Chapter 4

The sheriff came in through the front door as usual, to put his gun away first in a little vault in the living room, hidden in a cabinet, before he followed his very human nose to the kitchen. Three surprises he found there. One was his own son looking like he had been in a fight with a wall and lost; two was the fact that there was Talia's boy in their kitchen and three, there was pizza? First things first...

He leaned in close and studied the face, grimacing because it looked painful. "What the hell happened, Stiles?"

If there was a fight his son got involved in, there were some calls to be made in the morning, that was for sure. Stiles was two handfuls on a good day and knew how to get himself in a whole lot of trouble but the kid wasn't one to start a fist fight. A suspicious look was thrown at Derek who seemed to want to hide behind his chair as he stuffed the entire pizza slice in his mouth, looking increasingly guilty. It didn't answer much, since Stiles usually was very vindictive and wouldn't take home the kid who had beaten him up. If anything, he'd find a way to get even in some way that wouldn't involve fighting.

"Quite the case you'd built..." Stiles shot at Derek, laughing softly then turned back to the older Stilinski. "Hello father of mine. Welcome home on this pizza and guilt-filled evening. How was work?" he beamed at his dad, only the swollen and colorful nose ruining the picture.

"Stiles..." the sheriff put his hands on his hips, looking pointedly at his son.

"So... you might get a hint from somewhere that there has been an accident. At the end of P. E. class. This young man here – Derek Hale, by the way – had thrown his basketball and my face happened to be in the way. You can imagine the horror scene which followed since you know how bad my nosebleeds can get," he said on a chirpy, chatty voice, ignoring his dad's pained expression. "Young Derek here was nice enough to escort me to the nurse and she wrote us notes of absence, which he'll finally present before we forget again, since it needs your signature as you know, dad," Stiles continued, waving towards Derek to make him get the notes. "After that, to make sure no more bodily harm will come to your only offspring – besides the obvious humiliation and mental trauma – Derek drove me home in the Jeep and kept a heroic vigil and woke me hourly to make sure my brain wasn't going to flow out of my nose too. Oh, and his dad had ordered us pizza for dinner. Did I cover everything?" Stiles glimpsed at Derek along with the sheriff, who raised a brow.

It was a very good case, considering the hamster cheeks Derek had as he had shoved the entire slice in his mouth and barely had room to chew. Which meant he couldn't talk when the sheriff turned his full attention on him when he had stood up to get the note from his back pack. There may have been some intent to sneak out while going to his bag upstairs, even though he never got the chance to do so. There was some scrutinizing happening.

"Yes, get that note, kid," Noah snorted, giving Derek the chance to at least get rid of all the dough in his mouth while he did so. Stiles seemed to be enjoying himself, because of course he did, even though he looked the way he did, some panda eyes starting already. "You should have called, Stiles. Concussions aren't a joke, you needed an adult." Not another teenager to keep an eye on him, although it was nice of Derek to do so even if it was an accident. "And you're not going to school tomorrow." His kid was looking pale, so some good hours of sleep would do him good, a day to get that brain back in working order.

Derek returned with the note, handing it over. "I would have called if he had gotten sicker. I called my dad and he told me what to do. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hit him with the ball but he was just there."

"Yeah, that's what happens." The sheriff tested the warmth of the pizzas and grabbed a plate to put a few slices on, putting them in the microwave to heat them up. He also got three glasses to fill them with milk, placing them on the table. "Sit down, Derek, it was an accident and you did more than enough. I'll drive you home later. Did you two eat enough? There's still enough pizza left."

The young teenager sat back down relieved, because the sheriff seemed nice, although his glare could rival those of his alpha. Reaching for another slice, he glanced to Stiles with a hesitant smile.

