Work Text:
Stiles has always been a weird kid, but he’s the kind of class-clown, nice-guy weird that could be popular if he wanted to. If he ever hung out with anyone other than Scott, at least. So when Stiles comes up to him at his locker at the beginning of sophomore year and asks if they can talk somewhere, Danny’s response is, “Sure. Do you want to come to my place?” Stiles clearly wants to talk in private for some reason, and Danny’s parents won’t care. Besides, Stiles seems weirdly serious for him.
“Oh. Um, I guess, if you’re sure, then yeah, that’ll work,” Stiles says, looking at Danny like he’s surprised he agreed. “Do you mean, like, now, or do you want to set a time, or…?”
“I meant now, but if you’re busy, you can come over some other time instead.”
“Now works.”
Stiles follows Danny on the walk to his house. Sometimes one of Danny’s parents will pick him up, but they both have work this afternoon, and it’s a nice enough day to walk. Stiles is weirdly quiet, fidgeting with the straps on his backpack. When Danny unlocks the door to the house, Stiles hesitates on the porch until Danny actually says, “Come in. Do you want anything to drink? I’ll grab you a Coke.”
“Yeah, sure.” Stiles trails behind Danny to the kitchen, looking around. Danny lives in one of the more expensive parts of town and is aware that his family is pretty well-off, so he doesn’t comment on Stiles staring.
Danny grabs two cans of Coke from the fridge and sets them on the peninsula. He hops up on one of the bar stools and gestures for Stiles to take the one next to him. He waits until the other boy opens his Coke and takes a sip before he says, “So, what’s up?”
“I just, um. How did you know you’re gay?” Stiles asks, not looking at him.
“I mean, liking boys was a pretty big hint,” Danny snarks on instinct. He’s the only out queer kid as BHHS, so it’s unfortunately not uncommon for him to get weird, personal, or inappropriate questions, and he always responds by snarking or joking. When he glances at Stiles, though, he can tell that this isn’t one of those times. Stiles isn’t just being an insensitive idiot, though he can be — Danny has seen it. He decides to give a more genuine answer. “I don’t know, man. I just… when the other boys started getting crushes on girls and staring at pictures of girls in bikinis, I just… didn’t care. And I thought something was wrong with me at first, until Jackson… never mind. Eventually, I figured out I wasn’t interested in the pictures of girls in bikinis, but I was interested in pictures of shirtless guys. I started noticing myself watching guys, and realized that my interest in the Jonas brothers wasn’t so much about the music.”
There’s a pause, then, “Oh, okay.”
Danny expects Stiles to say something more, but he doesn’t. After a moment, Danny says, as gently as he can, “Why do you ask, Stiles?”
“I just… I…” he cuts himself off and sighs. “Jonas brothers, huh?”
“I was twelve,” Danny points out, ignoring the fact that he’s only sixteen now.
“Have you seen the ‘Grenade’ music video?” Stiles asks, and on the surface, it looks like a change of topic, but considering what he brought up right before…
“Bruno Mars?” he says, raising a teasing eyebrow at the other boy. “Is that your type?”
“No! Well, I… I don't think so,” Stiles says, spluttering. “I just… the suit, and I know it’s not real, but the strength it would take to actually drag a piano…” Stiles’ face is red and his eyes are on his hands.
“So you like them strong, then?” Danny teases, before pushing aside his amusement. “Are you… do you think you might be gay?”
“I… don’t know? What you said, about noticing yourself watching guys, I’ve kinda been… noticing that too, since I realized about the video. But… with Lydia…” he trails off again.
“So maybe bi, then?” Danny says, but Stiles just gives him a blank look. “Bisexual. It means someone who likes both boys and girls.”
“Right. I saw that definition online. But I don’t… it doesn’t seem right. I was trying to say, I… I don’t think about Lydia like that? I mean, Scott always talked about crushes like, admiring someone a lot, and thinking they’re amazing, and wanting to spend time with them, and I feel all those things about Lydia, but I don’t, like… I don’t know.”
“Crushes usually are all of those things, but other things too. Like, when you think about spending time with Lydia, do you think about hanging out, or about stuff like kissing, or wanting to touch her?” Danny asks, and has his answer in the way Stiles scrunches his nose at the last two suggestions.
Stiles shakes his head. “I think about, like, studying together. She’s so smart, even though no one seems to notice, and like, imagine the kind of research we could do if we worked together. And I think she’s awesome and would also like to hang out, but I never think about her… like that.”
