"Dude, you look wrecked." Scott said as he walked down the hallway, watching as Stiles rolled his tired-looking eyes and shrugged.
"I feel fine." He smiled, even though he did feel physically sluggish. He hadn't had any medicine today, and he'd woken up fifteen minutes before he had to go to school. But emotionally, he felt amazing, for today, at least. He'd gotten it all out to someone who listened and he was ever grateful to that dog for it.
"Well, I'm glad you at least feel good." Scott told him, stopping and kneeling down to tie his shoe. Stiles nodded, readjusting his backpack and looking out the windows, noticing an animal control truck and two men trying to coax a dog into a cage, pulling him by the hooks they had around his neck. It was a big, black dog. It was Ben.
Stiles' eyes widened and he ran through the wall, leaving Scott behind and pushing people out of his way to get outside, yelling as soon as he did, "Hey! What are you doing? Get away from him! You're hurting him!"
The men looked up at him, loosening their tugging, Ben still growling and thrashing. Stiles was angry; they were choking him. He knelt down, ignoring the protests from the men, tugging off the wires from around the dog's neck, making sure he was okay. Ben looked at him and stopped growling instantly.
"You can't do that! He's vicious and dangerous." One of the animal control men said, stepping back from the teen and the dog like he was going to get attacked.
"Yeah, I'm so scared. Help, he's gonna rip my throat out." Stiles said sarcastically as he wrapped his arms around Ben, rubbing his fur to calm him down, feeling him move closer.
"Who are you?" The other man said, angry and accusing. He tried to grab Ben with his hook again, and Stiles glared at him.
"Stiles Stilinski," The teen told them, pushing away the hook, "The sheriff's son. Back away from the dog with that frickin' thing."
The two animal control officers backed up, Stiles nodding before standing up with Ben in his arms. The dog squirmed a bit before sighing and staying still, "He's my dog, okay? And you're not gonna put him in a cage. You're not even gonna be around him, okay?"
They nodded, rolling their eyes. One grabbed the cage and put it into the back of the truck, the other making a comment about Ben and how Stiles should put a collar on him... which made him think why he didn't already. He walked with the dog in his arms over to his Jeep, opening the driver's side door and setting him down on the seat.
"What are you doing here?" He said like he was expecting a response, actually a bit angered when he didn't get one, "You're lucky I came along when I did, or your ass would be in the pound... I don't want that to happen to you."
He sighed, rubbing his hair before running the hand down his face, pacing a bit back and forth, feeling the jittery energy from not taking his pills. He looked back at the dog, who was already staring at him, "They're right, you know. I should put some kind of identity thing on you, so you don't get into trouble."
Ben looked like he was contemplating the idea.
"Well, I don't know what else to do... I don't even know where your real family is. I've never even seen you during the day before." Stiles told him after he'd watched the dog's ears fold down, seeing that mentioning of family made him unhappy. He sighed, looking to the ground, trying to think of some way he could make sure Ben would stay out of harm's way. It finally came to him when he was fiddling with the green bracelet on his wrist. He quickly slid it off and grabbed one of Ben's front paws, putting the bracelet on him and fixing the latch to fit him.
"There." Stiles nods, letting the dog's paw go, "It's not perfect, but... Well, yeah."
The teen could swear he saw Ben roll his eyes. He backed up, making sure he was settled right before he closed the door. Ben whined, but Stiles leaned against the door, head in the open window.
"You'll be fine, don't worry. I'm almost done my classes for the day, and I want to go to them... Another thing Derek has said I should do more often. But as soon as I'm done, I'll come back and take you home. We'll play catch or something. Maybe Scott will come over, you'll get to spend time with another dog." He chuckled at his own joke, smile fading when he looked back at Ben, "Alright..."