Despite the light scolding from his dad, the mild headache and the dull pain and throbbing going on in his swollen nose, Stiles was kinda beaming and indeed enjoying himself. This shitty day turned into something pretty great in the end. He was sitting there between his dad and his crush and he was even willing to turn a blind eye on his dad eating pizza, which was usually a strict no-no because it was Stiles who was trying to keep his dad healthy and alive. But occasionally he allowed him some cheat days.

He also knew whenever his dad did something like that. As if he had an uncanny ability to sniff the fast food and take outs on him which he ate at the station during long shifts. Sometimes when his dad was pulling double shifts, he stopped by to save his arteries with some healthy food and could always tell from Noah's or the other deputies’ guilty looks whenever they tried to cover for their Sheriff. At least his men had his dad's back. Which was good to know. And although these little arguments over food could come off as funny for some, only his dad and Scott knew why it was so important to Stiles. Maybe one day he'd share that secret with Derek too.

"I had enough, thanks. Just leave me a couple of slices for breakfast. And I hope you're not planning on eating more than what's on your plate now, dad..." Stiles eyed the re-heated slices on the sheriff's plate.

"Just let me enjoy this, okay?" he grunted before biting into his first slice.

"Oookay," Stiles held up his hands as if surrendering. "Not my arteries and cholesterol..."

The sheriff glared at him long while chewing and swallowing. "Drink your milk. It's good for your growing bones."

"Aren't we the health experts now?" the boy blinked innocently. Which didn't fool the other two for a second.

"Stiles..."

"Okay, fiiine. No need to get so grumpy. I'll even stay at home tomorrow so I can get my beauty sleep," here he gently patted the edge of the bruising skin, but pulled his hand back from the flaring up pain. "And catch up with my homework and assignments," he shrugged. "What a boring existence..." he rolled his eyes and grinned at Derek.

Which in turn brought the sheriff's attention to the Hale boy again.

"I didn't know you're friends with my son. You're Talia's kid. How is she and your family?" Clearly, Noah had decided to ignore his son so he could get to know the only boy from Talia's children.

Derek had been tempted to point out that a few slices of pizza was hardly a meal for a man like Noah and that he needed more to not be hungry in like an hour. However the two were so busy bickering that he got another slice for himself since there was plenty left of the three pizzas. Especially the pepperoni one so he got a slice of that while father and son squabbled. Of course it couldn't last long before the attention was back on him.

"We're not, we weren't… friends. We want to now." And so much more but he wasn't going to mention that to Stiles' dad. That would be so weird. "Mom's fine, we all are. I guess not much changed there?" He didn't know how much the sheriff knew about his family but it wasn't like there were many updates. "Mom had twins last year, surprise twins, kind of." Some addition to the family, though the other probably knew all about that, because his mother had been as big as a whale with two babies cooking in there. Dad had joked about having super werewolf sperm. Not a joke Derek was going to repeat right now, because it didn't seem like a joke the sheriff would appreciate.

"I knew that, it was hard to miss. But I'm glad they're all doing okay," Noah said, not sure what he could ask about the Hales, because the family kept to himself and never got in trouble with the law or needed them for something. There was bad blood between them and the Argents, both sides behaving since Kate Argent had been arrested for trying to seduce Derek last year. Nasty business, court date was going to be in a couple months. "How have you been doing?"

Derek knew what he was asking, the Sheriff had taken the statement about Kate. "I'm fine. Going to last year."

"Oh yeah. Have you thought about what college you'd like to go?"

"Probably one in San Francisco or the community college here. I don't know what I want to do, maybe writing because I like literature. Or business so I can own my own bookstore someday."

"Business is a good choice, it will get you to many places," Noah agreed.

Okay, there was definitely some weird moment there between his dad and Derek, which made Stiles narrow his eyes suspiciously. It seemed they knew each other from before. Which... wasn't such a surprise since Beacon Hills wasn't that big. Usually most people knew each other at least on being able to place each other. Stiles made a mental note to himself to come back to this weird moment then he chirped up.

