Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Derek was lost. He didn’t understand how he could possibly get lost when he and Laura had been going around the campus all day the week before the semester started. It probably had something to do with him being in a car that time. He decided to walk this time because, well, it was a nice morning and he needed a walk. It might also be because he was not exactly listening to Laura, his big sister, who, graduated last year as a Chemical Engineer, but, details. He didn’t even know how he got from his dorm to the—he glanced up to glare at the name of the building once more—Charles Hayden Memorial Library.

 

Derek closed his eyes, took a deep breath in and held it there for a few seconds. He released the breath; he slowly opened his eyes and decided that he should enter the building. There weren’t that many students who passed him by; partly because it was only seven-forty in the morning and the other part . . . well, there just weren’t that many students at the moment.

 

When he entered the building, Derek was welcomed by the sight of a large hall with clear glass windows on either side. He could see the array of large bookshelves from where he stood through said windows. In the hall, there were desks, probably around twenty-five to thirty on either side, carefully arranged for use of students wanting to study to have a neat area to use.

 

There were only six people in the hall, Derek, himself, included. Two, who were the furthest from where he stood at the entrance, were typing on their laptops; brows furrowed, eyes focused, lower lips bitten. One person was at the end corner, sleeping. Another one was sitting by what appeared to be the reception area, typing on the computer with full concentration. The last one, who was situated closest to him, was reading something on his laptop—eyebrows slightly furrowed as he tapped his fingers on the desk with no exact beat. Said guy was also wearing a black Captain America shirt, the one with the shield at the center, underneath a gray hoodie.

 

The person—guy—closest to him had thick, dark, brown hair which was raised as high  as it was because either he had been running his fingers through them or he’d styled it that way on purpose. His eyes were wide and seemingly innocent; with wisdom and intelligence behind them it was probably due to his glasses. His nose was pointed and his lips were rose-like, wide and plump. They looked way to kissable and—whoa!  Derek figured he should really stop that train of thought if he wanted to get to class and not have a crush-at-first-sight with someone he may never see again.

 

Derek walked over to the boy closest to him. As he got closer, his mind registered that the guy looked quite young—either eighteen or somewhere his own age. He stopped in front of the boy and spoke in a quiet voice, “Um, excuse me?” He had always been quiet and awkward with new people. It was something that his older sister teased him about a lot. Derek was a good looking guy and had the body of a god—Laura’s words, not his—but he had the social skills of a rock. A. Freaking. Rock.

 

The boy looked up, confused, as he noticed Derek’s presence. He blinked a few times and asked, “Yeah?” He had a soft tenor voice.

 

“Um, I was wondering… where, uh…” Okay, deep breaths Hale. “Do you know where the Pierce Laboratory is?” he enquired quickly with wide, hopeful eyes.

 

The boy blinked once, twice, thrice and smiled. That looked somewhat endearing. “Yeah, I can come with you if you want, I’m heading there anyway. Just give me a second to pack up,” he said as he shut his laptop down and put a notebook Derek hadn’t notice was there back in his messenger bag. When the laptop finished shutting down, he closed it and put it in a laptop case then inside the bag. He stretched his back a little and smiled at Derek once more then said, “Let’s go.” Derek simply followed him. When they got out of the library, the boy turned to his right and started walking. “So, freshman?” He asked as he looked out of the side of his eye at Derek as he caught up to him. Walking that close to the boy, Derek realized that the boy was taller.

 

“Umm yeah. Aren’t you?” Derek asked with slight surprise in his voice, wondering why the boy sounded like he knew his way around school, as if he had been there for a very long time now, as if he had experienced being asked for directions before.

 

The boy beamed at him, amusement clear in his eyes and said, “I’m a senior. I’m actually twenty-two.”

 

Derek knew his mouth was hanging open. It was obvious from the way the—apparently older—guy was smiling at him with great amusement. There was in no way in heaven or earth that this guy was twenty-two. He just looked so young and lean and his face looked so, so . . . so round-ish. “Are you shitting me?” Derek asked flatly with a frown.

 

The boy barked out a loud laugh, making Derek stare at him as if he was crazy. “I am absolutely not. I can show you my birth certificate if you want to.” Now the boy was really playing with him. “I’m Stiles, by the way.” He said with a smile and held out his hand. At Derek’s raised eyebrows, he said, “Seriously, that’s my name. Well, actually, no. That’s my nickname. I don’t use my real name when I introduce myself because of… reasons.” Derek didn’t miss the way the boy’s—Stiles, he mentally reminded himself—eyes saddened for a short while when he ended his statement. “Anyway, tell me your name. It is the polite thing to do,” Stiles continued with his usual cheer was back on.

 

“Derek.” He extended his own hand to shake Stiles’ own. His hand was soft and smooth, firm against his own palm, as if it actual belonged to a child.

 

“So,” Stiles started when they got their own hands back. “What course are you taking?”

 

“I am taking Mechanical Engineering.”

 

“Cool. My cousin, Lydia, she’s taking Chemical Engineering. As far as I can remember, she was elected as the Student Council president of the Engineering Department.” He said with a proud smile.

 

They were quiet for a while as they continued their walk to Pierce Laboratory. They were walking along Memorial Drive as Derek enjoyed the trees that littered the campus, enjoying the fresh air around them. There weren’t many cars yet, due to the early hour. It was peaceful, just like back in Beacon Hills.

 

They were actually walking straight ahead; no turns or whatsoever. It was quite a long walk though. “Do you always walk between classes?” Derek asked, honestly curious. Because he has to admit, even though he was well-built because of being a lacrosse player and playing baseball every now and then, he wouldn’t want to walk all the time. He’d rather take the ’67 Impala his dad has given him when he turned sixteen, even though he wanted a Camaro like Laura. (“Your sister saved up for her car. You can buy your own if you want.” His father had said, because even though they had the money, he wanted his children to learn to save money on their own.) He liked the Impala, though, even if he would not admit it, she was his baby.

 

Stiles glanced at him with a smile and said, “Nope. I take my car when I have more than one class for the day. But on days like this, when I only have to TA for one professor and have no class afterwards, I prefer to walk.” He sighed softly and put his hands in the pockets of his hoodie. “I got her when I was sixteen, passed on to me by my dad. She’s just an old jeep but she’s still my baby.” He winked and smirked at Derek, as if they were sharing a secret of some sort. Maybe they were, Derek didn’t really know. Well, he did kind of know the feeling of having your dad pass his car on to you. It was actually great because for one, it was something they can talk about and work together; fixing cars and drooling over the beautiful cars they see or silently judge cars that were a waste of time and money.

 

“So you’re good with cars?” Derek asked.

 

Stiles shrugged and said nonchalantly, “Kind of, but only because I had to maintain my car. The shops are kind of expensive, especially for a student like me depending on a scholarship.” Stiles smiled at Derek. Once more as they continued to walk, a faraway expression was written on Stiles’ face. “How ‘bout you? Are you any good with cars.”

 

“Of course.” Derek huffed, as if he was somehow offended with the idea of him not being good with cars.

 

Stiles chuckled and raised his hands in gesture of surrender. “Relax, man. Just asking.” Stiles was smiling widely at him, all of his attention focused on him, making him blush. Derek had always been shy and stuck with monosyllabic responses or grunts of affirmation; he didn’t know what it was, exactly, with Stiles that made him want to talk to form a decent conversation with another person who isn’t a part of his family.

 

“What course are you taking, anyway?” Derek asked, suddenly realizing that he didn’t know the other man’s course.

 

“I’m taking History.” At Derek’s questioning look, he continued as he gestured with a hand. “It gets my attention. It keeps my mind from racing to other various kinds of information.” He explained further when Derek gestured for him to continue with his eyebrows. “I have ADHD and it’s pretty hard to concentrate on one thing. My mind keeps, racing, as if it just can’t stop. History is wide enough for my mind to focus on everything about it. Do you get what I’m saying?” Stiles winced with a grimace, as if he didn’t really know how to convey the words he wanted to say and Derek got that; when you just can’t say what you have been trying to say, hoping the other person would understand you.

