HEADS UP. I rewrote this since I planned on it taking place during the summer, but so much changed. now it fits between season 2 and 3, after Jackson's departure. So they entire story is pretty different, and the side pairing is Isaac/Danny now bc reasons. I suggest a reread.

Gravel shot out from under the wheels of truck. Derek heard a small cry from Scott, indicating he'd been hit with a wayward stone. He smirked, his initial disdain for the pickup Stiles had picked out fading away. The vehicle was one of only a few that could accommodate the entire pack. Derek had to admit, it was easier to have them ride out to Lydia's parents' cabin together. God forbid anyone get lost.

So he and Stiles sat in the cab separated by a cooler filled with an exquisite amount of raw meat (which they did plan on cooking. Contrary to Stiles' belief, Derek did prefer his steak well done.) The rest of the pack was in the bed of the pickup, strewn around their various supplies for the trip. Allison and Scott were leaning against the cab window and cuddling. Next to them, Danny was sitting on a pop up bench that slid around every time they hit a bump or turned. This elicited laughter from Erica, who had her head perched in Isaac's lap, the two splayed around their backpacks and sleeping bags. At the other end, Lydia had her feet propped on Boyd, who was sitting cross legged, as they read and Lydia tried to keep the wind out of her hair.

This trip was Stiles' idea as well. He and Derek had argued extensively, but Stiles swore it was necessary. After all the last few months had been tough, to say the least. After the Alpha pack came to town and kidnapped Erica and Boyd, the ragtag pack had rallied to save them. The battle was messy and several of them almost died. A few of the alphas did. Peter had worked a deal with them and they surrendered. Peter hasn't been seen since, but Derek figured he's come back when he needed something. The pack drifted apart after that. Scott and Allison broke up- again- and Lydia had been the one to fix it. Thanks to her and Stiles conspiring, a new and terrifying factor in Derek's life, the group was brought back together. On top of that, Danny figured everything out after one of Jackson's meltdowns. Then Jackson moved away. His parents, unsure of what to do with their son's recent behavior, decided it was best if he go stay with his aunt and uncle. Luckily, Derek found a pack nearby that would take him in.

So yeah, Derek had been a little stressed and might have been taking it out on the pack. Stiles, who paid more attention than any of his wolf pack members sadly, noticed the issue and suggest a pack bonding exercise. Eventually, Derek caved. So now they were headed out for a week of close quarters and no one around for miles. Great. Derek really needed to stop caving to all of Stiles' suggestions.

Once they reached the cabin, the group took their things and scrambled inside. Derek stayed back to lift the cooler from the truck. Stiles lagged behind as well, holding his and Derek's bags.

"Need any help?" Derek just cocked an eyebrow and picked the cooler up with one arm, "I'll take that as a 'no'." Stiles laughed and headed inside, Derek following close behind. He placed the cooler in the kitchen and headed up the stairs where everyone was being given their sleeping arrangements.

Lydia pushed Danny into her room, informing him that they would be sharing. Danny just calmly nodded, and went inside. Scott and Allison took Lydia's parents' room, and headed off to it with matching looks that Derek didn't want to think about. But he could smell it on them anyway. He rubbed a hand over his face and followed Lydia to the guest bedroom. There was a bunk bed as well as a pull out couch. Erica and Lydia pulled an air mattress out of one of the bags and began setting it up.

"Isaac, Boyd, you take the bunk beds. Erica will take the pull out. Stiles and Derek can take this," Lydia barked orders as she worked the air pump.

"Lydia for the last time, I am the Alpha. You cannot order the pack around, especially me," Derek growled at her. The girl was too headstrong for her own good. It was a blessing and a curse for his pack.

"Does anyone have an issue with my arrangement," when no one spoke, Lydia smirked triumphantly," See? Nothing to growl about." She went about finishing the air mattress. The betas, sensing a confrontation, set down their things and left.

Stiles opened his mouth, then promptly shut it when Lydia spoke again.

"Don't act like you have a problem with the sleeping arrangements, Stiles," she quipped.

Stiles stammered, looking between Derek and Lydia frantically. "I don't know what you're talking about, Lydia."

Derek could hear Stiles' heartbeat stutter.

Lydia pat his shoulder and headed for the door, "I'm not even a wolf and I can tell you're lying sweetie."

