A/N: Thanks so much for the reviews. Please keep 'em coming! I know this chapter is short compared to the previous two, but the next one should be longer. Again, I don't own Teen Wolf. I just really love the idea of Derek and Stiles as a couple.


Stiles followed the werewolf into the house. He couldn't figure out the sudden change in Derek. Two days ago, he had nearly fractured Stiles' spine, and now he was treating the boy like a china doll. Stiles couldn't say that he minded. In fact, he preferred Derek this way. The less werewolves he had attacking him, the better.

"So, uh, that's a lot of blood." Stiles said.

"Don't worry," Derek said with a smirk, "not all of its mine."

Stiles chuckled and followed Derek down the hall.

"You know Stiles, you don't have to follow me around like a lost puppy."

Stiles was about to make a snarky remark before Derek cut him off.

"I was just going to take a shower, so unless you'd like to join me, you can make yourself useful and clean up or something."

For a second, Stiles swore he heard Derek wrong. When his mind finally registered the words, Stiles' was speechless. Derek obviously thought he was being funny. So the werewolf had a sense of humor after all?

"No, again that's not on my list." Stiles replied, trying to keep the mood light.

"You also said that about sharing a bed," Derek started. "As I recall, we did share a bed last night."

Stiles gulped. Derek's voice turned from light and joking to dark and dangerous in just a few words. For a brief moment, Stiles wondered what it would be like to share a shower with Derek Hale.

"Maybe I'll just take a rain check?" Stiles joked weakly.

"If you insist." Derek said, his tone turning lighter. A smile played across his features and Stiles' mentally let out a sigh of relief.

Stiles watched as Derek disappeared into what he assumed was a bathroom. After the werewolf was out of his sight, Stiles turned toward the mess. He found a mop and some cleaning supplies and started cleaning. He had finished downstairs and was upstairs when Derek finally got out of the shower. Stiles was working on scrubbing blood from the wall when Derek cleared his throat. Stiles turned to see the werewolf standing in the doorway wearing nothing but a towel. What did Stiles expect?

"Sorry, just had to grab some clothes."

"Dude, it's your house. Do whatever you want." Stiles said, turning back to the blood.

Derek chuckled. "You know, I can hear your heart speed up."

Stiles ignored him. He was not going to acknowledge the fact that he had a sort of crush on Derek Hale. Stiles had never considered himself gay before, but he knew he did find some guys attractive. Derek Hale was certainly one of those guys. Days ago, Stiles would have never considered 'being with' Derek Hale. Now, he viewed it as a definite possibility. The whole prospect of sex with anyone excited, but also scared, Stiles. Of course, he had tons of porn on his laptop, but he was still a virgin. He banished the thoughts of sex out of his head and finished scrubbing the blood off the wall.

When he turned around, Derek was still standing in the door way. The werewolf seemed to be studying Stiles. Derek's eyes slowly scanned Stiles' body, and the boy shivered.

"Well, I think everything's mostly cleaned up." Stiles said, and his words seemed to break Derek's trance.

"Yeah, uh, thank you."

"No problem." Stiles started, then his eyes landed on Derek's arm. Now that all of the blood was washed away, Stiles could see the deep gashes even better. They didn't look as fresh as they should've. In fact, they looked like they were a few days old already. The gashes were surrounded by vicious red circles, and if Stiles hadn't known better, he would've sworn they were infected. Stiles let the bloodied sponge he was holding drop, and he went to look at Derek's arm closer.

Derek eyed him suspiciously. "What are you-"

He stopped talking when Stiles reached out and gently touched his arm. "I thought this was supposed to have healed." Stiles asked quietly.

"It is healing." Derek replied. "That thing must've poisoned me somehow when it scratched me."

"That," Stiles said while pointed at the gashes, "is not a scratch."

"Dude, you have got to let me clean that out." The boy continued.

Derek shrugged. "It's fine."

"That's not fine. What, is the big bad wolf afraid of a little peroxide?"

Derek growled, but Stiles didn't back down.

"Fine!" Derek agreed finally. "There's a first aid kit in the bathroom downstairs."

Stiles hurried downstairs and grabbed the first aid kit. When he came back upstairs, Derek had changed into a pair of loose-fitting pants and was lounging on his bed.

"Took you long enough."

Stiles rolled his eyes and sat down beside Derek. He opened the kit and pulled open a pack of antiseptic wipes. He dabbed the gashes carefully and Derek stayed perfectly still. Stiles was surprised that Derek was actually cooperating.

Stiles pressed a little harder, and Derek inhaled sharply.

"Sorry." He said quickly.

