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Chapter Text

“Stilinski, you’re with Hale.”

One sentence to ruin Stiles’ already bad day, as if chemistry with Harris wasn’t enough. He was already grounded for the week; thanks to late night video games with Scott, and not only had Lydia ignored him yet again today, but Jackson had run him into the lockers again for no reason. Because seriously, if you were gonna date a popular, beautiful goddess like Lydia, people were going to look. That was no reason to take it out on Stiles, not to mention, his lack of lunch today. It had been either feed his beautiful jeep or feed himself and seeing as how the one took him to school and back, while the other option he could just as easily do at home, he'd spent his lunch money on gas.

At least he didn't have to ride his bike to school like Scott.

But instead, Stiles got stuck working on the project with Hale, the kid who rarely talked to people in class, sniffed everything like there was a rotting corpse in the room, and was practically attached to his older sister at the hip. Seriously, people like this and Scott kept Stiles from being popular. Total life-ruiners. Like Harris, who was failing him just because Stiles preferred to spend his time killing mythical creatures online and researching obscure topics (that one time in economics totally should have gotten him extra credit) than doing homework. Harris knew Stiles hadn't done his homework that second week, how was he supposed to know those particular chemicals exploded if mixed in the wrong order?

Stiles planned on moping around the house all weekend, not writing this stupid chemistry project with the creepiest kid in class. It's not even that Hale was that creepy, not in the traditional stalker sense. But the potential was there, as the kid watched everything going on around him with the barest hint of a smile. Add in a few shadows, maybe some muscles, and a creepy leer instead of the all-teeth smile he had now, and he'd be a grade-A creeper. Who was now standing in front of Stiles like he expected something.

“You any good at chemistry?” Stiles asked, wanting his terrible day to just be over already. If Hale was stupid enough for Stiles to push the entire project onto his shoulders and not take any responsibility himself, then so be it.

The dork just smiled and took the bait. “I’m not too bad. I like how everything in the world makes sense, you know? With the periodic table.” He had this shy smile and looked away from Stiles, like he was divulging some kind of secret that no one was supposed to know.

What. A. Dork.

Seriously, what do you even say to that? “Right,” Stiles replied, taking the moment to get back on topic. “So, I have lacrosse practice…”

And Hale just stepped right up to the bat, full swing. “I can type the report. I don’t have anything…” Too easy. Man, he was asking for it. “I mean, I don’t have lacrosse after school or anything.” And all with a smile like he was happy to please. What was this kid, desperate? Stiles scoffed inwardly, wondering how far he could push it, how much he could get Hale to do before he caught on. It had taken hours of begging (and a box of doughnuts) to convince his dad to let him stay for practice even while grounded, but at the moment, Stiles wasn't looking forward to spending the rest of his day getting tackled by a bunch of sweaty guys over and over again while the coach yelled on in sadistic delight.

“I’m sure you don’t.” Kid like that, Stiles would be more likely to go out with Lydia than Derek was to get a date. Beacon Hills didn't have much in the way of after school sports besides lacrosse, seeing as how their baseball team was disbanded two years ago when they lost the coach to a different school across the state. “I’m sorry, what is your name again?” Manipulation was easier if Hale thought Stiles was more invested than he really is, and hell, this was a social experiment. Besides, it would be good to know his first name, as they lived in California, not Asia.

“Derek. It’s Derek,” and at least Hale hadn’t included that stupid, gigantic smile of his this time. No matter how much it made Stiles feel like he was giving a puppy a belly rub.

Chapter Text

By the next day, Stiles was feeling better about his week, despite still being grounded and having to work with the weirdest kid in the class on a chemistry project from hell. Stiles felt kind of guilty over getting Derek to do all the work, although, he doubted the kid really would do it all himself. The project wasn't due for a few more days, so if Derek was anything like Stiles, he wouldn't have even started yet.

"Can I have your phone number or your email? I finished the paper already, but I'd like you to look over it."

Stiles startled out of his seat and crashed to the floor as he looked up at Derek Hale, shocked. Derek was looking sheepish and as shocked as Stiles was, although, probably for a different reason. The paper part of this project, for there were three parts, was the longest one and was expected to take up the most time. The poster and presentation were based off the paper itself; six pages of chemical compounds, their uses, and the results of their reactions when combined. Each group had a different set of compounds, but there was no way this kid had finished all six pages on his own.

No way.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you. It's just, I was wondering if we could work on the poster together? Or, if you could at least look over the paper and let me know if everything is good?" Derek looked hopeful, and he was wearing that puppy dog smile that flooded Stiles with guilt.

And shit, Stiles really was the bad guy in this situation. "Yeah, yeah, no, I'll look at it. We can do the poster together if you can wait until after lacrosse." Stiles picked himself up off the floor and slid back into his seat, opening his notebook to a random blank page and ripping it out. "I mean, if I look over the paper tonight, we can maybe work on the poster tomorrow? Man, I'm still shocked you finished the paper already. What are you, a robot?"

Stiles handed the sheet of paper with his email and phone number over to Derek, barely catching the look of hurt that washed over Derek's face before he replaced it with the puppy dog smile again. Derek looked down at the sheet of paper and his smile became just a bit more genuine. "Yeah, I'll email you as soon as I get home. We'll do the poster together tomorrow after practice?"

Stiles shrugged his shoulders. "Yeah, sounds good." The teacher then walked into the classroom and Derek took a seat in the front while Stiles remained in his seat in the back. Scott came jogging into the classroom right as the bell rang, tripping over backpacks as he rushed to sit beside Stiles. Stiles barely noticed, however, since this was the first time he actually realized Derek Hale was in his English class.

***

Stiles collapsed onto his bed face first, groaning into his covers and dropping his backpack onto the floor next to the bed with his limbs hanging over the edge. Lacrosse practice had been brutal today; for some reason Finstock had decided Stiles would defend the goal today, which the team took to mean it was a day to practice their tackles. Stiles was sure he'd be covered in bruises tomorrow, but for the moment, he wanted nothing more than to stay on his bed and wait for the painkillers he took after practice to kick in.

Stiles turned his head towards his desk and groaned, half-heatedly reaching his hand out towards his laptop. His muscles ached too much to get up and get the laptop himself, but his dad was still at work and Stiles was alone at home, so he just groaned again and dropped his hand, going limp. His phone choose that moment to chirp and Stiles grumbled as he pulled himself up enough to pull his phone out of his pocket. His phone flashed a new email, and when he checked his email using his phone, he stuffed his head back into his sheets and dropped his phone back to to his bed. Derek Hale had at least waited until Stiles got home from lacrosse practice to email him the paper.

Even after the painkillers kicked in and Stiles pulled himself up out of bed, he waited until well after midnight to open the attachment and glance over the paper. It annoyed him that he couldn't find a single mistake.

***

Derek Hale managed to keep to himself the next day, even through Chemistry. It might have been easier for Derek since Stiles was slightly avoiding him, ducking behind corners and getting to class late. Stiles avoided looking at Derek, even when he could feel questioning eyes looking at him during class. Stiles left class with Scott as soon as the bell rang, high tailing it out of class so quickly he was in the locker room before the bell even finished ringing.

"Dude, what was that?" Scott was panting when he finally caught up, pulling out his inhaler and using it while he tried to catch his breath.

"Just wanted to get changed early," Stiles said, pulling out his lacrosse gear from his locker. He started changing, shoving his backpack into the locker and not looking at Scott. Luckily, Scott didn't call him out on his lie, instead choosing to get changed himself. Stiles didn't really know why they had to change to sit on the bench, but he always figured there were the rare cases like yesterday where they needed the protection, or else suffer worse than just a few bruises.

"Dude, I don't get you most of the time." Scott wasn't looking at Stiles but instead was changing.

"Dude, I don't get me most of the time." And really, Stiles didn't.

***

Lacrosse practice was supposed to take Stiles' mind off the idea that he had agreed to work with Derek Hale afterwards on the poster, but instead, Stiles found himself getting more and more nervous as practice went on. It didn't help that Derek Hale sat on the bench all throughout practice, watching both the lacrosse practice and the cheerleaders just a little ways away. Supposedly Laura Hale, Derek's older sister, was a cheerleader. She had a much better reputation around school and wasn't often associated with her younger brother, despite his constant association with her.

When lacrosse practice finally ended (he didn't sit on the bench the whole time, but he wasn't the object of tackle practice either), Stiles tried to run off back to the lockers before anyone could stop him, but he was caught instead by the one person he was avoiding.

"So Laura offered to give us a ride home so we could work on the poster there, but, everything's in her trunk as well if you want to work in the library, or if you want to head to like a restaurant or something, we can go there too." He looked so excited that Stiles felt another spike of guilt eating away at him. Stiles had planned on avoiding working together on the poster for a few more days, and instead going home and playing video games online with Scott.

"Dude, I'm kind of exhausted from practice. I don't really want to go all over the place for this poster. Can we just do it at my place and your sister will just pick you up when we're done?" Stiles didn't stop walking to the locker room, but Derek kept up, and there was nothing keeping him from entering the boys locker room with everyone else.

"Oh, I didn't mean to drag you everywhere. We could totally go to..."

