A/N: As stated in the summary, this fic is a secret santa gift for Wild Birdie! I tried to keep your answers in mind as I planned the outline for the story while also having to remember to keep ships out of the story (sooo hard for me, I'm all about ships XD although, I do love friendship-only stories too), I hope you like what I came up with!

Canon divergent mixed with roommate AU for a kinda Canon story but with a few obvious changes. It all still takes place in Beacon Hills, everyone is alive (except Victoria) and gets along but they are all in their 20s instead of their teens. As the summary says, Allison first meets Scott and Stiles as she moves in with them, so that's one big change. Derek is the Alpha with Scott as his Beta (and Stiles just as a Human Packmate), along with Cora, Erica, Boyd, Isaac, Kira, Malia, and Peter. For the sake of simplicity, I am not including Liam, Corey, Hayden, Mason, and Theo since their interactions in Canon revolve around Scott as an Alpha and I'm really not sure how to write them with Derek as the Alpha (plus, I kinda dropped off the show as those characters were introduced so I'm not as familiar with them anyways). Kira is one of my faves so I had to include her as a side character at the very least! Lydia is still Allison's best friend (and is NOT a Banshee), so that means she also does not know Scott & Co. until after Allison meets them. I tried to go with a more humorous vibe while also keeping the supernatural element from the show, so hopefully my giftee will enjoy my efforts!
I will admit that it starts off kind slow but the point of the story is that Allison is moving in with two strangers (and guys at that) and how all of them have to adjust, there isn't a larger plot that will be coming into play at all, just fyi.

"Scott, don't forget, we're supposed to be meeting with another potential roommate pretty soon," Stiles called out as he kicked a pair of dirty socks under the couch. If he was lucky, he'd remember to fish those back out before he had to do laundry… This meeting had to go better than the last one- the previous guy was just a disaster. To make things worse, they only had 5 days to pick someone and get a third of the rent from them; Stiles had lost hope and had already begged Isaac for another half-month of rent so they'd have more time to find someone… but of course he said no. So Stiles went to Derek because honestly, he thought it wasn't really fair that Isaac had only given them 8 days of notice that he was going to be leaving- and right before rent was due! Derek had been clear that he wasn't going to step in because he didn't want to be accused of having a favorite between his Betas. This was between them to work out and it didn't matter that Isaac had just started packing his stuff one morning and told them over dinner that he found a small place for himself. Then he said they'd better start looking for another roommate because the two of them didn't have enough money to make up his third of the rent. Yea, they both knew that, that was why the three of them had found the apartment together! Now it was a mad scramble to get a notice out and Stiles couldn't stop complaining. "There has to be a reason why he just decided to leave, like so suddenly!" he shouted for the third time that day.

"Maybe because you complain a lot… or because you fight with him all the time," Scott mumbled. He didn't want to sound like he was accusing his best friend but it was also kind of the truth. He was always acting as a mediator between the two of them, ever since Isaac joined the Pack.

Stiles pointed a finger at Scott, "We didn't fight okay, we bickered, there's a difference! And he's put up with me for like 10 years now- living with me for 3, why would my personality start to bother him now? I feel like we're actually a lot better than we used to be."

"Okay, that's a fair point but, if it isn't because of the bickering… then I have no idea…" Scott had been devastated by the news- Isaac had been living with him since high school… it was going to be weird to not have him around all the time. Isaac had had to reassure him that it wasn't because he was tired of them or that he hated being around them. He just 'felt ready' to be out on his own and he wasn't moving far away or anything. It wasn't like he was leaving the Pack, just the apartment. So Scott tried his best to be happy for his friend while wrestling with his own emotions. And while also dealing with Stiles, who was complaining a lot… Scott knew it was because he didn't like change. After all this time, the three of them had a good friendship; both of them were dealing with the sudden adjustment in different ways.