Derek rolled his eyes. "Are you done yet?"

"Almost, stop being such a baby."

Stiles finished disinfecting the gashes and bandaged them up. After he was done, Derek touched the bandage gently.

"Thanks."

"Yeah, you keep saying that." Stiles said, gathering the first aid kit.

Derek reached out and grabbed his wrist. "Well, I mean it."

Stiles looked down at Derek's fingers lacing around his wrist. "You're welcome."

Derek let go of his wrist and let himself fall back on the bed. Stiles studied him briefly before quickly turning away. He mentally scolded himself for being so ridiculous. For a few moments he thought that Derek may actually be into him. Stiles shook the thought from his head. This was Derek-Fucking-Hale, not just some regular Joe. Of course Derek couldn't be into him. Stiles was… well he was Stiles. He wasn't anything special. Hell, it took werewolves descending upon Beacon Hills for Lydia Martin to even acknowledge his existence.

"I can practically hear you thinking." Derek called from behind him.

Stiles turned around quickly. "Sorry, I should, uh, go."

Derek sat up quickly, almost like he was panicked. "No."

Stiles cocked his head curiously. "I mean, you should stay. I was going to order pizza. It's really the least I could do." Derek said quickly.

His words came out in a rush, and Stiles smiled. "Uh, sure."

Derek slipped on a shirt, and they both went downstairs and the werewolf called the pizza place.

"They said they'll be here in twenty minutes, but they always get lost on their way here."

Stiles plopped down on the couch. "No worries."

Derek sat down on the other side of the couch, and he flipped on the TV. He scrolled through the channels for several minutes until Stiles spoke up.

"You, uh, gonna find anything to watch or are you just going to keep changing the channels?"

Derek grunted and tossed the remote to Stiles. "You find something then."

Stiles accepted the challenge and within moments chose a movie he was sure Derek would like.

"You can't be serious." The werewolf quipped. "Ginger Snaps?"

"Hey," Stiles started, "you're the one that told me to pick."

"Yeah, well I didn't figure you'd pick a werewolf movie."

Eventually the pizza came, and the two ate and watched the movie in silence. When the movie was over Derek shook his head.

"That was utter crap." He said, standing up.

"I thought it was a pretty good movie."

"No, first off, you should never make a werewolf watch a werewolf movie. Secondly, you can't turn people by having sex. That's bullshit."

Stiles had to suppress a laugh. "Good to know."

Derek smiled this time. He let his eyes linger on Stiles' lips. The werewolf closed his eyes and shook any inappropriate thoughts from his mind. He needed to get this under control. Stiles was still a kid. Derek did not regret sharing a bed with Stiles last night, but he knew a large part of him now viewed Stiles much differently. That was why he ended up bloodied this morning. He was so preoccupied with making sure Stiles was safe, that he let his guard slip. That thing got the upper hand. Derek had to admit that he was surprised at its abilities. His thoughts immediately went to Scott. He had totally forgotten that he had sent him to track the scent. He opened his eyes. He couldn't keep allowing himself to get distracted like this.

"Thanks for the pizza, but I should really get back. My dad should be home by now."

Derek nodded. "That's probably best."

Part of him didn't want Stiles to leave. Derek wanted him to stay where he could protect him. His wolf was going crazy at the thought of Stiles not being within his sight. The other part of him knew he needed to take care of the thing that had attacked both him and Stiles. That way they would both be safe. Stiles turned to leave.

"Hey, Stiles," Derek called after him. "You can, uh, come over anytime you want. I don't mind, really."

Stiles smirked. "I would say the same, but I know you'll probably just slip through my window anyways."

Derek rolled his eyes. "If you were too concerned, you'd lock it. Obviously you aren't."

"Yeah, obviously." Stiles joked. "Well, see ya around?"

Stiles' voice sounded hopeful. Obviously they'd see each other at some point in the near future, but it was almost as if Stiles was asking for some sort of promise that they'd see each other.

"Sure." Derek said, and he let Stiles leave. He watched the boy pull out of his driveway, and as soon as the Jeep was out of sight, he became extremely anxious. Derek needed to control these new feelings, but he honestly didn't know how. He grabbed his phone and punched in Scott's number. After a seemingly long time, the young werewolf answered. Scott claimed that he followed the scent outside of town and then it just disappeared. Derek didn't understand how a scent could just disappear. He would have to call the pack together and tell them about the new threat. He sighed and got off the phone with Scott. Derek headed upstairs to his bedroom, he needed some rest, but it was obvious he wouldn't get much sleep tonight.


*Ginger Snaps is a movie that came out in 2000. It's a pretty okay movie if you haven't seen it.