Lesson #17: Kiss him, you idiot!

A/N: That's right, you're not crazy! I DID just update again! Anyways, I have no idea how this story is going to end yet lol so if anybody has any ideas, DM me or something cause I'm lost. Also, there will probably only be a few more chapters! Like 3-5 more chapters, maybe, depending on how much more plot I can come up with. Thanks for reading! OH and check out my Draco fic if you're into that :)

"Stiles, I need to talk to you!" Derek yelled across the hallway, dodging kids walking the opposite direction as he made his way over to me. I closed my locker, raising an eyebrow at him until he stopped in front of me, a smile on his face. "So, we didn't talk about hanging out today, but if you're free later, that new movie you've been talking about comes out today. I may or may not have already bought us tickets," he said, blushing. "If you say no, I'll have to take some other poor soul."

I laughed, shaking my head at him. "Of course I'll go with you, Der," I promised, starting to walk down the hallway so I wasn't late for class. He walked with me, almost too close so that our shoulders bumped every few steps. "What time are you picking me up?"

"I have plans after school, but as soon as those are over with, I can come get you," he offered, still walking with me despite his class being on the opposite side of school. "If it's early enough, I'll even take you to dinner."

Stiles faked a surprised gasp. "This sounds like a date!" he teased, making Derek roll his eyes. "Anyways, I have plans after school too. I'll just text you when I get home and we'll go from there," I suggested, remembering that I planned to go to the mall with Lydia so we could talk more about our plans to figure out if Derek liked me back.

"Alright, that works," Derek agreed, touching my arm gently as before turning around to run off to his own class. The rest of the day passed by quickly, and after the last bell, I hurried out to my car so I could meet Lydia at the mall.

We ended up getting there right around the same time, so I greeted her at her car while she grabbed her things out of the passenger seat. "Derek basically asked me on a date tonight," I told her as she slammed her door shut and locked her car.

She spun around to face me, an excited look on her face. "That's great!" she exclaimed, linking her arm through mine as we walked into the mall. "I don't think we'll have to do much more planning at all. It looks as if Derek already likes you," she continued, making me hopeful. "But I still need you here because I hate shopping alone. Too many bags to hold."

"Oh, so you're using me?" I retorted, teasingly. She shrugged unapologetically, dragging him into the first store of the day. Most of their shopping was Lydia piling my arms up with clothes, then her trying them on, and me giving my opinion on them. She could literally pull off any look, so they all looked great. She ended up only buying a few things, despite me telling her how great she looked. We didn't really talk much about Derek until we decided to get some food and sit down in the food court.

"So you told Derek you were done trying to win me over, right?" Lydia asked, delicately dipping her fries in ketchup as we talked quietly. The room was full of people, though no one that we knew.

I swallowed my food quickly, taking a sip of my drink before answering. "Yeah, of course I did," I answered. "He seemed pretty happy about it, but I'm not sure what that means." I wanted it to mean that he liked me back, but I didn't want to read too much into it. "Besides, he hasn't really talked much about him and Brett. I don't know if they're still together," I sighed.

Lydia made a face before rolling her eyes. "Who cares? You make Derek happier than Brett ever has, and you're not even dating him," she scoffed, showing her clear dislike for Brett. I appreciated it, but I still didn't want to break anyone up for my own benefit. If Derek wanted to be with me, he would tell me. "God, speak of the devil," she grumbled, looking behind me at someone. I turned around slightly, enough to see Derek and Brett walking into the food court and sit down at a table in the corner.

"They look pretty together to me," I sighed, my heart sinking into my stomach. I wasn't sure why I was so hurt when I knew they hadn't officially broken up yet, but I couldn't help the pain in my chest. "Maybe this whole thing was a bad idea. I should just be his friend, or-"

"Stiles, no," Lydia cut me off, reaching across the table to smack my arm hard. I winced, scooting away from her as she shook her head at me. "Brett doesn't look very happy right now. I think Derek might be ending things," she whispered, looking past me to watch Derek and Brett across the room. I turned around to look for myself, and Lydia was right. Brett was talking now, but he looked incredibly angry. They looked like they were arguing, but I couldn't see Derek's face. "Even if he's not, they won't last. I'm almost sure that Derek has feelings for you, Stiles."

"Then why hasn't he said anything?" I argued, frustrated with myself for not being able to just tell Derek the truth. My fear of rejection was too high and if Derek did reject me, I wouldn't be able to be friends with him anymore. I couldn't handle that either.

