flirting with danger | sterek

seven.

stiles assumed that the moment they shared would've brought them closer, maybe derek would be nicer to him. maybe he'd develop some kind of emotion, let himself breathe a little bit. but that didn't happen. derek barely spoke as he drove, only muttering small words in response to stiles.

they both found it easier to pretend it didn't happen, that they were still just getting to know each other. they didn't speak of it. stiles simply made snarky remarks, like normal. he played with the radio, and derek slapped his hands away. he sang along to the songs, not long enough before derek switched the station. he told endless stories to derek, who would only make snide comments and hum to let him know he was listening, but he wouldn't spark more of a conversation.

finally, they had arrived in arizona city, after a long thirteen hours and more than a couple breaks; stiles' ideas. he had to pee a lot more than derek.

they parked the camaro next to scott's car and pulled his trunk open, grabbing their own tent. much to derek's demise, they had to tent together since they were the last two there. danny, liam and isaac were together, jackson and lydia, allison and scott, erica and boyd. that only left derek and stiles. derek would've rather been with erica, or scott, or even lydia. stiles was his last choice. but they got there last, so there was no point in trying to switch.

"okay, they're out getting diner so we have to set this up and they'll bring us back some food," derek instructed, handing stiles one of the bags that went to the tent.

they left all of their bags in the car while they followed the trail with the tent bags, derek traveling much faster than stiles due to actually being in shape.

when they finally reached the flattened area in the trees, the other four tents already prepared. they had brought their fire pit with them, which was situated in the middle of the circle of tents. they were spaced out generously, maybe so that they could talk without bothering the others.

derek spaced himself out with what he thought was evenly away from the other tents, setting the bags he carried down in front of him. his hands rested on his hips as he watched stiles trudge toward him, bags falling at his hips as he struggled to hold on to them. his chest was heaving, and he was obviously struggling to keep up.

when stiles finally reached him and he threw the bags down, he placed his hands on his knees and tried to catch his breath. "you.. are an asshole," he breathed out, looking at derek through his eyebrows. derek scoffed.

"we got tents to set up, stiles," he said. he leant down to unzip the bag with the instructions, reading over them carefully. it didnt seem too difficult. you twist the screws into the ground, connect the poles to the screws to a common point, attach the tent to the poles, and then it was done. they had brought fold-out mattresses with them for comfort, because sleeping on the hard ground, or even a cot didn't speak comfortably.

stiles sighed, but he awaited derek's instructions anyway. derek handed him the screws that he was supposed to twist into the ground, and he put the first one in. derek used that to estimate where the rest would go, so he got them all in.

it took them about an hour to set up the tent completely, not without bickering and having to redo a lot of things. after the tent was set up, they returned to where their cars were parked. derek grabbed the fold out mattress while stiles grabbed their bags, as many as he could hold. he felt like he was barely helping, because derek could carry an entire mattress in one hand and the rest of the bags in the other, while stiles could barely hold on to what he was holding, and he already bit off more than he could chew. he tried his best to keep up with derek, even if his legs were burning and his arms were screaming for him to stop. he continued anyway.