Stiles stirred in his sleep. He scratched his neck, adjusting his position on the highly uncomfortable and narrow seat. His neck muscles ached, as they had been squished on the back support at an awkward angle, for God knows how long. He would heal though.

"Can someone start the damn AC, please?"

He mumbled, eyes fluttering open, slowly, still heavy with sleep. He was drenched in sweat and the stale air around him was suffocating all his senses, especially with no AC, and no movement.

The bus had halted at the rest stop.

Stiles noted the time on the wrist watch.

2 AM.

Great. The bus should be halting here for fifteen minutes, at least, so he could go outside and maybe breathe a little fresh air, then.

"Hey man, you wanna-"

He stopped dead, at the sight of the empty seat beside him.

Was I dreaming?

He squinted his eyes and tried to stir his blurry memory, which was currently drowned in a lingering sleep. No. He clearly remembered the earthy scent, like the aroma of the ground when rain hits it, mixed with that mild soothing aftershave. That Beta had smelled so good. He remembered those pale green eyes, flecked with grey, brown and blue, that mingled so well. Those thick dancing eyebrows, which talked so much better than the man himself. The never fading scowl and that thick, unbearable scent of agony.

The Beta had looked annoyed with his constantly furrowed eyebrows but had smelled broken, depressed. As if, he was hiding some dark misery with a façade of aloofness.

For a moment, Stiles wondered what could have caused him so much pain, but he quickly realised that an empty seat was not a good sign, especially in this secluded area at two in the morning and with a dangerously miserable mind-set. The Beta shouldn't be roaming around, alone, at all.

He got up from his seat, looking around for the familiar tall, muscled figure. But he couldn't locate him. The bus was filled with snoring sounds, coming from different corners of the bus; unclear mumbles, ruffling clothes and a crying pup. Many were in deep sweet-early-morning sleep. He breathed in a thick gulp of air to track that earthy scent one more time.

Yes, the scent was still lingering around. It had faded a little, but was still noticeable. The Beta must be nearby, somewhere. He got down from the bus.

The cool breeze of morning air pleasantly tickled his uncovered skin, refreshing his body and mind. The road was poorly lit with broken street lights, still wrapped under the dark cover of the night.

Danger. Go back - his subconscious called out.

Find the beta - his wolf called back.

He stopped, taken aback a little.

Well, his subconscious mind had always alerted him of danger. Stiles was so prone to danger because of his Act-first-Think-never attitude. His wolf feelings, though, would always agree to his subconscious like an old pal.

But not today. Why? Why was he so worried about the man he had hardly known for two hours? He did not even know the man's name. Then why?

Stiles shook his head and tried to wipe out all these weird, baseless thoughts. But, he listened to his wolf and quietly followed the trail.

There was no one on the streets. No one. Definitely not a night-life friendly town then. However, a few vehicles zoomed past him at regular intervals, clearly speeding. After all, there was no one to maintain the law here.

He continued his march down the road, as the Beta's scent grew thicker in the air and kept one ear focused on the sounds from the bus. Actually, it was easy with the pup's wailing noise.

After a while, everything felt distant and barely audible, even the wailing.

The Beta had gone farther than Stiles had initially predicted. For a moment, he doubted if the man was ever planning on returning. His heart thudded rapidly at the thought.

He was alone, on the empty streets of some ghost town, not sure if his voice would reach anyone's ears if he shouted for help, just in case.

Stop. Turn around.

Not yet buddy, go on. Just a little more.

Stiles was feeling completely disoriented with the internal tug-of-war of thoughts.

And then, a thick clear wave of sadness hit his nose, hard.

Finally -

He let out a heavy breath, which had been making his chest tight. He increased his pace, and saw the beta sitting on the bench at the side of the road.

He had leaned forward with elbows on his knees, hands clasped tightly, shoulders slumped down (as if they had been carrying tons of weight), and gaze pinned to the ground, unfocused.

"Do you have any idea what time it is?"

Derek jerked in response, raising his head up to gape at Stiles, in utter shock.

How had he not heard Stiles approaching? Had he blocked the senses so tight? Not good!

The surprise on the Beta's face quickly changed to frustration. He scowled at Stiles, clearly not happy to see him there.

"Why are you here? Are you following me?"

"No!"

Stiles blurted it out, like a reflex, and he watched Derek's eyebrows shoot up into his hairline. "I mean, I was just…looking for you," he stuttered, trying to cover up for his lie, before quickly changing the topic, "They're leaving in five, maybe two minutes -"

"I'm not coming," Derek cut in, hissing out every single word, spreading his hands over the back of the bench.

"What?" Stiles asked, in surprise.

"Are you deaf?"

"Are you crazy?"

There was a long pause, where they both glared at other, until-

Derek broke eye contact, clenched his jaw, and ignored Stiles, as if he wasn't there.

Stiles stood there tapping a foot, before his gaze finally landed on Derek's bag.

"Is this really where you want to get down? It's not safe -"

"Why do you care?"

'God, the Beta is difficult.'

