Flirt Responsibly

Mentally prepare

Stiles stepped into the hall, his hair still damp from the shower. His bag was thrown effortlessly over his shoulder.

"Ready, Hale?"

Derek looked over from talking to Isaac. His eyes raked over Stiles quickly as he nodded.

"I was thinking of grabbing a bite to eat. Tryouts wore me out; you wanna grab something?" Isaac piped in then, looking at Stiles.

Derek's head snapped towards Isaac. What was he doing?

"Umm," Stiles frowned slightly.

"I mean, it's up to you. I know Derek's driving but if you'd rather go home," Isaac gave a small shrug.

"I mean...I could eat, if you don't mind the company," Stiles looked to Derek now.

"Uh, yeah, no, that's...sure," Derek smiled. He was not mentally prepared to hang out with Stiles. He was supposed to have til Friday to prepare. Driving him home was one thing but hanging out with just him and Isaac? He wasn't ready.

Isaac smiled in satisfaction. That would surely make up for telling Stiles he and Cora would make a cut couple.

"Great, what do you say to pizza?" Isaac suggested.

"Sounds good," Stiles nodded, pulling out his phone. He sent a text to his dad letting him now he'd be home later.

"Great, I'll meet you there," With that Isaac headed off towards his car.

"You don't have to do this if you don't want to," Derek spoke up as they approached the Camaro.

"It's fine, I'm starving anyway," Stiles tossed a nervous smile at Derek.

Derek didn't get nervous easily, but when it came to someone he had a crush on, his nerves were always jacked. He needed to mentally prepare to spend more then ten minutes with them and now he was supposed to function like a normal human being in front of Stiles? This was gonna be Braeden Marshall all over again.

"If you don't want me to go, you can drop me off home-"

"No," Derek cut in a little too quickly. "I don't mind. It'll give us a chance to get to know each other better."

"Uh, okay...we don't really need to get to know each other though, do we?" Stiles frowned. Why was Derek so interested in hanging out all of a sudden.

"Well if you're going to be dating Cora..." Derek gave a shrug as he started the car.

"What?" Stiles snapped his head towards Derek. "No. We're just friends. Is swear."

"Oh."

The awkward silence that filled the car made Stiles want to disappear. His crush thought he was wanted to date his sister while simultaneously wanting to date his sister. Okay, that was just confusing. Maybe that was why Derek was getting to know him though, to get in good with whichever sister it was he liked. Stiles couldn't be sure, but he seemed to get flustered around both Paige and Jen.

"You played really good out there. I remember when you would trip just looking at sports equipment," Derek spoke clearing his throat. Complimenting him should work.

Stiles snorted, "I was the number twenty-four out there, you realize that, right?"

"I was surprised to hear you played Lacrosse at all. You apparently made the team last year. I'm shocked."

"I don't know if I'm supposed to be offended or not," Stiles frowned thoughtfully.

"Oh, no, I didn't mean it in a bad way. I just mean you're not the clumsy scrappy, spaz from five years ago," Derek shook his head quickly, he hadn't meant to offend Stiles.

"Man, you really know how to make a guy feel good about himself," Stiles pursed his lips.

"Shit, I'm sorry, I didn't mean..." Derek let out a heavy sigh as he scrubbed a hand over his face.

Stiles laughed, "It's okay, I know I'm not the most graceful."

Derek's face filled with embarrassed heat. This is why he needed time to mentally prepare.

"So it's got to be weird being back in Beacon Hills after spending so long in New York," Stiles decided to spare Derek by changing the subject.

"Honestly, I'm glad to be back. I hated New York," Derek answered with a shake of his head.

"That bad?" Stiles raised a curious brow.

"The worst."

Derek pulled the car into a parking spot in front of the small pizza joint when Stiles' phone rang.

"It's Paige," Stiles frowned. Why would she be calling him? "Hey, what's up?"

"You're going out with Derek?" Paige squawked into the receiver.

"I'm getting something to eat with Derek and Isaac," Stiles growled, he really hoped Derek didn't' hear her.

"Is that why you were asking if I thought he was hot? You wanted to ask him out."

"Paige," Stiles groaned. "I'll see you when I get home." With that he hung.

"Did you just hang up on your sister?" Derek raised a brow with a smirk on his lips.

"She deserved it," Stiles huffed before climbing out of the car.

Derek laughed. Stiles couldn't help but smile at the sound. He wasn't sure he'd ever truly heard him laugh before. And his smile was stunning.

Derek opened the door, allowing Stiles inside first. This earned a snicker from Isaac who was approaching them. Derek shot him a warning look.

Dinner for the most part was easy. Isaac and Stiles talked about lacrosse for a while, Derek told them all the things he hated about New York and he even managed to keep from embarrassing himself. That was until they were leaving.

Derek was listening with a fond smile as Stiles and Isaac told him a story about how they pranked The Coach last year on his birthday.

"Here's the check, whenever you're ready," The waitress approached the table then.

"Thank you," Stiles went to grab his when Derek reached over to snatch the check away, and in the process threw Stiles' ice water into his lap.

"Oh, Shit," Stiles jumped up, the front of his shirt and crotch was soaked.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry!" Derek jumped up too and started shoving napkins in Stiles' direction.

"I'll get some help," Isaac scooted out of his seat and headed towards the counter.

"Here," Derek handed Isaac the check and his wallet.

"I can get mine," Stiles insisted, wringing water from his shirt.

"No, I owe you now," Derek huffed. His face was scarlet from embarrassment.

"What were you saying about me being clumsy?" Stiles smirked.

Derek let out a groan.

"I'm kidding, I'm kidding."

Isaac returned at that moment with a roll of paper towels.

The three proceeded to clean the mess.

While Stiles was throwing away the paper towels, Isaac turned to Derek.

"You're hopeless, you know that," He laughed.

"I know," Derek sighed. What he was hoping was just a simple crush was beginning to turn into a lot more. Maybe spending more time with Stiles wasn't such a good idea. He couldn't embarrass himself like this Friday, his sisters would give him unending hell.

"This is your fault by the way. Why would you invite him to dinner?"

"Oh come on, you know you wanted it. Besides I think he likes you too," Isaac winked just as Stiles returned.

Derek frowned his eyes glancing up to meet Stiles'. Why would Isaac think that? He hadn't done or said anything that would indicate he liked Derek. Had he?

*AN*
Sorry it took a while. My laptop was giving me trouble!!