Title: The art of wooing a werewolf.
Fandom: Teen Wolf.
Characters/Pairing: Sterek, Scott/Allison, Jackson/Lydia, Erica/Boyd, Isaac/Scarves.
Warning: ALWAYS-A-GIRL-STILES, AU, crack fic. Unbetaed.
Rating: PG-15

Summary: Stiles asks for Lydia's help to woo Derek. Maybe she should have just knocked Derek unconscious and write her intentions on his chest. It would have been easier.

A/N: Teen Wolf is property of MTV and Jeff Davis. This is a response to one of the gender-bender challenges back in May. It's my first story in the TW fandom as well (in English), so I apologize for the mistakes since I don't have a beta and English is not my native language.

Stiles had to admit she wasn't the typical girl around town. For starters, her best friend was a werewolf. And that should be it, but no, then her world was turned upside down, and now she was attracted to a grouchy Alpha who probably ate kittens for breakfast and schedule time to glare at people. This led to ask advice from Lydia.

For some reason, she wanted Derek Hale, current Alpha of the misfit pack of horny teenagers and a creepy undead guy. That by itself was a big challenge, as Derek's type of girl was hot, sociopath and mass murderer. Stiles hardly had the first one, let alone the other two. If she wanted Derek at least noticing her as a potential person of interest, she had to make adjustments, like stop acting like Scott's girly brother and actually embrace the girl power like Allison, Cora, Erica and Lydia. She could do it; she knew she wasn't that bad to look at. It was just that she grew up with Scott and her dad, and their clothes were more comfortable than the tight skirts Erica wears, or the high heels Lydia used as lethal weapons.

Hence, why she needed Lydia. If she wanted to catch Derek's attention, Lydia was the expert on that department.

"Of course I'm the expert," she said, with her usual modesty. "I've been waiting for you to acknowledge that you're a girl. Congratulations!"

"Thanks," Stiles said dryly. She wasn't that bad, okay?

"This sudden change of heart wouldn't have to do with the crush you have with me, right?" Lydia said, smirking. "Because the reason why I didn't say yes to your intentions wasn't exactly your lack of fashion sense… on a second thought, it was actually that. If Allison made me an invitation…"

"I know you like jocks without brains, Lydia; we all know Jackson. It has nothing to do with you."

"And much to do with Derek Hale, hard abs and allergic to smiles and to fun in general," Lydia waved her hand while she gaped. "Please, Stiles. You think you are discreet, when we actually see the dopey eyes you give Derek every time he snarls, which is far too frequent. You're worse than Scott sometimes. Not that I blame you, you have an excellent taste."

"That's comforting. I like people who never would actually consider dating me. Ever." Stiles snapped. She was getting tired of hearing how hot Derek was. She knew the scale of hotness that Derek reached. He probably would break that scale and put other hot guys at shame.

"Don't be melodramatic." Lydia arched her eyebrow. "You want to be more feminine to get Derek's attention."

"You make it sound like this is one of those chick flick movies where the nerdy girl gets a makeover, and the guy starts drooling for her and worshiping the ground they walk on. This is Derek Hale we are talking about. I probably need to kill Scott so he can think 'hey, maybe I can date her'. Or I could kill Jackson… oh, that wouldn't be so bad!" Stiles said, cheerfully. Jackson was an ass; it would be like community service.

"Oh honey, it's nothing like that. If you want to get Derek Hale, this will be slow and subtle. Can you manage that?"

"Stealthy is my middle name! I can be subtle."

"I'm sure." Lydia mocked. "Very well… let's start."

"Right now?"

"No time like the present."

After a very long drive to Lydia's house, Stiles was holding the nail polish like it personally offended her.

"I don't know Lydia. How is vomit Green going to help me with this situation?"

"First of all, it's not vomit Green, it's 'Hunter green' – "

"Appropriate." Stiles bit out, "and still, it's vomit green." She would know. She tricked-n-treated four Halloweens in a row as the girl from 'The Exorcist'. She could recognize vomit green anywhere.

"I should have made you sign a contract where you were banned from complaining. Just paint your nails in this color the next pack meeting and shut up."

"That's it? No dressing me up as a doll? I gotta say Lydia, this is disappointing."

