Derek, toting his torn duffel bag with a broken zipper, was much less enthusiastic.
The entirety of the Stilinski clan (save for the sheriff, who was too busy working to attend) were gathering for a week in one of Stiles' uncle's year-round rented lot of cabins. Uncle Skeeter (who was actually very refined and elegant save for his not-so-refined-and-elegant name) had a lot with about twelve cabins, each big enough to hold five couples. How he payed for all of that, Derek didn't know, and he really didn't want to.
Stiles had begged him to come, threatening to leave the pack and go with the alphas if he wasn't accompanied by the sourwolf. Not willing to risk losing Stiles, Isaac and Scott had forced Derek to go, without even offering to go themselves.
That was how Derek ended up in to passenger seat of Stiles' old pixie dust blue jeep, driving up thousands of feet to get to the small village.
"Please tell me again why it's so important that I attend this gathering?" Derek inquired, scratching his cheek lightly.
Stiles only smiled. "With your help, all the relationship building games will be so easy! We have to run and climb and jump and shit like that. I've never participated since I've always been a loner, but now that you're coming with me, we're unstoppable!"
Derek groaned inwardly and slumped in his seat. This was gonna be a long week.
Upon arrival, Stiles was bombarded with "hi"'s and "I missed you"'s and the occasional "who's the creeper growling in your jeep?".
Derek did his best to ignore them all, but it was pretty hard considering that they all kept asking Stiles if he was his boyfriend.
All at once, Derek was pulled from the jeep and into the arms of a teenage girl, probably only a freshman in high school (had he seen her at Beacon Hills high? He really couldn't remember). She grinned up at him and said shyly "My name is Brailee Anne Stilinski."
Derek waved slightly and answered politely "I'm Derek. Derek Hale."
Brailee smiled and giggled. "Are you Genim's boyfriend?"
"Who's Genim...?"
"Stiles is Genim. But I'm the only one that's allowed to call him Genim. Everyone else has to call him Stiles or he threatens to chop their balls off."
Derek had no idea how to reply.
"Alright, Stilinski family! For those who don't know, I'm Marilyn, younger sister to Skeeter Stilinski. I live in Porterville, down south a ways. The family reunions are pretty easy to follow: one Stilinski, one significant other. Except for Ray, Mack, and Devon. We accept the three of you as you are.
"The events will commence as so first thing in the morning:
6:30-7:30 AM: Wake-up
8:30 AM: Breakfast Cabin #9
9:45 AM: Archery
10:45 AM: Jog around the lake (for those who are able)
11:55 AM: Snacks issued
12:00 PM: Sprints after cool down stretching
1:00 PM: Lunch/Nap/Relaxation
3:00 PM: Bond building activities w/ significant others
5:00 PM: Volunteers cook dinner
6:30 PM: Dinner/Relaxation
7:55 PM: Dessert and stories Campfire
8:45 PM: Bedtime for children aged 0-8
9:15 PM: Bedtime for children aged 9-12
9:30 PM: Ghost stories for teenagers and young adults
10:00 PM: Late night hike (at least 6 volunteer babysitters needed)
c. 11-11:30 PM: Return to campground
12:00 AM: Lights out for everyone.
"If all those things are clear to everyone, I request that all newbies come up and give an introduction."
Stiles smiled wide and grabbed Derek's wrist pulling him up to the front of the crowd of freckled pale family members.
"Everyone, meet my amazing boyfriend, Derek Hale."
The crowd applauded, one of the many distant cousins yelling "Stiles finally got hitched!"
Yup.
This week could /not/ be over fast enough.
"Your uncles are hicks and your aunts are uppity businesswomen and your cousins are a mixture of uppity business people and hicks and I'm losing my mind! I need stimulation, Stilinski. I need personal space! I can't walk two feet without a five year old asking me if I'm an underwear model!"
Stiles struggled to hold in his laughter. Derek wasn't having fun, obviously. Well, that was gonna have to change.
"How about you and I go and take a swim? We can invite Brailee and Douglas if you want."
Derek recognized the name Brailee. "Your cousin? Little blonde girl, same skin and eyes as you?"
"Precisely, sourwolf. She's one of the few cousins I have that still needs me to babysit them but is old enough to babysit the little ones. And excuse you, she's not little, she's only a year younger than me. School wise, anyway. She's fourteen, I'm sixteen."
Derek scowled. "And I'm twenty three. Your point?"
"Oh shit! I'm underage! This may not work out as well as I planned... From now on you're seventeen."
Derek's eyes widened and he let out a sarcastic laugh. "Me? Seventeen? Are you high?"
"Not yet."
"I'm going to ignore that comment... Anyway, who's Douglas?"
Stiles smirked and grabbed Derek's hand, not even flinching when his hand clenched into a tight fist around Stiles' own. "Douglas is Brailee's boyfriend. Come on, let's go get them."
Douglas Porter Green was one big clumsy motherfucker.
Everyone called him Doug, except Brailee, who called him Frankenstein. He was at least six feet tall, with size twenty sneakers. His hands were as big as baseball gloves, and apparently he still hadn't hit his growth spurt. He had fiery red hair and deep yellow-green eyes, reminding Derek a bit of his brother.
