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1- Just come on a double date, please, Stiles.
Scott thought that when the whole pack decided to go to the University of the Pacific in Sacramento, it would be like in he movies. Parties, football games, all of them just finally being young, wild, and free of crazy hunters.
But no, with Derek having a huge payout from his insurance and the settlement money from Kate getting arrested for arson and murder, he decided that if his pack was going to go to college, they were going to get a proper education. He made them all pick serious majors, with minors that ensured they would have a professional career in the future.
He said, “If you guys want me to help pay for all of you guys to go to college together, you have to graduate with a real degree.” After all the attacks they suffered in high school, they had all decided to stay together as a pack in college. Safety in numbers and all that.
So instead of pack parties, they had pack study sessions. They skipped football games in favor of early morning pack workout sessions to avoid crowds. It was easy to find a schedule despite them all having different majors, build a support system, and somehow, they found a sense of normalcy.
Now, with the first year coming to an end, Scott felt like one thing was missing. All of the betas had settled into pairs. Both Lydia and Jackson realized they were gay and finally got with Cora and Danny, respectively. Boyd and Erica were as strong as ever after everything they went through with Gerard.
After being on again, off again during junior year of high school, Scott and Allison finally decided to move on from each other. Allison and Isaac found each other. And Scott was surprised when another supernatural creature came to Beacon Hills in the form of the cuteness Kitsune, Kira. He fell for her quickly.
But Scott sat through the entire freshman year of college watching his best friend be single, and he wouldn’t stand for it anymore. Stiles stood by his side through everything; the least Scott could do was get him a girlfriend.
“Come on,” Scott begged from his bunk. “You never date. You just study and make random trips home to help Derek with rebuilding the house.”
Stiles had his back turned to Scott, so the wolf didn’t see the side eye Stiles gave him. “Derek and the pack are all the company I need, Scott.”
“Just please come to the dinner with me. Kira said her roommate is super sweet. At least try to make a new friend, then see where it goes from there.”
“I’m only going because you are offering to pay. I will not be dating this girl,” Stiles gave Scott a pointed glare.
Scott did his best to act as a middleman during the date. Maddie, Kira’s roommate, was a sweet girl who was majoring in history. Stiles had a minor in anthropology, and Scott thought they’d find something to talk about.
He honestly felt bad for Maddie. She was cute, blonde hair, brown eyes, freckles– but Stiles barely smiled at the girl. Halfway through dessert, Stiles got a phone call from Derek.
“Hey, Big Bad,” Stiles spoke into the phone with a smile as he got up and walked away from the table.
Why does he always pick up Derek’s calls, Scott wondered. It didn’t matter what was going on around them; Stiles picked up the phone with some absurd nickname for their alpha and disappeared for hours talking to him.
Both Kira and Maddie let out a small, “Oh.”
“What?” Scott frowned.
The girls shared a knowing look.
“Thanks for trying, Scott, but I don’t think Stiles is very interested in me,” Maddie said.
“I’m sorry.” Scott pouted. “I just really want to help him find someone.”
Maddie glanced out the window, and Scott followed her gaze to see Stiles laughing at something Derek said. “Maybe stop trying super hard, Scott.”
2- Dude, why are you living with Derek?
The nice thing about the sophomore year of college is that the pack was no longer required to live on campus. Part of his plan to have a pack of functional adults, Derek made sure that they all got part-time jobs over the summer, saved up, and were able to put down payments for apartments in the same building a few weeks before school started back up.
At first, they all looked at two-bedroom units, 2 couples per unit. Then Scott blurted during one of their tours, “Shit, no, we need a three-bedroom unit.”
“Why?” Derek asked. He had decided to make the search with the pack and move in with one of the betas. Something about the separation being too hard on his wolf.
For some reason, the whole pack was confused, which confused Scott.
“For Stiles,” Scott replied, like it was obvious. “We can’t just expect him to live on his own while the rest of us live with our boyfriends and girlfriends.”