 

“I think I do.” Derek replied quietly, thoughtful, which earned him a soft smile from Stiles.

 

“Anyway, it is fun enough for me because I get to study something or someone else’s past, it is like I’m living their lives, you know?” Stiles said with a soft smile. “And my mom loved History.” The last statement was delivered with a wistful smile, as if he was happy but pained to recall the memory. Derek wanted to ask, to figure Stiles out, but he held his tongue, knowing they weren’t at that point yet and may never be.

 

After a few more minutes, they stopped in front of a grayish white building. Just like the library, it was huge and the walls were more like simply windows around it. At the top of the wall was written, “Henry L. Pierce Engineering Laboratory”.

 

“What’s your first class?” Stiles asked as they entered the building.

 

Derek frowned and fumbled to get his notebook, where his schedule was written. “Uh, Physics with an Alan Deaton?” He replied. When he looked up, Stiles was beaming at him, a slightly mischievous glint in his eyes. His frown deepened as the older boy continued to smile. “What?” He grunted.

 

“I’m Dr. Deaton’s TA.” Stiles replied and waggled his eyebrows.

 

If it was even possible, Derek’s frown deepened even more, “I thought you’re a History student?”

 

“I am. But Dr. Deaton originally taught Zoology and Biology then took up Physics afterwards as a minor to teach it as well. I took Physics during freshman year and I was one of the best in his class.” Stiles said the last part with pride. “Anyway, he knew of my,” Stiles hesitated and gestured vaguely with his hands, “ADHD and knew I had to keep myself busy and shit so he offered me to be his TA and then requested the Department to allow me and I have been his TA since sophomore year.”

 

Derek blinked twice. Stiles’ ADHD was actually showing now and he just had to pause and think for a while because it was like the older boy changed drastically; from their slightly silent moments during their walk towards the building into a mouthful of words conversation.

 

“So, yeah. I’ll be the TA in your class.” Stiles continued, “But don’t think that because we know each other that you will get a pass. You have to work your ass off to pass Physics. Heck, you have to work your ass off to finish this whole semester alone.” Derek didn’t really know what Stiles was talking about now, but he nodded anyway. Stiles smiled and said, “Well, here we are.”

 

Derek suddenly realized that they were in front of a room already. The room was silent, probably because no one knew anyone yet. There were a few students littered inside the room and a dark-skinned man in a black button-up, tucked in his slacks, and glasses on, on a table on the side of a stage like platform. He was probably Dr. Deaton. There was a podium a foot or two from the table and the white board was wide, almost encompassing the whole wall in front.

 

At the sound of Stiles’ voice, Dr. Deaton looked up and gave Stiles a small but warm smile. He gestured one hand for Stiles to come over and went back to doing what he was doing before.

 

Stiles clapped him twice on the back, smiled and said, “Enjoy your first semester at MIT.” then walked over to Dr. Deaton.

 

Derek walked up to the fourth row, third seat from the door. When he sat down and looked up, to see Stiles beaming at him. The older boy winked at him then went back to the task the professor assigned to him. Derek flushed and looked down on the desk as Dr. Deaton stood up and called the class’ attention. “I’m Professor Alan, but my students call me Doctor Deaton or simply Doc.” The professor introduced. His voice was calm and soothing, reminding Derek of his dad. “This is Physics 101, the most basic Physics course offered in the University and I’m certain you will all pass this subject. Unless you’re like Stiles, here” he gestured behind him where Stiles was sitting who gave a wave and a wide smile when the professor said his name, “who has the attention span of a five year old.” Dr. Deaton smiled as the class laughed when Stiles said a half-hearted ‘Hey!’ to what the professor said. When the students have sobered enough, the professor continued, “We’ll all have a long semester ahead of us, so I suggest you all prepare for everything.” With that, the professor started discussing the syllabus for the semester.

 

Derek chanced a look at Stiles’ direction and saw that the older boy was busy. With Stiles right there every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, it would really be a long semester for him.

Chapter Text

“Kate, why the hell am I wearing this?” Derek asked his best friend with wide eyes as stared at his reflection. He was wearing a white, long-sleeved button-up tucked inside black slacks he didn’t even know he had and a pink (-ish?) vest. To complete the outfit, he had thick-rimmed glasses and a black tie. A freaking. Tie.  He looked like he was about to attend a wedding ceremony.

 

“What? I think it’s cute.” Kate said with a smirk that was full of smugness and satisfaction. Her arms were crossed over his chest, her head tilted to the left and her right knee bent a little, jutting her left hip out. Derek suddenly remembered how evil his best friend could be.

 

Derek whirled around to look at her incredulously; eyebrows raised high, eyes wide. Kate only rolled her eyes. “I look like I’m going to prom. I didn’t even wear anything that resembles this, this,” Derek gestured slightly with his hands, his eyebrows falling into a scowl, “outfit to the prom.” He spit the word as if it personally offended him. Well, it kind of did.

 

Kate simply huffed and rolled her eyes—again because Derek has lost count of how many times Kate rolled her eyes at him—and uncrossed her  arms to rest them on her hips, reminding him of his mom when she was being a firm, and don’t-give-me-that-bullshit type of mom. It was scary.

 

“Don’t be such a baby. We gotta look the part.” Kate replied cheerily as she walked—no, skipped—over to Derek. She fixed his tie (which, no, how can that tie still be fixed when it was very neatly done already?) and ran her hands softly down his chest to straighten any wrinkle on his shirt then patted his chest twice then gently pushed him away, making him sway a little. She tilted her head to one side once more and placed her hands on her hips as she studied her handy work. “There!” She exclaimed. “Now we look ‘the part’.”

 

“What, ‘look the part’ are you talking about?” Derek asked.

 

“We’re MIT students. MIT students are supposed to be, I don’t know, geeky? Nerdy?” Kate replied with a shrug. Derek opened his mouth then closed it again, blinked a few times, wondering where Kate got the idea of MIT students wore clothes he was wearing at the moment. Sure, they were kind of geeky with all the science and math subjects, but he preferred the term ‘intellectually superior’ than geek. Or nerd. Or anything else that referred to highly intellectual people that averagely intellectual people have to strive to comprehend the words they utter. Yeah.

 

Derek finally settled with, “Nerds and geeks don’t dress this way.” and gestured his hands downwards to emphasize his point, which was obviously ignored, if Kate’s raised eyebrow was anything to go by. “Besides, we’ve been here for like, a week, and I’ve never seen a student dressed like this.” If Kate’s ‘and-I-care-because’ face was anything to go by, Kate will probably get what she wanted; whether Derek approved or not. “I am not wearing this.” Derek said, hoping that it sounded firm as he tugged on the tie to remove it then started to unbutton the vest.

 

“You know, Derek,” Kate started as Derek walked towards his bedroom and he seriously, seriously didn’t like Kate’s tone. That tone has always led to nothing but trouble. The mischief danced in that tone and Derek knew that his best friend has planned something evil. “I forgot to tell that I accidentally adjusted the time on your phone. It’s a half hour behind.” Oh, and that fucking smugness in that voice.

 

Derek gritted his teeth together and the words Kate has just said finally registered. He whirled around to face her with wide eyes and exclaimed, “What the fuck?! Kate!” he somehow forgot the fact that the tie was still lose around his neck and the vest was unbuttoned almost halfway through as he ran outside, keys thankfully in hand, and to his car because there was no way he would get to class in time if he walked.

 

When he got to the building, he had five more minutes to spare. He ran quickly and almost passed the room he was supposed to be in, gliding a few feet away past the door. The thing was, when he was by the open door, Stiles was the only one inside the room, who was reading a huge hardbound book on the table.

 

Stiles brows were furrowed deeply, his mouth set to a small pout as his fingers tapped on the table without a specific rhythm (He even has his glasses on!). He did that a lot, tapping his fingers on any hard surface, or bouncing his legs up and down, when he needed to focus on something or when something has taken his interest. Derek found that certain expression of Stiles’ quite adorable. He looked like a five year old was trying to understand everything. And Derek had to shake his head to remove the mental image of a five year old Stiles from his head. It was just too adorable.

