Author's Note: THANK YOU REVIEWERS I LOVE YOU.

Song for the chapter: Hi Friend by Deadmau5

Hi Friend

When Stiles got back to his house, the first thing he did was call Scott.

"Yo, what's up?" came his friend's response.

"You'll never believe what just happened to me."

"What? Oh yeah, you had that date with Erica, right? How did it go?"

"Dude, I just spent the past half hour hooking up with her in my Jeep. I know it's a piece of shit, but it suddenly just became my all-time favorite thing on the face of the earth."

"Ha-ha, good one, bro. I'm glad to hear about someone other than Lydia for once. So are you guys, like, on the path to dating?"

Stiles paused, unsure. "I think so. I like her, man. And she's hot."

"Not my type," he replied (because of course he only had eyes for Allison), "but I see the appeal. Just be careful… I don't mean to sound like a dick, but it kind of seems like she gets around. No offense."

"… I think she's just been kind of overwhelmed by all the sudden attention, you know? Plus, I'm not exactly a delicate flower offering my heart to her on a silver platter."

There was more laughter on the other line. "So you think you can tie her down?"

"I mean, how could she resist my hyperactive charm? She'd have to be crazy."

"Yeah, let's just hope she's only one type of crazy, if you know what I mean."

"From the sneak peek I got tonight, I'm gonna have to say that she probably is."

"Ha sweet! Well, I'm happy it went well. I gotta go though, my mom is freaking out at me for talking on the phone because she's trying to sleep. I'll talk to you later? We still on for tomorrow?"

"Yeah, sounds good. Isaac's at four, right?"

"Yup."

"Okay, I'll talk to you later, then. Bye, dude."

oxOxo

"You're back late," Isaac commented from the sofa as Derek stepped into the house. He sounded a bit like an overprotective mother who had stayed up all night waiting for him to return home. In reality, though, he'd just been watching The Dark Knight.

Derek gave a grunt of acknowledgement, but offered no explanation.

So, Isaac pressed, "Where were you?"

"Out."

"Out where?"

"What does it matter? Go back to whatever you were doing, it wasn't anything interesting."

"Au contraire, the fact that you're avoiding telling me is exactly what makes it interesting. Plus, I already knew you were out with Amy Bell."

"What? How?"

"Amy told Stiles, Stiles told Scott, and Scott told me."

"Why are you talking about me with your friends?"

Isaac shrugged. "It just came up when we were talking about Stiles going out with Erica tonight. And you are my br-cousin."

They both noticed the slip, but neither addressed it. Isaac's older brother, Camden, would have been exactly Derek's age if he hadn't died in combat. Isaac had accidentally called him Camden on numerous occasions, but it didn't bother him at all. In fact, he was kind of flattered (he would never admit it) that Isaac saw him as a brother-figure instead of just a cousin. He cared about Isaac more than he would ever let on, especially since all they had was each other.

"Erica? Your ex? With Stiles?" he questioned. His gaze softened, but his tone became protective. He didn't like the idea that Stiles was doing something that could potentially offend Isaac. Not to mention, he was beginning to get really weirded out. All sorts of people from different parts of his life were colliding. Beacon Hills wasn't that small…

"Yeah."

This was a bit confusing for Derek, too. Stiles was probably the most loyal person he knew. Although, he had also noticed that he and Isaac were involved in a bizarre little competition over Scott, but he still couldn't imagine Stiles abandoning the bro-code.

"Do you care?" he asked finally. Despite the fact that he was Stiles' friend, his allegiances ultimately lay with Isaac.

"No, not really. If I cared about every guy she dated, I'd be a mess right now. She's kinda gone off the deep end. They can do what they want, I really don't care. He and Scott are coming over tomorrow to watch the game, though, so hopefully it won't be awkward."

"I see." He didn't really know Erica, but from what Isaac had told him before she had become a bit of a slut after breaking up with him.

