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Derek was so immensely proud of himself. He had to drop out of high school in the middle of his junior year because after the fire he couldn’t get himself to get out of bed no less focus at school for eight hours a day but he really needed to get his life together. He left to New York with Laura for six years but after she was killed in a mugging he decided he wanted to travel. For five years he traveled the world. He even lived in South Korea teaching english for a year. Though all things come to an end and when he turned 27 he decided to come back to Beacon Hills. His loft was nice, and he life was nice. He had enough insurance money to last but he still felt like something was missing. He wanted something to do with his life. So after two years of hanging around Beacon Hills Derek wanted to finish school.
It took over a year to pass his GED, he didn’t realize how much he had missed, and got accepted to Beacon County Universty. He walked around campus as the fall leaves were cluttering the street while the sidewalk was overflowing with students . His allergies were acting up and his backpack was full of the textbooks he would need for the day.
The building wasn’t particularly ominous like the dream he had the night before where the Undergraduate Learning Center had grown fangs and eaten him alive. No, the building was docile and let him enter. He had learned that the three story building had over 15 auditoriums in it while he was doing freshman orientation. The map at the main entrance didn’t help with his confusion as to where is classroom was.
Class wasn’t due to start for another 30 minutes but Derek was just so excited that he was finally was going to do something that his mother would be proud of. The printout of his schedule said he was in auditorium 204, which with common sense would say that it is on the second floor. The new building was on a hill and he somehow entered on the third floor. A kid came up next to him, his head covered by an ancient university baseball cap and his glasses were almost falling off the tip of his nose. His upturned nose was pointed up at the sign looking quickly before huffing a small laugh and turning tail and walking to a door near the wall.The door slammed open and Derek heard footsteps.
That must be the stairs, he thought to himself and followed in the footsteps of the guy. He took the stairs down a flight and exited on the second floor. Derek sighed in relief to discover his classroom was right in front of the exit. The quadruple doors that would lead him to his first college course of his life were heavy and squeaked when they were pried open.
The auditorium had a few kids in it. With a glance at his watch Derek figured it would start filling out the last few minutes before class would start. He sat in aisle seat of the third row and plopped his backpack on the chair to his left. The auditorium had little tables that could swing up from the side. Derek fiddled with it for a moment before getting it into position a few inches above his lap. He looked around at his classmates and noticed the guy with the baseball cap sitting in the first row, his cap was pulled over his eyes and his legs were stretched out in front of him. He looked like he was sleeping with his arms crossed. Derek rolled his eyes, Probably a spoiled kid who doesn’t want to be here.
His watch said class would start in 15 minutes and seats were filling more quickly now. A blonde girl sat on the other side of his backpack and tried to smile,
“Hey, I’m Erica,” she said. She stuck her hand out for a handshake. Derek grunted and pulled a notebook out of his backpack. He may have gone a little overboard with the back to school shopping but he doesn’t care. He was excited, and he was going to be prepared. Derek was not going to screw up his second chance. The girl - Erica- raised her eyebrows and pulled her hand back. “Find, I didn’t want to be friends with an old man anyway. Seriously dude. You understand this is Freshman History right?” Derek grunted again and Erica turned away to dig into her purse.
The auditorium began to grow louder as people filed in the rows and rows of seats. The girl who had sat next to him started talking to the people in front of her about the professor.
Derek didn’t quite remember his professor’s name, he knew it was something weird though. They were talking about how he had such great stats on ratemyproffesor.com and that, according to the website, he was a total hottie.
Derek ignored the childish blabber. Instead choosing to check his email on his phone. They internet wouldn’t load and he didn’t know how to connect to the wifi so he looked at the time at the top of his screen and locked his phone. Class would be starting soon anyway. He glanced around the auditorium and noticed it was almost full. He wondered how many people would show up on Wednesday.
Derek glanced at his watch again and class was due to begin, but his professor wasn’t there yet. Not that he knew what he looked like but no one had walked in and went to the desk where the computer was to display on the projector. He was going to come, he had to. It was the first day of school.
