Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Stiles stood in just his boxers in front of the full length mirror in his room, staring at himself.  He lifted his arms up, curling them to make muscles and growled at his reflection before dropping his arms into another body builder pose.  There were hints at muscles in his arms and chest, but it was clear he was not going to be modeling for Men’s Health magazine any time soon.  It didn't seem to matter how much he practiced and worked out with everyone else on the lacrosse team, his body would never get much better than the lanky figure now standing in the mirror. 

He leaned closer, his eyes darting about to take in his features.  He turned his head to the left, then to the right, keeping his eyes on his reflection - cataloguing each mole, the curve of his jaw, the slight upward turn of his nose, the trim of his short buzzed brown hair (still a bit damp from his shower).  Opening his mouth wide, he stuck out his tongue then pulled it back in to bare his teeth at himself.  The honey brown eyes traced over his face again before he stood up straight with a dissatisfied sigh.  Putting one hand on his hip and rubbing the other over his head, he concluded to his reflection, "Chronologically, you're sixteen, but physically, you're still fifteen." His arms dropped, "Probably closer to fourteen because apparently, the puberty fairy skipped you to give a double dose to Jackson-Stupid-Whittemore."

Honestly, he didn't know what he'd been thinking would happen when he woke up this morning.  Logically, Stiles didn't expect to wake up transformed into a new body, but he did think that turning sixteen would be so major, that he'd wake up with a new and improved mental state that would show on his face.  But it was still the same old face he had yesterday - still the same thoughts and fears too.

It was a little depressing.

Getting dressed in a t-shirt, jeans and a plaid shirt and socks he plopped down on his bed to tie on his ratty Converse sneakers.  He had briefly entertained the idea of overhauling his wardrobe, changing it all when he turned sixteen to reflect the new person he was supposed to be, but had decided against it.  Mostly because he didn't have the money to buy a bunch of new clothes, but also because deep down, he knew he was always going to just be Stiles and pulling off the latest fashions, no matter what age he was, just wasn't in the cards for him (memories of trying on a pair of skinny jeans once and not being able to walk right because they were so tight and the fear of losing blood flow to his dick were still fresh).

After getting his shoes on, he leaned back on his hands to look over to the nightstand where a framed photo was set.  The picture was of a young woman with golden brown eyes and a bright smile gazing back joyously at him, "Hey Mom," he smiled, though there was sadness to the edge of it, "Your boy turned sixteen today!  You know Dad didn't think I'd survive long enough to reach this age but we've proven him wrong yet again, haven't we?" he grinned, thinking of some of the stupid stunts he'd managed over the years before the expression faded into something pensive, his foot swinging to tap his heel against the bed frame, "I thought I'd feel different when I turned sixteen, you know?  But everything still feels just the same as it did yesterday." Stiles' let his eyes roam over the organized chaos of his bedroom, "I just...  I feel like I'm waiting for something...  Something to happen." He didn't say out loud that part of him was waiting for his life to happen, that he'd only been biding his time for his real life to begin.

Biting his lip, he sat quietly for a while before catching the time on the digital clock sitting next to the photograph, "Well, I better get downstairs so Dad can wish me Happy Birthday and give me his standard You're Growing Up So Fast speech." he smirked, "Same as every year.  Though hopefully we can avoid the safe sex combo talk with that," he shuddered, "I keep telling him the chances of me getting any action are as likely as me getting bitten by a shark.  Seriously, I have a better chance of getting killed by a cow!" Hopping up to his feet he paused to gaze at the photograph, "I wish you were here Mom..." he then straightened his shoulders, "Okay," he nodded before blowing the picture a kiss, "Love you!" then he was ambling out of the room and down the hall.

Trampling down the stairs he called out, "Morning Dad!" 

Swinging himself into the kitchen he saw the Sheriff putting his breakfast plate and fork into the sink while downing the last gulp of coffee from his mug, "Hey kiddo," he greeted as he added the mug to the dishes in the sink, "Listen, don't forget I'll be back late tonight.  I have a double shift since I'm covering Maureen for her anniversary." He grabbed his wallet from the counter and slid it into his back pocket then yanked his brown jacket from the where it hung on the back of a kitchen chair. 

“Uh... Okay.” Stiles said, biting back a whine that his Dad was supposed to take him to the DMV after school so he could get his driver’s license.  With a double shift, there'd be no way for that to happen.

“Damn.  Where are my keys?” the Sheriff frowned, searching around the kitchen at the same time he patted down his pockets.

“Hanging by the door.”

The man shook his head at himself, smirking slightly, “Right.  Thanks kiddo.” he walked past Stiles, giving a ruffle of his son’s short hair, to head to the front door, “Take care and don’t forget to eat something decent for dinner.  Not Pop-Tarts.  I’ll grab something for dinner...” He grabbed his keys where they hung from the hook on the wall, “A salad, I promise!” then he was out the door, closing it behind him. 

Stiles stood in the kitchen entry way, gaping at the front door for a moment or two before he murmured, “He forgot my birthday...” 

********************

Riding the bus to school, Stiles tried not to let the morning bother him.  He loved his father and the guy worked really hard trying to keep Beacon Hills safe and provide a home for them.  Most of the time, the Sheriff was tired and it was understandable that he’d forget stuff.  Besides it was a tradition for them to do a morning-after-breakfast at their favorite diner for birthdays, so it wasn’t like they were going to do that today anyway. His dad could make it up to him tomorrow.  It'd be fine in the end.

The rest of the day would go better.

He'd get to school and Scott would probably give him sympathy puppy eyes about his Dad and then proceed to make him laugh and forget about it. 

They’d been best friends forever (okay, not forever, but ever since they were really little and Stiles and peed on Scott’s sand castle) and since then, they’d been pretty inseparable.  And since they’d never been really popular at school - never having the big birthday parties other kids had - no matter what, it was the two of them celebrating their birthdays together.  Usually there would be video game marathons and cake - store bought because neither of them could manage to bake one without setting something on fire - along with lots of soda and junk food till they got sick enough to almost puke.  It was glorious.  

He and Scott also shared in the single parent situation.  Stiles' Mom had passed away and Scott's father had left, which left them each with one parent working hard and struggling to make ends meet.  That meant that birthday presents from said parents were usually practical items the boys needed, like new shirts or socks.  Because of that, Scott and Stiles tried hard to get each other something fun, like a video game they both wanted, so they could both enjoy it, no matter who 'owned' it.  Stiles was expecting the new CoD wrapped up in newspaper (poorly, because Scott’s gift wrapping skills were appalling).  They'd been talking about it since it was announced for release.

Granted, lately, Scott had been sort of MIA in Stiles' life, but that was only due to the arrival of Allison in Scott's life.  Allison Argent, who was apparently made of sunshine, kittens, puppies, rainbows, and unicorns (if Scott was to be believed from his flowery and extensive poetic ramblings about her).  His best friend had been smitten (yes, that was the word for it) with her from the first day he saw her walking into class and after offering her a pen, they were pretty much joined at the hip.  Because of that, Scott hadn't been hanging out with Stiles like he used to.  

Stiles got it.  He did.  And he was going to be as supportive of Scott as his best bud had been with him during The Lydia Times - which was what they called the period of time in which Stiles was convinced he loved Lydia Martin (aka the most perfect girl in the world) and wanted to spend the rest of his life with her because they were meant to be together even if she didn't know it yet.  It had been a long dark time really, with a seven year plan that sort of fell apart this past year once Lydia started dating Jackson Whittemore (aka all around douche bag).  But through it all, Scott had helped Stiles with all his elaborate plans and attempts, only voicing doubt or concern a few times, but in the most well-meaning way.

Of course, the big difference between The Lydia Times and Scott dating Allison was that Allison actually knew Scott existed and was actually interested in dating him.

So, Stiles was going to be supportive of Scott, even thought it meant his brother from another mother spent time between classes walking with Allison instead of him, sitting next to her during lunch instead of him, going to her house to study instead of his house, hanging out after school with her instead of with him and spending time with her on the weekends instead of with him.  

Okay, honestly, it bothered Stiles sometimes, but again, he wasn’t going to begrudge Scott his happiness.  

Besides, today it wasn't going to matter, because no matter what, even during the darkest of The Lydia Times, Scott and Stiles' birthdays were sacred.  They had a standing date with each other on their birthdays to spend them together for some serious bro-time.  It would make up for a lot of missed hanging out and shooting the shit even if Stiles was sure a lot of their conversations would be about how wonderful Allison was.  He didn't care.  

And the best part?  Because it was Friday, Scott would sleep over and the bro-time would flow right into the weekend.  It was going to be pretty awesome and Stiles was seriously looking forward to it.

Normally Scott would have been sitting next to him on the bus, instead of Greenberg, and they’d be talking a lot of smack about who was going to beat who at Mario Kart or who could shove the most Twinkies into their mouth (hint: it was usually Stiles) but Scott wasn’t there on the bus.  Stiles figured his best bud had gotten up late and missed the bus - which wasn’t abnormal since Scott was worse than him at getting up in the morning.  Sighing, he leaned his head against the back of the seat, staring at the familiar setting of Beacon Hills passing by and planning out the evening of video games he and Scott would be playing - shuffling titles around in his head and trying to pair the appropriate junk food with each game.

********************

Walking into school, Stiles headed towards his locker, keeping an eye out for Scott who he expected to pounce on him any minute.  It was the normal greeting for each other on normal days, but there was always a special amount of enthusiasm when it was their birthdays.  He didn't see him, but Stiles was also wondering if anyone else in school noticed something different about him, like maybe he was exuding some sort of "Sixteen" vibe that his fellow students could pick up on.  Stiles had never come strutting into school bragging about his birthday like people like Jackson did - of course, people like Jackson got Porsches on their birthday so they had things to brag about - so it wasn't like he had any reason to call attention to himself and it looked like no one was paying him any more mind than they did any other day.

He did wave at a few familiar faces and was greeted the same, but no one wished him Happy Birthday or said anything about it.  

Frowning slightly, he wondered if Scott had been really late and now his Mom was driving him to school.  It wasn't likely that his best friend was so early that he'd already gone to his locker and was here... If that had been the case, Scott would have been waiting for Stiles by his locker.  He shook his head.  Nope, chances were, Scott was super late and Mrs. McCall would be pissed off as she drove him, giving him her You Have To Start Being More Responsible speech which would leave Scott feeling so guilty that for the next week or so, he'd be up early and standing at the bus stop a full ten minutes before he actually had to be there.

With a sigh, he opened his locker and started getting his books for his morning classes and putting the rest inside.  He did his best to push down the small burn of disappointment sitting in his chest that had sparked this morning in his kitchen.  It would be fine.

He'd definitely see Scott in Chemistry if he didn't catch him the rest of the morning. And there was English to look forward to.  Mrs. Fland always remembered everyone's birthdays and she always brought in a cupcake for the lucky student.  The woman might always have lipstick on her teeth, but hey.  Cupcakes!

 ********************

Sitting in study hall, Stiles was doing his best to let go of the let down that Mrs. Fland was out sick today and they had a substitute that was insistent on following the lesson plan and actually teaching a class.  So, no cupcake and no goofing off period.  It was like adding insult to injury.  He also still hadn't seen Scott in between English and Math.

He focused his attention on trying to get some last minute homework done for Harris’ Chemistry class.  He’d done most of it yesterday, but then he got over excited thinking about his birthday and got distracted by coming of age traditions around the world on Google searches.  It wasn’t hard, but Harris was a dick who, for some reason, hated Stiles.  Okay, maybe it was because Stiles had corrected him when he wrote the wrong formula on the board, but that wasn’t a reason to give him crap the rest of the year!  Whatever, Harris was a jerk and Stiles got A’s in his class anyway.  

While rechecking his work, a note was dropped onto his open chemistry book.  Frowning, he glanced over his shoulder at Danny Mahealani who was sitting behind him.  They were teammates on the lacrosse, but they weren’t really close friends necessarily.  They were friend-ly.  Danny was nice to everyone and was ridiculously good looking with his tan skin, dimples and a body that was gifted from the gods... but he lost a lot of points in Stiles’ opinion by being friends with their douche bag Captain of the lacrosse team, Jackson.  Returning his attention back to the folded up note, Stiles had to smile - giving a little Happy Birthday note would certainly up Danny’s standing and earn him some points!

Opening up the paper he frowned.  It was one of those stupid ‘Sex Test’ things that got passed around from time to time.  It was a bunch of juvenile questions which you answered but never put your name on.  So far a few people had answered it, all writing underneath each other.  Looking back over his shoulder at Danny he narrowed his eyes and wrinkled his nose.  “What are you?  Twelve?”  

“I was bored...” Danny shrugged, grinning.  You were supposed to fill it out and pass it on to someone else - didn’t matter who.  It was usually more entertaining after a few people had already filled it out so you could read other people’s answers.

Annoyed, Stiles shook his head and turned forward in his seat.  He glared at the paper.  It was bad enough that no one was remembering his birthday, but this was just stupid.

Looking up at the clock he gave a resigned sigh. There was a lot of time left before the bell rang and he had just finished up his homework...  

Fine.  Whatever.  Not like he had anything else to do...

Setting his elbow on the desk and resting his chin in his hand, he started filling it out.

Question 1: Have you ever touched it?

Answer: Almost 

(Okay, no, he was no where near touching anyone’s anything, but he felt lame answering no)

Question 2: Have you ever done it?

Answer: I don’t think so

(There had been a moment with Heather a few years ago, but it was an awkward making out session and he wasn’t sure it counted as sex when you jizzed in your pants without even having your junk touched.  Hey, he was an over excited pre-teen!  Stiles never knew if Heather was even aware of it because he’d flailed and made some excuse about having to go home.  Heather had moved away shortly after and was now going to another school anyway.)

Question 3: If you didn’t answer yes to question 2, would you ever if you could?