 

As if sensing his presence, Stiles looked up from the book he was reading and beamed at Derek when he saw who it was. He put the book down and stood up. “You’re incredibly early.” He said as he stretched, raising his hands over his head, with a groan. His shirt rode up a little, exposing very little of his toned stomach because Stiles loved to wear clothes that are a size or two bigger than him. And Derek did not tilt his head to peak at the sliver of skin that was exposed. Nope. He absolutely did not.

 

At Stiles’ questioning look when he didn’t respond, the words the older man said finally registered to his brain. “What?!” he asked incredulously. Kate said the clock on his phone was half an hour late. It was seven-thirty five on his phones, which meant it was around eight o-five already.

 

Stiles raised an eyebrow and said, “Dude, it’s like, seven thirty-ish. Most students aren’t here until a quarter to eight.”

 

But Kate said . . . “Fuck! I’m going to kill her!” Derek growled as he glared at nothing in particular, thinking of ways to kill his best friend without the risk of getting discovered. He didn’t really like the idea of going to prison. Because jail time would probably suck. And his parents would be disappointed in him. He could just imagine his dad looking at him with disappointed eyes while his mom cried. Laura would probably be proud of him. She never really liked Kate, mostly because they were too much alike; stubborn, annoying, liked to piss him off, enjoyed his pain. Really, it was like the only reason they hated each other was because they were competitors to the never ending contest of ‘Make Derek’s Life Miserable.’ He was just glad they haven’t decided to work together to make his life miserable. More miserable? Les Miserablés? Okay, so that wasn’t supposed to be part of his internal monologue. But it’s his brain, so he was allowed. God, he has never had this kind o internal monologue since his crush on Jackson fucking Whittemore during his freshman year in Beacon Hills high who was his lacrosse captain at the time and who made him realize that he liked dudes more than chicks (Kate was an exception back until he was around twelve-ish to fifteen, who he had a crush on at the time, because they practically grew up together and she was really, really beautiful and smart, okay?). Who was also straight and had a girlfriend who had Martin as a surname. He forgot the girl’s first name.

 

Oh crap. Derek forgot that Stiles was even there. The older boy probably thought he was crazy. Or a serial killer (whatever) with the way he was glowering. He knew his glares were a little too scary (note, remove the ‘little’ part because, in Laura’s words, “Stop being moody, you baby. You look like you’re going to maim someone and no one wants any maiming to happen.”)

 

“My dad’s a police officer, just so you know. I really don’t want to turn you in for murder.” Stiles said amusedly. Obviously he found Derek’s situation funny. It wasn’t. It really wasn’t. Derek glared at him, making him smirk. “Well,” he started with a clap of his hands, “since you’re already here, help me do the final setup for the experiment today.” It was a Friday, so, experiment day, as Dr. Deaton has explained during their first meeting.

 

Derek walked over to his assigned seat to put his bag on his chair. He finally noticed the various apparatus set on every table as Stiles took out a few things from the cabinet by the front corner. The older boy beckoned him to the front to assist him with holding some large beakers. “What’s the experiment for today?” Derek finally asked as he eyed the apparatus setup on the table and the beakers he was holding. Stiles simply smiled and shook his head.

 

The apparatus on the tables made it look like it was a Chemistry class instead of Physics; graduated cylinders, flasks and cork stoppers. And now, the beakers. “It’s a secret.” Stiles finally responded with a wink as he took the beakers from Derek’s hands. He didn’t even realize that Stiles has put various object on the teacher’s table until Stiles took the beakers from him.

 

They were done arranging the setup within five minutes. Derek was already sitting on his assigned seat when he felt Stiles on him. When he looked up, Stiles was staring at him, as if he was seeing Derek for the first time.

 

“What?” Derek asked with a scowl.

 

Stiles blinked a few times, as if just now realizing that he was staring. “Uh, nothing. Busy morning?” the older boy went for nonchalance but Derek can hear the amusement there.

 

“What?” he asked again, confused as to what the older boy found amusing. Stiles gestured at Derek with both hands—though it looked more like flailing—as if that was enough of an explanation. Derek scowled again and looked down at his body and that was when it hit him. His vest was still halfway unbuttoned, his tie was askew, and his button up shirt managed to become slightly rumpled. Jesus! He probably looked like he had been thoroughly debauched, groped, whatever. Shoot! And his hair was messed up because he has been running his fingers through them. “Uh… it’s not what you think.” He suddenly blurted out. Stiles simply raised an eyebrow. “My best friend. She decided to dress me up and I didn’t have the chance to change my clothes because she said my phone was thirty minutes late.” He explained.

 

Stiles’ lips twitched, as if he was about to say something then he seemed to have decided to keep the comment to himself. He beckoned Derek towards him with a finger. Derek walked over to him without much thought. When he reached Stiles, the older boy pulled the two ends of his tie and tied it neatly. Then, he unbuttoned the vest all the way and tugged at Derek’s shirt to remove it from its position being tucked in to Derek’s slacks (without making it feel sexual in any way or form), folded both sleeves a quarter high from his wrists and gently ran his fingers through Derek’s hair, making his hair messy but fixed at the same time. He smiled at his handy work and said. “There!” cheerfully.  And that was when a group of students—around seven people—came in, talking loudly about a show called Supernatural and how awesome it was that Castiel will be there on the ninth season. He walked back to his seat feeling grumpy but happy.

 

0===0

 

When Derek got back to the room he shared with Kate, she was preparing for her one o’clock class. She was drying her hair in front of the mirror with only a towel to cover her body. It was a good thing Derek liked men or else he would’ve done something already. Well, he was actually going to do something because he was going to kill her for making him wear the stupid vest and the stupid long sleeved button up and the stupid tie.

 

Derek glared at Kate, willing her to look at him. When Kate felt that she was being stared at, she turned and looked at her best friend with a smirk on her face. She put the hair dryer down and unplugged it. “You look adorable, Der-bear.” She said and walked over to her closet to grab some clothes. She grabbed some lacy undergarments and put it on without removing the towel around her. Once her bra and panties were settled, she pulled out a white blouse with ruffles in front and a black mini skirt. She removed the towel from around her and wore the blouse then the skirt. Derek would not be ashamed to admit that he didn’t remove his eyes from her. And Kate knew that. They’ve been friends for so long that it didn’t really matter if they see each other half naked (and really naked at times); even during the time Derek had a crush on Kate. “Quit glaring! You know it doesn’t affect me.” Kate snapped as she put her boots on; dark brown that was halfway to her knees and has a bow shaped design on the outer sides.

 

Derek raised the level of his glare to eight, ten being the highest, and didn’t respond immediately. It was for dramatic effect. “Do you have any idea how much I stood out in class?” he asked in a low voice. He saw Kate’s lips twitch, obviously holding a smile. The bitch.

 

“And?” Kate asked amusedly.

 

“I hate you.” Derek muttered it simply walked to his room. He knew it was a fruitless attempt to actually argue with Kate because he’d lose anyway. But at least his manliness was still somehow intact because he put up a fight. Even though it was a losing one. God, he felt pathetic.

 

He shed his clothes off after he put his bag down beside his door. He was down to his boxers when Kate came in to give him a peck on the cheek. He really couldn’t stay angry with her.

 

“What do you want for dinner?” He asked as he put a shirt on.

 

“Doesn’t matter. You’re a god in the kitchen. I still don’t understand why you didn’t choose to be a chef instead.” Kate replied as she rummaged through Derek’s cap collection for something that would go along with her outfit.

 

“How about some pasta? Spaghetti?” He asked, putting some shorts on as Kate finally found the cap she wanted and turned her head from side to side.

 

“Yeah. Ooh.” She whirled and beamed at him, “If we have some chicken, do my favorite. The one you experimented with?” she asked a hopeful glint in her eyes.

 

Derek simply smiled and went over to his desk and opened his laptop. “Sure.”

 

“Okay. Bye.” Kate said as she walked out of Derek’s bedroom and out of their apartment.

