-Isaac's POV-

Well this is awkward, not that anyone beside himself seems to realize that. Stiles is clearly comfortable, sitting at the dining table together with Mrs McCall, Scott and himself, and why shouldn't he, he has probably been here a thousand times. He even got them the extra cutlery when Mrs McCall or Melissa as she always tries to remind him forgot it. Stiles knows where everything is. Isaac doesn't. It is weird, he knows that they all mean it well with him and still right now sitting surrounded by people he feels very lonely.

When everyone is finally finished with their meal during which Stiles was happily chatting on about nothing, Isaac excuses himself to his room, saying something about being tired. It doesn't matter if they believe him or not, neither Scott nor his mother ever pressure him to admit if something's up.

In his room he lets himself fall onto his bed face first. He can hear the door behind him open and can smell Stiles approaching. He grunts into his pillow, yeah, sure why should he leave him in peace, Stiles doesn't have the tact to leave people just be.

"Isaac? Is everything okay? You know I can just go home if you don't like me being here. I get that I am probably intruding on your time with the McCalls."

Isaac buries his face deeper into the pillow. Stiles is such a frustrating person! And why the hell does he show so much empathy? Not that he gets the problem, but he is concerned enough to go after him, to annoy him. Isaac never had someone like that. And again with the stupid thoughts because he for sure doesn't 'have' Stiles, Stiles is just being nice, just being Stiles.

If he stays quiet long enough maybe he will just leave.

He feels his bed dip a bit when Stiles sits down on it, yeah sure, because Stiles will never just go!

"You know you can talk to me about things. I mean I may, probably, not get everything that is going on with you, but I mean we are both in the dead mother's club, so we have at least that in common."

Isaac sits up abruptly and stares at Stiles. How can he? Why would he bring that up and why the hell does he care?

"Why do you care?" Isaac almost yells.

Stiles looks a bit taken aback but doesn't move, "Why shouldn't I?"

"Because I have been nothing but an asshole to you! I am not your friend."

Stiles swallows hard, "Well, you might not have been the nicest person in the past but you are my friend, no matter what you say. And I don't know what you are getting at with your yo-yo behaviour but I won't just leave you, no matter what you do."

It's now Isaac's turns to swallow hard he tries to avoid Stiles sincere gaze, he feels on the brink of crying which is stupid he doesn't cry in front of other people. He learnt to supress his tears years ago.

"Okay", is all he can say.

Stiles smiles a bit, "Good, so again, would you prefer me to leave or are you coming to watch the Scott's epic Call of Duty defeat?"

Isaac huffs, "He has gotten better you know."

Stiles, "You haven't seen me play yet, I am like the Jedi master of CoD!"

Isaac, "Ridiculous, flying around a lot and speaking in riddles, yes I think I can see that."

Stiles laughs really laughs now and Isaac is mesmerised. He did that; for once he is the one that made Stiles laugh. He looks carefree like this; you can't see the sleeping bags under his eyes or the worry lines that so often crease his forehead. He looks like all seventeen-year-old teens should look.

Stiles, "Okay points for that, now let's go before Scott either falls asleep or finds a new excuse to go over to Kira."

Isaac, "Well we better be fast then, he probably already has a horrible plan for that."

-Stiles's POV-

Okay he gives up, he is definitely cursed, cursed with being surrounded by beautiful people he can't touch!

Isaac is just adorable how he launches himself into the game as though he would have a chance against either one of them. Scott and him have played all their lives; they are masters. Not that Isaac didn't get quite a few points because he distracted Stiles with his immense enthusiasm and glee.

Stiles thought that taking a break and just watching Scott and Isaac play would make his life easier. He was wrong.

Watching Isaac while he moves as if his body could influence his character on the screen is just as enchanting from behind as from the side, and now he doesn't have a game to distract him.

And Isaac does it again; he jumps up as if that would help his character escape certain decapitation by Scott and Stiles has a full view of his ass. Great, just great. Okay yes the view is really good, but Stiles is way too aware that werewolves can smell emotions and stuff, with a jump of his own he mumbles, "I am getting some chips from the kitchen."

Putting distance between him and them is a good idea.

