Stiles stepped into his room and shut the door behind him before leaning against it for support. Derek looked up from where he was standing next to the bed getting some stuff out of his suitcase. He gave Stiles a questioning look before going back to rummaging through his suitcase.

"Again, I'm sorry for the sleeping arrangement. It's not really fair you're stuck sleeping in the same bed as me." Stiles rushed out, taking a sip from the cup of water he'd brought with him from the kitchen.

"Don't worry, I understand. I was there when Melissa told you all the other rooms were occupied, remember?" Derek offered, a smile curving his lips.

"Right, sorry." Stiles nodded and turned around to place the cup of water he had brought from the kitchen on his bookshelf.

Derek glanced at him again and frowned worriedly but said nothing. With Stiles's luck he probably pitied him. After all the drama he had witnessed in one night he most likely understood why Stiles had been so nervous and skeptical about their ruse.

"Don't overthink things," Derek offered, "in the end this works to our advantage. If we are couple it is only normal for us to sleep together. This makes things more believable." He finished matter-of-factly.

He's right, Stiles thought. They were supposed to be two adults in romantic relationship; of course people would expect them to share a room. Stiles had hoped his dad would go back to his old rules about no sex while under his roof but when Stiles had asked which room Derek would sleep in the former sheriff had laughed and clapped him on the shoulder saying those rules didn't apply anymore. What made Stiles nervous at the moment was not getting found out but the fact he and Derek were sharing a room. The more he thought about it the more he felt like kicking himself, it was ridiculous, really, because it wasn't like Stiles was an awkward, virginal, teen who couldn't pull his weight when facing a situation like this. He wasn't that kid anymore.
Stiles dragged his fingers through his hair and looked around the room trying to avoid looking at Derek. Nostalgia flooded him instantly; his room still looked the same way it did back when he was in High School. Filled with mementos from his childhood, memories of how happy his life in Beacon Hills used to be. Halo and Call of Duty posters graced his walls. The bookshelf headboard behind his bed still contained his batman and other DC comics action figures, a sonic screwdriver Scott bought for him as a present the first time the gang went to Comic-Con, and several pictures. His eyes landed on a picture of him and Scott as toddlers. He remembered bugging his dad about going to the park to try out his new bike. Melissa was holding a flailing Stiles on her lap and his dad sat next to her holding Scott as he threw a toothless smile towards the camera. Next to it there was a picture of his High School graduation day, Jackson and Danny stood on either side of him holding up their diplomas and smiling victorious. Finally his eyes shifted to the picture of his mother on a hospital bed while holding him on the day he was born. In that moment it finally hit him how much he missed this place and how no matter how much he tried to avoid coming back it would always be part of him.

Stiles shook himself up and went back to unpacking. He dragged his pajama bottoms out of his bag and a crumpled piece of paper fell on the floor. It was the article from the magazine, the one about male escorts, Derek's interview. He knelt to retrieve it when he felt Derek's presence right next to him.

"How did you know that was me?" Derek asked nodding towards the piece of paper.

"I- um, it was Lydia. You know she has connections all over the magazine. A small intimidating look from her and everyone does her bidding. After that you were easy to find."

Stiles answered, still not looking at him.

"So much for anonymity," Derek muttered unbuttoning his shirt.

Stiles chose that moment to look up and his jaw went slack. He had expected Derek to be wearing an undershirt, a wife beater, something. But he wasn't, he was shirtless which gave Stiles front row seats to his musculatory glory. Musculatory. Was that even a word? Stiles didn't care, he was too busy trying not to salivate over Derek's abs. Derek scowled into the contents of his bag as he took his shirt off which is why he didn't notice Stiles licking his lips at the way Derek's happy trail disappeared over the edge of his pants. The guy was attractive even when scowling, life was unfair. He admired the expanse of Derek's chest and the sprinkle of hair that covered it, the way his arms flexed. Noticing the silence Derek looked up and stared right at Stiles who had suddenly become very interested on the wash care label of the pants he held in his hand.