Stiles rubbed the dog's head, then made his way back in the school in time to be three minutes late for class, and get scolded by Coach about it. Scott tried to ask him where he went, but he just shook his head and shrugged it off. He went to all his classes, actually trying to pay attention, not having much luck in that, and was getting more jittery as the day went on. He was basically jumping down the hall when class was over. He'd managed to ask Scott about coming over after he was done studying at Allison's house, and after his best friend agreed, he ran off to his car. When he approached his Jeep, he opened the driver's door, Ben nowhere to be found. He quickly checked the rest of the vehicle, then sighed. He reached over and opened the glove compartment, grabbing an orange pill bottle, taking a few and downing them with the water bottle he'd kept from lunch.
He shoved the door closed, and looked around, seeing if the dog had gotten out and was wandering the parking lot. He didn't see him anywhere. He was starting to panic; what if the animal control men came back? He paced, looking at the ground, his eyes catching prints in the dirt. Dog prints, looking distorted and dug deep from running. He instantly followed them into the woods without a second thought. He tried to follow as best he could, but leaves and pine needles were scattered along the ground, making it hard to see. He looked up when he was sure there were no more, and searched around.
"Ben? Ben, you out there? Come on!" Stiles hoped the dog would come running out to him, but was disappointed when nothing happened, "Fuck!"
"What are you doing out here?" A voice asked him, and he jumped, falling back into the nearest tree and dropping his backpack. He looked up at the person, and quickly got more irritated.
"I'm looking for my dog, Derek." He said, remembering all the emotions he had told Ben about, and how hurt he was that Derek would not like him back, no matter what.
"I didn't know you had a dog." The wolf answered instantly, hands in the pockets of his leather jacket, shrugging those strong shoulders. Stiles wanted to be hugged by those arms, nuzzle his face into those shoulders, that neck. But it wouldn't happen.
"Well, I do... But I don't... He's a stray, but he's important. I don't wanna lose- Wait, what are you doing here?" The younger teen looked up at him, accusing and judgmental. Derek thought this would have gone different after hearing what he said last night. He shrugged as an answer, just because he could get away with it.
"Oh, and by the way, I went to my doctor and he said he'd gotten an anonymous tip that I had been abusing my medicine to study, and that I thought werewolves existed. And he made me take a break with the medicine, saying it was a casual 'taking off from time to time for tests'." Stiles ranted, pushing himself away from the tree, aggressive mood swing kicking in, something his doctor said might happen as a side effect, along with depression, mania, mood swings, and not getting enough sleep.
Derek shrugged again, opting to say nothing. He was the one who called the doctor as his office, and expressed that he thought the teen was abusing his medicine, especially when he'd take almost a whole bottle to stay up three and a half nights in a row to search about werewolves, and other things, some of which were inappropriate and got his blood pumping, to a specific area of the body he might add. And maybe that was his fault for checking up on him at night when he wasn't pretending to be a stray mutt... just to watch him for no other reason that he liked seeing his face.
"Why would you do that? I need my meds. God, I was so off schedule last night that I was at the point where I was so tried, but the medicine wasn't completely out of my system so it kept me up. I thought so many times last night to just take more and stay awake." Stiles broke through his thoughts, demanding an answer, jittery and looking upset.
"But you took some now." The older teen pointed out, hearing soft crackling from the kid's jeans of pills against the bottle as he tapped his foot.
"Yeah, because either that or I wouldn't be able to drive!"
"I would have driven you home."
"And I would have- What?"
The wolf nodded, "And I did see a black dog wandering around with a... a green wrist band thing. It was yours, I remembered. I took him to your house and left him with your dad."
"Y-You did?" Stiles asked him, his expression softening and anger instantly starting to fade away. He watched him nod once, and he took a moment, admiring the other's jawline and lips. Those fucking lips. Damn them for making him want them so badly. He had to take a deep breath, averting his eyes to the ground. He heard a small rustle of leaves, then shoes in front of his. He looked up and saw Derek staring down at him.
"You look pale." The wolf said simply, setting a hand on Stiles' shoulder and squeezing slightly. He noticed the way his eyes dilated and his mood shifted.
