AN: Hey there!
So this is my first story and any reviews, comments or criticism are welcomed!
As soon as Stiles' boxes were down, he text Scott his room number. As he pressed send he got a message from Scott with a room number the floor above his.
Stiles had said goodbye to his dad before he left, hugging him tightly and spying a tear going down the older man's face as he pulled away.
Scott's mum insisted on helping him unpack so Stiles was giving them space, unpacking his own belongings on one half of the room. His roommate was a guy called Jeremy or something, Stiles didn't look too closely, just enough to see if he recognize the name.
He was almost finished when Derek burst into his room carrying boxes of his own.
Stiles stared.
Derek grunted and said, "What?"
" What are you doing here?" Stiles asked.
" We're roommates." Derek said matter-of-factly.
" No. There was a guy whose name wasn't Derek or hale on the list thing. Why are you at college anyway? Didn't you graduate years ago? Like you are ancient you must have already been through this." Stiles rambled.
Derek glared. Probably wasn't a good idea to insult him if they were going to
be roommates for a year. "I'm here to study. Same as you. I thought it would be easier to keep an eye on my pack if I was closer." Derek said still growling slightly.
" What happened to my roommate?" Stiles asked still confused.
" He pulled out a couple of weeks ago or something. This was the only room I could get in this building. Trust me it was easier, plus I won't have I hide being a werewolf from you." Derek's glare finally breaks as he starts to pull things from the boxes.
Stiles grabbed his phone and texts Scott.
Stiles: did you know Derek would be studying here this year?
Scott: yeah he mentioned it at a pack meeting a while back.
Stiles: and you didn't think to mention it to me?
Scott: I didn't think it mattered. I thought you were over your crush on him anyway. It's not like you will be seeing him around.
Stiles: He's my roommate.
Stiles swore he could hear Scott laughing from the floor above.
Scott: I'll come down when mum goes.
Stiles rolled his eyes and got out his laptop, playing on the internet. He kept throwing glances over at the muscled and tanned god bending over to unpack boxes. He grits his teeth and forced his heart rate to calm down. Derek could hear him and he knew it.
Stiles looked at cute dogs on Google for a while until an image of a wolf appeared. Shaggy dark hair, the same shade as Derek's. Fuck this was going to be harder then he thought.
He grabbed his keys, wallet and phone, closing his laptop before heading to the door.
" Where are you going?" Derek asked.
" Hunting. My body requires sustenance and caffeine." Stiles said making himself laugh.
"You can't just say you're hungry?" Derek asked.
" Nope." Stiles grinned.
Derek rolled his eyes and said, "Wait two minutes. I'm coming."
Stiles was about to protest with something like 'I don't want you to come' or 'I'm not a pack member you can boss around' but he stayed quiet. He guessed a bit of company would be better than going by himself. Plus this way he couldn't get lost.
They didn't really talk much on their adventure to find the closest cafe. Stiles had to hold back laughter when one boy (a little older the Stiles) turned around and spilt coffee on Derek. Derek had given him the death glare and the boy looked about ready to cry or piss his pants or both. He was frozen solid and Derek just got angrier.
" Come on," Stiles said pulling him by his arm away from the boy. People had begun to stare and Stiles knew Derek would have a reputation soon.
It took a couple of tugs but Derek looked from the boy to Stiles, his expression softening as he stormed out in true drama queen fashion.
Stiles followed and they walked back to their room. As they turned the hall Scott was knocking on their door.
" Hey Scott." Stiles called as they walked towards him.
" Oh hey, I guess that's why your door is locked." Scott said giving Stiles a grin.
" Why else would it be locked?" Derek asked glancing between them.
" Never mind." Stiles said trying his hardest to keep his blush down.
Derek opened the door and Scott jumped onto Stiles bed. The 'Lord of the Rings' poster was probably a giveaway as to which was which.
Stiles sat next to him, opening a packet of chips.
