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Stiles sat on the steps outside the rebuilt Hale house. He held a book in one hand and a highlighter in the other. He should be studying for his first semester finals, but he was sitting back in Beacon Hills on a porch, unable to concentrate on the words. He lifted his head when a car pulled up in front of the house.
“Nope,” he whispered when Scott climbed out from behind the wheel of his mother’s car.
“Stiles,” Scott whined loudly.
“Shush,” Stiles hissed, still barely above a whisper. He heard movement inside the house and doubled down on his glare at Scott. “Leave. Now.”
“I need to talk to him,” Scott said, his voice still raised, and Stiles threw his highlighter at Scott’s head, feeling accomplished when it bounced off the middle of his forehead.
“You need to go home and leave him alone. He needs to rest and recover,” Stiles said, barely moving his lips but knowing that Scott heard him anyway. He only hoped that Derek did not. “Research says sixteen hours to recover, and I’m sure it’s even more for super hearing.”
“He also has super healing,” Scott pointed out, taking a step forward.
Stiles pulled his arm back, aiming his book at Scott. “Not one more step unless it’s back to your mom’s car,” Stiles threatened.
“You’re out of ammo after that,” Scott pointed out, and Stiles snapped his fingers, smiling when a large rock flew from the yard into his hand. He bounced it once and looked at Scott meaningfully. “Fine. I’m out of here, but I’ll be back tomorrow.”
“That’s fine,” Stiles responded, pointing at the highlighter at Scott’s feet. When Scott didn’t move, Stiles snapped his fingers, and it flew at him. “Goodbye, Scott.”
Scott muttered something under his breath as he climbed into the car and drove away down the driveway. Once he was gone from sight, Stiles heard the door behind him open. He turned around to glare at Derek, who looked unimpressed with a large set of bright yellow construction earmuffs covering his ears.
“Go back to bed!” Stiles signed emphatically.
“Stiles,” Derek said, his voice nearly as whiny as Scott’s had been.
“No noise!”
Derek huffed and lifted his hands in front of himself and signed. “I’m fine. Can I take these off now?”
“Sixteen hours! Minimum!” Stiles held his phone up to show Derek the countdown timer for emphasis.
Sighing, Derek moved to sit next to Stiles, wrapping an arm around his shoulders and pulling him close. Stiles glared when Derek opened his mouth to speak. He snapped it shut. Stiles started to pull away, allowing Derek to sign what was on his mind, but Derek just tightened his hold.
Stiles knew he was probably overreacting, but when Derek had come home the night before, his ears swollen and burning red, he’d gone into a panic. Derek had followed Scott into a club, trying to find that week’s big bad. They’d spent hours searching, with Derek spending way too much time close to the speakers, damaging his hearing. It had been bad enough that Derek hadn’t even been able to hear Stiles when he’d been shouting at him and trying to find out what had happened.
He’d pushed Derek into the shower to clean off the stench of club while researching treatment for hearing loss. He had faith Derek would get his hearing back, but he wanted to help speed up the process as much as possible. By the time Derek had gotten dressed for bed, Stiles had dug up the earmuffs and placed them gently over Derek’s ears, guiding him to the bed.
Thankfully, Stiles had taught himself sign language one summer when he’d been bedridden due to a broken leg. Derek had learned beside him while keeping him company and making sure he followed the doctor’s orders. It came in handy when Stiles kept shushing Derek. Stiles knew Derek was probably just humoring him by going along with all of this.
Derek kept his arms around Stiles, holding his hands up in front of him. He moved more slowly than usual due to the awkward position, but he still managed to sign. “My ears are fine. The ringing stopped hours ago. I appreciate you worrying about me, but I am fine.” He paused and then signed the last three words again emphatically.
Stiles drooped in Derek’s grasp and didn’t fight him when he reached up to pull the ear muffs off and set them onto the bed. Stiles turned slightly on the bed and studied Derek’s ears, touching the lobes gently, glad to see they were back to their usual color. He tugged on the lobe to try and look inside the ear, and Derek huffed out a laugh.
“I am fine,” he said.
“No more clubs,” Stiles said, still whispering as he pulled away. He leaned in and kissed one of Derek’s ears and then the other. “You need to keep these ears safe.”
Derek’s laugh deepened. “What kind of deterrent is it when I get a day of silence, and then you kiss them better?”
Stiles pursed his lips and narrowed his eyes for a minute. A plan formed in his head. Grabbing the earmuffs, he snapped them over Derek’s ears with a laugh. Derek’s eyes widened for a minute before a smile slowly spread across his face. Before Derek could grab him, Stiles jumped away and raced out of the room.
Stiles heard Derek chasing after him, and he laughed loudly as he ducked into the library. Hiding behind the shelves, he peeked through and saw Derek entering a wicked smile on his face. “Come out, come out, wherever you are,” he growled.
Stiles’ heartbeat picked up as the timber of Derek’s voice sent a spark of arousal through him. Derek tilted his head and turned to lock eyes with Stiles in his hiding space. Stiles relaxed even more with the proof of Derek’s hearing being fully healed. He didn’t even bother to hide, knowing that letting Derek catch him would be even more fun than the chase.