"Just tired." He replied, lying right to the wolf's face. He wanted to lie, and he knew Derek could tell he was. Maybe he'd ask about it and he could totally pour out his heart, and get that ride home, have Derek help him up to his room before collapsing on his bed and bringing him down with him.
"Are you sure? Do you need me to-"
"Stiles! There you are. Allison took a rain check on me and... Derek, what are you doing?" Scott walked toward them, readjusting his backpack on his shoulder.
Derek swiftly moved away from the quirky teen, shoving his hand back into his pocket, "Nothing."
Stiles was screaming in his mind at Scott for being a cockblock, and a ruiner of moods, but he would keep it in, because Scott didn't even know he liked guys yet.
"Yeah, nothing... So Allison canceled on you, that's sucky, man. I'm sorry." Stiles told him, actually feeling sorry... not only for Scott.
"She didn't cancel, she just postponed. But at least now I have time to go over to your house early." The younger werewolf smiled, motioning for Stiles to follow him. He felt like something was off, but didn't act on it.
"Let's go," He said, giving a grin before turning back to Derek, "Thanks for... the thing, 'kay?"
The oldest teen just nodded, watching Scott and Stiles make their way back to the Jeep; hearing as they climbed in and drove off, Scott saying something about stopping at his house first, and listening to Stiles' heartbeat race until it was out of range. He sighed and looked at the ground in front of him, wondering why the scent of the kid was still around, until he saw his discarded backpack a few feet away. He picked it up haphazardly, contemplating what to do with it before deciding to throw it over his shoulder and drop it at his house before he got to the Stilinski house before the two teens in the Jeep.
Stiles jumped out of his vehicle, Scott chuckling before following as his friend burst through the door of his house, looking around before tripping up the stairs. He could tell the other was excited, only he didn't know about what.
"Stiles, what's up with you?" He asked, smiling as the other teen looked under his bed. He leaned down to ask again, but Stiles jumped up.
"I got a-" The quirky teen started, but was cut off by barking, a large dog running in the room and almost knocking Stiles over when he jumped up on him. The kid laughed and gently pushed the dog to the bed, but Scott wasn't amused one bit, something making his stomach flip.
"His name is Ben... Well, that's what I named him. He's cute, right?" He smiled, flopping the dog's ears before going to look through his papers for the homework notes his friend needed.
The young wolf looked down at the dog, tilting his head to the side. This dog isn't a dog. "Ben" looked up at him, and shook his head slowly, growling lowly when Scott made a move toward Stiles. He couldn't help but growl back, muttering so only the other wolf could hear him about how horrible it was to snoop around and make Stiles trust him like this. Derek's growl got louder, and so did Scott's.
"What the hell? No, no, no." Stiles got in between the two, setting his hands on Scott's shoulders, hoping it didn't put him in the line of fire, "What are you doing to my dog? Stop it, whatever it is."
"Stiles, your dog i-"
"Derek!" Stiles slapped a hand to his forehead, taking Scott aback. He knew? Derek almost fell off the bed. The human teen shook his head, and looked at the ground.
"Wha... Well, how did y-"
"He scared me and I dropped my backpack. It had those notes in it. Fuck, dude." Stiles let his hand slide off his best friend, remembering the realization of forgetting his school bag, "I'm sorry, bro. I knew you needed those."
"What?" Scott asked, confused.
"The notes. Derek scared me and made me drop my bag, which had the notes in it. Sorry I didn't realize sooner." Stiles said again sighing and before laying down on his bed. The dog cuddled into him, nuzzling himself under Stiles' inviting arm, giving a glare to Scott, and making him step back, sensing something very territorial about Derek now. God, Stiles was going to hate this when he found out, and Scott knew it.
"Yeah... Uh, forget about them," The young werewolf wanted to make Derek angry, and he knew how to do it. He sat in Stiles' chair, "So, how are you and Lydia?"
