Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

"Dude, Stiles, come on! It’ll be fun,” Scott said. “You can’t deny that seven days in the Caribbean on a cruise ship full of hot, single werewolves won’t be a good time.”

“Maybe for you,” Stiles said. “Because you’re tan, have a six pack and have a sexy jawline that most guys would kill for. You’re going on this cruise to find a mate and you’re going to find someone for sure. Every time we go to the Jungle, guys are always all over you. You’re going to do just fine on an all-guy cruise. Me? No one is going to talk to me at all. I’m skinny and pale and basically one hundred and forty-seven pounds of skin and bones. Also, fun fact: I’m not even a werewolf.”

“You don’t have to be a werewolf to come,” Scott said, pointing to the pamphlet containing pictures of very attractive men with sculpted chests and chiseled abs splashing each other on the beach. “It says, ‘all are welcome.’ You just have to be twenty-one so you can drink. Or so hot guys can buy you drinks,” he added, raising his eyebrows suggestively.

“I don’t see how I would have a good time,” Stiles said, shrugging. “I’m not really the bachelor type. No eligible werewolf is going to give me a second glance. Besides, the ship is probably gonna stop in crappy ports and I’m just not really down for that. So just go on without me, just send postcards with all the hot guys you meet.”

“They’re stopping in Cozumel,” Scott said, continuing to leaf through the pamphlet. “It says here that you can swim with dolphins.”

“Did you—did you say we could swim with dolphins?” Stiles asked, curiously. “Like we actually get to get in the water with real, live dolphins? Like Flipper and the ones that do tricks at SeaWorld?”

“That’s what swimming is,” Scott said, eyes gleaming. “And it says that you can take pictures.”

“When do we leave?” Stiles asked.

***

“I hate you,” Stiles grumbled as they waited in line to board the cruise ship. “You told me that we would get to swim with dolphins.”

“You do get to swim with dolphins,” Scott said. “It’s not my fault that Cozumel is the last port of call.”

“So now, in order to swim with the dolphins, I have to spend six days on a cruise ship full of single werewolves that are all out of my league,” Stiles said. “That sounds wonderful. There’s going to be flirting and kissing and fucking all around, and I’m not going to be a part of any of it. These dolphins better be worth it, they better do like triple backflips or something.”

“Maybe you should keep an open mind,” Scott said as he handed his passport to the liaisons officer. “Maybe there’s a werewolf on this cruise that’s waiting for his human mate to come find him. And I’m sure the dolphins will be great.”

“Dude!” Stiles exclaimed. “Easy on the human talk. I read about this cruise after I paid for my ticket. It has a history of being pretty snobbish to humans. The last thing I need is for a hot werewolf to find out that I’m a human and then never talk to me again.”

“But you just said you were only going on this cruise to swim with dolphins,” Scott pointed out, eyebrows furrowing. “You said you weren’t trying to find anyone.”

“Yeah, but I wouldn’t be opposed if someone tried to find me.” Stiles said. “I know I’m not a huge catch, but there might be a guy on this cruise who has slightly lower standards than the average werewolf. But he won’t be interested in me if you keep announcing to the entire cruise that I’m a human.”

“You know we can smell humanity, right?” Scott asked. “And there are some werewolves that mate with humans. It just—“

“It just doesn’t happen very often,” Stiles interrupted. “We know. So the only way that I’m going to get any action on this boat is if everyone thinks I’m a werewolf.”

“Whatever, Stiles,” Scott said, rolling his eyes. “All I’m saying is that you’re a great guy and you shouldn’t be surprised if a hot single dude wants to get in your pants by the end of this cruise. And I’m sure he won’t mind if you’re a human, who knows, he might even be into that.” He punched Stiles lightly on the shoulder and grinned.

Stiles rolled his eyes and shook his head fondly at his friend. Leave it to Scott to try and find the redeeming quality in everyone. It was almost like it was his superpower, if you didn’t count the fact that his puppy-dog eyes were weapons of mass destruction. Stiles was very excited to see just how many guys would swoon when Scott fixed them with his patented puppy pout.

He was almost as excited to see that as he was excited to see the dolphins. Because, really, the dolphins were the only reason that Stiles was on this stupid cruise, regardless of what Scott said. Dolphins were the greatest animals ever.

As he and Scott waited in line to board the ship, Stiles scanned the line of guys that he would be sharing a ship with for the next week. He was surprised to find that there was a surprising amount of diversity within the line. The pamphlet made it look like the cruise was going to be a huge sausage fest of model-esque looking guys, but a lot of the people in line weren’t as attractive as Stiles had imagined them to be. Sure, they were still handsome, but they weren’t vastly out of Stiles’ league like he’d thought they would be.

Maybe he might be able to snag a guy here after all, if he still had time after the dolphins.

“Stiles, give the guy your ticket,” Scott said, breaking Stiles out of his thoughts.

“Huh? Oh, here you go,” Stiles said, fumbling with his ticket before giving it to the attendant.

“You’re on the ninth floor,” the attendant said, smiling. “You and your friend are right next to each other. Follow him, and he’ll show you where to go.”

“Thank you,” Stiles said. He followed Scott into the ship. “Whoa,” he murmured as he boarded. “It’s bigger than I thought.”

“That’s what she said,” Scott replied, grinning. “Oh, wait, that’s what he said.”

“You’re lucky people think you’re pretty,” Stiles said, shaking his head fondly. “Because you’ll never win any awards for stand up comedy.”

“Come on, Stiles,” Scott said. “Admit it was a good one.”

“As soon as you admit that this is a big boat,” Stiles shot back.

“Okay, fine,” Scott said, nodding. “It’s a pretty big boat.”

“Damn straight,” Stiles said.

It was a big boat. It looked like it was a five star hotel. Stiles counted at least eleven floors, and each floor had bright flashing lights advertising something different. At least Stiles would have something entertaining to distract him until he got to swim with the dolphins.

“Come on,” Scott said. “We can explore the boat later. Our cabins are this way. Let’s go put our stuff away and then we can go out and meet new people.”

Stiles and Scott were lucky enough to have two cabins right next to each other. They were at the end of a long hallway, and Stiles was pretty sure that he counted at least a hundred other cabins on their way to their cabins. If all the other eleven floors had this many rooms, there were bound to be lot of guys on this boat.

Stiles and Scott went into their separate cabinets to put their suitcases and clothes away. Stiles noticed that there were various pamphlets neatly arranged on his bed. When he picked them up, he saw that they were advertisements for various mixers that were happening later on today.

Some of the mixers were a little weird too.

“Werewolves Over Fifty?” Stiles said to himself. “Is that a thing?”

“Hey,” Scott started, as he came into the room. “It says that we should go onto the top deck, we have to go through the lifeboat and emergency evacuation safety demonstration before the festivities can begin.”

“Can’t you werewolves swim through the pacific ocean with your wolfy stamina?” Stiles asked, flopping down onto his bed.

“I guess we could,” Scott started. Then he grinned, “But probably not while we’re tipsy and hooking up with each other, and then again not all of us on this boat are werewolves,” he added, nudging Stiles in the ribs.

“I mean, I guess so,” Stiles said. “Dude, did you have these pamphlets too?” he asked as he handed Scott the Werewolves Over Fifty pamphlet.

“Yeah!” Scott said. “I got some weird ones, I didn’t even know that there were vegetarian werewolves! Did you get the one for the Jewish werewolf mixer?”

“No,” Stiles answered, grinning. “I think they gave us different pamphlets. Go get yours, I want to see how many different mixers there are.”

Scott returned with about ten different pamphlets, seven of which were different than Stiles’.

“I didn’t even know there was a thing as werewolf rappers. I kinda want to go to that one. Maybe they howl in their freestyle raps,” Stiles joked.

“We don’t howl willy-nilly,” Scott said, frowning slightly. “You know that.”

“I also thought that werewolves didn’t freestyle rap,” Stiles said. “But I guess I was wrong, so maybe you’re wrong about the howling. We should go. Maybe one of them will rap about your uneven jawline.”

“I do not have an uneven jawline,” Scott muttered.

“You totally do, bro,” Stiles said, slinging an arm over Scott’s shoulders. “But it’s okay, guys like it.”

“Whatever,” Scott replied. “Hey, look at this one,” he said, picking up another pamphlet. “Werewolves Seeking Humans. Maybe you could go to that one. You could probably find yourself a hot werewolf who has a thing for humans. Maybe you could even get an Alpha.”

“I think not,” Stiles answered, grinning. “And let’s be honest, they probably only have that mixer to make it look like this cruise is human friendly. No human is going to willingly admit to a bunch of werewolves that he’s here. So as far as that goes, I’m completely a werewolf who’s here for the dolphins.”

“Yeah, you’re probably right.,” Scott said, shaking his head. “It just sucks that a lot of humans feel like werewolves don’t want to date them. I would totally date a human, and a lot of werewolves I know would. There’s just a couple of werewolves that don’t date humans, and then they just make it seem like the rest of us don’t.”

“It’s not your fault,” Stiles said. “I know you would date a human. And I’m pretty sure that a lot of the werewolves on this cruise would date a human, but like I said, I’m not going to go out of my way to say that I am a human to risk rejection. Besides, I’m only here-“

“I know,” Scott said, cutting him off. “You’re only here for the dolphins.” He smiled and rolled his eyes. Then his head snapped up, and he looked at the door.

“What’s happening?” Stiles asked.

“Someone’s trying to unlock your door,” Scott answered, smile fading from his face. “I think they probably think that this is their room.”

Stiles listened carefully and then he heard the jangling of the door handle as the mystery man continued to fumble with it.

Scott got up and went to look through the peephole in the door. “Hey, Stiles, this guy is cute,” he said as he pressed his face to the door. “Seriously cute. He’s got blond curly hair and really blue eyes. What should I do? Should I open the door?”

“Well if you don’t, he’s going to keep trying to get into my cabin,” Stiles pointed out. “So, I would open the door.”

“Well, what should I say when I open the door?” Scott asked, turning around and facing Stiles. “He’s seriously really cute. I— I don’t know that I should do. Should I— should I try to talk to him? He’s trying to push the door open. God, Stiles, He’s seriously so cute. ”

“Just open the door, Scott,” Stiles said, rolling his eyes. Based on the muffled slams coming from the other side of the door, the guy was trying to force the door open by slamming into it. “Either you open the door, or this guy is going to break down my door, and that’s the last thing I need right now.”

“Right,” Scott said, nodding. He opened the door right as the guy was about to plow into it again, causing him to topple onto Scott, knocking them both over. Stiles bit back a laugh as Scott and the new guy flailed around on the floor before standing up and regaining their composure.

Or, at least Scott regained his composure.

“Oh my goodness, I’m so, so sorry,” the curly haired guy stammered. His face flushed a deep red as he held up his hands in defense. “I thought this was my room, and then my key didn’t work and I got frustrated. Then you saw what happened next. Oh no, are you okay? I kind of slammed into you pretty hard. Are you hurt? Do you need a medic? I can take your pain away if you want me to. I didn’t mean to hurt you, I’m so sorry—“

“Hey, hey, it’s fine,” Scott said reassuringly, placing a hand on the guy’s shoulder. Stiles watched as he visibly calmed down. “I’m okay. No harm done. Don’t worry about it.” He offered the guy a genuine smile, and Stiles had to fight to roll his eyes. Scott had officially turned on the charm.

“Are you sure?” The curly-haired guy asked. “I’m really, really sorry. I just thought this was my room. The attendant told me room 919.” He ran a hand through his curls and offered both Stiles and Scott a sheepish smile.

“Well this is room 991,” Stiles answered. “Not too far off, but I think you’re on the other side of the hallway.”

“Whoops,” the curly-haired guy said, and Stiles noticed how strikingly blue his eyes were. This guy was a catch for sure. “Sorry to bother you. I’m Isaac by the way,” he said, extending his hand.

Now that Isaac was more relaxed, and the Stiles wasn’t worried about having some crazy werewolf in his cabin, Stiles could see that Isaac seemed like a very friendly guy. He had piercing blue eyes but they were soft and friendly at the same time. Isaac’s facial expression seemed stuck on the ‘sweet’ setting, and he had the slightest hint of a British accent that Stiles was sure that only helped his overall attractiveness.

Isaac smiled brightly at both Stiles and Scott.

“I’m Stiles,” Stiles answered, standing up and shaking Isaac’s hand. “And this is my friend—“

“I’m— I’m Stiles’ friend.” Scott replied, completely cutting Stiles off.

Stiles shot Scott a look out of the corner of his eye. If Scott was trying to be suave and flirt with Isaac, he was doing a terrible job of it.

“I kind of gathered that,” Isaac said, smiling slightly. “What’s your name?”

“Oh,” Scott stuttered. “Um, I’m McCall.”

“Your name is McCall?” Isaac asked, smirking and raising an eyebrow.

“Scott McCall,” Scott added quickly. “I’m Stiles’ friend.”

“Yeah, I know,” Isaac said, grinning. “You just told me that.”

“I did?” Scott asked. “Oh. Whoops, sorry about that.”

“It’s okay,” Isaac said. “Now I won’t forget your name, since you told me twice.”

“Yeah, I guess not,” Scott said, grinning sheepishly. “You figured out my master plan.”

Stiles rolled his eyes and decided to step in before Scott made a bigger idiot of himself.

“So, Isaac, where are you from?” Stiles asked.

“I’m originally from London,” Isaac answered, confirming Stiles’ earlier suspicion about his accent. “But I live in Sacramento now. What about you two?”

“Beacon Hills!” Scott answered. “Not too far from you!”

“Yeah, I guess not,” Isaac chuckled. “Um, I’m going to go put my luggage in the right room, and then I guess I’ll see you guys later.”

“At the safety demo!” Scott blurted as Isaac turned to leave.

Stiles almost buried his face in his hands.

“What?” Isaac asked as he turned back around.

“Um, I— I meant we’ll probably see you at the safety demo later. It starts in about an hour.” Scott said, chewing his lip nervously. “We all have to go, so we might as well go together, right?”

“Sure,” Isaac said. “I’m going to take a quick nap before then, but I’ll meet you guys up there later, sound good?”

“Sounds great!” Scott gushed.

Isaac gave him a quizzical look, and this time Stiles did bury his face in his hands.

“I mean, yeah, see you then,” Scott said quietly.

“Okay, cool.” Isaac chuckled. He smiled at Scott. “I guess I’ll see you guys in a little bit.”

“Bye, Isaac!” Scott called as Isaac walked out of the cabin.

Isaac turned and waved as he walked down the hallway.

“Dude, you like him,” Stiles said, once they closed the door and were back in the safety of Stiles’ cabin. “You totally like him. It could not be more obvious. Even Helen Keller would’ve been able to see that.”

“ Dude,” Scott hissed. “He’s a werewolf. He can probably hear you right now!” Then he paused, and frowned slightly. “I wasn’t that obvious, was I?”

“You totally were.” Stiles said. “But relax, he can’t hear us. These walls are soundproofed. I read it in the brochure. Probably so your sensitive wolfy ears won’t pick up the obscene amounts of sex that will no doubt be happening later on this week. And I am pretty sure you and Isaac will be contributing to that.”

“You think so?” Scott asked as he perked up at the mention of Isaac’s name. “He’s so cute,” Scott said. “Did you see his eyes? They were so blue! And his hair was so curly, I just wanted to bury my nose in it and scent him forever. And his eyes were just the bluest things I’ve even seen. And he was really sweet, too. Stiles, I really like him.”

“Okay, first of all: awwww,” Stiles said, folding his hands over his heart and leaning backwards. “Second of all: gross.”

“Stiles, I think I really like him. There’s just something about him that’s really great. My wolf likes it and so do I.”

“Okay, I’m gonna go out on a limb and say congratulations. You found someone that you’re interested in, and we haven’t even left the first port yet.” Stiles said. “So you go in your room and unpack, and we’ll meet Isaac on the top deck, and you can flirt until your little heart is content. Who knows, maybe Isaac will actually laugh at some of your jokes.”

“Hey, I’m funny,” Scott protested. “He was chuckling at my jokes just now.”

“Scott, you didn’t tell any jokes,” Stiles said, grinning. “He was probably chuckling because he thought you were awkward and cute.”

“He thinks I’m cute?” Scott asked. “Really?”

Stiles rolled his eyes. “Probably, despite the fact that you stumbled over half your words. And for some odd reason, he still wants to hang out with you some more. So go unpack and we’ll meet him up top in a little while.”

***

“Dude, there are so many hot guys here,” Stiles said as they mingled around the vast group of men waiting for the safety demo. They had stopped by Isaac’s room to see if he was still there, but he wasn’t so Stiles and Scott went up to find him. “Seriously, it’s like it’s an army of Armani and J. Crew models on a boat.”

“I haven’t really seen anyone too attractive,” Scott muttered, scanning the crowd. “I wonder where Isaac is. We never really said where we were going to meet.”

“Who’s Isaac?” Stiles joked. “Oh, you mean the curly haired guy who tried to come into my room earlier? The one you’re totally smitten with?”

“Yeah,” Scott said dreamily. “He was really cute. Did you see his eyes?”

“They were green, right?”

“Blue,” Scott answered airily. “So, so blue. He’s got to be up here right? He said he would be. Doesn’t everyone have to be at the safety demonstration?”

“Easy there, Scott.” Stiles said. “He’s probably up here somewhere. But seeing as how he misread his room key, he might have gone to the bottom deck on accident.”

“Oh no, he probably did!” Scott exclaimed. “Let’s go find him,” he said, grabbing Stiles’ hand. “I think I still have his scent in my nose. Come on!”

It was supposed to be a joke, but of course, Scott took it literally.

“Scott, I’m kidd—“ Stiles started, but Scott yanked him forward in his quest to go find Isaac. However, Scott was so insistent about finding Isaac that he didn’t notice when he tugged Stiles right into the back of a mountain of muscle. Stiles’ hand slipped free of Scott’s in the collision, and by the Stiles shook the stars out of his vision, Scott was nowhere to be found.

In Scott’s place was the mountain of muscle, except this time, it was turned around and had a face and eyes that were scowling. Stiles eyes widened as he took in the man’s appearance. He was slightly taller than Stiles, and his dark brown hair was slightly styled up. He had intense green eyes and a lovely five o’clock shadow. He looked Stiles up and down, and his face softened slightly.

“You should probably watch where you’re going,” Five O’Clock Shadow said, exasperation evident in his voice. “You might hurt someone.” .

“Sorry!” Stiles squeaked. “I didn’t— My friend is looking for someone—it was an accid—“

“It’s fine,” Five O’Clock Shadow sighed. “Just watch where you’re going next time.”

“Thanks,” Stiles said. “By the way, did you see which way my friend went? He’s kind of the reason I crashed into you. I didn’t see which way he went, because my face collided with your back.”

“Yeah, I didn’t see him,” said Five O’Clock Shadow. “I was trying to listen to what I should do in the case of an emergency, and the next thing I know, you catapulted into my back.”

“My bad,” Stiles said, “But I can tell you what to do in an emergency. I learned everything I know from Shark Week.”

“I don’t know if you should be proud of that fact.”

“Dude, Shark Week is totally legit,” Stiles said. “Did you know that when your ship blows up, sharks are attracted to the noise in the water, so your best bet is to swim away from the wreckage? That way the sharks won’t be that close to you.”

“I’ll be sure to remember that, as I’m tearing the sharks to shreds with my claws.” Five O’Clock Shadow drily.

“That doesn’t sound very intimidating,” Stiles said. “It would’ve been better if you had said, ‘as I’m ripping out its throat with my teeth.’ That seems like something you would do.”

“Tell you what,” Five O’Clock Shadow said, “if the boat goes down, I’ll claw the sharks to shreds and you rip out their throats with your teeth. I’m pretty sure that two werewolves will be able to handle themselves in an ocean full of sharks.”

“But I’m not really a—“ Stiles said, before he paused.

There was no way someone as hot as Five O’Clock Shadow would even talk to him if he knew Stiles was a human. Sure he seemed nice now, but that all could change once Five O’Clock Shadow realized Stiles was a human. If pretending to be a werewolf kept Five O’Clock Shadow talking to him, then Stiles could pretend to be a werewolf. At least until the dolphins, and until Stiles got off this boat.

“But I’m not really into sushi,” Stiles said. “I don’t like raw fish. You rip their throats out, and I’ll claw them to shreds.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Five O’Clock Shadow said, eyes flashing alpha red. Because of course Stiles would be lying to an alpha. “Hopefully it won’t come to that, but at least I know someone will have my back.”

“Sure thing,” Stiles said, trying to keep his heartbeat under control. The last thing he needed was for Five O’Clock Shadow to pick up on his elevating heartbeat. Then the whole charade would come crashing down, and not even the dolphins would be enough to salvage a trip when no one talked to him for a week.

“Cool,” Five O’Clock Shadow said. “I’m glad I met you. I didn’t think I would meet anyone on this boat. I didn’t even want to come, to be honest.”

“You didn’t want to come on the guys-only singles cruise?” Stiles asked, dumbfounded. “But why? I know you probably get this a lot, but you’re really hot. Like really, really, hot. Why wouldn’t you want to come on a singles cruise? A guy like you could probably take home about half the guys on this boat.”

“I’m not really into the dating scene,” Five O’Clock Shadow said. “Especially not when it’s all commercialized like this. Never really been my thing.”

“Then why are you here?” Stiles asked. “It sounds like you’re not going to try to find anyone special on this cruise, so why come? Why not just go on a regular vacation? Save yourself the trouble of having a bunch of guys hit on you.”

“My parents,” Five O’Clock Shadow muttered. “They suckered me into this. They bought a ticket and they said it was going to go to waste if I didn’t use it. My mom even started crying a little bit. She’s been trying to get me in a relationship for the past couple of years. This is her latest ploy to try and get me off the market. I wasn’t going to fall for it, but she really turned on the tears.”

“And you fell for it anyway?” Stiles asked, a smile creeping across his face. “Dude, fake tears are like the oldest trick in a mother’s handbook. I’m pretty sure they teach how to fake cry at How To Be A Mother 101.”

“Tell me about it,” Five O’Clock Shadow replied. “But it worked, so here I am. I figure I can at least get free drinks for of the week. And it wouldn’t be too bad to lie out on the beaches. What about you? What are you here for, looking for a mate?”

“Nope, the dolphins,” Stiles answered without skipping a beat. “You can swim with the dolphins in Cozumel, and that’s the only thing that’s keeping me on this boat for the next week. Oh, and to look after my friend, who may or may not have just found the love of his life. Speaking of which, I should probably go find him.”

“Oh, okay,” Five O’Clock Shadow said. “Well since you’re not looking for anyone and I’m not looking for anyone, maybe we should hang out this week. I’m Derek, by the way,” he said, extending his hand.

“That sounds good to me,” Stiles answered. “I’m Stiles. And I hate to meet and dash, but I really should find Scott. I’ll see you later!”

“Later, Stiles,” Derek said. “I’ll come find you later. Maybe we can grab a drink or something.”

“Sounds good,” Stiles answered as he walked away. Once he was confident that Derek couldn’t see him anymore, he broke out into a run. He needed to let off some all the pent up adrenaline in his system. He was still a little shocked that someone as hot as Derek actually was willing to spend time with him this week. So what Derek thought he was a werewolf, Stiles was pretty sure he could keep that charade up for the remainder of the week.

Stiles was still excited, he wasn’t paying any attention to where he was going, so he ran right into someone.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” the guy asked, sneering at Stiles. “Can you watch where you’re going? It’s a big fucking boat, try not to run into everyone you meet.”

Okay, this guy needed a seriously reality check. He looked and acted like he was a complete and total tool, like he was an All-American athlete for a Division One college. His blond hair was spiked up and he crossed his arms menacingly over his chest.

“Sorry,” Stiles muttered. “Won’t happen again.”

“It better not,” the guy sneered. “Just stay away from me,” he added as he walked away.

As soon as he was confident that he was a safe enough distance from Derek and the new guy, Stiles slumped into the nearest wall. Stiles hadn’t even been on the boat for a day, and already he was friends with a very attractive alpha werewolf, who he may or may not have a huge crush on, and he had a new mortal enemy in the All-American athlete. Meanwhile, Scott was pretty much infatuated with Isaac, and Stiles was pretty sure that Isaac was pretty into Scott as well.

It was certainly going to be an eventful week.

Chapter Text

Ninety-nine times out of one hundred, Stiles really enjoyed the fact that he wasn’t a werewolf.

He didn’t have a freak out once a month on the full moon. He wasn’t affected by silver or wolfsbane. (He was allergic to grass, but that didn’t count.) He also only had regular senses. If he had a penny for every time Scott complained that Deaton had too much cologne on at work or, “That trash stinks, Stiles, take it out,” he would be a millionaire.

However, now was the one time that Stiles wished he was a werewolf and had Scott’s werewolf senses. He had been walking around the cruise ship for the better part of thirty minutes, and he hadn’t seen Scott or Isaac once. If he had been a werewolf, he would’ve just scented Scott down, the same way Scott had scented down Isaac.

And Stiles knew Scott had found Isaac. He had texted Scott five times and called him twice and Scott hadn’t responded back once. Scott didn’t answer his phone for three reasons: he was sleeping, he was working, or he was hanging out with someone who he was hardcore interested in. Last year when Scott decided that he wanted to date Danny, Stiles had barely been able to get a hold of him.

Stiles sighed as he made his way around the boat for the third time. Everywhere he looked, he saw werewolves in groups of two, three or four laughing and chatting. Every now and then he caught someone’s eye, but then another werewolf would come and swoop up that person, and Stiles would be left awkwardly standing in the middle of the room.

Finally, after his fifth trip around the ship, Stiles decided that he wasn’t going to locate Scott and Isaac by walking aimlessly around the boat. It was getting to the point where people were starting to recognize him from his previous trips, and Stiles didn’t want to be known as ‘that one awkward werewolf who walks around the cruise ship with nothing to do’. There was one older werewolf who actually stopped Stiles in the middle of looking for Scott and Isaac, and actually hardcore hit on him.

“Baby, maybe you should take a break,” the older werewolf purred, placing his hands on Stiles’ shoulders. “You look like you’re exhausted, because you’ve been running around this cruise ship and running through my mind all afternoon. How about we go back to my cabin and I can run through that ass?”

“Okay, first of all, not interested, so don’t touch me.” Stiles answered, grabbing the werewolf’s hands and removing them from his shoulders. “Second, I didn’t realize that the ‘Werewolves Over Fifty’ mixer took up the entire boat.”

After that awkward encounter, Stiles decided that maybe the best way to locate Scott and Isaac would be just to wait in one place, and hopefully they would get bored flirting with each other and come find Stiles. So Stiles decided to go back up to the top deck and look out over the waves from the top of the boat.

As he made his way to the railing overlooking the ocean, Stiles saw two werewolves standing very close together. One had shaggy brown hair and he had one of his arms draped around the shoulders of a curly blond werewolf.

Stiles rolled his eyes so hard they almost broke, because of course Scott and Isaac wouldn’t have gone that far. They had probably been there the entire time; Stiles just hadn’t thought to look for them after his run-ins with Derek and the All-American Douchebag.

“Is this a joke?” Stiles asked when he made his way over to his friends. “Have you guys seriously been here the whole time?”

“Oh, hi, Stiles,” Scott said as he turned around. “Where did you go? One second you were with me, and then I couldn’t find you. But I found Isaac,” he added, smiling as if completely ditching his best friend could be justified by finding his new boyfriend or mate or whatever wolfy term it was. Isaac, at least, had the decency to blush and offer a sheepish smile. “How did the safety demo go? We didn’t really pay that much attention.”

“It was—“ Stiles paused when he realized that he actually hadn’t paid any attention during the safety demo either. He had been too busy marveling at Derek’s five o’clock shadow. But he wasn’t sure if he wanted Scott to know that he met someone too. Because then Scott would go on a tangent about making sure that Derek knew how awesome of a human Stiles was. And that was something Stiles really didn’t need right now.

“It was good,” Stiles continued. “If the boat goes down, try to swim away from the wreckage, so you don’t attract sharks.”

“Stiles, you’re just quoting things from Shark Week,” Scott said, rolling his eyes. “You told me that fact for like a week straight when you first saw that episode. You did go to the safety demo, didn’t you?”

“Yeah, I was there,” Stiles said weakly. “I just didn’t really pay that much attention, either.”

“Why?” Isaac asked. “Was it boring?” He blinked and looked at Stiles expectantly.

“Um, yeah, tot—totally boring,” Stiles tried. “The most boring thing I’ve ever been through in my life, and that includes the general ed. classes I took in college.”

“Even if I wasn’t a werewolf I’d be able to tell you were lying,” Scott groaned. “Come on, Stiles, just tell us what happened. Clearly you either didn’t go to the safety demo, or you didn’t pay attention. So what happened?”

Stiles sighed. “I met someone,” he said weakly. Hopefully he had said it quietly enough that Scott would ask him to repeat himself, giving him enough time to think of one last excuse.

“You did?” Scott exclaimed. Because of course he’d heard. Damn werewolf hearing. “Stiles, that’s great! That’s so cool! And you said that you were only here for the dolphins, but look at you. Not even on the boat one day and you’ve already got a gentlemanly caller. What’s this guy like?”

“His name is Derek,” Stiles said. “And he’s really big and muscly. He’s built like a mountain, to be honest. You two need to hit the gym if you want to keep up with this guy.”

“I think I’ll pass,” Scott said, grinning. “I’m comfortable with my body, and I like the way I look. I like the way you look, too,” he added, turning to Isaac, who may or may not have blushed slightly.

Stiles rolled his eyes.

“So, does Derek know you’re a not werewolf?” Scott asked. “Don’t worry,” he added, noticing the shocked look that Stiles gave him. “Isaac already figured it out. He doesn’t mind.”

“I just like nice people,” Isaac said, nodding. “And you’re a nice guy, so I like you.” He looked at Stiles and beamed, and Stiles resisted the urge to hug him for all he was worth.

“So, funny story about Derek,” Stiles started. “We first bonded over the fact that if the boat goes down, all the sharks in the water are going to be dead because they’re going to be no match for two werewolves. So, to answer your question: No, he does not know that I’m not a werewolf. And he’s an alpha, so if he finds out, he’ll probably kill me.”

“He’s not going to kill you, Stiles,” Scott said. “He’ll just probably be a little angry for a little bit, and then you guys can lie out on the beach, and everything will turn out okay.”

“Yeah, I doubt it,” Stiles said. “But I’m not telling him I’m human, and you two aren’t going to tell him I’m a human, so all I have to do is pretend that I’m a werewolf for a week, and then I’ll never see him again.”

“You think that you can hide your humanity for a week?” Isaac asked frowning slightly. “How do plan to do that?”

“Well, he’s already met me once, and he didn’t say anything about me not exactly smelling like a werewolf,” Stiles said. “I figure that since I’m around so many werewolves all the time on this boat, the collective werewolf smell rubs off on me. And don’t you guys have to really focus to smell humanity anyway?”

“Yeah,” Scott answered. “I have to be looking for the telltale human scent. It doesn’t just hit my nose automatically. Still Stiles, I would just tell Derek that you’re a human. He probably won’t care either way.”

“Nope,” Stiles said, shaking his head. “Not gonna risk it. Everything is going to turn out fine this week. Don’t worry about me. Let’s go get drinks and talk about something else.”

“Where are we going to get drinks?” Isaac asked. “Are there bars on the boat?”

“Oh, Isaac,” Stiles sighed, slinging his arm around Isaac’s shoulders. “This is a cruise ship. They have whatever your little heart desires.”

Stiles, Scott and Isaac eventually found a bar on the promenade deck of the ship. They had found a bar on the top deck, but the creepy older werewolf that had hit on Stiles earlier was there, so Stiles had made the executive decision to find another bar.

Plus the bar on the top deck was way too crowded since everyone had remained up there after the safety demonstration.

“Drinks for everyone!” Stiles called as he, Scott and Isaac approached the bar. “I want something that’ll get me going.”

“I’m down for that,” Scott agreed. “What do you want, Isaac?”

“I’m fine with whatever,” Isaac answered. “But where’s the bartender?”

“Right here,” came a sultry voice. “What can I get you guys?”

Stiles’ mouth dropped, because their bartender was a beautiful blonde. Her long hair was styled and parted so it framed her face perfectly. Her makeup was done flawlessly; she had the ideal amount of black eye shadow to highlight her beautiful brown eyes. She leaned forward onto the bar and propped her head onto one of hands, smiling seductively at Stiles, Scott and Isaac.

“You--you’re a girl,” Stiles stuttered, desperately trying to keep his eyes on her face, and not on her breasts, which were on full display. At least he was able to catch a glimpse of her nametag, which read: Erica. “You’re a girl on an all-guy cruise.”

“And you’re a human, on a cruise mainly for werewolves. What’s your point?” Erica answered, leaning way into Stiles’ personal space and inhaling deeply. “You’re also sober. So maybe I can do something about that.”

“How did you know I was human?” Stiles asked. “Do lots of humans come on this cruise?”

“I’m a bartender, it’s my job to know about my patrons. I can be very attentive when I want to be,” Erica replied, grinning. “I would say this cruise is generally about ninety-five percent werewolves, and five percent humans. I wish this cruise did have more humans, to be honest. It can get a little tedious serving werewolves all the time. So I like that you’re human. But I won’t tell anyone, if it bothers you. You three are cute,” she added, smiling at the three of them. “What can I get you guys to drink?”

“Can I get a White Russian?” Scott asked.

“Can I get the Christmas Special?” Stiles asked.

“Sure thing,” Erica replied, smiling. “I’ll hold the wolfsbane in yours.”

“Huh, what?” Stiles asked. “There’s no wolfsbane in a Christmas Special. It’s just Fireball and Apple juice.”

“You’re doing a really terrible job of trying to fit in on a werewolf cruise if you don’t even know how werewolves get drunk,” Erica giggled. “Our immune systems nullify the effects of alcohol, so we add wolfsbane as a standard to all our drinks to weaken us so we can get drunk.”

“Look at the sign, Stiles,” Scott said, pointing to a sign on the wall that read, ‘all alcoholic beverages will be served with wolfsbane unless specified.’

