---

"Hurry up JD!" Jackson said noticing Jaiden's plate was still half full, his was nearly gone.

"Jackson" His mom said sternly, although she knew why he was in a rush.

"We don't have time to savour the taste, just chew and swallow - In fact forget the chewing"

"Jackson"

"Thanks Mrs Whittemore" Jaiden replied, he winced "Sorry, Jan" he'd already been clipped around the ear a dozen times for not calling her by her first name "What you doing over there Jacks? Inhaling it?"

"In a hurry" Was his reply with a mouthful.

Jaiden shook his head taking another bite, he loved lasagne and this was one of the best he'd ever tasted, there was a small amount of finely chopped chili in it, lasagne and chili - His all time favourite foods now combined into one heavenly meal.

"Quicker" His mom gave him a stern look again, he was trying to be patient but was too excited.

"Why are you in such a hurry? We're only meeting the guys" Jaiden replied, he really didn't want this meal to end "Why are we meeting them? We're all staying here tonight"

"Only us guys - The girls aren't" Jackson replied getting up to wash his plates "Thanks mom" He went to the kitchen to clean the dishes. He wondered if maybe Jaiden's analogy of inhaling the food was correct, he was a fast eater but that had disappeared and it was a large portion too, his mom always made enough lasagne to feed the armed forces.

He came back to the dining room and took the seat next to Jaiden, he placed his arm on the table and propped his head up looking at Jaiden "Get lost"

"Come on"

"Get bent" Jaiden replied, it didn't matter though as he was then taking the last bite. He barely placed the fork down and Jackson was taking it to wash up "Thanks Mrs Whittemore" He forgotten again "I've got it" He smacked himself around the head causing her to laugh.

"You're welcome Jaiden dear"

"And thank you so much for the party" Jackson had barely left the room and he was back in looking more urgent than before "You ready?"

"Just need the bathroom" He replied heading up the stairs two at a time.

"You serious? All that making me hurry and now you've gotta pee?" Jaiden shouted up to him "If I get indigestion it's your fault!" He then remembered Jan was there "Sorry"

She smiled at him "He really likes you" She could see slight shock in his face like he almost didn't believe her "He asked us if he could have the party with you and started reeling off why we should allow it and he looked so happy, there was no way we couldn't say yes to him. You know Jackson, he kept talking not letting us tell him it was okay and then finished off with if we said no then he didn't want a party"

"Really?" Jaiden asked. He would have liked to continue talking to Jan to try find out why Jackson liked him so much but Jackson then appeared at the top of the stairs sporting that goofy grin again, he'd had it on and off all night. He came running down the stairs and up to his mom and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

"Bye mom"

"We'll be back Sunday" She said, they were leaving in a few hours for a business meeting tomorrow. Jaiden gave her a hug and a kiss "Goodnight Jaiden dear"

"Thank you" He replied, they had accepted him into their family, the party was already planned and the cost wouldn't change but they were still allowing him to be part of it "Have a good trip"

They walked out of the house and down the drive to Jackson's car.

"Do you wanna drive?" Jackson asked throwing the keys to Jaiden. He noticed Jaiden giving him a suspicious look "What?"

"You never let anyone drive your car - Where's the real Jackson?"

"Don't worry he's safe"

"He bloody better be" Jaiden replied, they got into the car and Jaiden had to move the seat back "Jeez Jacks, you might as well sit under the hood" Jackson smiled, that's exactly what Danny says when he drives. He turned to put the seat belt on and felt Jaiden's fingers on the back of his neck "What's this?"

"Remember last week when Derek came to school looking for McCall? It was then"

"I'll kill him!" Jaiden replied. He wasn't sure if he was more angry with Derek for hurting one of his friends or with himself for taking so long to notice it. At least he could help Jackson though "Don't freak out"

"I won't" Jaiden moved closer to Jackson and run his tongue across the scars, he looked and saw them slowly starting to heal "Bro! You gave me a boner!"

Jaiden laughed "That was super strength vampire healing spit - This is super strength vampire give your friend a boner spit" He ran his tongue across Jackson's neck again.

