Chapter Text
Stiles and Derek had been sitting in Derek’s Toyota for an hour, watching a house where a witch’s coven was reported to meet. It was Scott’s idea to watch the place. The pack really had no problem with witches in general, but these women were new to town so a little surveillance seemed prudent.
It wasn’t the most fun way to spend a Saturday night, but in a way Stiles was kind of pleased that it was him and Derek on watch this time. He had been developing a bit of a crush on the emotionally aloof werewolf for some time now. Ever since Derek gave up his Alpha status to save his sister the crush had given way to something a lot more like feelings. Secrete feelings of course. This was a perfect opportunity to spend some quality time soaking up this one sided relationship.
Derek was in no way happy to be sitting idle. Sure it was nice for the first 15 minutes, listening to Stiles babble on about school, friends and the weird goings on that have become day to day living in Beacons Hill.
Around the 16 minute mark though, Derek started to become restless. Thirty minutes in and the close proximity of the fidgety teen started to fray his nerves. The heady scent that uniquely Stiles filled his senses and dulled his mind. Although Derek would never admit it out loud, there were two words that he always associated with Stiles scent, Pray and Mine.
There were other words as well, feelings that came and went with each interaction, feelings such as, annoyance, disbelieve, frustration and at times even amusement, but every time they were together, and even sometimes when they were not, Pray and Mine always fit.
“God will this watch never end?” Derek grumbled, shortly after Stiles had stretched is long arms backwards, his shirt raising up to show a glimpse of pale flesh and the dark trail of hair that disappeared into the low waist of his jeans.
“Oh my god, have you always been this impatient.” Stiles asked, smirking infuriatingly.
“I can be very patient when the situation requires.” Derek argued. “But this just seems to be nothing more than Scott’s way to testing our loyalty.”
“Oh come on.” Stiles scoffed, “You use to send us out on ridiculous missions all the time.”
“I use to send YOU out to keep you out of the way.”
“I knew it!” Stiles cried, punching Derek in the arm. “I knew you were just trying to get rid of me.”
“Trying to keep you safe.”
“Oh.”
The two fell quite for about thirty seconds before Stiles started chatting about all the things he had learnt about witches in his research this week.
“You know, most of that stuff is completely made up don’t you.”
“Maybe, maybe not, it’s not like any of you guys are experts in witches.” Stiles challenged.
“I’m hungry.” Derek stated out of the blue, pouting a little and folding his arms across his chest.
“Hi hungry I’m Stiles.” Derek looked at the boy with pure contempt which just made him grin wider.
“What?” He teased, his hands held up in a show of innocence.
“You’re an idiot.”
“God, why don’t you go and hunt down a bunny to eat.”
“Maybe I should just eat you.” The werewolf all but growled.
Suddenly Stiles heart rate skyrocketed, his eyes flew open wide and his face fell to an even paler shade than normal.
“Stiles, are you alright?” Derek asked, alarmed by the reaction. Instead of answering the teen just nodded, eyes still open too wide, mumbling something about homework and falling out of the car and running into the night.
Derek watched in shocked awe as the teen ran for his jeep, leaping into the driver’s seat and barrelling down the street before the Toyota’s door swung shut. Derek blinked, running the event over in his head, he didn’t understand why, but the fear he heard in Stiles heart was clear. Even after all this time, all they had been through, he still didn’t trust him and that thought was depressing.
“You’re home early.” Peter Hale noted. “Date night not go so well?”
“I wasn’t on a date.” Derek huffed.
Peter rolled his eyes and turned back towards the TV.
“Why are you here, and where did that TV come from?” The werewolf grumbled.
“I’m here delivering a TV.” Peter replied without looking. “You’re welcome.”
“I didn’t want a TV, and I don’t need to see you either.”
“Well, if that’s how you feel, I’ll be on my way.” Peter scoffed, flicking off the screen and walking towards his nephew, his hands outstretched in an act of defencelessness. “You should stay away from the humans, they are nothing but trouble.”
“Yeah, you might be right.” Derek answered quietly.
Surprised at his nephew’s admission, Peter stopped in his tracks. “Really? You finally agree with me, something you want to share?”
The two werewolves faced each other, a battle of wills, eyebrows and sassy eyerolls. Derek was the one to give in. “They still think of us as monsters.”
“It’s their world and we are monsters.” Peter placed a hand on his nephews shoulder and squeezed it lightly. “For now.”
Derek just shook his head sadly. “After all we’ve been through, he, they still don’t trust me.”
“Stiles?” It was a question, but also a statement.
“Not exclusively him,” Derek noted his Uncle’s hard glare. “But, yeah.”
Sighing like the words actually hurt, and perhaps they did, Peter asked what happened. Derek told him about the stake out, about the boy’s response to him at his little joke about hunting the boy down, his fear, how he ran.
“What exactly did you say to him?”
“Nothing really, I was hungry and he suggested that I go hunt down a bunny, and I said that perhaps I should just eat him.”
“Hmmm, are you sure he was afraid?”
“His heart rate rocketed and he literarily ran.”
“You know, one’s heart can beat for more reasons than just simple fear.” Again Derek rolled his eyes at his Uncle. “Excitement, dread, …. Lust.”
“Have you been at the wolfs bane again?”
“Have you ever looked at his internet history?” Peter grinned at Derek, petting him on the back as he headed for the door. “Go have a look, I’m pretty sure you will find something of interest there.”
Derek slid the loft’s door shut after his uncle’s departure, still hurt and angry about the night’s events and just a little puzzled about Peter’s cryptic departing words. He really didn’t care what Stiles did, he certainly had no intention of snooping through his laptop’s internet history, that’s for sure.
Well that was how it was, up until a week later when he was confronted by an angry Alpha teen. “What the hell did you do to Stiles?” Scott demanded to know. It was the end of another pack meeting that Stiles had failed to show up for.
“I didn’t do anything.” Derek huffed.
“Well something happened, I’ve never seen him this heartbroken.” Scott insisted.
Derek had trouble sleeping that night, actually he had barely slept all week, but he was particularly restless that night. One thought kept circling his mind. Heartbroken. Stiles was not the one heartbroken, he was. That was the thought that really kept him awake.