Derek watched Scott grab a handful without permission and rolled his eyes. "Scott, text Rebecca and Isaac and tell them to meet here in ten minutes. I would like to talk to everyone before we go to orientation." Derek said.
Scott perked up at the mention of Becca's name. She was the most recent addition to Derek's pack and Scott's current love interest. There was no hard feelings anymore now about Isaac and Allison dating.
Becca was nice and Stiles found her easy to talk to. She was on the edge of a building when Derek found her.
It was a month before college was due to begin. Stiles and the pack were walking around when Derek smelt her. Derek pointed and Scott and Isaac gasped. The sun was glaring so Stiles couldn't see.
"Stay." Derek said looking each of them in the eyes. Derek ran off into the building and Stiles followed. He was never one for orders.
"She looks like Cora." Stiles heard Scott say before he rushed inside. Stiles recognised the name of Derek's sister but couldn't remember what she looked like.
They came out onto the roof and the girl flinched. Her brown hair was being blown around by the wind and her hand tightly gripped the ladder next to her.
" What's your name?" Derek asked.
" There's no point. You can't stop me. This is my only way." She replied.
" Your name." Derek repeated with unexpected gentleness.
Stiles watched him and he was tense, his hands out in front of him like he was surrendering.
" Becca." She said still not looking at him.
" I'm Derek. I have to ask you not to do this." Derek said.
Becca looked at him, turning around on the edge and gripping the ladder with her other hand. "You know nothing of my life. You have no idea what I go through every day. This is my way out." She said.
"You are right; I don't know much about you. What I do know is that every problem, no matter how big, can be solved. There is always a solution." Derek told her.
" Can you make me strong enough to stop the beatings?" She asked lifting her shirt. Her stomach and hips were shades of black purple and yellow. There were scars all over and a couple of band aids on what must be new wounds. "Can you promise me he won't say another degrading disrespectful thing to me?" She asked rhetorically. She lowered her shirt and began to turn.
" I can." Derek said.
She paused and looked at him carefully. "How?" She asked.
" Come down and I will show you Becca." Derek said reaching for her.
Stiles stared at him. What was he going to do?
She squeezed her eyes shut and opened them, fresh tears going down her face. She grabbed his hand and Derek pulled her off the edge and towards the middle of the roof. She cried in his arms for a while before they talked and Derek offered her the bite.
That's when Stiles realized he had a crush on Derek. Mean, growly, sour puss Derek. Derek, who talked a scared and hopeless girl down from killing herself and gave her the strength to carry on living each day.
The pack quickly adopted Becca. She was funny and sarcastic, she and Isaac bonded over their similar home life experiences, she was fast and adventurous to interest Scott, she loved TV and movies as much as Stiles and she is fiercely loyal to Derek, the wolf who saved her life.
The pack arrived. Becca gave Stiles an apologetic look once she realized he was Derek's roommate. Stiles shook his head back as if to say 'Don't worry about it', before Becca took a spot next to Scott. Derek talked for a while, telling them how he managed to get them all in the same building so he would be able to watch over everyone. He asked them if they were happy with their roommates and if they wanted a change just to let him know. He had a friend in administration and, as hard as it was to see Derek with friends, they all agreed it was a pretty helpful thing to have.
He warned them once again about hiding their wolves to the best they could and not letting even their roommate's know about their secret.
He also gave them a quick lecture on responsible drinking. Stiles couldn't believe Derek was so motherly towards them but the wolves just seemed to roll their eyes and nod along to everything Derek said.
" What time is it?" Derek asked.
" Almost 2:30." Stiles called out looking at his watch.
" Orientation starts at 3, finish unpacking and I will see you there." Derek said.
The wolves all nodded and walked out leaving Derek and Stiles alone.
Stiles grabbed his laptop and started surfing sites again when Derek sighed loudly.
" Are you okay?" Stiles asked slowly, looking over to where Derek sat on the edge of his bed.
