(See bottom for Notes)
Derek stood on the back porch of the renovated Hale house, arms crossed and scowling at his betas as they went through the obstacle course he'd set up for them. Their attempts mostly consisted of being knocked to the side by Peter - it seemed none of them could get past him. Derek needed them all to be in top condition, stronger and faster than ever with the threat of the Alpha pack looming on the horizon. They could be attacked at any time.
The sun was just starting to set when he felt his phone vibrate in his back pocket. He glared at the caller ID and answered it.
"Hey, Sourwolf. Do you want garlic and herb or buttery cheese mashed potatoes to go with the steak?" Stiles asked before he could speak.
"I can't have dinner tonight," Derek bit out, glaring at the others who were starting to fool around and chase each other around the yard with Peter looking on, bored out of his mind.
"Derek," Stiles whined. "It's our six month anniversary. You promised."
"I know. But the pack is training and we just can't afford to stop. They need a lot of work."
"Derek, no. This is important, okay? The training can wait until the morning or even just until after dinner," Stiles disagreed firmly, and Derek could hear the sound of pans and the click of the stove burner as the flame was turned on.
"No, Stiles," Derek snapped in irritation, the skin around his eyes tightening slightly.
"No, you. I'll be there in half an hour and I'm not feeding your betas. They're on their own," Stiles bit back and hung up before Derek could reply. He glared at the phone before sliding it back in his pocket and barking at everyone to quit fooling around.
Derek's ears pricked at the sound of the Jeep taking the off ramp from the highway a few miles out, growing closer with every second. He clenched his fists and let them out again.
"I'll be right back. Keep running the course," Derek growled at the five other wolves. Then he walked through the house to wait on the front porch, arms crossed just as the familiar blue Jeep pulled up. Stiles hopped out, a wide smile on his face as he grabbed a picnic basket and blanket from the back.
"Hey, I thought we could have a-"
"What are you doing here? I told you not to come," Derek grunted, cutting him off and making his steps falter slightly as he ascended the stairs.
"And I told you I was coming anyways. It's our six month anniversary, Derek. Maybe it's not important in the wolf world, but it's kind of a big deal in mine," Stiles replied, leaning against a column about two feet from Derek.
"And I told you we couldn't afford to stop now," Derek snapped, lips curling over his teeth slightly.
"Look, the betas don't have to stop. Just take an hour to have dinner with me, okay?"
"No, Stiles. Not tonight." Derek glared at him, arms still crossed.
"Derek-"
"No. There is an Alpha pack out there somewhere just waiting for me to let my guard down to strike okay? We can't. Afford. To stop," he growled, eyes flashing red as a bit of his Alpha started to seep into his voice.
"D-Derek?" Derek never used his Alpha voice with Stiles. It made the younger man nervous and uncertain, his voice shaking just a little.
Derek paused, meeting Stiles' eyes before he dropped his arms and stuck his hands in his pockets. He let his eyes fall to the floor and knew that the next words out of his mouth would be the hardest. "Look, maybe we should just…take a break."
"Yes, okay, let's take a break. I made your favorite steak, extra rare, and corn on the cob like you love and-" Stiles started, his free arm moving as he spoke, misunderstanding.
"No, Stiles," Derek ground out, squeezing his eyes shut before looking up at him with unshakeable resolve. "A break from us."
Derek could hardly stand the way Stiles' face just crumpled, his heart beat faltering before picking up at a train engine's pace. His fingers fell slack and the basket fell to the ground, stumbling down the stairs and spilling all over the ground, candles rolling out and Tupperware lids falling off. Derek almost thought he could literally heart Stiles' heart break before a sob tore its way out of the younger man's throat, tears falling before he turned and ran madly for the Jeep.
Derek's wolf wanted to tear its way out of him and chase the Jeep - tell Stiles that no, he was wrong, he didn't mean it he was just scared. He watched the headlights disappear around the bend in the dirt road, the smell of desperation and betrayal and heartbreak palpable and choking him. He wanted to curl in a ball and cry, scratch his way through his skin so deeply that it would leave scars despite his supernatural healing, howl at the moon until Stiles came back. But he knew that he couldn't do that. He had to train his wolves and preserve their lives, the lives of all of Beacon Hills and especially Stiles'. The notion that the Alphas would go after Stiles because of their relationship had been in his mind for the longest time and he didn't know what to do about it. Now he had a solution.