In the kitchen he puts the chips into a bowl, Mrs McCall prefers it this way, and then lets himself have a moment to breath and maybe get his thundering heart under control.

He doesn't really know what happened between having no particular feelings toward the grumpy werewolf that may have always looked like a Greek god, to this, whatever this is. Because he isn't indifferent towards Isaac anymore, that is for sure!

He stems his arms on the kitchen counter and tries to concentrate on his breathing like he would if he had a panic attack.

"Everything okay? You can play with Scott again, if you are bored from watching us." Stiles jumps when Isaac suddenly enters.

"Oh my god, do you werewolves have to sneak everywhere!"

Isaac, "Sorry, not that you would have heard me if I weren't quiet by nature."

Stiles annoyed, "And what does that mean now?! Do you want to say that my hearing isn't good? Because I have excellent hearing only because all you stupid werewolves have unfairly heightened senses, doesn't mean the rest of us isn't capable of anything!"

Oh this is so much easier, being mad at Isaac feels weirdly relaxing.

And Isaac is getting equally angry now, "What the hell! I just came here to ask if everything is alright and you jump like I want to hurt you or something!"

"Well it hasn't been that long since you wanted to hurt me!"

Isaac's eyes suddenly flash yellow and he enters Stiles's personal space. Way too close for comfort he whispers almost inaudible but clearly with compressed anger, "I never would have hurt you!"

Their faces are only centimetres away and this is not what Stiles planned when he was escaping his strange feelings to the kitchen.

His heart is racing, only partly in fear.

"Ahem, well, I didn't mean … you threatened me like everyone else plenty enough, you wanted to kill Lydia! You can't blame me for not knowing that."

Isaac still holding eye contact, his breath caressing Stiles's cheek, "You thought I was a murderer at one point and you blame me for threatening you?"

Stiles tries to concentrate on neither looking at Isaac's lips nor licking his own nor thinking too much about their closeness, which means he doesn't have any mental capacity left to answer the question, "Ahem, yeah, sure, I mean what was the question again?"

Isaac leans just a bit closer a smirk playing on his face, "But then me threatening you isn't your real problem here now is it?"

Stiles decides for once not to speak. He is pretty sure that he wouldn't get anything out in a dignifying voice. He can smell Isaac now, even without werewolf sense that is how close they are, he smells of aftershave, woods and something Stiles associates with a comfortable old well-lived-in room. He knows that he doesn't have to answer the question anyway; there is no way that Isaac can't smell his arousal by now.

And now his control is slipping because for being Stiles he has stood still for longer than usual. He licks his lips unconsciously, he realizes what he is doing when Isaac's eyes shoot to his lips and he freezes in the movement, his tongue half out.

And faster than Stiles can even comprehend Isaac is out of his personal space and on the other side of the kitchen, breathing hard and looking like he has seen a ghost.

Stiles clears his throat to get himself back under control and then asks almost without a waver in his voice, "What was that?"

Isaac looks at Stiles like he is the most frightening thing he has ever seen, "Nothing! Nothing, I have no clue what you are talking about, let's go back." And with that Isaac is out of the kitchen, leaving a confused Stiles behind.

Okay maybe he made an ass out of himself with his obvious attraction to Isaac, but the other teen didn't react like he was disgusted or anything either. But it couldn't be mutual, could it?

Slowly Stiles walks back into the living room, Isaac clearly avoiding his gaze playing with the controller, while Scott has fallen asleep on the couch.

"Well if Scott's out I will just go home now."

Isaac nods, "Yeah, I'll tell Scott bye from you."

Stiles can't leave like that; they can't even look at each other for god's sake!

"You mean you will tell him if he ever wakes up from his fairy-tale sleep. I never met anyone who is so hard to wake up, werewolf or not."

Isaac chuckles slightly, "Yeah you are right, he is like a stone when he falls asleep."

Stiles smiles and on his way out just whispers loud enough for a werewolf to hear, "Bye Isaac, sleep well."