Stiles fixed a glare in her direction as she disappeared from view. Derek eyed him curiously.

"Stiles, if you want I can sleep on the pull out with Erica," Derek offered.

"No!" Stiles blurted. He flushed a little before straightening his shoulders, "I mean you don't have to do that. It's not like I haven't been in a small space for extended period of time with you before. To be fair it was always a life or death situation. So this should be a piece of cake. Besides, Boyd says she kicks."

Derek smirked and pat Stiles on the back, rubbing it slightly. Stiles breath hitched, his pulse racing slightly. There was a new smell in the air and-

Oh. This was new.

Being surrounded by a pack of teenagers, Derek had just gotten used to the signs of arousal being a constant. He hadn't noticed it might have been directed at him. Except from Erica, but that had died off even before she and Boyd were kidnapped. Sometimes it came from Danny, but he had been assured that he "wasn't his type" whatever that meant.

He thought back to the last few times he had been alone with Stiles, the boy had been avoiding direct eye contact, unless they were arguing. He was fidgety, but that was just Stiles. Except he was more fidgety than usual. Derek had chalked it up to the stress of the last few months. But he had been very, very, wrong.

"Huh," Derek muttered. Stiles turned toward him with a quizzical look. "It's nothing. Just thinking about pack stuff."

"Alright then. Well get a move on. Everyone's hungry, and you know as well as I do that these guys are lost in the kitchen without us." Stiles grinned as he headed out the door.

Derek caught himself staring at Stiles' ass as he left the room. This week was already going better than Derek had planned.

The pack was gathered around the kitchen table, laughing and playing cards. Danny, despite playing living lie-detectors, was cleaning up.

"That's not even possible. You're so cheating," Scott complained.

Lydia smacked him upside the head. "If he was cheating you'd be able to tell you dingbat."

Derek chuckled softly as he watched them from his spot in the kitchen. Leaning against the counter, he turned toward Stiles, who was humming to himself and browning some ground beef. He was making the group tacos. Derek had offered to help; it took a lot to feed a group of teenage werewolves. But Stiles turned him down, saying it would be faster if he worked on his own.

Derek studied the way Stiles moved the spatula. The way he swayed a little to the song in his head. The curve of his neck as he bent forward over the stove. His mouth as he tasted some of the meat. His-

"Derek!" Isaac's shout broke Derek form his blatant staring.

"What?" he barked irritated that he had been interrupted.

"Do you want to play this round?" Derek glanced at the grin on Isaac's face; clearly he hadn't noticed what he had been in the middle of. The females at the table, however, were giving him these knowing glances that he had the urge to rip off their faces. Before he could respond that no, he most certainly did not want to play, Stiles spoke up.

"No one's playing another round because dinner is ready." The group descended on him in an instant, scrambling for a tortilla. "No. No! Bad pack. We will form an orderly line or we will not be eating," Stiles commanded giving them a stern look.

Grumbling, the group formed a single file line behind Stiles. Grabbing a plate off the counter, Stiles waved Derek over. "Come on, big guy. Alpha's first."

Derek took the plate and began to make his tacos. Once finished, he leaned hesitantly forward. His pressed his mouth to Stiles' ear. "Thank you, Stiles."

He pulled back in time to see Stiles shiver before breaking into a full blown grin. "You're welcome dude!" Derek gave him the tiniest of smiles and turned to stop Scott from making his plate.

"Stiles is next. He made all of this for you. Be thankful," he glared at his pack until they mumbled a collective thank you. Stiles blushed and grabbed some food. Derek led him to the table and they sat across one another.

Derek lowered his voice, hoping the other would take that as a cue not to listen, "They listen to you, Stiles. That's huge."

Stiles chocked a little on his bite before swallowing. "What? No they- Not as much as they listen to you- or Lydia."

"They listen to me because I'm their Alpha. They listen to Lydia because she scares them," Derek paused before continuing, "They listen to you because you care about them. They know you only want what's best for them. They respect you."

"What? Really?" Stiles looked perplexed.

"Of course. In the hierarchy, they see you as my second." Technically humans had no standing, but his pack was certainly not conventional.

Stiles's mouth fell open. "Wait, I thought Scott was your second?"

