Author's Note: Sorry for the long wait. Work's amping up so I don't have as much time to write, but hope you enjoy and thanks for your reviews!

Chapter Twelve

Love The Way You Lie

When he opened his eyes he was immediately hit with a strong headache. His vision was slightly blurred and the small hum of his room's AC unit filled his ears as if it was a loud roar. He knew as soon as he woke that he was hung over. In fact, he was severely hung over. He shut his eyes hoping that the pain would go away, but he had no luck. Despite his feeble attempt to resolve the pain and block out every single stimuli around him, he found that one thing felt odd.

Though his mental state was impaired due the amount he drank during the formal, he suddenly found himself focusing on the warm sensation spreading across his neck. It was a steady pattern that Stiles equated to breathing. He realized he wasn't in the bed alone. He soon became fully aware of the environment around him. He felt a strong arm wrapped around his waist and a warm body pressed up against his back.

He opened his eyes again and felt the sharp sting from the sunlight, but could clearly see that he was in his room. Scott's bed lay made and vacant along the opposite wall. His door was shut and, once he squinted his eyes to focus, he found that the knob was locked. He smiled once he stopped examining the room and relaxed into Derek's body. His bare chest against his back was the only soothing addition to his otherwise painful morning. Stiles began to rub the arm that was wrapped around him. When he did he felt a kiss on the back of his neck. With that sensation the memories from the night before began flooding back to him.

X-X-X-X

The Night Before

The large stage constructed in the back of Omega Beta Theta's parking lot was packed with large speakers, an elaborate lighting structure, and the DJ equipment belonging to From Never, who was arguably the most popular dance DJ in Athens. In front of the booth stretched a large hardwood floor for dancing, and further back in the fraternity's courtyard was a series of round tables where the Kappa Gamma Delta sisters were brining their dates to sit for dinner. There was a long open bar set up along the side of the dance floor and dining area with five bartenders ready to serve for the party. Throughout the entire area were classic lights along with the sorority's trademark flower, the Snowdrop.

Stiles and Lydia sat at the foremost table. Being the president she arrived early to greet her sisters and their dates. Indeed, as each of the sorority's sisters arrived Lydia greeted them by name, smiled, and met their dates. This was no easy task given that the sorority had over two hundred girls, most of which were attending the Formal. As the tables began to fill and the first course was served Lydia and Stiles found themselves sitting alone. The empty spots belonged to Britney, Erica, and Megan.

"Oh my God," Lydia crunched her appetizer and pulled her phone out of her clutch, "Where is everyone?"

She began to dial Britney's number, but stopped once she saw Megan walking up to their table. She smiled and stood, wrapping Megan in a tight hug.

"Where have you been!" Lydia exclaimed. She let her go and her smiling expression faded to a judgmental glare when she saw Jackson standing beside her.

"What!" Megan sat down next to Lydia and Jackson filled in beside her, "I didn't have a date and he was available."

"He's an asshole," Lydia rolled her eyes, "that's why he's available!"

Stiles shrugged and lifted his glass as a toast to Jackson, "Good to see you, asshole."

Jackson grinned and took a sip of his pre-poured glass of wine. Lydia sat and leaned against Stiles, whispering to him about how wrong it was that Megan brought Jackson knowing that Erica would be sitting with them. Stiles asked for clarification of what Jackson did to offend Erica, and it turned out he got drunk and left her downtown by herself. When Stiles sighed and moaned "Oh, the drama!" Lydia rose up and turned to talk to Megan instead.

Lydia pulled out her phone once more and texted Britney.

X-X-X-X

Where are you!

Britney angrily tossed her phone at Derek, who sat completely dumbstruck on her bed. The girl had gone completely mental when Derek arrived at the sorority house to pick her up. Though boys were not normally allowed in a girl's room, their elderly housemother sent Derek in there to calm her down.

"Look," Derek shifted uncomfortably in his seat, "I got all dressed up to be your date, that's got to count for something."

Britney paced back and forth in front of him. Her short frame mixed with her anger made a comical sight, but Derek was honestly scared she would hit him if he cracked a smile. "Yeah! I'm going to Formal with a gay guy while every other girl has a guy who's interested in her. I'm basically going stag!"

Derek ran his hands down his pinstripe pants, "I mean I rented a suit."

"OH MY GOD! Everyone knows your gay and I'm going to get judged so hardcore out there. These girls are bitches!"

"Then why pay to be a social organization with them?"

