Archive of Our Own ^beta

If there was two thing people at Beacon Hills high found utterly confusing.

It was why Adrian Harris was still allowed to be a fucking teacher even when he had so many stupid complaints about him.

And, why Derek Hale and Stiles Stilinski though it was a good idea to date one another.

Derek, the resident sour-faced bad boy of the school was not someone people considered befriending at first glance and after meeting him, his resting ‘fuck off’ face made it clear he didn’t want anything to do with you too.

Stiles, on the other hand, was the kid who made you laugh even when you had the shittiest day; he would annoy the crap out of you while doing it but somehow, at the end of the day, before you knew it, you had his number programmed into your phone and he was grinning at you like you were old buddies just catching up.

Scott McCall:

Stiles was Scott’s best friend, and since meeting him Scott had only ever wanted someone to love Stiles the way he deserved. After years of watching his best friend pine after Lydia Martin, he had been relief when Stiles’ eyes steer completely of the ten-year plan and onto someone new (Of course, that might also have had something do with the face that Lydia entered into a relationship… with a girl and she’d stated without hesitation that “they weren’t gonna happen”).

What Scott wasn’t happy about was that the ‘someone new’ was someone like Derek Hale.

One random day, Stiles came bursting into his room, eyes wide with excitement. He completely ignored Allison as she shrieked, jumping off Scott’s lap, reaching over for her discarded shit.

“Dude! Guess what!” Stiles grinned, hopping on Scott’s bed, grasping the front of his shirt as those needing something to ground him to Earth. “He said yes, Scotty. He fucking said yes!” Stiles shook him vigorously, his entire form buzzing with excitement.

“Who?” Allison spoke up, face slightly flushed. She smoothed her shirt down her chest and shifting closer to Scott’s side.

“Derek!” Stiles answered. “Remember I told you guys about this weird thing I have for him and after we got to talking about the new Avenger’s movie, I asked if he wanted to come watch it with me and then he asked if it was like a date and I kinda said ‘yeah’ without thinking and then he shrugged. He shrugged, Scott. Like dating me is not the most repulsive thing to ever happen to him.”

“Screw him if he did.” Allison shot back. “He’d be lucky to have you.”

Stiles gave a smile so face, Scott could swear he felt his cheeks hurt. “You’re the sweetest, Ally.” Leaning over, he pressed a quick kiss on her cheek before rolling off the bed, hopping on his feet. “I gotta go see what I have to wear. Lydia said I gotta pick three outfits and send pics before the date tomorrow.”

And then, like the hurricane that he was, Stiles was gone a second later.

Mournfully, Scott turned to Allison. “Would I be a dick in thinking this won’t last?”

Allison bit the corner of her lip. “Hey, you never know…”

*

Shocking not only Scott, but their entire circle of friends, that one date turned into a relationship no one saw coming. The kid who growled and glared at anyone and everyone had suddenly become Stiles’ shadow, silent and broody like ever.

With Derek came Erica, Boyd and Isaac, who were okay but they weren’t Scott’s problem. No, Scott’s problem was the jackass Stiles decided to date. He kept his opinions to himself, but as he watched Stiles chatter on about Harris, Derek sitting silently behind him, arm slung over the back Stiles’ chair and his expression uninterested as he stared at Stiles, Scott couldn’t help but speak up the second Stiles was done.

“Yeah, Derek.” Scott baited him. “What exactly do you think about Harris?”

Everyone else was pretty much doing their own thing and the second Stiles started speaking to Derek, his friends turned away and started a small conversation with Scott’s friends, so no one noticed how Derek was blatantly being an asshole to Stiles.

“Honestly?” Derek shrugged. “I don’t give two shits about Harris.”

Scott frowned, clenching his jaw when he saw Stiles visibly slump back into chair.

“Really? You don’t think he’s being a dick to Stiles?” Do you even care? Scott wanted to ask but he would never put Stiles on the spot like that.

“He’s Harris.” Was all he got and then Derek turned away from him, focus a pointed glare on Stiles and that was all that was said about that.

Stiles rolled his eyes at Derek and leaned back into his seat. Scott waited, disgruntled by the way Derek completely dismissed Stiles’ troubles like that. All the asshole did was wrap his arm around Stiles.