" Why are you asking?" Derek snapped.
"Figured it might help to get a bit friendlier, seeing as we are stuck together. No need to be rude Mr. grumpy." Stiles mumbled.
Derek seemed to think about. Deep lines of concentration filling his face.
"They didn't even listen to what I was saying." Derek finally said.
" I was hardly listening and I'm scared of you." Stiles said laughing. Derek glared at him and he shut up. "Wh-what I meant was they already know all of what you told them. Trust them to make good decisions." Stiles said.
"This is Scott we are talking about. And Rebecca is having a hard time finding an anchor to stop her turning." Derek said.
" Maybe they will sort each other out." Stile shrugged. Derek looked at him curiously like he didn't understand. "Scott has a thing for Becca, and it seems like she likes him too. You can't say you haven't noticed anything." Stiles said.
" I noticed they had grown closer but I believed it was as friends." Derek said.
" No there are defiantly romantic undertones." Stiles said.
" Huh." Derek said ending the conversation.
Orientation was okay. People cringed away from Derek but that was to be expected. The permanent scowl on his face didn't do him any favours.
Stiles met Scott and Isaac's roommates and they all seemed to get along. There was a welcome party happening that night that they all got invited too.
Stiles had just showered for the party and re entered the room. Derek was still on his bed reading something.
" Are you coming tonight?" Stiles asked. He knew the answer but would feel guilty if he didn't ask.
" No." Derek said simply.
" It could be fun. You could meet a dark broody girl you like and talk about all the things you hate together." Stiles said chuckling at himself.
" That's highly unlikely." Derek said glaring. "I'm trying to read. If you have to make noise, do so quietly."
"Whatever." Stiles said rolling his eyes.
He pulled out underwear and a pair of pants from his drawers. He pulled his underwear on under the towel around his waist, and then dropped the towel to pull on his skinny jeans.
He was grabbing a top when he felt like he was being watched. He turned around quickly to glimpse Derek turning back to his book.
Stiles grinned, blushed and pulled a top on quickly.
"That's a new outfit." Derek commented.
" Yeah I brought a lot of new stuff before college started." Stiles said. He had grabbed his things, putting them into their assigned pockets, before turning to Derek.
" I'll probably regret this but do you have any words for me to pass onto your pack?" Stiles asked.
" Don't drink too much." Derek said.
" Okay. I'll tell them you said to relax and have fun." Stiles said with a smile.
Derek growled and Stiles left chuckling.
Stiles delivered Derek's message and as soon as he had one drink in him he replayed the whole Derek staring at him in a towel situation to Becca. Scott rolled his eyes all the way through Stiles story, most likely he was jealous Stiles had Becca's attention.
"He noticed my outfit! He looked at me long enough to realize I don't wear these clothes often! He recognizes what I wear often!" Stiles said excitedly.
" Stiles calm down. You could be reading too much into this. I can hardly see Derek wanting a relationship. I mean he could have feelings, anything is possible but don't get your hopes up. Derek doesn't seem like the person to change who he is for a relationship." Becca said. "My advice, chat up a pretty girl or boy and try and move on. It is going to be a very long year with him as your roommate if you can't get over your feelings for him."
" Sometimes I wish I had wolf ears so I could hear Derek's heartbeat like he can mine. Every time he makes me flustered he can hear it and it's not fair." Stiles grumbled pouring another beer.
" Not everything is great about being a wolf." Scott chimed in.
" Yeah yeah. You two have fun. I'm going to go distract myself from Mr. broody." Stiles said downing half his drink and re-filling.
He talked to a couple of nice girls but he wasn't really interested.
He talked to one guy, Chris, which was more interesting. He was from England, lived in Australia for a bit, a total geek and studying theatre and production. Chris was a great distraction. He was into most of the same TV shows and their conversation just flowed. They exchanged numbers when Chris had to leave and Stiles even got a kiss goodnight.
