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Fic: Oh we (we're not forever), could be (you're not the one), the best (1/2)
Oh we (we're not forever), could be (you're not the one), the best (1/2)
PG-13, 16,300-ish words
Human!AU, Band!Au
Read on AO3 here
Written for![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
sterek_big_bang, soundtrack by Val Brown.
Derek Hale’s breakup from his band, The Hunters, was legendary. Even more so his breakup with lead singer, Kate Argent. Derek’s an amazing bass player—with a crappy attitude to match—but when the Scott McCall-fronted band Alpha gets a video audition from him to be their new bassist they can’t refuse. Even if drummer Stiles Stilinski has doubts about how well they’ll play together they can’t turn down the opportunity of a lifetime that could finally help them win the Battle of Beacon Hills and a shot at a recording contract. But that doesn’t mean he has to like the idea, or Derek Hale himself, even if he’s harbored a crush on the man since the first time he saw him step on stage. It’s just business! A shot at fame and nothing more. ... Probably.
"Can I say, once again, that absolutely hate Jackson Whittemore?" Stiles declared as he threw himself dramatically in one of the ratty chairs in his and Scott's rented house.
"You can," Allison replied. "Just don't say it loud enough for Lydia to hear you."
"She can't possibly want that jackass back?" Stiles asked incredulously.
"I don't know if she wants him back so much as wants to kick his ass," Allison replied thoughtfully.
"I want to kick his ass for abandoning us and making us go through this hopeless search," Stiles sighed, running his hands through his hair, making it stick up in different ways.
"It hasn't been that bad," Kira piped up. She looked around at everyone's dubious faces. "Right?"
"We could do worse," Scott said, nodding. "But we could do better, too."
Stiles let his head flop back against the barely-padded arm of the chair and sighed.
He never liked Jackson but he was a good bassist. So good that he was scooped up by another band and basically flipped them off as he walked away from the group he'd been part of for five long, hard-fought years.
He was part of their "pack" as they affectionally called themselves by default because Lydia was one of them and they were dating. He had moments of being a decent human being but more often than not he was a pompous, arrogant jackhole.
But now he was gone, off to chase fame and fortune that he thought Alpha was never going to achieve, even though the Battle of Beacon Hills was quickly approaching. He doubly screwed them by leaving them without a bassist and by making everyone else feel like sacks of shit for even trying to believe they'd make it.
As much as Stiles hated Jackson for hurting Lydia and leaving them, it was the slap in the face that he thought they were shadowboxing with the idea of winning the Battle and actually signing a contract. Alpha was more than a band to Stiles, it was his family and he would never stop believing that together they could do amazing things.
"Motherfucker," Stiles muttered under his breath but no one heard him.
Finding someone to fill Jackson's spot with time ticking quickly by before the Battle was becoming more and more daunting. It didn't help that they all wanted someone who was going to click with them. And that Stiles was a picky son of a bitch.
Because Alpha was his family Stiles believed his family deserved only the best, much to the eye-rolling frustration of everyone to varying degrees. He was the drummer, he kept the beat and everything running on key, both on stage and off. Scott was the lead guitarist and singer and their spokesperson. He was the most easy going and like a brother to Stiles.
Allison was Scott's girlfriend and their keyboardist. She had the best damn smile and was able to keep the band on track and Scott and Stiles got carried away with their own thing.
Kira was the most recent addition to the band, brought on board when Scott and Stiles wanted to experiment with their sound. Kira played the saxophone and electric violin on some songs but beyond that she had an amazing ear and ran their soundboard during most shows.
"We have a couple more Youtube submissions. Want to go through those?" Scott asked and everyone mumbled their agreement. The tone of the room was more tired and weary than excited and anticipatory but it was what they were working with by this point.
"Let's do this," Stiles replied with grim determination, and they huddled around Scott's laptop as he queued the first video.
***
Derek knew giving his sister a key to his place was a mistake.
One she proved by letting herself into his apartment after he ignored her knocking, and collapsed on the couch beside him, pressing herself up against him in a smothering way.
"What are you doing?" Derek grumbled with enough whine that even he could hear it as he tried to extract himself from her grasp without losing his place in the book he was reading.
"I was bored and thought 'what would make me the most happy right now and my brother the least?'. So here I am!" She told him with a shit-eating grin.
"You're the worst," Derek groaned but put his book aside after carefully marking the page.
"Been out of the house today?"
Derek shrugged.
"Der," Laura started with a sigh.
Derek held his book up. "Look, you told me to get a hobby and now I have one. I'm catching up on all the reading I haven't been able to do for the past five years."
Laura gave him her 'bullshit' look. "A hobby is yoga or joining a motorcycle club or taking a class at the college or something, you moron."
"Next time be more specific when you command me to do things that have no impact on your life," he retorted sarcastically.
"Wrong. It does affect me. Because I have to take time out of my busy day to come over here and make sure you're still functioning and not sitting in a pile of Cheetos and your own filth," Laura said bluntly.
"Fuck you, I'm not that bad," Derek shot back and caught Laura's mumbled, "Yeah, now."
He turned to face her fully. "I'm fine."
She faced him, too, challenging him. "Picked up your guitar lately? In the past, say, three days?"
Derek shrugged again.
"From the time you got that thing when you were fourteen you haven't been able to go more than a day without picking at a single string."
"I"m discovering myself," Derek replied smugly, throwing her words from the week before back at her.
"Discovering yourself after a breakup and totally abandoning your soul are two very different things, butthead."
"My 'soul'? Since when did you get so dramatic?" He tried to push up from the sofa but Laura grabbed his arm and sprawled across his lap to hold him down.
"Since I watched my brother turn into a goddamn pod person. You haven't said a single word about Kate si—"
"Because there's nothing to say," Derek said firmly and easily moved Laura off his lap before he stood up quickly, tension running through his body.
"You didn't do anything wrong, you know," she said softly. Derek didn't turn around. "Whatever she said or did or didn't do—none of it is your fault, Der. You got the short end of the stick and that sucks but, man. You gotta suck it up and —"
"And what, Laura? Go on like nothing happened? Start myself a one-man band singing acoustic versions of love ballads and break up anthems? Pretend like I'm happy and everything's great so you don't have to check up on me and make sure I haven't drowned myself in my own fucking tears?"
"You can't let her win!" Laura yelled back, surging to her feet and shoving at Derek. "That bitch has taken everything from you and I'm so sick of watching you accept that without fighting back!"
"For what? My place in the band? The songs back that she stole? It's all done, Laura. There's nothing I can do!"
"You can show her you're better than her! Better than that shitty fucking band she thinks is going to be the biggest thing since the Beetles! She can't win!"
Derek shook his head at Laura with a wan smile. "Doesn't matter anymore. She already did."
Laura opened her mouth to keep arguing, to push Derek for a reaction or a sign that there was fight still in him but he started walking away.
"Lock the door when you leave, please."
Laura watched him disappear down the hallway and then heard his bedroom door shut with finality.
***
"Still no progress on the brother front, huh?"
Laura sighed as she unlocked her apartment door with her phone tucked between her chin and shoulder. "He's in denial or something. I don't know what else to do, Erica."
"I have something that might help you out. Maybe," Erica said, sounding hesitant across the line.
"I'm up to trying anything. Anything to get him back to himself. Fuck that bitch for screwing him over so bad," Laura ground out, thinking about Kate and her smug face.
Laura never liked Kate from the start of it all but music was Derek's passion and he would rather have chewed on ground glass than listen to his sister about her opinions on his love life. Anyone's opinion, really. He was prickly at the best of times and being with Kate didn't help that, even though they were together for five years of his seven years with The Hunters.
Since the breakup four months earlier Derek might as well have been replaced by an alien duplicate. He was withdrawn and quiet. Tame. Tepid. As far as she knew he had his groceries delivered to his door and he worked out in his apartment building's small gym. She was truly convinced that she could count on one hand the number of times he'd been outside since the breakup.
It was a big deal in town and Laura figured that probably had something to do with it. The Hunters had some minor success by the point of the breakup and were a favorite act among the locals. That a band made up of hometown people managed to secure some west coast dates to open for a few big names in the music industry was a source of pride, not that Laura blamed anyone for holding The Hunters up as a great act.
They were, and that was the problem. That Derek and Kate split up was one thing but him leaving the band was a big deal, especially since he hadn't said anything about it, even in confidence to Laura. Kate subtweeted the shit out of the breakup once it happened and it was all Laura could do to not drive across town to where she knew Kate was holed up with her new fuckboy and rip her face off.
Derek never liked being in the public eye, but he didn't have a choice from a young age. Ten years earlier their parents were killed in a car accident. Laura wasn't old enough to take custody of Derek and their younger sister Cora but their uncle Peter moved in with them. The whole thing put the Hale family in the spotlight and Derek had his share of outbursts dealing with everything.
