Part One
Once upon a time there was a little boy named Derek-
"There is nothing little about me," Derek frowns, crossing his arms over his broad chest. "I'm twenty-five,"
Okaay... Once upon a time there was a man named Derek who had an Uncle who lived in the Dark Forest. He was sick and Derek loved his Unc-
"I don't love that man," Derek huffed, eyebrows furrowing.
Can I please just tell the story?
"..."
Okay then. Now, where was I? Oh yes, Derek's Uncle was very sick and his sister, unable to leave her children unattended, asked her little brother to bring some bread and wine to their sick Uncle.
"Why am I bringing him wine if he's sick?"
You know what?! Do you want to tell the story cause I'm over it!
"Okay," Derek mutters, clearly not giving a damn either way.
W-wait, I was just kidd-
The sun was just beginning to rise as night fled to the other side of the world, and just on the outskirts of a small village, where chickens roamed and cows mooed, lived the Hale family. Their cottage was a charming one, with vines that grew up the sides and hay that cushioned the ground. It was a lovely little home where Laura Hale lived with her husband and three kids.
"Robin! Goldi! Jack! Breakfast is ready!" She called as she pulled the pot away from the open fire, grabbing a ladle and scooping hot, steaming porridge into three bowls. She set the bowls down on the table, hearing from above the pattering off feet followed by three small kids rushing down the stairs, shoulders and pushing one another, trying to be the first to reach the bottom. Laura watched with amusement as the kids rushed to the table, one by one.
Jack, the oldest, sat down, a huge grin on his face. He was the oldest but the most childish. Then it was Goldi, the youngest and Laura's only girl. She was a bit of a kleptomaniac-
"Goldi! Stop trying to eat your brother's porridge!" Laura scolded, just as Robin yanked the bowl from his sister's greedy little hands. Robin was the middle child and though he was charming and the most behaved out of the three. He had a bit of an ego that made him hard to deal with.
"Keep your chubby fingers off my bowl!" Robin frowned, Goldi sticking her tongue out at him.
"Ma, guess what I did yesterday!" Jack beamed, trying to grab his mother's attention while the other two argued. Laura smiled and looked at her son, tucking a strand of her red hair behind her ear.
"What did you do Jack?" She hummed sweetly, carding a hand through her son's hair. "I found a couple of beans out at the edge of the forest and I planted them next to the lettuce,"
"I found a couple of beans out at the edge of the forest and I planted them next to the lettuce. Mom you won't believe it, they're already starting to grow!"
"Liar!" Goldi laughed, teasing her brother. "The only thing green about your thumb is the fungus growing on it,"
"I don't have fungus growing on my thumb!" Jack snapped, glaring at his sister, though he tried to nonchalantly look at his hands though everybody saw him checking.
"Why don't you stop trying to grow beans and grow a girlfriend instead?" Robin smirked and the mention of a girlfriend had Laura frowning.
"Okay that's enough you three. If you're done eating go and do your chores," Laura frowned, the kids groaning in response, but trudging along anyway.
"Stop touching me!" Robin groaned as Jack licked one of his fingers before trying to put it in Robin's ear, the three of them bickering all the way out the door. Laura heaved a tired sigh as she grabbed their empty bowls off the table.
"Why so noisy," Derek grumbled as he trudged down the stairs, Laura turning to look at her brother with a raised eyebrow, noticing he hadn't bothered to do his hair or button his shirt correctly.
"That's the sound of people who have their lives together," Laura quipped. "Why are you waking up so late, did you forget what you have to do today?" She frowned, Derek rolling his eyes at that as he let out a yawn.
"Fix the wagon, yeah I know, I'll do it after I eat something,"
"No," Laura drawled, grabbing Derek's shoulder and starting to push him towards the door. "The wagon has already been fixed. You need to visit our uncle Derek," Derek's nose scrunched up in distaste at the mention of their uncle, a look of disinterest crossing his face as he made a beeline for the table, leaving Laura at the door.
"Don't wanna," Derek muttered, taking off the lid to see the pot full of porridge, a frown crossing his lips. Maybe he'll skip breakfast.
"Derek, you've been putting it off for three days now. He's sick and he needs help around the house," Laura groans, a deep line settling in her forehead.
"Then why don't you go?" Derek huffs, crossing her arms.