Later, he followed behind the pair with watchful eyes as Derek paused outside the classroom door with Stiles. He ducked his head, blocking his face but it was clear he was saying something to Stiles. Slowing his steps, he eyed the way Derek’s jaw worked as he said a few words to which Stiles nodded.

Then Derek straightened up, reached up to cup Stiles’ face for a second before he turned around and stalked off, knocking shoulders with Damian Blake without so much as an apology.

*

It was later that night, when Scott was over at Stiles house when it came up again. They had been playing video games but Scott was forced to pause it when Stiles cell rang.

“Sorry, it’s Derek.” Was all Stiles said before he answered. “Hey, babe… No, Scott’s here. No, I can’t ditch him, Derek.” Stiles laughed. “I’m not telling him that, bye. Yeah, yeah. Good night, you freak.”

The second he put the cell down, Scott asked. “What did he say you had to tell me?”

Stiles bit on his lip, trying to hide his grin. “That now that we were dating, I can’t be your pseudo-boyfriend anymore.”

Scott gaped at him. “My what?”

Stiles snorted, highly amused by the whole thing. “He thinks you only call me when you don’t have Allison to hang out with. Says I’m your back-up boyfriend.”

“He said that to you?”

Why would Derek say that Stiles? He must know how insecure Stiles could get. Stiles never thought he deserved something, for reasons Scott never understood because anyone wold be lucky to have Stiles in their life but still, to mention that Scott considered him a ‘back-up’.

“That’s an asshole thing to say.” Scott spoke his mind.

“Nah, that’s just Derek.” Stiles shrugged like it was nothing. “Malia’s kinda like that too. Just ask Lydia.”

No, Scott not gonna ask Lydia about her girlfriend, who just so happened to be Derek’s long lost cousin. He made the mistake of asking Lydia if she was gay to which he got a bruised chin from the tight grip Lydia had it in as she explained that there’s a thing as pansexuality and that no she was not just testing the waters.

“Still, dude.” Scott chewed on his cheek, debating if he should mention today’s little lunch incident. “He doesn’t really seem to care a lot about what he says and how it might affect you.”

Stiles frowned. “What are you talking about?”

“Today at lunch.” Scott pressed. “You were telling him about Harris and he totally ignored you.”

The crinkle between Stiles brows only deepened further. “No he didn’t. He told me Harris was always a dick.”

Scott waited for the ‘and after that’ but it never came. He stared at Stiles knowing that had it been Allison telling him about Harris he would have done more than state the obvious. Same with Lydia and Malia or Erica and Boyd (From what little knew about them, Scott was sure neither would have let the other one suffer in silence after a treatment from Harris)

“How is that helpful?” Scott asked, trying to keep the doubt from his tone.

Stiles shot him a look with a snorted. “Dude, what did you expect Derek to do? Hug me and tell me everything is gonna be okay? He’s not like that, especially in public.”

Scott, eager to understand whatever it was his best friend saw in his boyfriend, rotated, chocolate brown eyes wide and pleading. “What’s he like then?”

Stiles gave him a confused shrugged. “I don’t know, man. He’s like… Like a cat.”

“A cat?”

“Yeah, you know they ignore the whole day and at night, they’ll jump on your chest and purr like they hadn’t seen you in months?”

“So what? Derek is a dick in public and a sweetheart in private?”

Snorting, Stiles grinned. “Something like that.”

*

Stiles was full of shit.

Yeah, he said it.

Because there was no way, Derek Hale had a polite and kind bone in his body. He watched as the leather wearing jackass his best friend called a boyfriend sat on the bleacher with Erica and the others.

It was Lacrosse try-out and they were all there to show their support to Scott and Stiles. ‘The asthmatic who could barely breathe and the spaz who tripped over thin air’: That was how Derek put it when Stiles brought up the idea.

No, ‘good luck, you’ll do great’.

No. All he did was put Stiles down for at least trying.

Stiles had replied with an ‘I’ll be fine, Der.’ And Derek ‘Jackass’ Hale had scoffed.

