Stiles was always saving his ass. He was always getting in the way, too. Stiles was always so close to death and yet he was there whenever that moron Scott needed him, or anyone in need actually. But for some reason Derek could never scare the kid away with all of his growling, threatening, shoving, hitting, nothing could deter the kid. Stiles was always there whenever the day needed saving. He was kidnapped and beaten by the Argents and yet he still helped save Jackson who wasn't even his friend. He never even got a thank you from the people he saved, not even his supposed best friend Scott. The guy had a heart of gold— weird deformed gold— but gold nonetheless. Of all the uncertainty in Derek's life there was one thing he knew would never change: Stiles would always be there.
But why? The only person in the pack Stiles owed any loyalty to was Scott, and the guy trampled all over the poor kid and ditched him any time Alison was around. Erica hit him with a part of his jeep but he still helped her, Boyd was never exactly cuddly to him and still got his ass saved, and Isaac was…well Isaac was Isaac. Stiles was taken for granted and he still kept coming around. Stiles kept helping the pack even though it meant lying to his dad, losing the man his job almost. Stiles had every reason to abandon them, had every reason to ignore them and go back to his normal life of being able to tell his dad anything and just being obsessed with lacrosse and keeping his grades up, but he never abandoned them. Weird, deformed gold.
Derek never knew how to really deal with the spaz, he tried threats and though they scared the living hell out of the teen, he never ran off. He had thought about being nice to him, but he worried that he might actually get attached to the kid and decided against it. Nothing chased Stiles away.
And as if sensing that he was being thought of, Derek could hear the rumble of Stiles' jeep pulling in above him. He wasn't surprised when the boy came down into the train that Derek was brooding. What did surprise him was that he was devoid a companion, he tried not to be alone with Derek if he could help it. "What do you want, Stiles?"
"I came to check on you, Sourwolf. Isaac may have mentioned you were far broodier than normal. What's up?" As per usual, Stiles' voice was a mix of needing to get everything out at once and concern. That's how he always sounded around Derek.
"I'm fine. Go check on Scott if you want to play pack mom."
"Well, that was rude. Fine, be a grumpy, old man. I try to show a little concern because you worried Isaac and creepy Peter, but whatever. It's not like Boyd and Erica ran off and Gerard Argent is MIA, or the fact that now you have to somehow teach Jackson to stop being a prick and work with others, or that Scott has gone running back to psycho hunter Alison. But no, you keep on brooding and shoving people away." The sarcasm in Stiles' voice was a usual occurrence, but the hurt when he mentioned Scott is what caused Derek to look up at him. The bruises on his face were still blatantly obvious, he looked like he hadn't slept in weeks, and he wasn't his usual put together self. His jacket was crumpled like he had been clutching it for a long time, his shoes looked like he had been walking in the woods for hours, and his jeans were ripped at the knee, like he had fallen and caught them on something. It had only been a day since the showdown with Gerard, but Stiles looked like he had been going through Hell because of it.
Derek stood up and went towards him, causing the younger male to jump slightly, his heart puttering away like the Energizer bunny on speed. "You haven't slept." It wasn't a question, he knew he hadn't, Derek could practically feel the tiredness in Stiles.
"I'm just peachy, Derek. No need to pretend to care. Half your pack is missing and the other half is two messed up boys that both have parent issues and no control over their wolfy urges and the other is a former corpse that has tried to kill you and me at least twice."
Stiles was being defensive, trying to take the attention away from his problems. "I want to know the truth, Stiles. Have you even been home since the game?"
"I have. I was dropped at my house by the Argents.
"You know what I meant."
"I may have slept in my jeep in the woods last night. I just can't face my dad right now, he has too many questions that I can't answer."
Derek's concern turned to fury. Stiles had slept in the open, unguarded! "Are you an idiot? There is a pack of Alphas out there that left a warning on my house and possibly have Erica and Boyd and you were sleeping alone in your jeep in the fucking woods!"
"A pack of Alphas? What are you talking about? Isaac didn't say anything about that when he woke me up this morning. He said he was concerned about you since Erica and Boyd went off on their own."
"Isaac was probably trying to get you to come here so you'd be safer. That kid has a soft spot for you since you've saved his ass once or twice."
"Yeah, I'm a real guardian angel. Now tell me what's going on!"