"Slow and subtle, Stiles."

"Right, slow and subtle. My new motto. It beats the hell out of my old one 'lie to dad and stay alive'. I'll paint my nails vomit green –"

"Hunter Green."

"– But if Jackson makes fun of me, I'm counting on you to make him pay."

"Don't worry about Jackson. I'll handle him."

Stiles sighed. Yes, she went to Lydia because she was the expert. However, right now, she was wondering if she probably should have gone with Allison. Too late for that, Lydia was invested in this, even when she had done nothing but give Stiles a used bottle of nail polish.

The pack meeting was interesting, at least for her. She was looking at Derek in all his mighty glory while he chastised his betas like a bunch of puppies. Even Scott, and he was an Alpha too. He should swat their noses with rolled newspapers. That would be hilarious.

Stiles was doubting Lydia's expertise at this moment. Nobody noticed her nails (and did they realize how much effort she put on painting them right? Lots of green dots on her bedroom floor are testimony that nail polish was a small form of torture), and the only one giving some sort of approval was Lydia. Because she knew about the nail polish situation. Scott was with Isaac and Allison, in their weird threesome they deny; Jackson was yawning like Derek was the sleeping draught he was waiting for, Erica and Boyd were trying to pretend to pay attention, but she knew they were just imagining their after meeting sex session, and Peter was creepy. Cora wasn't even there, perhaps thinking that being the Alpha's sister granted some sort of free pass from being in these meetings.

Derek then looked at Stiles' hands and he frowned.

"Are you sick?" He asked, interrupting his very important speech about the trees or something (she believed he was still talking about that, she stopped paying attention after 'you are too careless').

"What? No, I'm not sick," she noticed everyone's eyes on her, and she tensed.

"Why are your nails green?" Derek was still frowning.

"Dude," Scott said, looking at the nails, "are you wearing the Halloween vomit thing on your nails?"

Stiles looked at Lydia and mouthed 'I told you.'

"Are you sick?" Repeated Derek.

"I'm just wearing nail polish, okay?" She snapped.

"You don't wear nail polish," Scott pointed out, "you say it stinks. Why are you wearing nail polish?"

"That color doesn't suit you, Stiles." Erica smirked.

"Of course it suits her!" Lydia finally spoke, if only to defend her work.

"It makes you look weird." Scott frowned.

"Thank you Scott. Weird is what I was aiming for." Stiles was getting annoyed. This nail polish thing was going exactly the opposite of what she would have desired.

Not that she thought that as soon as Derek saw her with her painted nails, he would declare his eternal love for her and her vomit green look, but at least she hoped for a small compliment or something.

"It looks fetching." Finally, a compliment! Too bad it came from the last person Stiles wanted it.

"Don't look at her nails." Derek glared at Peter. Since Stiles told Derek about the 'I'm going to give you a gift, Stiles' incident, he said he would make sure that Peter kept his distance from her.

"Can we move on from my nails, please?" Stiles pleaded.

"Don't paint your nails again." Derek demanded. "It makes your hands look weird."

Oh, it was on.

"Don't move your eyebrows then. They make you look weird. That's why they disappear when you change."

"Fine. Do whatever you want." Derek muttered. "Let's continue the meeting."

Everyone groaned, which led to Derek to decide it was best for everyone to go home; Jackson falling asleep probably had something to do with it. No wonder he didn't make a jackass comment about her nails like the rest. Derek came closer to her while everyone gathered their things.

"You are not sick then."

"Did I have a déjà vu? Didn't we just discuss this? No, I'm not sick! You're a werewolf; you would be able to smell if I was sick, right?"

"Normally, I would, but you take medication daily, and it messes up your natural scent. Diseases are hard to smell when you are medicated."

"Are you saying that I smell bad?" She glared at him. Derek Hale, king of compliments.

"It's a peculiar smell."

"I'm a peculiar girl. Can you tell?" She smirked.

"I can tell you are a nosy, reckless and stupid teenager," Derek said.

"Derek, you're making me blush." She mocked. "Since we are giving compliments, I should tell you a secret. You are very grouchy."

"I –"

"If you two are done flirting," Lydia interrupted, "we have to go."