“Oh, that makes sense,” Stiles said. “Can I get a Christmas Special, hold the wolfsbane?”

“Of course you can,” Erica said, rolling her eyes and grinning. “And for you, cute stuff?” she asked, turning to Isaac.

“Can I have a wolfsbane appletini?” Isaac asked.

“Well aren’t you adorable,” Erica purred. “You don’t want the hard stuff like your friends?”

“I like appletinis,” Isaac said, blushing. “They taste good.”

“No one’s gonna judge you for getting a girly drink on a gay cruise,” Erica said, grinning and leaning on the bar. “I’ll have those drinks right out.”

After a couple rounds of drinks, Stiles was starting to feel pretty good. Erica was making the drinks so that he barely tasted the alcohol. He wasn’t drunk, but if he kept drinking the way he was, he was going to be pretty soon.

The bar was starting to fill up, too. Apparently the bar on the top deck was getting too crowded, and word was spreading how good of a bartender Erica was. She hovered around Stiles, Scott and Isaac when she wasn’t bustling around making drinks for other people. She seemed to like taking care of them.

“You’ve probably had enough to drink, Stiles,” she said, clearing away his glass. “I think that’s your fourth drink. I don’t want you stumbling around the ship, and I especially don’t want you puking on my bar,” she added, grinning. “Just have some juice this round, take a break.”

“Okay,” Stiles said through a burp. “Cool stuff. Hey, Erica,” he asked. “Do werewolves mind that sometimes humans come on this cruise?”

“Not really,” Erica answered, handing him some juice. “Usually they’re a little confused about why a human would want to come on this cruise in the first place, but once they get over that, I’ve never seen it become a problem. On the last cruise, there was a werewolf who found a human and they hit it off immediately. Every now and then you get werewolves who don’t like any humans on the ship, but that doesn’t happen very often. Don’t worry about that though, if any werewolf doesn’t want to date you because you’re a human, then he’s not worth your time.”

“Oh, I see,” Stiles said, smiling. “That makes me feel better.” He was feeling pretty relaxed. He took a sip of his juice and turned around in his chair and surveyed the crowd of werewolves at the bar. They were paired in groups of two or three, and were chatting amongst themselves. Stiles looked over and saw that Scott was draped over Isaac in a slightly more than friendly gesture. He wasn’t drunk, but he certainly wasn’t sober either.

Other werewolves were looking at them with amused expressions on their faces.

“Sucks to be a third wheel doesn’t it?” One werewolf asked Stiles. “Those two are all over each other.”

“I can’t compete with it,” Stiles replied, grinning. “They’ve been like that pretty much all afternoon, and they just met this morning.”

“Huh. Maybe they’re soul mates,” the other werewolf said. “I wouldn’t put it past them. Especially the way the brown haired one is draped over the other one. And he’s not even being discreet about scenting him in public.”

Stiles grinned, even though he was a human, he wasn’t an idiot. It was obvious to everyone that Scott was scenting Isaac. His face was literally buried in the crook of Isaac’s neck, and his arms were wrapped tightly around Isaac’s shoulders. And judging by the content look on Isaac’s face, he didn’t have a problem with that at all. His eyes were closed and he leaned into Scott’s embrace. If they weren’t doing it in the middle of the bar, it would be a little more romantic. But they were clearly enjoying themselves, and if Scott was happy, then Stiles was happy for him.

Stiles burped again, and spun around in his stool a couple times. He thought about going back to his cabin to take a nap, when a hand grabbed his shoulder.

“Having fun on the merry go round?” a familiar voice asked him.

“Derek!” Stiles said, grinning as he turned around. “What are you doing here?”

“I told you I’d find you later,” Derek replied. “I didn’t realize that you would get drinks without me,” he added. “What are you drinking? I don’t smell any wolfsbane in it.”

“Just juice for now,” Stiles said, handing Derek his glass. “Erica told me to sit this round out. Oh, by the way, this is my friend Scott and our new friend Isaac.”

Scott pulled his face out of Isaac’s neck long enough to shake Derek’s hand. Isaac, however, could only smile and nod, because Scott’s arms were still wrapped around his shoulders, preventing movement.

“Nice to meet you both,” Derek said, eyeing Scott curiously. “Do you want to take another drink?” he asked Stiles.

“I think I could have a couple more,” Stiles said as he drained the last of his juice. “Erica, can I get another round of Christmas, and whatever my friend is having.”

“Disaronno. On the rocks,” Derek said, nodding at Erica.

“I’ll get those right out,” she said. “I’ll hold the wolfsbane in yours again, Stiles.”

“Why is she holding the wolfsbane?” Derek asked, raising an eyebrow. “Why bother drinking the alcohol if you can’t get drunk?”

“Oh, she probably thinks I’ve had enough already,” Stiles explained nervously. Hopefully Derek wouldn’t connect the pieces and realize he was already a little buzzed and he didn’t have an ounce of wolfsbane in his system. “I’m kind of a lightweight, not all muscle like you.”

“Point taken,” Derek said, nodding. “You’re probably done after three shots.”

“Four,” Stiles corrected, frowning slightly. “But that’s not any of your business.”

“Cheers,” he said, once Erica returned with their drinks. “To having a good week.”

“Cheers,” Derek agreed, clinking his glass with Stiles’. “Hopefully I don’t rip out my own throat from being on this cruise for so long, and hopefully the dolphins are everything you hope they are.”

“They better be,” Stiles said, grinning. “And I’ll try to keep you from ripping your throat out.”

“You’ll probably have to hang out with me a lot then,” Derek said, rolling his eyes and taking a sip of his drink. “After you left, I think I got hit on by about twenty different guys. I lost track of how many times I had to say that I wasn’t interested in dating.

“Well you are very attractive, and this is a singles cruise,” Stiles said, shrugging his shoulders. “You can’t really blame people for trying to get in your pants. But I’m sure once people start pairing off, you won’t get hit on as much. Case in point,” he added, gesturing to Scott, who still had his nose nuzzled in Isaac’s neck. “No one’s going to hit on Isaac for the rest of the cruise.”

Isaac perked up at the mention of his name, but nestled back into Scott when Stiles shook his head.

“You’re probably right,” Derek snorted. “But if you’re not, I’m throwing you overboard. Hopefully you can claw up enough sharks until the coast guard arrives to save you.”

Stiles coughed awkwardly, because he’d forgotten that Derek still thought he was a werewolf. That was still a little bit of a problem.

Derek and Stiles chatted a little while longer. Or more like Stiles chatted, and Derek simply answered his questions. He wasn’t the most talkative person Stiles had ever met, but at least he was talking to Stiles. As they were sitting at the bar about five different werewolves came and hit on Derek at one point or another.

He ignored every single one of them.

“What’s with your friend?” one werewolf asked Stiles, after Derek had just given him the cold shoulder. “He’s not into Jewish werewolves?”

“Come back later,” Stiles said. “He’s just not really in the mood to flirt right now.”

“Whatever,” Jewish Werewolf snorted. “What about you? You’re pretty cute.”

“Considering how you’re only talking to me because you just struck out with my friend, I’m gonna say keep walking,” Stiles said, frowning slightly.

“He’s a tool,” Derek said, once the werewolf was gone.

“You’re one to talk,” Stiles said, raising his eyebrows. “He literally hit on you for five minutes and you didn’t even say one word to him. He asked Erica to bring you another drink. You could’ve at least said, ‘no thank you.’ But you glared at him.”

“I don’t want to get hit on,” Derek said simply, as if that justified completely and totally ignoring another werewolf.

“Okay, look,” Stiles said. “If we’re gonna hang out all week and keep each other sane from all the guys that hit on you and then use me as a rebound, I’m gonna need to know a little bit more about you.”

“What do you want to know?” Derek asked.

“How about we start with why you’re so grumpy?” Stiles asked.

“I’m not grumpy,” Derek muttered. “I just don’t really like dealing with people. I’m a cop. I deal with enough people during my job. I came on this cruise because I got guilt tripped into it by my mother, because she thinks that I don’t socialize enough inside and outside of work.”

“Do you think you socialize enough?” Stiles asked.

“I eat lunch with Boyd everyday,” Derek said.

“Who’s Boyd?” Stiles asked. “Your co-worker? Your boss? Your best friend?”

“He’s the fish that I have in my office,” Derek explained.

“Dude, that is miserable,” Stiles said. “No wonder your mom shipped you off on this cruise. I would turn on the tears too. You eat lunch with a goldfish.”

“It doesn’t bother me,” Derek said. “Boyd may as well be my best friend. I shouldn’t have come on this cruise to begin with. I’m not a people person. I’m not looking to date anyone, and I can get drinks at home. Coming on this cruise was a mistake.”

“You could be a little more optimistic,” Stiles offered helpfully. “What if you find a nice werewolf who’s really into you, and you guys just hit it off? Maybe I could find someone who I think you would like. Or maybe you could just flirt with some of the humans on the isla-“

“No humans,” Derek cut in. “Definitely no humans.”

Stiles took a second to compose himself, because he had not been expecting to hear that. He hadn’t pegged Derek as a werewolf elitist, but apparently you couldn’t judge a book by his cover.

“No— no humans?” Stiles asked weakly. “What does that mean?”

“I had a bad experience with a human once,” Derek said quietly. “It ended badly for both of us.”

“Oh,” Stiles said softly. “Can I ask what happened?”

“I’d prefer if you didn’t,” Derek muttered, draining the rest of his Disaronno. “Just know that it was hard on both of us. But I don’t date humans. So if you are going to play matchmaker, just make sure whoever you decide on isn’t a human.”

Whatever hopes Stiles had of maybe hooking up Derek by the end of the cruise immediately went up in smoke. Derek was so incredibly adamant about not dating humans, that Stiles was tempted to just end their newfound friendship right then and there. It would be easier on both of them. Stiles wouldn’t be lusting after a werewolf who didn’t want to date him because of his genetic makeup, and Derek wouldn’t kill Stiles on the off chance that he found out that Stiles was a human.

“No humans,” Stiles repeated somewhat bitterly. “Check.”

Clearly, their conversation was over, so Stiles occupied himself by looking around the bar. The crowd was starting to thin out as the other werewolves went out to explore other parts of the ship and get dinner.

“Hey, Stiles, we’re gonna go,” Scott said. “Isaac wants to go meet people at the International Werewolves mixer in a little bit.”

Stiles almost asked why they were both going, but then it made sense. If Stiles had just spent the past twenty minutes scenting Derek, then he wouldn’t want Derek to go parade into another werewolf mixer alone either. He completely understood where Scott was coming from.

“I just want to see if there are other werewolves from England,” Isaac explained, as if reading Stiles’ mind. “Plus I’m pretty sure that no respectable werewolf is going to try to hit on me when I smell like Scott.”

“They better not,” Scott growled good-naturedly, but with the slightest hint of threat. “But they won’t get the chance.”

“What are your plans for tomorrow, Stiles?” Isaac asked. “We’re going to be in the Bahamas. Scott and I are going to Atlantis Paradise Island. Do you and Derek want to come too? I know it’s not the dolphins yet, but I think it’ll be fun.”

“I don’t really think that would be a good—“ Stiles started, glancing nervously at Derek. Clearly during their scent-fest, Scott and Isaac had been completely oblivious to Stiles’ and Derek’s conversation.

“Sure,” Derek said, cutting Stiles off. “I’m okay with that.”

Stiles eyes widened and he turned to look at Derek, who simply shrugged in return.

“Okay, cool,” Isaac said, grinning. “We’ll see you guys later.” He threaded his fingers through Scott’s and they exited the bar.

“I’m, um, I’m gonna go to my cabin,” Stiles said quietly. “I guess I’ll see you later.”

“I’ll walk you there,” Derek said.

“No, no, it’s fine, I’ll just—“

“Don’t worry about it,” Derek said, his tone leaving no room for argument.

“Okay,” Stiles said quickly.

It was one of the most awkward elevator rides Stiles had ever been on. Thankfully there were only two floors between the ninth floor and the promenade floor. If it had been any more, Stiles would’ve shot himself. It was just him, Derek and the elevator music.

Stiles heard enough Beethoven in that elevator ride to last him for his entire life.

When they finally got to Stiles’ door, Stiles hesitated.

“Are you sure you want to hang out with us tomorrow?” Stiles asked, eyeing Derek nervously. “I don’t want you to feel pressured to do anything you don’t want to do.”

“Why are you trying to talk me out of it?” Derek asked, raising an eyebrow. “I already said I would go.”

“No—I just, I just don’t want you to feel uncomfortable if a bunch of guys start hitting on you tomorrow.”

“It’ll be fine,” Derek said. “If anything I’ll just pretend that you’re my boyfriend or something.”

Stiles almost choked.

“Right,” he said, nervously. “Well let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.” If Derek didn’t date humans, he probably wouldn’t pretend-date a human either. Then again, Derek still thought that Stiles was a werewolf.

But now, Stiles was more prepared for upcoming werewolf assumptions. If he was going to pretend to be a werewolf around Derek, then he was going to have to commit to being a werewolf one hundred percent.

“We’ll be fine tomorrow,” Derek said. “What’s the worst that could happen?”

Stiles had a whole list of things that could happen. He was working on ranking them from worse to worse-er to worse-est.

“Nothing,” he said instead. “Should be a fun day.”

“Yeah, we can count how many times Scott scents Isaac or something,” Derek said. “By the way he was leaking hormones,” he added. “He was leaking all over the bar. I don’t know how you were able to stand it.”

“Oh, you know, practice,” Stiles answered. “Been hanging around Scott all my life. Nothing he does really surprises me anymore.”

“I guess that makes sense,” Derek said, nodding. “Isaac seems to like him though. They fit well together.”

Stiles was about to agree when a familiar voice rang out through the hallway.

“Derek? Derek Hale?”

Stiles turned around and saw the All-American Douchebag walking towards them both.

“What are you doing here?” All-American Douchebag asked. “I haven’t seen you since we broke up.”

Stiles jaw almost hit the floor, Derek Hale and All-American Douchebag had dated? What were the odds of that?

“Jackson?” Derek asked, almost equally as dumbfounded. “I didn’t know you were here.”

“Well if you were still friends with me on Facebook, you would’ve seen my statuses about coming on this cruise,” Jackson sneered. “I think I posted about fifteen.”

“My loss,” Derek said. He was visibly closing himself off. He wasn’t exactly best friend material with Stiles, but it seemed like Derek really wanted to be away from Jackson. Clearly their break-up hadn’t been that good, at least on Derek’s part. “How have you been?”

“Good,” Jackson answered. “I think I’ve matured a lot more, since we broke up. I’m definitely more humble. I remember you said that when you broke up with me. So I’ve really been working on that.”

“Right,” Derek said, nodding his head. “Are you trying to find someone here?”

“I was,” Jackson said. “You know, since the whole your mom setting us up didn’t really work out. But now that you’re here, I think maybe we should give it another shot.”

Stiles narrowed his eyes. He may not have scented Derek the same way Scott scented Isaac, but he didn’t like the fact that Jackson was blatantly trying to get Derek back when Derek was clearly having a conversation with Stiles. Talk about boundaries.

And Jackson said that he was a changed man. Personally, Stiles didn’t buy it.

“I’m not here for love,” Derek said. “I’m really only here because my mom guilt tripped me into coming. This is Stiles, by the way”

“We’ve met,” Jackson sneered, shaking Stiles’ hand, albeit very loosely. “He slammed into me a little while ago.”

“That’s the same way he met me,” Derek said. “He seems to have a habit for doing that.”

Stiles smiled sheepishly and offered Jackson another apologetic look.

“Okay, cool,” Jackson said dismissively. “What are you doing tomorrow, Derek? We should hang out in the Bahamas. See if we can make this work again.”

“I’m hanging out with Stiles tomorrow,” Derek answered quickly.

“Oh, bummer. Well we’ll hang out later. We’ve got all week.” Jackson said, laughing. He was clearly way too into himself to pick up on Derek’s clipped sentences, and utter lack of motivation of wanting to rekindle the romance. “I guess I’ll see you around. My cabin is 949, so I was going to take a nap. Nice meeting you, Stiles.”

“Likewise,” Stiles said, nodding.

“I can’t stand him,” Derek said, once Jackson was in his cabin. “He’s one of the most pompous people I’ve ever met. My mom set us up last year, and it just didn’t work out at all. We lasted two months before I had to end things. I just couldn’t deal with the ego.”

“Yeah, he seems pretty arrogant,” Stiles agreed.

“You don’t know the half of it,” Derek said, rolling his eyes. “I’m not looking forward to seeing him this week. Hopefully he’s not going to the waterpark too.”

“Hopefully,” Stiles said. “So I guess I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“Yeah,” Derek said. “Fun times at the water park.” He nodded at Stiles before walking away.

“Absolutely,” Stiles muttered to himself. “Fun times at the waterpark with the hot werewolf who doesn’t date humans and the new wonder-couple, Scott and Isaac.”

He really needed to get a countdown calendar until Cozumel and the dolphins, because they were they were the only things that were keeping him sane. This was one of the most complicated vacations he had ever been on, and it was only the first day.

Chapter Text

“Wait, so let me get this straight,” Scott said, frowning as he combed his hair in the mirror. Stiles was pretty sure the only time Scott ever paid attention to his hair was when he had a pretty big crush on someone. Isaac was a lucky guy. “Derek Hale, who is an alpha werewolf, and who you may or may not have a crush on, does not date humans because of some personal experience?”

“Yep,” Stiles said, around a bite of muffin. They had decided to order room service because it was free, and because Erica had great things to say about the muffins. Being on a cruise ship had its advantages. “He wouldn’t tell me what happened, but whatever it was, it didn’t seem like it ended well for him. He even got grumpier than usual.”

“Okay,” Scott said, combing his hair in a different direction. He grabbed some hair gel and ran it through his hair. He was pretty much giving his hair the royal treatment just for Isaac. Seriously, Isaac should feel honored. “But why are you still hanging out with him? You’re a human, Stiles.”

“Oh, wow, thanks Scott,” Stiles deadpanned. “I had no idea I was a human. I thought being on a ship full of werewolves would magically turn me into a werewolf.”

“Don’t get mad at me,” Scott said. “I’m just trying to understand. He doesn’t date humans, you have a crush on him, and you still want to hang out with him; it just sounds like a recipe for disaster.”

As much as Stiles hated to admit it, Scott did have a point. Aside from the fact that Derek was incredibly hot, Stiles really had no reason to hang out with him. Derek wasn’t interested in dating anyone, he seemed to have some vendetta against humans and to top it all off he was kind of grumpy. Under any other circumstances, those three things would’ve been grounds to terminate the friendship, but there was just something about Derek that made Stiles just want to hang out with him.

Maybe it was a bad idea to keep hanging out with Derek. According to Scott, the cons seemed to outweigh the pros, but Stiles was nothing if not stubborn, and so far, Derek was the only friend (outside of Isaac) that Stiles had made on this cruise, and until Stiles finally got to swim with the dolphins, he and Derek we’re sticking together.

“One, we’re not even dating,” Stiles pointed out. “Two, I don’t have—it’s not that big of a crush. I’m only here for the dolphins!”

“Whatever,” Scott said. “I just don’t want to see you get hurt. I don’t want to have to have an werewolf on werewolf showdown in the middle of the ocean, but anything for you, buddy.”

“You’re the best,” Stiles said, grinning.

He flopped back on the bed and looked at the ocean through the window, squinting as the rays of sun hit his eyes. The ship had already made it into the port, but the waterpark didn’t open for another couple of hours. Stiles yawned and folded his arms behind his head and continued to watch Scott struggle on the best possible decisions to further woo Isaac.

“Hey, Stiles, which swimsuit makes my abs look better? The orange one or the blue one? I kind of want Isaac to notice them at the water park.”

“Dude, as soon as you take off your shirt, he’s probably not going to be able to take his eyes off of you,” Stiles joked. “He let you scent him in public . Even I know that’s a pretty big deal.”

“Yeah, I did scent him,” Scott said, smiling dreamily. “He smelled so nice, and then he smelled like me, and then he smelled even nicer.”

“Slow down, Romeo,” Stiles replied, walking over and slinging an arm around Scott’s shoulders. “I don’t need to know all the mushy details. Just let me know when the wedding is.” He ruffled Scott’s hair and laughed at the good-natured glare he received for his efforts.

“You bet,” Scott replied, as his frown faded into a grin and he resumed combing his hair. “Dude, our first date is going to be in the Bahamas. How many other couples can say that?”

“Gee, I don’t know, Scott,” Stiles said sarcastically. “Maybe people who actually live in the Bahamas?”

Scott rolled his eyes and shoved Stiles out of the bathroom. “That doesn’t count,” he said, frowning. “And now you can wait until I finish my hair.”

***

It took Scott another fifteen minutes to perfect his hairstyle and then he and Stiles joined Isaac and Derek at the entrance of the waterpark.

“I’ve never really been to a waterpark before,” Isaac said. “Do you think they have the toilet bowl slide here? The one where you shoot down and then spin around a couple times and fall out of the bottom?”

“I’m pretty sure they do,” Scott replied. He was walking alongside Isaac and holding his hand. His hair looked no different than it usually did, and neither the blue nor orange swim trunks did his abs justice, so he was sporting a pair of green swim trunks instead. “This is one of the most famous waterparks on the planet. They should have everything.”

“Cool,” Isaac said, grinning. “What are you guys going to do?” he asked, turning to Stiles and Derek.

Stiles opened his mouth and then looked at Derek to answer. After all, it wasn’t like they could really split up. Being at the waterpark alone was like going to the movies alone. You looked weird sitting there by yourself, so you always did it with someone else.

“If we’re here, we might as well ride the ride that’s in all the commercials,” Derek said, looking slightly less than excited.

“Oh the Leap of Faith?” Scott asked. “I hear that’s a good one. I checked the website last night,” he added, noticing the curious looks that Stiles and Derek gave him. “What? I wanted to have the best possible time,” he added, grinning and slinging an arm around Isaac’s shoulders.

“I wanted to ride that one too,” Isaac said, smiling at Scott. “So I guess we can all go there together after we put all of our stuff in the lockers.”

The four of them made their way over to the lockers and started to remove everything but their swimsuits. Judging the shade of red Isaac turned when Scott took his shirt off, Stiles would venture a guess and say that Scott made the right choice with the green swim trunks.

“Can you put a little sunscreen on my back, Isaac?” Scott asked, subtly winking at Stiles. “I don’t want to get sunburned.”

“But you’re a werewolf,” Isaac said, eyebrows furrowing slightly. “You can’t get sunburned.”

“Always better to be safer than sorry,” Scott said, tossing the sunscreen to Isaac.

“S-sure,” Isaac said as he fumbled with the sunscreen. “Just your back?”

“I guess you could do my chest, too, if you wanted,” Scott said suggestively.

Stiles coughed and shook his head fondly. Scott could really turn on the charm when he wanted to. Poor Isaac never stood a chance. Stiles looked over at Derek and shrugged his shoulders and Derek snorted and looked away, not before Stiles could see the small smirk that was creeping across his face. Stiles grinned to himself and turned back to put his stuff in the locker when he felt cold, moist hands massage his back.

“What the?”

“You need sunscreen too,” Derek said casually, rubbing the sunscreen into Stiles’ back. “You’re paler than Isaac and you’ll probably burn quickly if you don’t put some on.”

“Oh, you’re right,” Stiles said, relaxing as Derek rubbed his back and shoulders. “Thanks. I can do you when you’re done doing me.”

“What?” Scott half-coughed, half-laughed. Beside him, Isaac was trying and failing to bite back his smile.

“I mean, I can put sunscreen on your back when you’re done putting some on my back,” Stiles quickly corrected, glaring at the two of them.

“It’s fine,” Derek said, massaging the muscles in Stiles’ upper back. “I put some on before we got off the boat. You can put some on me later.” He finished rubbing the sunscreen into Stiles’ skin and pulled his shirt over his head, revealing washboard abs and a beautiful set of pectorals.

Scott nudged him quickly and Stiles picked his jaw up off the floor as Derek finished taking his shirt off. He frowned slightly as he looked at the three of them.

“Who smells like arousal?” he asked.

“That was me,” Scott said quickly. “Isaac’s just looking really nice in his swim shorts. I couldn’t help myself. Sorry, awkward timing.”

“Oh,” Derek said, raising an eyebrow. “It just smelled like—never mind. Let’s go.”

Thankfully since the park had just opened, there wasn’t that long of a line for the Leap of Faith, even though it was the most popular ride. They rode it five times in an hour and a half before the line started getting too long, and Scott started to get bored.

“I’m hungry,” Scott groaned as they waited in line for the sixth time. “Isaac, do you want to go get food after this? I think I could use another layer of sunscreen too. I think I rubbed it all off when I went down the slide the fourth time.”

Stiles didn’t even try to hide the fact that he was rolling his eyes.

“Okay,” Isaac agreed, blushing slightly. “I think I saw a snack bar by the lockers. Do you guys want to go get food after this?” He asked, turning to Stiles and Derek.

“I’m not really hungry,” Stiles said. “I had a bit too many muffins for breakfast. Plus I kind of want to go to the lazy river before it gets even more crowded. It’s no fun when you don’t have an inner tube or a raft.”

“Okay,” Isaac said, nodding. “We’ll meet up later or something.”

After they took the leap of faith for the sixth time, Scott and Isaac went to the snack bar, and Stiles and Derek made their way to the lazy river. Luckily, it wasn’t too crowded and Stiles was able to snag an inner tube for himself and a full body raft for Derek.

He smiled as he handed Derek the raft and then proceeded to fall, stomach first, onto his inner tube. He let his fingers drag in the water and closed his eyes and rested his face on the plastic, intent on taking a nap in the warm Bahaman sun.

Stiles barely made it two laps before he was bored. This was one of the laziest rivers that he had ever been on. They were barely moving. It felt like they had been there for hours and they were just now starting their third lap. Stiles was contemplating starting a protest to change the name from lazy river to Lazy Nile or Lazy Amazon, because that’s what he felt like he was on.

“Can we go do something else?” Stiles asked Derek, who was lying face up on his raft, arms folded behind his head. “This is getting boring.”

“It’s called relaxing, Stiles,” Derek said, without opening his eyes. “You can go ride some other slides if you want to. I want to stay here for a little bit. I’ll be here when you get back.”

“I am not going to wait in a two hour line by myself,” Stiles shot back. “How bad would that be?”

“Well it looks like you’re out of luck for a little while,” Derek replied. “Because I don’t want to go anywhere right now.”

“Dude, we’re at one of the most popular waterparks in the planet and all you want to do is hang out in the lazy river all afternoon?” Stiles asked.

“We’ve been here for ten minutes, Stiles,” Derek pointed out.

“Yeah, but this is really boring.”

“It’s not boring, it’s relaxing.”

“You didn’t want to relax on the boat?” Stiles pouted, splashing Derek hoping to get some sort of reaction that would at least make the lazy river less lazy.

“Not really,” Derek answered, completely ignoring Stiles’ splashing, much to Stiles’ dismay. “Too many people were hitting on me, and at least I can have more fun here at the water park.”

“What do you know about fun?” Stiles asked, splashing his face with water. “You’re too grumpy to know about fun.”

“You’ve known me for a day, Stiles,” Derek said, keeping his eyes closed. “You barely know anything about me.”

“Okay then, sharing time,” Stiles said, jumping at the opportunity to ease the boredom and learn more about Derek. “You go first.”

Derek sighed and began talking. “I live in New York, but my family is from a small town in California. I like it there, but I felt like I needed a change of scenery.”

“Oh, that’s cool,” Stiles answered. “I’m born and raised in California, so that’s all I know. But Isaac is from London! How cool is that? I would love to travel to another country.”

“I’ve been to France, Spain and Italy,” Derek replied. “My parents took me there as my graduation present. And we went to Australia for my sister’s.”

“You have a sister?” Stiles asked. “I didn’t know that.”

“Two,” Derek replied, nodding. “Laura is three years older than me, and Cora is two years younger. Add in my parents, and that’s my family.”

“And Boyd,” Stiles pointed out. “Can’t forget about Boyd.”

“I never forget about Boyd,” Derek replied, the corners of mouth turning slightly upward. “What about you? Any siblings?”

“Nope, there’s just me and my dad,” Stiles answered. “He’s the sheriff, so he works really hard, and I make sure he gets his servings of vegetables.”

“How noble,” Derek deadpanned.

“Hey, it takes a lot of work,” Stiles said, frowning slightly. “If it wasn’t for me, he would be eating Banquet meals every night, do you know how bad those things are for you? They’re basically processed salt that looks like food. And they don’t even taste—“

“I know what Banquet meals are, Stiles,” Derek said, cutting him off. “You talk a lot.”

“It’s because of my—“ Stiles paused. He couldn’t have ADHD if he was a werewolf. When Scott was first turned and his asthma went away overnight, Stiles briefly considered taking up the bite for himself. He spent about a week poring over werewolf benefits and drawbacks, and ultimately decided that he would rather stay a human with ADHD than be a werewolf.

Of course, Derek knew nothing of this, so Stiles still had to come up with a reason explaining why he talked so much.

“It’s because of my wonderful charm,” Stiles said, grinning at his suave cover up. “It gets all the guys.”

“Which is why you’re on a singles cruise,” Derek replied, raising an eyebrow.

“Hey! So I may not have nice muscles and sexy stubble like you,” Stiles exclaimed. “But I’m attractive! Drag queens think so. I went to a club with Scott and the drag queens were all over me. But it’s not as cool as you think because all the sexy go-go dancers were all over Scott. One of the dancers even sent him a drink. No one sent me a drink.”

“I sent you a drink yesterday,” Derek replied.

“That doesn’t count,” Stiles shot back. “You already knew who I was. And you didn’t send it to me, you ordered it for me. There’s a difference.”

Derek laughed, low and rich. “I guess you’re right.”

“I’m totally right,” Stiles said, splashing Derek again. “I’m always right. So, yes, I am attractive.”

“I never said you weren’t,” Derek pointed out, smiling slightly.

“Oh,” Stiles said quietly. “You’re right, you didn’t.”

Derek snorted and shook his head in an almost fond manner. Stiles wasn’t quite sure. He wasn’t shaking his head in a ‘Stiles, you’re an idiot way’ but he wasn’t shaking his head in a ‘Stiles, you’re so cute and funny and I want to date you so hard’ kind of way either. Not that Stiles as hoping for the second option or anything.

“So what else do you like to do?” Derek asked.

Stiles grinned and proceeded to tell Derek about the time that he and Scott went out in the woods on Halloween and found part of a mannequin, and how Scott thought it was a mangled up corpse. Derek laughed and proceeded to tell Stiles about the time that Laura and Cora tried to scare him one Halloween and he accidentally shredded their costumes.

“You accidentally shredded their costumes?” Stiles asked skeptically. “You didn’t do it on purpose, out of spite perhaps?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Derek said, a smug look appearing on his face.

Stiles chuckled and rolled his eyes. Talking to Derek was really nice, because Derek was actually kind of friendly when he wasn’t ignoring people at bars and saying that he didn’t date humans. Derek had a very dry sense of humor and he was just as witty as Stiles, which was a welcome relief because half the time when Stiles told Scott a joke, it would go right over his head.

Stiles lost track of time as he continued to talk to Derek. He learned that Derek was an avid Dodgers fan, which almost broke their friendship because Stiles was a Giants fan. But when Stiles confessed that he really only liked the Giants because of Brian Wilson’s beard, Derek relented and decided to continue their friendship.

Stiles told Derek about the time in elementary school when the twins, Ethan and Aiden tricked all the teachers by switching places for the day. Stiles and Scott tried to do it the next day, only to find out that switching places only worked when you had a twin.

“I can’t believe you two were dumb enough to do that,” Derek said, shaking his head.

“We were like seven,” Stiles said defensively. “Lay off.”

Stiles learned that Derek liked to food a lot, and in his spare time he liked to walk around the neighborhoods in New York and try different hole-in-the-wall restaurants. So far his favorite was a little rinky-dink café that served a weird combination of bacon carbonara and strip steak.

“That sounds like the oddest combination I have ever heard,” Stiles said honestly. “It’s like a surf and turf without the surf.”

“It’s delicious,” Derek insisted. “If I didn’t work so far away, I would walk there for lunch every day. Everything on their menu is great. They have this filet of salmon with a brown sugar glaze that’s to die for. But the steak and carbonara special is heavenly.”

“Uh huh, I’m sure,” Stiles said, rolling his eyes. “It’s probably just your basic steak and spaghetti with Ragu sauce.” He spun his inner tube nonchalantly, and frowned when his stomach growled loudly.

Very loudly.

“Sounds like someone’s hungry,” Derek said, smirking and raising an eyebrow. “Maybe you want to try the carbonara and strip steak a little more than you’re letting on, huh, Stiles.”

“Shut up,” Stiles retorted, frowning at his mutinous stomach. “We’ve been on this river for, like, an hour, it’s lunch time. Let’s go find Scott and Isaac at the snack shack.”

“You think they’re still there?” Derek asked as he exited the river, and Stiles did not notice how the wet material of his swimsuit hugged his ass in all the right places.

“Knowing Scott, absolutely,” Stiles replied, grinning.

***

If there were a course called Scott McCall 101, Stiles would get an A with flying colors. Because like he had predicted, Scott and Isaac were still at the snack shack, sitting on the same side of a booth. Scott had a hamburger, and Isaac had a plate of chicken nuggets. Between them was a huge chocolate milkshake with two straws.

They were literally sharing a milkshake. Stiles didn’t know if they could get anymore domestic.

“Told you they’d still be here,” Stiles whispered, nudging Derek slightly as the walked over to Scott and Isaac.

“He’s your best friend,” Derek pointed out. “Not mine.”

“Semantics,” Stiles said as they approached the booth. “Hey guys!”

“Hi Stiles, hi Derek,” Isaac said, smiling as Stiles and Derek slid into their booth. He offered them both a huge smile. He took a sip of his milkshake and popped a chicken nugget into his mouth. “How was your day?”

“Isaac, they’ve only been gone for, like, an hour,” Scott said gently. “I don’t think they could’ve accomplished anything too exciting.”

“It’s been good, actually.”

