Stiles arrived at school happily drumming against his steering wheel as he parked the jeep and headed into school. He found Scott near his locker and snapped his fingers in front of his face.
"Hey dude, did you get my text? And yeah Allison's over there, you know, in case you didn't notice. Because you are totally not obvious." Stiles muttered while Scott blinked and shook his head.
"Uh yeah I felt my phone vibrate but I hadn't checked it yet hold on." He said while digging his phone out of his pocket. He read the text and glanced at Stiles trying to process it, nearly dropping his phone in the process.
"Wait what? Just explain it again." He said with a confused look on his face.
"Alright so, last night Derek crawled into bed with me for some reason. Hey don't give me that look not many can resist the Stilinski charm. Anyway woke up the next morning to him sitting naked in my kitchen and Erica came over with his clothes. The weirdest part was he was mad at her for hitting me with the car part and made her apologize. And thanked me without bashing me into anything." Stiles blurted out slamming his locker shut and waiting for Scott's reaction.
"That's really weird dude, do you think he's up to something? Catch you at lunch." Scott said as the bell rang and he scurried to his class.
Staring at Scott's retreating back, thoughts winged their way through Stiles's head. What if Derek did do it for some greater plan? To make him feel bad for Derek and convince Scott to go back to Derek's pack. Or maybe to just keep Scott from shooting him. Nah, that'd be planning too far ahead for Derek. Besides, Derek didn't think he trusted him. That he was using him to save himself. Groaning, Stiles rubbed his head, guy could give himself a migrane thinking about this for long. It'd be nice to work with Derek on this, instead of the endless miscommunication. He made up his mind to find one of Derek's pack and figure out where they were now living. He couldn't believe the hunters took the Hale House, give the guy a break, even if he is surly. Just then the late bell rang and cursing he ducked into class.
He managed to corner Boyd in English, and by cornered he meant that he sprang over two seats to sit next to him before the bell rang.
"Boyd you've got to help me out, I need to talk to Derek and I don't really feel like waiting for him to creep up onto my roof." Stiles said turning towards Boyd intently. Boyd smirked,
"Yeah Erica said you might." Stiles frowned,
"Wait why was Erica talking to you about me?"
"She told me about you and Derek this morning. We're at the abandoned warehouse on the far side of town." The class started and Stiles was glowering about the fact he was bothered by the pack gossip. He should have known that Erica would have ran and told Boyd, Derek was after all their Alpha, and he hoped they would have been worried for him. But for some reason he felt that it should have been something between just him and Derek. And that's what was really bothering him after the conversation with Boyd. Why was he possessive of that moment of helping Derek? It's not like he hadn't helped Derek out before, there are still blood stains in the jeep from the last time.
Maybe it was the thought that Derek actually seemed to listen to him. Even if he said he didn't trust Stiles which he could understand with the whole ordeal with Kate, he must have trusted Stiles on some level to let Stiles take care of him. Stiles thought he had made progress with Derek's trust issues, even if it was just the tip of the iceberg that was Derek Hale issues. And yeah he still was best bros with Scott even if Scott hasn't been holding up his end of the bromance, but it was nice to have someone let him ramble on while actually listening. He felt Derek and he had actually been beginning to understand each other, and then Erica had to go run and turn it into something dirty no doubt.
Which now that Stiles thought about it from Erica's perspective, he guessed it did look kind of weird. After all, Derek was naked in his kitchen and fuck if that wasn't awkward. Stiles had began accepting the fact that he was somewhat bi this year, seeing as he had a burning need to know if he was attractive to guys. And what started out as twenty percent bisexuality was blown into at least fifty percent with the sight of Derek's chiseled form this morning. Stiles bemoaned the fact he just used that word in his head and resolved to stop reading cheesy romance novels to freak his father out. Stiles was just thankful that Derek hadn't shifted while in the bed this morning. Wolf Derek slept on top of Stiles last night and he knew he couldn't have controlled his arousal this morning if he woke up with a naked Derek on top of him. And while Derek might of appreciated his hospitality, Stiles was willing to bet he would have been pissed more than usual with finding out Stiles had a hard on for him. And an angry Derek meant the teeth came out and hey that actually is not a bad thought.
"I bet Derek would be a biter." He said out loud absent mindedly at lunch with Scott who looked horrified.
"Dude why are you thinking about that? If you are gay, that's fine, we'll always be bros but Derek. No man, come on." Stiles shrugged,
"If you feel the need to tell me all the things you do with Allison that I do not need to know, like what her hair smells like, then I can objectify Derek. Just when he's not in hearing range." Scott wrinkled his nose,
"Fine but I'm still not in his pack and he's still an ass." Stiles rolled his eyes,
"Yeah but he does have a nice one." Scott groaned and thumped his head on the table,
"I get it. He has a nice body, but can we get back to the fact he sent his lackeys after us and took away my cure?"
