WILL YOU SMILE FOR ME? (STEREK)

3. forget it and just smile

It happened on a Friday, at 5:16 pm. Both of them were in the "Den" as Stiles liked to call it – and Derek would never admit to him how much he liked it – waiting for the rest of the pack to come for their weekly tactical meeting. When the wolf had been surprised to see the Jeep arrive first, its owner had explained to him that there was a late Lacrosse practice at school, causing Scott, Jackson, Isaac and Boyd to be held back there, with their girlfriends cheering for them.

"Then why aren't you still there?, Derek asked confused. Last time he heard, Stiles was part of the team. First Line even."

"Oh, I wasn't supposed to go there in the first place , cos' you see, I'm always tutoring English or History on Fridays until 7."

"Again, why aren't you there?"

"Yeah, well, the guy wasn't available tonight. Said his Grandma just got her cataract taken care of or something like that, so he was visiting her. And I mean her cataract! It's not like she was gonna die before the week-end, couldn't he wait? And I had this lesson all figured out with a little song to remember the important dates of the Cold War – which I have to say is a pretty boring subject, know what I mean? Should be called the Nothing-Is-Happening-Please-Move-On-Ladies-And-Gentlemen War. So yeah, fixing that song was pretty nice of me wouldn't you say? No of course you wouldn't. But to think I..."

By this point, Derek had just tuned him out. Don't get it wrong, Derek always found what Stiles had to say oddly interesting... he just never showed it.

But this time, as it had been happening more and more lately, the man caught himself just staring at the moving lips, wondering how soft they truly were, or how good they tasted...probably really good.

He was pulled out from his daze at the mention of her name.

"...with Lydia, cos' you see, today Harris decided it was a good idea to pair us up with random partners. And you know how I am, working with her, feeling ever so slightly connected, it got me hoping all over again that I could be worthy enough of her, and forgetting she was too good for me so..."

That was it! There was so much a man's heart could take. Stiles was starting another rant on how perfect Lydia Martin was, and that was one too many. This time Derek had to stop it.

"She's never been good enough for you! She doesn't deserve your love !," he growled at the rambling teen, interrupting him.

"Hey ! Lydia's a great gal, really smart. Did you know she got a scholarship for the MIT when she was still a Sophomore, provided that she could maintain her grades as good as they were at the time, which she does with no problem at all despite how Jackson's always distracting her – speaking of him, it looks like the short time he spent in London did him....."

He could only shut his mouth when he felt velvet lips on his. The touch was short and light, almost delusive. In fact Stiles wasn't even sure there really had been a contact at all.

real good..... "What the hell just happened?"

Derek remained silent, his face displaying for the first time, in Stiles' memory at least, many emotions. Surprise, confusion, remorse and ... anger ? How could Derek be angry ? He wasn't the one who maybe got his first kiss stolen – yes the first, get over it – key word here being 'maybe.' He wasn't even sure he'd been kissed !

"Wh- What did you just do?,"Stiles stumbled.

After a few seconds, Derek finally answered... more or less.

"I just... I couldn't take it anymore."

"Take what? Me being a lip-virgin? Did you decide you had to do something about that?"

Surprise definitely was the winner on the werewolf's face at that moment. And Stiles thought he saw something like satisfaction in his look, but it vanished too quickly to be sure.

Derek shook his head to pull himself together and explained.

"No! You endlessly talking about her as if she was the world's eighth wonder, when you're worth a thousand times more than her! "

Stiles could feel his cheeks warm and his heart beat faster as the signification of the kiss seemed to dawn on him after that confession. He couldn't figure what to say – it did happen to him sometimes –  and didn't find anything better than:

"You know, I think that is the longest sentence I've heard you say in... God knows how long!"

Derek couldn't hold a frown and a small growl at that comment.

"Ah! There is my Big Bad Wolf!"

"Will you please be serious for a minute and listen to me?!"

"I'm all ears!"

The black-haired man took a deep breath to gather his courage and just went for it.

"I'm fed up with hearing you constantly talking about her when she won't even admit you exist. You deserve so much better! Someone who knows what you're worth, and who loves you for everything you are..."

"Someone like you?" Stiles interrupted with growing hope.

After a moment Derek answered.

"I don't see why I should still hide it. Yes I wish I were that person... And that's all you're gonna get from me!"

He then added under one last breath:

"I know you can only see Lydia, but please promise me you won't keep on waiting for her in vain."

Only heavy, tensed silence greeted those words. Having said everything he had to say, Derek figured it was the right moment for him to leave. He turned around and took a few steps before he was stopped by a whisper.

"I never waited for her."

The man froze, thinking he didn't hear clearly.

Stiles spoke up with a bit more confidence.

"I mean, it's true that in the first three or four years I really believed I had a crush on her. But by the end of middle school, I had understood that what I felt for her was only brotherly love. And when I understood that..."

He hesitated but carried on

"That I would never feel anything more than that for a girl..."

Derek felt his heart skip a beat.

"I figured I would just keep pretending, have a cover-up to avoid all kinds of troubles. And Lydia was perfect for that, there was absolutely no chance she ever got interested in me so no risk that I would hurt her... Ha! When I tell you she's smart! I think she got it all since the beginning!"

He finally went quiet and raised his eyes to look at the other man's back. He heard him grumble:

"I don't get it." (Or something like that.)

            Stiles replied:

"You on the other hand aren't the cleverest of all!"

He put a soft hand on Derek's shoulder to turn him around. When they were facing together, he raised his heels a bit to cover the two inches separating their mouths. He let his lips linger on the other's, and almost let a moan slip when he felt him push back in reply, as his palm brushed against his cheek.

He forced himself to break the contact, glad to feel his Sourwolf unwilling to let him go. But hey, at some point you had to breathe right ?! And it was time to clarify the situation.

He let his hazel eyes drown in the light green/blue/red-ish orbs of the one in front of him.

"I'm saying I love you too, idiot! So just smile!"

And Derek could only obey as he saw the large grin, which he knew he caused, spreading on the teen's face.

And this one, he knew, was only meant for him