Stiles did a double take, because was Derek actually answering a question? That had to be some sort of new record or something, Derek engaging in friendly conversation before noon.

“We’ve just been hanging out on the lazy river, relaxing and getting to know each other. What about you guys?” Derek asked.

And now Derek was actually initiating conversation by himself. Maybe the lazy river had magic properties that made Derek friendlier. Stiles thought about dragging Derek back into the river and seeing what else the river’s magic powers could make him do.

“Um, we were going to go straight to the snack bar, but then Scott wanted to play water basketball in the kiddie area, so we did that for a little bit, and then we got lunch,” Isaac answered, popping another chicken nugget into his mouth.

“Isaac,” Stiles asked slowly. “Are those chicken nuggets shaped like—“

“Sea creatures?” Isaac answered gleefully. “Yeah! They are! I saw a little kid with a huge plate of them; you can order them off the kids menu. They come in different shapes and they’re delicious. Here, try one.” He handed Stiles a dolphin shaped chicken nugget and looked at him expectantly.

“Well, I am here for the dolphins,” Stiles joked as he ate the chicken nugget. “It tastes like a regular chicken nugget,” he said. “What’s so special about these?”

“Well, it’s not like I eat chicken nuggets for every meal,” Isaac shot back. “I thought it would be fun to eat them. Now I’m not sharing anymore with you,” he said, smiling and shielding his nuggets with his arms.

“Oh no, whatever will I do without dolphin shaped chicken nuggets,” Stiles said, pretending to faint. “No, but seriously Isaac, you’re actually a puppy. First the appletinis, and now the sea creature chicken nuggets—what did you have for breakfast this morning, blueberry pancakes?”

“Chocolate chip!” Isaac replied happily.

Derek snorted as Stiles rolled his eyes, exasperated. Isaac shrugged and popped another chicken nugget, this time a manta ray, into his mouth. Scott grinned and pressed a kiss to Isaac’s temple, took a sip of their milkshake and stole a chicken nugget, this one in the shape of an octopus.

“I’m gonna go to the restroom and then I’m gonna get food,” Derek said, nudging Stiles, while Scott and Isaac both took simultaneous sips of their milkshake. “Do you want me to get you anything?”

“A slice of pizza would be great, thanks,” Stiles said.

“Anything to drink?”

“I’m not going to lie, that milkshake looks pretty good,” Stiles said, thinking out loud. “But there’s no way I’ll be able to finish that by myself. I’ll take a coke.”

“Do you want to split a milkshake with me?” Derek asked.

“What?”

“The milkshake,” Derek repeated. “Do you want to split one with me?”

“That depends,” Stiles said seriously. “What flavor are you getting?”

“Chocolate,” Derek snorted. “What kind of question is that?”

“A valid one,” Stiles answered. “Get a chocolate-vanilla swirl and I’ll split it with you.”

“Heathen,” Derek muttered under his breath, but he nodded.

“Perfect,” Stiles answered, nudging Derek playfully. He shot a look across the booth at Isaac and Scott, who were lost in their own little world. Isaac was sipping their milkshake and Scott, once again, had his face buried in Isaac’s neck. Stiles loved Scott like a brother, but Scott needed to go to an SA meeting.

Scenters Anonymous.

“Okay, cool,” Derek said, standing up and stretching. “I’ll be back in a little bit.”

“Where are you going, Derek?” Isaac asked.

“Bathroom and to get Stiles and I some food.”

“Oh, I’ll come with,” Isaac answered brightly. “I have to pee too.” He untangled himself from Scott, who let out a quiet whine when he was detached from Isaac.

“I’ll be right back,” Isaac said, smirking and rolling his eyes fondly. “You’ve had all day to scent me. I have to pee now.”

Scott pouted until Isaac kissed him on the cheek and jogged to catch up with Derek, who had already left for the bathroom.

“So,” Scott said, turning his attention to Stiles. “Relaxing and getting to know each other, eh? What does that mean?” he asked, a knowing smile unfurling on his face.

“Oh no you don’t,” Stiles said, sensing where this conversation was going. “You don’t even get to go there, dude. Not after the way you wrapped yourself around Isaac like a freaking anaconda. You need some boundaries.”

“Isaac likes it,” Scott said, shrugging. “He smells content every time I do it. But I’m pretty sure you wouldn’t be complaining if Derek started scenting you.”

“We’re not going to think about things like that,” Stiles said unconvincingly. But he had been thinking about Derek scenting him. He had been thinking about Derek doing a lot of things to him actually. Scenting was just the tip of the very, very, very large iceberg.

“I’m just saying,” Scott said, smirking. “For someone who isn’t looking to date anyone on this cruise, he seems to be getting pretty cozy with you across the booth.”

“What? He was not,” Stiles shot back, doubtfully. Truthfully, he hadn’t been paying much attention to what Derek had been doing. He had been too occupied with his front row, all-access paid tickets to the Scott Scents Isaac Show. If Derek had been getting ‘pretty cozy’, that was news to Stiles. “I would’ve known if he was getting cozy with all of this,” he added, gesturing to himself.

“So you just ignored the fact that Derek put his arm around you?” Scott asked, grinning like a Cheshire cat.

“That did not happen,” Stiles insisted.

“It totally did, Stiles,” Scott replied. “When you were freaking out about Isaac’s chicken nuggets, he totally pulled the ‘I’m so tired, I’m going to yawn and put my arm out.’ And you didn’t even notice it.”

“You’re lying,” Stiles said, grinning.

“Nope,” Scott replied, putting extra emphasis on the ‘p’. “He probably won’t do it again, because he knows that I’m onto him. But notice how close he sits to you when he comes back. He’s sitting pretty close for ‘just friends’ if you ask me.”

“Whatever,” Stiles scoffed. “You’re ridiculous.”

However, true to Scott’s words, when Derek returned with their food, he sat awfully close to Stiles. So close that Stiles didn’t think that he’d be able to wedge one of Isaac’s cursed chicken nuggets between them. Stiles looked up at Scott, who winked and then resumed burying his face in Isaac’s neck.

“Stiles. Stiles?”

“Sorry, what?” Stiles answered, looking at Derek. “I wasn’t paying attention.”

“I can see that,” Derek said. “I was asking if you wanted anymore milkshake. You’ve barely touched it, and I got it for you.”

“You did?” Stiles asked.

“Yes,” Derek said slowly. “Because you asked for it.”

“Oh, right,” Stiles said, trying to keep the blush from creeping up his skin. “Yeah, thanks.” He took another sip of his milkshake and scooted closer to Derek. Now there was no way that Isaac’s chicken nuggets could get through. They were sitting thigh-to-thigh right now.

“I want to ride more rides,” Isaac announced after Stiles and Derek had finished eating. “I saw one where you can put six people down it at once!”

“Six Chuter? The racing one?” Stiles exclaimed. “I want to ride that one too! I’m going to beat all of you!”

“Doubt it,” Isaac answered. “I’m the fastest there is,” and with that he bounded over in the direction of the water slide.

Stiles was about to take off after him, when he felt a hand grab his wrist.

“You need more sunscreen,” Derek said, eyeing Stiles curiously. “It’s been three hours.”

“Oh okay,” Stiles said as he allowed Derek to lead him back to their locker. He noticed that Derek didn’t let got of his wrist.

“Are you having fun?” Derek asked as he spread sunscreen on Stiles’ back.

“Yeah, this is a great park,” Stiles answered. “What about you? Feeling better than you did yesterday?”

“Yeah,” Derek chuckled. “Hanging out with you guys is fun. I’m having a good time.”

“Cool,” Stiles said, relaxing as Derek finished up. “Let’s go beat Isaac on this stupid slide.”

Unfortunately, since it was a six person ride, and there were only Scott, Isaac, Stiles and Derek, the lifeguards grabbed two extra people from the line and put them on the slide at the same time as Stiles and his friends. The two random people ended up smoking the four of them. Stiles remembered hearing ‘ready, set, go’ but that was the last thing, before he saw two people zooming ahead of him.

Stiles ended up coming in fourth place, behind the random speedsters, and Scott, but at least he beat Derek and Isaac, who came in dead last.

“My mat was broken,” Isaac pouted.

“Cheer up, Isaac,” Scott said, kissing his cheek and slinging an arm around his shoulders. “We can go again.”

The second time, Isaac lost again, this time by an even greater margin than before. The third time, he managed to beat Scott, but the fourth time Derek ended up beating all of them.

“This stinks,” Isaac said. “Let’s go do something else.”

“You’re just mad because you never won,” Scott said, eyes gleaming. “Do you want to go on the two-person slide?”

“As long as we don’t have to race,” Isaac answered, allowing Scott to hold his hand. “Are you guys coming too?” he asked Stiles and Derek.

“Um,” Stiles started. Two person slides were tricky, especially since the lighter person had to lie between the heavier person’s legs. Stiles was pretty sure that Derek outweighed him by a good fifty pounds, so he knew where he was going to end up.

“Sure,” Derek agreed. “Let’s go.”

Oddly, the line for the tandem slide wasn’t very long, and they were at the front in no time. Scott and Isaac were in front of them in the line, so they went down first.

Scott flashed Stiles and Derek a thumbs up as Isaac lowered himself in between Scott’s legs. Scott hooked his feet under Isaac’s armpits and the lifeguard pushed them down the slide.

“Next,” the lifeguard said, looking at Stiles and Derek expectantly.

Derek walked forward and placed the raft in the starting pool in the slide.

“Heavier person in the back,” the lifeguard said.

Derek nodded and sat down in the back of the inner tube. He struggled a little bit as the tube sloshed around in the pool.

“Your turn,” the lifeguard said, turning to Stiles.

Stiles took a deep breath and sat down in the raft.

“Go ahead and lean back,” the lifeguard said, gently pushing Stiles into Derek’s crotch. Stiles shuddered as the wet fabric of Derek’s swim trunks met the dry skin of his back. He also ignored the fact that Derek tightened his legs around Stiles as he slid his ankles under Stiles’ armpits.

“I can smell your arousal,” Derek said. And Stiles didn’t have to see his face to know that he was grinning. “And I know that Scott was covering for you this morning too.”

“I can smell yours too,” Stiles shot back, because what the heck. “And if you don’t get it under control, I’ll be able to feel it.”

Derek laughed the entire length of the ride.

As they were leaving the water park, Stiles was very conscious of the fact that Derek had his arm around his shoulders. As they walked out with Scott and Isaac, the four of them were stopped by one of the lifeguards.

“I just wanted to say that you guys are the cutest couples,” she said, beaming. “You guys have been popping in an out of my stations all day, and I just really wanted to let you all know that.

“Thanks,” Scott said, tightening his hold on Isaac, who nodded his own thanks.

Stiles was about to correct her and say that he and Derek were, in fact, not a couple, when Derek spoke up.

“Thank you,” Derek said, smiling at the lifeguard. He even waved as they walked out of the park.

“Um, what was that all about?” Stiles asked, once they were out of earshot.

“Didn’t feel like correcting her,” Derek said, shrugging. “And we do make a cute couple.”

Stiles looked at Scott for support, but Scott just raised his eyebrows knowingly and leaned his head on Isaac’s shoulder.

“Did you have fun today, Stiles?” Isaac asked.

Stiles looked back at the waterpark and then at Derek’s arm that was draped around his shoulders.

“Yeah,” Stiles said. “I had fun today.”

Chapter Text

As the four of them made their way back onto the boat, Isaac saw a sign for a two-on-two ping pong tournament on the top deck and he dragged Scott away, leaving Derek and Stiles in the middle of the boat.

“Let’s get dinner later!” Scott called as Isaac pulled him into the elevator.

“Wanna play ping pong?” Stiles asked. “Because I’m down if you are, but I really feel like taking a nap. The day at the water park took a lot out of me.”

“I think I’ll take a rain check this time,” Derek answered, and Stiles realized that Derek's arm was still draped around his shoulders. “I’ll walk you to your cabin.”

“It’s okay,” Stiles replied. “It’s not like I’m gonna get lost.”

“I don’t mind,” Derek said, smiling softly. “I live on the eighth floor, so it’s not that big of a deal.”

Clearly, Derek was willing to walk him to his cabin, and Stiles wasn’t going to argue too much. He’d had a great day with Derek, and was pretty sure that he and Derek were, at the very least, friends. Sure Derek still thought Stiles was a werewolf, and Stiles was incredibly attracted to Derek, but all friendships had some sort of issues.

Derek kept his arm around Stiles’ shoulders as they took the elevator to Stiles’ cabin. A couple werewolves looked Derek up and down with interested expressions, but Derek didn’t seem to notice or care. Stiles, on the other hand, couldn’t help but grin. Derek had his arms around Stiles’ shoulders. Those other werewolves would have to find someone else.

“So, I had fun today,” Stiles said when they reached his cabin. He turned around to face Derek, who looked less than happy that Stiles was leaving. “Do you maybe want to hang out tomorrow? We’re gonna be stuck on the boat all day before we get to Jamaica, so we can hang out if you wanted to.”

“Yeah, that would be cool,” Derek said, smiling. “Do you want to grab dinner tonight? There’s a taco place on the fourth floor that looks really good. You ask Scott and Isaac if they want to come too.”

“Sounds good,” Stiles yawned. “I’m gonna take a nap, so just come knock on my door later?”

“Okay,” Derek agreed. “See you soon, Stiles,” he added before bro-punching Stiles on the shoulder.

“Dude!” Stiles exclaimed, as he quickly massaged his shoulder. “What was that for?”

“I’m sorry,” Derek apologized quickly. “I didn’t mean to—I saw you and Scott horse around a lot today. I saw you tackle him into the wave pool after we got off Leap of Faith and he put you in a headlock and gave you a noogie after you beat him on the racing slide. I thought that’s just what you did with your friends.”

“Yeah, but when Scott—“ Stiles paused.

Now that he thought about it, he and Scott horsed around a lot. But Scott was always gentle because he knew Stiles was a human. Scott was always careful not to use his extra strength when he played with Stiles for fear of hurting him. Derek, who still thought Stiles was a werewolf, wasn’t as clear on the subject and had just punched Stiles with the extra werewolf bonus.

“I guess I wasn’t expecting you to do that,” Stiles said honestly. “You know, with all the glaring and stuff. It just caught me a little off guard. I’m glad we’re at that level of bro-punching though, friend,” he added, punching Derek in the chest.

Stiles bit the inside of his cheek to keep from wincing, because of course Derek was built like a rock. If he wasn’t careful, he was going to bruise a knuckle. He tried to think of places where Derek wasn’t rock hard, and he quickly had to stop thinking about that, because it was leading to places where Stiles would like Derek to be rock hard. Derek had already caught a whiff of his arousal earlier on the tandem slide, the last thing Stiles needed was to walk around the ship leaking hormones.

“Yeah, friend,” Derek said, corners of mouth turning up slightly. His eyes flashed red before he playfully lunged at Stiles. Stiles barely had time to brace himself before he found himself pressed up against his cabin door. Damn werewolf speed. “So we’ll get dinner together later?” Derek asked, his mouth inches away from Stiles’.

“Sounds like a plan,” Stiles said, struggling against Derek’s grip.

“Cool,” Derek said, smirking. “Enjoy your nap. I’ll see you in a bit.”

***

Stiles yawned as he woke up the next morning. He was still pretty tired. Last night had been a lot of fun.

He, Derek, Scott and Isaac had all went to the dining room for dinner. After dinner, they had decided to go relax in the hot tub, and ended up staying there well past midnight. Around one o’clock in the morning, Scott had decided that it was time for cupcakes and donuts, so they had dried off and wandered down to the fourth floor where there was a twenty-four hour dessert café. Eventually, Isaac had started to fall asleep as he ate his donuts, so they had decided to call it a night.

Stiles yawned again as he rolled around in bed. He had no idea what they were going to do today. There was still a lot of the cruise ship that they hadn’t explored yet, and they had all day to do that. He sat up in his bed and looked out of his cabin window. It was just past sunrise, and the sky and ocean were a beautiful portrait of blues, pinks, yellows and oranges.

Scott sleepily wandered in through the adjoining door in their cabins and promptly fell right next to Stiles in the bed.

“Hey bud,” Stiles said, raising an eyebrow at his sleeping best friend. “What’s going on?”

“Nothing,” Scott mumbled. “Just glad you’re here.”

“You couldn’t have been glad that I’m here an hour later?” Stiles asked, rubbing Scott’s back. “It’s, like, eight in the morning, Scott. Today’s a fun day at sea. You don’t have to be up this early. Besides we were up pretty late last night.”

“Yeah, but I wanted to say thanks for coming on this cruise with me,” Scott said, voice muffled by the blankets. “You didn’t have to come, but I’m really glad you did.”

“What are friends for?” Stiles said, yawning. “Don’t mention it.”

“I’m glad you met Derek too,” Scott continued, molding himself around Stiles. Stiles was pretty sure that Scott was platonically scenting him, and Stiles had no problem with that. He was going to draw the line if Scott started pressing his face into his neck though. Scott could save all the lovey-dovey stuff for Isaac.

“Derek’s a nice guy and he really likes you,” Scott continued. “The lady at the water park was right—you guys do make a good couple.”

“But we’re not together,” Stiles groaned, lying down next to Scott. “At least, not like you and Isaac are. Plus he doesn’t even date humans, he said so himself.”

“Yeah, but he’d date you,” Scott answered, wrapping his arm around Stiles’ waist. He gently nosed into Stiles’ neck, and Stiles sighed but continued to let Scott cuddle with him. “He’s totally into you. If you told him you were a human, he would date you in a heartbeat. He growled at the guy in the hot tub last night because he said you had cute eyes.”

“This is coming from the guy who almost killed someone for sitting next to Isaac in said hot tub,” Stiles said.

“Exactly,” Scott replied. “And after that, Derek pulled you closer to him, so no one could sit next to you either. You’re welcome.”

Stiles supposed that Scott had a point. It had been pretty nice sitting so close to Derek in the hot tub. Stiles grinned and rubbed his cheek against Scott’s head, enjoying the way Scott rumbled happily.

“When did you become the werewolf matchmaker?” Stiles joked, ruffling Scott’s hair.

Scott hummed noncommittally and Stiles took that as the end of their conversation.

About an hour later Isaac wandered into the cabin, through the adjoining door. Stiles was going to ask how Isaac had even gotten into Scott’s cabin, but decided that he didn’t really want to know. Scott let go of Stiles in favor of wrapping himself around Isaac and pressing gentle kisses behind Isaac’s ear. Stiles rolled his eyes fondly at the couple next to him, and grinned when Isaac offered him a sleepy smile.

“So you guys are pretty much dating now, right?” Stiles asked. “You know, since you guys made out in the hot tub last night?”

“You make it sound like we made out all night long,” Scott murmured against Isaac’s neck. “It was like thirty seconds, tops.”

“Yeah, and then you made out again when we got out of the hot tub, and then again when we got to donuts,” Stiles pointed out.

“Oh yeah,” Scott said, not sounding the least bit apologetic.

Stiles smiled and rolled his eyes and noted how content both Scott and Isaac looked, snuggled against each other. Isaac’s back was to Scott’s chest, and he was using one of Scott’s arms as a pillow. Scott had his other arm around Isaac’s waist and his face was tucked into the crevice between Isaac’s head and shoulders.

Isaac smiled softly and blinked at Stiles a couple times before closing his eyes. Stiles rolled his eyes again, and climbed into bed with Scott and Isaac. Isaac rumbled happily and inched closer to Stiles. Stiles grinned as Isaac pressed his nose into Stiles’ T-shirt, and in response, he ran his fingers through Isaac’s curls.

“Do you guys want to go get breakfast?” Scott asked after a while. “I’m getting kind of hungry, even though I shouldn’t be considering I pretty much ate my weight in cupcakes and donuts last night.”

“Actually, I’m a little hungry too,” Isaac agreed. “Can we go to the dining room? Their chocolate chip pancakes are really good. And they have an omelet bar! Last time I made one with bacon.”

“How are you guys hungry?” Stiles asked. “At dinner last night, you two ate more food than I'm sure is humanly or werewolf-ly possible. And then we got donuts later.”

“Werewolf metabolism,” Scott said, shrugging. “I’m hungry though. Let’s go.”

Scott, Stiles and Isaac yawned and stretched and then made their way towards the elevator.

“Wait,” Isaac said, turning to Stiles. “Aren’t you going to invite Derek?”

“Oh—yeah, I probably should do that,” Stiles said. Then he paused. He had no actual way of contacting Derek. Aside from their initial encounter, Derek had always been the one to find Stiles. Stiles was pretty sure that it was because Derek had the extra bonus of werewolf senses, but still. Stiles didn’t even have Derek’s number or anything.

“You don’t have his number, do you?” Scott asked, grinning as he pressed the elevator button.

Stiles was about to answer, when the elevator dinged.

“Hi, Derek!” Isaac said. “We were just going to get breakfast. Do you want to come with us?”

“Um, sure,” Derek answered. “That’s why I came up, to see if Stiles had eaten already.” He stepped aside to let Stiles, Isaac and Scott enter the elevator.

Stiles flushed as Scott and Isaac herded him into Derek.

“Hey,” Stiles said. “How did you sleep?”

“Good,” Derek answered, smiling. “You?”

“Pretty good. I had a lot of fun last night,” Stiles said, smiling as Derek wrapped his arm around Stiles’ shoulders.

“Me too,” Derek said. “What are your plans for today?”

“We’re just hanging out today,” Stiles said. “Gonna go get breakfast, hang out, get lunch, hang out, get dinner and hang out. What about you?”

“I just wanted to hang out with you guys today,” Derek said, rolling his eyes at Scott, who was scenting Isaac in the elevator.

“Sounds good to me,” Stiles said.

The four of them made their way off the elevator and into the dining room where they were surprised to find that Erica was waiting tables.

“Hi guys!” she greeted, smiling brightly. “It’s open seating, but if you guys want me to serve you, sit on any ocean-side booth on the right side of the room and I’ll be right with you.”

“I wonder why Erica is waiting tables now,” Isaac said as they made their way to an open booth in her section. “Why isn’t she at the bar?”

“Probably because it’s only nine-thirty in the morning, Isaac,” Stiles answered. “I know you’re really big on the fruity drinks, but even you can’t justify having an appletini this early in the morning.”

“What about mimosas?” Erica asked as she sauntered over to their table. “I’d give you the whole, ‘my name is Erica’ spiel, but I think you guys already know who I am. What kind of mimosas can I get started for you?”

“Can I have one with raspberry juice?” Isaac asked as he perused the menu.

“Sure thing, cute stuff,” Erica said, ruffling Isaac’s hair and ignoring Scott’s good-natured growl. “Anyone else want mimosas?”

“I’ll take a classic one, thanks,” Derek said. His arm was still around Stiles’ shoulders even as they were sitting in the booth.

“Perfect,” Erica said. “By any chance, do you guys know what you want to order or do you need a couple more minutes?”

“I’m ready,” Isaac said, smiling brightly. “I want chocolate chip pancakes!”

“I think the rest of us could use a couple minutes,” Derek said, raising an eyebrow at Isaac.

“Sure thing,” Erica said. “I’ll be back in a little bit.”

“I want French toast,” Scott said as he perused the menu. “Stiles, they have whole wheat pancakes if you want to be really healthy like you always do.”

“Jealous,” Stiles answered. “However, I think I’ll get a breakfast burrito with bacon and a side of hash browns. What about you, Derek?”

“Denver omelet,” Derek answered simply.

“Right,” Stiles said, rolling his eyes. “I don’t know why I thought you would order anything else.”

Derek grinned slightly and tightened his arm around Stiles’ shoulders.

“So what are we going to do today?” Isaac asked, once Erica had returned and taken their orders. “I want to go and get massages.”

“That sounds relaxing,” Scott replied. “I’ll go with you.”

“What do you want to do?” Stiles asked, turning to Derek.

“I could go for a massage too,” Derek answered.

“Massages for all!” Isaac cheered, a huge grin on his face.

A couple minutes later, Erica returned with their food. “So what do you guys have planned for today?”

“We’re gonna get massages,” Isaac answered excitedly. “And then I don’t know what else after that.”

“Well that sounds fun,” Erica said, eyes gleaming. “Couples massages, how cute. After your massages, I would suggest coming back here to the dining room for lunch. We always have buffet style lunch and it’s really good, if I do say so myself.”

“Hey, Erica, can I ask you something?” Scott asked as he munched on a piece of bacon. “Why are you working on a gay cruise if you’re a girl?”

“Well, I can’t work on a lesbian singles cruise, because all the lesbians would be hitting on me instead of each other,” Erica said matter-of-factly. “Plus, it’s fun to watch you guys fall over each other. And gay guys are much more generous with their compliments.”

“Oh, I guess that makes sense,” Scott said, nodding.

“If you guys need anything else, don’t hesitate to ask me,” Erica said. “Enjoy your breakfast and I’ll see you guys later. I don’t bartend tonight, so don’t be surprised when I’m not there. I’ll tell my co-workers to serve you guys first, though.” She ruffled Isaac’s hair one more time before walking away to wait on other tables.

“I like her,” Isaac said as he continued to devour his pancakes. “She’s nice and pretty.”

“She’s a little over-confident,” Derek pointed out.

“Oh please,” Stiles said. “She’s hot and she knows it. And she’s been nice to us, so it’s fine.”

Derek snorted and resumed eating his omelet.

***

The massage room was decorated with light candles and bonsai trees. Their masseuses were large muscular men who looked like they belonged in the wrestling ring rather than in the massage room. However, they smiled brightly when Stiles and his friends entered the room.

“Hi, I’m Colby and this is Drake,” one of the men said. “Welcome to the massage room. We’re the head masseuses here. Before we begin, we’d like you to know that you do have the option of a completely nude massage. It’s our most popular massage and is full body, complete with oil and hot stones.”

“I think we should get nude massages,” Isaac said, already starting to peel out of his clothes. “I’ve never been massaged with oil before.”

“Yeah, that sounds like fun,” Stiles agreed. “We’re on vacation! Why not live a little?”

Scott and Derek exchanged a look. “No,” they said simultaneously.

They ended up getting massages in their boxers.

Without the oil.

And without the stones.

The massages turned out to be incredibly relaxing, despite the fact that they were on separate tables and wearing boxers. Colby and Drake massaged Derek and Stiles while two new masseuses came to massage Scott and Isaac, who ended up holding hands as they got their massages.

“You have some really tight muscles in your lower back,” Colby said, as he massaged Stiles. “Seems like you’re really stressed out about some things.”

“Nope, not really,” Stiles answered. “I’m on vacation, so I’m here to relax.”

“Interesting—you’re just really, really tight right here in your upper gluteal muscles,” Colby said as he started to massage Stiles ass. “I can really feel some tension, let me just see if I can—“

He was cut off by Derek’s warning growl. Derek looked up from where he was being massaged by Drake and let his eyes bleed red, daring Colby to massage any lower.

“You know, actually your shoulders seem really tense, too,” Colby said quickly. “I think it’ll be easier if I get the tension out of there instead.”

Stiles chuckled as he felt Colby’s hands move from his ass to his shoulders. When Colby was done massaging Stiles, he tentatively moved as far away from Derek as possible.

“Lunch time!” Isaac announced after they finished getting massages. “How was your massage, Derek?”

Derek made a face at Isaac, before slinging an arm around Stiles’ shoulders and walking back to the dining room.

The dining room had been transformed into four huge lines of tables, all stacked high with food. There was various types of cuisine, ranging from Italian, to Mexican, to Mediterranean and even Indian.

Stiles and his friends quickly found a table and went over to the buffet lines and began piling their plates high with food.

“I feel like I’m going to put on, like, twenty pounds just from eating all this food,” Isaac said as he tore into a chicken leg. “Everything tastes so good. Oh, no,” he said, frowning. “No one got anything to drink.”

“I got it,” Stiles said, sliding out of the booth. “Dr. Pepper for you, Scott. What about you guys?” He asked, turning to Isaac and Derek.

“Sprite!”

“I’ll just help you carry them,” Derek said, sliding out of the booth and standing next to Stiles. “We don’t want you spilling sodas everywhere.”

“Dude, I think I can handle carrying four cups,” Stiles retorted, but he walked over to the soda fountain with Derek. Derek started filling up his cup with Fanta-Apple when Stiles came in and pushed him out of the way.

“Excuse me, friend,” he said, smirking. “I thought you were done getting your drink.”

“They’ll never find your body,” Derek growled softly.

“Har-har,” Stiles said, “Oh, hey, there’s a dessert table. I want to get some cake.”

Stiles walked over and started perusing the dessert table.

“Dude, it’s kind of hard to get pieces of cake when you have your arm around my shoulders,” Stiles joked, elbowing Derek lightly in the ribs.

“What are we doing tomorrow?” Derek asked, completely ignoring Stiles and leaving his arm hanging off of Stiles’ shoulders.

“I think we’re going to go to Dunn’s River Falls in the morning,” Stiles answered as he picked up a piece of chocolate cake. The dessert table came with little trays, so it made it easier for him to balance the drink cups and the plates. “It’s like a waterfall that you can climb and it looked really cool on the internet. And then in the afternoon we’re going to a wildlife preserve. Sounds like fun, huh?”

“Absolutely,” a voice spoke up.

“Jackson,” Derek growled. “What are you doing here?”

“Getting dessert,” Jackson said innocently. “And then I couldn’t help but overhear your plans for tomorrow, and now I think that I’m going to join you. I was going to go jet skiing, but climbing a waterfall sounds so much more fun. What did you do yesterday?”

“Went to the water park,” Derek answered.

“You went to Atlantis?” Jackson asked. “I wanted to go there, but I didn’t want to go by myself. Why didn’t you tell me that you were going to Atlantis, Der-Bear?”

“Don’t. Call me that,” Derek growled. “And I was hanging out with Stiles yesterday, I told you that.”

“Oh yeah. Stiles,” Jackson said, looking Stiles up and down. “I don’t really know what you see in him Derek, he’s nothing like me.”

“That’s kind of the point,” Derek answered.

For a split second, Jackson looked like someone slapped him in the face. He recovered quickly, and his trademark sneer was back on his face.

“I’ve missed your sense of humor, Derek,” he said. “When I realized you were on this cruise I called your mom and said how happy I was to see you. She said that it was sad that we didn’t work out.”

“Why are you calling my mother?” Derek growled.

“I just wanted Talia to know that it was good to see you,” Jackson said, putting his hands up defensively. “She just said that maybe we could work it out while we were on this cruise, and I have to agree with her. We were good together, Derek.”

“Were is the operative word,” Derek shot back.

“Ouch, Derek,” Jackson said, grinning slightly. “That hurts my feelings. Tell you what—have lunch with me, hang out with me tonight and let me hang out with you guys tomorrow, and I’ll tell you how Paige is doing. I’m sure you’d like to know more about her, wouldn’t you?”

“You—you still talk to Paige?” Derek choked out. He tightened his grip on Stiles’ shoulders and Stiles could feel the tension in Derek’s body. “How is she? I haven’t spoken to her since—since the accident.”

“She’s my cousin, Derek, of course I still talk to her,” Jackson replied. “It’s been, what, two years since what happened? She’s changed a lot.”

“I—I don’t—is she okay?” Derek asked softly. “Jackson, just tell me. How is she doing?”

“Have lunch with me,” Jackson said, tilting his chin up. “And hang out with me tonight, and I want to come hang out with you tomorrow, and then I’ll tell you everything you want to know.”

Derek’s expression was pained and conflicted. The muscles in his jaw clenched and his Adam’s apple bobbed as swallowed. Stiles could tell that he really didn’t want to hang out with Jackson, but at the same time he really wanted to find out how this girl, Paige, was. Stiles offered Derek a small smile of reassurance, and he wrapped his arm around Derek’s waist and squeezed gently.

“You hung out with Stiles all day yesterday,” Jackson said, eyes narrowing, seemingly reading Derek’s thoughts. “He doesn’t have history with you like I do. And I’m sure he won’t mind if I steal you for the rest of the day and tag along tomorrow. Will you, Stiles?”

Stiles glared at Jackson, and he was debating telling him to go jump off the boat. But when he saw Derek’s pained expression, he realized that Jackson held almost all of the cards. Whatever happened with Derek and this Paige girl was clearly very important to Derek, and Stiles couldn’t stand between Derek and that.

“No, I don’t mind,” Stiles said, narrowing his eyes at Jackson. “You’re welcome to join us tomorrow, Jackson.”

“See that wasn’t so hard, was it?” Jackson said, completely ignoring Stiles' expression. “Derek?”

“Today and tomorrow only,” Derek growled. “And then you tell me how Paige is doing.”

“A deal’s a deal,” Jackson said, smiling and revealing a mouth of pearly white teeth. “I have a table on the other side of the dining room, so let’s go way over there, shall we?”

Jackson turned and walked away.

“Sorry,” Derek said softly. “I just—I need to know, okay?”

“Hey, it’s fine,” Stiles said, placing both hands on Derek’s shoulders. “It’s not the end of the world.”

“It kind of is,” Derek grumbled. “Wait up for me tonight? I’ll try to stop by later.”

“Sounds good,” Stiles said, smiling softly. “I’ll try my best.”

“Okay,” Derek said softly. He tilted Stiles’ chin up and pressed a gentle kiss to his lips. “Thank you,” he said before following Jackson.

“No problem,” Stiles replied, lightly running two fingers over his bottom lip. He was still trying to process the fact that Derek had just kissed him. It still sucked that Derek was about to go spend the rest of the day with Jackson, and it was even worse that Jackson would be spending the day with them tomorrow, but Derek had just kissed him. That had to count for something, right?

Stiles walked back to the booth with Scott and Isaac.

“Dude, that took forever,” Scott said. “And you didn’t even get our drinks.”

“Stiles, where’s Derek?” Isaac asked.

“He ran into his ex, Jackson,” Stiles said. “And I guess Jackson is friends with someone that Derek cares about, or something, I don’t know. But basically, Derek’s hanging out with his ex and his ex is coming with us to Jamaica tomorrow.”

“Dude, Stiles, that sucks,” Scott said. “Are you gonna be okay?”

“I think so,” Stiles answered. “Derek seemed like he really didn’t want to go with Jackson, and he kissed me right before he left, so I’m taking that as a good sign.”