Britney stopped and glared at him, "That's it! I'm not going."

Derek sighed and stood, "Alright, then I'm going to go home."

Britney pushed him back down on the bed, "NO! You're going to leave me alone on the most important night of Fall semester?" Her tone was broken, and Derek felt like she was nearing tears. Though he was normally sympathetic to girls in distress, he found his tolerance slipping.

X-X-X-X

"ERICA!" Lydia exclaimed as she shuffled up to her sister, "Where's your date!"

Erica flipped her long blond curls over her shoulder, "He's parking the car."

Lydia rolled her eyes, "This is why you should live in the house." She grabbed her friend's hand and walked her over to the table. As soon as Erica saw Jackson at the table with Stiles she immediately knew Megan had brought him to the Formal. Her nostrils flared as she walked with Lydia to her seat.

Once Lydia sat down Erica grabbed Megan's chair at stared at Jackson, "So, you're here to abandon another one of my sisters?"

Megan sighed, "Erica, I'm so sorry, but I didn't have a da—"

"—no!" Erica held up her finger at her, "I'm happy for the two of you, maybe you can knock some sense into him. Anyway, my date is hotter."

Stiles looked to Jackson and grinned. His smile faded when a tall, dark-haired boy walked up and stood next to Erica. His skin was olive-toned, his jawline sharp and clean-shaven, his shoulders were broad to support a muscular frame. He wore a simple white suit with a basic tie, probably because he hated Formal events. Stiles always told him that it made no sense he hated business/formal attire when he planned to be a litigator.

"Everyone," Erica kissed him on the cheek, "this is Danny."

Danny smiled and waved to everyone at the table. Once his eyes landed on Stiles he pressed his lips together and instantly broke their eye contact. His arm was wrapped around Erica, but was promptly removed under Stiles' glare.

"Hi," Danny said as Erica took him to his seat. Lydia ushered Stiles to sit one seat over while Erica moved into his place. This put him sitting next to his ex.

The dinnertime conversation immediately began while the party sipped their wine and finished the entrees. Any comment Jackson made in the conversation was a met with a quip from Erica, and Danny barely spoke. Indeed, the girls were talking frantically while Jackson, Stiles, and Danny sat in silence.

"So," Jackson leaned forward and looked to Danny, "I don't think we've met before."

"No," Danny shrugged, "I'm a 1L here, but I went here for undergrad."

Jackson nodded, "So you bleed Red and Black?"

Danny laughed, "As long as Murray keeps it up I'm good."

Stiles quickly realized he would not understand their conversation. Though he enjoyed watching football he could not tell anyone the names of the team members, their jersey numbers, or their stats. Jackson and Danny became quickly enthralled in conversation about the BCS Bowls coming up and how the team would perform under pressure. Stiles, instead, sat silently trying to figure out how his ex-boyfriend ended up at his fraternity house. Each time he thought about it he couldn't help but think that he was with Erica legitimately.

"I'm going to go get a drink," Stiles said, kissing Lydia's cheek as he rose and went to the bar. He ordered a whisky shot and downed it as soon as the bartender gave it to him. He turned to go back to his seat, but Danny was standing next to him.

"Hey," Danny said.

Stiles scoffed, "Hi. Didn't want to tell me you were showing up at my frat house tonight?"

"I'm sorry," Danny leaned against the bar, "Trust me, I had no idea Erica was coming to this house. I almost backed out when I pulled up here."

The sight of Danny so near to Stiles mixed his mind up with feelings of anger, nostalgia, and denial. He spent a large part of his college experience swooning over Danny, dating him, loving him, and then getting over him. Though Derek, and their fight, was still fresh in his mind, Danny reminded him of a time when he could feel almost normal around a guy he cared for. As soon as those memories flooded into his mind he pushed them back out with the memory of how Danny dumped him.

"You should have," Stiles commented coldly. He looked over to their table to see Lydia still enthralled in conversation with the girls while Jackson had moved to another table to talk to one of their fraternity brothers. He nearly walked away, but stopped and stared at Danny, "How could you do that to me?"

Danny looked nervously to the ground, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry I broke up with you, but you didn't make it easy for me either."

Stiles shook his head, "I'm not talking about breaking up with me. I'm talking about cutting me off. It's been over a year, Danny, and I haven't heard from you. You never even asked me if I was okay."

Danny began to speak, but was interrupted by Stiles, "And anyway, I can't believe you would try to force me to come out and then show up here a year later with a girl."

