Author's note: More Derek&Liam&Stiles angst and fluff. Warning for implied teen cp. Nothing graphic, but if it makes you uncomfortable consider yourself warned.

After their first serious quarrel things got back to normal and Stiles and Derek slipped back into their usual routine. One would expect Derek to get off Stiles's back now that they were together (well technically they were married from the start, but you know what I mean), but that was not the case at all. Derek kept bossing him around, telling him what to do and reprimanding him if Stiles didn't jump to obey.

Stiles had a feeling it was not as much about BRP anymore, it was just Derek being an Alpha and exerting control over his mate. Except Stiles was not an overly submissive Omega, and while he enjoyed Derek's bossiness on occasion, most of the time he pushed back. It was sort of art, a fine dance on the line, to give just the right amount of sass without inviting trouble. Not that Stiles always succeeded...

Liam was still a bit off, though he got better at hiding it. Stiles tried to be positive and reassuring, but it seemed that the more he praised the boy, the more Liam tried to distance himself. Stiles wondered if that was a common reaction for abused children. Sure, many people didn't know how to accept compliments, but Liam looked beyond uncomfortable.

Though it never really discouraged Stiles.

"Liam got 100% on his math test again," he told Derek, prompting the usual annoyed look from the boy.

Unlike Stiles, Derek was not nearly as generous with praise, but he did acknowledge when it was due. "Damn, that's impressive. I never got that high."

"Now that doesn't surprise anyone here...," Stiles teased and Liam snickered watching Derek narrow his eyes.

"Three."

Was it already? Oh right, he forgot their morning squabble about running (which as you can guess, Stiles didn't win).

"Worth it," he retorted unconcerned.

"Four."

Touchy.

Stiles didn't reply, just turned around and rolled his eyes at Liam. But Derek apparently developed roentgen vision, because he somehow saw it. In one swift movement, Derek pulled Stiles over his lap, pinning him down and bringing on an indignant squeak.

"Five," the Alpha said calmly but with a sadistic undertow.

What?!

No way. He had never gotten to five. Five was never an option before. Stiles got so used to the demerits and threats, he rarely paid them attention. Derek always stopped at three or four! And now… surely he wouldn't? Not here! Not in front of… Stiles's face heated to a color of a ripe tomato as he struggled to break free.

But of course, Derek held him down with humiliating ease. "Watch and learn, Liam. This is how you deal with a cheeky Beta in need of attitude adjustment," he said, his tone a perfect mix of snark and arrogance, which always grated on Stiles.

Stiles didn't have much time to fume over Derek's egotism though because the next second loud smacks started falling down on his upturned butt. They were by no means hard, just noisy, applying virtually no sting and being all the more annoying for it.

"Cut it out! Derek! Derek, stop it!" Stiles yelped, squirming on his lap. But Derek didn't pay his protests any attention and just kept popping him. It might not have hurt, but it was still embarrassing AF and Derek seemed to be enjoying himself greatly.

"Don't worry, babe, this is a PG-13 demonstration," he told Stiles mockingly, then turned to Liam and proceeded with his lecture, "You smack all the impudence out of them like this and then," he lifted Stiles off his lap, "If they are pouting, you kiss the pout away."

With that Derek pressed his lips against Stiles's, but Stiles didn't succumb to the kiss like he usually did, twisting defiantly and trying to pull away. And of course, that didn't discourage the Alphahole in the slightest.

"And if they are still pouting, you spank them some more," he commented with sadistic glee as he flipped Stiles face down again and landed another dozen playful swats. "And then you kiss the pout away. Rinse and repeat."

"You are such a dick," Stiles groused, unsure whether to glare or to giggle at this ridiculous tutorial.

"I know," Derek replied, his smile so affectionate, Stiles couldn't help grinning back. This time when Derek kissed him, he was a willing participant, his heart throbbing with all the feelings left unsaid. It was unsettling how a display of Derek's dickishness could now produce so much fondness in Stiles.

When their lips finally parted, Derek smirked at Liam, "And that's how you keep your spouse in line."

Stiles punched his shoulder and Liam rolled his eyes demonstratively, grumbling under his nose, "You're gross."

xxx

A week passed and Jordan didn't have any news for them. Stiles expected Derek to turn impatient and prickly, but the Alpha kept a surprisingly level-headed attitude, saying that it was fine and such things took time.

Instead of Derek, it was Liam who had a hard time keeping his temper in check. Of course, Derek's presence was usually sufficient to nip it in the bud, but with the rising frequency of teenager's mood swings, it was only a matter of time till the boy landed himself in trouble.

