Stiles was still a nervous wreck come Monday morning. They still had not figured out exactly what had happened to Derek or how. All they knew was that somehow, he had gotten a terrible mix of wolfsbane and mountain ash in his system. He went to the school early that morning, figuring that Derek, if he was well enough to come back to school, would be there for basketball practice. Sure enough, Stiles found him in the gym with the rest of the team. The other teen was all smiles and laughter as he joked around with his friends, until they looked away and Stiles watched as the smile fell away. Derek just looked tired in a way he probably should not have. He was still paler than normal, but the others did not seem to notice. Especially since once they looked back to Derek, the other teen was smiling and joking once again.
Stiles absentmindedly grabbed one of the stray basketballs and spun it between his hands, pressing two fingers of each one against the ball. He continued watching until it seemed that practice was over and Derek came over to where he was standing with one of those smiles that Derek had been giving to all of his friends. "Are you okay?" Stiles questioned, tapping his fingers against the basketball he still held.
"Yeah, I'm fine," replied Derek with another smile and a nod, laughing a little though the sound seemed forced to both of their ears.
The slightly younger teen's brow rose a little, as if questioning Derek's response before he suddenly threw the basketball forward toward the middle of Derek's chest. The other teen barely caught the ball before it made contact, and he stumbled back a step and a half when usually, Derek would have caught that without any problems. He would have made some big show out of it with that cheeky little smirk that Stiles shated/s lo- really enjoyed. Stiles clenched his teeth and threw a punch at Derek's arm, something that made the other teen flinch. "You are not fine, Derek," Stiles replied with a frown. He may have been better than he'd been at the hospital, thankfully, but he was not fine. "Don't lie to me."
"Stiles..."
"No." Stiles hit Derek's shoulder in a manner that showed his obvious irritation without hurting either one of them, shaking his head a little. "You can fake it to your friends all you want; but, don't lie to me."
Derek idly wet his lips and nodded a little before reaching out to tug Stiles over to him by the string of the other teen's hoodie. "Yeah, alright," Derek stated, though they both knew that it would not be the last time that Derek attempted to keep something from Stiles. Derek did not want to lie to Stiles, but he had not wanted the other teen to worry about him, not with everything else that was going on. He would be fine soon enough. It would just take more time than they had anticipated. "Don't be mad."
The slightly younger teen let out a heavy breath, and he smiled a little before shaking his head. "I'm not. Just worried about you." Stiles smiled a little once again before he gently kissed Derek, wrapping his arms around the other boy as Derek's hands rested on his waist.
"Well, aren't you two absolutely adorable," Peter Hale drawled as he came striding across the gym. Stiles did not miss the way that Derek's grip shifted on his hips and drew him even closer. Peter smirked at the action, brow raising a little as he crossed his arms over his chest. "My, someone's edgy."
"What do you want, Peter?" Derek asked, voice sighed as he watched the other werewolf warily.
"Can't I come say 'hello' to my favorite nephew?" Peter smirked again as Derek's eyes narrowed a little. "Or maybe big sis wanted me to keep an eye out."
Derek sighed and rolled his eyes. That sounded more accurate. Of course Laura would be worried that something else would happen. "I don't need a babysitter," the teen all but growled at Peter, who simply lifted his shoulders in a shrug.
Stiles looked between the two of them for a moment, not exactly sure what to do, though he was seriously considering just dragging Derek out of the gym. However, Stiles looked to Peter once again as he finally said, "Isn't the staff going to notice a creepy pedophile wandering along the corridors?"
Peter let out a startled bark of a laugh, his grin growing slightly predatory in a way that made Derek shift Stiles behind him. Well, he tried to, anyway, but Stiles shrugged him off. He could take care of himself, thank you. "You should watch that mouth of yours before you really get into trouble, Stilinski," Peter stated, his voice more flat than holding any veil of a threat. Stiles did not trust him, however.
The teen simply shrugged his shoulders in response. He had been told that several times throughout his life. He highly doubted that it would ever change. Derek seemed torn between facepalming, rolling his eyes, and sighing with a shake of his head. Eventually, he settled on the later as he let go of Stiles to take the other teen's hand in his own. "C'mon," Derek said, pointedly ignoring Peter once again. He did not have time for whatever his uncle was up to. "Let's head to class."
