Lesson #30: Don't Act Suspicious

A/N: I love this chapter title cause it makes me think of that meme song lol

Anyways, here it is, folks. This is the last chapter. And before anyone asks, NO, I will not be writing a sequel. This fic is better as a stand alone book and a sequel would just ruin their story because I would not do it justice. That being said, I hope you enjoy the ending! I love you all soooo much for sticking by me and my horrible updating schedule!!!

And side note, I'll be publishing "One More Night" probably next week, so keep an eye out for that! It's going to be an extremely explicit Sterek fic, so if you're uncomfortable reading smut, I wouldn't recommend it!

*time jump, not sure exactly how many months, but it's been (almost) a year since Stiles and Derek started dating

Derek smiled wide as I glanced up from my biology book, his eyes watching me fondly through the phone screen. We'd been on facetime for four hours without talking much, but the silence was comfortable. It was just like being in each other's presence, except we couldn't sit on Derek's bed pressed together side by side while we did our homework. Instead, we just set our phones up at our desks and occasionally looked up to make sure the other was actually doing our work.

But this time when I looked up, Derek was grinning. "What the hell are you looking at?" I asked playfully, breaking the silence for the first time in almost an hour. "You're supposed to be studying for your psychology exam."

"I finished studying twenty minutes ago," Derek admitted, a light blush creeping onto his cheeks. He spun a pencil between his fingers, still watching me with a smile, like I was the most beautiful thing he'd ever laid eyes on. "I miss you," he said after a few more minutes of silence. I tried to jump back into my biology homework, but when Derek started talking like that, I couldn't help but get distracted.

"I miss you, too," I sighed, tapping my pen against my homework page just for something to do with my hands. Derek leaned forward, closer to the camera as he rested his chin on his hands. I grinned at how adorable he looked, wishing he was with me so I could kiss him. "Are you going to be home next weekend?" I hadn't mentioned it, because I didn't know if Derek cared about that kind of thing, but our anniversary was coming up on Saturday. Derek didn't say anything, so neither did I. Besides, we had a rocky start, so the date was kind of debatable.

"I don't think so," Derek replied, stretching in his seat so his face wasn't visible in the camera anymore. "I have too much homework," he added, still moving around for various reasons. He cleaned up his desk, putting away his books and his notebooks as I watched him curiously.

"Oh, okay," I said, trying to cover up my disappointment. I just saw him two weeks ago, so it wasn't the end of the world, but I really did miss him. I missed him the second he left me, though, so it was fine, really. I would live. "Maybe you can find a little extra time to call me, or something?" I wondered, hoping I wasn't pushing too much.

Derek's face came back into the camera, but the look on his face made my stomach nauseous. "Yeah, maybe," he shrugged, like he didn't care. It was such a change from the big smile on his face just a few minutes before. Maybe that smile was a show and he was actually getting tired of me. Our conversations lately had been short, or quiet. Derek only called me once last week and this facetime call was the first one in the past two weeks. I tried not to think too much about it because Derek was busy, but now it was hard to ignore.

"Just let me know," I answered, looking down at my homework so Derek couldn't see the hurt look on my face. I didn't need him stressing about my feelings while he had so much going on at college. I would get over it eventually. He'd be home for the summer in a couple months anyways, so I'd get to see him soon enough. That was, if he wasn't tired of me, like he already seemed to be.

"I will," Derek promised. "I gotta go to bed, baby. My exam is at eight in the morning tomorrow."

I smiled a little at the endearing name, glancing up to meet his eyes. Derek smiled softly. "Alright," I sighed, picking up my phone to bring him closer. "I love you."

Derek smile widened a little as he brought his phone up to his face, kissing the camera in a way that always made me laugh. "I love you, too," he said after he pulled the camera back to look at me. "Get some sleep, okay? I can tell you've been staying up late."

I rolled my eyes, but didn't object, because he wasn't wrong. "I will," I said, blowing him a kiss. "I'll text you tomorrow." Derek gave me a small wave before hanging up. I sighed softly and turned off my phone, finishing the last few problems on my homework before cleaning up all of my things and crawling into bed.

_

"What the hell are you talking about, Stiles?" Lydia snapped, her eyes narrowed as she paused with her stolen french fry inches from her mouth. "He's not thinking about breaking up with you."

I sighed, moving my fries away from her grabby fingers as she continued glaring. "Maybe he just didn't tell you because he knows you would tell me immediately," I argued, even as she rolled her eyes dramatically. "What? You know I'm right!"

She took a long drink of her milkshake while she considered what to say next. "Okay, maybe, but-" she started, pointing her finger at me to make her point, "why would he want to break up with you in the first place? I thought things were going smoothly?"