Danny nods slowly. “Usually, crushes come with those kinds of things. Like, what do you feel when you think about that Bruno Mars video?”
“Hot,” Stiles says immediately. “And, um, I kinda wanna see what kind of muscles he’s hiding under that suit.”
Danny chuckles, knowing the feeling. “And is there anyone who makes you feel like that in real life. Especially if you also feel those other things about them, wanting to spend time with them and admiring them?”
Danny watches Stiles as he thinks. He gets this look in his eyes and bites his lip, and Danny is sure he’s thinking of someone, but he says, “No.” He won’t meet Danny’s eyes, and it’s an obvious lie, but Danny doesn’t call him on it.
“Alright. Well, you don’t have a crush on anyone to be gay. And even if you decide you are, you don’t have to tell anyone, and it’s okay if you realize later that you were wrong. I know everyone knows about me, but I guarentee I’m not the only queer kid in the school, even though I’m usually seen as the, like, token gay kid,” Danny says. “And you can always talk to me about it if you want to. If you want help figuring out how to come out if you decide to, or if you need someone you can talk to if you do develop a crush, or even if you just want to hang out to feel less alone about it.”
“Okay. Thanks, Danny. And thanks for talking me through it.”
“Any time. Now, since you’re here anyway, you wanna watch a movie? We have Netflix, and I can hook my computer up to the TV in the family room. I think the newest Sherlock Holmes movie is on there, and I don’t know about you, but I want to watch Robert Downey Jr. on screen for two hours,” Danny says.
Stiles smiles. “Yeah, sure. I guess that’s your type, then? Also, I hope you know how weird it is that you called it a ‘family room.’”
“He’s just objectively hot. And what else am I supposed to call it?”
“Um, a living room?”
“But it’s not the living room, we have one of those too.”
“You are ridiculously rich,” Stiles says, sighing.
“Sorry if it’s weird,” Danny says. While he’s aware that his family is well-off, Jackson is the only one he usually has over, and his family is just as well-off.
“Nah. I mean, it is, but you don’t need to apologize,” Stiles says. “Let’s just go watch the movie.”
After that day, Stiles and Danny start hanging out. Not a lot, but considering that Stiles usually never hung out with anyone but Scott, it was a noticeable change. Jackson asks about it, of course, but Danny just brushes him off by pointing out that he’s always thought Stiles was funny or cool. Of course, that only lasts until one Saturday, when Stiles and Danny are watching Iron Man (because they like watching Robert Downey Jr., and Stiles is also a nerd), Jackson lets himself in. He does that a lot, but usually he texts Danny that he’s coming over first. Danny pauses the movie as Jackson raises an eyebrow at their position next to each other on the couch. “Okay, seriously,” he says.
Stiles stands up before he can continue. “Jackson. I didn’t know you were coming over. I’ll just… um, I’ll just head home. Thanks for having me, Danny.”
Stiles starts moving toward the front of the house, but he freezes in place when Jackson says, “Are you two dating or something?”
Stiles splutters and blinks at him, seemingly at a loss for words. It’s Danny who says, “No, of course not.”
“What, do you not find me attractive?” Stiles asks, turning to look at Danny.
Danny rolls his eyes. “That’s not what I meant. I meant Jackson would know if I was dating someone. Besides, it’s not like you’d be interested in dating me anyway, so why are you so offended?”
“Nah, don’t think you’re my type. But how quickly you dismissed it was a little insulting.”
“I thought your type was well-dressed and strong. I’m both of those things, aren’t I?” Danny teases, smirking. Stiles flushes and doesn’t say anything.
Jackson looks back and forth between them. “Then I’m going to need some kind of explanation, because all of a sudden he’s hanging out with you when he’s only ever hung out with McCall before.”
“I’ve told you, Stiles is cool. I’m allowed to have other friends,” Danny says, even though he understands Jackson’s annoyance. They usually tell each other everything, but how he became friends with Stiles is very much not his secret to tell.
It’s Stiles’ turn to look back and forth between Danny and Jackson, eyes lingering on the visible frustration on Jackson’s face. “It-It’s okay, Danny,” Stiles says before turning to speak to Jackson. Danny wants to tell him that he doesn’t owe Jackson an explanation, but he doesn’t get the chance before Stiles is talking again. “I’m gay. And since Danny is the only kid who’s out at school, he’s the one I went to when I was having my sexuality crisis. And now… It’s just nice to have someone I can talk to, or even just to spend time around another gay guy. I don’t have to hide my appreciation of actors when I’m here, because Danny’s appreciating them too.”