As usual, it was the Spanish homework to drive the teen into a fit of pique. Liam struggled with the language and Stiles always helped him with exercises and vocabulary. Today was no different, except Stiles had to push the kid to even start on his homework and once he did, Liam kept getting upset over every little mistake and taking personal offense whenever Stiles corrected him.

It didn't help that Stiles insisted on speaking Spanish because he believed it would help the boy in the long run. Liam never really appreciated it, and today it only fueled his temper.

Stiles heard Derek's fingers still on the keyboard whenever Liam's tone went into the danger-territory. He could see the ominous glare sent towards the teenager time and time again but didn't want to call attention to it, afraid it would cause further escalation. Liam was either unaware that he was treading on thin ice, or he was already too upset to care.

"No, esto es incorrecto también. Aquí tienes que usar el subjuntivo. Sabes por qué?" Stiles asked him, but Liam ignored the question, fuming silently into his paper. Stiles waited a couple of seconds and then called him again.

"Liam?"

Silence. The brat was ignoring him on purpose.

"Liam!" Stiles called shaking his shoulder, "Hey, I'm talking to you!"

Liam threw his pen against the table in full attitude. "Then maybe you should fucking try talking in a language that I speak!" he snapped.

The chair slid through the floor with a menacing screech and Derek was by his side the next second.

"How about I take my belt off and let it do the talking? Would that be a language that you speak?" he growled sternly.

Just as Stiles was about to protest against such a threat, Derek muzzled his mouth with his hand and gave Liam a pointed look.

"No... sorry," the kid grumbled.

"Take your homework and go to your room."

"But I apologized!"

"Now!"

Liam's eyes filled with angry tears as he took his books and ran to Stiles' room, the door shutting behind him with just enough force to show his displeasure, but not enough to invite repercussions.

"You didn't have to do that," Stiles said, wincing at the sound.

Derek crossed his arms on the chest. "See Stiles, that's the problem. You would let him get away with murder."

"He was just frustrated."

"He was disrespectful. And not for the first time!"

True. But it didn't change the fact that the belt talk was entirely uncalled for. "You didn't have to threaten him."

"The kid is in severe need of discipline. A good hiding would do him a world of good."

"Yeah, his face proved it time and time again just how well it works on him," Stiles snapped sarcastically.

Derek shook his head in irritation. "That's because he is being beaten, not disciplined."

"Same thing."

"No, it's not. And you know it's not. I know I have never dared to speak this way to my parents. Have you?"

"No. But we are not his parents, Derek, and he is clearly neglected and abused!"

"That doesn't give him the right to act this way. You know about Isaac's childhood, he spent a lot of time at my place growing up and yet he never dared to act this way towards my parents. And they wouldn't have tolerated it either."

Stiles let out an exasperated sigh. Derek saw everything in black and white. "Each kid is different. Liam has anger issues, he told us as much. He obviously gets a lot of shit at home and here is supposed to be his safe place!"

"He still needs boundaries, Stiles. He is gonna be an Alpha soon, and while a hissy fit might be sometimes cute on an Omega, it's outright embarrassing on an Alpha. Besides, he might eventually find himself in a position where he will be the one dishing out the consequences. He needs an example of what are the appropriate ones."

"Alright, fair enough. Boundaries. But don't go comparing him to yourself, and how you were disciplined growing up!"

"I'm not. I sent him to his room. That's hardly severe."

Stiles couldn't argue with that, but he still hated to see the kid so upset. "He was crying."

"He realized that he pushed too far and I laid down the law. You can go kiss it all better in a couple hours."

Stiles frowned, unwilling to leave the boy alone for so long. "He needs my help with homework."

"No, he does not. He needs to calm down and pull his shit together, then he needs to apologize, and then if he still needs help with his homework he will ask for it politely and appreciate it."

"I don't know…" Stiles rubbed his forehead unhappily. Derek's words didn't sound unreasonable, but he didn't want to agree with him on principle. He was sure that all Liam needed was positive reinforcement, not punishments. The idea of the kid being disciplined for anything was making him ill at ease.

"Stiles," Derek reached for his hand, waiting for Stiles to meet his gaze, "You are doing him a disservice by mollycoddling him. Do you want him to grow up thinking it's ok to treat others the way he just treated you?"

"Of course not."

"Then stop letting him get away with it."

"Alright, fine. I get it," Stiles capitulated raising his hands. "But I still don't want you to physically punish him."

"I will if I have to," the Alpha replied, not missing a beat.