"There's a pack made up of only Alpha wolves and they've come to Beacon Hills. They left the sign of their pack on the door of my house which is why none of us are going there. Got that, Stiles? Stay away from my house, and preferably out of the woods entirely."
"Why do you even care, Derek? Usually you just shove me around and growl about ripping my throat out. You go out of your way to scar the living shit out of me on a weekly basis."
"Because believe it or not you are important to this pack. You have done more for me than I deserve and you have helped me keep my pack safe. You matter, Stiles."
The teen's mouth was in a mid-gape. Derek could understand why, he rarely gave him a compliment. Actually, he probably had given him one in the entire time he had known the boy. But what he said was true. Stiles was part of what kept his pack together, without him they all might have been killed by the Kanima or split apart months ago. If it hadn't been for Stiles peter would have definitely killed Derek. Derek wouldn't be an Alpha if it weren't for this scrawny teen with attention problems.
"Wait, did you just tell me something positive without following it with something nasty or growly? Something really must be wrong with you, sourwolf."
Derek scowled at the boy and took another step forward, leaving mere inches between the two of them. "Don't call me that."
"Why, that's what you are. You are a grumpy, sour, werewolf with personal space issues." Despite the snark in the younger man's voice, Derek could hear his heart pounding. But it wasn't from fear, maybe it was adrenaline? Stiles had been in constant fight or flight mode for weeks and hadn't been getting enough sleep; he was probably still used to the constant threat.
"Personal space, what's that?" This caused another gape from the teen. Derek had made a joke and Stiles definitely did not know how to process that.
"You uh, you feeling alright there, Derek?"
"I'm feeling fine. Your heart is the one racing, are you okay?"
And Stiles face turned red, not a dark red, actually more of a pink. The kid was blushing. Derek raised an eyebrow in confusion. Why would he be blushing, he already knew Derek could hear his heartbeat, everyone who knew about werewolves knew they could hear hearts. And then it stuck him, Stiles wasn't blushing because he knew, he was blushing because he had been called out. Stiles was hiding something from him and he wasn't too keen on that. "Stiles, is there something you need to inform me of?"
The teen looked down at his shoes and took a step away from the older man. "Nah, I'm just tired is all, jeeps aren't the most comfortable beds." His heart skipped, a lie.
"Tell me the truth."
"Look, why does it even matter? Just leave me alone, sourwolf."
Derek's usual scowl was back. He had to admit he really wasn't fond of Stiles lying to him; he had actually grown fond of the little spaz. He would have to be the monster the Argents painted him out to be not to care a little bit for someone who had saved his life. He softened his face a bit, a scowl wasn't going to help this situation. "Look, Stiles, whatever it is, I think we've saved each other's lives enough times to be able to tell the other what's going on. Believe it or not, I do have some emotions other than angry. I do worry about your wellbeing. You're important, remember?"
"Yeah, I know, but if I told you, you would probably shove me up the stairs and tell me never to come back. Not even Scott would like it, actually he would completely disown me."
"Do you like me? It was blunt and crass, but Derek could think of no other reason Scott would hate Stiles. And he was forcing himself not to note that his own heart had picked up its pace at the thought. He liked Stiles, but not like that, or at least he didn't think he did.
"I-You-I…yeah." And there it was, out in the open and he hadn't even tried to deny it.
"It's fine if you do, Stiles. I'm not judging. But for the sake of your shambles of a friendship with Scott, keep it to yourself. We both know he hates me." The teen just nodded. Derek did something more out of character than he was already being, he grabbed the kid's shoulders and gave him a slight hug. He was having an off day, and why not just add some affection into the mix?
Stiles looked a bit shocked but returned the quick hug. "Uh, thanks. I'm just gonna go." The teen was now scurrying out of the train car and attempting to get to the stairs without tripping over his own feet.
"Hey, Stiles."
He stopped at the base of the stairs and looked back at the werewolf, fiddling with his jacket. "Uh, yeah?"
"We can talk about this more later, if you want. I may possibly feel the same." The grin that came over Stiles' face was like he had been when Derek had seen him that night in the woods just before Scott was bitten, that smile that was honest and real, that smile that was stress free. It was a Stiles smile.
"I'd like that." And then he was gone and Derek was alone again, but in a far better mood. He heard shuffling and looked up and saw the fuzzy head and honey eyes of the teen once more and tried not to laugh at his comment before he ran back up the stairs. "By the way, I am totally your guardian angel, I save your butt on a semi-daily basis."