“You know, I imagined a lot more sunshine on this trip,” said Isaac from his position by the window.
“Hey, Scott? Can you tell your guy to not be a downer?” Stiles called from the room where he was fetching blankets for the nest he planned to build in the living room.
“Why is Stiles here anyway?” asked Isaac, to no one in particular.
“Whether you like it or not, some of us date Stiles,” answered Allison, sweet and snarky at the same time.
“I don’t see the point.”
“Hey!” said Stiles coming into the room, arms full of blankets. “I’ve saved your werewolf ass more times than you deserve it. Would I have done that if you weren’t Allison’s most annoying partner? Maybe, but we’ll never know because, in this universe, you are. And you happen to be Scott’s guy as well, so that means we’re in this together. As long as you’re their something, we’re something, Isaac. You’re just gonna have to live with it.”
Isaac rolled his eyes dramatically, but the hints of a smile played at the corner of his mouth. The man was insufferable, but Stiles was even worse and he wouldn’t let him gain the upper hand in this tug of war they’ve had going on for as long as they’ve known each other.
Stiles dropped the blankets on the floor and looked around at his pack: Scott and Kira snuggled in the sofa, making themselves small under the wool throw blanket that the AirBnB owner left there for them; Derek watching something on his laptop, frowning at the screen as his glasses moved down his nose; Allison sat on the armrest of Derek’s couch, leaning on the backrest and occasionally pointing at the screen wordlessly; Isaac continued to do absolutely nothing but look out the window, absorbed in the way the rain pattered on the deck. Lydia was suspiciously absent.
“It’s fine, guys. Really, I don’t need help or anything,” Stiles said, without expecting anything.
“Stiles, what are you doing?” asked Derek, directing his frown at him.
“I’m building a nest.”
“I thought you were joking,” Scott mumbled, his voice raspy from sleep. Kira snuggled closer, deeper into his embrace.
“I’ve never been more serious in my entire life.” Stiles crossed and uncrossed his arms, not knowing what to do with them. He ended up making two awkward fists, grabbing a bunch of his sleeve with it. “There’s a storm raging outside and the heater is either dying or dead or something. I will not die of hypothermia in the middle of the woods near Lake Tahoe. That’s a terribly oversaturated subgenre of horror that I do not intend to become a part of, thank you very much.”
For a moment, silence filled the living room, all he could hear was Lydia’s voice coming from the bathroom as she sang to herself. Stiles couldn’t make out the words, but he knew it was probably something about wanting to murder him for choosing this weekend to come here. Lydia made her feelings clear the moment she set foot in the cabin and said “this place is… something, I’ll give you that.”
“Is he seriously suggesting we have a– a cud–” Isaac faked a gag. “I can’t say it.”
Allison laughed, throwing her head back, leaving her long beautiful neck exposed. Stiles wanted to kiss and bite and suck on that throat until the skin bruised under his lips.
Derek smiled up at Allison, then looked at Stiles with fond eyes. “You’re not gonna die of hypothermia, Stiles,” he reassured.
“You don’t know that!” Stiles’ voice rose an octave. “The temperature could drop any minute.”
“Stiles, it’s more likely you’ll be maimed by a bear than you get hypothermia after some freak summer rain in the middle of July,” reasoned Allison.
Kira mumbled something from her place in Scott’s chest.
“What was that?” Stiles asked.
“Vampires will probably find us before you die of hypothermia,” she repeated, using the back of her hand to wipe her cheek.
“Awesome.” Scott sighed loudly. “I’m gonna be a blood bag before sunrise.”
Allison redirected her attention to Derek’s laptop, pointing at something in the upper right corner. “Stiles, you’re literally surrounded by people who will protect you if there are vampires out there,” she said, completely ignoring his sputtering.
“Well, since we’re not camping nor leaving food out to attract the wildlife and apparently I don’t have to worry about vampires, I think exposure to the elements is the real concern here.”
“You can't seriously be suggesting a cuddle p– cuddl- no, guys, I can’t say it,” Isaac said, being more insufferable than usual.
“Isaac, man, no one believes your No Stiles facade anymore,” said Scott, stretching his neck, clearly uncomfortable but unwilling to move Kira. “And a cuddle pile would be nice, anyway.”