Stiles' ears turned red, and she felt like she was burning. She didn't dare to glance at Derek; she just took her backpack and ran to her car. Lydia was so dead. Once she started the Jeep, she took off. When she came home, she remembered she was supposed to be Scott's ride. Oops.

Thirty minutes later, a text from Scott let her know he didn't entirely mind that she dumped him with Derek, since Allison gave him a ride and they had smooch time (he hated it when Stiles called it that). Well, at least someone was having fun. What happened at the pack meeting made her reconsider this situation. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all.

"What?" Lydia looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "What do you mean you want to quit? It's just the first try, Stiles!"

"Look, I can take a hint. Derek is in no way or form interested in little human me. It was a bad idea coming to you for advice," Stiles said, noticing the glare Lydia was sending in her direction. "Not that I doubt your expertise on the subject."

"I thought you were persistent. After all, you had a crush on me for like eight years."

"Seven and a half, thank you," Stiles scoffed, "but this is different."

"How so?"

"With you... It was a harmless crush, I dare to say you even found it amusing at times."

"Yeah, you kept baiting Jackson, and he even feared you, did you know that?"

"My life is now complete. The point, I prefer to avoid the humiliation of Derek laughing in my face. Thanks though, I know you spend a lot of time choosing that vomit green nail polish."

"Oh, no. The pity party stops now," Lydia said in her best demanding voice. It made Stiles tremble a little, "we aren't nearly done with this. By the end of the month, Derek will be begging you, mark my words!"

"Lydia, I don't think -"

The glare Lydia gave her stopped her from saying anything else. Dear, this didn't bode well for her either way.

"Are you insane?" Stiles gaped, seeing the price attached to, true, these marvelous blue shoes.

"Beauty has no price, Stiles." Lydia waved her hand dismissing Stiles' argument.

"Oh, apparently it does!" Stiles screeched. "There's no way my Dad is going to give me that much money!"

"I know you have money saved for a certain video game you want to buy," Lydia said sweetly, "so, when Derek starts worshiping the ground you walk on, then you ask for him to buy it."

"That's twisted in so many ways." Stiles grumbled. "Is that what you do with Jackson?"

"Honey, you don't want to know what Jackson and I do in your relationship."

"You're probably right." Stiles shuddered. "Still, I don't want to pay this much for a pair of shoes."

"You want Derek to notice you? You have to start being noticeable," Lydia said calmly.

"I refuse to give in to the social pressure of women having to dress up for men to notice them. I'm perfectly fine with my sneakers."

"Don't twist this around. You aren't changing who you are... You are just accessorizing it a bit. You are so focused on staying in your comfort zone, that you avoid trying new things. I'm not saying you have to wear high heels daily, just try it and see how it goes."

"You see how it goes." Stiles mumbled, knowing her argument had no sense.

"Perfect. We'll take the shoes then!"

Explaining to her father this new side of buying girly things it sure was fun.

Since Lydia said that she should wear the heels when she felt ready for it (this was almost like a Jedi training... Or maybe a Sith training, considering Lydia's temper), she chose Friday Movie Night to make her grand appearance.
She had to admit the heels looked well with the jeans and the only girly blouse she owned. Walking with those was another matter though. The first one to notice the change was, surprisingly enough, Scott.

"Why are you taller?" He asked, frowning.

"I finally got my growth-spurt," she said sarcastically.

"She's wearing heels, moron," Jackson pointed out. "Looking good, Stilinski."

Since Jackson said this with a face that screamed 'torture', she smirked.

"Lydia threatened you?" Stiles looked at Jackson with a sarcastic smile.

"Don't push your luck," he bit back.

"You look amazing, Stiles!" Allison beamed. She was so nice!

"Yeah, those shoes look amazing." Erica complimented.

Boyd just nodded, which was his own weird way of saying 'nice'. At least that was what Stiles liked to believe.

"Can we move on from Stiles and her heels?" Lydia said. "I brought 'The Notebook'."

Everyone groaned, knowing that arguing with Lydia about the movie will lead to nothing good.

