Author's note: I'll start off with sorry I took long. If you feel that I'm taking to long…I give you permission to harass me with PMs, telling me to hurry up. I want to give a thanks to Ink-Reader-18 for an idea. Thanks again for the reviews, favorites, and follows. Enjoy.

Chapter 9

Sheriff Stilinski picked up his son and took him while his friends were at school. The drive home was a blur for Stiles as he mind was clouded with what he had to do-lie to his father. He couldn't wait for his father to go into work. Not because he didn't like being around his father, but so that he didn't have to lie more than necessary.

They arrived at their home. His father grabbed his belongs and gifts (bears, cards, and balloons) first, then went around the car and helped his son out and into the house. As Stiles went up the stairs to his room, he did what Ms. McCall told him to do. He pretended to struggle so his father helped him all the way to his bed. Lying twisted a nut in his stomach and when his father offered to stay home, Stiles told him he'd be okay by himself and that in a couple of hours Scott would be over. Not happy about leaving his son, the Sheriff pecked his son on the forehead, told him he loved him, and left, but not before tossing him his phone. "Ruby dropped this off."

Stiles caught his phone. He noticed right away the battery was low. The next things he noticed were the missed calls and unread text messages. He checked his text messages first.

04/14/12 10:23pm Derek: On my way.

04/14/12 10:34pm Lydia: Stiles where the hell are you?!

He went and looked at the text messaged he received from Ruby.

04/15/12 7:49am Ruby: I'm so sorry. If we can talk, I can explain everything.

He stared the message for a minute. He decided he wouldn't respond, letting Ruby soak in her guilt for a little longer. He exited out of the inbox and checked his missed calls.

04/14/12 10:25pm Lydia

04/14/12 10:26pm Lydia

04/14/12 10:26pm Lydia

04/14/12 10:27pm Danny

04/15/12 12:05pm Ruby

He got up from his bed and plugged his phone into his charger. He took off his shirt slowly, making sure it didn't get stuck on any of the stitches. He dropped it on floor as he walked out of his room. He entered the bathroom and flipped the switch, turning on the lights. He turned to the right just enough to see the long row of stitches, starting at his mid-shoulder blade and run down to his waist. It looked almost completely healed. The corner of his lips curved upward, grinning. Derek's kiss must have healed him. He leaned against the sink and sighed. Derek kissed him. What a perfect moment.

Stiles returned to his room. Ms. McCall told him to get rest and after her shift, she would be over to check on him. He spent the next three hours watching TV, eating, and sleeping. When he woke up from his nap with empty chip bags surrounding him, too lazy to get up and throw them away, he saw Scott sitting at the edge of his bed, watching TV. Scott didn't notice Stiles had woken up. So Stiles thought it would be funny to scare his friend. He slowly sat up, inhaled deeply, and released the air with a loud screech.

Scott jumped off the bed and turned around, facing him all wolfed out. "What the hell!" Stiles just laughed. He made a mental note to try it on Derek.

"How did you get in?" Stiles asked as he got out of bed, feeling the urge to pee. He walked towards the door.

"The window," Scott answered.

Stiles thought, the way Derek always came in. After he finished, he washed his hands, and returned to his room. Scott pulled out some papers. He brought Stiles his homework assignments. He grabbed them and placed them on his computer desk. He decided to do them tomorrow morning since he wouldn't returning to school until Wednesday.

He wasn't sure if Scott wanted to hear this, but he said it anyway. "Allison came to visit me." Scott looked at him, keeping his facial muscles calm, but his eyes betrayed him. Stiles could see the yearning in them.

"Yeah…" Scott tried sounding nonchalant. "What did." He paused and sniffed the air. His eyes flashed amber. Stiles knew he smelt another wolf and instantly thought of Isaac.

Sure enough, Isaac came in through the window. To Stiles' surprise, he didn't come alone. Peter-Derek's uncle-and, of course, Derek followed in last. Scott walked out of the room, leaving Stiles alone with a wolf he didn't like, one he found to be creepy, and lastly, the one he couldn't stop thinking about.