His outlet became the guitar and writing. He discovered his love for music. And, later on, Kate. He thought he struck gold those years ago when he found a gorgeous girl with a great voice and as big a passion for music and playing for people as he did.
He found out too late that she liked to play in other ways, too.
Laura threw her keys on the kitchen counter and opened the fridge to find something to cook for supper as Erica mumbled to herself on the other end. Laura could hear her laptop keys clicking as she tracked down what she wanted to tell her that might work with Derek.
"Yeah, here it is. Boyd mentioned this in passing a couple days ago because he's friends with one of the guys in this other band. Ever heard of Alpha?"
Laura thought for a second. "I don't think so? I don't know, though, if it weren't for Derek being in the scene I wouldn't even have known about The Hunters."
Erica continued. "They're kind of alt rock with some bizarre pop notes mixed in? I don't know. They write their own stuff, of course, but they like to try a lot of different things. They need a bassist because theirs split town or something. It looks like... Scott McCall is their lead singer, that's Boyd's friend. Hmm, looks like they have a bit of a Stars thing going on with the band because some of their stuff is also sung by Allison... oh. Argent."
Laura let out a short laugh. "Are you kidding me? There's another Argent bitch in this town in a band?"
"Look, maybe don't say anything to Derek about that part, okay? I'm sure Boyd knows about the Argent chick and he wouldn't be friends with someone so heinous. Maybe they're distant relatives or something? I'll ask him about it later today," Erica argued. "I'm sending you the link to their Facebook page with the call for audition videos, okay? Check it out for yourself and see what you think. If it won't work that's cool but if you think that this could be something that Derek might be into and if it'll help him what do you have to lose?"
Laura bit her lip. "Maybe. I'll take a look when I get the link, see how badly I want to risk Derek's wrath by bringing this up."
Erica sighed on the other end. "You gotta get him to do something soon or he's not going to have the few friends he has now. Isaac says he can barely get a text back from him most days. I think he's a little worried he's done something to piss Derek off."
Laura snorted. "No, that's just Derek's default setting."
***
Laura didn't look at the link until later that night after she got some paperwork out of the way for the consulting business she worked for. She was able to do a lot of work from home, which was a blessing these past few months. She knew Derek wasn't a basket case or needed constant hovering and that he was, indeed, capable of taking care of himself, but he trapped himself in his own head constantly. Since their parents died Derek took everything on into himself, including all the blame, even when there wasn't any to take.
Derek hid and wallowed and Laura overstepped and smothered. It was their thing.
She loaded the Facebook page for the band Alpha and watched their call for videos to audition to be their new bassist. The band was young, excited and were obviously best friends with each other.
On the one hand they seemed to be everything Derek hated. They were enthusiastic and close with each other, a group that might be hard for someone like Derek to break into and feel comfortable. But on the other hand he was already incredibly uncomfortable and losing his way more and more each day. If Laura wanted him to get off his ass and get his shit together she might have to resort to desperate measures.
She thought about it for all of three seconds before flipping through her phone until she found old videos of Derek practicing on his own and playing with The Hunters. She wasn't sure how the members of Alpha would react to someone from a rival band "auditioning" for them but she didn't care.
She uploaded the videos to her own Facebook and sent the band a message with them attached, leaving the explanation that she was doing it for Derek and nothing more. They could interpret that as they liked. She left her contact info if they needed to get in touch and hoped things would turn around quickly.
She went to bed that night a little less worried about Derek. Not much, but enough.
***
Stiles was in his room with his earbuds in, air drumming to tracks on Spotify. He didn't hear Scott knock and had his eyes closed, lost in the sound, so when Scott tapped on his shoulder he screamed (in a manly way, of course) and jumped out of his desk chair.
"Sorry, man!" Scott laughed.
Stiles laughed, too, heart pounding as he pulled the earbuds out and scrubbed a hand through his hair. "No worries. What's up?"
Scott's expression got serious and intense, his eyes lit up with excitement. "We got a new audition on Facebook."
Stiles raised an eyebrow, intrigued by Scott's tone. "Yeah?"
"I can't tell you, you won't believe me. Log on."
Stiles gave Scott a 'whatever' look, sure he was trying to pull a fast one on him, but did as instructed. He had their Facebook page open in a few taps and went to their messages.
"Laura Hale," he mumbled to himself, wondering in the back of his mind why that name sounded familiar. The intro was brief, that she was submitting the audition on behalf of someone else, blah blah blah, he thought as he skimmed.
Derek Hale was a key member of the band The Hunters for years and is now seeking—
"Derek Hale?" Stiles said loudly, re-reading the sentence as Scott nodded eagerly beside him. "No fucking way, dude."
"Watch the videos!" Scott insisted so Stiles opened the first one and it was one of The Hunters' performances from a couple years back when they played at one of the local bars. Stiles remembered that show because he wasn't technically legal to be in the bar that night and had to pay a friend to sneak him in the back and avoid anyone he knew seeing him just so he could see The Hunters perform. They might be competition now but he knew good music when he heard it and couldn't deny them that credit.
Seeing Derek Hale perform and in all his bulging-bicep'd glory didn't hurt, either, not that Stiles would ever admit to that.
He stopped the video and gave Scott a disbelieving look. "I was there that night, remember? This is just someone playing a prank on us. There's no way Derek Hale is going to—"
Scott interrupted, pointing to the next video. "Play the other one. I swear, Stiles, this is totally for real."
Dubiously Stiles started the next video and immediately felt his pulse pound hard in his throat. "That's a private video."
"Exactly! That's from right around the same time he started with The Hunters, look at how much longer his hair is! This is totally legit!"
"Are you shitting me right now? Derek Hale wants to be our bassist? Derek Hale?" Stiles exclaimed, voice getting higher with every word.
Scott clapped him on the shoulder. "Might have to own up to the crush you've got on him, huh?"
***
It's not like Stiles mooned over Derek. They were from the same town and Derek was a few years older than them so he was something of a role model for Stiles. Derek was a great guitarist, he was Stiles' idea of successful for the time being and he wasn't hard on the eyes.
Correction—he was basically Stiles' dream guy, aesthetically.
He didn't know that much about him aside from that, though. Stiles knew him growing up but Derek really stuck in Stiles' mind when he was younger because Stiles' dad, the Sheriff, had to work the night of the car accident that claimed Derek's parents. He remembered his dad coming home and quietly relaying the basic information. Stiles all-too-well knew the sting of losing a parent after his mother died of cancer when he was eight, but he couldn't imagine two being taken away at once and so suddenly.
It was a couple weeks before Derek returned to school but once he did Stiles watched him from afar. They never spoke, but Stiles remembered wondering if there was something he could do, or offer in the way of sympathy or the simple camaraderie of someone else who understood.
But Stiles would never get up the nerve to say anything and Derek wasn't exactly approachable and so life went on. Derek graduated a few years later, then did his own thing before hooking up with The Hunters. By the time Stiles graduated Derek was already a couple years deep in with his band and, rumor had it, hooking up with lead singer Kate Argent.
Seeing Derek on stage with The Hunters was a revelation for a newly-realized bisexual Stiles. The hot lights shone down on a sweat-soaked Derek and suddenly he wasn't the other kid who knew what it was like to lose a parent. He was hot. And he was exactly what Stiles wanted.
This was 18-year-old Stiles' fantasy come to life. He just didn't know that it was still 22-year-old Stiles' fantasy.
Scott was excitedly showing the rest of the group the videos and then he was going to send a reply back to Laura to say the spot was Derek's. Stiles could hear the music playing from Scott's laptop downstairs as he unbuckled his belt and popped the button on his jeans.
Stiles reached into his boxers to palm his thickening cock he lay back on his bed. He let the thoughts of Derek's strong forearms and nimble fingers playing over his length like he worked the strings on his guitar flood through his mind. He felt like he was a teenager again with his quickly he came, picturing Derek sitting beside him and watching him lose his goddamn mind.
When he was done and catching his breath Stiles looked down at himself and sighed. "Awesome."
***
Laura knocked on Derek's door a couple nights after their last visit, hoping to earn a few meager brownie points in Derek's book for not just barging in like she'd taken to lately. But if she didn't he wouldn't answer so she hoped that wouldn't be the case now.
Miracle of miracles he did answer and he was showered and he'd trimmed down his growing beard a bit to a cleaner style. It wasn't much but it was a sign of life, or Laura took it as one. Maybe this would work.
"Back so soon?" Derek asked, stepping aside to let her in.
Laura went straight to the kitchen and helped herself to a beer from his fridge, ignoring Derek's eye roll.
"You didn't come here just for that," he said flatly. Laura shook her head, taking a big swallow.
"Nope, but I need to talk to you and this seemed like a good idea."