“Wait, wait, wait, he kissed you? Stiles that’s awesome,” Scott exclaimed. “And if he didn’t want to go with Jackson and stay with you, that’s got to be a good sign.”

“I hope so,” Stiles said, pushing the food around on his plate with his fork. “I just hope he’s okay. He didn’t look happy when Jackson brought up Paige.”

“Who’s Paige?” Isaac asked.

“I don’t know,” Stiles answered. “But something happened with Derek and Paige, and Jackson knows about it. That’s why Derek is with him right now. He wants to check if Paige is okay, and Jackson is basically blackmailing him with that information.”

“Wow, that’s a dick move,” Scott said, and Isaac nodded. “That’s a low blow.”

“Tell me about it,” Stiles said. He looked across the dining room, where Derek looked absolutely miserable while Jackson was talking to him. Derek caught his eye, and Stiles offered him a small wave before Jackson snapped his fingers and Derek turned back to face him.

“But at least Derek kissed you, right?” Isaac pointed out. “Isn’t that what you’ve been wanting? For him to like you?”

“Yeah,” Stiles smiled softly. “I think he likes me.”

“He totally likes you,” Isaac said confidently. “Both Scott and I heard him growl when Colby tried to massage your butt, he was all over you at the water park and he came up to your floor to get breakfast with you. He likes you, Stiles.”

“Yeah, but now that Jackson is in the picture and I have no idea what happened between Derek and Paige, I don’t know what’s going on anymore.”

“It’s gonna be okay, Stiles,” Isaac said, leaning into Scott. “I promise.”

“I hope so,” Stiles said.

Chapter Text

Stiles sighed as he glanced at the clock in his cabin wall. It was nearly one-thirty in the morning and he hadn’t seen Derek since lunchtime. He was pretty sure that Jackson was keeping Derek for as long as he could, and it sucked. Stiles was lying in bed, watching a marathon of the Spiderman movies with a half-eaten room-service pizza on the floor, while Jackson was probably parading around the cruise ship with Derek on his arm.

Stiles tried to take some solace in the fact that Derek had kissed him before having to go hang out with Jackson, but it wasn’t the same. Stiles would rather be hanging out with Derek than watching Spiderman.

Besides, Derek was way hotter than Tobey Maguire.

Stiles rolled around in his bed a couple more times before deciding that he should probably just try and get some sleep. He was reaching for the remote when there was a knock at his door.

“For the last time, Scott, I’m fine. Go to bed,” Stiles called, shaking his head. Scott and Isaac had felt really bad leaving Stiles alone, but Stiles hadn’t wanted to be the awkward third wheel on their dates, so he told them to go have fun without him.

“It’s not Scott. It’s me, Derek.”

Stiles would be lying if he said that he didn’t jump from out of bed and rush to the door. He hadn’t expected to see Derek until Jamaica.

“Hi,” Stiles said as he opened the door. Derek was standing in the doorway wearing a faded T-shirt and some sweat pants. He looked a little nervous and had both of his hands shoved in his pockets, but he offered Stiles a small smile when he opened the door.

“Were you sleeping?” Derek asked quietly. “I didn’t know—I can come back later if you want.”

“No, no, I mean—I was about to, but I was just watching the Spiderman movies,” Stiles said. “Do you want to come in?”

“Okay,” Derek answered as he shuffled into the cabin. He took a look around before sitting down on Stiles’ bed, smirking slightly when he saw the pizza box.

“So how did it go with Jackson?” Stiles asked, sitting down next to Derek.

“It sucked,” Derek said. “It was like our first date all over again, except this time he couldn’t shower me with money because everything on this ship is already paid for. It’s hard to say, ‘bill’s on me’ when I paid for dinner when I bought my ticket.”

Stiles chuckled and rested his head on Derek’s shoulder. He started absentmindedly tracing patterns into the fabric of Derek’s sweatpants with his finger. “But other than that? It went well?”

“Not really” Derek answered darkly. “He tried to win me back saying stuff like we were really good together and our break up was unfortunate, and it just was really uncomfortable. I’ll be glad when I don’t have to deal with him anymore. I broke up with him for a reason.”

“Makes sense,” Stiles agreed. “He seems like a bit of a tool.”

“That’s putting it lightly,” Derek snorted. He lied back on Stiles’ bed and put one arm behind his head. “I had fun yesterday,” he said softly. “And I had fun at the water park, too.”

“I had fun too,” Stiles said as he cautiously laid down next to Derek. He rested his head on Derek’s broad chest and cheered silently when Derek wrapped his free arm around his waist. Derek was warm like a comfortable furnace and Stiles nestled deeper into Derek, enjoying the warmth. “I had lots of fun, actually.”

“I’m excited for tomorrow too,” Derek continued softly, pulling Stiles closer to him and rubbing his back. “I’m less excited that Jackson will be there, but I’m glad you’ll be there too.”

“Did Jackson say anything about Paige?” Stiles asked cautiously.

“No,” Derek said darkly. “I tried to get him to at least tell me how she was doing, but he said I would have to wait until we left Jamaica. He kept smirking like he knew something, but he wouldn’t tell me anything.”

“Can I ask what happened?” Stiles asked, placing his hand on Derek’s chest. “You know, between you and Paige.”

Derek sighed. “I’d rather you didn’t,” he said quietly. “At least, not now,” he added. But he smiled softly and pressed a gentle kiss to Stiles’ hair. “I just want to make sure that she’s okay first, and then I’ll tell you everything, okay?”

“That’s fair,” Stiles answered. “I can completely respect that.”

“Thank you,” Derek said. They fell into a comfortable silence as they watched the rest of the movie. Derek grabbed a blanket and covered them with it and Stiles finally allowed himself to fall asleep.

***

“Hi, welcome to Dunn’s River Fall’s. I’m Marques and I’ll be one of the chaperones for you guys. If you could all do me a huge favor and split into groups of four. Normally we climb up the falls in groups of fifteen or twenty, for safety reasons,” Marques said. “But since the majority of you are werewolves and heal quicker, we’ve decided to bypass that precaution in favor of a more intimate climb up the falls.”

Stiles smiled and moved in front to Derek who wrapped his arms around Stiles’ waist and pressed a gentle kiss to his hair. Stiles locked eyes with Scott, who had his arms around Isaac’s waist, and formed a silent bro-pact to climb up the falls together. Scott tugged Isaac closer to Stiles and Derek, and they quickly established themselves as a group of four.

“What if we want to be a group of five?”

Stiles groaned and rolled his eyes as Jackson interrupted Marques’ instructions.

“If you can find a group of five, then by all means you can climb up the falls together,” Marques answered, eyeing Jackson curiously. “Please be aware of—“

“Whatever,” Jackson said as he walked towards Stiles, Derek, Scott and Isaac. “I found my group of five.”

Derek growled lowly as Jackson turned and flashed him a shit-eating grin. “Come on, Derek, I thought you’d be glad that I’m hanging out with you today. It’ll be just like old times, except this time we’ll have an awkward third wheel on our date,” he added, smirking at Stiles.

“Dude, you’re kind of a dick,” Scott said, frowning at Jackson. “First you crash our breakfast and now you just force your way into our group of four. I mean I get that you’re trying to win Derek back and all that stuff, but have some respect.”

Jackson snorted and looked Scott up and down. “First of all, I asked if I could sit with you guys at breakfast, it’s not my fault Derek felt obligated to say yes. Besides, you guys had an extra chair at your table and I had nowhere to sit.”

Stiles felt Derek’s entire body vibrate as he growled lowly at Jackson.

“Second of all, all’s fair in love and war,” Jackson said, getting inches away from Scott’s face. “You’re lucky I don’t try to take this cute curly haired blond away from you. I probably could if I wanted to.”

Scott’s eyes flashed and his fangs elongated, and for a moment Stiles thought there was going to be a full on fight. Scott had grown incredibly close to Isaac, and when Scott grew close to someone, he was incredibly protective of them.

“That’s assuming I have a thing for assholes,” Isaac said coolly. “Unfortunately for you, I don’t, so I’m just going to forget you said anything.”

Scott smirked triumphantly at Jackson and Derek had to bury his laugh in Stiles’ hair.

“I’m going to the bathroom,” Jackson said, frowning. “But don’t worry. I’m still going to be in your group when I get back.”

“Can’t wait,” Isaac drawled.

Jackson glared at him again, but stalked away to the bathroom.

“I can’t believe you guys dated,” Scott said, walking over to Derek. “How were you able to put up with him?”

“I’m asking myself the same question,” Derek snorted. “Are you okay with him being here?” he asked Stiles. “He’s going to follow me no matter where I go, so I can go find a group of two and be out of your hair for the day.”

“No, no, it’s fine,” Stiles said, wriggling out of Derek’s grip. “I don’t mind.”

Derek raised an eyebrow.

“Okay, you’re right, it’s not fine, and I wish he wasn’t here at all,” Stiles said, rolling his eyes. He put his hands on Derek’s biceps and rubbed gently. “But I’d rather spend time with you, Jackson or no Jackson. All we have to do is put up with him until he tells you how Paige is doing, and then we won’t have to deal with him for the rest of the cruise.”

Derek still didn’t look convinced. “He’s pretty persistent and annoying if you haven’t realized.”

“Yeah, we know,” Scott cut in. “But all we have to do is either ignore him or shut him down like Isaac did.” Isaac rolled his eyes as Scott kissed his cheek. “He’ll probably lose interest pretty quickly.”

“I want to hang out with you, and you want to find out about Paige,” Stiles said. “If that means that we both have to hang out with Jackson for the day, then we’ll get through it together, okay?”

“And you have us!” Scott chimed in. “We’ll be along for support.”

“I’d really rather not associate with Jackson,” Isaac muttered. “But you guys are my friends, so I’ll come along for the ride.”

“I—um, thank you,” Derek said quietly.

“Don’t worry about it,” Stiles said. “It’s not gonna be easy, but we’ll get through it.”

“I hope you’re right,” Derek said, pulling Stiles close and burying his nose into his neck.

***

Dunn’s River Falls were breathtaking. Stiles wasn’t sure what to focus on because everything was so beautiful. The water was crystal clear, the trees and bushes were a lush shade of green, there wasn’t a cloud in the sky and to top it all off, Derek looked amazing climbing up the waterfalls in his swimsuit.

Scott, Isaac and Derek were scaling the falls like they were trained rock climbers. Stiles suspected that it was because of their enhanced strength and reflexes, but it was still cool to watch Scott leap and flip up the falls in an effort to impress Isaac. Stiles did his best to keep up with them, but he was at a disadvantage because he wasn’t a werewolf.

Luckily, Scott and Isaac quickly realized that Stiles wasn’t able to emulate their agile feats, so they started traversing up the falls at a more reasonable pace.

“You don’t like flipping?” Derek asked from his perch above Stiles. The water rushed around his legs, and he looked like the god of the river. He extended a hand to Stiles and helped him up the falls.

“Just enjoying the scenery,” Stiles answered, taking Derek’s hand. “It’s really beautiful out here. I can’t get over it.”

“Yeah, it really is beautiful,” Derek said, pulling Stiles close and kissing his cheek.

“Derek,” Jackson whined from several steps below them. “I need help. You guys are leaving your group member behind.”

“You’re an All-American lacrosse player,” Derek shot back. “You should be able to climb these falls without a problem, why are you whining?”

“You don’t want me to get hurt, do you Derek?” Jackson replied, narrowing his eyes. “Wouldn’t that be horrible? Another person you cared about getting hurt?”

“Another per—Derek what is he talking about?” Stiles asked. “Does he mean—?”

“Paige,” Derek growled. His eyes flashed red and he jumped down the steps and helped Jackson up. Jackson winked at Stiles and collapsed into Derek’s arms.

“What a dick,” Scott said, coming down with Isaac. “This is sad to watch. He has to know that Derek is totally into you, but he’s still trying to flirt with him. Why don’t you tell him where Derek slept last night? I bet that would shut him up.”

“It might,” Stiles said, sitting down on a rock. He watched as Jackson ‘slipped’ and dragged Derek down with him as he fell. “Or it would just encourage him to be even more of an asshole.”

“This sucks,” Scott muttered. “Does Jackson know you’re a human?”

“I don’t think so,” Stiles answered. “I feel like he would definitely say something to Derek if he knew. If Jackson knows whatever happened between Derek and Paige, he probably knows that Derek doesn’t date humans.” He sighed and ran his hands through his hair and splashed some water on his face. “He’s doing a real good job of ruining Jamaica.”

“Hey, it’s still early in the day,” Isaac said, sitting down next to Stiles and nuzzling his cheek. “There’s still the wildlife preserve too. And at least he’s not ruining the dolphins, because that’s the only thing you’re really here for, right?”

Stiles grinned and wrapped an arm around Isaac’s shoulders.

“Carry me,” Jackson whined. He had ‘slipped’ again and was sitting on the falls looking up at Derek. “I don’t want to fall again”

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Scott muttered.

Derek closed his eyes and exhaled, puffing out his cheeks, before grabbing Jackson and slinging him over his shoulder, fireman-carry style. He jumped up to where Stiles, Scott and Isaac were sitting and unceremoniously dumped Jackson to the ground.

“Ouch,” Jackson said, rubbing his lower back as he stood up. “That wasn’t very gentlemanly of you.”

“Get over it,” Derek growled. He walked over to Stiles and sat down next to him. “You’ll live.”

Jackson scowled and surveyed the falls. “Looks like we’re about halfway done with the climb. What’s the plan for lunch?”

“We’re going to get some jerk chicken,” Scott said, eyeing Jackson disdainfully. “Stiles and I read online that there are some really good authentic jerk chicken stands at the top of the falls.”

“Really?” Derek asked, turning to Stiles.

“Yeah,” Stiles answered. “One of the stands claims to be the birthplace of jerk seasoning. But another claims to have the best jerk chicken on the island. And then another stand was voted best jerk chicken by tourists. So I think that we all go to different stands and then compare.”

“Sounds good to me,” Derek said, smiling.

“No,” Jackson said.

“What do you mean, no?” Stiles shot back.

“I mean, no, I don’t want that for lunch,” Jackson said dismissively. “What about McDonald’s or Burger King?”

“Wait, let me get this straight,” Stiles said, narrowing his eyes. “You’re in a foreign country, famous for it’s local cuisine and you’d rather go find a McDonald’s? You can get McDonald’s at home!”

“Well I want a greasy cheeseburger like In-N-Out,” Jackson said, narrowing his eyes. “I’ve been craving them for a while.”

“Oh, In-N-Out sounds so good,” Scott mumbled. But he quickly closed his mouth when Stiles shot him a frustrated look.

“But I figure they don’t have them in this country, and I’m not sure I want to buy a local cheeseburger,” Jackson continued, wrinkling his nose. “So McDonald’s it is. You don’t have a problem with that, do you, Stiles?”

“I just think it’s weird,” Stiles answered. “But whatever floats your boat. You can get McDonald’s, but the rest of us are going to get jerk chicken.”

“I don’t want to go get McDonald’s by myself though,” Jackson said. “Haven’t you seen Taken? Bad things happen when you’re in foreign countries by yourself.”

“Are you—you’ve got to be kidding me,” Stiles said, rolling his eyes.

“Someone’s just gonna have to come with me,” Jackson said, shrugging. “Derek?”

Derek’s whole body shook as he growled low in his throat. “Fine,” he ground out.

“Cool,” Jackson said. “Catch you at the top.” He flashed them all a cocky smile and vaulted up the falls, showing no caution for the ‘slips’ that plagued him earlier. He also clearly didn’t care about leaving his group members behind.

“Why is he such a dick?” Scott asked, turning to Stiles and Derek. “He basically just ruined our lunch plans.”

“Can you get me a jerk chicken sandwich when you get lunch?” Derek asked softly, turning to Stiles.

“Will I—Derek, there’s no way I’m leaving you alone with Jackson,” Stiles said, frowning. “We’ll get McDonald’s together. Scott, you can get us a sandwiches, right?”

“Sure thing, buddy,” Scott said. “I’ll get sandwiches from all three places we looked at online.”

“You’re the best, dude,” Stiles said, leaning against Derek’s shoulder.

“You don’t have to come with me,” Derek said, taking one of Stiles’ hands in his own. “Go get jerk with Scott and Isaac.”

“It’s fine,” Stiles said, offering Derek a small smile. “I want to spend time with you. Scott just said he would get us sandwiches, and I’m not leaving you alone with Jackson. If he doesn’t like it, then screw him. He’s not the boss of you.”

“You sound like a third grader,” Derek chuckled softly.

“Don’t care,” Stiles said, pressing a light kiss to Derek’s lips. “So lunch?”

“Lunch,” Derek repeated, in between kisses.

“If you two don’t stop kissing, then I’m going to lose my appetite and no one will get jerk chicken,” Scott laughed, rolling his eyes.

***

“So, Stiles,” Jackson said, pointing a french fry at him. “What would you say your best qualities are?”

“I think I’m funny,” Stiles deadpanned. “And I’d like to think that I have a great sense of humor.”

“And yet you said that with a straight face,” Jackson said, taking a sip of his Coke. “Why so serious, Stiles?”

“Well for one, I didn’t realize this lunch was going to turn into an interview,” Stiles said, rolling his eyes. “And second, because I’m a Marvel kinda guy. Ask Derek, we watched Spiderman in my cabin last night.”

“You—Derek hung out with me last night,” Jackson said.

“Yeah, and after he did that, he came to my cabin and we watched Spiderman until we fell asleep,” Stiles said, leaning back against Derek. He was so over Jackson and whatever angle he was trying to pull. The sooner Jackson was out of their hair, the more enjoyable this cruise would be.

“Interesting,” Jackson said, once he regained his composure. “You and Derek seem to be pretty friendly, what with only knowing each other for three days.”

“You just can’t help it when there’s a real connection,” Stiles replied, cocking his head.

“Right,” Jackson said, narrowing his eyes. “So, Stiles what do you think you have to offer Derek? Speaking from personal experience, I can say that Derek doesn’t have the best track record with relationships.”

“Jackson,” Derek growled threateningly.

“Cool it Der-bear,” Jackson said, smirking. “As your ex-boyfriend it’s my duty to make sure that the next person you’re dating is right for you. So, Stiles,” he continued. “I dated Derek for about a year, and I gotta say, he was pretty moody. You seem like a guy who needs to date other hyperactive people, and I just don’t think you guys will be good for each other. Call it a premonition.”

“This is coming from the guy who got dumped,” Stiles said. “You’re sure you’re not just a little bitter? Because it smells like it,” he added, sniffing the air as if he was actually werewolf. “Smells like bitter ex-boyfriend to me.”

“Now we’re getting to the jokes,” Jackson said, rolling his eyes. “Look, Stiles, I’m just doing my part as a good person, and I’m just trying to say that it’s probably not going to work out for the two of you if you decide to get together. I know what Derek looks for in a guy and you’re just not it.”

“Jackson,” Derek growled again, letting the red bleed into his eyes. “Watch it.”

“He used to do that all the time when we were dating,” Jackson chuckled. “Der-bear, you should that all your red eyes do is turn me on. You know where my cabin is, all you have to do is ask.”

Derek glared daggers at Jackson while shaking his head slowly. Stiles reached under the table and squeezed Derek’s hand.

“So, how did you and Derek meet?” Stiles asked in an effort to diffuse the tension.

“Well we didn’t meet on a cruise ship,” Jackson shot back. “His mom knew my mom, and his mom suggested that we hang out. One thing led to another, and the next thing we knew, we were dating.”

“I only kept dating him to keep my mom from trying to set me up with someone worse,” Derek said, more to himself than anyone else. “And I was the one who broke up with him, not the other way around.”

“Right Derek, keep telling yourself that if it helps you sleep at night,” Jackson said, rolling his eyes.

“Well he slept fine last night,” Stiles said, grinning. “I can vouch for that from first hand experience. Because he slept in my cabin. In my bed. Together. With me.”

Jackson glared at Stiles. “I get it.”

“Just wanted to make sure,” Stiles said, grinning widely. “So, Jackson, have you found anyone of interest on the ship? I mean, it’s already the fourth day, you’re kinda running out of time. I think lots of the singles are starting to get paired up.”

“I’m not worried,” Jackson sneered. “All I have to do is look at a guy and he’ll be on his knees for me. Derek’s been on his kn—“

“Enough,” Derek growled. His eyes flashed a brilliant red and his fangs elongated. “Watch your mouth, Jackson or I’m gonna—“

“You’re gonna rip my throat out with your teeth, yeah, yeah, yeah,” Jackson said, rolling his eyes. “Good thing I’m already rich, because if I had a penny for every time I heard that, I’d be a millionaire. Lighten up. I’m just trying to have some fun.”

Derek growled lowly and wrapped his arm around Stiles’ shoulders, pulling him closer to him.

“Anyway, Derek, I thought you weren’t trying to find a date on this ship,” Jackson said, frowning at Stiles. “What gives?”

“I didn’t think I would find anyone like Stiles,” Derek said, turning to Stiles and offering him a soft smile. “And—I don’t know, it just kind of happened.”

“I just can’t believe it would be someone like Stiles,” Jackson sneered. “Sorry, but I just don’t see the appeal with him.”

“Your loss,” Derek said, shrugging.

“Guess so,” Jackson said, shooting Stiles another glare. “I’m gonna hit the bathroom before we head back to join Tweedledee and Tweedledumb. Don’t leave without me!” he added in a sing-song voice.

“How much would I have to pay you for you to let us leave him?” Stiles asked, once Jackson was in the bathroom. Derek laughed and nestled his face in Stiles’ neck.

“So, you and me?” Stiles asked carefully. “What’s exactly going on here? Like I just want to make sure you’re not using me to make Jackson jealous. Even though I would totally be okay with that, because Jackson is a total dick and you’re really hot and I like spending time with you. But like you can pick lots of other hot guys on the boat to make Jackson jealous, and I was just curious why you didn’t pick one of them. I saw this one guy in the hot tub with really big muscles and a great a—”

“Stiles.”

Stiles stopped mid-sentence and turned to look at Derek. Derek gave him a small smile and pressed a gentle kiss to his lips.

“I’m not using you to get back at Jackson,” Derek said against Stiles’ lips. “Listen to my heartbeat: I like you a lot, and I really like hanging out with you. Did I lie?”

“No,” Stiles murmured, sincerely hoping that Derek wasn’t lying, because he wouldn’t be able to tell either way. “You’re telling the truth.”

“Yeah,” Derek said softly. “You’re a really great guy, and I think you’re a lot of fun. You’re exactly the kind of guy I need after some of the stuff that’s happened to me. Lie?”

“No,” Stiles murmured again. “No lie. So—I don’t? Are we, like, dating?”

“I don’t know if we need to put the ‘boyfriend’ label on it quite yet, but I’d prefer it if you only smelt like me,” Derek huffed, pressing his face back into Stiles’ neck. Stiles felt Derek inhale deeply, so he ran his fingers through Derek’s hair. Derek rumbled contentedly as he scented Stiles and Stiles titled his neck to allow Derek easier access.

“Scott scents me sometimes though,” Stiles said, lacing his fingers through Derek’s. “And Isaac has too.”

“Not worried about them,” Derek hummed along Stiles’ neck. “Worried about Jackson.”

“You think Jackson is gonna try to steal me away from you?”

“Doubt it,” Derek said, continuing to press his face into Stiles’ neck. “I think he’s trying to steal me away from you.”

“That would imply that I have you,” Stiles said, combing Derek’s hair with his fingers. Derek’s hair was still damp from the falls, and Stiles wiped the moisture on Derek’s shirt, chuckling when Derek growled good-naturedly at him.

“I think that’s a pretty safe bet,” Derek said. “You smell nice,” he said, pulling his face out of Stiles’ neck.

“I smell nice?” Stiles asked carefully, while mentally face-palming. He knew that scent was very important to werewolves, and he had just let Derek bury his face in his neck, where Derek could easily realize that Stiles smelled like a human and not a werewolf.

“Yeah,” Derek said, nodding slightly. “You smell nice and comforting. It’s a home-y smell and it’s kind of calming. Even if I didn’t know anything about you, I would feel comfortable around you based on your scent.”

“Gotcha,” Stiles said, sighing inwardly. Apparently Derek either ignored the fact that Stiles didn’t smell like a werewolf, or he just simply hadn’t noticed. Stiles was hoping for the first option, but he was pretty sure it was the second one. “So I smell nice to you.”

“Yeah,” Derek replied. “I like it,” he said, smiling. “How mad do you think Jackson will be if we go outside and pretend like we left him.”

“I guess there’s only one way to find out,” Stiles said, smirking.

***

Jackson was pissed that they had tried to hide from him, but the look on his face was absolutely worth it.

***

Later that day, they were all sitting in a booth in the dining room. Scott and Isaac were sandwiched together on one side of the booth, and Stiles sat next to Derek on the other. Jackson had wanted to find a table with chairs, but Scott calmly suggested that if he wanted to sit in a chair, he could bring a chair to the booth.

So Jackson sat at the end of the booth in a chair, every time a waiter bumped him, Stiles had to bite back a chuckle.

“I had a lot of fun today,” Stiles said. “The Falls were a lot of fun, and all the animals at the wildlife preserve were adorable. I wish we were allowed to take some back on the ship.”

“At least we got cool pictures though,” Isaac said. “I really liked yours and Derek’s picture with the Jamaican Boa.”

“Yeah, but the picture with you and Scott in the pool with the baby sea turtles was adorable,” Stiles pointed out. “But I think we all know what the best picture of the day was,” he said, turning to Jackson and smirking.

“Fuck off, Stilinski,” Jackson said.

“Wow, Jackson, that’s a pretty shitty attitude, you have there,” Stiles teased. “Did you have a crappy picture or something?”

Isaac and Scott were shaking with silent giggles and Derek was doing his best to keep his smile from getting too big.

“So the parakeets shit on my head,” Jackson said, rolling his eyes. “It really wasn’t that big of a deal.”

“Shitting on your head is an understatement,” Scott said, biting his lip to keep from laughing. “They literally took a crap all over you. If I hadn’t seen you earlier, I would’ve thought that you had a white shirt on instead of a blue one.”

“Fuck off,” Jackson said, as Stiles and Isaac dissolved into giggles.

***

“Hey, Isaac, what do you want to do tomorrow?” Scott asked. The five of them were sitting in the hot tube after dinner. Scott had wrapped his arm around Isaac’s shoulders and had pulled him close. “We’re going to be in the Cayman Islands.”

“I’m not sure,” Isaac said. “What do you want to do, Stiles?”

“Huh?” Stiles said, suddenly paying attention at the mention of his name. “Sorry, I wasn’t paying attention.”

“Yeah, I noticed,” Isaac said, grinning. “I guess if Derek was scenting me in the hot tub, I don’t think I would be paying much attention either.”

Stiles grinned and shrugged while Derek continued to nose his way long his neck. “I saw that you could swim with sting rays. That sounds like fun.”

“Okay,” Isaac agreed. “That sounds fun, we’ll do that.”

“I’d rather not,” Jackson said.

Stiles rolled his eyes, because he had forgot that Jackson was there. Actually he forgot about pretty much everything once Derek started scenting him.

“Let’s go to the mainland instead,” Jackson said. “I want to go shopping.”

“Why don’t you just go by yourself, dude?” Scott groaned. “You already killed the mood today.”

“I want to hang out with you guys,” Jackson replied, tilting his chin defiantly. “Nothing you can really do about it.”

“No.”

“What?” Jackson asked.

“I said, no,” Derek said, pulling his face out of Stiles’ neck. “You said that you would hang out with us until we got back from the Jamaica and then you would tell me about Paige. So let's go talk," he said, standing up and yanking Jackson to his feet. "Now.”

Chapter Text

A hush fell over the hot tub as Derek and Jackson faced off across from each other. Isaac whined softly and tucked his face into the crook of Scott’s neck. He continued to whimper quietly, so Scott pressed gentle kisses into his curls and whispered comforting words into his ears. Scott wrapped his arm around Isaac’s shoulders, pulling him closer to him. Once he was satisfied that Isaac had calmed down, Scott turned and looked across the hot tub at Derek, who was glaring at Jackson.

Derek’s eyes were blazing red, and he stared Jackson down, not moving a muscle. Stiles could feel the intensity radiating off of him. His hands were clenched into fists, and his rippling muscles were taut and flexed. He continued to glare at Jackson, almost daring him to challenge him. The tension between them was thick, and even other werewolves were taking notice of them in the hot tub.

Where Derek looked aggressive, Jackson, on the other hand, actually looked intimidated. His trademark sneer disappeared briefly, before quickly returning. But his eyes were shifting and looking everywhere but at Derek. Finally, he regained his composure and smirked at Derek.

“So we’re going to talk about Paige?” Jackson asked. His eyes flashed a luminous blue and he folded his arms across his chest. Stiles watched as Jackson swallowed nervously, but continued to stare Derek down.

Derek growled lowly and bared his teeth, showing the slightest hint of fang.

“Alright, alright,” Jackson said, holding his hands up in defeat. “I’ll tell you about Paige. What do you want to know?”

“We’re not doing this here,” Derek growled. “Let’s do this somewhere private.”

“Why?” Jackson asked, frowning. “What difference is that going to make? You’re going to tell Stiles about Paige as soon as I tell you, so why not just cut out the middle man.”

“This is personal,” Derek said. “I need to know for me, first.”

“You seem to be trying really hard to get me alone,” Jackson said, smirking. “Seems to me that you’re using Paige to spend some quality time with me.”

“Jackson,” Derek growled. His eyes flashed again and he took a step forward.

“Okay, fine,” Jackson said, rolling his eyes. “Let’s just get this over with, come on then.” He stood up and waited for Derek to get out of the hot tub.

Derek glared at Jackson before turning back to Stiles. His eyes returned to their normal hazel-green, and a much softer expression appeared on his face. He cupped Stiles’ face in his hands and pressed his forehead to Stiles’.

“I’ll come back to your cabin as soon as I can, okay?” he said softly. He gave Stiles a gentle kiss and offered him a small smile.

“Yeah, of course,” Stiles said. “I hope everything works out okay.”

“Me too,” Derek said, smiling again. “I’ll see you soon.” He pressed one last kiss to Stiles’ lips before turning back to Jackson. His eyes flashed again and he squared his shoulders. “Let’s go,” he growled.

Jackson nodded and then he and Derek left the hot tub.

“Are you okay, Stiles?” Scott asked quietly. He was still stroking Isaac’s curls, even though Isaac had pulled his face out of his neck. “That was intense, even for me.”

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Stiles answered. “I just hope Derek’s gonna be okay.”

***

Stiles tossed and turned in his bed. Derek had been gone for about an hour, and Stiles was starting to get restless. He had ordered room service dessert in an effort to distract himself, but he couldn’t stop thinking about Derek. Stiles put his head in his hands and sighed. He shook his head and flopped back onto the bed. He closed his eyes and tried to imagine just what had happened between Derek and Paige.

Stiles tried to distract himself with television when there was a knock at his door. He didn’t even bother to check who it was, before opening the door to find Derek standing in the hallway.

“How did it—“ Stiles was cut off as Derek catapulted himself into his arms.

“She’s okay,” Derek murmured, burying his face into Stiles’ neck and inhaling deeply. “She’s okay, she’s safe.”

Stiles slowly guided himself and Derek to the bed. It was a little difficult seeing as how he had no use of his arms because Derek was hugging him so tightly. Stiles closed his cabin door with his foot and stumbled into bed. He laid on his back and chuckled softly as Derek sprawled across his chest.

Derek continued to nose his way up and down Stiles’ neck, seemingly drawing comfort from Stiles’ scent. He inhaled deeply at the base of Stiles’ throat and rubbed his cheek along the length of his neck, pausing every now and then to press small kisses on Stiles’ skin. His eyes were closed and he looked peaceful and relaxed— a stark contrast to his threatening demeanor in the hot tub. Stiles smiled softly and ran his fingers along the cleft in Derek’s back. Derek rumbled contentedly when Stiles hit a sensitive spot just above his shoulder blades.

They stayed like that for about an hour. Stiles was in no hurry to break the comfortable silence, and apparently neither was Derek. He even whined softly when Stiles shifted underneath him.

“You’re kind of heavy,” Stiles murmured. Derek growled good-naturedly and nipped at the base of Stiles’ throat.

Stiles dozed off, blanketed under Derek’s comforting weight. He was semi-aware that Derek was continuing to nuzzle his neck, so he ran his fingers through Derek’s hair as he closed his eyes. When he woke up, Derek was still lying on top of him and was still nuzzling his neck. When Derek noticed that Stiles had woken up, he smiled softly and pressed a tender kiss to his lips.

“She almost died because of me,” Derek said softly.

“What?”

“Paige,” Derek said, frowning slightly. “I almost got her killed.”

“I—what happened?” Stiles asked quietly. Derek inhaled deeply and a pained expression flashed across his face. Stiles quickly resumed stroking Derek’s back, finding Derek’s sensitive spot and running his fingers across it. Derek relaxed and nuzzled Stiles neck one last time before speaking.

“She was my best friend,” Derek said. “I met her when we were in third grade. She came up to me on the first day of school and asked to see my claws. I didn’t have many friends and I thought she was trying to make fun of me so I ran away.”

Stiles chuckled as he imagined a younger, shyer version of Derek hiding from a girl under the slide.

“Eventually I showed her my claws and she told me that we were going to be best friends. She was my only friend for a long time,” Derek said softly. “She started coming over to my house after school, and then we found out that her aunt was a werewolf, and had trained her to be able to figure out who was a werewolf and who wasn’t.”

“That’s why she asked to see your claws,” Stiles said.

“Yeah,” Derek said, smiling fondly. “Anyway, Paige and I became inseparable. She knew my family, I knew her family, and she became an ally to our pack. That’s how I met Jackson. He’s Paige’s cousin, and you know how wonderful my relationship is with him.”

Stiles chuckled and head-butted Derek lightly. Derek snorted fondly and kissed Stiles’ neck.

“When I graduated, I still didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life, so Paige suggested that I join the police. She said that I would be a great cop,” Derek said. “So I joined the force, and that’s when things started to go wrong.”