“I’m moving in with Derek/ He’s moving in with me,” Stiles and Derek said at the same time.
Scott’s neck cracked, turning fast to face Stiles. “What? Dude?”
“2 pairs per unit is the smart, affordable idea.” Stiles shrugged like it was no big deal. “Plus, Der here is obsessed with me.”
There was a pause while Scott waited for them to laugh at the obvious joke.
Silence.
“You’re serious,” he gasped.
Stiles clapped Scott on the back, “Don’t worry, bud, we’re still in the same building.”
Derek pulled Stiles off Scott, squeezing the back of his neck. “That doesn’t mean he can come over all the time.”
The two men had a silent conversation with their eyebrows that went over Scott’s head.
“Well,” their tour guide interrupted. “If you guys like the unit, we can go to the office and get started on the paperwork and signing your leases.”
As the pack got settled into their second semester, Scott missed living with Stiles. He had gotten so used to his friend being five feet away in the dorm to answer any random question Scott had.
Kira liked silence or soft piano music when she was home. Jackson and Danny took the other room in their unit, and they tended to only be home to sleep. Scott loved living with his girlfriend. There was no sneaking around, no need to put a sock on the door to warn Stiles. Plus, Kira did all their laundry.
Isaac, Allison, Boyd, and Erica had an apartment on the ground floor. Derek, Stiles, Cora, and Lyida had a corner unit on the top floor with a balcony. Scott was slightly jealous because their floor plan was bigger than everyone else's.
More often than not, Stiles came down to Scott’s, versus the other way around. When the whole pack would gather for pack nights, they used Boyd’s because they picked out the coziest furniture.
Anytime Scott tried to spend more than a few hours in the upstairs apartment or just move past Stiles’s living room, Derek got red-eyed and growly. He’d force Stiles in the room ( Did they have 2 twin beds? Scott wondered), and kick Scott out.
It was the source of small arguments between Scott and Stiles because he couldn’t understand why Stiles let Derek manhandle him around all the time.
One day, Cora stopped him from coming into the third-floor apartment.
“Come on,” Scott whined. “I just want to grab Stiles so we can go to the gym. It is swim day. Somehow, it is the one thing he beat me at. I can’t seem to hold my breath as long as him.”
“You’ll have to reschedule.” Cora managed to make that face where she seemed angry and nonchalant at the same time.
“Why are you speaking for him?” This was the third time Stiels had rescheduled in the last two weeks.
“He is with Derek; you know how they are.”
“Exactly. It’s Stiles and Derek. All they ever do is argue with each other. Derek just shoves Stiles around. I feel like Stile feels obligated to listen to him because he is the alpha.”
Cora just looked at him, bewildered. “Trust me in this, Scott. Derek doesn’t force Stiles to do anything.”
“Then let me talk to him.”
“Nope. If you don’t understand what's going on, you haven’t been paying attention.” Cora slammed the door in his face.
Paying attention to what? Scott couldn’t figure out what Cora meant. Probably just trying to be cryptic like her uncle used to be,
If it bothered Stiles to live with the Hales and Lydia, he never showed it. All the flyers of open 3-bedroom units Scott snuck into Stiles’s schoolwork were ignored.
3- Why are you buying so many boxes of blueberry muffin mix? You hate blueberries.
Scott was sure the grocery store that was around the corner from their apartment complex loved seeing a member of the pack walk through the door. This little mom and pop shop that Stiles forced all of them to patronize over Safeway.
“It is guaranteed to be local and fresh from Mrs. Park,” he argued.
Stiles proved to be right. Plus, Mrs. Park took custom orders, so she stayed stocked on all the pack's favorites.
It was Scott’s turn to accompany Stiles on a grocery run before the full moon. Making sure the pack was cared for was something Stiles prioritized. At some point over the summer, Stiles took that role into overdrive. He had started calling the betas “his pups.” It was odd at first, but none of them were willing to turn away a home-cooked meal or an extra hug after a hard week.