Chapter Text

Derek has been at MIT for almost two months now and there were still times that he would feel nostalgia kicking in. He misses the easy banter he had with Laura and sometimes with Luke, their older brother, and the way Diane, the youngest one among the four them, tends to cling to him so much. He also misses the few his friends he made during high school who all chose to stay in California for college while some chose to work. It’s kind of unsettling, being away from everything he has been used to.

 

Derek is currently in his Physics class, not very interested in the lesson for the first time. He’s doodling on his notebook while one hand is cradling his face. He wishes to be back in the classroom he has gotten used to, even if it’s Harris’ class, it doesn’t matter. He just wants to be back in Beacon Hills, where everyone he loves is living.

 

Just as he is about to draw the eyes on the wolf he’s sketching, Stiles puts a booklet on his desk. Derek flinches from surprise and he swears he saw Stiles smirk before he moved on to the desk behind him. Derek frowns (read: pouts) and opens the booklet, flipping through the pages to see how he did on the quiz last week. (Doctor Deaton told them on the first day of classes that they are going to have their quizzes on a booklet.). There are three incorrect answers. Derek checks the questions and his solutions, realizes that he wrote the wrong numbers in the middle of his solution, giving him the wrong answer. All of those mistakes were due to the same reason. There is a note at the end in Stiles’ handwriting (since he checks most quizzes) saying, “Check your solutions twice. ;) -S” Derek can’t help the smile on his face. Among his classmates, he later figured out that he’s the only one who receives random notes from Stiles.

 

“Ugh! I hope he’d write something on mine, too.” Erica, the girl sitting beside him, and someone who eventually became his friend, and someone who possibly has the biggest crush on Stiles, says. She has a huge crush on Stiles and she’s currently taking Chemical Engineering as her course.

 

Derek snorts then shoots her a smirk. “The only reason he’s been giving me these notes is because I was the first student he befriended and, as you can see, the only one because we’ve all been busy.”

 

Erica rolls her at him and says, “Please, I just found out he’s friends with my brother, ergo, we’re friends. And I tried talking to him. He just smiled and patted my head.” Erica pouts and touches the top of her head, as if trying to remember how, exactly, Stiles patted her.

 

“You were basically shoving your boobs in his face. That’s not exactly talking.” Then something in what Erica said made him ask, “Your brother and Stiles are friends?”

 

“Yeah, my older brother, Isaac. I think you’ve met him before.” Erica muses, frowning a little as she lets her eyes to roll upwards.

 

“The tall blonde guy? Yeah, I’ve met him when he picked you up from my place.” Derek says. “Why are you so invested on him, anyway?” Derek asks, not letting Erica confirm that yes, that was her brother.

 

Erica simply widens her eyes on him, incredulity evident in her face as she says, “Are you seriously asking me why Stiles, Mr. Hottie TA of this class, is the very object of my affections?” Erica places a hand over her chest, right above her heart and gasps. Derek simply rolls his eyes at her. “Are you sure you’re gay? Because I’m pretty sure even the straight guys in this class sees Stiles as a very, very tasty meat.” Erica bites her lower lip in the most seductive way she could do, which doesn’t really take much effort, and looks at Stiles who is now back on his seat on the desk on one corner in front.

 

Derek raises an eyebrow at her then looks at Stiles as well. Sure, objectively, Stiles is hot especially for someone who wears that many articles of clothing, some of his built muscles still show, especially his forearms. He’s pretty sure Stiles would look even hotter with tighter shirts and jeans, clothes that would obviously compliment he’s physique even more. Maybe Stiles would look better naked, on Derek’s bed, with his legs wrapped around Derek’s waist—and Derek realizes he should probably stop that train of thought because he’s pretty sure that the blood that didn’t rush south is slowly rushing to his face. Also, Erica’s looking at him with that knowing smirk that he would really love to wipe out of her face.

 

“Shut up, Reyes.” Derek growls lowly, making Erica snort but let it go.

 

0===0

 

To say that the day has been tiring is an understatement; it has been downright exhausting. All Derek wants to do now is take a shower—after cooling off, of course—then fall into his bed, face first, and sleep, and sleep, and sleep. It’s a Friday so he doesn’t need to work on any of his homework until tomorrow morning. But of course, things don’t always go as planned, especially if you’re one Derek Hale.

 

“Derek, let’s go out!” Kate jumps on him after he has face planted on his bed, straddling his back. Derek grunts as a response and tries to wriggle to shake Kate off. “Come on, Dere-bear! It’s Friday! Both of us don’t have classes tomorrow. My friends invited us to go to Muddy Charles. I think one of them has a crush on you.” Kate shakes his shoulder as she bounces up and down, shaking the whole bed in the process.

 

“No!” Derek protests and wriggles some more, hoping that he would be able to dislodge Kate.

 

“Derek!” Kate whines. “I may never have a free Saturday after this one cancellation. Please.” Kate rolls down to lie beside him. Derek’s pretty sure she’s giving him the puppy dog eyes that doesn’t work on him. Nope. Her puppy dog eyes will never, ever, ever work on Derek Hale.

 

“We’re not even legal to drink.” Derek retorts. He turns his head to one side and glares, suddenly remembering an incident at the Jungle almost a year ago, with fake IDs, raised brows from the town sheriff, and being grounded for one month. “We don’t have sheriff Stilinski here to just raise an eyebrow on us and call our parents.”

 

“Pfft.” Kate dismisses with a wave of her hand. “Angela said they don’t check the ID anyways.” Derek raises an eyebrow at that. “She’s there basically every Friday. And besides, it’s exclusively for MIT students.”

 

And that is why Derek is now sitting with Kate’s friends drinking some beer (which is really cheap, by the way, which great because it still tastes good). One of Kate’s friends—Sarah, Ciara… Tiara?—has been trying to get his attention since they arrived half an hour ago. Derek can feel Kate’s amusement at the scene as Derek glares at everything.

 

“You look really hot in a leather jacket, by the way.” Sarah—Ciara…Tiara???—tells him shyly. Derek simply raises an eyebrow at her and takes a sip of his beer. He’s the designated driver because between him and Kate, he’s the one with a car. Figures.

 

“Katherine Jane Argent.” Derek hears a familiar voice and his head whips around to look for the source. And there he is, looking at Kate with an amused smile as Kate squeals and runs over to him.

 

“Oh my god, Stiles!” Kate hugs Stiles tightly that Derek thinks she might strangle him. But Stiles simply laughs and hugs Kate just as tightly. Then, as if sensing eyes on him, Stiles turns his head, finally seeing Derek. Stiles’ smile grew wider. Derek waves at him; Stiles winks, making Derek blush slightly and duck his head to hide a soft smile. The girl who has been flirting with him (whose name he really can’t remember) seems to realize that Derek prefers a partner with a firm chest and not soft breasts. She flushes a little, probably feeling embarrassed because she has been flirting with someone who is obviously not interested in a girl.

 

“I didn’t know you were friends with my favorite student.” Derek hears Stiles say as he and Kate moves closer to their table. Derek looks up, just in time to catch Stiles’ smirk at him and Kate’s amused eyes. He remembers too late that he’s been talking about Stiles for a long while now. He may have never said a name, but Stiles is a pretty uncommon name, which would just lead to Kate connecting the dots. He always refers to Stiles as ‘the TA with a weird name.’

 

“Not just friends.” Kate says with a knowing smirk. Derek glares at her.

 

“Boyfriend?” Stiles asks before Kate can continue. Derek thinks he hears disappointment in Stiles’ tone but brushed it off as nothing. Derek chokes on nothing as Kate grimaces. “What?” Stiles asks, now confused.

 

“Ew. We’re like, siblings. I feel violated just thinking of kissing Derek.” Kate makes a face at Derek.

 

Derek rolls his eyes at her and says, “Thanks for the boost of confidence, honey bunch.” and raises the beer bottle in his hand. He hears some choked out laughter from beside him and suddenly remembers that they’re with Kate’s friends. From his peripheral vision, Derek can see Stiles smirk at his and Kate’s usual teasing.