Derek had trailed off, so Stiles finished pulling his shirt over his head so he could see what caused Derek to stop. When Stiles didn't see anything, he gave Derek a weird look and shrugged, pulling off his lacrosse gear and dumping it into his sports bag. "You can put your stuff in my trunk when I'm done here," Stiles said, grabbing a towel to head off towards the showers with everyone else. Derek had gone quiet, and when Stiles looked back, he was gone.

Chapter Text

Stiles found Derek by his jeep, standing with a bag full of art supplies at his feet. Most of the cars in the parking lot had already left since most school clubs were over long before lacrosse was done. Scott clapped Stiles on his back before he took off on his bike, swerving to avoid Jackson as the head jock pulled away from the school, almost hitting three other people besides Stiles' best friend as he left. Stiles sighed before unlocking his jeep and opened the back, dumping his lacrosse bag, backpack inside while watching as Derek dropped in his bags as well.

Derek was mostly quiet throughout the drive to Stiles' house, looking out the window and only occasionally glancing at Stiles. Stiles caught himself glancing at the boy as he drove, surprised by the new found silence. It was awkward without the radio on, but rather than turn it on, Stiles left the silence as it was. The ride seemed to take twice as long as it usually did, but by the time Stiles pulled into the driveway, Derek seemed to be back to his usual self.

They both got out of the car and walked around to get the stuff out of the back, although Derek never took his eyes off the house. He walked into the back door of the jeep as Stiles opened it, stumbling back and clutching his nose as he finally tore his eyes away from the house. Stiles laughed aloud, offering Derek his bags from the trunk. "You okay? You should look where you're going, you know. I mean, it's a beautiful house, but I get the feeling you're kind of clumsy."

Derek gave a nervous laugh, pulling his hand away from his nose and grabbed his bag a bit forcefully from Stiles. Stiles took his own bags out and closed the trunk. Derek slid his hands into his pockets and followed Stiles up the porch into the house, his eyes still looking around the outside of the house. Stiles opened the door and walked in, holding it open for Derek. He dropped his bags on the floor besides the couch. "Hey, want anything to drink? We mostly have tea and juice, but I know where my dad hides his soda if you want any."

"No thank you, I'm good," Derek replied, sitting down slowly on the couch and setting his bags at his feet. He sneezed, then continued to look around with a kind of energy that made Stiles wonder if they were both on the same type of meds.

Stiles shrugged, and headed into the kitchen. "Whatever, dude. Up to you." He grabbed himself one of his dad's hidden sodas, internally pleased that there would be one less sugary can going into his father's diet. He pulled out his own box of hidden chocolate chip cookies from the cabinet (behind the healthy cereal his dad was supposed to eat but didn't) and headed back into the living room.

Derek was sitting politely on the couch with his hands in his lap, a weird energy buzzing through him that even Stiles could see. He sat up a little straighter when Stiles came back into the room and joined him on the couch, opening his cookies and leaving the package on the coffee table. There were a few cookies missing when Stiles grabbed some, and he made a note to find a new hiding place. He knew his father hadn't even opened the box of cereal, so he must have gone searching for junk food himself, possibly hiding more stuff Stiles would confiscate. "So, what're we doing for this poster? I'd be lying if I said I payed any attention to Harris during class."

"Oh, that's fine. Um," Derek reaching into his duffel bag, pulling out a rolled poster and packs of construction paper and markers. "We have to show some of the more useful compounds on the poster and their chemical makeup. If we can include it, we need some of their everyday uses as well, but we'll have to print out pictures from the Internet for that. I forgot those at home." Derek admitted sheepishly, emptying the rest of his bag onto the coffee table.

Stiles unrolled the poster and weighted it down with a pair of scissors and a pack of markers, one on each side. "Okay, we can use my computer for that later, unless you really like the ones you have." Stiles himself didn't care either way.

"Yeah, the ones I found were really good. We can arrange everything else on the poster, and I can bring them tomorrow so we can finish putting everything together." Derek reached out to the package of construction paper, ripping it open and pulling out a few sheets. "But we can do everything else today, if you want to finish with the project quickly."

"Nah, it's okay. Saves my printer ink," Stiles said offhandedly, pulling out a copy of the paper from his backpack and flipping through it. "So, which of these are we using, Mr. I-Already-Printed-Everything?" Stiles asked jokingly.

"These first two, and the last one," Derek said, reaching over to point out to Stiles which ones in the paper. His hand brushed against Stiles', and he hurried to pull his hand back and went back to messing with the construction paper. Stiles highlighted the three compounds and completely missed the blush on his classmate's face.

***

They finished most of the poster by the time Stiles' dad came home from his shift. Stiles threw out a simple "Hi, dad," as he heard the door close and his father walked into the living room.

"Stiles," his dad greeted, ruffling his son's non-existent hair.

"Daaadddd," Stiles whined, swatting at his dad's hand.

"And who's this? School friend?" His dad asked, giving Derek a polite smile. Derek quickly stood up, offering his hand to shake.

"Derek Hale, sir. We're working on a Chemistry project together." Derek looked nervous, and Stiles nudged Derek's leg with the back of the marker he was writing with, a subtle message to take it easy.

The Sheriff shook Derek's hand. "Sir, I like that. You're Laura's brother, right? She's been looking at applying to the academy after she graduates high school. Sharp as a tack that girl."

Derek blushed as the Sheriff complimented his sister. "Thank you, sir. I'll let her know you said that," Derek's smile was genuine (and when did he not smile?), but he still seemed a little nervous. "You have a lovely house."

"It'd be nicer if Stiles didn't leave his stuff everywhere," the Sheriff said fondly. "And don't you tell your sister a thing. She won't take me seriously if she knows I like her," he said, heading towards the kitchen. "Well, I'll let you guys work. Derek, it was nice meeting you. Stiles, behave." And with that, the Sheriff was out of sight.

Stiles imitated his dad, keeping his voice quiet. "Stiles, behave," he mocked, grabbing another cookie. "He's gone, you can sit down now," Stiles said, pulling on Derek's shirt in a worthless attempt to get the other back to his eye level.

Derek sat back down, picking up the marker he'd left behind when he stood up. Stiles pulled his hand back, running it through his buzzcut to try to get rid of the weird feeling from his dad's hand. "So, we can leave this here and finish it tomorrow. I don't have a dog or anything to mess it up, so it should be fine."

"I should probably call Laura for a ride then," Derek said, standing up again and pulling out his cell phone. Stiles shook his head and reached for another cookie. Derek walked out of the room and into the hallway as his phone connected.

Stiles looked at the poster, nibbling on his cookie. He ignored the voices he could just make out from the hallway, instead focusing on the product they'd created. Derek had asked about the colors and placement of more than half the things on the poster, and every single one had ended up being what Stiles recommended. The poster still looked pretty bare without the pictures, but it wasn't too bad on its own. Stiles could look up pictures himself and just glue them on after Derek went home and take some initiative himself. Derek chose that moment to walk back into the room slipping his phone into his pocket.

"Laura said she'll be here in a minute or two, she was hanging out with friends at the coffee shop two blocks down." Derek looked around at the stuff in the living room, walking back to his spot on the couch but not sitting down. "Are you sure it's okay to just leave the stuff? I can bring it home with me if you want." Derek offered.

"Nah, just leave it. I could totally finish it tonight, get it over with." Stiles said, standing up himself as Derek fidgeted.

"No! I mean, it's just that the pictures I have are really, really good. And it totally wouldn't be a problem to work on it for one more day, right?" Derek picked up his backpack and slung it over his shoulder.

Stiles raised an eyebrow at Derek, but shrugged anyway. "Whatever, dude. Those pictures better be epic though." Stiles said jokingly, smiling at Derek. "You got everything you need?"

Derek shrugged his shoulder, looking over at the project supplies still left on the table. "I think so." Derek jumped in place as the sound of a wolf howling filled the living room. He pulled out his cell phone and silenced it. "Laura's here. So I'll see you tomorrow for this?"

Derek looked kind of excited, and Stiles was sure if he was a puppy he'd be wagging his tail. "Yeah, after practice tomorrow." Stiles shrugged off, walking Derek to the door and holding it open for him.

"I'll see you later then." Derek said, giving Stiles a weak wave as he headed down the porch toward his sister's car. Stiles waved back, but Derek didn't turn around, and Stiles closed the door as Laura drove off.

***

Stiles sat on his computer later that night (or more appropriately, really, really early the next morning), scrolling through posts. Normally he'd be playing his mmo this late at night, but his character was a werewolf, and every time Stiles looked at it, he thought about Derek and how excited he looked when he left, and Stiles couldn't stop imagining the tail on his character wagging. So instead, he scrolled through picture after picture of puppies, wondering the entire time why he was looking at dogs so late at night.

Stiles scrolled down a little farther, but stopped as he caught sit of a dark head of hair. The picture was of a gangly teenager playing with a little black puppy, and they both looked completely relaxed with each other. The teenager had tanned skin, green eyes, and a smile that mirrored the joy on the puppy's face. Stiles couldn't help but replace the teen in the image with Derek, wearing the same smile and relaxed in the same way.

Stiles ran his hand over his face and sighed, closing out off the browser and shutting the lid of his laptop. He had no idea what the hell he was thinking so late at night, and not matter how hard he tried, he couldn't erase the image of Derek's puppy smile from his mind as he fell asleep.

