Archive of Our Own ^beta

Stiles and Derek were running. It’s not a huge surprise, because seriously? Stiles didn’t expect there to be this much running all the time, but it’s becoming a constant thing. He should join the track team. He didn’t used to even be able to keep up with werewolf Scott, and now he’s matched pace-for-pace with Alpha Derek Hale. Of course, Derek is slowing down for his benefit, but Stiles isn’t gonna think about that.

So he was running with Derek Hale again, fast over uneven territory. He watched the forest floor, trying to avoid large objects and even small objects that he’d probably trip over. Soon the trees broke and he and Derek broke out of the woods and into a lone street. Derek stopped, turning to him. He pulled out the piece of paper they had been hunting down for the past three hours.

Stiles panted, “Do you think they know we were there?”

“They’re werewolves, Stiles.” Derek said. It was probably supposed to be condescending but Derek looked really wrecked, “God, this was such a bad idea.”

“Well, we know where their territory is now, at least,” Stiles offered a smile through heaving breaths.

“Yeah, and we’re in it.” Derek looked up from the paper and glanced over their surroundings, “I think we’re definitely breaking some sort of werewolf code here.”

“You THINK?” Stiles frowned at him.

“I don’t know a lot about werewolf code, if you haven’t noticed,” Derek stated. It wasn’t a snap or even meant to be rude, surprisingly. Stiles shrugged it off.

“So where are we now?”

“The edge of their territory. And since they haven’t found us yet I think it’s safe to assume they aren’t coming. Let’s keep going. And be careful.”

“Okay.”

“Where is your jeep?” Derek turned and looked carefully over Stiles, who threw his arms up.

“I don’t even know where WE are! How am I supposed to locate my car?”

Derek sniffed the air, “Firstly, let’s get out of their territory.” He glanced up and down the road and then walked quickly across the street, Stiles at his heels. They stared at the four foot tall wooden fence and the forest beyond it, and the big ‘private property’ sign.

“We do a lot of trespassing these days,” Stiles sighed as Derek put a foot on the fence, easily scaling it. Stiles clamored over afterwards a little more awkwardly. He wasn’t a graceful gazelle like Derek, obviously.

“It’s better than being in alpha pack territory, trust me.” Derek grumbled, pulling the piece of paper out of his pocket and glancing over it again, “It looks like they’re expanding, as I expected. Soon they’ll be all over Beacon Hills. They’re trying to drive us out.”

Stiles sighed and kept walking along the line of the fence. Derek followed him tentatively, still looking at the crude map.

“Remind me why I’m helping you, again?” Stiles mumbled, shoving his hands into his pockets. He hated autumn a little bit, the way the cold bit him.

Derek actually laughed, and it made Stiles stomach jump, “Because you want to help. And it’s not like you’re talking to Scott, but you’re still trying to help him.”

Stiles shrugged, “What does that say about me as a person?”

“You’re a loyal friend,” Derek said. Stiles frowned over at him and wondered if that was sarcasm. But Derek was still looking at the paper like it was the most important thing in the world.

“Are you being serious?” Stiles said, Dereks eyebrows furrowed but he didn’t answer or look up. Stiles stopped walking and held out his hand, “Derek.”

He frowned and looked up at him, “What?”

“Are you being serious? Do you think I’m a loyal friend?” Stiles tried not to show exactly how much it meant to him that Derek could say that.

He just shrugged, “You are. It’s not like, a compliment, it’s a fact.”

 “It is a compliment,” Stiles grinned and Derek rolled his eyes.

“Whatever. The point is, you’re helping Scott. You could be somewhere else, not involved, but you’re trying to help make things better for him.”

Stiles turned and kept walking, slowing to stand next to Derek now, “I’m not just trying to make things better for Scott.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah, I mean,” Stiles sighed, watching his breath in the cold air, “I’m pretty fond of Isaac, even though his loyalties are with Scott right now. I want to help find Erica and Boyd, since I was the last person to see them alive. I even kinda like Peter. He’s sassy.”

“Uh huh…” Derek said, putting the paper into his pocket. Stiles smiled and side-eyed him, he looked a little flustered.

“And I like you, too.”

Stiles didn’t miss the little smile on the edge of Dereks lips.

“I wish we hadn’t done this, honestly,” Derek admitted, “Come out here looking for their plans.”

“Why not? We got good results.”