"I thought they were too!" I groaned, throwing my head back in frustration. Things had been really amazing the past few months with Derek at college. We spent every other weekend together, facetimed and texted frequently, and things were just perfect. I thought it would be more difficult maintaining a long distance relationship, but for the first few months, things were perfect. Until now at least. And right before our one year anniversary too. "I don't know, Lyds, he's just acting different. He hardly texts me anymore, he hasn't been home in two weeks and he told me not to come see him this weekend because he's too busy. I just feel like he's putting distance between us so he can dump me."

Lydia frowned, leaning forward on her elbows. "Maybe he really is just busy?" she offered, but it didn't make me feel any better. Derek had never been too busy for me before, so I really doubted that was the problem now. I was just going to have to come to terms with the fact that Derek was going to break up with me, no matter how much that made me want to break down in the middle of the mall food court. "Stiles, come on, you just need to talk to him about this," Lydia said, kicking me under the table to get me to look at her again. "Stop sulking. You don't know that he's going to dump you. It's probably all in your head."

"Really?" I retorted, taking out my phone to prove her wrong. I pulled Derek and I's messages and slid my phone across the table to her. "Look, Lydia. I texted him ten times yesterday and he didn't respond to a single one of them!" I felt like such an idiot for acting like this, but I couldn't possibly think of another explanation.

"Okay, that looks bad," Lydia agreed, her face falling. I knew I wasn't just imagining it. Derek was acting different. "Maybe I should talk to him?"

I actually hadn't thought of that yet, but maybe Lydia was right. They were still best friends, even if I had kind of taken that spot since Derek left for college. "Would you do that for me?" I pleaded, giving her a sweet smile.

Lydia rolled her eyes, snatching another one of my fries off my plate. "You know I will," she sighed with an eye roll. "If you two break up, I'll have to pick sides. And I love you both too much to do that, so leave it to me. I'll fix it."

"You're the best, Lyds," I praised, offering her another fry before she could steal it. She grinned back at me and took the fry, then eventually took the rest of my fries without even asking if I was done yet. If she could figure out what the hell was going on with Derek, I wouldn't even be mad.

-

"You're insane, dude," Scott said, thumping the back of my head as if telling me I was crazy wasn't enough. I glared at him and shoved him into the nearest set of lockers for payback, but it didn't do much damage. We were the last ones in the hallway because I'd been ranting to him about how I thought Derek was going to break up with me, which took a while. I had a lot to say, alright?

"I'm not insane, Scott," I argued, once we were done shoving each other around and were back to walking outside towards the parking lot.  "Lydia even agreed that he's been acting different. Like I told you, he won't even text me back! He sends one word replies like twice a day maybe."

Scott frowned, stopping beside my jeep with his hand on the handle. "Wait, he's ignoring you?" he wondered, his eyebrows drawing together in confusion. I nodded, nervously fidgeting with the straps on my backpack. I wanted Scott to keep telling me I was crazy, that Derek wasn't going to break up with me, it was all in my head. I wanted that, because then maybe I could rationalize what had been happening. Maybe I could spend the next few weeks in pure bliss, ignoring the problems at hand until Derek actually dumped me. But Scott's frown was not what I wanted to see. "That fucking asshole," Scott grumbled, throwing the door open to get into the Jeep.

"See, I'm not crazy!" I yelled, even as he slammed the door in my face to shut me up. Scott rolled his eyes through the window and gestured for me to walk around and get in. I had to drive us back to his house since I drove us to school this morning. For some reason, Scott insisted on me staying the night with him tonight. Since it was Friday and Derek wasn't coming home this weekend, I agreed. Sadly, I would be spending Derek and I's one year anniversary with Scott McCall. A great best friend, but not a good substitute for my hot boyfriend.

-

Saturday morning, Scott woke me up in the worst way possible. Which was by slamming his elbow into my side so hard I fell off the bed and landed with a loud thud on the floor. I was surprised Melissa didn't come stomping up the stairs to smack us for being so loud.

After groaning and complaining about the pain while Scott laughed at me, I finally sat up and checked my phone. My heart sank when there were no messages from Derek, but I tried not to let it bother me. "What's for breakfast?" I asked, shutting my phone off and putting it in my pocket to stop myself from checking it every two seconds.

"Cold pizza," Scott answered from where he still sat on the bed, the box of left over pizza sitting beside him. He grabbed a piece from the box and tossed it down for me to catch. I sighed, not really in the mood for more pizza, but I knew Scott didn't know how to cook and neither of us had money to go out, so I ate it anyways. "I'm taking you somewhere later," Scott said after a few minutes of us eating pizza in silence.

I looked up at him with a confused expression, hoping he would elaborate, but he didn't. "Okay, where are you taking me?" I wondered.

"It's a surprise."