Danny stares at Stiles, proud of him for being able to say that out loud, much less to someone he isn’t even friends with. The frustration melts right off Jackson’s face as his eyes widen in understanding. Danny ignores him to focus on Stiles. “Is that the first time you admitted it out loud?”
Stiles turns to look at him, blinking slowly. “Yeah. Yeah, I guess it was. It felt good. I’m gay, ” he repeats, lips turning up at the corners.
“Sorry,” Jackson says abruptly, and they both turn back to him. Danny is surprised; Jackson doesn’t say “sorry” very often. “I didn’t mean to make you feel like you had to come out to me. I won’t tell anyone until you’re ready to tell them yourself. And I… understand the feeling. Danny’s the only person I’ll talk boys with, too. I’m bi.”
“Oh,” Stiles says. He doesn’t say anything else, just staring at Jackson without moving.
“Maybe I can join you for the rest of your movie, and we can all appreciate the hot guys together?”
Stiles shakes his head briefly like he’s trying to clear it. “Sure, why not? We’re watching Iron Man.”
“Robert Downey Jr.,” Jackson says with a knowing look at Danny. “Sounds good.”
Danny and Jackson take Stiles to the Jungle for the first time, the weekend after his sixteenth birthday. Jackson and Lydia are off again, and neither Danny nor Stiles has a boyfriend, so they are all free to dance with whoever they like, and maybe even make out with a stranger in the back if they so choose.
“Maybe tonight you can find someone to take your mind off that crush of yours,” he murmurs in the other boy’s ear before they enter the club. Stiles flushes red and cuts his eyes to Jackson, but the other boy clearly didn’t hear him. It goes pretty well at first. Jackson and Danny stick close to Stiles since it’s his first time at the club and he’s still a bit hesitant about his sexuality. He hasn’t even admitted to Danny who he has a crush on yet, though he’s admitted that there is a guy he likes.
They dance as a group for a little bit, then find a table to sit at with sodas. A cute guy comes up and asks Danny to dance, and Stiles and Jackson both encourage him to go. He keeps an eye on them from the dance floor, though. When they finish their drinks, Jackson holds his hand out to Stiles, who flushes so deeply that Danny can see the red tint to his cheeks under the club lighting from across the dance floor. Interesting. Trusting Stiles to be safe in Jackson’s care, Danny focuses on his own dance partner.
The next time he sees Stiles, Jackson is nowhere to be seen. Danny pauses his dance. “I just need to check on my friend. I’ll be right back?” he says to his partner, and the guy nods. Danny walks up to Stiles. “Hey, how are you doing? Where’s Jackson?”
“I’m good, and he’s dancing with someone. I don’t need you guys to baby me,” Stiles says. “Go back to your cute guy. He’s still watching you.”
“Alright, but if you need me, or if you want to leave, you can interrupt me no matter what, okay?”
Stiles doesn’t even bother answering, shoving Danny back toward his dance partner.
Stiles seems perfectly happy being swarmed by drag queens, Jackson thinks as he watches him from across the room. Some guy asked to cut in when he and Stiles were dancing, but he’s long gone by now, so Jackson is standing on the edge of the dance floor, watching. He never would have thought he’d get along with the spastic, clumsy Stilinski kid before he made friends with Danny, but now he’s actually pretty fond of Stiles. Protective, too, though he knows he shouldn’t be. He watches Stiles talk to the queens for a while before he heads over.
“Hey, wanna dance?” he asks, looking at Stiles. The other boy’s face goes red again, like it did last time he asked.
“Oh, um, you don’t have to. Like I told Danny, I don’t need you guys to babysit me. I’m sure there’s plenty of other guys who’d love to dance with you,” Stiles says. He never seems to understand his own worth.
“I’m not trying to babysit you, and I’m not asking them. I’d like to dance with you , if you want to,” Jackson says. Stiles is the worst fucking person he could have a crush on, he swears. Jackson doesn’t want to make things awkward when the three of them hang out, or to make things awkward between Stiles and Danny. Stiles needs the support of having queer friends, especially since he isn’t out to his dad or McCall yet.
The queens are all either giving Jackson assessing looks or sending Stiles encouraging smiles. “Okay then. Sure, I’ll dance with you.”
