A/N: chapter title surely does not need explaining.
Flashdance
"Well that was a gigantic disaster." Stiles huffed, slouching back against the pizza shop wall. "Maybe next time you cannot look like you're going to rob the place." he said glaring at Derek, who just glared back.
"Like it was just down to me? Typical the one time we actually need your mouth to do something useful it barely opens." Derek countered. "What happened to the kid that could give a twenty minute lecture on the history of the male circumcision?"
"I never gave you that lecture." Stiles snapped, pointing his finger in Derek's face. "How do you even know about that?"
"Erica." Derek huffed.
Stiles grunted, folding his arms.
"Oy, Oy!"
"Oh great, this guy." Neha grumbled as Graham rolled to a stop across the street.
"I'm still willing to rip him in two." Derek said earnestly.
"Don't tempt us." Stiles replied.
"No please, tempt away." Neha whispered.
"…thought we'd stop by."
"That's really creepy. - And there was me thinking you had the patent." Stiles smirked, elbowing Derek. "Is that all?"
"It is all actually." Graham grinned smugly. "We just closed a sale at the coffee shop down the street. You're chances of catching up to us just went from zero to piss all."
That was it. Derek pushed himself off the wall, taking a threatening step forward.
Graham startled. "Well if you'll excuse us, we have to get to the final meeting. Get those jobs of which we're so profoundly deserving."
Derek took another step, his fingers flexing.
Graham turned to order his little minions to follow him, as he tried to seem unaffected by Derek's intimidating behaviour. "Zac, eyes off the pizza mate. God made you lactose intolerant for a reason mate. So fat."
Derek growled and Graham shot him a look before peddling away, quickly.
"What a douche." Neha huffed, shaking her head.
"I love it when you do that." Stiles chuckled as Derek turned back to them.
"As soon as this is over, I'm going to introduce that asshole to my fist." Derek grunted, marching back.
"Guys." Yo-Yo nodded at the street Graham had just ridden away up.
They all turned to see a cab pulling to a stop and they held their breath. When the doors opened to reveal Nick and Billy, everyone let out a cry of excitement and relief. - Even Derek, as they rushing to meet the men.
"Welcome back Billy-boy." Lyle greeted, a wide grin breaking across his face.
"Good to be with ya." Billy nodded.
"What happened there?" Nick asked, looking at Yo-Yo missing eye-brow with concern.
"I tried to get Derek to share, but well he needs his brows to communicate." Stiles said with a grin, patting Yo-Yo on the shoulder, while bumping Derek's.
Nick and Billy chuckled.
"What about here?" Nick gestured to the pizza place.
"Well he didn't bite, so it did not go well." Yo-Yo answered.
"You know who else it didn't go well for?"
"Lay it on us, big daddy." Stiles encouraged, turning to grin goofily at Derek, who simply rolled his eyes and waited for Billy's speech.
"That's right, the little steel town girl Alex. When she got her shot in front of all those stuffed shirts, she took a tumble and fell. You want to hear something totally nuts, she picked herself back up, she tightened that little ass of hers and she pumped her legs and she danced herself right back into their hearts and into a slot at that dance school."
"And that's what we're going to do." Nick grinned. "Tighten you're asses, let's go."
"You think they know that dance scene was actually performed by a guy?" Derek whispered as he followed the pair.
Stiles looked up at him. "And you know that how?"
"Laura loved that movie." Derek said with a sad smile, receiving a shoulder squeeze from Stiles as they crossed the threshold. Nick and Billy already beginning to work their magic.
_The Internship: Sterek Style_
"I'm not dancing."
"If I'm dancing, you're dancing buddy." Stiles said as they scrambled off the Google bus, pizza boxes balanced in his arms.
"This is a stupid idea." Derek grunted.
"This is an awesome idea." Neha grinned. "And don't pretend you don't know how to dance, I've seen you moving that ass." she chuckled, slapping it with winking.
"Don't make me hurt you." Stiles said lightly, bumping her playfully away from Derek.
"Aw, you're so cute." she cooed, then raced to catch up with Billy.
"Do you think we should be worried about those two?" Stiles asked, watching Billy throw an arm around Neha's shoulder.
Derek took a sniff and shook his head. "They're fine."