"San Francisco has a better business program than the community college here. You could minor in literature there too. Or double major," Stiles said, picking a pepperoni from a pizza slice (which he was probably going to eat after all in a few minutes). "What?" he asked from the looks he got. "I like to do my research..."

Noah snorted at that and glimpsed at Derek. "What he really means by that is that he had already spent weeks if not months comparing all the programs the colleges and universities can offer."

"DUH!" Stiles rolled his eyes and tore off a piece of the same slice to pop it in his mouth. "Although I thought you'd go with sports, Derek. Given that you're team captain of the basketball team and such. Not that literature or business aren't good choices."

"Getting anywhere with sports is nearly impossible. Even those getting a scholarship to play ball varsity level mostly work hard to get discovered yet again in college because everybody there is good in the team and most of them end up working at a supermarket or something. I don't want that. I want to go to college to get an education."

Derek had done some comparing of his own as well. He had to with a scout coming to see Boyd play. Coach had laid it out for him that he had the potential to get some attention but he had to get so much better because he was too short for basketball. And Derek had delved into the chances of making something out of sports, besides teaching it, and realized he didn't want that, always holding back in his powers, always worrying about getting too much attention.

"I'm too short for pro basketball. I'm good at baseball but... it's not like I can't play sports as a hobby when in college." Honestly, his dream had always been to own his own bookstore someday, ever since he was little and stepped foot in one. The scents of the books, the treasure of shelves of books to pick from. "I have this idea of a bookstore and comic store in one. And an area where people can easily find kindle books. And a little corner cafe to read and drink coffee at the same time."

Noah was impressed, because that sounded like a well thought out idea, something to further in business school. He let the two boys talk though, hoping to eat his slices without another lecture from his son. At least Derek had his full attention, both teens digging into the food once more.

"What about you? Have you thought about what you want to do?" Derek asked, even though he knew Stiles was a year behind on him and didn't have to apply to colleges yet.

Stiles was just as impressed as clearly his dad was too. He only needed a side-glimpse at the sheriff's expression to see that. Although, for Stiles this was appealing on a deeper level too. Like... he didn't know Derek was so considerate and planned out his future like this. Or at least having such a future goal told Stiles that he was motivated and was going to work to make his dream come true. Derek Hale wasn't a lost soul with an empty head.

"As much as I could've seen you go pro with basketball, I like this goal of yours much better, I have to admit," Stiles told the other boy while chewing then his whiskey-colored eyes wandered back to his half-eaten slice. "For now I'm keeping my options open. I mean... there are so many things that interest me, to be honest. It's not easy for me to narrow down all the possibilities to just one. It's a good thing I still have a year for that," he chuckled.

"He's been like this since he was a kid. Everything around him interested him. And not just because of his ADHD," Noah put in, making Stiles grunt.

"Dad!" It was something he didn't particularly wanted Derek to know, although he had dropped hints about it before. He didn't want the other boy to pity him or think he was too weird to be around. Okay, weirder than he already was in general.

"What? It's true. You were reading on your own at 5. We couldn't buy you books fast enough with your mom. Then came the games and movies and everything else," the older Stilinski shrugged and drank from his milk before holding up a hand. "Don't worry, I'm not gonna reveal embarrassing stories next."

"Thank god for that..." Stiles rolled his eyes. "To answer your question – well, more or less – I'm considering learning something that keeps my mind busy. An engineer or researcher, although I'm quite into solving crimes and putting bad guys behind bars with that. I guess no wonder since I practically grew up at the station and even helped dad solve some cases," he pushed out his chest proudly.

Derek had never met anybody with ADHD before but he knew what it meant. It was something a lot of kids had, something to do with being restless but he had to admit he had no idea what the full scope of it was. Guess there was some homework to do after all, read about it a little because it seemed like it was a big enough thing to mention. "You'd be good at crimes, I mean... solving them. You're smart and you're curious."