"Yeah. But how'd your date go?" he asked with a smirk. Isaac asserted his little brother status through periodic teasing, so Derek wasn't eager to give him anything to fuel the fire.

"It wasn't a date," he stated gruffly.

The younger boy laughed. "It wasn't? Then what was it, a cup of coffee between friends? C'mon, Derek, don't insult my intelligence."

"It was nothing. She was bothering me and the only way I could shut her up was by taking her out. It's not going to happen again."

"I could think of a few ways to shut her up…" he muttered.

Derek looked at him, his scruffy eyebrows raised and a smirk playing at his lips.

"What? You have to admit, she's hot," Isaac explained defensively.

"If you want her, she's all yours," he said before climbing upstairs.

Isaac watched him go with great interest. Frankly, he was intrigued by the whole situation; it wasn't often that Derek went on dates. In fact, he couldn't think of the last time he'd been on one (maybe he'd gone out without his knowledge, but still).

Sure, he had brought girls home for casual sex before. That sort of thing didn't happen too often, but it certainly did happen – that, he was positive of, seeing as he slept in the room next door. But god knows, despite the fact that he was now scarred for life and probably needed a shitload of therapy, he never complained – not once.

Because Derek needed to let go once in a while. It wasn't healthy for someone so young to harbor so much resentment – so much hatred and anger. There was part of him that had aged beyond his years after the fire. It was like he thought he had to assume the role of a patriarch and he didn't. Isaac didn't want him to be anything other than what he was. He didn't need a father, and he didn't really even need a brother. He just needed a friend, and Derek was so much more than that already.

oxOxo

Amy awoke late Sunday morning with her head swimming with thoughts of Derek. I can't believe I did that. She'd taken a risk – a big risk. Her decision to kiss him could have been either very good or very bad. She didn't know which one it was, yet, and it was killing her. Though Sundays were typically reserved for catching up on schoolwork, she couldn't deny herself the time to debrief Allison and… well, and Stiles. Because although she knew he hated it, she treated him like one of her girl-friends. He was pretty much Allison's substitute and, since Allison was often preoccupied with her own boy-problems, Stiles stepped in quite frequently ("stepped in" perhaps isn't the best choice of words – we wouldn't want to create the illusion that he had any choice in the matter).

She merrily skipped downstairs to see the rest of her family sitting at the kitchen table.

"Hello, everyone!" she said happily.

"Wow, someone's in a good mood," her mother remarked in surprise. She knew all too well that Amy wasn't usually chipper so soon after waking up.

Ian knew this, too, and watched her like a hawk, his eyes narrowed to slits. But he didn't say anything. There were several reasons why he took such an interest in his sister's personal life: the first was due to the natural curiosity of a younger sibling. The second, however, was a bit more complex. Amy's comings and goings presented a bit of a challenge for him to decipher. And since she perpetually kept them all in the dark either through lies or the omitting of information, he'd taken it upon himself to unravel the mysteries merely through observation. It was a bit like solving a puzzle. This newfound happiness, he concluded, did not stem from her night out with her friends. Something different had transpired, something very different.

"I'm going over to Allison's for a bit," she told them.

"What about your homework," her father protested.

"I don't have that much, and I'll be back soon, I promise!"

"You were just with her all night," her mother reasoned, "Why do you need to see her again?"

"Look, it's just some school stuff. I'll be back soon, okay?"

Her mother shook her head in exasperation, but didn't stop her.

She knocked on Allison's front door, only to be faced with Chris Argent.

"Hi Mr. Argent," she said, "can I talk to Allison for a sec?"

He looked a smidgen wary, but let her in nevertheless. "Allison!" he called from the bottom of the stairs, "Amy's here!"

The other brunette emerged from her bedroom. From over the railing, she called, "You can come up!"

As soon as Amy was in the room and the door was shut, Allison sat cross-legged on her bed and questioned, "So, how was it?"