"Go ahead take a look. It's all part of the package." He said nonchalantly as he unbuckled his pants.

Stiles gulped nervously and picked up his bag from where it fell on the floor. Derek pulled down his pants and strutted into the bathroom with a towel draped over his shoulder. Stiles glanced up and groaned. Derek was a boxer briefs kind of guy, he threw Stiles a smirk over his shoulder and pulled his underwear down.

"JESUS FUCKING CHRIST" Stiles hissed before the most fit and beautiful pair of buttocks he had ever seen disappeared behind the shower curtain.

"Dammit!" he muttered before snatching his cellphone from the bed and calling Lydia.

"This is Ms. Lydia Martin, at this moment I cannot answer your call, probably because I have more important things to do. Please leave your name and phone number after the tone and I'll make sure to call you back. Beep."

"Hey Lyds, why aren't you answering? You nagged me about calling you as soon as I could to give you reports and you don't answer? I need someone to talk too I am freaking out. Tonight was a fiasco. Okay, not really. I mean, people have believed us. But still, everything sucks. Aunt Trudy's here, someone was stupid enough to let her get hold of the microphone, there was alcohol involved. Let's just say as in every other reunion she made sure to let everyone know how much she likes me.
The beep indicating a call waiting interrupted his monologue.

"Spill." commanded Lydia's voice from the other end of the line.

"I'm about to have a major breakdown woman and it's all because of you. Why did I let you talk me into this?" Stiles groaned, rubbing his eyes.

"Because I'm the smart one in this relationship. Get it together, Stilinski!" she admonished him before asking in a softer tone. "Now tell me, what happened?"

"Same as always he met my parents and part of the gang. There was mingling, lots of it, and he got most of the Stilinski clan to fall in love with him. He's great at his job, I'll tell you that. Everyone is eating it up."

"If that's the case then why do you sound upset?" she asked worriedly.

"Aunt Trudy." He admitted quietly.

"Granzilla? What did she do now?" she fumed.

"She went on one of her speeches saying how stupid I am for getting Jackson to dump me. I know she doesn't like me at all but is it really necessary for her to do these things." He rushed, trying to hide the pain her words caused him and failing. "I mean, I'm past all that but just because I finally got over it it doesn't mean it still doesn't sting every time she throws it back in my face."

"That geriatric bitch! I swear to God, when I get there I'm giving her a piece of my mind." She snarled.
Stiles smiled at the ferocity in her voice.

"Thanks, Lyds."

"You're welcome." She replied softly. "Now, where's Derek?"

"He's in the bathroom about to take a shower. We got stuck sharing a room."

"Really?" she drawled, her curiosity evident in her tone.

" Yes. Why do you sound so interested? You scare me when you get like that. I can picture you twirling your imaginary mustache."

Lydia chuckled lowly and sighed.

"You know me so well, Stiles. I am interested because this is good news! Don't you get it? Sharing a room with Derek is the best thing that could've happened to you today. A little steamy shower sex will do wonders for you. It will get your mind off of things." She finished encouragingly.

"I am not about to have sex on my parents' house, Lydia. Are you insane!?" he whispered furiously hoping Derek couldn't hear him.

"Please, you and Jackson humped each other in your room like bunnies every time we went home for the holidays."

When silence was the only thing coming from Stiles's end of the line Lydia cursed herself.

"Shit Stiles, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have brought that up." She said anxiously.

"Stiles, would you grab my shampoo please? It's next to my suitcase?" Derek called from the bathroom.

"Listen, Derek's calling so I will call you later okay?"

"Of course. Good night sweetie."