***

"So this new girl, her name is Allison. Isn't it a beautiful name? But she came into class today without a pen, and no one noticed except me. So I lent her my pen, and she thanked me after class. She's brilliant though, isn't she? And by the way, I'll need to borrow your notes later cause I only had one pen, and Allison was using it."

Stiles rolled his eyes at Scott's actions, following his best friend's eyes across the hall to the sight of the new girl talking with Lydia Martin. The beautiful, amazing goddess that was Lydia Martin, who dated the douchbag Jackson, and had never once talked to Stiles aside from borrowing crayons in third grade (she never did give those back). "Are you sure you want to date someone who's friends with the popular crowd? I mean, unless Lydia dumped Jackson and went out with me, you'd have to go on double dates with Jackson. Jackson Whittmore, who makes our lives a living hell. What does Lydia see in him?"

Scott gave Stiles the puppy dog look, the one that usually filled Stiles with guilt. "Don't pull the puppy dog eyes on me, Scott. If you want to date her, you have to actually talk to her, you know. Not stand here talking to me." Stiles rolled his eyes and shoved Scott forward, laughing at Scott's affronted look.

"Stiles!" Scott straightened back up beside Stiles, and punched Stiles' shoulder. "I'll totally get around to it, you know. Why don't you take your own advice and talk to Lydia, huh?"

Stiles shrugged dramatically and rolled his eyes. "I do talk to her. She ignores me. Man, it's easier to talk to Derek than it is Lydia."

Scott gave him a weird look. "You talk to Derek Hale? And you blame me for bringing you down? Dude, why?"

Stiles glared at Scott. "We have to work together for that project in Harris' class. And you know," Stiles' glare turned into a smirk, "he kinda reminds me of you. Gives me the same puppy dog eyes and wagging tail." Stiles laughed as Scott wrapped his arm around his neck, rubbing his fist into Stiles' shaved head.

Scott let Stiles go as the bell rang for class, as they'd have to separate for different classes. Scott was wearing his mischievous face,  "Maybe, when I'm going out with Allison, you can join in a double date with Derek!" Scott said through his laughter, taking off for class before Stiles could say anything. Stiles called out a 'Hey!' before chasing after his best friend, and if he was late for class, it was totally worth it to hit Scott.

Chapter Text

Derek was there again during lacrosse practice, sitting in the bleachers with his backpack. Unlike the day before, however, he was watching lacrosse more than cheerleading, and Stiles could swear he felt Derek's eyes on him throughout most of practice. Derek didn't follow into the locker room this time, and Stiles showered in peace. Or as much peace as you could get in a very open shower room with a bunch of teenage jocks. It wasn't long before Stiles was back out and heading towards his jeep, giving Scott a goodbye fist bump and his best friend headed off towards the bike rack and work.

Derek was in front of Stiles's jeep, talking to Laura. Stiles took the moment to look at the two of them and really notice how similar they looked. Laura wasn't much older than them, but she was beautiful, with a near perfect body shape and long hair. Although Derek wasn't bad looking for someone who doesn't play sports, standing next to his sister made his flaws stand out. He was taller than his sister, but she wore her height with confidence, while Derek seemed like he didn't now what to do with his. Stiles himself still felt that way sometimes, like his arms and legs were too long for his body.

The two of them stopped talking as Stiles walked up. Laura gave Derek a hug and whispered something into his ear as she walked off, giving Stiles a glare. Stiles felt a shiver run down his back, but he still gave her a wave as she walked off. "So, I don't think Laura likes me very much."

Derek didn't laugh, just reaching down to pick up his backpack and get in the jeep. He shrugged off Stiles' remark, choosing yet again to remain quiet during the drive from school to Stiles' house. Stiles just turned on the radio to kill the silence.

***

Derek's pictures didn't really surprise Stiles that much, but rather than comment on them, he just stuck them to the poster board instead. He and Derek spent the next half hour splitting up the oral part of the presentation before the Sheriff came home and the two boys, almost done anyway, called it quits.

"So, Derek, do you have plans for dinner?" The sheriff was standing by the doorway to the kitchen, holding an apron. "If it's okay with your parents, you should stay for dinner. We have plenty to go around."

"Oh no, not if you're cooking, dad. You'll drown the steaks in butter and salt and think I won't notice." Stiles got up off the couch grabbing the apron from his dad. "You should be glad you're getting a steak in the first place today." Stiles disappeared into the kitchen, grumbling to himself. He'd seen the steaks sitting in the fridge earlier when he'd gone for a soda.

Stiles could faintly hear Derek saying he'd like to stay ( "if that's okay, sir"), and put three of the defrosted steaks from the counter (his dad must have taken them out) into the pan on the stovetop. Judging by the lack of additional steaks defrosting, Stiles figured his dad planned this dinner, and while Stiles didn't mind, the only reason his dad was getting steak was because Derek was here, and Stiles didn't want to get into that argument with his dad in front of other people. And Stiles wanted steak, but he wouldn't admit that to his dad.

"You're eating a salad, too!" Stiles called out over the sounds of Derek and the sheriff talking in the living room. The salad was already thrown together, bought that way, so he just pulled it out and put it into a serving bowl, placing the bowl on the table. He continued to set up the table as he cooked, and by the time dinner was ready, both men in the living room had stopped talking and were watching the game on tv. "Dinner's ready. And you're drinking water, dad, not soda."

Stiles followed his dad to the kitchen table, shutting off the tv as he and Derek left the room. Dinner itself was quiet, even after Stiles heckled his dad into eating the salad first.

"So," the sheriff began, pushing his half empty salad bowl towards the empty end of the table and cutting into his steak. "How's the project coming along, you two?"

Stiles exaggerated his next bite of salad, using his fork to point at the bowl his dad was now pretending didn't exist. "It's going well, sir," Derek answered, using the opportunity while Stiles was distracted to push his own half empty salad bowl to the side. "We're just about done."

"Just the actual presentation left to do," Stiles filled in, leaving his empty salad bowl in the center f the table as an example. He went for the vegetables on his plate first instead of the steak. Stiles would see a sort of calm companionship falling between his dad and Derek, as the two ate the same things in the same way. Stiles could see Derek spoiling his dad if ever given the chance, and added him into the same category as Scott (people who would never decide on a meal his dad would eat on pain of death).

"That's good. Hopefully I'll still see you around the house, Derek. It's nice to know Stiles has friends that aren't Scott." Stiles rolled his eyes at his dad. He had other friends at school, just not ones that he brought to the house. Stiles used to bring people back when his mom was still alive, but he'd quickly gotten tired of people asking where his dad was when Stiles was at home, alone, after school.

"I have other friends. I hang out with them all the time." Stiles whined, wondering if it was worth it to throw a spear of broccoli at his dad. He stuck it in his mouth instead. No need to waste food, after all.

"Online friends don't count, Stiles. You have no idea who those people are." And there was the sheriff mode, the overly concerned dad who had tried his best to keep Stiles off the internet and had failed by the time Stiles was in the third grade.

And Derek was just smiling to himself, not coming to Stiles' rescue about online friends. Although from what Stiles knew of Derek, he wouldn't be surprised if the kid choose to read books in a treehouse instead of killing mythical creatures online.

"My guild is awesome, I'll have you know. And at least the fourteen year old girl sounds like a fourteen year old girl, not a sixty year old man." Stiles finished off his plate and sat back, mirroring his father's scowl. That face was his dad trying to figure out how much Stiles had given away to random people on the internet. "I didn't let anyone know where I live or anything. And most of them don't even have Facebook, so we avoid it altogether."

After a few minutes of silence, the sheriff stood up, leaving his dishes on the table. "Well, I've got some paperwork to fill out still, so I'll be in my office. Stiles, be sure to clean up and take Derek home before it gets too late."

"Goodnight, sir." Derek said, standing up as the sheriff left the room. When he was gone, Derek reached across the table and began gathering the dishes before Stiles stopped him with an hand on his arm.

"Dude, I'll do it. Just leave it." Stiles picked up the dishes from the table and brought them to the sink, frowning when Derek following him carrying what he couldn't hold himself. Stiles filled the sink with water while Derek threw out the remains of the salads that he and the sheriff didn't eat. They worked in silence to cleans and dry the dishes, put away the leftovers, and put the dry dishes away. Stiles caught himself looking at Derek several times as the teen stretched to put dishes away or wiped a dish for a little too long. It was a weird silence they worked in, only broken by Stiles directing Derek when the dish or glass called for it.

***

When Stiles went to bed that night, he honestly couldn't remember driving Derek home, although he did recall the image of the huge house looming on the Hale property in the middle of the forest. It was a huge house for just five or six people, but despite being in the middle of the woods and it being late at night, the house still had a comfortable, welcoming feel about it that Stiles couldn't remember his house having. Not since his mother had passed.

Chapter Text

The remaining days leading up to the presentation were surprisingly uneventful. To be fair, only a day or two passed before they had to present, but Derek surprisingly left Stiles alone during that time. When presentation day came up though, Stiles found himself with extra energy, bouncing his legs during his morning classes while waiting for Chemistry to come along. Stiles caught himself several times staring at Derek, although Derek was always staring at the board or the teacher whenever Stiles was looking.