"I can't, I have kids to look after. Plus women aren't allowed to travel through the Dark Forest, remember?" Laura deadpanned, a distasteful look on her face as she scowled at her brother.
"Oh, right..." Derek muttered to himself.
"Look, I made him some bread and there are grapes and wine all in that basket over there," Laura huffed, gesturing to the basket sitting on the counter and Derek wonders why he didn't notice that before. "Just go and take it to him. It's not like you have a girlfriend,"
"What? What does me having a girlfriend or not have to do with this,"
"Everything," Laura huffs, crossing her arms. "If you had a girlfriend, you would be living with her, not me. If you had a girlfriend, she would waste time cooking food you refuse to eat- not me," Laura heaves and suddenly it feels like the room is getting hot, but maybe that's just the agitation that seems to be boiling over inside of her as she starts to close the distance between her and her brother.
"You would leave your clothes everywhere at her place instead of here. You would forget to take out her trash and not mine. You would be there and not here so that my husband and I could have some alone time," She breathes out, grabbing the basket. "And most of all, you wouldn't have to go to Uncle's and I wouldn't be nearly as pissed," She says all too calmly as she shoves the basket into his hands, Derek staring at her wide eyed as she keeps going on a rant, but he can barely make sense of what she's saying with all that foam in her mouth.
"Now leave!" She snaps, shoving Derek out the door, the flimsy wood being slammed shut right behind him. It's quiet for a moment as he stands there with a basket n his hands.
"I didn't eat breakfast!" Derek calls out, staring at the door. It's quiet for a moment, but then he hears stomping and the door swings open and for a split second he sees Laura's face, but she's throwing a red cloak at him, and now he can't see anything as it drapes itself over his face.
"There's your stupid red cloak too!" She snaps before closing the door once more.
Hah, bet you wished I was telling the story now-
"Shutup," Derek grunts out, pulling the cloak from his face.
O-okay..
Walking down the path that led to the Dark Forest, Derek begrudgingly set out to do as he was told, wearing his red cloak to keep out the chilly morning air as a soft breeze traveled through the air, but seemed to stop just at the edge of the Dark Forest as if afraid to touch the leaves of the trees. Rabbits hopped and played with one another, unafraid of adventure yet seemed to stop dead in their tracks right before the forest. Ants dared not travel on the path and grass seemed to stop growing right at the mouth of the forest but Derek, so uncaring and uninterest in the way the tree branches groaned and seemed to whisper 'death', kept going forward, entering the forest.
He wasn't worried. As long as he stayed on the path he would be fine. However, this did not stop him from noticing how much colder it was in the forest or how dimly lit it was, the sunlight unable to fully reach him through the thick canopies. This was so stupid. Why the hell did he have to bring this crap to his Uncle? Who the hell eats bread and drinks wine to get better anyway? Derek paused at that, his stomach growling slightly as he remembered what was in the basket.
"Technically wine is made out of grapes- he won't be missing out on the fruit," He muttered to himself as he started eating the grapes in the basket, continuing down the dirt path that led to his Uncle's house.
Meanwhile, unbeknownst to Derek Hale, there lied a wolf deep within the forest. With a large brown tail and brown ears that twitched at the slightest of sounds. Stiles- while he wasn't a wolf, he wasn't human either. He was both.
"God I'm so hungry" Stiles breathes out as he sits there on the forest floor, playing with a small mouse that he had caught, the poor thing's tail trapped between his fingers. The poor thing squeaked for its life as Stiles stared at it with wide, brown, hungry eyes, his throat beginning to thicken as he slowly brought the small creature to his lips, the mouse struggling even harder.
"Just eat it, Stiles," He mumbled to himself. "Eat it and just- Gah I can't do it!" Stiles groaned out, setting the mouse down on the ground and watching as it scurried away, his tail slowly wagging in disappointment as another meal made its escape. Stiles let out a defeated sigh as his stomach groaned, the half human, half wolf, rolling onto his back, letting the sun hit his skin as he lay there in the clearing.
"Ugh... So hungry," He groaned. Just then a twig broke, his ears stiffening at the sound and in one swift move, Stiles was sitting up, staring at the direction in which the sound came from. Another twig snaps and Stiles is already on his feet, rushing towards the sound. He hops over fallen tree limbs, stalks through the bushes and finally it hits his nose. The smell of a human and he finds himself hiding behind a tree as he stares at the trail, noticing a man wearing a bright red cloak walking down the path with a basket in his hand.
