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Chapter 4: Last Thing I Remember Is

"If you can't fix it, Jack, you gotta stand it."  Derek watches the screen with tears in his eyes and the phone in his hand. He was going to call Stiles and tell him it was on, maybe they could watch it over the phone together, chat during the commercials. He'd thought a lot about it all weekend, calling Stiles whenever something gay popped up on his screen. There was even a vintage episode of Queer Eye for the Straight Guy that Derek thought Stiles would get a kick out of. Especially when he saw how Derek turned his ottoman into a coffee table using Thom's advice.

Each time he went to pick up the phone though he chickened out. He wasn't sure why, he knew that under normal conditions just texting Stiles to come over meant the boy would appear in less than 20 minutes. Usually he'd be frantic and worried, which made Derek just want to hold him still until his heartbeat went back to normal -normal for Stiles, that is. This, however? This felt different. Because usually the only time Derek did text Stiles to come over it was because there was danger. Him coming over and Derek holding him until he calmed, only served to pacify the boy enough to give him the necessary information so they could plan how to deal with the threat. If Stiles came over with no threat present, then what would happen after Derek held him? All that would be left would be...

"Friendship, Derek!" Erica held out her hand for the remote that Derek is gripping tightly and pointing at the TV. He'd paused the movie and Erica is watching him knowingly yet annoyed.

"Der, just invite him over! He comes over, you watch this harrowing tale of unrequited love and you hang out, that's it!" Derek looks at Erica and then back at the screen.

"It wasn't unrequited, it's unacceptable for that time, Ennis' struggle-"

"Is so boring I could die! But you know who would really wanna talk about it with you? At fucking length?" Derek sighs as Erica stands up and walks towards the staircase to go to her room. "Call him, Der. Don't overthink it."

Derek knows better than to not overthink anything when it came to Erica. She was constantly trying to get him laid, which wasn't a bad thing, but her definition of his "type" always skewed as far as possible to the other side of the Kinsey scale.

"Yeah, yeah, you have an obligation to procreate and carry on the Hale line, that doesn't mean you can't have some fun until then!" She'd say to him while browsing through the Grindr app on his phone. He still couldn't figure out how to turn off the notifications on the damned thing and she would never do it no matter how much he threatened then begged.

"Erica, mates are forever. I'm not going to try and meet some guy that I can never be with."

"Who said anything about mates or forever? I'm talking about here and now and getting some hot guy to slobber on your dick. If you can't mate with a guy -which, just because I'm not dwelling on that now doesn't mean we're not going to have a LONG talk about it later- then it shouldn't matter. You go, fuck around a bit and you don't have to worry about unexpected pregnancy. A guy fuckbuddy is perfect for you! Now how do you feel about daddy bears because this dude is hairy, a little older and says he's a weapons dealer and likes guys with big guns. Oh my god, do you think that's Chris? Shit!"

Derek grabbed his phone from her and exited the app as Erica fell into a fit of giggles.

"No daddy bears, no twinks, no guys, no setting me up in general. When I'm ready to date, I'll date. At least put Tindr on this thing. They should make a Tindr for werewolves who want to mate." He looked at Erica expecting some sort of taunt, but all he received was a soft expression.

"Peter's got you so fucked up."

***

Derek grimaces at the TV still holding the remote with the TV on pause. He knows this is the part when Ennis tells Jack goodbye for the last time. He couldn't do that to someone, even if it's just a fling. Besides, it's not what he wants. He loves women and when the time is right he'll find the perfect mate. They'll all be proud of him, proud that he was able to live up to his name and-