Chapter Eleven

Complicated

Cheers erupted through the Kappa Gamma Delta sorority chapter room once Stiles and Jackson said that they, along with all of the brothers of Omega Beta Theta, were hosting KGD's Winter Formal, the Snowdrop Ball. The large room was packed with almost every sister from the sorority and the cheers from them were nearly deafening. Lydia, the President, stepped up to her podium between Stiles and Jackson and called the girls to order. Jackson, as President of Omega Beta Theta, and Stiles, as their Social Chair, were then introduced to the several sisters in charge of planning the event. Once the chapter meeting was dismissed Lydia took them and the girls to another conference-style room in the house to discuss event details.

The two boys were used to fraternity party planning. In their usual custom they assigned a few brothers to buy alcohol, they threw up a few cheap decorations, built a few props or a small stage depending on the event, constructed a tarped fence around their lawn according to fraternity council custom, and called it a celebration. Within minutes of talking to the girls they realized setting things up at their house would require quite a bit more than they were accustomed to.

"Okay, so, Megan," Lydia turned to Megan, the sorority's Social Chair, "did you talk to Emily and find out how much we have now that the Classic Center cancelled our registration?"

"Yeah," Megan sat up in her chair and gave Stiles an awkward glance, "we've got a few thousand left in the budget."

Lydia nodded, "Can we buy the snowdrops and have a better band then?"

Megan nodded, "From Nowhere will cost $2300 and the snowdrops for the entrance, dance floor, and dining tables will cost $4000. I think we're going to be able to make it work."

"$4000 for flowers!" Stiles exclaimed, "That could pay for four of our end-of-semester parties."

Lydia cut her eyes at him, "We do things classy over here, baby." She winked at him and then continued planning with her committee. For what seemed like hours of preparation, where Stiles and Jackson sat silently staring at the girls in disbelief, they went over decorations, layout, entrance logistics, bar options, food, table seating arrangements, lighting, photographer preferences and assignments, as well as set-up and delivery times. By the time Lydia turned to Jackson and Stiles to hand them their to-do list the boys had nearly decided to call off the event.

Lydia rose from her chair and put her hands on Stiles' shoulders, "These are the days we need someone at the house to sign for deliveries. We also need all of the cars out of the back parking lot on Thursday so we can lay out the flooring for Friday, and make sure you tell your brothers they cannot drink at the open bar unless they're with one of our girls." She smiled as she handed him a list of dates and leaned down to give him a kiss.

Once their lips touched Lydia stood. She looked at Megan, "Did you just take a picture of us kissing?"

Megan dropped her phone, "No."

"What was that clicking sound?" Lydia asked.

"I don't know," Megan said, "I was just texting my roommate."

Lydia smiled, "How is Derek? You should bring him by the house sometime!"

Stiles immediately stared directly at Megan. She attempted to nonchalantly avoid his gaze while talking to Lydia, "He's great, just really busy."

"I could use something cute to look at," Britney sighed loudly, "I don't even have a date to Formal."

Jackson tilted his head and smiled, "I'm available."

Britney guffawed, "After what you did to Erica? No thanks."

Jackson rolled his eyes and stood, "Alright Stiles, let's get back to the house and share our good news."

"Thanks boys!" Lydia hugged Jackson, in the way that you obligatorily hug people you don't care for, and walked the two of them out of the room. Stiles turned as they exited to look at Megan once more. She had her face buried in her phone.

X-X-X-X

"What about this?" Derek walked into the den and showed Laura the clothes he picked out for his and Stiles' first "real" date, if you could call a trip to a discount nearly vacant movie theatre and a dinner at Waffle House a date.

Laura choked on air and stood up from the couch, "Really? You HAVE to have something other than black and gray!" Derek stood in front of her in a pair of slightly baggy and faded jeans, dark shoes, and a gray v-neck. "Come here!" Laura grabbed his hand and led him back into his room. She began to shift through his closet finding almost nothing a shade brighter than gray. Eventually she found a green polo and a pair of light khakis. She tossed the two items at him and grabbed his boat shoes from the bottom of the closet.

"We'll just go with earth tones," she rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. She stared at him for a moment while he stared uneasily back at her.

"Get out so I can change!" he exclaimed, pointing to the door.

"Oh my God!" Laura turned her back, "Happy now? I'm not going to see you with your shirt off and molest you, I'm your sister. We're not animals."

Derek took off his shirt and pants and began redressing, "Then why do you always call me a Werewolf when I let my beard grow out?"

"Because you look unfortunate when you let it grow," Laura said plainly, which was met by an offended scoff from Derek. When she turned around she moaned angrily, "You look so good in colors, why is this all you have?"

"Because my soul is black," Derek ran his hands through his hair, "are we done?"