"That's always the best way to start a conversation," Derek replied warily but he sat at the table when she gestured.
Laura pulled her phone out of her pocket and opened her Facebook, going to her messages before offering it to to Derek. He took it slowly, eyeing her suspiciously, but read what she indicated. Within seconds he was giving her a weird look.
"I don't get it."
"That's a message from a band called Alpha. Ever heard of them?"
Derek shrugged. "Vaguely. Local, right?" Laura nodded. "Okay, what about them?"
"That message is actually for you. They're offering you a spot in their band as their bassist. Theirs up and quit suddenly. Left them in the lurch and they've been trying to find someone for a few weeks now."
"And they just happened to contact you about this?" Derek asked, voice hard. He pushed the phone back at Laura and sat back in his chair, crossing his arms.
"No, I contacted them. I sent them a couple videos of you performing and said you'd left your band. That you're looking for a new band to play with and like their sound," Laura explained, looking Derek straight in the eye.
Derek leaned forward, angry. "I've never heard their sound, Laura! I don't even know who these people are! What in the hell were you thinking? What gives you the right to go behind my back and—"
"Because I'm your sister and if you won't take care of yourself I'm going to do it for you!" Laura snapped back before he could get on a roll. "I don't care what you say about how you're 'fine'. You're anything but and you're freaking me the fuck out! I overstepped, yes. But I don't care. I want you to care about something—anything! You've completely checked out and I'm doing something about it. You love music, this band needs someone like that! They're looking for someone to compete with them in the Battle of Beacon Hills so if you stick with them through that it would do them a favor and yourself one. You'll have a routine again, people to associate with who aren't me."
"You shouldn't have done this, Laura," Derek replied but instead of anger he sounded tired.
"I shouldn't have but you shouldn't be locking yourself up in this cell for days on end, either. You were hurt, and no one can take that feeling away. But this isn't the answer for how to deal with everything that happened. Breakups are hard enough but you gave so much of yourself to that band, to make it what it was. This is a way for you to be involved in music again but the hard part is done. They already know what they're doing, they do their own thing. They just need you to do what you do best. Please, Derek. Don't let her win," Laura pleaded. Derek winced, just a little, but enough to know she'd hit the nail so fucking hard on the head.
"Can I think about it?" Derek asked.
"You can, but I already accepted for you," Laura said, smiling a little. She reached across the table to grab one of Derek's hands.
He rolled his eyes. "Of course you did." But he let her hold his hand and when she squeezed it he returned the pressure and Laura felt a little better still.
The babiest of baby steps.
***
Stiles couldn't help but be a bit nervous as the band waited for Derek to arrive. Scott received a reply the night before from Laura Hale that Derek accepted their offer to be in the band and Stiles felt a thrill run through him.
Derek Hale was going to be in their band. Not only was the guy super talented and had some reputation behind him that could give Alpha a boost, but he was hot as hell and just Stiles' type.
The knock at the door made everyone jump and they laughed at each other while Scott went to answer. Stiles sat on his hands and tried to tell himself to calm down. Derek was a musician, just like they were. Nothing more.
Yeah, right.
Allison leaned across the couch towards him. "Calm down, this is going to be great," she whispered with a smile. Stiles nodded.
A minute later Scott walked back into the room with a wide grin, leading a stoic-looking Derek behind him with a backpack on his shoulder.
"Everyone, this is Derek. Derek this is Allison, Kira and Stiles. Lydia acts as our manager but she's in class right now at the college. You'll meet her sometime later this week," Scott explained, gesturing to each of them as he did the introductions.
Derek gave a small salute and managed a short, "hello" back.
"I just want to say before we get started that I don't talk to Kate very often and she's not close to our part of the family," Allison spoke up hesitantly. If Derek was surprised of the relation between Allison and his ex Kate or by this offering of goodwill he didn't show it. Just nodded and stayed silent.
Stiles didn't know what he was expecting but Derek was far less ... everything than he'd been expecting. The guy was always older and bigger (those arms!) than him when they were growing up but now he was practically an idol for Stiles. Well, the guy in Stiles' head was his idol. This Derek looked like an awkward turtle.
"I thought we'd get started easy and go over some of our songs, the usual ones we play at gigs and maybe see what you bring to them," Scott explained and Derek nodded. They moved into the den that was their makeshift practice area and Derek brought out his guitar and stowed his case and bag neatly in a corner away from where everyone else's stuff was scattered around.
Stiles grabbed the sheets he'd printed off with their lyrics and song cues for Derek. Stiles and Scott usually did most of the songwriting so they had their own method for coming up with their songs that didn't always make sense to everyone else. The rest of the group was used to how Scott and Stiles worked and practice was usually collaborative so Stiles had to translate their songs the best way he could for Derek.
"I hope these are helpful, I know this might not be the clearest explanations so just ask if you have any questions, yeah?" Stiles said quickly as he handed Derek the pages. Derek took them without a word and folded them into his back pocket.
"I figure we'll start and you can join in once you get the hand of things?" Scott said as he plugged in his guitar. "Does that sound okay?"
"Sure," Derek said shortly and looked down at his own instrument, fiddling with the strap. Stiles resisted the urge to blow out a frustrated breath and sat down at his drum kit.
"Let's start with 'Kick to the Face' and go from there," Scott instructed.
Stiles counted them in and Scott fell in naturally as lead guitar. Allison and Kira joined in gradually and the melody built nicely to a place where Derek felt comfortable joining in. He caught on quickly, in a way that made Stiles wonder if Derek familiarized himself with their music before arriving. Good on him if he did.
They flew through half a set until Scott was satisfied and grinning widely as he turned to Derek. "You're a natural, man! You're gonna fit in just great!"
Stiles watched Derek smiled back tightly and wondered if Derek felt the same.
***
During a break in rehearsal Stiles walked into the kitchen and found Derek there, holding a glass of water and staring blankly into space. He cleared his throat as he walked in so as not to startle him but Derek barely looked at him. Stiles decided to make an attempt anyway.
"I can't tell you how awesome it is to have you playing with us, man," Stiles started. "I didn't believe Scott at first when I saw the videos you submitted, I thought it had to be—"
"It wasn't me," Derek cut in.
Stiles blinked. "What do you mean?"
"I wasn't the one who sent in the videos," Derek explained and Stiles nodded, remembering.
"Right, your sister did it for you."
"Behind my back, actually."
"Uh... so you didn't, um—"
"No," Derek said flatly.
"Why are you here, then?" Stiles asked, confused.
"She didn't give me much of a choice," was all Derek said and Stiles felt a flash of anger.
"So you don't even want to me here? Don't want to play with us? Because if that's the case you can—"
Derek cut Stiles off again, which only served to anger him more. "I want to play music. That's why I'm here."
Derek put his glass in the sink and walked out of the kitchen, leaving Stiles stewing in his own ire.
Scott brushed past Derek as he left and gave him a glance back with a frown before greeting Stiles with a wide grin. "Everything okay?"
Stiles literally bit his tongue to keep from blurting out that this was a terrible mistake and Derek was a total asshole. Scott was happy, Derek was a good bassist regardless of his attitude and they needed him.
"I think so," Stiles said and kept it at that.
For now.
***
Everyone else loved Derek. They didn't think anything of his quiet guy routine or that it was weird that he barely said more than three words at a time. Allison chalked it up to him being reserved and Kira threw in that some serious performers were more offbeat than others. She also pointed out that coming into their group was probably intimidating, at best, because they'd all been together for so long. She reminded them of how long it took her to get comfortable being herself around them as the next newest person in the band.
But Stiles knew better. He kept it to himself, though, because he knew everyone else would brush him off and say he was just being paranoid and would bring up how wary he was of outsiders. Problem was, this time it was justified.
After rehearsal Stiles held up his writing notebook.
"Scotty, think we can get some songwriting time in this week? If we can polish up a couple new songs before the Battle I think our set will be perfect."
Scott frowned. "I don't know about this week. I picked up a couple extra shifts at the clinic for Dr. Deaton. Maybe next weekend?"
Stiles wanted to snark back and ask when he was going to pick up a couple extra shifts for the band but stopped himself. He was riled up over Derek and didn't want to take it out on his best friend. Instead he nodded and escaped to his room.
He sat down and jotted down a few words and phrases, things he had trapped in his brain that needed to get out, but he couldn't seem to get them further than that to make anything close to an actual lyric. He and Scott wrote together and fed off each other. Stiles wasn't sure he knew how to write a song without Scott.
"Fuck," Stiles said to himself, and crawled onto his bed to bury his head in the pillows.
***
"So, how was it?" Laura asked as soon as Derek picked up the phone later that evening.
Derek suppressed a groan and mustered up an, "okay" instead. On the other end Laura groaned.
"That's it? Just 'okay'? Is everyone nice? They're good, right? As good as their videos? Were they nice to you?"