"Oh yeah, give it to me baby"

"And we're done" Jaiden started the car and pulled off "I'm talking to Lydia, you really need to get laid"

"I need to get laid? You're the one who went in for seconds, I didn't ask for it" Jackson replied friendly punching Jaiden "So have you and Sarah?" He saw Jaiden smiling which was guy talk for yes "Get in! When?"

"The other night" Jaiden replied, it was good "Kinda glad we did, her parents are there a lot and now Derek is staying at mine"

"I'm not saying that he's cock blocking but we need to figure out a way to clear the charges against him"

"He said he didn't want you and Danny to get involved, he said you're innocent and we can't drag you into it"

"I agree about Danny but I've had a taste of your life, I know a little of what's going on so tell Derek I will help him"

"Danny will kill us if he finds out"

"He won't kill you but he will me"

"Other way around mate, you're his best friend, he won't kill you" Jaiden replied. He felt Jackson come over very nervous - Of course, if Stiles could see it then obviously Danny's best friend could see it "I know" He could see Jackson was afraid to commit in case they weren't talking about the same thing "Stiles told me that he likes me" Perhaps Stiles wasn't wrong... Of course there was a chance that they both were wrong, perhaps Scott could smell Danny? "Jackson? I don't give Danny the wrong signals do I? I don't want to hurt him"

"I think he knows nothing will happen - Maybe you should talk to him though?"

"Yeah, but what do I say? I don't even have the I'm straight excuse. I know he doesn't know about Scott but I do and I can't lie to him" Jackson was nervous again "What? Oh god I have been flirting with him haven't I?"

"Not exactly" Jackson started, he wasn't sure if he should tell Jaiden but at the same time he needed to know "That night, you're first date with Sarah, we both knew Scott came to see you, we couldn't hear anything though" He didn't know for sure that anything else had happened between them but he did wonder "When you came back to bed Danny held you for a while, when he let go you pulled him back and asked him to hold you..."

"Oh"

Jackson could hear the sadness in his voice and see it in his eyes, he knew it would get worse but had to finish "You called him Scott"

"What did he say"? Jaiden asked, there were tears forming in his eyes, he didn't want to hurt Danny "Jacks?" Jackson turned to look out the window, he didn't want to face Jaiden "Please tell me"

"He didn't say anything" It wasn't a lie as such, Danny really hadn't said anything. Jackson was really regretting starting this conversation "He... He cried" The tears in Jaiden's eyes started to fall, Jackson took his hand and held him tight "It will be alright JD" He noticed that they were now only a couple of minutes away from the park where they were meeting the others, at least Jaiden would be happy soon.

Jackson didn't let go of Jaiden's hand until he needed it for gear changes and then he moved his hand to his leg, he felt that if he let go Jaiden might not realise that he'll always be there for him, no matter what happens. He wondered why Jaiden had got so upset - There must have been other times when some girl liked him but he was interested, why was Danny different to him? Which then led him to another question, why was Jaiden so different for Danny? He had been interested in a guy a few months ago, when he told him the guy had said he was straight - He didn't cry then, fair enough that guy hadn't said someone else's name but still Jackson hadn't seen him cry like that since he came out.

The engine stopping pulled him from his thoughts. They got out of the car, Jackson noticing that Jaiden hadn't quite managed to remove the evidence of his tears, he wiped Jaiden's cheek with his thumb giving him the best reassuring smile he could. They started to make their way through the park, Jaiden bumped into Jackson.

"You're going soft"

Jackson bumped into him "I thought you liked this Jackson"

"I want to know what you've done with the real Jackson"

"Like I said, he's safe" Jackson replied. Jaiden put his arm around him and pulled him close "He's very safe now" They walked a little further when Jaiden stopped, he sniffed the air "What is it?" He sniffed again "JD?" He had now turned full vampire and continued to smell the air "Oh shit! It's the alpha isn't it?"

"No - Worse than that" Jackson wasn't sure he wanted to know what could be worse than a murderous alpha werewolf "They've got burger and fries!"

"Christ JD!" Jackson replied, his heart dropping down from his mouth back to where it should be "I thought it was something serious!"

"It is something serious - They didn't wait for us"

"We just ate"

"I know but still we're talking burger and fries here, what were they thinking?..."