Amy broke into a sheepish grin. "It was okay. Actually, I don't know. It could have either been good or bad."

"What do you mean?"

"Okay, so, we went to a drive-in movie, right? And it was fine. A little awkward, but not too bad. And then afterwards we went to get a bite to eat. And it was all fine, not really very eventful. I mean, I always knew he was kind of dry, but god he is not very talkative. He didn't make any effort at all and he seemed kind of bored, but at least he wasn't hostile, you know? He's been hostile to me before… But anyway, at the end of the night, I was like, 'well damn you didn't really make any impression at all.' So I did something. Kind of stupid, maybe? But it definitely made an impression."

Allison was now sufficiently concerned. "Oh god, what did you do?"

"I kissed him. No, you know what, not even kissed. Like, mouth-raped him…"

Allison buried her face in her hands in dismay. "Amy, you didn't."

"Yeah, I did…"

"Oh my god… What did he do?" She had to admit, the story – though it was catastrophic – was very entertaining.

"Well, he didn't really give him time to react. I kind of left before he could say anything."

"So that's it? That's the last time you saw him-slash-heard anything from him?"

"Yeah."

"I can't believe you would do that."

"Yeah, me either. But hey, everyone has to take some chances once in awhile, am I right? A little spontaneity does a person some good!"

"You sound like Stiles."

"Everyone's been saying that, lately. Maybe he's rubbing off on me."

"Maybe that's because you've been spending so much time with him," Allison teased, waggling her well-groomed eyebrows.

"God, not this again. Everyone, all the time. We're not into each other, I promise. In case it wasn't clear, my focus is on Derek."

"Yeah, I was just kidding. You've made that pretty clear… I wonder how Stiles' date with Erica went."

"Me too. Should we call him?"

Allison chuckled at the earnestness of Amy's tone. "I doubt he'll want to have girl-talk with us, Amy. Don't take this the wrong way, but I think you kind of emasculate him sometimes."

Amy scoffed. "Are you kidding me? He doesn't care! We're, like, totally bros."

Again, Allison laughed. "Yeeeah I don't think he sees it that way."

"Our friendship is very unique," she defended lamely.

"Whatever you say, Ames."

"Well, I'm gonna go talk to him. Plus, I want to hear what he has to say about the Derek incident. I'll update you later."

"Kay. Talk to you soon."

oxOxo

When Amy reached Stiles' house, Mr. Stilinski greeted her, "Amy, you might as well just move in."

She gave him her best smile and said, "I'm not here that often."

"I should just adopt you," he continued, "Or can I expect a happy announcement from you and my son sometime soon?"

"I wouldn't count on it," she replied dryly, perturbed by the constant insinuations that she and Stiles should be a couple. "Is Stiles in his room?"

"Yeah, go on up. He's been up there all morning, though, so he might be a little… loopy. You know how he gets when he's alone for a long time," he sighed. Amy didn't know how she felt about Stiles' dad talking to her in such a way. It was almost too… fond. Like he thought she knew his son really well, even though they'd only been friends for a matter of months.

But indeed, if Mr. Stilinski was alluding to Stiles' ADHD acting up, then she knew all too well the state her friend was likely in.

"Thanks for the heads up, Mr. S," she said on her way up the stairs.

"Stiles?" she called, knocking on the doorframe.

"Amy?"

"Yeah, can I come in?"

"Yeah. Yeah, sure."

She stepped into his bedroom to see, much to her shock, Stiles doing homework. Naturally, she was appalled. "Are you working?"

"Yeah, don't sound so surprised," he bristled. It was a well-known fact that Stiles was very smart – maybe even brilliant – but it was exceedingly rare to actually witness him concentrating on school. His natural intelligence was sometimes undermined by his inability to focus.

"This is just a rare sight, is all."

"Believe it or not, I'm using it as a distraction."

Amy sat at the foot of his bed, now genuinely curious. "To distract yourself from what?"