"Hmmm," Stiles hums to himself, sneaking from tree to tree as he watches the man continue down the path. All Stiles can think as Derek keeps walking, unaware that he's being watched, is that he has found his ultimate meal ticket. Stiles eyes scan Derek body and even though he's wearing a cloak, the wolf can tell Derek is built, his shoulders are and there is definitely meat on those bones.
"Ugh.. I want it," Stiles groans, as he watches Derek keep walking, eating grapes as he travels down the path and all Stiles sees is a walking drumstick.
Derek unaware of eyes watching his every movement, comes along a curve in the path as he pops another grape into his mouth, noticing the large puddle of water in the middle of the path and he stops for a second, wondering when the hell it rain, but before he can move to continue, he hears a rustling in the bushes nearby, a scowl crossing hs face as his body tenses and his ears strain.
"Who's there!?" Derek demands as he watches the bushes rustle, see the leaves shake and starts to ball his fist, ready for whatever will come out of there. "Show yourself!" He snaps, growing impatient, finding the urge to just go over there and get this ready with, but suddenly the rustling stops and he isn't sure what the hell is happening until a rabbit come running out of the bushes, scurrying down the path and Derek stands there for a second before letting out a sigh.
"Of course it's a rabbit," He mumbles to himself, feeling stupid for being so on guard for a rabbit of all things.
"Hey there!" Stiles chimes in just as Derek turns around to continue down the path, the two of them face to face as Stiles' gives the older man a toothy grin, looking right up at him and he wasn't expecting the height difference to be this much- suddenly there's a fist in his face and pain erupts from his nose and he's pretty sure he heard a crack as he stumbles backwards.
"Y-you," Stiles stumbles out, eyes watering as he looks up at Derek, clutching his nose as the man stares down at him with a deep set frown, using his rag to wipe invisible dirt off his fist as if touching Stiles was like touching poop. "Why the hell did you punch me!" Stiles snaps, but the venom in his voice goes flat from all the pain in his nose and the tears that flow without permission and Derek rolls his eyes at that.
"You startled me-"
"So you punched me in the face?!" Stiles huffs, making sure there's no blood. Thank god, he's not bleeding. Wait, it's not broken is it? It would bleed if it's broken, right?
"Not my fault. You shouldn't sneak up on people like that," Derek says nonchalantly, pausing for a second before narrowing his eyes. "Besides, I didn't hit you that hard. Stop being a baby," Derek huffs before walking off, stepping over the puddle of water. He needs to pick up the pace otherwise he won't get back home till nightfall.
"I'm definitely going to eat him," Stiles grumbled to himself before rushing to catch up with him.
"W-wait, what's your name?" Stile breathed as he fell into step with Derek, struggling to keep up with the pace, noticing his legs were way shorter than Derek's.
"Who wants to know?" Derek grumbles, not bothering to look at the wolf, wishing he would just go away already.
"Me?" Stiles frowned, wondering what kind of question was that. A dumb one? "Mine is Stiles,"
"Noone asked," Derek muttered, Stiles trying so hard not lose his temper. Who the hell did this guy think he was? Jesus, so freaking rude.
"Ugh... what's in the basket?" Stiles muttered, pointing at the basket on Derek's arm as he leaned in to sniff at it. "Food?" Derek frowned at that as he leaned away from the wolf, slowly starting to get really annoyed.
"What do you want?" Derek snaps, stopping in his tracks, Stiles doing the same, nearly falling forward.
"Wh-what do you mean?" Stiles laughs nervously, averting Derek's eyes as the taller ma scowls at him, Stiles' tail wagging low to the ground as his ears start to droop.
"If you want me to say sorry, I won't. You're a wolf, if your feelings are that hurt then you're stupid," Derek frowns and Stiles sputters out incoherent words at that.
"St-st, who? What? I'm not stupid!" Stiles snaps back, growling slightly and Derek is completely unphased.
"Then leave me alone," Derek huffs, but Stiles clearly doesn't hear him, because he does the complete opposite.