"Derek!"

The Alpha raised his palm to stop Stiles's angry tirade. "I've taken everything you said into consideration, and I'm not going to drive the kid away again. I promise."

"If you do, I swear, I'll..."

"I won't," Derek said firmly, "I care about him too."

xxx

Stiles kept hovering around Liam's room like a ghost, straining his ear to get any indication (or excuse) that he should enter, till Derek took him by the wrist and forcibly dragged him away.

"I feel like I'm the one being punished," Stiles grumbled irritably as he glanced at the clock. It's been an hour. How long was Derek making the kid stay in his room anyway?

"Perhaps you should be. You could have addressed his attitude yourself, but instead, you keep letting him walk all over you."

"No, I don't!"

"Yes, you do."

Stiles huffed, shaking his head.

Another half an hour passed, and Stiles was tired of pretending to watch television. He got up, glancing at Derek who seemed to be immersed in work. He tried to keep his steps light, as he tiptoed around him.

"Where are you going?" the Alpha asked, his tone hinting on amused at Stiles's poor attempt at stealthiness.

"Uhm… well..."

"Just go," Derek waved his hand with an eye roll.

Stiles grinned and went to check on Liam. He knocked softly, wondering if the kid was still angry, but the timid "Come in" reassured him that was not the case.

The best word to describe the teenager would be 'deflated'. He was slouched cross-legged on the bed, the Spanish homework splayed in front of him, while he petted Ruby in his lap. The cat always seemed to sense when somebody was distressed. Liam eyed Stiles warily, biting his lip, but didn't say anything waiting for Stiles to break the ice.

"Hey," Stiles said awkwardly. Yeah, he didn't really think it through much.

"Hey."

Stiles looked around the room in hopes that something would catch his eye to help make small talk. But nothing seemed to come to mind so he sat down on the bed and nodded at the books. "Do you need help?"

"No, I finished it." Liam appeared to be just as uncomfortable. After all, he never really fought with Stiles before. "But uhm... could you look it over?"

Stiles took the book, his eyes scanning the exercise, immediately spotting the mistake. "Number 11," he said simply, giving it back to Liam.

The boy furrowed his brows searching for the error. "Oh yeah, you are right. It's indicative, right?" he glanced at Stiles waiting for confirmation. Gone was the snappy bratitude, replaced with bashful uncertainty that Liam used to display when he first started coming over.

Stiles nodded with a small smile. "You ok?" he finally asked, unwilling to dance around the matter any longer.

"I'm sorry," Liam muttered, his face a perfect picture of remorse. The apology came so fast, it was obvious the boy was feeling pretty bad about it.

Stiles wasn't particularly upset, to begin with, and now seeing the boy's rueful look, he longed to put the whole thing behind them. His dad always forced Stiles to elaborate exactly what he was sorry for, but for Stiles, this was more than enough.

He squeezed Liam's shoulder comfortingly. "It's ok, kiddo. I just wish you would tell what's bothering you."

Liam bit his lip again and for a moment, Stiles thought the kid wanted to say something, but then he schooled his features again and shook his head resolutely, "I just got mad at this stupid exercise."

Stiles resisted the urge to sigh and reminded himself that pressing the kid was not the answer.

"Do you think Derek is still mad at me?"

"No. I don't think he…"

"That depends," came Derek's voice from the doorway. "Have you apologized to Stiles?"

They both turned to watch the Alpha casually lean on the doorframe, his laid back posture in contrast with his stern tone.

"Yes he did," Stiles quickly confirmed.

"Wasn't asking you, babe."

"Yes, Alpha," Liam said, dropping his gaze shamefaced.

"Good. Now in case you are confused about the pecking order around here, let me clarify it for you. Stiles is an adult, what he says goes, and you will show him proper respect. At all times, no exceptions. Is that clear?"

"Yes, Sir."

"Alright. You may leave the room."

As far as Derek's rebukes went, this one was no different than the usual - firm, succinct and straight to the point. But this time, Liam didn't share the lopsided grin with Stiles when the Alpha turned around, and Stiles didn't attempt to downplay it either.

xxx

Stiles would lie if he said that Liam didn't make an effort to behave after that. He did, for a few days at least. Then something got into him again and the kid flew off the handle.

Stiles wasn't sure what exactly happened. He was not a nagging person and didn't tell Liam to do much around the apartment and when he did, the boy never took issue with some chores. Most of the time he offered help himself without being asked to.

God knows what has gotten into him to meet every Stiles's request with an attitude, or ignore them altogether. Not like Stiles was asking something unreasonable, just to help him with the dishes or to take out the trash.

