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1. Teeth
It's a simple act that Isaac himself does every morning and evening. But to see Derek doing it is...kinda unreal. That's why he asks what was possibly the stupidest question he'd ever asked in his life.
"What are you doing?"
Derek turns, eyebrow raised. He spits out the toothpaste into the sink.
"Brushing my teeth?"
This is also the first time Isaac sees an emotion other than anger or something related to it on his Alpha's face.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
2. TV
Derek got an apartment because Isaac begged him to. Since then, the huge insurance he got when his family died has been spent on furnishing the place. A huge flatscreen was one such purchase, along with a lot of leather furniture. Isaac really thinks he has a fetish with the material at this point.
Anyway, Isaac has been the only one to use said TV--since he lives with him, he has rights--until one day after school, Derek is found watching it. The show looks weird; some floppy haired guy with a bow tie with two other guys riding...a dinosaur...on a space ship...
"What are you watching?" and since when do you watch TV in the first place?
Derek doesn't look away from the screen when he answers. "You obviously haven't lived if you don't know what this is."
This is enough to freak Isaac out, and he ends up staying away from him for the rest of the day.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
3. Wake Up Calls
Isaac wakes up one Saturday morning very briefly, intending to roll over and go right back to sleep, when a voice shrieks from across the hall,
"WHAT THE FUCK?!"
The beta springs up, thinking his Alpha is in trouble. But he opens the door to find...Peter cuddling up to a struggling Derek on the bed.
"Aw come on nephew," Peter complains, "I just wanted to do some family bonding. We haven't done it in a while."
There are so many things wrong with that that Isaac doesn't even want to start thinking about it. Instead, he lets his mind go blank with the fact that Derek Hale is having an honest to God freak out.
"GET OFF OF ME!"
"If you're still on about me being a psychopath, need I remind you which one of us made out with a minor?"
Stiles? Oh wait, that's right, Stiles is still painfully oblivious...he must mean Erica, then.
Derek finally manages to break free, springing like a cat from his bed. Isaac watches in wonder as the cat leap morphs into something like a human helicopter, then a summersault before a classic landing on all fours.
The only thing Isaac says is, "I didn't know you sleep."
Well, at least Peter's laughing.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
4. Homework
Isaac has a D in Chemistry and basically everything else but Gym. He's that close to getting benched in lacrosse, and Coach is actually taking time from yelling at Greenburg to remind him time and again of this. The thing is though, Isaac just can't seem to properly concentrate in his classes, let alone understand any of the material if he's not moving around in a way that doesn't involve sitting in a cramped desk.
So he groans over homework, scribbles in mindless answers, and hands it in for another zero every day. Then Derek steps in.
"What are you moaning about?" he asks from where he's once again watching what Isaac now knows is Doctor Who.
"Nothing," Isaac lies, and faces the consequences of that, because his Alpha pauses the show and walks over to him.
"Homework?"
"...maybe."
Derek rolls his eyes and leans over his shoulder to get a better look. "I thought you were in Algebra 2."
How the fuck could Derek know that, Isaac hasn't a clue.
"Yeah..."
"So why are you doing linear combinations and substitution?"
"I don't know, review or something. Wait," Isaac turns, "You know this stuff?"
Derek scowls. "I went to school too. Notice my amazing English."
Did he just make a joke?
"Could you give me the answers, then?" Isaac asks hopefully instead of trying to understand this unknown sense of humor.
"No. But I'll help you."
People might think that Derek Hale would make a horrible tutor, since his "people skills" are "rusty". However, this is not the case, because in no time at all Isaac not only has his math problems all figured out, he almost gives Mr. Higgins a heart attack. The next thing he knows, all of his teachers are suffering from the same symptoms as he's tutored every night in all of his classes without fail.
He might have been a near terrible Alpha, but at least Derek cares.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
5. Cooking
They usually have take out, but tonight Isaac comes out of the shower and hears the yet unused stove cooking, accompanied by light humming. There's a sweet scent in the air that draws Isaac into the kitchen as soon as he's dressed.
And there is Derek stirring sauce in a pot.
"What..." what the fuck is what he's about to say, but he rethinks it at the last second and says, "...is all this?"
Derek glances over with the same expression he used when he was first discovered brushing his teeth. "I don't want take out tonight, so I'm making pasta. What does it look like?"
Like something that is not supposed to happen on pain of the universe imploding. Isaac is smart enough not to tell him that, though. Instead he goes with, "Oh...it smells good."
He sees tension jolt up Derek's body. "...thank you."
It turns out to be the best sauce Isaac's ever tasted. Derek tells him that it was his mother's recipe.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
6. Page Turner
Derek, Isaac discovers, is like an encyclopedia. Whenever he has a practical question, his Alpha always has an answer. Originally, he thought that just came from reading the Dictionary, but he's soon proved wrong when he finds himself alone in the apartment and decides to snoop around Derek's room.