"She knows I'm gay," Danny said, "I'm here to make some dude jealous."

Stiles sighed, "You screwed me over. It took me so long to get over you, and now you're back in front of my face at MY house?"

"I must not have screwed you over too bad, you've been dating Lydia for a while right?"

Stiles quickly got another shot and took it. After the pain in his throat faded he shook his head, "What was I supposed to do? Tell you that I still loved you and would do anything if you would just talk to me again. Oh right, I couldn't."

"You could have tried being honest with yourself," Danny wanted to touch Stiles, hug him, or something, but he knew he couldn't, "that all I ever wanted."

"No," Stiles looked back to the table and saw no one was looking their way. He leaned closer to Danny, "you wanted me to risk everything because of your problems. If you loved me you would have accepted me."

Danny began to speak, but was interrupted by the DJ calling out to the crowd. Dinner was over and he began to spin his first track, "Good Time" by Owl City. As the college co-eds rose from their seats and filtered to the bar and dance floor Stiles was tugged away by Lydia. He didn't feel like forcing a smiling expression and finishing out the night on a good note, but he owed it to her. In fact, her playful spins and tugs against him made him feel wanted, which was something that was desperately lacking between him and Derek at the moment. Danny's presence didn't help that either.

X-X-X-X

Scott was lying across on the couch in the den of the fraternity house. His head rested in Allison's lap as she played through his dark hair. They were attempting to watch TV and relax before the Formal ended and the Omega's end of semester bash began. Unfortunately for them the brothers of the fraternity had already started pre-gaming with loud games of beer pong, flip cup, and snappa.

A cup of beer hit too hard by a ping pong ball flew off of the beer pong table next to them. It crashed to the floor splashing beer over the two. Scott jumped up and stared at Wall, their most obnoxious brother.

"Really dude!" Scott exclaimed, "Party foul!"

Allison stood and put her hand over Scott's mouth, "Stop queening out on them."

The brothers laughed as Scott glared at her, but Britney storming through the house distracted her. She was pulling her date behind her on the way to the Formal in the backyard. When Allison saw that her date was Derek she nearly hyperventilated.

Scott, noticing the doomed expression across her face, turned and put his hands on her shoulders, "Are you okay?"

Allison's mouth hung open, her eyes were wide, "That was Derek."

"Derek?" Scott looked towards the back door but they had already exited the house, "Where?"

Allison slapped the back of his head, "He's here and going to the Formal! With Lydia's best friend!"

Scott stared at her blankly for a moment and then jerked back when he realized what she was saying, "What do we do!"

"I don't know!"

"Go distract them!" Scott pointed to the Formal.

"Seriously?" Allison rolled her eyes and walked over to the den's window and pulled out her phone, "I'm texting Stiles, but I don't think there's anything we can do."

"Except get ready for the apocalypse," Scott mumbled, "there's no way this will end well."

X-X-X-X

Stiles leaned over the bar as he finished his drink. Jackson slammed against the bar next to him, shocking Stiles out of his slight daze.

"Dude!" Jackson exclaimed.

"What?" Stiles asked.

"Duuuuuuude," Jackson put his hand weakly on Stiles' shoulder, "sid you fnow Erica's duuuude is gay?"

Stiles arched his eyebrow, "How did you find out?"

"She told me," Jackson's eyes bulged, not from his statement but from the fact he literally thought they were going to slip out of their sockets, "he's not annnnything like gay dudes."

"And what are gay dudes like?"

"I guesssss they like football," Jackson shrugged, "he should have pledged wif us, girls would be here allllll the time."

The fact that Jackson cared nothing about Danny's sexuality actually made Stiles feel a bit better about his presence. His thoughts were sidetracked when Jackson nearly fell to the ground.

"I think you need to sober up," Stiles said, "it's only 11 o'clock and we've got to party until 4."

"I swear to drunk I'm not God," Jackson shrugged off his concern and cave-man walked back to the dancefloor. Stiles laughed at this sight and ordered another drink. This time Britney interrupted his drinking.

"Where the hell is Lydia!"

Stiles put his drink down and shrugged, "She said she had a surprise and walked off. Why?"

"Because she set me up with a gay guy for this thing!" Britney exclaimed, "I love gay guys, but not to go to Formal with!"

Stiles shrugged again, "I'm sorry?"

Britney rolled her eyes, "If a tall guy in a pinstripe suit comes looking for me tell him I'm finding a straight guy. Then tell him thank you."

