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Crawl Into My Heart

Theme: Fears and Phobias

Rating: G

Summary: This is ridiculous. He’s a werewolf. He’s a Hale, for crying out loud. There isn’t much that he should be afraid of, and he definitely shouldn’t be so afraid of this small creature. And yet, here he is, standing on his couch, staring at the spider currently exploring his television stand in complete horror. Lucky for Derek, his cute neighbor is more than happy to come to his rescue.

—————

This is ridiculous. He’s a werewolf. He’s a Hale, for crying out loud. There isn’t much that he should be afraid of, and he definitely shouldn’t be so afraid of this small creature. And yet, here he is, standing on his couch, staring at the spider currently exploring his television stand in complete horror.

When he still lived at home, his mother would catch the spiders for him, depositing them out into the garden without commenting on his fear (though Laura loves to make fun of him for it). But now he’s living on his own. He’s almost twenty six for the Gods’ sake. This shouldn’t be a problem for him.

“Come on, Derek,” he tells himself, stepping off of the couch and picking one of his boots up off of the floor. “You can do this. It’s just a spider.” The pep talk gives him enough courage to step towards the small foe.

But then the spider starts scurrying around, and that’s all Derek can take. He drops the boot and hightails it out of the apartment into the hallway, collapsing back against the wall and staring at his closed door in mild horror.

Ridiculous as it might be, Derek cannot kill the spider. He just can’t. He’s been afraid of them for as long as he can remember - their eight legs, multiple eyes, furry appendages - it’s just too much. Moving out of his parents house didn’t clear him of his phobia, no matter what he would like to tell himself. Even just the knowledge that the small beast is moving about his apartment makes him shudder.

Sighing a defeated sigh, Derek sinks to the floor, pulling his legs up against his chest and contemplating what to do next. He can’t call his mom. It’s not that she wouldn’t come over and take care of the problem for him, because he’s almost certain that she would. Sure, Talia is the alpha of their pack and is a very busy woman in general, but she will always make time for her son. But Derek isn’t going to run to her every time that one of the spiders finds its way into his apartment. That’s just - well, it’s just sad and disappointing. He should be able to take care of himself, and he doesn’t want to let her down.

And he sure as hell can’t call one of his sisters. Laura would laugh for years, and never let him live it down. And Cora would mock his fear and then tell him that there’s no way she’d drive out to take care of the problem for him. He can’t really call his friends either. Boyd might indulge him and come and help, but he would bring Erica, and she’s just as bad as his sisters. Isaac, like Cora, would laugh at him and then probably hang up.

The only choice he has is to go back inside and take care of it himself. Logically, Derek knows that he’ll have to overcome his fear eventually. And, what’s the saying, there’s no better time than now?

That’s honestly, easier said than done.

He’s still outside contemplating just how he’s going to accomplish this when his neighbor finds him, cracking his door open just enough that he can peer out and stare out into the hall at Derek with a concerned expression. Derek barely restrains his groan. The last thing that he needs is someone else finding out about his predicament, especially the cute neighbor that he’s been not so secretly crushing on for months.

Oh, if Laura could see him now.

“Derek,” the boy asks, concern coloring his tone. “Is everything okay, dude?”

He wants to point out that, no, obviously things are not okay. What part of this entire situation would give him that idea? What he says instead is, “Don’t call me dude.”

Stiles grins at the jab before stepping into the hallway, closing the door behind him. Derek is nearly shaking out of his skin when the younger man plops on the floor beside him, tilting his head to one side (and unknowingly exposing his throat) to stare at the door.

“Are you locked out?”

His scent is overwhelming, warm apple pie and cinnamon served on a rainy day. Derek tries not to be too obvious about his scenting when he responds, “Not exactly.”

Humming thoughtfully, Stiles turns to look at him. “Then what are you doing sitting alone in the hallway, looking like a sad puppy?” The comparison makes Derek snort, which seems to please Stiles, who bumps their shoulders together before asking, “What’s wrong?”

