Chapter 5

That extra day off from school wasn't a long time, but it felt like it for Stiles. Like being in a dream and not just because of all the sleeping he was doing, but because he was replaying every minute he had spent with Derek Hale on his own and in his dad's company. It all was so surreal that sometimes he doubted it wasn't just that. A vivid dream. The result of being hit in the face hard by a basketball.

That night he did wake up late and was just lying there with one hand down in his sleeping pants while replaying the half-hug and smiles and Derek's unique scent which seemed to have embedded into his nose and imagined all kinds of hot scenarios while stroking himself to a much needed release. He didn't even feel guilty about it while he cleaned himself up with some wet wipes.

Then as he checked his phone, a pleasant surprise awaited him. A friend request from the boy himself. He had sent it probably while Stiles was knocked out by sleep. Something which was completely forgotten about as he spent quite some time thoroughly checking Derek's account out once he accepted the request with a wildly beating heart. (And the horny teen might have touched himself a second time while staring at some practice pictures of the Hale.)

All that only made going back to school so much more embarrassing. Because what if he bumped into Derek and his body would react way too eager?

"Ehh..." Stiles grumbled to himself as he adjusted his backpack on his shoulder.

"What?" Scott, loyal good Scotty asked, looking at him all worried and ready to catch him if Stiles decided to faint or something.

"Not really in the mood for the whole school thing..."

"Why's that?"

"Hey, Stilinski! Nice shiner! You should get balls more often in your face. It actually makes you look better..." some idiot cackled with his friends while passing them by.

"Haha, nice one, Mark. I'll consider it!" he beamed at the guys, but his forced smile melted off his face as he glimpsed at Scott. "You were asking?"

"Oh come on, you know they are dumb jerks."

"I know. It doesn't mean I'm looking forward to such comments for days," he shrugged. "Anyways, thanks for bringing me homework yesterday..." he rather changed the topic as they got swallowed up in the building.

He was just hoping to survive the day and try not to feel too anxious about not knowing if he was going to see Derek or not. If he was going to ignore him or not.

For Derek it had been business as usual, the lone jerk off sessions at night, the same stuff at school. Though a day without ogling Stilinski felt a little empty and he was worried that maybe the ball had done some bad damage. But the day after the one of complete absence, Stilinski was back, still looking like he had been in a bad fight, but at least not as pale anymore. And he had accepted the friend request, that meant something. It also meant Derek could stalk his Facebook and keep up with what he was doing.

Since they were in different years, they didn't have the same classes, so the morning flew by without more appearances from Stiles, not until lunch break. With a tray full of food, Derek didn't go to his usual table, his friends trailing behind him a little confused.

"Where are we going, man?"

Derek threw him a look at that question, bee-lining for where Stiles was with Scott, the rest of the table conveniently empty. The Hale was quick to sit down next to the teen while the team sat down without too much grumbling. Which of course, meant that some of the other popular kids followed, like Lydia Martin and her lapdog Jackson.

"Your face looks spectacular." Derek's greeting wasn't the standard hey. Nope, he studied the bruised face as he made sure his tray had the fries on the side for the human to grab. "How is the head?"

"Unfortunately still attached," Jackson had to say loud as he bit into his apple, Derek rolling his eyes.

"We say that about yours every day, so much for wishful thinking, huh." Hoots of amusement and mutters of a burn echoed across the table, most boys falling into their usual conversations among themselves, ignoring the way the two younger boys were looking a little lost and wide-eyed at this clear change of nerd status.

Needless to say, Stiles and Scott were quite speechless for a long minute as they were trying to process that change and the situation they found themselves in just because Derek Hale had decided to sit next to the T-shirt and plaid shirt wearing spazz of a teen.

"What's happening?" Scott mouthed to him from opposite and Stiles shrugged, indicating he had no clue.

Well, he kinda had. Derek was living up to his promise and it seemed Stiles' fears of being ignored once back in school proved to be groundless after all. He also noticed how Derek kinda... 'protected' him from the snarky comments with shooting one right back at the spoiled rich kid. For a while – when Stiles still had his epic crush on Lydia – he could never understand what she saw in someone like Jackson. But since then he had accepted the fact that they were together and that nothing will ever happen between him and the most popular girl in school. Not that he thought that anything aside being civil and kinda friends would happen with the most popular boy in school either. But that was much more than he ever thought was possible. He just had to get hit by a basketball in the face, it seemed.