The students kept chatting, some may have been old friends, others were trying to network in the class. Derek was getting anxious and kept checking his print out to make sure he was in the right place and at the right time. He was. One of the kids - Boyd, Derek had heard- started saying something about a 15 minute rule.
“Yeah, my sister said that if we wait for 15 after class is supposed to start and the professor doesn’t show up we can leave,” Boyd repeated himself in a somewhat mocking tone. The curly haired one didn’t seem to understand.
“That was only in high school. Professors always walk in late. Right?” the curly haired kid asked.
“He’ll be here,” Erica deadpans, almost like she knows something he doesn’t.
“Well in five minutes we can walk out of here and go get a cup of-” he was interrupted by a book flying at the wall that was projected on.
The kid with the baseball cap jumped up and vaulted over the desk that was for the professor. Derek was appalled a little at this kid’s actions and disrespect for the university. He pulls off his cap and reveals a mess of hair that somehow sticks up despite it being smashed by a hat. He could not have been older than 22.
“I guess we can start class now. We’re gonna start by talking about my favorite subject: me.” Derek opened his mouth and gaped a little at the astonishing turn of events. “I’m Professor Stilinski and I’ll be your professor for U.S. History up until 1800. Check your schedules, if my name isn’t on it, or that class title isn’t on it, get out of my class room and talk to the registrar, take her some KitKats, she’ll help you faster. I’m 29,” Derek couldn’t help but think that this kid, his professor, was two years younger than him, “I got my bachelors in education when I was 20, my Masters in Political Science two years later, and my PhD in U.S. History three years after that. This is my fourth semester teaching this particular class but I have been teaching at this university for about five years now.”
He walked to the seat he was sitting in and picked up his backpack. He ruffled through it and pulled out a big manila folder. “This is your syllabus,” he waves his hand as if to ask for someone to come down to the front, Erica stands up and from the other two section one person stands up as well. “These lovely people are you TAs. Scott has the section,” he points to the section a dark, curly haired boy with a tattoo on his arm came out of, “Allison,” he points to the one the redhead came out of. “And the Catwomen to my Batman, Erica,” Erica turns her blonde hair to the section she was just sitting in, “Those in her section, beware. She grades harder than I do.” Professor Stilinski passes out a stack of papers to each of his TAs and they go around passing them to all of the students in their section.
“They’ll pass those out while I get ready for our first lecture. It won’t be too long and it’s just a lecture of that packet they're giving you.” The TAs passed out the packets of paper and when Erica got to him he tried to apologize but she just shoved the papers into his face and moved on.
The lecture was exactly what Professor Stilinski said it was. He just went over the syllabus and commented on a few of the assignments including the one that was due in four weeks. He talked about his TAs office hours and that he strongly encouraged everyone to meet them and get to know their grading style because they would be grading the work done in class.
“My office hours are pretty much all the times I don’t have class. I have my email hooked up to my phone and if you request a meeting with appropriate notice, I am willing to meet you anytime and at a place of my choice.” At this point, Derek was fed up with this class. This guy seemed cocky and like a real asshole. Derek felt like this was going to be a long semester if any of his other professors were like this guy.
The semester rolls on. The grass on the lawns are dying and the trees are all almost bare, but Derek still finds himself walking the sidewalks to his class at the UGLC. The lectures weren’t bad. In fact, he quite enjoyed them. It’s just the professor he couldn’t stand. The little shit.
Derek was not adjusting to college life as easily as he thought. It was harder than getting his GED. He was taking 15 hours this semester and he didn’t realize how much studying he was going to have to do. He’s pretty sure his age is contributing to his delayed understanding but still, he was doing nearly 40 hours of studying a week.
Derek finds himself in the library quite often. Sitting among the 4th floor stacks with his books open on the floor and a notebook that is filling up quickly. He sees Erica a few times in the library. He finds out Boyd is her boyfriend who goes and sits in lecture waiting for her to be done. Isaac, the kid with the curly hair, is their roommate who somehow missed this class his freshman year. They invite him for drinks a few times but Derek always declines. Excusing himself with homework to blame for his dull Friday nights. Erica doesn’t seem as mean as she did on the first day of class, she looked over Derek’s paper before it was due. She still gave him a B, but she said without her help he would have gotten a D.
