Not Like It Used To Be

Chapter 1

Author's Note:

I gave in and started a new Sterek fic. Honestly, it was only a matter of time before this happened. I had started a fanfiction like three/four years ago but deleted it because I honestly hated it and the writing was cringey. Hopefully, this one goes better? I'm not sure how long this one will be, I'm just going with the flow. I have no idea how universities work, by the way, I go to a community college so my only experience with universities is through movies and television shows.

Also: Derek and Stiles are both werewolves in this fic but people are aware of werewolves existing and of course, there are some assholes who don't like werewolves.

Yes, mates are a thing, but angst is necessary, my friends. Derek is emotionally rekt and Stiles is just plain oblivious.

That's all, feel free to leave criticism and comments! I'd love to get some thoughts and opinions on this work. Enjoy. :)

-Eli

 "You're sure you have everything? Your suppressors and scent blockers are in your bag, right?" John Stilinski asks his son for, literally, the sixth time.

Stiles sighs at this but nods, "Dad, I am totally one hundred percent sure that I have everything I need to survive while I'm away from home." He was already jittery and nervous about moving into his dorm and having his father repeat the same question six times within the last hour was definitely not helping.

The Sheriff doesn't look any less concerned despite this but doesn't ask again. "Alright, well, let's get your things and get you moved into your dorm," John says, already getting out of the car and heading to the trunk. Stiles follows his father and helps him grab the suitcase and travel bag that contained everything Stiles deemed a necessity (yes, the entire Star Wars movie franchise was within one of those bags).

"Hey pops, don't take this the wrong way or anything but I kind of want to get all moved in myself," the omega explains once the trunk is closed, turning to look at his father. Sheriff Stilinski nods, looking at his son for a moment before pulling him into a tight hug. Stiles immediately wraps his arms around his father in return, doing his best not to get too emotional.

"If you need anything, anything at all, you give me a call, alright kiddo? And when Scott gets here tomorrow you make sure you tell him to keep an eye on you for me," The beta says, patting his son's back before pulling away. Stiles smiles with a roll of his eyes but nods, knowing his alpha friend would already be looking out for him without John asking him to.

"Alright, I better get back on the road. You sure you don't want some help with getting settled in?" John asks, watching as his son picks up his bag and grabs the handle of his suitcase. "Nope, I'm good. I'll let you know if my roommate is a total creep," Stiles replies, only half-joking about the possibility of his roommate being a creep.

John sighs, shaking his head and wondering why his son enjoyed making him worry so much. "Like I said, I'm just a phone call and a few hours away. Remember, that Taser I gave you is strong enough to take down any alpha," he says as he gets in the driver's seat of his car. Stiles gives his father a thumbs up, causing John to finally crack a small smile. "I love you, kiddo. Your mom would be proud."

Stiles' heart aches at that but he gives a sad smile. "Thanks, I love you too, dad. I'll talk to you later," he responds, watching his father drive off before taking a deep breath and turning to walk towards the check-in area. While walking he thinks to himself, 'It's just college, how hard could it be?'

College has already turned out to be harder than Stiles had anticipated, and it's only been two hours since he got here. After waiting in the ridiculously long line to check in and get the key to his dorm room, Stiles then set off on the quest to find said dorm room. Unfortunately, the map that had been given to him was very unhelpful and other students were also useless in this endeavor. (How hard is it to take out an earbud and help a guy out?!)

Finally, right when he was on the verge of insanity, he found the building that his dorm room was in. He headed to his floor and gave a long sigh of relief when he stepped in front of dorm room 224A. Stiles used the key to open the door, hoping that his roommate wasn't already in there so he would have time to come up with some witty introduction. Of course, the universe was never that kind to Stiles.

When Stiles walked in, he was immediately taken aback by the height of the dude who was going to be his roommate for his first year of college. Stiles figured that this ultimately meant the man was probably an alpha, which was fine since Stiles had put that he was neutral about rooming with an alpha on his application (his father had been concerned about this decision but knew that his son was too stubborn to be talked out of it). Stiles' eyes focused on the guy's dark hair before trailing to his muscular shoulders and back. Yeah, the universe was totally not in Stiles' favor today. The alpha smelled faintly familiar but Stiles could tell that he too was using scent blockers so other than vague nostalgia, he couldn't pick up on much. "Uh, hey, I guess you're the one who's stuck with me for the year, huh?" Stiles said jokingly, hoping to have a good start to the introductions.

The guy turned to look at Stiles, seeming to have tensed up as soon as the omega had entered the room. Stiles had worried that he had already annoyed the guy or maybe his scent blockers had worn off but as soon as his brown eyes met the wolf's green ones, his breath hitched. He knew those eyes.

"Derek?" Stiles said in disbelief, his now gold eyes staring into the red eyes of the alpha who used to be his best friend. Derek looked like he was about to punch something but if he was anything like he used to be then Stiles knew that was just his thinking face. "Hi, I mean, hey. Jesus, I didn't... I wasn't... You go here? How are you? How is everyone? How long have you been here? I mean, did you just enroll or has it been a while?" Stiles spoke quickly, immediately slowing down when he heard himself and trying his best not to bombard Derek with questions. 'Like why did you stop answering my texts? Or why did you start forwarding all of my calls to voicemail?'

Derek simply continued to stare at Stiles, his eyes slowly bleeding back to green. He now looked... Angry? What the hell? Derek glared at Stiles as he set his things down and said through gritted teeth, "I said I didn't want to dorm with an omega," before shoving passed Stiles and out of the room.

Stiles stood there for a moment in shock and disbelief. He knew that was Derek Hale. His Derek Hale. Okay, not his but definitely the Derek that had been on his mind ever since they first met at some barbecue one of their families had. And "his" Derek Hale just acted like he was actually angry that Stiles was his roommate. Stiles tried not to get upset, he really did, but of course, he felt tears burning his eyes at the realization that his Derek Hale was nothing like he used to be.

Author's Note:

This is a super short chapter but I hope to get more out soon! I would have put more in this one but I really wanted to just set everything up first. I'm hoping to post at least once a week but I do work often and I have classes starting soon so we'll see how that goes.