"You shouldn't have taken Scott to see Peter, it's worn you out, you've got to rest Derek." Stiles muttered as he helped the werewolf up the stairs of his home. Stiles was wedged firmly under Derek's arm pit with one arm around his waist and the other bracing himself on the wall as they climbed each step at an agonisingly slow pace. Derek swayed and Stiles quickly adjusted his footing so the two of them didn't topple down the stairs. "Almost there big guy." Stiles puffed as he managed to ease him back upright.
They reached the top of the stairs and Stiles steered Derek down the hallway to the spare room which over the past few weeks had become "his" bedroom. Stiles pushed open the door and Derek crashed down on the bed groaning as he hit the soft mattress. Stiles wiped his brow and took a few moments to recover. "How much do you weigh man?!" he cried as he sank down on the edge of the bed.
"I'm hot." Derek mumbled.
Stiles turned to look at him and smiled. "Smokin'" he agreed.
Derek rolled his eyes at the younger teen. "I meant my temperature, here - feel." he said grabbing Stiles's hand resting it on his burning skin. "See?"
Stiles noticed Derek was indeed very warm, warmer than usual considering that werewolves seemed to have a higher base temperature compared to ordinary humans any way. "You're still fighting off the wolfsbane." he replied. "It will have affected your ability to heal so it's going to take time for you to recover." he said as he helped Derek out of his leather jacket to make him more comfortable.
"Been reading?" Derek asked with a raised eyebrow.
Stiles just smiled slightly. "I'll get you a cold cloth to put over your forehead, that should help cool you down." he said but as he got up to leave the room Derek shot out his hand and grabbed him by the arm.
"Don't go." Derek said fixing Stiles with wild fearful eyes.
"I'll be two seconds." Stiles said gently as he eased his arm out from the werewolf's surprisingly strong grip. He couldn't help but be feel pleased that Derek wanted him there, he'd assumed he'd want to be left alone to recover. Stiles briefly contemplated the strange moment back at the animal clinic where he'd thought for once crazy moment Derek was going to kiss him. "Idiot." he mentally shouted at himself, Derek wouldn't want him - at least not like that - why would he? He was just a skinny awkward, defenceless kid and he was ... well he was perfect ... Stiles quickly stopped that train of thought and sighed realising he'd completely developed a full blown crush on his friend. "It will help cool you down." Stiles said focusing on the task of getting Derek better instead.
Derek nodded and reluctantly let Stiles go; the moment he was out of sight he felt a pining sensation from the loss, Derek knew this was down to his natural wolf instincts - he was injured so naturally he wanted comfort and protection from his pack and his mate and Stiles was both of these rolled into one. Stiles returned a few agonising moments later with a cold damp cloth, a glass of water and two pain killers. Derek swallowed down the pills despite knowing they were unlikely to have any effect on him and drained the glass of water before he flopped back on the bed with exhaustion. Stiles laid the cold cloth over his head and he sighed deeply. "That does feel good." he had to admit although he wasn't sure if it was the cold cloth or the touch of Stiles's skin against his as he leaned over him.
Stiles smiled down at him. "See I know best, so in future remember to listen to me." he scolded playfully.
Derek just nodded. "Noted."
"Does it hurt?" Stiles asked noticing Derek's body trembled slightly, every now and then he'd convulse and his eyes would flash blue - a sure sign that he was in pain.
"I'll be okay." Derek replied simply.
Stiles knew he was just trying to stop him worrying which only made him worry even more so. "Be honest." he urged.
Derek's gazed up at Stiles. "It feels like my whole body is on fire." he confessed.
Stiles bit at his bottom lip. "How can I help?" he asked. "Maybe I could do some research?" he suggested but Derek shook his head quickly.
"Just stay with me." Derek replied, his eyes falling closed; he was weak and beaten, vulnerable and needed his mate close. "You being here helps."
Stiles's ignored the strange back flip his stomach did at these words and quickly convinced himself that Derek just meant that he was a useful distraction from the pain. "Sure you don't want to be left alone?" he asked.
"No. Just stay here with me." Derek said shifting over to give the teenager more room.
Stiles's heart started to beat harder in his chest, he toed off his shoes and curled up on the beside Derek. From his reading he knew that injured werewolves found physical contact with a pack member comforting - and despite not thinking himself to be a true part of his pack, he was all that Derek had left and so if this helped then he more than happy even if it did make keeping his feelings in check difficult. He just hoped the werewolf was too tired to be focusing on his feelings or his rapid heartbeat right now. Damn werewolves and their stupid supernatural abilities! It made hiding anything from Derek virtually impossible.
