Chapter summary; Stiles tags along on a date between Allison and Scott. After the date is over, Stiles returns home, where he encounters his second rose.
Stiles pulled into Scott's driveway as he was informed that Allison was alright with him tagging along. Both boys sat at Scott's house for a few hours awaiting the plans for the night. Scott had set the roses on his bed as they waited, while Stiles held onto his single one tightly, still flattered by the fact that it had come from Derek. It technically didn't but he liked the think of it that way. They both talked with each other, which Stiles had found refreshing, it's been too long since their last typical best friend conversation.
After a couple hours of talking, snacking and playing video games, Stiles drove to the bowling alley-making sure he didn't forget his rose, which was for now nicely displayed on the dashboard of his Jeep- where they waited for Allison.
Allison loved her roses. She let her jaw happily fall, giggling to Scott as she grabbed the bouquet with both hands, pressing the petals to her nose, inhaling their scent. She carried them into the bowling alley with her as she repeatedly told Scott how beautiful they were, in which he responded with an, "And so are you."
Even Stiles couldn't deny how beautiful she was looking. The roses perfectly matched the shade of her lipstick and complemented her light pink top and her frilly black skirt, which bounced happily as she walked, which was enough to turn multiple heads.
Stiles was unconsciously lingering his eyes on her figure as she slipped on her rented bowling shoes. He quickly snapped out of it when Scott had mentioned that Stiles hadn't put his own on yet.
I hope you won't feel too 'third wheel' tonight?" Scott asked with his big brown eyes glowing with a worried look as both boys walked away from Allison to choose a bowling ball.
"Nah, don't worry about it." Stiles smiled back, insuring his friend that he'd be okay.
Scott picked up a red ball and examined it, "It's not too late to invite anyone, Stiles." He stated to his friend, "We can turn this into a double date."
Stiles stared at the colorful array of bowling balls, "I think I'll be okay," he reinsured his friend with a smile as he grabbed a ball and turned to head to their seats, "besides, who would I bring?" he mumbled once he was a few paced ahead of Scott, hoping he hadn't been heard.
"Stiles, you're first." Allison grinned, entering his name into to the computer. He heard her long fingernails tapping rapidly against the keyboard over the sound of the plastic balls bumping roughly against the floor and crashing into multiple pins.
Stiles clapped his hands together, "Alright, let's do this!" He grabbed his ball and took his turn, getting all the pins except for the two furthest apart from each other in the last row. Splits.
Stiles didn't have a bad time. He did enjoy himself, and only felt slightly out of place part of the time. When he did feel he was intruding the date, he would buy tons of nachos to distract his over-thinking brain.
He almost wished he would have taken Scott's offer on inviting someone else, but when he told himself there'd be no one he could bring he found his mind wandering to Derek. He knew he liked Derek, and he assumed Derek liked him back, but he imagined it would be awkward to "double date" with him. Especially since their relationship status wasn't mentioned to anyone.
After bowling, Allison walked to her car with one last kiss to Scott and a wave to Stiles. Stiles had given Scott a ride back home then headed for his own house.
He looked at the time, 8:33. It was already dark and several stars had already wiggled their way through the blackened sky. Stiles tapped his fingers against the steering wheel, looking forward -for once- to being home.
Stiles unlocked the door and stepped inside. The house was dark and still, other than the kitchen, which had a small light above the counters that's left on throughout the night. Stiles wondered if his dad was home and made his way to the kitchen, curious to see if in fact he was alone.
The kitchen was empty.
"Dad?" Stiles called out, listening intently for an answer. He made his way to the base of the stairs before calling to his father again. After another silent response Stiles quietly walked up the stairs towards his bedroom.
Swinging open his bedroom door, he realized he left his desk light on. The light emitting from the corner left the rest of his bedroom hidden in shadows, although something bright out of the corner of his eye had caught his attention and he turned to face it. A piece of paper resting on his bed had the lighting reflecting off of it's surface. He tossed his rose to the bed and picked up the paper, reading it aloud to himself, "Got called into work. We'll hang out another time."
Stiles sighed to himself as he stared back at his dad's scribbly writing. He had forgotten he told his dad they could do something together. Disappointed in himself, he folded the piece of paper and set it on his desk, turning back to his rose.
He picked up his flower by the stem, sad to see the head of the flower leaning towards the floor. The poor thing was beginning to wither from lack of water and being clung to all day long. The fragile thing wasn't made to be gripped into a warmed palm for hours. Stiles had set it on the bed again, although more gently, and jogged down to the kitchen where he retrieved a skinny vase from the cabinet above the sink.
The vase was then filled with water and some plant food, which Mrs. Stilinski always kept with the vases, and set beside the head of Stiles' bed. The red flower was placed inside as Stiles smiled contently to himself.
He contemplated waiting up for his dad to get home. He wasn't sure how long he'd be at work or if he could even wait up that long. Still debating wether or not he should wait up, he pulled out one of his half-read comic books and began skimming the pages.
Stiles was intently reading, missing the adventures of his favorite super hero, when he thought he had heard a noise. He looked up from his reading and glanced around his room. The house was still silent and he assumed he was just imagining the noise. He faced his book again, immediately looking back up curiously after hearing yet another sound. Closing his comic book he stood, looking suspiciously around his room, telling himself maybe he was just tired. He tossed the book to the floor and walked to his desk to turn off the light, thinking it may be better if he just decided to go to sleep.
Stiles flipped the switch on his desk lamp, holding still a moment to allow his eyes to adjust to the even darker lighting. His room was now multiple shades of greys and blues, being gently lit from the moon peeking in through the window. The new lighting calmed him, and he suddenly realized how tired he'd been.
Slowly pacing to his bed, Stiles suddenly froze. He had heard the sound again. Almost like something was being scratched at. Letting his ears guide him, he turned to his window, cautiously stalking up to the glass, trying to see anything that could have been making the noise. Proceeding to move closer, he noticed something was resting on his windowsill. He pressed his head to the glass, looking down to see a single red rose.
His heart naturally beat a few paces faster and he opened his window, grabbing the stem in between two steady fingers. Sticking his head out of the window, he looked in all directions but couldn't see anyone.
Stiles cleared his throat, "Derek?" He waited for an answer, "Derek, are you out there?" And after again, no response, he shut the window and looked curiously at his new flower. Laughing slightly and grinning ear to ear he placed the rose with the other and looked happily at his two gifts.
He had a pretty good feeling that it was Derek who placed it there, although he couldn't imagine how, his room was on the second floor of the house, and unless Derek had pulled a Spider-Man move and climbed up the wall, he couldn't easily get to the window. But who was Stiles to question Derek's super human werewolf skills? He pulled back his covers and got into his bed, falling asleep on the thoughts of Derek and the mysterious rose.