"…Erica…"

"Oh no, it didn't go well?"

"No… It went amazing. Like, better than I would have ever expected."

The girl willed her face not to betray her surprise and envy. "Details?"

"I'm not one to kiss and tell," he joked, "But let's just say that I think my days of celibacy are coming to a rapid close – after all these years in the desert, I've finally found my oasis."

"You two…?"

"Not exactly, but it wasn't nothing, either..."

Amy made a face because, as intrusive as she was, she didn't exactly want all the gory details. "Well, congrats. So what's the next step, do you think?"

"She asked me to call her…"

"Have you?"

"No, not yet. I want to – like, really want to. I've been thinking about it all day, hence the Punnett squares. I was gonna do it later 'cause I don't want to seem too desperate."

"I guess that's probably a good idea," she allowed. "What are you gonna say?"

"I dunno. I was thinking of just asking her out again for Friday?"

"That sounds fine…"

"Yeah. So how'd your date go?"

"Either really well or really awful."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I – uh – I kind of surprised him, I think."

"Oh god, in what way?" Stiles' tone sounded remarkably similar to Allison's, Amy noticed. It was odd, because the two of them were usually polar opposites. Apparently fear was a universal reaction to her behavior.

"I kissed him," she said, "Surprise kissed him."

"God, Amy. What'd he do?"

"I didn't really give him time to respond… I chickened out."

He laughed loudly at the idea of the whole thing. He could easily picture Derek giving his best poker-face after having Amy shove her tongue down his throat. He almost wished he'd been there to see the aftermath. "Have you heard anything from him?"

She chewed her lower lip. "No," she answered finally. "I know that's probably bad, but it's Derek, right? He's not really the most… eager of people… Maybe I'll hear something by the end of the week…" she rambled. Stiles was easily able to wade through this hopeful façade and see that Amy was petrified she'd screwed everything up.

"I'll tell you what," he answered, feeling generous. "I'm going over to Isaac's with Scott tonight to chill and watch the game. I'll see if I can talk to either him or Derek about it. Isaac and I aren't exactly tight, but Scott wants us to be friends… Although, now that I think about it, he probably totally hates my guts for going out with Erica… Shit, I didn't even think of that… Well, if he doesn't threaten to murder me, I'll see if I can get him to talk to Derek about it."

Amy jumped from her seat and threw her arms around Stiles in a joyous embrace. "Ohmygod ohmygod really? Thank you so much, Stiles, thank you so much!"

"Jesus, you're suffocating me," he wheezed dramatically.

She let go abruptly. "Sorry," she managed in an obvious attempt to restrain herself. "But oh my god thank you!" Aaaand she was hugging him again. Just peachy… Stiles complained internally. There was only one girl he wanted touching him at the moment, and it certainly wasn't Amy.

"Yeah, yeah, relax. I said I'd talk to him. I'm not a miracle worker," he said with a smirk, echoing Amy's earlier comment about Lydia.

She gave him a sly grin. "If you can find a way to get us alone together a couple more times, I promise you I'll be able to take care of the rest."

Author's Note: So, I know I can't expect this to get as much feedback as Fast Times (because frankly it's not as exciting), but I'd really love to hear what you guys think of the character dynamics. This chapter was mainly just to establish how all the friendships work.

My most important question is what you guys think of the Derek/Isaac relationship. I don't really have a great handle on Isaac's character and I'm a bit wary of writing him because I'm way more comfortable with the others (mainly Stiles and Derek, they are my faves), but I know he's popular and an important character (plus I think he's adorbs).

If you're hoping for more Amy/Derek, just be patient! I have a ton of (what I think are) pretty good Deramy scenes just waiting to be published, but now isn't quite the time! Also, I'd really like to know what you want the Stiles/Isaac relationship to be like. As I mentioned in the chapter, I feel like there's gonna be some competition over Scott's attention... Please let me know, guys! It really helps to hear what you think!