The Spark of a Wolf

Mild freak outs and a considerate wolf...

Derek and Stiles sat in the diners parking lot for several long, drawn out, minutes in silence; Derek waited patiently in the driver seat for Stiles to tell him what he wanted to do and where he wanted to be taken.

"I don't know!" Stiles groaned, leaning forward, burring his face in his hands. "I'm sorry, you're being really cool just sitting here while I try to figure my shit out."

"Stiles, it's fine. Take your time, but you do have to decide something; we can't really stay here all night."

"That would be awesome," Stiles mutters, his voice muffled but his hands. "So many curly fries...so many; and they'd be so close, just right there."

Derek shakes his head with a smirk. "You don't want to go home right? Not yet?" Stiles nods his head in his hands. He reaches over, placing a hand on the nape of the boys' neck moving his thumb back and forth in a soothing motion on the exposed skin. The tension in Stiles' shoulders melts away at the touch, filling him with a comfort and ease he didn't know he could feel. "Okay. So, if you didn't want to stay at the loft I could take you to Malia's or-"

"No." Stiles says quickly, lifting his head from his hands to look at Derek. "I don't...I can't go see her." Derek nods, letting Stiles return to his thoughts. They sit for a few more minutes, Stiles with his head practically between his knees while Derek massaged his neck to try and keep him relaxed, as he leaned his head back against the head rest.

"The loft." Stiles says finally, surprising Derek a little at the suddenness of the statement. Stiles sits up, Derek's hand sliding down his back a few inches. "If that still okay." He looks at Derek with worried eyes, fearing he pushed his luck with him too far to night and the offer was already taken back in the silence that had fallen in the car.

Derek smiled and gave him a nod. "You sure?"

Stiles sagged with relief. "Yeah, honestly I think that's the only place I want to be right now. Despite your welcoming personality, I always feel safe there." Stiles' eyes meet Derek's, he feels heat creeping up into his cheeks and turns his head away, clearing his throat. "Sounds stupid but...yeah."

Derek shakes his head fondly, giving Stiles' shoulder a gentle squeeze as he removes his hand from his back. "It's not stupid, Stiles."

He puts the car in drive and heads away from the diner, toward the loft. Stiles keeps his thoughts to himself during the short ride back to the loft, letting silence fill the car again. Derek seems content to let them travel quietly, which Stiles' is grateful for; this calm, understanding Derek was not the Derek he was used to and Stiles wasn't sure how much more of it he could handle.

'Is he being weird? He's being weird...right. Maybe I'm being weird But what's with the touching? And why does it work? That doesn't feel weird, but it should feel weird. Why doesn't it feel weird? I sort of hate the word 'weird'.

Oh God...what if Peter is my support beam...no, not beam. What is it? Anchor, right. What if I'm going to be latched on to a literal nuke! I can't deal with Peter like that, no way. But he's not really around, so probably not right? But he could be playing it cool. But it's probably Malia; I mean she's my girlfriend so that would make sense. 'Cause I mean...it couldn't be Derek, that's just like too insane. But then why didn't I want to go to Malia's?'

Stiles was so wrapped up in his thoughts he didn't notice they'd stopped driving and were sitting outside Derek's building. The alpha places a tentative hand on his shoulder, startling Stiles causing him to leap off the seat slamming his head against the roof as he flailed away from the sudden contact.