The closet doesn't have any clothes, but stacks and stacks of books. It's a small space, and all of the books are crammed in there, with a couple having to be put next to the doors because there just wasn't any room left. Upon reading the titles, Isaac is amazed at the diversity. There's cooking books, gardening books, other how-to books, sketchbooks that are filled with beautiful sketches, classic literature books, poetry books, philosphy books, psychology books, music books...the list goes on and on. Suddenly he knows why they don't all fit in the closet.
He sees Derek reading one of them one day. It's a beautiful leather bound copy of Victor Hugo's The Hunchback of Notre Dame. It's weird, seeing him so relaxed, but at the same time it makes Isaac smile.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
7. Burned Out
Living with Derek has given Isaac a gift that he doesn't think anyone else has in the world. At least, no one alive. He gets to see the human half of his Alpha, the side that never gets to come out anymore since what happened. The Hale fire was an event that, when it happened, Isaac didn't pay any attention to, since his own family had been destroyed by then with his mother's death.
Now he regrets his decision, because it's that very tragedy that made something die in Derek's heart, something important. Isaac thinks it was love, or just positive emotions in general. After all, Derek was a teenager himself when it happened, and Isaac knows better than others what death is like for someone so young, especially when that death happens to a family member.
In light of this, Isaac goes to visit their graves. They're lined up neatly, side by side. Each one has a fresh boquet of white flowers on them.
Dean Hale, Amelia Hale, Rory Hale, Samuel Hale, Rose Hale, John Hale, Arthur Hale, and Mary Margaret Hale. Next to them is a newer grave that reads Laura Hale.
Isaac can't pinpoint an exact reason why he starts crying, but that's how Derek finds him. His Alpha doesn't say anything; however, his hug is more than enough.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
+1. Home Video
Peter doesn't come around that often to their apartment, but when he does, Isaac is almost always entertained by the man's overwhelming sassiness. He's even more amused by the fact that Derek possesses this sass as well, and it tends to come out more around two people. One of them is Peter, the other Stiles.
Honestly, Derek and Stiles should be locked up in a dark closet at this point.
Anyway, so, Peter decides one Saturday night that he is going to come over with something extra special. Home videos.
Derek is silent while Isaac practically jumps for joy because blackmail seeing younger Derek is better than crappy reruns of 7th Heaven and contemplating what his life is. Peter is all too happy to plug in the old camera and not answering his nephew's question as to how he managed to get said items.
The upside to werewolves: their eyes may flare in pictures, but in videos they only show a subtle glow that's hardly noticeable if you don't know what to look for. Meaning, Isaac can see 5 year old Derek quite clearly. He bouncing up and down with an excited look, not quite sitting in a chair in what appears to be an expensively furnished dining room. This was the Hale house before the fire, then. It's a beautiful place.
A woman's voice starts talking behind the camera.
"Dean, honey, you have to get the cake."
Dean Hale, a tall man wtih Derek's dark hair and broad physique, chuckles at the woman fondly. "I got it, I got it."
"Hurry up, Dad!" 5 year old Derek whines. Isaac snickers.
14 people in all are gathered in the dining room a minute later, including Derek, who's beaming at the cake while his family sings happy birthday. They cheer when he blows out the candles. Next to him, Isaac can hear Derek's heart rate has sped up marginally.
The camera skips, and the cake is gone from the table.
"Ok, time for presents!" another woman, blonde and pretty, announces. The children squeal, and Derek waits impatiently while the others rush out of the dining room and come back with presents.
A girl with long brown hair slams her present down in front of the birthday boy, shouting, "He's my little brother, so he's gotta open my present first!"
So that's Laura Hale...she was an adorable child.
Derek rips open the shiny wrapping paper and cheers loudly at the toy car. He and Laura hug each other tightly. The same goes for the rest of the family; they all get big 1,000 watt smiles and hugs throughout the rest of the party. Isaac finds that he likes seeing that smile, even if it happened years ago.
Derek's mother gives her son her present. Before he even opens it, Derek smiles at her and says, "Thanks, Mama."
"Aw, you're welcome, sweetheart," Mrs. Hale cooes.
The Derek that's sitting next to Isaac suddenly gets up and goes to his room.
"Oh dear," Peter mutters.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
That night, Isaac dreams he's at the party that happened all those years ago. He's a child himself, and Derek gives him a hug too. He's awakened by choked sobs from across the hall.
Peeking in, he finds Derek sleeping on his bed. The sight no longer freaks him out, but the tears put him into action.
"Derek?" he murmurs, approaching the bed cautiously. He doesn't get an answer, so it must be a pretty vivid nightmare. And an especially horrible one. Inside, Isaac can feel his wolf whine, wanting to give comfort to his Alpha somehow. It comes to the conclusion of what people refer to as "puppy piles" or "pack cuddles". Neither of them are very cuddly people, but the longer Isaac watches Derek cry in his sleep, the more he's warming up to the idea.
Derek always sleeps in a fetal position, so Isaac has to move him a bit--carefully, so he doesn't wake him up--before he's pressed against a rapidly beating heart that gradually slows down when Derek wakes up.
Neither of them say anything. They fall asleep like that.