It was Saturday and Stiles was all alone at home, no wolf on duty. He promised Derek he wouldn't leave the house... but he did need to buy groceries. Okay, he didn't mean to lie to Derek, and he suppose he didn't actually lie. He just forgot that he needed to buy groceries... badly. There was nothing in the fridge and nothing on the shelves, and unless he wanted to eat peanut butter sandwiches for the six weekend meals, he needed to buy more food.

He debated just going to the store without telling anyone, but if any of the wolves saw him, they would tell Derek on him and the last thing he needed was a pissed off Derek.

Maybe he could call one of the pack to escort him. That would be a safe choice. He scrolled through his contacts and found Scott.

He pushed call and put the phone to his ear.

Ring, ring, ring, ring, ring, ring, ring, ring ..."hi, it's Scott! Please leave a message!"

Stiles hung up but called back quickly, thinking that maybe Scott had not seen the phone light up or maybe he was in the bathroom.

Ring, ring, ring, - "hi, it's Scott! Please leave a message!"

His hope was crushed under Scott's figurative boots. Scott had just hit ignore. Scott didn't want to take his phone call.
He glanced down at his shopping list. He really needed to go if he was expected to do any cooking this week, especially since he never actually did the grocery shopping from last week.

He was suddenly in a crappy mood. He didn't need a wolf to go with him. He could handle it. Plus, he was just going to Safeway. No harm there, right? Well, except for what happened last time, but Stiles decided that was just by chance the hunter ran into him. Very unlikely to happen again. Plus, he would be careful.

Stiles drove to Safeway in his Jeep, parked, and remembered to grab the reusable bags from the back. What? He cared about the environment! But he mostly did this because the stores charge ten cents per paper bag. It was more cost effective to bring your own.

He shopped methodically, starting at the produce section and working his way through the isles to the deli at the other end. He was buying everything on his list plus more. With the wolves more frequently coming over, he was needing more food. They always seemed to be hungry.

Yesterday, he had nothing to feed Erica, and boy, was that a disaster. Her eyes turned golden with anger and she was growling. She had certainly been taking lessons from Derek. Sheesh. She didn't have to literally bite his head off when she was upset.

But it was a learning experience. he was going to make sure his kitchen was always well stocked for hungry werewolves.

Stiles was currently in the frozen section, trying to decide if he should buy chicken nugget dinosaurs. The nutritional information said serving size was about 4 dinos and the bag has approximately 10 servings. it wad obvious to him that the serving size wad probably aimed toward a child which had such a small appetite compared to a large, hungry, teenage werewolf's appetite. One bag wouldn't even be a meal for the pack. He shouldn't get them because of the quantity but the dinosaur shapes were so cute. He couldn't resist. He put the bag in his cart, then paused, reached in the freezer door and pulled out three more bags.

Stiles finished making all his choices and headed toward the front. He didn't even glance at the express lane, his cart was brimming with you go in the express lane, you're only suppose to have 15 items or less, sometimes he would cheat with 16 items or daringly 19 items but it was subtle, like an extra box of butter, or three or four more spices. It was easy to cheat and get by with the small stuff. No way in hell could he cheat with his extremely full grocery cart. Sigh. He would just have to get in an ordinary line.

His cart was not only filled with a large amount of fruits and vegetables, but also 2 gallons of milk, six boxes of cereal, yogurt, 3 dozen eggs, butter, an assortment of chips, pretzels and crackers, ice cream, tortillas, beans, hearty soups, juice and soda, popcorn, multiple jars of crunchy and creamy peanut butter (because he didn't know what people preferred), bread, deli meat, cheese, frozen and fresh meats, and LOTS of bacon.

He also splurged a little bit and picked up beef jerky. The packages were so expensive for such a small quantity, but he liked the stuff, so did his dad, and he would bet ten bucks that Derek and the pack would like it too. He was going to ask Derek if Derek could help him make his own jerky. He didn't want to buy the store stuff every time because of the cost. Might as well make your own, right? Especially since Derek could easily bring home a deer or rabbits.