To that the sheriff snorted loudly, nearly choking on a bite of his food because that was an understatement. "He wants to know everything and has no boundaries when he's sniffing something out." That busy brain of his son was never stopping, always on, even when the kid was sleeping. Which was also a reason why he got into so many accidents, since his ADHD made him very accident prone because his head was all over the place. For the longest time Stiles couldn't even catch a ball without dropping it, and there was progress now. Apparently he caught them with his face. "Don't think researcher is going to work, son. There's a lot of sitting still, your brain will be entertained but the rest of you won't be."

Researcher sounded boring to Derek, not something that had any appeal to him. But he didn't know enough about it to make any remark on it. "Do you take like medication for it?" That explained the chemical scent lingering around the human. Lots of kids at school took meds so he could only tell the ones taking something but not what for. He had thought it had been like anxiety meds since the younger teen often reeked of anxiety too.

Stiles fidgeted a bit on his chair again, feeling a bit uncomfortable from this topic. Thanks, dad...

"Yeah, I take Adderall in the mornings. It helps with my attention span, hyperactivity and anxiety. Whenever I don't forget to take it." Here he felt his dad's disapproving look on him. "Which happens only rarely since I've been taking it since I was diagnosed as a kid," he shrugged, putting the crust of his last slice down and picked up the morsels on the table to drop them back into the pizza box. "It's pretty easy to tell when I happen to forget because then I'm all over the place." Another shrug. "The pill has some side effects too like restlessness, tension, dizziness, insomnia, headache, dryness of the mouth and changes in weight. In my case I've mostly experienced just tension, restlessness and insomnia. Very rarely headaches and some dizziness. But those wear off. On a bad day or situation I might get a panic attack. So yeah, I guess I'd technically qualify as an addict too," he snorted and got up to wash his plate and drink the rest of his milk.

"Stiles... you know that's not... They make your life easier," his dad said on a gentle tone and a slightly guilty expression on his face, the wrinkles on it looking suddenly deeper. He seemed to have realized his mistake of bringing this topic up.

"Yeah, because without them I'd be unbearable to be around, I know," Stiles chuckled dryly and started washing his plate.

Noah exchanged a look with Derek, as if sending him the message to say something nice to the tensing up teen at the sink.

The young Hale had been tempted to ask how being all over the place when not taking the medication was different from how he was now. But at least the sheriff's look thrown his way when Stiles was self-deprecating made him swallow it down and knew he had to say something nice.

"Meds are for you, not for other people. I doubt it changes who you are, just helps you do things, right?" As werewolf, he had no clue how medication worked. He knew about the painkillers and antibiotics and the more general information concerning depressions and all that.

"I'm an asshole. I wish they had medication for that, to help me." Derek didn't know if Stiles was okay with that kind of humor, it wasn't that he was trying to make fun of the human, it was more about lightening the load of this entire topic. "I asked my dad once, he said there was, and that it was called a gag." Peter had been more deserving of a gag, but at the time he had thought it had been hilarious.

"We would like to use that medication at the station but we're not allowed," Noah added with a soft laugh, although kind of serious. He really wouldn't mind gagging a few of the ones they had picked up in the past but sadly it would be breaking the human rights and all that hassle.

"Why not? They have the right to remain silent, you're just helping them."

"Violating human rights and all that BS. When criminals already have more rights than policemen..." Stiles snorted, kinda grateful for the slight change of topic while he closed the tap and put his plate on the dryer. He turned around and leaned against the counter with his butt while drying his hands in the dishcloth.

"Besides, I'm sure that 'asshole medicine' wouldn't work on many if they are too big of an asshole..." Stiles continued with a small smile, his clever eyes searching Derek's green ones. He was glad that he didn't see pity in them. "And if this long afternoon and evening had shown me something it's that you're far from being an asshole. Or at least not today," he shrugged, his cheeks a tiny bit coloring from the compliment. Because it was one.