Feeling all warm and fuzzy inside from Derek's snark at Jackson, Stiles finally relaxed a bit, although he was still a bit nervous about most of the popular kids now sitting at their table. Glimpsing at Scott, he saw him staring at Allison Argent who was sitting opposite Lydia and Jackson. Scott has been having a crush on her ever since she and her parents moved back to town but was too shy to ask her out. Maybe... just maybe, thanks to Stiles' injury and its consequences, his friend will finally have his shot.

Satisfied with that, Stiles finally looked at Derek and smoothly stole a fry from the older boy's plate to pop it into his mouth. "Headache is finally gone along with the throbbing of my nose. It doesn't hurt anymore, is just sensitive and looks much worse than it really is. If I was in a school where no one knew me, they'd think I'm badass for getting into a fight, but here unfortunately everyone knows the truth and likes to tease about it. Which I expected so it's cool," he said. He meant the several 'funny' remarks that were thrown at Stiles during the day.

But somehow now, sitting so close to Derek that he could feel the heat of his body and that unique scent again, he so didn't care. Especially since the other boy allowed Stiles to steal from his fries, which were his favorite along with the chicken nuggets in the cafeteria.

"My dad didn't give you too much grief when he took you home, did he?"

"Fights are dumb anyways." Needed, sure, but Derek didn't think they were badass, especially if it had been a bully picking on somebody. However it was pretty satisfying to give some of the assholes a beat down. He wouldn't mind doing that if it wouldn't get him in trouble. Getting the ball in the face was an accident and whatever idiots decided to make remarks over it... it showed their intelligence, or the lack there of. He dug into his lasagna, which looked like something a dog had thrown up but it was actually not bad taste-wise.

The fries hadn't been for him, so as some of them disappeared by not so clever fingers, he didn't mention they were there for Stiles in the first place. Lydia did notice it, her look said as much while Derek narrowed his eyes at her, daring her to say something bad. She didn't. Instead she smiled and focused on the discussion Jackson had with Danny about what to do in the weekend. Stupid Lacrosse players.

"Nope, it was actually nice. He told some work stories he probably breaks out often." War stories, and they weren't the hero kind but more about the dumbasses the sheriff encountered while on the job and their antics. They were amusing, even to a teen who wasn't exactly a fan of cops in general since they were a danger to werewolves. "Your dad's cool, I like him. And he doesn't mind us being friends."

Unlike his parents who weren't as amused to hear Derek was making moves on his crush, seeing as Stiles was a sheriff's kid and therefor a little more dangerous than just a simple human. They did tell him to be very careful, as if he didn't know that. All his life he was being told to be careful, he knew how it worked by now.

"Hey Hale, party at my place this weekend. Bring the boyfriend," Danny called out, the assumption made about Stiles unassuming, not to tease because Danny was out of the closet and Derek's age. The one year did make them a little more adult. Little. Derek grinned, knowing Stiles was going to be gaping, since the rest of the table sure was. He calmly chewed up the bite in his mouth.

"We'll be there. Right, Stiles?" Yeah, maybe he was pushing it.

Although there was no actual gaping happening from Stiles to that innocent remark, a lot of coloring did, making his face even more colorful than it already was. And if this reaction didn't give away his secret feelings for Derek, then he didn't know what would. God, he hated when such intense blushing and all over the place heartbeats happened without his permission.

He caught Scott's wide eyes from across the table for a moment and swallowed hard. At least he didn't choke on a fry or something else from his own plate. He wanted to correct Danny, but at the same time didn't and it seemed Derek got to the same conclusion too, because he rolled with it... Did that mean something? Or was Stiles just hopelessly hopeful?

"Err... sure, I guess? Can Scott come too?" he asked Danny, trying to avoid looking at Derek directly for a moment longer as he did so instead with Danny.

The muscular boy shrugged and smiled kindly. "Sure. The more, the merrier."