"You can't still be hungry..."

"... The girls I can forgive..."

"...Where do you store it all?..."

"... But the guys..."

"... Is it some kind of vampire..."

"... Surely they know I'd be able to smell it"

"... Power, to be able to eat a horse and still be hungry?"

They turned the corner and found their friends sat along the picnic benches, each one of them had burger and fries, Jaiden's mouth started to water. Forget steak through the heart, not having burger and fries was more painful.

"Who's that?" Jaiden asked noticing another person, without the glasses he would look a lot like... "Rhys?" Rhys handed his food to Stiles and came over to Jaiden, they fell into each others arms "What the hell are you doing here?"

"I told you I wanted to meet Stiles" Rhys replied hugging Jaiden tighter "And I missed you" They pulled apart, Rhys saw Jackson standing back from them, the others had told him that Jaiden was having a meal with Jackson and his parents and it was Jacksons job to keep him busy straight after school while he settled in "Jackson right?"

Jackson walked up to him and shook his hand "Good to meet you buddy" Jackson had wanted to be with the others to meet Rhys but they'd already planned dinner, his parents wanted to meet the boy they were throwing a party for.

"So you all knew about this?" Jaiden asked, they all smiled and nodded. Jeff had told Danny about Rhys coming and wanted to surprise Jaiden, Danny spoke to the others and they had it all planned for the weekend "And Stiles knew? How did you not say anything?"

Stiles looked up in mock shock, he had a mouthful of fries "Hey! I can keep quiet"

"Really?" Rhys asked as they made their way back to the others, Jackson sat beside Lydia, Jaiden sat between Danny and Sarah and Rhys took his place next to Stiles again "Since I've been here you only stopped talking for a minute"

"Hey!" Stiles replied hitting him, he noticed Scott nodding in agreement "Hey!" It was Scott's turn to be hit "I'm not talking to you two"

Rhys looked over to Scott "Ten minutes?"

"Absolute tops" Stiles hit them both again only just managing to catch the food that was about to fall from his lap.

Jaiden smiled at his friends, he felt sure that when they met Stiles and Rhys could hit it off straight away, he just wasn't expecting it to be so soon. He'd been caught up with the excitement of seeing Rhys again and realised he hadn't said hello to Sarah. He turned to look at her, Lydia was sat the other side of her, he lent over a little "Hello beautiful" He looked back to his girl with a grin "Hey Sarah"

She elbowed him in the stomach and he could taste lasagne again "Hello baby" She replied kissing him before resuming to eat. Normally burger and fries wouldn't be on a cheerleader's menu but she was always careful what she ate and everyone else was going for it, she wanted to be part of her new friends group, they were all so different to her other friends.

"Dan, she's beating me up again"

"Good" Danny replied. Jaiden lent his head on Danny's sholder... Did he just whine? "What?" Danny noticed him eyeing the fries, he offered them to his friend "Here you go" There was more whining "What?" Jaiden was looking at the fries like he didn't know what to do "I'm not feeding you Jai" Another whine "Jeez" Danny took some fries and placed them in Jaiden's mouth - He wasn't sure how Jaiden could still produce that sexy smile with a mouthful of fries. He stood up and looked at Kyle "You sit next to him, he's scary"

"And me sitting next to him will make him less scary how?"

"He'll be scaring you and not me" Danny replied with a smile, Kyle moved over closer to Jaiden "My knight in shining armor"

Jaiden repeated his previous actions with Kyle, leaning on his shoulder first and then a little whine, Kyle had learnt from Danny's experience and fed Jaiden some fries before he could whine again.

"Thank you" Jaiden said with a smile "Someone told me you're not coming camping, I forget who it was, some idiot"

"I told you" Danny replied.

"I stand by my idiot comment"

Kyle laughed earning him a loving glare from Danny - He wasn't sure exactly how a glare could contain love but somehow Danny had pulled it off "I have to go visit my grandparents, I tried to get out of it but apparently my cold faking acting needs some work"

"We'll have to get Rhys down again and do it another time" Jaiden replied, Kyle smiled at him which Jaiden assumed was just because he was being friendly but there was a secret in it.