Scott knew he and the other could provide for themselves, but it was nice to have family moments together.
“Hello, Stiles!” Mrs. Park waved excitedly from the counter.
“Hi, Noona Park.” Stiles grabbed a cart and pushed it into Scott’s hands.
“How big today?
Stiles grinned. “Huge.”
Scott was familiar with the store and went straight to the breakfast aisle. He knew it was off, but the whole pack had this obsession with breakfast food. So, especially after a full moon, Stiles tended to make a breakfast spread that rivaled hotels.
A few boxes of pancake mix, a canister of oatmeal, maple syrup, pecan syrup, multiple sugary cereals, and a couple of boxes of apple crumble muffin mix– an overall pack favorite.
Before Scott could move on to the meats, Stiles grabbed an entire row of blueberry muffin mix.
“Since when do we eat blueberry muffins after the full moon?” Scott thought aloud.
“These are for me.” Stiles squeezed past Scott and started piling bacon and sausage in the cart.
Now his best friend wasn’t making any sense. “You hate blueberries. I vividly remember in the 6th grade when you bit into a blueberry cookie thinking it was a chocolate chip, and you threw up on Jackson.”
“Okay. Not for me, but I still cook a bunch of them every week. We ran out yesterday, so I need more.”
Lydia doesn’t eat muffins. Cora liked the apple. That left only one person.
“Are you saying that Derek Hale has a secret sweet tooth and eats blueberry muffins?” Scott scoffed.
Stiles barked out a laugh. “Trust me, the sweet tooth is no secret. But I love indulging him. He deserves nice things.”
Scott knew Stiles always had a big heart for the people around him. They grew up with Claudia always telling them to be nice and caring. It was one of Stiles’s best character traits. Even if that meant baking for Derek Hale.
They moved into the produce section. Stiles grabbed fresh blueberries, raspberries, red grapes, and plums. More things Scott knew he hated. Plus, the pack loaded up on carbs and proteins during their full-moon meals.
He must have made a noise of confusion because Stiles turned to him. “Oh. While the rest of you eat like animals, Derek loves fresh fruit.”
“I just don't get why you're buying his groceries. I thought we were only here for the pack meal.” Scott felt like he was missing something.
“I have his credit card. Figure I could kill 2 birds with 1 stone.” Stiles shrugged.
If Scott hadn’t been so focused on the cart full of food he had never seen his best friend eat, he would have seen the teeth scars on Stiles's hip that peeked out when he shrugged his shoulders.
Luckily for them, Boyd and Erica were waiting for them to unload all the groceries. Scott had bags going all the way up his arms, given the fact that they walked to the grocery store and then brought half of it.
They walked in and saw the furniture had already been pushed to the walls to make room for the pallet the pack used after full-moon runs.
When Erica saw the 4 bags of blueberry muffin mix, she burst out laughing, “Really, Batman? There is no way you need this much.”
“He literally eats like 3 every morning.” Stiles separated the boxes from the other breakfast supplies.
“Staying up all night?” Erica wiggled her eyebrows.
Before Stiles could answer, Boyd wrapped his arms around his girlfriend, “Stop it. But out of their business.”
Erica putted, “You never let me have any fun and learn all the juicy details of how Derek lets St-” Boyd placed a hand over her mouth, cutting her off.
“What?” Scott looked around, confused. Stiles was blushing, and Erica had a feral grin on her face. “Derek lets Stiles do what?”
“Nothing, Scott,” Stiles’s voice squeaked out. “Let's just prep all this food for tomorrow.”
4-Who gave you all of those hikeys!?!?!
Stiles didn’t date. In the last two and a half years of college, despite all Scott’s efforts, Stiles didn’t date. He studied and spent time with the pack.
So who the fuck gave him the love bites Scott saw on his collarbone? They had been playing video games all afternoon in Scott’s place. The complex had told them that renovations may knock the AC out for a few hours. The heat had led to Stiles shedding his normal flannel outer layer.
