Disclaimer: I don't own Teen Wolf and never will. No copyright infringement intended.

Derek Hale and Stiles Stilinski are more alike than they think. And this fact is frustrating the pack, but they're not sure what to about it.

"We could always go for the cliché and lock them in a closet, but I think Derek would be able to break out of it pretty easily." Erica ripped up the paper in her hand and started to play with it, bored out of her mind.

"I don't think we should get involved at all. It's none of our business." Boyd didn't want to interfere with his alpha and Stiles. Plus, he was just a little bit terrified of Derek's wrath if he found out what they were planning.

Both turned to Isaac to break the tie – Scott was with Allison and unavailable for the time being, while Jackson and Lydia were helping out at a school function, so they weren't going to ask them – and Erica glared at him. He shrugged. "I just want Derek and Stiles to be happy."

"So what does that even mean?" Erica rolled her eyes and resisted the urge to smack her head against the table. Derek and Stiles' inability to communicate and their obvious attraction to each other was frustrating her (in more ways than one) so much.

"I think we should let it happen naturally if it's going to happen." Like Boyd, Isaac was a little afraid of interfering and angering Derek. He feared the consequences wouldn't be worth it.

Unbeknownst to the pack, Derek and Stiles were already aware of their feelings, but they weren't going to do anything about it. They refused to even acknowledge what was going on between them, preferring instead to just be friends.

The main problem for Derek was that he didn't think he was good enough for Stiles. And he had a list of reasons as to why. One of the main reasons was that Derek felt he was too old for him – He absolutely refused to do to Stiles what Kate did to him. Another glaring issue was that Derek was a huge fuck up, in his eyes at least. His family was dead because of him. He had nearly lost the pack six months earlier because of Gerard (and Allison, although she was still trying to make up for it) and didn't think he could handle any more losses.

Derek doesn't want to hurt Stiles, and knows that eventually, he will. He knows the teenager is still having issues from what went down at the police station and when he was kidnapped. Adding to it is not what he wants to do, but he's Derek Hale. He'll fuck up it up somehow and then he'll lose Stiles, and Scott will go with him. Hell, he's still surprised Erica and Boyd came back after the disaster with Peter and the Argents. Sometimes, Derek thinks they'll wise up and leave again and nothing will prepare him for that.

Stiles deserves better and he should find someone who can love him the right way. He shouldn't date a werewolf no matter how much Derek wants him to be his mate. Stiles needs someone who's happy and human. Derek won't drag him even further into the mess that is his life. He'll push Stiles away even though it'll hurt. It's better that way.

Stiles Stilinski feels the exact same way about Derek that Derek feels for him. And he doesn't think he's good enough for the werewolf. Why would Derek want him, the klutzy, unattractive teenager on Adderall? He's useless and managed to get himself kidnapped by a geriatric psychopath. Stiles needs to be rescued a lot, even though he's now fighting back more, courtesy of Derek teaching him self-defense. It does help, and he appreciates the Alpha for it, but he's not sure if it'll help him get out of another situation like that.

Stiles knows that Derek can have anyone he wants – Erica's definitely willing, and Stiles thinks she'd be a better for the Alpha. Fuck, she's even a werewolf. And he's just the annoying human that no one wants. He knows Derek has some feelings for him, but the little crush – on both sides – will fade away eventually. Stiles tries to ignore the fact that he's falling in love with Derek because it's just not going to happen. He has to accept it.

So while Stiles and Derek stew in heartbreak, the pack got together without their knowledge and start plotting. "They would be perfect together." Allison is a part of the pack, but she's a little uncomfortable being around them because of everything that went down several months prior. She's convinced she's on probation and that no one trusts her. (Scott was the first one to forgive her and ended up convincing Derek and Erica to forgive her.)

"Derek would probably relax if he and Stiles were together." Lydia has a lot of wonderful images in her mind right now that she isn't about to share with anyone because then it'd just be awkward. She just wants the Alpha and Stiles to be happy. And Derek easing up on the pack seems like it'd be a great idea, and she's all for it.

"Should we get Sheriff Stilinski and Mrs. McCall involved in this?" Isaac knows they're let in on some pack business and he thinks this is something they'd want to know.

"Nah, because otherwise the sheriff is going to try and kill Derek." Scott is adamant that his mother and Stiles' father not get involved in this plan. He doesn't want to even be involved in this, but Allison, Lydia, and Erica had forced him to.

"I don't really care about it." Jackson shrugged. Sure, he'd love it if Derek was happy, but he doesn't care one way or the other who the Alpha fucks. He's on the receiving end of glares from the women for that answer but just stares them down until they look away.

The pack panicked and scattered around the house when Derek and Stiles stepped in with a pizza. The two exchanged puzzled looks, but decided to forget about it because they were starving and wanted to eat before the pack descended on the boxes and ate everything.

Stiles got up to throw away his paper plate as the same time as Derek, and Erica saw her opportunity. She literally pushed Stiles so he was right up against Derek. He laughed awkwardly and vowed to make Erica pay – no matter how much she terrified him – later. "Uh, this is close."

Derek nodded and tried not to panic about said closeness. "Yeah, it is. Here, I'll take your plate." He grabbed it and then bolted towards the garbage can just to avoid any more awkwardness.

Erica sighed and tried to come up with some other way to force them together to face their feelings which just irritated her. All she wanted was for Stiles and Derek to finally give in to their obvious love each for other. And it made her a little angry that she was feeling so sappy about this because she didn't want to be drawn in by the romanticism of the situation. "You two are so oblivious."

Derek heard her and was confused. "What?"

"What?" Erica played dumb, but she knew her Alpha could see right through her.

"What are you two talking about?" Stiles just stared at them, but then walked away when neither of them answered.

It wasn't until three days later that things finally came to a head between Derek and Stiles. They were out on the porch talking when the lights suddenly went out (courtesy of Isaac because Erica forced him to, but no one needed to know that) on them. "Wonder what's up with that." Stiles stared up at the light and tried to turn it back on to no avail.

"This is kinda romantic." Derek cringed the instant the words came out of his mouth, wishing he hadn't said it. Why had he been that stupid? What had possessed him to say those words? He was an idiot.

Stiles wasn't sure how to answer that at first but regained his bearings. "You think so?" He wanted to do something bold, but had to work his way up to it first.

"Yes?" Derek wasn't sure what he was doing, but it was too late to back down. Whatever was going to happen, he'd deal with the consequences.

He didn't get very far in his panicked thoughts because Stiles went for it and kissed him out of nowhere. He happily kissed him back before they were interrupted by squeals.

"Lydia, shut the fuck up – They can hear us!" Erica was happy, but clearly angry at Lydia's interruption of the moment.

Stiles laughed and Derek joined him because he couldn't believe this was happening. "So, that happened." Stiles felt good about what he had done, but still immensely worried and stressed.

"Yes it did." He resisted the urge to tell the pack to get out of the house because he was a little worried about being alone with Stiles for the time being.

Because of their insecurities and the worries about the potential relationship, Derek and Stiles had a lot of issues to work through before they could become a real couple.

It wouldn't be easy, but they'd try their best to make it work.