Stiles had taken to staring at Derek when the werewolf wasn't looking, which sometimes led to him being caught. One day, Scott turned to his best friend when the Alpha left the room.
"Is there something on your mind?" He asked, his tone accusatory.
"About what?" Stiles asked, feigning innocence despite how sweaty his palms suddenly felt. "Uh... I forgot to brush my teeth this morning, Jackson paid me to write his English essay, you click your tongue when you're nervous-"
"That's not what I meant," Scott interrupted with a roll of his eyes. "I want to know why your eyes have been glued to Derek since he got here."
Stiles' eyes opened wide like a deer caught in headlights. Before he could respond, a deep voice spoke out, drowning the human's half-hearted response in the process. "I was wondering the same thing."
Derek's gaze bore down upon Stile who was at a loss for word. The alpha's voice was soft despite the threatening scowl on his face. "What do you wish to tell me?"
Why don't you love me?
"Nothing," he mumbled, leaving his feelings unvoiced.
Stile's life was in danger; this seemed to be a common occurrence for him since his best friend was turned into a werewolf and Derek Hale entered his life. The only thing different this time was the fact that there was no werewolves around to save him, only the one lone one that had him pinned against a wall.
"My, don't you smell delicious?" The strange werewolf commented after inhaling Stiles' scent.
"What are you talking about?" The boy struggled against the man's grasp, causing the foreign hands to tighten his grip on his capturer's wrist.
"Don't try to toy with me child," the stranger snarled, his foul breath contorting Stiles' expression to an even more unpleasant one. "You reek of an Alpha. And once she comes to save you, I'll kill her and gain her pack as my own." The werewolf let out a malicious laugh and panic quickly spread through Stiles' body.
"Well if that's your plan, you're out of luck," he explained, the bitterness oozing out of his voice. "No one's coming for me. I'm only around the pack because Scott's in it and even then he's only a beta. The alpha doesn't care whether I live or die: you can hold me ransom all you'd like but it won't get you anywhere." The human sighed, fully believing what he was saying but also attempting to distract his capture.
It worked, for the strange werewolf loosened hiss grip and let out a frustrated sigh. "Shit! I could have sworn... Well, if you don't want to be wolf-bait, you might want to find new friends, kid." The stranger ran an unsure hand through his hair and Stiles took his shot - he twisted his wrists free before running as fast as he could out of the abandoned cellar he was being kept in. He knew it was stupid to try to outrun a werewolf, but he had no choice. If he didn't save himself, who would?
As if on cue, as Stiles was heading out of the doorway, a dark figure ran in the opposite direction past him and towards the stranger. Letting his curiosity get the best of him, the human turned to see his capturer's surprised face permanently stuck in his face as a very angry werewolf snapped his neck in one motion. Stiles didn't know what he considered more shocking: what he just witnessed or the fact that Derek actually showed up to help him.
With his teeth bared and a scowl on his face, the werewolf turned his attention to Stiles. "What?!" He snapped through gritted teeth.
Can I trust you to protect me?
"Nothing," he mumbled, leaving his gratitude unvoiced.
Stiles was fed up with his so-called friends. Between their relationships with each other and the pack business, the young boy found himself isolated from everyone else. It was at a pack meeting that Stiles finally had enough.
Derek went to go deal with a phone call, transforming the rest of the pack members into unsupervised children. Scott and Jackson started to wrestling and the girls turned to talk to each other. Scott then turned his attention towards Alison, dragging her into a tickle fight. Jackson and Lydia laughed at them until Lydia started to tickle Jackson. There was laughter and pleas to stop, all the while Stiles sat by himself, the pain of feeling isolated and lonely despite being around his friends too much to handle.
The irritated boy stood up abruptly with the intention of storming out of the room. Unfortunately as luck would have it, he hit his foot against the coffee table and let out a loud curse in response.
"You 'kay man?" His best friend asked in the eloquent way that just screamed 'Scott'. The others turned their attention towards the injured boy.
"Don't mind me, Mr. Invisible over here. Go back to what you were doing," he responded bitterly for of course they only noticed him the one time he'd prefer if they didn't.
Everyone gave him an odd look but it was Lydia who spoke up first. "What are you yammering on about, weirdo?"
"Not like it matters to you guys. Day after day you ignore me but expect me to continue to hang out. No more! I can't stand your behavior; 's driving me crazy. Not like any of you notice! You're too busy sticking your tongue down each other's throats and turning into wolves! All the while this lousy human is left out of everything and no one cares!" Stiles let out a huff once he let everything out, half relieved he did so but also half terrified of the consequences of doing so.
"You done now?" Jackson asked a hit of annoyance in his voice. Scott and Alison looked horrified at his reaction but he just continued with, "If so, come join us instead of just standing there like the idiot you are."
A bit defeated, Stiles plopped down on the couch as Derek returned to the room. His expression was colder than usual and he made eye contact with all of his pack members before ending up looking down at Stiles. "What's going on here?"
Do you even need me?
"Nothing," he mumbled, leaving his worries unvoiced.