"He thought you were in love with me, Stiles. He doesn't even know that you like guys!" she insisted, kicking me under the table as she quickly shut up. "Brett's leaving," she hissed, averting her eyes to the table instead of watching them across the room. Once Brett was gone, she looked back up, meeting my eyes. "You've got to tell him that you're into guys, or he won't ever admit that he likes you."

"How do I casually tell Derek that I'm bisexual," I snapped, raising my eyebrows as she stared back at me without a good answer. "Exactly, there isn't a way."

She sighed, throwing her hands up in the air. "Fine, then just kiss him, you idiot!" she retorted, completely serious, as if it were that easy.

Stiles nearly choked on his drink, quickly swallowing as his eyes widened. "What?!" he stammered, his face heating up.

Lydia shrugged, a small smirk on her face. "Yeah, that's lesson number 17," she said certainly. "Kiss him."

"No way," I answered, shaking my head. There was no possible way I could kiss Derek out of the blue. It had to be the right moment, and Derek had to be willing to kiss me back. "What if he pushes me away?"

Lydia was about to answer, but she shut her mouth quickly when someone approached their table. I nervously looked up, meeting Derek's eyes. "Your plans were to take Lydia to the mall?" he asked, raising an eyebrow in question. "I thought you said. . ." he trailed off, a sad look on his face.

"I meant that, Derek," I quickly defended myself, glancing at Lydia for help. She didn't seem to know what to say either, so I was on my own. "Lydia wanted me to go shopping with her, as friends," I continued, wishing that look on his face would go away. "Are we still on for tonight?" I asked, hopefully.

Derek hesitated, but he finally nodded. "Yeah, I already bought the tickets," he mumbled, stepping away from our table. "Text me, or whatever," he added, turning around to leave.

After he had left, I sank down in my seat, sighing as I ran my hands over my face in disappointment. I had ruined everything. Derek thought I was lying to him about Lydia, and now my chances of winning him over were much smaller. "He thinks I still like you," I grumbled, shaking my head at myself.

"I'm telling you, Stiles," Lydia replied, leaning across the table to move my hand away from my face, so I had to look at her. "You have to kiss him. It's the only way to show him you like him." As much as I wanted to kiss Derek, more than anything really, there was no possible way I could do it. Not anytime soon. Not until I knew how he felt about me.

"I can't, Lydia. If he rejects me, I don't know what I would do," I sighed, wishing this could just be easier.

"Kiss him tonight, after your date," she insisted, clearly not giving up on this idea. "If you don't, it's a wasted opportunity."

"It's not a real date," I argued, still not buying into it. "We're just going to the movies. Friends do that all the time."

"Do something else," she suggested. "Did you ever ask him about his perfect date?"

I paused, taking her thoughts into consideration. "I did," I replied, hesitantly. Derek already bought the movie tickets, so we had to go. Plus, I really did want to see that movie, which was the reason Derek bought us tickets in the first place. But after the movie. . . if I planned things just right, I could take Derek to the beach. Maybe, if he agreed to go, I would feel comfortable enough to confess my feelings. "I think that could work, Lydia," I said, enthusiastically.

"See, you can do it!" she encouraged me, jumping up to hug my shoulders. "Now, let's finish shopping so you can plan for your date tonight!"

After the nightmare of shopping with Lydia Martin had ended, she gave me one last hug of encouragement before we went out separate ways. I went home, cooked some soup that Derek loved, poured it into a thermos, and packed a bag with everything we'd need to eat dinner on the beach. I had no idea if he'd agree to go with me after the movie, but I hoped he would. Instead of texting him, I got into my car and drove over to his house, that way I could drive to the movies and to the beach afterwards.

When I got to his house and walked inside, (because last time I knocked, Talia yelled at me) Derek was sitting in the kitchen with Cora, arguing about something that I didn't quiet catch. Once they saw me, they stopped talking quickly. "Hey," he greeted them, hesitantly. "Everything alright?"

"You were supposed to text me to come get you," Derek said, ignoring my question.

I shrugged, sitting down beside him at the table. "I figured I could drive us to the movies. You're always driving me everywhere," I answered, hoping he would go along with it. He didn't disagree, but he didn't exactly look happy. "There's also something I want to do afterwards, but it's a surprise," I added, just to see if it would make him happier.