 

“Oh, Der-bear,” Okay, Der-bear is really low, even for Kate. Kate puts a hand over her chest for dramatic effect before she continues, “I you love your leather jacket more than you love me, that’s why we will never work.” She shakes her head slowly, feigning tears.

 

“Well, you love your leather boots more than you love me. I guess we’re even now.” Derek says dryly and raises an eyebrow as they stare at each other. Then, as if on cue, they both start laughing loudly. Leather clothes are one of the things that are very common between Derek and Kate and somehow, it has become like an inside joke between the two of them. Kate likes leather boots because she finds it comfortable to wear and stylish at the same time. Derek likes wearing leather jackets because his father used to wear it when he and his siblings were younger.

 

“I’m pretty sure I’d rather not find out why you guys are laughing about.” Stiles says, looking from Kate to Derek.

 

“It’s not really funny, actually.” Derek says with a smile.

 

“We just like to tease each other due to our love for leather.” Kate continues with a shrug. Stiles nods slowly in understanding. “Oh, by the way. These are our” Derek suddenly clears his throat and looks at Kate with a raised brow, making Kate sigh and roll her eyes, “my friends. Angela, Michael, Natalie, Anna” she points at the girl at the other end of their table first, then closer to her end. “And the girl beside Derek’s Cara,” okay, so her name’s not exactly among the names Derek had in his head. “followed by Anthony and Alice.” Natalie, Angela, and Alice give Stiles a flirty smile, Michael looks him over and smiles appreciatively with a raised brow. Both Anthony and Anna simply roll their eyes. Cara sits timidly beside Derek. “Guys, this is Stiles. He’s—” just then, the sound of an electric guitar rang off, obviously coming from a phone, cutting Kate off. Derek saw Stiles pat the back pocket of his jeans with both hands then take a phone out with the right as the sound got louder. The sound comes from Stiles’ phone.

 

“Yeah?” Stiles says once he’s taken the call and puts his free hand on his hips. “Shit! Sorry. I got sidetracked.” Stiles glances at Kate. “Yeah. No. Sorry. I just saw mini you who isn’t so mini anymore!” Stiles exclaims with a bright smile, which made Kate roll her eyes at him. Stiles simply winks at her. Stiles suddenly pulls his phone away from his ear with a muttered curse. “Stop shouting at me.” Stiles says on the mouthpiece with his phone in front of him. Even Derek can hear the voice of a girl—who’s either pissed or excited—from where he’s sitting. Stiles puts his phone by his ear once more once the voice from the other end has calmed down. “No! Lyds… No. She’s… Lydia. Ugh! Fine.” Stiles finally pulls away from his phone and looks at it as if it has personally offended him. “Is it okay if we join you guys?” Stiles asks the group in general with wide, hopeful eyes. “Danny and Boyd couldn’t make it because they have an out of school trip starting tomorrow. There’ll only be, like, four of us.”

 

The whole group shares a look—except for Derek—and Anthony shrugs and says, “Sure.”, making Stiles smile widely.

 

“Cool, thanks!” Stiles types in a text to his friends, probably confirming the acceptance.

 

“Who are the other two with you and Lydia?” Kate asks as she and Stiles sits down—Kate opposite of Derek while Stiles sits beside him.

 

“Jacks and Isaac.” Stiles replies easily with a smile. Kate shoots Derek a smirk—an evil one.

 

“Douchebag Whittemore?” Kate asks. Derek then remembers that Jackson was called as Douchebag Whittemore by the lower classmen who dislikes—not disliked—him back in high school.

 

“Yeah. Why?” Stiles asks with a confused frown on his face.

 

“Derek played lacrosse with him during our freshman year in Beacon Hills High.” Kate explains.

 

“Wait. You’re from Beacon Hills?” Stiles asks Derek with wide eyes. “How come I’ve never seen you? And believe me, dude, even if I only go back during the summer, I know everyone.”

 

Derek opens his mouth to respond, but Kate interrupts before he can say a word. “He’s Doctor Hale’s third kid. He doesn’t go out much even if he was Mr. Popular in high school. You mean you’re the TA for his class but didn’t he’s a Hale?”

 

“I thought Diane was the third kid? Also, I knew  he’s a Hale, I just didn’t know he’s one of the Hales.” Stiles replies.

 

“Nope. She’s the youngest but Derek’s the third one.”

 

“Huh.” Stiles says thoughtfully. “How come I’ve never met you? I go home every summer.” Stiles addresses Derek.

 

“I go to various summer camps every summer.” Derek replies with a shrug. Stiles simply nods at the explanation given to him. “If it’s any consolation, I have no idea who you are either.” Derek adds and takes another sip of his beer. Stiles laughs.

 

“I used to be known as the ‘sheriff’s kid’. When my dad remarried, he adopted my stepmom’s son and she adopted me, I became the ‘older Stilinski’.” Stiles shrugs.

 

“You’re Scott’s older brother? The older brother he likes to boast about?” Derek asks. “You’ve been with us for around two months now and I never knew you were a Stilinski.”

 

Stiles snorts and says with pride in his voice, “I’m the batman to the kid’s Robin.” making Derek smile.

 

Kate and Stiles start talking, catching up with everything they missed in each other’s lives. Derek is now talking to Cara because she isn’t flirting to him anymore and she’s a really good to talk to. All of them starts having their own conversation when Jackson arrives with his girlfriend from high school, the girlfriend who now Derek realizes is Lydia. Erica’s older brother, Isaac is walking with them with an air of confidence that doesn’t look smug.

 

When the trio finally reaches the table, Stiles, Kate, and Derek stand up. Derek, to greet Jackson who saw him a few feet away, Kate to hug Lydia and Stiles to greet Isaac and give Lydia a kiss on the cheek.

 

“I didn’t know you’re studying here, Hale.” Jackson says with as a smile as they all sit back down. Derek simply shrugs with a smile.

 

Kate introduces Lydia and Jackson while Stiles introduces Isaac. Soon enough, they all had their own conversations, laughter all around them and some drinks are shared. And, as usual, Derek feels left out. It’s not that they didn’t try to include him, he’s just somehow who prefers to observe everyone else. He doesn’t trust people easily because that way, there are fewer people who will have the ability to hurt him. He studies people, who he sees can be trusted and someone who will never turn their backs when he needs them.

 

So that’s how the night went and eventually ended; Derek watching (glaring, according to Kate) everything while the rest of the group had fun. Some worried glances may have been thrown his way from Stiles, but he knows he’s okay.

Chapter Text

DESTINY (Interlude)

Stiles has been going over and over with the exercise Dr. Deaton has given him and he still couldn’t get it right. Granted, it was much more difficult than his other exercises and required more energy, but it still frustrated him. He has never taken this long to perfect something in a long while. The last time was when he was five and—

 

Stiles shook his head hard, erasing the thoughts of his dead mother and the sound of a laughing old man. He has to get this right so he could finally get some rest because it was past one in the morning and he has an eight o’clock class tomorrow (or today, rather). Creating electricity was a lot trickier than he thought. And Dr. Deaton’s ways of teaching him were trickier than said exercise.

 

He was currently glaring at the radio that was still playing in front of him. Dr. Deaton started teaching him how to stop the flow of electrons, cutting the electricity, because it would be more useful and it should be easier than creating it first hand. But no matter how hard he tried, the radio wouldn’t turn off. On his first try, the radio and the socket exploded. Easier his ass. He could control the dial and turn it off but that would be cheating. He could’ve just pulled the plug as well, actually cutting off the electricity. But he had to actually learn to manipulate whatever amount of electricity was running through.

 

It was hard, focusing all his energy that way, to toy with electric current. He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply through his nose and slowly released the air through his mouth. He opened his eyes, slowly, and let his mind do the work once more, playing the current, hopefully cutting its flow towards the radio to shut it down. His nose was starting to bleed, but he let it be. Tonight wasn’t the first time it happened.

 

The sound of the radio was starting to stutter, as if the flow was actually holding off, even for the shortest second. Then, the radio remained silent. Stiles held his breath for a while, waiting for the sound to come back up. When that didn’t happen, he let the breath go as his nose bled even more, letting the current flow back and the radio play once more.