“What happened?” Stiles asked gently.

Derek whined softly and inhaled at the base of Stiles’ throat. “When I joined the police, they assigned me to the werewolf unit. I was supposed to deal with incidents that involved werewolves, since I was capable of handling myself against them. I had been assigned to bust a drug deal headed by a rogue pack of alphas, led by a guy named Deucalion. I had been tracking them for weeks, and finally I was able to arrest them as the drug deal went down. As I was putting them in their cuffs, Deucalion said that I was going to regret it, and they were going to make me pay. I didn’t really pay much attention to it because that’s what a lot of perps say. I never thought that they would, or could go through with it.”

Derek paused for a couple of moments, apparently trying to find the correct words to say. Stiles continued to rub the sensitive spot along Derek’s shoulder blades, offering the only encouragement he could.

“One of the alphas, her name was Kali, broke out of prison and hunted Paige down,” Derek said. “She probably would’ve killed her if Paige hadn’t been able to slow her down.”

“She fought back?” Stiles asked. “How did she do that?”

“I don’t know,” Derek answered quietly. “I wasn’t there. It was my day off. I—I should’ve been able to help.”

“Wait, I thought you said Paige fought back,” Stiles said, frowning.

“I said she slowed her down,” Derek said bitterly. “There’s no way a human can fight back against a werewolf. Especially not an alpha as ferocious as Kali is. Paige never stood a chance, but at least she was able to keep herself alive. Barely.”

“Kali hurt her?” Stiles asked softly.

“Kali almost killed her,” Derek hissed. “Paige was in ICU for eight days. The doctors did everything they could to keep her alive. But I—I couldn’t stay. I couldn’t even look at her. I saw her in the hospital bed, and she looked so frail, so vulnerable. She wasn’t a werewolf and she wasn’t healing. I just—I left.”

“To New York?” Stiles asked.

“Yeah,” Derek said softly. “I had to get away. I couldn’t stand to see Paige like that, knowing I had put her there.”

“Derek, you didn’t do anything wrong,” Stiles said, squeezing Derek slightly. “You did your job. Kali attacked Paige, not you. What happened to her wasn’t your fault.”

“I should’ve been able to do something,” Derek said. He whined and buried his face back in the hollow of Stiles’ throat. “I should’ve taken Deucalion’s threat at face value. Paige was a human; she didn’t deserve to be targeted like that. And I should’ve protected her.”

“Derek—” Stiles murmured. He stroked Derek’s back, trying to provide some comfort. Derek was silent for a couple of minutes, keeping his face pressed into Stiles’ neck. He was chewing his lip nervously, as if debating whether to tell Stiles the rest of his story.

“I stayed in New York for three years,” Derek continued after a while. “I got a job with NYPD, and got Boyd. Jackson transferred to NYU and my mom suggested that I date him, just so I could try to move on. It didn’t really work, so I broke up with him. I tried dating off and on, but I just couldn’t really find anyone that I felt a connection with. Then my mom tricked me into coming on this cruise, and the rest is pretty much history.”

“I don’t know what to say,” Stiles said softly. “I’m serious. I—Derek, I’m so sorry that happened to you.”

“It’s okay,” Derek said softly. He placed one of his hands on Stiles chest, right over his heart and squeezed gently. Stiles placed his hand over Derek’s and laced their fingers together.

“But Paige is alive, right?” Stiles asked cautiously. “Jackson said she was okay? She made a full recovery?”

“Yeah,” Derek said, nodding. “But that’s why I try not to associate with humans. I just—I couldn’t live with myself if I got close to another human and they got hurt because of me.”

Stiles’ breath caught, because now everything made sense. Initially, Stiles had thought that Derek was some sort of werewolf elitist who didn’t date humans on principle. Derek had said he didn’t date humans because he had a ‘bad experience’ with one, and now all of that made sense. Derek truly believed that he was solely responsible for Paige’s attack. Stiles couldn’t imagine what Derek had been feeling, picturing Paige lying motionless on a hospital bed.

Then Stiles started feeling a little sick, because Derek still thought he was a werewolf. And Stiles didn’t know if he could keep up this charade any longer, especially now that he knew why Derek didn’t date humans.

“Derek, I— I think—”

“I’m really glad I met you,” Derek murmured. “I know I told you this before, but I really am glad that I met you. I think I’ve laughed more in the past couple of days than I laughed during my entire time in New York. You make me smile, and that’s something I haven’t been doing a lot of lately.”

Stiles felt sick to his stomach. This was not going to end well at all.

“I just—I don’t know what it is about you,” Derek continued. “I see how loyal you are with Scott, and how seamlessly you accepted Isaac, and it makes me happy. You got me to open up in the lazy river, and ever since then I’ve enjoyed all the time I’ve spent with you. You just seem like someone I can trust, and that’s really what I need right now. So thank you.”

Stiles almost threw up, because that was the last thing that he wanted to hear Derek say right now. Derek trusted him. Derek, the guy with serious trust issues, and who blamed himself for his best friend’s accident, was laying in bed with him talking about how much he trusted him. Stiles couldn’t handle it. He hadn’t signed up for any of this.

He had only come on this cruise to swim with the dolphins, maybe hook up with a werewolf or two, but mainly to swim with dolphins. This was not how he had imagined this vacation going.

Stiles sighed and pressed a small kiss to Derek’s forehead. “Wanna watch a movie?” he asked quietly.

Derek murmured affirmatively and nipped gently at Stiles’ collarbone. Stiles grinned and reached for the remote to turn the television on. As they watched the movie, Stiles felt Derek decompress as he relaxed into Stiles’ chest. He even laced his fingers with Stiles’ and held his hand through the duration of the movie.

“You said you were from California, right?” Derek asked, when the credits started to roll.

“Sure did.”

“I’m thinking about moving back,” Derek said quietly. “I think it would be a good idea. I’ve been pretty miserable living in New York and I’ve been missing my family. Plus now that I know that Paige is okay, I think it’s time to go back. At least to apologize for everything.”

“You know you don’t have to apologize for anything,” Stiles murmured. “It wasn’t your fault.”

“I have to at least apologize for leaving her,” Derek said. “I left her when she needed me most.”

“I’m sure she’ll forgive you,” Stiles said. “She seems like she’s a great person. I wish I could meet her.”

“You will,” Derek said, pressing his face back into Stiles’ neck. “I’m also moving back home to introduce everyone to the great guy I met on the cruise.”

“You’re—really?” Stiles gasped. He tried to focus on his heartbeat, which he was sure was hammering away. “Are you sure?”

“Yeah,” Derek said softly. “I really like hanging out with you, and I would hate to have to do the LDR thing from opposite sides of the country.”

“LD—long distance relationship?” Stiles squeaked. “You want—you want to date me?”

“Yeah, I mean, if you want me to,” Derek said, running his cheek along Stiles’ neck. “I'd like to date you. Plus I can’t let you go back home smelling like me when I’m not there, can I?”

“Guess not,” Stiles said, laughing weakly. “So I guess we’re dating now?”

“Mmmm, looks like it,” Derek hummed. He pressed a quick kiss to Stiles’ lips. “You’re okay with that?”

“Sure,” Stiles said, because it wasn’t like he could say no. Not after the way Derek had poured his life story to him, and especially not after he told Stiles that he trusted him. Add in the fact that Stiles probably reeked of Derek from the non-stop scenting, and Stiles was pretty sure they had been dating; they just hadn’t put a label on it yet. “I’m fine with dating you.”

“Cool,” Derek said, resuming nuzzling Stiles’ neck. “What part of California are you from?”

“Beacon Hills,” Stiles said, hoping that Derek lived somewhere far away from Beacon Hills, like Los Angeles or San Diego.

“Oh cool,” Derek answered. “I’m from the next town over, Beacon Heights. What are the chances of that?”

“One in a million,” Stiles said quietly.

“Yeah,” Derek said, voice muffled from where his face was still nestled into Stiles’ neck. “Anyway, it’s been a long day, and I want to get some sleep for Stingray City tomorrow. Good night, Stiles,” he said, pressing a gentle kiss to Stiles’ lips. “I’ll see you in the morning.”

Derek offered him one last smile before rolling over and falling asleep.

“Night, Derek,” Stiles whispered. He looked at Derek’s sleeping figure before sighing, and contemplating the situation he was in.

He was completely and utterly fucked.

Chapter Text

Stiles woke up the next morning completely and totally unsurprised to find that Derek was wrapped around him like an octopus. Actually, octopus might have been an understatement. Derek had one arm draped across Stiles’ stomach, and his legs were intertwined with Stiles’. Derek’s nose and face were once again buried in the crook between Stiles’ head and shoulders, and he was breathing evenly.

Stiles sighed and ran his fingers through Derek’s hair, contemplating how and when he was going to tell Derek that he was a human. It was a conversation that Stiles was really starting to dread, especially given everything he had learned about Derek’s history with Paige last night. More than anything Stiles didn’t want to lose his relationship with Derek, especially now that they were dating. And Stiles really didn’t want to lose his relationship with Derek over the fact that he was a human.

Because if he was honest with himself, Stiles really liked Derek. A lot. Probably far more than he should, especially for someone he had only known for a couple of days. But somehow Derek had wormed his way into Stiles’ heart, and judging from the peaceful expression on Derek’s sleeping face, Stiles had done the same to him.

Stiles sighed and pressed a gentle kiss to Derek’s hair. He still couldn’t imagine the guilt that Derek felt after everything that had happened between him and Paige. Stiles had no idea what he would do if Scott got hurt because of him. Stiles pressed another kiss to Derek’s hair, Derek was a great guy and he deserved to find someone that made him happy again, and Stiles wanted to be that person, and he hoped that Derek would still want to date him, regardless of the fact that he was human.

Stiles lay awake a little while longer, running his fingers through Derek’s hair. He definitely needed to tell Derek that he was human by the end of the day, that way if Derek did decide to end their relationship, Stiles could try and enjoy the rest of the cruise, rather than continue lying to Derek about his humanity.

Stiles was so deep in thought that he didn’t notice that Derek had woken up, and was grazing his cheek along Stiles’ neck.

“Hey,” Derek murmured.

“Hey,” Stiles replied, running his fingers along Derek’s back, finding his sensitive spot and scratching gently. “Sleep okay?”

“Yeah,” Derek said, rumbling happily as Stiles scratched his back. “You?”

“Mmmhm,” Stiles hummed. “Wanna go get breakfast? Scott and Isaac should be awake by now. I think they’re having a breakfast buffet today, and we don’t have to be at Stingray City until later this afternoon.”

“We can get food later,” Derek said into Stiles’ neck. “It’s still pretty early. And Isaac seems like the kinda guy who likes to sleep until noon. We have time.”

“Time for wha—oh.” Stiles’ words were cut off as Derek silenced him with a passionate kiss. Derek gently slid his tongue into Stiles’ mouth and sucked on his lower lip. Stiles moaned softly as Derek deepened the kiss. Derek rolled on top of Stiles and pinned one of his arms above his head, lacing their fingers together. He let his other hand roam down Stiles’ body, resting right over his groin.

Stiles whined softly when Derek broke the kiss, in favor of pressing light kisses along Stiles’ jawline and up and down his neck. Derek started palming Stiles through his pajama bottoms, and soon all of Stiles was very awake. Stiles ran his fingers along Derek’s back, scratching gently at Derek’s sensitive spot, enjoying the pleased rumble that Derek made from the back of his throat. In response, Derek nipped at the base of Stiles’ neck and slipped his hands underneath the elastic band of Stiles’ underwear, sending tendrils of pleasure shooting through Stiles’ body.

As Derek slowly began to stroke Stiles underneath his pajama shorts, Stiles knew that this couldn’t go any further until Derek knew the truth. Derek was doing this because he trusted Stiles. And every time Stiles kissed back, every time Stiles ran his fingers along Derek’s sweet spot, he was lying to Derek. And it really sucked because Stiles would very much like to sleep with Derek in the future, without having to worry about the fact that Derek thought he was a werewolf.

“Derek,” Stiles said softly. “Derek, I need to tell—”

“S’okay, baby,” Derek murmured, pressing small kisses to the hollow of Stiles’ throat and continuing to stroke Stiles’ groin. “I got you, s’okay.”

“No, Derek, I need to—” Stiles’ words were once again cut off as Derek’ lips met his own. Stiles closed his eyes and kissed Derek back, bringing one hand up to tangle his fingers in Derek’s hair.

Deep down, he knew that he had to stop this before it got too intense, but on the other hand, Derek was making him feel so good, that Stiles didn’t want it to ever stop.

Stiles moaned involuntarily as Derek continued to stroke him off, sending wave after wave of pleasure coursing through his body. Stiles didn’t know if it was a werewolf thing or if Derek was just special, but Stiles was having a hard time keeping himself under control due to all the sensations Derek was giving him. Every stroke of his hand and twist of his wrist had Stiles panting and whining for more.

Stiles made another small noise of protest when Derek broke the kiss again, until he realized that Derek was sliding his shirt up over his head. As soon as Derek had Stiles’ shirt off, he stripped out of his own, and soon his mouth was back on Stiles.

“Derek,” Stiles whimpered as Derek sucked on his nipple, gently grazing his teeth across the bud of flesh. “Derek, please.”

Derek looked up at Stiles and grinned seductively before pressing a trail of kisses down Stiles’ chest. He ran his tongue along Stiles’ collarbones and pressed a gentle kiss to Stiles’ sternum. He kissed both of Stiles’ nipples, kissed a trail down Stiles’ abs and pressed light and delicate kisses to Stiles’ belly button and hipbones.

As Derek continued to kiss his way down Stiles’ body, Stiles tangled all of his fingers in Derek’s hair, clenching his hands into fists as Derek slid Stiles’ shorts off and kissed him through his underwear. Stiles’ eyes were closed and he gently shoved his hips into Derek’s face as encouragement.

Stiles was so lost in the sensations that Derek was giving him that he didn’t even hear Scott and Isaac come in the cabin.

“Hey Stiles, we’re gonna go get some—oh—we—actually we’ll come back later.” Scott looked mortified and Isaac looked like he was trying to hide a case of the giggles.

“No, no, I—I’m hungry too,” Stiles said quickly, thankful that Scott had chosen this exact moment to cock block him. If things had gone any further, Stiles knew there was no way that he would’ve been able to slow Derek down enough for Stiles to tell him the truth. “Told you I was hungry,” he added, turning to Derek. Thankfully his stomach grumbled in agreement.

Derek huffed and looked slightly annoyed, but he offered Stiles a small smile and nodded at Scott and Isaac. “We’ll be out in five,” he said. “And in the future, you guys should really learn to knock.”

Scott and Isaac both blushed and scurried out of the cabin. Derek rolled his eyes and flopped back down on top of Stiles, pressing another kiss to his lips.

“I hate your friends,” he murmured, burying his face in Stiles’ neck.

“No you don’t,” Stiles replied, running his fingers through Derek’s hair.

Derek chuckled and nipped at Stiles’ neck, before standing up and walking to the bathroom. “Don’t think we’re not finishing what we started later,” he added. “I like the way you moan.” He grinned and stepped into the bathroom.

Stiles laid back on the bed and sighed. He would very much like to pick up where they left off, he just didn’t know if Derek would want to when he found out that he was a human.

***

“Dude, are you crazy?” Scott whispered lowly. “Have you actually lost your mind?”

Stiles, Scott and Isaac were sitting in a booth in the dining room. It was buffet-style for breakfast that morning, and Derek was in line for the Belgian waffles. Apparently he really wanted to try the strawberry shortcake waffle.

“Oh no, Scott. Whisper a little louder,” Stiles said, rolling his eyes as he pushed his scrambled eggs around his plate. “I don’t think Derek heard you the first time.”

“How are you hooking up with him right now?” Scott hissed. “Did you—does he know that you’re not a, you know?”

“No,” Stiles muttered. “And I—look. I tried to get him to stop, really. He’s damaged, Scott. What happened between him and Paige, it messed him up a lot. I just—I don’t know. I’m going to tell him later today, but in case he does decide to call it quits I just want to enjoy as much time as I can with him. Just can you let it go for now?”

“Let what go?” Derek asked as he slid next to Stiles in the booth. He pecked Stiles on the cheek and started pouring strawberry syrup on his waffles. “Oh, here, Stiles, I got you some bacon, because I know you like it.”

Stiles smiled softly as Derek put some bacon on his plate. He leaned into Derek, who wrapped an arm around Stiles’ shoulders and began eating his waffles. “These are really good,” he said in between bites. “Want some?” he asked, offering a forkful of waffles to Stiles. Stiles shook his head, opting to press a kiss to Derek’s cheek instead and settled deeper into Derek’s body. Derek shrugged and continued eating his waffles.

“So, what were you guys talking about?” Derek asked again.

“I was just telling Scott and Isaac that they probably shouldn’t have sex on the cruise ship,” Stiles said, hoping that Derek wasn’t paying attention to his heartbeat. “You know, because the cruise line probably doesn’t wash the sheets that well and who knows what kind of germs and stuff are still on them.”

Derek snorted. “Too late to warn them about that,” he said, raising an eyebrow. “Isaac reeked of Scott when they came into your cabin this morning. They had to have had sex forever for that to happen. Isaac barely smelled like himself this morning.”

“I—what?” Stiles exclaimed, looking at both Isaac and Scott with a shocked expression. “When did this happen?”

“Isaac wakes up early,” Scott said, shrugging. “And I wake up early too. We weren’t going to sit around playing checkers all morning. What did you expect to happen?”

Stiles was pretty sure the look on his face was like someone had slapped him. He couldn’t believe that his best friend was sleeping with someone literally in the cabin next door.

“Wow, how did I miss that one?” Stiles asked, shaking his head fondly. Scott grinned and shrugged again. Isaac leaned into Scott and grinned.

“You were a little preoccupied this morning too,” Derek said, smirking. “I’m pretty sure you can use that as an excuse.” He took another bite of his waffle and shoved Stiles gently.

Stiles flushed a bright red and both Isaac and Scott snickered. Stiles made a face at them and they tried to stop laughing, but failed miserably.

“When were you two going to tell me that you were officially together?” Stiles asked, once the snickering died down.

“I guess this morning,” Scott said, grinning. “Surprise.”

Stiles rolled his eyes and shook his head fondly. He really needed to get a new best friend. Maybe he needed to get a Boyd of his own.

“And what about you, Stiles?” Isaac asked, eyes gleaming mischievously. “When were you planning on telling us that you were canoodling with Derek?”

“Canoodling?” Stiles asked doubtfully, as Derek raised an eyebrow.

“That was more than canoodling, babe,” Scott said, grinning at Isaac. “That was almost p—”

“We were planning on telling you this morning,” Derek said, cutting Scott off. “I asked Stiles to be my boyfriend last night and he agreed.” He smiled softly at Stiles and pressed a kiss to his forehead. Stiles smiled back and leaned into Derek’s body.

“Congratulations guys!” Scott said. “Hey, that means that today is going to be our first double date!”

“Technically the Bahamas were our first double date,” Derek pointed out. “Just, we weren’t officially dating.”

“Then it wasn’t a date, duh,” Scott said, frowning at Derek.

“It was a date,” Derek shot back, frowning right back at Scott.

“No, a date happens between boyfriends.”

“So what would you call our trip to the Bahamas? A play-date?”

Stiles and Isaac rolled their eyes fondly as their boyfriends continued to argue back and forth. Stiles rested his head on Derek’s shoulder and ate the rest of his waffle. Derek could always get another one later.

***

If Stiles ever won the lottery, he was going to put his own Stingray City in his backyard. It was the coolest place that he had ever been to in his entire life. There were stingrays everywhere, and they were all incredibly friendly. Stiles had barely been in the water for two minutes before he made a stingray best friend.

Stiles was playing ‘tag’ with a particularly friendly stingray; Stiles had decided to name him Stingy. He would pet Stingy on the nose and swim away, and Stingy would swim after Stiles and bump him on the ankle. Unfortunately, Stingy didn’t know that Stiles was ‘it’, so he would just swim around Stiles’ ankles lazily until Stiles bumped him and swam away again.

Eventually, Stingy decided to go play with some of his other stingray friends, so Stiles decided to go hang out with Derek, who was swimming closer to the boat.

“Hey,” Stiles said, swimming in from behind and wrapping his arms around Derek’s shoulders. He pressed a kiss to the back of Derek’s neck and then swam around so they were face to face. “You are probably the only person on the planet who can make a snorkel mask and flippers look sexy.”

Derek looked at Stiles and offered him a small smile.

“Are you okay?” Stiles asked, noticing that Derek didn’t look particularly happy. “Oh no, you miss Boyd don’t you?”

“No,” Derek muttered. “The stingrays, they don’t—they don’t like me. Watch.”

Stiles put his goggles on and watched as Derek swam down and tried to feed the stingrays. He held the squid out in the palm of his hand like the guide had taught them, and the stingrays swam close to Derek smelling the food. However, all the stingrays swerved away at the last minute, leaving Derek with a palm full of squid and the cutest pout that Stiles had ever seen.

“They won’t take the food,” Derek muttered, once they both resurfaced. “I’ve been trying to feed them for the past twenty minutes.”

“Huh,” Stiles said. “Maybe they just don’t like the food you have. Maybe there’s something on it that they don’t like.”

“You try feeding them then,” Derek said, shoving the squid into Stiles’ hand. “I’ve seen you feed them. They love you.”

“Derek, you’re not seriously getting jealous of some stingrays are you?” Stiles asked, smirking and raising an eyebrow. “Because that’s just sad.”

“Just feed the rays, Stiles.”

Stiles and Derek both put their masks back on and dove down to the bottom of the sandbar. Stiles held out the squid in the palm of his hand, and within seconds a stingray swam up and ate it right out of his hands.

“So that happened,” Stiles said apologetically. Derek huffed and frowned again.

“Hey, mister,” Stiles said. “Turn that frown upside down. Before the end of the day, you are going to feed a stingray. I’m making it my personal goal. Come on,” he said, swimming over to the bucket of food and grabbing a handful of squid. `

Derek sighed and followed Stiles to the bucket of squid. Stiles handed Derek some squid and took some for himself.

“Maybe if I go swim down with you, they’ll eat the squid you have too,” Stiles suggested. Derek rolled his eyes, but slipped the snorkel mask on and swam down to the bottom of the sandbar with Stiles.

In seconds, three stingrays swam right up to Stiles and devoured the squid that was in his hands. When they were done eating, they swam around Derek’s hand, bumping the squid with their snouts before swimming back to Stiles, presumably looking for more food.

Stiles had to fight the grin that was threatening to spread across his face when they both resurfaced.

“Wow, they really don’t like you,” Stiles said, biting his lip to keep from smiling. “At all. But at least they didn’t completely ignore you. Oh! Maybe they can smell Boyd on you and they don’t want Boyd to come and kill them.”

“Boyd isn’t even a stingray, so that doesn’t even make sense,” Derek growled, folding his arms across his chest.

“Hey, no need to get grumpy,” Stiles said quietly, unfolding Derek’s arms and rubbing his biceps. “I was kidding. You’ll get to feed the stingrays, I promise.” He smiled at Derek and gave him a quick kiss. “Let’s try something different this time.”

Trying to get the stingrays to eat squid from Derek’s palm was one of the most challenging things Stiles had ever tried to do. For some reason, the stingrays just didn’t want to eat the squid if Derek was holding it. Stiles tried all kinds of tricky maneuvers, but they all ended the same way: a frustrated Derek with a handful of squid.

“This is pointless,” Derek huffed, surfacing after another unsuccessful attempt of feeding the stingrays. “Nothing is working.”

“I don’t know what it is,” Stiles said shrugging. “I thought that if we made it look like I was holding the fish, then that would work, but clearly we can’t outsmart the stingrays.”

“Let’s just go back to the boat,” Derek sighed. “It’s getting late anyways.”

“No way,” Stiles said. “I said that I would get you to feed the stingrays before you left, and that’s exactly what’s going to happen.”

“It’s fine, Stiles,” Derek said.

“No,” Stiles said. “Hold my hand.”

“Stiles, really, it’s not that big of a deal,” Derek muttered, but he took Stiles’ outstretched hand anyways.

“Okay, every time I’ve tried to feed the stingrays, there’s been, like, five stingrays coming to try and get my squid,” Stiles said. “So, maybe, if we hold the squid together, some of my skills will rub off on you.”

Stiles watched as Derek rolled his eyes, but slipped his mask back on and dove underneath the water. Stiles joined their hands together, and slipped the squid in their hands. Sure enough within seconds, several stingrays swam up and started sniffing the squid.

At the last possible second, Stiles let go of Derek’s hand, and watched as the stingrays fought over the squid in the palm of Derek’s hand. Stiles could see that Derek was fighting to stay calm as the stingrays swarmed around his palm, and he was biting his bottom lip to keep from smiling.

When they both resurfaced, Derek flashed Stiles a huge smile.

“Did you see them?” he asked excitedly, suddenly taking on the persona of a five year old. “They were eating the squid that I had!”

Stiles grinned and rolled his eyes as Derek babbled on about how cool it felt to feel the stingrays eat the squid. He wasn’t expecting Derek to fling his arms around his neck.

“Thanks,” Derek murmured, burying his face into Stiles’ neck. “You’re the best.”

“Get a room!” Scott shouted, throwing a piece of squid at them.

***

As the four of them made their way back onto the cruise ship, Derek pulled Stiles aside as they were making their way back to Stiles’ room and kissed him deeply.

“I’ll see you in a little bit,” he said, once he pulled away.

“What—where are you going?” Stiles asked, pouting slightly.

“I need to change clothes and shower,” Derek said. “I smell like squid.”

“You’re the one who decided to take the entire bucket of squid down to the bottom of the sandbar and pass out squid like you were the free sample lady at Costco,” Stiles pointed out.

“Had to make up for lost time,” Derek said, smiling slightly. “Meet you in your room in twenty?”

“That’s so long,” Stiles whined, but he shut up when Derek kissed him again.

“Fifteen, then,” Derek said, grinning. He gave Stiles one last kiss before turning around and heading back down to his floor.

“Dude,” Scott said, once he, Stiles and Isaac were in Stiles’ room. “You need to tell him. You guys are becoming way too romantic.”

“We’re not that romantic,” Stiles muttered, flopping back on the bed.

“Stiles, you made out in the ocean, at sunset, surrounded by stingrays,” Scott said. “That’s romance-novel-quality romantic. It didn’t even get that sappy in The Little Mermaid.”

“Oh, I like that movie,” Isaac murmured.

“What am I supposed to say, Scott?” Stiles asked. “I really like him and I think he likes me too. But he won’t date me once he finds out that I’m a human. I know he won’t.”

“How do you know?” Scott asked. “Is it because of Paige?”

“Kind of,” Stiles said. “Derek busted a drug deal, and one of the perps broke out and attacked Paige in revenge, and Derek blames himself for it. So now he doesn’t date humans, because he’s afraid that they’re going to get hurt. It’s like some weird self-guilt complex, but he’s pretty adamant about it.”

“You don’t think he’ll make an exception for you?” Isaac asked quietly. “Because he likes you a lot, Stiles. He’s all over you all the time. I don’t know how you managed to eat breakfast this morning, the way he was draped all over you.”

“I don’t what he’ll do, honestly,” Stiles said, sighing and running his hands through his hair. “He’s talking about moving back to California so we don’t have to date long distance, and he wants me to meet his family, and I—I hate lying to him, but that’s all I can do right now. Because I know as soon as he finds out that I’m a human, he’s going to freak out and never talk to me again.”

“You have to tell him the truth, Stiles,” Scott murmured. “Once he knows that you’re a human, you guys will be able to work it out,” Scott said, sitting down next to him and nuzzling his cheek.

“What if we can’t, though?” Stiles asked quietly, leaning into Scott. “What if he breaks up with me?”

“He won’t, Stiles,” Isaac said softly, resting his head in Stiles’ lap. “He likes you too much. He might be mad for a couple of hours, but I think he’ll forgive you. But the sooner you tell him the better.”

“I don’t know,” Stiles said sadly. “He made it really clear that he doesn’t date humans. And that was before we even started dating.”

“Maybe he already knows you’re a human,” Isaac said. “He’s been scenting you non-stop for the past couple of days. He can’t be that oblivious to not notice that you don’t smell like a werewolf. I figured it out when I first met you, and so did Erica, and we’re both betas. Derek’s an alpha, he had to have known.”

“You realize you’re talking about the guy who couldn’t feed stingrays without help,” Stiles said, snorting fondly. “I think being stupidly oblivious is part of his charm. If he knew I was a human, I’m pretty sure he never would’ve talked to me.”

Isaac made a small noise and pressed his head deeper into Stiles’ lap. Stiles sighed softly and ran his fingers through Isaac’s curls.

“What are you going to do then, Stiles?” Scott asked, after a couple beats of silence. “Are you going to tell him or are you just going to keep pretending that you’re a werewolf?”

“I have to tell him,” Stiles said. “I have to. I owe it to him. If we’re dating, we’ve got to be honest with each other. So I have to tell him, I just have to figure out a way to do it without him breaking up with me. But I have no idea how to do that.”

“I could just tell him for you,” a familiar voice spoke up.

“Jackson!” Stiles exclaimed, jumping up from the bed. “What are you—how did you get in here?”

“My room is down the hall from yours. I heard your voices, but I didn’t hear Derek’s voice, so I followed you.” Jackson said, a shit-eating grin spreading across his face. He leaned against the doorframe, folded his arms across his chest. “I used my werewolf speed to wedge the door open before it shut completely. But I guess you wouldn’t know anything about that, since you’re a human.”

“Jackson,” Stiles pleaded. “Please, don’t tell Derek.”

“Why shouldn’t I?” Jackson sneered. “You’ve been parading around with him all week, and now you’re worried that he’s going to dump you because you lied to him? I mean I guess I’d be worried if I was in your position. If I was Derek, I’d break up with you too.”

“Jackson, don’t,” Stiles said softly. “I was going to tell him, I just—”

“Shut up, Stiles,” Jackson spat, lip curling. “You don’t have to convince me of anything. I’m not the one you need to be apologizing to. Maybe if you’re lucky, Derek will actually keep dating you.”

“You think so?” Stiles asked hopefully.

“Nope,” Jackson said, smirking. “If there’s one thing Derek hates, it’s liars. And I hate to say it, Stilinski, but if you’ve been lying since day one, you’ve got no chance of keeping Derek now.”

“I wanted to tell him,” Stiles started. “I—”

“And you’re a human?” Jackson asked, sneering. “You really have no chance now. You might as well just find someone else and move on, because as soon as Derek finds out, it’s a done deal.”

“As soon as I find out what?” Derek asked, walking into the cabin. He shoved Jackson out of the way and stood in the middle of the room. “What are you doing here, Jackson?” he asked frowning.

“Derek? What are you doing here?” Stiles asked.

“I said that I would come over after I finished my shower,” Derek said, raising an eyebrow in confusion. “What’s going on?”

“Oh, hi, Derek,” Jackson said, a huge smirk unfurling across his face. “I was just talking to Stiles and he has something to tell you. It’s kind of a big deal.”

“Get out,” Derek growled.

“Wh-what?” Jackson sputtered. “What are you talking about?”

“Get. Out.” Derek repeated. “Whatever’s happening, I’m sure you had a lot to do with it. Get out, and let me talk to Stiles.”

“Whatever you say, Derek,” Jackson said, smirk reappearing on his face. “But when you find out what’s going on, don’t say I didn’t warn you.” He winked at Stiles before walking out of the door.

“Stiles?” Derek asked softly. “What’s Jackson talking about?”

Stiles shot a pleading look to Isaac and Scott, who both offered him apologetic smiles before walking back into Scott’s cabin. Stiles sighed and turned his attention back to Derek, who was sitting on Stiles’ bed.

“Before I say anything, I want you to know that I never thought that we would get to where we are now,” Stiles said, sitting across from Derek on the bed. “We were supposed to hang out together. I never thought that I would actually like you or you would like me.”

Derek didn’t say anything, but frowned slightly.

“But then we were in the Bahamas, and the lifeguard said we made a cute couple, and you didn’t correct her because you agreed with her, and then we were bro-punching, and you were scenting me and then kissing me, and this morning happened and—” Stiles paused, taking a breath. “I wasn’t expecting to like you this much,” he said softly.

“I like you a lot too, Stiles,” Derek murmured. “But I don’t understand what the problem is.”

Stiles closed his eyes and prayed that what he was about to say wasn’t the deal breaker that he thought it was going to be.

“I’m a human.”

Chapter Text

“You’re a what?” Derek growled. His eyes flashed red briefly, and Stiles bit his lip and took a deep breath.

“I’m a human,” he repeated softly. Stiles winced as Derek scooted away from him on the bed. He opened his mouth to say something, but closed it when he saw that Derek wasn’t looking at him. He was frowning at Stiles’ bed sheets and clenching his fists.

There was a period of deafening silence and it made Stiles extremely nervous. When he’d hung out with Derek before, these periods of silence were comfortable, and filled with gentle caresses and touches. Now, even though Derek was only a couple feet away from him on the bed, Stiles had never felt more distant to him.

The tense silence continued and Stiles grew more and more uncomfortable with each passing second.

“Derek?” he asked softly. “Derek, talk to me, please.”

Derek finally looked Stiles and leveled him with a glare that Stiles thought had been strictly reserved for Jackson. He felt his stomach plummet when he saw the hurt, confusion and anger in Derek’s eyes.

“You lied to me,” Derek growled. His eyes flashed again, and a muscle in his cheek tightened as he clenched his jaw. “You lied to me.”

“I didn’t mean to,” Stiles said quickly. “I promise. I would’ve told you when I first met you if I knew things were going to get this serious between us. I thought we were just going to be friends who hung out on the cruise together. I never thought I would like you the way I do. Because I really like you,” he added quietly. He offered Derek a small, hopeful smile.

“You obviously didn’t like me enough to tell me the truth,” Derek spat, looking away from Stiles again.

“No, Derek, I—that’s not it at all,” Stiles pleaded. He tried to take Derek’s hands in his own, and a hurt look flashed across his face when Derek yanked his hands away. “I wanted to tell you. I did. Because I really, really like you, and I wanted to figure out a way to tell you without you reacting like this.”

