"Cool Derek, just leave me in your creepy, old house alone!" Stiles called out. "Why do you always get to instantly disappear? It's not fair-game when you are talking to me. I don't have special disappearing powers!" He waited a few minutes to see whether the werewolf would appear – which he did not.

"Derek, I'm not leaving. I have all day. My Dad isn't going to be home for hours, Scott's busy with Allison and it being summer means no school." 'Oh great, that is what my life has become. I have nothing better to do than to hang out in Derek Hale's charred house, that Derek may or may not currently be in.' "You were going to say something about your past. I realized you have literally told me next to nothing about yourself, ever. Why are you so guarded Derek? I know losing your family can crush you, but were you always like this? Were you always so broken and empty?"

"SHUT! UP!" he heard Derek bellow, from somewhere that wasn't visible.

Maybe Stiles had gone a bit too far - provoking an alpha wolf was not one of is finest ideas.

Derek had planned to stay in the darkness until Stiles had left, but once the boy had opened his mouth there was no way he couldn't react. The things Stiles were saying really hit home. He was so painfully right and he didn't even know. He hadn't always been the emotionless man he presented himself as today. He had actually once been quite similar to Stiles. Something had changed Derek, even before the fire.

xxx

"Stiles. Get. Out." Derek growled threatening to let his wolf take over. Stiles suddenly feeling strangely courageous and didn't move an inch. He was determined to get under the man's skin and find out who Derek Hale really was, or at least who he had once been.

"No." Stiles said, trying to be stern, but a small tremble escaped with his words.

"Why are you still here Stiles? Just leave. You're not a hero, so stop trying to be." Derek yelled harshly. Stiles' face instantly fell, so the werewolf knew what he was trying to do was working. He needed the boy to leave, and dwelling on his insecurities was the only way he could think of forcing him to leave. He had unintentionally allowed himself to get too close to the teenager. Even though to the naked eye, it would appear that they weren't friends at all - for Derek he was closer than he ever wanted to be to someone again. "You run around with a pack of wolves, but you are literally worthless to us. You are just a silly little human in the way of everything. You need to go! We don't need your help - not even Scott wants it anymore. Leave!"

Something began to tick in Stiles' head. 'Ignore what he is saying Stiles. Ignore him, but listen to the words. Why are they so familiar?' And then it clicked. "You were there!" he accused to the darkness, not sure where the figure his words were directed at actually stood. The werewolf let out a silent gasp, realizing that using Stiles' exact wording had been a terrible decision. How would he explain this?

"Where?" Derek asked, trying to convey that he had no idea what the boy was talking about.

"You were there; at the cemetery – listening to me talk to my mom. That's why you were there to… save me? Unless you weren't saving me, you caused the accident?" Stiles did know the last thing he remembered before the accident was... Derek? And he still didn't understand why. It felt as though he saw the man, but he wasn't really there.

"What were you doing Derek? Why were you in the forest? What did you want earlier that day? Were you trying to save me or hurt me?" Stiles gushed. Derek was breathing shallowly, so quietly that Stiles' was unable to hear his breaths.

"Explain it to me Derek. What the hell is going on with you?" Stiles asked, almost pleading. After a few minutes of silence, Stiles had lost all of his patience and had suddenly yelled, "Answer me!" Derek was so shocked at the teen's outburst that he almost did reply.

'Shit. Why did I say anything? I should have just let him leave before! Why did I have to ask him if he was alright? And now here I am, just hiding in the shadows – I am a great alpha!' the wolf thought, but did not say a word.

After five minutes of pure silence from both Stiles and Derek, Stiles walked towards a dark corner and sat down, about 5 feet away from Derek. Derek worried that the boy could see him, but the boy showed no signs of knowing that the young man was so close. Stiles began sniffling into his palm. Derek had no idea what the boy was doing until he realized him wiping away tears. 'God Stiles, stop crying. You are so weak! Now that you have faced how broken you are, you are unable to put yourself back together,' the boy told himself.

"This sucks. This really sucks." He said wiping away another clustered of tears – he was going to be strong now. No more crying. "My best friends a werewolf. My best friend is a werewolf and I am just a weak kid that everyone uses. I try and try to help – and it never seems to be enough. I am a nuisance. I am weak. I am worthless. The guy that is supposed to be my best friend would rather spend all his time pining after a girl whose family wants to kill him, than with me. My Dad is constantly taking extra shifts at the station in order to stay out of the house." Derek couldn't believe how misguided and blind to himself Stiles was. Could he actually believe these things? Stiles cleared his throat slightly, before continuing, "I have been in love with the same girl since I was 8 and I've had to watch her love someone that treats her so horribly all these years and makes her feel like she has change who she is inside. I am constantly pushed around and beaten down trying to protect people that I care for, but these same people don't even see my efforts. This is all sucks so bad, but the thing that tips everything right off the edge, the thing that makes it all too much to handle right now, is the fact that my Mom isn't here." Stiles breathed in heavily, before feeling a hand on his shoulder.
"No." Derek had stepped out from the shadows and had placed his hand on the boy's shoulder.

xxx

"No Stiles." Derek said softly. Shit, what was he about to do? He couldn't stand to see this boy in front of him thinking he was so worthless, when he owed so much to this same boy's intelligence and bravery. Even though Derek had so much pride, it was time he put it away. Derek knew he would hate to do this, show compassion – let the wall around himself down, just that little bit more – but he knew it was unfair for Stiles to keep thinking and feeling this way.

"What?" Stiles asked confused by everything in this situation. Why was Derek holding his shoulder and what did he mean 'no'?

"Don't talk."

"Why? Because you will rip my throat out with your teeth if I do?" Stiles offered, trying to joke, because he already felt awkward enough.

"I just need to say something, and I know if you keep talking I will get irritated and change my mind." the young man said waiting for the teen to resume his banter anyway. Stiles got up from the floor and turned to face Derek, waiting for him to continue. "Stiles, you are not worthless. You are so far from worthless. Scott would be nowhere without you – he doesn't even realize how much he needs your help. He wouldn't let me teach him, but you were able to. The minute you stop caring about and helping him, he will definitely notice. We all need your help, and even though it may look like we don't appreciate you, we do; we all do. Thank you for all you have been through. I didn't realize how much it'd all affected you until yesterday." Derek recited quickly, knowing that if he stopped he wouldn't start again.

Stiles was in so much shock that he was literally speechless for the first time in his life. What was going on? Seriously, what was going on with Derek? Who was this man, because he certainly was not Derek "sourwolf" Hale. He was sincere and caring – which were two words he never thought he would use to describe Derek.

I just feel like underneath Derek's, big, bad, mean wolf facade, there is actually someone under there and he just acts the way he does as a safety net to keep people out.

Hope you enjoyed this chapter.