Answer: Yes

(Because duh)

Question 4: With who? - Be honest.  Your name’s not on this, so its okay

Answer:

Scratching his head, Stiles tried to be casual as he very slowly glanced over his shoulder towards the row of seats to his left at the Senior student who was now looking straight at him.  Shit.  He swooped his head back to the paper, actually straining something in his neck and feeling his whole face and neck turn red.  Dammit.  Real smooth Stilinski!  Rubbing his neck with his free hand he wrote a name down aggressively.

Answer: Derek Hale

(Fucking Derek Hale, the hottest senior ever to have lived.  Hot like burning... With his dark hair and stubble and chiseled good looks and amazing eyes and being an all star athlete on the baseball team and basketball team!  Stiles’ father thought he had an overblown sense of school pride because he went to like, every home game.  The man had no idea that it was just so Stiles could watch Derek in his tight pants on the baseball field or his muscled legs and arms on the basketball court. Seriously, Derek Hale was some creature from another planet where they bred ridiculously gorgeous people to make everyone else die in shame so they could come take over the Earth.)

Question 5: Do they know you like them?

Answer: No.

(Because there was no way in hell that someone like Derek Hale would give Stiles Stilinski the time of day.  He could just imagine telling Derek how he felt and being laughed at.  If he was being truthful, as good looking as Derek was, Stiles didn’t just like him just for his good looks, though seriously, he was definitely gifted in that department.  Nope, Derek, that asshole, had to be smart too - making the honor roll every year.  And nice.  Derek was always volunteering at the food drives and the Toys for Tots collection during Christmas time.  It would have been helpful to Stiles if the guy had been a jerk, or stupid, or had like, webbed toes or something, but no such luck.  Derek was perfect and Stiles wanted to have his adopted babies and it was with a crushing acceptance of reality that he knew there was no way that was ever happening.  If wanting Lydia Martin had been a fruitless endeavor, then wanting Derek Hale was a pipe dream.)

Stiles had noticed Derek the second week of school last year when he was a Freshman and Derek had been an unattainable Junior.  It had been just like those stupid romantic teen comedies where there had been some sort of weird moment when the crowd in the school halls had parted, revealing the perfect specimen of a human being in the form of Derek Hale, the morning light catching his green-gold-what-the-hell-color-is-that eyes and adding a glow to his golden skin. Even if Stiles hadn't realized he was into guys as well as girls before then, he probably would have questioned his sexuality in that magical instant.  The staring would have gone on for a lot longer if Derek hadn't apparently felt Stiles' longing across the hall and turned towards him.  In true Stilinski fashion, Stiles had shifted to a shade of red, spun around and promptly crashed into the door of his locker and given himself a nosebleed and had to go to the nurse's office. 

After that spectacular event, Stiles found his eyes constantly drawn to Derek and while he still had his Lydia crush, he knew that it was more just going through the motions than feeling anything real.  When she had finally chosen Jackson as her significant other the beginning of Sophomore year (and, coincidentally, when Jackson had been named Captain of the lacrosse team), Stiles focused his attention on the older boy and silently drew hearts around Derek's name in his head.  Even knowing that Derek was already dating someone didn't stop Stiles' affection for him - Even if it was Kate Argent who he had no hope of competing with.

Sighing, he leaned back in his seat running his gaze over the Sex Test sheet then folded it back up again.  Before he could think about passing it to someone else, the bell rang overhead, signaling the end of class.  Deciding that the Sex Test would end with him, he shoved it into his notebook and gathered up his books - while his name wasn’t on it, there was no reason for the evidence of his futile crush to exist in the universe.  After sliding out of his seat, he headed towards the door, making sure to avoid looking back at Derek like he normally did - he’d embarrassed himself enough for the day in that department.

Of course, if he had looked back he would have seen the folded up Sex Test had fallen out of his notebook and was sitting in the aisle by his seat.  He might have also seen that Derek Hale had picked it up from the floor.

********************

The downside to next period was that it was Chemistry.  The upside was that Scott was in the class. 

He'd finally be able to see his best bro and finally be able to talk to him about their plans for the night!

It was always a race from Study Hall to Chemistry for Stiles, so he got in there just in time for last bell and stumbled to the table he and Scott shared.  Stiles grinned, “Hey, missed you this morning!” he practically dumped his book bag onto the table to get his things out.

Scott smiled back, catching a pencil that fell out of Stiles’ belongings before it rolled to the floor, “Yeah, Allison picked me up and gave me a ride to school.” he set the pencil on top of Stiles' Chemistry book.

“Oh,” Stiles paused as he got out his homework, wondering why his best friend hadn't come to see him that morning then if he was there, “Well, I was--”

“All right everyone, eyes up front, no more talking!” Mr. Harris said sharply as he slammed the door shut.  The bespectacled tall teacher crossed to the front of the class room to his desk, eyes on Stiles like he was the only who had been talking.

Stiles clamped his mouth shut and swallowed down his attempt to discuss anything further with Scott about coming over to his house.  It could wait till they were working on their labs...  Though he was surprised Scott hadn’t even given him birthday wishes or at least bro-hug.  Glancing over at his table partner, he noticed Scott was sitting there with his books and notebook out, eyes on the board like any other day.  

Biting his lip, Stiles tried not to read into it and decided to focus on the class because Harris was detention-happy and the last thing he wanted was to get detention on his birthday...

Harris collected their homework, making sure to comment on how Stiles sheets were crumpled and the class didn’t get better from there. 

For their lab work, Harris had them switch partners, moving them to different tables, making some comment about making sure that people weren’t doing the work for others or something (Scott wasn't good at Chemistry so yes, Stiles did a lot of the heavy lifting but he wasn't doing the work for Scott!). Frowning, Stiles moved over to the table he was assigned to, which partnered him with Matt Daehler who looked about as excited to see him as Stiles was to be there.  Scott, was moved over to Allison's table.  Sighing, Stiles got to work on the lab, Matt barely contributing to it and spending most of his time looking at his phone because apparently he was too cool to bother paying attention.  

While Stiles didn't blow anything up, no matter how Harris kept breathing down his neck and constantly watching over his shoulder, he accused Stiles of not allowing Matt a chance to contribute anything to the work, commenting on how this was a team project.  So Stiles let his partner finish up the lab and because Matt hadn't really cared or been attentive, the mixture turned a weird color and overflowed all over the desk.  When Harris came over to check on everyone's work he glared at Stiles, said he'd sabotaged the lab and gave him detention.

"But, I didn't--"

"I can add Monday Mr. Stilinski."

Stiles shut up, clenching his teeth hard enough to hurt.  To say he was angry was to put it mildly, but he had learned the hard way previously, that arguing only got him into worse trouble.  When the bell finally rang, Matt smirked as he slid off his stool, "You really should pay more attention in class Stiles," he said in mock sympathy before leaving.  

Swallowing down a million things he wanted to say, Stiles shoved his things in his book bag.  He glanced up to see Scott at the door, holding Allison's hand, "I'll see you at lunch!" and then they were exiting the classroom and lost in the sea of people in the hall.   

Stiles swallowed hard and continued packing up his things.  Alone.  

********************

Stiles was trying not to panic.  

As he’d been packing up his books he noticed the Sex Test was gone.  He checked and double checked each page of his notebook, then his chemistry book and then scrounged through his book bag frantically.  It was gone, like it never existed.  

His name wasn’t on it, but still... it was embarrassing having this... thing out there.  And he’d put down Derek Hale’s name!  

Granted, Derek was a Senior who had no idea Stiles existed...  And Derek was dating Kate who was the perfect high school girlfriend...  And Derek was so out of reach it wasn’t even funny...

He took a deep breath and let it go.  If it fell somewhere in school, it would either get thrown away or someone would get a laugh out of the answers.  His name wasn’t on it and no one knew he wrote the last answers on the Sex Test.  Getting a hold of himself, he walked to the cafeteria, putting the stupid thing out of his mind.

Of course, because of his frantic search for the Sex Test, he’d been running a little late.  Scott was already at their table, sitting with Allison, Lydia and the rest of the members of the lacrosse team who had lunch this period.  But because he came last, Scott had one of the other lacrosse guys on one side and Allison on the other, forcing Stiles to have to sit across from him instead.  

Oblivious to Stiles' sort of sour mood, Scott chirped, “Hey dude, how’d your lab go?  I didn’t see any smoke so it must have been good.”

“Fine,” he answered with a shrug of one shoulder, “Harris is a dick.  He gave me detention.”

“Aww dude!" Scott frowned, "That sucks!"  

Not wanting to talk about it, Stiles asked, "How'd your lab go?"

Brightening, the young man said, "Good.  Lucky for me, Allison is so good at Chemistry,” he smiled at her and was given Allison’s Disney princess dimpled smile right back as she knocked her shoulder affectionately into his.

Stiles repressed the eye roll that was threatening to happen because they were so disgustingly adorable.  He poked at the greasy mac and cheese on his tray, not really feeling hungry and listening to the random conversations around him with little interest.  He wanted to say something to Scott about his birthday, because seriously, had his best friend forgotten about it?  The guy hadn’t said anything!  Hadn’t even tossed out a “Happy Birthday” to him.  What the hell?  

And while he wasn’t close friends with anyone else, he figured he was on a Happy-Birthday-greetings level of acquaintance with them...  Yet no one said anything. 

The urge to ask, "What the hell Scott?"  burned in his throat, but Stiles kept his mouth shut, worried that if he said something, it would sound like he was whining.  The last thing he wanted was to be called a baby or worse by the lacrosse team who already looked at him like he was just an extra jock strap. It was embarrassing and he could imagine Jackson picking at him like a vulture about it for the rest of the year. Maybe if he got a minute alone with Scott he could ask him what was up, but not in front of everyone else.

Besides, it wasn’t a big deal, right?  Scott would remember at some point, snap out of whatever puppy love haze he was in and they’d have their bro-night and it would be fine. 

And maybe Scott didn’t really forget?  Maybe there was actually some sort of surprise he was waiting to spring on Stiles later?  He wouldn’t put it past his best bro to make his sixteenth birthday special in some way.  If anyone knew how insecure Stiles was about himself, it was Scott and he wouldn’t do something like forget his birthday - he’d just turn this all around to make it memorable.

Taking a deep breath, he eased the burning in his chest and pushed the yellow orange gunk of cheese and pasta around his tray.  It would all be fine.

Lydia’s voice broke through his thoughts, “So, should Jackson and I pick you two up then?”

“No,” Allison shook her head, “I can drive us.” 

Stiles lifted his head up and frowned, “Drive you where?” he blinked in confusion.

Scott grinned with a slight shake of his head, “Dude... the dance tonight.  Did you forget?”

Swallowing hard he shook his head, “Uh, no.  Of course I didn’t forget,” his brows rose as he gestured with his arm towards them, “The dance.  Tonight.” he nodded, “That’s happening.  Tonight.”

Jackson frowned, “Yes Stilinski.  Tonight,” his lip curled as he huffed in disdain.

“Everyone is going,” Scott ignored Whittemore, “You’re going too, right?”

Of course Stiles hadn’t planned on going to the dance - because he and Scott were supposed to be spending the night celebrating his birthday together.  But then, maybe he should have confirmed that with McCall instead of assuming his best friend would remember.  “Uh, yeah, I guess.” 

Leaning forward, Scott said, “You should ask someone to go with you.”

“By now?” Stiles scoffed, “Everyone will have a date already.”

“Come on, there has to be someone...” Scott insisted.

There was... but he wasn’t going to say anything.  He’d gotten enough harassment during The Lydia Time from Jackson and the asshat still gave him a hard time about it.  Stiles couldn’t imagine the teasing he’d get for crushing on Derek Hale - even if most of the school did it too.  “Uh... yeah, no.  Better go stag,” he put on a smile, “Keep my options open.”

“Right...” Jackson snorted.

Lydia turned towards Allison and asked her about what dress she was wearing and Stiles let the conversation drift on without him.  Scott was listening raptly as his girlfriend described her outfit for Lydia’s approval before commenting that Allison would look good no matter what she wore.  She blushed and Stiles was sure there were fluffy woodland creatures in Allison's room making her dress as they were talking.

No one bothered to ask Stiles how he planned on going to the dance.  

Not really having much of an appetite, Stiles dropped his fork on his tray and announced to no one in particular, “I’m going to the library...”

Scott looked up from the discussion and furrowed his brow, “Everything okay?”

He almost broke and told his best friend that no, everything was totally and completely not okay, but then he noticed everyone at the table looking at him because he'd gotten up and instead he said, “Yup,” Stiles nodded, plastering his grin on, “Just... got some homework I need to get done for my next class.”

“Oh... All right.  See you in Econ!”

Lifting up his tray, Stiles muttered “Right, see you there.” He turned to walk away from the table, but managed to catch his foot on a chair, sending him stumbling.  Catching himself before he face planted and his food went flying, he straightened up, hearing the lacrosse team laughing at him behind him and titters around the lunch room.  He heard Scott say something about shutting up to them, but he knew it wouldn’t do any good.  Cheeks heating up, he hunched his shoulders, glancing around the room to see who else saw his trip.  And of course... There was Derek Hale, sitting across the room with a bunch of guys from the basketball team.  Derek was looking right at him.  

Clamping his gaping mouth shut he spun around and hurried to the garbage cans to dump his untouched food into the trash, then practically tossed his tray into the pickup window so he could make a hasty retreat from the cafeteria, barely keeping himself from falling out the door.

*******************

Derek Hale had spent most his lunch period looking over the Sex Test he’d picked up from the floor in Study Hall.  It had fallen out of Stiles Stilinski’s notebook but the kid had left before he could give it to him.  Derek had only unfolded the paper to see it if was important or not and now he couldn’t not see the answers - and he couldn’t not know that the last answers were written by Stiles.  And he saw the answer to Question 4...

