Monkey: I... am so sorry for the long wait. I got caught up with school stuff x.x

But here's the chapter! And I'm working on the next one as I upload this lol.

Derek and Lydia decided to give Stiles the start of the week off, then come back to work for them on Friday to take them to their tests since he wouldn't be having one on Friday.

Currently, Stiles, Scott and Isaac were in the game room of the student union on the day of their chemistry final.

It was early in the morning and there really weren't that many people around. The trio had the game room to themselves this time. Scott and Stiles were playing ping pong while Isaac absentmindedly flipped through his English book since he would have that final later in the day.

"Stiles, you suck at this," Scott commented as he jogged over to the vending machine in the game room to get the ball.

The brunette rolled his eyes. "Yeah like you're any better. You keep sending the ball straight at my face! At least I can duck."

Scott grinned. He served it and Stiles once again hit it too hard and sent it flying to the other side of the room.

"You know, I'm so glad we're done with Harris." Stiles twirled around the ping pong paddle while waiting for Scott to get back.

"I guess," Scott spoke, returning with the ball. He tossed it lightly at Stiles who caught it. "He wasn't so bad, just a little scary."

Isaac snorted. "You're only saying that because he didn't hate you. He hated Stiles." He thought for a bit before closing his book. At this point, if he didn't know it, then he didn't know it. "He wasn't too fond of me either."

"I don't think he likes anyone."

"I heard he liked Lydia and Derek when he had them last year," Scott replied.

"Well of course, who wouldn't?" Stiles spoke with an obvious tone.

Isaac shook his head. "Hey Stiles, let me get a round in."

The brunette gave him the paddle and made his way over the couch Isaac had previously occupied. He sat comfortably and watched the other two play. Isaac was admittedly better at ping pong than he was, but he still made Scott run after the ball a lot. "You think I can catch a nap before the test?"

"Probably," Isaac replied. "It's like, an hour from now."

"Sweet." He used his backpack as a pillow and closed his eyes.

He was woken up later by the sound of Scott whining close by. Stiles yawned and sleepily opened his eyes and saw Scott walking back to the ping pong table after retrieving the ball from under the couch Stiles was.

The brunette felt around for his cell phone and pulled it out of his pocket. He checked the time. "Oh shit! It's 8:26!"

Their chemistry test began at eight-thirty.

Isaac, who was in the middle of hitting the ball back to Scott, let the ball sail right by but accidentally lost grip of the paddle and it went flying.

"OW!" Scott yelled out, holding the side of his head where the paddle hit him.

Isaac cringed. "I'm so sorry!"

"Guys, come on! Harris said he'd lock out anyone that's late!" Stiles called out as he grabbed his stuff.

Isaac grabbed his own stuff and Scott's to make up for hitting him and the two followed Stiles out of the student union.

They had to be on the other side of campus in less than four minutes otherwise Harris wouldn't let them take their final.

Isaac nearly slammed into a wall as they ran, while Scott knocked over three people along the way. Stiles tried to dodge as many people as he could but knocked over a guy that was texting and not paying attention to those three running.

Three minutes later, they made to the building, up the stairs since the elevator was too slow and into the classroom they needed to be in. They were half out of breath.

Professor Harris gave them appointed look before shaking his head. "The last day of this class and the three of you are still getting into trouble. Why am I not surprised?"

Stiles was about to defend them, but Scott and Isaac placed their hands over his mouth to stop him.

Harris smirked as the three found their seats at the back of the classroom; the only remaining seats.

Stiles gave Harris a look saying, "You won this round."

He walked around, making sure to give every student their own test. He stopped in front of Stiles' desk and looked down at him. "I win every round."

Stiles' jaw dropped. He became a mind reader! Or at least, a look reader. He was about to retort when Isaac, sitting behind him, reached over and smacked the back of his head. Harris merely rolled his eyes as he handed them their tests and walked away. Stiles rubbed the back of his head and turned around to look at the blonde with the innocent smile.

"Now I know how Scott feels."

"Hey!"

