"How big is it though?" Allison, asked, intrigued. She sat forward in her chair with a glimmer in her eye. Scott next to her seemed to be very amused by the conversation, so much so that he had set down his fork, something very unusual for him. Usually lunch time at the school was the time for him to wolf down as much food as possible, unlike Jackson and Lydia that looked down upon the cooking standards of the school's cafeteria while they talked between themselves –that was how interesting they found the others' conversation.

"Big," said Stiles with raised eyebrows and vigorous nodding. "Big enough to notice the first second you see it."

"Did it hurt you?" Scott piped up.

"No, I was holding its back the whole time," he explained. Stiles felt good now that someone actually appeared genuinely interested in him and what he had to say, asking him questions.

"What, you just held it like that? Weren't you protected in some way?" Allison demanded. Her face suggested that she had just questioned something preposterous.

"No, there was no need."

"So, what did you do with it after?"

"By the way, guys," Jackson interrupted. "Out of context, it sounds like you're talking about a really big dick."

Allison choked on her drink as Scott thought about it for a few seconds before he started giggling with Stiles. Because Stiles giggled now.

"I meant the wolf, what happened to him?" Allison asked after there was no more sparkling water in her nasal cavity.

"We put him in a cage and left him there to recover from his wounds and the drugs. I haven't been there since Friday night, but my boss said she checked up on him twice a day since then. Anyway, today's Monday so I'll get to see him," Stiles said with a remnant of a smirk. Allison appeared to be slightly worried about the creature, but Stiles was just excited. He really appreciated the fact that it hadn't whipped its head around in its drugged state and bitten him on the leg. It was as if they had bonded on an unfathomable level.

"I don't know why I'm so excited," he went on. "Probably because I might be involved in the discovery of a whole new species of wolf. You guys cannot even imagine how unique—"

"Oh, please. It's just a big, shaggy animal. What's the big deal?" Jackson interrupted again.

"The big deal is that it's even bigger than your ego," Stiles snapped back. "Okay? I've looked this up, this is a first time thing."

Jackson pulled a face, but left it at that.

Stiles could not drive to the animal center fast enough. It was a wonder that cat had survived the unstoppable force that was the Jeep. Making record time, Stiles skidded into the parking lot and turned off the engine. He didn't even bother with taking his uniform inside: he changed in his car, albeit very clumsily. After banging his head into the roof while attempting to change his trousers without standing up, he got out of the car, locked it and jogged to the other side of the street. Rushing inside, he was welcomed by nobody and thus wasted no time in getting to the cage of the wolf.

Once he had located it, he put his hands on the fence and peered inside with a gleeful smile, like a small child standing at the stairway and holding the railing while admiring all the Christmas presents with jubilance.

The creature was curled up on the ground and fast asleep. Surprisingly, there was no evidence that it had ever been hurt in any way.

"Calm down, Stiles, you look like you're a little kid in a zoo!" Andrew said, popping up out of nowhere, like always.

"Hey," he replied absentmindedly. Andrew doubted he even registered who he was talking to.

"He hasn't been sleeping since Friday, right?" Stiles demanded with a sudden sense of concern.

"No," Andrew chuckled. "He's just napping is all. He's been fed, bathed and played with many times now."

Stiles gave a snort and looked back at the animal.

"A friendly wolf… Maybe the little red riding hood was the evil one."

"Yeah… Maybe she conspired with the grandma against the big bad wolf," Andrew joked and put his hand on Stiles' shoulder as he stood next to him. The boy froze as soon as he felt it and his eyes shot towards the horizon, open wide. If there had been a moment that day when he hadn't been obsessing over the wolf, that was it. His mind was busy screaming with possibilities of follow-up actions Andrew could take. Maybe next he was going to lean in for a hug, or say something loving and caring. One thing was for sure: this was a side of Andrew Stiles had never seen before, and he had seen many of them. They ranged from neurotic to cheerful to depressed to just plain blank.

But the boundary of personal space had never, ever been broken before.

"Well, I'm going to hop inside for a second," Andrew announced excitedly and walked off right after he gave Stiles' shoulder a light squeeze. Stiles watched him walk off, transfixed, like he usually did. The man might be a freak but he was a damn good-looking freak, and a little peeking never hurt anybody.

Stiles shook his head to fling any thought he was having about Andrew out of his ears. He switched his attention to the wolf, which to his surprise, was standing up.

"Whoa," Stiles exclaimed. Now that he could fully see how big it was, standing up straight on all four feet in broad daylight, he could understand why people were naturally scared of wolves. It radiated power and intimidation, and Stiles was under its fully effect. However, at the same time he felt a sense of awe and admiration at the sheer strength behind single stare from its blood-red eyes. The wolf took a few steps, slowly and gracefully, nearing Stiles. He stood frozen to the ground, forgetting that he was the one on the outside of the cage and that he was free to run away when he wanted to.

As soon as it reached the fence it flicked its nose towards Stiles and its nostrils flared when it caught whiff of the boy's scent. Their eyes were locked on each other's, as if they were a couple of cowboys having a staredown. The wolf made a soft whining noise, to let Stiles know that he wasn't about to start barking at him and chase him around the lot at the first opportunity. He finally let the breath he had been holding out, and half-smiled nervously. He extended a hand towards the fence for the wolf to smell and possibly bite off.

To Stiles' utter shock, the wolf lovingly licked his hand.