Answer: Derek Hale

He wasn't sure what to think about it.

Everyone sort of knew about Stiles Stilinski - not because he was anything special or had done anything particularly note worthy.  He was smart enough to make honor roll - name on the list every grading period.  But mostly, everyone really knew him because he was the Sheriff’s son.  It was hard not to be aware of that.  Derek saw him around school, in their shared Study Hall, at lunch, and hanging out with the guy Kate’s niece was dating... McCall.  

He had noticed Stiles the first day of school that year in Study Hall, strolling in and collapsing into a seat like he was boneless.  His eyes had been drawn to the lanky sophomore who almost always seemed to be in motion and biting on the end of a pen or pencil as if it was his job.  Stiles was cute with his upturned nose, honey brown eyes and long limbs, even with his buzz cut that Derek was always tempted to rub his hand over. He’d seen Stiles help a Freshman pick up some dropped books when a Senior had bumped into them, so he guessed the guy was nice.  And Stiles definitely didn’t seem to know how his limbs worked most of the time since he tended to flail and gesticulate when he talked - and he talked a lot.

But Derek didn’t really know how to put together what he knew of Stiles Stilinski and what he read on the piece of paper in front of him.  Before he could turn to Boyd, one of his teammates, he noticed Stiles getting up from where he was sitting with the lacrosse team.  The guy tripped which sent a lot of the lunch room laughing about it.  Derek wasn’t laughing, but when Stiles noticed he was looking at him, the sophomore left the lunch room like he was going to be sick.  

Derek felt his stomach drop.  Had he been wrong about Stiles writing the answers about him?  That wasn't the look of someone who thought you were do-able...

His teammate, Boyd, must have noticed Derek was staring at the doors because he elbowed him, “You okay?”

“Yeah...” he folded up the paper quickly, before he shrugged, "Just wondering about that sophomore."

"Stilinski?" the other guy lifted a brow and then shook his head, "Nothing to wonder about there."

Derek frowned a bit, "You know him?"

"He's in my English class."

"And?" 

Boyd shrugged, "He talks like he doesn't need oxygen."  After taking a swig from his water bottle he asked, "Why?"

Sliding the folded up Sex Test into one of his books, Derek shook his head, "No reason."

********************

Stiles managed to make it to the library without any other incident and found an isolated corner to collapse in.  He was breathing hard and his chest was tightening in the tell-tale signs of an impending panic attack.  Pulling his knees up, he set his elbows on them and held his head as he focused on the breathing exercises he'd learned and followed through.

Breathe.  Name 5 things you can see:  My shoes, the carpet, my back pack, my jeans, a copy of "To Kill a Mockingbird".

Breathe.  Name 4 things you can feel:  The floor under me, my hair under my hand, the air from the vent, the wall at my back.

Breathe.  Name 3 things you can hear:  The heating unit clicking on, someone whispering to someone else, the librarian shelving books.

Breathe.  Name 2 things you can smell:  Books... the pages, the detergent I use on my shirt.

Breathe.  Name 1 thing that makes you happy:  Chocolate chip and banana pancakes.

Breathe.

He relaxed, the tension around his lungs easing and his body trembled with the release.  He was okay.

Dropping his hands he set his head back against the wall and swallowed hard, eyes gazing out blankly at the shelves of books, not really focusing on anything.  He hadn't had a panic attack in years and now he'd almost fallen into a full fledged one in a dark corner of the school library.  Wiping at his eyes to brush back the dampness he felt there he tried to keep himself from getting upset.  It had just been too much - everyone forgetting his birthday, embarrassing himself in the lunch room, Harris, his dad... 

Pull yourself together Stilinski.  You're sixteen now.  You aren't a little kid.  No matter how bad all of this sucks, you aren't a baby and you aren't going to fall apart.  Fucking get it together!

There was going to be no crying.  No. Crying.  

He stayed there for the rest of the lunch period, trying to gather up the scattered pieces of himself and to push down the hurt that was burning in his throat and chest.  This morning he'd been waiting for something... He hadn't expected that he was waiting to be forgotten and unimportant - though in his darkest moments, he'd been afraid of that happening.  So.  There was that.

When the bell rang for next period, he hoisted up his book bag and set himself to face the rest of the day.

********************

Still wondering about Stiles, Derek headed to the baseball field after school for practice.  He’d never been quiet about his preferences when it came to guys or girls, so it wasn’t like finding a guy attractive was an epiphany.  It was more the guy he was now suddenly wondering about.  Okay, maybe it wasn't suddenly...  He'd eyed the younger boy before...  

While doing stretches he looked over to his team mate Isaac Lahey, a sophomore on the baseball team, “Hey, do you know Stiles Stilinski?” he asked.

Isaac lunged over as he stretched, “What, you think all sophomores know each other Hale?” 

Derek rolled his eyes, “Just answer the question Lahey.”

“I know of him.”

“What do you think of him?”

Isaac snorted, “I don’t.”

Derek huffed out impatiently, “Just... Would you go out with him?”

“Maybe.  If you paid me to.”  He twisted his body, holding one arm across his chest. 

“You don’t think he’s attractive?”

This time, Isaac shrugged, “I don’t know.” He tilted his head, “I mean, there’s nothing there to judge,” he added, “He’s not ugly.”

"That's the most you can say about him?"

"I don't know what you want me to say.  Why are you asking anyway?"

Derek crossed his arms as he toed the dirt with his sneaker, “There’s something about him.  He’s in my Study Hall period and I always catch him looking at me.”

“Because that’s not creepy.”

“I’m being serious.”

“So am I.  You’re asking me about some guy who is always staring at you.”

“No,” he flopped his arms to his sides, “It’s not creepy. He isn’t staring at me like he’s going to murder me in my sleep... It’s more... like... I don’t know.”

“Look,” Isaac put his hands on his hips, “Here’s what I know... You’re a senior, he’s a sophomore.  He’s about as popular as liver and onions for lunch, he sits the bench on lacrosse and he gets invited to and goes to zero parties.  You’re invited and go to all of them.  What are you going to do with him?  You’re on different social planes.”

“Well,” Derek shrugged, “Maybe I’m interested in more than parties.”

“Right,” Isaac smirked, “Derek, you’re talking like you’re lonely.  You have Kate.  She’s more your social speed.”

Erica Reyes, the team manager walked, up, "Hale, you looking to trade out Kate?"

Rolling his eyes he huffed, "I didn't say anything about that.  I'm just asking about someone.  It's possible to be curious about a person without it being a relationship overhaul."

She smirked her red lips, "Well, if you are ever interested in trading up, you let me know," then winked.

Isaac laughed, "Boyd know you're putting out feelers?" he gestured towards the young man who wasn't too far away and probably was hearing what she said.

She shrugged before brushing her blond hair over her shoulder, "Hey, if Boyd wants to lock this down, he knows where to find me."

By the end of practice that day, Boyd and Erica had announced they were going steady and Derek was still left not knowing any more about Stiles than he had before.

********************

Stiles stood in front of his locker, staring at the dull metal door.  

The rest of the day had gone about as spectacularly as it had started.  A faulty water fountain someone took the ‘broken’ sign off of exploded water in Stiles’ face, soaking his head and chest.  Everyone in his Social Science class had spent the time laughing at him as he sat uncomfortably wet through the lecture.  He'd gotten whacked in the head with a dodge ball in gym twice and he was almost afraid he'd gotten a black eye from the second hit.  Coach Finstock had decided to throw a pop quiz in Econ that Stiles was not ready for and Scott had nothing to talk about except the dance and going with Allison to said dance.

School finally had ended and he was more than ready to go home and call it a day.  Of course, that left him standing in front of his locker, debating.

One of two things were going to happen when he opened the locker door.  Either he’d open it to reveal balloons, or cards or a present or even a stupid piece of paper written in crayon saying ‘Happy Birthday’ or, he’d open the locker and there’d be his school books, notebooks and a pair of worn socks he had yet to take home from lacrosse practice.  As much as he hoped it was the first one, he was afraid to open the door and find out he was hoping in vain.  

Taking a deep breath, he quickly opened the door, his eyes closed.  

Slowly, he opened one eye.

All that was in there were his books and the socks.

“What the hell Stilinski, you expecting a bomb or something?”

Stiles looked around the open locker door to see Jackson walking up, holding Lydia’s hand.  He was twirling the keys to his Porsche in his free hand while she was talking to someone on her cellphone.  When he passed by Stiles, Jackson smirked, “You’re such a spaz...” then off he strolled, looking perfect, with his perfect hair and perfect girlfriend in their perfect clothes.

Turning back towards his locker, he started switching out his books to take home for homework, angrily shoving things in and out.  You’re not going to cry.  It was just a stupid birthday and it didn’t mean anything.  Just another day and it was not important.  You’re sixteen.  So you, Stiles Stilinski, are going to suck it up, get through detention, get on the bus, go home and you are Not. Going. To. Cry.  

Slamming his locker door shut, he was about to leave when voices caught his attention.  Turning around he spotted a group of girls strolling down the hall, all of them wearing cheerleading uniforms.  In the center, leading them, was a gorgeous blond with long legs and a killer smile.  Kate Argent.  

She was Allison’s aunt - way younger than Allison’s father and while he didn’t say it out loud, he was sure Kate had to have flunked about nine grades to have a body like that as a high school student.  Kate was so perfect it made him ill.  So perfect that you couldn’t really talk crap about her.

Tan skin, blue eyes, perfectly waved hair and wearing a cheerleading uniform that did all the right things for her body.  And she was going out with Derek Hale.

It was just another check on the list of reasons why Stiles had no chance in hell with the Senior.

He made his way through the school to where detention was being held and was glad that Harris wasn't the teacher on duty.  He wasn't feeling particularly blessed, but he was thankful for small favors.

******************** 

Ambling off the bus, Stiles shouldered his book bag and trudged home.  The driveway was empty and he recalled that his father was working the double shift.  At least he wouldn't have to explain to his father why he was coming home late from school.  Stiles wouldn't have wanted to deal with his father's disappointed face.

After unlocking the front door, he let himself into his quiet house.

There was no surprise party waiting for him.

He went into the kitchen, toasted up some Pop-Tarts, then went up to his room to finish the homework he'd started on in detention.  Considering it was Friday, he normally wouldn’t have bothered to even open his books till Sunday, but he had nothing better to do.  Since his father wasn’t home, he blasted his music and worked on his school work - even finishing an essay due for Wednesday.  He threw himself into it, losing himself in the familiar research and writing.  

He wanted to forget today, like everyone else apparently had.  

After his homework was finished he went down to the kitchen to make dinner.  He prepared chicken, green beans, and brown rice quietly. He sat down at the table to eat, but found his appetite lacking, so after eating a few bites, he packed up the rest for leftovers and then returned to his room to play some video games. 

The clock on his nightstand kept catching his eye and he knew the time for the dance was drawing closer.  He’d have to make a decision about whether he was going or not because getting a ride was going to get harder the longer he waited.  Everyone was going to the dance...  He flopped back on his bed.  

His head turned towards the photograph of his mother, "So, what do I do, Mom?" he asked.

He imagined she would say something like he should do what he felt comfortable doing...  doing what would make him happy.  Then she'd add, "Maybe you might actually have a good time at the dance?  You'll never know if you never go!"

It was the last thing he wanted to do, but... maybe... maybe Scott would remember? 

God he felt pathetic.

After rubbing his face he glared at the ceiling.

Okay. 

Climbing off his bed he stormed to his closet to get out his rarely used ‘nice clothes’.  After changing into the dark red button down shirt and black slacks and black dress shoes he returned to his full length mirror to check himself out.  Meeting his reflection’s eyes he said, “You’re sixteen.  You’re not a kid.  You are going to this stupid dance to hang out with your stupid friends and you are going to have a good time.  Right?  Right.”

He just had to figure out how he was going to get there.

*********************

Stiles had managed to get a ride with Greenberg - more accurately, Greenberg’s Mom, but it was fine.  The guy was nice enough, but he seriously lacked social skills.  It certainly wasn’t the worst moment of his day.

Walking into the gymnasium, which was decorated with streamers and of course the standard disco ball, it looked like the entire school was there.  The crowd of people made it hard to find anyone he knew, but he finally spotted Scott standing by the bleachers with Allison and waved.  When he was close enough, Scott greeted him, “Hey dude, you made it!”

Biting back a lot of bitter retorts, Stiles smiled, “Yeah, got a ride with Greenberg.”

Allison smiled but then her attention was drawn away, “Oh, there’s Lydia!” She glanced back at the two boys, “I’ll be right back!” She gave Scott’s arm a squeeze, then hurried off towards the red head who had just entered through the double doors.

“Oh, hey!” Scott elbowed Stiles gently, “Why don’t you ask Lydia to dance tonight?”

“Because I like how my face is arranged Scott.  I don’t need Jackson messing it up.”

“It’s a dance.  And I know for a fact Jackson hates dancing and Lydia loves it.  He won’t hurt you if Lydia tells him to back off.”

“That’s still a risky bet.” 

“Come on... no pain, no gain, right?”

“I’m on more of a no pain, no pain plan.  Besides, m’not really interested in her anymore.”

“I know The Lydia Times are over, but you can’t have like, no interest.”

Stiles shook his head, “Nope.  Zero interest in Lydia.”

“What?” he spun to stare at Stiles, “You’ve had like, the biggest crush on her since forever.”

He shrugged, “Not so much on her anymore...”

“Not her...” Scott raised a brow, “But... someone else?” 

Stiles realized his mistake in wording and inwardly cringed.  It wasn’t like he wanted to keep his feelings about Derek a secret, but he didn’t want to tell Scott about them either.  Not that he thought Scott would tease him like the rest of his classmates would, but as much as he loved the guy, Scott was really... gung-ho about following your heart and he’d be constantly encouraging Stiles about his feelings for Derek.  Telling him he had a chance and that Stiles was a catch and awesome and Derek would be lucky to have him and all the things best friends said.  But Stiles knew better.  Scott was a dreamer.  Stiles was a realist.  There’d be no Lady and the Tramp spaghetti dinner and Derek Hale wasn’t going to nose over a meatball to Stiles.  