He was getting nervous with the midterm coming up. He had four other classes to study for and he knew he wasn’t studying as much as he should but dammit Netflix is coming out with some really addicting shows and he needed to find out what all the fuss with The Walking Dead was about.
He was sitting in his spot at the library at 3 am when heard the elevator ding followed by the doors opening. Professor Stilinski stepped out of the elevator and turned towards his stack.
Stilinski looked at him curiously and padded over with his laptop sitting crossbody over his shoulder and backpack in his hand.
“Hey, aren’t you one of my students?” he asked. He points down at Derek and his glasses slide down on his nose.
“Yes Professor Stilinski, Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays at 8am. I sit in-”
“Erica’s sections.” He nods as he remembers and smiles a little, “I see you every class period. Are you Derek Hale?”
“Umm… yes,” Derek answers.
“You wrote that great essay on how the American Revolution inspired France to rebel as well. That was a great paper, what did she give you?”
“She gave me a B,” Stilinski read his paper?
He thought for a moment before saying, “I’ll have to change that,” he nodded down to the small pile of books on the floor. “What are you studying?”
Derek looked at the books he had open, “I’m studying for your midterm.”
“Do you have any questions? I’m going to be here for a while, I’d be happy to help.”
“I don’t have any questions. Not yet, anyway.” Derek almost rolled his eyes, but instead he looked back at the books on the ground.
“Okay, I’ll leave you to it then,” he starts to back away. “Actually, I have a question for you.” Derek looked up. “You’re not 18 are you? I mean, you’re older than most of the students I get on a regular basis. Not that there is anything wrong with being a mature student or anything. I was just wondering what made you want to come back to school.”
“I need a job. The only way to get one of those is to have a degree.” Derek puts very little into his words as he looks at the sheets and sheets of notes he’s taken.
He doesn't see how Stilinski reacts but he says a quick “okay, I’ll be in there if you have any questions,” before he walks away. Derek didn’t understand why he was trying to help him so much. As Derek saw it, Professors didn’t care whether you passed or failed. Stilinski, though seemed to really want to help him. Maybe he just wanted to flaunt his fancy degrees.
The next class time, Stilinski walks in and starts talking in great detail about the migration to North America. The same chapter Derek was reading at the library. Derek was starting to understand the material a little bit better about his midterm.
Their meetings in the library grow more frequent after that. Derek feels odd talking to his professor about what is going to be on the test and quizzes. It feels like cheating. He knows that there are kids who probably need his help more. Then again, they are in the library at 3am, how many students were running to meet Stilinski at 3am?
It’s not long before they start talking about things other than academia. Stilinski tells Derek about his father who is the Sheriff of Beacon Hills, he tells how Scott, Allison, and Erica are his best friends and that his roommate, Lydia, is working on her second PhD for Applied Physics. Overall, Derek is impressed with all the things he has accomplished.
“So what about you?” He asks one night over a pizza they shared.
“What about me?”
“You’re at least my age, why are you just starting school now?”
“I told you, I need a job.” Derek put his pizza down not wanting to discuss this.
“But, if my memory serves correct, you don’t need a job. You have all that insur-” Stilinski stopped and squeezed his eyes shut. Derek stands up and starts packing up his backpack.“Derek, I’m sorry.”
“I’m 31,” Derek answers the half asked question, slings the bag over his shoulder and pushes himself off of the floor with a stiff groan. “I’ll see you in class Stilinski.”
In class, Stilinski decided that today they were going to have a class discussion. Everyone who participated would get extra credit. Derek had a B and he could use the extra credit so he prepared himself with a quick overview of the last chapter.
“For todays discussion, you are going to stand up announce your name so your TA will grant you extra credit, and then you will proceed with your argument. You will be arguing with me. Talking is not allowed when someone is talking. Ready?” He looked at the half empty auditorium. “Why didn’t the south want to give up slavery?” was all Stilinski said. A few hand raise but Derek stands up.