"Me and Lydia? Uh, we're cool. She talked to me in History yesterday." Stiles nodded, remembering all the details of her. He may have liked guys, but he still liked girls, too. "She was wearing that cherry lip gloss, I could smell it. She asked me if I wanted to try it when she saw me staring."
"Really? What she'd do next?" Scott sat back, looking smug as he saw Derek tense up.
"She leaned forward... And took her lip gloss out and put some on me. Then she laughed. And Jackson called me a fag." Stiles said, eyes casting downward, the dog cuddling into him, looking back over at Scott.
"Oh... Stiles, I'm sorry. I didn't know that." The tan skinned teen sat up, feeling horrible that he wasn't there to stop Jackson. Stiles didn't deserve that, he really didn't. He just likes Lydia.
"It's fine. Danny came to my rescue." He shrugged, remembering when Danny put his arm around him and asked why calling him a fag would be something funny. Jackson looked heartbroken at Danny for a moment, before apologizing.
"But, dude..."
"No, it's fine. Whatever."
Scott could tell he was lying. Jackson was a douche was he was going to tell him that when he got to school tomorrow. No one did that to his best friend and got away with it. Stiles takes so much from him, and other people, too. Even Coach. It's ridiculous.
"Hey, Scott..." Stiles' voice was soft, making him look up at the other teen, "Your eyes are glowing. It's really okay, Danny helped me. Calm down, you can't be there to save me from everything."
He nodded and took deep breaths, putting his head in his hands to try to calm himself. He heard the springs of the bed creak, and then arms wrapped around him. He opened his eyes and saw the fabric of Stiles' shirt, and was hugging back instantly. The other teen kept a tight hold on him, hoping he'd calm down and see that it wasn't such a big deal. Jackson had gotten it half right, not that he was going to tell Scott that just yet. He rubbed the young werewolf's back when he apologized again, then knelt down in front of him, checking his eyes to make sure he wasn't stressing, and that he wasn't going to have to run for his life. Again. He hugged his best friend again, feeling like he needed it, knowing he did when Scott tightly hugged him back.
The young werewolf held Stiles around the shoulders, gripping at his shirt, and set his chin on his friend's shoulder. He stared at Derek, making sure he noticed the way Stiles' heart was picking up because he was clutching his shirt in his fists, giving him a primal, protective, He's mine, not yours look. A low growl emitted from Derek, claws sinking into the comforter he was laying on, eyes starting to glow. A smirk came onto Scott's lips, then he wet them, leaning in and nosing at the sensitive skin under Stiles' ear; he felt the way his best friend's hands tightened on his shirt, and heard his heart start to race. He suddenly wondered why, but was happy he was getting a reaction from the older werewolf.
He saw Derek start to shift, and he climbed backwards off the bed, hiding him from sight, human hands the last thing seen before Scott felt Stiles pulling out of the hug, and he had to look up at him. The lacrosse player looked at his co-captain with a confused, and slightly turned on expression, hiding that he was aroused the best he could. He couldn't help it honestly, a guy had come onto him; the first guy besides a non-sexually driven Danny, who had cupped him through his jeans and kissed his neck in a supply closet when they were late for class after practice, when they didn't want to get in trouble with the teacher that was sent to find them. It would have been Stiles' fourth time late, and Danny's third. Scott could smell it on him, though, and he just chalked it up to the other pretending he was Lydia for a moment, plus teenage hormones. He was breathing heavy in his friend's ear, for God's sake.
"What was...?" Stiles eyebrows knit together. Did Scott know he was...? Was Scott...? No, he couldn't be. No... He can't. Right? It kind of freaked him out, to be honest.
"I just... Thanks, I needed the hug." Scott gave him a reassuring smile, patting his shoulder. He seemed to believe him, which made him feel better, but that didn't shake the feeling of knowing Stiles was aroused by him, and that Derek was jealous of him. He wanted answers, and he was damned if he wasn't going to get them.