flirting with danger | sterek

three.

derek and stiles ended up sitting in the back next to each other in scott's mom's van. scott was driving, jackson called shotgun, lydia, allison, and isaac day in the middle row. that left derek in the back. he could've just taken one of the middle seats when they got up to let him crawl over the seats, but in all honesty he would've gotten stuck between lydia and allison and he didn't want that. he decided next to stiles was his best choice. he had underestimated how much torture it was to be stuck next to him.

"so, you gonna tell me how you know my last name?" stiles asked derek. their knees touched due to the close proximity. he leaned closer to him. the farther he leaned, the more derek pressed himself against the side window.

"no," he muttered. his hand twirled in his own hair as he rested his forehead against the ball of his palm. he stared ahead.

"why not?" stiles asked him. he continued to search dereks face for a reaction, an alter in expression, a change in general. there wasn't.

"none of your business, stilinski," derek answered. he could barely hear himself over the chatter of the other 5 teenagers and the radio. he felt like a parent chaperone, being the oldest out of the group.

"it is, though!" stiles eyes got wide with expression, his voice high. "you should really tell me, big guy," stiles pushed on. he wrapped his hands around dereks bicep.

derek finally turned to him, finally had a change of expression. it wasn't the one stiles had hoped for. derek was angry, annoyed.

"drop it, stilinski," he breathed through his nose. his voice raised. he expressed true anger. suddenly, the car went quiet. the radio still played in the background like a sense of physical irony.

"you should drop it, stiles," isaac commented quietly from in front of them.

"got it," stiles mumbled. he pushed himself away from derek and went quiet.

he didn't expect derek to snap like that. sure, he had a tendency to press things too far, especially with someone who obviously never experienced a challenge in his life. but still, he didn't expect him to express serious anger. nobody had really done that with him.

everyone else but derek knew him well. they knew of his tendency to bug people and balance on their last nerve, seemingly never crossing the line. but they also knew derek had no patience, and was the scariest person when it came down to it. they decided they should tolerate dereks patience- or lack there of- and shut stiles up instead of informing derek that stiles was just like that- infuriating but lovable.

stiles remained quiet for a while, adrift in his own thoughts as scott continued to drive. derek didn't talk either. the others continued their conversations.

stiles hadn't even realized he was quiet for most of the ride, because when scott put the car in park, he turned the radio off and spoke above the other quiet conversations.

"you okay back there, stiles?" he looked at him through the rear view mirror. stiles head perked up at the mention of his name after his sulking and pouting.

"huh?" everyone in the car but derek had turned to look at him.

"i asked if you were okay. you been quiet," scott commented. everyone nodded in agreement.

stiles glanced at derek with a frown and shrugged at his friends.

"well, we're here, so.. everybody out!" scott turned the car off and waited for everyone to get out. derek was last.

scott locked the car and followed everyone to his house, walking alongside stiles as he trailed behind.

"you okay, buddy?" he asked his friend. stiles nodded. "yeah, maybe if he wasn't so grouchy it'd be fine," stiles mumbled. at the same time, derek glanced back at him.

maybe he heard.

"that's just derek. you can't always be so scared or hurt when he gets all mad. he's like that with everyone. you're no different. don't take it personal," scott said. he put a comforting hand on stiles shoulder. he shrugged again.

they arrived in the house last to find everyone already seated comfortably in his living room. derek was alone at the kitchen counter, as if he was watching over his kids as they sat in the living room.

stiles paused as scott continued, sitting between isaac and jackson. he looked over at derek, who was looking through the magazines scott's mom had.

he slowly walked over to him and took the seat next to him.

"soo.." derek didn't stop looking through the magazines, "how's babysitting going?" he asked sweetly.

"glad you understand what it's like for me," derek mumbled. stiles laughed a little. he was mostly glad he didn't get a reaction that was "shut up."

"they're not all that bad, but i guess i wouldn't know since i'm one of those 'obnoxious kids.' i guess you'd probably call me that, huh?" stiles looked over at his friends, who were laughing amongst themselves. he felt like a proud parent.

"i would, definitely," derek replied. he finally looked up at stiles, scoffing.

"i dint think you hate me," stiles admitted, one hundred percent confident. derek maintained eye contact.

"what makes you say that?" he asked. stiles sighed.

"cause scott told me you act like this with everyone and not to take it personally. so if you love isaac, lydia, allison, jackson and scott, you're bitter, right? cause you are all the time?" derek winced at the word bitter.

"i'm not bitter-"

"ah-ah, answer the question!" stiles interrupted him.

"yes."

"so if you hated me you'd treat me differently. maybe you'd be worse, or you'd have patience with me, i dunno. but you don't hate me," he reasoned.

derek bit his lip. he wasn't going to outright say "you're right, i don't hate you." so he didn't say anything.

"your silence indicates that im correct," stiles smiled at him. derek held eye contact with him for a few seconds, but he said nothing. but somehow stiles knew he had his answer, just from that. he was satisfied.