Hello! This story is mainly AU, loosely following the show's timeline. It has Derek/Stiles as well as Danny/Stiles.

Disclaimer : I own nothing from Teen Wolf.

A hiss of pain escaped the boy's lips as he gently examined the growing black eye with his fingers. Stiles was thankful his dad got called in to investigate a drunk driver's crash, as it had saved him from more bruises that he wouldn't be able to explain.

A sudden knock on his bedroom window brought Stiles crashing back to reality. He took his time gathering himself, not caring that it would aggravate his best friend. Once he was sure no evidence of tears lingered on his face and his voice wouldn't betray him, Stiles opened the window.

"What the hell, man?" Scott exclaimed, getting more frustrated when Stiles only offered him a shrugged "sorry" in response. Scott landed on Stiles' floor with a soft thud, sighing.

"You forgot," Scott stated.

"Forgot what?" Stiles asked, racking his brain. He had already done his homework, called Danny to confirm some of the lab results and planned to meet with the taller boy the next day after school.

"To pick me up!" Scott didn't understand why he had to bike all the way over here to remind his friend after waiting for two hours, especially when he had called at least twenty times with no answer.

Stiles smacked his forehead, remembering the last minute agreement they had made.

"Sorry dude. Lab work took way longer than I thought and it just slipped my mind." Stiles berated himself, not wanting to drive Scott to that house anymore.

"It's cool," Scott grinned, lightly punching Stiles' shoulder. "C'mon, we better hurry. You know he's gonna be pissed now."

"When isn't he?" Stiles grumbled as he followed his friend out of the house, grabbing his keys.

The drive into the woods was silent, neither boy looking forward to the hell they were certain they were travelling towards. As the engine of his Jeep died, Stiles wondered why he had agreed to drive Scott here in the first place. It had been a spur of the moment request from his best friend and there had been no hesitation in his answer. It bothered him that he didn't know why.

Scott had already begun to make his way to the blackened porch, looking back with a jerk of his head to Stiles. Following the silent instructions, he swung out of the blue haven and let his feet carry him to the falling apart house.

"You're late." The cold words made both boys jump in surprise.

"Sorry man," Scott tried to shrug it off. "Stiles forgot to pick me up. No big."

"For two hours?" The surprised tone made Stiles glance up into those green eyes.

"I just got caught up in some schoolwork," Stiles mumbled, focusing his gaze on the charred wood of the house. He prayed his heart wouldn't betray him, as the statement was partially true.

"What happened to your eye?" Derek asked, momentarily disregarding the increase of speed he had heard in the younger boy's heartbeat.

"I got elbowed in practice," Stiles said, really wishing he hadn't come.

"Stiles, we didn't have-" Scott started to say with a confused look on his face.

"Aren't you two supposed to be training or something?" Stiles cut him off, trying to shift the focus off of himself.

Both wolves gave him an odd look, but Stiles didn't care. He was silently freaking out that Derek Hale of all people had been the first to notice what nobody else had. A soft sigh barely escaping his lips, Derek started sparring with Scott in the clearing before the house, letting Stiles win this time. He could feel the happiness emanating from Stiles as Scott tried for all his worth to even land a single blow on Derek.

"You can't just bumble around and flail your arms Scott!" Derek said, amused at the fighting style of the young wolf. "You have to always know where your opponent is. Guessing will only get you killed."

"You just move too damn fast!" Scott panted, throwing a wild punch where Derek had been not ten seconds ago. A frustrated noise strangling itself from his throat, Scott leapt at where he thought Derek was and grumbled when his body met that of a tree. It didn't help his mood that his best friend and his so-called mentor were laughing their heads off at his expense.

"Scott," Derek laughed, "I think we're done for the night."

"Yeah, you totally got taken out by a tree. Gotta walk away while you still have some dignity left," Stiles smiled, trying his hardest not to laugh his head off.

Throwing his hands up in defeat, Scott broke a grin. It was times like this that he thought being bitten by the Alpha wasn't such a horrible thing, that he remembered he wasn't just a monster. Looking down at his phone Scott silently cursed.

"Stiles, we gotta hurry. My mom gets back from her shift in like fifteen minutes!" Scott said, rushing to the Jeep. "Oh my god, she's gonna kill me if I'm not home..."

Stiles smiled, starting to head back to his car. He hoped his dad was still out, busy with work. He didn't want a continuation of the earlier encounter.

"Stiles," Derek called out, hoping he wasn't going to regret this. He saw the boy stop and turn, heard the heartbeat steadily increasing in pace.

"Y-yeah?" he stuttered, walking back over to the older wolf. He was confused by the war of emotions he could see in Derek's eyes. Was he the cause of that?

"Nothing," Derek sighed, his head winning the battle over his heart. He felt a foreign pain in his chest as Stiles' expression fell slightly and he saw tears starting to brim in those big brown eyes. He turned, walking back into his house. He couldn't confront the boy. Not when he wasn't sure why he cared so much for the annoying kid.

Stiles stood there for a minute, trying to get a hold on all the emotions flooding his system. When he slipped into the Jeep and felt the engine roar to life under him, Scott shot him a questioning look that was ignored.

"I'm fine," he muttered, not sure who he was trying to convince anymore.