"There's no one..." Stiles sighed, lying but he didn't think Scott could pick up on it.

As if just thinking about Derek made him appear, there he was on the dance floor with his arms around Kate slow dancing.  Stiles wanted to look away - he really did - but he couldn’t because his crush was looking like a freaking model in his white shirt, gray vest and black jeans that fit so well they might as well have just been a coat of paint.  It was totally unfair that someone that handsome could somehow look even better.  It was actually depressing.

“So who are you looking at then?" Scott asked then raised a brow and smiled  "Your crush?”

Stiles startled, realizing he was staring, “Oh, uh no.  Absolutely not.  No crushing or anything happening here.” he stammered.

“You were looking at someone...” Scott insisted, leaning over to try and gain Stiles' point of view.

“Nope, no looking,” he shook his head briskly, “I mean, other than normal looking, because, you know, I have eyes and they look at things and I can’t help what they are looking at when I’m not paying attention.  Because that's what eyes do, they look at things.” He winced because all of that sounded absolutely terrible.  

His buddy nudged him, “Come on, you were looking over there,” he squinted to see better in the dim mood lighting and must have pinpointed where Stiles was staring because he suddenly shouted, “Kate?  You have a crush on Kate Argent?”

Oh god!  “What? NO!” Stiles flailed and jerked back from Scott.

“Who has a crush on Kate?” Allison asked, walking up with Lydia and a very bored Jackson in tow.  Because of course.

“No one!” Stiles squawked, “No one has a crush on Kate!”

Lydia narrowed her eyes on the blond object of their conversation who now threw her head back to laugh at something Derek said.  She shook her head, “Kate Argent is on the list of unattainables Stiles...” her brow rose in judgement as she looked at him, “Same list as me.”

“But I don’t.  There’s not--I wasn’t!”

“Seriously Stilinski,” Jackson laughed, “What makes you think you could score Kate Argent?”

“I didn’t,” he felt flustered and annoyed.

“And she’s going out with Derek Hale.” Allison added, though her tone was kind, like she was trying to let Stiles down easy.

“Look,” Stiles shouted, “I don’t want Kate!  Okay?  And even if I did, you all made it clear that I’m undesirable by anyone vaguely cool or awesome.  No one wants to get with this,” he flapped his hands at himself, “Got it!  Thank you!  Scott just thought I was looking at her, but I wasn’t.  So can we drop it now?”

The area around him had gone quiet and Stiles noticed people were staring at him - drawn by his shouting - and he dropped his head back to stare at the ceiling... God.

“Sorry,” Scott’s eyes were large, “I didn’t mean...”

“Nope,” he popped the ‘p’, “It’s fine.” Stiles sighed, unable to deal with Scott’s puppy dog eyes, "It's fine Scott." 

“Whatever,” Jackson huffed before turning to Lydia, “Can we dance?” He rolled his eyes, “That’s what we’re here for right?  Not to hang around this loser,” he waved a hand at Stiles.

Lydia wordlessly held up her hand for Jackson to take, which he did before leading her out to the dance floor.  Allison watched them stroll off with some longing in her eyes - it was clear she wanted to do the same thing, but Scott was obviously torn between staying and going.  Stiles figured there was no point in their being punished for his crappy life.

“Yeah,” Stiles said, “Go dance,” he waved at Allison and Scott.  “I’m going to go use the bathroom... Way too much soda.”

Scott grinned, “Awesome, I mean, not about the bathroom.. but,” more quietly he said, “Thanks dude,” before he and Allison were off and twirling in among the other students dancing.

“Yup... Awesome...” he muttered as his eyes trailed back against their will to where Kate and Derek were swaying to the slow beat of the music.  Only to find Derek was staring back at him.  Shit.  Did he hear Stiles shouting about Kate?  Oh god!  He probably thought Stiles liked Kate!  Shoving his hands into his pockets, he quickly strode to the nearest set of doors and left the gym.

Out in the hallway, it was quieter and no one was around, thankfully.  He scrubbed his hands over his head and fought the urge to scream.  This was the absolute worst.  Derek thought Stiles like Kate!

Jackson was enough of a nightmare to deal with since he had learned Stiles had liked Lydia.  How bad was it going to be now that Derek thought Stiles liked Kate?  Which wasn’t even true!  The guy he liked was going to be pissed off at him for a crush he didn’t even have!

Had he run over a puppy in a past life?  Was this some sort of cosmic karma bitch slap?  What gods had he pissed off and what or who did he need to sacrifice to make up for it?  How was this even his life?

Stiles leaned against the wall then slid down it to sit on the floor, legs splayed out before him - not caring about getting his pants dirty - and covered his face.  This wasn’t how today was supposed to go at all.

He was supposed to be playing video games with his best friend and having bro-time with junk food and soda and cheap supermarket cake.  His father was supposed to hug him and be embarrassing about how his son was growing up and becoming a man.  He was supposed to be reveling being able to drive his Mom's jeep that was sitting in the garage and having more freedom and not have to ride the stupid bus anymore!

Not this complete clusterfuck of a day where everyone forgot his birthday, he had no driver’s license, no birthday presents and he was at a stupid dance where he managed to embarrass himself - again - and possibly made himself a target of ridicule and bullying.

He’d been looking forward to turning sixteen when a new year would begin for him.  He’d be able to drive, he’d be the same age as the rest of most of his class instead of feeling like a kid - which, granted, would last till they all turned seventeen, but still.  He’d be considered more of an adult.  Things were supposed to change for the better...

The gymnasium doors opened and Stiles glanced up through his fingers to see Kate, being drop dead amazing in her pale violet dress with her friends.  She looked like the perfect companion for Derek.  Together, Kate and Derek could model for happy bride and groom cake-toppers.

Kate brushed her hands through her hair, “God, I’m so bored... I so want to blow off this dance”

One of the other girls, Jennifer?  Stiles thought that was her name, “Oh god yes...”

The other girl, Braeden shrugged, “Blow off the dance and go where?”

Kate smirked, “Well, Derek’s parents are out of town with his sisters, so we could have a party at his house.” The girls passed by Stiles and barely gave him a second glance.  “We just have to call a few people.  Of course Derek’s so paranoid about his house getting trashed...”

“Again.” Jennifer added which had them all giggling before they went into the girl’s bathroom.

"If his ass wasn't so perfect, I might consider breaking up with him," Kate teased, "But he's so lickable..." she added before the bathroom door closed behind them.

Stiles dropped his hands, letting them sit limply between his legs.  “Yeah.  I’m done.” he said to no one.  Pushing himself up to his feet he pulled out his phone and texted Scott.

To Scott: Heading home.

Pocketing the cell, he walked down the hall and exited the building to stare at the parking lot, because that's when he remembered that he had no ride home.

Shit.

********************

After another dance with Kate, Derek still hadn’t been able to catch sight of Stiles again.  He didn’t think he left, because McCall and his other friends were still in the gym dancing, but he hadn’t seen Stiles since he left in a hurry before.  Frowning, he turned his head towards where the refereshment table was, but he couldn’t see Stiles there either.

“So, I think it’s time to head to your house.” Kate said, her arms around his shoulders as they rocked side to side.

“Yeah?” he asked distractedly.

“Yeah...” she repeated, her fingers playing with the hair on the nape of his neck, “I told Jennifer and Braeden and the baseball team to come to your parent’s house.  Now, I told them not to tell anyone else so it won’t be like last time.  I promise.” She leaned closer, nuzzling his neck, “God, I so love when your parents are out of town.  I get to pretend we’re the rich beautiful husband and wife...” When Derek didn’t react, she pulled back and frowned, noticing he wasn’t paying attention to her. “What the hell is with you?” she hit his shoulder.

He shook his head and frowned at her, “What?”

“You’ve been weird all night Derek!” Her eyes narrowed as her lip curled, “Are you screwing around on me?”

“What?” his eyes widened, “Are you crazy?”

She glared, “I am not crazy!  Don’t call me that!  But what the hell am I supposed to think?  You’re paying attention to everyone else but me!”

Derek huffed, “I’m not screwing around.” He tightened his hold on her waist trying to set things right, “Look, everything’s fine.  I’m fine.  You’re fine.  We’re fine.”

Kate leaned in, calmer now, “Okay,” she slid her hand it over his shoulder to trail her finger along the collar of his shirt, “Just remember something sweetie.  I can name at least twenty guys who would kill to have me.”

His brows furrowed and pulled back to stare at her, “Is that a threat?”

She tilted her head, smiling innocently, “Not a threat baby... Just a fact.  Now come on before we get into a huge fight and the night gets ruined.” Her hand grabbed his and dragged him off the dance floor.  

Derek didn’t fight her, just let himself be led along, his eyes still glancing around for some glimpse of Stiles.  He was feeling annoyed and definitely confused.  By the time they headed outside, he had given up on trying to find Stiles and was resigned to dealing with the party at his house.  Luckily it was only going to be the team and a few of Kate’s friends, because he wasn’t in the mood to deal with a big blow out at his home.  His parents trusted him to be a responsible adult, not some stupid kid throwing parties every chance he got.  Kate didn’t seem to get that, even though her Dad was pretty strict and somewhat scary.  Derek hated talking to the man.  

“Damn it,” Kate said, stopping outside the school doors, “I forgot my jacket.  Be right back sweetie.” She leaned up and kissed his lips then darted back into the building.  

Holding back a sigh, Derek pulled out his phone to check his sports alert app.  There had been talk of some team trades all week and he was curious about whether or not they went through.  He didn’t notice that Stiles was standing behind him against the wall by the doors to the school, though the sophomore was definitely aware of him.  

********************

Stiles’ eyes were wide as he stared at the back of Derek’s head.  The senior was obviously unaware that Stiles was there as he pulled out a phone to look at it, back to him.  He debated about what to do.  If he made any noise, Derek would probably think he was stalking Kate or something, but if he turned and spotted Stiles, it wouldn't be much better!  And there he was, looking so good with his dark hair and broad shoulders...  Just being this close made Stiles' stomach flutter.  

He wanted to explain himself, tell Derek that he had no feelings for Kate and that the whole thing was a mistake.  Maybe he could avoid getting shoved into lockers for the rest of the year if he just nipped this all in the bud.  In fact, he took a few steps towards the guy to do just that.  At least if he got punched, it would happen now - get it all done and over with instead of having to wait till Monday because that would leave him with the whole weekend to freak out about it.

Then Stiles paused. 

That was a stupid plan!  Why would getting punched now be better than waiting for Monday?  What had he been thinking?  He hadn’t been thinking!  There had been so much not-thinking happening.  Maybe it was hormones.  It was probably hormones.  His hormones just wanted him to be close to Derek and they were overriding his common sense that said this was a bad bad bad plan.  His normal plan A was to ignore problems till they went away - stick with that!  Abort!  Abort!

Stiles turned around to go back to where he’d been standing in the shadows when his phone chimed, notifying him of a text.  Crap.

Quickly fumbling for his phone, he pulled it out to shut it up and noted there was a text from Scott.

From Scott: Feeling ok?

Instead of answering, he clutched the phone tightly.  He could feel what must have been Derek’s eyes, on his back.  Slowly, he turned his head to look over his shoulder.  Yup, there was Derek.  Looking right at him.  Oh god.  He was going to die.  Derek Hale was going to kill him.  He was going to die at sixteen and no one would know because no one remembered his birthday.  The newspaper headline would read ‘Fifteen Year Old High School Student Beaten To Death’.  

Derek smiled at him and Stiles couldn’t handle it.  It was the standard beginning of the teasing and bullying - the false friendly smile that accompanied the opening comments, “So, you think you’re good enough to look at my girlfriend?” and then the beatings would begin.  Stiles turned away and quickly started walking, putting as much distance between himself and Derek Hale as possible.  Maybe Derek didn’t like the thrill of the chase?  Best to be a moving target.  Whatever, leaving worked for him before so he’d do it again.

********************

Derek stood there, dumbfounded, watching Stiles walk off down the sidewalk.  Did Stiles really hate him?

Kate exited the building, slipping her jacket on before sliding her arm in his, “Come on baby...  The others texted and are waiting for us.”

“Right...” he nodded absently as he turned and walked her to his Camaro.

She waited for him to open the door for her before gracefully getting in and settling herself in the leather seat.  Kate always said she loved his car - said that she looked good in it.  Which sort of annoyed him.  Honestly, he supposed he couldn’t complain.  Kate was beautiful and popular and she chose to be with him and the sex was good.  He just sort of wondered... what was the point?

His mind wandered while Kate talked about something happening at school or maybe cheerleading practice.  He wasn’t sure.  He couldn’t get Stiles off his mind.  The sophomore had looked really good tonight in the dark red shirt and slacks.  It was different than the layers of baggy clothing he normally wore and for the first time Derek could see that Stiles had a nice lean body.  

“Oh my god!” Kate squealed.

Derek startled and nearly drove the car off the road, “What?”

“Everyone is here!”

She was right.  Just about everyone had showed up to his house.  And it was more than just the baseball team.  

Cars filled the driveway and were parked all along the street.  By the time he got inside, people were already drinking and there was more beer and alcohol being brought in by those arriving.  Kate quickly skittered off to find her friends, barely giving Derek a word or a look, leaving him to fume silently at the crowd of partiers - some of whom he was sure didn’t even attend Beacon Hills - making themselves at home in his house.  “Damn it...”

********************

Stiles walked home, not having much of a choice since there was no way in hell he was going back to the school to find Greenberg or try to find a ride.  Not when Derek was still there.  He pulled his phone out and typed out a message to Scott so the guy wouldn’t worry.