He had tried to get lots of meat and carbs, knowing that the werewolves needed a lot of energy to live day to day, not even mentioning if they were in fights and needed to heal. Healing always made the wolves grumpy with hunger. He wanted to be extremely prepared, especially with the new threat lurking.

His transaction went smoothly. The clerk was definitely giving him weird looks. Why was the lanky kid buying so much food? It looked like he wad preparing for the zombie apocalypse.

His horde did cost a lot of money. It reminded him to also ask Derek about a grocery allowance. He didn't mind the pack hanging out so much at his house, in fact, he really enjoyed it, but the food bill was astronomically high, the Stillinski budget couldn't afford this for much longer.

He loaded the back of his Jeep up, pushed the cart back to the front of the store and was getting in his seat when his phone rang. Caller I.D. said Derek.

Oh Shit. Oh, -wait a second! Maybe he didn't know he was out! Maybe he was just calling to confirm something our ask a question. Stiles didn't always have to be in trouble. Yeah, no need to worry about nothing.

"Hello, " he answered the call.

"Stiles, " Derek spit out on the other end of the line, "where are you?"

Oh Shit, play it cool, play it cool, he practiced in his head, knowing that even though Derek was too far away to detect a lite through his heart beat, he could still detect truths, lies, anxiety and general emotion through the tone of his voice.

Uh, just at home, hanging out, " he said as casually as he could without sounding forced.

"I am at your home, " Derek grounded out through a clenched jaw, oh shit for real! "where are you?"

"uh, oh, er, Shit, I'm - I'm at the grocery store," he could hear Derek growl at his omission, but he continued, " See I really needed groceries. Since I didn't but any last week, cause, well, you know, and you guys have been coming over a lot and it's great but you guys eat a lot of food, and-"Stiles' run on was cut short by a poisoning loud roar on the line.

"Stiles! Shut up! Who is with you?"

"What? What do you mean?"

"Which beta is with you?"

"Oh, er, no one, I mean, I'm alone, " another terrifying roar was hear through the speaker, "come home now," Derek sounded like he was about to shift.

"Okay! Okay! Sheesh, I'll be there in 10 min- " he heard a click and pulled the phone away from his face to look at the screen, Derek had hung up on him. How rude.

He thought about taking longer just to piss Derek off even more, like a little come back after being hung up on, but decided just to go home. Purposefully pissing Derek off was kinda like slamming a door in your dad's face, it felt really good but always ended badly for you.

Stiles tried to get home as quickly as possible, driving a little too fast, not stopping all the way for stop signs and peeling off the line as if hell was on his heels. In realty, hell was really waiting for him at home. Why was he rushing to meet hell? Oh right, because he promised he wouldn't leave his house without a wolf escort but defied Derek's word. He was in so much trouble.

Derek was sitting on his front steps but stood when Stiles hastily pulled into his driveway. Stiles rushed around the hood of his Jeep, as Derek strode forward to meet him.

Stiles had another explanation, another excuse on his lips for him when Derek pulled him into am unexpected hug. He was crushed to Derek's chest and held there as Derek hastily ran his nose over stiles scalp, jaw and neck. He ran his hands briskly over stiles body, checking for injury.

"Are you okay?" Derek s voice was hoarse.

Whoah, not what he was expecting.

"Uh, yeah, I'm fine, nothing happened, I didn't meet any new hunters, " pulled back and stared into his face imploringly, "Uh, what's with you?" Stiles questioned.

Derek's face locked down, seriously stony features replacing his earnest look. He stepped back out of Stiles' space and glared at him.

"Why did you leave you're house without an escort?"

"I really had to buy food! You guys eat a lot!"

"So you don't want us to come over anymore?! Because that's fine! We can go back to meeting at my house!" Derek growled, barely holding onto himself. His eyes were already flashing red and his hands were clenched at his sides. Whoah, he really jumped to conclusions there.

"What? No! That's not it at all! I just really needed to buy food, " Stiles tired to reason without shouting. They were still standing in his driveway and he didn't want to draw attention to the two of them.

"But if we're such a burden, we don't have to meet here anymore, "

"No! No, dude, that's not what I meant. I want you here! I mean, I want the pack here! I like when the pack comes over," he hoped sincerity was coming off him in waves. God, way for Derek to get carried away.

