Chapter Text
Stiles sits up front with Derek.
“Are we there yet?” He whines.
“No,” Derek growls for the millionth time. He tries to focus on the road.
“How much longer is it going to be?” Scott asks from the backseat. He sits in between Allison and Isaac.
“I don’t know,” Derek sighs. “Like another two hours?”
“Have you ever been to this place before?” Isaac asks.
“Yeah,” Derek replies. “Cora and I used to come up here all the time with our family.”
The wolf glances in his rear view mirror to check on Cora. She’s following behind them in a separate car. Lydia sits up front with Cora. Danny, Ethan, and Aiden sit in the back.
Derek looks back at the road again.
“How about some tunes?” Stiles says. He flips on a random radio station and blasts the music as loud as it can possibly go. Scott and he start dancing around in their seats obnoxiously together to I’m Sexy and I Know It by LMFAO.
Derek mutters something about the song being stupid and immediately turns the volume down.
“I’d rather listen to your iPod,” Derek glances over at Stiles. “Instead of this stupid shit”
“Aw, does Der-bear like my taste in music?” Stiles teases.
“Don’t call me that.” Derek warns.
Stiles sets up his iPod and shuffles one of his playlists. White Blank Page by Mumford and Sons plays, then Wake Me Up When September Ends by Green Day, Sea of Love covered by Cat Power, Never Let Me Go by Florence and The Machine, and then Skinny Love by Bon Iver.
Derek hears Stiles singing along quietly to himself as he drives. His soothing voice always puts his wolf and human at ease. He keeps the two grounded whenever he talks or sings. Derek wishes he’d sing louder so he could hear him better.
An old song that sounds nothing like the others starts to play. Everyone in the car recognizes it immediately. Total Eclipse of The Heart by Bonnie Tyler.
Derek’s wish comes true.
"Turn around" Stiles sings along, dramatically. He puts his hand over Derek’s heart. Scott is the only one dying of laughter in the backseat. "Every now and then I get a little bit lonely and you’re never coming ‘round"
“Knock it off, Stiles,” Derek says. He pries his hand off and gently pushes him away. “I’m driving.”
Stiles doesn't listen to him. He keeps on singing, never missing a word.
“EVERY NOW AND THEN I FALL APART” He belts out. Stiles seizes hold of his shirt. “AND I NEED YOU NOW TONIGHT, AND I NEED YOU MORE THAN EVER, AND IF YOU’LL ONLY HOLD ME TIGHT, WE’LL BE HOLDING ON FOREVER.”
“Stop” Derek pleads. He groans in frustration when Stiles doesn’t take his hands off of him.
“AND WE’LL ONLY BE MAKING IT RIGHT, ‘CAUSE WE’LL NEVER BE WRONG” Stiles tightens his grip and practically crawls into his lap.
Derek sighs deeply, annoyed. Slowly but surely, the song comes to an end.
“There’s nothing I can say, a total eclipse of the heart” Stiles tones his voice down to match the singer. “A total eclipse of the heart” He releases Derek from his grasp and slowly fades away, back into his seat. “A total eclipse of the heart”
Derek thanks God the song is finally over, but at least he got to hear Stiles sing louder than earlier.
“I thought we were staying at a hotel” Allison says.
“Nope,” He tells her. He puts the car into park. None of his remaining family have been back to their cottage since the Hale fire.
Cora pulls up in the driveway and parks her car behind Derek’s. The pack gets out of their vehicles to reunite.
Stiles shuffles his feet in the snow with a funny look on his face.
“What?” Derek asks.
“It’s just…I’ve never seen snow before.” Stiles tells him. It never snows in Beacon Hills.
“You haven’t?” Scott says, surprised.
“I’ve never been skiing before either.” Stiles states.
Danny and Ethan stand in front of the house, holding hands. Lydia and Aiden mimic them as they view the cottage together.
“Start unloading stuff from the trunk-” Derek heads over to the back of the vehicle, only to get hit in the back of the head by a snowball. The freezing snow slides down the back of his neck and into the collar of his black winter jacket.
Derek glances in the direction the snowball was thrown. Stiles and Scott point at each other, blaming the other. Derek knows who did it. He glares at them and gives his you’re-really-going-to-get-it-now face.
“Oh shit.” Stiles mutters. The human breaks out into a run as the werewolf starts charging. The pack watches him chase him into the woods.
“Derek! I’m sorry.” Stiles shouts. He looks over his shoulder to see the wolf catching up to him. “I shouldn’t have done that – that was bad! Holy shit! Please don’t kill me!”
The human struggles to pick up his feet as he races down the snow-covered mountainside. Derek isn’t stopping to forgive him. He reaches out to grab hold of his red winter coat. Stiles shrugs his hand off his shoulder but he fails to pick up a faster pace. Derek dives forward and tackles Stiles down into the snow without thinking. Derek grunts and Stiles screams as their bodies roll and tumble all the way down the steep hill together.
Forever goes by the time they stop. Derek somehow ends up on top of Stiles. The werewolf looks down to find the human’s nose and cheeks turning pink from the cold. They stare at each other for a long moment. Stiles takes a fistful of snow and clouts him on head. He bursts out in laughter. Derek then shoves some snow down the front of his jacket.
“Ahhhhhhhhhh!” Stiles cries. The icy substance makes direct contact with his skin as it slithers down into his sweater. He shoves Derek off of him and stands up off the ground. “Ah! Cold! Cold! Cold! Cold!” He unzips his winter jacket and pushes the freezing snow out of his sweater. “You bitch!”
Stiles has never seen the bastard laugh so hard.