Nature and Nurture: Finding the Perfect Blend

Chapter 18: the Gain

Unsurprisingly, neither Scott nor Derek had agreed to Stiles' idea of being bait, and they were hoping to use Lydia and Malia to talk some sense into him. But even four against one wasn't going to change his mind. His dad and Parrish had been taken hours ago and Stiles was hoping all that had happened to them was a mild headache from being knocked out by ground-up pixie bits.

It was late in the night when Scott got a call and headed to the airport to pick up Lydia and Malia in his mom's car. He'd be a few hours and in that time Derek drove Stiles back to his home for a change of clothes.

Being in the house without his dad was as bad as the time he'd been taken by the Darach. Worse in a way, because Stiles had first-hand experience and knew there was very little Brine wasn't willing to do to someone. Just dwelling on that had him shaking, the numbness in the back of his mind wanting to expand. He needed to focus on something else.

He focused on Derek.

It worked quite well, and Stiles was able to keep himself relatively sane as he picked up everything he needed.

They were driving back to Derek's, still in his crap car, when Stiles asked, "Where do you park this thing when you're not using it?" There was no road into Derek's place, no driveway.

"At the closest ranger's outpost most times, with permission, but sometimes I use one of the back roads. It's only a rental so I'm not overly worried about it."

"That's got to be annoying," Stiles mused.

"Yeah, but no one can drive up to my house," Derek pointed out. "They need to walk in. Gives me more time if someone's coming."

Stiles was sad Derek had to compromise like that, give up basic living standards to make attacking his home harder for those who wanted to. But he understood. "Why this car? No offense, but it's not you and it sucks."

Derek sent him a wry look. "It serves a purpose, nothing more. I don't care what happens to it."

Something in his tone made Stiles clamped down on his next question, well aware of Derek's difficulties with loss. He sat back in his seat and ran his eyes over Derek as he drove, recalling how he'd used Derek to keep from having a panic attack at his house. A small smile tugged at his mouth.

When Stiles had been home, he'd come to a decision and then worked single-mindedly towards that goal. Closing the door to the bathroom, he'd taken time to prepare himself, focussing ahead to what he wanted to happen. He'd cleaned himself up and fingered himself, relaxing into the sensation and imagining that if he did everything right, his fingers would be replaced by Derek in a few hours. It had helped that Derek was in the living room and more than likely had a pretty good idea Stiles was getting himself off in the bathroom. He'd had to stop and calm down before he came across the sink, or before he asked Derek to join him.

Derek looked good behind the wheel of his crappy little car. He looked even better behind the wheel of Stiles' jeep. Or just in his jeep full stop. It was the entirely possessive part of Stiles that liked the idea, but every other part of him was on board with the assessment. Derek was gorgeously his and Stiles wanted.

Derek looked over and quirked an eyebrow at him. Stiles had no idea what was showing on his face, but he bet it wasn't as innocent as he wanted it to be. He started to daydream about sliding over and kissing up Derek's neck. He'd run his hands up under Derek's shirt and feel all of those incredible muscles move under his fingers. In his fantasy, the steering wheel wasn't there and he was able to fit his leg over Derek's and rock his groin into Derek's hip while his hand got into his pants.

Stiles had fantasied about Derek many times, but he'd never gotten the opportunity while he was right in front of him. Derek started to squirm a bit under his silent scrutiny.