Derek rolled onto his side although it pained him to do so and slid an arm over Stiles, he rested his chin on his shoulder and breathed him in - the smell of him helped to dull the pain still rippling through his body. Derek knew he was probably freaking Stiles out with his behaviour he right now he didn't care and besides the younger boy didn't seem to protest.
"I wish I knew what to do." Stiles sighed, his brain quickly searching through all the reading he'd done on wolfsbane to try and find something to help.
"Just talk to me." Derek said pulling him closer until Stiles was tucked right underneath his chin.
"About what?" Stiles asked his stomach doing another summersault as Derek's warm breath tickled at the skin just behind his ear.
"Anything, everything - just talk."
Stiles smiled slightly, he was never usually at a loss for words so talking and was pleased that this was useful for once. "Okay, so today during practice I actually got off the bench." he started. "Yeah - uh - one of the other guys got knocked down pretty hard and well something in his ankle went pop so he got carted off to the nurse's office which meant I took his place in goal. I didn't do too bad either, I even stopped Jackson from scoring which was pretty cool. And Lydia was watching, I thought she'd be mad but she actually smiled at me."
Stiles felt Derek's body tighten as he mentioned Lydia's name and his arms tightened around him. "Not her, please." Derek begged.
Stiles twisted his head to glance at Derek curiously. "Lydia? Why?" he asked a little spark of excitement tingling inside of him - could Derek possibly be jealous?
"Just talk about something else." Derek replied gruffly.
"Okay ." Stiles said not wanting to push him. "I know you don't want me to get involved in all this but I can help you find the Alpha Derek. And I'm not completely defenceless, I've picked up a thing or two from my dad over the years and I've also started self defence classes with a pretty tough werewolf, well I had before he turned all sour wolf on me," he said pausing to look at Derek pointedly. "Anyway what I'm trying to say is that I'm not weak, and I've missed you this past week." he confessed.
Derek eyes slid open and he looked down at Stiles. "I never said you were weak." he replied. "But you are also human and that makes you vulnerable, the Alpha is strong, stronger than both Scott and I."
Stiles sighed but couldn't argue because he knew it was true, if Derek and Scott barely stood a chance against the Alpha then what chance had he? "All I'm saying is you don't need to cut me out, I can help ... maybe not with actually physically stopping the Alpha but I can do some research, I can try and work out it's motives."
Derek sighed but he knew he'd have to compromise because the past week had been torturous; he couldn't bear being disconnected from him, of avoiding him, of having to watch over him from afar and not be able to talk to him or be close to him. "OK." he said simply, and that was worth it to see Stiles's smile alone. "So who's this tough werewolf you've been seeing?" Derek asked with an amused smile.
"Why?" Stiles asked with a quirked eyebrow. "Jealous?" he asked boldly.
"No." Derek retorted a little too quickly to be truly convincing.
"Good." Stiles replied with a smirk. "Because I've got room in my life for more than just one werewolf."
"Oh really?"
"Uh huh." Stiles said flipping over to face him.
Derek felt a possessive urge to claim those soft pink lips for his own, an animalistic desire to roll Stiles onto his back, climb over him, pin him down on the bed and make it clear he was his and make sure that any other werewolf that came within a mile of Beacon Hills knew that Stiles was taken.
Stiles saw Derek's eyes darken and his heart beat quickened in excitement. "Der?" he asked uncertainly as he wetted his lips in anticipation - was he really reading this right? Was he getting the vibe he thought he was? He couldn't have got it wrong - there was something definitely there, and there had been earlier at the animal clinic too.
Derek sucked in a deep breath and reminded himself that Stiles's was human, he was vulnerable. He needed to be protected not taken advantage of. "Stiles, you got to promise me that you won't take any unnecessary risks." he said knowing he'd never be able to keep him out of the supernatural work forever. "I've lost everyone close to me, I can't lose you too. That would be the end of me."
Stiles shivered slightly at these words - did he really mean that much to him? "I'm not going anywhere, and I'll be careful I promise."
Derek whined, still not liking the thought of Stiles getting involved, especially with Kate back on the scene, but he knew he had to agree because the alternative was what he'd been trying to do for the past week and keep away from Stiles which he'd hated.
"Derek it's the only way this can work." Stiles urged. "You're my best friend, you've been there for me though the worst times in my life but keeping me at arm's length, not letting me in, it hurts."
Derek sighed. "I'm sorry." he said drawing away.
"You don't have to be, I know you were only trying to protect me." Stiles whispered moving closer so their bodies touched again - he was not going to let Derek retreat into his shell again ... and he missed the contact between them. "Just don't leave me okay?"
Derek nodded, his stubbly jaw brushing against Stiles's temple. "Okay."