"He's really something, isn't he? It's a damn god thing you boys managed to get him to the clinic fast enough," said Holly. Everyone seemed to love popping up behind Stiles while he was preoccupied with something.

"He's… Unbelievable!" he almost shouted. He still hadn't gotten his wild breathing under control.

"He's also much better!" Holly aptly provided. It was obvious that the animal was well on its way to a full recovery, if it hadn't already got there.

"How has he healed so quickly? There's not a scratch on him…" Stiles noticed finally.

"Yeah, I know. I called Alan regularly through the weekend because he asked me to, and I told him that he seemed all better even after the first night, but he told me it was necessary to keep him in the center until further notice from himself…" Holly explained. Her voice showed that she didn't exactly agree with Deaton's decision, but she wasn't exactly itching to kick the wolf out.

"Did you ask him about wolves being here? You know, in Beacon Hills? Especially this big?" Stiles asked while gesturing to the occupant of the cage who had sat down and was looking back and forth from Holly to Stiles as if he could understand the conversation.

"Yeah, I did actually… He told me that it was unusual, but not impossible for a wolf to appear around here… As for the size, I really didn't ask him," Holly said thoughtfully.

"But Mrs. Hodac, this is a huge animal! Abnormally large! How could you—"

"Well, hello boys and girls," Andrew greeted merrily as he walked around the corner. Perfect timing, as always.

"Evening, Andrew," Holly replied. "I'll tell you what, why don't you boys finish up your usual routine and then you both come up to my office and we'll figure out how you're gonna separate the jobs for our newest visitor."

"Sounds good," Andrew reassured her before Stiles could say anything else. She patted him on the back and disappeared in the distance.

"So, should we start with the birds?" Andrew suggested lightheartedly.

"Yeah, I'm walking through my front door right now, I'll call you back later," Stiles informed Scott and hung up without really waiting for a reply. Between trying to keep his schoolbag from slipping off his shoulder and landing in the dirt while trying to unlock the door and holding his change of clothes in the other hand, there wasn't much room for a casual conversation. However, in all honesty, there was no casualness in the way Scott was vigorously trying to persuade Stiles to go out on the night of his birthday that Friday.

"Hey, dad," Stiles grunted after he had shoved his butt into the door to close it. He stomped his way up the stairs and into his bedroom, where he dumped everything on his bed. The mattress springs groaned against the burden so Stiles immediately picked up the clothes and threw them in his hamper to relieve his furniture of some of the weight. He also flung his bag at one of the darkest reaches of his room, where he couldn't see it and would not be stressed by the reminder of the homework he had yet to do.

He sat heavily on his bed and pulled off his shoes without untying them and let them clunk to the floor. He rubbed his eyes while he thought about everything he had done today that had drained him of all his energy. He had got up after some serious debating about whether or not school was really worth depriving himself of sleep, and sat through the most boring 'How Drugs Can Affect You And Your Family And Friends' filmstrip mankind had ever witnessed. After school he had some takeaway from the Chipotle opposite the diner, and went to work. There he saw the wolf for the first time since Friday night, which was still without a name, as well as Andrew and Holly and Derek…

There was no Derek today. Not that Stiles cared, but still. He wasn't on best terms with the guy, but he usually knew when Derek wasn't going to show up to work. He made a huge deal of it every time the day before to Holly, and she brushed him off every single time. She had learned to expect it by now, every time she saw Derek approach her with his little puppy dog look. She'd told Stiles that Derek always asked for a day off each month when they'd found themselves alone for a little bit; Holly was a relentless gossip, and a very lenient boss. Stiles wondered if she talked about him to the other employees. At least she didn't trash talk the morning shift, too.

"Stiles, you want some dinner?" the Sheriff called from downstairs.

"Yeah!" Stiles gladly replied and ran down the stairs. He sat with his father at the table and ate gleefully. It had been a long time since his father had taken the initiative to cook something actually healthy without Stiles' constant nagging, for example, grilled vegetables. They were as bland as anything could be, but Stile kept telling his father that it was the thought that counted. And that they had a full saltshaker to get them through dinner.

"Dad?" Stiles asked with narrowed eyes. This either meant that he was preparing to say or ask something that would get him into trouble, or that he was about to call his dad out on something he did.

"Yes?" was the careful reply.

"Would you mind if I went out with some friends on Friday night? I mean, we can have dinner together if you want, it's just that Scott and Allison and maybe some other people want to go out and it's my birthday… But nothing crazy, not like a club or anything—"

"Stiles, you can go. It's your eighteenth birthday for God's sake. Have some fun."

Stiles was glad that they had both finished their dinner, because there was no way he could stomach down another bite.

"Oh, okay. Thanks!" he replied enthusiastically when he realized what had just happened.

"Don't thank me Stiles, you're a grown man now," his father said and got up to walk into the kitchen. He left the door open behind him because he kept on talking and he wanted Stiles to hear him. "You got a job, you got a car, you got your friends and you got good grades… Soon enough you'll be going off to college, too."

Stiles was about to interrupt him because he thought the Sheriff was trying to say that he was going to be left all alone in Beacon Hills when his son went off to study, and Stiles wasn't stupid. He had thought about that before, and it broke his heart to do that to his own father, and that was the exact reason he was about to interrupt. But his dad had walked back into the dining room with two beers. He set one in front of Stiles and took his seat back at the head of the table.

"I'm proud of you son."