Stiles kept his eyes down while he sat in his bed. He feared that if he looked at Derek, the rest wound notice. After a minute, he built up the courage once to glance at Derek. He found Derek staring back at him. He felt his face flush with heat and he could feel sweat start to accumulate on the edges of his face.

Thankfully, Scott returned with Lydia and Jackson. Lydia glanced around Stiles' dirty room. Wrinkles formed on her beautiful forehead as she silently judged him. Once she was done judging his room, she walked over to Derek. Stiles couldn't help but think of what it would be like to have them go head to head for his affection. He brought an almost devilish grin to his face.

She grabbed the computer chair, rolled it over to Jackson, on the opposite side of the room. She scanned his closet and pulled out a clean shirt. She dusted the chair off before finally taking a seat. She dropped the shirt on the floor, adding more to his already messing room.

Stiles stared at Lydia for a long moment. Her strawberry blonde washed over her shoulders like the waves crushing over the coastline, untamed and beautiful. He pulled himself away from Lydia's captivating beauty and turned his focus to the obvious fact that he was in the middle of a meeting or an intervention. One, whichever one it was, he didn't know was going down.

Stiles thought he'd make a joke. "Please don't tell me I'm on intervention." Scott grinned. Everyone else didn't find it musing in the least bit. Lydia rolled her eyes.

Peter cleared his throat, getting everyone's attention. "Derek has ordered a search group. He's picked Isaac and Jackson to join me."

Jackson folded his arms. "I am not part of his pack."

Lydia smacked his arm. "You got the bite from Derek. That makes you part of his pack whether you like it or not." Derek glanced at her with respect. She understood what the ranks were and she wasn't even a werewolf.

"Fine, I'm in," Jackson mumbled, not hiding that he wasn't happy about it.

"Stiles tell us about these two new werewolves," Derek ordered.

Stiles just stared at him when he answered as if Derek was the only person in the room. "The alpha is a woman." Stiles knew by the confused look on everyone's faces that he had to clarify. "James is the alpha that first appeared."

"So now we have two alphas to worry about?" Scott asked.

"Yes, McCall. Thanks for keeping up with us," Jackson said annoyingly. He rolled his eyes. Lydia pulled on his arm. He let out a low growl and kept quiet the rest of the meeting.

Stiles continued, "this alpha is named Haven. She's white, late 20's, blonde hair, green eyes, a little taller than me, and beautiful." He felt foolish for saying she was beautiful, but it was a fact and it helped with describing Haven. He moved on to Arez. "Then there is a beta named Arez. He was tall, slender, and black with dreads."

"Why were they there?" Isaac asked. "How did they get you alone?"

Keep Ruby's secret, he thought. "Haven lured me away by posing as Ruby. She must have seen me with her." He covered his tracks well. The others appeared to believe what he said. He omitted the crucial part of his story: Ruby was the werewolf that brought these packs to town.

"Who's Ruby?" Derek asked with an unusual roughness in his voice. It left Stiles stunned. All eyes found their way to Stiles. He didn't answer due to the lump lodged his throat from the fact that he would be talking about the girl who kissed him.

When Stiles didn't answer, Jackson took it upon himself to answer. "Well apparently, she's Stiles' girlfriend." He had a grin on his face, slightly laughing.

Stiles turned bright red and dug his face into his hands. He so wanted to punch Jackson in the face again like he did the night when Peter trapped them in the school. He took a deep breath and covered his tracks again. "She isn't my girlfriend." He shot Jackson an evil glare. "She was my date for the race. Nothing more."

Stiles looked at Derek; he stood more detached than ever. What Jackson said affected him. It definitely did; Stiles was convinced. In most situations, this would have made Stiles happy, but it didn't. It only left him feeling sour inside. Seeing Derek detached meant he was upset about something and Stiles didn't want to be the one that made him feel that way.

"Well we should be going," Peter interjected the silence. He eyed Isaac and Jackson. Isaac pounded knuckles with Scott. While Jackson handed his keys and belongs to Lydia. He kissed her on the lips.