When Coach called Stiles up to shoot, the other’s cheered. All of them except Derek. Scott scowled at him but was forced to pay attention to the game. Stiles missed most of his shots and Scott got most of them but in the end, it came as a huge shock that Stiles and Scott were assigned as subs.

They were bench warmers, basically, but considering they both had been pretty sure they’d be walking off the field with the new player’s snickering behind their backs, making the team in any form was a huge success. Stiles had said anyone who wanted to laugh at him could go fuck themselves and Scott had wholeheartedly agreed.

“Ah!” Allison cheered, a dimpled grin wide and beautiful as she raced over, arms up on the air. Scott met her half way and wrapped her in tight hug, neither of them caring how dirty and sweaty he was. “Congrats, baby. I knew you could do it.” She gushed, stirring something within him as a blush warmed his already flushed face.

Pulling back, she cupped his cheeks. “You okay? Need your inhaler?”

Scott shook his head. “I’m okay. Just gotta continue with the whole measured breathes.”

A voice spoke up behind them. “You owe me ten bucks, Scott.”

Keeping his arm curled around Allison’s waist, Scott turned to see Lydia and Malia standing side by side, fingers tangled together. The redhead smirked over at him.

“Hey,” Allison joked. “Malia made the bet. Nobody told her to.”

Remembering the incident, where in Malia’s voice had torn through the field, yelling ‘DO OVER! TEN BUCKS ON SCOTT AND STILES!’, she tossed them both a Cheshire grin the second Coach matched the bet, never having been one to back down to prove other’s wrong.

It was that ‘do over’ that had helped Scott and Stiles get on the team.

“Thanks for that, by the way.” Scott said to her, his smile growing with gratitude.

Malia shrugged. “Derek said he’d bet me 30 Stiles couldn’t make the shot, the second time around.”

“He did?” Scott asked, shocked.

At the mention of Derek, Scott’s brown eyes wondered around the field, seeking his best friend, and he found them, standing by the bleacher, facing one another. Derek seemed to be angry about something while Stiles laughed, playing reaching over to pat his chest.

“See,” Someone beside him commented. “I told you he’d be pissed, Derek told him not to do it. By the way, congrats, McCall. You had us thinking you were gonna drop dead there for a second.”

“Erica, don’t joke about that.” A strong voice chided.

Scott, frowning at Erica’s words, turned to the blonde where she stood to his left, leaning back against her bulked up boyfriend, Boyd. “Derek told Stiles not to try out?” He asked, caution laced with anger. “Why?”

It was Isaac who answered, snorting derisively. “You’re kidding, right? Stiles can’t go a day without tripping.”

“So? I can’t run without needing medication to help me breathe, but you don’t see Allison telling me to give up before trying.” Scott forced out, holding back his anger. A soft, small hand curled into his hand gave it a comforting squeeze.

Two sharp brown eyes snapped toward him, their stares burning into his skin.

“Scott…” Allison sighed his name, her grip tightening just a bit in a silent attempt to reel him back in. She knew how Scott truly felt about Derek Hale, she agreed that he came off as cold and disinterested but she also defended him, saying he didn’t know Derek well enough to make such assumptions.

He opened his mouth, but a harsh tone cut him off. “What the hell’s your problem, McCall?” Erica asked, her red lips curling in distaste.

Scott, risking a glance over to the other pair of eyes glaring at him, noting Malia’s hard, calculated stare. Exhaling softly, he shook his head, forcing his anger at Derek Hale back, knowing that nothing good would come from getting into with the two women who thought of Derek had their big brother and would no doubt knock him on his ass if he so much as breathed wrong in Derek’s direction.

“Nothing.” He softened his tone, shaking his head emphatically. “Sorry, I’m just a little wired from the try-outs.”

Erica expressed her utter disbelief of his lie and Malia continued to glare at him.

“Yo!” A voice call out, and Scott, exhaling with relief, spun around with the other’s to see Stiles heading over to them, Derek Hale nowhere in sight. “You coming? We gonna go get some food!”

Allison yelled back her approval, tugging Scott along with her as well to get him away from the rest. He heard his group of friends follow after them, heard Lydia’s soft voice telling Malia to calm down, heard Isaac asking where Derek was and Erica replying ‘probably in the car, waiting’.