She stormed off to the dance floor, quite literally on the prowl. Her sexual frustration made him laugh and he picked up his fresh drink. He turned and leaned against the bar watching the event play out in front of him. He saw Danny dancing with Erica, though his full attention was pointed at Stiles. Stiles turned to face another way to avoid Danny's stare and instead caught sight of Derek. Unfortunately for his drink it hit the ground.

Stiles quickly ducked behind some sorority sisters and pulled out his phone. He began to text Allison, only to see she had tried to warn him. He rolled his eyes and tucked his phone back in his pocket. He looked up and could not find Derek again. Stiles inched carefully back to the bar and got another shot. If this night was going to be as bad as he suddenly saw it being, he would need to be drunk to deal with it.

After a few more shots Stiles heard Derek's voice beside him.

"I was going to hide too," Derek said, "but I figured we're both in this situation together, right?"

Stiles, slightly teetering at that point, sighed, "I guess so. How in the hell did you end up here, too?"

"Too?" Derek asked, but then shook his head and continued, "This girl in Megan's sorority asked me to be another girl's date. I figured Megan would like to see me here, but I didn't know you would be here. I'm guessing this is your fraternity house?"

"Yep," Stiles turned and looked to the dance floor, "listen, I—"

"Stiles," Derek interrupted, "I'm sorry. I overreacted. If I'm being honest I'm just really touchy about my family. But I'm Megan's roommate and most of the girls in this sorority know me, and know I'm gay."

Stiles laughed, "So I end up falling for a guy who knows pretty much every girl in my fraternity's sister sorority."

Derek laughed also. They were spaced safely apart not looking to each other as they talked, "Well, not everyone."

"I actually have something for you," Stiles reached behind his neck and unhooked his mother's necklace. He pulled the simple gold chain and small cross pendant out and handed it Derek. He did it discreetly to ensure no one would notice, "Listen. We can't really hang out tonight or talk, and I know it's all because of me. But I want you to have this."

He handed it to Derek, who quickly inquired: "What is it?"

"It was my mom's," Stiles said, "it's the thing that means the most to me, and since you're a close second I figured you could wear it. She promised me that she'd always be with me and gave me that, and trust me, when I can work everything out, I'll be with you."

Derek grinned, "Well, now that I sufficiently want to jump you but can't, I guess we'll just act like we don't know each other?"

Stiles nodded, "There is one more thing I need to tell you, just in my new spirit of honesty."

Derek waited for Stiles' words, but both turned to look at the stage when Lydia spoke through the mic. She had changed from her formal gown to a short party dress.

"Sisters!" she exclaimed, "I hope you all LOVED this winter's formal, but now it's time for us to all change and party with the Omegas. They were nice enough to put this event on and I feel like it would only be right for us to make this the most legendary fraternity party in UGA history!"

The sisters cheered and Lydia continued, "But we have two brothers we really need to thank. Were are Jackson and Stiles?"

Stiles' heart dropped as soon as his name was called. He prayed as he walked up to the stage that Lydia would not say anything to clue Derek in to their relationship. But once Jackson stumbled drunekly onto the stage, much to the laughter of everyone at the Formal, she grabbed her boyfriend's hand.

"Everyone give Jackson and my amazing boyfriend a hand for helping us put this all together."

Despite Lydia's affectionate kiss and the crowd giving Jackson and him applause and cheers, Stiles could not help but stare at Derek. He could almost hear Derek's jaw clenching all the way from the bar and Stiles helplessly watched him storm back toward the house.

X-X-X-X

Allison also watched helplessly from the house. Once she saw Derek storming toward the house she headed him off at the back door. He opened the door and ignored her as he left through the front door and walked towards the street.

"Derek!" she yelled, "Stop! Let me talk to you!"

He had made it all the way to the street by the time he stopped and turned around, "What are you going to say? You're the one who told me how crazy he was about me!"

She hurried to stand next to him and lowered her voice, "He is, but Derek, this just isn't the place to talk about this right now."

A large crowd was leaving the house, filtering to their cars or to the sorority house next door to change and return to finish off their night. They sat silently staring at one another as people talking about the event excitedly passed by.

"I can't do this," Derek whispered, "I came here willing to keep his secret, but I'm not going to help him cheat on his girlfriend."

Allison wanted to say something to calm him down, but there was nothing she could say. Her expression was defeated as she just stared at him. Derek was a genuinely nice guy and who was she to make him do something he deemed morally wrong?