"Where's Derek?" Stiles asked, and she tried to calm herself so the werewolves didn't notice the small jump her heart did when she said Derek's name. Given the knowing smiles everyone showed, she didn't do a very good job. The only one who seemed oblivious was Scott.

"He and Peter went to check something. They said we should start without them."

For some reason, Stiles had the feeling they wouldn't have their movie night. And after 15 minutes into 'The Notebook', she was proved right when Peter entered the loft, saying that trolls were on the preserve, and they needed help.

Running through the forest with heels was a new sport Stiles didn't want to try in the future. She probably shouldn't have insulted the King troll... But how was she supposed to know that he was the one in charge? Now she was running for her life, with Derek behind her for some reason.
Something caught her foot, making her fall hard on the ground. Ouch, that will bruise.

Her stupid heel got stuck in the trunk of a tree. Fuck! The sensible thing to do here was taking the shoe off and running for her life. But dammit, those heels were expensive; she wasn't leaving one of them here!

"What the hell are you doing?" Derek asked, raising his voice when he noticed that Stiles was trying to set her shoe free.

"Are you blind? My shoe got stuck!" She said, trying to avoid the sarcasm in her voice.

"Are you an idiot?" Derek got closer, making her stomach flutter with excitement. Bad time to notice how good Derek smells. What brand of perfume would this be? Grumpy werewolf? "Just let go of the damn shoe, Stiles!" Derek got her out of her thoughts.

"No, go fuck yourself. This shoe was more expensive than my Jeep. I'm not leaving it here!" She yelled, knowing well that Derek had his glare of doom.

"It's a damn shoe!" Derek argued back. "The others need help, take it off and let's go!"

"NO! You go if you want to, asshole. I'm not leaving without my shoe; I don't even have a week with them!" And this was a very valid point. Her father would have her head if he found out that she lost a shoe that she just bought five days ago.

"Stiles!" Derek growled.

"Derek," she retorted, crossing her arms to make her point.

"I can't leave you here, unprotected!" Derek probably thought he was making a compelling argument. How long had he known Stiles? He knew she wasn't giving up that easily.

"I can protect myself just fine!" She glared. "Go and help the others, I'll stay here until I can get my shoe and - whoa!"

Derek the brute decided he had enough of Stiles arguing with him, and he just bent down and carried her.

"My shoe!"

Derek ignored her complaints and she tried to get herself free, but the asshole just kept a firm grip on her waist. On the positive side, this gave her a very good view of Derek's ass, so... You win some, you lose some. After the troll drama, they entered the loft tired, muddy and Stiles shoeless. Stupid Derek with his werewolf strength.

"Dude, your shoe is missing." Scott, unnecessarily, pointed out.

"Yeah, thanks to Derek, my shoe stayed in the trunk of a tree, being the most fashionable tree ever."

"You're welcome." Derek growled.

"I didn't need your help, asswipe!" Stiles was pissed. How was she supposed to explain this to her father now?

"Let's all calm down," Peter meddled. "I'm sure Derek could buy you another pair of shoes to compensate the situation."

"Shut up," Stiles and Derek said at the same time. They both also glared at each other.

"I'm going home." Stiles turned around to make a dramatic exit.

That was ruined as well when she tripped on the way out.

After explaining to her Dad the awful fate her shoe had, he didn't seem too upset about it. He was glad Stiles was fine, and he said that she probably should have thought that wearing heels in a life-threatening situation wasn't the best idea she had.

Lydia and Allison did it all the time! How was she supposed to know that something like that could happen?

"You need practice with heels before you start running through the forest, Stiles." Lydia chastised her. She didn't know about that rule or whatever!

"Yeah Lydia, it was my idea to make a fool of myself in front of Derek and lose a shoe that, may I add, got me into an interrogation with my Dad about stick on our budget when I wanted to go on another 'shopping spree'. I'm telling you, this is hopeless!"

"Come on, Stiles, you can't give up," Allison said, in a cheery tone.

"And another thing... why is Allison coming with us, and why is she aware of my particular situation?"

Allison looked at Lydia with surprise.

"I thought you said Stiles asked for my opinion!"

"No, I said Stiles needed your opinion," Lydia said calmly. "Oh, don't complain, Allison will swear secrecy about this, right?"