"Alright so he is a shitty alpha, and I feel for you man, but come on, the man deserved something after his family died, and if it didn't work then you would have been stuck as the alpha. I'm sure that would have gone over well with the Argents. Besides we've got bigger things to worry about, like the Kanima. The Beastiary will be done translating tonight by the way. So instead of us against them, I think that we should form an alliance, even if it's temporary against it. Which is why I'm going to meet Derek after school." Stiles said as he ate. Scott stared at him leaning in,
"Is that the only reason? I'll go with you, or Allison can go with you too." Stiles shook his head,
"Fine, no that's not the only reason, I need to talk to Derek about last night. So no I don't want you or Allison coming with me. Thanks but no thanks, I can take care of myself, and no I'm not taking you and your mom's baseball bat. I don't know why you think anyone is afraid of that." Lunch was over and Scott squeezed his shoulder,
"Uh good luck I guess. Be careful, and call if you need anything. You'll tell me what happens right?" Stiles nodded and grinned,
"Even if it goes really well?" Scott grimanced,
"Well maybe not that much in detail. I liked it better when you were obsessed with Lydia." Stiles laughed,
"Yeah, I think I did too. Less confusing. Although I still do like her, she's just not the only person I've got my eye on anymore. I'm expanding my horizons." he concluded with a small smirk.
Scott shook his head and waved him off, no doubt still going to be confused with the turn of events at the end of the day.
Stiles breathed a sigh of relief as the rest of the day flew by before he had a breakdown in the jeep. He leaned his head against the steering wheel trying to find the willpower to put the key in the ignition and go. After a few minutes of agonizing over how stupid the plan was, he decided to fuck it and start the jeep. He drove to where Boyd said the new lair was and prayed his Dad didn't come back from the trip to find Stiles all torn up.
He entered the warehouse and was both comforted and unnerved that no one else seemed to be in it. He was about to leave, figuring he would have to wait until later when Derek walked out of one of the railway cars.
"Oh good you are here. I was wondering if I had to get your number and harass you into meeting me somewhere. Or wait for you to crawl onto my roof like a creeper. I know my cuddles are irresistible but come on, you could give me fair warning at least." Stiles started rambling as Derek stared at him. He paused as his brain caught up with his mouth and he realized what he just said.
"Are we alone? And I wasn't uh thinking about you and cuddling even though that's what your wolf did last night." Derek rolled his eyes and nodded,
"We are alone, I sent the others to track scents. Boyd said you would be coming over after school. I figured you would want to talk to me alone."
"So you just wanted to get me alone huh? More cuddling? What was the deal with that anyway? You only touch me when you're pushing me into something." Stiles said wiggling his eyebrows. Derek crossed his arms and glared at him, trying to look menacing. Stiles was unperturbed after last night though and just waited with a grin on his face.
"Just spit it out, I'm not leaving until I get more answers, and you can't scare me off."
"Fine. I was tired and the wolf took over. The wolf seems to think you are pack even though you belong to Scott's pack. The wolf felt the need to protect you and seek comfort. Happy?" Stiles paused for a minute, heart hammering before nodding.
"Ah thought so. I uh did some reading on wolf behavior. Does this mean the lair is one big cuddle puddle? Wolf you kind of smelled though. What do you do? Roll around in pond water and dead bunnies?" Derek snorted but still looked harassed. The air was thick with tension before Stiles cleared his throat.
"It was kind of nice actually. Reminded me of staying up late with…with my Mom when Dad would work long night shifts and I'd fall asleep in her bed watching TV." Derek nodded and softened,
"That's good." He ventured and the moment was broken as he looked away.
"Was there anything else you needed?"
"Wait, you said the wolf saw me as pack. Do you see me as pack? You've got a funny way of showing it." Stiles said replaying the previous conversation. Derek frowned and shrugged,
"You're in Scott's pack. Did you want anything else?" Stiles bit his tongue to keep from several innuendos that came to mind from that statement and sighed.
"Yeah I was going to suggest we work together against the Kanima. Strength in numbers and I actually have the info on it." Derek thought it over for a minute,
"I doubt Scott wants to work with me. I'll get in touch with you." He turned and walked away to the railway car, the shadows engulfing him and leaving Stiles to stand there awkwardly.
"I don't know where you learned to socialize but sinking into the shadows isn't cool man." He shouted before walking back to the jeep and slapping the steering wheel.
"Well he didn't tear me apart, I guess that's a step. Time to put a plan together, how to get with Derek Hale, avoid getting eaten by Kanimas, and unite the packs because I'm not dealing with this on my own."