"No," Laura went into his bathroom and grabbed his molding paste. She grabbed his hand and walked back into the den. She pushed him by his shoulders so he would sit on the floor, "Now we're going to fix your hair."

"No!" Derek tried to stand up, but was pushed back down by his sister.

"You may be four times as strong as me," Laura opened the paste and got a bit on her fingers. She rubbed her hands together and dug them into Derek's hair, "but I still get what I want."

Derek moaned, "I'm 21 years old, I can do my own hair."

"Obviously not," Laura said as she worked through Derek's hair, "because I see it every morning when you leave the house."

Derek sucked his teeth in protest, but eventually began to enjoy the feeling of Laura styling his hair. He had always loved having people play through his hair, and it was the first thing Laura did when he would get upset after their family died. After a few moments Laura's phone vibrated.

"Message," Derek said, staring at the glowing phone on the coffee table.

"Check it," Laura replied, "I'm not getting this stuff all over it."

Derek picked up the phone and opened the message.

"It's from Megan," he said, "She says 'You'll never guess who's helping us plan our Formal' then she sent another one saying, 'I feel so nervous being in the same room with him.'"

Laura laughed "Did she say anything else? Her texts are always dramatic and vague."

Derek shrugged, "She says 'OMG Lydia just told him that I live with Derek, he's totally staring at me' and there's a picture attached. Downloading now, why does your phone take so long to download pictures? Just get an iPhone."

Laura shrugged as well and continued styling Derek's hair. She replayed the messages in her head trying to figure out what she was talking about. When she finally figured it out she shrieked and yanked the phone out of Derek's hand. She stared at the screen and saw the picture was still downloading.

"OH MY GOD!" she exclaimed in relief. It took her a moment to see Derek staring at her.

"What the hell was that all about?" Derek asked, "You scared the shit out of me!"

Laura laughed uncomfortably, "Sorry, I just got—um—excited because there's this guy in Omega next door that Megan is obsessed with. Um, Megan's freaking out because, uh, Lydia mentioning that she lives with a dude might throw him off."

Derek arched his eyebrow, "Okay."

He turned and leaned back against the couch so Laura could finish up his hair. When the picture of Stiles kissing Lydia popped up she shook her head and stared at the back of Derek's head. Her brother was unspeakably in to this guy and, while Derek was getting ready 2 hours early for their date, he was across town kissing someone else.

Derek turned to look at Laura, "Let's go, I have a cheap and dicey date to get to."

X-X-X-X

Every time the Waffle House's door opened a small bell rang and Stiles' eyes instantly jumped to the door. Derek noticed this and continually ignored it out of courtesy, but it was getting on his nerves.

"I don't think anyone you know is going to come in to a Waffle House in Bogart on a Friday," Derek rolled his eyes and smiled.

"Whatever," Stiles eyed him, "I'm on a date with a hot dude and worried about someone outing me." He pointed to himself, "Double nervous."

Derek smiled, exposing his perfect white teeth, "Aww, I'm hot?"

"A close second to someone else," Stiles shrugged.

"Let me guess…you?"

"No," Stiles shook his head, "Taylor Lautner."

Derek rolled his eyes, "You know Werewolves aren't real, right?"

"Still," Stiles took a sip of his water, "he's hot."

Derek nodded, "So you go for underage ripped guys."

"We're the same age," Stiles said, "and what's wrong with liking a guy in shape?"

Derek opened his eyes wide, "I'm in shape!"

Stiles shrugged, "I wouldn't know, we're both virgins so we have to take is slow right?"

Derek leaned back in his booth, "Are you trying to seduce me by getting me to prove I look good naked?"

Stiles mischievously grinned, "Ummmmm, yes."

Derek shook his head, "Well first off, I'm not hooking up with you in a car or in a public bathroom, and those are our only two options at this point. Second, why are you so horny all of a sudden."

"I was kidding."

Derek shook his head again, "No you weren't. When we were in that movie you were touching me, a lot."

"Because we were the only people in there."

"That's what happens when you go a discount movie theatre ten miles away from Athens on a Friday night."

"I was being, I don't know, coupley."

Derek nodded, "I see."

Stiles, who normally wolfed down any food in front of him, had barely touched the plate of eggs and waffles the waiter brought to him, "What's that supposed to mean? I heard a little distain."

"No distain," Derek replied, "but I'm not going to have sex with you until we're official. If we did that we'd just be another gay stereotype."

Stiles nodded, "And what if I never come out?"

Derek cut his eyes at his date, "I didn't say that coming out needed to happen for us to be official, but it would be nice."

Stiles put his fork down frowned, "Why did this have to come up tonight?"

