"TO QUOTE THE GREAT AND BRILLIANT, ALEXANDER MCCALL ," STILES STILINSKI SMILED WIDELY. "FUCK FEELINGS".

Alec sighed, shaking his head. "You are never gonna let me live that down, huh? That happened forever ago, I was drunk, forgot about it."

"I wish I could," Stiles responded. "But, five minutes after you saying that. I caught you making out with Charles. Disgusting."

At the mention of Charles, the humor left. Scott looked at his best friend and brother. "Hey, at least you sorta, kinda upgraded. At least. I like Derek better than Charles."

"Everyone likes Derek better than Charles," Alec said, sighing. "I mean, how was I supposed to know that? He lied to me. And he only got caught when I didn't show up home and Rafael tracked my phone."

"I'll never forget that day," Stiles said. "My Dad purposelessly kept bumping him and hitting into doors and walls."

Alec smiled.

"So, does Derek know-"

Alec interrupted Scott. "about Charles? No. Why would I tell him? It was a mistake. And not a big deal. Plus, it happened while...he was distracted."

Derek had been dating Paige, and then Kate showed up.

"Not a big deal?" Stiles asked, still not believing that Alec  would defend the man. "He was nineteen, almost twenty. You were fifteen. And he was selling drugs to kids. I thought he was a murderer because of how dad acted."

"Yeah," Alec pushed his hair back. "it was stupid. Derek would believe it was stupid. Why would I tell him? So, that I can hear how stupid I was?"

"Derek wouldn't call you stupid," Scott stated.

"He'd probably hunt down Charles," Stiles said.

"Maybe. Even so, Derek's for enough on his plate. Plus, he'll just blame himself. He's always doing that, even before all this shit happened. With Erica and Boyd missing. And Jackson."

"I'm just saying," Stiles spoke.

Alec's head snapped up. "Shut up. Someone's coming."

{320}