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"No."
"Please?"
"No."
"Come on, please?"
"No." Derek glared down at Stiles, who stood in his doorway. He wasn't even sure how the teen knew he was back at his old house again. He nearly slammed the door in his face, but Stiles was blocking it with his foot and he didn't want to break the kid's ankle.
"Derek, don't be an ass. You know we need this!" Stiles persisted, not at all dissuaded.
"No we don't," Derek growled. He was not going to have some lanky little teenager tell him how to run his pack.
"None of us trust each other!" Stiles exclaimed, "Being a part of a pack is supposed to be like being in a family but no one trusts anyone! There are constant schemes happening behind everyone's back, and if we keep fighting like this, we're going to get picked off one by one."
Derek scowled, trying to poke holes in Stiles logic. "Is there even a space big enough to hold us?"
"Scott has a finished attic," Stiles countered.
"No one will agree to this," Derek argued.
"Leave that to me. I have my ways," Stiles retorted, a smirk on his face.
"What about Peter?" Derek asked, a smug smile stretching over his mouth, knowing he'd gotten him. Sure enough, Stiles faltered for a moment. The smile fell off his face and he furrowed his eyebrows.
"Well, I mean... I guess he should come too..." Stiles said hesitantly, not wanting to give in. Derek's eyebrows nearly jumped off of his face in surprise. He's expected Stiles to drop it when he brought up Peter. Out of reasons to say no, Derek finally nodded tightly in assent, a scowl marring his face. Stiles pumped the air in victory.
"Don't worry! You won't regret this, I promise." Stiles immediately left before Derek changed his mind. Derek let out a big sigh, hoping Stiles was right.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"No."
"Oh, come on I didn't even ask yet!"
"No."
"You gonna let me ask the question Scott?"
"No."
"Yeah well I'm asking anyway."
Scott turned around in the hallway and gave Stiles a withering look.
"What?"
"I need your attic for a pack gathering type thing," Stiles blurted out, figuring it was better to get it all out at once.
"I'm not in anyone's pack," Scott bit out.
"Yeah? How's being an omega gonna work out when the hunters come for your ass, huh?" Stiles snorted, "You need Derek and he needs you and everyone needs to get over their shit and we need to start working together." Scott looked at him dubiously.
"I'm not working with him," he declared without hesitation.
"What about Allison?" Stiles countered, pulling his trump card.
"What about her?" Scott asked, his stance becoming more threatening, "She hates Derek."
"You want to be able to protect her don't you?" Stiles inquired airily, "Being in a pack would make you even stronger than you are now." Scott mulled it over in his head for a moment, obviously weighing the pros and cons. Sighing, he gave Stiles an apprehensive look.
"You better be right about this," he threatened.
"Don't worry, man," Stiles said, slapping Scott on the shoulder.
"And I'm not buying anything," Scott added.
"I got everything covered," Stiles called as Scott began walking back down the hall, "Thanks man!" Operation Fix The Pack was officially a go.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Stiles breathed in deep and pasted a smile on his face. Thanks to some miracle from God, he'd managed to convince everyone to come. Every available surface in the room was covered with some sort of bowl of food or bottles of drinks. He wasn't sure what people would want, so he just bought some of everything. All the furniture was arranged in a circle around the coffee table where Stiles had hooked up his laptop that was all set up with a list of everyone's names and a random generator. Everyone trickled in and chose a seat. Scott and Allison had come first, claiming the farthest side of the large couch. Lydia had shown up with Jackson in tow and placed herself next to Allison with Jackson on her other side, taking up all the remaining space on the couch. Isaac came in by himself and immediately went to sit in the armchair beside Scott. Erica and Boyd showed up together, deciding to sit in the beanbag chairs next to Isaac. This left Derek to sit next to Boyd in the last armchair and Peter next to Stiles on the love seat. Once everyone was comfortable, Stiles looked around and tried to calm his racing heart. This could go downhill very quickly. Stiles stood up and rubbed his hands together.