He ended the call and ran to grab Derek's shampoo bottle nearly tripping in the process. It's just a naked guy in your shower. he chanted to himself. A very hot naked guy. He shook himself off and stepped into the bathroom. He was dying to take a peek into the shower as he handed Derek the shampoo bottle but he didn't because he was a gentleman... or maybe he was just really scared of falling into the shower or something. Then again, that seemed like a good way to go. Dying to the sight of Derek's glistening body above him as he joined the land of the dead? Yes please. He was whistling a tune Stiles couldn't quite place but Stiles liked it. Instead of leaving he sat on the toilet lid and watched Derek's silhouette as he scrubbed himself inside the shower. He followed the movement of Derek's hand as it glided over his neck and then his chest. Suddenly the bathroom was feeling a bit too hot. Maybe sitting there wasn't such a good idea.

"So um, how did you get into the escort business? You didn't mention much about that in the magazine article." Stiles asked, anything to distract him from all the kinky thoughts swarming his mind.

"It's a long story. Let's just say I got out of a very bad situation and the escort business seemed like a good option at the time." Derek said before stepped under the shower to rinse himself.

If Stiles said Derek's evasive answer didn't bother him he would be lying. He wanted to know more about his fake boyfriend. Here he was trying to find some even ground between them and the guy wouldn't spill the beans! This guy knew pretty much everything about him and gave nothing in return. Rude. Stiles contained the urge to roll his eyes and focused on looking at the bathroom door instead of the shower curtain. .

"In your interview you said, and I quote, 'Everyone has the love life they want.' Do you really think that's true? Because the last thing I want is to have a string of failed relationships yet those keep on coming my way. I call bullshit on your statement, dude."

"Say what you please, but I think it's true." Derek replied.

Stiles scoffed and looked back towards the shower, ready to give Derek a piece of his mind but instead of facing the shower curtain he was now face to face with Derek's abs. Derek had stepped out of the shower and was now standing in front of Stiles, completely naked. As in naked,naked. Stiles swallowed thickly opening his mouth multiple times in hopes of forming a coherent sentence but nothing came out. He was too distracted by the way the water sluiced off Derek's skin. If he dared to take a look down south would Derek notice? To hell with it Stiles thought. He was paying for it after all. Stiles lowered his lashes and followed Derek's happy trail. There's hair, a bit more hair, a little bit more of hair.

"Oh God!" He groaned before covering his face.

The sound of Derek's chuckle only made him flush more. As much as he wanted to play the cool card he couldn't. He wasn't that kind of guy that gazed lecherously at other men, no matter how hot they happened to be.

"Anyways, going back to our previous conversation." Stiles mumbled from behind his hands. "Do you honestly believe that I want to be single and miserable? Sure, I've gone on a few dates but all the attempts I make at establishing a new relationship fail. Do you think that I like to be hung up on some guy who led me on for years and out of the blue just shattered my heart?"

"Well first of all, there's no such thing as out of the blue and second of all, yeah." Derek replied flippantly.

Stiles stood up abruptly and got on Derek's face.

"What?" he asked in disbelief.

Instead of reacting to Stiles's challenge Derek looked at him quietly and finished wrapping a towel around his waist.

"When you're ready to let go of Jackson, to be un-single and un-miserable your life will change for the better. Until then…" Derek shrugged his shoulders and stepped out of the bathroom leaving a very confused Stiles to ponder about his life decisions.

After taking a quick shower, which consisted mainly of him mumbling a stream of curses, Stiles realized there might have been some truths in what Derek said. Ever since he and Jackson had broken up he hadn't exactly opened up to other guys that easily. He shouldn't have gotten so worked up about it. Stiles put on his pajama pants and stepped out of the bathroom quietly. Derek was asleep, and he had fallen asleep on the left side of the bed Stiles's favorite side of the bed. Apparently things were not meant to work for Stiles today. With an annoyed sigh Stiles tiptoed towards the bed and tripped over his own feet when Derek's voice startled him.

"Are you mad?" Derek asked. He was facing the other side of the room so Stiles couldn't see his face only his back. A very sexy back… Did he just seriously think "sexy back"? Whatever, it applied to Derek's back.