"Scott is no you, Stiles." Before he could elaborate, the others joined them. The table broke into a loud debate on the possibility of cheating a werewolf's heightened senses, clearly not over Danny's success at cards. Derek just sat back and listened to their ridiculous reasons. Every once in a while he would catch Stiles' eye and the two would share a small smile.

Darkness finally settled in, so the group gathered their materials. They hurried to the back yard and began setting up the bonfire. Erica was having far too much fin with the lighter fluid, so Boyd confiscated it and led her to the circle of chairs, leaving the fire building to Lydia and Isaac. Scott, Stiles, and Danny, were debating which team would win the Lacrosse World Championship. Scott and Danny seemed to be in agreement and were yelling at Stiles about how wrong he was.

Allison plopped into the vacant chair next to Derek. She eyed the fire for a moment, her hear beating rapidly. Finally, she turned to him. "Are you, um are you okay out here?"

"You mean with the fire," Derek spoke with no emotion, "It's been six years Allison. I can look at fire without breaking down."

"I'm sorry, it's just-" she sighed before continuing "I want us to be okay. My family and your family have been going back in forth for too long. After my mom I was so upset. At everyone. You, her, my dad, myself for not stopping it. And then I did what I did…" She trailed off shakily.

"Allison, it's okay. I understand more than anyone how you were feeling. I know it took us a while to get here, but I forgive you. You aren't her." He whispered. Allison winced. He made sure to look her dead in the eye, "You have nothing to be sorry for. As far as I'm concerned there is no war between our families. You're in Scott's pack, so you're in mine now too."

Allison gave him a watery smile before throwing her arms around his neck. "Thanks Derek. For everything." Derek slowly wrapped an arm around her small waist. Realizing it wasn't so bad, he leaned into the hug.

Scott finally noticed the two at the other side of the fire pit, "Hey! Allison? Are you okay?"

Allison sighed as she pulled away from Derek. "I'm fine sweetie. Just having a little heart to heart with our Alpha."

Derek grunted as he shot Scott a glare. Scott just looked confused going back to his argument with Danny. Then he caught Stiles' gaze and noticed the look of utter fondness on his face. Obviously, he had witnessed the whole discussion.

"I know it's not my place, but I think you should talk to him," Allison whispered, "I know how you feel about my relationship with Scott, and wolf-human relationships in general. But I think you would be good for each other."

Derek hastened a glance at Stiles once more before turning back to Allison, "I don't know what you're talking about."

Allison shook her head and smiled before getting up, "Whatever you say, Mr. Alpha." Before Derek could respond, she was already gone and making a place for herself in Scott's lap.

Isaac took the seat Allison had vacated. He had slightly a charred marshmallow on a stick and was in the process of popping it on a graham cracker when Stiles shouted.

"No! Isaac what are you doing?" he bellowed as he hustled to stand directly in front of them. He slapped the marshmallow of the stick and let it hit the dirt.

"Stiles!" Derek barked.

"That was not a proper marshmallow for a s'more. Isaac, you clearly need to be taught how to do this correctly." Stiles looked at Isaac expectantly. Isaac looked between Stiles and Derek before shrugging and standing. Stiles took the stick from Isaac's hand and began explaining the mechanics of a perfect s'more.

Derek watched the entire situation with amusement. He hoped no one noticed the way he smiled when Isaac grumbled "Yes, Mom" at Stiles. If anyone did they didn't call him on it.

After stuffing themselves with s'mores, the group decided to play a lively game of hide-and-seek. It really wasn't fair to the humans, but the others could use the tracking practice.

"Only our Alpha could find a way to train during a vacation," Erica complained. She took off into the woods before Derek got a chance to glare at her. The others ran off as well. The way they played, each wolf tried to find a human. The wolf who was left had to do whatever task the group came up with.

It took him three minutes flat to find Stiles, who was hiding behind a knocked-down tree. He grabbed the gaudy red hoodie Stiles insisted on wearing "ironically" and tugged.

"Dude, all ready? It takes Scott like twenty minutes at least," Stiles pouted.

"I'm better than Scott, and you're not very subtle" Derek grumbled. He let go of Stiles, almost reluctantly and turned back toward the cabin.

"Oh, are you going back to being grumpy Alpha again?" Stiles asked "I should have known nice Derek wouldn't last."