"Okay guys! Now I know you're all here against your will and hating just about every other person in the room, but we're gonna get over that tonight," Stiles said in what was hopefully a not terrified voice. He looked around at the completely unresponsive faces and trucked on. "Okay, so first things first," Stiles said leaning over the arm of the couch and picking up the empty cardboard box he'd put there earlier, "All phones and any other recording devices in the box. Anything that happens here tonight stays here." Stiles took out his phone and iPod and dropped them in the box. Now Stiles got responses. A resounding chorus of protest went up around the room and Stiles was a little lost for a moment. Suddenly, Derek stood up and the room went quiet. He walked silently over to Stiles and dropped his phone in the box. He went back to sit down without a word, acting as if nothing happened. The room was completely still for a moment but then Boyd stood up, Erica close behind. They dropped their phones in the box. Lydia rolled her eyes and plucked Jackson's phone from his pocket before she stood up and deposited both of theirs in the box. Stiles sent Scott a pleading look and he stood up with a sigh, Isaac on his heels. Two more phones went into the box. Scott sat back down, nudging Allison slightly who looked a little uneasy. She stood up slowly and put her phone in the box and began walking back to the couch. Halfway there, she stopped and turned around again. Standing back in front of Stiles, she reached into her shirt and pulled out a wire. She offered Stiles a small smile before she crushed the bug between her fingers and dropped it in the box. From behind, Stiles felt someone get very close to him. He saw Peter's hand snake around him and drop his phone in the box.
"One small step for man, one giant leap for werewolf-kind," Stiles said with a grin, plopping down on the couch again and putting the box down on the floor.
"Now the rules of tonight are simple. Nothing leaves this room. We're here because no one likes each other and no one trusts each other and that needs to change. So we're going to play truth or dare. Nothing is barred. We need to get it all out there. Now, if you don't want to answer a truth, then the person can give you a dare but you can't back out of it. Same goes for any dare you don't want, but you have to answer the truth. No lying! You can all tell anyway so it's pointless. I have a randomizer set up on the computer to pick who goes first." Stiles said all this in a rush, the room completely quiet around him. Breathing deep, Stiles hit the button on the computer and after a few seconds, his own name popped up. "Okay, that means I'm the first person asking. Let's see who I get to ask," Stiles said nervously, trying not to show just how tense he was. He smacked the button again and this time, it was Erica who was chosen.
"Erica!" Stiles said with a smile, "Truth or dare?" Erica stared at him for a moment before narrowing her eyes and stretching a smirk across her red-painted lips.
"Dare," she said, making it sound like a challenge. Stiles thought for a moment, his eyes traveling around the room. He wanted to keep everything light and fun to avoid bloodshed. Finally, he got an idea when his eyes landed on the large bowl of marshmallows.
"I dare you," he said as he stood and retrieved the bowl, "to lick three of these marshmallows, stick them to your face and then keep them there until they fall off." Erica looked at him as if he had just grown a second head.
"There's no way I'm doing that," she scoffed.
"Well either do this dare or I can ask you a truth," Stiles shrugged, leaving the marshmallows by her and going to sit down again. She looked between him and the marshmallows a few times before finally deciding that the truth was worse. She plucked the marshmallows from the bowl and lightly licked each one, sticking one on each cheek and the last on her forehead. Everyone stared at her for a moment. The corner of Boyd's mouth lifted up and Isaac hid a smile behind his hand. Before anything could go wrong, Stiles slammed his hand on the button.
"Allison," he announced, his heart skyrocketing. Erica and Allison were definitely not on good terms. Allison stared her down.
"Dare," she nearly growled before Erica even asked. Erica looked around the room, much like Stiles did, before a smile that could put the Cheshire Cat to shame spread across her lips.
"I dare you to do a body shot off of Stiles," she said, still managing to look smug with marshmallows on her face. Stiles almost got on his knees and praised the lord. That could have ended up so much worse.
"Whoa wait," Stiles said, "Do I get a say in this?"
"No," both girls said in unison. Erica deposited the bottle of Sprite, a pixie stick, and a lime on the empty coffee table before sitting back down.
"Come on Stiles," Allison said standing up and clapping her hands, "Shirt off and lay on the table." Jackson burst in laughter.
"What I wouldn't give for my phone right now," he said between laughs. Stiles looked around and saw similar smiles on everyone's faces except Derek. The corner of his mouth twitched and Stiles counted it as a success.
"Fine but I hope you're ready for all this," he said, before taking his shirt off and going to lie on the coffee table.
"Damn Stiles, so that's what you've been hiding under those layers," Erica called out. The group laughed.
"Yeah don't be jealous!" Stiles said from his spot on the table. He jumped slightly, feeling the cool limejuice go in a line up his stomach before being place in his mouth. He felt the pixie stick dust slide off wherever it didn't stick. He felt gross and sticky and he wiggled uncomfortably.
"Stop moving," Allison said, trying not to laugh as she swatted his thigh. Stiles held as still as he could when he felt the wet tip of her tongue slid up his stomach. He scrunched his eyes closed and suddenly the lime was gone from his lips. Lydia and Isaac cheered while everyone else laughed. Stiles immediately grabbed his shirt and slipped it back on before sitting down.