Stiles would normally feel jealous, but he didn't this time. He felt genuinely happy for them. He shrugged his shoulders and quietly laughed.

Isaac, Jackson, and Peter left his room and took off through the front door. "I have a ton of homework to do," Lydia said. She glanced over at Stiles. "Do you need me here?" He shook his head. He didn't need her here. She said bye and left, taking Jackson's Porsche.

Stiles wanted to talk to Derek. Alone. All he had to do was get Scott to leave. He quickly tried thinking of ways. Throw a tantrum. Pretend to be sleepy. Get Derek to… Yes, that was what he could do. Get Derek to ordered Scott away. They were working together. He rolled over on his bed and picked up his phone. He text messaged: We need to talk. Get rid of Scott. Now!

Stiles looked at Derek after he sent the text message. Derek just stood in his place for a moment with his hands in his leather coat pockets. Why wasn't he checking his phone? Stiles looked at his phone. It said the text message sent.

He looked at Scott. Only Derek could make him leave. What the hell!

"Scott," Derek said, finally. "You can leave. I will watch over him." He walked over to the other side of the room and sat down on the chair against the wall.

Scott stared at Derek for a moment and then moved his eyes to Stiles, looking at them suspiciously. Stiles' heart raced, thinking if Scott was catching on to the "thing" that was going on between Derek and him. Derek growled, snapping Scott out of whatever curious thought that had captured his attention.

"Maybe I'll join Peter on the hunt." Scott grabbed his book bag. "Don't forget to do your homework," he said. Stiles said thank you and Scott flashed him a friendly smile before he left Stiles all alone with Derek.

Stiles walked over to his door. He stood by it and waited to hear the front door to close. When it did; he closed his bedroom door. He returned to his bed in a shy fashion. He was alone with Derek. He couldn't quite understand why, after all this time, he felt overwhelmed. Derek has been in his room a handful of times.

As usual, the cosmos cued in the silence, leaving the noise that came from the television. Scott left it on AMC; an episode of The Walking Dead was on. Stiles wanted to start up the conversation of what happened between them at the hospital, but he didn't know how to start. Truthfully, he didn't want to be the one that started it.

"So how's your back?" Derek asked, breaking the silence and easing Stiles' mind.

Stiles spoke, sounding desperate, "it's great. Thanks for patching me up." Derek didn't say a word, just slightly nodding his head. Now that Derek brought it up; Stiles continued it in the direction he wanted it to go. "How did the wound heal so fast…was it the kiss?" Heat rushed to his cheeks when he said "kiss."

"What kiss?" Derek asked cold-heartedly as he relaxed his body on the chair.

Stiles just stared at him as his stomach knotted itself. He couldn't believe Derek was pretending the kiss they shared didn't happen. It was perfect and down right hot for Stiles. He wasn't going to forget it if that was what Derek wanted and he wasn't going to let Derek get away from admitting what he did. "You kissed me." They locked eyes.

"I didn't kiss you, Stiles." The tone he used said different words to Stiles. It said I would never kiss you. His breaking fell off track. He felt dumb.

"You were dreaming. I did get in bed with you, but I didn't kiss you." Stiles felt the needles return to his cheeks as he became embarrassed for ever thinking it was possible.

He dug his head in between his knees, wishing he could take back this conversation. But what could he do? The conversation was started and the damage was done. There wasn't much for him to do, but continue on. And so he did. "How did you heal me?"

"We're mates and whenever the alpha's mate is injured, the alpha can heal their mate with the simple touch," Derek answered like he was giving a speech to a college course.

Stiles thought back to the last week. That would explain why all those times Derek kept touching him. He was trying to heal him. His lips stretched into a smile. His mate healed him.

Stiles, then, remembered the night he fell on his shoulder. "Why didn't you heal shoulder?"

"Because we weren't mates at the time," Derek replied solemnly. Stiles wasn't sure if he sounded that way because he hated himself for not being able to help him or because he was his mate.

Of course, it made Stiles feel like crap again. "Our skins have to be touching for the healing to happen. My warmth is what caused your cells to repair themselves at a fast rate."

