Rising From the Ashes
Prologue: Returning Home and the Roommate
Stiles pulled up to his dad's house, smiling as he took in the sight. The police cruiser was parked out front, as promised; his dad was waiting for him to get there. He stepped out of the driver side and before he could even clear the hood of his vehicle, his dad was there, hugging him a little too tight.
"Dad… Can't breathe!" He exhaled the words, being a little over dramatic.
"Don't care; I'm just glad you made it safe." The sheriff let go and took a step back, smiling at his son.
"Come on, let's get you settled in and then we can catch up!"
Stiles just shook his head, there wasn't much to tell. After his parent's divorce, he moved away with his mom. They made it all the way to Arkansas where she met his stepfather.
Ugh… He thought to himself. That man, the man his mothered was now married to, was the epitome of wicked stepparents. When she was around, he was kind and caring. As soon as she was out of sight, Stiles was a burden, and obstacle, something he wanted gone. So, he did the man a favor and struck a deal, buy him the jeep he had been eyeing and give him enough gas money to make it to Beacon Hills, and he would leave. He didn't even have a chance to blink before the asshole was dragging him to the car lot.
So here he was, in Beacon Hills, in the home he always wanted to be in. He was about to turn 18 and start his senior year. His dad was all too happy to have him back. He didn't want to talk bad about his mother, but she was way too passive-aggressive for his liking and it made her easy to walk all over. But she was happy with her new husband, and she wasn't too shocked when Stiles confessed to leaving. She seemed happy to see him go, to spread his wings and live his life, or whatever she would have said if he hadn't left right after she went to work. He didn't want to wait, he wanted to go home.
"Oh! Before I forget, I already told Scott you were moving back. Speak of the devil!"
Stiles turned just in time to see a blur on a bike. Within seconds he was on the ground with a mouthful of grass. He groaned and rolled over to see his best friend, sprawled out on the ground next to him.
"Scott! You could have killed me!"
"No way dude, I had it until you turned around!"
He glared for a minute before shaking his head and moving to the jeep to unpack.
I am so glad I came back.
His senior year flew by, and before he knew it, he was graduating. He had made a few friends, thanks to Scott. Though, it was just Allison, Scott's girlfriend, her best friend and his former third grade crush Lydia, and her boyfriend Jackson. Though he would hardly call Jackson his friend, it was more like he was there because Lydia was. He would laugh when she gave him a look, one that said, 'If you don't come along, I won't be giving it up.'
He usually felt like the fifth wheel, despite everyone, except Jackson, and their attempts to include him in most of their activities, parties, and sometimes just hanging out at someone's house. He appreciated them trying, but he never felt comfortable with the group. He still got to hang with Scott often, and he was happy to have that. Especially after what happened on the first day of school.
"You're what now?" Scott was confused, still processing the information he had just been given.
"I'm gay." Stiles was nervous, practically shaking. He didn't want his best friend to hate him for this.
"Okay? And does that have anything to do with what flavor Popsicle you wanted?"
Stiles did blurt it out at an odd time. They had been sitting in Scott's kitchen, just talking and he just answered a question with it, not really paying attention to the actual question. But the look on Scott's face told him that his best friend was completely cool with it.
"Cherry."
"Nope, the last cherry is mine!" He said as he took a bite of it, throwing a grape one at his best friend.
Stiles sneered and let it hit him in the forehead, dramatically falling to the floor and twitching.
Guess I was scared for nothing. I am glad it doesn't change anything between us. He couldn't help but smile at the thought as he pretended to be dead.
Graduation came and went, and many of his classmates went off to college. Lydia and Jackson went off to Northern California for college, often coming to visit during the breaks and on weekends. Scott, who did almost as bad in his last year of school as Stiles, ended up at Beacon Hills community college. He and Allison had broken up shortly before graduation, but patched things up shortly before she left for Yale. They were trying to make the long distance thing work. He thought it was cute, but it was getting depressing to see all the happy couples around him. So, Stiles decided to start his own future.
Stiles got a job, and after he turned 19, began looking for a new place to live. He didn't mind living with his dad, but he felt that he and his father deserved their space. He barely made enough to get a place on his own, so he decided to look into finding a roommate. He would have asked Scott, but his best friend had made a deal with his mom to live in her house rent free as long as he went to school. So he took to the internet. He looked for maybe an hour before finding the perfect ad.