-Isaac's POV-

He doesn't want to go to school! He is not sure that he ever had so little ambition to enter the building in front of him. When he lived with his father school was escape, maybe not fun, but none-the-less a sanctuary, when he became a werewolf it felt a bit redundant to come here but still nice with all his new found powers, and now that he has friends it sometimes is really nice to go. But today, he would give anything to just be able to turn and not go, but Mrs McCall made it pretty clear that that wasn't an option.

He has no clue what happened yesterday. He thought about it a lot, still he can't come up for a sane reasoning for his behaviour.

Strangely enough he and Stiles get through the whole day including lunch without really talking to each other. Stiles gives him a few small smiles that aren't any more meaningful than before, and Isaac just nods in return. So they are good and nothing has changed, Isaac is relieved.

The only thing that is left to get through is Lacrosse, but that's Isaac's favourite part of the day anyway.

Chatting with Scott about nothing important he enters the locker room and quickly realizes that getting through Lacrosse might not be as easy as it usually is. Stiles is standing in front of his locker which is located between Isaac's and Scott's and struggling to get out of his shirt. And it really gets obvious that his shirt is too big when it reveals his slim slightly toned body. Isaac has seen him before, he has realized before that Stiles doesn't dress in his correct size. But today it is different. He has no clue why but suddenly he has an unmatched fascination for this naked torso.

Scott claps him on the shoulder "Hey, everything okay, you look like you have seen a ghost."

That makes Stiles look up, he smiles tentatively at Isaac, when he suddenly blushes probably realizing that he is half naked. He scrambles to get his Lacrosse shirt out. And Isaac just follows Scott to their lockers and wills himself not to blush or show any reaction at all.

Before Stiles can put his shirt on a half naked Ethan appears and claps him on the shoulder, "How did you do on your History test?"

Stiles looks perplexed at Ethan and Isaac can see how the other teen is distracted by Ethan's muscular body for a moment, "Ahem good, I think, I mean it wasn't too hard so..."

Ethan cocks an eyebrow in amusement, "Not too hard? He wanted us to detail the alliances that let to World War I!"

Stiles shrugs his shoulders and finally puts on his Lacrosse shirt, "If you lay it all out on a map in your mind it isn't too hard, most of them developed by vicinity, and the few that didn't were mainly German colonies so we learnt about them already when we had the test about colonialism."

Isaac can't help but chuckle slightly which gets him Ethan's and Stiles's attention, "Sorry didn't mean to interrupt, but how could you remember anything from that test, we had that during the Kanima crisis."

Stiles, "It was interesting! And I mean I kind of like learning about all these different countries and imagining travelling there sometime. Like visiting Indian temples or walking along the Nile."

Isaac looks at Stiles with fascination, just to check why he is still there he looks at Ethan and sees that he has a slight expression of wonder on his face, moments ago he probably had the same expression on his own. Great.

Faster than ever Isaac dresses in his sports gear and slams his locker shut before stomping outside, ignoring the inquisitive looks he gets from Stiles and Scott.

The training was mostly fine, with the exception of his run in with Ethan when they tackled each other and neither was willing to move an inch until the coach blew in his whistle right next to their ears. Well Coach Finstock being pissed wasn't anything new. He avoided Stiles completely during the training, because if he didn't want one thing to happen then it was him having any form of body contact with Stiles.

The almost contact the day before had been enough, Stiles's smell at the almost contact had been enough, the images his minds provided him with since then are enough!

Trying to avoid the awkward locker room situation Isaac runs a few extra rounds until he is sure that everyone should be gone, Scott already said that he would leave with Kira.

Unfortunately like always Stiles doesn't do the expected, no he seems to have been waiting up for Isaac, freshly showered but still smelling wrong. Isaac frowns and moves closer to the other boy sitting on the bench in front of his locker. He growls slightly when he realizes that Stiles smells a bit like Ethan again.

Stiles looking up from the book he was reading, "Thought you might want a ride."

Oh fuck him, why does he have to be so nice? Isaac should have never stopped being horrible to him.

Isaac, "Don't worry wouldn't want you to wait up. I really need a shower."

And with that he just strips, to emphasize his point not to get back for some earlier half nakedness.

Stiles stares at him for a moment and can't keep his tongue from licking his lips again before he averts his gaze and stutters, "No problem, I can wait a bit, have to read this stupid book for English anyway."

