Derek dropped Laura and the kids off and brought the crates of wine and champagne out to the summer house. Lucky him, there was nobody at the house so he just dumped the crates in the hallway.

The tables and chairs were gone so he guessed that somebody had set them up already but he didn't stay to investigate. He did feel kind of bad for avoiding his mom but after his conversation with Laura, he wasn't in the mood for more. At least with the kids in the car she hadn't asked inappropriate questions any longer. Besides, she had been busy, talking Lucy out of the wheelchair idea. That might come up again once his niece had met Stiles. Balancing on the back wheels did look fun and the kids were not allowed to do that with regular chairs.

"I think my sister hates me a little bit now," Derek admitted when he picked up Stiles at the station.

"What did you do?" Next to the stairs leading up to the front door was a ramp which Stiles rolled down way quicker than necessary. On level ground he did a one-eighty to face Derek who was following him down the stairs. That maneuver would have left black marks on the asphalt if a car had been doing it. Which was exactly the point. The kids would see stuff like this and it was fun, no question about it, Stiles was having way too much fun with these stunts, and they would be back at the wheelchair for Lucy discussion. Justin had been thinking about the idea as well, he just hadn't voiced it, Derek was sure about that.

However, they wouldn't see the downside of it. The bad days or when people like Laura were looking at him in disgust. Or the fact that Stiles couldn't just stand up to get something from the upper shelf. To the kids it was all fun.

"I told them that you don't have to wait in line for the roller coasters and that you always get the front seat," Derek told him and threw him the keys which he caught with ease. "Now Lucy wants to sit in a wheelchair."

Stiles laught at that.

"If I asked you to not show off tonight, would you respect my wish or would that just encourage you to show off even more?" Derek wondered aloud while he waited for Stiles to get in the car.

"Depends." Stiles hopped in the driver's seat and closed the door. "Do you actually want me to behave or do you want to piss off your sister even more?"

Derek thought about that for a moment. "I think I want you to just be yourself."

"That I can do." Stiles gave him a feral grin.

They spent the rest of the day at the Stilinski-McCall house, working on their laptops. Stiles had been working on his comic in earnest lately and now he was finally ready to launch the first page.

And being Stiles he made a big show of pushing the button to send it off into the world.

"You think people will like it?" Stiles asked once it was up.

"They'll love it," Derek assured him. He stepped behind Stiles and kissed him on the top of his head. "I love it."

"You're biased," Stiles said but leaned back to rest his head on Derek's chest. "You love me and the main character is somewhat based on you."

"True," Derek admitted. "But it's good, really good, people will love it."

The first page was the backstory, ending with the silhouette of a wolfed out Tyler in front of the burning house. Derek had never thought that a few panels could be so haunting.

Stiles just stared at the screen for a few seconds longer and Derek just knew that he was fighting the urge to refresh the page.

"You should give people time to actually read it," Derek said and folded his hands over Stiles' chest, just holding him close for a moment.

"Yeah, yeah." Stiles craned his neck to look up at him. "What were you doing?"

"Sorting through the tons of photos I made over the last weeks," Derek said. "Put some more online."

"Can't wait for the ones you made with the other camera." Stiles gave him a smile.

"Me neither but I'll need my dark room for that," Derek said and if he was honest, he didn't want to develop them anywhere else. Those pictures were just for them, private moments and way too often pictures of Stiles sleeping. He just looked too adorable when he was sleeping.

"It still sounds dirty when you say that." Stiles made a face.

Derek just rolled his eyes at him.

Then it was time to leave for dinner with the Hale family. They had both put on nice shirts and Stiles had been toying with his hair for almost an hour to force it into something he liked and in the end Derek just rubbed some gel between his palms and tousled his hair.

"For you it's easy," Stiles said and had a critical look in the mirror. "You just rock the scruffy look."

But he didn't touch his hair again.

"Nervous?" Derek asked and couldn't deny the uneasy feeling in his stomach. It was going to be one hell of a family dinner. But on the other hand, he was glad that Stiles would meet his family now and not at the wedding.

"A little bit," Stiles admitted with a wary smile.

"We don't have to stay long, just tell me if you want to leave," Derek told him. "You should pick a safe-word."

"Safe-wording out of a family dinner?" Stiles chuckled. "Okay, apple pie. If I say apple pie you get me the hell out of there. And same for you."

"Deal."

The Hale house was out in the preserve with its private driveway and signs basically saying "Fuck off" to anybody stupid enough to come out here.

"This reminds me of a horror movie I've seen," Stiles said, peering out of the window. Since Derek knew exactly where they were going, he was the one driving today.

"We try to not slaughter locals." Derek deadpanned. "That draws too much attention. But I don't recommend hiking in this area."

"My dad is the sheriff and he knows where I am," Stiles told him.