Derek rolled his eyes. "Yes, Laura. The other kids on the playground were nice to me and shared their milk and cookies with me."
"Fucker," she muttered back. "Seriously, though. Do you think this could be something good for you?"
Derek paused before he responded. He thought about how warm and welcoming Scott was, Allison's quick assurance that Kate wasn't part of her life and thus not a threat to him, Kira's shy smile— they were all incredibly nice.
And then there was Stiles.
Derek felt Stiles' eyes on him throughout rehearsal and more so after their chat in the kitchen. He realized after his words came out that the way they sounded was rather rude and not the impression he wanted to give off, not his first day especially, but he didn't know how to fix it. He wasn't the best at honest social interactions with people he knew well, let alone people he literally just met and under forced circumstances.
Derek also didn't know how to deal with the blooming seed of attraction he felt start to root as soon as he saw Stiles. Kate left him a mess, the last thing he wanted to deal with was any kind of relationship, real or imagined. That Stiles had gorgeous eyes, skin dotted with moles he wanted to touch and hair long enough for his fingers to get tangled in tight enough to hold him close—it was too much for him to process at once.
"Give me a little more time with them and I'll know better," he said finally. "But I think they're good people."
That answer seemed to satisfy Laura for the time being. She let out a quiet whoop of triumph and hearing the relief in her voice made the knot in Derek's stomach that had been there since she dumped this on him loosen just a little.
***
Stiles avoided Derek as much as possible after the first rehearsal. The Battle was in six weeks and he had to learn their songs and their rhythms so anytime they weren't working at their day jobs they were practicing.
To his credit, Derek didn't miss a single one and was never late. But he still never said more than a few words at a time and didn't contribute or join in when everyone else started talking or joking. If anything Derek seemed to shrink in on himself a bit. It seemed impossible for a guy of his stature to physically look less than the intimidating size that he was but he managed it, without saying or doing hardly anything.
After practice Derek was the first one out the door, barely saying goodbye to anyone. He never stuck around to hang out, politely declined any offer to stay and watch a movie with everyone, and refused any attempt at bonding with the band overall.
On the one hand Stiles was bugged because it made him feel like Derek thought they weren't good enough to hang out with or that he wasn't truly committed to the band. But on the other hand it meant Stiles didn't have to look at him or be around him any more than necessary.
It was hard enough rehearsing every day and being able to watch Derek from behind, to see the muscles in his back flex and ripple under his Henley shirts. His jeans fit him perfectly in the back and once when Derek bent over to pick something up Stiles dropped his drumsticks on the floor, turning himself into a blushing mess. Luckily no one seemed to notice.
Stiles still held a grudge against Derek for being so brusque with him the first day and at his lack of any attempt to more than just a body on stage. Truth be told, it drove Stiles crazy that he couldn't get a read on Derek.
A couple weeks into practicing together Derek seemed more eager than usual to leave and as soon as Scott declared it over Derek was gone, barely saying goodbye. Stiles looked over at Scott and gave him a look that precisely expressed just how unimpressed he was with their new member. Scott gave him a shrug and officially concluded rehearsal with a few words of encouragement, as usual.
Everyone scattered, leaving Stiles behind in the den by himself. He looked around and sighed, noting how messy things were. Sometimes Scott and Stiles played Rock, Paper, Scissors to see who was going to clean the den from the band's crap that got left around and built up. Stiles grabbed a garbage bag from the kitchen and started cleaning.
He sorted the recycling from the regular trash, wrinkled his nose when he found a banana peel that he was sure was from at least a week earlier and almost gagged when he discovered half a carton of milk stuck behind an old amp in a corner. Once he got through the grossest parts of the clean up he started to organize everything the way they should be. Put sheet music and picks away, found some new strings and stored them for later.
As he worked he found some papers spilling out of a notebook on top of a backpack he recognized as Derek's. He thought about leaving it but didn't want the papers to get thrown out so he started picking them up, too. He pulled a couple loose sheets from under the couch and glanced at them briefly, then did a double take.
"What," he whispered to himself as his eyes scanned over the verses.
Derek had neat, precise handwriting that belied the sharp emotion he put into words. Stiles found himself re-reading lines over and over and bobbing his head to a melody that started flitting through his brain.
You cut me open with my own knife, just to watch me bleed // because your favorite color is red, he read and immediately knew the drum beat he could set that to.
He started paging through the notebook eagerly, feeling the rush of excitement he usually got when he and Scott jammed together and came up with new songs for the band. That high when things just clicked and he knew how much fun it would be to play new songs for an audience.
Stiles read a particularly striking line, I wasn't what you wanted but who cares? // You took every piece built into me, and had his eyes closed as he imagined it being a quiet beat before the pulse-pounding crescendo when the notebook was yanked out of his hands. Stiles flailed and he almost tipped over from his crouched position.
"What—" He looked up into Derek's dark, glaring expression, bordering on murderous, and snapped his mouth shut.
"Never touch my stuff," Derek said in a low, growling tone. He grabbed his backpack, shoved his notebook and papers inside and stalked out of the room. A few seconds later Stiles heard the front door slammed closed.
"Shit," Stiles muttered. He honestly wasn't sure if he was more upset about getting caught by Derek, being on Derek's shitlist (actually, he was probably already there) or that some of the best lyrics he'd read in a long time were slipping out of his grasp.
He needed Scott, ASAP.
***
"Scott, you're not listening to me," Stiles pleaded as he trailed Scott around Dr. Deaton's clinic while Scott made his rounds to check on the animals.
"I'm listening just fine, Stiles, I don't think you're listening to Derek," Scott replied patiently.
"But if you read the stuff he wrote you'd understand! His words are amazing! I think if we could convince him to work with us we could write some kick ass songs for the Battle!" Stiles exclaimed.
Scott sighed and cuddled a kitten in his arms as he turned to face Stiles. "He doesn't seem like the kind of guy who's going to open up to us that easily, Stiles. Maybe it's best to leave him alone."
"But we need new songs for the Battle! A couple new ones to work in with our best older stuff so the judges aren't hearing things we've already played a million times. If you're too busy with work we need to come up with something else," Stiles went on, even as Scott was shaking his head.
"We need a bassist more than we need new songs, Stiles. If we push him he could get fed up and quit," Scott countered.
"Please?" Stiles begged. "I'll do the dishes and clean the bathrooms for a month!" Stiles knew how much Scott hated those two particular house duties and silently cheered inside when Scott's expression changed.
"Okay, I'll try. But if he says no that's it, I'm not pushing him," Scott said, firmly. The kitten mewled, as if underscoring his conviction.
"That's great, that's wonderful!" Stiles threw his arms up and hugged Scott around the neck awkwardly, earning himself a swipe from the kitten.
"Yeah, yeah. Now get out of here before you rile up all the animals," Scott instructed, but grinned as Stiles left, jumping and clicking his heels as he went.
***
Later that night Stiles was putting the finishing touches on a study guide he was preparing for a high school kid in Delaware. He had an online business providing the guides for high school and university kids to help them study the way Stiles got through high school five years earlier. He didn't sell papers but he did the work to figure out the key points of basic english, history and psych classes and then prepared papers to help the students cram for midterms or finals, based on the course syllabus he was sent from the customer.
He also worked part time during the days at the college library, in their archive and re-shelving books which helped him with his study guides. It was the only way he could make enough money to pull his share of the rent and utilities and still be able to have enough time to devote to the band. He didn't get much sleep but when it came to doing what he loved he didn't care.
Scott knocked and walked in with a hesitant expression. Stiles felt his earlier jubilation dissipate when he saw Scott's face.
"He didn't go for it," Scott said but Stiles didn't need him to say the words.
"Did he say why?" Stiles asked.
Scott shook his head. "Just shut me down without a second word. Sorry, Stiles. But remember, I'm out now."
Stiles nodded and turned back to his work when Scott left. Guess it was up to him.
***
"Hey, so. Hi."
That was Stiles' opening when he followed Derek into the hallway outside the bathroom during their next practice. Derek eyed him warily.
"Hi," he replied flatly.
Stiles huffed. "Look. I don't know how to beat around the bush so I'm just gonna say it. You're a great songwriter. I'm sorry I looked—"
"Invaded my privacy," Derek cut in.
Stiles waved his hand. "Whatever I did is beside the point. Your lyrics are good and exactly what we need for Alpha."
"No," Derek said and turned to go into the bathroom. Stiles reached out to grab Derek's shoulder—his very muscular shoulder— and turned him back around.
"Hey, I'm serious."
Derek glowered at Stiles. "So am I. I don't want to write for the band. I don't want to share anything with you. Stop asking me and let. Me. Go," Derek ground out, low and threatening.