"No talking!"

The three snapped their attention back to their exams and sighed. They couldn't wait to get out of there.

Derek and Lydia found themselves lounging around at home after they finished their finals early for the day.

"Now what?" Lydia asked, lying comfortably on the couch while using her phone to check the social media. "Stiles has these days off. And there's nothing to do."

"You could go shopping with Allison." Derek replied halfheartedly. He was sitting on the other couch with a book in his hands. Danny recommended this book and now he finally had time to read it. He wasn't going to study for the rest of his tests because he wasn't the type of guy who could cram study the night or two before the test. It just didn't work for him. So since he already spent so much time studying, he was going to chill for the rest of the time.

Lydia sighed. "I would, but she's still studying. She has a test tomorrow and she feels she's not ready."

"Then go call Stiles or something. He should be done. We'll be seeing him tomorrow anyway." Derek replied, turning the page. Danny was right, it was a good book.

Lydia's beautiful eyes rolled and she sat up with a pout. "You're not giving me any attention."

"I'm reading."

"I don't care, entertain me."

Derek raised his eyes to meet hers. "No. Last time you said that, Danny and I ended the night with a lot less clothes than what we started with."

Lydia couldn't help the grin that spread across her face as he shook his head. "That was a great night. We should do that again sometime."

"I'm alright, thanks." Derek's attention went back to his book and Lydia put her phone away.

"You know our days will be boring after Stiles leaves, right?"

"I'm sure you'll still be able to call him and all that." Derek replied after turning another page.

"I want to go live with him."

"I'll help you pack."

Lydia's jaw dropped until she noticed the slight smirk teasing his lips. She went over to him and ruffled his hair playfully. "What would you do without me here?"

"Read in peace."

"I hate you."

"Love you too."

She sat down next to him and used him as her personal pillow. "We're so domesticated."

Derek snorted. "That's one word for it." He leaned back against the couch so she could make herself more comfortable on him.

"Are you gonna miss Stiles when he's gone?"

The actor turned another page. "Sure."

Lydia frowned. "Come on Derek, give me something to work with here."

"Stiles is a good friend. He put up with all our insanity for nearly half a year. Yes, I'll miss him." Derek looked at her. "Can I please read my book now?"

Lydia regarded him for a moment before finally nodding. "Fine."

Derek raised a brow. "Why do I not like that tone?"

"Because you know me too well." She smiled and stood up from the couch, walking around it and heading in the direction of her room.

"Should I worry?" Derek called out, looking over his shoulder.

"Yup!"

Well, at least she was honest with him. He shook his head and went back to the book. It really was a good book.

"Hey guys," Stiles called out as he entered the apartment for what would probably be the last time. Maybe if he was lucky, Lydia or Derek would call him up just to hang out sometime over the rest of their lives. Maybe. Hell, even if they needed him for something, he would gladly show up. He liked helping them and being involved with their lives and their disasters. Plus, it wasn't like he was new to mishaps everywhere; growing up with Scott will give you tolerance to such things.

Lydia was the first to emerge from her room. "Good morning Stiles, we're skipping breakfast today." She tossed her perfectly curled hair over her shoulder and smiled at him. Stiles always wondered how these two actors could look so perfect in the morning when people usually looked like zombies.

"But you guys have a test! And breakfast is the most important meal of the day," Stiles argued. He didn't want their test scores to suffer because of a lack of breakfast.

Lydia chuckled. "Relax Stiles, Derek and I are fully prepared for our tests. We should be done under an hour, and then the three of us will go out for lunch. Our treat."

"I should be treating you guys," Stiles replied. He sat down on the couch with her as they waited for Derek to show up. They could hear the shower still running in the background.

Lydia made sure Derek wouldn't show up suddenly before turning to look at Stiles, interestedly. "Stiles, what if I told you that Derek had kept something from you?"

Stiles stared for a moment, unsure of how to reply. He raised a brow. "What do you mean?" He felt a little worried, but curious mostly. Whenever the strawberry blonde haired goddess got a look like that, it could never be anything good.