Stiles sat back in his bed, not saying another word to Derek. That wasn't a difficult thing to do since Derek didn't speak to him the remainder of the time he was over. The Sheriff came home an hour later. Stiles got up and walked over to the door. "Dad?" He said.

"Yes, son," his father replied back.

Stiles turned back around. "I'm going to…distract…my." He stopped when he realized Derek wasn't in his room. Stiles would have liked a bye or something to let him know he was leaving. Some common courtesy.

He spent the rest of his day in his room. He did come out when he had to eat. He chatted with his father, but made it short. He returned to his room and did his homework.

He sat in his bed, thinking about his conversation with Derek. The kiss, according to Derek, didn't happen. He lifted his hand and caressed his lips. It had to be real because it felt real, too real, and denying it would be like an act against god.

But it wouldn't be out of the ordinary for him to dream something up. He had done it before. He even had a dream of Erica and Boyd. He woke up from that one with a strong feeling it really happened.

He curled into a ball under his covers. He wanted it to be true. It was his first real kiss. Something he always thought about. Yes, Ruby did kiss him and it felt great, but it wasn't the same. He wanted a kiss from Derek and he got it; or so he thought he did.

Just when he thought he made a step forward into manhood, it was all in his head. An unfulfilled fantasy-dream that only appeared to be a nightmare was tormenting him, endlessly. He wanted to feel touched, to feel wanted, and to feel needed. Not just as a son, a brother, a cousin, nor a friend, but something more. He wanted to feel loved.

But was any of this what he wanted from Derek? The man was a brute and he was flipping coin of good and bad. Stiles could never tell what side the coin landed on. But when he was good, he was good. Derek made sure he got home safe. Derek could have left him to drive himself home, but he didn't.

Stiles closed his eyes. Thinking of Derek took up a lot of his time and he didn't get nowhere with it. He decided to just go to sleep. And that he did…

…Wednesday, Stiles woke up, eager to go to school. He was tired of being in his house. He needed fresh air and get into some new, but old surroundings. He sat up and stretched, not feeling any pain. He ran his fingers down along the left side of his back. He left a long scar line where the wound closed thanks to Derek.

Yesterday, before heading into work, Melissa came over and removed the stitches. He still had to pretend he was hurting.

Stiles got ready for school. It didn't take much time; he was actually eager to go and he kept reminding himself that it was strange for him to be eager. He picked up his finished homework and tossed them into his book bag. He raced downstairs to the kitchen grabbed two apples and out the front door. "Dad, I heading off to school now."

"Be careful, son," his father shouted from the upstairs.

Stiles bit into one of the apples and held it in his mouth while he reached into his pocket. He pulled out his keys, unlocked the door, and got inside. He turned on the engine and sat in his jeep. He chewed the piece of apple he bit off like a starving animal. He quickly took three more big bites, leaving the core bare.

"Hello," Stiles heard a fuzzy voice said. With his mouth full of apple pieces, he nervously looked around him. There was no one in sight. He shook his head. His mind was playing games with him.

"Stiles," the voice said again.

This time he heard where the voice came from: his pocket. He pocket dialed someone. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. His phone called Ruby. "Stiles." He stayed quiet, mainly because he wasn't ready to talk to her. He didn't know what he wanted to say.

"Stiles, I know you're still on the line, so I'm going to talk." He signed. He could hear the strain in her voice. She was really kicking herself for lying. "I know I lied. I'm sorry. But there's more to this story. Could you just give me the chance to explain everything? And if you still don't want to talk to me, that's fine. I just rather you base your decision off the truth than speculation."

He did decide to hear her out before making his decision on whether to end the friendship or not. He cleared his throat and he heard her sigh. "Today after school." He ended the call.

He tossed his phone on the passenger seat and drove to school. The drove consisted of only Ruby. He wanted to know how exactly her and Arez ran in the same pack and what Haven wanted with her. More importantly, why did she lie to him? He did what she asked. He kept her secret and even when that meant breaking his other friendships. Not once, did he do anything that showed her she couldn't trust him.