Stiles let go of Derek's shoulder and watched him escape into the bathroom before he slumped against the wall behind him. He fucked up.
Continue to Part 2
PG-13, 16,300-ish words
Human!AU, Band!Au
Read on AO3 here
Written for
sterek_big_bang, soundtrack by Val Brown.Derek Hale’s breakup from his band, The Hunters, was legendary. Even more so his breakup with lead singer, Kate Argent. Derek’s an amazing bass player—with a crappy attitude to match—but when the Scott McCall-fronted band Alpha gets a video audition from him to be their new bassist they can’t refuse. Even if drummer Stiles Stilinski has doubts about how well they’ll play together they can’t turn down the opportunity of a lifetime that could finally help them win the Battle of Beacon Hills and a shot at a recording contract. But that doesn’t mean he has to like the idea, or Derek Hale himself, even if he’s harbored a crush on the man since the first time he saw him step on stage. It’s just business! A shot at fame and nothing more. ... Probably.
"Can I say, once again, that absolutely hate Jackson Whittemore?" Stiles declared as he threw himself dramatically in one of the ratty chairs in his and Scott's rented house.
"You can," Allison replied. "Just don't say it loud enough for Lydia to hear you."
"She can't possibly want that jackass back?" Stiles asked incredulously.
"I don't know if she wants him back so much as wants to kick his ass," Allison replied thoughtfully.
"I want to kick his ass for abandoning us and making us go through this hopeless search," Stiles sighed, running his hands through his hair, making it stick up in different ways.
"It hasn't been that bad," Kira piped up. She looked around at everyone's dubious faces. "Right?"
"We could do worse," Scott said, nodding. "But we could do better, too."
Stiles let his head flop back against the barely-padded arm of the chair and sighed.
He never liked Jackson but he was a good bassist. So good that he was scooped up by another band and basically flipped them off as he walked away from the group he'd been part of for five long, hard-fought years.
He was part of their "pack" as they affectionally called themselves by default because Lydia was one of them and they were dating. He had moments of being a decent human being but more often than not he was a pompous, arrogant jackhole.
But now he was gone, off to chase fame and fortune that he thought Alpha was never going to achieve, even though the Battle of Beacon Hills was quickly approaching. He doubly screwed them by leaving them without a bassist and by making everyone else feel like sacks of shit for even trying to believe they'd make it.
As much as Stiles hated Jackson for hurting Lydia and leaving them, it was the slap in the face that he thought they were shadowboxing with the idea of winning the Battle and actually signing a contract. Alpha was more than a band to Stiles, it was his family and he would never stop believing that together they could do amazing things.
"Motherfucker," Stiles muttered under his breath but no one heard him.
Finding someone to fill Jackson's spot with time ticking quickly by before the Battle was becoming more and more daunting. It didn't help that they all wanted someone who was going to click with them. And that Stiles was a picky son of a bitch.
Because Alpha was his family Stiles believed his family deserved only the best, much to the eye-rolling frustration of everyone to varying degrees. He was the drummer, he kept the beat and everything running on key, both on stage and off. Scott was the lead guitarist and singer and their spokesperson. He was the most easy going and like a brother to Stiles.
Allison was Scott's girlfriend and their keyboardist. She had the best damn smile and was able to keep the band on track and Scott and Stiles got carried away with their own thing.
Kira was the most recent addition to the band, brought on board when Scott and Stiles wanted to experiment with their sound. Kira played the saxophone and electric violin on some songs but beyond that she had an amazing ear and ran their soundboard during most shows.
"We have a couple more Youtube submissions. Want to go through those?" Scott asked and everyone mumbled their agreement. The tone of the room was more tired and weary than excited and anticipatory but it was what they were working with by this point.
"Let's do this," Stiles replied with grim determination, and they huddled around Scott's laptop as he queued the first video.
***
Derek knew giving his sister a key to his place was a mistake.
One she proved by letting herself into his apartment after he ignored her knocking, and collapsed on the couch beside him, pressing herself up against him in a smothering way.
"What are you doing?" Derek grumbled with enough whine that even he could hear it as he tried to extract himself from her grasp without losing his place in the book he was reading.
"I was bored and thought 'what would make me the most happy right now and my brother the least?'. So here I am!" She told him with a shit-eating grin.
"You're the worst," Derek groaned but put his book aside after carefully marking the page.
"Been out of the house today?"
Derek shrugged.
"Der," Laura started with a sigh.
Derek held his book up. "Look, you told me to get a hobby and now I have one. I'm catching up on all the reading I haven't been able to do for the past five years."
Laura gave him her 'bullshit' look. "A hobby is yoga or joining a motorcycle club or taking a class at the college or something, you moron."
"Next time be more specific when you command me to do things that have no impact on your life," he retorted sarcastically.
"Wrong. It does affect me. Because I have to take time out of my busy day to come over here and make sure you're still functioning and not sitting in a pile of Cheetos and your own filth," Laura said bluntly.
"Fuck you, I'm not that bad," Derek shot back and caught Laura's mumbled, "Yeah, now."
He turned to face her fully. "I'm fine."
She faced him, too, challenging him. "Picked up your guitar lately? In the past, say, three days?"
Derek shrugged again.
"From the time you got that thing when you were fourteen you haven't been able to go more than a day without picking at a single string."
"I"m discovering myself," Derek replied smugly, throwing her words from the week before back at her.
"Discovering yourself after a breakup and totally abandoning your soul are two very different things, butthead."
"My 'soul'? Since when did you get so dramatic?" He tried to push up from the sofa but Laura grabbed his arm and sprawled across his lap to hold him down.
"Since I watched my brother turn into a goddamn pod person. You haven't said a single word about Kate si—"
"Because there's nothing to say," Derek said firmly and easily moved Laura off his lap before he stood up quickly, tension running through his body.
"You didn't do anything wrong, you know," she said softly. Derek didn't turn around. "Whatever she said or did or didn't do—none of it is your fault, Der. You got the short end of the stick and that sucks but, man. You gotta suck it up and —"
"And what, Laura? Go on like nothing happened? Start myself a one-man band singing acoustic versions of love ballads and break up anthems? Pretend like I'm happy and everything's great so you don't have to check up on me and make sure I haven't drowned myself in my own fucking tears?"
"You can't let her win!" Laura yelled back, surging to her feet and shoving at Derek. "That bitch has taken everything from you and I'm so sick of watching you accept that without fighting back!"
"For what? My place in the band? The songs back that she stole? It's all done, Laura. There's nothing I can do!"
"You can show her you're better than her! Better than that shitty fucking band she thinks is going to be the biggest thing since the Beetles! She can't win!"
Derek shook his head at Laura with a wan smile. "Doesn't matter anymore. She already did."
Laura opened her mouth to keep arguing, to push Derek for a reaction or a sign that there was fight still in him but he started walking away.
"Lock the door when you leave, please."
Laura watched him disappear down the hallway and then heard his bedroom door shut with finality.
***
"Still no progress on the brother front, huh?"
Laura sighed as she unlocked her apartment door with her phone tucked between her chin and shoulder. "He's in denial or something. I don't know what else to do, Erica."
"I have something that might help you out. Maybe," Erica said, sounding hesitant across the line.
"I'm up to trying anything. Anything to get him back to himself. Fuck that bitch for screwing him over so bad," Laura ground out, thinking about Kate and her smug face.
Laura never liked Kate from the start of it all but music was Derek's passion and he would rather have chewed on ground glass than listen to his sister about her opinions on his love life. Anyone's opinion, really. He was prickly at the best of times and being with Kate didn't help that, even though they were together for five years of his seven years with The Hunters.
Since the breakup four months earlier Derek might as well have been replaced by an alien duplicate. He was withdrawn and quiet. Tame. Tepid. As far as she knew he had his groceries delivered to his door and he worked out in his apartment building's small gym. She was truly convinced that she could count on one hand the number of times he'd been outside since the breakup.
It was a big deal in town and Laura figured that probably had something to do with it. The Hunters had some minor success by the point of the breakup and were a favorite act among the locals. That a band made up of hometown people managed to secure some west coast dates to open for a few big names in the music industry was a source of pride, not that Laura blamed anyone for holding The Hunters up as a great act.
They were, and that was the problem. That Derek and Kate split up was one thing but him leaving the band was a big deal, especially since he hadn't said anything about it, even in confidence to Laura. Kate subtweeted the shit out of the breakup once it happened and it was all Laura could do to not drive across town to where she knew Kate was holed up with her new fuckboy and rip her face off.
Derek never liked being in the public eye, but he didn't have a choice from a young age. Ten years earlier their parents were killed in a car accident. Laura wasn't old enough to take custody of Derek and their younger sister Cora but their uncle Peter moved in with them. The whole thing put the Hale family in the spotlight and Derek had his share of outbursts dealing with everything.