"Of course, I won't say anything about it, Stiles, I promise." Allison said solemnly.

"Spit shake?" Stiles asked because all the deals she had made in her life had been with spit.

"How about you take my word for it instead?" Allison shuddered. Yeah, she often forgot that the only one who didn't mind making spit shakes to seal deals was Scott.

For a long time they were only Scott and Stiles. Sometimes she missed the simplicity of that, but she also had to admit that this was better, even when it led to have to socialize with Jackson.

"Where are you taking me?" Stiles frowned. When Lydia kindly requested her to go with them, she didn't share where to, she just said it was about their little project.

"Stiles, so far we have covered small appearance improvements like nail polish and shoes... can't you imagine what's next?"

"Oh, no..."

"Oh, yes."

Shopping for clothes with Lydia became the new form of torture for Stiles. And it probably was mutual, since Lydia said 'I can't deal with you' and ordered Allison to take her home while she did all the hard work.

"At least I should be grateful she didn't yell at me," Stiles sighed.

"Lydia can be... difficult." Allison diplomatically agreed. "But she'll buy you something nice to wear the next pack meeting; you'll see."

"You must think I'm pathetic," Stiles said lowly, "trying to change myself for a man who barely notices me."

"Of course not!" Allison said vehemently. "You aren't changing, Stiles! You're a sweet, caring and wonderful person, and if Derek, or anyone for that matter, can't see that, then they don't deserve you."

"You are better at these pep talks than Lydia." Stiles smiled. "But you have to admit I tend to be annoying sometimes."

"It's part of your charm. Besides, you are just trying something different, there's no crime in that." Allison smiled back. "And for the record, you could do a lot better than Derek."

"Oh, you are biased! At least admit he's hot." Stiles joked.

"Fine, I'll concede he's somewhat attractive, but his personality? Ugh!"

"He has layers... like Shrek!"

"No arguments there." Allison scoffed. "I think the comparison is apt."

"And now I want to be misses Shrek... but no Fiona. Lydia is the only redhead in the group."

"Did you just compare Lydia with an ogre?"

"Hey! She was a princess who decided to stay an ogre for the love of her life. And you can't say Jackson fits the 'Prince Charming' category."

They laughed, making Stiles feel better about this situation. When she had her crush on Lydia, it was kind of lonely since Scott didn't really get why she liked Lydia. She was mean and stuck up, and she was dating Jackson, yikes. He just nodded along with all her plans to woo Lydia and consoled her when they failed.

Yeah, Scott was awesome in his own oblivious way.

Since Lydia was the expert, she would leave everything in her capable hands. When she saw the clothes picked out for her, she started having second thoughts about it.

She kept staring at the clothes, trying to pick what to wear. Maybe she was nervous because she hadn't worn a dress in a long time. She needed to suck it up and choose one dress. How hard it could be?

Two hours later, she was still deciding what to wear. Stupid Derek.

"Kiddo, I just came to say goodnight. You know your curfew, you don't want one of my deputies paying an unwanted visit to Derek's loft, right?" Her Dad opened her room's door.

"I learned the lesson the first time, Dad," she scoffed, "besides, I'm almost eighteen, couldn't you at least change my curfew?"

"Before all this, you didn't need a curfew." Her Dad looked at her, noticing her frown. "Don't get me wrong, I like you and Scott having more friends… or acquaintances, but I worry, you know? That's my job."

"I worry about you too, but I let you eat French fries from time to time," she argued.

"Not the same thing, kiddo. And it's not your responsibility; I'm the dad here. I have to take care of you."

"We're supposed to take care of each other," she said sadly.

Her Dad nodded slowly, hugging her tightly.

"Point." He caved, kissing her forehead. "And what's the deal with all these clothes?"

"I'm trying to change my wardrobe… as you have noticed recently."

"I prepared myself for the time you would decide to spend all our savings in clothes and shoes, but when the time came I was still surprised. Did you find the shoe?"

She tried to find the shoe the day after the troll extravaganza, with no luck.

"Nope. Maybe a rabbit stole it, and it's wearing it right know."

"Lucky rabbit," her dad snorted. "If you have problems deciding what to wear, remember what your Mom's philosophy was."

