Lesson #14: Have Fun!

"Who's ready to party?" Erica chirped, twirling to show off her outfit, which accented her best. . . features? She looked hot, was the point. And she knew it too, but confidence was sexy. "I'm so excited to make other girls jealous because of how hot I am," she sighed happily, flopping down on my bed. "You look casual, but that's a good look for dudes at a party," she continued, just rambling like she did best.

"Thanks?" I replied, unsure if that was a compliment or not. I was excited for the party, mostly because I've never been to one before. I was also pretty excited that Derek was going with Lydia, and not Brett. Not that I had any say in who he was with, considering I was going after Lydia at this party. Still, it gave me some relief. As Derek's friend, I thought he deserved better than Brett anyways. "You wanna grab a bite to eat before we go?" I offered, giving her my hand to drag her off the bed.

"I already ate," she answered with a shrug. "Can't drink on an empty stomach."

"Good thing I won't be drinking," I laughed, leading her out the door.

She laughed with me, throwing her arms over my shoulders as we walked out the door to my Jeep. "Well, you're no fun. Your first real party, and you're not even going to drink? That's what these things are all about!" She slowly slipped her arms off my back and sighed, letting me help her up into the passenger seat. "I guess I'll have you to keep me in check, then," she reasoned, smirking at me before I slammed the door shut.

It was just starting to get dark, so that meant the party was just getting into the swing of things. According to Derek, the best parties really started getting interesting when the sun set, so it was the perfect time to get there. When we pulled up to the house, it was already filled with people, lights, music, and everything I expected to see at a high school party. "Erica," I mumbled as her hand found mine. She gave a little squeeze and offered me a smile. "What am I even doing here?"

She laughed, turning to face me. "You and Derek have this little thing, don't you? With the lessons and such, about being cool?" Apparently, she and Derek were a lot closer than I had thought if they talked about our lessons. I nodded, still reeling in my nerves. "What lesson are we on today?"

"I think. . . fourteen," I mumbled, glancing at the house as the music blared so loud, I could feel the vibrations in my chest.

She grabbed my other hand, so she was holding them both between us. "Well, Stiles," she chirped, leaning in closer. "Lesson fourteen is: have fun!" She dropped my hands and instead snaked an arm around my waist, dragging me towards the door. Once we were inside, some of my nerves began to settle, but mostly because everyone around me was too drunk to realize who I even was, or what was going on.

"How is this considered fun?" I wondered, weaving through the crowd with Erica to lead me. "Everybody seems too drunk to function, the only entertainment is beer pong and shitty music. . . I just don't get the appeal."

"That is the appeal," Erica argued with an eye roll. "Parties exist for getting drunk, winning a popularity contest, and making stupid decisions. That's about it. So why don't you have one drink, Stiles, and loosen up a little?"

I shook my head, following her into the kitchen, where all of the beer and liquor lined up along the counters, in coolers, and where ever it would fit. Erica got right to business making herself a drink. "I don't want to embarrass myself in front of Lydia," I explained, though I wouldn't need the help of alcohol to do that. I had a way to get myself in trouble no matter how intoxicated I might be.

As Erica sipped her drink, I scanned the surrounding rooms for familiar faces. I didn't see Lydia, or Derek for that matter. They were supposedly here together. The nerves were getting to me, which I hoped wasn't noticeable. "Do you see them?" I wondered, earning a small chuckle from Erica. I glanced at her, raising an eyebrow in question. "What? Lydia said she would be here, so I'm just trying to calm myself down before I see her," I explained. Maybe Erica was right about the alcohol. Maybe it would even calm my nerves, but I didn't want to risk it.

"You said 'them' as in Lydia and Derek," Erica pointed out. "Why do you care so much about Derek?"

I scoffed, playing off my mistake. I didn't intentionally bring up Derek, but with everything going on between us lately, I couldn't help it. Subconsciously, I did want to see him. He made me feel calm and collected and maybe if I could just see that smile, I'd gain some confidence and be able to talk to Lydia. "I only said that because I know they're here together," I replied, really wishing I had something to drink just to get out of talking to Erica about this. "Can we just do something to take my mind off the nerves?"