“But they didn’t come after us,” Derek brushed against his side as they walked, “They have our scents, they could have hunted us down, but they didn’t.”

“Maybe we got lucky?” Stiles offered, but he doubted it.

“Or they are waiting to get us later,” Derek huffed, “I wouldn’t be that worried if they didn’t have your scent. You’ve mostly stayed out of their way, but now they know you’re associated. They could come after you.”

Stiles shrugged, “Won’t be the first time I got kidnapped for the pack.”

Derek winced and Stiles realized he shouldn’t have said that. Flashes of getting the SHIT kicked out of him by Gerard Argent came over him and he breathed through the panicky feeling he always had when he remembered.

Derek brushed his side again, this time on purpose, “That shouldn’t have happened. He was looking for me. It won’t happen again.”

 “I won’t be so weak if it happens again.”

“You weren’t weak-”

“I was,” Stiles met his green eyes, “I told Gerard where the warehouse was. It was my fault.”

“He tortured you, Stiles.” Derek looked straight ahead, “I won’t let the Alphas take you. And if they do, I’ll hunt you down, I’ll find you before they can hurt you. This is my promise to you.”

Stiles doubted that if the Alphas kidnapped him, Derek could do much. But his words were reassuring, especially after Scott had been too preoccupied with all the Kanima stuff to save Stiles. That night had been a cold reminder that Stiles not only NEEDED saving, but that no one was going to do it for him.

“I don’t like feeling this useless. I want to protect everyone, but I can’t even protect myself. I want to do anything I can.” Stiles looked up at the sky. It must have been past midnight, and the sliver of the moon lit up the sky. He internally remembered that he was supposed to be at school tomorrow.

Derek didn’t say anything, just turned and pushed Stiles up against the fence.

“Dude,” Stiles groaned. This wasn’t the first and definitely not the last time he’d said something to piss off Derek Hale and make him pin him to stuff, “What now?”

“There’s a car coming,” Derek was looking down the empty road, slowly filling by a light, “A police car.”

“What?” Stiles groaned and looked around. They were in a field now, and couldn’t make it to the tree line, “Fuck. Its past curfew. And we’re stalking around in the woods. And we’re TRESSPASSING!”

“Here,” Derek pulled Stiles’ red hood over his head and leaned down far too close to his personal space, “Pretend like we’re just making out. Maybe he’ll let us off with a warning.”

“Fuck, fine.” Stiles reached his arms up around Dereks neck and pulled him closer, pressing their foreheads together. He watched the car headlights light up one side of Dereks face and tried to keep eye contact with him, though Derek was watching his lips curiously. Stiles heart was hammering in his chest and he told himself it was just the nervousness of the whole situation. He listened to the car pull up next to them and his breath caught. They were doomed.

“Alright boys, break it up,” A familiar voice said out. Stiles heart all but stopped in his chest and he saw Dereks cheeks get pale in the light. Oh god.

Derek flew back at least three feet and covered his mouth. He was the picture of embarrassment and it would have been cute if the entire situation wasn’t about to become humiliating.

“Dad…” Stiles said, turning around slowly. Better to get this over with. He couldn’t believe he didn’t foresee this. He wanted to throw himself off a cliff immediately.

His dads face went from amused to horrified in point-four seconds. He glanced between Stiles and Derek, whose face was buried in his hands, and looked like he might be ready to either run far away or kill someone.

“Stiles,” He finally said after an excruciatingly awkward few minutes, “What are you doing out here at night?”

Stiles laughed nervously, “That’s a stupid question really, I think it was pretty obvious…” His voice trailed off and he wished he had a better brain-to-mouth filter. His dad sighed heavily.

“Hello Derek,” He said flatly. Derek was rigid.

“Hello sir.” He said. He was so completely funny sounding Stiles wanted to laugh but he wasn’t stupid. He looked down at his feet.

“Get in the car, Stiles.” His dad ordered. It was a lot harsher than he had been expecting it to sound.

“Okay,” He didn’t argue. He climbed the fence quickly and made his way to the passenger side, watching his dad glare down Derek.

“Do you need a ride home?” His dad asked through gritted teeth. He barely finished the sentence when Derek was shaking his head as quickly as he could. “Good,” His dad said, turning around and heading towards the driver’s seat. Stiles shot Derek a sympathetic look in apology and got into the car, letting his dad drive begin to drive them home

*

The car ride was totally silent, while Stiles racked his brain with what he was supposed to say to his dad. It’s not like he could tell his dad he wasn’t actually making out with Derek Hale in the woods without admitting he had been blatantly trespassing, and not even to mention their little breaking-and-entering adventure before that in one of the Alpha Packs little hide-outs.