“Like what, Stiles?” Derek asked, leaping off of the bed. “You didn’t want me to be angry that you lied to me? I trusted you. You led me on for five days. What, was this some sort of game to you? String the werewolf along for the entire cruise? What the hell were you doing on this cruise in the first place?”

“What—no—fuck, Derek it wasn’t like that,” Stiles said desperately. He scrambled off the bed and stood across from Derek, shaking with nervousness. “I didn’t lead you—I wasn’t supposed to like you. You weren’t supposed to like me. We were supposed to be friends for a week, and then go our separate ways. But then I realized that I did like you, and you liked me back, and that’s when things got complicated.”

“Complicated,” Derek laughed bitterly. “Complicated? That’s what you’re going with?”

“Fuck—I don’t know, Derek. What do you want from me?” Stiles asked, gesturing wildly. “Things got complicated. How was I supposed to know that you had a history of your human friends almost getting killed by the fucking werewolf drug cartel?”

Derek snorted and turned away from Stiles. Stiles noticed Derek’s shoulders tense and he kept clenching and unclenching his fists.

“Look, Derek, I’m sorry,” Stiles said again. “I’m so sorry. I’m sorry that Paige got hurt and I’m sorry that I lied to you. I wanted to tell you the truth this morning, but things got—heated, for lack of a better term. But I told you now, instead of keeping it from you. That has to count for something, right?”

“You should’ve told me the moment we met,” Derek seethed, turning around and folding his arms across his chest. “What if I hurt you? What if you got hurt because of me?”

“We both know that you wouldn’t hurt me intentionally, and we both know that you wouldn’t willingly let me get hurt either,” Stiles said. “So don’t try to pull that card with me.”

“I didn’t intentionally let Paige get hurt either!” Derek shouted. “And look how well that turned out!”

“Derek, that wasn’t your fault! So stop beating yourself up over it.”

“It was my fault!” Derek shouted, his eyes flashing again and his fangs popping out before retracting. “She almost died because I was too stupid to pay attention to Deucalion’s threats. And I’m not going to risk your safety by fooling around with you.”

“Fooling around? Derek, you’re the one who asked me to be your boyfriend, don’t try to back track now and say we were just fooling around,” Stiles retorted. “Because we both know you scented me enough so that every fucking werewolf on this boat knew that I was accounted for.”

“I wouldn’t have done it if I knew you were a human!” Derek shouted back. “I told you from the very beginning that I didn’t date humans. And you’re the one who didn’t correct me and say that you weren’t a werewolf. So this is your fault!”

“Don’t try to pin this all on me!” Stiles shot back. “You’re the werewolf. Shouldn’t you have been able to figure out that I was a human? Isaac and Erica both figured it out as soon as they met me. What’s your excuse?”

“Because I trusted you!” Derek bellowed. “I thought you smelled weird when I first met you, but you never said you weren’t a werewolf. So I figured maybe you smelled different because you were weird or something. I didn’t read too much into it. You even pretended to be a werewolf, so how was I supposed to know?”

“You really had no idea?” Stiles asked quietly.

“No,” Derek snorted. “I trusted you, and now I see that doing that was a mistake.”

“Derek—I—I’m sorry,” Stiles said quietly. “I really am. I never meant for any of this to happen. But I don’t want to just lose what we had over something so trivial. I really care about you a lot, and I don’t want to lose you.”

Stiles held his breath as the anger slowly melted off Derek’s face. Stiles took a couple of tentative steps forward so he was standing closer to Derek. He reached out and put a cautious hand on Derek’s shoulder, and bit his lip nervously while looking into Derek’s eyes.

The red had faded from Derek’s irises, but there was a still lot of hurt and pain in them. Stiles took a nervous breath and then pulled Derek into a tight hug. He wrapped his hands around Derek’s waist and squeezed him slightly. Stiles nestled his head into the crook of Derek’s shoulders and buried his nose in the fabric of Derek’s shirt. It took a little while, but eventually Derek’s hands settled on the small of Stiles’ back, and Derek rested his head against Stiles’.

For a fleeting moment, Stiles thought they were going to be okay.

“I can’t.”

“What?” Stiles asked softly. He then realized that Derek was slowly pushing him away with a pained expression on his face.

“I can’t,” Derek said softly. “I—I can’t do it. I’m sorry.” He pushed Stiles away and shoved his hands in his pockets.

“Derek,” Stiles said softly.

“I couldn’t live with myself if you got hurt,” Derek said quietly, refusing to look at Stiles. “I care about you too much to risk your safety. And—,” he trailed off, shaking his head slightly.

“What?” Stiles asked softly.

“I don’t know if I can’t trust you anymore,” Derek said quietly. “You lied to me. And I—I believed you. That may be trivial to you, but I—there’s too much to think about right now. You’re a human, you’re fragile, and I don’t—I can’t really be around you right now.”

“Derek—”

“I like you, Stiles,” Derek muttered. “I really do. You're funny, smart, and you make me laugh. But if—if I can’t trust you—I just—I can’t, okay? I’m sorry.”

“So, what does this mean?” Stiles asked slowly, willing his heartbeat to get under control. “You’re breaking up with me?”

Derek’s lack of response gave Stiles his answer.

“Fuck,” Stiles swore softly.

“I—I probably would’ve called it off either way,” Derek said, more to the floor than to Stiles. “Stiles, I—you’re a human. And if you got hurt because of me, I just—I wouldn’t be able to deal with that.”

“So this is more about my humanity than the fact that you don’t trust me?” Stiles asked, somewhat bitterly. He let out a frustrated sigh and ran his hands through his hands.

“A little bit of both?” Derek said, shrugging slightly. “I don’t know.”

Stiles looked at the carpet and shook his head slowly. Of all the possible scenarios that could’ve happened, this was definitely the one that he had been hoping to avoid. Stiles looked back at Derek with a hopeful expression.

“I’m sorry,” he said quietly.

“It’s okay,” Derek said after a pause. “But at least we ended this early enough so you can find someone new to enjoy the dolphins and the rest of the cruise with. He might not even care that you’re a human. You can end this cruise on somewhat of a high note.”

“I wanted to enjoy the dolphins with you,” Stiles muttered.

“Goodbye, Stiles,” Derek said, walking out of the cabin. “Enjoy the rest of the cruise.”

“Bye,” Stiles whispered once the door was closed. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair and flopped back onto his bed.

“Scott, Isaac,” he called. “I know you can hear me. You can come in now. He’s gone.”

Scott and Isaac shuffled into the room, both with somber expressions on their faces. Isaac whined softly and curled up next to Stiles and nestled his face in Stiles’ shoulder. Scott sat at the head of Stiles’ bed and looked out Stiles’ window, shaking his head slowly.

“What happened?” he asked finally.

“He yelled at me,” Stiles said, running his hands through Isaac’s curls when Isaac whined softly. “He was really mad that I lied to him, and he said that he didn’t trust me anymore. And then he broke up with me.”

“Oh no, Stiles, I’m so sorry,” Isaac said softly.

“He said that he wanted to keep me safe,” Stiles replied. “He said that he wouldn’t be able to live with himself if I got hurt and he wasn’t able to protect me. I think he’s scared that what happened to Paige is going to happen to me, so he called it off.”

“So he just completely cut you off?” Scott asked. “He’s not even going to hang out with you anymore?”

Stiles smiled sadly and shook his head. “He doesn’t trust me anymore, Scotty. Would you hang out with me if you didn’t trust me anymore?”

“If I liked you as much as Derek did? Absolutely,” Scott grumbled. “He’s an idiot, A blind man could see how much he likes you, and now he’s hurting both of you with his fucked-up logic. That doesn’t even make sense. And it’s not like you sold his deepest, darkest secrets to his mortal enemies. You pretended to be a werewolf. I don’t really see how that’s a relationship deal-breaker.”

“I know, I know,” Stiles said softly. “Believe me, I tried everything I could to get him to stay with me. I really did. He just wasn’t buying it. He has this martyr self-guilt complex and he seemed pretty adamant about keeping me away for my own safety.”

“So, what are you going to do now?” Isaac asked quietly.

“I’m not sure,” Stiles answered. “I don’t want to mope around for the rest of the week. And I’d like to not be a sad mess when we get to the dolphins in two days. So, I guess that means we should go get drinks, huh? Derek told me that I should try and find someone to enjoy the dolphins with, but I don’t think I’m really up for anyone new right now.”

“You’re really going to drown your problems in alcohol?” Scott asked, raising an eyebrow. He looked so much like Derek that it hurt, so Stiles turned his attention back to Isaac. “I think you should take Derek’s advice and find someone new. It’ll help you get over him. At least go back to your original plan of finding a hot guy to spend the week with,” Scott added.

“Scott, really?” Isaac asked, frowning.

“What?” Scott asked. “Derek’s a dick for breaking up with Stiles just because he’s human, and he doesn’t want Stiles to get hurt,” Scott said, with air quotes. “And I’m sorry, but I think the ‘I lost all my trust in you’ card is total bullshit. He’s acting like Stiles sold his soul to the devil. Derek’s the one who kicked Stiles to the curb and told him to move on, so he shouldn’t be mad if Stiles finds someone better.”

Stiles chuckled softly. “I don’t know what I’m going to do, I doubt I’ll find someone better,” he said honestly. “But I need to get out of this cabin, before I drown in self-despair. Maybe Erica can whip something up for me to make me happy again. To the bar?”

“I guess so,” Isaac said doubtfully. “I still think you should try and work it out with Derek. Give him another chance, Stiles. Maybe he’ll come to his senses.”

“He made it pretty clear that he doesn’t want to see me anymore,” Stiles said. “And, yeah, I want to keep dating him, but I’m not going to waste my time if he doesn’t want anything to do with me. I think Scott’s right, let’s just go to the bar and see what happens.”

***

“Hi guys, how was Stingray City?” Erica asked as they approached the bar. “White Russian, Appletini, and Christmas Special hold the wolfsbane, right?”

Stiles nodded as he, Scott and Isaac pulled up stools closest to Erica’s station at the bar. It was still early evening, and the bar was relatively empty as most of the other werewolves on the cruise were probably getting dinner.

“Hey, Stiles, where’s Derek?” Erica asked as she brought over their first round of drinks. “I barely recognized you without him draped all over you.”

Stiles bit the inside of his cheek. “He—um—we broke up just now,” he said. “I told him I was a human, and he called it off. So I don’t really know where he is right now.”

“He broke up with you?” Erica asked, raising an eyebrow. “Why? He was all over you. And how did he not know that you were a human? He scented you non-stop, he had to have known.”

“Well, he didn’t,” Stiles said, draining his drink in one gulp. “And it’s a long story that I don’t really want to get into right now. Can I have another drink?”

“Of course,” Erica said, pulling out the Fireball. “I’m sorry to hear that you two broke up. You guys seemed good together. I wouldn’t have pegged Derek as someone who didn’t date humans.”

“Yeah, well, it’s whatever,” Stiles answered. “I mean, it sucks that he called it off, because I really liked him, but it’s pointless to sit around feeling sorry for myself, especially when I’m on vacation. So I thought I’d come and visit my favorite bartender.”

“Flattery will get you everywhere, Stiles,” Erica said, grinning and handing him his drink. “So keep it up.”

Stiles, Erica, Scott and Isaac hung out at the bar a while longer. Stiles tried to smile when Isaac and Scott continued being cute and couple-y, but it really made him miss Derek. A lot. He missed Derek’s arm around his shoulders, and he missed being able to turn and nuzzle into Derek’s neck.

Stiles shook his head to clear his mind. If he’d wanted to mope around and feel sorry for himself, he would’ve stayed in his cabin. He was out to enjoy the rest of the cruise.

“Hey, Stiles, Isaac and I are going to get food,” Scott said from where he was draped across Isaac’s shoulders. “We’re getting kinda hungry. Do you want to come with?”

Stiles looked at Scott and decided that he really didn’t want to be subjected to watching Scott scent Isaac throughout dinner without Derek there to distract him. God, he was really bad at this getting over Derek thing.

“I’m not really hungry right now,” Stiles answered. “I’ll probably grab something later. You guys go. I’ll stop by your cabin later.”

“You’re sure you’re going to be okay?” Isaac asked doubtfully. “We can always order room service and hang out.”

“No, no, it’s fine,” Stiles said. “You guys go. Go spend some time together. We’ll get breakfast and hang out tomorrow or something, ‘kay?”

Isaac frowned slightly. “Okay,” he said finally. “See you in a bit.”

Stiles waved as Isaac and Scott exited the bar, hand in hand.

“You’re a good guy, Stiles,” Erica said, walking over to him. “You deserve someone that makes you happy, and I hope you find him eventually.”

“I had someone that made me happy about an hour ago,” Stiles said, smiling bitterly. “But I guess not all of us can have nice things. But he said to enjoy myself for the rest of this cruise, so that’s what I’m going to try and do.”

“Interesting,” Erica said.

“What?”

“Derek said to enjoy yourself and find someone new?” Erica asked, raising an eyebrow when Stiles nodded. “So, you’re trying to find someone new then?”

“I don’t know, maybe?” Stiles said, frowning slightly. “Why? Is that bad? I don’t want to be the only single guy on the cruise.”

“I’m just saying, you should probably shower if you actually want to have another werewolf hit on you, because right now Derek’s scent is still all over you. If I didn’t know any better, I would think that you’re waiting for your boyfriend to meet you at the bar.”

“You can smell Derek on me?” Stiles asked. He brought his shirt up to his nose and inhaled deeply. It still smelled slightly of Derek’s cologne and Stiles could see how a werewolf with an enhanced sense of smell would think that he had a boyfriend.

“Yeah, I can smell him all over you,” Erica said. “He must have been doing some long-term-relationship type scenting, because I’m not sure whose scent I smell more, yours or Derek’s. And that’s saying something, since you’re right here and Derek is God knows where. I’m just saying, I wouldn’t try to hit on you based on the way you smell,” Erica said, smirking.

“I haven’t showered since we broke up,” Stiles said. “I’m sure once that happens I won’t smell like Derek anymore, and then guys will start hitting on me again.”

“Because you totally want new guys to hit on you,” Erica said, rolling her eyes. She punched Stiles lightly on the shoulder and started making more drinks. The bar was starting to fill up as werewolves returned from dinner. Stiles kept his eyes peeled in hope that Derek might show up, but Derek didn’t. Stiles wasn’t surprised, but it still didn’t stop it from hurting.

Stiles stayed at the bar for another hour or two. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to go back to his cabin just yet, and he was pretty sure that Scott and Isaac were either still at dinner or making out in a hot tub somewhere. He thought about briefly calling Scott to cock block him, (he still owed Scott for that morning) but decided to be a good friend, and let Scott enjoy his time with Isaac.

As Stiles sat at the bar, he started to notice that this wasn’t really a singles cruise anymore. Most of the werewolves in the bar looked very comfortable with each other, like that had been hanging out since the start of the cruise. Stiles looked around and saw few, if any, single werewolves at the bar. He bit his lip as his thoughts drifted to Derek—what he was doing and if he was missing Stiles as much as Stiles missed him.

“What’s wrong, little human?” a voice purred from behind Stiles’ ear. “I could smell your sadness from across the bar. Where’s your boyfriend? His scent is all over you.”

Stiles turned and saw a large, muscular werewolf standing behind him. His hair buzzed very close to his scalp and he was looking at Stiles with an almost fond expression on his face. Stiles was still having trouble getting how this guys’ biceps were almost bulging out of his T-shirt. He knew werewolves had enhanced strength, but damn. This guy clearly put in extra time at the gym bench-pressing dump trucks or something.

“I don’t have a boyfriend,” Stiles said. “I’m single.”

“You don’t smell single,” Muscles said. “Do you mind if I sit down?”

“Umm, no?” Stiles said, gesturing to a seat. He was still a little in awe that this guy was actually talking to him. He looked like he’d come straight out of a fitness magazine. Muscles ordered a Gin and Tonic from Erica and dipped his cup to Stiles before taking a drink.

“So, you don’t have a boyfriend, even though you smell like you have one, but you smell sad at the same time,” Muscles said, thoughtfully. “Did you just break up with him or something?”

“I—he broke up with me,” Stiles said. “He decided he didn’t want to date me because I’m a human.”

“Wow, that’s really self-righteous,” Muscles said. “He sounds a little pompous, to be honest.”

“No, no, he’s actually very sweet,” Stiles said quickly. Despite the fact that Derek had just dumped him, he wasn’t going to let this guy talk bad about him “He blames himself for something unfortunate that happened and he won’t date humans because of it.”

“An unfortunate event?” Muscles asked. “Like what?”

“It’s nothing, really,” Stiles answered. “Just—complicated stuff.”

“I see,” Muscles said, nodding thoughtfully. “Well I’m sorry that your boyfriend broke up with you. It’s his loss for sure, because you seem like a great guy.”

“Thanks,” Stiles said, sipping his drink. Muscles cocked his head and offered Stiles a small smile, which he returned.

"And you have a cute smile," Muscles said, grinning. "Wow, your ex-boyfriend clearly didn't know what he was giving up."

Stiles blushed and ran a nervous hand through his hair. Muscles was saying all the right things right now, and he knew it too. Muscles grinned at Stiles and drained the rest of his drink.

“So, if you don’t mind me asking, what are your plans for the rest of the cruise?” Muscles asked. “I mean now that you’re back on the market, are you looking for a rebound or anything?”

“Um, not really,” Stiles answered. “Right now I just needed to get out of my room for a little bit. I was moping too much. I was hanging out with my best friend and his boyfriend, but they went to get dinner and I didn’t want to be the third wheel. But I think I’m just going to play the rest of the cruise by ear, see what happens.”

“Makes sense,” Muscles said quietly, scooting his stool closer to Stiles. Stiles noticed that their forearms were touching and Muscles was gently stroking the back of Stiles’ hands with his fingers. “But, if I were to ask you to get dinner with me—as friends, of course—would you say yes?”

Stiles weighed his options. On one hand, all he wanted to do was find Derek, hug him and never let him go. But on the other hand, he knew that he probably wouldn’t be able to convince Derek to even hang out with him anymore, and he didn’t want to spend the rest of the cruise moping around. Plus Muscles seemed like a pretty genuine guy, and Stiles didn’t really have anything better to do.

“Yeah,” Stiles answered. “I’d like that. I’m Stiles, by the way,” he added, extending his hand.

“Nice to meet you, Stiles,” Muscles said, shaking Stiles’ hand. “I’m Ennis.”

Chapter Text

“So, you just want to head to the buffet for dinner?” Stiles asked as he and Ennis walked out of the bar. “I’ve been there with my friends a couple times and it’s really good.”

“No, I don’t think the buffet is going to cut it,” Ennis said, slinging his arm around Stiles’ shoulders. Stiles raised an eyebrow at the sudden contact, but chalked it up to Ennis just being overly friendly. Stiles had spent so much time with Derek that he had forgotten that people had personality traits other than slightly grumpy. “You deserve something way more special, especially after the day you’ve had,” Ennis continued. “I’m taking you to the fancy restaurant on the third floor.”

“Oh—no, you don’t have to do all that. It’s fine, we can just go to the buffet,” Stiles said. He didn’t want Ennis to think that this was a date. If anything, Ennis was a friend, not a rebound.

“I insist. Let me spoil you a little bit,” Ennis said, looking at Stiles and inclining his head. “The food there is delicious, and I want to show you that there are werewolves who do date humans. Not that I want to date you,” he added, chuckling at Stiles’ surprised expression. “At least, not now while you’re still hung up on your ex. What was his name again?”

“Derek.”

“Derek,” Ennis repeated, nodding slowly. “Well, if I ever have the pleasure of meeting him, I’ll be sure to punch him for the both of us.” He nudged Stiles and grinned.

“No, it’s fine, you really don’t have to do that,” Stiles said, somewhat curious as why Ennis seemed so eager to do Derek bodily harm. Still, Stiles found himself grinning back at Ennis. Where Derek was somewhat broody, Ennis was bright and funny and he really seemed to be doing everything he could to cheer Stiles up.

“Yes I do,” Ennis replied. “One for breaking up with you, and one for hurting my new friend.” He pulled Stiles in closer and gave him a friendly head-butt. “One thing this Derek needs to learn is that he doesn’t mess with me and my friends and get away with it. Especially when my friends are as cute as you.”

Stiles gave Ennis a pointed look, because he wasn’t sure how much of a chance Ennis thought he had. Ennis was the one who invited Stiles to dinner as friends, and now Ennis was flirting and smiling at Stiles like they were on their first date or something. Stiles got that Ennis was more social than Derek, but right now he was doing a little too much, too soon.

Sure, Ennis seemed like a nice guy and he was reasonably attractive, but Stiles had no interest in dating him or anything.

Ennis led them down to the third floor restaurant. It was indeed a little more upscale than the buffet, so upscale that their waiter had quirked an eyebrow when he saw that Stiles was dressed in a T-shirt and flip-flops. But Ennis had growled lowly and that had been the end of that.

After that, their waiter seated them fairly quickly, brought out a basket of warm bread, and took their orders. It reminded Stiles of one of those restaurants that he saw in the old black-and-white British films. Stiles chuckled to himself. He could see Isaac being right at home in a restaurant like this.

Pinky-up, cheerio and all that good stuff.

“Stiles?” Ennis asked, breaking Stiles out of his thoughts. “You doing alright over there?”

“Yeah, I’m fine, sorry,” Stiles answered. “I was just thinking that Scott would probably like to take Isaac here.”

“Who are Scott and Isaac?” Ennis asked curiously.

“Oh, Scott’s my best friend,” Stiles answered. “He’s the one who convinced me to come on the cruise in the first place. And Isaac is Scott’s boyfriend, who he met on the cruise. He’s British, and I just think he would really enjoy a restaurant like this.”

“I see,” Ennis said, nodding. “Where are they now? You could invite them if you wanted to.”

“No, it’s fine,” Stiles answered, shaking his head. “They went to get dinner already. They invited me but I didn’t really want to be around of their couple-y antics by myself. It was better when I had Derek, but that ship has sailed…” he said, trailing off and biting the corner of his lip. “But what’s done is done,” Stiles continued. “I’ll probably hang out Scott and Isaac tomorrow.”

“Gotcha,” Ennis said nodding. “As long as you don’t hang out with Derek anymore. You deserve a lot better than him.”

Ennis grinned at Stiles, who found himself grinning back. As much he missed Derek, Stiles couldn’t deny that Ennis was a really nice guy. Where Derek was initially grumpy and broody, Ennis was lively and bold. As dinner passed, Stiles let himself relax a lot more and he found himself telling Ennis a lot about himself. And Ennis actually seemed interested. He listened attentively and asked Stiles questions about himself and what he liked to do for fun.

So it was a nice dinner. The food was delicious and Ennis was a really nice guy, if a little too upfront at times. If Stiles weren’t still hung up on Derek, he probably would’ve been enjoying himself a lot more.

The problem was Stiles was still hung up on Derek. Every time there was a lull in his conversation with Ennis, Stiles thoughts kept drifting back to Derek: what was he doing, who was he with, and most importantly, did he miss Stiles as much as Stiles missed him?

***

Stiles couldn’t fall asleep. He tossed and turned under the blanket, but he couldn’t get comfortable. There was a weird feeling in the pit of his stomach and he couldn’t get quite warm enough no matter how far he buried under the covers.

It just felt different sleeping alone. As cliché as it sounded, Stiles had gotten used to cuddling next to Derek when he slept. He decided it wasn’t completely pathetic, considering the fact that he had shared a bed with Derek the past two nights. Derek even had his own side of the bed.

But now that Stiles was sleeping alone, it just felt weird. It was like it solidified the fact that Derek was really gone. Stiles was really single. And it sucked.

And then there was Ennis, and Stiles couldn’t even begin to describe what was going on there. It was like Ennis was trying his hardest to replace Derek, and that just wasn’t happening at all.

“Screw it,” Stiles muttered, pushing himself out of bed.

He headed to the top deck to clear his head. Maybe the fresh air would help calm him down.

On the top deck, he leaned over the railing and gazed out at the sky. The stars dotted the sky and the salty smell of the sea wafted toward him. The Caribbean breeze felt good on his skin, and he smiled into the night.

Then Stiles noticed that he wasn’t only person who had decided to get some late-night fresh air. There was a couple a few feet down cuddled into each other, pointing at stars. On his other side he saw another couple draped across each other looking out into the ocean.

Stiles sighed. Suddenly the breeze felt a lot colder than it had initially, and Stiles wished that Derek’s arms were around him.

He debated walking down to Derek’s cabin and knocking on his door and saying something along the lines of, “Dammit, I like you and you like me, so let’s just fucking get back together.” Stiles chuckled at the thought. It sounded good in his head, but realistically, he knew that if he did that, Derek would likely slam the door in his face.

“I thought I smelled you up here.”

Stiles turned and saw Erica walking over to him. She smirked at him before standing next to him at the rail.

“Couldn’t sleep,” Stiles said, shrugging. “What are you doing up here?”

“Just got off work,” Erica said, eyeing Stiles curiously. “I haven’t seen you since you left the bar with Baldy.”

“You mean Ennis?” Stiles chuckled. “Yeah, he took me out to the third floor for dinner and asked me if I wanted to hang out tomorrow.”

“And?”

“I said I would if I wasn’t busy with Scott and Isaac,” Stiles answered, shrugging. “I mean, Ennis is nice, he’s just—”

“Not Derek?” Erica interrupted, raising an eyebrow. She rolled her eyes at Stiles’ lack of a response. “Thought so. I’m pretty sure Derek’s ruined you for anyone else. You two literally are one of two cutest couples that I’ve seen on this cruise.”

“Who’s the other couple?” Stiles asked.

“Scott and Isaac,” Erica replied simply.

“We’re cuter than they are,” Stiles protested.

“I don’t know,” Erica said thoughtfully. “Isaac’s totally got that puppy expression working for him, and Scott is like the guy next door.”

“Anyway,” Stiles said, shaking his head fondly. “Derek and I can’t be the cutest couple if we’re not together, so I guess Scott and Isaac win by default.”

“You’re really going to give up on him that fast?” Erica asked, frowning. “Look, I know you’re a human, so you probably won’t feel it as much, but you and Derek have one of the strongest bonds I’ve ever seen. And that’s saying something because I’ve been working a lot of singles cruises, and I’ve never seen a stronger bond get forged so fast. You still smell like Derek, you know.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Yes you do,” Erica huffed, rolling her eyes. “You just don’t know what it’s called. But you can’t sleep tonight, right?”

“Yeah,” Stiles said slowly.

“And I’m gonna go out on a limb here and say you’re feeling weird and tingly?” Erica asked. “Like you’re not comfortable?”

“Yeah,” Stiles answered. “It’s like I just couldn’t find the right spot in my bed to fall asleep in. I tossed and turned for about an hour before I decided to just come up and try to get some fresh air.”

“Yeah, that’s the bond I’m talking about,” Erica said. “It happens whenever two werewolves have an especially strong connection. And if you’re feeling it and you’re not even a werewolf, I can only imagine how Derek’s feeling right now. He’s probably locked up in his cabin wallowing in angst and man-pain, because he made a stupid mistake.”

“You mean breaking up with me?” Stiles asked.

“Yeah, that was a really dumb thing to do,” Erica said rolling her eyes. “First, because he really liked you. And second, because you’re probably his—” she frowned and shook her head.

“I’m his what?” Stiles asked. “You know something, Erica, come on. Tell me!”

“I do know something,” Erica said. She grinned and her eyes flashed gold. “And as much as I would like to tell you, it’s not really my place to. But all I’m going to say is you shouldn’t be so quick to give up on your relationship with Derek. He’ll come around.”

“You think so?” Stiles asked doubtfully. “He seemed pretty upset when he broke up with me.”

“Pretty positive,” Erica said. “But it’s getting late. I work tomorrow, so be sure you stop by. Preferably with Derek.”

“I’ll try,” Stiles said. “No promises though.”

“Just try to talk to him. You never know what could happen,” Erica said. She playfully punched Stiles in the arm before flipping her hair over her shoulder and walked away.

Stiles stayed out a little while longer before going back to his cabin. Sleep didn’t come easily, but he eventually drifted off.

***

Stiles yawned as he woke up the next morning. He couldn’t believe that it was day five of the cruise already. He only had to get through today, and then tomorrow would be all about the dolphins. He squinted as the rays of sun blinded him through the window and then winced as his stomach made a loud grumble. Suddenly, Stiles had a huge craving for an omelet from the breakfast bar.

He thought about walking through the adjoining door between his and Scott’s cabins, but ever since he found out that Scott and Isaac had a propensity for morning sex, he didn’t want to risk walking in on his best friend. So he walked outside and knocked on the front door instead.

A sleepy Scott answered the door. “Hi, Stiles,” he mumbled sleepily. “Um, you probably want to get breakfast, but Isaac and I were up all night and really early this morning doing um—stuff, and we’re both really tired. Plus we ordered room service at, like, seven-thirty this morning because we were starving. So we’re not really hungry.”

“Sorry, Stiles.” Isaac’s sleepy, sated voice rang out from inside the cabin.

Stiles resisted the urge to roll his eyes. The past twelve hours had gone perfectly. First Derek had broken up with him, and now Scott and Isaac were exhausted from sexing each other up to get breakfast with him.

“I’m really sorry, buddy,” Scott said, regret clear on his face. “Isaac’s just so sexy and we were hanging out and then one thing just led to another. We’ll hang out later, okay? I promise.”

Stiles sighed and nodded.

Scott offered him one last sleepy smile before closing the door in his face. Stiles rolled his eyes, but he figured at least things could be worse. At least Scott and Isaac still wanted to hang out with him later, rather than completely cut him off like Derek had.

Stiles’ stomach grumbled again, this time louder than before. He was really hungry. And he really wanted an omelet. But he didn’t want to go to the breakfast buffet by himself. But he didn’t have anyone to go with.

Stiles thought back to his conversation with Erica. Apparently he and Derek had some sort of special bond. Erica had been somewhat cryptic with the details of the bond, but she made it seem like Stiles still had a chance of getting back with Derek.

So Stiles decided to give it a shot. He walked down to Derek’s floor and started walking around. He didn’t know which room Derek was in, but he figured he could walk around until Derek came out. That wasn’t creepy or anything. Besides, it wasn’t like Derek could just sit in his room for the rest of the cruise.

Though, knowing Derek, he might try.

Stiles had been walking around for about ten minutes. Every time a door opened he looked up, hoping it was Derek, but was disappointed each time.

Eventually Stiles decided that he probably wasn’t going to find Derek this way, and he was starting to get really hungry, so maybe he could go back and order some room service breakfast. Maybe he could compare omelets or something.

Stiles was walking back to the elevator when he saw Ennis standing in front of a door with a serious expression on his face.

“Ennis?” Stiles asked. “What are you doing here?”

“Stiles,” Ennis said, turning around and grinning. “I could ask you the same question. But this is my room, I was deciding whether or not I wanted to change clothes.”

“I was looking for Derek,” Stiles answered. “I wanted to try to talk to him again, but I don’t know what room is his. So I was just about to leave.”

“Bummer,” Ennis said. “Hey, have you eaten yet? We might as well go get breakfast, since we’re both here right now I don’t know about you, but I’m really craving an omelet.”

***

Apparently, craving an omelet meant something entirely different for werewolves, because six of his own omelets later, Ennis was busily eating the rest of Stiles’ second omelet. They were sitting side by side at the bar, looking at the oceans through the windows.

“So, what are you going to do today, Stiles?” Ennis asked.

“I don’t even care,” Stiles said, standing up and stretching. “All I have to do is wait twenty-four hours and then I’ll be swimming with dolphins.”

“What?” Ennis asked.

“It’s the original reason I came on this cruise,” Stiles explained. “I only came because you can swim with the dolphins in Cozumel and because Scott turned his puppy dog eyes on me. But now that Scott has Isaac and I don’t have Derek, the only thing left to look forward to is the dolphins.”

“Well, since you can’t swim with the dolphins now, how about mini-golf?” Ennis suggested.

“But I’ve never played before,” Stiles said, frowning slightly. “I’m probably not very good.”

“First time for everything,” Ennis said, grinning as his eyes flashed red.

***

Mini-golf was interesting, for lack of a better term. True to his word, Stiles wasn’t very good. He was actually so bad that Ennis had tried to do the classic ‘first date’ move and wrap his arms around Stiles’ to help him shoot the ball better. Stiles had quickly nipped that at the bud, because this wasn’t a date at all.

“So what do you think?” Ennis asked at the end of the round. “You want to play some more?”

“I think—”

“Stiles!”

Stiles turned around and saw Scott and Isaac approaching them. He grinned and waved them over.

“Hi, Stiles,” Scott said, grinning sheepishly. “Sorry about this morning.”

“No worries,” Stiles said, grinning back. He couldn’t stay mad at Scott for long. Scott had come on the cruise with a mission, and Stiles couldn’t be happier that Scott and Isaac had found each other. “I didn’t really want to interrupt the festivities.”

“The festivities were over by the time you woke us up,” Scott said, grinning sheepishly. “At least the first round was; we started again after you left.” He wrapped an arm around Isaac’s waist and pressed a wet kiss to his cheek. Isaac rolled his eyes and shrugged his shoulders.

Stiles grinned and shook his head fondly. He didn’t know why Isaac even tried to act annoyed. Stiles knew he secretly loved it. “Oh, this is Ennis,” Stiles said, remembering Ennis at his side. “We met last night at the bar and we’ve been hanging out since then.”

“Nice to meet you,” Ennis said, extending his hand. “I’ve heard good things about both of you.”

Scott shook Ennis’ hand enthusiastically, but Stiles noticed that Isaac looked a little reluctant to greet Ennis.

“Dude, you guys are playing mini-golf?” Scott exclaimed. “I love mini-golf! Can we play?”

“Sure,” Ennis said. “Stiles and I just got done playing a round, but we can get more balls and we can play again. Two on two?”

“You’re on,” Scott grinned. “Let’s get balls. I’ll be back, babe,” he added pressing a kiss to Isaac’s cheek.

“I’ll go with you,” Ennis said. “Oh, hey, Stiles, can I borrow your phone really quick? Mine died this morning.”