Stiles nodded and followed Derek out of the gym, glancing back to Peter once more with a slight shudder at the look in the man's eyes. There was just something about him that did not seem right, but if Derek's reactions to the man were anything to go by, Stiles was not alone in those thoughts. It was just what they needed, Stiles thought with a heavy sigh, a psycho werewolf on top of everything else. "Cora's insisting we take a group photo at the dance," Derek stated as they got near their locker. Stiles' brow furrowed a little in confusion as he processed the words before he realized that the dance was that weekend. He had almost forgotten with everything else going on.
He snorted a little with a shake of his head as he said, "A group photo made up of mostly werewolves, because that won't turn out to be one giant eye flash."
"Try telling that to her." Derek shook his head as well, smirking in amusement as he leaned against the locker next to the one he shared with Stiles, watching as the other teen gathered his things for their first class.
"You're staring again." Stiles tried to hide a faint smile as he shoved his textbook for history into the locker since he had taken it home the night before and would not need it until later.
The elder teen chuckled a little, tilting his head to one side so that it rested against the lockers. "Problem with that?"
Stiles closed his backpack after getting everything he would need for chemistry before moving aside so that Derek could grab what he needed. "It's a little creepy."
"You don't mind," replied Derek with a cheeky grin as he grabbed his own textbook, notebook, and pen for class.
"No..." Stiles laughed softly at his own response, smiling a little as Derek leaned in to chastely kiss him while closing the locker door. It was odd, how easy things with Derek was. He was not used to anyone looking at him as intently as Derek did, often without even realizing, and yet it never made him uncomfortable. He guessed that it was nice, in an odd way, to know that someone wanted to look at him. He was so used to being that kid that everyone knew and liked in a purely platonic sense, well, that was until he started dating a werewolf; but, Stiles did not mind in the slightest. The dirty looks he received as they walked down the hall hand-in-hand were more than worth it.
"Derek's looking better," Isaac commented idly as he swung himself back and forth on Stiles' desk chair in his friend's bedroom Friday evening before the dance. He, Scott, and Stiles were getting ready there while Jackson, Allison, and Derek were at the Hale House.
Scott nodded in agreement as he ran his hands through his hair with gel on his fingers to get his hair styled right and he said, "Yeah. No longer looks like a strong gust of wind will knock him over."
They'd all spent most of the week worrying about Derek in their own ways. Isaac was quiet about it, randomly giving Derek milk or juice when they were studying together at the Hales'. Scott had teased Derek a lot, but there was always that sense of concern beneath it. Derek glared at him more often than not. Stiles did nod do or say anything different than normal; but, that was because he was too busy telling himself that things were going to be fine, that Derek would be okay. It would just take time, and it had. About a week later and he was finally back to his normal self. "Yeah," Stiles agreed, his voice mostly breath as he smiled and nodded as well from his spot on the floor. He was probably wrinkling the pants that Lydia had bought him and forced him to wear that evening; but, he did not care too much. Isaac seemed slightly worried that Lydia would be mad, though, as he pointed it out several times.
By that point in the evening, Isaac was just fishing for conversation about anything besides the dance. He was extremely nervous; he had never gone to a school dance before, and he was scared he was going to make a fool of himself, especially if Jackson actually wanted to dance. Scott was a bundle of smiling energy as usual, and Stiles, well, none of them could really pin-point Stiles' mood that evening. He seemed distracted by something, and whatever it was was fairly big as he missed all the shared looks between his best friends until Scott finally asked, "Dude, are you okay?"
"Yeah," replied Stiles quickly, almost too quickly, and he winced a little as his own voice cracked slightly. With a sigh, he ran a hand through his hair repeatedly and cleared his throat. "I dunno. I've just got this... bad feeling I guess. I can't explain it. It's probably just me being paranoid, though." They'd gone nearly a week without any further incidents. Nobody else had gotten hurt or threatened, the government was still on a non-issue about the werewolf community in California though several other states were signing the same law that Georgia had.
"Hyper-vigilance," Isaac stated quietly, nodding a little as he smiled faintly at his best friend, who returned the gesture in kind.
"It's just a school dance," insisted Scott with one of his brilliant smiles that seemed to make everyone feel better. Stiles could not keep from honestly smiling at his brother, though a part of him still felt worried. If Scott was going to remain optimistic, than so was he. "What's the worst that can happen?"
Stiles and Isaac tensed at Scott's unwittingly foreboding sentence. In Stiles' experience, that phrase never preceded anything good. He was about to comment on it when there was a sudden knock on the frame of his bedroom door, which caused the tension to die as both Isaac and Scott jumped with small shouts as they all looked to see Melissa standing in the doorway with an amused expression on her face. "Your dates are here," she said with a soft chuckle and a shake of her head, looking between the three boys with a bright smile on her face. "Your last winter formal, huh? Never thought we'd get here. You've all grown up so much."
