Note: Please note that this story was written prior to the airing of "Co Captain" and there for has no standing in the show, and will not have any sort of connection with actual events in the show beyond this point.

Stiles looked over at Derek's limp form in the passenger seat of his Jeep and a lump formed in his throat. There was blood running down his face and his eyes looked heavy, as if he were hovering on the edge of consciousness. A slight groan escaped the wolf's lips and Stiles had to fix his eyes back on the road. The sun was barely peeking over the horizon and every shadow the trees formed on the pavement made Stiles' heart race that much faster. He couldn't make sense of any of this, but what was plaguing him the most was the feeling he had when he first saw Derek after the fight, it was as if his stomach had dropped and his heart swelled into a boulder, and the worst part was that the he had felt it once before, the night at the school when he thought Derek had died. The feeling of loss was still overwhelming, even though Stiles had long ago remembered that Derek would heal, but the younger teen was still terrified by his emotions, why was he feeling this way for Derek?

Stiles was jerked out of his worries when they pulled up to his house and he noticed the cop car sitting in his drive way. "Shit."

Derek tilted his head towards the younger boy's sound and tried to speak, but all that came out was "Wh" before Stiles' head snapped over to look at him, eyes about as wide as they could be.

"No, no. It's okay. There are no lights on so he's asleep. I'll just help you get upstairs, and we'll figure it out from there…"

Stiles unlocked Derek's arm from around his neck and set him down onto his bed, the wolf's eyes barely fluttered and then settled shut. Stiles stood over Derek's sleeping form for a moment and gasped when he realized that all of the older teen's wounds were slowly sealing shut and disappearing completely underneath all of the caked blood. He had known that werewolves can heal miraculously fast but he had never witnessed it before, and it was awesome. Stiles shuffled over to the end of the bed and pulled off Derek's shoes, he stood there for a moment and contemplated if he should...No, man. What are you thinking? You can't just undress him, just because he's unconscious doesn't mean he's not still Derek Hale, he'll rip you to shreds. Stiles shook his head and settled for throwing an extra blanket over the top of Derek's body. The teen's eyelids were heavy and he could tell that if he didn't get some sleep soon he would pass out on the floor, so he tip-toed down the steps to the couch where he fell asleep almost instantaneously.

Stiles woke to the sound of his dad's car starting and rolling out of the driveway, he had barely hung on the edge of consciousness for a minute when he bolted upright with the memories of the night before. The teen clumsily shot off the couch and into the kitchen where he filled a bowl with warm water from the tap and grabbed a hand towel. Stiles crept up the steps and into his room where he found Derek Hale still very much asleep in Stiles' bed, ignoring the stutter that just came from his heart Stiles set the bowl on his night stand and sat on the edge of the bed. The smaller boy dipped the edge of the towel into the water and then set to work on removing the matted blood on the wolf's face.

Derek woke to a warm dampness on his face, opened his eyes a fraction and was shocked at what he saw. The young teenager, Stiles, was leaning over him tending to his face with a wet cloth. His lip twitched up in amusement and stiles noticed, the small teen retracted his hand and, for once, Stiles could barely speak. "Oh."

"You know they're already healed." Derek almost smirked as he said it, but was so thrown by the situation that his voice came out bland and dry from sleep.

Stiles lowered his head so he wouldn't have to make eye contact with Derek "Yeah, but, still." He paused, "I guess I'll just go…" but as Stiles reached over to put the towel back in the water Derek's hand reached up and guided the younger's back to his own face, and finally Stiles looked up at Derek and his breath escaped him. The older teen's dark eyes were surprisingly soft, and for the first time that Stiles had ever seen, flooding with emotion, the most prominent of which was gratitude.

"You can keep going, I don't mind." The larger teen seemed surprised that he had said this, but he was even more surprised that he had meant it. He felt calm here with Stiles, almost at peace. Even though he was clumsy and talked a LOT, there was something about him that Derek found he liked. He could hear Stiles' heart thumping in his chest from his nerves, "You know you can calm down. I'm not planning on attacking you."

"I don't think I can." Stiles muttered as he used the towel to push Derek's hair off of his forehead, attentively ran the towel through the wolf's eyebrows and over his eyelids as smoothly as he possibly could.

Derek's breath hitched at the feel of the towel when a realization came over him. Suddenly Derek knew why he felt at home with Stiles, and why Stiles was being so caring towards him. At that moment the smaller teen leaned forward to dip the towel in the water and Derek leaned up and very gently pressed his lips to Stiles'. Then Stiles' heart stopped for a few beats and Derek immediately pulled away, the younger teen's gaze was far away but Derek was intent on catching his attention, when Stiles' finally found their way to Derek's they seemed to burn with something that the wolf couldn't quite pin-point, persistence or confidence maybe. Then all at once the towel dropped into the bowl, Stiles' hands found their way to Derek's neck, and he had plastered their lips together.

Something clicked inside of Stiles when their lips met, and a strong sense of relief was settling over him. He had never felt this way about someone and it was extremely freeing to realize it, and even more amazing that Derek seemed to feel the same. Stiles' heart felt like it was about to leap out of his chest and when the older teen reached up his hands to grab hold of his wrists Stiles felt sparks at their touch. The way their lips moved together felt so right to the younger teen. Everything about this kiss felt perfect to him, the way Derek's lips felt surprisingly soft, how he had immediately taken charge of the kiss even though he had not initiated it, and now when the wolf's tongue found its way to Stiles' it started up the perfect rhythm. The teenagers were pressed so tightly together that the younger one was practically lying on top of the other. Stiles thought he could go on kissing Derek forever but he quickly realized that he was running out of breath. He very gently pulled out of the kiss from the older teen and sat up a little straighter. They both sat there panting for a few moments before they finally made eye contact. Derek's dark eyes were blazing with poorly held back lust and passion, while Stiles' light brown eyes were holding back so much more: confusion, joy, compassion, lust, curiosity, and then a single emotion came over him and quickly dispelled all the others, mischief. Stiles leaned over to pick the towel back out of the bowl. "If you really want me to clean all the blood off, you're going to have to take off your shirt."