Jaiden got down from the bench to tackle the small obstacle course. It started with a few wooden stumps at different heights and then moved on to tires half buried in the ground. He wasn't quite seventeen, he should still be young enough to enjoy them but his weight told him otherwise, the tires were sinking under the pressure, he decided to skip the rest of them and move on to the chain walk thing which started off fine but then he met the supporting chains, his feet were too big and he half got caught up on them. He decided to walk across the hand rails instead - This obstacle course was quickly loosing it's appeal - Next was the zip line, he was too tall to be able to sit on it so he opted for standing on the seat.. His head was now dangerously close to the wire, he didn't want to risk having his head lopped off and turning to dust in front of his friends so jumped off. There were only two obstacles left now, this wasn't much of a course, although it's probably meant for seven year olds not seventeen. He now attacked the cargo net, it was only a little over eight foot in height but at least it was a vertical climb and not at and angle. It only took him 30 seconds to climb.

"This is no fun" He was now stood on the top of it.

"You okay over there JD?" Jackson asked, he'd been watching Jaiden and noticed his smile fading with each obstacle.

"No" Jaiden replied jumping down to the ground "This thing sucks!" The last obstacle was the monkey bars, surprisingly they were rather high. They were low enough that a child falling wouldn't hurt them self but tall enough that is feet wouldn't touch the ground even stretched out straight. He quickly moved along the ten foot of monkey bars and pulled him self up at then end. That really wasn't as much fun as he first thought it would be. He hooked his legs over the top and then lowered down so he was upside down "Sarah?" She looked over to him "Upside down Spidey kiss?" She hoped off the bench and went over to him, giving him a rather passionate kiss. When she pulled away she saw the grin on his face, it was like she had just fulfilled his childhood dreams.. She probably had, boys loved comics "Anyone else?"

"Oh! Me! Me!" Stiles said running over to him, he planted a kiss on Jaiden's cheek "Yay! Upside down Jaidey kiss!" Sarah laughed with them, she'd always thought Stiles to be a little annoying but having got to know him more she realised he was funny "I always hoped that I would be Spidey and not Mary Jane"

"Get up there Stiles" Sarah said smiling at him, she hoped that Jaiden wouldn't mind. His smiling followed by getting down told her that he didn't. He was barely down before Stiles was pushing him out of the way and climbing up. He soon got himself in position and Sarah gave him a kiss, apparently she had now fulfilled the childhood dreams of two boys "Lydia?" He was surprised when she came over to him and give him a kiss, he was mostly joking when he asked, he hadn't expected her to do it "Any other takers? Jackson I'm looking at you"

"Prepare to be blown away Stilinski" Jackson ran over to him kissing his cheek.

"You call that a kiss?" Stiles asked "I'm not your Gran" Jackson had started to walk back to the others, he turned around and gave Stiles a full on kiss on the lips. The others all laughed a cheered.

Allison wolf whistled "Boy on boy action!"

Jackson and Stiles pulled apart laughing, Stiles got down and they made their way back to the others, they both had their arms around each others shoulders.

"Sorry ladies but Jackson's kiss was way better"

"Yep" Jackson replied trying to look cool "I'm just that good"

Danny scoffed "You are such a whore Jack"

Stiles grabbed his rubbish and noticed the others had finished too, he went along to collect theirs too. He came to Lydia and she smiled at him "Thank you honey" He was beaming, not only was Lydia Martin now talking to him, she called him honey and actually appeared to mean the friendliness. He'd have to ask Scott later, he'd know if she was genuine of not.

He walked over to the trash can, Rhys was close behind him "So that's Jackson?" Stiles nodded "Jaid said he was a complete dick, he seems alright"

"Until recently he was a dick" Stiles replied, Jackson had changed a lot "In fact he was the king of all dicks" The old Jackson would never have gone with the Spidey kiss... He would have been the Green Goblin to Stiles' Spidey "I'm not sure what made him change but I'm glad he did"

"I should say - That was some bromance you guys had going on there" Rhys replied. They went back to the others, Sarah was resting her head on Jaiden's shoulder, Rhys couldn't help but think how good they looked together "So Sarah, what's a nice girl like you doing dating a dork like Jaid?"

