MELISSA HALE
Melissa watched from the kitchen window as her sons interacted with Scott's new friend. She hadn't heard the end of this 'Stiles' boy since Scott had met him on his first day and she had been looking forward to meeting the boy who'd made Scott's first week at a new school so easy.
The boy was fairly tall and lanky. He had short brown hair in a buzz cut which would have looked thuggish on most boys but his friendly demeanour and relaxed body language didn't allow for that appearance. He was nicely dressed and was joking around with Scott. There was something off about the image though; Derek.
Derek was resting on the hood of his car watching the two with a neutral expression on his face in lieu of his perpetual scowl. Melissa couldn't believe her eyes. In their old town Derek had hated Scott's friends and refused to be in the same room as them or give them lifts anywhere. Yet he'd brought Stiles Winchester here without Scott even having to ask twice and was actually sticking around.
She decided to put it at the back of her mind for now and opened the window.
"Scott, invite your guest inside!" She called.
"Yeah mom!" The trio made their way into the house and Melissa met them in the living room. Stiles immediately stood straight and held a hand out to Melissa.
"Stiles Winchester. Thank you for having me over for dinner." He smiled at Melissa. He was well raised and polite. He had a sweet smile that had a hint of mischievousness to it. Melissa definitely liked him.
"It's no trouble Stiles. I'm Melissa, Scott tells me you're a lasagne fan so I made my special recipe." She said shaking his hand lightly. Stiles face lit up like a Christmas tree.
"Really?! Thank you so much! I'm really looking forward to trying it Ms. Hale."
"Please, call me Melissa. It'll be ready soon so could you lay the table, Scott? Derek you can sort out drinks for everyone." Her sons jumped into action and Stiles followed to help.
It was hard raising werewolves but Melissa pride herself in her sons' obedience and manners. Despite how different Scott and Derek were, they both had equally unshakable respect for their mother. Derek was 4 when Scott was born, he'd been a quiet child but was very close with his father.
Scott was 2 when their father left the family with no explanation and it had hit Derek hard. He became very reserved and barely spoke to anyone, he was extremely protective over Scott. That stopped however when Derek went to high school and he chose to be a loner and focus totally on his studies. As a result, Derek had graduated with some of the highest grades in his class. Scott had always been Derek's polar opposite; friendly, a bit of an airhead and loved being around people.
Melissa was shaken from her thoughts when she heard the egg timer ring shrilly. She entered the kitchen and found Derek pouring drinks, the Hale family were creatures of habit and always had the same. Water for himself, Apple juice for Melissa, a coke for Scott and another water, presumably for Stiles.
"So what do you think of Scott's friend?" Melissa asked casually. Derek peered at her over his shoulder suspiciously.
"I don't think anything." Derek said blankly.
"Well you've never liked one of Scott's friends before." She tried.
"I never said I liked him." With that, Derek expertly carried all four glasses from the room into the dining area. Melissa sighed and took the lasagne from the oven.
STILES
Stiles' mouth watered at the smell of the lasagne, he had high hopes for Melissa's cooking. She set the dish in the middle of the table and took Stiles' plate first, scooping out a large helping for him.
"Perfect." Stiles clasped his hands together in excitement and Scott and Melissa laughed. She served everyone else and they started eating.
When Melissa and Derek had finished and Stiles and Scott were on their third helpings, Melissa spoke up.
"I'm sorry if your mother and father were uncomfortable with Scott being in your house, I suppose you can understand better than most people why he can't just go round telling people." She apologised. Stiles tore his eyes away from the forkful of lasagne he had in his hand, about to say something but Scott beat him to it.
"Stiles doesn't have a mom, he has two dads!" Melissa went slightly pink.
"Oh I'm sorry I didn't-" Stiles interjected before the woman could make herself uncomfortable.
"Really, Melissa. It's fine, they just wanted to make sure I wasn't in danger. My dads really liked having Scott over." Melissa looked proud.
"As long as they're fine with it." She smiled.
STILES
He and Scott finished their last helping and helped clear the table. After, they went to Scott's room and played some video games.
"So can you, like, turn into a wolf and stuff?" Stiles was curious as to what abilities Scott had.
"Nah, my teeth get really long and my face goes all wolfy with fur. I can run really fast and hear and smell super good too." Scott's inarticulate description was enough for Stiles. "Derek can turn into a full wolf though. But that's cuz he's an alpha, well, technically he's not because we don't have a pack but he could be one if we did." Scott explained.
