"[y/n], come get breakfast!" Derek voice blared, waking you up.
You dragged your sleepy form out of bed. After washing your face and brushing your teeth, you joined your pack, not bothering to change out of your pajamas. You entered the common area, seeing Scott and Liam watching cartoons on the couch, Lydia on an adjacent chair eating French toast and reading a thick novel. Stiles and Derek were at the stove, bickering about something while Stiles stirred pancake mix and Derek flipped.
You finally spotted your favorite werewolf, Isaac, who was sitting at the minibar, hunched over a plate of eggs and bacon. Of course he'd be alone, and of course he'd look adorable with his curly hair slightly in disarray and clad in plaid pajamas and a white cotton t-shirt. You always had a soft spot for Isaac, nothing explicitly romantic, but also not inappropriately maternal. Everyone just has 'that person' with whom they can share everything and feel safe, and he was your person. And as proven by your unplanned matching attire, you were kindred spirits.
"Morning, sunshine," you greeted. Isaac's face shot up, looking at you surprised. He recovered as he recognized it was you, his mouth stretching into a bright smile.
"Morning," he chimed. "Someone's finally up."
You rolled your eyes.
"Well, someone had to stay up most of the night doing research because someone fell asleep, even though they promised they wouldn't." You lightly punched his arm.
Isaac ducked his head, a guilty grin taking form.
"Yeah... sorry about that. How do you make yourself stay up so late, anyway?"
You shrugged. "I guess I'm used to it. Tests and papers."
Isaac playfully scoffed, mumbling something like "such a nerd."
"What was that?" you piped. Isaac always teased you for being so invested in school, even though he secretly loved how smart you were.
"Nothing! I just said you looked really pretty today," he shot you a thousand watt smile, leaning in closer to you.
You blushed, trying to mask your visceral reaction with a sarcastic laugh. You nudged him away with your elbow.
"Whatever, Lahey. Just eat your eggs."
"Yes, ma'am," he mocked, resuming his breakfast.
Derek appeared in your line of vision, knowingly shaking his head at the two of you. Everyone kind of knew that you and Isaac were a duo, not really ~together~ but always together. You had a thing. They respected your unique relationship, occasionally making slides like "stop being gross" and "make out already."
Derek slid a plate of pancakes in front of you.
"Having a good morning?" he asked, the mischievous glint in his eyes implying a double meaning. He eyed Isaac, then you.
"Really good," you replied with a tight smile. "Almost as good as yours."
You gestured towards Stiles, who was now attempting to flip a drippy pancake.
"Shit," Derek muttered, retreating backwards. "Stiles, don't touch that!"
You giggled at their antics, scarfing down a mouthful of pancake. Looking back over at Isaac, a wave of adoration hit you. You observed his careful movements, delicately using a fork and knife to cut up his food. You always wondered if the reason why he was so cautious, so meticulous in his ways was because of his childhood, always afraid to make a mistake, afraid of his father.
Your body moved of its own volition, the urge to comfort him overtaking you. You weren't sure how, but your hand somehow ended up in new territory behind his ear. You moved your fingers along his hairline, gently scratching the area.
"What are you doing?" Isaac asked, breaking your trance. Amusement and confusion lit his features.
"What?" you replied casually, continuing to move your fingers. After all, it wasn't unusual for you to touch him affectionately, physical contact a huge component of your friendship.
"You're... scratching behind my ear."
"Yeah, so? Do you not like it?" You pulled back slowly, embarrassment burning your face.
"I don't exactly mind it," he began with a laugh. "But you know I'm not a dog, right?"
You raised your eyebrow.
"Hey, come on," he scoffed in feigned annoyance. "Werewolf. Werewolf," he enunciated.
You giggled. "I know. I just thought it would feel nice-"
"Well, you thought wrong," he cut you off. "Werewolves aren't dogs, [y/n]. We don't pee everywhere, we don't like belly rubs, and we don't. Like. Ear. Scratches," he pouted adorably.
You put your hands up in surrender. "Alright, alright. No more ear scratches," you relented, but not before reaching up to ruffle his hair, laughing. Isaac merely groaned, hiding a smile in his shoulder.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The rest of the day had gone by smoothly. You were grateful, missing the aesthetic of a Lazy Sunday. The pack had decided to go out to dinner, leaving you and Isaac alone. You were both homebodies, preferring to stay in and relax.
You were sitting on the couch watching Pride and Prejudice, Isaac's head resting in your lap. You absentmindedly stroked patterns into his arm until his body suddenly went limp, his breathing full and even.
He'd fallen asleep. Again.
Okay, you actually sympathized this time. Isaac thought Jane Austen was boring, but it was your turn to pick the movie, and you'd begged him for weeks to watch it with you. He had finally agreed before falling asleep twenty minutes into the film. You sighed, moving your hand away to avoid disturbing him.
But an idea suddenly hit you, recalling back to this morning when Isaac had said that werewolves didn't like being scratched behind the ear. You thought back to all the times when you were a kid and your dog Molly had fallen asleep curled up beside you. Whenever you scratched her behind her ear, she would always whine softly and nuzzle closer to you in contentment.
