while he’s checking something on his phone Derek takes the opportunity to really study Stiles’ body. Frankly, he doesn’t get what the big deal is. Sure Stiles is heavier, but it’s not like he has a massive beer belly or anything. He’s just…bigger. It doesn’t look unhealthy, or even unappealing.
Stiles puts his phone away. “Dude, you ready?”
"Don’t call me dude."
"Awww I’m feeling so nostalgic right now Sourwolf."
Derek rolls his eyes. “I thought we could start with a little run.”
"Sounds good, and what distance will this little run cover?"
"About four miles." He looks at Stiles’ face to gauge his reaction to the distance but Stiles doesn’t give him anything.
Derek decides to start slow, but when Stiles doesn’t get out of breath within the first couple of minutes he picks up his speed and Stiles speeds up right along with him. It’s not until halfway through their last mile that Stiles really starts panting. Still, he doesn’t stop until Derek does.
As soon as they’ve stopped Stiles looks at his watch and pulls his phone out again.
Derek wishes he would have left the thing at home. “You need to be somewhere else?”.
"Nope" Stiles says, putting his phone back in his pocket. "What now?"
"Push ups."
"Okay"
Derek was already surprised when Stiles had little trouble during their run, and he’s even more surprised when Stiles manages a respectable 40 push-ups before having to quit. “You’re not out of shape.” He blurts out.
Stiles gives him an easy grin. “I told you guys, I exercise plenty.” He grabs his phone again and Derek feels an irrational bout of irritation for the person who’s occupying Stiles thoughts when he’s supposed to be training with Derek. Before he can really think about it he reaches out and snatches the phone from Stiles hand.
"Hey none of that now, give me my phone wolfman."
"Or what?"
"Or I’ll…Well I don’t know yet what I’ll do to you, but it will definitely be unpleasant.”
Derek raises an eyebrow. “Come get it then.”
"What?"
"Come. Get. Your. Phone."
Stiles narrows his eyes at him. “If you think I’m going to chase you like some four year old in kindergarten…” He launches at Derek, “Then you’re absolutely right!”
Derek manages to jump just out of reach but Stiles aims a low kick at his legs and manages to drop him. He rolls away quickly before Stiles can grab him and has just enough time to scramble up and sprint away. He can hear Stiles barelling after him yelling at the top of his lungs. “You better not hurt my phone Wolf-boy!”
It’s fun. Not as challenging as when one of the other wolves chases him of course, but he’s never done this with Stiles. In the past whenever they ran together it was because they were both trying very hard not to die.
Derek keeps his wolf side under control and Stiles is surprisingly quick on his feet and they’re almost a match. Not quite though. Eventually he loses Stiles and he circles back coming at the man from the other side.
There are a couple of thick branches right above Stiles.
His eyes flash blue before he silently jumps up and into the tree…
Stiles yells and flails when his own ringtone suddenly starts playing loudly, 3 inches away from his ear.
Derek, hanging upside down from his knees on one of the branches above Stiles head, takes one second to smirk at him.
It’s one second too many.
He wasn’t expecting Stiles to jump so quickly, or so high, and suddenly Stiles arms are wrapped around his waist like iron bars and their combined weight drags him off the branch.
Derek lands hard on his back with Stiles half on top of him, and while he tries to convince his body that yes, he can still breathe, Stiles pries the phone from his hand.
"Crap," Stiles says, as he turns around and finds a more comfortable position sitting on top of Derek. "How many push-ups did I do again?"
"40" Derek huffs.
And Stiles starts tapping on his phone again.
"Who are you talking to?" Derek asks, trying to keep the annoyance out of his voice. They were having fun and this person is interrupting. Again. At the same time Stiles suddenly cheers and bounces up and down on top of him. “Ribs” Derek croaks pointedly, since he can practically hear them creaking.
"Oh, sorry man," Stiles lifts his heavy ass off of Derek, sits down next to him and pushes the phone in his face. "but look! Level 30!"
Derek has absolutely no idea what he’s looking at. “What.”
"You don’t know- Oh who am I kidding. It’s an app, Derek.” he says in a tone like he’s talking to a six year old, “You can log your exercises on it and it gives you points for them. And if you gather enough points… you go up a fitness level. And I just reached level 30.”
Derek takes a moment to process this new idiocy. “You managed to turn real life into a video game…”
"Yeah!" Stiles says without any trace of sarcasm. "It’s awesome."
Derek looks up at the sky and wonders what fitness level he’s on.
"You want me to help you make an account?" Stiles asks.
"No" Derek grumbles. Kind of.
They sit in comfortable silence for a little while before Derek can’t help but ask the question that’s been plaguing him since their run. “If you’ve been exercising this much, how come you’re…not skinnier?”
Stiles snorts. “Dude, werewolves and their freakish metabolism aside, the only way to get real muscle definition is to control your food intake. I’m not saying I wouldn’t like to have a six-pack and look all ‘cut’ like those gym guys, but if it means dry turkey sandwiches, skinless chicken, white fish without any sauce…I’m sorry it’s just not worth it. The skin is like the best part of the entire chicken! And I’m not giving up pizza, and oh my god curly fries. No way. Don’t get me wrong, I eat plenty of healthy meals, but I’m not going to count my freaking calories.”
He grabs Derek’s hand and presses it against his belly, hard. “I have perfectly nice abs. You just can’t see ‘em because they’re underneath a little layer of extra insulation. Doesn’t mean I’m not just as strong as all those beach body guys.”
Derek digs his fingers into the layer of softness until he feels the bumps and ridges of Stiles abdominal muscles.
"Besides," Stiles adds, "there are plenty of people who like my current physique just fine."
Yeah. Derek has no problem believing that. Stiles is tall, broad shouldered, and he looks…comfortable. Not like he is comfortable, but like he would be comfortable.
Comfortable to lean on when watching a movie.
Comfortable to curl up around in bed. Comfortable to have curled up around you…
He’s not sure what Lydia and the rest see when they look at Stiles, health risks maybe, but Stiles seems healthy like a horse and Derek thinks he prefers this version of Stiles. He’s not sure he wants Stiles to start dieting. He’s definitely sure he doesn’t want Stiles to go back to being skin and bones. “You should stay like this.” He blurts out, and only then he notices that he hasn’t taken his hand away from Stiles belly yet.
When their eyes meet, the corners of Stiles’ mouth slowly lift into a grin and right then, round faced and messy haired Stiles may be the best looking person Derek has ever seen.
Stiles pats Derek’s belly in return and says “We’re doing this again, right?”
"Yeah"
"How’s tomorrow?"
"Fine. Do you want to go get something to eat?"
"Hell yeah."
—-
It takes them one week of running, chasing, wrestling and shared meals to end up in Derek’s bedroom. And while Stiles heavy frame presses him down into the mattress, Derek spares one brief thought for Lydia’s carefully balanced diet plan, crumpled up in his trash can, where it belongs.
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