To Scott: I’m ok.  Tired.  Have fun.

Then he slipped his phone back into his pocket. 

Luckily the night wasn’t too cold or chilly.  Death-by-hypothermia wasn’t any more attractive than death-by-beat-down-from-crush.  He did wish he’d worn more comfortable shoes though, because walking all the way home in his dress shoes was going to suck a lot.

God... the day was a complete disaster and he was exhausted by all of it.

To pass the time, he tried to think of all the things he could say to convince Derek not to hurt him, or worse, kill him.  He knew what it was like to get punched and shoved into lockers, mostly care of Jackson, who didn’t appreciate any of Stiles admiration of Lydia.  It had finally stopped when they all joined the lacrosse team because it didn’t look good for the captain of the team to be beating up or harassing his players.  Not that it didn’t stop Jackson from being a general dick towards Stiles of course.  Derek didn’t have any such restrictions holding him back.  Chances were, his coaches wouldn’t care if he beat up a lacrosse player.  They all were jealous that lacrosse was a way more popular sport in Beacon Hills than baseball or basketball.  They would probably love it for a lacrosse player to be turned into a pulpy mess.  Sure, Coach Finstock might be put out, but he’d be okay in the end, since Stiles was a benchwarmer.  Scott at least, had managed to play a game or two when some of the first line players got injured - good or bad, Scott had gotten on the field.  Stiles?  He filled out the the team and was expendable.

And now look at Scott... getting a girlfriend who was best friends with one of the most popular girls in school, which meant Scott was getting popular...

Stiles couldn’t begrudge the guy...  

But damn it, it was his birthday and Stiles thought that he could be okay with being ignored and forgotten every other day of the year, but not his birthday.  He wiped at his eyes because he could feel the embarrassing burn of threatening tears coming and he was NOT going to cry!  No matter how much the disappointment, frustration and hurt roiled in his chest, he wasn’t going to give in and be a baby about it.  

He would just be thankful that the night wasn’t going to be a complete cliche’ and start raining on him.

********************  

Derek tried to keep ahead of the mess, picking up empty cans and cups and throwing them into a large black garbage bag.  There were people everywhere, drinking, talking, making out.  Deep down he knew he was fighting a losing battle, but he kept trying.

Suddenly Kate was there, clinging to him.  He could smell the beer on her breath without even turning around. “Hey sweetie!” she cooed.

He sighed, “Hi Kate,” pausing in his cleanup to stand there with her hugging his back like a monkey. 

She pulled away and addressed the room, “Everyone!” few people turned to give her any attention, too busy drinking or with their tongues in someone’s mouth to bother, “I’d like you all to meet my very handsome boyfriend Derek.” She flopped her arm around his shoulder, “Derek, this is...” she swung her head around, trying to focus her eyesight before she said, “Everyone!” then she fell into giggles, snorting before sliding around to face him, “We are so perfect together, don’t you think sweetie?  Captain of the baseball team and the head cheerleader...  Perfect you and perfect me...” She started giggling again.

Rolling his eyes, Derek dropped the garbage bag and walked away, leaving her there to go up to his room.  Getting to his bedroom was difficult with all the people he had to maneuver around, but he finally managed it, only tripping once over someone sitting on the stairs.  Opening the door, he was greeted by the sight of two guys sitting on his bed and making out.  They both jumped when they noticed him, looking half guilty and half shocked at being interrupted.  “Get out!” Derek yelled, fed up and pointing out the door.

The two adjusted their clothes and started to leave when Derek recognized one of them.

“Wait!” the dark haired one paused, “You’re... Davey?”

The guy crossed his arms, “Danny,” he corrected, his eyes traveling up and down the Senior’s body - assessing him.

“Right... You’re on the lacrosse team aren’t you?”

********************

Stiles was seriously considering taking his shoes off and walking barefoot at this point, but he was sure there were pieces of glass and who knew what else strewn about the sidewalk.  Knowing his luck?  He’d get something stuck in his foot, get gangrene and have to have his foot cut off, if not his entire leg.  Then he’d be a pathetic mess of a human being with only one leg.  So he suffered through sore feet as he dutifully trudged down the street.

At least he wasn’t too far from his house now.  Maybe a few more blocks.  

His cellphone began ringing and vibrating in his pocket, startling him.  It was the standard tone, not the ringtone for his father or Scott, who were like, the only people that ever called him.  Pulling the phone out he looked at the screen and furrowed his brow.  It wasn’t a number he recognized.  Most likely it was a misdial or a solicitor.  As pathetic as he felt, he wanted to answer because at least it would be someone wanting to talk to him... okay... the wrong number probably not so much.  Still, it wasn’t worth it to pick up.  As crappy as he felt about himself... he should have some sense of pride.  But... then... what if it was an emergency?  Maybe it was someone from the station trying to get a hold of him because something happened to his dad?  He wouldn’t recognize their phone numbers if they were using their cells instead of calling from the station’s line.  Though, it would make more sense for them to call from the station if that was the case...  Because they didn’t have his cell phone number... unless they got it from his dad’s cell phone?  He stared at the still ringing phone and finally bit the bullet.  Swiping it he answered, “...Hel--”

There was an angrily hissed, “...Oh fuck me...” before there was a click and the line went dead.

********************

Derek glared at the phone, unsure if he’d heard something right before he’d hung up in frustration.  Had Stiles picked up?  He’d gotten the phone number from Danny and he was sure the guy hadn’t lied to him...  If he had, there’d be hell to pay.  Damn, had Stiles picked up?  He debated if he should call again.  Well, the worst that would happen is that it would go to voicemail or something, right?  He dialed the number again.

“Derek...” Kate was calling him from the hallway, “Der-ek...” she sang, “Where are you....” She stumbled to the floor, leaning against the door jamb of his bedroom, her legs flopped out in the hallway, “Sweetie... where are you?  Baby... ”

Frustrated and honestly tired of her crap, Derek ended the call and stormed to his door way, “Leave me alone!” he snapped before slamming the door shut so the noise and everything else would be blocked out.

He turned away and hit the redial button, but then there was a knocking on his door.  Ending the call again, he listened to see who it was, “Derek?  My hair... I can’t get up!  I’m stuck Derek!”

“Goddammit...” Derek opened the door and as Kate flopped forward he slammed the door shut again.

Huffing in frustration, he hit redial. That's when there was another knock at his door, "What?!" he ended the call to go answer it to find Boyd standing there with Erica, both looking a little surprised.

"You okay man?"  Boyd asked.

Derek sighed, "Yeah... fine.  I just need a minute or two."

Erica frowned, "We heard you yelling..." her eyes darted down towards where Kate was sitting in the hallway in front of them, singing Bang Bang along with the music blasting downstairs.

The Senior shook his head, "No, I'm fine.  Just need some quiet."

"Okay," Erica said softly, "If you need us..." She took Boyd's hand and drew him away. 

Derek watched them walk into the crowd of people upstairs and gave Kate a last glance before shaking his head and closing the door again.  Turning back into his room he crossed over to his desk, set under the window and dropped into the office chair.  He only half heard Kate still calling for him as he took a deep breath to calm himself.  He didn’t want to sound irritated when he talked to Stiles.  When he felt able to, he hit the redial again.

The line rang once before he heard a slight click, followed by a tired and possibly irritated voice, “Hello?”

Stunned for a moment, because it was actually Stiles, he almost forgot to speak.  Quickly he said, “Yeah, h--”

“Look asshole, I don’t know who you think you are, but I don’t need this shit, okay?  My dad’s the Sheriff and I’ll have him arrest you for harassment!  Seriously, what the hell is wrong with you?  Just--  Just fuck you and don’t call me again!” then the line went dead.

Derek stared at the phone in stunned silence.

********************

It was stupid that some asshole making crank calls became the straw that broke the camel’s back.  Like, who called someone and repeatedly hung up on them?  What the hell was that?

After hanging up on the guy, Stiles turned off his phone completely, shoved it into his pocket and for some reason, couldn't hold back the tears that started trickling from his eyes.  And once they started, he lost it.  Out there on the street, his feet hurting, his heart aching... and all the frustration and hurt just came pouring out of him.  Some part of him said it was completely ridiculous that he was standing on the side of the road, crying - sobbing really - because he was sixteen and no one gave one single fuck about it or him.  And if he’d been less tired and fed up with everyone and everything, including himself, he might have been able to think it all through rationally, but he was tired and he was fed up.  

He was feeling left behind and forgotten.  Unwanted and unloved.

There was no way to know how long he stood there, hard wracking sobs coming out of him, but eventually it all died down... the tears finally coming to an end.  Drained to the core, his face felt swollen and his eyes ached and his nose was running, making him constantly sniff.  He got his feet moving again, shuffling them along the sidewalk.

The house was dark, except for the porch light because his dad was still at work, so he stumbled up the stairs and unlocked the front door so he could go inside.  After making sure everything was locked up, he trudged up to the second floor to his bedroom.  He stripped out of his clothes and left them in a heap on the floor, not caring if they got ruined or wrinkled.  He then went into the bathroom to wash his face, gulping down some water straight from the faucet before brushing his teeth.  

Chancing a look at himself in the mirror he frowned.  He looked like shit.  Not surprising really.  

He’d go to bed, wake up, and tomorrow would be just another Saturday.  That was probably just what he needed.

After changing into his pajama pants and t-shirt, he shut off the lights and crawled into bed, laying on his stomach as he stared at the wall, willing himself to sleep.

********************

Hours later, after everyone had finally left, Derek was standing in his living room, staring at the complete and utter wreckage of his home.  Beer cans were all over, along with red solo plastic cups, bottles, toilet paper, paper plates and empty pizza boxes.  The flat screen had something weird smeared on it and he was afraid to investigate it further.  There were stains on the carpet and couch and in the kitchen there were a few broken dishes and glasses that he was going to have to explain.  He didn’t dare go into the bathrooms...  

With a groan, he walked over to a chair that looked safe to sit in and collapsed onto it, thankful his family was going to be gone till Sunday evening.  It was going to take him the rest of the weekend to clean up the mess.

Leaning his head back he stared at the ceiling, wondering how, in one day, he felt like everything had turned upside down.  Sure, Kate had gotten his house trashed before - that was almost standard behavior.  It’s what happened at people’s houses when their parents went away. Everyone showed up and partied then snuck back into their rooms pretending they made curfew.  Derek thought he was happy being a part of that scene, being in on the invites with Kate on his arm, but the truth was, he wasn’t.  It all felt stupid and pointless now.  He didn’t want it and he hadn’t wanted that for a long time.  He was just going through the motions...  an object in motion stays in motion...  Happiness had nothing to do with any of it.

His mind wandered to Stiles...  all the times he saw him in Study Hall doing his school work, chewing on a pen, his leg bouncing to some unheard rhythm that only Stiles could hear.  The way his long fingers tapped on his desk or how he would laugh, his whole body exploding.  Why hadn't he noticed all that before - well, he did notice it - but why hadn’t he really seen it?  Why had he ignored it up until now?  The obvious answer was that his head had been up his ass... or more accurately, Kate’s ass.  

Derek shuddered.  Bad imagery.

He’d been so caught up in Kate and all her sweet promises and smiles and being popular... And how perfect they were together... how perfect they looked together... that he had missed that they weren’t perfect together.  

He groaned again, thinking of how angry Stiles sounded on the phone.  God, the guy obviously wanted nothing to do with him.  It should have been a clear hint that Stiles didn’t like him - could barely stand him apparently - by how he kept running off whenever he noticed Derek looking at him.  Probably thought Derek was some sort of creep.  The Sex Test had obviously been filled out as a joke.

********************

It was really late when Stiles heard the familiar rumble of his Dad’s cruiser pulling into the driveway...  The sound of the driver’s side door squeaking open then clacking shut...  then the front door being unlocked and opened as his father came into the house.  There was the creak of the door and then the clunk of it shutting and being locked.  He listened to the heavy footsteps coming up the stairs and then along the hall, but instead of continuing to the master bedroom, they paused.  He heard his father’s voice at his door, “Stiles...?  You up?” he asked softly.

Stiles debated pretending to be asleep, but breathed out. “Yeah Dad.” He had been exhausted, but sleep didn't want anything to do with him.

“Hey kiddo,” the Sheriff said a little louder as he walked in and towards the bed, the light from the hall illuminating the room.

“Hey Dad.” Stiles said, still laying on his stomach with his cheek resting on his pillow.

Pausing the man sighed heavily, “So, how horrible a father am I?”

“You’re not.” Stiles assured him, because he really did believe his father was a great guy.

“No, I am, I’m terrible.” he sat down next to Stiles on the bed, “I feel like such a jerk.  How could I forget your birthday kiddo?”

Rolling onto his side so he could look at the older man better, Stiles shrugged, “It’s okay.  I’m not really upset about it anymore.” and he wasn’t.  He suspected the break down in the middle of the street had helped.

“It’s not okay.  I owe you a meal at the diner and tomorrow we’re going to go to the DMV to get your license, first thing.”

“We don’t have to...”

“Yeah we do!” 

Stiles sighed as he sat up, “It’s okay Dad.  We can go on Monday after school.” Seeing his Dad beat himself over it didn't give Stiles any sense of satisfaction.  The man tried so hard all the time and Stiles knew he was a lot to handle... Making him feel bad just didn't feel good. "Stuff happens and I know how busy you are trying to take care of me and run the station.  Yeah, I was upset, but it's really okay."

The man smiled softly as he regarded the youth, "You're growing up so fast kid... When did you get so mature?"

With a sort of shrug, Stiles shook his head, "I'm not that mature... Trust me..."

The Sheriff looked over at the photo set on the nightstand, “She was always so good with the dates.  Your mom remembered all the anniversaries and birthdays.” his tone grew wistful, “All the firsts...  Our first date... our first kiss...  Your first steps and first words.” he shook his head, “I can’t even remember where I put my keys...”