Stiles shrugged, trying to push it out of his mind, if Isaac didn't want to give them a solid reason then that was just the way it was. He had other stuff to be focusing on anyways… like taking out the trash before someone came over. "Scott, don't forget to put your dishes in the washer, we don't want anyone to think we're total slobs!" Of course they didn't want the apartment to be too clean either because no one would ever believe that two bachelors would keep a clean space. But not looking like a trash heap was also important. Scott just got busy and let his dishes pile up some times, Stiles didn't usually care. He hurried to grab a fresh trash bag from under the sink before Scott blocked his way and then stuffed as much trash as he could into the kitchen trash before taking the full bag downstairs. Thankfully when he came back up, Scott's side of the sink was totally clean and he was even wiping off the counters.

"They said they'd be here around 1 right? Does everything look okay?"

"As okay as it's going to get I think; it looks lived in and like we aren't trying too hard. Is Isaac's room clean?"

Scott nodded, narrowing his eyes in thought, "I think so… I know he said he'd be coming back for some stuff later but I do believe he got everything out of his room and into the boxes that are scattered around."

"At least he's moving out quickly, it would kinda suck if he was still taking up space and our new roomie couldn't even move in right away… that would make it so much harder to find someone willing to wait a few days."

"Yea, Isaac knows how hard it's going to be for us to find someone, he wouldn't drag out the process longer than necessary. Besides, if he was still taking up space, I'm sure you'd find a way to make him pay that extra half-month like you were wanting."

Stiles gave his friend a look, "Well yea, of course I would! It wouldn't really be fair for us to charge a full month's rent to the new person if they couldn't even be moved in by the 1st, that would be rude! So you better believe I'd make him cough up the dough. Heck, I tried pretty hard as it was even though he did empty the bedroom already. Too bad-" he was interrupted by a knock at the door. "Oh, that must be them, wow, someone that's early!"

Scott wiped his hands on his jeans and went over to the door, opening it with a smile, "Hi, are you…" he let the question hang in the air as he saw who was at the door.

"Scotty don't be rude, let them in," Stiles chided as he walked over. "Oh… are you at the right apartment?" he asked, understanding Scott's issue.

"This is 6C right, you had the ad in the paper…? 3 bedroom apartment with one vacancy?"

"Yea, that's us, ar-are you the one that texted me about moving in?" Stiles asked.

"That's me, I'm Allison, nice to meet you," she said with a smile. She was a little worried by the looks of surprise on their faces… "You weren't expecting a girl? The ad didn't specify you were looking for a male roommate…"

"I knew we forgot something!" Stiles groaned. He'd been so focused on getting it into the paper that he rushed through the submission. He made sure to get the address, his phone number, and their share of the rent but had forgotten the other big detail.

Allison chewed on her lip, "Oh…" So it was another bust, just like the last place. And she hadn't even gotten in the door, again. It was 2017, was it really that weird? She knew she'd taken a gamble by responding to the ad- had it just been a missing piece of information or was gender not important? It was apparently just a piece of missing information. Great.

"Wait, how come you responded to an ad that didn't specify what kind of roomie we were looking for?" Scott asked. It seemed a little unsafe for a woman to meet up with random guys while looking for apartments… not that he wanted to say that outright and offend her on accident. It was barely safe for the average guy to meet up with random people nowadays. Scott had been through enough to know how dangerous anyone could be.

"I seriously need a place to stay and I don't have time to be too picky. I've already been to like 4 places just today… two of them were a little too sketchy for me, I won't stay in a place where I don't feel safe- I do have a few standards. One ad hadn't put the rent price down and I went all the way just to have it be out of my price range; and the last one took one look at me and said no…" So far, from what she could tell, these two looked respectable and they hadn't immediately tried to hit on her or anything- a definite plus to how her day had been going.

Stiles scratched his head and gently nudged Scott out of the way, "I mean, you can come in if you want… I'm guessing the rent for this place isn't too high?"

"No, it's the perfect price, even a little under what I'd budgeted for myself, and it's not in a bad neighborhood or anything!"

"And you don't feel weird… about rooming with 2 dudes?" Stiles asked, just needing to double-check.

She shrugged, walking into the living room, "Not if you two aren't weird about it. Obviously that means you can't just barge into the bathroom but, would you have done that with a guy that you didn't know?"

