Author's Note: Thank you so much to all the reviewers, as always. I hope you guys will like this chapter ;-)

Also random, but DID YOU GUYS KNOW THAT CRYSTAL REED AND DANIEL SHARMAN ARE DATING? My brain exploded.

Song for the chapter: Rad Bromance by Agrimorfee (? parody of Lady Gaga's Bad Romance lol)

Rad Bromance

Stiles picked up Scott at around quarter-to-four; together, they made their way to the Hale residence, which lay on the outskirts of the forest. When they arrived, the two friends couldn't help but look upon the house with ambivalence. On one hand, its glossy new exterior represented the chance to start over, the chance for Derek and Isaac to build a new life. But on the other, it was nothing more than a bandage. Neither Derek nor Isaac had recovered from the trauma of the fire, and, in that sense, the freshly painted wood seemed like a cover-up rather than a solution.

Scott and Stiles remembered all too well what the home had looked like before its makeover – when they were in elementary school, they used to visit it on Halloween due to the striking resemblance it bore to a haunted house. And maybe it was haunted, still. Its new, unthreatening façade didn't change the fact eight people had died in it.

With these cheerful thoughts in mind, the boys let themselves in. The sound of the TV blaring in the neighboring room vanquished the sense of grimness that had overtaken them.

"Yo, Isaac," Scott called.

"In here!"

Stiles trailed behind his shaggy-haired friend. He wasn't too enthused to be there, to be entirely honest. It wasn't that he didn't like Isaac (Stiles really didn't have anything against anyone, except maybe Jackson), it was just that he didn't like how close he and Scott were becoming. It was a huge adjustment, opening their friendship to other people. They had been each other's best (and oftentimes only friends) friends since they were kids.

"Hey, Stiles," Isaac greeted aloofly.

"Hey. How's it going?"

"Pretty good. I heard you went on a date with Erica last night," he said, getting straight to the point.

"Yeeeeah, I wanted to talk to you about that, actually… I hope that's okay, I mean, I didn't even think – "

"It's fine, dude, don't worry about it," he cut him off. "That stuff is long in the past. If you think you can get her to stick to one guy, by all means, go for it."

Stiles tried to ignore the backhandedness of everything Isaac had just said and replied, "Thanks man, I appreciate it. No hard feelings?"

"No hard feelings," he agreed. "I have to say, though, I always pictured you with that Bell girl."

"Me and Amy?" he sputtered exaggeratedly. "Nah, that's – I mean, we're just friends."

Scott and Isaac shared a furtive look; it didn't escape Stiles' notice.

"Look, I'm serious," he maintained. "She likes Derek," he hissed, using his hand to muffle the noise.

"So I've heard," Isaac replied.

"Speaking of which," Scott added, "Where is he?"

"He's around here somewhere… Hey, Derek! Where are you dude?" he shouted.

"That wasn't really what I had in mind…" Scott laughed.

"What do you want?" he deadpanned from the doorway, looking thoroughly unamused. He had a way of just standing there, looming over everyone like he had zero fucks to give.

"Stiles and Scott are here."

"I can see that," he said, rolling his eyes.

"Are you gonna watch the game with us?"

"Maybe," he allowed.

"How'd your date with Amy go?" Stiles pestered cheekily.

This comment successfully turned his "maybe" into a "hell no"; he turned on his heel and walked away without another word.

"She really likes you, man!" he yelled after him. "Although," he continued, "I can't imagine why."

"Probably because she spends so much time with you," he retorted from the next room over.

"Don't be such a sourpuss! There's no need to be jealous that I'm getting more tail than you are."

Scott and Isaac snickered – the conversation was made significantly more entertaining due to the fact that neither party could see his opponent.

"Please, she was all over me. She would have done anything I wanted."

Ah, now that's interesting, Isaac mused. He was suddenly quite glad that he'd invited Stiles over, as he apparently had an effective way of extracting information from Derek.

"I wouldn't be so sure! She doesn't put out as easily as she seems!"

"You weren't there. She was throwing herself at me."

"I know her better than you do," he contended adamantly.

"I think I know her pretty well." The innuendo in his words was throwback to the days before Kate had ruined him, when he was still just a carefree teenager.

"Nah, I don't believe it."

"Call her over here right now, I'll show you," he fumed. God did Stiles annoy him – he knew just what buttons to push to get him mad. And he had just taken the bait.

"Really?" The hopefulness in his tone was comical. He was pretty sure this wasn't what Amy had had in mind when she asked him to talk to Derek for her, but this was basically how all his and Derek's conversations went. They weren't about to have heart-to-heart or some shit like that; it just wasn't how their relationship worked.