"It's wrong," she said, "I know. But this thing is so complicated. Please, just wait here, I'm going to find Stiles and bring him out here."

Derek clenched his teeth but nodded. When Allison rushed off back towards the house Derek turned his attention to another guy who approached him.

"Rough night?" Danny asked as he stopped next to Derek.

X-X-X-X

Allison searched frantically for Stiles. She passed by Scott and completely ignored him as she shifted through the packed house. She bumped into drunken co-eds in various phases of their weekend mating rituals before she made her way out into the back of the house. She found Stiles taking shots at the bar.

"Stiles!" Allison exclaimed.

Stiles turned to her with what she could only describe as the most pitiful stare she had ever seen.

"He hates me," Stiles mumbled. His speech was slurred and slow, but he knew to whisper his words, "Lydia hates me because I told her a needed to be alone. Everyone hates me."

Allison, distracted by the event personnel cleaning up the party area, grabbed his shot glass and handed it back to the bartender, "Go ahead and pack up, he's done drinking."

Though Stiles fought her, she eventually tugged him back through the house and back towards Derek. She released him to stumble the rest of the way alone and she sat on the fraternity's front porch. As he walked up he noticed Derek talking to someone else, and his drunken sorrow turned into rage when he saw it was Danny.

"What the hell!" Stiles exclaimed, instantly jumping to the conclusion that Derek was moving on to Danny, or that Danny was betraying him and going after Derek.

"Stiles?" They both asked in unison. They then looked to each other confused that they both knew him. In Allison's absence Danny chatted with Derek about his date, his night, and eventually asked him on a date. Derek politely refused on the grounds that he was in a "it's complicated" state with another guy. Once he saw Stiles' expression Danny knew who the other guy was.

Stiles turned and began to storm down the street. Derek rushed after him while Danny stood in his place, figuring his best place to be was away from the two of them.

"What are you doing!" Stiles yelled, "I come to apologize to you and I see you're with him! Is this you getting back at me?"

"I don't even know him!" Derek exclaimed, "I swear!" He stopped and then shook his head, "And why am I the one on the defense here? You're the one who's been lying to me since we first started talking."

Stiles nodded, "You're right, why not just go ahead and hurt me as much as you can right now? Why even waste your time if I'm such a liar?" His drunken rage was burning within his body. The fight grew louder, meaner, and much more hurtful than either of them intended. By the time they were done Derek had taken off the necklace and shoved it back at Stiles.

"We're done." Derek said as he pushed back Stiles to walk towards his car.

"Fine," Stiles took the necklace and threw it at Derek, "if this doesn't mean anything to you then I guess it doesn't to me. You obviously don't give a shit about me."

X-X-X-X

The Following Morning

Stiles clenched his eyes tight when he remembered what happened between him and Derek. He remembered throwing his mother's necklace at Derek and leaving it on the street. He remembered Lydia trying to talk to him as he continued drink and him coldly brushing her off. He remembered her crying and Allison trying to console her. He remembered texting Derek how much he hated him. He remembered just how many issues he had, and felt humiliated that drinking turned him into such an asshole.

His final recollection was what made him realize just how much he had messed up. He left the house to avoid everyone inside of it and found Danny chatting on the front porch. When Danny saw him he mouthed "I'm sorry" across the porch, and Stiles motioned for him to follow him. He took Danny up to his room, slyly avoiding anyone seeing the two of them. He pulled him inside and locked the door behind him. He slammed Danny against the door and began to kiss him. When Danny stopped him Stiles put his hand over his mouth to shut him up.

"Tell me you still love me," Stiles remembered saying it on the verge of tears.

He remembered Danny touching his face, and with the most sincerity he had heard the entire night, Danny said "I never stopped."

X-X-X-X

Author's Note: I've gotten a couple of requests to include the song artists for each chapter since I draw a lot of inspiration for the story lines from songs that I listen to. At the end of each chapter I'll include it, and here are the songs I've used so far:

Alcohol – Brad Paisley

Dirty Little Secret – All-American Rejects

Rumors – Lindsay Lohan

Confessions – Destiny's Child

All The Small Things – Blink 182

Hometown Glory – Adele

Don't Phunk With My Heart - BEP

Tuesday Morning – Michelle Branch

Semi-Charmed Life – Third Eye Blind

The Story of Us – Taylor Swift

Complicated – Avril Lavigne

Love The Way You Lie [Piano Version] - Rihanna