“Slavery was the economic backbone of the south. Not to mention a form of social status and the huge difference between the number of slaves compared to slave owners.”
“Economic backbone how?” Stilinski asked.
“The south was a huge contributor to the production of goods like cotton and tobacco. Without the convenience of free labor from their slaves, costs of producing cotton and tobacco would have be high and therefore not worth the expense. If the slaves had been paid the cost of cotton would have been high and no one would have bought it. The cheap labor only made the owners of the plantations richer because they didn’t have to pay their workers.”
“Very good Mr. Hale, but what about the social aspect? Surely they understood that it was not okay to own someone else.” Stilinski, scratched the poor excuse of a beard on his face.
“Owning more slaves meant that you had more money. More money meant that you had a higher standard of living and that you were more socially aware of who you were around.”
“But did they or did they not understand that owning another person was not right?” Derek could tell Stilinski wanted to ruffle some feathers with these redundant questions.
“No. It was normal for them to have slaves. It was something that was passed down from their ancestors.”Derek retorted.
“So the increasing pressure from the north didn’t make them realize what they were doing was wrong? The north was more progressive in the area of slavery and with President Lincoln on their side shouldn’t the anti-slavery propaganda have made them think that maybe they were doing something morally wrong?” Stilinski proposed.
“At the point that President Lincoln was accomplishing what he wanted, but before that they didn’t know that what they were doing was morally wrong. Even with all of the anti-slavery propaganda that was showing up in the south there was also pro-slavery propaganda going north. Even though the north was more progressive the north still did have people who believed in slavery. Just as in there were people living in the south who believed slavery should be abolished.”
“So even with all of these people, both in the community and out, saying that owning another person is wrong, they still thought it was normal?” Stilinski started walking to the area that Derek was. Derek sighed thinking of a retort.
“You have a dog. If someone told you that owning an animal and keeping it for your own entertainment was morally wrong would you believe them?”
“Pets are different,” Stilinski tried to defend himself.
“In a basic aspect no, they’re not.” Derek interrupted. “They’re living animals you own and control. If they’re trained animals you’re giving commands to them like someone would a slave. The major difference between pets and slaves is that you take care of your pets better than you would a slave.” Derek was getting frustrated. Some oohs came from the surrounding students.
“But a pet has no economical benefit, slaves did.” Derek could see Stilinski was enjoying this. It must be the reason he has a Political Science degree.
“It shouldn’t matter, if someone told you that owning a pet was wrong but you grew up owning pets, you wouldn’t understand and therefore think you have done nothing wrong.” Derek was almost yelling.
“So, you think that if someone came to me and told me owning my dog was morally wrong I would have to believe them?” He was the picture of cool, calm, and collective.
“What? No, I-” Derek couldn’t think of anything to say. The whole class was staring at him,he had forgotten they were there, and he felt like he was under a microscope. He was so flustered. If he wasn’t already standing up he would have stood up now.
“Nothing to add Mr. Hale?” Stilinski got this conniving smile on his face and that pissed Derek off. He picked up his bag and walked up the slight ramp to the exit. “I guess that is a no then. Next question, are there any similarities between Slavery and the work force today?”
Derek bursts through the door and makes his way up the stairs and outside. It wasn’t until then did he notice a tightness and discomfort in his jeans. Damnnit, he thought.
That debate was the first of many. Every friday turned into debate day, and they talked, well fought, about things like whether George Washington was the best candidate and how the world would be a different place if the south had won instead of the north. All the students groaned when Stilinski and him would get into it while in class. Each time it ended with Derek leaving the auditorium frustrated and very turned on.
Stilinski still showed up to their 3am study sessions in the library, sometimes he brought coffee, sometimes Derek brought donuts. Derek hated himself for thinking his professor was cute. The adorable constellations of moles that were covered by the pathetic beard were visible now that he shaved. Stilinski didn’t seem at all interested, gushed about this girl like no ones business. Talked about how she was a bed hog and how she had the most beautiful brown hair. Stilinski told him all about how she loved to sit out in the sun. Stilinski obviously loved this girl. Lydia didn’t mind her though, Derek thought it was weird that Lydia would live with a couple that has been together for four years.