"Lydia." Stiles announced as the next name.
"Dare," she called out in a bored tone. Allison grinned at Lydia happily, her dimples showing. She didn't even pretend to think about what she wanted her to do.
"I dare you to kiss Stiles!" she sang out, as if she'd been waiting for this opportunity.
"How did I know that was coming?" Lydia sighed, not at all surprised. She stood up and walked over to Stiles with no hesitation. She leaned down and placed a quick kiss on his lips before standing up straight and fixing her skirt.
"Easy," she declared with a shrug before plopping down on Jackson's lap.
"Getting busy tonight, aren't you Stiles?" Scott called, a huge goofy grin on his face. Stiles stuck his tongue out at him. This was going great. Everyone was having fun, old scores forgotten, the tension gone.
"Isaac".
A look of pure evil appeared on Lydia's face. Isaac seemed to shrink back in his seat a little bit.
"Truth!" he decided quickly. Lydia's face fell slightly and she went quiet for a moment, trying to think of a good question.
"Okay," Lydia said as she thought, "From a completely hetero point of view, which guy here do you think is the most attractive?" Isaac turned a little red, but had decided that it wasn't all that bad of a truth after all, compared to what Lydia could dare, so he looked around the room at each of the guys in the circle.
"Scott," he said decisively, "Post haircut." Lydia nodded, accepting this for an answer. Stiles tapped the button and watched the name appear. A low chuckle rose up next to him.
"Peter," Stiles announced. He had been worried about this. The two Hales had remained quiet the entire time, observing, but Stiles knew that their names would come up sooner or later. Isaac went a little pale.
"Truth or dare?" he asked, managing to keep any waver out of his voice but Stiles couldn't hear his heart.
"Truth," Peter answered smoothly, smiling as if he knew something no one else knew. Isaac was quiet for a few minutes, no doubt trying to ignore the heavy questions that kept rising in his mind.
"Would you rather be stuck on a plane for the rest of your life, or a submarine?" Isaac questioned, sounding confident. If Peter was surprised by the childish question, he didn't show it.
"A plane," he said after considering it for a moment, "I detest being underground, even under the water." Stiles let out a breath he didn't even know he was holding. Ignoring the looks people tossed his way and putting on a smile. The smile suddenly became more strained as he announced the next name.
"Derek." Peter looked over at his nephew looking like the cat who ate the canary. Everyone could feel the tension in the room as the two Hales stared each other down.
"Truth or dare?" Peter asked, an evil glint in his eye. Derek looked incredibly conflicted, glaring at his uncle with murderous eyes. Everyone knew that out of everyone in the room, Peter was most likely the most dangerous to Derek. They had a pretty screwed up history, and Peter no doubt knew Derek better than anyone. After what felt like an eternity of tense stares, Derek finally broke.
"Dare," he growled out, still looking unsure of his decision. Peter chuckle again, staring at Derek with an unsettling smirk before shifting his eyes to Stiles, who squirmed under his gaze.
"I dare you to switch shirts with Stiles," Peter said, looking quite satisfied with himself. Either this was going really well or Stiles was missing something very significant. Derek glared angrily at Peter for a moment before standing and tugging his shirt over his head. Stiles stood and did the same, deciding he was definitely missing something. Derek's shirt hit him in the face when he threw it and Stiles tossed Derek his before shrugging it on. It was a little big in the, well everywhere, but it was really warm and it smelled good. When Derek was settled into his seat, Stiles whacked the button again.
"Scott," he said a little dismayed at the way his computer was pairing these names. Scott's gaze hardened as he stared at Derek.
"Dare," he said challengingly before Derek had the chance to ask. Derek's eyes flickered around the room for a moment before he responded.
"I dare you to chug that entire bottle of root beer," Derek said, nodding towards the liter over on the table full of food. Glare faltering, Scott stood up and retrieved the bottle. He uncapped it and raised it to clink against an invisible companion.
"Chug! Chug! Chug! Chug!" Stiles chanted, pumping his fist in the air. Soon most of the room joined him, with the exception of the Hales. Root beer dribbled down Scott's chin as he struggled to down the bottle in one shot, but finally he finished, slamming the bottle down and letting out a monster of burps. The group cheered. The final tension broken at last, the game continued.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The night went on with no incidents. The dares became crazier, the truths became easier to tell and as far as Stiles could tell, everyone was having fun. One thing Stiles had noticed however, was that whenever Peter had Derek or Stiles he would always ask them something involving the other. Rather than turn it into an issue, Stiles just went with it. This one, however, was a little much.