Stiles turned to look at him intrigued.
"Are we doing this?" Derek huffed, rolling his shoulders as they reached the doors of the hall.
"Just remember to swing that booty, baby." Stiles chuckled, slapping Derek's ass.
Then the music was blaring out of the room and they were dancing their way down the aisle waving pizza to the Flashdance soundtrack. It was probably the most ridiculous thing Derek had ever done.
And the most fun. He could imagine the bright wicked smile Laura would be giving him and his heart clenching but he didn't stop.
_The Internship: Sterek Style_
Stiles stood nervously between Derek and Nick listening as Chetty called for order, his whole body was vibrating. This was it. They were either in or out.
"Its lovely theatrics but the gig is up." Graham announced, smirking at them confidently. "It's too late. Rules are rules. Right Chetty?"
Stiles really wasn't going to blame Derek for laying that guy out when all this was done, the asshole had been asking for it since day one. And if they weren't going to get the jobs, then they really had nothing to lose.
"Yes. Rules are rules. And the rules state that every team as the right until the announcement is made to turn in their sales. So…"
Stiles held his breathe, his shoulder instinctively pressing against Derek's, whose fingers brushed the back of his hand so softly he wasn't even sure he'd actually felt it, but for the lingering heat.
"…despite the lack of punctuality, which is astounding, I have no choice but to except this submission and to recalculate."
Stiles pulled his lip between his teeth in a nervous gesture, his heart racing a thousand miles a second. God this was torture, and he knew torture. - Okay so maybe this wasn't as bad as the year Jennifer kidnapped his dad….he should probably get some perspective. But this really was nerve-wracking, his nerves were totally wrecked. There was no denying the touch of Derek's fingers against his this time, and he curled his hand into a fist to stop for taking hold of them. They were still interns, they still had to follow the rules…at least be seen to follow the rules.
"Go ahead. Recalculate. One sale to a small family pizza joint's not going to make the difference anyway."
Stiles bit his lips and lifted his hand to Derek's arm as he felt the man getting more and more frustrated with Graham.
"It does seem, Mr Hawtrey is correct once again…."
"Boom." Graham smirked proudly over at them.
"The sales from one shop on the last challenge are not enough to put you in the lead."
Stiles felt himself deflate, his shoulders slumping forward along with his head. He glared down at his shoes. Dammit. Sure he hadn't wanted this job when he'd arrived, but now….he had to admit, he'd kinda gotten used to the idea of working for Google. Working with his team. - He'd maybe fallen a little in love with the idea.
"But….This is not one shop…."
Stiles head snapped up so quickly he felt all the muscles in the back of his neck scream in protest. His eyes locking on Chetty. This time he did reach for Derek's hand…or his wrist at least. Screw the rules.
"….You see this is a blossoming franchise with endless possibilities. Thanks to you." Chetty said with a small smile, looking at them with an air of reluctant pride. "And what you've done as a team, is connect with people and connect those people with information. Which is what we do. - And more than that, you had the courage to dream, in spite of your obvious and astonishing limitations, you never gave up on that dream. So…gentleman, and lady…."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa…Chetty, no offence but you're a glorified baby-sitter. Let's get somebody down here that actually means something!" Graham demanded.
"I'm seriously going to punch this guy." Derek grumbled under his voice.
"Get in line, Wolfman." Stiles whispered back, dropping Derek's wrist.
"I'm right here!"
Stiles craned his head to see over Neha, trying to locate the voice. He had to admit he was seriously surprised when the headphone dude he'd seen sleeking around the campus the last six weeks got to his feet and began to move towards Graham and Chetty. And going by the rumble of voices that filled the auditorium, he wasn't the only one surprised.
"Terrific."
"Graham, please meet Mr. Anderson."
"You know this guy?" Graham asked with a deep frown, looking from Chetty to Anderson.
"I should think I do. Andrew here is the head of search, a rather important position here at Google."
"Honest? It's an honour."
"Look at you headphones. A little mystery behind the boy." Billy grinned.
"Uh…how do you know him?" Graham frowned.
"We were encouraged to reach out to experience Googlers. Simple. Not a big mystery."
"To reach out to other Googlers, not just kiss their asses."
