Red Like Your Eyes

CH 11

Notes: Things are coming together slowly but surely, thank you for reading!

"That dumbass Sherriff is not going to find us out there" Jackson sniped over the phone. "Besides don't you have to take Derrika out to get her adjusted to the full moon?"

"Derrika?" Derek repeated the name slowly.

"The little blonde girl everyone's going crazy over" Jackson continued boredly.

"Oh. Gracie."

"Way to get the joke." He replied flatly

"We have to be careful. Corston is getting suspicious."

"Stop worrying about it grandpa. He's going to be with us anyway. Might want to share him once in a while right?" Jackson finished.

Derek stiffened

"Shut up idiot."

"So we'll be there at 8. Tell him to wear something warm, it's still cold at night."

Derek emerged from his room and made his way to the living room where Stiles was curled up with a book and Gracie was coloring quietly. He watched as the raven haired youth flipped a page and pored over the words written on the new page until Gracie stood holding up the paper she was drawing on. Their hair illuminated their features and made them look so similar it was striking.

"What do you think?" She asked eagerly.

Stiles looked at the picture and smiled. His features squinted for a moment.

"Why am I standing so close to him?" He asked quietly.

Gracie giggled mischievously.

'Gracie. You can't show that to him" Stiles warned quietly.

"Ok. Do you like it?" Gracie pushed

"Yeah. I like it." Stiles smiled making Derek's cheeks flush from his view point.

"Do we have to leave" Gracie asked quietly.

Stiles put down his book, his face set in all seriousness.

"Yeah. We can't stay here forever."

Gracie pouted "Why not."

"Because it's too dangerous Gracie. We don't belong here."

Gracie crawled into Stiles lap with a sigh the smell of fresh salt reaching his nose.

He cleared his throat to indicate his arrival and Gracie's pout turned into a happy smile, even though they both knew that Derek had been close by the entire time. Her smile seemed even sadder to him because of it.

"So I just talked to Jackson and he wants to know if you would like to come with the others to go to a bonfire?" He offered oddly.

Stiles met his eyes. "Yeah sure."

"I'm sure you want to get outside for a bit. Not be stuck here with me." Derek continued with the grace of a tractor trailer.

Stiles nodded his face completive. "Yeah it'll be fun" he claimed quietly.

"They'll be here at 8. And uh. Dress warm, it's cold out."

"What about Gracie. And you?" Stiles ventured calmly.

"It's almost the full moon. She's going to shift whether she wants to or not so I have to teach her how to control herself when it happens." Derek responded looking from him to the black haired ragamuffin perched on the couch.

She jumped like a gargoyle grabbing his waist. Derek laughed and Stiles joined in. Gracie was utterly adorable.

Stiles nodded in acknowledgement and Derek turned and walked to the garage and shut the door. The words 'we don't belong here' echoing in his ears as he quietly slid under the Jeep and letting himself focus on the mechanical parts instead of the issues between them.

XXXXXXXXXX

The crescent moon shined brightly in the night sky as the pack and Stiles walked through the thick forest. The air was cold and smelled of wood and fresh leaves, the rustling of their footsteps echoing in the quiet darkness.

"We're almost there" Scott echoed from the front as they walked through the darkness, their superhuman eyesight making their path towards their destination possible without the use of flashlights.

The party finally arrived at a small clearing where the stars shone like diamonds in the night sky. Stiles had never seen them that close before and he was lost in the visage as the others set down coolers and a large blanket. Once everything was situated, Jackson and Danny disappeared into the forest.

Scott opened the cooler and gave each one of them a beer.

"Thanks." Stiles smiled.

"Of course" Scott nodded cheerily.

Suddenly an errant beam of light shone from their right and Stiles stilled his movements in panic.

"Don't worry about it, it's just Allison" Erica muttered giving him a look.

A moment later a girl with dark brown hair and sharp eyes appeared holding a flashlight and a wide smile.

"Hey guys." She spoke shutting off the flashlight and depositing it in her bag.

"Babe you could have called me and I would have walked with you." Scott chided quietly leaning over and giving her a kiss.

"Nah its ok, I wanted to practice tracking you guys" Allison explained her eyes landing on Stiles.

"Hi."

"Hi."

"I'm Allison" she said holding out a hand, Scott smiling as the two shook.

"Scott's told me so much about you" she continued taking a seat next to her boyfriend.

"Cool." Stiles resounded with a nod.

Jackson and Danny returned with their hands full of dry branches and logs. They arranged them in a large mound and began to set them alight.

"Alright time for s'mores" Erica smirked with excitement.

"Did you get the dark chocolate" Lydia ventured digging into the tangle of bags next to her.

"Yeah" Erica shrugged and rolled her eyes when Lydia made an annoyed sound.

"Erica, these are all milk chocolate, they're full of fat." Lydia grimaced

"So what, they taste better. Besides how many times are you going to have s'mores. Just enjoy them." Erica retorted opening up a large pack of marshmallows and popping one into her mouth.

The fire started and the sound of crackling wood silenced them all for a moment as they watched the amber flames lick at the night air, a small trail of smoke rising into the sky.

"Great job babe" Lydia spoke coolly as Jackson cracked open a beer and took a draw. Stiles caught Danny, whose tanned skin was glowing in the light of the fire smiling at him as he drank from his own beer.

Danny ventured towards him and sat down. He sniffed and subtly increased the space between them which Stiles thought was just strange.

"How are you doing?" Danny spoke, giving him a friendly smile.

"I'm doing good" Stiles nodded, tapping a hand on his beer bottle absently.

"So is Derek treating you better?" Danny asked quietly.

"Yeah. We were a little annoyed with each other at the beginning" Stiles replied with a grin.