His outlet became the guitar and writing. He discovered his love for music. And, later on, Kate. He thought he struck gold those years ago when he found a gorgeous girl with a great voice and as big a passion for music and playing for people as he did.
He found out too late that she liked to play in other ways, too.
Laura threw her keys on the kitchen counter and opened the fridge to find something to cook for supper as Erica mumbled to herself on the other end. Laura could hear her laptop keys clicking as she tracked down what she wanted to tell her that might work with Derek.
"Yeah, here it is. Boyd mentioned this in passing a couple days ago because he's friends with one of the guys in this other band. Ever heard of Alpha?"
Laura thought for a second. "I don't think so? I don't know, though, if it weren't for Derek being in the scene I wouldn't even have known about The Hunters."
Erica continued. "They're kind of alt rock with some bizarre pop notes mixed in? I don't know. They write their own stuff, of course, but they like to try a lot of different things. They need a bassist because theirs split town or something. It looks like... Scott McCall is their lead singer, that's Boyd's friend. Hmm, looks like they have a bit of a Stars thing going on with the band because some of their stuff is also sung by Allison... oh. Argent."
Laura let out a short laugh. "Are you kidding me? There's another Argent bitch in this town in a band?"
"Look, maybe don't say anything to Derek about that part, okay? I'm sure Boyd knows about the Argent chick and he wouldn't be friends with someone so heinous. Maybe they're distant relatives or something? I'll ask him about it later today," Erica argued. "I'm sending you the link to their Facebook page with the call for audition videos, okay? Check it out for yourself and see what you think. If it won't work that's cool but if you think that this could be something that Derek might be into and if it'll help him what do you have to lose?"
Laura bit her lip. "Maybe. I'll take a look when I get the link, see how badly I want to risk Derek's wrath by bringing this up."
Erica sighed on the other end. "You gotta get him to do something soon or he's not going to have the few friends he has now. Isaac says he can barely get a text back from him most days. I think he's a little worried he's done something to piss Derek off."
Laura snorted. "No, that's just Derek's default setting."
***
Laura didn't look at the link until later that night after she got some paperwork out of the way for the consulting business she worked for. She was able to do a lot of work from home, which was a blessing these past few months. She knew Derek wasn't a basket case or needed constant hovering and that he was, indeed, capable of taking care of himself, but he trapped himself in his own head constantly. Since their parents died Derek took everything on into himself, including all the blame, even when there wasn't any to take.
Derek hid and wallowed and Laura overstepped and smothered. It was their thing.
She loaded the Facebook page for the band Alpha and watched their call for videos to audition to be their new bassist. The band was young, excited and were obviously best friends with each other.
On the one hand they seemed to be everything Derek hated. They were enthusiastic and close with each other, a group that might be hard for someone like Derek to break into and feel comfortable. But on the other hand he was already incredibly uncomfortable and losing his way more and more each day. If Laura wanted him to get off his ass and get his shit together she might have to resort to desperate measures.
She thought about it for all of three seconds before flipping through her phone until she found old videos of Derek practicing on his own and playing with The Hunters. She wasn't sure how the members of Alpha would react to someone from a rival band "auditioning" for them but she didn't care.
She uploaded the videos to her own Facebook and sent the band a message with them attached, leaving the explanation that she was doing it for Derek and nothing more. They could interpret that as they liked. She left her contact info if they needed to get in touch and hoped things would turn around quickly.
She went to bed that night a little less worried about Derek. Not much, but enough.
***
Stiles was in his room with his earbuds in, air drumming to tracks on Spotify. He didn't hear Scott knock and had his eyes closed, lost in the sound, so when Scott tapped on his shoulder he screamed (in a manly way, of course) and jumped out of his desk chair.
"Sorry, man!" Scott laughed.
Stiles laughed, too, heart pounding as he pulled the earbuds out and scrubbed a hand through his hair. "No worries. What's up?"
Scott's expression got serious and intense, his eyes lit up with excitement. "We got a new audition on Facebook."
Stiles raised an eyebrow, intrigued by Scott's tone. "Yeah?"
"I can't tell you, you won't believe me. Log on."
Stiles gave Scott a 'whatever' look, sure he was trying to pull a fast one on him, but did as instructed. He had their Facebook page open in a few taps and went to their messages.
"Laura Hale," he mumbled to himself, wondering in the back of his mind why that name sounded familiar. The intro was brief, that she was submitting the audition on behalf of someone else, blah blah blah, he thought as he skimmed.
Derek Hale was a key member of the band The Hunters for years and is now seeking—
"Derek Hale?" Stiles said loudly, re-reading the sentence as Scott nodded eagerly beside him. "No fucking way, dude."
"Watch the videos!" Scott insisted so Stiles opened the first one and it was one of The Hunters' performances from a couple years back when they played at one of the local bars. Stiles remembered that show because he wasn't technically legal to be in the bar that night and had to pay a friend to sneak him in the back and avoid anyone he knew seeing him just so he could see The Hunters perform. They might be competition now but he knew good music when he heard it and couldn't deny them that credit.
Seeing Derek Hale perform and in all his bulging-bicep'd glory didn't hurt, either, not that Stiles would ever admit to that.
He stopped the video and gave Scott a disbelieving look. "I was there that night, remember? This is just someone playing a prank on us. There's no way Derek Hale is going to—"
Scott interrupted, pointing to the next video. "Play the other one. I swear, Stiles, this is totally for real."
Dubiously Stiles started the next video and immediately felt his pulse pound hard in his throat. "That's a private video."
"Exactly! That's from right around the same time he started with The Hunters, look at how much longer his hair is! This is totally legit!"
"Are you shitting me right now? Derek Hale wants to be our bassist? Derek Hale?" Stiles exclaimed, voice getting higher with every word.
Scott clapped him on the shoulder. "Might have to own up to the crush you've got on him, huh?"
***
It's not like Stiles mooned over Derek. They were from the same town and Derek was a few years older than them so he was something of a role model for Stiles. Derek was a great guitarist, he was Stiles' idea of successful for the time being and he wasn't hard on the eyes.
Correction—he was basically Stiles' dream guy, aesthetically.
He didn't know that much about him aside from that, though. Stiles knew him growing up but Derek really stuck in Stiles' mind when he was younger because Stiles' dad, the Sheriff, had to work the night of the car accident that claimed Derek's parents. He remembered his dad coming home and quietly relaying the basic information. Stiles all-too-well knew the sting of losing a parent after his mother died of cancer when he was eight, but he couldn't imagine two being taken away at once and so suddenly.
It was a couple weeks before Derek returned to school but once he did Stiles watched him from afar. They never spoke, but Stiles remembered wondering if there was something he could do, or offer in the way of sympathy or the simple camaraderie of someone else who understood.
But Stiles would never get up the nerve to say anything and Derek wasn't exactly approachable and so life went on. Derek graduated a few years later, then did his own thing before hooking up with The Hunters. By the time Stiles graduated Derek was already a couple years deep in with his band and, rumor had it, hooking up with lead singer Kate Argent.
Seeing Derek on stage with The Hunters was a revelation for a newly-realized bisexual Stiles. The hot lights shone down on a sweat-soaked Derek and suddenly he wasn't the other kid who knew what it was like to lose a parent. He was hot. And he was exactly what Stiles wanted.
This was 18-year-old Stiles' fantasy come to life. He just didn't know that it was still 22-year-old Stiles' fantasy.
Scott was excitedly showing the rest of the group the videos and then he was going to send a reply back to Laura to say the spot was Derek's. Stiles could hear the music playing from Scott's laptop downstairs as he unbuckled his belt and popped the button on his jeans.
Stiles reached into his boxers to palm his thickening cock he lay back on his bed. He let the thoughts of Derek's strong forearms and nimble fingers playing over his length like he worked the strings on his guitar flood through his mind. He felt like he was a teenager again with his quickly he came, picturing Derek sitting beside him and watching him lose his goddamn mind.
When he was done and catching his breath Stiles looked down at himself and sighed. "Awesome."
***
Laura knocked on Derek's door a couple nights after their last visit, hoping to earn a few meager brownie points in Derek's book for not just barging in like she'd taken to lately. But if she didn't he wouldn't answer so she hoped that wouldn't be the case now.
Miracle of miracles he did answer and he was showered and he'd trimmed down his growing beard a bit to a cleaner style. It wasn't much but it was a sign of life, or Laura took it as one. Maybe this would work.
"Back so soon?" Derek asked, stepping aside to let her in.
Laura went straight to the kitchen and helped herself to a beer from his fridge, ignoring Derek's eye roll.
"You didn't come here just for that," he said flatly. Laura shook her head, taking a big swallow.
"Nope, but I need to talk to you and this seemed like a good idea."
"That's always the best way to start a conversation," Derek replied warily but he sat at the table when she gestured.