"Wear what makes you feel more comfortable," she repeated.

"Exactly. It doesn't matter; you'll look good in anything."

"Thanks, dad."

"All right, I have to run. Remember curfew!"

"But -!"

"We'll discuss changing it later. Enjoy your pack time."

"Yeah."

All this made her nostalgic. If her Mom were alive, she probably would give her some advice about this situation. She didn't doubt her Dad would too, but it was so much easier talking to her Mom about this sort of thing. When her Dad found out about her crush on Lydia, he stammered saying that Lydia was a lucky girl for having Stiles crushing on her, but he couldn't really give her advice on the subject, except being herself.

Her Dad said that being herself was enough, but as time passed by, she felt like it wasn't enough for the rest of the world. And also she had de feeling that 'trying to woo Derek' wouldn't be okay for her Dad. Older than her, werewolf and with a record, Derek just won the trifecta on the worst guy your kid would want to date. However, one problem at a time. What to wear? Then it hit her… something that could make her feel comfortable, why didn't she think of that before?

Smiling, she knew what she would wear. It would be awesome.

When she got out of the Jeep, she took a deep breath. Lydia would have her head for this, but whatever, she knew Stiles' policy about dresses.

"Stiles?" Allison got out from Lydia's car, gaping at her.

"Yeah. What's up? No Scott?"

"He had to help his Mom with a few things. He'll join us shortly. Uh, you should have prepared Lydia because…"

"Where are the nice dresses I chose for you?" Lydia came closer to them.

"On my bed, making it look pretty." Stiles replied calmly. "I didn't feel like wearing a dress, and these fulfill the purpose, right?"

"Stiles, the point of the dress was wearing something different!" Lydia pinched the bridge of her nose.

"Well, I haven't worn shorts either, so I think this is still a success."

"She has a point." Allison supported her. "She looks good."

"Yeah, I guess." Lydia caved, and Stiles would have cheered if it wasn't for the glare still directed to her. "It's not a complete failure, but that's just phase one."

"I thought phase one was the nail polish and the heels," Stiles pointed out.

"Oh no, honey, that was just warm up. We are moving to the big leagues now." Lydia smirked. "Are you ready for phase two?"

"I don't know… am I?"

After hearing Lydia, she totally wasn't.

When they arrived to the loft, everyone kept giving Stiles weird looks.

"Stiles!" Erica gushed. "You have legs!"

"You have nice legs," Isaac observed, earning a glare from Derek. What? She totally had nice legs; Derek didn't need to give the evil eye to anyone pointing that out.

"You have long legs," Peter drawled. Okay, the guy was seriously damaged.

"Stop staring at her legs." Derek snapped.

"Yeah, yeah, Stiles has legs, can we move on?" Jackson scoffed.

They kept arguing about what movie they should see first, when Stiles thought this would be a good opportunity (as good as any, really) to start the next 'phase' on the plan.

A compliment? She could nail it.

"Derek –" are those new abs? They go particularly fetching with your awesome ass that I want to bite. "Nice shirt."

Derek raised his eyebrow.

"It's a black shirt," Derek said looking like he was trying to understand what planet Stiles came originally from.

"It looks good on you." Stiles tried to sound confident about this.

"When I wore it last week you asked if I was trying to be a member of the Adams' family."

"Well, now it looks nicer… cleaner?" She could curse her mouth, always a step ahead from her.

Derek grunted.

"You look good too," Derek said, almost like someone was forcing the words out of him. "I suppose. You can catch a cold wearing that."

What the hell was that? A judgmental compliment? He was such an asshole! Would it kill him being nice to Stiles for five seconds? She was about to give him a piece of her mind, when Scott finally arrived.

"Sorry I'm late!" He kissed Allison quickly, while Stiles and Jackson made gagging noises.

"Like you're the one to talk." Scott complained at Jackson. "And you –"

When Scott looked at Stiles, he just stopped talking and gawked.

"Dude!" He said, still staring at her legs. "What are those?"

"Hey! You have seen me in shorts before!" She complained. His friend was making a big deal out of this.

"Yeah, but like when we go to the pool!"

"So, I can't wear shorts unless I'm going to the pool?" Stiles scowled.