Derek sighs. He should lie, should tell Stiles anything but the truth. But nothing seems convincing enough that Stiles would leave the subject alone. Besides, even the thought of lying to him makes Derek uncomfortable. Which means that, regardless of the consequences, Derek is going to tell him the truth.

He leans his head back against the wall and closes his eyes. “There’s a spider in my apartment.” The statement is met with silence. “I tried to kill it, but then it moved and-. Well, now here I am.” There’s still no response. “You can go now, if you’d like. I’ll get up and deal with this eventually.”

Stiles hums thoughtfully after a moment and pulls himself to his feet. Derek can’t help but be disappointed. Sure he was the one to tell Stiles to leave, but part of him didn’t think he would actually go.

“Come on, Derek,” Stiles says, holding out his hand to help him up.

All Derek can do is blink at him. “Where are we going?”

Glancing back at his door, Stiles smiles. “To kill a spider. I would go myself, but that feels like an invasion of privacy. Besides, I would have no idea where to even look for it.”

Hope blooms in his chest. “You would do that for me?”

“Of course. What are friendly next-door neighbors for if not to share fears and kill spiders.” He heft’s Derek up to his feet, and gestures to the door. “Alright, let’s do this!”

Derek rolls his eyes at Stiles’ exuberance, but his energy is infectious. Despite his earlier fear, Derek wants to laugh with him, as if standing so close to his sun has caught him on fire. He takes the lead, pushing into his apartment feeling pretty good.

And then he catches sight of the spider, still exploring his television stand, and promptly his hands start shaking. Stiles notices his change in demeanor, and peers over his shoulder, trying to find the threat. As soon as he finds what he’s looking for, he pushes around where Derek is frozen, lets himself into the kitchen and returns with the roll of paper towels and a determined expression.

Derek doesn’t want to watch as Stiles approaches the spider, so he turns and retreats into the kitchen, distracting himself by getting the kettle ready to make some tea. It’s not long before Stiles is joining him, a wad of paper towels pressed between his fingers. “Where’s your trash can,” he asks, holding his hand away from his chest.

“Under the sink,” he directs, turning back to put the kettle on the stove. He listens while Stiles gets rid of the paper towels and washes his hands, and then the energy around them shifts into something more awkward.

“Well I guess I should-,” Stiles starts to say, just as Derek asks, “Would you like some tea?” They blink at each over for a moment, before Stiles shakes his head and laughs. “I would love that,” he says, voice soft. It makes Derek preen a little, pleased with the response.

“You can make yourself at home, if you’d like. It will only take me a few minutes to finish this up.”

It’s all the permission that Stiles needs to snoop around, but instead of moving into the living room like Derek expects, Stiles moves around the counter and settles into a seat at the bar so that he can still see Derek.

“You know,” he begins, after a moment of drawn out silence. “I’ve always been terrified of jellyfish.” Derek glances back at him, and Stiles smiles. “They’ve always freaked me out. When I was in elementary school, they showed us this ocean documentary, and there was a whole section in it about them. I cried so hard that they had to call my mom to come and pick me up.”

Derek smiles at him, enjoying the way that he’s trying to make him feel better. “I bet you don’t run into very many jellyfish in your everyday life though.”

He shrugs, over exaggerated. “You don’t know, I might be a marine biologist forced to confront his fear everyday he goes to work.”

The kettle whistles, and Derek busies himself getting their mugs ready. He puts everything on the counter between them. “Are you a marine biologist, Stiles?”

They stare at each other, Stiles’ expression hard to read, before he cracks. “No. But it would be cool, wouldn’t it! Instead I’m just a boring software engineer.”

Derek smirks while he pours cream in his tea, glancing up at him through his eyelashes. “And do you come across many jellyfish in your field?”

