Feels like falling

Chapter 4

After the sheriff left the remaining week before school started flew by. Lydia and Erica dragged him out to a multitude of clubs and bars in a not so subtle attempt to distract him from his moping. If you asked for his opinion, which not many people did, he would say that he was dealing with the situation in a mature manor and didn't need the help of the two interfering girls. But yet here he was, two days before the start of term, getting ready for a final night out. This time the girls had roped Jackson, Boyed and Isaac into joining them (Scott and Allison preferring to spend their night together) and they were all going out for dinner before hitting the town.

When he had spoken to Lydia earlier she had been very vague about where they were going but insisted he wore his best clothes. If it was anyone else he would have pressed for further information but he had learnt a long time ago that if Lydia Martin didn't want someone to know something then they wouldn't find out.

There was a loud nock at the door announcing the arrival of his friends. After checking his appearance a final time he went to open the door. Looking at the clock next to the door he realised they were a good 20 minutes early. It's probably Lydia coming to approve what I'm wearing he thought as he fumbled with his key almost dropping it in his haste to open the door. Finally jamming the key in the lock he got it open and was astonished by what, or rather who, he saw. Derek Hale was leaning against the door frame looking the more uncomfortable than Stiles had ever seen him and all he could do was stare. He continued his staring until Derek cleared his throat awkwardly as he shifted his weight from foot to foot. The loud noise in the otherwise quite hallway snapped him out of his shock.

"What are you doing here Derek? You have no right to be here." He whispered when he finally gained the ability to speak again. He didn't know what to do. How were you supposed to act when the cause of all your problems showed up out of the blue? There was no manual for this sort of thing, well there probably was but Stiles was struggling to group his thoughts and fight off the panic attack that was threatening to surface. He was so lost in his own head he didn't realise Derek had begun speaking and he had to ask him to repeat himself.

"Lydia asked me to come and get you for dinner, she said you knew I was coming." Taking in the younger boy's bewildered expression Derek sighed although it came out as more of a growl.

"I'm guessing by your shock that she lied. I think I should just go..." he trailed off looking down the hallway towards the exit. Stiles had now managed to get his breathing back under control and was no longer at risk of having a panic attack. Taking a deep breath he forced yet another smile onto his face.

"No it's fine. You came all this way to see the pack you should stay. I just wasn't expecting you is all. Wait here a sec and I'll just grab my jacket then we can go." He said in a fake cheerful voice that he was sure the werewolf could see straight through but thankfully chose not to comment on.

They reached the restaurant early and spent the rest of the time till the pack arrived in silence and tried their best to avoid looking at each other. When the others arrived, obviously less surprised to see Derek as he had been, they headed inside to find their table. Hanging back slightly he grabbed Lydia's arm as she passed intending to interrogate her on the sudden appearance of the alpha. Of course she already knew what he was going to say before he even got the chance to open his mouth.

"Look I'm not sorry I didn't tell you, if I had you wouldn't have come, and I'm not sorry for inviting him. The two of you need to talk. You won't make it through the first week let alone last till the holidays if you can't sort this out soon. We might not talk about it but I can tell you've been thinking about this all week and it's starting to wear you down. We're just worried for you so man up and talk to him Stilinski." Without waiting for a reply she turned and headed inside to take her place at the table next to Jackson meaning that the only available seat was next to Derek, great.

They made it through the meal with little incident and half an hour later they were entering a student bar/club a couple of streets away. The pack found two smaller tables in a corner and joined them together to make a table large enough for them all to sit at before the girls went to get drinks for everyone. The bar was pretty relaxed when it came to checking IDs so the 18 year old and Derek all had some form of alcoholic drink, the boys opting for beer whilst the girls both had lighter, fruiter drinks. By the time he had finished his first drink Stiles was feeling much more relaxed and able to push all thoughts of Derek to the back of him mind and instead focus on the other people around him.

Everything was going well, he hadn't thought of Derek and his god like body for an hour or so, until the barmaid came over to take away their empty glasses throwing Derek a flirty smile as she passed. Stiles thought he would be okay with this, he was used to people acknowledging the alpha's good looks, if Derek hadn't responded with a wide smile of his own. He knew his feelings were unrequited, Derek had made that perfectly clear, but it still hurt to see him interacting with other people in away Stiles knew he never would with him.

Deciding he really needed to get away from the table before he did something stupid he dragged Isaac and Erica over to the small dance floor on the other side of the room avoiding Lydia's knowing smirk. Just because Derek was here didn't mean he didn't get to have any fun he thought as he started dancing sandwiched between the two wolfs.