It’s not like Derek was disappointed about Stilinski being in a committed relationship with someone whom he seemed very loving of. After all he was a 31 year old college freshman. Stilinski probably thought he was pathetic and was only helping him out of pity.
But that didn’t stop all of the inappropriate feelings he had for the man. Stilinski’s mouth was something he thought about a lot when he was at home. Even sometimes after Stilinski left the library for the night. After their heated debates, Derek would lock himself in the restroom willing his boner to go away but it wouldn’t until it was taken care of properly. He hated how he was growing an affection to his professor. He couldn’t do anything about his feelings, it was university policy, but that wouldn’t stop him from masterbating to the thought of Stilinski bent over his desk.
Derek hated his life. This needed to stop.
“So finals week is next week,” Stilinski says as he sits next to Derek in the stacks.
“Yup.”
“Do you need me to go over anything?” Stilinski offered looking at the chemistry book sitting on his lap. “I minored in Chemistry during undergrad, I could help if you-”
“Do you do this with all of your students?” Derek couldn’t hold in his question anymore.
“Umm, bring them half off Sonic at 3am? No. Help them out? As much as they’ll let me. I’ve only had 14 people come to office hours this entire semester. Besides you, no one asks for help. Not from me anyways. Erica, Allison, and Scott probably work harder than I do.” He huffed out a laugh. “Why?”
“I don’t know, it just seems weird that you took a special interest in me. We met here on a random night and you’ve been here helping me ever since,” Derek turned and looked at Stilinski. They both had their glasses on today, Derek just didn’t feel like dealing with his contacts and as far as he knew Stilinski didn’t wear them.
“I think you have potential. And I bet it’s hard being a mature student. Being around kids who are barely out of diapers can be…. obnoxious. I want to help,” Stilinski sounded sincere.
“I don’t need your help.” Derek says.
“You don’t have to be an ass dude,” Stilinski sat up from leaning back on the stacks.
“Well, ‘dude’ I wouldn’t be an ass if you weren’t pitying me for my lack of advanced degrees. I may not be as smart as you but I’m trying to make a better life for myself.” Derek didn’t know where this was coming from. Maybe he was afraid his feelings for the professor weren’t reciprocated, and at the end of the semester Stilinski wouldn’t want anything to do with him. He didn’t know. He started shoving things into his bag, “I have to go.” Without another word Derek walked out of the library.
He didn’t go back to the library after that and started studying at his apartment. He didn’t want to run into Stilinski on campus. He needed his space.
Stilinski didn’t even show up for his final. It’s just Erica, Scott,and Allison accompanied by Boyd standing up at the front with a pile of tests ready to hand them out. Derek didn’t have a problem with the final. Everything on it seemed to be tailored to what Stiles had been telling him before their last time in the library.
His next final was in a couple hours, it wasn’t really worth driving all the way home just to turn around and drive all the way back. He took up solace in the library. Hopeful that Stilinski would be busy doing whatever it was that made him miss his own final. The library was crawling with undergrads studying. There was no tables free and there was no space at all around the computers. Every electrical outlet in the whole building must have had a laptop plugged into it.
No one, however, was in the stacks. If there was one thing Derek liked about being a mature student is that he didn’t depend on a computer to do any sort of studying.
Derek was immersed in the study guide that his Pre Calculus TA gave him along with the book on his lap. To busy to notice the body that slid down the shelves next to him.
“It wasn’t too bad was it?” the voice startled Derek and he almost yelled before composing himself.
“What?” Derek looked up at Stilinski and noticed he wasn’t wearing glasses. He had a nice shirt on, nicer than anything he wore to class.
“The final exam. It wasn’t too bad? I don’t like writing exams, I always think I make them too hard.” Stilinski brings his hand up to his hair.
“It was fine. I knew all the answers but that’s because I studied. Where were you?” Derek looks to his professor and raised his eyebrows.
“Good, good.I was at a meeting regarding my position for next semester. I want to conduct some research but I’ll need to teach less classes.”
“Oh. That’s cool.”