 

Stiles fell on his knees, the exhaustion from trying to perform the exercise without breaks was finally taking its toll on him. He was panting as he let his hands fall to the floor as well. As he finally caught his breath, he wiped the blood off his nose with the back of his hand. The metallic taste has reached his tongue and he slowly stood up to get to his bag to get some tissue.

 

Once his face was clear of blood, he took his bag and the papers he needed for tomorrow’s class, unplugged the radio and put it back on the cabinet where Dr. Deaton kept it. He checked the room over, looking for any plugged electronics or if anything was amiss. When he was sure that everything was good, he got out of the room to get to his jeep to drive back to his room, hoping to have some peaceful sleep before Dr. Deaton’s Physics class. He could have flown, but that would be weird during the day and he was feeling weak already.

 

When he was already lying on his bed after a short shower and a small snack, he couldn’t stop his mind from drifting to the past, when his mother was still alive. He remembered the way she would laugh whenever he did silly things with his ability, his powers. He remembered the way she would let his toys fly overhead so he could practice flying, so that he could be as quick as she was in time. He remembered the way she would enclose his hand with her own, look at him with a glint of amusement in her eyes, then make something appear in his palms, making him gasp and bounce giddily from where he was sat on her lap. He missed (misses) everything about her and there was nothing he could do about it. She was still part human, despite her angelic heritage, which unfortunately, equated to her being somehow a mortal, someone who may be killed.

 

It was amazing, though, that her mother, Daniel Stilinski, was thousands of years old but she looked so young when she had him. She said it was because she was a first generation Nephilim, the first of their kind, and her mother was the archangel Gabriel. First generation nephilims were almost angels themselves, but with certain restrictions. But they had the chance to become angels themselves, if they chose to be. Or so his mother has said.

 

Stiles missed how his mother’s flowing dark brown locks would fall by her waist or fly with the wind, how it framed her beautiful face. He could still see her brown orbs filled with love whenever she looked at him or at his father who was a deputy at the time. He knew everything about him was a replica of his mother, which was why it was hard for him to look in the mirror in the early days of her death. His father, former Deputy Nathaniel Stilinski and now Sheriff Nathaniel Stilinski, was different, though. Stiles knew his father stared at him and studied him because he was the only remnant of his dead wife. And Stiles was okay with that.

 

After almost three years of his mother’s death, the new Sheriff got closer to one Melissa McCall who was a nurse at Beacon Hills Hospital and had an almost two year old son named Scott. Scott’s father, Paul Bryans, left Melissa when he found out that she was pregnant and didn’t even look back, leaving his girlfriend and mother of his child alone. And Melissa didn’t look for him

 

Stiles remembered being curious, at one point, where Scott’s daddy was when Nathan and Melissa started dating and she would occasionally come to their house with Scott in tow or vice-versa. He remembered her sad smile as she said, “He’s not here because he’s not a good daddy for Scott.” Stiles just sat beside her, playing with a two year old Scott as he mulled it over. That was the day he decided he would be the best big brother Scott could ever had and make sure his daddy would become Scott’s daddy, too, because his daddy was (is) awesome.

 

Nathan and Melissa got married three months before Stiles’ twelfth birthday and a month and a half before Scott’s. Then when Stiles turned twelve, Dr. Deaton arrived back in Beacon Hills.

 

Dr. Deaton—Alan, as Daniel has called him—was a close friend of Stiles’ mother and was (is) a first generation nephilim, one even older than his mother, who taught the younger generations of nephilims. He taught them to either become warriors, guardians, or keepers.

 

The warriors were those who gained their parents’ ‘immortality’, as they have taken to calling it though it was simply a stunted aging process, and could manipulate weapons better than they can manipulate their natural abilities, powers. They were trained in case a war breaks out. The guardians were those who have natural talents when it came to manipulating their natural abilities or had parents as guardians. Though, guardians of what, Stiles had no idea. They age the same way a human would but they can learn to withhold the normal aging process, if they so desired. The keepers, though, were the unique ones. They were basically powerless but knew how to fight well. They age the same way a human would, like the guardians, but they had more knowledge than a human could ever imagine to comprehend and learned at a faster pace. Those traits have set them aside from humanity. The keepers’ role was to keep balance, hunt beasts that kill humans, that disrupt the natural order. That was the origin of the human hunters. Chris Argent, a family friend and Kate Argent’s father, was (is) a keeper. But that would be a story for another time.

 

When Alan arrived on Stiles’ twelfth birthday, the boy wasn’t even surprised. He knew that young nephilims like him, second generation or so, came of age at the age of eleven. It was the time when they would be given the classification of a warrior, a guardian, or a keeper. With Stiles’ natural ability, he was obviously a guardian.

 

The day Alan arrived was still clear in Stiles’ mind. His birthday party has just come to an end. The only people left were his own family and the Argents; Chris, his wife, Victoria, and his kids, Kate and Allison. Kate was nine at the time while Allison was seven, a full year older than Scott.

 

Chris asked his wife to take the kids out for a while, for there was still a test that had to be done before Stiles started his training, of course there was. Then a spell for binding was needed, for what, Stiles still didn’t know. All of the adults knew about nephilims and every other creature that weren’t entirely human, if they even had a human part in them.

 

After Victoria left with the children, they all went down to the basement that was only kept in the Stilinski—McCall-Stilinski, Stiles corrected in his mind—household for that purpose. Sigils were already carved on the floor, done by Daniel herself after giving birth to Stiles, to one Gershem Cannael Stilinski.

 

The three nephilims—Alan, Stiles, and Chris—stood inside the biggest sigil present in the basement, one with a lot of complicated enochian words encased in a circle. Stiles remembered how he had wondered how his mother did the carvings herself. Chris was there to anchor Stiles once Alan had to do the test and the spell.

 

“Before we start,” Alan had said as he crouched down to be of eye level with Stiles. Chris’ hands were a comfort on his shoulders behind him. “Did you give Scott some of your grace?” The question was asked in a calm manner. Stiles heard Melissa gasp from behind but didn’t bother looking back at her. He knew she knew because it was an emergency.

 

Chris gently squeezed his shoulders, encouraging him to answer. Stiles frowned and said defensively, explaining without being asked for one, “He was having an asthma attack and our babysitter was too busy with someone on the phone and I can’t find his inhaler. He was going to die.”

 

Alan simply smiled and said, “I’m just asking if you did.” Stiles nodded but the frown remained on his face. “The grace is still there.” Alan said with smile, as if he was waiting for Stiles to understand something. Then, as if a bulb was suddenly lit, Stiles’ eyes widen, realizing what it meant the grace to stay within Scott. Alan’s smile widened.

 

“Will he be…” Stiles trailed off, remembering his mother’s stories about the different nephilims. The one story in particular that applied that moment was the story about the nephilims created simply by an angel’s grace while the mother carried the child in the womb. Those nephilims were the typical ones because angels were forbidden to lay with humans. Only four angels got away with laying with a human and Gabriel was one of them.

 

“He’s already one.” Alan has said, smile still intact.

 

“Does that make me his dad?” Stiles asked with a grimace. Alan chuckled at that.

 

“No. We can say that you’re,” Alan paused, as if he was thinking of a way to phrase it, then went with, “we can say that you’re his creator.” At Stiles’ questioning look, he continued, “Take a broken toy for example,” he waved a toy over, one that has been broken for almost three years now, and presented it in front of Stiles, “It’s broken and you have no idea to fix it. Instead of fixing it, you took a few parts of another toy,” he waved another toy over, “then combined the two of them, adding a few parts to the one you just broke.” The toys floated into the air, one giving its parts to the other, creating one different toy. The new toy landed back to Alan’s hands while the other one with still broken parts went back to the shelves. “The parts you added to the new toy represent your grace, the broken toy represents the person you’ve given your grace to, to mend them. Do you understand?” Stiles nodded, understanding what Alan was trying to say.

 

After that conversation, the only things that Stiles could remember were pain, white lights and Chris telling Melissa and his dad to turn around, to not look at the bright light that came out of Alan and Stiles.