At that Scott shot Allison a look.

He didn’t even have the decency to wait for Stiles. He would rather wait in his car.

Allison simply shook her head.

*

Derek and Stiles met up with them at the diner and an hour in, Scott watched the older boy whisper something to Stiles before the two of them stood up.

“Hey guys, Derek and I are gonna head out.” Stiles excused them. Derek slipped out from the booth, reaching over for Stiles’ hand the second he was standing.

“Where?” Malia asked.

“Just out, Lia.” Derek answered, hand disappearing into his leather jacket and he pulled out some money. “Lydia said she’d give you a lift.”

And then they were gone.

“Maybe Derek’s gonna make up to him for not showing his support.” Allison’s soft voice drifted through his ear.

Scott clenched his jaw, nodding. “Yeah, maybe.”

God, he hoped so.

*

He really, really hoped Derek did something nice to Stiles for once.

Because, what he was seeing now was not at all nice.

There they were, standing outside of Derek’s Camaro. The school was out and most of the students already gone. The gang was waiting on the field, the team having a friendly game with one another to practice for next month’s game. The coach didn’t schedule it but Jackson and Danny, the co-captains, had send a message around that they wanted to practice for a bit after school. Scott, luckily still had his gears in Stiles’ car. His best friend had left a couple of minutes ago and after a while, Jackson had ordered him to go find Stiles or they’re going to start without them.

Now, here he was, standing a good distance away from Stiles who was arguing with Derek.

“You are not that good, Stiles! Stick to books or some shit.”

“Fuck you, Derek!” Stiles snapped back, anger flushing his cheeks. “You have gotta stop doing shit like this.”

Derek glared at him, “I’m just---“

“Yeah, I know exactly what you’re doing.” Stiles cut him off, sharply. “And you have to stop. I get where you’re coming from, I do, but you need to stop looking at only the bad things in life.”

“Finstock isn’t there, Stiles.”

“So what? No one asked you to come and watch!”

“No one – you’re right.” Derek said softly and Scott was only able to hear it because he’d been slowly inching closer to the arguing pair. “Forgive me for trying to be supportive.”

A flash of hurt struck Stiles expression and Scott, having heard enough and not wanting things to escalate made his presence known. “Yo, Stiles.”

A pair of green and brown eyes snapped over to him. Derek looked away the second he saw Scott and Stiles blinked, trying to get control of his emotions. Unable to help himself, Scott looked over and glared at Derek and he walked over to Stiles, reaching out to grab his bag. “The team’s waiting. Come on.”

Stiles nodded, swallowing thickly. Scott stepped back, watching as Stiles looked over to Derek for a second. A silence message passed, to which Derek exhaled sharply through his nose and Stiles nodded, resigning.

“Fine.” His best friend said in quite voice and then turned and walked to Scott, grabbing at him arm, pulling him along.

Scott turned, glaring with hatred as he watched Derek opened his car door and got in without so much as a glance back.

Shaking his head, Scott turned to Stiles. “You okay?”

Stiles, blinking rapidly, nodding his head. “Yeah, man.”

“Wanna talk about it later?”

Clearing his throat, Stiles shook his head.

There was a knock on the Stilinski’s front door. Scott, who’d decided to stay over, looking over to his best friend who was passed out on the other side of the bed. He looked over at the alarm clock, saw it was well past mid-night. He was tempted to ignore the other person, to just roll over a pretend he didn’t hear anything. Until, there was another knock, and another, and another.

Not wanting to wake Stiles up after he’d emotionally drained himself from trying to keep an upbeat front about Derek and their argument, Scott let out a frustrated sigh and slowly sipped out the bed.

He made it to the front door and checked through the peep hole, knowing better than to just open the door for anyone.

Scott looked through and he was met with an angry, brooding face. Green eyes glaring at the front door as those it was personally offending him. And knowing the asshole, he probably thought it was.

Letting out an annoyed sigh, he quietly unhooked the chain, and unlocked the door. He cracked it open just a bit, matching Derek’s hard glare with one of his own. “Stiles is sleeping.”

Shock smoothing out Derek’s feature for a second. “What are you doing here?”

“Baking cookie.” He snarked. “What do you think?”

