flirting with danger | sterek

six.

"soo." stiles kicked his feet back and forth as he sat on the bed, "you owe me a hundred bucks," he finished. he watched as derek finished packing all of his belongings into his suitcase.

the others had returned after only two hours of being gone. apparently, allison and lydia had forgotten to pack the most essential bag; camping supplies. they left all of the tents and the power supplies at the house, and when they tried to call derek and stiles to ask them to bring it with them if they weren't too far, neither of them had answered. for some reason, that hadn't settled well with scott and he assumed something bad had happened, so they returned. when they found out it was simply because dim-witted jackson had jammed the doorknob and they were stuck in the bathroom, that also didn't settle well, with derek of course. jackson and scott got their fair share of dirty glares.

they left again, being sure to collect everything they needed this time, making sure derek and stiles had their phones so they could contact each other. derek packed a few things for himself that he had almost forgotten. they had to take derek's camaro together because they couldn't fit in scott's car.

stiles had finished packing, like he was supposed to do in the first place before he and derek were trapped. he also finished using the bathroom, which derek had made him promise not to do.

it was more of nervous bowel movements, because derek wasn't as soft and endearing as he was earlier. maybe stiles had gotten everything out of him that he could've, and now derek was back to his normal, brute self. he wouldn't talk to him anymore, not like how they did.

he was still dying to know the answer to his question. did derek want to kiss him? or was it only a favor?

"here," derek's face was solemn as he handed stiles the bill. at first, he took it. he held it gingerly between his fingers, watching quietly as derek got the last of his things together.

derek turned away from him and almost refused to look back. he had his own struggles. he had gone too far with stiles. he let him have a glimpse at what he tried to hard to never let people see. stiles had gotten so close, so fast. there was also something so scary about letting someone see how vulnerable he really was, underneath how scary he looked. now stiles knew there was a way underneath it, and he wouldn't let it continue. maybe if he just showed stiles that what had happened would only ever happen once. he didn't want stiles to make him vulnerable. if you're vulnerable, you die.

"derek.." he had barely head stiles' call amidst his own thoughts.

he turned to him, instinctively, and cursed himself for turning to his beck and call.

"you can have your money back," stiles' voice shook as he held the money out to derek. his hands quivered.

"a bet's a bet, stiles," he answered. his body turned to face him too.

"but i don't want your money," stiles pleaded. he stood up, his arm still outstretched to derek.

"then why make a bet?" derek crossed his broad arms over his chest, breathing through his nose. he wanted desperately to reach out and take his money back to stop stiles from worrying, for stiles to know that he wasn't angry. if he moved, he'd let his hand comfort stiles without thinking. when he comforts him. hes vulnerable.

"just.. i dunno, so if i was right maybe you'd relax a little because it would've been funny," stiles shrugged. his elbow was still strong as he reached out.

"dude, just take the money," derek said. he might as well ease up the situation. he didn't hate stiles, he wouldn't even pretend to. but he'd let the boy keep his money if that meant stiles would know he didn't hate him.