Danny nodded and Stiles noticed that the previous light in the handsome man's eyes had slowly retracted. He opened his mouth to speak but was cut off when Jackson hollered from the other end of the fire.

"Danno, we need more wood, you think you could manage?"

Danny nodded "Yeah, I'll go.'

He stood to go and Stiles offered "I can come help if you like" to which Danny shook his head and smiled.

"No It's fine, I'll be back in a sec." before disappearing into the forest killing Stiles' buzz and ego all the same time.

Scott plopped down beside him, draping a hand over his shoulder.

"Having fun?"

"Yeah. It's nice to be outside. And the view is pretty awesome." Stiles spoke staring up at the display of stars.

"Right? It's our favorite place."

Scott sniffed the air and wrinkled his nose.

"What? Do I smell bad or something?" Stiles asked quietly, now in concern.

Scott shook his head, "no it's just you reek of Derek."

"Oh." Stiles echoed wondering what that meant.

"We just have a really strong sense of smell." Scott acknowledged quietly, taking his hand off Stiles' shoulder as if his entire presence revolted him.

"Your girlfriend seems nice" Stiles spoke quietly, trying to change the subject.

Scott grinned widely, "yeah isn't she?" And Stiles smirked out a laugh which made Scott laugh along with him. They settled down and Scott gave him an expectant look. He spoke earnestly.

"Dude. Don't you remember me?"

"I'm sorry?"

"You don't remember me at all?" Scott repeated with a frown. "Beacon hills grade school?"

Stiles shook his head and stopped when a faint flicker of recognition latched onto Scott's eyes and easy grin.

"Ottie? Ottie is that you?" Stiles murmured his face a complete canvas of surprise.

Scott looked relieved. "Yeah, dude I was waiting for you realize who I was."

Stiles launched himself at Scott and pulled him into a hug, burying his face into his best friend's neck.

"I missed you too Stiles" Scott whispered sadly.

Stiles released Scott from his grasp, blinking away the tears that were forming.

"I'm sorry Stiles" Scott echoed quietly. "My mom tried to adopt you after everything that had happened but the system is so messed up that they had already relocated you by the time the adoption application had been approved. "

Scott picked at the label on his beer bottle "We tried to find you and get you but they said that you were already placed in a home and that you were happy. They said it would be best if you were left to adjust to a normal home."

Stiles snorted at that, shaking his head sadly. 'Normal home.' What exactly was a normal home, he'd like to know.

Scott squeezed his shoulder. "I'm just glad you're back."

Stiles nodded.

"You're going to stay right?" Scott asked hopefully and Stiles looked up to find Scott looking at him earnestly, just the way Gracie had done earlier in the day. It tugged at something deep inside and it made him ache.

"So how's ol' alpha?" Jackson yelled from over the fire as he roasted several marshmallows on a skewer, the delicious smell of caramelizing sugar wafting through the air. Danny and Erica chuckled at their friend and Stiles felt bad at how they treated Derek like an outsider.

"He's doing fine." Stiles responded.

"Yeah. He's been less broody lately." Jackson continued flippantly, "I'm sure you've had something to do with that huh?" He shot Stiles a dirty look and Scott growled.

"Shut up Jackson."

"What I'm just saying, he's been alone for a long time. Playing with yourself gets old after a while." And another peal of laughter rumbled through the group. Stiles cheeks felt hot, they were being assholes.

"Cut it out you guys." Allison snapped. 'That's really messed up."

"It must be strange to have to live with two other people after all that time alone" Erica added downing her beer.

"Yeah" Lydia echoed "He's been through so much. He's done things no one should have to do."

Stiles' heart froze.

"What?" He spoke quietly.

Allison looked at him, her expression slanted. She didn't look like she wanted to disclose anymore information but Jackson, now on his fourth beer spilled the details.

"His crazy uncle, who was certifiable by the way, my mom was responsible for his evaluations at the time. Anyway it turned out that he killed Derek's sister because she was the sole heir to the family fortune."

Allison shook her head. "Their family had such a sad story."

"Derek's girlfriend set fire to the house with the entire family inside when she found out they were werewolves" Scott whispered into his ear.

Everything fell into place.

"He killed his uncle didn't he?" Stiles spoke quietly.

"Not exactly killed. It was self defense I suppose. Peter came after the only remaining heir to wrap up the job" Allison finished taking a s'more from Jackson's out reached hand.

Well damn. Poor Derek.

"Which is why he comes off strange" Allison continued shooting the rest of the pack a reprimanding look.

"Says the hunter" Danny smirked.

"Hunter?" Stiles asked quietly.

"Allison's a werewolf hunter" Scott smiled proudly putting his free hand around her.

Stiles stared at the pair.

"Alrighty then" he conceded with an odd look not understanding the semantics or how one could be proud of his significant other being responsible for hunting you and your kind.

The pack howled in laughter in response and Stiles joined in. they weren't so bad after all. They all settled into a fun, conversation filled revelry filled with beer and whiskey shots. As the night progressed and he and Danny had exchanged a myriad of fleeting looks that were beginning to make him lose any sort of propriety, his liquid courage got the best of him and he ventured over to where Danny sat.

"How come you're not flirting with me" Stiles pouted sliding down next to him and totally infiltrating his personal space. His throat burning from all the alcohol he had just consumed.

"Because you're already taken" Danny spoke apologetically taking a swig of his beer.

"Says who?" Stiles snarked indignantly over the roar of the fire.

"Says your heart" Danny responded quietly catching his gaze.

"Oh." Stiles reflected, looking off into the dark, realizing that he like those stars were far from any resolution.

TO BE CONTINUED…

Notes: Thanks for reading and the wonderful reviews!