Derek glared at him, jaw flexing as he gritted his teeth. “Can I come in?”

“The Sherriff is at work.” So, hell no.

“Can you—“ He stopped, picking up on the look Scott shot for having the balls to think he was gonna do anything for Derek. Especially after how he treated Stiles. “Just tell Stiles I came by.”

Then, the asshole spun around and stalked to his car, shoulders stiff and body ridged. Scott bit his tongue, forcing the word back but he was never much for self-control and failed miserably.

“You don’t deserve Stiles, you know that.”

Derek froze and turned, the dark night making his entire presence menacing. For a second, Scott wanted to back away, in case Derek punched him or something, but then he recalled Stiles’ face and every asshole thing Derek had ever done to his best friend.

“You’re an asshole and you seem to not care that you hurt Stiles at all.”

“That so?” Derek asked, glaring menacingly at Scott.

“Yeah,” Scott shot back, stepping forward and closing the door behind him. “You are mean to him for no reason, you treat him like shit and you put him down any chance you get.”

“You don’t know shit.”

“I know enough.” Scott’s hands curled into a fist.

A tense moment passed, with Derek glaring at Scott and Scott not backing down. He wanted Derek to know that he wasn’t fooling anyone, that Scott saw everything he did. He wanted Derek to know that he wasn’t allow to hurt Stiles whenever he damn well pleased and he wanted to Derek to know that he was hurting Stiles.

Suddenly, the angry expression that seemed to be predisposed to Derek Hale only dropped and his shoulders slumped. It was dizzying, to see a change so quickly and out of the blue, and it threw Scott off momentarily.

“I get it, okay. You don’t think I’m good enough for Stiles. Believe me, I know exactly how you feel.” Derek said, his voice no longer angry or harsh but it was defensive, as though he was preparing himself for whatever was to come.

Scott glared at him and Derek continued. “I don’t know what the fuck Stiles sees in me but he sees it and I am honestly trying to be more expressive but it’s kind hard when you don’t know what the fuck you’re doing half the time.”

Frowning in confusion, Scott asked. “What are you talking about?”

Working his jaw, Derek inhaled and took a cautious step forward. “Look, I know I come off as cold and harsh but I’ve kind learned that stating shit outright saves you a lot of trouble in the future. It might not be the most emotional of responses but it’s worked for me so far. And no offense to you or Stiles, but you guys gotta practice a lot more to be good at Lacrosse and even then, you can drop at any second because of your asthma and Stiles can break a bone out on that field. You might not give a shit about that but I am not really interesting in seeing my boyfriend in pain.”

Throughout the speech, Scott felt his jaw lower at every word that left Derek’s mouth. His brain to mouth filter seemed to having malfunction as he blurted out. “That’s the longest you have ever spoken to me.”

And shit wasn’t that the sad truth. That was the first and longest conversation Derek and Scott has ever had and this guy was dating his best friend.

Derek exhaled harshly, rolling his eyes. Scott could hear the “Fuck-this-shit-I’m-out” from his expression alone.

“Sorry, that was… stupid.” Scott finished lamely. He winced as an awkward silence proceed with Derek waiting for Scott to say something, yet looking a second away from turned around and walking away.

“Look…” Scott hesitated. “I’m sorry I got in your face but his my best friend and you come off as an asshole - No offense!” He rushed to add.

Derek shrugged. “I don’t care.” And then, as if hearing his tone himself, he winced.

A small smile cracked through Scott’s armor. “I’ll tell Stiles you stopped by.”

Derek nodded. “Thanks.” And then without a glance back, he spun and around and stalked to car, getting in and a second later he was speeding off.

*

And was he happy he did.

Scott watched as Stiles and Derek met up at the locker, their eyes bright and happy. He’d been there for the start of their reconciliation but left when shit started getting really personal. He loved Stiles and he was starting to attempt to form some kind of companionship with Derek, but he didn’t want to hear personal details about their relationship unless Stiles told him about it.

Derek was a private person, Scott was starting to get that and he had didn’t always say the right thing in the right tone as most human’s but he made Stiles happy, in his own brooding way.