Derek was busy as usual, dealing with some trouble on production, but of course, Liam's truculent behavior didn't escape him. The Alpha got off the phone just long enough to growl at the boy to "fix his attitude, before he fixed it for him". In retrospect, it was probably as much a warning for Stiles as it was for Liam. He knew he should have said something. It's just that he was way more comfortable in the role of a friend than he was in the role of a parent.

That's why it did actually hurt to be told to "stop being such a cunt". It came out of nowhere and was not only undeserved but also entirely unprovoked. For a moment there Stiles was rendered speechless. He was pulled out of shock, when Derek's hand clasped around Liam's biceps, yanking him up from his seat none too gently.

"Alright, that's it," the Alpha snarled, "Liam and I need to have a little chat."

"Derek!"

But Derek ignored Stiles' protest, keeping his furious eyes on Liam, "Come on." He turned around and stormed to their bedroom, fully expecting the boy to follow.

Stiles could practically hear Liam's stomach drop. (His own was not faring much better.) The kid certainly looked proper nervous and already quite regretful, but he didn't turn to Stiles for help and with a shaky breath trailed after the Alpha, closing the door behind him.

Stiles couldn't sit still. He knew that Derek took the boy away to provide them some privacy, and he shouldn't be invading it by eavesdropping, but Stiles was freaking out so badly he couldn't help it. Derek could be harsh and the last thing he wanted, was for Liam to suffer additional trauma from people he was supposed to be trusting.

He tiptoed to the door carefully and pressed his ear against it. The only thing he could hear was hushed voices, which was a good sign because it meant they were having a calm conversation and Derek wasn't skinning the kid alive.

Ignoring the little voice in the back of his head telling him to walk away, Stiles dropped to his knees to peek through the keyhole. He saw Derek pacing around the room, while Liam just sat on the bed, his shoulders hunched and his gaze firmly on his lap. This went on for a couple of minutes, then Derek must have asked something because the boy looked up, his face a mixture of trepidation and remorse, he nodded unhappily and got up.

Stiles felt all his insides squeeze with apprehension, resisting a strong urge to just barge in and save the kid. But Derek promised him that Liam will be fine and he wanted to trust his husband. The next thing he saw was Derek enveloping the teen in a bear hug and Liam's shoulders shaking in a sign of silent crying.

There was something so incredibly endearing about it, that Stiles couldn't force himself to stop looking. Derek could be harsh, but he could also be caring and tender and Stiles realized that he needed no further confirmation. He tiptoed back to the sofa and put on the TV.

Liam emerged 10 minutes later, no longer crying, but eyes still a bit red-rimmed. His hand stealthily rubbed his butt, indicating that he likely got some 'tough love' as well after all.

"Hey," Stiles cast him a soft reassuring smile.

"Hey."

Stiles experienced the feeling of déjà vu. Again they were at odds, again Derek intervened and again Liam looked like an adorable puppy one couldn't possibly stay mad at.

"You ok?"

"I'm sorry I was such a douche."

"No kiddo, you were no such thing. Come here."

Liam didn't have to be told twice, he practically melted into Stiles' hug.

"Yes, I was."

"Ok, you were. But it's water under the bridge now. Are you ok?"

"Yeah, you were right, his bark is worse than his bite. It didn't even hurt."

Stiles snorted. "Hurts me plenty."

"Well, I'm an Alpha."

"No, you're not."

"Well, definitely more than you are."

Brat. Stiles ruffled kid's hair fondly, glad to have the boy back to his usual cheeky self. "Where's Derek?"

"Dunno, I assume he is giving me time to apologize, without looming over my head and making it look like he forced me."

"You are a good kid Liam, I know nobody would have to force you to apologize. What would you like for dinner?"

"I don't know."

Stiles didn't miss the guilty look his praise produced. The kid definitely knew what he wanted for dinner, he just didn't feel like he deserved to be the one choosing. Not that it was hard to guess. "How about pizza?"

"Wouldn't that be like rewarding misbehavior?" When Stiles gave him an incredulous look, he explained, "I saw all those parenting books on Derek's bedside table."

Stiles chuckled, he noticed those too. "Well, I don't care what the books say. I feel like eating pizza tonight."

Liam cast him a grateful smile.

"Though you might want to not mention those books to Derek. Just as uhm... survival precaution."

TBC

I'm playing with an idea of making the next chapter in Derek's POV and write "Stiles in trouble" since there have been multiple requests for that;)