Derek tensed. It wasn't like that. "Don't you understand, Stiles? If you can't hide from me, you can't hide from others. Others who want to hurt you. I can't-"

"Oh my god, you actually care." Stiles was grinning at him again. That stupid grin that made Derek want to put his mouth on it. He shook that very bad thought from his head.

"Of course I care, Stiles. You're pack.," he hesitated before softly adding "I want to protect you."

Stiles shoved his hands in his pockets and kicked at the leaves on the ground. "I heard what you said to Allison. That was really kind of you."

Derek cleared his throat, "Yeah, well she needed to stop beating herself up about what happened. Anyone would've done the same in her position."

Stiles smiled "When we first met, there is no way you would have let her live, let alone forgive her." He bumped shoulders with Derek "I'm proud of you."

"You do what you have to for your pack," Derek answered simply. He looked forward and realized they were in front of the cabin.

Scott and Allison were huddled up on the porch swing. Lydia was chatting enthusiastically to Boyd, who was calmly nodding along. Erica was currently perched on his back sleepily with her legs wrapped around his waist.

"Where are Isaac and Danny?" Derek asked.

"Probably dealing with all that unresolved sexual tension," Stiles joked.

The others chuckled but Derek just looked incredulously at Stiles "What?"

Lydia lifted her head from Boyd's shoulder to look at Derek "You didn't notice. This pack is full of it between those two, the cuddle twins over here, and y-" Boyd placed his hand over her mouth before casting an apologetic look at Derek.

"Well," Derek huffed, "Let them work it out then. Everyone else, get some sleep." He ushered everyone into the cabin.

"Gladly," Scott muttered before dragging Allison to their room. Lydia saunted off to hers, mumbling about how she was an independent woman he didn't need a man. Boyd carried Erica to the last room, Derek and Stiles following close behind.

Boyd deposited Erica on the pull out where she promptly fell asleep. Boyd himself jumped up to the top of the bunk bed, shifting to find a comfortable position. Eventually his breathing evened out.

Derek took his shirt off and began to do the same with his pants. He felt Stiles' heartbeat quicken.

"What are you doing?" Stiles hissed. He had changed in the bathroom into an old t-shirt and a pair of basketball shorts.

"Going to bed." Derek always slept in his boxers. His body heat made pajamas unnecessary.

"Can you put on some clothes, please," Stiles face was flushed

Derek smirked. "Do you really want me to?"

Stiles licked his lips and furrowed his brow at Derek. After a moment his eyes grew wide. He opened and closed his mouth a few times before whispering, "Oh my god, you know."

"Know what, Stiles?" Derek asked, feigning innocence. Stiles wasn't buying it.

"You know what you know!" he poked Derek in the chest before collapsing on the air mattress and burrowing himself into the pillows, "This is so embarrassing."

Derek sighed before climbing onto the air mattress and taking Stiles his arms. Stiles squeaked, but didn't protest as Derek arranged them to his liking. He draped Stiles across his chest, his chin resting against the top of Stiles' head.

"So," Stiles whispered, "This is a thing now?"

"Yes," Derek snapped, but with no malice behind it. "Now go to sleep."

"Okay, but one more thing first," Derek could hear Stiles heartbeat quicken before he felt the lips against his own. He returned the kiss until Stiles pulled away. "Now we can go to sleep."

"Knew it," Erica whispered sleepily from the pull out couch. "Wait until I tell Lydia."

"Oh god," Stiles buried his head in Derek's shoulder. Derek chuckled before getting comfortable gain. It was surprisingly easy for him to fall asleep.

When Derek awoke, he felt the weight of Stiles on top of him, as well as the drool on his chest. Shifting, he looked over Stiles head to see that every member of his pack and made their way to the air mattress. On his left, Allison was wedged against him with Scott behind her, arm slung around her waist. Isaac and Danny were curled around one another at the end of the bed, their heads resting on Stiles' ankles. Lydia was draped over Stiles' back, her legs entertained with Erica's. Erica was half lying on Boyd, who was curled around Derek's right side.

How all nine of them fit on the air mattress without popping it was beyond Derek. Instead of dwelling on it, he sighed contently. After everything he had been through in the past few months, the past few years, this was all he wanted and needed. A pack. A family.

Home.