Derek hates computers. He hates how ridiculously confusing they are and he hates how loud their fans and keys are, but he uses one anyway. For a Spotify account, no less. Stiles had come running in, flitting about and talking rapidly about how Spotify would change Derek's life, how Derek was going to "love the year wrapped playlists, and the Discover Weekly— Oh, my god, Derek, we can follow each other!"

Stiles had set him up with an account, which Stiles had wanted to call some variation of "GrumpySourwolf" and Derek had insisted would be a randomized series of numbers and letters.

Stiles had pouted but agreed, and showed him how to search for music and playlists, save them to his "library," and had made Derek's account a follower of his.

"Why do you have a playlist called 'sad gentleman times'?" Derek had asked, frowning at the screen like if he scowled hard enough, it would give way to the playlist's actual title.

"Oh," Stiles had said, "it's—it's nothing. Really. It's not. It's just that I, uh, I have themed playlists. Don't worry about it."

Stiles had changed the subject to another playlist of his, "party rock is in the house tonight."

Derek hadn't been able to stop thinking about the other playlist, though.

When Stiles had left a few hours later after Derek had made a huge pot of macaroni and cheese—with Velveeta because Stiles was a heathen who couldn't appreciate actual cheese—and two packages of bacon, Derek had pulled up Spotify on his laptop again, grateful that Stiles had finally adjusted his cursor size to something easier to see.

He'd clicked on the playlist for "sad gentleman times" and scrolled through it.

Hold Me While You Wait by Lewis Capaldi. Don't Wake Me Up by Shim.

He frowned.

Let Her Go by Passenger. Stay With Me by Sam Smith. Dancing On My Own by Calum Scott. Give Your Heart a Break by Demi Lovato.

And Boys in the Street by Alfie Arcuri.

It had forty-odd followers, which was probably why Stiles had it on public.

Derek clicked on the "Private Session" tab that Stiles had shown him—"For your sexy music," he'd said—and started the playlist.

Half an hour later, Derek was certain that this wasn't nothing.

He turned off the playlist and then his laptop altogether.

If Stiles didn't play this music, though, then… then it wasn't a problem.

Derek opened his laptop back up and clicked open the Friend Activity tab, resolving to keep an eye on Stiles' activity for a while.

Just in case.

###

A few days later, after Stiles had come over to a pack meeting and proceeded to eat an entire party-size bag of Nacho Cheese Doritos, Derek started in on the dishes from the brownies only to freeze when his Friend Activity showed Stiles' account with the playlist "sad gentleman times" and Hold Me While You Wait playing.

Derek frowned, dropping the pan into the sink, and wiped his hands off. If Stiles wasn't feeling well, then—

Derek picked up his phone and opened his texts with Stiles.

Thanks for coming to the meeting.

of course

like i'd miss it

I still appreciate it.

ur being weird

did u get hit w/some kind of spell ?

No.

ok

Derek didn't know how to reply to that.

It was good to see you, Stiles.

are u sure ur ok ?

Derek sighed.

I'm sure. Goodnight, Stiles.

night

Derek set his phone down and looked at the Friend Activity tab.

Let Her Go by Passenger.

If he knew how to make this better….

###

A couple days later, in the late afternoon, Derek opened his Spotify to catch up on a true crime podcast and froze.

Stiles was listening to Dancing On My Own, also from the "sad gentleman times" playlist.

Derek pulled out his phone.

Hey.

? wats up

How are you?

... fine ?

I was thinking about ordering pizza. Do you want to come over?

Derek picked at his claws as he waited for Stiles' answer.

He glanced at his Friend Activity, just out of curiosity.

Sexy And I Know It by— LMFAO?

What?

sure. ive got some homework tho

Bring it.

Stiles sent a thumbs-up, but the song didn't change.

Derek, admittedly, was curious to know what the song was like, but he was sure he had a good enough idea.

Instead, he pulled up a pizza website and got out some bowls for popcorn and pretzels, since Stiles would moan about there not being enough food otherwise.

###

The next time it happened, it was Stay With Me by Sam Smith.

Derek asked if Stiles wanted to come over to watch the new episodes of The Good Place.

The song changed to Happy - From "Despicable Me 2" by Pharrell Williams.

###

The time after that, it was Someone You Loved, also by Lewis Capaldi.

Derek texted Stiles and invited him to get churro ice cream sandwiches at the new ice cream parlor a few blocks away from the loft.