"No, you dumbass," he snapped. He finally walked into the room, partially to face him and partially to make sure that he didn't actually call her.

"Are you gonna call her back or what?" he continued to interrogate.

"That's none of your business, but no."

"Aw, c'mon. Girls are fragile! You gotta let them down easy! At least have the courtesy to do it in person."

"Do what in person? We went on one date, that doesn't constitute anything!" In his annoyance, he completely forgot that Scott and Isaac were privy to the entirety of this conversation. He didn't particularly care, but he wasn't a fan of airing his dirty laundry out in public, either. He cursed Stiles for having the know-how to drag this reaction out of him.

"Come on, Derek," he pressed, "she's a nice girl. She doesn't deserve for you to treat her like shit."

"I'm not treating her like shit," he defended weakly. However, a sharp and unexpected stab of guilt pricked his chest. Yes you are, scolded his subconscious.

"Stiles is right," Scott interjected, "She's a good kid. You should at least give her a shot." He didn't appreciate hearing Derek talk about his friend like she was nothing more than a piece of meat. And he also happened to know that Amy had her heart set on winning Derek over; if he said something nasty to her (which was very foreseeable), he would genuinely hurt her feelings. Plus, he knew Derek wasn't a total bastard. Deep down, he was a good guy. Very deep down.

Like a caged animal, Derek turned to Isaac for assistance. However, he was having none of it. "She's always really sweet," his cousin added with the ghost of a smirk, "I've never heard her say a mean thing about anyone." He knew Derek far better than most people, and he speculated that prolonged contact with someone of the feminine variety might be extraordinarily beneficial for him.

He stared at the three teenaged boys, feeling overwhelmingly outnumbered. "Why do you all care so much?" he spat.

"Because she's our friend," Stiles explained, his arms flailing wildly to emphasize his point. Scott nodded supportively behind him, causing Derek to roll his eyes at the ridiculousness of it all.

"You know," Isaac contemplated aloud, "I think I'm gonna have a house party this weekend. What do you guys think? Nothing too big – I'm thinking us, Allison, Lydia, Erica, Jackson, Danny, and Amy."

"You'd be okay with me and Erica here?" Stiles questioned cautiously.

"Sure. She and I are still good friends. It's no big deal." He didn't sound too enthusiastic, but continued, "What do you think, Derek?"

"Do what you want," he growled, seething. He really couldn't stop him, even if he wanted to. With that, he turned on his heel and stormed away.

"He was not a happy camper," Stiles muttered in amusement.

"No, but I think he needs this. I'm doing it for his own good," Isaac replied.

"You know," he observed, "those are all couples except for you and Danny… You trying to tell us something dude?"

Scott burst out laughing. "Maybe you should invite Matt and Boyd."

"Okay," he agreed, his cheeks tinged pink with embarrassment.

"That's not a great ratio, but hey, it's your call," Stiles said. He knew there wasn't really anyone else they would consider asking to come; he was just trying to subtly rub Isaac's face in the fact that there wouldn't be anyone for him.

oxOxo

Friday came in a flash. Stiles was convinced that Derek was secretly Isaac's bitch, because somehow he convinced him to buy all the booze for the party. In the past, he and Scott had begged Derek on numerous occasions to buy them a measly six-pack, without any luck whatsoever.

Nevertheless, he and Scott helped him with the minimal preparations (i.e. setting up a pong table and hiding anything that was fragile and valuable). Truthfully, there wasn't much damage to be done – between a twenty-something-year-old Derek and a teenage Isaac, the house was almost always in shambles.

The entire time they set up, however, Derek acted as if he wanted to dismember them all with his bare hands. Stiles didn't think he'd every seen him so furious. But it was a silent sort of rage, which made it all the more terrifying. It was the sort of rage that conveyed, "I'm letting you do this because I have no choice, and I despise you for it." An hour or so after they arrived, he took off.

Come nine PM, people started arriving. The first ones to show up were Allison and Amy.

All the guys had to admit, Amy looked beautiful. She'd obviously gone to great lengths to perfect her appearance, and it had paid off. Her hair was curled, her makeup had been applied meticulously, and her outfit was alluring without being skanky. She wore a pair of high-waisted black shorts and a sheer, cream blouse with a tank top underneath. Allison looked pretty as always, too, in a floral romper. But it was clear that she hadn't put as much effort into her ensemble as Amy had (which was understandable, because she didn't need to – she already had Scott wrapped around her finger).

Much to Miss Bell's disappointment, however, Derek was nowhere to be seen when she stepped through the door.

"Hey Isaac, thanks for inviting me," she said. She didn't know him very well, but she was consumed by the hope that they would be on good terms. The way she saw it, if Isaac liked her, Derek might hate her less.