With Molly as inspiration, you slowly placed your fingers behind Isaac's ear, gently caressing at first. When he didn't stir, you nudged a little harder, running your fingernails against the exposed skin.
You froze when Isaac shifted, curving his body slightly inward. An almost imperceptible "hmm" broke through the silence as he burrowed his face into your lap. You took that as encouragement.
Still scratching, you used your thumb to graze the shell of his ear, stimulating more of the area. You passively noted how soft his earlobes were.
And that's when it happened. Isaac's leg twitched.
You gasped. Had you done it? Had you just proven Isaac wrong about werewolves? Victory was on your mind. Your best friend was literally an overgrown puppy in denial.
You maintained your controlled pace, not straying too long in one area, giving attention to different sections of his skin. You tried to stifle your laughter as Isaac's leg started going off. You covered your mouth with your hand, the other still stroking him.
Behind you, the front door opened and the pack filed in, their voices and footsteps filling the air.
"Shhh, guys," you whispered, turning around with a finger to your lips. They all turned towards you, approaching you in the living room.
"What's up?" Scott said. They all stood in a circle, looking down at you and Isaac.
"Look," you instructed. They watched silently. You resumed scratching Isaac behind his ear, and on cue, he started kicking his leg.
Stiles' snort broke through the air as he buried his face into Derek's shoulder, who was smirking and shaking his head. Liam broke into giggles. Scott hid his smile behind a fist. Lydia placed her hand over her heart, mouthing "so cute."
Her support quickly turned devious as she pulled out her phone to take a video. The rest of the pack was now doubled over.
"This is so great," Scott huffed through his mirth.
"This is fucking hilarious. I know what I'm doing tonight." Stiles informed, a little too loudly. He put his hand on Derek's shoulder.
Derek glared at him. This created another uproar of giggles.
"Guys, stop," you warned through fits of laughter. "He'll wake up!"
And he did.
You looked down when you felt Isaac maneuver in your lap. He looked up at you with wide, confused eyes. You removed your hand discreetly, smiling down at him.
"Heeey," you welcomed cheerily.
Isaac opened his mouth to respond before he sat up and noticed the roomful of people observing him. The pack recomposed, panting and wiping their eyes, their faces too red and their smiles too wide.
"What?" Isaac asked, his brows furrowed. He looked around, then back to you. "What did I miss?"
You sucked in through your nose, looking down at your lap.
"Umm, well-"
"This." Lydia sat down beside Isaac and handed him her phone. Crap.
Isaac hesitantly took the object and played the video. You waited for his reaction as you saw his eyes go wide in the screen's reflection. After a few seconds, he hung his head, planting his face into his palms. "Fuck me."
The pack broke character again, hunching over in guffaw.
"Hey, it's okay," Stiles taunted. "Even though Liam's the youngest, I guess you're the real runt of the litter."
"Shut up," Lydia protested, grinning. "I think it's cute."
"Alright children, let's call it a night," Derek ordered, smiling at you. "This was great, [y/n]. Made my night."
"Yeah, seriously," Scott approved. You noticed Isaac looking at you from the corner of his eye, his jaw locked. Scott walked towards Isaac and ruffled his hair fondly, from which Isaac reeled back, face tinted bright pink. "You're the cutest beta there ever was."
"I hate all of you," Isaac deadpanned, sitting back with his arms crossed over his chest.
"We love you, too!" Liam called out en route to his bedroom.
Once everyone had left, you stood up, yawning and stretching your arms over your head. You looked down at Isaac, noticing his staring at your exposed midriff, and immediately placed your arms back down. He looked away rapidly. You stood in front of him.
"Well, I hate to say I told you so..."
Isaac glared at you.
"Was that really necessary?" Isaac mumbled.
"A little bit?" you squeaked. His jaw dropped at your admission. "You just kept denying the ear thing! And in my defense, I didn't know that everyone would come back all at once like that."
"Yeah, sure you didn't," he jeered. "Now Lydia has a video!"
"So? It's not she'll do anything with it," you defended. "And for the record, I agree with her."
"Agree with what?" he muttered looking down, fiddling with his thumbs in his lap. You took a step towards him, your knees touching his.
"That you're cute," you spoke softly. He looked up at you, mouth parted. You inhaled at his bewildered expression. "Really, really cute."
"Really?" he whispered. You bit your lip and nodded. Isaac's mouth formed an 'o.'
You regarded him with reverence. His face looked so soft from the warm light of the fireplace. You reached down and ran your fingers through his hair, soothing his awe, using your other hand to cup gently under his jaw.
"Let's just go to bed, okay?" you cooed. He nodded into your palm. You released him as he slowly stood up, eventually towering over you. You were standing a hair width apart, his breath fanning over your forehead.
He lifted one large hand, moving the hair away from your shoulder. He leaned over to confess into your ear.
"I really did like it... the whole time."
"I know," you breathed against his shoulder.
Isaac chuckled.
"I guess I really am a dog."
"Nah, you're more like a hybrid," you responded thoughtfully. He cocked his head to the side, silently questioning you. You chucked at his perplexity before concluding.
"You're my werepuppy."
