The blade vibrates against his skin. Each pass adding to the pile of hair on the counter. The feeling reminds him of how his mother used card her fingers through his hair as a kid, she would do it over and over again until he would fall asleep next to her on the hospital bed.
He couldn't remember the last time he did this. Had to of been 3 years ago before all the wolf business took over his life. There simply hadn't been enough room for his old problems once the new ones moved in. But now he remembered why he did this, remembered the pain of old loss's coupled with the sting of new ones.
It hadn't been Derek's fault, not really. After the news of his father's accident he had collapsed. Derek had picked him up and taken him back to their apartment and laid with him for hours while he sobbed his heart out. It was when Derek had brought his hand up to start carding through his hair that he had remembered. After his moms death he couldn't stand to have anyone touch his hair like she did. It had been the cause of many panic attacks, casual head rubs and even a quick pat on the head could set him off. One day he just went to the bathroom and shaved it all off. His father was a bit confused and little angry at first but he didn't make a big deal of it.
This time though there was no panic attack. He simply got up and walked to the bathroom, leaving a confused looking Derek in the bed.
When Derek came in he expected questions or a raised eyebrow but instead he got silence. He felt Derek's body press up behind him, one hand coming around his chest, the other grasping the trimmer and pulling it away. Stiles was sure this is where the questions came in, questions he wasn't ready to talk about or answer.
He got silence once again however and he looked up for the first time to see Derek's face over his shoulder in the mirror. His expression was stoic but soft. His eyes spoke of understanding as he brought the trimmer back down to Stiles head and continued from where he left off.
They stood like that for almost an hour as Derek carefully and accurately trimmed all of his hair. When he finished he shut off the razor and stepped back from the boy to brush off most of the hair from his chest. Maneuvering them both into the shower, he never once let go. The stood there, the water beading down their bodies as Stiles buried his face in Derek's chest again and let the water wash them clean.