“It’s really okay...” The ache for his mom made him wince and he said, “Hey Dad, tomorrow... Can we go visit Mom?”

His father looked surprised but nodded, his expression soft, “Sure kid.  We can go.  Do you want to pick up some flowers beforehand?”  Stiles nodded, “All right then, we’ll go.  Now, it’s late.  We should both get some sleep.” He rose from the bed, “I’m just thankful you have Scott as a friend.  I’m sure you boys spent the night eating junk food and playing video games. I’m sort of surprised he isn’t sleeping over.”

“He’s at a dance at school with Allison.”

The Sheriff mulled that over for a moment, “Oh...” Obviously putting two and two together and knowing Scott forgot it was Stiles' birthday as well.

Stiles shrugged, “It’s fine.  We’ll do something another time.”

“But you two are okay?”

“Yeah...” 

The Sheriff paused, “Is something else wrong?”

“No...”

“Stiles...” he urged, using his Dad tone.

“It’s nothing...  Just...” He winced, “There’s this guy...  I like him a lot."

I thought Lydia was a girl.”

Confused, Stiles said, “She is.”

“I thought you had a thing for Lydia.”

“I did, but I don’t anymore.  I’m talking about Derek.”

“Who’s Derek?”

“He’s just this guy at school...” Two years ago, Stiles had come out to his father about liking guys.  It had been the hardest thing he’d done, but his father, being awesome, had told him that it didn’t matter to him who Stiles loved.  All he wanted was for his son to be happy and nothing as simple as who Stiles loved or wanted to spend his life with, would make his father love him less.  “Just forget it.  It’s stupid.” his fingers fiddled with a loose thread on his comforter.

“Stiles, you can talk to me.”

“It’s just embarrassing.”

“What’s embarrassing?”

He huffed out a groan of annoyance, “Okay, look, there’s this guy, Derek Hale.  He’s a Senior and he’s gorgeous and perfect and I like him a lot and he doesn’t like me.”

“I see,” the Sheriff nodded once in understanding.

“He has like, this awesome girlfriend who's super popular, and is head cheerleader and they’ll make ridiculously attractive babies together and have a perfect life in an amazing house and I’m just this stupid dork that stares at him that he completely ignores and probably hates.”

“Stiles, I don’t think you’re a dork.  I’m sure Scott doesn’t think you’re a dork.”

“Jackson thinks I’m a dork.”

“Jackson is a dork.”

“Yeah, well... so am I.” he frowned, eyes on the loose thread he was pulling at.

The man looked at his son for a while in sympathy before he said, “There’s not much I can tell you that’s going to make you feel better son, except, I love you and if this Derek guy can’t see you for the unique and special person you are, then he’s the one with the problem... and you’re better off without him.”

“Yeah... I know,” he rolled his eyes a little at the consolation.  It always sounded logical when you tried to spin it that way, but the heart was a different matter, “But you have to say that because you’re my dad.  It just... it hurts, you know?”

“I know.” his Dad put his hand on his son’s shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze, “That’s why they call them crushes.”

“Ugh,” Stiles let his head fall back, “If I was like, Jackson or Lydia I’d have Derek eating out of the palm of my hand.”

“Yeah, well let me tell you something about people like Jackson... When you’re given things kind of easily, you don’t always appreciate them.  You just expect them and in the end?  They don’t mean anything.  It’s the things you have to work for that have meaning... that you appreciate in the end.  It’ll happen for you Stiles and when it does?  It’ll be great.  It just won’t be easy...  But then, you were never a ‘do it the easy way’ kind of kid, so I don’t expect your love life to be an exception... But it’ll be good when it happens.  Trust me.”

Stiles nodded.

“Now I don’t think I’ll be able to leave here if I don’t feel like this talk helped you.  So be a good son and lie to me.”

He laughed and nodded, “Yeah it helped,” but it wasn’t a lie.  Talking about it did ease his heart a bit.  “Thanks.”

“Any time kiddo,” the Sheriff pulled his son into a tight hug, which Stiles returned.  He closed his eyes and settled into the comforting feel of his father’s arms, the strength of them that always made him feel loved and protected, along with the scent of his dad’s aftershave.  Leaning back, the man smiled, “Tomorrow we’ll head to the diner for breakfast, then go to the florist before we see your Mom, okay?”

Stiles nodded, “Okay.”

“All right.” He rose from the bed, “Good night Stiles... Happy Birthday.” He leaned over and kissed the top of Stiles head.

“Thanks... Good night Dad.” Stiles lay back down in his bed, actually feeling a bit better, like some of the pressure that had been clasped around his chest had eased.  Finally he was able to close his eyes and fall asleep.

********************

The front doorbell rang so Derek pushed himself up from the chair to go answer it.  He was prepared to tell whoever it was to fuck off because the party was over, but when he opened the door, he only saw Kate’s niece, Allison standing there, looking put out.  “Allison?” he frowned.

“Is Kate here?”

“She’s passed out in my bedroom.”

“Ugh!” the girl pushed past him to go inside the house.

He closed the door and turned towards her, “What’s wrong?”

“She was supposed to be home four hours ago.  I knew she was out at a party.” she rolled her eyes as she shook her head, “Unbelievable.”

“Kate’s parties are usually pretty legendary.” he extended his arms out refer to the remains of his house.

She seemed to finally look around and take in the sight of the destruction surrounding them, “Oh... god... Derek, I’m really sorry about this.  Do you want me to help you clean it up?”

He sighed and shook his head, “Nah... I'll just stay up the rest of the night and do it.  Come on in to the kitchen.  I could use some coffee.” he walked past her to the kitchen and she followed, her eyes still taking in the shambles, “Should you be out this late?”

“I already went home.  My parents think I’m in bed.  I snuck out again in search of Kate before my grandfather realizes she’s still out.”

Derek nodded.  Kate’s father was...  well, crazy was a polite way to say it. The guy was really intense.

Getting the coffee pot brewing he asked, “Did you have a good time at the dance?  I saw you there with the McCall kid and Lydia Martin.”

She sat carefully at the kitchen table, aware of the mess on it and not wanting to touch anything... sticky... before she smiled up at him, “Oh yeah, it was great.  I had a really good time tonight till Scott realized he forgot his best friend’s birthday and started freaking out.”

“He forgot his best friend’s birthday?  Isn’t his best friend Stiles Stilinski?”

Allison nodded, “When he remembered, we were already heading home and he tried to call, but I think Stiles turned his phone off or something because Scott couldn’t reach him.  He felt terrible and I spent an hour in the car in front of Scott’s house trying to convince him that he wasn’t the worst friend in the entire world,” she sighed deeply, “I felt really bad too because we all sort of forgot, but Scott’s been his best friend since they were little and he took it really hard.”

Shit...  His heart went out to Stiles.  That really sucked.  “So... what did Scott do?”

“I convinced him to call Stiles tomorrow and figure out how to make it up to him.  They normally have this bro-tastic night on their birthdays where they play video games and stuff.  We were supposed to go play mini-golf  tomorrow, but I told him Stiles was more important.”

“That was really nice of you.” Derek said softly.  Allison was really sweet... He didn’t understand how she was related to Kate, who wouldn’t have thought of giving up what she wanted for someone else.

“Well...” She wrinkled her nose, “Scott and I have been hanging out a lot lately and I think Scott’s been spending more time with me than Stiles.  I don’t want to come between their friendship.”

“So... you know Stiles pretty well?”

She jut out her jaw as she thought about it, “Sort of?” her nose wrinkled again, “Like I said, he’s Scott’s best friend.  We hang out and stuff, but I don’t now if I’d say I know him pretty well."  

"You guys don't do the double date thing?" he was reaching for information, but he was trying to keep his tone casual.

"Nope.  Stiles isn't dating anyone.  Though... Lydia said he had a thing for her.”

Derek’s shoulders dropped.  Right.  Of course.  Lydia Martin.  Top of the Sophomore class and on track to become Queen bee of Beacon Hills High.  Who wouldn’t have a thing for her?  Why wouldn’t Stiles want to be with a pretty red head in high heeled shoes and short skirts...

“Sooo...” Allison looked around the kitchen, “You must be pretty mad at Kate.”

“I’m not happy with her.”

She must have sensed something in how he said that because she asked, “Not happy with her because of the party or... not happy with her.  Period.”

He sighed, “I don’t know...”

“You don’t?” she pressed.

“No,” he turned around and leaned back against the counter, “She’s beautiful and all that, but... I don’t think I’m interested in that anymore.”

“Derek, you guys are like, the most popular couple in school.”  Her head tilted, “Does interest really matter?”

“Yeah it matters.  Look Allison, I know Kate’s your aunt and everything so I don’t know if I should even be talking to you about this... but to be honest?  Kate’s completely insensitive.”  He gestured towards the broken dishes on the floor, “Look what she did to my house, after she promised she’d never let this happen again the last time!  Instead of helping me deal with it, she just went on and partied.  All she cares about is being popular and partying.” Derek crossed his arms, “I realized that... I don’t care about that anymore.  I want someone who is more than that.  Who wants more than that.  I want someone I can love that’s going to love me back... and I know I don’t love Kate.” He made a face, “That sounds incredibly dorky doesn’t it.”

Allison’s face lit up with a smile as she shook her head, “Not at all.  That sounds totally adorable.  And you aren’t alone for wanting that Derek, I mean...  it’s what I have with Scott,” she blushed slightly, “And you should want that too.” After brushing some of her dark hair behind her ear she said, “I love Kate, but I know she’s not looking for that.  Love isn’t what she wants.”

“Are you encouraging me to break up with Kate?”

“I’m encouraging you to do what’s right for you.  And if you aren’t happy with her, then yes.  Kate will get over it.”

“Right...” he rolled his eyes, “She mentioned there were others lining up to take my place.”

“See?” She tilted her head, “Is there someone you have in mind to be with instead?” she bit her lip at the idea of some gossip.

“Maybe.  But I think he hates me.”

Her mouth turned into a slight pout, “You’re sure he hates you?”

“I feel pretty positive.  I believe the words ‘fuck you’ were used.” he raised a brow as if to say ‘see’?

“You already talked to them?”

Derek shook his head, “Not really.”

Allison sat up, “Then there you go!  You have to talk to them.  I mean, what have you got to lose if you think they already don’t like you.”

“My pride?  My self esteem?”

“Please,” She rolled her eyes, “You’re Derek Hale.  You can do this.  And if he turns you down, then you can move on with your fresh start in finding love.”

Derek sighed, “Yeah, I guess.” Then he clapped his hands, “Come on, let me help you get Kate to your car.  She’ll need a good night’s sleep for when I break up with her tomorrow and make her pay for the carpet cleaning I have to arrange.”

********************

The next morning, after showering and getting dressed, Stiles and his father headed to the diner for breakfast.  Stiles ordered his usual chocolate chip banana pancakes with whip cream and didn't scold his father for getting bacon with his eggs and hashbrowns.  They talked about his father’s job and school - Stiles staying well away from anything that happened yesterday.  The Sheriff was kind enough to not bring up Derek or ask about him further, which Stiles was grateful for.  He had today and tomorrow to lock up his heart so come Monday, he could face everyone again.  When they headed out the door, Stiles turned on his phone, only to have it blow up with alerts about texts and voice messages.  Checking them while he walked to the car, he saw they were all from Scott.

As they drove along towards the florist's, Stiles cradled his phone in his palm and debated reading the texts or listening to the messages.  If Scott remembered his birthday, he was going to be feeling terrible about the whole thing and Stiles would feel bad that Scott felt bad and he’d tell him it was all okay and he didn’t mind... Except he did mind and he wasn’t sure he was ready to forgive just yet.  

“Something going on son?” the Sheriff asked, barely glancing over at the passenger seat, but sensing something was going on all the same.

“No...” Stiles sighed, then shook his head, “Yeah...”

“This have to do with yesterday?”

“It’s Scott.”

“You know, you have every right to be upset.”

“I’m not...” He rolled his eyes not wanting to bother lying about it, “Okay.  I’m upset.  But it’s stupid to be upset about a birthday.  I’m not a little kid, right?  I can’t expect everyone to remember when you’re busy with work and Scott’s busy with Allison now and being friends with all her friends...It’s not important.”

They stopped at a red light and the Sheriff turned towards his son, “Hey, you’re important.  Don’t you ever think you’re not.  And you’re birthday is important.” his hand clutched Stiles’ shoulder, “You hear me?”

Stiles turned to look at his father - saw the serious earnest expression and nodded, and felt his eyes get wet.

“And it’s okay to be upset about it,” his father added. 

He nodded in understanding and when his father put his hand back on the wheel to drive when the light turned green, he said, “Scott left me all these messages late last night...”

“What'd they say?”

After wiping his eyes with the back of his hand he clicked on the texts and saw at least 30 messages.  

From Scott: OH MY GOD DUDE WHY DIDN’T YOU TELL ME????????!!!!!!!!

From Scott: I CAN”T BELIEVE I FORGOT YOUR BDAY!!!!!

From Scott: U there?  dude Im so sorry!!!!!

From Scott: Im the worst frend ever

From Scott: Stiles u there?  Please text bak!

They continued on that way, varying from apologies to checking to see if Stiles was getting the texts in the first place, to begging him to text back.  “Looks like he’s sorry... That he’s the worst friend ever...” Stiles said before going to listen to the messages.