"A surprise?" Derek repeated, perking up a little. A hint of a smile appeared on his face, so I considered that a win.

"Yeah," I replied, staring back at him. "You have to let me drive if you want to know what it is."

Before Derek could say anything, Cora sighed dramatically, standing up from the table with an annoyed look on her face. "You two are absolutely ridiculous," she grumbled, walking away to leave us wondering what set her off.

I gave Derek a confused look, but he waved it off as if it were nothing. "Let's just go. We need to get good seats," he changed the subject, standing up to grab his things. Once we had everything, we got into the Jeep and drove to the movies. I bought the popcorn and drinks against Derek's wishes, but I wasn't letting him pay for anything considering how much he had probably spent on me, compared to what I had bought him. One we got into our seats, right in the center of the theater, we had about a thirty minute wait for the movie to begin.

"So what we're you doing at the mall earlier?" Stiles asked, trying to pry into the whole Brett situation. Derek hadn't mentioned anything about him, but Lydia thought for sure they had broken up. Stiles wanted conformation.

Derek picked a piece of popcorn off my chest that I had carelessly dropped, throwing it back into the bucket before he sighed. "I was talking to Brett," he admitted. I was surprised it was that easy to get him to talk about it, but I let him continue without saying anything. "I told him that I didn't like the way he treated me, and if he wanted to continue seeing me, things had to change. He disagreed, said that I was the one in the wrong because I- well, I haven't been completely present in our relationship. There's another guy that I have feelings for, so I guess it's partly my fault."

"Another guy?" I asked, innocently. I could only hope that I was the guy he had feelings for, but I didn't want to assume anything. "Do I know him?"

Derek laughed, his eyes meeting mine for a moment before he looked away again. "Yeah, you do. But I'm not sure this guy feels the same about me. I've been getting mixed signals for months," he sighed, staring up at the screen as the commercials started playing.

I swallowed hard, thinking about what to do next. This was the perfect moment to tell Derek the truth, but I was too nervous. "But what if he did feel the same, he just didn't know how to tell you?" I replied, my voice small and unsure. Derek was going to figure out that I was talking about myself, because he wasn't stupid. The real challenge was if Derek would admit he knew.

Derek turned to stare at me again, seemingly speechless as he searched my eyes for something, possibly to determine if I was speaking truthfully. I had never been more sure about something in my entire life. "If he never tells me how he feels, then I guess I'll never know," he whispered, a mix of confusion and happiness on his face. I wanted nothing more than to kiss him, right there in that moment, but the theater was filling with people who were talking loud enough to be heard over the commercials on the screen. It wasn't the right time to kiss him, but  I wanted to. "Anyways," Derek said, clearing his throat as his eyes broke away from mine. His face was red as he stared at his hands.

"Fuck it," I mumbled, grabbing the front of his shirt to pull him closer as I kissed him without warning. Derek let out a surprised noise, but then he easily relaxed, moving his hand to the back of my head, pulling me in even closer, despite the armrest between us. If it hadn't been a crowded room, I wouldn't have been able to stop myself from climbing over it and into his lap, just to be closer to him. His lips were warm and tasted like the soda he'd been drinking, but mostly he just tasted like Derek. I relaxed my hand against his chest as I felt his heart pounding, only making me want to keep kissing him. It had only been a few seconds, but it felt like much longer. When Derek pulled away, I wasn't ready for it to end, so I chased after his lips, managing to get one more before he stopped me again, a nervous smile on his lips.

"Stiles, calm down, we're in public," he said with a breathy laugh. His face was burning red, but I figured mine was probably much redder. Derek cleared his throat as he sat back in his chair, staring at the screen in front of him as he took a deep breath. "That was. . . unexpected."

"I'm sorry," I mumbled, quickly apologizing. He seemed to like it while we were kissing, but if he regretted it now, I wouldn't be angry, just very hurt.

Derek laughed again, looking at me with a happy expression. "Don't be sorry," he assured me. "We'll talk about it after the movie, okay?" he said, as the lights dimmed and the movie started playing. I sighed as Derek looked away from me, his eyes now glued to the screen. I wondered if I had just made a mistake, but Derek didn't seem upset. I felt good about the kiss, but at the same time, what if Derek didn't want to be with me, even after that? My thoughts were so distracting, I hardly paid much attention to the movie.