Scott had lost the last round because he was distracted by the fact that Stiles was sleeping with someone and hadn’t told him.
“You’re staring,” Stiles spoke without looking at Scott.
I shouldn’t embarrass him or force him to talk about it, Scott realized. Stiles would open up to him when he was ready.
“Scott.” Stiles shoved his knee. “You never lose this badly at Street Race. What’s up?”
“Just thinking about this test in my Management II class.” Scott lied.
Stiles nodded and switched to Call of Duty.
Over the next few weeks, Scott went out of his way to track Stiles, determined to figure out who this secret lover was. Either Stiles was sneaking out of a back door Scott didn’t know about, or spontaneously contracted anemia that made him bruise easily, because there was no part of the day that Stiles wasn’t in class, with the pack, or in his apartment.
Yet Scott saw hickeys more often. Or maybe he was only seeing them because he was actively looking. And whoever was leaving them was possessive as hell. Stiles seemed to always sport at least 3 love bites along the side of his neck to his collarbone. Scott bet that if Stiles were to go shirtless, the trail would continue downwards.
“You know,” Scott started one day in the library. “You can tell me anything.”
Stiles looked up from his laptop with a concerned face. Both Lydia and Jackson kept their gazes on their screens to pretend like they weren’t listening.
“Yeah, I know, dude.” Stiles tried to go back to his homework.
“ Anything,” Scott emphasized the word. “You don’t have to be scared or embarrassed of anyone in your life.”
Stiles blinked at Scott. “What are you talking about?”
Scott let out a deep sigh. “Come on, Stiles. You walk around with love bites all over your neck, and you expect me not to notice? I know you're seeing someone. I’m just hurt you won’t tell me who.”
Twin snorts sounded from their friends at the table. Jackson’s shoulders shook with held-in laughter.
“You’re joking, right?” Lydia teased.
“No!” Scott turned to the redhead. “You knew he was seeing someone?!”
Lydia opened her mouth to answer, but got cut off by Stiles, “At this point, Lyds, if he doesn’t know, he hasn’t been paying attention.”
Throwing his hands up in frustration, Scott groaned, “Cora said the same thing.” He made puppy eyes at Stiles. “You really aren’t gonna tell me. But clearly the whole pack is in on this secret.”
“It's no secret, Scott.” Stiles shook his head.
Scott waited for a better explanation. None came. Stiles just pulled his headphones from his bag and continued with his homework.
5- Help! Guys, Stiles is missing!
The entire pack was in Beacon Hills for Christmas break. The first semester of their junior year had been brutal, with the preparation for internships and graduation. They all felt less weight on their shoulders being home.
They split themselves in half between the Sheriff’s house and Melissa’s house. Derek, Stiles, Erica, Boyd, Cora, and Lydia stayed with Noah. Scott, Kira, Jackson, Danny, Isaac, and Allison stayed with Melissa. The Hale Pack house was finished, but Derek hadn’t furnished it yet.
Their days were spent being as lazy as possible. Scott and Isaac binged all seasons of This is Us, gorging themselves on takeout. More often than not, both of their girlfriends would abandon them for Stiles, Lydia, Erica, and Cora, who were all binge-watching Criminal Minds.
Derek tried to get them to work out with him and Boyd, but they all refused to remove themselves from the couches.
Scott didn’t know how Danny and Jackson spent their days.
About two weeks into break, Kira and Allison walked into the McCall house with red, puffy eyes.
“Why are you guys crying?” Isaac stood, brushing chip crumbs off his shirt.
“They killed Spencer’s girlfriend,” Kira cried.
“I just hate that Stiles and Lydia were right about her stalker being a girl. Too bad he missed the episode.” Allison stole a piece of pizza off the coffee table.
Scott frowned at them. “Where was Stiles?”
She shrugged. “He just sent us a text that he would miss today.”
Scott looked at his pack mates, waiting for them to be concerned.