"I never said anything, you brought it up." Derek put his hand over Stiles', "Let's just drop it."

Stiles jerked his hand out from under Derek's, "There are other people in here."

"We did that at the Grill."

"Yeah," Stiles said, "at 4 a.m. when no one was in there. Scott and Allison rushed out remember?"

The sudden tension between the two of them made Derek fidget in his seat, "Okay Stiles, it's really not a big deal." Derek smiled and playfully nudged Stiles' foot with his, "See? I can show affection without anyone seeing."

Stiles sighed, "I mean it must be."

Derek shook his head, "Nope. If I'm being honest with you, I think it's actually a big deal to you."

"Well," Stiles swallowed the air in this mouth, "when you come out I will too."

"I am out."

"No you're not," Stiles insisted, "you came out to your sister and a few friends. That's not out until everyone knows."

Derek leaned forward, "I don't tell people I'm straight either. If I have a boyfriend I go out in public with him, kiss him in public, introduce him to people as my boyfriend."

"And you'd do the same thing with your mom and dad?" Stiles asked, "Because I promise you, you wouldn't."

Derek sighed, "You're right, Stiles, I wouldn't. Because I can't."

Stiles nodded, "Uh-huh, exactly. So don't say I'm the one holding us back when you're technically closeted too."

Derek visibility clenched his jaw and turned from Stiles' gaze and looked out the window.

"I'm not trying to be dick," Stiles continued, "but this is a little like the pot calling the kettle black. I really like you but don't ask me to do something you wouldn't do."

Derek lowly laughed, "You think everything is that easy?" He turned and directly stared at Stiles, "I can't come out to my parents Stiles, or my aunts, or my uncles, or any cousins. No one. Because they're all dead. Is that what you wanted to hear? You want to hear how me and Laura spent two years in foster care and intensive therapy after it happened? You want me to tell you what it feels like to not have a home? Because I can definitely tell you that—all about it."

Stiles' defensive posture immediately slumped. He quickly ran their past conversations through his head to see if he had missed that major detail, but could not find any instance of him mentioning it. Derek's family was dead, and now he was the jerk who brought it up.

"Derek," Stiles reached out for his hand, "I'm sorry—I—I didn't know."

Derek snatched his hand off of the table and into his lap, "I know, I don't really tell that many people because they look at me in the exact same way you're looking at me now. Can you just take me back to my car."

Stiles tried to find an excuse for them to stay at the diner, but nothing seemed adequate. He didn't want to drop Derek off at his car while he was angry with him, but he didn't see a real choice in the matter.

"But we just got our food…"

Derek stood up and threw a few ten dollar bills on the table, "Well, I guess I'll pay. And I'll get a cab. It's Friday anyway, you have to meet your brothers and play the straight frat game on the weekends, right?"

Stiles sighed and followed Derek out of the diner. He tried several times to break their tense silence, but could not sever Derek's stone-cold glare. Once they made it back to Athens he dropped Derek off at his car and he got out and left without a word. Once Derek sped off in his black Camaro Stiles pulled out his phone and texted him.

I'm a dick. I'm sorry for being so defensive, but I would do anything for you. Please call me when you can.

Derek didn't respond.

X-X-X-X

Laura and Megan instantly stopped gossiping about her experience at the sorority house when Derek quickly entered the apartment. He slammed the door and walked straight to his room. The two girls stared at each other in disbelief and rushed to his room door. Megan knocked lightly and asked, "Is everything okay?"

"Not in the mood to talk." He said blatantly through the closed door.

"Well if you need us…" Megan began, but was interrupted by Laura opening the door and walking in.

"Laura!" Derek exclaimed.

"Oh, hush." She said, "Now what's wrong?"

Derek pursed his lips together, but opened up about the end to his and Stiles' date. Once Derek brought up his family's death Megan instinctively rose from her place, rubbed his back, and walked out of the room. Those conversations were strictly reserved for him and Laura.

"Derek," Laura said once he finished, "what did Dr. Deaton tell you?"

Derek rolled his eyes and exhaled, remembering their counselor's words from nearly five years before, "'Be angry, but don't push away other people.' That's not exactly the most revolutionary advice."

"That's probably why he became a vet," Laura stated, "but Stiles didn't know. He's defensive about that, but you're defensive about our family too. They're gone, Derek, and being angry about it only hurts them."

"They're not alive to be hurt," Derek dryly replied.

"You can think that all you want," Laura said, "but even if you don't have faith they're still a part of us. And storming off and shutting down when they come up is ruining their memory."

Derek moaned, "I'm going to have to apologize, right?"

"Screw that!" Laura exclaimed, "He's a dick, there are plenty of other good guys out there who are out, proud, and not shady like he is."

"How do you know he's shady?"