Derek stood on the porch for a long moment, hands shaking and internally warring with himself to give into his wolf and drag Stiles back. But in the end he walked slowly back through the house and stopped on the front porch, face utterly blank and stoic. His betas were predictably hovering at the stairs, eyes sad because of course they'd heard every word that had been exchanged.
"Derek?" Erica asked, amber eyes wide and distressed.
The only one still wolfed out was Scott who was shaking and radiating fury. Isaac made a grab at Scott but the beta knocked his mate aside, charging at Derek angrily and pinning him to the floor.
"What the fuck did you do?" he roared, lips pulled back and teeth snapping dangerously. "You broke him! You broke his heart!"
Derek flipped the smaller wolf off of him and stood up, brushing himself off pointedly. Scott took a defensive stance, sinking down and waiting for another chance to pounce - maybe to rip Derek's throat out. "I did what I had to do to protect him," Derek replied quietly. "The Alphas could use our relationship against us. Stiles can't protect himself like we can and everyone knows that Stiles doesn't want to be turned. I had to protect him and you need to keep practicing so we can fight off the Alphas."
"You're a fucking idiot if you think I'm sticking around here with you. I can't even look at you right now," Scott growled, coming out of his stance and pulling himself together so he could shift back. His hair receded back to normal, returning back to its loose glossy brown curls. His canines shrank, retreating to reclaim their human bluntness. And his golden eyes slowly darkened to chocolate brown.
"Scott?" Isaac spoke his mate's name softly, approaching him slowly.
"I'll call you later. I have to go find Stiles, okay?" Scott replied quietly.
Isaac nodded, his dark eyes soft as he squeezed Scott's hand. "I understand. Go find him and I'll come over when we're done if you want."
Scott nodded and they kissed softly before the dark haired wolf pulled away. As he passed Derek he snapped his fist forward unexpectedly, catching the Alpha's jaw and hearing the satisfying shatter of bone and dislocation of teeth.
"Guess I deserved that," Derek muttered, spitting blood out on the ground. He couldn't even get mad.
"You deserve a lot worse," Scott growled lowly and then disappeared to find his best friend, following the scent of utter devastation and tears, despite him having driven off in the Jeep.
"You're an idiot you know," Peter commented, his tone light and bored as if they were talking about the weather.
Derek knew he probably shouldn't talk for a bit, feeling the bone of his jaw knit slowly back together and his teeth straightening and returning to their place - but he couldn't help the irritation spread through him. He fixed his only family member with a steady glare, eyes as hard as diamonds and fists clenched tightly, his wolf nails elongating and piercing the soft skin of his palms. "What?"
"If you think the Alpha pack is going to believe that you actually don't care about that boy anymore, you're stupider than I thought. And you're just going to leave him without any sort of protection? He's your mate you undeserving fool. And…while he is really exceptionally annoying," Peter ignored Derek's growl at the slight, "we all have come to care about him."
"He makes us feel safe," Boyd added softly.
"He keeps us together," Isaac piped up.
"He lightens up the mood when things get really depressing so that we don't have to feel so stressed and scared so much," Erica chimed in, tucked neatly under Boyd's arm.
"Look, I did what I thought was right," Derek growled, unappreciative of his beta's opinions even though they all were probably right.
"I'm just saying," Peter started but Derek didn't want to hear it.
"Enough!" he roared, eyes going red, teeth sharpening and hair growing out as the Alpha made its appearance. "Back to work."
Ohhkay. So I wrote this quickly. It's not incredibly long and it was inspired by a scene in F.R.I.E.N.D.S. when Ross and Rachel break up because Rachel said they should take a break because Ross doesn't understand. (Start at 1:16 - 1:35 w ww . youtube watch?v=5oZZAZEzjgM&feature=player_embedded
I'm debating on writing more of this. It was really just something I needed to get out of my head so that I could continue my two Sterek AU's. Idk. let me know what you think and if I should continue.?