Hey guys! Sorry for the delay getting this up, wanted to get it out like last week! Minor update: I have switched to working on stuff on a feedback basis, so I can work on other stuff when people aren't really interested in this or my other published stuff. While I'm still sad interest has dropped in this and I'm not getting to interact with you guys like I used to, I'm glad that I'm using my free time to work on things that interest me and that have the potential to interest others if I manage to get them out! That's not to say I'm giving up on this or Like A Beacon For Trouble or anything. I'm just gonna work on these when I see people reviewing and showing interest in the story like a lot of other creators do. Might return to the grind eventually once the fulfillment I used to get writing these stories kicks back up, but I don't know if or when that will happen. For months I felt like I was shouting into the void and wasn't feeling great and I just couldn't keep it up anymore. Thanks for reading. I'll see ya when I see ya!
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OtakuBudd: Hi! Thanks for the review, my dude! 40- The only important question arguably. 41- Dean has ZERO chill.

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"You two do know you're 100% that disgustingly adorable couple everyone rolls their eyes at right?" Stiles jumped as Lydia spoke from the parking spot next to them. Derek hid a laugh under a smile as Lydia turned off the car, Allison already hopping out of the car to come greet them. "It's important to me that you both know that."

"We absolutely know, and we revel in it." Stiles answered rolling his eyes. Derek hugged Allison in greeting, ignoring how acutely aware of how awkward it was and how involuntarily conscious he was of both of their chests, because it felt comfortable and safe, like it always did when he hugged people like himself. Even if she was an Argent. Allison and Stiles then did that thing that's part handshake, part high five, and part hug just for a second, hands still together, as Scott stumbled around the end of the car trying to come greet her as quickly as he could. By the time Scott made it over, Jackson and Lydia were out of the car and greeting the two of them. Lydia kissed Stiles' cheek, and Jackson offered him a friendly fist bump as he did. As Stiles and Lydia exchanged pleasantries, Jackson offered the same kind of handshake-high five Stiles and Allison had done, minus the hug of course, once Derek had reached in to shut the car off, putting his keys and his phone in his pocket.

"Hey, sup." Jackson offered him warmly.

"Not much really. You?" Derek offered in term, not really… Look he didn't hang out with straight guys very often, and he wasn't assuming Jackson was, he just… didn't know that he wasn't and Jackson certainly came off as your Typical Straight Dudebro kind of guy, though a bit more Country Club. Derek was just trying his damnedest to speak a language he didn't know, and he wasn't gonna pretend it wasn't awkward as shit, but Jackson seemed chill about it.

"Oh you know, trying not to shoot myself listening to Boys for the 700th time." Jackson answered seemingly jokingly. Derek tried to discern whether that was a "Hey I'm queer" joke, or a "No Homo" joke.

"Oh, please." Lydia cut in, rolling her eyes. "You love that song, you lying bitch."

"Uh, I liked the first 500 times…." He answered, with a laugh.

"You're already sick of it? Why didn't you tell me?" Lydia said hiding a pout under her poker face. Derek had no idea how she could consider 700 (most likely hyperbolic) times "already".

"Because, babe, if there's one thing I envy about you it's your ability to hold an interest for more than 5 minutes, obsessed or not." Jackson said in an admiring tone, giving Lydia a side hug. Lydia gave a faint hint of a smile but her voice didn't have much inflection.

"Hm… Thank you…." She offered very shortly.

"Hey, you love birds ready to go in or what?" Jackson asked Scott and Allison, still talking amongst themselves right up until Jackson interrupted them.

"Um, yeah…" Scott answered pretty obviously trying to act not annoyed.

"Sweet, let's go then, I'm sweating my ass off out here." Jackson lead Lydia toward the door over at the middle of the long building they were parked at the end of. Allison followed after them with a smile, pulling Scott along with her. Derek took Stiles hand but couldn't really bring himself to pull them anywhere. For a second he realized he didn't feel qualified to lead Stiles anywhere, literally or metaphorically. They stood for a half a second, both contemplating a bit, waiting for the other to make the first move, but after a second they just both decided to go of their own accord. It was awkward for a moment as they moved in tandem, both having intended to lead, but not being particularly surprised the other moved along with them. They'd done this before, on their last date, but they hadn't thought about it then, and it felt odd to be that in sync with each other. But after a step or two it was comfortable again, practically resting against each other as they walked.

"Uh, just so you know, so you don't think she just hates you or something, Lyd's feeling kind of non-verbal today, so if she doesn't talk or emote a lot, it's just that." Stiles informed in a hushed voice to him as they walked. "She's kinda beat from acting normal all day at school, so I told her not to worry about it." OH…. Oh….

"Oh, yeah, of course, no problem. Is she-?" He didn't wanna pry but…. He kind of wanted to pry. Stiles nodded simply.

"Aspergers. Everyone pretty much knows, but she kinda makes it a point of pride to make it… less noticable, ya know?" Stiles offered, Derek assumed wanting to make clear it wasn't a matter of gossip, just common knowledge Lydia was fine with him giving out.