With that he waves 'Of Mice and Men' in front of his face.

Isaac just ignores him at least he hopes he appears that way, he has never been so fast at taking a shower or been so willing to take it ice cold. The image of Stiles sitting close by won't stop springing up on him.

Quickly dressed and everything packed he says calmly to the still reading Stiles, "Ready?"

Stiles jerks up, "Yes, sure, let's hit the road."

Isaac rolls his eyes, "You are just driving me home we won't take a cross-country tour."

Stiles gets a far away look all of a sudden while walking alongside Isaac to his jeep, "But wouldn't that be great, just driving across the country, stopping wherever we wanted to."

They settle into the jeep and Stiles strokes the steering wheel carefully, "But you wouldn't make it, would you? Poor baby."

Isaac has no idea how to react to this new absurdity, Stiles is just so … Stiles sometimes.

"So did you get a bit of reading done while you were waiting?"

Stiles looks at Isaac from the side while concentrating on the road ahead, "Yeah I am not sure about the book, the relationship of the main characters seems a bit unequal."

Isaac snorts, "A bit? Really? You are at the beginning aren't you? Ah you have no idea that was one of the few books that really made me … doesn't matter."

Stiles, "What did it make you? I didn't know you read it."

Isaac, "What surprised I can read?"

Stiles, "Don't be stupid, I know you can read, you answer my texts often enough, just that you would do it voluntarily surprises me."

Isaac, "I had to read it for class same as you, doesn't mean I didn't enjoy it. It's a good book."

Stiles, "Really? I don't know. I probably am just not much into this farmers thing."

Isaac huffs annoyed, "That is not what the book is about! Keep reading and when you finish it we will talk again."

Stiles smiles suddenly, "Yes that sounds good."

In accord to this awkward day, Isaac doesn't feel the anticipated relief when they arrive at the McCall's house.

Stiles strokes his neck nervously, "Well guess I see you tomorrow then."

Isaac shoots him a look while leaving, "Obviously!"

Before he closes the door he murmurs a low, "Thanks for the ride."

-Stiles's POV-

It is 3 am on a Saturday and in Stiles's opinion the perfect time to begin the weekend with a little snack. Getting out the cookies he hides from his father he sits down on the kitchen counter, naturally his father comes home right then. Sometimes Stiles thinks that he has a hidden sense for unhealthy food being eaten in his house.

His father grins when he sees the cookies and sits down across from him with an expectant expression on his face.

Stiles hands him two cookies, "This is an exception!"

His father happily nibbles on one of them, "Sure, so what keeps you up so late?"

Stiles shrugs, "Nothing in particular."

"So it has nothing to do with the boy that you were dating, but maybe not dating anymore?"

Stiles looks up questioningly when he remembers his dilemma with Ethan just a week earlier, "Ah that, no it's not about that, I told him how I felt and he was fine with it."

His father nods, "Well that is good, so who is this existential crisis about then?"

Stiles, "It's not about… Sometimes life with werewolves is just complicated, I mean they can be grumpy one moment, ignore you the next or act like they really care the third time. I am not sure I can keep up sometimes."

His father looks at him carefully, "That doesn't sound like a problem particular to werewolves."

Stiles shakes his head, "No it's not like that it's just confusing, it is not like I …" Stiles looks down at the empty cookie package in his hands blushing. He doesn't want to say that it is not like he cares for Isaac in that way, he doesn't want to think of Isaac in that column of people. Isaac is his friend, his possibly very good friend. He isn't allowed to think of him as anything more, his thoughts have maybe gone a bit haywire in the last days. But yesterday at school showed him again that the most he can hope for with Isaac is friendship and not getting completely ignored like the day before. And he shouldn't even think of it in terms of hope, maybe he should give this Ethan thing another chance because he can't start crushing on straight people, he hurt enough with his thing with Lydia he won't do that again!

"You know I can see the wheels turning in your head."

Stiles, "Ah it's nothing just stupid werewolf problems."

"I would have gone with teenage problems, I still don't think that the werewolf thing has anything to do with it, and anyway if this problem keeps you up at night it isn't stupid."