-

Scott never elaborated on the surprise, so we spent all day playing video games and goofing off without bringing it up again. Until around six in the afternoon and Scott told me to shower because I smelled like a gross boy, then forced me into nice jeans and a button up shirt. I joked about him taking me out on a date, but then that only hurt my own feelings because I remembered it was Derek and I's anniversary and I didn't even get to see him.

I quickly got over myself and Scott started driving, still not telling me a single detail about where he was taking me. When we pulled into the parking lot at the beach, I was only more confused than before. Scott looked over at me with a cheeky grin. "Okay, so you are actually taking me on a date," I teased. "No offense buddy, but you're not my type."

Scott rolled his eyes. "Just get the hell out and follow the path down to the beach, asshole," he replied, smacking me on the back of the head before I could get out of the car.

"You're acting so weird," I grumbled, rubbing the spot where he smacked me as if it actually hurt. Mostly I just wanted him to feel bad, but he showed no remorse as I jumped out of the car and started walking. He didn't follow me, which was odd, but I listened anyways, just curious as to where the hell this was going.

I followed the path, ignoring the sand in my shoes as I stared out at the ocean, the way the sunset reflected on the surface of the waves. The way the wind created ripples in the water. I thought it was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen. . . until I saw who was waiting at the end of the path.

My lips stretched into the biggest smile when our eyes met, matching the grin on Derek's face as he waited for me. When I reached him, he pulled his hands out of his pockets and immediately grabbed my face, pulling me in for a sweet kiss. I hadn't tasted his lips in weeks, but I could never forget this feeling. It made my head swim and my stomach flutter every single time, even after a year of being with him.

When Derek pulled away, he rested his forehead against mine with a small smile. "Happy anniversary, Stiles," he breathed, brushing his lips past mine as I grinned, unable to hold it back. All the negative feelings I had about us the past week suddenly disappeared, like they were never even there in the first place.

"I thought you forgot," I laughed nervously, wrapping my arms around his waist. Clearly, he didn't forget. He had planned this out and apparently had Scott's help with it too, but I would deal with Scott later. Right now, I had Derek in my arms and he had set up a beautiful picnic with our favorite foods and most importantly, he was here. "I'm so happy to see you, Der."

"I was trying to surprise you," he replied with a slight blush, pulling back to look at me. He dragging his thumb gently across my bottom lip before leaning back in for another kiss, stealing my breath the way he always did when he kissed me. Derek's lips on mine were all I needed to feel better after the horrible week I had. "Here, sit down," he said, stepping back to give me room to sit.

"How long have you been planning this?" I wondered, sitting down across from him so that our knees were pressed together and we were face to face.

Derek rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, handing over a plate of food with my favorite fruits on it. "A few weeks," he admitted, his smile soft and so adorable. "I have a hard time lying to you, so that was why I didn't want to facetime very often. And I was afraid I was going to slip up over text, so I kept those short too. I didn't want to ruin the surprise."

I stared at him for a moment, a strawberry halfway to my mouth as I burst out laughing, making Derek  blush even harder. "Oh my god, Derek," I chuckled, shaking my head. "I can't believe you."

"What?!" he demanded, so red it was only making me laugh harder. "I'm sorry, I tried my best!"

"Oh, baby, it's okay, I love it," I promised, moving my plate to the side so I could crawl into his lap instead. He wrapped his arms around my waist without question as I leaned in to kiss his lips, tasting the tart blueberries on his tongue. I pulled away reluctantly, still holding face as I brushed my lips over his stubble. "I'm just laughing because this whole time, I thought you were planning on breaking up with me."

Derek suddenly tensed, his arms tightening around my waist. I sat back on his lap a little to look at him and the pained expression on his face. "Oh god, Stiles, I'm so fucking sorry," he apologized, turning dark red as I chuckled again, kissing his jaw. "I didn't realize- I'm so stupid. I would never break up with you, Stiles. I love you so much."

"I know," I sighed happily, moving my lips lazily against his rough stubble, enjoying just being in his arms. "I love you, too."

"I feel like such an ass," he grumbled, slipping his hand under my shirt to rest against the small of my back. He pulled me closer, guiding my lips back to his for a brief kiss. "I'll make it up to you, I promise."

I grinned, running my fingers through his hair. "It sounds like somebody needs to teach you how to be cool," I teased, kissing the tip of his nose. "I mean, cool people can surprise their boyfriends without making them think they're getting dumped, right?"

Derek rolled his eyes, but he was still smiling. "Shut up, I taught you everything you know," he retorted.

"Not everything," I argued, kissing his face wherever my lips could reach. "I definitely taught you how to play Mario Kart."

Derek laughed, flipping us over so I was on my back and he was hovering over me, his lips still inches from mine. "I hate you," he said with a grin, pressing his chest flush against mine.

I let him kiss me again, slow and teasing, but I eventually pulled away to look at him. "That's what all the cool guys say."

And they lived happily ever after,

The End :)