"You're the stupid one, walking in the woods by yourself, wearing a bright ass cloak. Who does that?" Stiles scoffs, Derek staring at him. Just staring and Stiles starts to fidget under his gaze, suddenly feeling uneasy. Wait! He's the wolf here, if anyone should be uneasy, it should be Derek.
"H-hey, what are you doing in these woods all by yourself anyway?" Stiles hums. That's right Stiles put the moves on him. "Don't you know it's dangerous out here?" He questions, looking deep into Derek's eyes, his tail curling around him, gently rubbing against the back of Derek's hand and all the dark man can do is stare at him for a moment, before slapping Stiles tail away.
"What did I say? You're being stupid," Derek huffs, walking off.
"I'm not stupid! What're you a fourth grader!? Stop calling me that!" Stiles yells, fed up with this as he yells at Derek's back, the man clearly not listening as he keeps walking.
"I need to step up my game," Stiles mutters to himself, looking around, trying to think of something. And then it hits him as he notices something in the distance, a small grin spreading across his lips.
"Finally he's gone," Derek breathes, turning to see the path empty behind him. "Okay, just a little bit further and I might make it home in time for dinner," Derek mutters to himself as he continues on the path.
"Yoo hoo~" There's this weird howling sound that Derek is faintly sure is suppose to resemble a female's voice but as he looks off to his left to see Stiles laying in a nearby bed of flowers, he wants nothing to with any of this as he notices the flowers tucked behind the young wolf's ears.
"What the he-"
"You there sir," Stiles calls out, batting his eyes as his brown bushy tail wave slowly in the air as if beckoning Derek. 'This will woo him for sure,' Stiles thinks as he calls after the man.
"Stiles, I know that's you, " Derek sighs and Stiles tenses at that, genuinely shocked.
"Wh- How!?" He breathes out and Derek just stares at him, hoping that question was rhetorical. All he did was put flowers behind his ears and raise the pitch in his voice.
"A-anyway.. come pick flowers with me!" Stiles huffs and Derek frowns at that, slowly walking forward and Stiles tail starts to wag excitedly as Derek stops right at the edge of the trail. 'Just a few more steps,' Stiles whines, but Derek doesn't make a move to walk any further and Stiles tail slowly in disappointment as he stares at Derek.
"Oh I think I get it now," Derek mutters and Stiles heart drops.
"Y-you do?" Stiles trails, wondering how the hell he caught on so fast.
"Yeah, you're simple," Derek mutters plainly, Stiles flailing his arms.
"Is that just another way of calling me stupid?" Stiles frowns, Derek shrugging his arms.
"Yeah, but this time, it's not your fault. You were just born that way,"
"I'm not simple!" Stiles snaps, his chest rising and falling as anger starts to fill his entire body. What the hell is with this guy.
"Then why the hell do you want me to pick flowers with you?!" Derek snaps, growing impatient.
"Because I'm hungry damnit!" Stiles snaps, climbing to his feet, his whole body tensing.
"Oh," It's a sound that comes out of both of them at the same time as they stare at each other, Derek looking at Stiles with this blank stare, the wolf fidgeting underneath his gaze, cursing himself.
"So, you wanted me to come off the path so what?" Derek muttered, smirking a little. "You could eat me?" Stiles paused at that, eyes looking towards the ground.
"Y-yeah.. I'm the big bad wolf.. It's kind of my MO," Stiles mutters, kicking at the ground. Derek went quiet at that, staring at the path ground and how one more step he would've been off the path.
"W-what are you doing!?" Stiles blurts out, hands flailing in the air as he watches Derek walk off the path and into the flower bed.
"What? You wanted me off the path didn't you?" Derek hummed, Stiles mouth opening and closing like he was completely overwhelmed, but the way his tail was wagging like crazy said otherwise.
"Well, aren't you hungry?" Derek muttered, spreading his arms apart as if to say 'here I am'.
"Shut up! Are you making fun of me?!" Stiles huffed, hesitant on what to do.
"I'm giving you a chance. Take it or starve," Stiles paused at that, rocking nervously back and forth, clearly having an internal battle.
"Fine! Don't have any regret when you're in my belly!" Stiles huffed as he walked up the taller man.
