stiles and water?
two hours
stiles held derek up in the pool for two whole hours
his arms had gone numb and his legs were cramping from the constant kicking motion he had to make to keep them both afloat
as soon as derek said the kanima was gone stiles pulled them over to the edge of the pool and somehow managed to climb out while still holding up derek and then hauled his bulking body out of the water
stiles made some excuse that he was going to the locker room to change and then promptly high-tailed it out of the pool room
derek was just gaining back full control of his body when the pack and the others came into the pool area. derek was sitting up and rubbing at his shoulder where the kanima had gotten him. erica was telling him to man up while boyd asked if he was okay with a look. isaac was looking around the pool and sniffing, the chemicals still harsh on his over sensitive sniffer
scott was there too
“what happened?” isaac had asked
“kanima got me to the paralytic and we were stuck in the pool for two hours” derek grumbled as he stood up
“we?” scott asked with pinched eyebrows and a slightly knowing/confused look
“stiles. he held me up”
isaac made a noise of surprise, erica was laughing and boyd was trying to get her to be quiet, scott looked terrified
“where did stiles go?” scott asked as he started taking deep breaths in
“locker room?”
the rest of them looked just as confused as derek when scott started hauling ass towards the locker room
“he’s afraid of water?”
“how can someone be afraid of water?”
“he almost drowned when he was seven”
silence
the door to the locker room slammed against the wall as scott practically ripped it open. they could all hear one of the showers running
they found him sitting against the wall of the shower. his track jacket since gone, just sitting there in a tee shirt and his track pants. the wolves could hear his heart still beating wildly in his chest, smell the pure panic and anxiety that hung in the air like a thick fog
“hey scotty”
“you okay?”
“yeah”
“why would you do that?”
“well I wasn’t going to let you drown”
“it was stupid of you”
“are you yelling at me for saving your life?”
…
“thank you”
everyone was kinda shocked and stared at derek’s back as he left.
derek had never actually said those two words. ever.
bonus:
two days later stiles gets home at like midnight and when he walks into his room derek hale is sitting at the edge of his bed
he looks constipated and is literally sitting on the edge of the bed
“you okay dude?”
“i’m still afraid of fire”
and stiles didn’t really know what to say to that
“you’re allowed to be”
“and you’re allowed to be afraid of water”
oh
oh
and just like that derek was gone
okay. stiles could work with that