As Doug stood awkwardly in his double-x swim shorts that fit him like a pair of jammers, Derek sniffed out something fishy (and it definitely wasn't in the lake). Doug's scent was thick and thin, hot and cold, sweet and sour, a mixture of a bit of everything. Stiles had one flat smell: oranges. Brailee smelled strongly of Justin Bieber perfume, lip gloss, and sour patch kids. Typical preteen girl smell. But Doug... He smelled off. He smelled like blood and fear and sweat and chocolate and roses.
"Derek, dude, your nose is like... Touching Doug's nipple."
Derek snapped to attention and he backed away, awkwardly scratching his head. "Uh... I like your cologne."
Doug gulped and stuttered "It's uh... Uh, Old Spice. You can, er... Borrow it, sometime. If you want."
Derek nodded and turned, dragging Stiles by the scruff of his neck to the shore.
"Ow! Hey! I'm not a puppy, you bastard, let go of me!"
Rolling his eyes, Derek literally tossed Stiles effortlessly into the freezing cold water. Brailee and Doug stood laughing on the dock, pointing at Stiles. Derek looked closely at Doug, not quite sure why he was so... Wrong.
Well, he had a whole week to find out. Maybe this could be some fun after all.
After their swimming session where Brailee and Doug got much more comfortable with Derek (and vice versa), it was time for a quick dinner (supper as the adults called it) before the first activity.
Derek ate light, but even he couldn't deny how good the food was. Cornbread, beans, fried chicken, and lots of peach cobbler for dessert. It was your basic country cooked meal. Derek felt like he was Laura Ingalls, eating old time homemade food in a log cabin with good people.
Stiles stuffed himself to the brim, eating until he was sure he would throw up. He let out a massive belch, earning giggles from his younger cousins and disapproving looks from the aunts he was related to only by marriage.
The little girl that sat to Derek's left, Maggie, had red hair and the typical brown Stilinski eyes. Derek tilted his head and leaned over and whispered "Uh, why do you all have brown eyes if your dad has blue eyes? Isn't eye color a hereditary thing, as in, most people in a certain family have it the same?"
Stiles raised an eyebrow. "Why are you bringing my dad into this? This is my mom's family."
Oh.
That actually explained a lot.
"...and so after many years of arguing and talks about morals and family and their relationship in general, my dad agreed to take my mom's last name."
A rather shocked Derek spooned another bite of cobbler into his mouth to avoid speaking. That explained why Stiles looked nothing like his dad, why all these people looked just like him: Stiles took everything after his mother. And all these family members weren't even the blood relatives of the sheriff, they were the relatives of Stiles' mom Claudia.
"Wait, then what's your dad's maiden name? Er, surname."
"Ward."
"How come he hasn't taken back his last name yet, since your mom... You know..."
Stiles smirked a bit. "Sheriff John Stilinski or sheriff John Ward. Which sounds better to you?"
"Point taken," Derek responded, looking down at Maggie. She grinned and wiped her mouth on his shirt.
Oh well. He had more anyway.
"Today's relationship building event is... Wife-carrying! Oh, uh... Partner-carrying! Ray, Mack, Devon, one of y'all needs to be a cheerleader or something."
Derek raised an eyebrow but easily hefted Stiles onto his shoulder. "Oh god, what have you been eating?"
"Food. Duh."
The werewolf groaned inwardly. Stiles' weight really wasn't affecting him that much, but he still wanted to play it up for the many cousins and uncles and grandparents surrounding them.
"Everyone ready? No, Mack, you can't- no, you... Uh huh. Yeah, no. No, uh, no. Nope. You just- Uh, never mind just... Okay."
Derek absentmindedly played with the hem of his shirt, twisting it in between his fingers.
A small voice said behind him "Can you carry me too, Der Der?"
Derek looked down and saw Maggie, little red curls now in loose pigtails on top of her head. Her bright yellow dress was mud stained, and her little feet were in (now filthy) white flowery sandals. She sucked her thumb, little puppy eyes begging.
"Sure, Maggie. Sure."
"On your marks, get set, go!"
"DUDE OH MY GOD DON'T DROP HER. DEREK WHATEVER THE FUCK YOUR MIDDLE NAME IS HALE, IF YOU DROP HER, I WILL NEVER FORGIVE YOU!"
"YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO GO UNDER THE TREE BRANCH NOT HOP IT YOU SUNNAVABITCH!"
"AVOID THE LAKE PLEASE. OH MY
GOD STOP SWINGING HER AROUND LIKE THAT. MAGGIE, STOP GIGGLING, YOU'RE ENCOURAGING HIM."
"And the winner is..."
"DEREK DUDE DON'T FUCKING WOLF OUT RIGHT HERE RIGHT NOW!"
"GENIM SAID A SWEAR! GENIM SAID A SWEAR!"
"When did this become my life...?"
"...Derek, Stiles, and Maggie!"
The prize was a big fat nothing.
That night, Derek crawled into bed beside Stiles. It wasn't the first time they had share a bed. At pack sleepovers, they had slept together (non-sexually of course) and been quite comfortable. They had need gotten physical though. No cuddling or touching at all.
"Derek... Thanks for coming. It means a lot to me."
"Whatever Stiles. Go the fuck to sleep."
Stiles totally failed to mention the newbie's prank. He realized that night when Doug, Max, Chris, Emily, Brailee, Hayden, and Lila all came in in the middle of the night with their hands full.