Stiles bit back a grin as Graham flustered in the face of the shorter man. This was way the best moment of his being here….okay, second best. The best was totally banging Derek 'friggin' Hale.
"You see these interns are smart, collaborative, pretty…and just weird enough to be interesting."
Stiles narrowed his eyes at Anderson. Had he imagined the way the guy's eyes had flickered over to Derek when he'd said 'weird'? No, he had to be imagining it, there was no way the guy knew. Although he'd been walking around the campus for weeks, watching, listening and no one had paid him any attention because he seemed to be living in his own universe. There was every possibility he'd seen or heard something. After all hadn't that been how Danny found out, over hearing a conversation between him and Scott about the twins.
"….there Googliness is seriously off the charts."
"Oh my god, can we stop with the Googliness." Graham groaned. "What does that even mean?"
"The fact that you do not know what it means is why you'll never work here."
Stiles strained to listen as Anderson leant into Graham's personal space. "What's he saying?" he asked under his breath, bumping shoulders with Derek.
"That his accents bullshit." Derek chuckled.
"Hey…wait…look you can't…those two…" Graham shouted desperately, pointing at him and Derek. "There…."
Anderson leant into his personal space again, his eyes burning into the arrogant dick and instantly Graham deflated. "So…." he smiled, turning towards them.
Stiles wasn't imagining it this time, there was definitely a look. But he'd have to ask Derek about that later because…Chetty was smiling at them.
"Welcome to Google."
The room erupted and Stiles couldn't help himself, he leapt on Derek, arms wrapping tight around his neck, squeezing hard, before letting him go and turning to hug the rest of his team. They'd done it. They'd won. They had a future at Google. When was his life going to not be insane?
"So?" he asked as the others began to wander away from one another, excepting congratulations for their fellow interns. "What was that with headphone guy?"
"Anderson." Derek corrected.
"Right." Stiles nodded. "Do you think he knows about….you know?"
Derek smiled, that secret little grin he used to use a lot when he first became an alpha. The one that said he knew something Stiles didn't. "Of course he knows."
Stiles felt panic claw at his gut as he glanced around for the older guy.
Derek pressed his hand to Stiles shoulder, instantly drawing his attention and calming him. "I'm not the only werewolf in the world Stiles."
Stiles eyes blew wide with surprise. "He's a…." his gaze once more scanning the room but the guy was gone. "Fuck. I'd never….Shit." he shook his head, dragging his fingers through his hair.
Derek chuckled, his arm moving to slide around Stiles shoulders before pulling back sharply. "So…you happy with the outcome?" he asked uncertainly. "I mean, it's an option…..if you decided."
Stiles grinned. "I think my dad would kill me if I threw this away to become a low-paid deputy. - Besides, I can always do both."
Derek swallowed, nodding.
They stood silently in front of one another while the place was chaos around them. Stiles glancing over to see Nick making out with his girlfriend, while Billy was talking to Chetty and Lyle."
"So what are you doing after we leave here?" Stiles heard himself ask, his eyes snapping around to stare at the werewolf.
Derek shrugged. "You?"
"You know what I mean." Stiles laughed softly.
"I don't know…head back I guess." Derek sighed, slipping his hands into the pockets of his jeans. "You?"
"I promised my Dad I'll drop by before heading back to New York. I haven't seen him all summer and I really need to make sure he's in one piece."
Derek nodded. "Yeah right, I remember you saying."
Stiles scuffed the toe of his shoe on the floor. "The offers still open." He remained him despite Derek already saying he wasn't ready to go back yet. "Scott's picking me up." he announced matter-of-factly.
"So….I'll probably see you….."
"Back in New York. I mean if you still want to." Stiles blustered.
"Hey guys." Neha interrupted, throwing her arms around them both. "Can you believe it!" she yelled happily. "We won. We're going to be working at Google!" she pulled them both down and pressed a kiss to both their cheeks, one after the other. "This was frigging awesome!"
"Awesome!" Stiles agreed nodding and laughing softly.
"I guess we should go get our bags and split this joint. Make the most of the last few days of summer, huh." Neha grinned, letting them go and turning to rush out of the building.
"She's right." Derek sighed.
"Yeah."
They walked towards the door, their feet dragging slightly as they got closer to fresh air.