By the grin on Erica's face, I knew I was about to regret my words. "Time to dance!" she announced, grabbing my arm to drag me into the middle of the crowded room. I should have known dancing would be her solution. "So, tell me the truth," she said, talking over the loud music as she moved my hands to her hips. "Do you really want Lydia, or is it some kind of cover up? Because it seems to me like you aren't really into this whole thing anymore."

I sighed, trying not to step on Erica's feet as she danced and I attempted to move with her. "It's sort of complicated, but I definitely want to ask Lydia on a date," I admitted, still scanning the room. Across the room, I spotted Derek walking towards the stairs. I felt a smile creeping onto my lips, until I saw who was with Derek. Brett. Of course, he just had to show up and ruin everything. For Derek, I mean. Derek was so much better than him, yet he forgave Brett just like that. I was just disappointed.

"To forget about Derek," Erica said, snapping me out of my trance. I trained my eyes back on her as she moved so smoothly in time with the music.

"What are you talking about?" I was trying to play it cool, because no one knew about my feelings towards Derek, but Erica was smart.

She rolled her eyes, pulling me closer so she didn't have to raise her voice so much. "I see how you look at him, Stiles. You love him, but you can't have him. Lydia is a distraction." She didn't seem like she was trying to hurt me, or blackmail me, or anything like that. So what was the point in bringing it up?

"I don't want to talk about it, Erica," I mumbled, gently nudging her away so I could walk away. Maybe I did want a drink after all. I walked towards the kitchen, set on drowning out my troubles with something strong, when someone stopped me.

"Stiles, hey!" she exclaimed, forcing me to turn around and face my fears.

I smiled, really wishing I had some alcohol in me already. "Lydia," I greeted her, leaning up against the doorway to the kitchen. She was beautiful, as always, but it didn't make my stomach feel like it was in knots like it usually did. "You look great."

She smiled back, twirling her hair with her finger as I complimented her. "I thought you were here with someone?" she wondered, playing innocent. It seemed she knew what she was doing, flirting with me. Lydia Martin didn't flirt with just anyone. This should have made me happy, ecstatic even. I tried to tell myself that I was just tired, so I played along.

"I was, but the universe works in mysterious ways," I replied with a grin.  She laughed, leaning in closer as we talked. The conversation was going well, she was clearly into me. We talked for about an hour, but I was getting restless. The things she talked about meant nothing to me. Rumors about the cheerleaders, who had the worst fashion, things I never needed to know about my peers and teachers. How she knew so much was beyond me. I tried to steer the conversation towards her and get her to tell me more about herself so I could justify having feelings for a girl I hardly knew, but she dodged the personal questions.

I was looking for a way out of the conversation, but Erica was no where to be found, so I was stuck. Lydia was still going on and on. "Yeah, so Jackson and I used to go out, which everyone knows. But then Allison convinced me he was an asshole, which honestly, I should have seen, but love makes you blind, you know? And he's been spending a lot of time with that Ethan guy, which is a little weird, don't you think? I guess I'm just tired of assholes, which is why I like you so much, Stiles. You're not as dorky as I thought you were, and if-"

I would have let her keep rambling about how not dorky I was, but a commotion by the stairs cut her off and caught everyone's attention, but especially mine. Derek was storming towards the door and Brett was following close behind him with an angry expression. "Derek, I'm not done talking about this!" he screamed, grabbing his shoulder to force him to turn around.

"Don't touch me!" Derek spat, jerking away from Brett's grip. "I told you it was nothing, so stop being such an ass about it!"

I felt myself tense up, worried about Derek. I stepped away from Lydia, ready to butt in if Brett did anything. Not that I was stronger than Brett, but I would put myself in between them to help Derek.

Brett looked even angrier as he stepped closer to Derek. He kept yelling at him, quieting the whole room. Derek tried to get away from him, but Brett went after him, resulting in Derek flying into the wall and knocking a picture frame on his head. As the glass shattered everywhere, I took off running towards him, without saying a word to Lydia. Derek recovered quickly, shaking off the shards of glass as he ran out the door. Brett didn't move, he just stood there in shock. If I knew I could beat him, I would've gone after him. Instead, I ran after Derek to make sure he was okay.