Laura pulled her phone out of her pocket and opened her Facebook, going to her messages before offering it to to Derek. He took it slowly, eyeing her suspiciously, but read what she indicated. Within seconds he was giving her a weird look.
"I don't get it."
"That's a message from a band called Alpha. Ever heard of them?"
Derek shrugged. "Vaguely. Local, right?" Laura nodded. "Okay, what about them?"
"That message is actually for you. They're offering you a spot in their band as their bassist. Theirs up and quit suddenly. Left them in the lurch and they've been trying to find someone for a few weeks now."
"And they just happened to contact you about this?" Derek asked, voice hard. He pushed the phone back at Laura and sat back in his chair, crossing his arms.
"No, I contacted them. I sent them a couple videos of you performing and said you'd left your band. That you're looking for a new band to play with and like their sound," Laura explained, looking Derek straight in the eye.
Derek leaned forward, angry. "I've never heard their sound, Laura! I don't even know who these people are! What in the hell were you thinking? What gives you the right to go behind my back and—"
"Because I'm your sister and if you won't take care of yourself I'm going to do it for you!" Laura snapped back before he could get on a roll. "I don't care what you say about how you're 'fine'. You're anything but and you're freaking me the fuck out! I overstepped, yes. But I don't care. I want you to care about something—anything! You've completely checked out and I'm doing something about it. You love music, this band needs someone like that! They're looking for someone to compete with them in the Battle of Beacon Hills so if you stick with them through that it would do them a favor and yourself one. You'll have a routine again, people to associate with who aren't me."
"You shouldn't have done this, Laura," Derek replied but instead of anger he sounded tired.
"I shouldn't have but you shouldn't be locking yourself up in this cell for days on end, either. You were hurt, and no one can take that feeling away. But this isn't the answer for how to deal with everything that happened. Breakups are hard enough but you gave so much of yourself to that band, to make it what it was. This is a way for you to be involved in music again but the hard part is done. They already know what they're doing, they do their own thing. They just need you to do what you do best. Please, Derek. Don't let her win," Laura pleaded. Derek winced, just a little, but enough to know she'd hit the nail so fucking hard on the head.
"Can I think about it?" Derek asked.
"You can, but I already accepted for you," Laura said, smiling a little. She reached across the table to grab one of Derek's hands.
He rolled his eyes. "Of course you did." But he let her hold his hand and when she squeezed it he returned the pressure and Laura felt a little better still.
The babiest of baby steps.
***
Stiles couldn't help but be a bit nervous as the band waited for Derek to arrive. Scott received a reply the night before from Laura Hale that Derek accepted their offer to be in the band and Stiles felt a thrill run through him.
Derek Hale was going to be in their band. Not only was the guy super talented and had some reputation behind him that could give Alpha a boost, but he was hot as hell and just Stiles' type.
The knock at the door made everyone jump and they laughed at each other while Scott went to answer. Stiles sat on his hands and tried to tell himself to calm down. Derek was a musician, just like they were. Nothing more.
Yeah, right.
Allison leaned across the couch towards him. "Calm down, this is going to be great," she whispered with a smile. Stiles nodded.
A minute later Scott walked back into the room with a wide grin, leading a stoic-looking Derek behind him with a backpack on his shoulder.
"Everyone, this is Derek. Derek this is Allison, Kira and Stiles. Lydia acts as our manager but she's in class right now at the college. You'll meet her sometime later this week," Scott explained, gesturing to each of them as he did the introductions.
Derek gave a small salute and managed a short, "hello" back.
"I just want to say before we get started that I don't talk to Kate very often and she's not close to our part of the family," Allison spoke up hesitantly. If Derek was surprised of the relation between Allison and his ex Kate or by this offering of goodwill he didn't show it. Just nodded and stayed silent.
Stiles didn't know what he was expecting but Derek was far less ... everything than he'd been expecting. The guy was always older and bigger (those arms!) than him when they were growing up but now he was practically an idol for Stiles. Well, the guy in Stiles' head was his idol. This Derek looked like an awkward turtle.
"I thought we'd get started easy and go over some of our songs, the usual ones we play at gigs and maybe see what you bring to them," Scott explained and Derek nodded. They moved into the den that was their makeshift practice area and Derek brought out his guitar and stowed his case and bag neatly in a corner away from where everyone else's stuff was scattered around.
Stiles grabbed the sheets he'd printed off with their lyrics and song cues for Derek. Stiles and Scott usually did most of the songwriting so they had their own method for coming up with their songs that didn't always make sense to everyone else. The rest of the group was used to how Scott and Stiles worked and practice was usually collaborative so Stiles had to translate their songs the best way he could for Derek.
"I hope these are helpful, I know this might not be the clearest explanations so just ask if you have any questions, yeah?" Stiles said quickly as he handed Derek the pages. Derek took them without a word and folded them into his back pocket.
"I figure we'll start and you can join in once you get the hand of things?" Scott said as he plugged in his guitar. "Does that sound okay?"
"Sure," Derek said shortly and looked down at his own instrument, fiddling with the strap. Stiles resisted the urge to blow out a frustrated breath and sat down at his drum kit.
"Let's start with 'Kick to the Face' and go from there," Scott instructed.
Stiles counted them in and Scott fell in naturally as lead guitar. Allison and Kira joined in gradually and the melody built nicely to a place where Derek felt comfortable joining in. He caught on quickly, in a way that made Stiles wonder if Derek familiarized himself with their music before arriving. Good on him if he did.
They flew through half a set until Scott was satisfied and grinning widely as he turned to Derek. "You're a natural, man! You're gonna fit in just great!"
Stiles watched Derek smiled back tightly and wondered if Derek felt the same.
***
During a break in rehearsal Stiles walked into the kitchen and found Derek there, holding a glass of water and staring blankly into space. He cleared his throat as he walked in so as not to startle him but Derek barely looked at him. Stiles decided to make an attempt anyway.
"I can't tell you how awesome it is to have you playing with us, man," Stiles started. "I didn't believe Scott at first when I saw the videos you submitted, I thought it had to be—"
"It wasn't me," Derek cut in.
Stiles blinked. "What do you mean?"
"I wasn't the one who sent in the videos," Derek explained and Stiles nodded, remembering.
"Right, your sister did it for you."
"Behind my back, actually."
"Uh... so you didn't, um—"
"No," Derek said flatly.
"Why are you here, then?" Stiles asked, confused.
"She didn't give me much of a choice," was all Derek said and Stiles felt a flash of anger.
"So you don't even want to me here? Don't want to play with us? Because if that's the case you can—"
Derek cut Stiles off again, which only served to anger him more. "I want to play music. That's why I'm here."
Derek put his glass in the sink and walked out of the kitchen, leaving Stiles stewing in his own ire.
Scott brushed past Derek as he left and gave him a glance back with a frown before greeting Stiles with a wide grin. "Everything okay?"
Stiles literally bit his tongue to keep from blurting out that this was a terrible mistake and Derek was a total asshole. Scott was happy, Derek was a good bassist regardless of his attitude and they needed him.
"I think so," Stiles said and kept it at that.
For now.
***
Everyone else loved Derek. They didn't think anything of his quiet guy routine or that it was weird that he barely said more than three words at a time. Allison chalked it up to him being reserved and Kira threw in that some serious performers were more offbeat than others. She also pointed out that coming into their group was probably intimidating, at best, because they'd all been together for so long. She reminded them of how long it took her to get comfortable being herself around them as the next newest person in the band.
But Stiles knew better. He kept it to himself, though, because he knew everyone else would brush him off and say he was just being paranoid and would bring up how wary he was of outsiders. Problem was, this time it was justified.
After rehearsal Stiles held up his writing notebook.
"Scotty, think we can get some songwriting time in this week? If we can polish up a couple new songs before the Battle I think our set will be perfect."
Scott frowned. "I don't know about this week. I picked up a couple extra shifts at the clinic for Dr. Deaton. Maybe next weekend?"
Stiles wanted to snark back and ask when he was going to pick up a couple extra shifts for the band but stopped himself. He was riled up over Derek and didn't want to take it out on his best friend. Instead he nodded and escaped to his room.
He sat down and jotted down a few words and phrases, things he had trapped in his brain that needed to get out, but he couldn't seem to get them further than that to make anything close to an actual lyric. He and Scott wrote together and fed off each other. Stiles wasn't sure he knew how to write a song without Scott.
"Fuck," Stiles said to himself, and crawled onto his bed to bury his head in the pillows.
***
"So, how was it?" Laura asked as soon as Derek picked up the phone later that evening.
Derek suppressed a groan and mustered up an, "okay" instead. On the other end Laura groaned.
"That's it? Just 'okay'? Is everyone nice? They're good, right? As good as their videos? Were they nice to you?"