“Stiles! Dude I’m so sorry!  I can’t believe I forgot it was your birthday today!  You must hate me so much right now. You know I would never forget on purpose.  I’m so sorry.  Please pick up!”

click

“Stiles, are you there?  Please call me back!  I’m so sorry!  I can’t tell you how horrible I feel!  Please don’t hate me!”

click

“Okay, I’m getting worried.  Stiles, I know I screwed up and I owe you like, a hundred cakes and cupcakes and those lollipop cake things you like and I’m so sorry!  Please call me back?”

click

They went on and on, all different desperate apologies.  Till:

 “Stiles, I’m on my way over right now!”

click

“Okay, Allison said it’s really late to be coming over and I should wait till tomorrow to see you.  Just please, text me back or something just so I know you’re okay and at least getting my messages?  Or at least to tell me that you don’t completely hate me?  Please?  I’m... I’m so sorry.”

click

Stiles sighed and started deleting all the messages, “He’s sorry... yeah.  That’s the gist of it.”

“I see...  You going to call him back?” his father asked.

“I don’t know... I should.  I guess.  He sounds like he thinks I’m dead or something.” he ran his hand through his short hair.

“But you’re still angry at him.”

“Well, yeah.” 

“You have every right to be.  Just like you have the right to be angry at me.”

“He’s supposed to be my best friend Dad.  He’s supposed to be there for me and... he wasn’t.  He really hasn’t been lately.”

The man nodded, “He’s seeing the Argent girl right?”

“Allison.”  Stiles added before saying, “We used to be so close.  I never thought he’d ever forget my birthday.  Like ever!  We’re supposed to hang out together and do things together and it feels like forever since we’ve even seen a movie together.”

After sighing deeply, the Sheriff said, “Nothing I’m going to say is going to make it all right... But, you’re both growing up.”

Stiles rolled his head against the chair’s headrest to give his father a droll look, “Right, we’re growing up and apart.”

“No,” he corrected, “But you’re relationship is changing.  For a long time it was just you and Scott.  Now Allison is in the picture and she may be for a while... or not.  They might break up and he’ll come back to you.  And there might be another girl for Scott... Or a girl or boy for you.” Stiles snorted in disbelief, but his father went on, “It will happen.  You’re going to develop fuller lives and sometimes you’re going to drop the ball for each other.  The question is going to be whether, after the initial hurt and anger goes away, if you two forgive each other.  There may come a time when you don’t and you drift apart.  You Stiles, have to decide if this is that time.”

“So you’re saying I should forgive him.”

“If you do forgive him, I’m not saying you have to do it right now.  You just have to figure out how long you’re going to hold onto the hurt.” he pulled into the parking lot of the florist’s and parked the car, “And you don’t have to forgive him, but you might want to call him so he knows you aren’t dead.”

“What am I supposed to say?”

“Be honest.  Tell him you’re angry and not ready to talk to him just yet if you aren’t ready.  You can call him while I get the flowers.”

“Thanks Dad...” Stiles said softly.

The older man smiled, and clapped a hand on the boy’s knee, “Anytime.” he slipped out of the car to give his son some privacy and headed into the flower shop.

Stiles stared at his phone for a few moments, then called Scott’s number.  It took less than a second for Scott to pick up with a frantic, “Stiles!  I’m at your house.  Dude are you okay?”

“Yeah... I’m fine.”

“Stiles, I’m so sorry!  I am so so so sorry I forgot your birthday yesterday!  I wish you would have said something to me!  I feel so stupid and you know I’d never forget on purpose.”

“Scott...”

“I will buy you like, the biggest cake”

“Scott.”

“We’ll have like, a video game tournament.  And I’ll let you win all the games!”

“Scott!” when the other stopped talking, Stiles sighed, “I win all the games anyway.  You suck dude.” He glanced up at the flower shop, “Look, uh... I get it, but uh...  I’m with with my Dad.  We’re going to go see my Mom today.”

“Oh...”

“Yeah so... maybe we could do something... tomorrow, or next weekend.  I don’t know.  We’ll see.  Okay?”

“Yeah man... I get it.  Just.  I’m so sorry.” 

"I know..." Stiles sighed.

"Why didn't you say anything to me yesterday?" Scott asked, "You should have just hit me and called me out."

"There was never a right time to get you alone to tell you and I didn't feel like making it a big deal in front of everyone." he didn't add that he felt like he shouldn't have had to say anything to Scott... but he mentally conceded that maybe he should have been more aggressive about talking to Scott.

"Well don't ever let me do something so stupid again!  Okay?  I'm just... I'm sorry Stiles."

“I know.  It’ll... It’ll be okay.”

“All right.  Talk to you later...”

“Okay.” 

Stiles disconnected the call and sighed.  Things between him and Scott would be fine.  This wasn’t enough to break apart their friendship - besides, Scott would owe him big time for this and Stiles now had the ultimate trump card for movie choices.  With a grin, he got out of the car and went into the flower shop to help his dad choose a bouquet for his Mom’s grave.

********************

Derek pulled up to the Stilinski house - it was fairly well known as the Sheriff’s house because everyone knew not to mess with it.  Most houses were fair game for Halloween pranks, but this one was off limits if you were any sort of sane.  He parked the car just as a familiar young man was walking down the front porch steps.  Stepping out of his Camaro, he recognized Scott McCall, Allison’s boyfriend walking towards him.  

“What are you doing here?” Scott asked suspiciously.

Not used to being questioned by any lower classmen, Derek glared down at him, “Why do you want to know?”

Without backing down, Scott answered, “Because this is my best friend’s house.”

Derek smiled a bit, “Is he home?”

“No,” Scott shook his head, the dark floppy hair falling across his brow.

Feeling a bit deflated, Derek asked, “Do you know where he is?”

“He’s visiting his Mom.”

“Visiting where? Like, out of state?” 

“No you idiot.  At the cemetery.” Scott frowned.

Derek’s arms dropped, conflicted.  His instinct was to punch the kid for calling him an idiot, but considering this was Stiles best friend, he didn’t think it would make a great impression.  The other side of him was realizing what Scott said.  His Mom was at the cemetery and that meant he was visiting her grave.  God... He had no idea.  He probably should have.  Stiles’ father was the sheriff and most people knew his wife was dead.  It just didn’t connect before that Stiles’ Mom, the sheriff's wife, was dead.  

“Why do you want to know anyway?”

Realizing Scott was glaring at him, Derek shrugged, “I want to talk to him.”

“Look, if this is about him looking at Kate last night, he wasn’t interested in her.”

“What?  No... I mean... He was looking at her?”

“No, he wasn’t.”

“But you just said--.  You know what, never mind.” he rolled his eyes, “I just... I want to talk to him.”

"Why?"

Huffing out a breath, "Maybe... I like him."

Scott stared at him for a while, like he was seeing every thought Derek ever had in his head before he leaned back a bit and crossed his arms, “You,” he paused, “Like Stiles.”

“Yes.”

“Really.”

“Yes.” Derek snapped, annoyed.

After a few moments, Scott’s eyes widened a bit, as if he was realizing something, “He wasn’t looking at Kate at the dance.”

“You said that already.”

“Okay,” Scott nodded, ignoring what Derek said, “But you better not be dicking around with him,” he furrowed his brows as his fists clenched, “Because if you are, I’ll kick your ass.”  

Derek’s brows rose as he crossed his arms to stare down at the younger man.

“Or, I’ll get someone bigger than me to kick your ass!” he jerked his chin up, “Stiles is special and he deserves better than to be dicked around by some Senior.”

“Look, if I was just looking to do that, I could probably get some ass fairly easily.  I have people throwing themselves at me pretty regular and I honestly don’t want that with Stiles.” He sighed and rolled his eyes, dropping his arms, “I already went through this with your girlfriend last night.”

“What?” Scott screeched, “What were you doing with Allison?”

“Nothing!” Derek protested, “She came to pick up Kate from my house.  We talked.  That’s all.”

“But you’re dating Kate!  You can’t be dating Kate and dating Stiles!  Dude, that’s just wrong!”

“I’m not dating Kate.”

“You’re not?”

“Not since this morning.”

Scott tilted his head, “How’d that go?”

“Like a lead balloon,” Derek frowned.  There’d been a lot of screeching and yelling and some slapping by Kate, along with promises of getting him back for dumping her.  She’s said something about no one dumping Kate Argent and just walking away unscathed.  He left while she was still ranting at him, but it was done and it only proved to him that he was right to break it off.  She was definitely a bit nuts.

“So you really are interested in Stiles.” Scott asked, his eyes moving from Derek’s shoes to his head.

“I am...  I don’t want to hurt him... I just... want a chance with him.  Even if I’m pretty sure he doesn’t like me.”

Scott smirked like he knew a secret, “I’m pretty sure that’s not the case man.  Now, I owe Stiles big time, so I’ll give you some advice, but remember, you hurt him and it’s not just me you have to worry about.”

“I know... bigger guy you’ll hire and what.. the lacrosse team?”

“Hell no,” Scott chuckled, “Dude, his dad’s the sheriff.  Pretty sure the guy will shoot you.”

********************

The drive home from the cemetery was quieter than the ride going, which it usually was.  Both the Stilinski men were lost in their thoughts, somber from the visit at the grave site.  Stiles had asked to sit with his Mom alone for a bit and his father simply nodded, kissed the top of his head and gone to sit in the car to wait for him.  When he was left with her, he’d sat down and filled his mother in on what was going on in his life, freer in what he shared with her than with his Dad since there was no judgement or repercussions.  He’d come out to her well before his Dad, told her about his crush on Lydia before he told Scott and mentioned Derek Hale in his ramblings when he’d kept it a secret from everyone else.  Logically, he knew she wasn’t there and couldn’t hear him, but he felt like she was listening and he could pretend he heard her responses.

His father never asked him what he talked about with his mom, knowing it was a private thing, so they drove back in silence.  It wasn’t till they turned down their street that Stiles sat up, seeing a familiar car parked across from the house.  His brows furrowed in confusion.  It was a black Camaro and the guy leaning against it looked a lot like Derek Hale.  

Oh god had Derek come to his house to beat him up?  Would he do that? 

The Sheriff noticed his son’s agitation, “Everything all right?”

“Uh... not too sure on that.  Can I get back to you?”

Used to some of the strange answers his son gave him, the man simply turned onto the driveway and parked the car in front of the garage.  Stiles had unbuckled his seatbelt and was now almost completely turned around in his seat, looking out the back window, gaping.

“Do you now that guy?” the Sheriff asked, squinting into the rear view mirror.

“Yes,” Stiles squeaked.

“Who is he and why is he here?” his father’s tone was less curious and was starting to inch into ‘sheriff’ territory, which would probably lead to him pulling out handcuffs and a gun shortly.

“Remember the guy I was telling you about last night?”

“Darren-something?”

Stiles widened his eyes, “Derek,” he flung his arm towards the back window, “Derek Hale?  The gorgeous super human guy who I have the biggest crush on who for some reason has come to see me here at my house, Derek.”

“The one who wasn’t giving you the time of day?  That Derek?” The Sheriff’s brow lifted as his jaw clenched.

“Dad... “ he rolled his eyes.

“Well, what is he doing here then?”

“He might be here to beat me up.”

“What?” at this the man turned completely to face his son.

Stiles picked at the edge of the headrest as he winced, “He might think that I have a crush on his girlfriend.”

“Why would he think that?”

Dropping his forehead to the headrest he groaned, “Dad, it’s a long story.  Needless to say, I don’t have a crush on his girlfriend, but he might not really care because he’s a Senior and I’m a Sophomore, and high school is the wild wild west of hormones.  Logic and sense don’t play there.”

Easing back, the Sheriff sighed, “Okay.  Here’s what’s going to happen.  We are going to get out of the car.  You are going to go and talk to him.  But if he lays one finger on you--”

Stiles grinned up at his Dad, “I know, you have my back.”

They exited the car and his father stayed by it, hands on his belt - one very purposefully near his gun.  Stiles walked around the car and started heading down the driveway, eyes on Derek who was still just leaning against his Camaro, arms and ankles crossed.  When he reached the end of the driveway, feeling it was a safe enough distance he stopped.

Derek brightened and said, “Hi.”

“Uh... hi.” he quickly glanced behind himself before looking back at Derek, “You... did mean me.  To say hi to me, I mean.”

Smiling Derek nodded, “Yeah, I meant you.” He uncrossed his arms and slowly crossed the street towards Stiles.

In a slight panic, Stiles held up his hands, “Wait, if you’re here to beat me up, my Dad is like right there and he has an itchy trigger finger!”

Derek paused and looked genuinely confused, “Why would I beat you up?  And why would I do that with your dad standing right there with a gun?”

Lowering his hands, Stiles worried his lip for a minute before saying, “Because you’re... mad at me?” his shoulders hunched up.

“Why am I mad at you?”

“Uh... for liking Kate?” his shoulders dropped.

As if he was expecting that answer, Derek tilted his head slightly, regarding Stiles, “Do you like Kate?”

“No, not at all.” he shook his head.

“Then, there’s no reason for me to be mad at you.” Derek walked the rest of the way across the street to join Stiles on the sidewalk.

“Okay.  Right.  That makes sense.  And here you are.  At my house.  Where I live.” he took a slight step back, “So, if you’re not here to beat me up,” his brows furrowed, “What are you doing here?”

“I was waiting for you.”

“You were waiting for me?”

“Yeah,” Derek slid his hands into his pockets, “Is that okay?”

Stiles managed a nod, “Sure.  Yeah.  I mean.  Free country and all...” he swallowed hard, thoroughly confused.  Had he entered a parallel universe of some sort?  Maybe he hit his head and this was the result of some concussion?  Or he was hallucinating because the bananas from the pancakes this morning were bad?  All of those made more sense than Derek Hale waiting for him to come home.

Derek glanced up towards the Sheriff and asked, “Do you have to go do something with your dad, because... I thought that maybe we could hang out?”

Stiles’ eyes dropped to his feet because having Derek this close was making his stomach feel like there were a million fluttering birds about to break out of him.  “Uh,” he nodded, “I think I’m supposed to.” There hadn’t been real plans made with his Dad, but they’d talked about watching a movie or something.