"Derek!" I yelled, finally spotting him a little further down the street as he sat on the curb with his head in his hands. I jogged over to him, carefully putting my hands on his back. He jumped at first, but when he saw it was me, he turned around and threw himself into me. "Derek," I whispered, relieved. I wrapped my arms around him, hugging him tight. "Are you okay? Are you hurt?"

"Take me home?" he mumbled against my shoulder, taking a deep breath.

I slowly pulled away from him, just to check for injuries from the broken glass. If he was hurt, I would have seriously considered beating the shit out of Brett, even if it meant me getting hurt too. "What happened back there?" I asked, gently. Derek was clearly drunk, but I wasn't sure how much he had had to drink.

"I don't wanna talk bout it," he sighed, his hands still clinging to my shirt. He looked like he was about to cry, but he held it back. "I jus' wanna go home."

I nodded in understanding, helping him to his feet as he swayed a little. There was a little blood on his forehead where a shard of glass grazed his skin, but it didn't look too bad. As I got him to the Jeep, we were met by Erica and Lydia, both wearing concerned faces. "Derek, are you okay? Do I need to kill Brett?" Erica asked, a serious tone in her voice.

"I will gladly help her kick his ass," Lydia agreed, crossing her arms angrily.

Derek shrugged them off, leaning into me for support. "Stiles is takin me home to sleep it off. We just had a fight," he told them, dismissing their concern.

I opened the passenger door, helping Derek up into the seat. I made sure he had his seatbelt on before shutting the door and facing the girls again. "Lydia, I'm really sorry our conversation got cut short, but Derek really needs me right now," I apologized, hoping she would understand.

She smiled in an understanding way, putting her hand on my arm. "Thanks for taking care of him. You're a good friend," she replied. "I have Derek's keys, so I'll make sure your date gets home." She didn't seem happy about having to take Erica home, but at least she understood.

"Yeah, just make sure he gets home safe," Erica agreed, reluctantly.

I smiled gratefully. "Thank you guys for understanding. I'll see you guys around." They waved me off and I hopped in the driver's side to take Derek home. Getting him inside without waking his parents was going to be a challenge, but he needed to get some rest.

When I got to his house, I had to help him inside. Lucky for us, his parents were already asleep and Derek was a quiet drunk. I helped him upstairs and immediately took him into the bathroom. "You need a quick shower before you go to bed, to get the blood off," I told him, warming up the shower for him. I clean what I could off his forehead and then found a towel. "I'll find you some clothes and set them on the sink. When you're done, I'll be in your room. Okay?"

He nodded, squeezing my hand. "Thank you, Stiles," he mumbled, finally letting go. I smiled, running a hand through his hair before leaving the bathroom to go find his clothes. Once I found his clothes, and got over the weirdness of going through his underwear drawer, I waited on his bed for him to finish showering.

After about fifteen minutes, he came into the room wearing his sweatpants, but no shirt. I stood up, standing there awkwardly as he crawled into bed and got comfortable under the covers. "Okay, well I should be going," I announced, turning off the light as I reached for the door.

"No," Derek objected, sitting up slightly to look at me better. "Can you stay with me?"

I stopped, biting my lip as I thought about it. What could it hurt if I stayed the night? Derek had a rough night and needed a friend, right? "Yeah, I guess I can," I agreed.

Derek smiled, scooting over against the wall. "Sleep in the bed," he mumbled, his head hitting the pillow again. I took a deep breath, shaking off my weird feelings and crawled underneath the covers. There was space between us, which I intended to keep there, but Derek had other ideas. "You're amazing, Stiles," he whispered, and before I could stop him, his lips were on mine. It lasted a few seconds, but that was all it took for my face to be burning red. I really hoped he didn't remember it in the morning, or things were going to be very awkward.

"G-Goodnight," I murmured, rolling away from him. I could still feel his lips on mine, and it only made me wish he was sober. That way, I knew it was real.