Derek rolled his eyes. "Yes, Laura. The other kids on the playground were nice to me and shared their milk and cookies with me."
"Fucker," she muttered back. "Seriously, though. Do you think this could be something good for you?"
Derek paused before he responded. He thought about how warm and welcoming Scott was, Allison's quick assurance that Kate wasn't part of her life and thus not a threat to him, Kira's shy smile— they were all incredibly nice.
And then there was Stiles.
Derek felt Stiles' eyes on him throughout rehearsal and more so after their chat in the kitchen. He realized after his words came out that the way they sounded was rather rude and not the impression he wanted to give off, not his first day especially, but he didn't know how to fix it. He wasn't the best at honest social interactions with people he knew well, let alone people he literally just met and under forced circumstances.
Derek also didn't know how to deal with the blooming seed of attraction he felt start to root as soon as he saw Stiles. Kate left him a mess, the last thing he wanted to deal with was any kind of relationship, real or imagined. That Stiles had gorgeous eyes, skin dotted with moles he wanted to touch and hair long enough for his fingers to get tangled in tight enough to hold him close—it was too much for him to process at once.
"Give me a little more time with them and I'll know better," he said finally. "But I think they're good people."
That answer seemed to satisfy Laura for the time being. She let out a quiet whoop of triumph and hearing the relief in her voice made the knot in Derek's stomach that had been there since she dumped this on him loosen just a little.
***
Stiles avoided Derek as much as possible after the first rehearsal. The Battle was in six weeks and he had to learn their songs and their rhythms so anytime they weren't working at their day jobs they were practicing.
To his credit, Derek didn't miss a single one and was never late. But he still never said more than a few words at a time and didn't contribute or join in when everyone else started talking or joking. If anything Derek seemed to shrink in on himself a bit. It seemed impossible for a guy of his stature to physically look less than the intimidating size that he was but he managed it, without saying or doing hardly anything.
After practice Derek was the first one out the door, barely saying goodbye to anyone. He never stuck around to hang out, politely declined any offer to stay and watch a movie with everyone, and refused any attempt at bonding with the band overall.
On the one hand Stiles was bugged because it made him feel like Derek thought they weren't good enough to hang out with or that he wasn't truly committed to the band. But on the other hand it meant Stiles didn't have to look at him or be around him any more than necessary.
It was hard enough rehearsing every day and being able to watch Derek from behind, to see the muscles in his back flex and ripple under his Henley shirts. His jeans fit him perfectly in the back and once when Derek bent over to pick something up Stiles dropped his drumsticks on the floor, turning himself into a blushing mess. Luckily no one seemed to notice.
Stiles still held a grudge against Derek for being so brusque with him the first day and at his lack of any attempt to more than just a body on stage. Truth be told, it drove Stiles crazy that he couldn't get a read on Derek.
A couple weeks into practicing together Derek seemed more eager than usual to leave and as soon as Scott declared it over Derek was gone, barely saying goodbye. Stiles looked over at Scott and gave him a look that precisely expressed just how unimpressed he was with their new member. Scott gave him a shrug and officially concluded rehearsal with a few words of encouragement, as usual.
Everyone scattered, leaving Stiles behind in the den by himself. He looked around and sighed, noting how messy things were. Sometimes Scott and Stiles played Rock, Paper, Scissors to see who was going to clean the den from the band's crap that got left around and built up. Stiles grabbed a garbage bag from the kitchen and started cleaning.
He sorted the recycling from the regular trash, wrinkled his nose when he found a banana peel that he was sure was from at least a week earlier and almost gagged when he discovered half a carton of milk stuck behind an old amp in a corner. Once he got through the grossest parts of the clean up he started to organize everything the way they should be. Put sheet music and picks away, found some new strings and stored them for later.
As he worked he found some papers spilling out of a notebook on top of a backpack he recognized as Derek's. He thought about leaving it but didn't want the papers to get thrown out so he started picking them up, too. He pulled a couple loose sheets from under the couch and glanced at them briefly, then did a double take.
"What," he whispered to himself as his eyes scanned over the verses.
Derek had neat, precise handwriting that belied the sharp emotion he put into words. Stiles found himself re-reading lines over and over and bobbing his head to a melody that started flitting through his brain.
You cut me open with my own knife, just to watch me bleed // because your favorite color is red, he read and immediately knew the drum beat he could set that to.
He started paging through the notebook eagerly, feeling the rush of excitement he usually got when he and Scott jammed together and came up with new songs for the band. That high when things just clicked and he knew how much fun it would be to play new songs for an audience.
Stiles read a particularly striking line, I wasn't what you wanted but who cares? // You took every piece built into me, and had his eyes closed as he imagined it being a quiet beat before the pulse-pounding crescendo when the notebook was yanked out of his hands. Stiles flailed and he almost tipped over from his crouched position.
"What—" He looked up into Derek's dark, glaring expression, bordering on murderous, and snapped his mouth shut.
"Never touch my stuff," Derek said in a low, growling tone. He grabbed his backpack, shoved his notebook and papers inside and stalked out of the room. A few seconds later Stiles heard the front door slammed closed.
"Shit," Stiles muttered. He honestly wasn't sure if he was more upset about getting caught by Derek, being on Derek's shitlist (actually, he was probably already there) or that some of the best lyrics he'd read in a long time were slipping out of his grasp.
He needed Scott, ASAP.
***
"Scott, you're not listening to me," Stiles pleaded as he trailed Scott around Dr. Deaton's clinic while Scott made his rounds to check on the animals.
"I'm listening just fine, Stiles, I don't think you're listening to Derek," Scott replied patiently.
"But if you read the stuff he wrote you'd understand! His words are amazing! I think if we could convince him to work with us we could write some kick ass songs for the Battle!" Stiles exclaimed.
Scott sighed and cuddled a kitten in his arms as he turned to face Stiles. "He doesn't seem like the kind of guy who's going to open up to us that easily, Stiles. Maybe it's best to leave him alone."
"But we need new songs for the Battle! A couple new ones to work in with our best older stuff so the judges aren't hearing things we've already played a million times. If you're too busy with work we need to come up with something else," Stiles went on, even as Scott was shaking his head.
"We need a bassist more than we need new songs, Stiles. If we push him he could get fed up and quit," Scott countered.
"Please?" Stiles begged. "I'll do the dishes and clean the bathrooms for a month!" Stiles knew how much Scott hated those two particular house duties and silently cheered inside when Scott's expression changed.
"Okay, I'll try. But if he says no that's it, I'm not pushing him," Scott said, firmly. The kitten mewled, as if underscoring his conviction.
"That's great, that's wonderful!" Stiles threw his arms up and hugged Scott around the neck awkwardly, earning himself a swipe from the kitten.
"Yeah, yeah. Now get out of here before you rile up all the animals," Scott instructed, but grinned as Stiles left, jumping and clicking his heels as he went.
***
Later that night Stiles was putting the finishing touches on a study guide he was preparing for a high school kid in Delaware. He had an online business providing the guides for high school and university kids to help them study the way Stiles got through high school five years earlier. He didn't sell papers but he did the work to figure out the key points of basic english, history and psych classes and then prepared papers to help the students cram for midterms or finals, based on the course syllabus he was sent from the customer.
He also worked part time during the days at the college library, in their archive and re-shelving books which helped him with his study guides. It was the only way he could make enough money to pull his share of the rent and utilities and still be able to have enough time to devote to the band. He didn't get much sleep but when it came to doing what he loved he didn't care.
Scott knocked and walked in with a hesitant expression. Stiles felt his earlier jubilation dissipate when he saw Scott's face.
"He didn't go for it," Scott said but Stiles didn't need him to say the words.
"Did he say why?" Stiles asked.
Scott shook his head. "Just shut me down without a second word. Sorry, Stiles. But remember, I'm out now."
Stiles nodded and turned back to his work when Scott left. Guess it was up to him.
***
"Hey, so. Hi."
That was Stiles' opening when he followed Derek into the hallway outside the bathroom during their next practice. Derek eyed him warily.
"Hi," he replied flatly.
Stiles huffed. "Look. I don't know how to beat around the bush so I'm just gonna say it. You're a great songwriter. I'm sorry I looked—"
"Invaded my privacy," Derek cut in.
Stiles waved his hand. "Whatever I did is beside the point. Your lyrics are good and exactly what we need for Alpha."
"No," Derek said and turned to go into the bathroom. Stiles reached out to grab Derek's shoulder—his very muscular shoulder— and turned him back around.
"Hey, I'm serious."
Derek glowered at Stiles. "So am I. I don't want to write for the band. I don't want to share anything with you. Stop asking me and let. Me. Go," Derek ground out, low and threatening.
Stiles let go of Derek's shoulder and watched him escape into the bathroom before he slumped against the wall behind him. He fucked up.
Continue to Part 2