Stiles made a show of fluffing his pillow before he slipped in under the covers.

"No." he answered quietly. Even if he was mad he it was mostly with himself for getting so worked up over what people thought about him.

Once Stiles was settled in bed Derek rolled around to face him, his eyes closed. He had the most ridiculous curly eyelashes ugh, unbelievable . Not knowing what to do he stared at Derek's calm, sleeping face and tried not to think of their state of undress. He was wearing his pajama bottoms and a thin cotton shirt, and since Derek had the covers pinned under his arms Stiles was able to see he was not wearing a shirt. But what about pants? Stiles pretended to burrow himself deeper under the covers and carefully grazed his knee against Derek's thigh…then pulled back with a hiss when all he felt was skin. Knowing all along what Stiles was trying to do Derek merely chuckled quietly with his eyes closed.

"I'm not naked under the sheets, Stiles." He mumbled sleepily, his shoulders shaking with silent laughter.
Stiles glared at him and huffed before turning to face the other way. A few seconds later he felt the bed shift as Derek also turned the other way. He closed his eyes and basked himself in the quiet surrounding them, the missed hours of sleep catching up to him. As he was drifting off to sleep he thought he heard the words Goodnight, Stiles whispered to him. But he was too tired to notice.

Stiles woke up the next morning to sound of people chatting in the hallway and the clatter of pans downstairs. He lay in bed for a good five minutes before opening his eyes hoping the last 24 hours had been nothing but a bad dream. The note next to his pillow proved otherwise.

I went out for a run and when I came back you were still asleep.
You looked so peaceful I didn't want to wake you and after our day
yesterday I figured you could use some sleep. I'll be downstairs if you need me.
-Derek

Stiles gave a soft groan and fell back to his pillow. After yesterday's showdown he did not feel like facing all the guests again. The mere thought of having to see Jackson or Aunt Trudy today made him sick. Wait a minute. If Derek was up and about already that meant… Shit! Stiles bolted from the bed and got into the shower, he brushed his teeth while he was at it to save some time. How could he have been so stupid? Leaving Derek alone, vulnerable to his family's interrogations. What if his dad was interrogating him? Stiles dressed quickly and ran down the stairs nearly running smack into Deaton's nephew, Boyd was it?

"Sorry man!" Stiles squeaked. Boyd shook his head in amusement and waved him away before leaving the house .

When Stiles arrived to the kitchen he was a bit surprised at what he saw. Scott, Erica and Derek were all gathered around in the breakfast table laughing and pointing at something, a book? Was that…

"Hey!" Stiles indignantly, "Couldn't you have waited to pull the embarrassing high school pictures after a few days?"

Scott threw an impish grin his way while Erica rolled his eyes at him.

"Come on, Stiles. The guy came all the way to a family gathering with you. He met Aunt Trudy, and the rest of the Stilinski and Whittemore families. That and he already came face to face with you early in the morning. If that was not enough to send him running he's not going anywhere now." Said Scott, the burn of his comment diminished by the affectionate tone of his voice. Good, that means he approved of Derek.

"Aha , very funny Scottie." Stiles laughed as he approached the table.

He stepped behind them and ruffled Scott's hair while dodging his halfhearted shoves. Erica perked up in her chair and tilted her head back so Stiles could drop a peck on her cheek. And then he was standing next to Derek.

"Hi," he breathed, not really knowing what to do next.

Derek made the decision out of his hands when he grabbed his shirt and pulled him down, giving him a sound kiss on the mouth in front of everyone.

"Good morning," Derek whispered against his lips with a smile.

"Good morning," Stiles breathed back holding onto the back of Derek's chair for support.

Scott and Erica huddled closer and pretended not to watch them as they chewed on their breakfasts.

"Hey, where's your other half?" Stiles asked curiously.