Stiles just smiles at his father, he really lucked out in that department and that makes him think of Isaac again, who had such a horrible father, who had no one who really cared for him for way too long, who still walks around the McCall house like he is a guest there.

"And what did you get so sad about now all of a sudden kiddo?"

"It's just that I sometimes forget how lucky I am to have you."

His father hugs him fiercely; when he releases him he says, "It's great that you feel that way, but we both know that you have been through your fair share of horrible stuff, you don't need to feel like you have to be there for everyone else, it is okay to let people take care of you from time to time."

Stiles is opening his mouth to counter his father when he interrupts him, "No, I know you, I know this whole being second in command thing won't make your habit of taking care of everyone but yourself any better so I just want you to remember that it isn't weak but brave to ask for help."

Stiles nods carefully knowing when his father isn't open for discussion and leaves with a last hug to go back to bed. But his father doesn't really understand the position he is in, because he is the weak human in a pack of werewolves and neither Allison nor Lydia are in the same position as him. Both are terrifying in their own way, one of them a supernatural being, the other freaking Katniss Everdeen. He has to ask for help way too often already, they have to safe him from physical harm like every other day, he won't start asking for help because of stupid nightmares or teenage angst, they all have enough on their plate as it is.

Since he spent the whole of Saturday thinking way too much about a certain grumpy pup Stiles decides to do something proactive against his weird feelings for once. He calls Scott and pulls the 'you owe me' card to get him to go with him to Jungle. It wasn't that hard really since Kira has a family thing planned.

Stiles really tries to dress himself a bit better, but after the third pair of uncomfortable jeans he gives up and decides to just go in his normal clothes. If who-ever he meets doesn't like him that way then he isn't worth the effort anyway, that is what he will continue telling himself.

The drive to the club is fun, he and Scott didn't spend any alone time together in a while.

Scott, "So when you said Q was hot when we watched Skyfall you really meant he was hot."

Stiles grins, "Well it doesn't seem like I hid my sexual identity crisis very well."

Scott in all earnest now, "You know that you never have to hide anything from me! I don't care who you are attracted to."

Stiles smiles touched at Scott and then mumbles, "I am pretty sure you would care about some people."

Scott frowns, "Who do you mean?"

Stiles shakes his head, "Nah, no one."

Thankfully they arrive at the club at that moment.

It is a bit stuffy in there, and Stiles feels out of place. He isn't as confident as the people here; he would never show his body or dance like that. And it seems as if Scott is exactly what they like not Stiles the scrawny kid with too many layers.

He decides that he has had enough when suddenly a smiling face emerges from the masses and he can't help smiling back. Ethan comes and puts his arm around his shoulders in a friendly manner.

"So how do you like it here, first time isn't it?"

Stiles shakes his head feeling much better now that he at least got the attention of one very good looking male, "Nah not the first time, but the last time we were on the hunt for the Kanima so it wasn't really for fun."

Ethan chuckles, "Yes that is exactly why you would visit a gay club for the first time to get the big bad monster."

Stiles, "Ah and there I thought werewolves were meant to be the big bad monster."

Ethan still grinning, "Well didn't say that your second time isn't like your first."

Stiles bites his lower lip, "I thought… I thought you were still into Danny."

Ethan, "I am not saying that I am completely over him, but I don't need to be to appreciate you, and as I am getting to know you more I am starting to really like you. And my brother might not agree but I think it is really cool that you as a human can hold the position of second in command in a werewolf pack. That says a lot about you."

Stiles, "Thanks but you don't have to be nice to me you know, you are in the pack now, and we are surrounded by good looking guys, you can go and find someone who is more on your scale."

Ethan suddenly stands right in front of Stiles and looks him in the eye, a bit baffled he says, "What do you think I am doing here? I would never flirt with you just to get some kind of favour, I am not an asshole and I am not my brother. I am here right next to you because you intrigue me way more than every other guy in here."

Stiles smiles, this is nice, there is no way he can deny that this attention unfiltered and without mixed signals he gets from Ethan isn't nice.

Scott comes up to him from the side, smiles at Ethan and says, "Well I have now explained to five different guys that I am not interested, one of them looked old enough to be my dad, I think I am ready to go home."