"How do you know he's not?"

Derek thought about it for a moment, "I don't. I guess I do have faith."

Laura laughed and playfully punched him, "Cheeseball. That's some romcom shit right there."

Derek hugged his sister, "I love you."

"You're alright." She said as she patted his back.

X-X-X-X

Lydia sat on a white couch located in the dressing room of LeRon's, Athens' most upscale dress boutique. She sipped on a glass of wine while Britney tried on one of the dresses they picked out for Formal. Once Britney walked out Lydia gave her a polite golf clap, "Yay, I love it."

Britney fidgeted in the tight, but gorgeous, dress, "I don't know why we're even bothering."

"Because you tore apart your last one when Issac broke up with you for cheating on him with one of his frat brothers," Lydia plainly stared at her, "that was two days ago, remember? And it was stupid, why make out with Wall?"

Britney sighed, "I was drunk, whatever. I can't be held responsible for what I did on a weekend."

Lydia shook her head, "Alright, so are we buying it?"

Britney groaned, "I can't go to the formal without a date!"

Lydia took a second to think and then grinned, "Well, Jackson's available."

"Vomit," Britney responded, "I can't deal with entitled men. I need someone I can break down."

Lydia shook her head remembering how Britney loved to have the power in her relationships, "Well I can't really help you there. But that makes Wall make more sense."

Britney stared at herself in the mirror, "Whatever, if you and Stiles weren't so perfect I'd steal him. But I think I can yank someone at the formal with this dress on."

X-X-X-X

Allison, Maria, Derek, and Lydia all sat around a table cramming in as much Spanish as they could before their finals the following week. It was late on Thursday night and each of them were worried. They each were studying for separate Spanish classes while Maria filled in what she could for each of them. After a tiring few hours Maria and Lydia rose from their seats.

"Okay," Lydia said, "it's 1 AM and I've got to be ready for formal tomorrow night, so thank you but I've gotta go."

"Me too," Maria added, "I don't have a formal or anything so fancy, but I want to be ready to get drunk after work tomorrow. Us poor bitches gotta party too." She briefly cut her eyes at Lydia when she said that. Lydia, seemingly numb to Maria's read, smiled and offered to walk out with her.

Once they left Allison looked to Derek, "I've got to go too, but before I do, I want to talk."

Derek arched his eyebrow and sucked his teeth, "This should be good."

Allison shook her head, "I'm not here to get into any drama, but Stiles feels really horrible about what happened and really wants to talk to you."

Derek closed his book, "I want to talk to him too, but I just need some cooling down time."

"Cooling down time as in—"

"I'm not writing him off," he said, "but I'm still a little mad. He's not coming out, he gets angry anytime coming out comes up, and—I don't know—I just feel like he's still holding back."

Allison grabbed Derek's hand, "Just trust me, he's crazy about you. I know the two of you haven't really established much, but know that. He hasn't stopped talking about you since that night."

Derek's expression did not give away any of this thoughts. It was a look he mastered after his family died, "Thanks."

Allison smiled weakly and stood, leaving Derek at the table by himself. After a few moments Lydia reappeared.

"Can I help you?" Derek asked.

"Hey," she said, "I know you live with Megan, right? So you know about the formal? My friend Britney really needs a date and if you came with her it would be really cool."

"That's your best selling point?" Derek shook his head, "I'm sorry, but I'm-no."

Lydia exasperatedly sighed, "You could hang out with Megan! Or even surprise her! I'm sure she'd LOVE to have you there! And it would really help Britney, you seem like a cool guy."

Derek shook his head again, "I'm not the big formal type."

"But you're hot," Lydia said, "and what better way to have a good time than to be someone's man candy and make a bunch of frat guys self-conscious."

Derek laughed, "Look—" he stared at Lydia, who was obviously forcing excitement to convince him, "ugh—what do I need to wear?"

X-X-X-X

After an intense week of planning the day of the Snowdrop Ball arrived. Lydia, Stiles, Jackson, and several other co-eds from both Greek organizations were frantically finishing up the set-up for the party. After a few hours of making the boys work and watching the boys sweat, Lydia and her sorority sisters said their goodbyes.

"When I get back," she kissed Stiles on his cheek, "I'll have my hair done, my make-up done, and be in my dress," she kissed him on the lips, "and you will want to rip it off of me all night." She smiled and said her goodbyes.

Though he was still concerned about Derek, there was something about Lydia that always made him feel better. The prospect of sex with her wasn't exactly tingling his loins, but her love for him made him think he had done something right. After a couple more hours of hard work along with the event people the sorority hired to set-up, the entire back yard and parking lot was transformed.

Even though the coming weeks would be hard, Stiles knew that the night would be as perfect as it could get.