Stiles opened his mouth to snap back, but his ears twitched with a distant sound of the bus ignition turning on to a quick start and then going silent.

"Oh crap. The bus is starting, let's go." Stiles stepped forward, stopping right in front of Derek. His entire body vibrated with anxiety. "If we don't start running, like right now, I don't think we're gonna make it."

"Leave me alone!" Derek spat, through his gritted teeth. After a second, though, he let out a heavy sigh. "You should go now," he added, lowering his tone, but still sounding blunt.

Stiles swallowed. He stared into Derek's eyes for ten seconds, as if he could fetch some answers through them. He heard the bus engine roar again and settle into the steady vibrations, ready to go. Stiles couldn't afford to waste a second more, if he actually wanted to catch that bus.

He took three steps back still facing Derek, his wolf urging him to stay.

"Okay then," Stiles huffed out. "This is your last chance, man. I'm not gonna ask you again. Are you coming…or not?"

Derek didn't reply.

He folded his hands, resting them on his broad chest and stared straight into Stiles' eyes, looking determined.

"Right then. Enjoy!" Stiles said, finally turning his back on the Beta and sprinting for the bus, like his tail was on fire.

Stiles wolfed out and ran for it.

He started running on two legs first, but swiftly changed to all fours to reach the bus as quickly as possible.

He could clearly hear the screeching sound of the bus tyres, and the pup, who was still crying. He dashed forward, pushing his limits. He knew he was fast, even faster than Scott, and the bus would take a while before overpowering his wolf speed.

Beta…the Beta is alone.

His wolf kept on repeating it like a chant, mercilessly shaking his already weak resolve.

Well, this was the place where the Beta wanted to get down, and even if it was not, Stiles was not going to drag an adult Beta's adamant ass back onto the bus. Could he? Maybe he had just got fed up with the stinking bus, or maybe with Stiles himself. And he looked strong, totally capable of protecting himself. And maybe he wouldn't try anything stupid in his distressed condition-

Stiles heart twitched a little with the sound of uncertainty of that thought and he turned his neck to look back quickly, still running ahead.

Stiles watched as Derek's outline became blurry. His steady heartbeat grew distant, although it was still audible. His scent lingered over Stiles' nostrils, strong, almost overpowering. Stiles could feel those sharp green eyes on him, looking at –

Damn -

Stiles' legs toppled over the uneven surface of a speed bump.

The impact was intense, mostly because Stiles was running with the speed equivalent to a vehicle on the highway, looking backward and unfocused.

His body flew to the road, without touching the grounds for quite a few meters, finally bouncing to a stop on a concrete bench at the side of the road, chest first. Then he landed on the rough surface of the road below, hitting his back side hard. Something cracked there, again.

Stiles felt his heart stop with the impact.

Eventually, the quick glance at the Beta turned out to be the biggest mistake of his already shitty day.

He lay there, unmoving. Even the natural heaving of a chest shot piercing pain right to his brain. He squeezed his eyes shut, clenching his fist tight in a failed attempt to absorb the ache. He tried to guess the intensity of the damage.

A broken rib, bruised knees and battered elbows. That's it!

And a cracked cell phone.

Holy fucking-… Cell phone…why?

He kept completely still, while his healing triggered and slowly started knitting the cracked parts of his body. Oh, that hurt even more. Stiles bit his lips, trying to suppress the muffled cry escaping his mouth.

The repair took long, almost felt like an eternity.

After a moment, his senses got distracted by an approaching thudding of a heartbeat and that familiar earthy scent.

Great -

Stiles rolled his eyes beneath the closed eyelids, clenching his jaw. He took the support of his almost healed elbows and slowly raised his body into a sitting position.

"Are you alright?"

Stiles opened his eyes like a flash and found himself staring right back into concerned green ones.

Yeah, right!

He did not answer and tried to stand up. Derek offered him a hand for support. Stiles ignored him.

Stiles pushed himself up harder. Mistake. Again. He stumbled, a little, before steadying himself into a standing position. That simple movement felt like a stab through the chest. His rib was yet to heal.

"Of course I am alright," Stiles barked, shooting words at Derek. "I just missed the fucking bus, because of you!"

"Me?" Derek snarled, furrowing his eyebrows, "I didn't ask you to come and look for me."

"Oh right, I am an Idiot," Stiles bellowed. The pain in his chest felt nothing in comparison to the sudden rage that crept into his brain "I thought…I thought, maybe the guy smells like death and I shouldn't leave him alone, or maybe I should go and check if he's having some suicidal attack. But then look at me-" He marched forward pressing into the Derek's space."I lost all my luggage, cracked a few bones, broke my cell phone. I…I have no fucking clue what I'm going to do now…No, wait…Here's what I am going to do-" Stiles stopped right in front of Derek. "I am going to chase that damn bus down, right now. And YOU-" he paused, tapping his index finger on Derek's chest.

"You are so going to help me out…and THAT'S FUCKING FINAL!"

Stiles roared, eyes glowing yellow.