 

Stiles now lay in his dorm room, still awake as the memories flooded him, memories of how he had to come with Deaton to study, to train, because Beacon Hills was holding his abilities back, the memories of his mother making his powers almost idle unless needed. That was the reason he hardly went home. For the first time, though, he would be going home for winter break, and celebrate Christmas and New Year’s Day with them. That time of the year may be the most painful to him, but he knew he can handle it now.

Chapter Text

It’s been more or less two weeks since Derek went out with Kate and her friends, and, in turn, with Stiles and Jackson’s friends. Stiles has been asking him to hang out every now and then. The first time they hung out was during one of his breaks, which just happens to be the end of Stiles’ lectures and classes. He met Danny and Boyd (not his first name) that time. Lydia was also there. Derek realized that Lydia’s a permanent thing in Stiles’ life.

 

Everything was actually okay at first. It wasn’t too awkward for Derek because Stiles has been talking to him and him alone. Then Lydia started talking to Stiles about Deaton’s lessons, advanced once that were not discussed to the freshmen yet. Stiles tried his best to include him, Derek knew that, even Danny tried to include him because he was simply a nice guy, but Derek was never really good at socializing, making him feel left out.

 

It was the third time this week that Derek declined Stiles’ invitation to hang out because he knew one of Stiles’ friends will be there and he wouldn’t be able to relate. He has been avoiding Stiles, as well, not really knowing how to say no to Stiles’ eager eyes. It just felt lonely, being in a group of people yet still feeling alone. That was why Derek didn’t have a lot of friends in high school and sometimes, preferred to be alone. Kate was one of the very few who actually became his real friend, part of that was because he and Kate grew up together when he returned permanently to Beacon Hills from New York when he was nine, and then they were basically inseparable after. Add to that all the summers they spent together even years before that.

 

He liked being with Stiles, though. It was comfortable when it was just the two of them, even for a few minutes. That was the only reason Derek used to agree to hang out with Stiles, because he actually liked hanging out with the guy. Although, looking back, it seemed kind of pathetic.

 

“You’re moping.” Kate suddenly said, snapping him out of his thoughts. It was stated in a very matter-of-factly tone that Derek couldn’t help but role his eyes with a sigh.

 

“No, I’m not.”

 

“Yes, you are.” Kate said slowly, challenging.

 

“No.”

 

“Yes.”

 

“No.”

 

“Yes.”

 

“No.”

 

“Yes.”

 

“No.”

 

“Yes.”

 

“Shut up!” Derek said with a glare. Kate has that mischievous glint in her eyes as she leaned forward on the table. They were supposed to be studying, but Derek couldn’t stop his mind from wandering at the moment.

 

“Yes. You are moping.” Kate said with a smirk.

 

“No.”

 

“Yes.”

 

“No.”

 

“Yes.”

 

“No.”

 

“No.”

 

“Yes. Fuck!” Derek suddenly growled, slamming his hands on the table then leaning back on his chair as he crossed his arms across his chest, frowning hard, as Kate burst out laughing, clutching her sides as tears formed at the sides of her eyes.

 

“Oh my God!” Kate said as her laughter turned to giggles, “I can’t believe you still fall for that!” Derek glared at her, hoping that it would actually have an effect on her. Unfortunately, Kate was never affected by anything Derek did. “Oh God. Wait ‘til Laura finds out.” Derek suddenly remembered that even though Laura and Kate hated each other (there were no other words for their feelings for each other), they were practically best friends when it came to Derek’s miserably pathetic life (yes, that was an exaggeration. Shut up.). They tell each other stories of how they managed to piss Derek off, to make his life hard (HORRIBLE!), or simply to make him feel stupid afterwards. And he wasn’t stupid. At all. Hello, one of the top students in high school.

 

“I hate you.” Derek said, matter-of-factly, hoping it sounded as scary as he wanted it to be. But because he was Derek fucking Hale, it wasn’t even close to the scare level he wanted it to reach. Damn it!

 

“We were like, eight—”

 

“Six.” Derek corrected grudgingly.

 

“—six when you last fell for that.”

 

Derek glared harder, the kind that made most people cower and run on the opposite direction (or at least not look at him in the eye). As usual, Kate was immune.

 

Kate simply waggled her eyebrows and slowly got out of her chair along with her book and phone then slinked back to her own bedroom, making sure to lock the door. She was probably dialing Laura right at that moment. Derek let his head hit the table with a groan, knowing Laura will call him soon just to laugh at him.

 

0===0

 

Derek sighed loudly as he put his bag down then flopped down on his bed, face down. He didn’t know why, but Dr. Deaton’s class seemed to be harder when Stiles wasn’t around. No, he didn’t have a crush on Stiles, shut up, Kate. He was looking forward to their winter vacation so that he could go home and annoy the shit out of Laura and maybe have Diane help him. They both loved to annoy Laura. Luke usually stared at them with amusement in his eyes. Hopefully Uncle Peter would be home, too and they’ll have cool gifts from him.

 

Derek used to live with Uncle Peter when he was in New York because he basically fell in love with the city when he was younger. He didn’t really know what his four year old self was thinking begging his parents to let him stay in New York. They only agreed because Peter talked to them and Derek brought out the puppy eyes and yes he could do the puppy eyes, shut up Laura, and that Derek had to come home every summer which was a lost cause in the end because he usually stayed in his room and read and just came out of his room whenever he felt hungry and only had the chance to actually talk his family during dinner because his father required that they all eat together (he played with Diane sometimes when she came to be and still annoyed Laura and Luke but he never went out with them) or when they have the few camping trips in the preserve. Since Peter also had a business in New York, he decided to stay there for a few years to stay with Derek. But time eventually came that he had to travel a lot once more, leaving Derek alone, and then it was agreed that it was best that Derek finally stayed permanently in Beacon Hills until he graduated high school. He reluctantly agreed to go home but then the summer camps started and he usually went, just because he wanted something different.

 

He was (is) close to his family, don’t get him wrong, and he usually felt nostalgia kicking in when he didn’t see them much when he was in New York but he was a kid and could be entertained by basically anything. He just didn’t like the other people his family hung out with because they were strangers to him. The family trips were great if it was just them but he never went out with them to social gatherings.

 

Derek sighed and turned to lie on his back. He stared up at his ceiling, wondering if he’d actually want to drive for two days straight (or slightly more) to get home. He and Kate have been on road trips before so it could be okay. But he really wanted to get home as soon as possible and didn’t want to waste some money on gas. So plane it is.

 

Derek sat up and grabbed his laptop to book a flight to California. Both he and Kate still had two more weeks of classes. He eventually decided on booking one for Kate as well. After booking two flights, he took his bag to start on his homework.

 

0===0

 

Two weeks passed by quickly and soon enough, he found himself back in his childhood room with a duffel bag and a backpack by his feet. He could smell the scent of old books, which consisted of books from when he was younger up until now and some were books his great grandparents had had. He can also smell the scent of leather from the jacket or two that he left at home, the smell of old wood that was the furniture in their house and the faint but distinct smell of honey that he knew was his distinct scent (Laura has told him enough times that he smelled of that). He was glad to be home and can’t help the smile on his face even though he still had some unpacking to do then some homework to finish soon so that he could enjoy his stay at home. Unfortunately, Diane had other plans.

 

“Hey, Derek!” Diane, his youngest sister, said cheerfully. Derek simply rolled his eyes.

 

“What?” He asked flatly without turning to face his sister. If he worked hard and quickly enough, he could finish all of his homework by tomorrow. Also, if he had no distractions.

 

“I just wanted to say hi to my favorite big brother.” Diane said as she bounced into his room and wrapped her arms over his shoulders, her forearms settling on his chest. Derek sighed softly and rubbed one of Diane’s forearms before he continued to do his homework. The kid had always had him wrapped around her little fingers.

 

“Let me finish this then we can hang out. I’ll probably be done by tomorrow afternoon, okay?”

 

“Hmm. ‘Mkay.” Diane hummed as she nuzzled his face. Derek couldn’t help the smirk on his face.

 

“Diane?”

 

“Yeah?”