“So Stiles is just MIA, and you guys aren’t worried about him?” Scott asked in disbelief.
“Why are you? It’s Stiles.” Isaac commented.
“Last time Stiles disappeared, he was strapped up in Gerard’s basement being tortured.” Scott was spiraling. Stiles had a quick temper and a tendency to mouth off at the wrong times. What if he ran into Beacon Hill’s next ‘big-bad’ and got hurt? What if some random hunter decided to target a human from the Hale pack?
“One,” Allison began ticking things off on her fingers. “Gerard is gone. Hunters haven’t been a threat in Beacon Hills in years. Two, Stiles has been training in weapons and hand-to-hand combat with me and the pack. He can handle himself. Three, he is probably somewhere with Derek.”
Scott sighed in relief, then paused. “Why Derek?”
“Because it's Stiles and Derek…” Kira said.
“But they are barely friends,” Scott argued.
“They’ve lived together for almost two years now.” Kira pointed out.
“So you are saying they are close enough now to disappear together without telling anyone?”
“Jesus Christ,” Kira pinched her nose. “Scott, honey, I love you. But you are really dense sometimes. I am not going to point out the obvious to you.”
Isaac giggled. “I thought Erica was exaggerating.”
“I’m missing something here,” Scott caught on.
They all just laughed at him.
Fed up with being left out, Scott headed over to the Stilinski household to wait for Stiles. He sat in the driveway, wanting to avoid the rest of the pack. Around midnight, Derek’s Camaro pulled up.
Stiles didn’t even make it to his front door before Scott got in his face, “Where have you been?” Scott felt his eyes flash.
“What the hell, Scott?” Stiles yelled, jumping back.
At the same time, Derek pulled Scott away with a deep growl.
“Fuck off, Derek. This is between me and my best friend.” Scott shoved the alpha.
“You can’t just go yelling in my face, Scott. Why are you here?” Stiles was rubbing at his eyes.
“The girls told me you were gone all day and they didn’t know where you went.”
“So instead of checking on him, you snarl in his face?” Derek crossed his arms over his chest.
“Well, you can see I’m fine. So we’re going to go to bed now. It’s been a long day,” Stiles’s voice grew soft at the end.
“But where were you?” Scott demanded.
Looking up, Stiles met Scott’s gaze. It was then that Scott noticed how red his eyes were.
“What is the date, Scott?” Stiles sounded sad.
Derek moved and began rubbing Stiles’s back. “Just go inside, Mar.”
Stiles seemed like he wanted to protest, but Derek shook his head and pointed at the front door.
Scott was shocked that Stiles’s shoulder slumped, and he left the wolves outside.
Did Derek just call Stiles “Mar”? Does he know his real name?
“We went to see Claudia,” Derek finally spoke up after the door closed behind Stiles.
What date is it? Scott pulled his phone from his back pocket, then promptly felt like an idiot. It was December 20th. It has been 8 years to the day since Stile’s mom died.
Scott ran a hand over his face. “Fuck. I need to apologize to him.”
“Later. It was hard for him today.” Derek’s face was soft in a way Scott had never seen.
Maybe living together has made them closer than I thought, Scott figured. Feeling too guilty to argue, Scott trudged his way back home.
+1- Oh shit, how the fuck did I miss this?
They had one year left of college. Scott relished in the fact they the supernatural took a backseat in the past few years. If college had turned out to be anything like high school (which he still wasn’t sure how he survived), he would have never passed.
Nearly all of them had internships and programs for the summer that scattered them. Scott had a coaching mentorship for a lacrosse team in San Francisco.
Jackson, Boyd, and Kira found this multi-million-dollar hotel chain in Santa Barbara that was taking interns in all departments, so they got to stay together– Jackson in the CEO training program, Boyd in the architecture program, and Kira in international affairs.
Lydia, Allison, and Erica were going to the East Coast. Lydia was going to a summer fellowship at MIT. Allison was auditing classes at Harvard. Erica is joining a special study on Epilepsy in Boston.