When Chemistry came around, however, Derek was by his side before the bell marking the beginning of class had even finished ringing, pulling out notecards. Stiles assumed the notecards were his part of the presentation, as if Derek might need a reminder. Stiles himself was gonna wing it like always, but perhaps Derek liked things more organized. Hey, Stiles didn't judge.

Okay, yes he did, but whatever.

The presentation itself went by quickly, with Stiles only messing up once pronouncing a chemical name (Derek corrected him and Harris gave a knowing nod that made Stiles hate Harris even more). Once they finished, they were allowed to wander the classroom and look at the other presentations with the rest of their classmates. Derek stayed by Stiles' side pretty much the whole time.

When class was over, Stiles offered the poster to Derek, since neither he nor Harris wanted it. Derek took it with a shrug and grabbed his own backpack, walking with Stiles towards the boys' locker room. Neither boy spoke until they were right outside of the room.

"Hey, so, I know that movie you mentioned wanting to see came out this weekend," Derek began, looking nervously at the lockers next to the locker room. "I was thinking, if you had free time..."

"Oh, the Marvel one? Yeah, it came out today." Stiles was halfway in the doorway. He'd forgotten he was talking about that movie while they were making the poster, mostly ranting about the difference between the movie version (thank you, spoilers) and the comic version he'd grown up reading. Stiles hated going to the movies alone, but Scott was working all weekend and his dad had stopped watching movies in the theater when his mother passed away. Stiles was about to ask if Derek was going to see it when he was interrupted.

"I know I'm not Scott, but I kind of want to see the movie too, so if you want to go together?" Derek finally turned to face Stiles, and Stiles couldn't think of anything but an eager puppy waiting to be cuddled. "I can pay, if you want."

"Nah, it's good." Stiles shrugged off. Derek's face fell and he began to turn away, a quiet apology on his lips that Stiles had to read more than hear. Stiles reached out and grabbed Derek's arm, stopping Derek and dropping his backpack in the process. "Oh, crap. I didn't mean no to the movie, I meant no to the paying thing. I have my allowance. But yes to the movie. I'm not waiting until next week to see it."

Derek visibly relaxed, glancing down at Stiles' hand still on his arm. Stiles removed his hand and picked up his backpack while Derek seemed to piece back together his enthusiasm. "Alright. I'll look up times and text you then?"

"3:50 movie on Saturday. I can pick you up so we take one car, if you want." Stiles offered, finding some previously unknown anticipation in seeing the Hale house once again.

"Oh, um, sure. I'll see you Saturday then." Derek smiled at Stiles and walked off.

All through practice, all Stiles could think about was the image of Derek's non-existent tail wagging as he walked off.

***

Stiles spent Friday night playing video games with Scott at his house, chatting about school and work occasionally interrupted with phrases like 'die, motherfucker' and 'hah, eat that!' Most of them came from Stiles, but he was not alone in shouting profanity.

And he wasn't counting what his dad was shouting at the tv downstairs while watching the game.

"So, dude, how's it going with that girl? The one you lent a pen to and promptly destroyed my notes trying to copy them?" Stiles turned a corner in the game and got his head shot off, the screen filling with blood and a respawn time. "Fuck! Damnit, I hate these guys."

Scott's laughter filled up Stiles' room. Stiles knew it was loud because he could hear his dad turn up the tv downstairs. "You're only angry because they're catching up to our score. And things with Allison are good. She's agreed to go to a party with me tomorrow night."

"Aren't you working tomorrow night?" Stiles asked, killing one of the other team and resisting the urge to pump his fist in the air in celebration.

"Oh, dude, sorry. I know you wanted to go see that movie, but this is Allison. I can see it with you another time." Scott looked sheepish for all of three seconds before jumping up, pointing at the screen and yelling. "Got you! That's what you get for not dying once all game!"

Stiles rolled his eyes, resisting the urge to laugh when Scott sat back down to a dead character. "S'okay, I already found someone else to go with." Stiles avoided looking at Scott, not wanting to see the look of incredulity on his friend's face.

"Dude, you have a date? You've never had a date." Scott had given up playing at the moment, turned away from the tv and his character standing immobile at the respawn point. "Who is it?"

"Dude, you're gonna make us lose if you just stand there." Stiles pointed out, killing another person from the other team. "And it's not really a date, just two people hanging out. It's not a big deal."

Scott scoffed, picking up his controller again. "So it's totally a date. I know it's not Lydia, 'cause she's still with Jackson, so who else have you been talking to lately?" Scott froze, staring at Stiles. Luckily, his character wasn't dead this time for it. "You're going on a date with Derek Hale?"

Scott's voice was high pitched and made Stiles cringe. "I told you, it's not a date." Stiles rolled his eyes, tired of Scott not playing and the other team playing like professionals. "I swear, if you stop playing again, I will give up this match and kick you out."

Scott grumbled, but went back to playing the game without talking about weekend plans. Even winning the match by two points (Scott was pretty good when he was paying attention to the game) didn't make Stiles feel better about going to the movie.

It hadn't sunk in until Scott had said it aloud, but Stiles had a date with Derek Hale this weekend, and he had no idea how that had happened.

Chapter Text

Stiles slept better than he thought he would that night, given his current dilemma about the not-a-date-but-really-a-date. He woke up to a text from Scott telling him that it was okay that Stiles was gay, he just wished Stiles had trusted him enough to tell him. Stiles almost threw his phone across his room, except he'd done that to his last phone and he didn't like the look of disappointment when he'd ruined a 'perfectly good phone.' 

Stiles spent a few extra minutes in the shower contemplating his life and brushed his teeth twice when he was so lost in thoughts he couldn't remember if he'd done it before his shower or not. He spent an hour and a half trying to pick out his clothes for the day, wanting to wear something that said 'this isn't a date, but I actually own more than dorky t-shirts and flannel.' When he went down to breakfast his dad said he looked nice, Stiles had jogged right back up the stairs and spent another half-hour hiding his collared shirt under his dirty laundry and picking out a dorky t-shirt. His father made no comment on his wardrobe change when he came back down again to actually eat.

This was when Stiles' nerves began to sink in as he nibbled on a piece of toast. Stiles never really went on dates, his ever-lasting love for Lydia usually keeping him from really trying for other people. Stiles never really thought of himself as bisexual, but he supposes it wouldn't be completely out of the question. Bisexual with a preference to women? Preference to redheads? Preference to those who have the mind and body of a god?

All of which fit Lydia, but none of which fit the dorky, dark haired Derek Hale.

His watch beeped at Stiles, letting him know it was time to leave to pick up Derek if he wanted to make it to the movie on time. Somehow Stiles had spent more time staring into space thinking about nothing than he did actually eating breakfast or celebrating that he had a date.

Stiles actually had yet to celebrate the date, but it hadn't really sunk in that he had a date anyway until just last night. And wasn't it just sad that Scott had figured it out before Stiles had?

Stiles turns on the radio for the drive to Derek's, finding his nerves calming as he sings along to the music. They come back again once he sees Derek waiting in the driveway, leg bouncing nervously and Talia Hale Leaned down next to him, fixing the collar on his shirt. Mrs.Hale looks over as Stiles pulls up, and Derek follows her gaze to the jeep. When he spots it, he pushes his mother's hands away and stands up, brushing down his dark washed jeans and bouncing over to the jeep.

Stiles could feel his heart pounding in his chest, but not from the impending date with Derek. There was a low ache in his chest that had been hidden for a while now making itself known at the sight of Derek's mother, memories of his own mother fixing his collar back on his first ever day of elementary school, Stiles looking dorky in his khaki pants and polo shirt. There was something heart achingly beautiful in a mother fixing her son's collar, and Stiles felt not just jealousy that Derek could still have that while he had to suffer without, but some anger that Derek didn't appreciate it, just pushing his mother's hands away like it didn't mean the world.

The slam of the jeep's door broke Stiles out of his thoughts. Stiles slammed those feelings back into the box they belonged in and gave Derek a relaxed smile, switching the jeep into reverse. He looked over to give Mrs.Hale a wave goodbye as he pulled out, but she was already gone, disappeared into the house.  Stiles shrugged, backing out of the driveway and pulling onto the road, heading back toward town and the movie theater.

***

Derek and Stiles were sitting in the movie theater, hands battling for popcorn in the single large container they decided to get after buying tickets. Derek beat Stiles to the ticket booth, paying for both tickets before Stiles had a chance to protest. So instead, Stiles bought they both drinks, popcorn, and more candy than they would actually eat during the movie. Although he mourned the loss of so much allowance in one shot, after they'd blasted through the twizzlers before the previews even began Stiles had begun to feel it was worth it.

Right now they were in the middle of the movie, and Stiles' ear was burning. Every time Derek thought he saw something interesting or wanted to offer his own comment, he'd lean over the arm separating their seats and whisper into Stiles' ear. Half of the time Stiles missed whatever it was Derek had said, the other boy's warm breath so shocking he hadn't even registered that Derek was speaking until he was pulling back into his own seat, filling his mouth with more popcorn. Stiles had known this was a date, but it hadn't really sunk in until he felt Derek's breath. Even in the dark Stiles could make out how Derek was dressed, and the smell of new clothes made it clear Derek had known the whole time that this was a Date, capital D.

