The life of the party
'Why do I have to be here?' Derek asked, more grumpy than usual.
'It is a Christmas party, Derek.' Stiles rolled his eyes. 'Plus, it's in your loft…' He added rather sheepishly.
'Whatever.' The werewolf growled. 'Just keep the music down. I don't need any complaints.' He stepped away, making his way towards the balcony.
'It is a Christmas party, not a rave!' Stiles called after him, shaking his head. There was literally no pleasing this guy.
Once Derek was outside his head felt lighter and less crowded. He didn't know why he got roped in again and again to help these teenagers. He should have skipped town ages ago.
'Here, I got you something to drink.'
Derek almost jumped at the sound of Stiles' voice next to him. He turned to find a bottle of beer being shoved into his face.
'You shouldn't have.' Was his sarcastic reply but Stiles had already gone back to the others. The werewolf simply set the beer aside and tried blocking out that awful Christmas music filtering through to him.
'Santa Claus is coming to town…' Was the latest number getting everyone into the holiday spirit.
'Brilliant.' He murmured. With their luck it would be another pack of werewolves running rampage across town and not a giant man in a red suit laughing 'ho, ho, ho' while riding off into the night sky.
'Why don't you come on in?' This time it was Kira who popped up on his right hand side, a bright smile plastered across her face.
'I'm perfectly fine out here.' He forced himself to answer calmly.
'Everyone's waiting for you. We will be having dinner in a short while and…'
'Look Kira, I don't need you all buzzing around me. Why don't you get back to the others and leave me alone.' The smile didn't go well with this sentence and he could all but see the Fox shrink and go back inside, pouting.
He couldn't even go back to brooding when Lydia strode out the door with that sheer force of red-headed nature that blew most people's minds when they set eyes on her. Far from being impressed Derek turned to face her completely and as she opened her mouth to speak he extended one hand.
'No.' He said decidedly. 'Whatever you have to say, save it Lydia. Just leave me.'
She got pink spots and 'hmphed' before turning around, skirt fluttering, and stormed back inside. Obviously not the reaction she had expected. Derek didn't care. He leaned against the cold wall of his loft, exhaling noisily. Christmas. It was always a rough time. Ever since everyone else in his family had died Derek had tried to celebrate Christmas alone, in a desperate effort to keep the joyful memories of his childhood alive. Every year something had gone wrong. After a while he simply stopped trying. Unfortunately, out of all the painful memories he had accumulated, his Christmas failures came back to haunt him as a collective. Every. Single. Year.
He heard footsteps rustling and saw out of the corner of his eye that Scott, followed by everyone else, stepped onto the balcony as well. He refused to acknowledge them. Without saying a word, they lined up to his left and to his right and quietly sipped their drinks.
He blinked once. What was this supposed to be? He half expected someone to brandish a 'You are brooding too much' intervention sign, followed by some heartfelt letters. But it didn't happen. Actually, nothing happened. They just stood there, by his side, in perfect silence. He lowered his gaze. Their presence was as solid as the wall he was leaning against. It felt, comforting somehow. For the longest time, they simply stood there, gazing out into the night, together. Suddenly they weren't stupid teenagers anymore, they were his pack.
When Lydia and Stiles began shivering, he shook himself out of the relaxed stupor their support had lulled him into.
'Let's go inside.' He said quietly and everyone readily complied.
When they were standing in his living room again, people rushed to the mulled wine Kira had brought, trying to warm their freezing bodies with alcohol. Malia turned up the music, blasting a variety of even more cheesy Christmas songs through the night. Derek took a first sip of his beer, careful to keep his guarded facial expression in place, not to let anyone see he was starting to warm up to this fuzzy bunch of misfits. This was the beginning of a series of new Christmas memories. Ones he wouldn't wince at when digging them up in his mind. He was a second away from smiling when Stiles slid to a halt in front of him.
'Admit it, you are totally enjoying this.' The cheeky grin on his face made Derek twitch.
'I will enjoy watching all of you clean up the mess you are making right now. And next time you try throwing a surprise party at my house, I'll make sure to let you feel what I think about it.' He said sharply, effacing the happy expression on the kid's face.
'Right.' The sheriff's son swallowed.
'Right.' Derek answered before turning his back and walking away.
'So, is he finally enjoying himself?' Scott asked his friend. Stiles nodded.
'Of course he is. But you know Mr. Grumpy. He'd rather die screaming than accept that we actually managed to get something right.'
'You know he has super hearing, don't you?' Scott raised an eyebrow. His friend only laughed and walked away. Derek didn't seem to react but Scott noticed that he was more relaxed. The party wasn't a total waste after all, the alpha thought before rejoining the others.