Stiles snorts. “I feel like we were having a moment here, bonding over fears and stuff, and now you’re ruining it with all your snarky questions. I’ll have you know, even if I don’t work around jellyfish, I did see one stranded on the beach once, so you know, same difference.” When the statement makes Derek laugh, Stiles puffs up with pride. They’ve interacted before obviously, it would be hard to live next to someone for over a year without talking to them, but this is the longest that they’ve talked. Derek can’t help but be pleased by how easy it seems to hang out with Stiles though, can’t help but dwell on the fact that they seem to have similar personalities.

“You know, I have a question of my own for you, buddy.” Stiles sips at his tea before continuing, letting the pause in conversation build suspense. “How is it that you’re afraid of spiders. I mean, I know that everyone has their own fears, and that they don’t always make sense, but you’re a Hale. I didn’t think you were afraid of anything.”

Derek’s body locks up automatically. Stiles, who’s too observant not to notice the change in his body language, looks thoughtful. “Unless you’re not one of those Hales, in which case I’m sure that this conversation is very confusing for you.”

“How did you-? What are you-?” He scents the air, not caring that it isn’t something that humans do when they’re trying to figure something out. It obviously doesn’t matter anyway, seeing as Stiles must already know what he is. His scent is crisp and refreshing, green apples and the wind through open fields. It’s citrusy and compelling and entirely human. “What do you mean about me being one of those Hales,” he finally asks, just barely managing not to blurt out his real question: how do you know what I am?

Stiles laughs. “Dude, calm down. Your mom is kind of a big deal. I knew as soon as you introduced yourself to me who you were and that you’re a werewolf. My best friend was turned in college, and it’s safe to say that your mom was one of the first people that we were introduced to when we were still figuring everything out. You look like her you know: strong, confident, way too beautiful to be human.”

There are obviously several things that Derek should address from his explanation, but the only thing that matters to him right then is, “You think I’m beautiful?”

He sips at his tea, golden eyes never leaving Derek’s. “I know you are,” he says finally, as though it’s a fact he’s known for years.

And it sends Derek reeling. Sure, he knows what he looks like, and there has always been someone nearby willing to let him know just how appealing he is. But at the same time, “I’ve never been called beautiful before.” The word makes him feel shy and small in a way that he’s not used to, like he might be something to cherish. His wolf prances at the thought that maybe Stiles might want to be the one to cherish him.

Stiles looks surprised for a moment before his expressions turns sly. “Well I’m glad that I was able to be the first to tell you then,” he says, voice a purr. The change in his tone makes Derek shiver. The energy in the room shifts, turning into something electric.

Stiles moves his tea and reaches his hand across the counter, moving slowly enough that Derek can see his intention and would have plenty of time to move away if it wasn’t something he wanted to happen. As he moves his hand, Stiles’ eyes never leave Derek’s face, and when Derek doesn’t pull back, he beams and slots his fingers with Derek’s as best he can at the awkward angle.

“And I’m glad that there was a spider in your house. You may be terrified of them, but I have never been happier that one found its way inside.”

Derek scoffs at him and frowns. “That’s easy for you to say, you’re not afraid of them.”

He brings a hand up to his chest and gasps, over dramatic. “What? Are you saying that you’re not happy that you were forced to sit in the hallway where I found you and daringly came to your rescue? Because if that’s the case, I would like my hand back please.” He gives his hand a halfhearted tug, and Derek holds fast to his fingers.

He’s laughing when he admits honestly, “I’m happy that it was you who found me in the hallway.”

“Good. Because I’m really liking this hand holding. Hey, maybe another spider will show up so that I can stay.”

Derek rolls his eyes, trying not to shudder at the thought of stumbling upon another spider. “Or you could stay without the spider. That seems like a much better plan to me.”

Stiles smiles, big and bright, squeezing their fingers. “Me too.”

Later, Derek will admit that he is kind of thankful that the spider showed up in his apartment. After all, it brought him Stiles. And that isn’t a scary thing at all.

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