_The Internship: Sterek Style_
Derek took a last look around his room, at the bed. A heavy weight in his stomach. Stiles and he hadn't really spoken about what was going to happen once they left Google, once they were back in New York. Derek knew what he wanted, he wanted to see Stiles every day, carry on what they'd started. What it had taken too long for them to begin. He wanted this to be something. - But there was still the shadow that was Beacon Hills. Sure Stiles wouldn't be rushing off back there to follow his dream, but he'd be going back there sometimes. Summers. Thanksgivings. Christmases. Birthdays. And he'd want Derek to go with him. If they were serious. He'd say he'd understand if Derek said he wasn't ready, and he would….but it would slowly begin to eat away at them and he didn't want that.
Maybe it was time to face his fears. Maybe it was time to go home….again. Taking a breath, Derek pulled the bedroom door closed and marched out of the small apartment/dorm.
He caught sight of Stiles before the younger man saw him and he felt his stomach clench tight. He'd text Cora with the good news while he was marching across the quad and she'd been overjoyed. Then she'd asked what was going to happen with Stiles.
Message: Cora
I don't know. He still wants me to go back to Beacon Hills.
Inbox:
Maybe you should. We all have to face our demons sometime Derek.
Inbox:
And I'm sure he'll protect you. LOL. He always does.
Message: Cora
But who'll protect him? I'm cursed Cora and that place is like a lightning rod.
Inbox:
Stop being a drama queen. It's only a couple of days, here and there.
Message: Cora
Until he wants to move back permanently.
There hadn't been a comeback message for a few agonising minutes. Then finally his sister had replied.
Inbox:
Go home Derek. It's time.
"Hey man." Stiles smiled at him uncertainly and Derek slipped his phone into his pocket.
"Hey." He smiled at the others. "So this is it them, huh?"
"Have a great senior year guys." Lyle grinned proudly. "I'll keep your desk chairs warm for ya."
"Team Lyle!" Billy cheered, pulling them all in for a huge group hug.
As they broke apart a woman's loud yelling voice caught their attention and they all turned to see an Asian woman standing beside a dark blue car.
"Mom, I need a minute." Yo-Yo called back. The women yelled back only for Yo-Yo to cut her off. "Mom, I am saying goodbye to my friends. I am taking a minute!" he stated firmly. "Okay?"
Stiles grinned up at Derek, who shared his pride. As did everyone.
"Look who grew an eyebrow. Go Yo-Yo." Billy cheered. "Alright you riff-raff, get out of here."
"See ya down the road." Nick nodded at them all.
They shared a final group hung before going their own ways. Yo-Yo marched confidently towards his mom, while Stiles and Derek made their way to the bus with Neha.
"So, don't be strangers. Shoot me a text sometime, Stiles." Neha grinned up at them.
The pair stared at her with wide eyes. "You…?"
"We do have ears you know? And it was pretty obvious you guys had a history after like five minutes."
Derek looked from Neha to Stiles, slightly fearful of what else they'd heard, but then he'd come to trust this little pack, despite the short time they've known one another. So he pulled her into an uncharacteristic hug, pressing a kiss to her cheek that caused her to turn bright red, when he stepped back, Stiles stepped forward.
"Forget that, we'll come see you in person." Stiles grinned, matching Derek's fierce hug with one of his own.
Neha took a step back, her eyes brimming with tears. "You better." he ordered looking between them. "I should…" she thumbed at the bus. "See you in a year."
The pair nodded and watched her vanish into the small crowd of interns eager to get home.
Derek inhaled slowly, staring down at his boots while shifting his bag on his shoulder. He glanced over at the visitor's parking lot and frowned. "Where's Scott?"
Stiles shrugged. "Guess he's running late. Don't worry, he'll be here. - You should…you know…" he nodded to the bus, his lips caught between his teeth.
"Huh…yeah…I….You'll call the moment you get back to New York?"
Stiles met his gaze. "If you want me to."
"Of course I want you to. This isn't over. - For me."
Stiles face lit up, beaming. "Me either. I'll call. Second I land. - Hell I'll be calling you all weekend."
Derek grinned. "Isn't the whole point of you going home so you can spend time with your dad?"