"I do have a habit of doing that… but it's because I've known Scott for like… ever, so we're like brothers. Isaac I've known for like half-of-forever now so we're pretty familiar too. But the bathroom has a lock on it and I won't pick it or anything. And I won't do that with bedrooms- Isaac was a stickler when it came to that. If the door is closed, I knock and-"

"You never knock when my door is closed!" Scott huffed.

Stiles rolled his eyes, "I know your habits Scott, I only barge in if it's important. Isaac needed his space a lot more though and Allison I don't know at all so I'd feel really weird just barging into her room, obviously."

Allison slowly nodded as she listened to them, she could tell this would be how they always were. There were no fake greetings or overly formal discussions- this was truly them. She definitely appreciated it, it would make it easier to decide if she could live with them or not. "So, as long as no one comes in without knocking, it should be fine… although, how do I know you two aren't a pair of weirdos? Why is the third roommate moving out?" Allison wasn't really worried about it, she knew how to handle herself… after having a few Werewolves try to kill her, surely two normal guys wouldn't give her any trouble. Not that they needed to know about her family's history!

Scott shrugged, "The only thing Isaac said was that he's ready to live on his own. But we're still friends, it's not like we'll never see him again, so I don't think it was our habits or anything."

"As for the part about us being weirdos, I mean… obviously you shouldn't just take our word for it… and neither of us are dating right now so you can't just ask a girlfriend or boyfriend about us… Um…?" Stiles turned to Scott, unsure where to go next. How could they really tell someone that they weren't crazy psychos without sounding like a crazy psycho that's trying to lie?

"I'm sure Derek will vouch for us, and the girls. If she moves in, she'll get to know them eventually anyways right?"

Stiles gave him an uncertain look, "I'm not sure if Derek is the best person for her to meet first… He's pretty intimidating…"

It was Scott's turn to roll his eyes, "He can't help it, that's just his face."

The fact that they hadn't tripped over themselves to convince her they were Good Guys or gotten offended pretty much settled it for her. She stepped in, wanting to change the subject before they got too carried away. She could tell that they'd get lost on the subject of just which friend she should meet first and why. "I kinda hate to rush things along," Allison said before either of them could make another comment, "but I have one more place to look at after this."

"Oh, right! Um, if you're really serious about moving in-"

"Yea, if we haven't scared you away already with our antics," Stiles interrupted. "It's like this all the time, I'll warn you now."

Scott continued like he hadn't said anything, "We can show you the room and let you know a little about the place."

"That would be great, thank you." She followed them through the kitchen and down the hallway, listening as they explained a bit about the apartment and the neighbors. Allison's potential room was slightly separated from the others, a left turn down the hallway, with the bathroom between her room and the other two, which were a right turn down the hallway. Of course she didn't want to be the 'outsider' roomie, holing herself up in her room all the time and not getting to know her new roommates… but she was still glad that there was a slight degree of separation, just because she didn't really know them. Allison was used to keeping secrets and having her own space, that bedroom gave her at least a bit of that. The room wasn't the smallest either, which was awesome! The first place she'd gone to, they'd tried to stuff her in the smallest room… and she could tell that one of the guys had quickly moved his stuff so he could have the bigger, vacant room. Of course it was only fair that someone who'd been living there longer would have dibs on a bigger room if they wanted it, but it still irked her. These guys were attached to the rooms they already had and saw no reason to change, not that their rooms were drastically smaller anyways.

"Um, just a warning I guess," Scott continued as they went back out to the living room, "Isaac complained a few times about the people above him. Nothing huge like a loud fight or a party but just something that kept him up a few times."

"Yea, I never heard a thing and our rooms aren't that far apart. So it wasn't anything super loud."

Neither of them wanted to admit that Isaac just had sensitive ears and had a harder time turning them off compared to Scott. But just in case it was something that a normal person could hear, might as well mention it to forewarn her. Things like that could be a deal breaker for some.