By the time the movie is over, Stiles can barely even remember it. The parts he does remember are interspaced with the feelings of war breath ghosting over his ear, and Stiles highly doubts he can watch this movie again without remembering this moment. Which leaves Stiles dreading that uncomfortable future moment when he rents the movie on DVD and has to watch it on the living room couch sitting next to his dad.

Derek is talking animatedly about the movie, praising the main character's actions and apparently now in love with Stiles' favorite childhood superhero. Stiles, for his part, is joining in as he can, filling in parts from the comics that the movie neglected and trying his best not to think of how warm his ear still is. Derek's voice trails off as they exit the movie theater and his body gets this tenseness to it, like he's afraid of something.

It hits Stiles hard in the gut that Derek is afraid this is it, the end of the date he was looking forward to. The date he bought new clothes for. And dear god, how weird is it that Derek Hale really does have a crush on Stiles?

Derek slides his hands into his pockets as Stiles just looks at him, Derek staring into the distance. What the hell, Stiles hasn't been on a date in forever, and all the sugar from the candy has him bouncy, wanting to do something more and his stomach demanding more than a piece of toast, popcorn, and sugar to fill it with.

"Want to go somewhere for lunch?" Stiles asks.

***

By the time Stiles finally drops Derek off at home, the sky has gotten dark out and Derek no longer looks sad about the date ending. Stiles surprised himself by having fun, even knowing this was clearly a date and not even minding. Lunch had seen Derek accidentally spilling on his shirt when Stiles licked ketchup off his fingers, so Stiles had started a game that Derek didn't know about to try to see how clumsy Derek could be. Stiles had a record of four times Derek dropped something, and the most successful technique to get him dropping things was to put his fingers near in his mouth.

If today hadn't been a clear indicator that Stiles was bisexual, he wasn't sure what else was.

And although Stiles still thought of his usual Lydia fantasy during his Stiles Time that night, the warm breath in his ear that had Stiles seeing stars was brand new.

Chapter Text

Since the chemistry project was over, Stiles no longer had a requirement to speak to Derek. Normally that wouldn't have stopped him, but outside factors (namely Scott) kept Stiles from even wanting to.

It was Monday morning, the week after Stiles' date, and a mere three weeks until the end of school. Scott was already leaving voicemails on Stiles' phone at three in the morning about summer plans with Allison, annoying the hell out of his best friend. This morning's annoyance, however, was not about summer plans with Allison.

"Dude, I can't believe you went in a date with Derek Hale. I mean, really? Why not, like, Danny, or someone else on the team?" Scott had on his confused puppy look, puppy dog eyes in full force this morning. Stiles found himself comparing puppy Scott to puppy Derek, trying to decided which one could pull heart strings better. Derek was winning, but purely because Scott's had years to practice the puppy look on Stiles and Stiles was becoming immune to it.

"Dude, leave it. We don't have many gay guys on the team, and it wasn't like I wanted to go on a gay date this weekend. It just happened." Stiles shrugged, stopping at his locker to pull it open and stuff his lacrosse stuff inside. Whatever fit, anyway.

"It's cool that you're gay and all, but don't ever have a crush on me, and I don't ever want to hear about your non-existent sex life, but really, Stiles? Derek Hale? And, since when does he know you're gay before I do? Does your dad know? He's gonna kill Derek when he finds out."

Stiles rolled his eyes, over exaggerating so he was sure Scott noticed. "I'm not gay, Scott. Bisexual, maybe. But not gay. My heart still beats for Lydia, you know. And maybe a Greek god on the side, but the red-haired goddess is still number one." Stiles slammed his locker shut, giving Scott a glare. "And my dad will never find out, understand? Never. Not unless I tell him, which I won't. He does not need to bother with snickering deputies over whatever guy his son is dating now, when I am, in fact, not dating any guys."

"You're not dating anyone, Stiles. It'd be really nice if we could go on double dates together, you know. I'd really like you to be happy, man. Just not with dorky, anti-social guys who are attached to their family at the hip." Scott looked actually concerned for Stiles, like Derek was the worse choice he could pick in the entire school for a boyfriend.

"Derek's not that bad, you know." Stiles was lying, Derek was all those things, but that thought didn't erase the memory of Mrs.Hale fussing over her son from Stiles' mind. It didn't stop the burn of his ear whenever he heard (or saw) other people whispering. No matter how much Stiles tried himself to erase those memories, all weekend.

"Whatever you say, man. But I went up on the stepladder, there's no reason you can't as well. Aim high, buddy. And I'll see you at lunch." Scott slapped Stiles on the shoulder, heading to his classroom across the hall from Stiles'.

Stiles avoided Derek in the hallways during class changes yet again, wondering when this had become his life. He might be able to make a game out of it, how to avoid people at school, gather points, and maybe offer a prize to the winner. But Stiles was the only insane person playing this game, and he didn't think it made him a winner to be playing alone.

***

Scott made up for his teasing that morning by saving Stiles a seat at the popular table with Allison, Jackson (ugh), and, the best of all, Lydia. Normally he wouldn't have a seat, but Danny was sitting a few tables away today, making out with his boyfriend instead of actually eating the lunch in front of him. Stiles couldn't help but stare, thinking about how he could be doing that right now if he was into Derek like that. He wasn't sure what's is face looked like at the thought of making out with Derek.

"Got a problem with Danny, dickface?" Jackson scowled at Stiles as Stiles sat down. Jackson got elbowed in the side by Lydia for his trouble, although Lydia herself never looked away from her mirror as she fixed her hair.

"Why would Stiles have a problem with Danny?" Sweet, innocent Allison, who was way too good for Scott. Allison turned about in her seat to see where Danny was, her face a little shocked but a little proud as well when she finally spotted him.

"Homophobic douches like him can just go crawl under his shitty-ass jeep and die there." Jackson was glaring at Stiles, with a good glare towards Scott while he was at it.

"I am not homophobic, you dick." Stiles threw back, returning Jackson's glare.

"Don't glare, Jackson, it gives you wrinkles." Lydia finally closed her mirror, digging into her lunch and eating slowly but cleanly.

"I thought Stiles went on a date with Derek this weekend, though," Allison looked towards Scott to confirm, although Scott had blushed at her words and was refusing to look up from his lunch. Everyone else was looking between Allison and Stiles, while Stiles was sending his glare of death at Scott now instead of Jackson.

"Hah! Stilinski has a boyfriend! Oh, this is precious. Finally set your eyes on something your level, instead of my girlfriend?" Jackson was looking smug now, a complete one-eighty from the 'defending my best friend' glare.

"Why did you tell people,  Scott? What the fuck is wrong with you?" Stiles was trying so hard not to yell in the cafeteria, but his anger was getting the better of m and his voice was definitely getting louder. Scott himself was looking anywhere but Stiles, his face flushed red with guilt.

"I'm sorry, Stiles. I didn't know it was a secret." Allison apologized, giving Stiles a look she must have learned from Scott. It didn't stop everyone from knowing, or Jackson from laughing (which he still was, dickwad), but for some unknown reason it made Stiles feel a little bit better. At least enough to lower his voice a little and glare at the people staring from other tables.

"God, that's precious. Way to come out of the closet with a bang, Stilinski." Stiles had no clue how that even came out in understandable words around the laughter.

"I think it's a smart choice. He's kind of nerdy, but trainable. Nice choice, Stiles." Lydia didn't look up at all, but she seemed proud of Stiles, and she knew his name, so Stiles sat up a little straighter as Jackson finally stopped laughing.

"You can't be serious, Lyds. Seriously, why would anyone want to date Derek Hale?" Jackson looked affronted, like Lydia was dumping him to date Derek herself.

"I'm dating you, aren't I? You can train them to be perfect, you know." Lydia smiled at Jackson, but it was the smile of a devil, and it was clear to Stiles that she was not just insulting Jackson, but placing him in the same pedestal as Derek. Stiles burst out into laughter, gathering his stuff while doing so.

"Shut up, Stilinski." Jackson growled as Stiles stood up.

"Well, that was great, but I'm getting out of here before it turns on me again." Stiles almost ran from the table as he left, leaving before he could hear excuses from Scott or more teasing from Jackson.

Lydia had defended him, though, and knew his name. That alone gave Stiles a skip in his step, even if Lydia thought he was gay.

Chapter Text

Stiles spent the rest of the afternoon avoiding pretty much everyone he knew, and especially not looking at the eyes he could feel on him towards the end of the day. He could feel his phone vibrating from unread text messages, most likely Scott, but chose to ignore it and, for once, threw himself wholeheartedly into his schoolwork. Stiles wasn't really a bad student, per say, he just liked to take a lot of risks on assignments, like writing a prose narrative on the history of the fire extinguisher for an essay on bombings in Japan during World War II. More often than not, his teachers determined he was 'writing off topic,' rather than giving clever insight into history and it's modern day relevance. His grades were so not his fault.

Stiles was both relieved and anxious once school faded into lacrosse practice. On one hand, he was finally done with all the prying eyes and the guessing which people knew and judged him and which people didn't care (or didn't know). On the other hand, this was lacrosse practice with Jackson, and Stiles' fears proved to come true once practice started and everyone was on the field.

"Hey, next time you go out with your boyfriend, get his sister's number for me, will ya?"

"So who's the girl in the relationship, Stilinski?"

"Who's more dorky, you or Hale? You know what they say about nerds in the sack."

"Guys, just leave him alone." 