“Sure thing,” Stiles said, tossing his phone to Ennis.

“He’s calling you babe,” Stiles teased, once Scott and Ennis had left. “He really likes you.”

“I should hope so,” Isaac said, rolling his eyes slightly. “It’s not like we spent all night having sex or anything.”

“Dude, TMI,” Stiles said, grinning. “I like you, but Scott’s still my best friend. I don’t need to hear all the details.”

“What about you?” Isaac asked. “You seem to be doing okay.”

“I mean, I guess,” Stiles said, shrugging slightly. “I still miss Derek, but it’s not like I can do anything about it. Plus Ennis is a cool dude to hang out with. He’s kinda funny actually and he doesn’t care that—”

“I don’t like him,” Isaac muttered quickly.

“Yeah, I noticed,” Stiles said. “What gives?”

“He smells—weird,” Isaac said, frowning slightly. “I can’t really put my finger on it, but I don’t know. Maybe I’ve been too much time being around Scott that any other scents smell weird to me, but he just smells—off.”

“Why don’t I smell off?” Stiles asked.

“Well you still smell like Scott because you’ve been hanging out with him your entire life, but you also still smell like Derek,” Isaac said. “I still can smell him on you, and he doesn’t smell weird to me. Have you talked to him since yesterday?” Isaac asked gently. “Did he stop by or anything?”

“No,” Stiles said, looking away. “I tried to go down to his floor today and talk to him, but I didn’t know what room he was in. But then I found Ennis outside of his own room and then we went out and got food.”

“Wait, doesn’t Derek live on the eighth floor?” Isaac asked.

“Yeah, why?”

“Ennis lives on the sixth floor,” Isaac said. “I saw him go into a cabin on the first day of the cruise.”

“So if Ennis lives on the sixth floor then what was he doing on the eighth floor?” Stiles asked. Then he noticed the serious look on Isaac’s face. “You think he was looking for Derek?”

“Maybe,” Isaac muttered. “No doubt he can still smell Derek on you. Honestly I don’t know whose scent I smell more, yours or his. And Ennis could probably smell Derek’s scent outside of his cabin.”

“What do you think he wanted?” Stiles asked.

“I don’t know,” Isaac said, frowning slightly. “Just be safe, I guess. I don’t want to see you get hurt.”

“I will, buddy. Thanks,” Stiles said, pulling Isaac close. “You know I’m totally going to beat you in mini-golf.”

“Please,” Isaac said, rolling his eyes. “You guys are going down.”

***

“Stiles, how excited are you for the dolphins tomorrow?” Scott asked as they made their way out of the restaurant and to the bar. It was getting late and the first boat for the dolphins left at eight the next morning, so they were going to go to the bar for a couple rounds of drinks before heading to bed.

“So stoked,” Stiles said, grinning. “I’ve been waiting for it since we’ve been on this stupid boat.”

“Probably because he just got his ass kicked in mini-golf,” Isaac said, flashing Stiles a cocky smile.

“If it isn’t my favorite customers,” Erica said as they approached the bar. “You three are so predictable that I already have your drinks ready for you.” She handed each of them their designated drinks before turning to Ennis and looking him up and down. “And you’re still here.”

“Yeah, I’m with Stiles,” Ennis said, slinging an arm around Stiles’ shoulders. Erica narrowed her eyes and Stiles felt incredibly uncomfortable, especially given the talk he and Erica had the previous night.

“Right,” Erica said, raising an eyebrow. “What can I get for you?”

“Actually, I was just about to leave,” Ennis said. Even though he was an alpha, he looked oddly intimidated under Erica’s gaze. “We’re leaving pretty early tomorrow, and I want to get a good night’s rest. See you tomorrow.”

Ennis all but scurried out of the bar.

Erica snorted at his retreating figure. “And why was he still here?” she asked Stiles.

“Well, I didn’t go looking for him,” Stiles said. “I went to go try and talk to Derek, and Ennis intercepted me on the eighth floor and he’s been basically been hanging out with us all day. Isaac doesn’t like him either.”

“Smart wolf,” Erica said, holding out her fist to Isaac, who bumped it accordingly.

***

That night, Stiles fell out of bed when his phone buzzed. He groggily rubbed his eyes and thumbed it off the lock screen.

It was a new text from a number that he didn’t quite recognize.

You’re sure you want to meet at ten tomorrow? I know your heart was really set on seeing the dolphins. We can meet later.

Stiles frowned and tried to scroll up to see the previous messages, but was confused when he couldn’t find any. It didn’t make any sense. He’d barely used his phone all day, and the only time he had taken it out of his pocket was when he had given it to—

Ennis.

But that was weird.

Curious, Stiles rolled out of bed and grabbed his laptop, suddenly very glad that he made the decision to bring it on the vacation. He quickly traced the unknown number and realized that it based just outside of Beacon Heights.

“Derek.”

But that didn’t make any sense; Stiles had already gotten Derek’s number. Derek had given it to him after their day in the Bahamas. So why was not only Derek’s number wiped from his phone, but Stiles’ entire text history with him wiped as well?

And more importantly what was Ennis texting Derek that he didn’t want Stiles to know about?

Stiles opened a website on his computer and downloaded a program that allowed him to hack into his phone’s cellular history. He knew befriending Danny in high school would come in handy eventually.

Stiles took a deep breath and plugged both his and Derek’s numbers into the program and held his breath as the text conversation between ‘him’ and Derek popped up.

--Hey Derek, I think we really need to talk about where we stand. The first boat to the dolphins leaves at eight tomorrow. Do you maybe want to meet around ten and talk?

--Okay, when and where?

--There’s an alleyway about a half-mile away from the dolphins. I’ll map quest you the directions. It’s a little secluded, but I think it’ll give us some privacy.

--Okay

--Okay, cool, thanks Derek, see you tomorrow. :)

“That’s weird,” Stiles muttered, frowning slightly.

Why would Ennis want to meet Derek in a secluded alleyway? If Ennis wanted to talk to Derek, why didn’t he just meet him in a coffee shop or something? It sounded like he wanted to attack Derek and have a convenient way to dispose of the body.

Stiles ran his hands through his hair. There had to be something he was missing. Ennis and Derek had to have had some sort of history together for Ennis to go through all this trouble just to get Derek alone. But the only thing Stiles could think of was—

“No,” Stiles said quietly. “No, no, no, no, no.”

He typed in the words, ‘Beacon Heights drug bust’, ‘Derek’ and ‘Ennis’ and pressed enter. His eyes widened when he read the first headline and summary.

Capt. Hale foils notorious Alpha Pack drug plans; three alphas behind bars.
-Capt. Derek Hale ends Beacon Heights drug trade, captures Deucalion, Kali and Ennis in the outskirts of Beacon Heights late Saturday night.

It all made sense now.

Stiles would bet his bottom dollar that it had been Derek’s door Ennis had been standing outside of this morning. Isaac had been right.

“Fuck.”

Chapter Text

“Fuck,” Stiles muttered. “Now what do I do?”

There was no way he could let Derek meet Ennis tomorrow. Stiles wasn’t exactly an expert on drug cartel-violence, but he was pretty sure that nothing good ever happened when two people met in a secluded alleyway with no witnesses.

Stiles made a frustrated noise and ran his hands over his face. He was the Sheriff’s son, he had to think of something. If nothing else, he had to make sure that Derek didn’t go into the alleyway with Ennis later that day.

Stiles decided that the most logical choice would be to call the authorities on the boat. He hadn’t really been sure why there needed to be a security team on a singles cruise, but now he was really glad that they were there.

“Carnival Cruise Security, what is your emergency?”

“Um, hi,” Stiles started. “I’m—um—I’m pretty sure that there’s a convicted felon on this ship, and I think he’s planning a mugging at the port of call tomorrow.”

“Okay, and what evidence do you have to support this claim?”

“He borrowed my phone and sent a series of texts to my ex—to my friend,” Stiles said. “He said to meet him in a secluded alleyway later on today. I think that’s where it’s going to happen.”

“Anything else?”

“Um, no, not really,” Stiles answered. Now that he said everything out loud, he realized that it didn’t sound like much. But the operator didn’t know anything about the drama between Ennis, Derek and Stiles.

Stiles was certain that something was going to go down today, he just didn’t know what.

“Unfortunately, unless you have hard evidence that a mugging is going to take place, there’s not a lot we can do. Right now your evidence is just too circumstantial,” the operator said. “The best thing to do would be to contact the local authorities in Cozumel and let them know, and keep the number on hand. Anything that happens off the ship is out of our hands.”

“I—there’s nothing you can do?” Stiles asked weakly.

“Unfortunately, no. I’m sorry. Is there anything else I can help you with?”

“No,” Stiles answered. “Have a good night,” he said, hanging up the phone.

“Well that didn’t work.” He quickly saved Derek’s contact information in his phone and typed out a quick text.

Actually change of plans. Do you want to meet in your room before the first boat leaves? Say seven-ish? That way we can talk before the dolphins?

The three minutes that it took for Derek to text back felt like an eternity.

Okay. Room 812.

Stiles breathed a huge sigh of relief as he read the text. Derek was safe. For the moment. Now all he had to do was figure out a way to keep him away from Ennis.

***

Stiles just couldn’t fall asleep. Every time he closed his eyes he pictured Derek walking into the alleyway and Ennis ambushing him, fully wolfed out with claws and burning red eyes.

He couldn’t get the image of Derek getting shredded to pieces out of his mind.

At 6:45, Stiles all but ran out of his cabin and fled down the stairs and wound up in front of Room 812. Isaac had been right all along. Room 812 was the exact room that Ennis had been standing in front of yesterday.

Stiles took a deep breath and knocked on the door. He breathed a sigh of relief when Derek answered the door. Logically, he knew that Derek had been fine, but the images were still replaying in his head, and it was good to see Derek standing upright, throat intact.

“You’re early,” Derek grumbled. “You said seven.”

Stiles couldn’t help but smile. Even though Derek sounded annoyed, Stiles could hear the fond undertone in his voice. Derek missed him too. Maybe Erica had been right—maybe there was something between them.

“So, um, hi,” Stiles said, after Derek had let him in. He knew it was a lame start, but his mind was moving a million miles a minute right now. There was so much he wanted to say. He wanted to tell Derek how miserable yesterday had been, and he really wanted to see if Derek would be willing to date him again, even if Stiles was a human.

But right now the most important thing would be keeping Derek out of the alleyway today.

“So, I don’t know if you know this but—”

“You smell weird,” Derek interrupted.

“Yeah, that’s—that’s actually what I wanted to talk to you about,” Stiles said, internally rolling his eyes. Of course Derek would choose now to start paying attention to the way Stiles smelled. If he had done this in the beginning, maybe none of them would be in this situation. “Two days ago—”

“No, you—I know that scent,” Derek said, eyebrows furrowing. “I’ve smelled it before. I—”

“It’s Ennis!” Stiles blurted. “Ennis from the alpha pack. He’s here on this cruise.”

“What,” Derek said. His eyes flashed a brilliant red and a low growl emitted from his throat.

“Look, I—after you broke up with me, I went to the bar with Scott and Isaac to clear my head a little bit,” Stiles explained nervously. “And Ennis started to hit on me, and we’ve been hanging out ever since. He made it seem like he wanted to get to know me because he was friendly and I totally fell for it. The only reason I put it all together was because you texted me last night. Ennis was the one texting you earlier, not me.”

Derek’s face darkened and he looked like he wanted to tear Ennis’ throat out.

With his teeth.

“He touched you,” Derek growled. It wasn’t a question.

“I—yeah, he did,” Stiles said weakly. “He put his arms around my shoulders a lot and kept trying to scent me.”

“Did he hurt you?” Derek asked lowly.

“No,” Stiles said.

Derek growled low in his throat and his eyebrows furrowed together angrily. He clenched his jaw and his eyes flashed again.

“Tell me everything that happened.”

“Not much,” Stiles stammered. “He just took me to dinner two nights ago and then hung out with me most of the day yesterday. We got breakfast and played mini-golf, and then he asked to borrow my phone and started texting you.”

“So, you don’t really want to talk about our relationship,” Derek growled. “That was all Ennis trying to get to me, using you.”

“Yes!” Stiles exclaimed. “No—wait. No, no, no. I—yes, I want to talk about our relationship. Yes, absolutely. But right now I need to make sure that you don’t go to the alleyway today. Because Ennis has something planned and I don’t want you to get hurt.”

Derek snorted and his eyes gradually returned to their normal color, though there was still a tint of red around the edges of his irises.

“I can take care of myself,” he said. “I’ve taken all three of them down before. Ennis by himself won’t be a problem.”

“Are you fucking crazy?” Stiles asked, flailing. “Ennis has literally been so trigger-happy to get his claws on you, it’s insane. Derek, he was stalking you outside your door yesterday. He even told me that he would punch you, because he owed you. I thought he meant because you broke up with me, but now it all makes sense. He wants revenge on you. And you’re just going to wander into an abandoned alleyway and meet him?”

“I can take care of myself, Stiles,” Derek growled. “Don’t worry about it. I can handle this. Go enjoy your time with the dolphins.”

“Are you hearing yourself?” Stiles asked, waving his arms frantically. “Derek, Ennis is probably going to try and kill you later. How are you so calm right now? We should be calling the police or something.”

Derek’s eyes flashed again and his fangs elongated ever so slightly. Stiles could feel his heart pounding against his chest.

“No,” Derek growled. “This is personal. He fucking touched you, Stiles. And he knew exactly what he was doing; he targeted you because you’re a human and you’re close to me.”

“I—Derek, no, this isn’t a game. It doesn’t matter if I’m a human, werewolf or a fucking troll. You can’t be a rogue cop right now,” Stiles cried. Derek wasn’t listening. “You don’t know what Ennis has planned and I don’t you to get hurt or killed.”

“I know Ennis’ style,” Derek said seriously. “I locked him up before. He’s old school: all claws, no plan. He’s not a threat by himself.”

“Derek,” Stiles pleaded.

“I already let one human I cared about get hurt,” Derek said lowly. “I’m not going to let it happen again. He’s going to pay for this.”

“If you’re going to do this, please be careful,” Stiles said quietly, not meeting Derek’s eyes. I don’t want anything to happen to you.”

“Don’t worry about me,” Derek said. “I’ll take care of Ennis and then later we can talk about where we stand, okay?”

Stiles swallowed nervously, but nodded his head.

“Okay, good,” Derek said softly. He pulled Stiles into a half hug and nuzzled into his cheek. “Thanks for the heads up. Get some sleep. I’ll see you soon.”

***

As Stiles walked back into his cabin, he noticed a note had been pushed under his door.

Stiles-

I won’t be able to meet you for the first boat out to the dolphins—family emergency. I’ve been on the phone off and on all night. I’ll be able to catch up with you sometime around noon. Have fun.

-Ennis

Stiles snorted in disgust and balled the note up and threw it in the trash. “Family emergency my ass.”

Even though Ennis had lost the element of surprise, Stiles couldn’t shake the sinking feeling that there was more to it than Derek realized. Ennis had to be planning something other than a simple battery especially if Derek before had already taken him down before.

If Stiles were a master criminal, he definitely would change his tactics the second time around.

But Derek had been so sure that Ennis was just a one-trick pony, and he was the one who already had a history with Ennis. So as much as Stiles wanted to believe that Ennis had a trick up his sleeve, Derek was the one with all the experience.

And he was a werewolf, so maybe he knew something that Stiles didn’t.

Stiles sighed and curled into a ball, waiting until Scott and Isaac knocked on his door to get him up for breakfast.

***

“Stiles, are you okay?” Scott asked. “Today’s the day you’ve been waiting for. We literally get to see the dolphins in less than an hour. I figured you’d be a lot more excited.”

Scott and Stiles were sitting in breakfast room eating their breakfast. Apparently Isaac wasn’t really up for the omelet bar and had elected to spend a couple extra minutes in bed and just order room service breakfast.

Stiles offered Scott a weak smile and took a bite of his omelet. He tried chewing, but his jaw felt like lead. And when he swallowed the omelet it tasted a lot blander than usual.

“I—I’m just tired, that’s all,” Stiles tried. “I didn’t get a lot of sleep last night.”

It was only a partial lie, so hopefully Scott would take the bait. Thankfully, Scott shrugged and resumed eating his omelet.

“So, Scott,” Stiles muttered after a while. “How—how are you and Isaac?”

“Oh, dude, things’re great,” Scott said around a mouthful of eggs. “I think he might be the one, ya know? I just feel really good when I’m around him. We definitely have a bond.”

Stiles thought back to his conversation the previous night with Erica. “That bond—what’s it feel like?”

“It’s like a pull that draws us together,” Scott said. “Like when Isaac’s away, I get really antsy. I don’t like it. That night after we made out in the hot tub, I didn’t want to let him go. I didn’t sleep well that night because he wasn’t with me. But since then, we’ve slept together every night and it’s been fine.”

Stiles thought back to the previous night and how he hadn’t slept well at all. And then he thought back to the two nights he had slept with Derek and how he woke up feeling more refreshed and rejuvenated than he had in a long time.

“I—I think I have something like that with Derek,” he said quietly.

“Dude, really?” Scott exclaimed, all but spewing bits of omelet everywhere. “That’s great.” Then his eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “But I thought you guys broke up.”

“I—we did,” Stiles said. “But something came up and I talked to him this morning.”

“What did he say?” Scott asked eagerly.

Stiles bit his lip. He didn’t want to bring Scott into the Derek and Ennis situation. The less people involved, the better.

“I—I can’t really say right now, but hopefully things work out.”

“You know you can tell me anything right, buddy?” Scott said, looking at Stiles with a concerned expression on his face. “You’re my best friend. I’m always here for you.”

“I know, I know,” Stiles muttered. “I just—I need to make sure that Derek’s safe first and then I’ll tell you everything.”

“Derek’s safe—what? Stiles, what’s going on?” Scott asked.

“Don’t worry about it,” Stiles said, trying to be reassuring. “But if you see Ennis, stay away from him.”

“Ennis? Why?” Scott asked. “Did you guys get in a fight?”

“You could say that,” Stiles answered darkly. “Just stay away from him, okay?”

Scott nodded dumbly, and then Stiles quickly changed the subject by asking Scott about how cute Isaac was when he slept.

Eventually it was time to head back to the cabins and get ready for the day with the dolphins. Stiles rummaged around in his suitcase and grabbed a fresh T-shirt, some board shorts and a small pouch of wolfsbane.

He hadn’t known if he would need it at the start of the cruise, but he had a feeling that it was going to come in handy today.

Call it a premonition.

***

The dolphins were great. Really great. They were so calm and gentle and they loved being petted.

Stiles would’ve been having a blast if he weren’t so fucking distracted. He kept looking for any glimpse of Derek or Ennis but he couldn’t find anything.

“Stiles, are you okay?” Isaac asked with a concerned tone. “You’ve just seemed out of it all morning and everyone can feel the anxiety coming off of you in waves. It’s a little off putting.”

“Yeah, I—I’m fine,” Stiles said, petting his dolphin absentmindedly. “I’m just—”

“He’s heartbroken!” Jackson’s annoying voice cut in. “Ever since Derek broke up with him, he’s been miserable!”

Stiles was convinced the only reason that Jackson had come to see the dolphins was to rub it in Stiles’ face that he and Derek were no longer together.

Stiles was about to answer when he saw Ennis walk by at a brisk pace. He seemed to be in a hurry and Stiles could only wonder why.

“Fuck off, Jackson,” he yelled. Then he turned to Isaac. “Isaac, is there any way that I can make it so that werewolves can’t smell my scent?”

“I—I don’t really know. Why?” Isaac asked. Stiles frowned and kept his eyes on Ennis. He walked by the pool but didn’t look if at anyone in it. Ennis continued walking and made a left turn by a cart selling tacos.

“No reason,” Stiles said, but he swam away and started to exit the pool.

“Stiles, wait,” Isaac said, grabbing his shoulder as they got out of the pool. Stiles made a pained noise and looked in the direction that Ennis had gone.

“You’ve been acting weird all day,” Isaac said. “Scott told me about your conversation at breakfast. You were asking him about the mate bond and telling him to stay away from Ennis. Don’t think he didn’t tell me.”

“What—mate bond?” Stiles asked. “He said that?”

“No, not really,” Isaac said. “But I figured it out. I’m pretty sure Scott’s my mate.”

Stiles’ head was spinning. If Isaac and Scott were mates, and Stiles felt the same pull towards Derek, did that mean that—

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

“I have to go,” Stiles said, panicking slightly. “I think Derek’s in trouble.”

“Derek—what?” Isaac asked, but Stiles was already jogging in the same direction that Ennis went.

Stiles heard Isaac call Scott’s name, but he didn’t turn to see if they were coming. He had to make sure that Derek—no, his mate—was going to be okay.

***

It took a couple minutes, but he finally found Ennis. He was looking at his phone like it was a GPS.

“Gee, I wonder where you’re going, asshole,” Stiles muttered.

Stiles stayed a couple meters behind Ennis, not wanting him to pick up his scent. He crouched down behind a large wooden crate and peeked out at Ennis from around the side.

“What’s going on?”

Stiles turned and saw that not only Isaac and Scott but also Jackson were crouched behind him.

“What is he doing here?” Stiles whispered angrily.

“I saw the three of you leaving and I wanted to tag along,” Jackson replied smugly. “Is that a problem? What are we even looking at?”

“Ennis,” Stiles hissed quietly.

“Ennis—you mean drug lord Ennis?” Jackson gasped. “Are you fucking serious, Stilinski? He was your rebound?”

“Fuck off, I didn’t know,” Stiles shot back.

“What’s going on?” Scott whispered.

Stiles quickly filled the three of them in.

“Derek’s going in alone?” Scott gasped. “That’s suicide.”

“Tell me about it,” Stiles said through gritted teeth. “Shh! He’s moving.”

The four of them stayed hidden behind the crate as Ennis kept walking. Stiles noticed that they were slowly leaving the more populated areas.

Finally Ennis turned a corner, and Isaac sniffed the air. “Derek’s close.”

They quickly dashed to the end of the alleyway and hid by the entrance. Stiles peeked around the corner to get a better view of what was happening.

Derek and Ennis were standing across from each other in the middle of the alleyway. Ennis’ back was to Stiles, but Stiles could see that Derek’s eyes were blazing red. His arms were folded across his chest, and judging from the expression on his face, he wasn’t very happy.

“Captain Hale.”

“Ennis.”

“So good to see you,” Ennis said. Stiles could tell that he was smirking. “It’s been a while. What, three years or something?”

“How did you get out so fast?” Derek growled.

“Well I testified against Deucalion and Kali,” Ennis said smugly. “I said that they blackmailed me into their operation and I only went through with it because I was afraid for my life. Knocked ten years off my sentence. You should’ve seen my testimony. It was glowing. I’m pretty sure I had some of the jury members in tears. Then I had some very good behavior in prison and that knocked another six months off my sentence, et voila, here I am.”

Derek snorted and Stiles could tell that he hadn’t been expecting Ennis’ answer. “What were you doing on the cruise? Last time I checked you weren’t into guys.”

“Well you must have done your homework wrong then, Derek,” Ennis replied. “Or else you would’ve realized that I hit for both teams. It doesn’t really matter to me. Great sex is great sex. Why, are you interested?”

Derek growled lowly in response.

“Didn’t think so,” Ennis said smugly. “But anyway, I thought I needed a vacation. Being locked up in a cell does something to a man. So I decided to get out, explore the world. I thought a singles cruise would be perfect. Have a fun time, have lots of sex, the whole nine yards. So imagine my surprise when I found the cutest guy who was just covered in your scent.”

Stiles swallowed nervously. He felt a hand on his shoulder and turned around and saw Isaac, who had a somewhat comforting smile on his face.

“Stiles,” Derek growled. His eyes flashed again and his growl reverberated through the alleyway.

“Yes, Stiles,” Ennis said. “And he was just so distraught that you had broken up with him. Really Derek, I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone so miserable after a break up. Whatever you said must have been awful.”

Derek frowned and made a pained noise in the back of his throat. “I—”

“No, no, let me guess,” Ennis said. “Knowing you, you probably broke up with him because he was a human, didn’t you? You probably haven’t even talked to a human since Kali almost killed what’s-her-name.”

Derek growled and lunged for Ennis, who simply sidestepped him and darted to the other end of the alleyway. Now that their places were reversed, Stiles saw that Ennis’ eyes were blazing red too, and there was a sadistic smirk on his face that Stiles had never seen before.

“So let me just make sure I’ve got all the facts right,” Ennis said, continuing to smirk. “You meet this cute guy on the cruise, and then break up with him when you find out he’s a human, because you’re trying to play the noble hero and keep him safe. Especially when you have a history of your human friends almost getting killed.”

Derek but clenched his jaw and continued to glare murderously at Ennis. “Leave Stiles out of this.”

“Technically, I didn’t bring him into this,” Ennis said. “You did. You’re the one who broke up with him and I just picked up the broken pieces. If you hadn’t broken up with him, I wouldn’t have been able to touch him.”

Stiles bit his lip, because that’s exactly what had happened.

“I didn’t know—”

“Of course, of course,” Ennis said. “You couldn’t have known I was on the cruise. In fact, I didn’t even know you were on the cruise until I smelled you all over Stiles. Once I found out that you broke up with him, I had a brilliant idea: why not kill you and take Stiles for myself?”

Stiles felt Scott, Isaac and Jackson tense behind him. Isaac also tightened his grip on Stiles’ shoulder.

Derek growled, low and threatening, but Ennis simply rolled his eyes.

“It was too good of an opportunity to pass up,” he said, smiling manically. “Kill the guy who imprisoned me, and take his boyfriend.”

“I’m gonna rip your throat out with my teeth,” Derek growled. “I beat you single-handedly the last time we fought.” His eyes flashed again and his claws popped back out.

“Yeah, about that,” Ennis drawled lazily. He reached into his pocket and Stiles’ eyes widened as he withdrew a small pistol and pointed it at Derek. “I’ve decided to even the playing field. Ready for a rematch?”

Derek snarled and lunged at Ennis again, and as Ennis was sidestepping him, he fired a shot into Derek’s leg. Derek went down with a pained howl, clutching his thigh. Stiles’ eyes widened with fear as blood began flowing out from under Derek’s hands.

“Wolfsbane bullets,” Ennis said softly, crouching down next to Derek. “They fucking hurt like a bitch, huh?”

“We have to do something,” Stiles hissed, clutching the wolfsbane powder in his pocket. “Ennis will kill him.”

“I’m thinking, I’m thinking,” Scott whispered frantically.

Stiles looked back at Derek. There was a dull pain in his leg and looked down and saw that he had a small bruise on his thigh in the same place that Derek had been shot. He tightened his hold on his pouch of wolfsbane and crouched down, waiting for the right moment to strike.

“What hurts the most, Derek?” Ennis asked softly. “That I’m going to kill you, that I’m about to take Stiles for myself, or that you let another human get away?"

He fired another shot into Derek’s abdomen and Stiles couldn’t take it anymore.

“Derek!” He jumped out of his hiding spot, dashing towards Derek. He was vaguely aware that Scott, Isaac and Jackson were flanking him, but all of his attention was on Derek.

Ennis jerked back in confusion, snarling when he saw Stiles. He lunged for Stiles, but somehow Stiles was quicker, flinging some of the wolfsbane powder into Ennis’ face. Ennis howled in agony and rolled around, clawing at his face. Scott, Isaac and Jackson attacked him in perfect sync.

Satisfied that Ennis was momentarily disabled, Stiles sprinted over to Derek.

“Stiles?” Derek croaked weakly.

“It’s okay,” Stiles murmured, pressing his hands over the bullet wound on Derek’s stomach in an effort to stop the bleeding. “It’s okay, it’s okay.”

Derek coughed and splattered Stiles’ hands and arms with more black-red blood.

“Guys!” Stiles shouted, looking over to where Isaac and the others were struggling with Ennis.

It was only moments later that Jackson threw the gun at Stiles, but it felt like a lifetime.

“Stilinski! Crack the bullets open and—urgh.” He grunted as Ennis flung him across the alleyway. “Crack the bullets open to get the wolfsbane out of them. You’ll have to burn it first and then put it directly on Derek’s wounds.”

Stiles nodded and winced as Scott charged at Ennis only to be caught and slammed into the ground.

“I’m going to get the bullet out first, okay Derek?” Stiles said softly, trying to block out the howls and snarls coming from the fighting werewolves behind him. He placed the gun off to the side and dug his fingers into Derek’s abdomen.

Derek screamed loudly as Stiles wrenched the bullet from his abdomen and his clawed hand dug deep into Stiles’ thigh. Stiles cried out in pain and tossed the bullet away. He yanked Derek’s claws out of his thigh and fought the urge to vomit when he saw that both their hands were covered in each other’s blood.

“Stiles,” Derek panted, clearly weak from the wolfsbane and gunshots. “S’not safe for you here. You gotta—gotta get out of here.”

“Yeah? And then who would save your life?” Stiles asked tightly, quickly checking Derek’s leg for the other bullet. Thankfully that one had gone all the way through. “Now make some sparks so I can burn this wolfsbane.”

As Derek drug his clawed hands across the ground, Stiles grabbed the gun and opened the bullets with his teeth. Derek had managed to make a decent amount of sparks, so Stiles quickly burned the wolfsbane and coated his fingers with it.

“Okay, here goes nothing,” he muttered. “On three, ready? One—two—”

“No, Stiles—Stiles,” Derek panted, breathing becoming labored. “Can’t—can’t let anything happen to you. You’re—you’re my—”

“Derek, if you do not shut the fuck up right now, I won’t be able to help you and we won’t be able to talk about the fact that I am your mate,” Stiles grumbled, abandoning the countdown and pressing the wolfsbane into Derek’s wound.

Derek screamed again as Stiles shoved his hands into his wounds. His eyes screwed shut and his fangs elongated as every muscle in his body flexed, trying to dull the pain. Stiles winced as he twisted his fingers in Derek’s stomach, shutting his own eyes so he couldn’t see the blood or the pained expression on Derek’s face.

“You’re okay,” he muttered through gritted teeth. “You’re fine.” He didn’t know who he was trying to convince more. Derek was screaming under him, and his own heart was pounding in his chest.

After what felt like ages, Derek finally stopped howling. Stiles cracked one eye open and saw that Derek was unconscious. Isaac howled and Stiles looked up in time to seen Ennis toss him into Scott so hard that they both crashed into a wall. Stiles knew enough about werewolves to know that three betas against an alpha weren’t the best odds, but he watched as Jackson raked his claws across the back of Ennis’ neck and figured that Jackson, Scott and Isaac were as good as he could get right now.

Stiles took another deep breath and pressed his wolfsbane-coated fingers into the gunshot wound in Derek’s leg, ignoring the quiet, pained whine that Derek made in the back of his throat. He held his fingers in Derek’s leg until he was sure that the wolfsbane had done its trick.

Stiles heard a loud crash and saw that Scott and Jackson had just tackled Ennis into a wall. Ennis was slow to get up and then Isaac blindsided him with—where did that two-by-four come from? Ennis crumpled to the ground and didn’t move.

Isaac seemed satisfied that Ennis wasn’t getting back up, so he dashed over to Stiles and Derek, leaving Scott and Jackson to stand guard.

“How is he?” Isaac asked cautiously.

“He’s fine,” Stiles sighed, the adrenaline was wearing off and he was exhausted. “We’re fine.” He cradled Derek’s head into his lap and gently ran his fingers through Derek’s hair. “We just—we just need—some rest.”

“Stiles, we should—shit you’re bleeding,” Isaac muttered. “Fuck, that’s a lot of blood.”

“What?” Stiles asked breathlessly. Suddenly he started feeling very light-headed and weak. It felt like the world was spinning and he really wanted to get off. “Where? Oh my leg—That was an accident. Derek's claws, I think—” He trailed off.

“No, no, no, stay with me, Stiles,” Isaac said, swooping up behind him and pressing his hands on Stiles’ leg. “It’s gonna be okay. You saved the day.”

“I know,” Stiles said weakly, leaning heavily into Isaac’s body. “Do you think Derek will want to date me again? I really like him,” he murmured, rubbing Derek’s shoulders.

“I’m sure he will,” Isaac said. “You’re his mate.”

“Oh yeah,” Stiles murmured. “I’m gonna go to sleep. Sleep is good.” He patted Isaac’s cheek and slumped against his shoulder, satisfied that everything would be okay when he woke up.

Chapter Text

As Stiles started to wake up, he realized two things.

One: He was lying in his cabin bed nestled between two dozing werewolves.

Two: He was a little toasty, but that was probably because Scott was wrapped around him like a lonely blanket or something and Isaac was pressed against his chest like a baby koala.

“Hey, sleepyhead,” Scott murmured, tucking his nose behind Stiles’ ear. “How are you feeling?”

“Well, for starters I feel like I’m the filling in a werewolf sandwich,” Stiles answered, squirming slightly in Scott’s arms. “My leg hurts a little bit, but other than that I’m fine. What time is it?”

“Probably because you have six stitches,” Isaac said, rolling his eyes and loosely gripping Stiles’ thigh. Stiles watched as the black veins danced up Isaac’s arm, and he sighed as his pain faded away. “And it’s a little after five in the afternoon.”

“Thanks, buddy,” he said, ruffling Isaac’s hair. “What about you two? Are you okay?””

“We’re fine,” Isaac replied, pressing his face back into Stiles’ chest. “Advanced healing, remember? We’ll heal a little bit slower because they were wounds inflicted by an alpha, but we won remember? We were more worried about you bleeding out than anything. We thought Derek hit your femoral artery or something.”

“Wait, where’s Derek?” Stiles asked, wriggling out of Scott’s arms and frantically looking around the room. “Is he okay? Did the wolfsbane work?”

“He’s fine, Stiles,” Scott said, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. “I don’t know where he is, but he’s fine. Just calm down for a second.”

“What do you mean he’s fine? How do know?” Stiles asked. “Scott, Derek’s my mate, and the last time I saw him he was unconscious with two bullet holes in him. And I wake up and he’s not with me? Sorry, but I’m gonna freak out.”