Can't Hold Us - feat. Ray Dalton by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis was the result.

Along with Stiles hugging Derek.

Derek didn't dare scent-mark him, though.

###

Stiles had a new playlist—"man candy."

Stiles, at the moment, was listening to Bang Bang by Jessie J, Ariana Grande, and Nicki Minaj.

Derek clicked on the playlist. I Know You Want Me (Calle Ocho) by Pitbull, Want to Want Me by Jason Derulo, Bang Bang, Teeth by Lady Gaga, and—inexplicably—Run the World (Girls) by Beyoncé.

And, the most confusing of them all, The Wolf by The Spencer Lee Band.

Derek didn't dare text him.

###

The next night, around one in the morning—Derek was up because the Sheriff had a night shift and Scott wasn't sleeping over at Stiles', so he was on call in case something happened—Stiles' Friend Activity lit up with Howlin' for You by The Black Keys.

Can't sleep?

wat ?

Never mind.

Go to bed, Stiles.

i am in bed

Derek frowned down at his phone.

He turned the ringer up a little bit louder.

###

The time, though, that really fucked everything up was when Derek, listening to Stiles' music through the Friend Activity screen, was suddenly jolted from Cold War by Foreign Figures to Love Me Harder by Ariana Grande.

It was a bad move. He understood that well.

But some jealous part of him took over, and he really wasn't thinking as he texted Stiles.

Who the hell are you fucking?

?

Derek grabbed his leather jacket, shrugged it on, and stormed out the door.

The music inside his loft changed, though, and Derek froze, turning around to catch a few words.

"When all is said and done, you believe God is a woman…"

His wolf took over entirely.

Stiles was fucking Lydia? His mate was fucking Lydia?

Not yours, he reminded himself. He's not yours.

It wasn't enough to overpower instinct, though.

When he got to the Stilinski house, Derek jumped right up to Stiles' window and hopped inside only to see Stiles calmly sitting on the bed, computer on his lap.

Derek hesitantly sniffed the air. It was just Stiles—some faint traces of Scott and Lydia, but they were stale, Lydia's even more than Scott's.

"Hey, Derek," Stiles said, a pleased grin on his face. "What brings you here?"

"I— I don't— I—"

"Could it have possibly been that you've been listening to my music?"

Derek swallowed roughly and jumped back out the window, tuning out Stiles as he yelled after him.

He needed to get a grip.

Stiles wasn't his, and he'd been invading Stiles' privacy.

When he got home, Stiles' "sad gentleman times" playlist suddenly seemed incredibly appealing.

###

Twenty minutes later, Stiles stormed up to the door of his loft and started beating on it. "I swear to god, Derek!" he shouted through the door—even though that was entirely unnecessary. "If you changed the damn locks, I'm going to— Oh."

Derek swallowed. "I understand your anger, and I hope you know that I understand my behavior was inappropriate. I'm sorry about—"

"What? You— I was the one who was baiting you!"

"You what?"

Stiles flushed. "Can I come in?"

"Nobody else is here."

"It's not really a hallway conversation."

Derek stepped aside to let Stiles in.

"Okay," Stiles said, "so. I don't know how to say this, actually."

"You said you were 'baiting' me." Derek raised an eyebrow. "What did you mean."

"Cards on the table?"

Derek shrugged.

Stiles sighed. "Okay, so— I may have made that playlist after a particular person. And whenever I played music from it, you'd text me or ask if I wanted to do something, and I guess I thought— Maybe if I took it to an extreme—"

"That Lydia would see it and notice like I did?"

Stiles gaped.

Derek waited for him to talk—and, when almost a minute had passed without him saying a word, he started fidgeting. "Stiles—"

"You think I wanted Lydia to see me playing music from a playlist called man candy?"

"I thought you were referring to yourself."

Stiles stared at him, and then he smirked.

"What?" Derek crossed his arms, frowning deeper.

"You think I'm man candy."

Derek rolled his eyes. "Look, Stiles, I learned my lesson, okay? I'll leave you alone when—"

"Those playlists are for you. About you."

He blinked. "What?"

Stiles huffed. "Look, I like you, and I'm pretty sure you like me, so. I'm gonna kiss you now. Okay?"

Derek stared. "Not Lydia?"

Stiles rolled his eyes. "For—" He cut himself off, though, walking forward, cupping Derek's cheeks, and kissing him.

Maybe computers weren't that bad.