He arrived at school. As he walked up towards the building, Ruby appeared next to him with her hair pulled back in to a pony tail and grabbed his arm. Stiles' body stiffened. Before he could say something, she whispered, "just keeping up pretenses." She smiled, looking forward.

Scott approached them with Isaac. They walked into the front entrance. Stiles just stared at Ruby. He liked it, having her on his arm, his friend, but the reality, their friendship was on thin ice.

He put a smile on to continue this act that she wasn't a werewolf. Once inside, they parted ways. Scott and Isaac took off one way and Stiles and Ruby went the other. Upon reaching Stiles' locker, Ruby broke away from him. He assumed she was going to her locker. Lydia and Jackson showed up at his locker. He exchanged hellos with her, while Jackson stood quietly as he took surveillance of the hallway, glancing at everyone that walked by like they were potential threats to Stiles.

Jackson's actions threw Stiles off. He was actually taking Derek's order to protect him seriously. Whether Stiles liked it or not, Jackson was his friend or frenemy.

Stiles closed his locker after he grabbed his books for the first two classes. As he began to walk away, he felt a small hand grip around his wrist, stopping him. He looked back. It was Lydia.

She spoke, "wait one second."

At that moment, Scott appeared without Isaac, surprisingly. They were taking shifts watching over him. Stiles was having mixed feelings about this. "So everyone is playing CIA agents," he said sarcastically. "What next?" You're going to hold my hand while I pee?"

"You'd like that, would you?" Jackson retorted. Stiles' body stiffened. He wasn't ready to have the conversation of his sexuality with his friends. At least not with these particular friends. And anything that crawled around the subject made him uncomfortable.

Lydia glared at Jackson as she pulled him away from Scott and Stiles.

"We had a meeting. Derek told us to keep you in our sights," Scott said as they walked to Stiles' first class.

Stiles stopped. He stared at Scott for a moment. When did they have a meeting? Why wasn't he invited? Furthermore, who was this "we" he was talking about? He blinked and started walking again. Scott followed behind him closely. "Who, when, and why wasn't I invited?" Stiles asked. His tone came out rough. He was irritated that he was left out.

"You know the wolves and Lydia." Stiles growled, like he actually growled. Scott pulled back a step, giving him space. Stiles was jealous and angry that Lydia was there and he wasn't. He knew about werewolves a lot longer than any of them. Even before Scott knew what he was.

Scott continued, "at my house and you weren't invited because…well I don't know why. I was just told everyone was coming over. If you want to know why you weren't invited, then ask the warmhearted and coolest alpha Derek." Scott spat out sarcastically, placing his hands on his chest over his heart like a teen girl falling head over heels for Justin Beiber.

"Well you don't have to walk me to class. I'm not your girlfriend," Stiles stated nonchalantly. Some jocks walked by and overheard; they burst into laughter. Stiles felt his face heat up.

They continued walking to Stiles' class. Scott stopped him when he saw Ruby waiting by the door to the class. "Is everything okay? You seem a little out of it." He gave Stiles a worried gaze.

Stiles was fine, for the most part. He just had a lot of things on his mind. Ruby and Derek. "Other than not having a love life, I'm just fine." He said in a numb tone.

He quickly walked a head, leaving Scott hanging. He approached Ruby, said "hi" to her, and gently pushed her in the classroom without saying bye to Scott.

As the class went on, Ruby made small talk with him. Well she managed to have one small conversation with him. "Did Derek heal your wound?" She seemed to know more about this mating thing than Derek did.

He glanced at her, catching her gaze for a second before returning his eyes back to the chalkboard. He felt torn. A part of him wanted to blurt out everything to her like he had before. She was easy to talk to and the other part wanted to give her the deadly glare for lying to him. Being evil to someone wasn't in his nature. So he gave in and answered her question.

"Yes, he did," he whispered low, knowing only she could make out what he said. He cut the conversation off there. He would continue this after they talked. He didn't want to get more attached to this friendship if it was going to end. So he stayed silent the rest of class.