“Stiles, listen,” Isaac said. “Both you and Derek were unconscious, but you were still bleeding, so we just ran back on the ship because it was quicker than waiting for an ambulance. We brought you to the infirmary, and the nurses took you away to stop the bleeding and give you stitches. Derek woke up and started looking for you but when he found out you were getting emergency treatment, he freaked out and bolted from the hospital. We haven’t seen him since.”

Stiles breathed a huge sigh of relief that Derek was alive, but then he frowned slightly when he realized that Derek had run away.

“He just—he left?” he asked quietly, falling back into bed.

“Sorry, buddy,” Isaac said, curling around Stiles. “The nurses would’ve kept you in the infirmary longer, but since this is a cruise mainly for werewolves, they didn’t have a lot of space since werewolves heal so fast. So they just told us to keep an eye on you. Plus, werewolves are the best painkillers,” he added, draining a little more of Stiles’ pain.

“Thanks,” Stiles murmured. “I just thought that Derek would be close by when I woke up. He even knows that we’re mates, he said so himself. And I just—”

Stiles paused when there was a rapid knock at his door.

“Stiles? Stiles?”

“Derek!” Stiles exclaimed, rushing to the door.

He barely opened the door before Derek catapulted himself into his arms. He pressed his nose into the crook of Stiles’ shoulder and rubbed his cheek up and down Stiles’ neck. Derek made a weak noise in the back of his throat and wrapped his arms around Stiles’ waist.

“You’re okay,” he murmured, squeezing Stiles tightly. “You’re okay, you’re safe.”

It all happened so fast, it took Stiles a couple seconds to realize what was happening. Once he regained his composure, he tentatively wrapped his arms around Derek, dragging his fingers up and down the line in Derek’s back.

“I’m right here,” Stiles said softly, scratching Derek’s sensitive spot, right above his shoulder blades. “I’m fine, Derek. I’m fine. It’s okay.”

Derek seemed to relax at the sound of Stiles’ voice, but he still gripped Stiles like his life depended on it. He made another small noise and pressed his face into Stiles’ shoulder.

“I was so worried,” he whispered.

“S’okay,” Stiles said, looking over his shoulder and shooting Scott and Isaac a pointed look. They got the message and walked through the adjoining door in their cabins. Isaac offered Stiles a reassuring smile, and Scott gave him a thumbs-up before they quietly closed the door.

Stiles gently guided himself and Derek to the bed and let Derek rest his head on his chest. Stiles continued to run his fingers along Derek’s sensitive spot, trying to calm him down.

“Everything’s fine,” he said softly. “I’m safe, Derek. I’m safe.”

Derek made another small noise in the back of his throat and fisted his hands in Stiles’ shirt, and pressed his face forcefully into the nook between Stiles’ neck and shoulders. He inhaled deeply as if Stiles’ scent was enough to calm him down.

Derek shifted his body slightly as he curled around Stiles and Stiles hissed in pain as Derek grazed his injured thigh.

“You’re hurt,” Derek said, swallowing nervously.

“It’s fine,” Stiles quickly reassured him. “Your claws went a little deep, so I had to get some stitches. It’s not a big deal, Derek. Don’t worry about it.”

“Can I see?” Derek asked quietly.

“It’s not that big of a deal. It’s healing—”

“Stiles,” Derek pleaded. “Please.”

Stiles sighed and pulled his shorts up so Derek could see his leg. Derek whined low in his throat when he saw the five puncture wounds on Stiles’ upper thigh. He lightly ran his finger around the edges, careful to avoid the angry red center of each wound.

“I did this,” he said softly. “I—I did this.”

“Derek, it’s fine,” Stiles said again. “I had just pulled a wolfsbane bullet of your stomach. I can’t really speak from experience, but I’m pretty sure that shit hurts. Don’t worry about it, besides, Isaac took most of the pain away.”

Derek blinked and gently placed his palm on top of Stiles’ stitches and drained some more of Stiles’ pain. Stiles kept his eyes on Derek’s face, but was surprised to find that Derek wouldn’t meet his gaze, instead he seemed to find Stiles’ window far more interesting.

“This is all my fault,” he said quietly. “All of it: the fighting, the break-up. And you got hurt because of me.”

“Derek, it’s not—”

“It is,” Derek said, burying his face back into Stiles’ neck. “It’s all my fault. I didn’t have a good reason for breaking up with you other than that I was scared that something was going to happen to you. It wasn’t even about you pretending to be a werewolf either. I just—I was scared that something like this was going to happen.”

Derek was quiet for a few moments and Stiles rubbed his back to calm him down.

“Ennis was right,” Derek said quietly. “If I hadn’t been an idiot and broken up with you, you wouldn’t have gotten hurt. I always hurt the people I care about. First Paige, and now, you.”

“Derek, you didn’t hurt me,” Stiles said, continuing to rub small circles into Derek’s back. “At least, not intentionally. None of this is your fault.”

“Yes it is,” Derek said with a whine. “I was stupid and you have stitches because of me, Stiles. I clawed you so deep that you wouldn’t stop bleeding. When I woke up and you weren’t with me, I panicked. I had never been so scared in my life. And then I found out you were in the emergency room getting stitched up because of my claws and I just couldn’t do it.”

“Derek—”

“I freaked out, Stiles. I saw you in the operating room and your pulse was so weak,” Derek said. “And I thought about what happened to Paige, and it—I—I lost it. I was so scared and I wasn’t sure if—I was scared, Stiles. I thought I was going to lose you and I couldn’t—I can’t lose you.”

“I’m right here, Derek,” Stiles said softly, pressing a soft kiss to Derek’s hair. “I’m not going anywhere. It’s gonna take a lot more than this to get rid of me. I promise.”

“I know, I know,” Derek said; laugh muffled from where his face was pressed into Stiles’ neck. He smiled softly and pressed a small kiss to the hollow of Stiles’ throat. “When I heard your voice from my room, I thought I was just imagining things. I—”

“Wait, you could hear my voice from your room?” Stiles interrupted. “Dude, these walls are soundproof and you live a whole below me. How did you hear me?”

“I think it’s the mate bond,” Derek said softly. He lifted his head up and finally looked Stiles’ in the eyes. His own green eyes were filled with contentment and he smiled softly down at Stiles. “I—I can’t really think of anything else. Jesus, Stiles, I’ve been miserable without you. I couldn’t sleep, I could barely eat, I couldn’t do anything. It just felt like a huge part of me was missing.”

“You’re telling me,” Stiles said. “The past two days haven’t been a walk in the park for me either. I went to omelet bar with Scott this morning and I could barely finish it.”

Derek chuckled and pressed a light kiss to Stiles’ lips.

“I’m sorry,” he said quietly, resting his forehead against Stiles’. “For all of this. I never should have broken up with you. I won’t make that mistake ever again. You’re my mate, and I’m never letting you go.”

“You—really?” Stiles asked. He thought that Derek would back away at the mention of mates, not be the one to bring it up. “You still want to go through with this mate stuff? I’m a human, remember?”

Derek rolled his eyes before a genuine smile unfurled across his face, and Stiles sensed that it was going to be a trend in their budding relationship.

“Yes, I still want to go through with this ‘mate stuff.’ Yes, I remember that you’re still a human, and to answer your unasked question—” he pressed another kiss to Stiles’ lips. “No, I don’t care.”

“Derek—”

“No, I just—I don’t care anymore,” Derek said softly. “It doesn’t matter whether you’re a werewolf or a human. You’re it for me, Stiles. You’re my mate, and I couldn’t be happier that it’s you. You saved my life today—if it wasn’t for you, Ennis would’ve killed me in that alleyway.”

“You would’ve done the same thing for me,” Stiles said, blushing slightly.

“Of course I would, but that’s not the point, Stiles,” Derek said. “If someone had told me that I was going to find my mate on this cruise and that my mate would be a human and would save my life, I wouldn’t have believed them at all. I always thought that werewolves were supposed to protect humans; we’re bigger, stronger and faster. But you—I don’t know what it is about you. I want to protect you, obviously. You’re my mate and you’re a human and I think there’s always going to be a part of me that thinks you’re just a little bit fragile.”

Stiles snorted fondly at the notion of him being fragile. He may be a human, but he was pretty sure he could hold his own in a fight with a werewolf—at least if he had some sort of weapon, maybe a baseball bat or something.

“But you’ve shown me that I can let my guard down around you and you can protect me as well,” Derek said, resting his head on Stiles’ chest and combing his fingers through Stiles’ hair. “I never thought a human would save my life to be honest. And I never thought that I would learn so much about myself from a human. But I’m glad I met you, Stiles. And I’m even more glad that you’re my mate.”

Stiles smiled softly and gripped Derek tightly. Even though Stiles had originally come on this cruise for the dolphins, being with Derek was better than a thousand vacations, and now that he knew that he and Derek were going to be okay, Stiles could really care less about the dolphins.

He had his mate.

He had Derek.

“I’ve only known you for a week, but you’ve made me laugh more in this week than I’ve laughed in a long time,” Derek said, nuzzling Stiles’ cheek. “You’re sarcastic, smart and you’re fucking beautiful. I don’t know how many times I had to growl at other werewolves who were checking you out.”

“Uh, have you looked in the mirror?” Stiles asked, raising an eyebrow. “I couldn’t growl at anyone, but there were other werewolves checking you out too, mister. Can’t say I was a fan of that happening.”

“No one is going to take me away from you,” Derek growled, sitting up and eyes flashing. He leaned in and nipped at the base of Stiles’ neck, lengthening his fangs just enough so that they were little pinpricks against Stiles’ skin. “And no one’s taking you away from me either. You’re mine.”

Stiles whimpered as Derek nipped his way up and down his neck. Derek slipped his hands under Stiles’ shirt and ran them across Stiles’ chest.

“You drive me crazy,” Derek murmured against the skin of Stiles’ neck. “Do you know what you fucking do to me, Stiles?”

Stiles guessed it was a rhetorical question, because suddenly Derek’s mouth was back on his own. Derek bit at his lower lip and forced his tongue into Stiles’ mouth, growling slightly as their tongues fought for dominance. Stiles threaded his fingers through Derek’s hair and relaxed as he continued kissing Derek.

Stiles moaned involuntarily as Derek started sucking on his lower lip before moving down to the base of his neck.

“You’re going to—give me a hickey,” Stiles groaned, arching his back as Derek’s tongue licked circles into his skin. “I don’t have—have advanced healing, remember?”

Derek’s response was to suck harder and reach down with one hand and squeeze Stiles’ groin.

“Jesus, Derek,” Stiles panted. “Fucking—”

His words were cut off as Derek’s mouth found his own again.

“Love you,” Derek murmured against Stiles’ lips.

“Yeah?” Stiles asked. “Show me, big guy.”

Derek smiled and his eyes flashed before he dove back into Stiles’ mouth, kissing Stiles as if his life depended on it. Stiles chuckled and relaxed as Derek kissed his way down his body.

Derek was in his bed, he and Derek were back together and most importantly, they were about to have a great session of sex.

Everything was right.

***

“Fucking finally,” Erica said, grinning and rolling her eyes as Stiles and Derek approached the bar. “I mean, it only took you guys the entire fucking cruise to get your act together. So, Stiles, how was it?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Stiles said, blushing as he took grabbed his drink.

“Oh please,” Erica replied, cocking her head knowingly. “Not only is it written all over your face, but I can smell Derek all over you. He wasn’t exactly subtle before, but this time he made sure that everyone on this cruise knows that he just fucked you into the middle of the next week.”

Derek, looking like the proverbial wolf in the fairy tales, smirked and covered Stiles’ hand with his own.

“We’re mates,” he told Erica proudly.

“Wow, ten points for you, Sherlock,” Erica said, rolling her eyes. “You’re only the last one to figure it out. You’re lucky you’re handsome, because you’re almost as oblivious as Stiles.”

“What are you talking about?” Derek asked, narrowing his eyes slightly.

“I figured it out the night you broke up with Stiles,” Erica replied airily, tossing her hair over her shoulder and completely ignoring Derek’s pointed look. “He was on the top deck looking absolutely miserable and he said that he couldn’t sleep because of you. That’s like textbook mate-bond dynamics.”

“You couldn’t sleep that night?” Derek asked, looking at Stiles with an apologetic expression on his face.

“Nope,” Stiles said, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. Even though it had been completely been Derek’s fault, Stiles still didn’t like seeing the somber look on Derek’s face. “It just felt weird sleeping without you, and I couldn’t get comfortable at all.”

“That’s how I felt that night, too,” Derek said, squeezing Stiles’ hand slightly. “It felt like a part of me was missing, and even though I knew it was you I—I didn’t think you were my mate or anything. I just thought I was irrationally sad.”

Derek leaned in and pressed a gentle kiss to Stiles lips and nuzzled into Stiles' cheek.

Erica snorted and rolled her eyes so hard, for a fleeting moment Stiles thought she was going to make herself blind.

“On that note, I’m going to leave before you two get too romantic,” Erica said. “Please keep in mind that you still have one more day on this cruise, so please refrain from having sex on my bar.”

***

“Stiles! Derek! You guys are back together!”

Stiles turned and smiled as Scott and Isaac hugged him from behind.

“Yeah, we are,” Stiles said. “We’re mates, what did you expect? You and Scott are mates too, right?”

“Yeah, we are, but I don’t think our love story is anywhere near as dramatic as yours,” Isaac said, grinning. “We’re both werewolves and I think the only hiccup in our relationship was when I was mad at Scott for beating me on the waterslides in the Bahamas.”

Stiles grinned as he remembered how Isaac had pouted when he had finished dead last on the racing waterslides. If that was the worst part of their relationship, then he and Scott were in for some smooth sailing down the road.

Stiles looked down at Derek’s hand that was still covering his own and smiled. Even though he and Derek had been through a lot during the past week, he didn’t think he would do anything differently.

Except maybe prevent Derek from getting shot. Yeah, he would definitely edit that part out.

“But, I’m so happy for you guys, I really am,” Isaac continued. “So you guys are for real now, right? I mean I could smell you before I saw you,” he added, smirking at Stiles. “Derek really did a number on you, didn’t he?”

Derek raised an eyebrow at Isaac, who blushed and looked away.

“What? What?” Stiles asked, looking between Derek and Isaac. “What happened? I don’t like being out of the loop.”

“Isaac’s one to talk,” Derek said, not taking his eyes off the blushing beta. “Let’s just say if everyone knows you’re off-limits, then everyone definitely knows that Isaac is off-limits. I thought I was thorough, but it seems that Scott is in a league of his own.”

Stiles’ eyes widened as he looked at Isaac.

“Seriously,” Erica’s voice rang out. “Did all of you have to have sex before coming to the bar? I can smell everything.”

***

“I’m hungry,” Stiles murmured against Derek’s chest. “Can we go get something to eat?”

Derek rolled his eyes but carded his fingers through Stiles’ hair affectionately. “You’re the one who wanted to come back to your cabin to take a nap, not have another round of sex. No wonder you’re hungry. You’re supposed to be asleep.”

“I don’t know if you know this, but my mate is an incredibly hunky slab of werewolf and I can’t help myself when I’m around him, especially when he decides to sleep with his shirt off.”

Derek snorted and pressed a kiss to Stiles’ hair. “Come on,” he said, nudging Stiles. “Let’s get you some food.”

Stiles grinned and kissed Derek’s chest. “Hey, do you think they have all you can eat breakfast anywhere? I’m really craving an omelet,” he said, picking up a shirt off the floor and pulling it over his head.

“Dunno, guess we’ll have to find out,” Derek said, putting his own clothes back on. He paused as he held the shirt in his hands. “Stiles.”

“Hmm?”

“You’re wearing my shirt.”

“Oh,” Stiles said, looking down at his torso. “So I am. Sorry about that. One second.”

“No,” Derek cut in as Stiles started to peel the shirt off. “I—I like it. You smell more like me when you wear it.”

“I’m pretty sure I already smell like you since we literally just had sex,” Stiles said, eyes gleaming. “But, if it makes your wolfy senses happy, I’ll keep it on. But can we please get some food now? I’m starving.”

Derek grinned and kissed Stiles before opening the door.

“Well, well, well. What do we have here? Alpha and human reunited at last. It’s kinda funny—the last time I saw you guys, you were both bloody and unconscious. You two clean up nice. Nice shirt, Stilinski, and even nicer hickeys.”

“What are you doing here, Jackson?” Stiles asked, rolling his eyes. Derek growled lowly and wrapped a possessive arm around Stiles’ waist.

“Wow, such hostility, Stilinski. For starters, I live on this floor and second of all, you’re welcome,” Jackson said, smirking. “The least you can do is thank me for saving your life. Who do you think called the cops after Scott and Isaac rushed you two to the hospital?”

“You stayed with Ennis?” Stiles asked. “Why?”

“I think everyone forgets that Paige is my cousin,” Jackson said darkly. “I never got a chance to pay Kali back for what she did to Paige, so I may or may not have made sure he got to the cops with a little extra—hospitality, courtesy of the Whittemore family.”

“I—wow, Jackson. Thank you,” Stiles said, nodding slowly. “I—I don’t know what to say.” Behind him, Derek nodded his own thanks. However he kept his arm around Stiles’ waist.

“Eh, don’t mention it,” Jackson said, waving his hand airily. “I’m not as big of an asshole as everyone thinks I am. I wouldn’t have tried to take Derek away from you if I knew he was your mate.”

Stiles opened his mouth to reply, but Scott and Isaac opened the door to their cabin and walked into the hallway.

“Oh hey guys,” Scott said, looking around at Stiles, Derek and Jackson. “We were just on our way to get dinner. Do you guys want to come?”

“Sure,” Stiles said. “We were on our way to get dinner too. Do you want to come Jackson?”

“Ah, let me see what Danny wants to do,” Jackson said.

“Who’s Danny?” Isaac asked.

Jackson’s eyes flashed a luminous blue before he answered. “He’s this really cute guy I met after I got back on the boat today.”

“Cute enough that you’ll leave Isaac and Stiles alone?” Scott asked carefully, wrapping an arm around Isaac’s shoulders.

“Cuter.” Jackson answered. “And I think he might be my mate.”

“No way,” Isaac said. “That’s great, Jackson. Now everyone has a mate. How cool is that. Where is he?”

“Getting dressed,” Jackson said smugly. “We may have just finished ‘getting to know each other’ if you know what I mean. He kicked me out into the hallway while he finished putting his clothes on, because he’s got an ass like—”

“Jackson!”

“Danny?”

“Stiles?”

“Danny!”

“Scott?”

“What.” Derek and Jackson said.

“Dude, Danny, I didn’t know you were on this cruise,” Stiles said, giving Danny a hug while ignoring Derek and Jackson’s low growls. “Where have you been all week?”

“Around,” Danny said when the broke apart. “It’s a big ship, Stiles. There’s like three thousand people on this cruise. Besides, I just thought I needed a vacation. I figured I’d have some NSA fun for a week, and then I met Jackson at the pool earlier today, and the rest is pretty much history.”

“We’re just going to ignore the fact that you three know each other?” Jackson asked, wedging himself in between Stiles and Danny. He wrapped a possessive arm around Danny’s shoulders and Derek came up from behind Stiles and wrapped both arms around his waist.

“I went to high school with Scott and Stiles,” Danny explained. “We’re all from Beacon Hills. But I don’t know the other two.”

“This is Isaac, my mate,” Scott said, gesturing to Isaac. “And that’s Derek, Stiles’ mate.”

“Nice to meet you both,” Danny said, smiling at Isaac and Derek. “But yeah, I’ve been here the whole time. Maybe we just went to different places in the ports or something.”

“Probably,” Stiles answered. “But that’s really cool that you’re here. We were about to go get dinner, do you guys want to come join us?”

“Sure,” Danny said, nodding. “Sounds great. I’m really hungry.”

“I know you are,” Jackson said, smirking.

“Jackson, can you not talk about my ass and how we just had sex?” Danny asked. He looked annoyed, but everyone could hear the fond undertone in his voice. “That would be great, thanks.”

“They already know,” Jackson answered, nipping at one of the hickeys on Danny’s neck. “Werewolves have a better sense of smell remember? Besides, you and Stiles can bond over your matching hickeys. And the only reason that Isaac doesn’t have any is because his already faded.”

“Perks of being a werewolf, I guess,” Danny said, rolling his eyes.

“Tell me about it,” Stiles mumbled, absentmindedly running his fingers over one of his hickeys. Behind him, Derek chuckled in amusement and pressed a kiss to the top of his head.

***

“Can you believe tomorrow is the last day of the cruise?” Stiles asked, pillowing his head on Derek’s chest. “Like it’s already been a week, and then we’re going to have to go back home.”

“We live twenty minutes apart, Stiles,” Derek said and Stiles could practically feel him rolling his eyes. “You, Scott and Danny live in Beacon Hills, I'm gonna move back to Beacon Heights and Isaac’s from Sacramento. It’s not that far away.”

“Yeah, but we’re not going to all be on the ship together,” Stiles pouted, poking Derek’s chest. “There’s not going to be any more omelet bars, or twenty-four hour hot tubs or massages.”

“I’ll massage you,” Derek growled good-naturedly, pulling Stiles closer to his body. Stiles snuggled up to Derek, enjoying his supernatural body heat.

“You know I never really got to see the dolphins,” Stiles murmured.

“I thought you saw them,” Derek said.

“I mean, I was there, but I wasn’t,” Stiles clarified. “I was so worried about you I couldn’t really enjoy myself.”

“I’m sorry,” Derek said quietly. “I know how much you wanted to see them.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Stiles said. “I mean if I had to pick swimming with some dolphins or snuggling with my mate, I would definitely pick you. I’m glad we’re back together.”

“Me too,” Derek answered, squeezing Stiles slightly. “But you wanted to see the dolphins and I want to see them with you.”

“Well we sort of missed our chance,” Stiles said. “It’s not a huge deal.”

“No. We’re coming back,” Derek said. “I kind of ruined your plans to see them, so it's my job to make it up to you. You'll see them. I promise.”

“You—really?”

“Really,” Derek answered. “You deserve it, Stiles.”

“Thanks,” Stiles said, snuggling closer to Derek.

“Of course,” Derek answered. “Love you.”

“That’s the second time you’ve said that today,” Stiles pointed out.

“Probably because I mean it,” Derek said, rolling his eyes. “You’re my mate. Of course I love you.”

“You love me because I'm your mate? You know I'm a human, right? Isn't that a no-no for you?” Stiles joked.

"No" Derek said, eyes flashing. "I love you because you're you. The fact that you're my mate is a bonus, and the fact that you're a human—” Derek paused and tugged Stiles up so they were looking into each other’s eyes. “—is irrelevant,” he finished, pressing a soft and gentle kiss to Stiles’ lips.

“Well good,” Stiles said, smiling down at Derek. He kissed Derek’s nose and snuggled back into his chest. “And incidentally, I love you too.”

Chapter Text

“Guys, can you really believe that this is our last dinner on this cruise?” Scott asked, cutting into a piece of filet mignon. “And we added two new people to our happy little group. Not gonna name any names or anything.”

“You’re obviously talking about me and Danny, McCall,” Jackson snorted good-naturedly. “Still jealous that my mate is hotter than yours?”

Both Danny and Isaac rolled their eyes as their respective mates growled at each other. Ever since Scott and Jackson had reconciled their differences, they had been taking turns trading barbs over whose mate was hotter, whose abs were better—all kinds of good stuff.

“Who do you think’s going to win this round?” Derek murmured against Stiles’ earlobe. “My money’s on Jackson.”

“Got my money on my best bro,” Stiles said. “Bro code and whatnot.”

“I think you’re a little biased, but that’s fine,” Derek murmured. “As long as you know you’re mine.”

“Pretty sure you won’t ever let me forget it,” Stiles said, chuckling as Derek licked a stripe behind his ear. “And I have no problem with that.”

“Stiles!” Scott groaned. “Tell Jackson that Isaac is hotter than Danny!”

***

“Flight 4728 from New York has landed and will be de-boarding shortly.”

Stiles smiled and headed to the arrivals terminal. It had been about two weeks since the end of the cruise, since he had seen Derek. Derek had had to go back to New York and put in his two weeks notice, but he promised to be back at Stiles’ side as soon as possible.

It had been a little hard being without Derek for the past two weeks, but Derek had called him every night and it didn’t hurt that he had given Stiles some of his shirts to sleep in.

“You must be Stiles.”

Stiles whirled around and was met with a piercing pair of hazel-green eyes attached to a very attractive young woman. She smiled at him and flashed the barest hint of fang.

“Oh—you—you’re Laura,” Stiles said, noting the resemblance and backing away. “Derek said I shouldn’t talk to you until his flight landed. He said that you might do something that—and—I—I should really stop talking right now.”

Stiles backed up and bumped into another member of the Hale family. She smirked at him as well, looking him up and down and taking in his entire appearance.

“Derek was right,” she said, nodding appreciatively. “You are very attractive. And I can still smell him on you. He must have been incredibly thorough on the last night of the cruise. Either that, or you’ve been—you are wearing his shirts, aren’t you?”

“I—um, and you’re Cora,” Stiles said, nodding nervously. “Hi.”

“So you’re Derek’s mate,” Laura said. “Tell me what that’s like. He’s kind of growly.”

“You must be something special if you got Derek to move back to Beacon Heights,” Cora said, eyes flashing. “You’re sure you're Derek’s mate and not mine?”

“Oh, I—I—yeah,” Stiles stammered. “Definitely Derek’s.”

“Well that’s a shame,” Cora said, placing her hand on Stiles’ shoulder. “But I like you. I think we’ll be good friends.”

“Th-thank you,” Stiles said. “I think?”

“Girls, leave him alone,” a voice cut in. Stiles turned around and was met a couple who could only be Derek’s parents.

“I’m Talia, and this is my husband Lawrence,” Talia said, extending her hand. “We’re Derek’s parents. It’s very nice to meet you.”

“Oh—hi,” Stiles said, shaking her hand and nodding to Lawrence. “I’m Stiles, Derek’s mate. But you probably knew that already.”

“Well the fact that you still smell like my son might have something to do with it,” Talia said, smiling. “It’s been two weeks right?”

“Something like that,” Stiles said, nodding.

“Well, Stiles,” Talia said. “Welcome to the family.”

***

“So, Derek, my son tells me that you’re a cop?”

“Yes sir,” Derek said, eyeing the supply of wolfsbane bullets warily. “I worked for Beacon Heights Police Department, then NYPD for a couple of years, and I just transferred back to Beacon Heights.”

“Transferred back to Beacon Heights to be closer to my son,” John clarified, squinting as he held his gun up against the light.

Stiles rolled his eyes and dragged his hand across his face.

“Yes sir,” Derek said, swallowing nervously.

“My son, who is your mate?”

“Yes sir.”

“Just so I’m clear, you just uprooted your entire life just to be closer to my son?”

“Well my family lives in Beacon Heights sir, and I—”

“So, Stiles also tells me that you’re already familiar with the unpleasant feeling of a wolfsbane bullet?” John interrupted, running his fingers along the length of the gun.

Stiles resisted the urge to jump off the nearest cliff.

***

“I can’t do this. I really can’t do this,” Derek mumbled, squeezing Stiles’ hand. “This is a terrible idea.”

“Derek, it’ll be fine,” Stiles said, rubbing Derek’s back. Derek hummed quietly and visibly relaxed when Stiles ran his hands across his shoulder blades. “What could possibly go wrong?”

“She could hate me,” Derek said quietly. “I basically walked out of her life when she needed me the most. Not to mention I—”

“Ah, ah, nope,” Stiles said, pressing a finger to Derek’s lips. “None of this self-loathing stuff. Everything’s going to be fine, I promise. Paige has been your best friend since you were kids. I’m pretty sure she knew what she was getting into after about a day of being your friend.”

“You think so?” Derek asked. “I just—I missed her so much when I was away and now that I—I have you, and I just—”

“Hey, it’s okay, it’s okay,” Stiles said, bringing their hands to his lips and pressing a kiss to Derek’s knuckles. “Just knock on the door, be yourself, and everything’s going to turn out fine. Trust me.”

Derek smiled and tilted Stiles’ chin upwards and kissed him gently on the mouth. “I love you,” he said quietly. He kissed Stiles again before breathing in deeply and turning to face the door.

“Here goes nothing,” Derek sighed, knocking on the door. He bit his bottom lip and squeezed Stiles’ hand in anticipation. “She’s not coming. This was a bad idea. We should go.”

He was turning away before a short brunette opened the door. “Sorry, I watching TV in the back and I didn’t know if the—oh my God—Derek.”

“Paige,” Derek breathed. “Um, how are—”

The words were barely out of Derek’s mouth before Paige flung herself into his arms, burying her face in Derek’s chest. Stiles watched as Derek visibly relaxed, the tension flowed out of his body and he rested his chin on Paige’s head.

“I missed you,” he said quietly, burying his nose in Paige’s hair. “I’m so sorry.”

“Shut up, you asshole,” Paige muttered. “I can’t even with you right now. You—I—just stop talking.”

“Okay,” Derek murmured. He let go of Stiles’ hand and wrapped Paige in both arms. “I—um—this is Stiles.”

“What the hell is a Stiles?” Paige asked, pulling back to look Derek in the eye.

“That would be me,” Stiles cut in. “Hi.”

“Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me,” Paige hissed, narrowing her eyes. And suddenly Stiles felt very intimidated. Paige turned back to Derek and leveled him with a withering glare. “You run off for three years and you come back with your fucking mate?”

“I—I didn’t—”

“You asshole!” Paige said, slapping Derek’s chest. She smiled hugely and wiped tears from her eyes before pulling Stiles into the hug. “I’m happy you found each other. But seriously, Derek? Leave me again and they’ll never find your body.”

***

“Hey, Derek, guess what day it is?” Stiles sang as he came into their apartment.

“June third?” Derek asked from his place on the couch. “I think?”

“It is June third, my handsome mate,” Stiles said, sprawling on top of Derek. “Which means that in two weeks it'll be a year since we departed on that fateful cruise that changed our lives.”

“Interesting. I didn’t know you were the type to keep dates— you already move too fast as it is,” Derek said, kissing Stiles lightly on the nose. “So how did you know that in two weeks, it’ll be the one year anniversary of when we realized we were mates?”

“Well I’m not really,” Stiles said. “The only reason I know is because we just got a flier in the mail, offering us discounts on the next werewolf singles cruise.”

“Well I don’t think that would be fair to all the other guys on the cruise, considering that you and I are definitely not single,” Derek said, raising his eyebrows slightly.

“Yeah, but think of all the fun we could have,” Stiles said. “All the stops are the same: the Bahamas, Jamaica, The Cayman Islands and Cozumel. We could relive all the fun times we had.”

“You mean like the time I broke up with you and got shot? Yeah, real fun times, Stiles.”

“I was thinking more along the lines of all the fun times we had, like Stingray City and the dolphins,” Stiles said, ignoring Derek’s eye roll.

“You know I was thinking the same thing. And since I knew you probably wouldn’t remember, so I took matters into my own hands,” Derek said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out an envelope.

“Derek, what is that?” Stiles asked slowly.

“Airplane tickets to Cozumel and an VIP-package of swimming with the dolphins.”

“Derek—”

“Happy anniversary, Stiles.”

***

“You are the coolest, Maverick. You’re just always smiling,” Stiles said, running his hands along Maverick’s dorsal fin. “If I had a big enough pool and I could fit you on the plane, I would totally take you home with me.”

Maverick made a clicking noise and bobbed his head a couple of times. Stiles grinned and bobbed his head along with him. Maverick seemed to enjoy the fact that Stiles was imitating him and made a whistling noise and rubbed his snout against Stiles’ chest.

“So, I’m getting replaced by a dolphin,” Derek said, wading over to Stiles and Maverick. “I don’t really know to feel about that.”

“You’re just jealous because Maverick is way cooler than Thor,” Stiles said, petting Maverick’s head. Maverick clicked in agreement.

“Not even,” Derek said, pulling Stiles into a kiss. “Thor is way cooler than Maverick. Isn’t that right, buddy?”

Thor swam over and rubbed his head against Derek’s stomach, making low clicks as he did.

“Whoa there, Thor,” Stiles said, petting Thor’s head. “Snouts off.”

“He’s a dolphin, Stiles,” Derek said, rolling his eyes.

“And you’re my mate,” Stiles shot back, pressing a kiss to Derek’s lips. “It’s my job to protect you from anything and everything.”

“You mean like from murderous dolphins that seem to be more into each other than they are to us.”

Stiles looked and saw that Maverick and Thor were rolling around each other in a pretty intimate fashion. Maverick was rubbing his snout under Thor’s head, and was making low clicks against his skin.

“Maverick, buddy, you and Thor, huh?” Stiles asked. “I didn’t think you had it in you.”

Stiles sighed as he felt Derek’s arms wrap around his waist. Derek nuzzled into Stiles’ neck, squeezing him slightly, and Stiles leaned back and pressed a kiss to the underside of Derek’s jaw.

“Love you,” Derek murmured.

“Love you back.”

Maverick head-butted Derek slightly and Thor tried to wedge himself between them.

“I think our dolphin buddies are getting jealous,” Stiles said, untangling himself from Derek and pressing a kiss to Maverick’s snout.

Derek growled lowly, but petted the top of Thor’s head.

“Aw, don’t get jealous, Derek,” Stiles said, wrapping his arms around Derek’s neck. “Maverick’s my favorite dolphin, but if it's any consolation, you’re my favorite werewolf.”

“Favorite werewolf?” Derek asked doubtfully, raising an eyebrow.

Stiles chuckled and rolled his eyes. “Favorite anything,” he clarified. “But I can’t help it that dolphins are my favorite animal.”

“I thought I was your favorite animal,” Derek growled softly, nipping at Stiles’ neck with slightly elongated fangs.

Stiles shuddered as sparks of pleasure shot through his body. “Ohhh—you play dirty,” he murmured.

“So favorite animal?” Derek asked quietly, lips brushing against Stiles’ neck.

“Werewolves—you,” Stiles answered breathlessly.

“And dolphins?”

“A very, very close second.”

“Werewolves and dolphins,” Derek said, turning Stiles around and kissing him deeply. “I can deal with that.”