Chapter Text
“Derek?” Stiles called out. “Come on, Big Bad, where are you?” He contemplated whistling as people did to their dogs but he didn’t want to risk Derek’s wrath this early in the day.
“You don’t have to shout” Derek said, suddenly appearing behind him. “Werewolf hearing, remember?”
“Are you trying to kill me?” Stiles gasped, one hand pressed to his chest. “No werewolf hearing, remember?” he grumbled, indicating himself, but Derek only smirked. “Stupid wolf” he muttered as he threw himself down on the couch. Derek rolled his eyes.
“Why are you here Stiles?” he asked. “Laura’s away her that school trip.”
“I, uh, I really came to see you” Stiles said as he nervously rearranged the contents of the fruit bowl. It was totally more logical to put the apples next to the oranges and leave the kiwis to the side, because otherwise the small yucky fuzz from the kiwis would get all over the apples and who would want that? And as for the mangoes…
“Me?” Derek echoed confusedly. “Why?” Stiles continued messing with the fruit until Derek had to forcibly drag the bowl away from him. Stiles, now at loss of what to do with his hands, started biting on his nails instead. Derek sighed and pulled his fingers out of his mouth, if Stiles kept doing that he’d never be able to concentrate.
“Talk” he said, crossing his arms over his chest.
“Oh, the scary eyebrows” Stiles commented and Derek’s scowl deepened. “All right, all right, here goes” he mumbled, took a deep breath and then launched himself into a totally different speech than the one that he’d carefully rehearsed on the way over. “So I had a talk with Scott about lots of things, you know, a conversation brother to brother and I asked him about some werewolf stuff that I needed to figure out and I think that we did, figure them out that is, but I still need more input and I have to talk to one more person because this person is kind of involved in this whole thing, or rather this person is the reason that the whole thing exists and I need to talk to that person and…”
“Breathe!” Derek almost shouted. “God, Stiles, you’re turning blue for fuck’s sake!” He dragged Stiles over to the couch and dumped him unceremoniously on one of the cushions. “How do you even do that?”
“Great lung capacity?” Stiles suggested sheepishly.
“Great idiot capacity, rather” Derek muttered as he sat down too. “To sum it up, and actually get somewhere, you and Scott talked and then you needed to another person some questions as well, and I’m guessing that person is me because of the fact that you’re here?”
“That’s pretty much it” Stiles said.
“Well, ask away then” Derek said, unsure where this conversation was going. Stiles seemed more nervous than he usually was and something about his scent was off but Derek couldn’t figure out what it was, except that he wanted it gone.
“Okay, I’ll just spit out, yep, that’s exactly what I’ll do” Stiles rambled. “Just get it out there, totally go for it, just asking away.”
“Any time you’re ready” Derek interrupted his rambling and Stiles huffed at him but it seemed a bit forced.
“All right” Stiles mumbled, chewing on his lips. “Areyoucourtingme?” he then blurted out quickly and took both himself and Derek by surprise.
“What?” Derek asked dazedly. He felt like he’d been hit over the head with a sledgehammer, his ears were ringing and his thoughts were fuzzy and unfocused. Did Stiles just ask him…?
“I asked, are you courting me?” Stiles repeated. “And to think that you’re the one supposed to have werewolf hearing, really Derek, I would’ve thought that…” He nervously launched himself into yet another nervous harangue when Derek didn’t say anything and gestured wildly while talking. “I mean, to think that you’d…”
“Stiles!” Derek interrupted sounding panicked. “I’m not courting you.”
“Because I just… What?” Stiles looked up, his mouth hanging wide open. Derek wore a similar expression. “You’re not? But all the things you did and the gift you gave me at Christmas and I get to take care of Laura… and…” His voice trailed away and he looked at the floor, dejected. “I should go” he whispered hoarsely, looking mortified, and before Derek had the time to react Stiles was out the door and long gone, the sound of his Jeep rumbling in the distance.
::
Pack news always travelled fast. Derek hadn’t even begun to collect his own thoughts when his phone started ringing. And ringing. And ringing and ringing until he couldn’t take it anymore and smashed it against the wall with a loud roar. Then he felt as if he couldn’t breathe, the walls seemed to be closing in on him and his skin itched uncomfortably. He desperately tore at his clothes as he shifted and then ran towards the forest. He was gone for hours.
When he got back to his apartment, tired and covered in sweat and mud, Scott was waiting for him. He paced back and forth like a caged animal and he didn’t look happy at all.
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” he growled. Derek tiredly ran a hand through his hair. He didn’t have the energy to deal with anyone else than himself right now. Besides, he really had no idea how to answer the question anyway.
“I don’t know, all right? Just leave me the fuck alone, Scott.” A split-second later he was slammed up against the wall with Scott’s forearm across his throat.
“I said, what the fuck do you think you’re doing?” Scott snarled through his fangs and Derek felt his own canines drop in response. He roared as he threw Scott away from him and both of them circled around the room, eyes blazing and claws ready to slash and tear. The shrill ringtone from Scott’s phone luckily cut through the tension in the room and snapped both of them back to reality.
“Yeah?” Scott snapped as he whipped out his phone and answered it. He immediately paled. “Oh, shit! Yeah, I’m on my way.” Derek’s head snapped up. He’d only heard part of the conversation since Allison was panicking on the other end of the line but there was no mistaking what had happened. Stiles was in hospital. Because of him.