Stiles opened his bedroom door to find Derek sitting on his bed. Just what he needed right now...
"You don't look happy to see me," Derek observed
"Yeah well I'm not too happy period right now," Stiles huffed.
The teen sat down on his bed next to the alpha, not really saying anything. Derek could feel the emotions coming off of Stiles in waves.
"What happened?" he asked.
"Me and Scott just had the fight of the century. Its just, he never even talks to me anymore. When it was he and Allison it was all about her. Now... I'm not sure what his problem is."
Derek definitely didn't want to talk about Scott right now, but he didn't want to make Stiles anymore upset than he obviously was either.
"We fought about you actually," Stiles said, surprising him a little.
"About me?" Derek asked, looking confused.
"Yeah. He thinks you've gotten inside my head. Can you believe that? He made you out to be like this... manipulative person... "
Derek thought about his motives for giving the bite to the desperate teens he'd made his betas.
"Maybe I am," he said quietly, surprising Stiles.
"What do you mean Derek?"
The alpha frowned, not sure he wanted to open up too much. He'd actually come here to discuss the future of the pack. Stiles didn't press him any further on the subject, and they sat in silence for awhile. Derek looked ahead with a look somewhere between bored and angry. That was actually pretty normal for him.
"Look about the pack," he said suddenly. "I want you to know that I meant what I said to Xaiu. I'll give you the bite, but only if you want it. Its your decision."
See? This was exactly what Stiles meant. At least Derek was direct, and there was no emotional plays involved. Maybe that was because the Sourwolf rarely showed emotion, much less acknowledged it, but still...
"I appreciate that," Stiles told him with a small smile. "See this is where Scott is so wrong about you. I don't know why he doesn't trust you."
Derek quirked an eyebrow at him suddenly, his look skeptical.
"You haven't exactly always trusted me either," he pointed out. "Has that changed?"
Stiles seemed to be thinking about it.
"Yeah," he said, smiling at Derek. "I actually do."
The alpha felt a strange rush at the boy's words, but didn't acknowledge it any further. Trust was a big thing for him. Always had been in his family.
"I trust you too," he found himself saying.
That was weird for him. He hadn't always trusted Stiles either. Given he and his history with the boy's father he'd started out viewing him as a mortal enemy. He knew now that was silly. Stiles was nothing like Sheriff Stilinski, not in the ways that mattered.
"I have a question," Stiles said suddenly. "Why did you look at me like that earlier? When Scott wanted to give me the bite. I might have said yes, but you gave me this look, and I just couldn't."
Derek thought back to what he'd been feeling at the time. He hadn't wanted to lose Stiles to Scott. Dare he tell the boy that?
"I just wanted you to be sure you were ready," Derek covered, keeping his tone even. "I didn't think you were. I thought you'd be making a mistake. For what its worth though Stiles... I do consider you a friend. I like having you around."
Okay... this was definitely a Derek that Stiles had never seen. As though sensing his skepticism Derek went on.
"No seriously Stiles," he said sincerely. "I do consider you a friend. I... I'm not sure what I'd feel if suddenly... "
If suddenly what? Stiles could piece two and two together. If suddenly he went over to Scott and Derek lost him.
"Don't force yourself Derek," he told him gently. "I understand."
"You do?"
"Yeah," Stiles grinned. "I can promise you that no matter what happens I'd always want to be your friend. I mean we're like the most unlikely team ever. Sourwolf and his nerdy sidekick... "
That earned him a little smile from Derek, and holy gods, that might be the first time the alpha had actually ever smiled at Stiles. A sudden buzzing in his pocket broke that happy thought. Stiles took out his phone and looked at the text.
Dude I'm sorry. Didn't mean what I said. Call me later- your friend S
Stiles felt a rush of emotions at the text. He decided to push that aside for now and return to Derek, but the alpha knew when something was up.
"Well I think we're done here," he said, standing up. "I'm sure you have things to do. Thanks Stiles... for being a friend."
Derek eyed him a long moment, and Stiles smiled at him. How surprising that after over a year of a rocky relationship he could actually find it in himself to feel like the alpha's friend. The Sourwolf gave him a wave, a strange expression on his face as he turned toward the window. He jumped and was gone in a flash. Now Stiles needed to decide if he was ready to patch things up with Scott or not.