The kanima attacks and Danny gets hurt, because of course, the only one of them to not know about the supernatural would be the one to get caught in the crossfire. Luckily, he’s going to be fine, and they know that kanima venom doesn’t have any long-term effects even when used on humans. Jackson waits in Roscoe the Jeep (because Stiles is exactly the kind of nerd that names his piece-of-shit car, which Jackson should not find endearing) while Stiles confronts his dad. Thanks to his enhanced hearing, Jackson can hear everything that they’re saying, though he almost wishes he couldn’t. He definitely wishes Stiles didn’t have to hear it.
The Sheriff wants to know why Stiles is at another crime scene, which honestly, fair enough. Stiles gets into a ridiculous amount of trouble, especially now that they’re involved with the supernatural. But then the Sheriff looks over his shoulder at the Jungle and says, “Not exactly your type of club.”
Jackson winces. Stiles shouldn’t feel like he has to come out to anyone before he’s ready, not even his dad. Stiles hesitates, looks back at the club, then toward his dad. He doesn’t meet the Sheriff’s eyes as he says, “Uuh. Well, Dad, there’s a conversation we need...”
He doesn’t even get to finish the sentence before the Sheriff says, “You’re not gay.” Jackson might want to punch the man in the face. He is aware that it would be a bad idea.
Stiles stops, then says indignantly, “Wh- I could be!” Jackson can’t tell how he’s feeling because he’s clearly covering it up and deflecting. He does that a lot.
“Not dressed like that,” is the Sheriff’s reply, and now Jackson really wants to punch him. As if stereotypes about queer people aren’t harmful enough when they aren’t coming from a family member or being used to dismiss your identity. Sure, Jackson and Danny both take more time on their appearance than a lot of guys do, but not because they’re queer.
Stiles flounders for a moment, looking down at himself. Sure, his clothes aren’t exactly what Jackson would have suggested for clubbing, but there’s no reason for his dad to make him feel insecure about it. “What’s-” he starts to say, but the Sheriff shakes his head and starts to move away. Stiles grabs him, though Jackson isn’t exactly sure why. This whole interaction is uncomfortable, and he would want it to be over as soon as possible.
“This is the second crime scene that you just happen to have shown up on, and at this point, I’ve been fed so many lies I’m not sure I know the kid standing in front of me. Now what the hell is going on?” The Sheriff seems like he’s getting angry, and all Jackson can think is that that’s not fair. If he feels like he doesn’t know Stiles, maybe he should make an effort to spend more time at home. Stiles told Danny and Jackson one night, when they all got dinner together and Danny suggested that Stiles should let his Dad know that he wasn’t going to be eating at home, that the two of them hadn’t eaten dinner together since the beginning of Freshman year. And sure, the Sheriff has an important job that keeps him busy, but even Jackson has dinner with his parents more often than that. He hardly has the right to demand the truth out of Stiles when he doesn’t even know where Stiles is most days, or even nights.
“Uuh, the truth, alright,” Stiles says, looking away. He looks like he’s trying to think of a lie that his dad will believe, since he told the truth the first time and got dismissed. “Well, the truth is that I was here with Danny and Jackson. Danny doesn’t exactly feel comfortable at straight clubs, so we came here. That… that’s it.” Surprisingly, for Jackson at least, it’s not even a lie.
The Sheriff looks toward the Jeep, where Jackson is waiting. Jackson doesn’t acknowledge him. “Right. And since when are you friends with Jackson Whittemore?”
Stiles shrugs. “A couple months. He’s Danny’s best friend, so we all ended up hanging out together.”
“Right. Yet they’ve never been over.”
“They have, actually. You weren’t there. And we mostly hang out at their places because the TV at Danny’s is like, twice the size of ours, and he has Netflix. And their houses are a lot nicer than ours and have food I don’t have to cook for myself, so…” Stiles trails off, glaring at his dad. “I’m just gonna go.”
The Sheriff frowns at Stiles' back as he walks toward the Jeep. When he’s seated in the driver's seat with the door closed, Jackson turns to him. “Hey, are you okay? That sucked.”
“Yeah, it’s whatever,” Stiles says. “I just… don’t want to think about it right now. Let’s just follow Danny to the hospital, yeah?”
“Yeah, alright. We need to tell him about the supernatural, though. Especially after he got hurt like this,” Jackson says.
“Yeah… Yeah, I agree. Think they’ll let me stay in the hospital waiting room all night?”
“No,” Jackson says immediately. “You’re spending the night at my place.”
“What? No, you don’t have to…”
“I’m offering,” Jackson says, cutting him off. “You clearly don’t want to go home tonight, and it’s Saturday, so it’s not like you need things for school in the morning. We’ll check on Danny, then head back to my place.”