That last one was Danny, who was probably just as annoyed at the prodding as Stiles was. Or at least Stiles hoped so, since some of the guys on the lacrosse team thought this totally meant gay jokes were on the table. Every time someone said something to him, Stiles could feel himself getting more and more angry, and he knew Jackson Put the team up to this. Or at least some of them, since the guys like Scott and Isaac weren't saying anything.

Scott kept giving Stiles the apologetic puppy dog eyes, though, and Stiles was sure he'd seen Scott flinch at once point.

"I think it's cute Stiles has a nerd for a boyfriend, okay? And talk about their sex life should remain between them and not on the field, so drop it."

Oh dear god, even Danny thought Stiles and Derek were getting it on. what was his life?

"No. you know what? I'm done today. Just done. I hate all of you." Stiles said as he looked over his team. He made sure to give them all a glare before he turned on his heel and headed back towards the locker room to leave practice early.

"Bilinski, get back on this field now or get kicked off the team!" Finstock yelled, but Stiles just ignored him. He could apologize later, although he wasn't sure he wanted to stay on the lacrosse team with a bunch of jerks for teammates.

Stiles was halfway across the field (still within sight of the team, not close enough to the locker room yet) when Derek appeared in front of him, that stupid, dorky smile on his face. Stiles wanted nothing to do with him right now, or any of his teammates. He just wanted to go home and blow off steam before he talked to anyone.

Derek didn't seem to get that message.

"So, I was thinking we could go out again Friday night, like to a party? Laura says her friends are all having a graduation thing then, and I can bring you along if I want." Derek looked like he expected Stiles to say yes, like Stiles wanted to spend Friday night with a bunch of seniors he didn't know and a guy way too attached to his sister. Like Derek and Stiles were actually dating now, full-blown couple after just one date. That was only a date because no one else was there. Fuck that.

"No. Hell no. I'm going home, and I don't care what you do." Stiles didn't stay to see Derek's face, although he could still hear the little chocked sound Derek made as he walked away, and the yells of the cheer leading team calling for Stiles to get his ass back there and apologize.

Stiles was just done.

***

It had taken him less than three minutes to change, pack his things, climb into his jeep, and tear away from the school parking lot. It took him considerably more time to get his mind under enough control to stop speeding and pay attention to where he was driving, and by then he realized he was already taking the scenic route home, the end that involved him driving past Derek's house. He quickly changed streets to go another way, but now that his anger was disappearing, his rational brain was beginning to kick in again and replaying the entirety of practice in his head. Everyone's teasing, Danny insinuating he and Derek had a sex life. Like they'd been having sex for longer than the literally three days since their first day.

The conversation with Derek.

Oh god, that conversation with Derek. Innocent, trusting Derek Hale, who hadn't really deserved to get his offer thrown in his face and stomped on. Stiles normally wouldn't have minded a party with the seniors, since they tended to have the best alcohol and, in the graduation haze, didn't really care what you did or who you did it with. Stiles was actually, embarrassingly, slightly jealous of Derek's relationship with his sister, since Stiles was an only child and had never known what it was like to be able to rely on someone you lived with who didn't set the rules in the house.

Stiles liked Derek's innocent puppy smile, and the easy way he'd assumed Stiles would go to the party, even though Derek himself wasn't the party type. Derek was willing to go out of his comfort zone for Stiles, and in return, Stiles had crushed Derek's heart (because it was obvious Derek liked Stiles how could Stiles not see it?) in front of everyone. Laura would probably be out for his blood, if Mrs.Hale didn't beat her to it.

And that little, broken noise Derek had made as Stiles walked away was what finally broke Stiles as well, the events of the whole day finally crashing down on him.

Stiles pulled the jeep over the the side of the road and put it in park before he tried to pry his hands off of his car. His hands were shaking and Stiles could feel a wetness running down his face that he really really hoped weren't tears, but couldn't think of a better alternative. The guilt in breaking Derek washed over him and made it very, very hard to ignore the fact that yes, Stiles very much wanted to go on that date Friday. Stiles wanted to make it better, he wanted to keep Derek from making that sound again.

And what kind of person was Stiles really, to say and do the exact opposite of what he really wanted?

***

The remaining days of school let Stiles more and more tired as each day passed. Although the team had cut out most of the teasing, Stiles noticed he wasn't the only one playing the avoidance game. He kept catching glimpses of Derek's back as he turned around and headed the opposite direction avoiding Stiles with much better success than Stiles ever had avoiding him.

Laura never came for Stiles, although that may have had more to deal with the seniors finishing school early than not having the desire to maim the guy who'd hurt her little brother.

Every time Stiles had class with Derek, he couldn't stop itself from thinking of different ways to apologize to the other boy, to ask for another chance to not be such a jackass. But the right words never came to him, and so Stiles let school end without saying anything to Derek.

Stiles let school end without talking to anyone about the guilt eating him.

Chapter Text

Summer passed in long, hot days while Stiles did nothing much aside from playing video games and sleeping. It hadn't taken long for him to forgive Scott, despite the shit Scott has started by talking, and the summer became Stiles splitting Scott's time with Allison. Stiles got to know Allison a little bit as well during the summer, and he came to know her as a devious angel who cared about everyone, no matter who you were.

The weirdest part of his summer was Lydia showing up as his house one day, forcing him into her car and driving them both to the mall. She made Stiles carry all her bags while she shopped, and asked about clothing advice for about the first twenty minutes before he realized he had no fashion sense and gave up. Instead she told Stiles stories from when she first got together with Jackson, and despite his old crush on Lydia, Stiles felt none of the old anger at the idea of Lydia and Jackson together.

About the forth trip in Stiles realized the stories were secretly advice for training a guy to act like you wanted. If Stiles still had a crush on Lydia, he would have been even more in love with her for her hidden evil tendencies, but instead he just felt a fond affection and slight fear for the redhead.

And that really was a problem, wasn't it? Stiles was no longer in love with Lydia like he used to be.

Despite taking over grocery shopping for his dad and even going so far as driving out towards the closest grocery to the woods, Stiles never ran into any of the Hales. Halfway through the summer a postcard from New York arrived for his dad from Laura, and although Stiles avoided asking about it, the Sheriff commented anyway about Laura's training in New York. He mentioned nothing about the Hale Stiles wanted to hear about.

Stiles spent about two weeks moping before his dad sat him down at the kitchen table and asked what was wrong.

"What do you do when you ruin something good?" Stiles asked, staring at the wood grain on the table.

"Stiles, we had this talk. I am not buying you another laptop because porn sites gave you viruses." His dad sighed, reaching back to the cabinet behind him for the bottle of scotch.

"No! Not my laptop. And don't even think of having more than one glass of that," Stiles glared at his dad, but the Sheriff just glared back as he poured himself a glass and left the scotch on the table. His dad seemed to be waiting for Stiles to begin before he drank. "It's just, there's this guy."

At that, the sheriff drank half his glass. "Are you sure you want a guy?" At Stiles' affronted look, the Sheriff just rolled his eyes. "What am I supposed to say, Stiles? It's been Lydia this and Lydia that for the past, what, ten years? And now all of a sudden it's some guy. And no offense, son, but you don't exactly look gay."

Stiles caught his hand in his hair at that, slowly moving his hand back to the table and out of his overgrown hair. Normally he'd shave it, but for some reason he just hadn't felt like it this summer, and now it was an awkward length that he didn't know what to do with. "You don't have to look gay to be gay, dad."  Stiles pointed out.

"I know, I know. So, what'd this guy do do that has you moping around the house?" The sheriff didn't seem bothered by Stiles being gay or bisexual, and Stiles took some relief in that little fact.

"It's not what he did, more so what I did." Stiles went back to staring at the table. His dad's 'oh, Stiles' was followed by the emptying of the glass, but luckily he didn't refill it right away.

Stiles didn't know how to explain to his father what a huge dick he'd been without disappointing his dad. So he left out pretty much everything in asking his dad for advice. "Well, I figured out this guy has a crush on me. And he's kind of cool, but really nerdy, and people make fun of him a lot. But I was having a horrible day when he asked me out, and I kind of yelled at him in front of everybody. And broke his heart."

The sheriff took a while before he answered, and it made Stiles nervous. "And now you feel bad you hurt him and want to apologize to him?"

Stiles sighed, letting his head fall on the table and rest there. "I kind of want to date him? But I'm afraid he won't give me a second chance, no matter how much I apologize. And even if he does, " And here Stiles lifted his head just enough to let it think back down on the table. "I feel like his family will kill me for hurting him."

When Stiles managed to turn his head and look a this dad, the sheriff had a sedate smile on his face. "It's not often you realize you've done wrong and think of the consequences, Stiles. I'm proud of you. But Derek's with Laura in New York this summer, and in Laura's last postcard she said they were looking at high schools in the area so they can stay."

Stiles stood up so quickly he bumped into the table and knocked over the empty glass, his dad reaching over to quickly stabilize the bottle of scotch. "What? When did this happen? Oh, god." Stiles had not just broken Derek's heart, but forced him out of the state. To the other sided of the fucking country. And he was looking at staying. "Just kill me now, dad."

The sheriff placed a warm hand on the back of Stiles' neck, offering wordless comfort. It didn't help much for the plummet of Stiles' heart.