After faking a gag to keep up the charade, Isaac took off his coat and scarf and went to Stiles’ aid, moving the coffee table out of the way to make space in front of the TV. Then, he went to the pile of blankets at Stiles’ feet and picked one up, holding it in front of Stiles’ face.
“Come on, don’t you wanna get this done? Or do you wanna die?” Isaac asked.
“I thought I wasn’t going to die,” Stiles replied, taking a blanket of his own, arranging it on the floor overlapping the one Isaac put down.
“I’m gonna go get the pillows,” prompted Allison, leaning to drop a kiss on Derek’s head before going to the rooms.
After some work, the floor was padded with blankets and pillows, covering most of the living room. All the moving around woke Kira up long enough for her to pick a spot in the middle of the nest and lie down, bringing with her the wool throw blanket she was using on the couch. Scott, for his part, stood up and stretched, complaining that his neck was not healing fast enough.
“Isaac, tell your guy not to complain so loudly, I’m trying to focus,” Derek said, frowning at his screen.
“Gross, Derek. You’re spending too much time with Stiles,” replied Isaac, kicking his shoes off.
Stiles shook his head, turning around just in time to see Allison shrug off her jeans. “Woah, Allie,” he said, averting his eyes. “Not that I’m opposed to the view but we’re trying not to die of hypothermia here.”
Allison gave him a look that said duh, obviously, but didn’t explain any further, just shrugged off her thick sweater to stay in a cotton t-shirt, panties and socks. “Allie?” Stiles asked.
“If we want to maximize heat efficiency, we should all be naked.”
Out of the corner of his eye, Stiles saw Derek put away his laptop, taking his leather jacket off. He turned to see that Scott was only keeping his underwear and socks on. Even Isaac had taken off a few layers. Only Kira remained fully clothed and that was because she was dozing off already.
“You know, if I had known this is how our weekend at Lake Tahoe would go, I would’ve made it a week at least,” Stiles said, amused.
Allison smiled at him, all dimples and soft curls framing her face. Then she sat down next to Kira, shaking her softly to ask her to take off her jacket if she didn’t want to run a fever later.
Not one to be left behind, Stiles took off his jacket and kicked his sneakers away. He also took off his pants, then lied down in between Allison and Derek, who was holding the thickest blanket for Stiles. He turned to look at Allison and she giggled, grabbing one of his hands in between hers. “Your hands are cold.”
“Maybe I really am dying,” Stiles joked. Derek pinched his side, making him yelp. “What was that for?”
He heard the bathroom door open and close, telling him Lydia was already on her way as well.
“If you can still feel that, you’re not dying.” He slid his warm, calloused hand under his t-shirt, softly caressing his side. “Now, will you sleep already?”
“What if I don’t want to sleep? By the way, have you seen my phone? I gotta water my pocket plants.”
Isaac groaned just as Scott murmured something under his breath, too low for human ears to hear. The bastard. Stiles would remember this when he was mad at Scott for something.
“Really, Stiles? Is watering your pocket plants more important than hanging out with your pack?” Lydia asked, coming into the living room, draped in a thick robe, walking barefoot, her hair still wet.
“You took a shower?” Stiles retorted. “You said there was no hot water!”
“I took a bath and I wasn’t lying, there was no hot water… left after I filled the bathtub,” she didn’t sound ashamed at all. “You promised me hot days under the sun, Stiles.”
Stiles got distracted looking at her soft, pale calves teasing him. He felt as a Victorian man seeing an ankle for the first time, blood rushing from his head to places where it was less convenient while in a —supposedly— friendly cuddle pile with his pack. It’s not like their cuddle piles had never become fuck fests. It was that Stiles truly believed he could die of hypothermia during the night.
“Stiles, you do realize you’re in a room full of werewolves, right?” Derek teased, his fingers drawing distracting patterns on his side.
“It’s not like I can help it!” he defended while Allison giggled next to him, one of her hands playing with the waist of his pants. Stiles was doomed.
Kira’s sleepy voice came from Allison’s other side. “I knew you guys wouldn’t last a minute in here without this nest becoming an orgy.”
“Who said anything about an orgy?” asked Stiles, wishing the Earth would swallow him and his awkward boner, never to be seen again. “This is just a friendly cuddle pile. We can keep it PG-13.”
Lydia unfastened her robe, letting it drop to the floor to reveal her naked body underneath. All the eyes in the room went to her, entranced. “Now, where’s the fun in that?”