Werewolves may be incapable of getting drunk off their asses, but that isn't stopping Derek from drowning his sorrows in bottle after bottle of tequila. He's ignoring the obnoxious vibrations of his phone - which is probably indicating a plethora of apology texts from Stiles, or angry 'WHY THE HELL IS STILES CRYING?' texts from Scott and/or Lydia - by watching some Japanese action movie and stuffing his face with overly-cheesy nachos. Laura would kill him if she saw him doing this. Maybe it's a good thing she can't.

No.
Derek shouldn't be thinking like that.

But how can he keep his mind from wandering to such dark places? Everything is wrong, so terribly wrong, and he doesn't have anyone's shoulder to [secretly] lean on. Laura was the only person he'd let see him cry without minding, and she's gone. Stiles made him calm, but we all know how that turned out. The pack would usually be there to support him (unbeknownst to them most of the time), but word's probably gotten around by now, so they probably hate him for making Stiles cry. Derek most definitely isn't going to be there for himself. There's no one to rely on right now.

Right now, the bottle is his best friend, even though it's doing fuck-all to help.
But whatever.
It still tastes good.

Everything seems to be irritating him - the fact that Stiles is hiding something, the fact that the couch smells like Stiles, Stiles, how pretty the cherry blossoms are, how small the subtitles are, how much cheese he put on these damn nachos. He's getting overwhelmed, and he really wants to break something, but he also doesn't want to have to go out and buy another of the thing he'd have broken.

Life is so complicated.

It really doesn't help that everything reminds him of the boy whose pretty eyes he'd contaminated with the poisonous drops secreting from his tear glands (Damn.. he's so upset he's starting to sound poetic). Looking at every inch of the room draws a picture - the corner Stiles made him stand in for twenty minutes to 'Think about what you did' after stealing a small handful of Skittles from the teen, the floor where they've spent countless hours reading up on whatever creature is plaguing the town that month and sharing small glances (and sweet kisses, as of recent) on, and the table where Stiles once left his cell phone in a pizza box that Derek would have thrown away if people (specifically the Sheriff; that man is checking in almost every second he knows Stiles is with Derek) weren't so protective of Stiles and blowing up his phone asking why he wasn't responding (Derek returned the device to it's panicking owner shortly after finding it, which was about an hour after Stiles left).

Even the couch his sulking ass is planted on is painful to be around. Derek made his first move on this couch. Everyone showed up at Derek's door with a stack of DVDs, bags of corn that had yet to have been popped, and a pan of brownies (which was what made Derek allow them in). They made the popcorn, put on some Leonardo DiCaprio movie (as per Lydia's demand and Kira's much more polite request), and settled down. Stiles was lazily leaning into the couch between Derek, Isaac, and Liam. The boy was usually a bit anxious, but he was very zen that day, and that made Derek relaxed as well.

About halfway through the movie, Derek subconsciously put his arm around the human.

Stiles tensed, and his heartbeat sped up.

Derek thought he messed up and was about to move his arm away before the boy leaned closer, resting his head on the man's chest.

Derek suppressed the smile that wanted to spread across his face and instead looked around at everyone else to make sure no one was going to be a bitch. The only ones paying attention to them were Lydia, who had a smirk on her face and looked to the television after being caught staring, and Scott, who was grinning and held up two not-so-discreet thumbs up.

They had their first kiss on the couch, too. Stiles was rambling about some gossip going around the high school, and Derek was eating chocolate-covered pretzels and pretending to listen.

"So apparently she cheated on him with his best friend, and that's, like, not cool, I'd be so heartbroken if you were to sleep with Scott, but I know that wouldn't happen because I trust you guys and-"

"Stiles?"

"Yes, Derek?"

Derek pressed his lips to Stiles'. You could say 'fireworks went off' or some mushy shit like that. It was pretty nice. "Shut up." he says once it's over.

The teen looked like he was going to explode into a pile of glitter and rainbows and all things happy; his eyes were still closed, his cheeks and lips were red, and his heart was going insane - good insane. "Okay."

Ugh.
Why must this place hold such beautiful memories?

Derek watches a few more probably low-budget Asian movies before turning the TV off and cleaning up everything. After the plate is washed, he faintly smells Isaac, and aroma gets stronger by the second. He must be stopping by.

Once the smell is greater and the teen's noises are louder, he opens the door.

Isaac raises his eyebrows. "I didn't expect you to answer so quickly. Or at all, if I'm honest."

"Yeah? I didn't expect a visitor. You here to chew me out?"

"No! I wasn't planning on yelling at you! I'm definitely not brave enough for it, even if I wanted to. I.. do want to talk to you about it, though, about him."

Derek stares at Isaac for a bit, trying to read the boy as if he's a book. Not nervous... Not angry...
He steps aside and allows the beta to enter.

Isaac immediately takes a seat on the couch, and Derek sits next to him.

"I don't think it's your fault.., but I don't want to say it's Stiles' either."

That's not at all what Derek expected the blond to say.

He gives a curt nod.

"I think what he did was wrong.. He shouldn't have said that stuff to you, and he shouldn't be keeping secrets from you..," Isaac hesitates before looking up into Derek's eyes. "I noticed it, too, that he's been acting weird."

Derek's tempted to smile, but he doesn't have the will nor reputation to. "Good to know I'm not just goin' crazy. What all have you noticed?"

"He flinches when someone goes to touch him, but his heart and breathing stay normal, and he just has this distant look in his eyes.. He also kind of seems to be even more clingy? Like, he looks really broken at school, especially when Scott isn't around him."

"Interesting.. Does.. does he.. smell weird to you?"

"No, and that's what confuses me. Someone, or something, somehow is hurting him right under our noses. ..How about you..?"

Derek slowly nods, realization flooding over him. "Yeah.. He does.."

Isaac's eyes grow wide, letting Derek know that's he's understanding now, too. "It's someone we know but you don't. That's why he smells off to you."

Derek furrows his brows. "It must be happening at school."

"That doesn't make sense, though. Someone's always with him when we're at school, he's almost never alone. Surely a teacher wouldn't allow him to get hurt in the classroom."

"Well, where else would he go?"

"I don't know. Jungle, maybe?"

"You.. think that Stiles goes to a club and dances or sleeps with a guy, and then covers it up with chemicals..?"

Isaac gives a small, sheepish smile. "Not really, no. It was just a suggestion."

Derek nods and looks to the floor. "I know he isn't cheating, or trying to. Some asshole must putting their hands on him. I'm going to find out who it is," he slowly looks back up at Isaac. "and I'm going to destroy them."