Derek's Person

I Like How He Smells | 2

Laura and Derek were seated across from each other at the kitchen table, taking refuge together from the chaos happening in their living room. They picked at their lunches in silence, Laura messaging her friend on her cell phone, while Derek flipped through a comic book that was sitting open on the table top.

She was fairly certain that the pups, along with Stiles, were building some sort of fort out of couch cushions and blankets they'd dragged downstairs from the kids' rooms—but she had no idea why so much screaming had to be involved.

The soft pat-pat-pat of bare feet running into the kitchen preceded Stiles skidding to a stop beside Derek, who didn't even bother acknowledging his presence despite nearly being crashed into.

"We'replayingdragonsandknightsand—"

"Breathe," Derek casually cut him off, as if reminding Stiles to do basic human functions was something he did often. It made Laura wonder if he actually did.

Stiles took an exaggerated breath, before repeating, "We're playing dragons and knights. Wanna play?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Eating."

Stiles' eyebrows rose as he leaned closer to the table to examine the half-eaten sandwich on Derek's plate. "What kinda samwich is that?"

Derek gently pushed Stiles' head away as he continued reading his comic book.

"Der—"

"No," he grunted.

"Wh—but—that's not even an answer!" Stiles sputtered.

When Derek didn't say anything more, Stiles crept closer again. He put his hand on the table and subtly inched it closer to the plate, while watching Derek out of the corner of his eye. Derek growled low in his chest as his eyes tracked the approaching hand, but it didn't deter Stiles in the slightest.

Laura was about to warn Stiles to back off, when he swiftly grabbed the sandwich and attempted to dart out of the room. He hadn't even taken three steps before Derek was out of his seat with his hand firmly gripping the back of Stiles' neck to prevent him from leaving.

"Darn it," Stiles mumbled disappointedly. "I wasn't fast enough."

Laura stood and circled around the table to get closer to them, in case she needed to step in. Considering that Derek had much less control over his wolf than the rest of the pack, she knew this situation could go very badly. She watched his eyes, searching for any indication of a flash.

"Derek doesn't like his food touched, so you can't do that," she reprimanded. "He gets very mad at you when you take it."

Stiles looked up at Derek for a moment, before giggling, as if the idea was ludicrous. "No, he doesn't! He's just a grumpy wolf."

Stiles lifted the sandwich to his mouth and took a small bite out of it, before humming in approval. "Mmm, turkey. I love turkey!"

Laura sniffed the air in an attempt to assess the danger, but there was none. No anger, no annoyance, no... anything, really. Derek's eyebrows were furrowed and his glare was pinning Stiles to the floor—but that frustration didn't seem to carry into his scent or the rest of his body. His jaw and shoulders were relaxed, his free hand was hanging loosely by his thigh, and the grip on Stiles' neck was nearly limp. Laura was positive that Stiles could easily get out of his hold, if he wanted to. It was almost like Derek was just placing his hand there, the way her uncles often did to the pups.

Stiles was right—Derek wasn't upset... which made no sense.

"Can I have one more itty bitty bite? Please?" Stiles begged Derek, putting on the sweetest smile Laura had ever seen across his face. His large amber eyes flitted around Derek's face for a moment, before he shoved the sandwich into his mouth again and took the largest bite he could manage. With his cheeks filled up like a chipmunk, he attempted to say something that Laura assumed was supposed to be, "Thank you," before handing the food back to Derek.

Derek returned to the table and sat down in his chair while Stiles walked back into the living room, as if nothing had happened. Laura sat across from her brother once again and watched him with confusion as he took a bite of his sandwich—off the same spot that Stiles had, no less.

"What?" he asked irritably, noticing her blatant staring.

"He just ate your food...off your plate," Laura told him.

"He's a brat."

Laura scoffed and shook her head to herself. That was it? He's a brat? She eyed him for a moment, before reaching over to take one of the potato chips off of his plate. She hadn't even managed to pick it up before Derek had roughly grabbed her wrist and bared his teeth at her until she released it.

"Why can he eat your food when I'm your sister?" Laura questioned, her voice laced with indignation. "You never share anything with anyone."

"He's little."

"News Flash: so are the pups. You almost bit Cora's hand when she reached over your plate for the garlic bread last week! Yet, you share with Stiles? "

"I didn't share; he stole it," Derek argued as he stood up and crossed the kitchen to the trash can, where he threw away the sandwich crusts and remaining chips. "Wasn't that good, anyway."

"Did you seriously just throw those chips away when you knew I wanted them?"

Derek simply shrugged remorselessly and walked out of the room.