Cora and Isaac found internships at museums in LA– Isaac for arts and Cora for translations.
Stiles and Danny were planning for a summer in Washington DC for internships with the CIA.
It was going to be the first time they were all thousands of miles away from each other. Everyone else seemed so excited. Scott was nervous. Reflecting back on his life, he had never been truly on his own. He had his mom when his dad left. Then Stiles entered his life in the 5th grade and never left. Then he got the pack. They were his family. How in the world was he going to go 3 months with them?
Scott sat sadly in the corner of the finally furnished and habitable Hale house. Derek let them use it for one last pack party before everyone dispersed. Even the stoic alpha himself was laughing with the others around the living room.
His corner gave him a good spot to just people-watch. None of the couples were traveling together, so they all sat grouped up with their significant others.
Kira had come over to check on Scott. “Hey, baby, you okay?”
Tears welled in his eyes, “I just realized how much I ma going to miss you guys this summer.”
“Aww, baby,” she crawled into his lap. “Please don’t cry. This is a night of celebrations.”
Scott held her tightly, hiding his face in her shirt to catch the tears. They stayed like that for a moment. It eased the knot in Scott’s chest. They weren’t saying goodbye to each other forever.
“Alright, can I please have everyone’s attention?” Derek gathered them by the unlit fireplace. “I know the next few weeks are going to be hard, having to go on your own for a while. But I wanted to thank you all for trusting me as your alpha for the last few years. I am proud to watch you guys grow into your full potential. If you need anything this summer, just call, and I will hop on a flight.”
Now Scott wasn’t the only one crying. It was the first time Derek had been so vulnerable in front of all of them.
“There is one more thing I wanted to say, and for all of you to witness.” Derek moved and pulled Stiles to the center of the circle.
“Oh my god,” Stiles murmured.
What in the world? Scott appeared to be the only one who had no clue what was going on. All the girls were holding their hands over their hearts.
“Marek Mieczyslaw Stilinski, you have my anchor long before I realized it was you. Despite my errors, my temper, and my antisocial personality, you stood by my side. I admire your loyalty and how your heart is large enough for everyone in this room. You have been essential in making this pack my family. You are my light. I‘m saying all this to ask-” Derek went down on one knee and pulled out a ring. “Will you marry me, Marek?”
What the fuck….?
“Of course I’ll marry you, Derek Hale,” Stiles grinned with tears on his cheeks.
The pack broke out into cheers. Stiles and Derek shared a quick but passionate kiss.
Stiles glared accusingly at the pack. “You all knew this was happening, huh?”
Multiple voices denied knowing anything, but Scott heard the blips in their heartbeats.
“Wait.” He turned to Kira. “Is this what you meant by tonight being a night of celebrations?”
Erica barked out a laugh. “You guys, I think Scott just figured it out.”
Stiles face-palmed, his new silver ring shining in the light. “Derek just proposed, and that is what made you realize we’re a couple?”
Scott watched the pack giggle. “How long have you two been together?”
“Derek finally gave in to my endless flirting the summer before we started college,” Stiles answered.
“ 3 years?!?” Scott’s eyes widened.
“Remember all the moments we told you that you needed to pay better attention?” Allison smirked at him.
Stiles never dated, but always went to be with Derek. All the rest of the pack moved in with significant others for the apartments; Stiles lived with Derek. The blueberry muffins. The hickeys. Derek took him to the graveyard.
…
Oh
Oh
“Holy fuck!” Scott put the pieces together. “I feel so stupid now.”
“Don’t worry, Scott.” Stiles wrapped an arm around his shoulders. “You’re still my best man.”
“I guess I owe an apology and congratulations.” Scott pulled Stiles into a hug. “I’m sorry for being oblivious. And dude, you’re getting married.”
Stiles traced the ring. “Not until after graduation, but holy shit, yeah, I’m getting married.”
So much for enhanced werewolf senses making me more aware, Scott chastised himself.