Stiles could practically feel Scott's happiness skyrocket. "Thanks, dude," his puppy-eyed friend said to Danny and Stiles caught a quick glimpse of Allison. Okay, good, he was still the best friend Scott could have. Satisfied with that, the fidgeting teen finally did a glimpse of his own to Derek.

"Of course dad doesn't mind us being... friends," Stiles returned to the previous topic as an attempt to distract himself from his wildly beating heart (because hello, he was going to a party with Derek Hale this weekend!). And he loved the sound of 'friends', but loved 'boyfriends' even more. Not that it was going to be the case, but it was a nice fantasy. "You're cool and helped his only kid. He sees you owning up for what had happened to my nose and likes you for having future plans. Plus there's the fact that he respects your family and what the Hales do for the community," he babbled then popped a chicken nugget into his mouth, feeling the redness finally start to ebb down.

Hey.. wait... Does this mean Derek WOULD have a boyfriend? That it was possible to see Derek with a guy instead of a girl?

And with that Stiles' mind froze and melted at the same time, his heart skipping a few beats since things became a bit too real and less of a fantasy. Because until now he thought even the possibility was impossible. Man, he wanted to ask so many questions from Derek, but there were too many around the table to do so!

Stiles' heart was beating so fast that for a moment Derek thought it was going to jump out of his chest, and his scents were all over the place, making it hard to pin down if this was a good reaction or not. The red color on his face and the way he barely dared to look at the other boy would suggest it was good kind of nerves. And he wasn't shot down, Stiles only asked if Scott could come too. As if Stiles needed a chaperon but that was cool, Derek could work with that.

Even though to the table it was surprising to hear Stiles might be gay, or bi, it wasn't surprising about Derek. It wasn't as if he came out with a lot of noise, he had just made some comments over the last year that made it clear he didn't mind boys or girls. And since the Lacrosse team had gotten used to Danny, the basketball team didn't make too big of a deal about it. It was 2011, kids didn't care as much anymore. At least not in this town where race, religion and sexuality could be all kinds and nobody cared. Of course it also helped that some of the gay kids were popular muscular boys.

"So, do I pick you and Scott up Saturday or will I see you at the party?" Derek focused on eating his food while the rest of the table was discussing the party, who was going to bring what. He knew he'd get a text to tell him what he should be bringing – probably food. They knew he wasn't going to spring for illegal alcohol. Well, he'd pay but he wasn't going to bring it. Unlike Jackson's rich parents, his cared about what he did, and Derek didn't want to get into trouble.

"Bring swim pants if you want, Danny's got a pool which is always in use."

"Yeah, because we all want to see the twink in his bathing suit," Jackson snorted. The wolf wasn't sure what Jackson's problem was with Stilinski but he seemed to be intent on making remarks whenever he could.

"I would," Derek piped up, joined by Danny agreeing and even Lydia did after casting her eyes all over Stiles. Which of course, didn't help Jackson's dislike.

Oh. My. God. If that wasn't flirting from Derek then Stiles didn't know what it was. But it sure as hell made him look down and made the redness return to his cheeks. He barely even cared about Jackson's another asshole comment. There was a time when if Lydia Martin said something like that to him or looked like that at him, he would've felt on top of the world, but it wasn't her comment about wanting to see him just in swim pants which mattered.

Derek wanted to see him like that. Him. Not some hot girl or boy. Him, scrawny and weak Stiles Stilinski... Wow... That kinda made him speechless. Again within two minutes. Derek was making some personal records here!

"Uhm... Okay. I'll think about it," he finally said, pushing a nugget back and forth on his plate then glimpsed up at Scott who was painfully out of his depths too. "We'll have to talk about this with Scott... I mean, he has work on Saturday at the animal clinic and I promised to help my dad around the house and stuff like that..."

"Oh it's fine, I can find my way to Danny's after work on my own, so Derek can pick you up, I don't mind," Scott chimed in with that innocent puppy look of his, but Stiles knew that sparkle in his eyes. Of course he wanted to play a matchmaker!

Not helping, Scotty… Or at least that's what Stiles thought. Because what if he was reading the situation all wrong and he'd get his hopes high and nothing came out of it? Or... no, Derek wouldn't be like this and say such things just to screw him over and have some laughs over him and Scott with his friends, right? Stiles had already established after the afternoon and evening spent together that Derek wasn't an asshole. He wouldn't do something like that... right?