"I felt sorry for him" Sarah started "He made a bet with Jackson that he could get a date with me - He needed the money" Rhys laughed, that was Jaiden "He's really romantic though"

"Thank you baby" Jaiden replied kissing her "You were a bit of an animal though" Sarah laughed and kissed him again.

"I find that hard to believe JD"

"She was!" He looked shocked that Jackson would question him "There we were in Danny's car, I was trying to listen to the classical music and Sarah was all over me" Sarah smiled, apart from the classical music part he was right so far "So there I was, pretending to enjoy it, I said to her 'What do you want?' and she said 'I want your boxers around your ankles' Christ!"

Sarah had said that, she decided it was his turn to be embarrassed "He had to get them out of the glove compartment and put them on"

Kyle had just took a sip of drink, he spat it out with laughter and looked at Jaiden "Owned!"

"Jai you know I love you but if I find your boxers in my car I swear to god I'll hang you with them"

"Dan" Jaiden said being secretive "We're both seeing someone, stop being kinky in front of them"

"Shit!" Danny put his arm around Jaiden and smiled "Sorry"

Sarah and Kyle gave each other a knowing look, it was pretty obvious to the whole group that there was more than friendship between Danny and Jaiden. Kyle looked at his watch, he should get going soon, he had to be up early in the morning. He didn't want to go though, he was having so much fun with his new group of friends, he wanted to stay with them and go camping tomorrow.

"I better head off guys"

"No!" Jaiden replied, he didn't want tonight to end. They weren't doing much but it was great.

"I have to, we leave at five"

"Do you have to?"

"Unfortunately" Kyle replied getting down from the bench "I'll see you guys Monday" They all said bye to him and Danny walked with him to his car. When they reached the car park Danny walked over to his car and unlocked it "What are you doing?"

Danny opened the glove compartment "Just checking" there was no underwear in it "Jai's life is safe" He locked the car and went back to Kyle giving him a kiss "I'm gonna miss you"

"I'll be back soon" Kyle returned the kiss, Danny's lips were so soft "Have fun camping" They kissed again "Can you try find out what Jaiden and Jackson want for their birthday? I'm useless at buying presents"

"I'll give it a shot, Jackson will be easy but Jaiden will barely acknowledge he has a birthday, I don't think he'll be very forthcoming"

"If anyone can find out it will be you"

---

Not long after Kyle left, they all decided to leave, they were leaving at eight to go camping. The girls were staying at Allison's and the boys at Jackson's.

When they had planned the overnight stay at the lake, both Allison's parents and Stiles' dad had said no due to the animal attacks unless there was an adult there too. Allison asked her aunt to come, she wasn't that much older than them so if they had to have an adult she would prefer it to be her rather than someone like her dad.

As soon as the boys arrived at Jacksons they raided the fridge and cupboards. Jaiden found some left over lasagne and soon claimed it, Scott tried to get some but was met with a growl, he retreated quicker than he went in.

Rhys and Danny suggested watching a DVD but Stiles countered that with a game of Monopoly, before anyone could say yes or no Jackson ran up to his room to retrieve the Simpson's version of the game.

Danny and Jaiden had both become bankrupt, Stiles and Jackson were practically in joint first with near enough the same money and property.

"They're cheating" Rhys said rolling the dice, seven, he moved Homer and ended up in jail, again "Jackson!"

"How the hell is it my fault?" Jackson took his turn and was visiting jail "See! Even after being unjustly accused I still came to see you - That's what you call a friend!"

It was now Scott's turn, he landed on the power plant which was owned by Stiles "Excellent" Stiles was also Mr Burns.

"You know what Stiles" Scott started, handing his money to Stiles "We're supposed to be like brothers, family doesn't do this kind of thing to each other"

"I'll always love you Scottie" Stiles said adding the money to his ever growing pile "But I love your MonopoMoney and anguish more"

Danny and Jaiden sat there smiling at their friends. Watching the others play and argue was way more fun than actually playing the game with them.