The day continued forward and after every class Stiles, didn't have with Jackson, Lydia, Scott or Isaac, one of them would be waiting for him outside this classroom.

When he came out of his final class before lunch, Jackson was outside his class, waiting. He looked irritated. Stiles didn't push a conversation. They silently walked to his locker and then made a detour to Jackson's locker.

As Jackson switched out his book, Stiles text messaged Derek: get over to the school. We need to talk. He hit send and stuck his phone back in his front pocket. They walked to the cafeteria. Stiles' mind kept going back to phone and just as Jackson walked through the double doors to the cafeteria, Stiles felt his phone vibrate. Derek replied: outside parking lot.

"I'll be right back," Stiles murmured. Jackson didn't hear him. Stiles quickly took off to the other side of the building. He looked over his shoulder to see if Jackson or someone was following him. No one was.

When he reached the door, his lungs stung, trying to grip the oxygen long enough to get in his blood and ultimately to the rest of his body. He pushed the door open. At the end of the path of steps that were in front of him, Derek's black camaro was parked. The driver window rolled down. Derek's light green eyes peered out. Stiles walked up to the car.

"Stiles, where are you going?" He looked back; Scott was standing at the door.

"I'll be right back," Stiles said as he walked around the camaro and got into the passengers seat. Scott stood there dumbfounded and frustrated, possibly jealous. Stiles hoped it was jealously.

The corner of Derek's lips slightly curved up. Derek put the gear into drive and took off. He drove south. Stiles assumed it was because the first times they drove north together, James-followed by his wolves-came into our lives and Derek was trying to avoid that. Stiles eased his mind by asking what he wanted to know. "Why wasn't I invited to the meeting?" As usual, he quickly asked another question before Derek had the chance to answer. "And why was Lydia there?" He turned his body the Derek and stared at him, waiting to hear his reply.

Derek kept his eyes on the road like a good driver would do. "I didn't invited you because you're suppose to be injured remember? We can't have you walking around. We need them to think they got to us and when they least expect it, we attack." Stiles moved his stare forward onto the road, satisfied with Derek's response. He just didn't see why they couldn't have told him. Though, Scott did mention it without Stiles asking the question. "Lydia was there because she called me for the meeting," Derek answered his second question. That made sense to him.

Stiles leaned an inch or two closer to Derek. "When did you give Lydia your number?" He asked, letting all the jealously come out and cling to his words. His stare even hardened.

Derek, whether he noticed Stiles reaction or not, simply and calmly said, "I didn't give her my number. She just called me."

Feeling dumb for overacting, he leaned back. They sat in silence as Derek drove. Stiles leaned back in his seat and closed his eyes. The car ride relaxed him so much, he dozed off. He had become comfortable around Derek.

Stiles was woken by Derek some time later. He stretched and then, rubbed his eyes before opening them. His vision was blurry at first, but then cleared up. Derek was holding a McDonald's bag. Stiles looked at the clock on the car stereo. Only ten minutes had passed. His power nap refreshed him. He glanced out the tinted window; they were back at the school parking lot.

"Here. Eat." Derek handed him the bag of food.

Stiles was hungry. He grabbed the bag and opened it. Inside he found a Big Mac with large fries. "Thanks," Stiles said as he stuffed like six fries in his mouth. He stopped and pulled the napkins out of the bag. He opened them up and laid them on his lap. He ate over it. Derek's car was nice and clean. He didn't want to make a mess.

Derek just sat there, witnessing Stiles devour his food. He removed the paper wrapping on the straw and put it in the large soda he got for Stiles. He handed it to him. Once Stiles grabbed it, Derek leaned the driver seat back and laid down, staring at the roof of his car.

Stiles just stared at him while eating the remainder of his fries and taking big sips. Derek let down his guard in front of him. To give himself a reason to stare at Derek, he started a conversation. "So when do you plan to attack James and Haven?"

Stiles leaned his seat back a little. He laid down on it on his side, keeping his eyes on Derek. It was almost like they were in a bed together and when Derek turned his body to Stiles, meeting his gaze; it was like they were in bed together. Stiles heart slightly accelerated. In bed with Derek meant Derek and he were close and intimate.