Either way, Stiles' anxiety spiked for a moment or two because if that was the case, it'd be bad. Really bad. And he hated that he couldn't ask Derek about it right now. He should... maybe... really talk with him alone? But then again what if that was the case or he'd get offended by the assumption and Stiles would blow this for both Scott and himself? Fuck...

Now there was actual anxiety, Derek could smell it and he stopped eating, not sure what he did to create the panic because he thought offering a ride to a party of people Stiles never hung out with would be a relief. Instead it spiked the nerves and he glanced at Scott, not sure how to handle this one. Playing it cool seemed to be the best course of action.

"If you want to come with Scott, that's no problem, as long as you guys come to the party," Derek offered lightly, drawing attention from the others because of it as they all glanced between the two teens, picking up on the awkward vibes and having no idea why.

"Starts around nine for those who have curfew," Danny offered as some of the guys groaned at the table since they all agreed that curfews were dumb. Something none of them liked and many of them still had despite being seventeen and eighteen years old.

"I have to work." Boyd always worked in the evenings and weekends at the ice skating rink so Derek nodded, clasping him on the shoulder. It would have been more fun if he could come. Boyd never said much, which was why the younger Hale preferred to spend time with him.

"Let me know what you want, Stilinski," Derek offered as he gathered his tray even before the bell rang, the rest following.

"Dude... he's trying to ask you on a date! Why are you freaking out?!" Scott hissed loudly as soon as the rest was, what he thought, out of earshot.

Stiles' nose barely missed the food as he let his head fall forward between his shoulders with a groan. His heart was still skipping more beats than usually – a courtesy of his meds.

"I'm not sure he does want that, man..." he whispered. "Was he really? What if we read this whole situation wrong? What if he just wants to be nice and friends? It'd be so fucking awkward if that was the case and I made an even bigger fool of myself..." Stiles looked up, seeing and feeling all miserable. "What if this is just him wanting to make up for what he did to my nose? I don't know..."

"And that's why he kept flirting with you?" Scott raised a brow doubtfully.

"I'm not sure..."

"Dude, he didn't correct Danny when he called you his 'boyfriend' and wants to see you in your swim pants. That's like... in your underwear!" Scott blinked.

"Maybe this is just a dream. It has to be. Why would Derek Hale say stuff like this to me and probably ask me out on a date? He's so out of my league, Scott. Sure, he's been nice and as it turned out, we have stuff in common, but this is scary."

"What is scary?"

"Opening up like that to someone I really like."

"Dude..."

"Would you jump head first in it if it was you and Allison?"

Scott's face took a nice shade of red from that question and it shut him up for a moment or two. "Dunno... But I'd probably go with her to the party? See what might happen?"

Stiles sighed and ran a hand through his already messy hair.

"Just let him take you. You cannot lose anything with that, right?"

"I guess you're right..." Stiles gave in after a long moment, just when the bell rang and he dragged himself up from the table, noticing a few curious glances from other passing kids. They were probably wondering why the cool kids have decided to sit with the two losers they were. And Stiles could understand that since he was wondering the same thing. "I'll write on him on messenger later. Thanks, by the way."

"Any time, man. I care about your love life," Scott bumped his shoulder against Stiles' as they were carrying their trays towards the return window.

"Or the lack thereof..." Stiles snorted but there was a small smile on his face.

Opening up like that to someone I really like…

Derek had heard the conversation between McCall and Stilinski as he had lingered outside of the cafeteria, pretending to check his phone when all he really was doing was focusing on the important conversation going on in there above the rest. It wasn't easy, so many sounds and noises to filter out, so it needed his full attention. He had nearly been discovered as he mulled over those words and he had to run fast, feeling like he had been running on air. Stiles liked him and the anxiety was because of that! Not because he didn't like him at all as it had come off constantly until now.

Stiles liked him.

A big smile broke out on Derek’s face and the rest of the days pretty much flew by.

Next chapter

Súgó Még nincs hozzászólás.

Új hozzászólás Frissítés