In a close knit group it was still possible to have a quiet introvert who rarely joined in on trips to the movies, study groups, or 2 am escapades for pancakes. Yes, that friend in Stiles' group still came once in awhile, and yeah he was always there for hiking trips, visits to the skate park, and the occasional mall crawl, but he was so quiet that he might not have been to half of those outings.

Sometimes members of the group forgot which events Derek Hale had been present for, but Stiles didn't. He remembered every time Derek graced them with his presence, his opinion, his car. Malia Tate, his cousin, thought of Derek as a free ride on occasion. Kira Yukimura called him the scary uncle of the group, which Stiles and Scott found infinitely amusing because Derek actually had a scary uncle – Malia's father.

Overall, Derek was a cool addition to the group despite his standoffish personality. He was a few years older than anyone else, but his advice was useful and his scoldings to some of them never made him so disliked that they didn't want to invite him to the next party.

He was slightly wealthy, which made him popular with Jackson and mildly with Lydia, but she didn't like his fury brow or his equal dislike for her. But Derek knew a lot of random facts and could eat twelve pancakes with a side of hashbrowns in one sitting and was unbeatable in basketball (at least in their group), so he was still pretty awesome.

The only reason Stiles was hesitating to knock on the big lug's door one breezy, chilly December morning was the simple, devastating fact that Derek Hale, for all his coolness, hated Stiles. Well… at least disliked him more than anyone else in the group. Derek was friends with Scott, both of them being in the animal health field, and he was kind enough to everyone in the group, but he normally spoke to Stiles only via expressive eyebrow sass – not actual words. In fact, Stiles couldn't remember any full conversation they'd ever had. Ever.

Which made Stiles' Atlantic Ocean sized crush on the jerk that much sadder.

But he had to knock. It was a career making moment in Stiles' life and only Derek could help. He would just have to shove past Derek's dislike of him and beg if need be.

So he knocked.

And waited.

And wa-

"Stiles?" Derek looked surprised and confused when he pulled open the door.

"I brought pie," Stiles said quickly, shoving the box at Derek until he took it. "Can I come in? I have, like, a desperate favor to ask."

"Um. Sure." He didn't sound confident, but Stiles stepped around him anyway. "What do you need?"

"You remember how we went to the skate park last week and I was pulling off some killer tricks and everyone said I was awesome?"

Well… Everyone but Derek. He'd been annoyingly silent considering most of the tricks were Stiles trying to impress him.

Stiles waited until Derek nodded before he continued. "Well a sponsor guy saw me and we traded info, and he called me like an hour ago. He said he wants to show me to his bosses, but he needs a video of me doing some tricks to present to them by tomorrow. I'd go out and shoot something with Scott, but he's working until ten and no one else is free either until it'll be too late to have good lighting. BUT! I remembered you had a camera AND you were filming a lot that day, so I was wondering if I could beg you to let me check out your footage."

"I did film," Derek admitted reluctantly. He looked a little unwell and it only got worse the longer Stiles had spoken. "But it might not be what you're looking for. I'm not a video editor and some of the shots are probably too shaky to be of any use."

"Dude, you would so be my hero if you caught even just five minutes of me tricking out," Stiles assured. "Please. Can I take a look?" Hope and excitement rushed through his veins in place of blood. He might actually have something to send to the rep!

Silently, still holding the pie box, Derek walked over to a shelf in the living room. He pulled open the drawer on a wooden organizing box and produced a flash drive. He looked at it, seeming conflicted for a moment, before he turned to show it to Stiles.

"I'm warning you. It's probably not useful," he said, but Stiles snapped it up regardless.

"I'm desperate, dude," Stiles reminded. Seriously, Derek didn't have to look like helping Stiles out was painful. He could just grunt and look his usual level of uninterested. Stiles even brought him pie. Derek loved pie!

Pulling out his laptop, Stiles dropped onto the couch to check the files. There were at least thirty video files in total, all roughly fifteen minutes long, and wow, they had not been at the skate park for eight hours last week. The files seemed to chronicle a lot of their outings, not just the skate park last week, but he recognized the newest one as being himself on the day in question and clicked it eagerly. Behind him, Derek was silent.

The video started with a tracking shot of Stiles doing simple board flips, then it jumped to him grinding, and then some of his grab and air tricks, and Stiles started to grin brightly.

"Dude, this is perfect!" he exclaimed and watched eagerly to see how much Derek had managed to capture on film.

But then they were ten minutes into the file and it was nothing but Stiles doing tricks, as though everyone else had been just background noise, an audience for Stiles to play to. The video ended and Stiles scrolled through the preview images of the others. He clicked when he recognized a group outing at a pizza joint during the summer where they'd challenged each other to eating contests.

There was a shot of everyone, but then again it was all Stiles. Him cheering people on, him stuffing pizza into his mouth, Malia wiping a stray bit of sauce from his cheek. It was all…

"It's all me," he said finally.

He clicked a random file and skimmed through it. It was of Lydia's birthday party.

"Yeah," Derek's soft voice came from behind him.

The video showed Stiles dancing, badly, to some clubbing music, and then a bit where Stiles and half the group got together to dance to Wobble by VIC, but the camera was on Stiles. There was even a shot panning from head to foot. The attention made Stiles blush. He gaped openly and failed at words for several minutes as his fun at the party was documented in detail by Derek's camera.

"But-," Stiles began.

"There's another skating video near the bottom," Derek said, and he was backing up and heading for the kitchen. "Hopefully there's something useful there that you can send in."

"Wait. Derek!" Stiles exclaimed, setting the computer aside and standing. "I don't understand." He turned to face the kitchen and saw Derek setting the pie down and grabbing his keys. "You never- You never talk to me. Like ever."