"Eh, those kinds of things happen when you live in an apartment and have people around you. As long as it isn't all the time, I'll be fine. I really do like this place, it isn't too far from where I work, it's not a bad part of town, I'm not getting the smallest room… and you two don't seem all that bad. I did promise that I'd meet with someone else though and I don't want to be rude…"

"We get that, they are taking time out of their day to meet with you, you don't want to cancel. I'm not going to lie to you either and say that we've already got some offers; you're the first person that's come by and hasn't given us weird vibes," Scott told her. "There's no pressure for you to answer right now or risk missing out."

"Yea, and we aren't meeting with anyone else today either, not unless someone contacts us at the last minute. Just as long as you text us with an answer soonish?"

Allison nodded, "Oh, of course, I wouldn't leave you hanging. Actually, I was thinking of giving you a down payment? As an incentive not to give away the room just yet. I do really like the place and unless I really love the next apartment, I'm sure I'll be coming back. I promise that I have a steady income and won't be late on my third of the rent. I'm not loud or invasive, I try to be friendly too so I won't flat out ignore you guys or anything."

Stiles smiled, "That sounds perfect. We can message our friends if you want? I figure it's probably a good idea to hear some secondary opinions of us before you move in… Moving in with complete strangers can be risky. At least by meeting our friends, you can get a better idea of how we are."

"I think I already have a pretty good idea, you two had a good back-and-forth going there the whole time. But yea, it would be nice to see your friends. Wouldn't it be awkward if we sign all the paperwork to put me on the lease and then it turns out I've had a brief but really awful date with one of your friends?" she chuckled. She hadn't had any bad dates but she didn't feel right turning down his offer… they both seemed real adamant about her getting to know them before making any serious decisions. It was the least she could do to humor them since there was a high possibility that she'd be moving in anyways. "But I am completely serious about the money, I have $100 with me right now."

Scott and Stiles looked at each other, surprised, she was serious about the down payment. Scott slowly nodded, "Yea, we can take it. Like I said, we don't really have anyone else that seems interested but we won't show the room to anyone else until we've heard from you. And of course we won't keep it if you decide to go with a different place, you can come back to pick it up, promise."

"Cool, you'll hear from me by dinner time for sure," Allison assured them as she reached into her purse for the money. She was all smiles as she handed over a handful of twenties, honestly feeling like she'd found the perfect place. "I can get the rest to you if and when I fully move in, which will be well before the first of next month for sure."

"Sounds good. Text us if you think of any other questions or just to let us know if you'll be taking the apartment- as you can see, it's all packed up so you can move in whenever you're ready," Scott told her.

"The sooner, the better honestly- I'm taking up space in my friend's place and her parents just sold the house so I've got to vacate… That's why I'm in a hurry and can't afford to be all that picky. Thanks for the quick tour, and for accepting a surprise-it's-a-girl roomie." She headed to the door and turned around, frowning as she realized she didn't know who to say bye to, "I know he's Scott but I didn't catch your name…"

"OH! My bad, I get distracted easily and we completely skipped the introductions, sorry! I'm Stiles. I was the one you were texting… and I apparently forgot to introduce myself via text too…"

"That's okay, I obviously forgot to tell you my name since, if I had, you would've known to expect a girl. I don't know many guys with the name Allison," she laughed. "So I'll save you as a contact and get back to you, it was nice meeting you both."

After she left, Scott and Stiles moved to the couch to discuss their next move. There was a chance that she wasn't going to move in but she seemed pretty set on living with them.

"Are we really prepared for a girl to be living with us?" Stiles asked. Both of them were pretty awkward around girls but if he was being honest, things hadn't felt awkward with Allison. At the very least they hadn't scared her away!

Scott nodded, "I mean, we've gotten used to girls being around anyways. We've all spent time at Derek's place, before we found this apartment. Cora, Malia, Erica, and then Kira, were always around and it wasn't weird."

"Yea but they're Pack… especially for you, being a Were, you feel close with them. I just don't have a lot of boundaries so it wasn't weird for me to share space with them… and once they got used to me being around, I became a part of the Pack too. Allison is an actual stranger."