Derek paused in his verbal attack, eyeing stiles carefully as his eyes changed back to green.

"Why didn't you call one of the pack to go with you?" He sighed, rubbing his forehead with his hand, as if he had a head ache.

Do werewolves get headaches? Stiles didn't think so. Derek must have learned that expression from humans since he most likely didn't need to massage a headache away.

Derek must save a lot on medical expenses, not only with doctor bills but he didn't have to buy aspirin or cough syrup or anything. He would ask about it later.

"I did, " at that Derek looked up again, incredulous obvious on his features, "I called Scott, " a low rumble began in Derek's chest, "but he hit ignore,"

"What?" Derek replied in a dangerously low voice.

"Uh, I know because the first time it rang, like eight times, before going to voice mail but but second time I called, it only rang a few times before going straight to voice mail, " Stiles felt a little silly explaining this to Derek but he was kinda pissed off about what happened too. It felt good to vent.

"Scott, your friend, " Derek sneered out that word, "ignored your phone call knowing that you may be calling for help?"

"Uh, "was all Stiles could say.

"You're friend ignored you even after I told all the betas to watch out for you?"

"Er, yeah,"

"I'm going to kill Scott,"

"Wait, wait, back up there. You don't really need to kill him. He must be hanging out with Allison,"

Derek gave him a look.

"What if you were calling because hunters were chasing you? What if you were calling because you were trapped somewhere? What if you were hurt?!" Derek's voice ascended for each question. His frustration was punctuated when his claws elongated and eyes changed to crimson.

"Sheesh! Oh my god, Derek!" When he put it like that, Stiles agreed with Derek. Scott could have at least picked up the phone and told him that he was busy, or sent a quick text. What if he had really been in danger?

"Pack always comes first, Stiles. Always. I understand that Allison is pack too but Scott needs to be more considerate about everyone in our pack. I don't want a clumsy, foolish wolf doing what he wants when it can endanger the pack,"

"Even human members?" Stiles asked quietly, he had his hope clenched tight in a ball inside of him.

Derek paused, his eyes cautious.

"Especially our human pack members. Always," Stiles closed his eyes for a minute, breath exhaling in relief, "And with these new hunters, we have to be very careful; they already have you on their radar,"

Well that made sense to Stiles, but he was so surprised that such logic came out of Derek's mouth.

"Uh, yeah, that makes sense, " he said stupidly. Now he felt stupid for going by himself. He had endangered the pack.

If the hunters had gotten him, no one would have known where he went. The hunters could have easily taken him against his will and used his weakness against the pack. God, he was the weakest chain link. He was so stupid.

"Why didn't you call me?" Stiles was still thinking about how stupid he had been that he thought he misheard him.

"Uh, what?"

Derek gave him a raised eye brow look but repeated the question.

"When you couldn't reach Scott, why didn't you call me?"

"Uh, I didn't think that was an option. And I didn't want to bother you,"

"But it's my job as the alpha to protect all pack members,"

"That's right. It's a job. You don't want to spend time with me. That's, like, last on your list," Derek had this unreadable hurt look on his face but it was gone in another moment.

"You should have called me, " Derek insisted.

"Oh, okay. Next time I will," Stiles felt thoroughly ashamed, "...Thanks Derek,"

On a dangerous whim, Stiles stepped into his personal space and gave him am awkward hug. Derek's whole body immediately stiffened but surprisingly, he didn't push the boy away. After a few awkward seconds, stiles felt Derek arms come around him and hold him securely. He also felt Derek sniffing and rubbing his face into his hair. Stiles sighed in contentment.

A thought came suddenly: Derek had been worried about him. That's why he was so upset when he came home. He was worried that something had happened to him. The thought warmed him and he smiled into Derek's chest.

He pulled back and both young men stepped back into their own space again.

"So!" He said with cheer, "can you help me unload the groceries?"

Derek and Stiles were in the kitchen, making dinner. They weren't expecting any pack over, but just in case, they were making a lot. If they didn't eat it, Stiles could eat it tomorrow for lunch.