"Mom," Scott groaned, even though he had a smile on his face as he went over to give her a one-armed hug. "It's not the time for this. We've still got prom next term. Do it then."
"Oh, alright." Melissa laughed at herself, rolling her eyes at Scott as she ruffled his hair despite his protests.
The four of them then headed downstairs, Melissa gently squeezing Isaac's shoulder as they went, making the curly-haired teen smile softly at her. "Don't stay out too late," John Stilinski stated as he crossed his arms over his chest while the six teens conjugated in the main hallway. Of course, he could not speak for Isaac and Jackson, but at least two of the teens were under his guardianship.
"Yes, Dad," Stiles said with a roll of his eyes, though there was a smile on his face that he could not stop as he stood close to Derek, all of them ready to get out of there before awkward situations or threats of photos.
The car ride to the dance was rather quiet, with four people crammed into the backseat (Allison, Scott, Jackson, and Isaac), while Derek drove and Stiles sat up front. They listened to the radio, but nobody really said anything. Scott spent the ride to the school with his arms around Allison's waist and his face buried into the side of her neck, making her smile and run a hand through his hair as he nuzzled against her.
Once they finally got to the school, the three couples went into the building. Scott immediately led Allison to the dance floor with matching bright smiles. Jackson and Isaac walked hand-in-hand to where Jackson's friends were so that they could do the all-but-mandatory check in and Jackson could keep up appearances before he led Isaac out to dance as well, the curly-haired teen smiling shyly. Stiles and Derek had already agreed to sit out any of the fast songs, and they went to find a table that all of them could use off to one side. "Are you okay?" Derek asked Stiles as they took their seats, brow furrowed slightly as he studied the younger teen.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine," replied Stiles, shaking his head slight as if shaking off a thought before smiling over at Derek. "Sorry, just kinda... I dunno. Spacey. I'm good, though."
Derek nodded a little, though his expression did not change for another few moments before he leaned in and pressed a kiss to Stiles' cheek. "You look amazing, by the way," Derek stated as he pulled away with that charming grin that he was known for. "Figured you'd rather not want me to say something like that in front of your dad."
"Mmm... I wouldn't have minded, but I'm sure he's glad." Stiles laughed softly with a smile, the expression slowly turning into a smirk as he reached over and tugged on the collar of the blazer that Derek wore that evening. "C'mon, I know we said no fast songs, but I'm changing the agreement. Dance with me."
"I'm a terrible dancer." Derek groaned a little, but he let Stiles lead him out to the dance floor where all of their friends were.
"I don't care." Stiles shook his head with a bright grin as they joined the others. Isaac smiled when he saw Stiles actually near-by, looking a lot more relaxed than he had been at the house. Stiles was glad. He deserved a night of fun. They all did.
It was nice, Stiles decided after a few minutes. There was no division of the students that night. They were all just a mixed up mass on the floor while the teachers stood off to one side, watching over them. It was rather surprising how nice people were being to each other. He guessed Lydia had been right earlier, when she said that school dances tended to unify the place. At least for the time being, they did not seem to have to worry about people being jerks because of differences.
Stiles laughed with another smile as the music's tempo slowed down dramatically and Derek spun him around so they were face-to-face again, pulling him closer. "Hi," Stiles said as he lifted his arms to wrap them around the other teen's neck.
He managed not to wince when Derek stepped on his feet, though the other teen did. "Sorry," stated the basketball player with a sheepish smile, ducking his head a little.
"Don't. S'fine." Stiles nodded a little, pressing a kiss to the corner of Derek's mouth before leaning in closer to the other teen, holding onto him tightly as they danced cheek-to-cheek. The brown-eyed teen smiled softly as he felt Derek's arms tighten around his waist, and he looked over the other boy's shoulder to their friends as they continued to dance.
Allison was beaming as she toyed with Scott's hair while they danced. Jackson and Isaac had moved off to one side and were talking quietly as Jackson held the curly-haired teen close to him, a smile on his face unlike one Stiles had ever seen before. They definitely were better for each other than Stiles had ever thought possible. Cora and Lydia were lost in their own little world, Lydia actually allowing Cora to lead as they danced. Danny and Ethan were done fighting again and both seemed to be all smiles as they swayed back and forth, not really moving otherwise. It was everything that a high school experience should have been. No worrying about hunters, or how they were going to survive. There was no stress, no thoughts of war. If only they could just stay in that moment.