"Yeah, I do… My little sister has ASD, actually." He offered, thinking to himself Cora would probably really like these 5. Stiles seemed to have some kind of epiphany.

"Is your little sister's name Kara or Cara or Korra or something?" Stiles asked suddenly. Derek was a bit surprised Stiles knew that, though he supposed he shouldn't've been. Cora was their age, and it wasn't like Derek kept her too hush hush, he just didn't bring her up too much.

"Yeah, it is. Why? You know each other?" Derek asked, assuming at this point he did.

"We all used to be in occupational therapy together in like second and third grade." Stiles said enthusiastically giving a bit of a nod in confirmation. "We had a lot of kids who needed it, and the school figured it would be good to teach us socialization to do it in small groups instead of one on one or one on two. It was fun. She was really cool. Think we bit each other once though."

"You bit each other?!" Derek couldn't help but laugh. His exclamation got the attention of the others.

"Bit?" Allison asked, already amused that they were amused, smiling.

"Are you guys talking about that girl you bit when we did speech therapy?"

"Bit?" Lydia asked, a bit quieter than she usually was. "You say that as if they didn't get into a fight and bite each other like, every week."

"Rude!" Stiles scolded Lydia, but she just smirked as the rest of them laughed.

"Why am I at all surprised you've always been a complete weirdo?" Jackson asked Stiles.

"Excuse you!" Stiles bawked. "As if you have any right to talk!"

"I'm the pinnacle of normality." Jackson said with a small air of sarcasm, as if he thought it was very obvious he was lying.

"You once threatened to tie me to the spinny thing and spin me until I vomited my intestines for calling you out on definitely not owning a unicorn!" Stiles argued.

"That's completely normal behavior for any 6 year old."

"You also tried to put a toad in my mouth because you said if I did faeries would come and abduct me and keep me as their pet." Scott joined in.

"And you screamed like the little unadventurous baby you are." Jackson insisted obnoxiously, discreetly smiling as everyone laughed at the ongoing nonsense.

"Oh, Shut up…" Scott countered though finally seeming to actually be at least slightly in good fun.

"So, Scott," Stiles said in a suspiciously suggesting tone, earning a confused look from Scott. "What'd'ya think of Allison's shirt?" Derek elbowed Stiles as Allison developed a self conscious blush. Thankfully, Scott smiled immediately, apparently not a complete idiot.

"I love it! It's really really sparkly." Scott said with genuine enthusiasm. Allison responded with a nervous relieved giggle.

"Um, thanks! Stiles helped pick it out, actually... I couldn't decide what would look alright, you know…?" She said, seemingly overjoyed to have reassurance it looked good on her. Scott gave a bit of an happy giggle himself.

"You shouldn't worry too much, you'd look alright in anything… But it is really pretty…" Scott said sappily, with his big puppy dog eyes. Derek swore if Scott said 'almost as pretty as you' he'd kill him on the spot out of mercy. Granted, that was to some effect the line Stiles had used on him when they'd met each other at the store… but Stiles pulled off cringey desperation a bit better than Scott did. As it was Allison was already giddy from the flirting, which Derek was happy for.

"Thanks…" Her voice almost broke with delight. "That's- That's really sweet…" She sighed happily. "Suddenly really glad we didn't change the plans." Derek raised his eyebrows questioningly, giving a quick look to Stiles.

"Was there talk of changing plans we missed?" He asked, mostly meaning he and Scott by 'we'. Stiles could have very well known about this, he figured.

"Uh, my dad was a bit worried about all of us going out with the cougar or whatever running around, so he told us to have you guys come over to hang out, but Lyd's and I didn't wanna put everyone out at the last minute, so…."

"You snuck out?" Stiles asked, shocked, being the last person having any right to judge.

"Didn't you literally do the same thing like two weeks ago?" Allison called him out.

"Um…. That was….. Different." Stiles tried, but then realized abruptly he couldn't say why it was different. "Okay, it's not different, but like….." Stiles just gave a sour expression at Scott, Scott happily translating.

"Your dad is kind of…. absolutely terrifying." Scott said as if he was being perfectly delicate. Allison just rolled her eyes.

"What are you two talking about? My dad is the biggest softy in the world." Allison argued with a laugh. Stiles had a relatable expression that Derek read as 'repressing the urge to point out he tried to shoot me in the head for no discernable reason'.

"I- Ya know, he just has that reserved kind of demeanor that makes me feel like he's gonna murder me and bury my body in the woods when I make him mad, so I honestly- personally- am floored by any description of him implying softness in any way, shape, or form. But hey, that's just me! And maybe also kinda Scott." Stiles explained trying to be diplomatic.

"Oh, definitely also kinda Scott, but I might be bias, because he probably does in fact want to kill me and bury my body in the woods." Scott added. Allison seemed amusedly shocked. Derek just tried to stay out of it.