The two fell into silence as Derek tried to get back to his studying. He couldn’t but he was too distracted with Stilinski sitting right there. Stilinski breaks the silence first. “So, ah Derek. Now that the semester is technically over do you maybe wanna grab a drink sometime?”
Derek didn’t expect that at all. “Don’t you have a girlfriend Stilinski?” Derek asked without even trying to filter it.
“What? No! Where did you get that idea?” Stilinski furrowed his eyebrows.
“The girl with the brown hair, she hogs the bed, and she’s been living with you for like four years? You know, your girlfriend?”Derek was confused, so was Stilinski judging by the look on his face.
“My girl- No! That’s my dog Hannah. I don’t have a girlfriend. I mean, I am bisexual and I have dated women, but not since undergrad. In fact, I haven’t dated anyone since undergrad.” Stilinski clarified and Derek couldn’t feel more stupid. To his defense, Stilinski never mentioned she was a dog.
“You never said she was your dog,” Derek felt like a grade A idiot.
“I think I did. Sometime when I said, ‘she’s only four years old but I feel like I couldn’t live without-’ oh I can see how you might have been confused.” Stilinski realized misleading his words were. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean for it to sound that way,” Stilinski gave himself a face palm.
“It’s okay.” They settle back into that awkward silence. Derek tries to go back to studying.
“So about that drink?” Stilinski started to ask again.
“I would really like too, but I feel like, you’re so smart and I’m just now starting my education that you’d feel the need to help me. Like how you’ve been pitying me all semester. You probably wouldn’t have looked my way twice if I was 18.” Derek continues to pretend he’s studying.
“Wait what? You think I’m pitying you? Are you serious?” Stilinski sounded astonished by the newest development.
“Yeah you were. I get it, like this poor pathetic dude with nothing to live for is coming to school so that he doesn’t have to sit at home all day. You don’t have to. Go out with me that is.”
“Derek, I seriously don’t know what the hell you’re talking about right now. I helped you because I think what you’re doing is admirable. Not many people will start to school at your age, and almost all of them will quit without the proper guidance. Believe me, the cram that stuff down our throats like crazy, ‘help out the mature students’ it's in every email I get. Even if they didn’t tell me to, I still would have done my best to help you out. I think it’s awesome that you are here and doing this for yourself. College life is a hard adjustment whether you're 18 or 28, I’m not pitying you Derek.”
“Okay so you’re not pitying me, but I’m still way dumber than you. You don’t want to date a 31 year old high school dropout with a GED.” Derek flipped the page of his Pre Cal packet.
“You’re not dumb Derek. Our debates were some of the best I’ve had in all my time teaching. And even if you’re starting late, you’re starting. You had more than ten years between high school and now, you probably know way more about the world than I do. I’ve spent my entire life in Beacon Hills. I spent one semester at Berkeley and I hated it, came back as soon as I could and never looked back. From what I remember you lived in New York! That’s something I will never be able to say I have done.”
Derek couldn’t believe what Stilinski was saying to him. “Do you really wanna have a drink with me? Even though I’m not as smart as you and I’m a college freshman?”
“Yes, of course. I really like you and our 3am study sessions are what I live for now. I also may want to see the look on my dad’s face when I tell him I’m dating a student of mine,” the conniving smile is back on his face and Derek is almost scared. “And stop calling me Stilinski, it’s Stiles,” Stiles was smiling . Derek smiled back he started to lean in. Stiles followed. Stiles closed his eyes and Derek was almost there. He prepared himself for something that has been on his mind for the past 12 weeks. Stiles reached his hand up to Derek’s cheek and stared feeling the hair on his chin.
His phone went off. Realizing the noise was disturbing the quiet of the library he pulled his phone out of his pocket and noticed it was an alarm going off for his next final. He jumped up and nearly hit Stiles in the face.
“Oh my god, my final. Look I’d love to hang out here all day with you but I have a final in ten minutes.” He pulled a piece of paper out of his binder and scribbled his number on it with a small heart. “Here's my number. Call me in like three hours and we can set up that drink.”
He ran out of the library with his arms full of books and the promise of a date.