"Steaks?" Stiles questioned, seeing his dad at the counter, ripping the butcher paper open. "What's the special occasion?" His father shot him a wink, glasses low on his nose.
"You're my son. That's the special occasion." Stiles had to pause in the doorway as his throat tightened. His dad squinted over his shoulder. "Little too thick huh?" Stiles laughed, shaking his head.
"No. It's perfect Dad."
"You cutting the peppers and onions or what?"
"Permission to use a knife? Hell yeah." Stiles went to the sink and washed off the vegetables before going to the knife block.
"Don't cut yourself," his father warned softly. Stiles just smiled.
"I'll be fine." His father went out and started the grill, turning on the radio as he came back in. They prepared dinner listening to classic rock and Stiles only cut himself once, washing away the blood before his father saw. Dinner was good. Stiles appreciated that his dad was making time for him. He didn't even mind when he had to leave half through desert.
"I'm sorry," he apologized again, buckling his gun belt. Stiles waved him off.
"It's fine," he repeated, "I'll clean up."
"Alright," his father murmured. "Don't wait up. Get your homework done or something." Stiles rolled his eyes. Homicidal hunters and he was supposed to worry about homework.
"I'll try my best," he said, mock saluting. His father just shook his head before leaving.

Derek came down and Stiles started washing dishes as he ate.
"Dinner was good," he said as he carried his plate into the kitchen. Stiles half shrugged, unsure how exactly to deal with Derek in his house. It was strange to say the least. Once he'd finished the dishes he drifted into the living room to see Derek on the couch watching TV. He nearly did a double take. He took a moment, inhaled deeply, and stepped into the room before settling on the couch. They watched a few movies before drifting up to Stiles' room. He went to the bathroom to change into pajamas and came back to see Derek already settled into his bed, closest to the wall, the side Stiles normally left free. He shook off wondering how Derek knew and got in.

Stiles was warm when he woke up. His immediate response was to smile, thinking of Peter. It was looking down to see Derek laying on his chest that made the smile fall off his face.
"Ah…oh…uh, okay," he muttered, trying not to shift. Derek inhaled quickly and sat up. "Were we just cuddling?" Stiles questioned, nose wrinkling. Derek didn't answer for a long moment.
"We're pack," he finally said, "it's natural."
"Well let's not okay?" Derek shook his head and got out of bed, yanking his jacket on before stalking to the window. Stiles sat up, watching him.
"Natural Stilinksi. I can't help it anymore than you can." Stiles frowned as he thought about it. He was perfectly comfortable sleeping with Jackson, holding him even. Peter of course. Derek…no. He wasn't.
"Yeah well you're not pack to me. Not yet." Derek turned away from him totally.
"What do you want from me?" The answer was immediate.
"I want Jackson to forgive you. Then maybe I'll consider it."
"Jackson," Derek echoed, tensing. "We have to go," he muttered, turning for the window.
"What?"
"We have to go," Derek repeated.
"Why?" Derek frowned, eyes flaring blue for a second.
"Jackson," he said again.

"It's three in the morning," Stiles pointed out, crossing his arms. "Peter is with him. They're asleep."
"You're positive?" Derek challenged. Stiles rolled his eyes before pulling his phone off the nightstand. He dialed Peter again. He rubbed at his eyes as the phone rang, frowning when it went to voicemail. Derek growled quietly.
"Calm down," Stiles snapped. He got out of bed and crossed to his computer. It was two calls before the video chat connected, black box flaring to reveal Jackson, running a hand through his hair and yawning.
"Stiles? What's up?"
"Just checking in," he answered, avoiding Derek neatly.
"Oh? Jealous?" Stiles scowled and Jackson chuckled. "Sorry, sorry. Nothing's going on, of course. He's still old enough to be my dad." Stiles sighed.
"Yeah don't remind me." Jackson winced quickly.
"Sorry."
"It's fine. Glad you're okay."
"Yeah. I'm fine. Thanks for checking up I guess."
"No problem. Get some sleep," he added, reaching to close his laptop.
"Hey! Uh… Everything…okay over there too?" For a moment Stiles wondered if he was checking on him or Derek. There was no way to tell.
"We're fine," he said, just in case.
"Okay," Jackson nodded. "Goodnight…Stiles."
"Night." He turned to Derek as he closed his computer. "Happy?" Derek just rolled his eyes, looking out the window again.

Derek was awake first in the morning, pacing beside the bed. Stiles could pick up his agitation without even trying.
"What?"
"The hunters want a meet up. For negotiations."
"Okay," Stiles agreed slowly.
"Peter agreed." Stiles sat up and ran both hands over his hair, sighing.
"Okay," he repeated. He couldn't do anything about it and he knew it. "When?"
"We're going while you and Jackson are at school."
"What?" Stiles demanded. "No. No."
"It's already done. Get dressed. Can't be late." Stiles rounded on him, wolf pushing out as he growled.
"Don't start with me Derek." Derek's chin tilted up slowly and he closed his eyes, exposing his throat and holding both hands out in the classic non-threatening gesture.
"Peter doesn't want any extra attention drawn to either you or Jackson," he said softly. Stiles inhaled deeply, forcing himself to relax. Derek slowly looked back down and dropped his hands. "You need to act normal."
"Yeah well you acting high and mighty is not helping," Stiles snapped, turning away.
"Wouldn't dream of it," Derek muttered in response. Stiles forced his temper down. Derek. Like he wasn't already enough of a problem. As if he hadn't already done enough. Just thinking of what he'd done to Jackson, not to mention the threat to Peter and himself, and Scott, who wasn't even in the pack. He shook his head, forcing the thoughts back. Derek was pack now. They had to stick together. He needed to put the pack first.
"If you do anything to jeopardize the safety of this pack, ever again," he began, staring at the wall, "I will kill you myself." He gave Derek a few moments to let the words sink in before he turned. Derek was glaring at him, eyes blue, hands curled at his sides. Stiles widened his stance slightly, just in case Derek was stupid enough to attack him. There was a tense awkward silence before Derek finally forced himself to calm down.
"You are the alpha's mate," he gritted out, "I accept your rule." Stiles nearly smiled, barely stopping in time.

He heard a car pull to a stop outside, the engine idled for a moment before a door opened and shut. "They're here," Derek said, leaving Stiles' room without another word. Stiles rolled his eyes before rushing to dress, only stumbling once. He grabbed his book bag and made it out the door in time to see Peter and Derek take off running. He heaved a sigh, stomach turning unhappily.
"Fuck me," he muttered, crossing to the Porsche.
"Not even if you weren't the alpha's mate," Jackson said when he climbed in. Stiles grimaced.
"You're not funny either."
"Hey, bright side, if this meet goes bad, Derek's easier to kill than Peter so they'll probably go for him." Jackson seemed to think about this for a moment before frowning.
"Yeah or even better Derek turns on us and helps them kill Peter before they hunt us down like dogs at school." Jackson's frown deepened and a couple knuckles cracked as he gripped the steering wheel tighter.
"Gonna be a great day at school," Jackson let out, half growling the words.
"Pretty much," Stiles agreed, pinching the bridge of his nose.

A/N: Last filler chapter! I swear I'm actually going to introduce the hunters. Please don't hate me.

Still struggling balancing everything but I dropped a class so I really hopefully will have time to write and update.

Thanks so much.