"Sure, sure, no regrets," Derek muttered, watching as Stiles walked up to him, noticing how sharp his nails were as he took his arm in his hands. Watching as Stiles wrapped his lips around his arm, Derek frowned slightly, a strange sensation on his arm as he watched Stiles' tail wag like crazy.
'Idiot, now I'm going to devour you,' Stiles thought to himself, teeth pressing into the skin on Derek's arm, gnawing at the flesh.
"That tickles," Derek muttered, voice void of emotion as Stiles kept biting him. It was like a puppy in it's teething phase.
"I..." Stiles trailed slowly pulling away, realizing he didn't even break the skin. "I can't do it..." Stiles groaned, bowing his head in defeat as Derek wiped away the slobber on his arm with his cloak.
"Do you finally realize I'm twice your size so it's impossible?" Derek sighed, Stiles slowly nodding his head, ears drooped, tail no longer wagging.
"Yes..."
"And that you chew like you have baby teeth,"
"Shutup,"
"You honestly would've had a better chance if you caught a mouse," Stiles tensed at that, his chest aching as if someone just stabbed him in the heart, Derek pausing at that. "Don't tell me..." Derek trailed, eyes widening in disbelief.
"It was too innocent to eat!" Stiles groaned, this defeated look on his face.
"What?" Derek huffed, frowning at him. "What kind of wolf are you? You can't eat a mouse but you can eat a human?"
"Acutally.." Stiles trailes averting his eyes to the ground. "I don't really like raw meat so... I guess that's why I stopped trying to eat you, hahaha,"
"There is nothing funny about how stupid you are," Derek muttered. his wolf was infuriating. Annoying as hell. He should just leave, he's wasted enough time as is- suddenly Stiles stomach started to growl, the sound way too loud for either of them to pretend it didn't happen, Stiles face starting to heat up embarrassment.
"God..." Derek grumbled, muttering something to himself that Stiles couldn't quite hear as the older man started fishing around in the basket.
"Hey, what're you doi-hmpf!" Stiles choked on his own voice as Derek suddenly shove a piece of bread into his mouth, of course, Stiles didn't know what was just shoved into his mouth, but the idiot chewed anyway before swallowing it. It was quiet for a moment as Stiles stared up at Derek with a bewildered look on his face, Derek faintly wondering if he broke him.
"What the hell did you just shove into my mouth and how can I get more!?" Stiles breathed, grabbing at Derek's cloak, the man backing away with a small frown as Stiles tail started wagging again.
"Stop it before you put holes in my cloak,"
"Listen here Red! I want more of that delicious fluff or I'll really eat you!" Stiles warned, craving more of whatever that light, tasty food was.
"Eat me?" Derek scoffed, rolling his eyes at that. "This coming from a wolf who can't eat even a mouse. You're like a domestic animal," If that didn't hurt Stiles, the poor wolf didn't know what would. It felt like someone stabbed him in the chest again, Stiles slowly bowing his head. Derek heaved a sigh at that, fishing into his basket once more.
"Here..." Derek mumbled, handing the remaining loaf of bread to Stiles, the wolf perking right up as he grabbed it, eagerly starting to scarf down the bread.
"Hey, chew before you swallow or you'll choke," Derek muttered as he started walking again, Stiles right beside him. But his warning was too late as Stiles swallowed the last bit of bread, choking on it as it went down.
"Told you," Derek muttered as Stiles' eyes started to tear up, throat burning. "Here, drink some wine," Derek sighed, offering the wolf some of the wine from the basket.
"W-what's wane?" Stiles frowned, holding back a cough as Derek uncorked the bottle before handing it to Stiles.
"Wine," Derek corrected. "It's like water," Stiles paused at that before starting to drink from the bottle, chugging it down.
"Idiot! Don't drink it all!" Derek snapped, trying to pry the bottle from Stiles' hands.
"Hey, seriously though why are you out here?" Stiles breathed as Derek to the wine away from him, though Stiles wasn't bothered, it didn't really taste like water.
"... To visit my Uncle... he's sick,"
"Oh," Stiles hummed, pausing as a thought crossed his mind. "Wait, was that basket of food for him,"
"Yeah, my sister wanted me to give it to...him..." Derek trailed, realization creeping in as he suddenly stopped walking, Stiles frowning slightly at that.
"Derek?"
Derek never made it to his Uncle's that night...