"Yeah, I've got to be at the reserve in ten minutes," Derek answered, although Stiles knew it was a lie. He'd come to the loft because he'd called the reserve and they said Derek was at home and not due in that day.

"You don't even like me!" Stiles shouted as Derek headed for the door. "But you-!" He motioned wildly to the laptop and the thirty plus videos devoted entirely to capturing him in digital form.

For a half a minute, which felt like a lifetime, Derek said nothing and continued his pace toward the door. Only when he'd gotten his hand on the doorknob did he hesitate. Why didn't he say anything? Stiles didn't understand. He'd spent the better part of a year with the world's largest crush on this asshole and now he discovered a hidden jackpot of what amounted to a digital shrine of himself on Derek's hidden flash drive?

"I'm not good at this sort of thing," Derek finally spoke. "I don't know how to talk to people… people I like. But I'm alright with a camera, most of the time, and… you're very photogenic. I'm sorry. That's kind of creepy in hindsight." He didn't look at Stiles the whole time, his back facing him, and Stiles wished he'd turn around. "Take the skateboarding videos. You're talented and people deserve to know. Take the flash drive too if you want. Or leave it. And you can let yourself out."

He turned to look over his shoulder at Stiles then, who was still standing by the couch looking flabbergasted. Derek liked him?

"It's a self-preservation thing… you know?" And then Derek was out the door, and it snapped shut behind him.

Stiles didn't even know how to react. He was in shock. Derek liked him. Apparently a lot, if his creeper videos proved anything. And wow, maybe Kira was right. Derek was the scary uncle, just like his own uncle. Well not just like him. Different brands of crazy but all in the same family, Stiles supposed.

On the bright side, Stiles had all the footage he could want of last week. The first file was perfect to send to the rep since it was just a montage of Stiles doing tricks – almost like he'd planned for Derek to film it specifically for giving to reps.

No, wait. The bright side was that Derek Hale liked him, wasn't it? Stiles had wanted that for over a year. Well hadn't he? Sure, he'd been in shock when he realized what the videos must mean, but he'd let Derek just walk out of the loft.

Shit, he'd let Derek walk out of the loft!

Leaving his things, Stiles ran for the door and then for the stairs since the elevator was in use, and he hit the bottom level panting, but he made it just in time for the elevator doors to shut and to see Derek's back before the building's front door swung shut behind him.

"Derek!" he called, but it was too late.

He pushed through the outside door and saw Derek sliding into the front seat of his car. Stiles sort of loved that pretentious Camero and how much work Derek put into it to keep it in perfect condition. The engine was on when Stiles hit the asphalt, but the car had only moved a few feet when it jolted to a stop because Stiles jumped in front of it.

The car was put in park, but the engine was still running when Derek stepped out. "Stiles, what the hell are you doing?" he demanded.

"You like me," Stiles said.

"What?"

"You LIKE me," Stiles repeated, getting louder. "I've been trying to get your attention for a year! A freakin year! And this whole time you've been, what, recording me and not noticing? How did you not notice?!"

Derek's brow drew tight together. "Notice? You- What are you saying?"

"I'm saying I like you too, dumbass!" And he was still yelling, but he was still angry and Derek deserved it. "So yeah like your video collection is a little creepy and stalkerish, but it's not like you shot the footage from a bush or something! You were invited to all those things! I knew you had the camera at all those things! I just didn't know you were focused on- I mean, dude, I sometimes stare at you for like really long stretches in time! How have we both missed this? Dude, you should have said something!"

"Or you could have," Derek pointed out, annoyingly calm in the face of Stiles' shouting. He stepped away from his car and around the door, engine still running.

"Well that's not the point," Stiles argued, stepping around the car now that there was no fear of Derek driving off. He walked closer until he could puff his chest out and hit Derek with it. "The point is you've been hiding behind a camera while I tried to drop hints and you were so worried about yourself that you seriously somehow didn't notice! And I'm really pissed about that even though you probably don't deserve it! Part of me is like 'Stiles, give the guy a break. He'd not good on people skills!' and the other part of me is like 'Fuck that! He gets along great with everyone else!' So now I don't know if you're a coward or I'm an asshole or both!"

Derek snapped the door to the camero shut, his face showing anger, and really that's kind of what Stiles wanted. He was pissed so he wanted Derek to be pissed, because at least if Derek was pissed Stiles wouldn't feel so awkward about his own anger.

"I'm thinking both," Derek grunted, but then he was grabbing Stiles' face and kissing him roughly. Their teeth kind of hit from the speed and Stiles not being prepared, but they got it in the end, and then Stiles was just stunned because Derek Hale, who hid behind his camera for a year out of anxiety, just had the balls to kiss Stiles. In public. Really badly.

When they parted, he had to take a moment to process what had just occurred, but then he pouted and put his hands on his hips. "Wow. Next time we do that, we need to work on your technique. Like that angle was just- and it kinda hurt. But I'm thinking, like, with practice, you might just get good at that."

"Practice?" Derek asked, and he looked mildly affronted. Until Stiles smirked. Then he just looked nervous.

"Don't worry, Dude," Stiles said and pat Derek on the chest. "I'm here for you. But maybe we can move the practice session upstairs again? Cause I definitely left my laptop up there, and I really do need to send that video off before I forget."

Derek laughed softly and looked embarrassed and it was a whole new look on him. Stiles had never seen that shy smile before at least. But it was nice, and maybe now Derek would stop taking creeper shots of Stiles and just ask to film him instead. Stiles didn't actually mind. I mean… Derek had been watching him the same way Stiles had been watching Derek, only with a camera and not just his eyes. It wasn't all that different.

But maybe Stiles would have to start filming too, because this look on Derek right now – it was something he wanted to look at over and over and over again.