"You might be lucky, then." Derek grinned at him and gave him one quick good luck kiss before they turned around the last corner, the Hale house now looming over them. It did look like something straight out of a horror movie, Derek had to admit.

He didn't see anybody but Derek was sure that they were watched. Which just added to the horror movie vibe. He just hoped that it wasn't foreshadowing how the rest of the evening would go down.

Then Stiles was sitting in his chair and they were heading for the stairs. Three steps had never looked so daunting to Derek. He had helped Stiles a few times over the last few weeks but never knowing that people were watching them, judging them.

"Stop thinking about them," Stiles said in a low voice, indicating that he knew about the unseen audience behind the windows. "Grab the handles and tilt me."

He stood perfectly aligned with the first step. Apparently, Stiles deemed it easier forward which was just fine with Derek, that way it was less likely that he would toss him out of his chair.

Stiles helped with the tilting but Derek had to push him up the three steps. Knowing that his family was watching, this was their first impression of Stiles, Derek wanted this to look normal and easy.

Stiles seemed to be on board with that idea because he didn't let Derek do all the work. He balanced himself and pushed as well and then they were up the stairs in one smooth move.

"See?" Stiles gave him a reassuring smile. "Easy."

His mother didn't wait for them to even reach the door before she opened it with a smile.

"Derek." She hugged him and Derek hugged her back. It felt good. Yesterday they didn't really have a chance to greet each other.

Then she let go of him and turned to Stiles.

"We didn't have the best start yesterday," she said. "Let's pretend it never happened? I'm Talia, Derek's mom." She held out her hand and for a second Derek wasn't sure if Stiles would take it.

"Stiles Stilinski." He took the hand. "Derek's boyfriend."

She caught herself but she did flinch at the last word. Derek was tempted to just turn around and leave but then he followed Stiles into the house.

At least the rest of the family had the decency to not crowd directly behind the door.

"You're right on time." His dad came out of the kitchen, a dish towel in hand and he dried his hands before he clasped Derek on the shoulder.

"Dad." With a gesture Derek directed his attention to Stiles. Not that it needed much directing, his dad was already not so subtly eyeing him. "This is Stiles."

"Andrew." His dad introduced himself and somewhat awkwardly they shook hands. "Nice to meet you."

Stiles opened his mouth to say something but a piercing voice cut him off before he could get a word out.

"Is he here? Is he here?" Lucy yelled on top of her lungs and then she came skittering around the corner. Her brother was right behind her and he almost barreled into her when she suddenly stopped, her mouth hanging open.

"You are in a wheelchair." She said in awe as if she had been convinced that all the adults had been kidding with her.

"I am." Stiles grinned at her and moved a little closer.

"That's so cool." The next second she was basically hanging from his armrest.

Derek knew that Stiles wasn't thrown off balance this easily so he did nothing to stop her but his parents both gasped and reached for her but then stopped mid-air, unsure how to proceed. After a helpless glance at Derek his dad eased off, but his mom did try to pry the child off of Stiles.

"Lucy, stop that." She hissed. "You're going to hurt him. I'm sorry, she doesn't know better." Her smile was almost desperate.

"I'm not hurting him." Lucy protested but didn't put that much weight on the armrest any longer. "Am I hurting you?" There was real concern in her voice and she was eyeing him closely before she put a hand right on his leg. "Do they hurt?"

His mom looked close to fainting but Derek didn't know what to say or do to break the awkward moment.

"Nope." Stiles let the word pop. "I can't feel my legs." Then he leaned closer as if he was about to share a secret with her. "I heard we're going to have dinner?"

"Grandpa made a roast and I mashed the potatoes." She gave him a proud grin.

"Sounds yummy," Stiles said and the tension fell a little. At least enough for Derek to breathe easier. "Want a ride to the dinner table?"

"Really?" She asked, already climbing into his lap.

"Lucy." Talia tried but it was already too late. Stiles rolled past her with the child sitting happily in his lap, her back to him so that she could gesture and give directions.

Justin was at their side and Derek was pretty sure that he would get a ride as well before the evening was over.

"Well." His dad made, watching the little procession disappearing through the door to the dining room. "He doesn't seem to mind."

Talia made a noise through her nose, not pleased at all.

Derek was still standing next to the door and he was still not sure if he shouldn't just use it. But that would mean dumping Stiles with his family so he made a step farther into the hallway.

When his mom turned back to him, she looked at him as if she didn't know him at all.

"Derek, why?" She asked, her voice breaking. "Was it something I did?"

"Stiles and I met, we clicked and we fell in love," Derek told her, carefully guarding his expression. "It had nothing to do with you."

He followed the voices of his boyfriend and the kids deeper into the house but he still heard his mom muttering to his dad: "Why can't he just find a nice girl?"