"Of course," he beamed, before resuming his game of pong against Stiles. He was in the lead, with four cups left to Stiles' six. The latter looked very perturbed.

The next two to arrive were Erica and Boyd, and Matt and Danny showed up soon after ("What was going on between those two, anyway?" Amy asked Allison after a couple beers. They took a poll, only to find that no one really knew.).

Erica seemed to not know what to do when she walked in. In school the whole week, she and Stiles had been stealing kisses and Amy thought she might have even seen them holding hands at one point.

It was all very shocking to the student body, given the fact that Stiles hadn't been romantically linked to, well, anyone before. A good chunk of the senior class had been aware of his crush on Lydia, but it was also common knowledge that it had never (and most likely would never) come to fruition.

Amy had to be honest with herself – she hated it. She actually didn't think she had hated anything more than she hated Stiles and Erica as a couple, for the simple reason that their being together left her all alone.

Allison was with Scott (though she was sensitive of Amy's new predicament and tried to spend more time with her), and she had lost Stiles, her rock, her buddy, the one she turned to when everyone else was gone. She didn't have anything against Erica and of course she wanted her friend to be happy, but god damn it'd only been a week and she missed him terribly. She hadn't thought him getting a girlfriend would affect her so much.

Needless to say, she was in the midst of a major mental crisis. In fact, it actually scared her how strongly she felt about the whole situation. You don't know what you've got 'til it's gone, I guess.

She needed a boyfriend, and she needed one pronto. She was about ready to settle for anyone at this point, despite the fact that she was still madly in love with Derek. But was it really Derek she was in love with? Or was it the idea of Derek? Why are you confusing yourself, you dumb bitch, she chided herself. No, it was simple: she'd give Derek another week or so to come around, but after that she had to move on.

Thankfully, when Erica greeted Stiles, she kept the PDA to a minimum. She didn't want to disrespect Isaac, especially not in his own house. Amy was extremely relieved; she didn't think she would have able to stop herself from dry heaving at the sight of the two of them making out.

By eleven, Lydia and Jackson had arrived and everyone had coupled up, leaving Amy with Boyd and Isaac. It was the most random and bizarre trio she had ever been a part of, especially since she didn't think she had ever talked to Boyd before in her entire life. It only further drew attention to the fact that all her friends were leaving her behind.

"Where's Derek?" she asked Isaac, leaning dangerously close to his face.

"He went out earlier, but he should be back by now," he answered kindly. "Do you want me to go get him for you?" Based solely on the tone of his voice at that exact moment, Amy decided that she really liked him. Maybe he could be a replacement Stiles. But no, who was she kidding? No one could ever replace Stiles… But hey, maybe he could replace Derek. No, no one could replace Derek, either. That was just the loneliness talking. Dammit.

"Oh, n-no, that's okay, I mean, he obviously doesn't want to see me… I don't – I don't want to bother him," she stammered shyly.

Isaac's big heart melted a little at the face she made – she looked like a wounded puppy. Right then and there, he decided that he was going to kick Derek's ass if he wasn't nice to this girl.

"No, I'm going to find him," he said resolutely. "Come with me." Without further ado, he grabbed her by the wrist and brought her upstairs. This misleading scene earned a fascinated glance from literally every other person in the house, including the typically-coy Jackson and Lydia.

"That was fast," Lydia muttered dryly.

But the two who looked the most flabbergasted were by far Erica and Stiles. Stiles' mouth hung open, and Erica's expression was completely blank.

Little did they all know, he was actually leading her to Derek's room. He banged loudly against the wood.

Reluctantly, the door creaked open. "What the hell do you want?" Derek demanded, at first only seeing Isaac.

"Here," was all his younger cousin said, thrusting Amy through the crack and inadvertently into Derek's arms. "You guys need to have a chat." And then he disappeared.

Author's Note: Muahaha I know, that was kind of a mean place to end it. But what I REALLY want to know from you guys is WHO DO YOU SHIP? I've heard Amy/Derek, Erica/Stiles, Isaac/Erica, and now even Stiles/Amy.

I just wanna clarify something about Amy seeming kind of "jealous" of Erica - I'm trying to portray something kind of tricky because it's not jealousy exactly. From my experience, whenever one of my guy friends has gotten a girlfriend, there's always some hostility and then I worry like "oh my god do I like this person." Cuz I feel like with guy friends, even though your love for them is platonic, if you're really close it can sometimes be confusing if another girl comes in and pretty much takes them away from you.

So yeah. Let me know what you all thought of Isaac, the Stiles/Derek scene, who you guys ship, and anything else! I love to hear your opinions! Thanks for reading :-)