Stiles had took his turn and had to hand over some money to Jackson. It was now Rhys's turn again "Stiles - Spot me fifty bucks would you mate?" Stiles gave him an unsure look "Come on buddy you know I'm good for it"

"I don't know - Your character reference isn't brilliant, the only property you own is in the shoddy part of Springfield and you've been in jail three times already"

"Fine!" Rhys rolled praying for doubles "Keep your stupid money" His prayers had gone unanswered by the Monopoly god "I didn't want it anyway" He took off his sweater so he was just wearing a vest. A thought crossed Stiles' mind and he started giggling "What?" Somehow Jackson had caught on to Stiles' thoughts and he started off too. It caused Stiles to laugh harder, it was now a chain reaction, they were both laughing "See! I said they're cheating!"

Jackson managed to get out a few words "Lucky for you guys we're not..."

"... Playing strip Monopoly" Stiles finished off. They were both laughing uncontrollably now, Stiles looked at Jackson "Oh Jesus! I'm after wetting m'self" Jackson's face was bright red and his eyes were watering now "Where's your bathroom Jacko?"

"I'll show you" Jackson replied getting up "I gotta pee too" Jackson noticed Danny smirking "Not together, get your mind out of the gutter Mahiʻai" He turned to Stiles and offered his hand to help him up "Come on Sty"

Once they were out of the room Rhys reached over and took a hundred dollars from Stiles' heap "Crazy cheating bastards" He took another hundred from Jackson's pile and passed it to Scott "Here you go buddy"

"Rhys?" Jaiden started "Now you're cheating"

"Quiet you! Homer needs donuts"

Danny laughed at his reply and whispered to Jaiden "That sure told you" Danny's warm breath against his ear sent a slight shiver through his body "You okay?"

"Yeah I'm good" Jaiden replied nuzzling into Danny's neck "We suck at Monopoly"

"You suck, I just failed so you weren't left out"

"As excuses for suckiness go that was pretty good"

"Thanks" Danny replied yawning "I'm shattered" He yawned again, in the past ten minutes his eye lids had become heavier "I forget, what were the sleeping arrangements?"

"Rhys is with Stiles, Scott and Jackson together and I'm sorry buddy but you drew the short straw"

"I'm not sharing with a cheater" Rhys said hearing their conversation "Scott, I'm crashing with you"

"Tight"

---

After making sure that the others, especially Danny, were asleep, Jaiden left to go back to his to see Derek. He walked upstairs, noticing the clock, it was now 2am, he wondered if it was too late, Derek was probably asleep now. He opened the door, Derek was awake, he was sat up in bed but not in Jaiden's bed, he was in a smaller single bed.

"Hey, what are you doing home?" Derek asked. He could see that Jaiden was confused "Rhys thinks I'm a lodger so Jeff brought the bed in here, it would look strange if he knew we shared the same bed"

"That makes sense" Jaiden sat on the edge of his bed.

"Are you okay?" Jaiden got up and walked to Derek's bed, he was about to pull the covers up to get in "Jaiden.. I'm kinda naked... Werewolf junk and all" Jaiden smiled and kicked off his shoes before getting in. Their bond was a lot stronger now, he didn't mind anymore "What's wrong?"

"Danny knows something happened between Scott and me" Derek held him tight against his chest "When we stayed at Danny's the other week he cuddled me... I called him Scott" Jaiden put his arm around Derek's waist "Jackson said he cried"

"Is he okay now?" Derek asked.

"I'm not sure, I hope so. I don't want to hurt him"

"Jaiden you can't always please everyone"

"I know but this is Danny. He's such a nice guy"

Derek kissed his hair "I really think you guys need to talk, tell each other how you feel"

Jaiden knew that Derek was right but he didn't even know how he felt himself, how could he tell Danny his feelings for him when they were so unclear to himself? They were both in a relationship now, hopefully whatever it was between them would just blow over. He deiced now wasn't the time to dwell on it too much, he felt comfortable and safe with Derek - They were still getting stronger each day. Jaiden wasn't sure how or why but he knew that he loved Derek like he was his real brother - It was scary but he loved him more than he did Elise.

He thought back to the day his mom and sister left, he hasn't seen Elise since, he wondered if she ever missed him.

---