Stiles smile turned sly. "I can't spend every second with him and you know how dull the nights are in Beacon Hills." he whispered seductively.
Derek growled despite himself, taking a step into Stiles personal space. They had the jobs, what did it matter if they….
"Stiles!"
The pair turned at the yell of a voice that was most definitely not Scott.
"Dad?"
Derek's back straightened and he fixed his default serious face into place. "Sheriff." he nodded as the man came to a halt in front of them.
"Dad, what are you doing here? Where's Scott?" he glanced around frantically.
"He had…." the Sheriff glanced around nervously. "….business that kind of took precedent, so I'm here." he reached for Stiles bag. "How'd it go?" he asked hopefully, looking at his son.
"You haven't told him?" Derek frowned.
"Hello, we only found out two hours ago." Stiles looked between the two men. "I was going to, the second I got home. I wanted to surprise him." he defended looking at Derek. "Like you've told Cora."
"I have." he nodded.
"Well someone what to tell me?" the Sheriff demanded, glaring at the pair.
"I got the job." Stiles murmured, standing proudly at attention. "Or I should say, we got the job."
Derek watched as the Sheriff dropped the bags and wrapped Stiles in a tight, long hug, his eyes glassing over as he watched the father and son. One again being reminded what he'd lost. Finally the Sheriff stepped back and swallowed hard, before nodding to Derek.
"Congratulations."
"Thank you." Derek replied with his own nod.
"Okay, let's get back, Scott'll probably need your help."
"Yeah, typical. I've just got the job of my life and all anyone cares about is how my impressive brain can save their asses." Stiles grumbled light-heartedly. He turned to Derek as his dad marched away. "So….I'll call you. Tonight."
"I'll look forward to it." Derek murmured. "Be careful, okay." he said firmly. "I'd like you back in one piece."
"Please, may I remind you which of us is the disaster magnet?"
Derek narrowed his eyes.
"Kidding. Kidding." Stiles held up his hands defensively. "I'll be careful and when I get home you're going to reward me for my due care and attention. Right?" he asked huskily.
"Maybe."
"Are you two coming or what?" the Sheriff yelled across the parking lot. "We don't have all day. There are…..criminals to be caught. Move your asses or I'm leaving them here!"
Stiles looked from his dad to Derek then back again. "Huh…I…."
"Coming Sheriff!" Derek yelled before he even realised it.
Stiles head snapped around to stare at him. "Huh?"
Inhaling deeply, he lifted his bag higher on his shoulder and met Stiles gaze. "Have to face my demons sometime."
Stiles was still staring at him thirty seconds later. "Uh…."
"Stiles!"
"Coming Dad!" Stiles yelled, turning and making his way towards his father, Derek close on his heels.
THE END
A/N: Well I hope you enjoyed that. I was debating whether to do an epilogue but honestly I have no idea what happened after this. Who knows, maybe I'll write one later.
I really enjoyed writing this, as I do all my Sterek fic, and I finally wrote a damn fic with no angst. - Or at least very little. Which considering how angst my other works are, that's a damn miracle. I kept having to tell myself. "NO ANGST! NO ANGST! FUN ROM/COM TIME. STAY THE HELL AWAY FROM THE ANGST!"
I really enjoyed the Internship, which surprised me as I'm not a fan of Wilson or Vaughn really, I totally only brought the movie because of Dylan. (Like I'm the only one. Huh?)
Anyway, thanks again for reading. I'm grateful as always. And for those waiting for the follow-up to Sea of Troubles, I'm working though the plot-plan now. It's been a bloody nightmare. Fingers crossed I'll have something soon. If I don't get distracted with another Sterek fic. Which if I'm honest will probably happen because my brain is filled with ideas that I keep trying to make into something.
PS: Notes
* I couldn't help but make Anderson a werewolf. Something just spoke to me.
* I have no idea how Danny discovered the family secret. (And I've been told he has) So I've gone with him over hearing something because seriously, considering they're all supposed to be keeping the werewolf think a secret, the pack has a really bad habit of having conversations in the middle of a damn corridor at a normal decibel. Someone has to have heard something by now.
That's all for now.
Thank everyone for their wonderful, supportive comments and reviews and I hope this ending wasn't too disappointing.
All my love
GATERGIRL79