Stiles looks over at him, hesitating before he says, “Yeah, okay. Thanks, man.”
After the kanima is taken down, Lydia suddenly starts acting like they’re back together. And sure, they’ve been on-again-off-again for over a year, but things are different now. Not just in terms of the supernatural, either. When Lydia takes his arm and pecks his cheek, Jackson looks across the hall to see Stiles watching them, a complicated expression on his face. Tight and resigned and self-depreciating at the same time. Seeing that look, the way it makes something tight in Jackson’s chest, he can’t just go along with Lydia this time. He gently removes his arm from her grip and turns to look at her. “I don’t want to get back together. We’re not good for each other, and I’ve moved on,” he says.
She frowns. “But we always get back together. We’re the most popular kids in the school, we’re supposed to be together.”
Jackson shakes his head. He doesn’t want to date who’s expected of him, even though that’s what he’s been doing. “Not this time.” He steps away from her. He doesn’t walk up to Stiles — that would be way too obvious and cliche — but he glances at him as he walks away.
Jackson, Danny, and Stiles eat lunch together that day, in front of the whole school. The shift makes people stare, but Jackson doesn’t care and Stiles doesn’t even seem to notice. Then, that afternoon, they watch a movie at Danny’s, which is normal enough for them. They ran out of Robert Downey Jr. movies, so Stiles roped them into watching Star Trek, because he’s a total nerd. He quotes some of the lines along with the movie, and it should be annoying, but it’s weirdly endearing. Something is definitely wrong with Jackson. Instead of worrying about that, he leans over and kisses Stiles on the cheek.
Stiles goes bright red and stiff. “Wh-What…?”
Danny looks over from Stiles’ other side and sighs. “You’re adorable,” Jackson says, honestly surprised that those words came out of his mouth. He isn’t supposed to be sappy.
“No,” Danny says, sounding tired. “You are not turning me into a third wheel. Be sappy in your own time.”
Stiles still seems frozen in shock. Jackson says, “Good idea. Stiles, will you let me take you on a date?”
Stiles turns to stare at him, wide-eyed. “I- really? You want to…?”
“Yes, I want to go out with you. I’d like you to be my boyfriend, if you agree.”
“I- yes. Yes, I’d like that,” Stiles says with a small, shy smile.
“Great, I’m happy for you. Now please don’t make it awkward. I will make you sit on opposite sides of the room if I have to,” Danny says, and they quickly oblige.
Jackson and Stiles have been dating for over a month by the time the Sheriff finds out. Jackson drops Stiles off at home after a date, and kisses him goodnight. Neither of them notice that the Sheriff is standing on the porch until afterward. “Hello, boys,” he calls out when they break apart, and they both whirl around to see him watching them. “Why don’t you come inside?”
“Shit,” Stiles mutters.
“Hey, it’s okay. Tell me what you want me to do,” Jackson says. It’s Stiles’ choice how he wants to handle this, because Jackson knows that his preferred method of cursing out the Sheriff isn’t a viable option.
Stiles hesitates another moment, then says, “I guess it’s about time my dad meets my boyfriend.”
Jackson holds Stiles’ hand as they walk up to the house. Before the Sheriff gets a chance to say anything, Stiles blurts out, “I wasn’t lying. That night at the Jungle, Danny and Jackson took me there because I’d already come out to them. And when you shut me down, that sucked. It hurt.”
The Sheriff looks between them and sighs. “I’m sorry, kiddo. I shouldn’t have dismissed you like that. It just seemed like too big of a coincidence that you were at another crime scene, and you’d never… expressed interest in other boys before.”
“Yes, I had. You just didn’t see it. This all started because I had a sexuality crisis over Bruno Mars.”
“Wait, seriously? Bruno Mars?” Jackson asks, looking at his boyfriend. He hasn’t heard that.
“Not important. The point is, Dad, that just because you never noticed doesn’t mean I haven’t had crushes on boys before. It just means you weren’t paying enough attention,” Stiles says.
There’s a long pause as the Sheriff frowns, looking between them. “You're right, I’m sorry,” he says. “So are you two…?”
“Dating?” Stiles fills in. “Yeah, we are. Have been for, what, six weeks now?”
“Almost seven,” Jackson says, smug.
“Right. Well, I should probably get to know my son’s boyfriend, then. Why don’t you come over for dinner next weekend, Jackson?”
Jackson glances at Stiles, who smiles at the idea, and says, “Yes, sir.”