Derek answered, "I don't know really. My uncle has a few ideas to bring them out." His face hardened. He obviously didn't like the idea.

Stiles wanted to help. So much that he offered himself up. "Couldn't we use me as bait?" He asked. Though, as the words left his lips, he tried to make it sound like a suggestion and not a question.

Regardless, to Derek, it sounded stupid of him to say, suggestion or question. "Not going to happen." His lips were pushed together in a straight line, Stiles questioned if Derek even spoke.

Stiles gazed at him with a blissful smiled on his face and he didn't care that Derek could see it. Nothing could kill this moment. Derek wouldn't risk his life. The strange feeling in the pit of his stomach returned and this time he knew what it was. It was butterflies. His body felt light.

In his moment of paradise, Stiles noticed his lunch hour was about to end. He grabbed his book bag and the McDonalds bag, ready to leave. He stared at Derek, wondering if he should stay with him and skip the rest of the school day. Would Derek let him or would he tell him to go to school? Derek didn't seem like the responsible one to tell him education comes first, but then again, there was a lot about Derek Stiles didn't know.

"Go learn something," Derek said as he unlocked the doors. Stiles assumed wrong.

Without question, Stiles opened the door and got out. Before he closed the door, he leaned down, catching Derek's green eyes. He said, "thanks for protecting me." He was honest. He couldn't remember if he said it before, but if he hadn't, he said it now.

Derek leaned over the passenger's seat, getting awfully close to Stiles' face. Stiles smelt an intoxicating cologne. That was odd; Derek always had an earthy and/or woods smell. Derek's voice pulled him out of his thoughts. "Anytime."

He was pulled out of his thoughts, only to be thrown back in them. Stiles, numb, closed the door and stood stunned as Derek drove away. He said "anytime." He didn't mind protecting him. Stiles' heart fluttered. He made his way, shuffling, back into the school with the biggest grin on his face.

The rest of the day went by quickly. His friends continued their shifts walking him to his classes. Scott didn't walk him. Surprisingly when he thought Scott was going to walk him, since they had the class together, Ruby was waiting for him outside the room.

She walked him to his final class, gym. A class he had with Scott. She talked about the algebra assignment they had due tomorrow. Stiles nodded and said "yeah" here and there, to make it looked like they were having a conversation. She knew they weren't.

She turned to Stiles and hugged him tight before walking away from him when they arrived at the locker room. Even she wasn't confident that their friendship would get passed this lie, but it showed to him, that she wanted it work. He felt her hope.

He staggered his way into the locker room, thinking about Ruby and what he was going to do about their friendship. She genuinely seemed to regret lying to him. Was regret worth forgiveness? Her lie almost cost him his life. He didn't have time to think about this. Derek was nice to him today. He wasn't going to let anything ruin his happy feeling.

He got undress and went into the gymnasium. Scott didn't speak to him. He appeared irritated. Stiles thought it was probably because Scott didn't like that Stiles got into a car with Derek and took off. If that was why, Stiles was just going to keep his distance. He was still on the cloud of happiness. His day was going good. He didn't want it to end, not just yet. Thankfully today, it was a physical test day in gym. They had to rock climb.

Stiles stood at the end of the second line while Scott and Jackson were in front with Lydia, getting ready to go against each other. Erica crossed Stiles' mind. He remembered when she was an awkward normal girl who got seizures and now she was a missing teen she wolf. He missed her.

Flashes of Erica and Boyd tied up in some basement and being electrocuted, tortured. It made him sick. What if that was their last day alive and they spent it being broken apart? He shook his head. It couldn't risk killing the happy feeling.

He just spent the rest of class, thinking of the all mighty Derek. He kept repeating the conversation he had with him in his head. It kept all the negatives out of his mind.

Gym class ended. He took his time returning to the locker room. School was over and now he had to talk to Ruby. By the time he got to his locker and opened it, most of the guys were almost done changing.

