Holding On to You

Chapter 4

Scott's eyes took a shocked form, however, soon relaxed as if missing puzzle pieces fell perfectly into place, "That actually makes sense."

"Whataya mean, it makes sense?" Stiles exclaimed, wondering if he was the only one surprised by this, "What part of Derek freakin' Hale kissing me makes sense?"

"I meant the problem." Scott pointed toward the chalkboard, an algebra equation littering the hunter green canvas.

Stiles' eyes widened, frustration flashing sharply through them, "Scott, are you even listening to me?"

"Yeah, I am." Scott nodded, jotting down the numbers to his notebook, "That makes a lot of sense too."

"Do explain." Stiles urged, leaning out of his desk chair toward Scott's across from him.

"C'mon man, you don't see it?" asked his werewolf friend, "Lately, Derek's just been hanging around."

"He does that all the time." Stiles said, "It's kinda creepy."

Scott smirked, not unaware of his friend's distrust toward Derek, "I mean he's been hanging around you. Pretty much whenever he get's the chance."

"Am I the only one who didn't see this coming?" Stiles asked himself quietly.

"Yup." Scott nodded, "What'd he want anyway? I mean other than-"

"Don't say it." Stiles cringed, attempting to turn his attention toward the problem on the board. Ironically, that's something he would much rather think about. Scott smiled, glancing at Stiles accusingly, "What?" the boy asked touchily.

"Nothing." Scott surrendered his hands, "It's just are you sure you're not-"

"I'm not into Derek!" Stiles insisted harshly.

"Okay, okay." Scott chuckled guilty, "All I'm saying is if I went that way, Derek is-"

"Are you serious right now?" Stiles exclaimed, his tone illustrating how close he was to being done with this conversation. Scott chuckled, Stiles unable to hold back his own, "He should've kissed you." he mumbled dryly, a smirk following his untrue words.

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         Derek stood, arms folded sulkily as he waited for Scott's shift to be over. Maybe this was an even worse idea- maybe this would backfire horribly, but he had to take that chance. Stiles' choices were well worth the extra struggle, Derek was determined to exhaust all options before forcing him into doing something he didn't want to. But that's right, Derek swore he would never go through with it if Stiles didn't agree. That was all well and good, however, it seemed just the idea of resisting was getting increasingly harder.

         The front door to Beacon Hills Animal Clinic slammed shut, Scott exiting equipped with his backpack and bike key. He lifted his nose to the air, seeming to smell something unusual amongst the moderately squalid alleyway. Walking toward the locale of the older beta's standing, he spotted him.

"Derek?" Scott called out, "What're you doing here?"

Derek inserted his hands into his leather pockets, "I need to talk to you."

Scott had trouble looking at the wolf the same in knowing what occurred with his best friend, "About what?"

"Stiles." Derek said, eye contact seeming to accommodate the awkwardness Scott felt.

"He told me what happened." Scott confessed, not seeing an advantage to keeping it a secret. Derek swallowed, Scott almost amused at how frightened he appeared, "Look, I don't care. I get that you've been into him. I mean, you make it kinda hard not to notice-"

"Is it happening to you too?" Derek asked, the intrigue of his voice telling Scott there was something wrong.

"What?" Scott asked concernedly.

"Has anything changed with Allison?" Derek elaborated, a certain hopefulness in his stare.

"Uh no." Scott bluffed, "I'm not seeing Allison anymore, remember?"

Derek rolled his eyes, perfectly aware that Scott ignored his instructions, "I know you are and, right now, that doesn't matter."

Scott sighed, "What do you mean?"

Derek inhaled, predicting the oddness of his questions, "Have you had problems controlling yourself around her?"

"Uh, I guess." Scott answered, "But the full moon's in a couple days."

"To you it would seem like a regular full moon." Derek uttered to himself.

"What?" Scott asked, staring at Derek concernedly.

"Friday isn't just a full moon, it's the eclipse." Derek explained, "You wouldn't have a harder time controlling yourself around Allison because you're already with her- you wouldn't have to."

"Okay," Scott nodded accordingly, "but what's Stiles got to do with this?"

Derek was suddenly flushed, embarrassment hiking through his veins as he mumbled, "I-I just need to control it."

"Oh," Scott said, realizing the predicament, "You and Stiles-"

"He doesn't know." Derek shook his head, "I was trying to control it on my own but I don't think I can. I-I just don't wanna hurt him."

Scott glanced around as if a helpful hint would float toward him, "You could talk to my boss, he knows a lot about us. He might know what's going on."

Derek nodded, "Yeah, he was a friend of my mother's."

Scott looked at him sympathetically. It was no secret what happened to the Hale's, "Derek, you should tell Stiles what's going on. He has a right to know."

Derek leaned against a nearby wall, "He won't talk to me after last night."

Scott knew how stubborn his friend could be, "If I call him over here, you gotta tell him."

Derek nodded, agreeing with such terms, "Yeah, I will." Scott gave a slight smile before beginning to walk toward his bike, "Thanks." Derek said, "I promise, I won't hurt him."

Scott turned, facing the older wolf, "If you do, I don't care if you're stronger than me." Derek pressed his lips together, being completely honest if he were to say he never received the protective best friend speech- until now, that is.

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I think Scott ships it...