He was also a little worried about Derek, not that he needed to be. Without Stiles, he could just wolf out and make it home easily. But there was still an Alpha pack around, out to get them all.

Finally, they walked through the front door and Stiles couldn’t bare the silence anymore.

“Dad, I-”

“Is that why you’ve been lying so much?” His dad turned to look at him, his face looked pained and it hurt Stiles’ chest, “I mean, you could have just told me you were gay.”

“I’m not gay, dad.” Stiles sighed.

“Bisexual?” His dad says the word like it’s foreign.

“No, I’m not…” Stiles ran a hand over his head, “I don’t know what I am, okay?”

His dad shook his head, “I knew you were sneaking around. I thought it was something BAD, Stiles. I mean I knew you were over that Lydia chick… Look, you could have told me you were dating Derek Hale.”

Stiles opens his mouth, and then closes it, and then holds back a smile. A secret relationship with Derek? That was… the perfect excuse for all of this. He had no idea why he didn’t think of that sooner.

“Sorry, dad.” He said simply, not denying it or confirming it. His dads lips became a thin line that is the sad smile Stiles had been seeing a lot, lately.

“It’s okay. I’m not upset. I trust you. I just wish you had told me.” Stiles shrugged and approached slowly before pulling his dad into a hug. After they embraced for a few seconds, his dad held him out at arm’s length and met his eyes. “Do you really like Derek?”

Stiles gulped, “Yeah.” It wasn’t a lie, he realized. And that made his heart slam hard into his chest. His dad nodded and let him go.

“Go to bed, kid. You still have school tomorrow. No more late nights on school nights. We’ll talk about this more tomorrow.”

“Got it,” He nodded, turning and bolting up the stairs. He was glad the ‘I’m questioning my sexuality’ talk with his dad went okay, not that he thought it wouldn’t. And hey, now he had a secret relationship with Derek to use as an excuse for werewolf stuff. It felt like a lot of relief, honestly.

He opened his bedroom door and stumbled into the dark. His hand went for the light, but then he stopped. He eyed the empty room and then saw a figure standing near his window. He nearly jumped and screamed before a hand was over his mouth.

“Shh!” Derek whispered, “It’s just me.”

“Jesus Christ, Derek,” Stiles breathed, pulling the hand away, “You scared the shit out of me. I thought you were one of the alphas.”

Derek took a few steps back out of his personal space, his eyes never leaving him, “I was just making sure everything was fine.”

“Yeah, it’s okay,” Stiles rubbed the bridge of his nose, “Well, my dad thinks we’re secretly dating now but at least I can use that as an excuse for staying out late all the time.”

Derek nodded, “ The making out idea was really stupid.”

Stiles remembered having Derek in his face like that and blushed, “Ah, its cool. It was smart actually. I just didn’t think it would be my dad.”

“I’m sorry.” Derek met his eyes and Stiles breath caught. An apology was sort of a rare occurrence from the Alpha wolf, but it was nice to hear.

“It’s okay.” Stiles choked out. It was all he could say. They sat in silence for a minute, Derek making no effort to leave, “Is there anything else you need?” Stiles asked, walking forward and heading towards his dresser, he could at least get something to sleep in…

Derek grabbed his arm as he passed him. It wasn’t violent, just a soft touch that made Stiles stop. He looked up at Dereks eyes, which looked a little pained and confused.

“Derek, what?” Stiles said, shifting more to face him. If something was wrong, he wanted to know.

“I just… wanted…” Derek sighed and then leaned forward, down, brushing his lips over Stiles. Stiles didn’t really think, he just reacted. He put his hand up and rested in on Dereks shoulder, gripping hard when Derek pressed more into it. It didn’t really register that they were kissing until Dereks tongue was trailing over his and he had his hands raking through the soft black hair.

Oh.

Derek pulled back barely, pressing their foreheads together. Stiles blinked at stared at him. Derek didn’t say anything, just stared at him solemnly. Stiles realized what he was doing, judging his reaction, trying to figure out if what he did was wrong. Stiles leaned up and pressed another kiss to his lips. He pulled down and smiled. Derek smiled too, before he turned and crossed the room, dropping out of the window with ease.

Well, this was new.