Lydia walked up to him, then circled around slowly around him. "Something important." The way she circled him made him feel like he was her prey.

"Something like what?" Stiles braved, getting a little worried. He kept his composure and didn't follow her with his sight. She stopped walking directly behind him.

"Stiles, how much did you like working for us? Besides the endless nights, the silly errands, the constant driving us around?"

Oh, that was easy enough. "I had fun actually, I like hanging out with you guys. You two are really nice people and it gave me stuff to do. You know, I would see you guys in movies and stuff when I was younger and I thought it'd be so cool to actually meet you. And it really was." Stiles chuckled nervously, hoping she wouldn't judge him for being happy to meet his idols. Especially Derek. Which she hopefully wouldn't know about. He rubbed the back of his neck and shrugged. "Why?"

"Because—"

"Lydia." Derek came out of his room looking ready to go. Stiles noticed the unhappy look on his face. First Lydia acting all weird and now Derek unhappy? What was going on? "You took something of mine."

She spared him a glance then focused back on Stiles. "Not now, Derek."

"Yes, now." He stepped up to them and stood in front of Stiles. He was blocking Lydia and he felt a little, ok a lot, intimidated by being in between those two. "Why did you take it? What are you going to do with it?"

"I'm going to bring out into the open."

"Don't."

"Derek, I thought you did this—"

"Lydia. Just give me back the paper."

"No."

"Lydia."

"Stiles," she turned both of their attention to him and he felt himself tiny against their gazes, "the repair costs to Derek's car weren't eight hundred."

And now Stiles was involved. "What?" He looked at Derek who only held his gaze for a couple seconds before looking behind past him at Lydia. "I thought… How much was it?"

"He doesn't need to know." Derek narrowed his eyes at her and she held her ground.

"Stiles, the repair costs for his Camaro were actually sixteen hundred."

The brunette stood quiet for a moment. Derek only charged him half? That didn't make any sense. "Why didn't you tell me?" He looked at the raven haired actor.

Derek's green eyes went back to Stiles. "It's not important."

Lydia pulled out a folded piece of paper from her purse. "I think it is."

Derek reached for the paper but Lydia stepped back. "Lydia, I'm not playing."

"Wait." Stiles interrupted. He thought for a bit before frowning at Derek. "Did you do it because—"

"He obviously did it because—" Lydia cut him off but was cut off by Derek.

"Because I felt sorry for you. I didn't know you back then and I thought you wouldn't be able to pay all of it."

Lydia's eyes widened slightly. She didn't think that was the answer. She thought it had been because… wait, she was wrong? She was never wrong!

Derek took the opportunity to snatch the paper back from Lydia and sighed tiredly. "We still have exams." He looked at the strawberry blonde. "You didn't have to do this." He turned around and headed for the front door. "I'm going on ahead. Maybe I'll see you guys later." He didn't look back at them and left.

Lydia stared at the door incredulously as she tried to ignore the awkward silence he left them in. "Stiles—"

"It's fine," he turned to face her with a smile. "You have a test today, we should get going before you're late." He started walking towards the door then left, leaving Lydia standing there on her own.

She stood there, surprised. This was not how things were supposed to go. She shook her head. No, this would not be it. She would still do something, because Derek just had to ruin everything.

She didn't think it was pity, but rather…

Hm. Yes, she would fix things, by tonight.

Resolved, she nodded once and headed out the door. Her exam would be a piece of cake compared to making things right again; she wasn't about to let Stiles go so easily. She found a friend in him, and she was sure Derek had too.

"Derek?"

The actor looked up from his spot on the second floor of the student union. "Allison?"

She smiled. "Hey, what are you doing here? Do you have any exams?"

He was sitting down on a couch by the wall and he scooted over for her to sit. She sat down and looked at him.

"I'm done with exams for the semester. What about you?"

"I just got out of class. I have one more exam in about three hours, so I came up here to see if I could get some rest or something." She tucked her hair behind her ear and looked at him. "You look like you have something on your mind. Maybe I could help?"

