Just Friends

Hope For The Hopeless

Stiles' POV
I drag Derek into my house. A muscular, tanned boy is sitting at my kitchen table.
"Miguel!" I bro-hug him, "Man, you grew!" He really has. He is past Derek's height, where I used to tower over him when we were young.
"Hey, Stiles, how are you doing?" he replies in a deep, resonating, bass voice.
"I'm doing well, how about you?" I ask. Miguel shrugs noncommittally.
Out of the corner of my eye, Derek fidgets with his leather jacket.
"Oh, sorry, man! Miguel, this is my buddy, Derek. He wanted to meet you, after all the stories I've told." I introduce them, and they shake hands.
The stark contrast between the real Miguel and his imposter is almost laughable. Miguel hulks over Derek and somehow dwarfs the werewolf. Miguel also makes Derek seem lanky in comparison.
Still, Derek is way better looking. Sparkling green eyes, perfect nose, and short, dark stubble surrounding luscious lips...
I shouldn't be thinking this. We are FRIENDS. Nothing more.
I clear my throat in discomfort, and wave goodbye to Derek. "Derek, if you want to go back to planning with Scott..." I trail off.
Derek nods, and meets my eyes for a second. "See you later, Stiles."
My heart pounds as he says my name. "Bye, Derek."
Miguel watches Derek leave, and then looks at me strangely. As I hear the Camaro take off down the street, Miguel speaks.
"Is he your boyfriend?" Miguel sounds completely serious, and unjudging. I start to protest, but Miguel interrupts, "Because I got invited by some rich couple to a party at their estate, and I'm allowed to bring two people. I'll let you bring him if he is. Otherwise, I'll bring your dad."
Miguel holds up an invitation. The address is the exact same property that Derek needs to get into.
I think for a moment, and then say decidedly, "Yes, he is my boyfriend."
Miguel hands me the invitation. "Then you should come. And bring him. You two will probably be the only ones at the party that I know."
"Why did you get invited?" I inquire. Miguel shrugs. "I am the New Mexico Kickboxing Champion. They say you can bring two people, probably so that parents can come, but my parents couldn't afford plane tickets for the three of us."
I nod. "That's cool. And what's even cooler is that I get to miss school for this party!" I study the invitation.
Miguel glances towards the bathroom. "If you don't mind..."
I look up. "Sure, man, go ahead."
As soon as Miguel is out of earshot, I call Derek. He picks up on the second ring.
"What's up?" Derek asks. "Um..." I'm not sure how to word this.
"What did you do this time?" he asks with dread.
"Do you want the good news or the bad news first?" I ask, expecting him to pick bad news, but hoping he'll pick good news.
"Give me the good news." Derek decides, surprising and relieving me.
"Well, Miguel got both of us a pass onto the estate that you wanted to check out."
"What's the bad news?" Derek asked, and instead of thinking out my words I let them all rush out in a jumble.
"Wehavetogoasacouple."
"What? I didn't catch that." Derek said. I take a deep breath and say, "Miguel thinks we're a couple because I'm stupid. So, we have to act like we're dating."
"Well, first off, I don't think you're stupid, for what it's worth. Second, I'll play along. It gets us in, right?"
Derek's answer stings and I don't know why. I have no right to expect anything more from him. In fact, he's taking this really well. He could have bitten my head off about it already, and he hasn't.
Miguel comes out of the bathroom, and I, panicking and not thinking, say, "Okay, I've got to go. Love you, baby." And then I hang up.
Miguel smirks. "Who was that?" I blush a little.
"Oh, I was just letting Derek know and making sure he's available." It's a white lie.
"Great. Now, let's have dinner."