After the way they were pawing at each other last night he figured they would be together 24/7. Before Scott could offer an explanation a very disgruntled Isaac stumbled into the kitchen holding his head between his hands and moaning curses. Erica choked back a laugh and handed him a cup of juice. Stiles wasn't sure exactly but he thinks Isaac mumbled something along the lines of "if I wasn't into dick I'd marry you". Isaac planted himself on the chair next to Scott's and leaned his head on his shoulder.

"Someone kill me please." He moaned.

Scott snaked his arm around his boyfriend's shoulders and rubbed his back affectionately. Isaac snuggled closer, rubbing his nose against the length of Scott's neck, before finally kissing Scott's cheek. The whole thing was so cute and intimate Stiles had to look away and found Erica and Derek exchanging amused glances. Isaac looked up and frowned at Derek.

"Why is there a stranger in our kitchen?" he asked bewildered.

Scott and Erica burst out laughing and Derek looked at Isaac like he had grown a second head.

"This is my kitchen not yours," Isaac made a face at Stiles, "yet. Were you seriously that hammered last night? You already met Derek."

Isaac's brow furrowed in confusion as he tried to remember the events from the night before.

"Riiiiight, you're the frowny boyfriend!" he exclaimed with a snap of his fingers, Derek's frown deepened.

"So," Scott drawled, "Derek, what are your intentions towards my brother?"

"Scott," Stiles groaned.

"What? I have a right to know, and I've been waiting a long time to do this. This is payback for what you did when Isaac and I started dating." Scott said raising his eyebrows.

"Leave your brother alone, Scott." Melissa reprimanded as she and John entered the kitchen.

"But mom," Scott whined the same way he used to when he was little.

"Don't you 'mom' me." She said.

She swatted the back of Scott's playfully and blew a kiss to Stiles. John pulled Melissa's chair out and signaled for Stiles to sit down too. They all shared morning pleasantries and ate their breakfast with friendly conversation. When Stiles asked what happened to the rest of the guests John said most of them had ended up going to a local hotel, his Aunt Trudy included, thank God. The only ones who stayed behind were Erica, Boyd and Jackson.

"So, Derek," John started.

"John," Melissa warned.

"What?" he asked innocently mirroring Scott's earlier expression. "I want to know how they met."

Melissa rolled her eyes at her husband and turned to look at her eldest son expectantly. Okay. This was it. Derek placed his hand on Stiles's knee and squeezed, a way of letting him know he had his back and everything would be fine.

"We met through Lydia, about five months ago." Stiles nodded and looked around the table, meeting bored "is-that-it?" stares. What more did they want? Luckily for him his "boyfriend came to his rescue."

"Yes, it was during one of the lounge parties at the magazine where she works at. I had recently been doing some freelancing work for them and Lydia wanted me to take some pictures of the party." Derek added, eating his breakfast with gusto.
The guy had a way with lies. Stiles paused mid drink of his orange juice when Derek's story sunk in. He remembered the party Derek was talking about; Lydia had dragged him over as her date. They danced all night and then went to a VIP after party which resulted in Stiles's worst hangover ever. How did Derek know about the party? Must be a coincidence.

"So you're a photographer." John said matter-of-factly.

"Not really. I majored in architecture at UCLA but didn't get to finish my senior year due to a family emergency." A dark look crossed over Derek's face and was gone in seconds.

"Anyways, my uncle invited me to move with him to New York where he teaches a photography course at a community college. He often took me along as his assistant and taught me everything I know now."

"Lydia's really demanding when it comes to her job so if she hired you without an actual degree you must be good." Scott raised his drink to Derek and tilted his head in approval.

Derek smiled shyly at Scott's compliment and continued his tale of how he and Stiles met when everyone got quiet all of the sudden. Stiles looked over his shoulder to where everyone was looking and found Jackson fidgeting by the doorway. He cleared his throat and bid everyone good morning before sitting on the other empty chair next to Scott and facing Stiles. Breakfast was really quiet after that, until Scott broke the silence and suggested they showed Derek around Beacon Hills.