'Room for Rent, connects to half bath. $550 a month, utilities included.'
The ad was simple, but he knew the address and the apartments were very upscale. The amount the guy was asking for was dirt cheap, so Stiles emailed him and after a few exchanges back and forth and one phone call, he had the room.
He pulled up in front of the apartment on the day he was supposed to move in. He was a little nervous to meet his roommate. When he went to go check the place out, the guy was working so he had to show himself around. But he decided the guy couldn't be so bad once he made sure there were no severed heads in the freezer. But his roommate was home today, took the day off to help Stiles move his stuff in and everything. As he stepped out of the jeep and turned to the apartment, he saw someone walking out from the main entrance of the building.
The man was tall, towering over Stiles' 6'1" body by at least 4 inches, with a toned muscular build, his biceps stretched the sleeves of his shirt almost to the ripping point. His black hair was messily spike, but still had an odd order about it, like the man took his time to make it look that way specifically. The last thing that he noticed was the light green eyes. The way the midday sun caught them for a second, made them almost shine. He thought about stepping forward, but kept his place as the man came forward.
"Stiles?" The man asked with a quirked brow.
"Yeah…" His eyes fell to the man's extended hand.
"I'm your roommate, Derek Hale."
Chapter 1: Observation
Derek… Hale. Stiles blinked, unable to believe it.
The Hale family was one of the most eccentric, yet prestigious families in this town. They were one of the founding families of Beacon Hills. They had influence over most things that went on here, and he was going to be living with the only male heir of the family.
Each generation had someone directly tied into the political workings of this town. The last was his uncle, Peter. He was the former sheriff and loved by everyone. He was far over qualified for the job, coming from a military background, but he insisted on working as an officer of the law after he left the Army. It wasn't long before the town elected him sheriff and he was well on his way to a happy life. Until the old library fire that took his life. The Hale family was devastated, mostly Derek. His uncle was his hero and he wanted to be just like him when he grew up. Stiles was only 6 when he went to the funeral, but could recall Derek, only 11 at the time, crying his eyes out, face buried in his own hands.
The entire family retreated into solitude for a few months; nobody saw or heard much about them. But like with all things, time healed the wounds. They began to appear in town, picking up where they left off. Even Derek began to make appearances with his mother before Stiles and his mom left. After the death of Peter, his dad became sheriff and the hours became hectic. Crime went on the rise and his mom decided she couldn't be with a man who was never around. So she packed up and left, and took Stiles with her.
When he came into town for the summer, he would catch glimpses of Derek every now and then, he became an outgoing teenager, smiling and even taking the track team to nationals. But when Stiles started failing high school, he was stuck in Arkansas during for summer school, and didn't see much of anything in Beacon Hills. So he lost track of the famous 'son of Hale,' as they called him.
Stiles noticed right away that Derek was a man of few words. He rarely said anything as they moved Stiles' belongings into his new room. It took most of the day, and several trips to his dad's house, but they got everything moved in. Derek helped him put his bed back together, still not saying a word. As he finally finished unpacking, Stiles turned to look at the other man with a smile.
"Want some dinner? My treat!"
"Not hungry." He said as he turned from the room and walked across the hall to his own room, leaving the door open.
Stiles followed curiously and saw the stacks of books, the bookshelves that lined the walls, and smirked at the one bookshelf on the far wall that was nothing but comics.
"Can I come in?"
Derek only nodded, not making any eye contact as Stiles crossed the threshold into his room, his eyes wandered along the books, reading titles.
"You can… borrow them, if you want."
Stiles turned, smiling in appreciation.
"Really? Awesome! I promise they will come back in the same condition I borrowed them in!"
He grabbed a few books from the shelves; suddenly remembering how books had been his best friend growing up outside of Beacon Hills. His smile faded slightly as he recalled the other kids calling him weird because he liked to read. He shook it off quickly, turning to leave the room again.
"I am going to order pizza, if you want some, it will be in the kitchen."
Stiles turned and walked from the room, calling for a pizza and sitting in the den with his first book, waiting in the peaceful, wondrous world that was the book he had. After his dinner had arrived, he wandered out onto the balcony, reading until his eyes got heavy. He walked back into the apartment and looked at the pizza box to see that Derek had taken two slices. He smiled and walked to his room, a little happier than he should have been over a couple of slices of pizza.
Property of #BroodyINC