“Hey.” Allison greeted him as met her by her locker, leaning in for a kiss. He dropped two more on her lips, loving the dimpled smiled he saw blossoming on her face before turning, smiling at Lydia, whose attention was fix on Stiles and Derek a little ways behind them.

Scott turned, following her gaze. He watched as Derek stared at Stiles, eyes boring into his friend, transfixed on whatever Stiles was saying. He nodded only once when Stiles looked over but other than that, he remained silent.

“So, they’re okay now?” Allison asked, her voice hopeful yet cautious.

Scott nodded. “Yeah. Derek came over and apologized.”

He wasn’t about to tell them about his and Derek’s little chat. He didn’t think Derek would appreciate it much if Scott aired out their business (But he was gonna be telling Allison about it later).

“And?” Lydia asked.

Scott turned, a confused frowned tightening his brows. “And what?”

Arched eyebrows raised and green eyes narrowed. “And are you done acting like Derek is the worst boyfriend to walk the earth? Because he’s not. Trust me, I know.”

Scott gaped at her. “I wasn’t—“ He stopped when her stare hardened into a glare. “I’m trying not to judge a book by its cover… and outward manners.”

And he wasn’t. He heard Derek that night and understood where he was coming from. That and Stiles told him this morning that Derek may come off as asshole but he did care about Stiles.

“I mean, he’s worried Jackson might attack me on the field, that’s why he didn’t want me to try out. He states things out right and makes sure I never second guess myself, you know.” Stiles had explained. “He listens to me, takes in everything I say and never once does he cut me off.”

Scott was willing to admit he was wrong about Derek and Stiles. He judged Derek and took most things out of context which was a dick move.

“Hey, watch it!”

Scott spun around, watching with horror as Derek shoved Garrett, the other boy hurling back at the force only to be stopped when his back collided with locker. He gaped, not sure if he just saw what he saw when Lydia’s exasperated sigh reached his ears.

“Oh for the love of Fashion.” She huffed.

Scott watched as Stiles moved, grabbed Derek by the arm even though Hale didn’t move only to have turn and glare menacingly at him. Stiles’ lips moved as he spoke and after a beat, Derek visibly exhaled and tugged his arm out of Stiles’ grip.

Scott, reminding himself that he didn’t know the full story, that Derek had a valid reason for shoving Garrett, followed after Lydia and she walked over to the pair; maybe Derek too knew how much as dick Garrett was, or maybe Garrett said something to Derek to Stiles that warranted that reaction.

“What was that?” Scott asked, looking over to see Derek glaring after Garrett at he walked away, rubbing the back of his head.

“Oh, nothing. Derek is just overreacting.” Stiles snarked, voice dropping with sarcasm. Hale huffed and shot Stiles a glare. “What? Am I wrong?”

“You know he was gonna knock you against the locker.” Derek practically growled out.

“You don’t know that. Maybe he wanted to give a love-tap.”

Derek glared, clenching his jaw but his expression clearing read: how stupid are you?

Stiles sighed, reaching out for Derek’s hand, interlacing their fingers as he turned to Lydia and Allison. “He wasn’t gonna do that.” He said casually, wincing slightly a second later. He looked down at their hands and shot Derek a playful glare.

Scott frowned down at their hands, having caught the way Derek’s fingers had tightened around Stiles. He looked up, displeased at the act because really? Didn’t he tell Derek to stop being a dick?

Lydia huffed, expressing her desire to end this. “Can we get to class? It’s about to start soon.” She didn’t wait for anyone as she hooked her arm through Allison and strutted away.

Stiles followed after her, his hand still holding Derek’s with Scott a few steps behind. He eyed their hands.

“Hold any tighter and his hand will turn blue, Derek.” Scott commented, as he fell into step beside Stiles.

Derek glared over at him, dropped Stiles hand and then proceeded to wrap arm around his shoulder.

“Oh, we doing this now?” Stiles commented, looking over at Derek. “Scott says something and you retaliate with affection?”

He got no response for that. Scott bit back a grin when Stiles shrugged, a smile growing on his lips.

“I might get used to this. Scott say something else.” Stiles smirked over to him only for Derek to brush his knuckles against his jaw playfully.

“No, seriously. I wanna test a hypothesis.”