The tension eased further in the kitchen and his dad finally finished his own slices too. It made Stiles push away from the counter so he could grab a big Tupperware to place the surviving pizza into it before it went into the fridge.

"You're a good kid, Derek. And I'm grateful for keeping an eye on my son. Just... try not to injure him in the future, okay?" the older man smiled briefly at the teen then glanced at his son. "As for you, young man, I think it's time for you to get some more sleep. You're still too pale for my liking and I still have to drive Derek home."

As much as Stiles wanted to protest, his father had to use his 'strict Sheriff/dad' look. A part of the lanky teen really didn't want this day to end because it was so much more pleasant to spend time with Derek and it would mean he'd be gone and Stiles wasn't sure if the Hale would keep himself to the further hanging out and going to the movies things. But physically he was beat and knew that his dad was right.

"Fine..." he sighed dramatically and also added some eye-roll. "We'll get his stuff from my room," he gave in and nodded to Derek to follow him upstairs.

Derek had the grace to blush when the Sheriff told him not to injure his kid again even though it was a joke. Instead he quickly followed Stiles upstairs to get his bag. It wasn’t zipped up fully and he didn't want the human to realize he had grabbed a piece of clothing from under the bed to stuff into his backpack. Closing his laptop, he stuffed it in his bag and quickly zipped it up, secret safe.

"I hope you feel better soon. I'm really sorry about that." Stiles did still look sick, even with the hours of sleep he had. McCall might try to pick a fight with Derek over it when he sees the damage done. Not that Derek was too worried about scrawny Scott getting up in his face, but two ‘fights’ in the same amount of days wouldn't be a good thing. "I guess I'll see you at school?"

It would be too forward to ask for a number, right? Yeah, he had sent the FR on Facebook so that would have to be enough. "I better get going, your dad probably wants to get this over with."

"Y-yeah... I guess so. See you at school and dad's cool. He can wait a minute or two more..." Stiles mumbled, suddenly all shy and very aware of the fact that he was alone in his room with Derek Hale. Again. It was slightly... different from before when his focus was more on his injuries and getting some sleep. Now they were standing awkwardly in the middle of his room, Stiles feeling at a loss with his hand rubbing his nape absently. Clearly, he was reluctant to send Derek on his way, but he knew he had to. He needed more sleep and not to make a complete idiot of himself.

"Don't worry about the nose. And thanks again... for taking care of me and feeding us... and... for the nice conversations..." he added with a slight flush on his cheeks. Damn, being a blushing teen was such a cliché, but it was happening an awful lot around Derek. "I do appreciate it, you know," he glimpsed up into Derek's green eyes and bit his bottom lip.

He could so see himself cut the distance between them and press his lips against Derek's, slender hands getting lost in the thick dark-brown hair…

What a stupid daydream, right? One that'd probably never happen in real life.

Instead Stiles held out his right hand between them as a sign of his gratefulness and maybe even acknowledging that Derek was cool.

Green eyes looked at the outstretched hand, not sure what he was supposed to do with that since shaking it was for old guys. "No," Derek laughed in a huff, pulling Stiles in for a brief one-armed hug like he did with the boys he hung out with at school. "I'll see you around, Stiles."

It would’ve been so easy to lean forward, close the distance, but that would make it so awkward and he wasn't even sure if the other boy was up for that. He looked ready to dive into bed as soon as Derek was downstairs.

Grabbing his backpack, the Hale left before he'd say or do something stupid, steeling himself for a fifteen minute ride with the Sheriff of the town. Dropped off at home by a police car wasn't exactly something he would go for but he didn't think the older man had any other car. Fortunately the drive wasn't as uncomfortable as he thought it would be.

And later in the evening, once he had been grilled by his family, he was in bed, clutching the T-shirt he had stolen, inhaling the scent. It had been so different to crush on a guy he wasn't friends with. Now, after spending so many hours with him, it only made the crush more real. More like something he wanted. A lot.

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