Scott sat on the bench next to Stiles, tapping his foot impatiently. It was obvious he was bothered about something, but Stiles honestly didn't care at the moment. He had bigger things to do with first. Scott had pushed him aside when Isaac came along.

Stiles understood why they had bonded so well and easily. They were werewolves. Isaac knew exactly what Scott struggles were. He wasn't jealous about that. He was jealous because Scott always went to Isaac nowadays. He felt replaced.

Tired of waiting, Scott blurted out what was on his mind. "So why have you been dodging me?" Stiles pulled his shirt down over his head and slipped his arms in.

Dodging him? How? The past week they were almost always around each other like they always were. Only difference was they weren't alone. "Dodging you implies you actually making an effort to hang with me." He closed his locker, grabbed his book bag, and walked away.

Scott wasn't giving up. He followed after Stiles. "Hey," he said as he grabbed Stiles' arm, stopping. "Why are you buddy-buddy with Derek? Does he have something over you?" He asked what really was on his mind.

Nothing other than being my mate, Stiles thought. He returned the question to Scott, letting jealously cling on his words. "Why are you buddy-buddy with Isaac?"

"Stop dodging the question," Scott said, letting an irritated growl escape.

"Well I'd prefer to lie to you, but that's not going to happen." He lifted his hand and flicked Scott's ear hard. "On that note, I really miss your normal human days." It wasn't really about the fact he couldn't lie; he just didn't feel comfortable talking about how Derek and he were mates with Scott. Especially since Scott and Derek were obvious rival.

Scott's eyes flashed amber and he stepped up to Stiles, challenging him. Stiles flinched for a second, but he remembered he was protected. He stood his ground and then, Scott cringed. Stiles smiled. "Ruby is waiting for me." And with that, Stiles turned around and walked out of the locker room.

Stiles power walked to his locker. Scott frustrated him. Ruby was already there, waiting for him. She said hello; he didn't say anything. She could tell he was frustrated. Everyone could tell. After he switched out his books, he said to Ruby, "follow me." She listened and followed him to his jeep. They got in. Stiles didn't waste time and drove out of the school parking lot.

He looked her sitting in the passenger seat. The wind blew her hair back. She sat next to him just like she had before. With Scott and his friendship unraveling, he couldn't afford to lose her as well. He decided, then, he would forgive her.

"I feel like I can't talk to anyone right now. I have friends, but Scott was my best friend and lately I feel I've been replaced." Ruby sat quietly with guilt expressed on her face. She licked her rose pedal lips, moisturizing them. "Just tell me why you lie." He gripped tight on the steering wheel.

She swallowed the lump in her throat. "I didn't lie about my pack being dead. James really did kill them and my alpha Carlos." Stiles saw pain in her warm brown eyes as they became glossy. He listened closely to her voice to see if he could hear any faults. "In the werewolf world, when an alpha kills another alpha, the dead alpha's betas become the 'winner's' betas. I didn't tell you this because I was afraid you wouldn't have helped me."

He narrowed his eyes at her. "And you thought keeping it from me was your better choice?" She didn't answer. She just lowered her head, feeling ashamed of her decision to keep it from him.

"I know it wasn't smart. I made a mistake." She sighed and tightened her ponytail. "Haven wants me to join her pack. That's why she's come here." She answered a question Stiles didn't ask, but wanted to.

She leaned over towards him and touched his right hand that was on the steering wheel. "Let me make this up to you. I'll do whatever you want."

Stiles glanced at her. Pain washed over her face. She was too eager to make amends. He couldn't deny it. Call him foolish, but she wanted to be with him, as friends, when his so-call best friend didn't.

"I believe you." She sighed again and grinned a little. "And if you still want my help and Derek's help, you'll need to do something." She nodded, eager to do whatever it took to continue our help. "Come out to Derek and rest."

She pressed her lips together, thinking. "Okay. If that's what it takes." If she wanted their help that was what it was going to take.

"We're doing it right now," Stiles said right now as he pulled a u-turn. He directed his jeep to Derek's home. Ruby swallowed the lump in her throat. She didn't have much time to prepare herself.