I couldn't handle it... I couldn't handle knowing that I pushed my daughter away from me. That I betrayed her and hurt her. I should have seen everything that she had been doing... I should have known that it was too much for a teenager, no matter how amazing she was. I should have noticed that the clues that leaded me towards Kate and Matt were too easy... as if they were planted there on purpose. I should have known better, should have known that my daughter would have never done something bad but only tried to protect the ones she love. I should have known, should have seen it but I still didn't. I haven't felt so much pain since Claudia's death. I would have normally start drinking at this point, but I couldn't allow myself to disappoint Stiles once more.

My self-pity and guilt party was interrupted when I heard the door's ring. I took a deep breath trying to look more like the sheriff of Beacon Hills, and not an rehabilitee alcoholic that was at the edge of falling back into his ex-addiction. Once I decided I was ready I walked towards the door and opened it, you'll know my surprise when I found Peter Hale standing at my porch wearing his typical v-neck shirt, jeans that hugged his form in a very provocative way and holding a bouquet of my favorite flowers: Arbutus* and Edelweis**.

"Hi Sheriff" he greeted me with a sly smirk. His eyes sparkled with something I didn't have time to decipher. Maybe, longing? But longing for what? I thought confused "I wanted to see how you were... after Red's disappearance and being thrown into this whole supernatural mess" he told me, his smirk slipping off and being replaced with a tiny comforting smile that went away as soon as Peter noticed it was there.

"That is the second time I heard you call my daughter that" I commented, opening the door so he could enter. He did and huffed annoyed at the mess that found when he was inside. Without even turning to ask for permission, he placed the bouquet of flowers on the coffee table next to the sofa and started tidying the place. The way he moved around me with so much ease and grace, as if he had been living with me for years, brought a sense of nostalgic to me. He was almost like... Claudia and Stiles. I said in my head, sadly but then shook my head to chase that thought away. No one will be able to replace my dead wife or daughter "Why do you call her Red?" I demanded to know, trying to make a conversation so I wouldn't have those kind of thoughts.

"Come on Sheriff I know that you are just as intelligent as your daughter, make the math yourself" his reply brought warmth in my heart.

I was happy that someone else was able to see what a great girl Stiles is. And by what I have been told it was just now that Peter did it, he saw it since the moment he met her. Just that made me forgive Peter for all the murders that he did, plus he had lost half of his mind because of the fire.

"She is intelligent, isn't she?" I said out loud with a sad smile as I kept on watching Peter order my house "Did you know that she is graduating at seventeen years old?" I knew that I was talking about my daughter with a complete stranger but I couldn't help it, I missed her so much. And it wasn't only because she left yesterday, it was the accumulation of all the years that I've spent submerging myself into work. All so I wouldn't be able to think that Claudia was dead, which only caused me to ignore my own daughter "People only see her ADHD and her low sense in fashion, but they never ever try to really look at her. She is as intelligent as Lydia, if not more. The only difference is that while Martin decided to spend the free time that she had because school was way too easy for her, in parties, shopping and beauty salons. My daughter spent them in training with the lacrosse team, turning into their game strategist and tutor for whenever they were failing classes. Also, she is part of the language club of her high school and won every translation and writing competition since she became the caption of it. Did you know that she speaks five languages?!" I colapsed on the sofa and looked at the hands on my lap in complete loss "Her mother taught her Latin and Greek when she was little, I never knew why but now it makes sense. All because they are both witches. I am from Polish descent so she learnt the language. Of course English cause she lives in the United Stated and Spanish from school".

"That is quite an achievement for a girl her age" Peter commented with awe in his voice, awe that I think he didn't notice he showed "Miss Martin will really want to kill someone when she discovers that there is someone as smart as her that speaks more languages and has achieved more in her life than her" he commented with a devilish smirk and a chuckle. I would have laughed with him but I was hypnotized by how handsome he looked with that smirk. What the hell? From where did that thought come from?! "Did you ever made her do the international exams for those languages? It will help her a lot to get scholarships for collage and especially for work" he told me.

"No" I answered snapping out of my trance, coughing to cover my blush with a fake cough. I really hope werewolves can't smell that kind of things, I thought hopefully but his teasing smirk told me otherwise "It never occurred to me".

"Then you should" he told me, shifting so he would be facing me "It will really help your daughter".

"What are you really doing here?" I asked him.

My eyes locked with his and I was stunned by how blue they were. We were so close that I was able to feel his hot breath on my skin whenever he exhaled, leaving goosebumps behind.

"I already told you... John" I tried not to shiver when he said my name in such a low and seductive tone "I came to see how you were and to... and to take care of you" he averted his eyes when he said the last time and shifted on his place nervously "Can I?" I almost gasped when he looked at me from beneath his eyelashes. All his confidence gone, leaving an insecure little animal that was asking for reassurance and not to be thrown away.

"If you really want to... I guess I'll need a friend to talk to" I replied with a comforting smile.

Disappointment passed through his eyes but he covered it with a cocky smirk before I could comment on it "Of course, a friend" even if his face didn't show it, his tone was all proof I needed to know that he wanted something more from me. But I wasn't ready yet.

"Come on Peter" I stood up and offered him my hand "I was planning to call the delivery but now that you are here we can go out to eat. What do you say?".

I knew that I was being a bit cruel by leading Peter like this, but I was confused and didn't know what I wanted right now. Everything I knew was a lie and my world had been turned upside down yesterday. Luckily for me Peter didn't see it like this. He just beamed at my offer and grabbed my hand, puffing his chest as a proud wolf that had succeeded on something. It was so cute that I had to chuckle.

"Where to?" he asked me with an interested tone, but I knew he was at least a bit excited.

"There is this Asian restaurant near the sheriff station that I always go to with Stiles" I told him "It is small but homey and their food is excellent".

"If you say so, I trust you" he said before heading out in front of me, back straight walking like he was the king and I had to follow him and please his whims. The strangest and most confusing thing was that I didn't mind doing exactly that "Are you coming or what?" he demanded to know with an annoyed tone.

"Coming, coming" I replayed amusedly with a small chuckle and headed towards him.

Maybe things aren't as bad as I thought them to be. I commented in my head, once we were in my car, as I watched Peter hum and drum his fingers at the rhythm of the blues playing on the radio. Yeah, they aren't.

*Arbutus: This flower means cementing fidelitous between two people.

**Edelweis: This flower means courage and devotions.