Stiles nods, "Sure, go ahead I'll be right with you."

Scott shoots a look between Ethan and him and leaves.

Stiles, "Thank you, that was really nice of you to say."

Ethan suddenly comes closer and whispers so that Stiles can feel his breath on his lips, "Nice isn't the word I would use."

Stiles looks him straight in the eye carefully controlling his breathing. He really isn't sure if he wants these lips right in front of him to come closer or not.

Ethan moves just an inch closer so that now his lips move slightly against Stiles's when he speaks, "I won't stop flirting with you until you tell me to."

Stiles feels suddenly very hot, hotter than when Ethan kissed him, and he realizes that is because this time he feels like he has options and isn't only guessing what the hell is going on.

With a smile Ethan backs up and says, "Well see you Monday."

Stiles smiles back, "Yes, see you Monday."

Stiles can't help but smile when he is back with Scott in the car.

Scott, "So Ethan again?"

Stiles, "Honestly, I have no clue."

Scott, "He seems okay. Your first male crush could have been someone worse."

Stiles swallows a bit but doesn't feel in the mood to correct his best friend.

Scott, "So do you want to sleep over? Your father has a nightshift hasn't he?"

Stiles wants to open his mouth but closes it before his question can escape his lips, because he is pretty sure Scott would find it weird if he asked if Isaac is there, and naturally Isaac will be there. Anyway it shouldn't matter. But Stiles had a good night, and he somehow feels as if a meeting with Isaac could ruin that again. But it has been way too long since he and Scott spent the whole night together and Stiles knows that Scott wants to discuss this whole Kira thing in all its finer details with him.

"Yeah, okay, sure, why not." Maybe a bit too many affirmations but thankfully Scott doesn't realize such things.

And for the first half hour it isn't weird, because Isaac isn't showing up, they just sit on Scott's bed and Stiles listens to him talk about his 'it's really not like that' crush on Kira.

It reminds him of Scott talking about Allison but it is also weirdly different, Scott doesn't seem to has this romantic over the top idea about love when he talks about Kira, but he seems absolutely smitten none the less even if he doesn't realize it yet.

Scott suddenly says a bit louder, "You can come in Isaac, you know."

Isaac pops his head in cautiously and says, "I don't want to intrude I just heard you talking about Kira for half an hour straight and thought maybe Stiles wanted to talk about something else."

Stiles smiles at Isaac, "Nah it's fine he can go for another hour before I smack him with a pillow."

Scott, "Hey I didn't only talk about Kira it was also about Sushi and this weird green goo they had with it."

Stiles and Isaac say at them same moment, "Wasabi."

Scott waves his hand, "Yes that, anyway, come on Isaac just sit down. And even if I was going on about her, which I wasn't I got talked up by at least eight different guys tonight just so Stiles could flirt with Ethan which he could have done without my help."

Stiles shakes his head a bit at his friend, "You know the number of guys that wanted you grows with every time you tell that story."

Stiles looks over to Isaac and sees that he looks agitated.

Scott, "How about popcorn I think we still have some, I will get us some."

Stiles is sure that he just doesn't want them to tease him about Kira anymore. Scott leaves the room and Stiles is just about to say something about that to Isaac when he sees that the other teen came a lot closer.

"So you and Ethan again?"

Stiles, "Well probably not, but I don't know, he was really nice tonight."

Isaac sniffing the air around him and glaring at his lips, "Doesn't smell like he was only nice."

Stiles touches his lips embarrassed and he doesn't know why he feels the need to explain, "We didn't kiss! He just… well he may have flirted with me a bit."

"And you liked it."

"Yes! Why shouldn't I, I was in a room full of attractive guys with way too few clothes on and my straight best friend got talked up and I didn't. So yes it was great that a hot, nice guy showed me attention and even said that he found me intriguing."

Isaac huffs in annoyance, "You are stupid! And probably blind. And anyway saying you are intriguing what exactly does that mean? You are one of the most annoying, puzzling and simultaneously nice people I have ever met, naturally you are 'intriguing'."

Stiles just stares at him his mouth hanging open a bit. Isaac did not just say that, this evening was meant to clear his feelings up and not stir them in a dangerous direction.