"No, but… can we go out and bring pizza?" Scott was still looking weird. And that change of subject was suspicious.

"But I slaved all day making Lasagna!" Peter protested.

"It was frozen Lasagna," Isaac said, "and you just put it in the oven."

"I want pizza too!" Erica supported.

Stiles looked at Derek, who was just staring at Scott with a bemused expression. Oh, God, she hoped he didn't have the hots for her best friend! That would be highly ironic.

Although that would explain why Derek apparently became the number-one fan in the Scott club. He kept defending him, supporting him and they both were alpha buddies (even when Scott denied it). Then Derek looked at her, and shrugged. Glad to see he was still his helpful self, sharing his thoughts on the matter.

"Scott…" Allison tried to ease the situation.

"It's fine, Allison. We'll be right back."

Stiles pushed Scott, and they walked out of the loft. They didn't say anything, until Stiles started the Jeep and drove away.

"Wanna explain what the hell was that?" Stiles finally snapped, once she was sure they were out of werewolf hearing.

"Dude… do you like Derek?" Scott didn't beat it around the bush.

"WHAT? How do you go from 'you only wear shorts when we go to the pool' to 'do you like Derek'?" Stiles tried to stay calm.

"It explains so much! Using nail polish, and the heels, and now the shorts!" Scott defended his argument.

"And why does it have to be Derek? Maybe it's Boyd!"

"Yeah, right, you and Boyd only communicate through nods and shrugs!"

"Isaac then!"

"You hate Isaac!"

"I do not!" She reconsidered this. "I'm not fond of him, but I don't hate him. He wears scarves all the time! That's sketchy!"

"And you truly hate Jackson, you are so over Lydia, and if you say it's Peter…"

"Ugh! No! Gross!" She wrinkled her nose. Peter? That was worse than Jackson.

"And also your heart does a weird skip when you say Derek's name, or when you talk to Derek. I can't believe you didn't tell me!"

"Because you looked so supportive five minutes ago!" She said with sarcasm.

"That had nothing to do with Derek." Stiles glowered. "Maybe it has a little to do with Derek. I mean, the guy is an asshole!"

"Was an asshole, Scotty, he now worships the ground you walk on." Stiles mocked.

"That was disturbing in so many ways. Anyway… so… you like Derek… and you are trying to… what? Act girly for him? Dude, fuck him! You are awesome, if he can't see it, then he can go fuck himself!"

This was why Scott was her best friend. Bros forever.

"Lydia has a plan to help me; I'm just following it and see what happens."

"Wait… you told Lydia before you told me?" Scott said, offended. "We are best bros!"

"I know, but Lydia is the expert in the romance field." Stiles defended her point.

"She's dating Jackson," Scott said with a sneer.

"Well, objectively speaking, Jackson is somewhat attractive and popular."

"I can't believe you like Derek. I mean… Derek… Derek Hale… Derek the guy we put in prison…"

"I'm aware of who Derek is, Scott, thank you for the clarification. Do you want to know why I like him? Let's start with his ass –"

"I believe you!" Scott interrupted. "I don't need the details. All right, tell me about Lydia's plan. Maybe I can help."

As Stiles started saying the plan, she noticed Scott had a weird glint in his eyes. Man, she was so screwed.

When Scott and Stiles came back with the pizza, they all took their slices and went to the living room to see 'Captain America'. She didn't mind seeing it again; it was an epic movie. In the middle of the movie, she noticed Lydia giving her strange looks. Oh, right! The plan.

"Derek, do you want a drink?" Stiles said in her best polite voice.

"Why?" Derek frowned.

"What do you mean why?"

"Are you spitting on it?"

"Oh my GOD! That was ONE time, and you were acting like the asshole you well know –"

Lydia cleared her throat. Loudly. Oh, yeah… she had to be nice.

"I'm sorry, that ISOLATED event won't occur ever again. So… drink?"

"No. Thank you." He grimaced, like it was a great effort to be polite with her. Asshole.

"I want one." Scott piped in.

"Good for you. The fridge is that way."

"Hey! You were offering Derek a drink!"

"So?"

"It's only polite to offer drinks for everyone. You wouldn't want to be rude, right?" Scott smirked. She was demoting him as her best friend. Now he was dirt.