"Yea but things weren't awkward and it was our very first meeting, surely that shows that the three of us can get along, right?" Scott countered. "Besides, she agreed to meet with our friends, we should probably set that up before she fully agrees to move in… so maybe tomorrow?" Scott had definitely learned to trust his instincts after Derek finally stepped up and taught him something. Things just seemed to click with Allison- which was beyond rare!

Stiles nodded in agreement, "Tomorrow sounds good. That way she doesn't have to give us all the money and then after meeting everyone, decides it's all too much and then she wants out. Which means, by Thursday we'll know for sure if we have a new roomie or not!" He pulled out his phone and messaged Malia about inviting everyone over to meet someone. Out of everyone in the Hale Pack (aside from Scott of course), he got along with her best… even though they had almost nothing in common. But she accepted him as he was and listened to him whenever he had something to say. And she was stubborn enough to make sure that all the others would actually come.

"What do we do if they don't like her?" Scott asked. He wasn't sure why any of them might not like Allison- he hadn't picked up any suspicious scents so she definitely wasn't a Were in disguise, but there was always a chance.

"We tell them that they have to put up with her because she's the best candidate… period. The first guy was a drug dealer, you said so-"

"I don't know for sure that he was a drug dealer… just that he smelled like a few different kinds of drugs. And after you casually mentioned that you're a deputy, his heart started to race and he made an excuse to leave right after that."

"Close enough, there was no reason for him to get nervous about me being in law enforcement unless he knows he's done something to break the law. And the second guy didn't have any money so we couldn't pick him, there is absolutely no way we can split the difference of Isaac's portion. I mean, I might've been willing to try it for a month but you said he lied when we asked about him having a reliable income… that probably means that he jumps from place to place, not giving anyone money to pay rent until they kick him out. So your wolf-y sense helped weed out two bad potentials."

"And what was wrong with the third guy? He seemed real nice and he didn't smell like drugs or anything."

Stiles sighed, "He had gang tattoos Scott. Even if he didn't purposefully come here to try and scope out my place, which I do doubt, I didn't recognize him at all, it would've gotten ugly when he found out what I did… or if Dad came over to visit and he recognized him as the sheriff. You can argue that maybe he wasn't in the gang anymore but he was also wearing the right colors. We aren't taking that chance, so he's out too. If that means we're rooming with a girl, so be it. It might be weird but we're all willing to give it a try and she gave us a down payment so we know she has money. So that means the Pack has to like her, or at least tolerate her. I mean, I'm assuming since you've kept quiet there's nothing you're not saying right? No weird feelings or smells or anything?"

Scott gave him a half smile, "I was just thinking about the same thing… it's weird but I got nothing but good vibes from her, like nothing felt off at all- is that weird?"

"A bit, I mean, after all our close-calls it's rare to find someone that doesn't raise a hackle or two. And those few that we have found that matches our 'vibe' just kinda automatically get pulled into the Pack… one way or another. I mean, how crazy is it that Deaton was totally in the secret circle well before you started working there and by coincidence you get turned. Our parents got sucked in of course and thank goodness they adjusted well enough. Cora's friend Brett finally earned a trusted spot in the Humans-in-the-know group like me… but that's about it, I mean… we're kinda tight knit. Like the Cullens now that I think about it…" Stiles shuddered to himself as he realized the slight resemblance. They all hung out together and didn't really try to mingle with other people all that often; it'd been that way since Scott had joined the Pack back in high school.

"Yea well, Derek has trust issues, which is understandable- not a lot of people react well to the whole supernatural secret thing," Scott admitted. Being supernatural also made it hard to trust people, especially when you could tell when someone was lying, or even where they'd been judging by the scents on their clothes. Once you started picking up on those things, it was hard to turn off. "So with that in mind… it might be a good thing to have all the others come by, so they can get a reading on her too. I trust my instincts but it would be good to get a second opinion about her, just in case I missed something."

"Well, unless it's a big deal, I'm willing to accept a few 'suspicious' scents- we really need her."