"What on earth makes my dad seem like the type to murder people and bury them in the woods?" Allison asked, seeming absolutely amused. Lydia and Jackson seemed to have gotten their shoes up easier than everyone else, as they were both gone, probably doing whatever next step they could manage without the rest of them. Probably picking a lane, or balls, or getting food. Honestly Derek was just distracting himself in looking up for them to get away from the conversation at hand.

"Well…" Scott said carefully, apparently realizing how much he was on thin ice.

"Let's see." Stiles said, taking the pressure off Scott. "Rich, white guy. Just the most guns. To old to f-"

"Stiles." Scott hissed, pushing Stiles as he tried get off his second shoe. Derek kept Stiles from stumbling too much.

"What!" Stiles snickered. "It's true." Derek figured it was safe enough to involve himself, as long as he didn't reference Chris, since he wasn't supposed to know him. If he didn't say something soon, his silence would probably be noticed and interpreted as discomfort.

"Can confirm, not true. Young rich white guys with guns are just as scary, if not more so." Allison at least laughed. He was glad the conversation wasn't making her feel uncomfortable or attacked.

"Well, you guys are going to absolutely love him once you get to know him. He really is super nice…" Allison smiled at Stiles. "When he's not getting soaked by his own sprinkler system." Stiles sighed dramatically at the reminder, probably trying to attract attention away from Derek, which he greatly appreciated, not sure whether his discomfort was noticeable or not.

"You would not believe how pissed he was."

"Honestly, he was probably less mad than he seemed. His bark is worse than his temper. And like I said, I'm sure he knows you might've saved his life."

"His life?" Derek asked, trying to seem confused or at least curious.

"Rabid mountain lion? Probably gonna be scared off more by water shooting at it from every direction than a gunshot." Allison explained. "It was his favorite pair of boots though, and they still haven't dried out."

"I'll have to send him a gift basket." Stiles shrugged, rubbing the back of his head with a half hearted chuckle as Jackson came back, caring a bunch of bowling shoes.

"Hey slowpokes." He greeted, with a bit of a smile. "We're on aisle 10. Lyds guessed your shoe sizes. You can exchange 'em at the counter if they aren't right."

"Did you pay for us all, you jackass?" Stiles asked in an affectionate manner.

"I wasn't about to wait for you all so deal with it." Jackson answered, passing each of them a pair.

"Thanks, man." Scott offered as a subtle olive branch.

"That's another gift basket." Allison joked, choosing a middle ground between Stiles sarcastic aggression and Scott's polite amiableness. Derek just gave a smile and a nod, picking up that Jackson was getting uncomfortable with the spotlight.

"It's no problem." He assured. "Hurry up with picking out your balls though. Lyds wants your bowling names pronto."

"Bowling names?" Scott asked, obviously confused.

"Yes, McCall, bowling names. Pick carefully, they are legally binding, of course." Jackson said after rolling his eyes.

"Legally…. Binding?" Scott asked looking to the three of them, not getting that Jackson was fucking with him.

"He's joking." Allison said dismissively, shaking her head.

"Yeah, it's just fun names to put on the score sheet or screen." Stiles assured. "They do get put on your driver's licence though, so…" Derek couldn't help but breathe a snicker. Stiles gave his hand a bit of a squeeze in return.

"No they don't…" Allison laughed as she noticed Scott even more confused. At this he glared at Stiles. He probably wanted to push or whack Stiles for messing with him, but too quickly was Allison pulling him away. "Come on, let's go find some balls." That had Jackson snickering, before nodding his own farewell.

"See you guys out there." He said, giving a small salute and sauntering off. Derek picked up his shoes and put them in one of the little lockers the bowling alley had in their lobby/non bowling area, as Stiles did the same. He was going to speak, let Stiles know he was going to hit the concessions counter, but Stiles beat him to it.

"Hey, I just wanted to say again, thanks for coming and doing all this. I can't tell you enough how much of a relief it is. Especially after today." Stiles struggled to get out how he felt, seeming uncomfortable. Derek assumed either from going from jovial and joking to serious, or just to being emotionally vulnerable in such a public place. Stiles seemed like a very guarded person. It made Derek happy to know Stiles felt he could trust him with that vulnerability, and he appreciated how hard that probably was, being much the same way. There was of course a lot the two of them hadn't discussed, Derek assumed just as much on Stiles' side of things as his. But… Derek at least felt like he could tell Stiles those things,eventually. He just hadn't gotten around to it. And he really hoped Stiles felt the same. If he didn't yet, then Derek's goal was to change that.

"It's fine, babe." He tried to say that as non-awkward as possible. As not used to pet names as Derek was, he could tell Stiles liked them. "It's good to be out like this. Just spending time with you would absolutely be worth it, but Lydia, Jackson… Allison even. They seem like really good, fun people. I'm glad you've got them as friends." Stiles gave a pensive look, but Derek took the chance to kiss his forehead. It pulled Stiles out of his head enough to at least get a smile and Derek smiled in return. "Come on…"