#derek.

he really shouldn't be drinking. he knows that. he made the decision to abstain a long while ago now but these days... with his work growing more disturbing and his family falling apart, he could gather fewer and fewer reasons to remain sober. he sips a whiskey neat at the quiet bar as his eyes drift around the room and settle on the closest customer to him. he leans in a bit, putting on his best facsimile of an approachable smile ( crooked and smirk-like as it is in his sorry state ). "what's a pretty thing like you doing in a place like this?"

@miidnighters liked this for a randomized starter!

the 2-by-2 matchbox bears down on him, a sedating hand to each hip. yes, he can ram the thing open, but the matchbox says no.

he doesn’t like tight spaces.

’ remind me who considered this one. ‘

hunting klaus and his lap dog comes with a santa stocking of sycophants. imagine derek’s dry surprise when it turned out bonnie’s hand wasn’t the only magical one.

his shoulders only fit because hers are a pinch. he slackens, oppressing the space.

he sees better in the dark than she does in sunny-side-up daylight. the hairs on the backs of his arms know before he does. he nods along the strip of light at the threshold.

spencer.   love as a choice. ( love is beautiful because it's built deliberately ) when casey mcquinston wrote ‘ that's the choice. i love him, with all that, because of all that, on purpose. i love him on purpose ’ and when jenny slate tweeted ‘ i just want someone to grab my little face and scream on purpose, on purpose i am going to care about you ’ and when jodi picoult wrote ‘ after fifteen years, love isn't just a feeling. it's a choice ’ and when the good place said ‘ if soulmates do exist, they're not found they're made. ’

derek.   love as tenderness. ( love as gentleness after a lifetime of cruelty ) when ocean vuong said ‘ sometimes being offered tenderness feels like the very proof that you've been ruined" and when pablo neruda said ‘ like a jar you housed the infinite tenderness and the infinite oblivion shattered you like a jar" and when anais mitchell wrote ‘ all i've ever known is how to hold my own, and now i wanna hold you, too. ’

penelope.   love as light. ( love as a luminous force — warm, radiant, and golden ) when mary oliver wrote ‘ light of the world hold me ’ and when charles bukowski said ‘ i look at her and light goes all through me ’ and when david viscott said ‘ to love and be loved is to feel the sun from both sides ’ and when e. e. cummings said ‘ overs alone wear sunlight. ’

STILES HAD FREQUENTED THE LOCAL GAY BAR as of late . it had been years since caitlin had inquired of his sexuality , and stiles had truly began to consider how exactly he felt toward the same sex . it had been a defining moment in his life — one that he was truly grateful for . he had made an effort toward exploring his sexuality since then . after a vodka-pineapple or three , stiles recognized a hulking figure leaning against the bar . the familiarity took him by surprise . is that ? it can’t be . . . approaching with caution , stiles gently grasped the man’s shoulder . when he turned , stiles was greeted by none other than derek hale . with a complete look of shock on his face , he immediately removed his hand from his shoulder . . . they had been there before , and stiles wasn’t about to get his arm ripped off . “ i — uh . . . derek ? ” with a pause , he inquired of the other , “ what in the hell are you doing here ? ” he shouted over the loud music . it wasn’t exactly graceful , but stiles was flabbergasted . it had been years since he had escaped all the magic bullshit , and he wasn’t exactly prepared for it to come rushing back to him in the form of derek hale .

        The sweeter of the two brothers. Older than Aria by 1 year, Derek is her HALF-BROTHER. He’s legally deaf and chose not to get a cochlear implant out of a personal preference. He was the one who taught Laura ASL and was her closest friend through her toughest of times. He was very poorly treated by their parents, especially their dad. He is Aria’s half-brother through Aria’s mom. He’s asexual aromantic and prefers it to be that way but feels intense strong platonic feelings for pretty much everyone. He’s very soft when he wants to be but very strong due to his trauma. Aria hasn’t talked to him since she killed their father. You can read a drabble about that here. She wants to re-connect with him but feels it’s best for the both of them that they don’t, and though he would be shocked about Aria had she been honest to him ( he is the ONLY person she would be honest to ), he would understand. His love for his sister is unconditional because he’s seen what she’s been through. He knows her struggle because he’s faced it before. He’s seen her driven to the point of speechlessness and still communicated with her because she was the only one to pick up ASL in his house anyway.

MEET JAMES.

          The sour of the two brothers. Older than Aria by 2 years, James is her FULLY-BLOOD RELATED brother. James was the angel child by her parents’ standards, still abused by the parents but much much less so. He would act absolutely golden and go out and do worse shit than Laura and Derek would dream. If Derek tried to tell his parents about it, it would be met with anger from both parents. James’ special treatment gave him a superiority complex that he’s unable to shake even in his older age. He is one of the only people Aria will not grace with death. She would rather see him suffer. He was an insufferable bully to not only Aria, but Derek as well. Aria didn’t mind getting bullied. But when he hurt Derek, they had a problem. She would always stand up for him against her brother.