Flirt Responsibly

Are you dating...

Derek trudged up the stairs to his room. Today had not gone according to plan at all. He'd officially embarrassed himself in front of Stiles, more than once. But spilling ice water on him had been the worst. He'd practically spent the entire drive to Stiles' house apologizing. Stiles had insisted it wasn't a big deal, but to Derek it absolutely was.

The only good thing to come out of all this was Stiles' denial of being interested in Cora. That had been a relief. However, spending time with Stiles had only solidified his feelings. It had just started as a crush on the Stilinski siblings with an emphasis on Stiles, but he was officially gone on the youngest Stilinski.

"Hey, you're home late," Cora spoke with a smirk.

"Ugh he told you?" Derek groaned. He hadn't quite made it to the safety of his room.

"You poured an entire glass of ice water on him, of course he told me," Cora snorted following her brother into his room.

"It was mortifying," Derek threw his bag onto his bed before flopping into his desk chair.

"Don't worry I told him you were just nervous cause you thought he was cute."

Derek's head whipped towards his sister so fast he almost gave himself whiplash. "You what?"

Cora's eyes rose in surprise. "I was kidding. Do you think he's cute?"

"I just thought you two were..." Derek gave a wave of his hand. He waited for his sister's reaction.

"Me and Stiles?" Cora scoffed at the idea. "Dude, he's like a brother to me."

Derek nodded, relief flooding over him. Good that meant his only competition for Stiles' affection was Danny. Somehow that didn't make Derek feel any better.

"You've never hung out with Stiles before, why all of a sudden?" Cora asked, eyeing her brother curiously.

"Isaac invited him to grab dinner with us. Not my idea," Derek huffed, he spun around in his chair, so he was facing away from Cora now.

"So Isaac is the one interested in Stiles is what you're telling me."

"What? No, they're teammates," Derek frowned over his shoulder.

"Uh huh," Cora gave a snort before disappearing down the hall, leaving Derek alone with his thoughts.

Isaac definitely wasn't the one interested in Stiles, but Derek didn't want her to know it was him, so he stayed quiet.

-

Stiles fully expected to be barraged upon walking into the house, what he didn't expect was his dad to join in.

"What did you do?" Noah sighed, looking at his son. He crossed his arms waiting for the inevitable long story.

"I didn't do it. Derek spilled my drink on me," Stiles said defensively.

"Derek Hale?" Noah frowned; disbelief evident on his face. "Are you dating Derek Hale?"

"What? No," Stiles squeaked, his hand waving dismissively.

"He wants to," Paige grinned, walking into the kitchen then.

"Isaac is the one who invited me," Stiles rolled his eyes.

"Are you dating Isaac?" Noah asked.

"No," Stiles groaned.

"You're interested in Cora, right? You two have been spending an awful lot of time together," Jennifer piped in, walking up behind Paige.

"Are you dating Cora?"

"Dad, I'm not dating anyone. And no I'm not interested in Cora. We happen to have all the same classes this year, that's all," Stiles rolled his eyes.

"I can't keep up with you. You bounce around so much I never know with you," Noah threw his hands up as if to say he gave up.

"Oh come on, it's been Danny for the past year," Paige laughed tossing her brother a wink.

"Tell me Paige, how's Heather?" Stiles sneered.

"Shut up," She glared before walking off.

Stiles followed after her, peeling off his wet t-shirt. "Hey, Piage, think fast."

Just as she turned, Stiles threw his wet shirt, landing it directly on her head.

"You're an ass," Paige huffed, yanking the shirt off and throwing it back at her brother.

Stiles laughed as he disappeared into his room.

Just as he reached his bathroom, to peel his pants off, his phone dinged.

"Sorry again about the water."

Stiles frowned at the unknown number.

"Derek I'm guessing?" Stiles typed back.

"Yeah, sorry, got your number from Cora."

"It's okay, really. Thanks for footing the bill," Stiles couldn't help the smile that tugged at his lips. He had Derek's number now. Not that that meant anything, Derek was obviously into one of his sisters still. But he would take what he could get. Maybe he and Derek would become friends. That would be enough right?

Stiles thought about how easy dinner had been. It obviously helped that Isaac was there as a buffer to keep things from being weird. Stiles and Isaac got along pretty well though they weren't exactly friends. They'd never hung out outside of Lacrosse, until today. He had learned a lot about Derek in the short amount of time. He was definitely the shy type and preferred to lay under the radar. He was closer with Laura and his mom and he was a huge fan of reading. Stiles had enjoyed just listening to Derek talk about New York. It was Lydia Martin all over again. Years ago, he would listen to her babble about nothing and be completely satisfied. That was before she started dating Jackson of course. He imagined Danny would have been an equal replacement for her if he hadn't been Jackson's best friend. Danny was booksmart and quiet, with just enough sarcasm. It seemed like Stiles might have a type. Derek was known to be a bit sarcastic at times and he was definitely booksmart. Lydia had been the same way. Stiles was doomed. He needed to nip this crush in the bud before it hurt him. All his feelings ever did was hurt him. He wasn't the type people dated, that was Paige and Jen. Though Jen was in a steady relationship with her girlfriend Kali and Paige didn't date, she pined in secret, claiming she didn't have time to date anyone. Stiles wondered how long before she would make an exception with Heather. He was just glad that even if Derek did have a thing for either of his sisters, neither would date him. He almost felt bad for being happy about that. Almost.