It didn't surprise Stiles, Derek was a formidable guy. He could clearly imagine him commanding a pack of wolves. He could also clearly imagine Derek commanding him... 'Not an appropriate time, Stiles!' Stiles shook the images from his head and concentrated on killing the zombies swaying towards him on the screen. His phone buzzed and he glanced over, it was from his dad. He opened the message.
'Dad: Pa wanted me 2 ask how it was going. U no he's useless w/ fones.' Stiles cringed inwardly at his father's use of text lingo. He typed out a quick reply.
'All fine :) Will c u l8r.'
"Hey Scott, wanna show me just how fast you can run?" Scott grinned and tossed his controller down and the two boys ran outside.
The boys got out of breath running around through the trees, Stiles tried as hard as he could but he couldn't beat the werewolf and Stiles was a pretty good sprinter. Stiles collapsed on the floor and Scott lay next to him, both laughing happily. Stiles couldn't remember the last time he'd had such effortless fun. He wondered how long they'd been fooling around outside and checked his phone, it was nearly 11.
"Hey, it's late. I better get going." Stiles smiled at Scott who gave him a look that bore frightening resemblance to a sad puppy.
"Owwwwwh." He whined.
"Can you uh, you know, ask Derek?" Stiles really didn't want to personally ask anything of Derek, he might bite his head off.
"Ask me what?" Stiles jumped but Scott must have heard him coming.
"Stiles has to go, can you take him?" Derek simply shrugged.
"I don't know, Scott. Can I?" Sarcasm dripping in his voice.
"Don't be an ass Derek." Scott rolled his eyes and got up, helping Stiles up, the two boys brushed each other off. Derek retrieved his keys from his pocket and Stiles followed him to the Camaro.
"Uh, I'm just gonna go inside quickly and thank your mom." Derek nodded.
Stiles said his goodbyes and thank-you's to Melissa and hugged Scott. He left the Hale household and found Derek was already sitting in the car, Stiles joined him. Derek was looking at the space above Stiles head intensely.
"Uh is something-" he was cut off by Derek leaning forward into his personal space. Derek's breath fanned over Stiles' face, and he instinctively took a sharp inward breath. He'd expected Derek's touch to be rough, but he was gentle and he smelt foresty with hints of engine oil and some kind of deodorant. He never took his eyes off the thing in Stiles hair, which turned out to be a small leaf. He threw it out the window and started the car and Stiles struggled resume breathing normally.
When they'd left the woods, Derek began fiddling with the stereo. Without warning, Thunderstruck filled the car, Stiles nearly screamed. It was his absolute favourite AC/DC song. Derek was tapping his fingers on the steering wheel to the drum. Stiles wanted so desperately to sing along but he wouldn't dare, not in front of Derek, so he resorted to lip syncing discreetly. Not as discreetly as he thought apparently.
"You like AC/DC?" Derek said incredulously.
"Do I like AC/DC? Try love. The soundtrack of my childhood is pretty much 75% AC/DC."
"I don't believe it." Derek snorted. Stiles would not have his love for AC/DC challenged by the likes of Derek, he started singing along.
"I was shaking at the knees! Could I come again please? Yeah them ladies were too kind. You've been... Thunderstruck!" Then something unbelievable happened. Derek laughed. It was the most beautiful sound Stiles had ever heard, so Stiles began playing air-guitar and Derek drummed harder on the wheel in accompaniment. When the song came to an end, Stiles flashed a wide grin at Derek, he smiled back, it was quick but he saw Derek's dentist-commercial-White teeth glisten. He was shaking his head in amusement.
"Am I right in guessing your dad, Dean is the one who got you into real music?"
"Yeah, I was pretty much fed classic rock from the moment I was adopted by them." Derek nodded slowly.
"Your other dad... He's an angel." Derek stated.
"Uh yeah, he is. Why?"
"I just found it interesting, a hunter married to an angel."
"Yeah we're a little unconventional."
"That's putting it lightly." Derek said, it was difficult to ascertain whether it was a joke or not but Stiles chuckled anyway.
They arrived outside his house too soon, Stiles wanted to stay in the Camaro with Derek forever.
"Thanks again, Derek."
"Its nothing." He assured. Stiles, through force of habit, held a fist out to Derek. Derek looked from his fist to Stiles, baffled.
"I guess not. See you around, Derek." He got out the vehicle and walked up the driveway to his front door.
Derek didn't drive away until Stiles had gone inside.