They drove past Beacon Hills High and told him of all the times they got in trouble. They talked about the day Stiles and Scott mooned the entire cafeteria after some bitch had locked Erica out of the locker room in nothing but her underwear. About the day Danny and Lydia hacked into the school system to fix Scott's grade after Mr. Harris had given him an F after he accidentally scratched his car with his bike. Erica wasted no time in telling Derek about the extensive essay on the history of circumcision Stiles wrote, which was very well written and deserved an A, thank you very much. Stiles face hurt from grinning so much at Derek's reactions. The guy was laughing so hard he was starting to wipe tears from his eyes. Jackson mostly kept to himself; throwing tight-lipped smiles Derek's way from time and this one would answer with a shit-eating grin of his own. He knew Jackson didn't like him and he loved it. The situation was pretty funny. By midday they decided to stop by Finstock's café and sat on a booth after ordering cold drinks to quench their thirst and survive the summer heat. It was only after seeing them all together again that Finstock realized who Stiles was.

"Bilinski!" he shouted from across the bar. "I didn't recognize you yesterday with all the hair. I don't know if I should be happy to see all of you together again or scared."

"Just how bad were you guys in High School?" Derek laughed.

"Do you really need to know more after all we told you?" Isaac asked him with a raised eyebrow.

"Remind me not to get on your bad side."

Derek's murmur on his ear was enough to make him shiver if only a little bit. Stiles knew he was in deep trouble. Not only was the guy ridiculously good looking, and charming, but he was also proving to be a very nice guy. He was very passionate about his job (not the male hooker part, the photography part mind you) and he even offered to do some portraits as a wedding present for the grooms. If he wasn't careful he could find himself giving in into temptation and trying to sleep with the guy. Bringing up the wedding subject turned to be a bad idea because then there was no way of getting Erica to stop talking about and complaining about the lack of straight, eligible bachelors she had not grown up on the wedding list.

"What about that Boyd guy?" Derek offered.

"Yeah, he's hot. But he's so quiet, and he's always looming all over the place. It's kinda creepy." She said.

"Well, you know what Danny always says about the quiet ones…" Scott said with a smirk.

"Yes,they turn out to be the freaky ones in bed, I know." Erica seemed to mull it over before saying." I'll keep that in mind."

"Speaking of Danny, where is he?" Stiles asked. It had been months since the last time they hung out and he was looking forward to seeing him again. Isaac typed something in his phone before answering.

"He should be getting here sometime around noon. He wanted to finish some paperwork before leaving the company. Oh, and Allison texted Scott earlier and said she would meet us here so she's probably on her way here."

"Who's Allison?"

Stiles turned to Derek and paused at the puzzled expression on the other man's face.

"She's another friend of ours, and Scott's best friend, after me of course. You will probably like her, everyone does. She's really sweet and I believe she's into photography too, maybe she can help you at the wedding?"

For a moment Derek looked uncertain and rubbed his neck nervously. Stiles moved closer to him, shielding their whispered conversation from the rest of the group and asked him what was wrong.

"This girl," he started, "what's her last n-"

"Allison!" Scott exclaimed, before bolting from his chair and running towards her.

The girl shrieked when he lifted her in a tight hug and swung her around. After putting her down, Scott guided her to the table where she received another hug from Isaac and a wave from Jackson. Stiles shook his head and smiled affectionately at his brother's enthusiasm. Things were going great, everyone was getting along, he didn't feel so overwhelmed over the whole Jackson thing, and Derek was turning out to be the best fake-boyfriend ever. If only he could find out what upset Derek all of the sudden. Allison had just finished hugging Erica when Scott dragged her towards Stiles.

"May I introduce you to Stiles and his new dude-"

"Derek?" She inhaled.

Oh no, no, no, no, no. This could not be happening.