Stiles' brow furrowed a little in silent question as Derek leaned away from him without removing the arms around his waist. The elder teen then leaned in to kiss Stiles instead of actually saying anything as they stilled in place and the younger boy shifted his hand to rest on the back of Derek's neck. "Stop thinking about it," Derek murmured as he broke the kiss, brushing his nose against Stiles'.
The younger teen let out a heavy breath, keeping his eyes closed as Derek pressed a kiss to his forehead. "Thinking about what?" replied Stiles, his voice light as if he had not just been dwelling on the bad things in their lives.
"You know what." Derek smiled a little as he leaned away enough to look at the other boy. "Forget about all that, even if just for tonight."
"Yeah, okay. I can do that." The younger teen smiled at Derek before stealing another kiss as the song changed to one with a faster beat. He then laughed as Scott grabbed his arm to drag him over to where everyone else was dancing in a group because apparently Lydia demanded he dance with her next. Once in front of her, Stiles bowed dramatically and held a hand out, causing the beta to roll her eyes, though the faint upturn of her lips was fond as she took his hand. Derek smiled to himself as he watched them, stepping aside to go sit back down at the table where Isaac and Jackson were.
"I'll be right back," Stiles told Derek with a smile, chastely kissing the other teen before he left the gym to head to the bathroom down the hall and up the stairs as the bathrooms on the first floor were in repair.
The halls were dark and quiet, save the sound of the music from the gym that grew fainter the farther Stiles walked. He frowned a little, glancing over his shoulder once he got up the stairs to the next floor. He stopped by his locker, grabbing the pain medication stashed in the back corner before continuing to the bathroom. His knee was bothering him a bit, so he only wanted to take one. He wanted to be able to enjoy the rest of the night and not be bothered by his knee.
Stiles took the pill, cupping his hand under the sink faucet to get some water to chase it with, before turning off the sink again and drying his hands. The teen let out a heavy breath, taking a moment to close his eyes as he tilted his head forward until his forehead rested against the mirror above the sink. "Calm down," he said to himself, shaking his head a little before lifting it once again. "Everything's fine. Relax. You're fine."
The teen took another deep breath, not sure where the sudden feeling of dread was coming from. It had been bothering him all night, but it seemed to grow worse as he stepped out into the hallway. Stiles glanced down either direction before starting toward the stairs again. The teen stopped a few feet away from the bathroom when he heard a loud, sudden clanging noise from the darker end of the hallway, and he slowly turned to look in that direction. "Scott?" he asked slowly, his voice unsure even to his own ears. Why would Scott be down in the hallway?
Stiles waited a moment before he took a deep breath and a step forward only to freeze once again at the sound of metal scraping behind him. Stiles closed his eyes and took a moment, telling himself that he was probably imagining things, before turning to look again. However, that time, he did see someone in the hall, walking toward him while idly dragging what looked to be a rather large blade along the lockers. "M-Matt? What're you doing?" Stiles asked, taking a stumbling step backward.
The other teen simply raised a brow in response, pulling the knife in his hand away from the lockers, and holy hell, was that a crossbow strapped to his back? "So, you're the little human in the pack of wolves," Matt stated, his voice holding an edge to it that Stiles had never heard before, though reminded him vaguely of Victoria Argent. "We have some.. questions for you."
"We?" Stiles laughed nervously, ruffling his hair as he took another step backward, taking him farther away from Matt and the stairs all at the same time. Stiles glanced toward him, wondering if he could manage to get himself down the stairs without breaking something.
"Oh, didn't you hear? After some werewolf ripped out my parents' throats, the Argents took me in." Matt flashed a grin that was purely terrifying, something that Stiles had never thought the other teen could manage. "Break the human, break the pack." Stiles opened his mouth to respond, but clamped his mouth shut when he saw the other teen pulling the crossbow off of his back where it had been strapped. "Do yourself a favor, Stilinski, and make this a challenge. Run."
"Shit." Stiles barely breathed the word before he turned around and took off running down the hallway, slamming into a row of lockers as he took a corner to sharp and slid. He shouted for Scott or Derek, though he knew the music in the gym would be too loud for them to hear over. Stiles could only hope that someone else might hear before he quietened and ducked into one of the dark classrooms to hide from Matt, who he could still hear coming down the hallway.