"I completely agree at this point, Allison is the keeper and we just have to convince our Packmates that she's acceptable." Scott felt like that was easier said than done. Derek liked to keep their circle pretty small because the aforementioned deep-rooted trust issues. He'd only taken Scott in because he had too, because of Peter. And Peter was unpredictable honestly but after he lost his Alpha spark he wasn't as insane, which was good. But because he was older than the rest of them, it wasn't like he really made any effort to be friendly with them. Malia was blunt and harsh so she didn't make friends easily and Cora was only slightly better… Boyd and Isaac were fairly quiet so they were easy to get along with but it was hard to truly become their friend. Erica wasn't as bad as the others; she liked to make friends… just as long as they didn't say something to offend her… Scott's only hope was Kira since she was truly just a warm, bubbly person- it hadn't even taken her long to weasel her way into Derek's trust and before anyone even realized it, she was a part of the Pack. If Kira liked Allison, Scott and Stiles could convince her to help bring everyone else around… and if for some reason, she didn't like Allison, well, that would be a huge warning sign.

"Scott, I can see the worry on your face, it'll be fine. Everyone in the Pack knows that we need someone to move in with us now that Isaac is moving out. I'm a deputy with academy training and you're a Were with wolf-y senses… I think they trust us to make a good choice. It's mostly a formality and it's to put Allison at ease as well. Once she sees the kind of people we hang out with, she'll know we aren't weirdos. Or… she'll realize that we are weirdos but that we're weirdos that she can get along with, not the ones that you cross the street to avoid."

"And you aren't worried that Malia or Cora will scare her off with their blunt personalities?"

Stiles turned away, looking at the ceiling, "I didn't say that… I'm just hoping that Kira's shining personality will make up for it."

"You and me both…" Scott sighed. "Well, I've got to head to work for a few hours, let me know what Allison says. I'll see you for dinner."

-later-

"Dude, looks like we're set!" Stiles called out as his friend walked in the door.

"Why, did Allison text?"

"Oh yea, it didn't go well at the other place," Stiles told him.

Scott frowned at him, "Don't be happy that things went badly… that makes you look like a terrible person."

"She isn't here to see it, besides, she wanted to move in here remember? I don't think she really cares that it went badly because that made her decision even easier. Anyways, so what happened was that the lady at the other place found someone to fill the vacancy like yesterday and she never told Allison! So she goes all the way there to look at the place and the new roommate is the one that answered the door and both of them were very confused… They had to wait around for like an hour for the original renter to come back from work to explain everything. Like, how pissed would you be if you were looking for a place and you head all the way to a place just to find out that the person never updated and said they found someone… let alone, she made plans with Allison in advance and then this other girl shows up and steals the spot out from under her."

"Okay, that is pretty harsh… what did you say back? Please don't tell me you were insensitive…"

Stiles gaped at him, "Me, insensitive? I'm sarcastic Scott, not tactless. I told her that all of our friends already wanted to meet her- which, by the way, dinner is here tomorrow. I know Malia, Derek, and Kira are coming for sure… I think Isaac will stop by because he wants some of his boxes, and maybe Cora too. Boyd, and Erica are busy and Peter knows he has no real reason to show up. Allison said she'd be ready to move in tomorrow although from the sounds of it, she doesn't have all of her stuff ready? I'm not sure what exactly she meant but I'm sure we'll find out. She'll be here after I get off work and we can go over the chore chart and stuff."

"You and your chore chart… why not let her get moved in first?" Scott teased.

"Organization is key Scott! The sooner we explain the chart the sooner she can get the hang of it, she needs to know we aren't slobs and we need her to know that she has to pull her own weight too."

Scott laughed and went to take a shower, letting Stiles finish dinner. Letting a stranger into their lives was going to be new… aside from when Kira moved into town back in their senior year, they hadn't really dealt with strangers… Scott had 1 coworker besides Dr. Deaton and they had opposite hours so he rarely saw them. Stiles grew up in the station so he knew all of the other deputies, not that any of them really came over to 'hang out' after a shift anyways. The rest of them just depended on each other and ignored people that weren't Pack. Stiles might try to downplay it, or maybe he didn't really understand since he was only Human but… inviting someone into their apartment also meant exposing the Pack to a stranger too. If they made the wrong choice, it could hurt the Pack and Scott was feeling pretty nervous about that.