"You little –" she took a deep breath. She could do this; she was nice, dammit! "I mean, Scott, dear friend of mine, brother from another mother, I think you could kindly fuck off."

That was polite, right?

"Hey! I'm thirsty." Scott kept pushing.

"Oh my God!" Jackson interrupted. "Just bring him the damn soda, pour it on his head and shut up!"

Jackson could come up with good ideas from time to time.

"What do you want?" Derek stood up, with a resigned face. This was the opposite of what she wanted. Even Scott looked remorseful now.

"No dude, I was just teasing Stiles," Scott clarified.

"I didn't mean you." Derek glared at Scott. "You can get your own drink. . ."

And this time there was no confusion whom he was talking to. Stiles blushed, trying to stop her heart from beating so fast.

"Uh… lemonade," she said, trying to sound calm.

Derek nodded and took her glass, disappearing into the kitchen.

"Was that for real?" Stiles murmured.

"Shut up, Stiles!" Jackson kept complaining. "Some of us want to see the movie!"

Stiles sat back, looking at Lydia with confusion. Maybe he wanted to shut Stiles up like Jackson? Lydia just smiled encouragingly. Derek came right back with Stiles' glass, handing it to her with a silent glare.

"Uh, thanks dude."

"Don't call me dude," Derek said in his annoyed voice.

For the rest of the movie Stiles had to calm herself down without knowing what this meant. Was that Derek being nice, or Derek trying to shut her up, or what? Feelings were so complicated. Liking Derek was even more complicated, she didn't know how to decipher the guy, and yet she knew with certain that he was someone who would go to extreme lengths to keep the ones he loved safe.

Like Stiles would.

When the movie ended, everyone was ready to go home, and while Scott and Allison said good-bye, she started helping with the cleaning up. She did this all the time, so she didn't know if this counted as 'being nice'.
Derek entered the kitchen when she was leaving the glasses on the sink. Kudos to Derek for finally having a functional place where they could hang out without the fear of getting tetanus.

"Here."

Derek pushed a box on Stiles' stomach, making her grab it by instinct.

"What's this?" Stiles frowned. Was Derek giving her a box with something awful inside? A gag joke? The heart of a deer?

"You lost your shoe in the last fight –"

"I didn't lose it! You made me leave it in the forest!" She protested.

"Either way, here."

Stiles arched her eyebrow and Derek just moved his hand, like saying 'come on, open the damn box already'. She was getting good at translating Derek non-speaking sentences. Stiles carefully opened the box, expecting something dreadful.

She just stared at the now open box. Inside were the ugliest blue shoes she had ever seen. They sparkled and had feathers… and were generally horrible. When she glanced at Derek, she noticed how he was looking at her expectantly. Oh, God… he was trying to be nice! Derek Hale gave her these shoes that Lydia probably would burn at sight because he wanted to do something nice for Stiles.

And damn if this didn't make her feel hope in his attempts of seduction. At least a little.

"Thank you," she said, after a dead silence. "I…. it's… these are…" She couldn't find the words to say that it was a really sweet gesture, but these weren't exactly her type of shoes.

"They were expensive, like yours," Derek said like this was his winning argument. Truth be told, it really was.

"They are great." Stiles smiled. "Thank you."

Derek nodded, smiling faintly. Yes! A smile! This was a huge victory!

"Stiles! You're my ride!" She heard Scott yelling at her.

"Coming!" She kept smiling stupidly at Derek. "Thanks again, dude, these shoes are awesome."

"Don't call me dude," Derek said, but this time without any heat. "I –"

"Stiles!"

"COMING!" She looked at Derek apologetically. "He probably needs to masturbate because he isn't getting some from Allison."

"I didn't need to know that." Derek frowned. "It's fine, go."

"Bye, see you at the next pack meeting!"

She waved at Derek, who only crossed his arms watching her leave while Scott kept complaining about something. She wasn't really listening… this, this moment… it felt like something changed between her and Derek.

She needed to thank Lydia for being awesome and point her in the right direction. Maybe Derek wasn't feeling on cloud nine…, but she had the feeling they could get there.

She felt like Derek could be her future.