He sighed. He trusted her, really. Maybe it would be best if someone outside the people involved knew about the situation. Maybe she could help. So, he told her what happened that morning.

He didn't miss that at some point, she looked sadly surprised. "Oh boy, you three…"

"Do you think he's mad? I didn't mean to insult him, but that's really what I thought in the beginning."

"But now you know better?" Allison offered, moving on the couch so she was sitting facing him.

"Yes. I consider Stiles a good friend. He's a good person in general. And he put up with me and Lydia for months." He chuckled lightly. "I know we're a hassle."

Allison nodded with a small smile. "I don't think Stiles is mad, he's probably just well, maybe a little sad that you thought that of him and didn't tell him the truth right off the bat. It was a kind gesture Derek, for you to let him off easy like that, but I mean, you should just tell him the truth. You know, that you don't think that way anymore."

Derek thought for a while before nodding once. "If I see him again. Today was technically his last day working for us."

"But that's when he was under the impression that his debt would be repaid by now."

"I don't mind that it hasn't been." He shrugged. "He always brought good company. God, he even dealt with Peter being a creep with him because of us."

Allison couldn't help the grin. She knew how much Stiles cared about Lydia and Derek, and despite him thinking that his feelings for Derek were only based on appearances, there had to be more. "Stiles likes you guys too much to let your uncle scare him away."

Derek sighed lightly and looked at her. "So, what do I do?"

"Talk to them." She reached over and patted his back. "Just, sort things out I guess. You guys know each other better now and I'm sure Stiles will understand."

Derek stayed silent for a while and nodded once. "You're right. I'll look for him tonight. Thanks Allison." He glanced at the large clock above Allison's head. "You have time before class, right?"

"I have lots of time. I was going to study but I figured if I don't know it now, cramming last minute won't help."

"Great, do you want to eat lunch? My treat."

She was going to politely decline before her stomach decided to give her away. She blushed and placed a hand over her stomach, embarrassed.

Derek grinned. "I'll take that as a yes. Come on, I'll drive us somewhere."

She smiled. "Alright." She gathered her things and they both took the exit on the second floor to head to the parking garage where Derek's Camaro was. She hoped the three of them would be able to sort things out later.

"Lydia, are you sure all you want is coffee?" Stiles asked, concerned after she came out of the Starbucks on campus.

She sipped her delicious drink and started walking out of the union. Stiles nearly tripped over himself to catch up. "I have a million things to do today Stiles and right now I don't have time to eat something." She already had an idea for fixing what happened between Derek and Stiles but all she needed to do was stay away from them so the two could talk on their own.

"But, but…" Stiles frowned and shook his head. "Alright, just promise me you'll eat something later."

Lydia smirked. "I'll be fine." She checked her phone and saw she had a new message. "So, I'm going to have to go somewhere with Jackson, can you go over to the apartment at like seven tonight? I wanted to make a dinner for you since our lunch plans didn't work out." She replied to the message and glanced at Stiles whose jaw had dropped. "What?"

"Jackson? As in, Jackson Whittemore?"

She rolled her eyes. "Yes. Why?"

"What are you doing with him?" Stiles couldn't help but ask.

"I'm dating him?" She looked at him like he was inferior and Stiles' eyes widened.

"Dating? But, he's not worthy of you!"

Lydia laughed. "That's nice of you to say. But anyway, are you coming over or what?"

"Um, well I don't know, it didn't seem like Derek wanted me there anymore."

"Oh hush." She waved a hand around disinterestedly. "I'm the one telling you to come over. Until today ends, you're still to take orders from us. And today, I trump Derek."

The brunette opened his mouth to reject the offer again, but he sighed instead. "Ok, I'll be there around seven."

"Excellent."

She had no intention of being home at that time.

It was about six-thirty and Lydia wasn't home yet.

Derek sat in the living room glancing from the door to the clock and back again. She hadn't called or texted him and she wasn't answering his calls or messages. She couldn't be that pissed at him that she decided to avoid coming home today? He knew she had a soft spot for Stiles but still, she had to come home eventually.