***

Despite being in a funk of depression all throughout summer, Stiles felt like the beginning of the school year came around sooner than he expected. His dad kept him updated on Laura's postcards, but refused to mention anything about Derek or Laura's plans to remain in New York or return home. Hs dad seemed really excited though, for the past two weeks, about a new cop that was coming to fill in for Johnson, who finally retired after his granddaughter called him old and kicked his ass in a nerf gun fight.

Stiles pulled up his jeep and grabbed his backpack, starting the trek into the confines of the school. Scott was getting a ride with Allison to school, though they had plans for lunch. Despite Lydia's new forced friendship (because she wanted a gay friend who would go shopping with her instead of hanging out with Jackson), she gave him barely any acknowledgement as she passed him into the school on Jackson's arm.

Stiles went to his locker out of habit, even though he didn't have any of the textbooks for the new year yet. There was a huge crowd slightly farther down the hallway, mostly all girls ranging from senior to freshman, forming a giant huddle. Stiles rolled his eyes as the bell rang and the crowd began to disperse, although most of them didn't look happy about having to leave.

Stiles found himself rooted to the ground as the center of the group was revealed.

Derek Hale hadn't stayed in New York for school, but was standing in the center of the huddle of girls, talking to them with a smile on his face. And Stiles felt like crap, because he threw away Derek. The Derek Hale who returned from New York with the body of a Greek god.

Chapter Text

Stiles will deny it until the day he dies, so when Scott asked after the final bell for the day rang where he’d been all day, Stiles did not tell him that he’d been stalking Derek Hale everywhere he turned. The only class they had together was gym, and although Stiles loved the opportunity to stare at those muscles all throughout the period, not only would the girls not let him anywhere near Derek, but he ended up missing half of the class anyway while sitting in the nurse’s office waiting for his nose to stop bleeding.

Stiles had been totally distracted staring a Derek, and didn’t even notice the dodge ball aimed straight for his face. That kind of shit only happened in movies, okay?

And aside from spending what little time Allison allowed him with Scott, Stiles’ entire week pretty much went that way. Not the whole ‘getting beamed in the face with a dodge ball,’ but the bit about stalking Derek. Stiles had always figured Derek to be the creepy one of them, but now he wasn’t so sure. There was only so many times you could duck into the girls’ bathroom to avoid walking straight into the guy you were stalking before you realized someone was going to report you for perving on the girls. Which is totally not what Stiles was doing.

Would it be creepy if he ducked into the boys’ bathroom behind Derek?

Stiles locked that thought in a box, beat it with a stick, and lit it on fire before he had the chance to even finish it. Now he knew not only was he creepier than Derek, but he should probably be on the neighborhood watch. Great. What a way to start the school year.

Currently, it was Friday after school, the first day all week that the Sheriff was actually in the office as Stiles got out from school. Scott already had plans with Allison, so Stiles, feeling like moping but not feeling like moping alone, picked up some burgers and curly fries before heading to his dad’s office. The office was pretty empty when he got there, a couple of the officers already out to lunch or on patrol. His dad was sitting at his desk filling out paperwork, an empty coffee mug sitting besides the computer keyboard. Stiles knocked on the door as he came in, lifting the bag and shaking it a little as his dad looked up. “Hey, dad.”

“Stiles!” The Sheriff looked relieved to close the folder he was writing in and shove it to the far side of his desk. “What’re you doing here, son?” The sheriff leaned back in his chair, and Stiles could see him trying to subtly work out kinks in his shoulders.

Stiles shrugged, placing the bag full of food onto the now clear desk and picking up the coffee mug to stare into the cold dredges of leftover coffee. “Thought I’d share lunch with the best dad ever. That’s fine, right?”

Stiles looked up at his dad as the Sheriff sighed, staring at his son. “You don’t call me ‘the best dad ever’ unless you’ve done something wrong. A fight, already this early in Stiles?” The Sheriff looked disappointed in Stiles, yet again, and Stiles hurried to correct him.

“I didn’t do anything wrong, dad! I swear. Why, did someone call you?” Stiles set the mug back down and gave his dad a worried look, because if someone called his dad this early in, Stiles was never gonna graduate. Stiles’ dad just shook his head and pulled out the food, investigating his burger.

There was a knock from the open doorway, and a female voice flooded the room. “I’m not interrupting, am I?” Stiles turned around in his chair and almost fell out of it. Laura Hale looked the exact same as when she’d left, except now she was wearing a uniform and rocking it. If Stiles didn’t currently have a crush on her brother, he’d totally give her a shot. “I brought your order, Sheriff.” She placed a takeout bag similar to the one Stiles had brought on the Sheriff’s desk, pulling up a chair as well.

“Oh hell no. You do not get to make your deputies get you burgers for you.” Stiles snatched up the bag before anyone could touch it, placing it on the floor between himself and Laura and giving her his best glare. It was nothing like the glare Derek had sent Jackson during gym that morning when Jackson had aimed a dodge ball at his back (friendly fire, so shouldn’t be a thing in class), and Stiles really needed to end that thought before his awkward boner came back. Who knew not only did he now find nerds sexy (even though Derek was no longer a nerd), he also got turned on by glaring.

Laura, for her part, gave Stiles and innocent smile and reached down for the bag, pulling the containers out anyway. “Sorry, squirt, but your dad’s the one with the gun and my job, not you.” Although she made no move to actually hand the container to the Sheriff, her smirk dared Stiles to stop her.

“Will one of you just hand me that and let me eat? I wouldn’t have to get the deputies to get my food if you brought me something with actual meat in it, Stiles.” The Sheriff reached across his desk, snatched the only burger in the room was wasn’t veggie (because he was totally right, Stiles brought veggie burgers), and tore open the container, taking a bite before Stiles could stop him.

Stiles slumped in defeat, pulling his own burger closer to him. “Fine. But you’re eating a salad with dinner tonight.” He knew his glare did nothing on his dad, but he tried anyway. It made Laura giggle as she reached for his dad’s discarded veggie burger and began eating it herself.

For the most part, they ate in silence, although somewhere in the middle there Stiles had started a kicking war with Laura. She was winning, but letting her know his disapproval was important to him, even if Stiles knew he was gonna be bruised for his attempt.

“So how was New York, Laura? Besides the post cards.” Stiles’ head shot up as the Sheriff posed his question, and he didn’t even bother trying to listen to Laura’s answer. His father had known for weeks that a new deputy was going to be coming in, and just then Stiles made the connection that the deputy had been Laura.

Stiles groaned and sank further into his seat, resisting the childish urge to throw fries as his father. It was a waste of curly fry. “How long have you known, dad?”

The Sheriff didn’t look nearly as confused over the question as Laura did, but he lived with Stiles. It was expected. “About a month.”

Stiles groaned again, dropping the fry in his hand back into the container and closing it. “And you didn’t think to warn me at all?”

“Warn you of what?” The Sheriff closed his own food container, looking at Stiles seriously. “Oh, by the way, Derek-”

Stiles shot out of his seat and had a hand over his father’s mouth before he could finish that sentence, glancing over at Laura. It didn’t help, judging by the look on her face, since his father had gotten the name out anyway. Stiles removed his hand and sank back into his seat, just urging the world to swallow him whole already.

“Yes, Stiles, why exactly would you need warning that my brother was going to return to Beacon Hills?” Laura’s face looked calm, but her voice sounded pissed, and Stiles took note of where his things were just in case he had to run for it.

“You know, I have homework I really should be doing.” Stiles almost stammered out as he stood up from his chair. He could feel himself beginning to shake, fight or flight kicking in as he saw fire raging behind Laura’s eyes. Flight was definitely a good choice right about now, and who cared that it was Friday? It was good to get ahead early in the semester, right?

“Sit.” The Sheriff commanded, looking at Stiles was he was being interrogated. Stiles gulped, and knew he was a terrible son. The worst. But instead of sitting, he shoved his food container onto Laura’s lap and ran from the office, his backpack hitting every wall and throwing his arm around as he made his escape into his jeep. He was three blocks away before he even remembered putting his keys in the ignition, but luckily there was no one following him, and Stiles released the breath he was holding. There was no way in hell he was doing that again.

***

Stiles’ dad hadn’t said anything when he came home, but Stiles did notice on Sunday that his usual weekly allowance was simply a note that read ‘Cleaning fees.’ Okay, whatever. Stiles totally deserved that. Even if his dad was kind of giving him the cold shoulder for the rest of the week.

Thursday night Stiles had screamed at his dad to just talk to him, and apparently Derek had told Laura everything, because now his dad knew, and his dad was disappointed. They screamed, argued, and after a few drinks, they both just hugged it out and by Friday morning, everything was fine. Stiles had promised his dad that he would apologize to Derek for the way he’d treated him, and Stiles would, if he could get close enough to.

Stiles spent the school day thinking ‘not yet, now’s obviously not a good time’ every time he saw Derek and ran for it, even though it hurt him to do so. He really, really just wanted back the nerdy Derek that liked talking to him, that had come up to him and asked him to hang out. Somewhere along the way Stiles had fallen for that Derek, and even though he knew this Derek was different, he couldn’t help but wish Derek still liked him, still wanted to be with him, even if he was the biggest jackass on the planet.