 

“You have to let me go so I can finish my homework.” He replied, amused at his sister. Diane whines softly and hugged him tighter. He and Diane had always been closest among the Hale siblings. “Tell you what. I’ll work as fast as I could, hopefully be able to finish at least half of this then we’ll hang out after dinner. Deal?” He said with a smile. He felt his sister sigh softly and let him go.

 

“Okay. But I’m staying in your room until then.” When Derek was about to say that he needed to be alone, she said, “I promise I’ll be really quiet.” She looked at him with huge puppy-like hazel eyes. And how was Derek supposed to say no to that?

 

“Fine. Behave yourself or else I’ll never finish any work.” Diane gave him a salute with a cheeky smile and moved to Derek’s bookshelf to get something to read. Derek was able to finish more than half of his school work by the time dinner rolled around. It has been the Hale family’s habit to at least eat dinner together at seven.

 

Diane was pretty quiet, which was surprising. He looked over at his sister on his bed and saw that the kid was already asleep. He smiled softly and started putting his things away. After he has put his things away, he went over to his bed to wake his sister, knowing that by the time it was a quarter before seven, they’d have to go downstairs to help their mom set the table.

 

Derek went over to his bed to shake his sister awake. “Mmm. Five more minutes.” Diane slurred as she burrowed deeper into Derek’s bed. Derek snorted at his sister’s reaction. He then leaned down, close to her ear and roughly blew some air out, waking her up instantly and almost hitting his face. Derek fell on the floor laughing. Diane was pouting at him from the bed with her arms crossed across her chest. “Mean.” She whined. As Derek’s laughter turned into soft chuckles.

 

“Sorry. We gotta head down now.” He replied as he stood up, smiling at his younger sister. Diane held up her hands, an obvious sign that she wanted to be carried. Derek rolled his eyes but knelt down in front of the bed with his back to his sister, his hands at his sides prepared to hold Diane’s thighs and heft her up. Diane squealed and quickly jump on Derek’s back, making him grunt then laugh softly. Derek ran quickly while squealed as they trudged downstairs. His mother looked at them amusedly while his father rolled his eyes at them. Laura started to run around with them, after putting the placemats down, squealing as well. Luke came in to see what was happening and simply raised an eyebrow then shrugged. He went over their mother to help her get the food. Ones the table was set, their mother told them to wash their hands and get to the table so that they could all eat. As they ate dinner, they asked Derek how his first day at MIT was, if he has made any friends, if he found the subjects difficult or not with which he replied with, it was okay; yes, Erica and Stiles, the sheriff’s son, do you remember him?; and at least they were challenging enough.

 

After dinner, Diane and Derek volunteered to wash the dishes. Their mother didn’t believe in dishwashers because she felt that the dishes wouldn’t be as clean as hand-washed dishes. Derek soaped while Diane rinsed. They left it to dry in the rack before Derek made good on his promise to hang out.

 

0===0

 

Three days after Derek got home from MIT, he was standing in the grocery store, debating which cereal to buy when he heard a familiar laughter. He looked up and saw Stiles from the other end of the aisle. (And Derek has to stop thinking of aisles and Stiles waiting at the other end for him with a fond smile. Nope. Stopping that thought.) His head was thrown back, the long line of his neck exposed and his eyes closed. Derek was mesmerized. He didn’t realize he was staring until, in the corner of his eye, he saw someone nudge Stiles, making the older man look at him. Stiles’ smile widened, if that was even possible at the moment, when he saw Derek. He walked swiftly towards him with someone with dark brown hair in tow, pushing their cart.

 

“Derek!” Stiles exclaimed when he was close enough. Derek realized soon after that Scott was the one trailing behind him. He smiled at the younger boy who has that same old puppyish smile that he has then looked back at Stiles.

 

“I didn’t know you were home.” Derek said.

 

“Yeah, well,” Stiles shrugged, “I haven’t been home in a while.” He looked at Scott who was beaming at him.

 

“We’re gonna play lacrosse tomorrow! You wanna join?” Scott exclaimed happily that Derek couldn’t help but smile back.

 

“I’ll ask my parents. Where are you guys going to play?”

 

“Probably at the clearing in the preserve.” Stiles answered. “You know that place?”

 

“Yeah. The preserve’s practically our backyard, so.” Derek replied with a shrug. He remembered playing in that clearing when they were little, chasing each other while whoever were the adults in charge watched them. They haven’t been in that clearing in a while.

 

Stiles smiled widely and said, “Cool. Meet us there at ten when you get the permission.” Derek nodded with a smile. Scott beamed then seemed to suddenly remember that they were supposed to be doing some actual grocery shopping and told his brother so. They walked away with a wave and smiles on their faces. Derek knew his mom would be cool with it. It was still polite to ask permission, though.

 

0===0

 

When Derek got home, his mom was in the kitchen baking some cookies. As he set the grocery bags on the counter to start on putting them in their proper place, his mom gave him a smile and a peck on the forehead. “Hey mom?” Derek started as he put the groceries away. His mom hummed her acknowledgement. “Can I go to the clearing tomorrow? Stiles asked me to play with him and Scott.”

 

His mom hummed then said, “Nathan’s kids?” which Derek returned with a simple ‘yeah’. His mom was quiet for a while then said, “Just be sure to be home before dinner, okay? Maybe you should invite them for dinner.”

 

“I’ll ask them.” Derek replied as he finished putting away the last grocery away. He went over to his mom and gave her a half-hug with a muttered, ‘thanks, mom’. His mom simply hummed her acknowledgement.

 

0===0

 

Derek arrived about ten minutes earlier than the agreed time, since the clearing was basically their backyard. He twirled his lacrosse stick around for a while, pretending it was a double-edged sword, like when he was younger, goofing off, pretending that he was a warrior as he let his eyes slide shut. It was fun and actually good for his arms. He remembered play fighting with Laura and Luke. They always let him win until he turned fourteen.

 

Derek didn’t realize he was moving, feet seemingly dancing along with his hands. There was a smile on his face, thinking about his childhood. Diane was too young at the time to be able to play with them, so she was always cheering instead. Both his parents watched them with fond expressions and sometimes, when Uncle Peter was there, he would play along as well. Derek felt somewhat nostalgic. They were all starting to have their own lives. Uncle Peter continuously traveled, Luke was already living on his own in an apartment in town, ready to propose to his girlfriend, Laura was only around during weekends, Diane was still young but soon enough, she, too, would move one, he, on the other hand, didn’t exactly live in the house anymore and was preparing for a life of his own once he graduated. He was sure his parents were quite prepared for whatever may happen, too.

 

He missed being a kid, only worrying about exams and hoping he wouldn’t be scolded by any of the teachers. At the same time, though, he couldn’t wait to live his life. He wanted to experience what life has to offer. He wanted to meet the guy, the one he would want to spend the rest of his life with, someone he could adopt a child or two with.

 

Somehow, his mind flew to Stiles. Maybe Stiles could be that guy. He kept on denying his affection for Stiles, because Stiles was an older guy and probably had more experience even though two years of an age gap maybe wasn’t that far. Stiles was smart, funny and extremely handsome, anyone would want him. Stiles was also friendly, despite being a total dick sometimes, he was actually nice. Derek, on the other hand, can sometimes get way over his head and sometimes hurt people unintentionally, that was why he preferred keeping his mouth shut.

 

Derek didn’t know how long his eyes were shut or how long he has been playing, thinking, when he heard Scott’s whispered, “Wow.” His eyes snapped open and he quickly turned his head to the direction of the voice. Scott was staring at him with wide eyes while Stiles was looking at him in awe and pride. Derek blushed as he rubbed the back of his neck. Before he could say something, Scott exclaimed, “That was awesome!” Derek snorted. He suddenly missed the Scott who hated him for the first few months that he was captain until Scott realized that the training Derek made them do actually improved their skills. “Stiles is really good at it, too!” Scott continued excitedly as he looked up to his brother.

 

Derek tilted his head for confirmation, but Stiles simply smirked at him and said, “So, lacrosse?” and raised his stick, wagging it from left to right. The topic was forgotten for a friendly game.