"You want us to cuddle?" Stiles echoed, sure that he'd heard wrong.
"For the next five turns," Peter nodded, "Unless you would rather me ask you a truth." Stiles bit his lip. Both options were incredibly dangerous and could end up with Stiles' guts on the floor one way or another. He sent Derek a look, trying to see how he felt about what was happening, but he couldn't catch the alpha's eye. Derek was glaring pretty steadily at Peter, as he had for each turn previous. There was definitely some kind of psychic Hale communication happening.
"If Derek is okay with it then I guess..." Stiles trailed off with a shrug. He wanted to appear indifferent, but he knew that everyone save for Lydia and Allison could hear his heart racing. Derek's gaze snapped to his for a moment before he nodded. Stiles could feel the tension seep back into the room, and he regretted making a big deal out of the dare. Carefully, he lowered himself onto Derek's lap, unsure of what to do with his arms or legs. He felt a warm palm on his thigh as Derek wrapped an arm around his lower back to steady him.
"That's not cuddling," Peter admonished, standing. He walked over to the two, looking over them for a moment. Gently, he shoved Stiles' head to rest on Derek's shoulder and he yanked Derek's other arm around to meet his first, encasing Stiles in a circle. If Stiles had thought his heart was beating before, it was having a seizure now. The rest of the game continued around them, but Stiles barely noticed. Derek was warm and solid and smelled like leather and the woods. Too soon, five turns had gone past, which Scott reminded them of with a joking shout. Slowly, Derek's arms pulled away, releasing Stiles. He stood belatedly, feeling cold as he walked back over to his seat next to Peter. The game continued for another hour or two, though Peter had lain off considerably. Everyone began getting tired and a little lazy until Allison apologized, saying that she had to go. Of course, that meant Scott left as well to bring her home, quickly followed by Isaac. Lydia and Jackson followed soon after, as did Boyd and Erica. Everyone left with a smile on his or her face, and Stiles counted the night as a complete success. Soon it was just Stiles and the Hales. He figured they would leave any minute.
"Well, best get to cleaning," Stiles said as he stood, walking around to collect the empty cups and bottles. He heard thunking on the steps behind him and figured that Peter and Derek had left. He had a pretty considerable bundle of garbage in his hands when he turned around, only to see Derek standing there staring at him. Stiles jumped, dropping about half the pile as his heart raced.
"Jesus man, way to give a guy a heart attack," Stiles joked, his breathing returning to normal, "I thought you were gone." Derek stood in stony silence for a moment before looking down at himself and then back to Stiles.
"You're still wearing my shirt," he stated. Stiles looked down to see that it was true, Derek's dark shirt still hung loosely around him.
"Oh, sorry," Stiles exclaimed, depositing the garbage in a large trash bag, "I didn't even notice." That, of course, was not entirely true. He'd known that they never switched back, but Stiles felt strangely safe in Derek's shirt and wasn't quite ready to give it back. Derek's head tilted and his eyes narrowed.
"You just lied," he accused, "Why did you lie?" Derek took a few steps closer and Stiles heart quickened.
"I-uh-I I don't know," Stiles stammered, his feet rooted to the spot where he stood. Derek came closer, now standing directly in front of Stiles. He tugged a little on the hem of his shirt.
"Yes you do," Derek said, his voice quiet as his eyes flickered over Stiles' face. Stiles audibly swallowed, his mouth opening and closing a few times making him look a bit like a fish.
"I... umm... I like your shirt," Stiles responded, his voice equally soft. It was getting progressively harder to think clearly with Derek so close. Stiles wasn't blind. He knew that Derek was attractive, obnoxiously so, and it was a little difficult to focus with a face like that so close to his own face.
"There's more," Derek said, "I can hear half truths too." Stiles watched Derek's mouth move as he spoke before tearing his gaze away to look back up at the other's eyes.
"It's warm," Stiles blurted out, "And it smells nice. It feels... safe." He braced himself, eyes screwed shut, expecting the alpha to hit him or laugh at him. Neither happened. Instead Stiles felt soft lips press against his own for a fraction of a second. When Stiles opened his eyes again Derek was gone, and Stiles was left dumbfounded and shocked. He brought his fingers up to brush over the spot where Derek's lips just were, a small smile coming onto his face. A moment his phone buzzed.
Unknown Sender: /Return it whenever you want./
Stiles' smile only widened. From somewhere across the street, he heard a shouted "Finally!" He chuckled. Finally indeed.