Stiles was on his way out to his jeep, looking behind him to shake his head at Scott and Allison making out by her car, when he ran into something that felt like a wall. Not really a brick wall, but one covered in leather. Seriously, who even thought leather walls was a good idea? Hands grabbed his arms before he could fall over, and Stiles looked up into the face of the very person he both wanted to see and wanted to avoid the most, Derek Hale.

“Stiles.” Derek kind of grunted his name out as he removed his hands, looking around Stiles before shoving his hands into his jacket. And man, Stiles had never really liked leather jackets before, but now? Now it was a completely different story.

“Heeyyyy, Derek.” Stiles shoved his own hands into his pockets, but unlike Derek’s aloofness, Stiles just looked sort of awkward and unsure. “How’re you?”

If Derek didn’t look uncomfortable before, he totally did now. “Fine.”

His voice was exactly as Stiles had remembered it, despite all the bulking up he’d done. A voice like that didn’t fit his body, but Stiles found it totally adorable in Derek. Derek, apparently done with Stiles, rolled his eyes and turned away, heading towards the Camero at the end of the lot.

Stiles panicked, not wanting his time with Derek to be over already. “The mall, noon, tomorrow?” He shouted it before he realized Derek really wasn’t that far away yet, and he saw Derek cringe just a little at the volume. Or the idea of him, he wasn’t really sure yet. Derek just continued to his car, not even turning back to look at Stiles, and Stiles felt his face heat up. People were watching, gossiping amongst themselves, and as Stiles looked around to see just how many people there were, he choked.

Stiles found he hadn’t let the school parking lot quite as fast since that time he awkwardly dumped Derek in front of everyone. He did make it home without crying this time, though.

***

Stiles had no idea why he was sitting in the food court the next day, dressed up in a nice button down instead of his usual t-shirt and flannel. He wasn’t really expecting Derek to show up at all, but he still wanted to try. He had already spotted a few kids from school around the food court staring at him, probably sitting around because they wanted to know how long Stiles would wait before he accepted rejection. Stiles hadn’t even told Derek where in the mall to meet, but seeing as there was only two entrances, and the more popular one by far was the food court, he figured if Derek did come, it would be where he could see him.

It was already one, and Stiles was just about to get up and leave, when he saw Derek walk in through the mall entrance and look around.

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It took Derek about a minute to locate Stiles in the food court and walk over to him. That entire time, Stiles could feel his heartbeat through his chest. He didn’t know why exactly Derek was here, but he was hoping it was to give him another chance. Man, he really hoped Derek gave him another chance, cause he wanted to climb him like a tree.

Not that he didn’t want to before the sex god transformation, but not Derek looked like he could actually hold his weight.

Stiles stood up when Derek stopped right in front of him, and he knew he looked like an eager puppy, even though that was supposed to be Derek’s role in this relationship. But hell, as long as there was a relationship, Stiles would shake his tail and lick all over Derek’s face.

And totally stopping that image right there before the entire mall could see his awkward boner.

Stiles didn’t really know what to say, and Derek didn’t say anything, so Stiles just followed him as Derek headed off into the shops part of the mall. Stiles followed Derek into several stores, although Derek didn’t seem remotely interested in any of them. Stiles had no clue why they even entered the make-up store in the first place, although he was glad Derek looked just as uncomfortable as he did in the store and they didn’t stay long.

Stiles filled the silence with small talk, to which Derek would usually give a one or two word response. A passing comment about a couple holding hands earned Stiles a scoff, but one of the books he held up caught Derek's attention. Derek had all but ripped it from Stiles' hands to flip through it, and when Stiles made a stupid joke about the vampire of the cover, he managed to catch a laugh out of Derek, even if Derek tried to hide it behind the open pages.

Derek did linger in a few of stores, and despite Stiles got distracted easily, so several times he found himself looking at something on the opposite side of the store and almost had to run to catch up with Derek as he left. Derek always slowed down when he realized Stiles was lagging behind, and after about the third time Derek used his eyebrows to make fun of Stiles running to catch up, Stiles had to restrain himself from smacking the other teen on the shoulder. Stiles and Derek had an awkwardly stilted conversation while in the food court about where to eat, and despite Derek's face at the suggestion of mall Chinese food, he still got behind Stiles in line. Derek bought a few dresses, and Stiles feared their purpose (gifts for Laura, or revenge against him?). But all in all, it didn’t feel very much like the date, or apology, Stiles intended it to be.

They’d been at the mall for about an hour when Stiles finally spotted something he really wanted to buy. There had been a few close calls (Derek had hid the bok he'd taken form Stiles' hands earlier), but the small mountain of apology gifts already sitting on Stiles' bed at home kind of made Stiles was to save his money rather than spend it. He'd be returning most of those gifts, especially after he'd decided to leave them all at home, but until he did so, his wallet was looking a little thin. Derek had been buying a thing or two in pretty much every store they went to, and after every purchase had shoved the bag into Stiles’ hands and continued on his warpath. Shopping path? Whatever exactly it was Derek was doing in the mall that had Stiles thinking Derek would have been here anyway, even if Stiles hadn't shown up.

But in one of the stores they entered, something shiny caught his eye as Derek made his way towards the more expensive clothes in the back. Stiles walked over to the display, sending small looks over towards Derek every few moments just to be sure he didn’t get ditched. Although Derek had no reason to ditch Stiles when Stiles was carrying all his bags.

But the shiny thing turned out to be a silver right on a black leather string. The right itself had little wolves and moons etched onto the sides, and Stiles had no idea why it reminded him of Derek, but he just wanted to give it him, to see a gift he picked out hanging from Derek’s neck.

Keeping an eye on Derek, Stiles took the necklace over to the register and paid for it, frowning when the realized the price really was that high and he’d failed to look at the tag before heading to the register. It didn’t cut into his remaining budget that badly, but he wouldn’t be going anywhere except school and home with his jeep for a while until he returned the extra gifts.

“What’d you buy that ugly thing for?” Derek’s voice coming from over his shoulders made Stiles jump and drop the change he was putting back into his wallet. Derek had an eyebrow raised as Stiles bent to pick it up, but Stiles used the moment picking up the change to get his thoughts back together. He’d picked out the necklace for Derek, but if Derek called it ugly, no way in hell was he giving it to him now.

“Maybe I like ugly things, okay?” Stiles said as he stood up, grabbing all the bags, including his new purchase. “I mean, not like, ugly, ugly. But you know, things that other people might not like. I like those things.” Stiles pouted at Derek as Derek just shrugged, placing yet another dress on the counter for the clerk to ring up.

“You mean, rejected things.” Derek didn’t even blink at the cost of the dress, just paid for it and shoved the bag into Stiles’ hands. There was no way now Derek was getting his rejected necklace. No way in hell.

***

Derek did another half hour of shopping before he decided he was done and Stiles followed him out to his car. After buying the necklace, it'd become a bit easier to get conversation out of Derek, even if it was just about the things Derek was buying. Stiles really didn’t want their time to be over, because as disappointed as he was about the necklace, he still wanted to spend time with Derek, especially now that Derek had finally began talking during their pseudo date. He wanted to go on a proper date with Derek, one where they shared a real meal together and actually talked about things that mattered (or hell, sports. Sports was a better topic than if that dress matched the shoes from across the way). A date with a kiss waiting for him at the end, not a rejection.

Once Derek had all his bags in the car and Stiles was left holding onto his own, single bag, the tension between the two of them became obvious. “So, uh, maybe next week we can go shopping for more stuff for Laura again?” Stiles didn’t even know if the stuff actually was for Laura, or for a girlfriend, or for whatever else Derek cared about enough to spend a few hundred dollars like it was nothing. He had no idea, but he still wanted to do it again, because it was with Derek, and Derek had finally, finally, started to open up again..

Derek tensed up at Stiles’ words, standing on opposite sides of the car as Stiles. He took a deep breath and just gave Stiles a look he couldn’t interpret, but Stiles wasn’t sure he wanted to. “You know, Stiles, this,” Derek waved his hand between the two of them, looking at the mall and back. “This isn’t working for me.”

Stiles felt the hesitant smile freeze on his face, and he let out a nervous laugh before he could stop himself. “Yeah, no, I get it. I mean, you’ve changed, I’m still a jerk, who’d-”

Warm lips on his own stopped Stiles mid-sentence, and although his brain wasn’t processing anything, Stiles was very, very glad that self-deprecating crap wasn’t spewing from his mouth anymore. And once his brain did come online again, Stiles noticed Derek a little more up close and personal then before, and his brain registered whose lips were on his own. Stiles was reminded he had left his hair to grow out when Derek tugged on it, his hand roughly pulling his head to the side for a better angle. The other hand was resting just under his chin and mostly on his neck, not doing anything but simply resting there. Stiles whined as the mouth pulled away from his, but the hand in his hair kept him from following Derek’s mouth.

“This works, Stiles.” Derek looked a bit predatory at the moment, and Stiles was definitely submitting to him. Stiles caught a glimpse of blue lights reflecting from Derek’s eyes before his own eyes dragged down again to Derek’s lips, wanting them back. He whined in the back of his throat and Derek smiled. “I like you when you’re quiet, Stilinski. When you talk, you’re a fucking ass.”

They may or may not have spent the rest of the afternoon making out in the back of Derek’s car until Laura pulled up beside them in a cop car and busted them both.