Maybe she was at Jackson's house?

Lydia could date whoever she liked, but he liked the fact that Jackson feared him. It was so entertaining to scare him whenever Lydia would walk out of the room and leave the two of them alone. But Lydia forbid him from getting Jackson's number.

There was only one other person he could call that might know where she was. He took out his phone and was about to dial Stiles' number when the front door opened. He stood up, expecting Lydia, but it was Stiles.

"Stiles?"

"D-Derek." Stiles froze at the threshold of the door, his hand still holding onto the key. "I thought Lydia would be here."

"She hasn't come home yet, do you know where she is?"

"Probably with Jackson. She said she had errands to do and would be back around seven."

Derek glanced down at his phone to check the time. It was six forty-five. He sighed, relieved. She'd be home soon, then.

Stiles stood awkwardly by the door until he decided to step inside and closed the door. He walked over to Derek and held out the key for him. "I should probably give this back."

Derek looked at the gold colored key before raising his eyes to stare up at Stiles. "You don't have to do that. You're welcome here anytime."

"I don't want to impose."

"Stiles," Derek began, standing up. He lightly pushed the brunette's hand down. "This morning, what I said, I didn't mean it in a bad way." He raised a hand to stop Stiles from interrupting him. "Since I didn't know you, I didn't want you to feel burdened by having to pay me back. I didn't know Lydia would come up with having you work for us to make up for the lack of money. I really don't mind that you didn't pay me back because I didn't need it. And these months you've spent with us, you became a good friend Stiles. I hope you can see that."

Stiles didn't even know how he felt about that. He was happy, a little sad, surprised, everything.

"Stiles?" Derek asked when the brunette didn't say anything for a while.

He smiled. "I can see that. But, let me pay you back the full amount. Let me work for you for another semester."

Derek regarded him for a moment before replying, "You don't have to anymore."

"But I want to."

Green and brown stared at each other until Derek finally relented. "Ok, one more semester. And then your full debt will be paid."

Stiles grinned. "Awesome."

Derek wasn't sure he knew anyone else that would actually want to work for someone longer than they already had, but he'd come to know not to expect things when it came to Stiles.

Before they had a chance to fall into any kind of awkward silence, the door opened and in came Lydia looking as gorgeous as ever.

"It's about damn time," Derek spoke before she could say anything. Do you know how worried I was?" He watched her walk in happily and set her things down on the couch beside them. She smiled at both of them.

"Well I'm here now and I see the two of you have made up. Does this mean we're seeing Stiles for another semester?" She looked at the brunette in question and it dawned on both of them that she planned all of this earlier.

"Yes it does, though hopefully this upcoming semester, we don't get into too much trouble, like this one," Stiles relied with a grin.

"Good to know." She clapped her hands once. "Who's hungry?"
The two looked at her.

"Great. I'll make dinner."

And just like that, things went back to normal. Stiles thought today was going to be his last day working for Lydia and Derek but it turns out that he's going to be stuck with them for another semester. Yes, it originally hurt that Derek thought so little of him, but now he knows that Derek considers him a good friend. It seemed like a win-win situation to him.

"I'll help you," Stiles said, following Lydia into the kitchen.

Derek watched the both of them walk away and shook his head. His life used to be much calmer before all this happened. But, he surprisingly, kind of liked it this way better.

Monkey: -bangs head against wall repeatedly- I don't know what I'm doing anymore. Lol. Had to get this chapter out as the um turning point maybe? Maybe not yet... Well I needed to explain why Stiles would continue working for Derek and Lydia since that's what more people wanted back when I asked if I should make the fic longer or keep it short lol.

So, I'm looking to make some different kinds of interactions. Like more of Derek and Allison, and maybe like, Derek and Isaac? Could be funny... And then I definitely need to put in more of Jackson since he's dating Lydia now.

Hmmm. What do you guys think?

I'll try to get the next chapter out as soon as I can.

Thanks for reading!