“Can I call you later then? 

He nodded his head again, “Yeah...  no.”

“No... I can’t call you later?”

“No...”

“Oh...” Derek stepped back, “Right.  Okay,” the Senior’s voice was definitely disappointed, “I’m sorry to have bothered you then.”

Noticing that Derek was about to leave, Stiles played back what they’d said and realized what he’d just done and lifted his head up, “No!”

Derek’s brows shot up in confusion, “No?”

“I mean... Can you just give me a minute?” Stiles nearly begged, “Can you just wait right here,” he took a step back, “Just.  Don’t move.  Okay?”

Obviously unsure what was exactly happening, Derek said, “Okay...”

“I’ll be right back.” Stiles assured, "No moving.” When he felt satisfied that Derek wasn’t going to leave or possibly disappear and prove this was all some weird dream, he turned and ran over to his father, still waiting by the car.

“So, I take it he isn’t here to beat you up?”

Stiles blushed and shook his head, “He wants to hang out.”

“Oh?”

Wincing he said, “Yeah... and I um, I know we talked about watching a movie and--”

“Go.”

“Really?” Stiles’ eyes widened with hope.

“Yes,” the Sheriff smiled, “But I want you to call me to let me know where you are.  And I expect him to be coming to dinner sometime next week.”

Stiles furrowed his brows and gawped at his father in disbelief.  “Really?  We’re just hanging out!  I don’t.  He probably doesn’t.  I mean... It doesn’t mean anything!”

“Hey, father privilege.  The guy came to wait for you at your house. I’m thinking it might mean something,” then he shooed Stiles off, “Now go.”

“Thank you Dad,” Stiles grinned before jogging back to where Derek was - amazingly - still waiting for him.  “So,” he rubbed the back of his neck, “I’m uh, free to hang out if you still want to.”

The smile Derek gave was totally breathtaking and Stiles felt his knees go weak.  The Senior jerked his head towards his car, “Let’s go.” 

Stiles thought it was a damn miracle that his legs were moving with his belly flip flopping to the point that he was glad he hadn’t had lunch yet because he might have vomited with nerves.  He followed Derek across the street managing a glance at his father who was now standing on the porch watching them.  The Sheriff gave his son a thumbs up and a nod before Stiles returned his attention ahead of him to see Derek opening the passenger side door.  Once Stiles climbed into the Camaro, the older boy shut the door then jogged around the other side to get behind the wheel.

Inside the confines of the car, the rest of the world was closed off.  It was just him and Derek.  “So... uh, what did you want to do?”

Putting the key into the ignition, Derek asked, “Would it be okay if it was a surprise?”

“Sure.  Um.  Surprises are good.  Unless you plan on murdering me and burying my body where no one will find it!” he blurted, then turned beat red and quickly said, “Not that I think you’re a serial killer or anything because you totally don’t give off that vibe and I don’t think you’re a murderer or anything.  And I mean, how stupid would you be to murder the sheriff’s kid right?  Not that I think you’re stupid because I know you’re like on the honor roll and really smart and you wouldn’t kill anyone  and oh my god why am I not shutting up?” he clamped his hands over his mouth and wished a giant hole would just open up under him so he could just disappear.  A serial killer showing up for him right then would be a favor!

Derek was quiet beside him for a heartbeat or two, but then he chuckled, a light blush on his cheeks, “I’m not planning on killing you.  Definitely not on the list of things I’d like to do to you.” He pulled out onto the road and started driving.

Stiles blushed again because his mind started providing a bunch of suggestions for Derek’s list and he had to force himself to focus, “Well, I mean... I just... I didn’t know I’d be going anywhere today so I’m not sure if what I’m wearing is okay or not.”

The Senior gazed over at him and nodded, “You’re dressed just fine Stiles.”

“Oh.  Okay.”  His leg started bouncing up and down with nerves, “Can I ask you something?”

“Anything.”

“Why do you want to hang out with me?”

“Is there a reason we shouldn’t?”

“Well... yeah.”

Derek frowned a bit, “There is?”

"There are plenty of reasons," Stiles complained, "You're a Senior and I'm a Sophomore.  You're Captain of the baseball team and the basketball team and I'm a benchwarmer on the lacrosse team.  You're like the most popular guy in school and I'm... not."

Breaking at a stop light, Derek turned to look at Stiles, “Do you not want to be with me?  Because I don’t want to force you to do anything you don’t want to do.”

“I didn’t say that!  I just don’t understand why you would want to hang out with me, let alone be seen with me.” He flung his arm out in Derek’s direction, “I mean, you're amazing and awesome.  You’re smart and nice and everyone loves you.  Who wouldn’t want to hang out with you?  You probably have people willing to fight in gladiator pits for the chance to!  I just don’t get why you want to...” his hands gestured vaguely, “With me.”

“I could give you the same answer you gave me.” 

“You’d be exaggerating, by like, a whole lot.”

Derek smiled softly before turning forward and driving on when the light changed. “Then we’ll have to agree to disagree on that point.  Just... trust me.  Okay?”

Stiles crossed his arms, torn by suspicion and hope, but he nodded, “Okay.”

********************

They ended up at Derek’s house and Stiles was a bit surprised by the state of the outside of it.  There was toilet paper hanging from the trees and a lot of garbage strewn across the lawn.  Derek apologized for the state of it, explaining that there been a party the night before.  He had spent all night cleaning inside, but hadn’t gotten to the outside yet.  Stiles nodded, but he thought it was pretty crappy of Derek’s friends to trash his house like this and not help fix it.

There was still a bit of disarray inside, but it was pretty clean.  Derek lead Stiles into the living room where there were balloons tied in bunches and set up all around.  On the front of the fire place there was a sign that read, Happy Birthday, and there were a few streamers hung up along the walls.  Stiles tripped to a halt when he noticed it all, head swiveling on his neck as he took it in, his mouth gaped open in surprise.  “I...” His brows dropped as he narrowed his eyes at Derek, “How?  I mean... You know?”

Derek was smiling shyly, “I heard it was your birthday yesterday.” his eyes widened slightly, “It’s okay though, right?”

“Yeah,” Stiles expression brightened into a full smile, as he looked around again, “I mean, it’s awesome.  You didn’t have to go to all this trouble for me.”

“Yes I did.” 

Stiles gazed over at Derek confused by the earnest tone in the older boy’s voice.  Then he noticed there was a large blanket on the floor in front of the fire place.   There were two plates, two sets of silverware with napkins set up on the blanket and in the center of the blanket was a round chocolate frosted cake with unlit candles set up on it.  Stiles’ brown eyes widened, not expecting that any more than he’d expected the rest.  Derek sat down on the blanket, crossing his legs, then gestured for Stiles to join him.  

Feeling out of sorts in the very best way, Stiles sat down on the blanket across from Derek, the cake between them, crossing his legs as well.  Derek pulled out a lighter and carefully lit the candles on the cake as the younger boy watched.  When all the candles were lit, Derek set the lighter aside and gazed up at Stiles, his expression soft, his features lit by the gentle glow.  It made Stiles’ heart jump.  “Why did you go through so much trouble for me Derek?  I mean... this isn't just hanging out." he waved his hand towards the decorations.  "What about Kate..."

“I broke up with her."

Stiles' mouth dropped, "You broke up with Kate?  Why?"

"Because I realized that what I had, wasn’t what I wanted.  And when I realized what I wanted, I knew I had to work at getting it.  And what I want is to be with you.”

“But... you don’t even know me.”

“I want to know you.”

“Ugh... Why?” the guy had to be crazy to give up Kate for someone like Stiles.

Derek smiled, “Because you’re smart and you’re funny and you laugh from the bottom of your feet and you ramble when you’re nervous and I think you’re cute.”

Stiles blushed, “You think I’m cute?”

He nodded, “And there’s a lot more that I don’t know about you, but I want the chance to learn it.” he reached over and took Stiles hand, “That’s all I want.  Just a chance.” his thumb traced over the back of the younger man's hand gently.

After a long moment of Stiles gazing into Derek's eyes, searching for a hint of a lie or a trick - waiting for a sign or something - he finally breathed out, “Okay.”

“Okay?” the Senior's brow rose in question.

Stiles grinned, “Yeah... Okay.  Because we cannot let fine supermarket cake like this go to waste.” After years of buying them and eating them, Stiles would recognize a supermarket cake in a heartbeat, “But I’m warning you, if this is all a trick I will straight up punch you in the dick.” 

Derek’s eyes widened for just a moment before he laughed, “Deal.” he nodded down at the cake, “Now, make a wish before the candles melt all over the cake.”

Still grinning, Stiles shook his head, “I don’t have to.  Because what I was waiting for, just began.” with a slight tug of Derek’s hand, he pulled the older boy forward and leaned in so they could meet in what Stiles would later classify as a truly amazing Princess Bride worthy first kiss.

********************

Epilogue

Stiles got his books out from his locker and slid them into his book bag, giving a glance up at the photo taped inside the door of his locker.  It was a picture of him and Derek at the Senior Prom, both in black tuxes with dark red waistcoats and matching ties.  Derek insisted on the dark red because that was the color he’d first seen Stiles wear at the dance the night of his birthday.  Stiles thought that was totally adorable and sweet and didn’t argue.  In the picture, the two of them were smiling and looking sharp, hands clasped as they stood together.  They had other pictures taken of the two of them, but this one was still Stiles’ favorite.  

The transition to boyfriends hadn't been easy and certainly hadn't been smooth.  Well, between Derek and Stiles it was fine, it was just everyone else around them.  A lot of people at school thought it was some weird joke and there was definitely a lot of jealousy.  Stiles was hated simply because he was the one Derek was going out with and his reputation fluctuated, depending on who you talked to.  Kate was definitely among the haters and she tried to spread a lot of rumors about Derek and Stiles.  It didn’t work too well because people really did like Derek - and liked him more than they liked Kate.  

To say she took the whole thing badly, would be an understatement.  

Kate followed through on her promise to get back at Derek by trying to burn down his house.  She'd been caught and the fire had been put out before it did any real damage but it certainly could have gone a lot worse.  As an eighteen year old, she was going to be tried as an adult, but her father, Gerard Argent, had her plead insanity.  She was sentenced to go to a facility somewhere in the Midwest to get the care she needed for treatment.  Gerard left Beacon Hills to be closer to her.

Allison had a few issues after that because of the media backlash, but Scott, Stiles and Derek stayed by her side, defending her from anyone who had shit to say.  Eventually, by the end of the year, things had calmed down, thanks mostly to the story of Mrs. Fland leaving her husband and running off with some Real Estate agent, but of course, when the school year came to a close, Derek had graduated from high school.  Stiles and Derek had the summer and they spent almost every day together - Scott accepted the lack of bro-time graciously - but even that had to come to an end when Derek left for college.

Sighing wistfully, Stiles kissed his finger tip and pressed it to the photograph before closing his locker door.  Scott practically jumped on his best friend’s back as he shouted, “Dude!  I still can’t believe you’re eighteen now!”

Laughing, he tried to keep his feet under him so they both didn’t go crashing to the floor, “I am a man!” he crowed.

Jumping off of Stiles, Scott said, “Weren’t you a man last year when you turned seventeen?”

“Yeah, but this time I mean it.” he pulled his book bag up on to his shoulder, "I am a manly man with manly plans and manly thoughts."

“So, we got big man plans for tonight?”

“Nothing special.” Stiles shrugged.  In the time after his sixteenth birthday, Stiles had become more popular.  Mostly it had been due to dating Derek, but after Derek graduated, the shine of having been with the most popular guy in school stayed with him.  It didn’t mean his whole life changed, but he wasn’t just ‘the Sheriff’s kid’ anymore.  He had also managed to play on the lacrosse field and score a few goals, which also helped his rep.  Even Jackson didn’t give him as much shit as he used to. Still though, he was first and foremost, Scott’s best friend.  “Same old same old... right?”

"Junk food and video games."

"Exactly."

They walked down the hallway to the front doors where other students were streaming out towards the parking lot, eager to get home.  Scott hooked his thumbs in the shoulder straps of his backpack, “Well, I know we aren’t going to be doing anything tonight.” he grinned as they went down the steps, his eyes on a car that was parked at the front curb and the man leaning against the driver’s side door, his arms and ankles crossed.

Stiles looked up, his face breaking out into a huge smile.

Scott grinned and clasped his friend’s shoulder, “See ya dude... I’m going to call Allison, see if she's free tonight,” then he was off towards the motor bike he now rode to school, leaving Stiles to stroll up to Derek who was waiting by his Camaro for him.  He could hear a lot of whispers going on around him, but he didn’t care - all of his attention was on Derek. 

“Hey.  I thought you weren’t coming to see me till this weekend.” 

Derek grinned, “I couldn’t wait that long.” he shrugged.  The long distance relationship wasn’t easy, but they managed - Video calls, texting, talking and visiting each other between summer breaks.  

“Awww boo... that’s so sweet.  Just couldn’t wait to break yourself off a piece of this?” he wrapped his arms around Derek’s shoulders.

After a groan, Derek let his head fall back, “Why am I still going out with you again?”

With a nip at the other’s stubbled chin, Stiles answered, “Because, and I quote, you think I’m cute.”

Tilting his head forward, Derek rested his forehead against Stiles’, “Yeah... I do.”

“Yeah ya do!” Stiles agreed, grinning widely.  

Derek’s hands came up to slide around the younger man’s waist, “You’re cute and now... you’re legal,” his voice dropped a bit into a growl that did really amazing and embarrassing things to Stiles’ nether regions.  Derek tilted his head and kissed Stiles deeply and thoroughly...  a long way from the sweet chaste kiss they’d shared two years ago.  When he pulled away, Stiles was left slightly panting, his lips swollen and his pupils blown.

Grinning Stiles said, “Happy Birthday to me.”