Stiles had ended up asking Derek to stay for dinner after he helped him unload and unpack all the grocery bags. Plus, Stiles didn't really know where Derek usually had his meals; the Hale house certainly didn't have an operating kitchen available for use.

After finding the grocery receipt in one of the bags, Derek told Stiles that he was going to order a second credit card, same number, but in Stiles' name so he would use Hale money to feed the Hale pack. Derek said it was only fair, and Stiles really was surprised that Derek was being so considerate and reasonable, because come on, how often was Derek reasonable?

Derek was also delighted to find the beef jerky. Yes, he told Stiles, they could also start making their own jerky.

From Bambi and Thumper and other innocent, unsuspecting woodland creatures?

Yes, Stiles.

They ate dinner and even watched a movie afterwards. Everything seemed so... normal.

As they were cleaning up, Stiles remembered that he had some errands he needed to do tomorrow, but Isaac wasn't come back until Sunday evening.

When Stiles was walking Derek to the door, he asked him.

"Derek, um, I actually need to go out again tomorrow. Just a few quick errands," he shuffled his feet and looked away, "can you go with me?" he felt embarrassed but didn't know why.

"Sure," Derek answered easily. Stiles jerked his head up in surprise.

"Great, thanks dude," he knew he sounded relieved, hell, he was relived, "thanks for staying to hang out,"

Derek nodded and left.

Once he was gone, Stiles found his leather jacket.

Huh, well, he will return it in the morning. He hung it on his computer chair and got ready for bed.

Stiles wondered how Derek could have even forgotten the jacket. He always had that jacket with him. His scent was probably burned into the leather... His thought lingered on that one for a moment, but then jumped with a more terrible thought.

Didn't he need to jacket to keep him warm tonight? Did Derek even have a bed with blankets? What if he just relied on his jacket to keep him warm? And now he didn't have a jacket? What if he got cold tonight? What if he froze?

Now Stiles was really worrying. He tried to reason his thoughts out.

But if the jacket is so essential, Derek would have surely returned to get it once he realized he didn't have it. Right? So if he hadn't returned, Derek can do without it for one night. But just to be sure, Stiles sent a quick text to Derek, letting him know that he had the jacket and would return it tomorrow.

Conscience cleared; now he could finish his evening routine.

After he changed into his sleep clothes, he walked out his bedroom door, purposefully passing the jacket, and trailing his fingers over the shoulders.

When he was brushing his teeth, he walked back into his room and looked at the jacket, fingering the hem and the sleeve.

When he turned off his bedroom light, he gave into the temptation; pulling the front of the jacket close to his face, he breathed in deeply. He hummed his appreciate for the scent. It was a combination of cool leather and Derek's own personal spicy musk smell. He could never forget what Derek smells like, it was completely unique to him, and it smelled so good. He spent another moment running his nose over the collar and inseam, sniffing in the goodness. He paused to laugh at himself. He's been spending way too much time with werewolves.

He dropped the jacket back onto the chair and got into bed.

He snuggled down deep in his blankets and closed his eyes, praying for sleep to come. Last night was the first night he slept alone in a week. He had treated himself to "Stiles time," and fell into an exhausted slumber.

But tonight was different. He wasn't able to pace his breathing to match Isaac's. He tossed and turned, never getting comfortable. He even tried getting himself off to relive some tension, but he couldn't get himself in the mood.

God, what was up with him?

He spied Derek's jacket and thought, why the hell not?

He slipped out of bed and pulled the jacket on. It settled on his shoulders, heavy and cool, but Derek's scent invaded his nose and surrounded him with comfort. It was now a smell he associated with feeling safe.

He didn't know when he stopped being afraid of Derek, (at least thinking that Derek was out to kill him. He was still a scary dude, especially when he was angry). It must have been a slow build up because it couldn't have happened instantly. He knew that although Derek had a frightening appearance and composure, he had saved Stiles' ass more times that he could count. He couldn't be a bad guy if he was constantly saving him.

The jacket was too big on him, the sleeves going far past his wrists, but he didn't care. Derek's scent was comforting.

He lay back down under the blankets, still wrapped in the leather. He closed his eyes and tried sleeping again. Inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale and he was asleep.