It had been a week after his outburst and Stiles had been making himself sparse with the pack, so when he became sick and his father demanded he stayed home, the teenager didn't expect anyone to drop by. Scott sent him a text asking where he was and a quick reply was all it took for his best friend to leave him alone for the day.
To put it simply, Stiles had a fever. But if you asked him, he would tell you he was dying from a horrible disease that made his body odd temperatures. At first he felt impossibly cold to the point where he dragged his exhausted body into the bathroom to take the hottest shower he could muster.
After the shower, Stiles collapsed in his bed and couldn't get comfortable. Where he was cold before, he was suddenly too hot, even laying on top of his blankets and wearing only boxers. He tossed and turned for what felt like hours before he finally passed out, too tired to stay awake any longer.
Stiles was jostled from his sleep by his blanket moving beneath him. "Great, I've become so delusional I'm imagining things," the teenager groaned as he struggled to open is eyes.
"Go back to sleep," a deep voice mumbled next to Stiles' ear, much too close for comfort before he felt the voice's owner cover the sick boy's body with his own blanket.
"No, too hot..." He tried to tell the horrible person who was trying to burn him alive. A strong but gentle hand rested on the teenager's forehand, causing Stiles to blink through the haze that was brought on by his fever. He was shocked to see Derek looking down on him, a concerned look contorting his features.
"You need to break this fever," he responded, effectively tucking the younger boy in. "Don't move and keep that blanket on." Before Stiles could respond, the alpha stood and left.
The sick teenager must have fallen asleep for when he opened his eyes again, the room was much brighter even with the curtains closed. There was a rustling next to him but the time Stiles sat up his tired body, there was no one there. A moment later, however, the blank area between his bed and the door was being inhabited by Derek carrying a steaming bowl of something that smelled like heaven to the sick teenager.
"So I didn't imagine this! Derek Hale, what do I owe the pleasure?" Part of Stiles was bouncing for joy because his crush came to check up on him, part of him was suspicious as to the alpha's true intentions of being there, but mostly he was embarrassed to be seen in such a weak state.
Derek ignored Stiles as per usual and handed him the bowl before sitting down in chair brought in from the dining room. The teenager looked down to reveal that in the bowl there was a generous serving of soup.
"Eat," Derek commanded, looking intensely at Stiles and the sick boy quickly obeyed.
They talked for a bit once he was done, or rather Stiles rambled on about nothing and Derek grunted in response. Then the teenager grew tired and fell asleep for a bit. This resulted in a cycle for the rest of the day - the younger boy would wake up with Derek sitting next to his bed, the alpha would feed him something warm, and then Stiles would fill the silence with his voice until he eventually fell asleep.
By the end of the night, Stiles was feeling much better and told Derek so, expressing his gratitude. The alpha took this as his cue to head back to his own house, much to the younger boy's displeasure. When the werewolf stood up to leave, the human let out a cry of "Wait!"
Derek raised his eyebrow and cocked his head before responding with, "Yes?"
Can you always care for me?
"It's nothing," he mumbled, leaving his hopes unvoiced.
Stiles continued to go to back meetings despite his sour feelings towards his friends. After all, they were still his friends and where else would he be able to hang out with Derek without the werewolf questioning his presence.
His mellowed demeanor did not go unnoticed, but no one commented on it in the hopes Stiles would get over his moodiness.
It wasn't until after the meeting that Derek had enough and held Stiles back when he tried to leave with the rest of the group. The young human sent his best friend a pleading look, but the beta wouldn't get in the way of his alpha, not even for the sake of friendship.
Once the other pack members left Derek's house, he ordered the young boy to sit down and he did the same. The women sat there in an uncomfortable silence for a minute before Stiles predictably broke the silence.
"So it's not that I mind your company, I enjoy it actually, but why did you make me stay?" The alpha raised his eyebrow at the human who kept talking. "I mean, I have homework to get done and if I'm home too late, my dad will get upset. You know how he is..."
Derek let out a low growl that silenced the boy. He then took a deep breath, composing his thoughts for the werewolf was not good with words.
"You talk way too much," Derek started and continued before Stiles could defend his talkative mouth. "You say so much but you never say what you need to. What's really on your mind?"
Images of his broken friendships and unrequited love flashed through Stiles' mind. He froze up, worried that the werewolf's powers somehow included mind control.
"Why do you ignore me?" His brain supplied for him before he realized he said that out loud.
Derek let out a bittersweet chuckle before replying with, "Well, I guess love makes people do funny things." The younger boy wasn't sure if he was talking about his friend's priorities or if by some miracle Derek felt the same way he did.
Before he could shoot his hopes down, he decided to give hype an unlikely chance and open his mouth once again. He licked his lips nervously and mumbled, "Love?"
Derek shrugged in response but his eyes were glued to the human's lips. Taking a leap of faith, Stiles closed the gaps between them by sealing their lips in a soft kiss.
Much to his surprise - and delight - the werewolf responded fully by wrapping one hand through Stiles' hair and the other traced along his back.
It was the younger boy who broke the kiss, nerves and bliss pumping through his veins. "So you love me?" he asked, fearful he was being put up to some joke.
Instead of responding, Derek kissed him again, successfully keeping the talkative boy silent; their lips telling the story of the words that they never spoke.