Allison is being a busy-body and acts like she's a director of a play. She's proud of herself, but she has no idea if her 'actors' will be abe to stick to their lines. She is pretty sure that Derek will play his role perfectly, but Stiles himself can be loose canon. She is perfectly aware of the selfish reasons to do this, but deep down she knows that Stiles will be safer with Derek.

Stiles didn't even know what had happened. One moment, he was sleeping soundly – slightly drugged from the painkillers he'd consumed – the next, he was urged out of bed by Derek. While Allison – Allison? – sifted through his closet.

"There has been a slight change of plans. You're moving." Allison – with her back turned to him – emptied the bag with his lacrosse gear, and started to fill it up with regular clothes. Stiles jumped towards her while he at the same time shifted his gaze between her and Derek. "What? Moving? I... you can't." Rolling his eyes, he had to grab on to the chair to keep himself upright. "Moving where?"

He suddenly became painfully aware of the fact that he was completely naked. Derek was obviously aware of this as well, and hurried to wrap a blanket around his body. "You're coming home with me. I'll take care of you. It's the most sane thing to do."

When Allison turned slightly to throw a pair of boxers at him, she blushed a little. "Sorry. I didn't mean to peek. I just... I think you should get dressed." Stiles picked the underwear off his shoulder where it had landed and slumped down on the bed. "I really don't know what kind of game you guys are playing, but I can't just... – although, there's nothing I want more – but I can't just move out."

He could see Derek and Allison exchange looks, and then the both of them sighed. "Stiles!" It was sort of an odd harmony in the way they both said his name simultaneously, but then they went quiet. Derek grabbed a pair of jeans from Allison's hands and sat down next to Stiles. "It'll make sense. I'm taking you home. I'm bringing you to the place you belong."

The little scoff from Allison made them both look at her. Derek shook his head. "It was your idea. There's no reason for you to frown upon it." Stiles could see that the two of them stared at each other. Then Allison shrugged a little. "Yeah, I know. But it may not be... I mean, it's just temporary. I can convince Mr Stilinski that this is the right thing to do for now, but eventually Stiles will get better..."

If he had been confused before, this new information threw him off big time. "CAN ANYONE TELL ME WHAT'S REALLY GOING ON." Stiles could feel the pain in his ribs as he practically yelled the words out. "I don't mind going to Derek's." He looked at Allison, feeling that she was the one in charge at the moment. "I just want to be informed."

-o-o-o-o-o-o-

"She didn't show up." Vicky just shrugged and forced herself past Scott in the doorway. He turned his head, and then he followed her down the hall. "What do you mean, 'she didn't show up'? I saw her enter the room." The girl had stopped next to her locker and was busy trying to open it. "What part of this don't you understand? Allison – didn't – show – up – for – class. I don't know where she's at."

Scott didn't want to bother Vicky anymore. He had never exchanged a word with her previously, and her statement was easy to understand. He'd just asked the last person coming out of the room when he discovered that Allison was not among them.

Baffled by the information, Scott decided to call her. He had a few minutes left before he had to attend the next class. When she didn't answer, he felt a shiver down his spine. He didn't want to call Chris. If Allison had just skipped this class for some odd reason, her dad didn't need to know. Running down the hall to avoid being late for chemistry, he sent her a quick text - hoping she was okay and that she'd answer it shortly.

The reply came fifteen minuted later. Scott felt the vibration in his pocket, and managed to read the text without the teacher noticing.

"I'm taking care of Stiles. Meet me at Derek's place after school." As he read it, another message came. "Call if you need me to pick you up."

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Melissa was on her way to work when she got a call from Allison. "Hey Allison. This was a surprise. Scott should be at school, but when you're calling me, I'm getting a little worried." She knew perfectly well that her son was more into sports – and technically anything else but school, and with the threat from werewolves, she obviously got a little concerned.

"He is at school, don't worry. I need your help though. Can we meet?" Allison sounded distressed, and Melissa really wanted to know why the girl called in the first place. "I have fifteen minutes before I have to start. Where are you? Can you come to the hospital?"

Allison gave out a small chuckle. "I'm here already... Oh, and I can see your car." She hung up and seconds later Melissa could see the girl in the parking lot.

As soon as she got out of the car, Allison was there grabbing her bag out from the back seat. "Sorry Mrs McCall. I'm going to ask you for a favor. A big favor. Something that I'm not even sure you can pull off."

Mrs McCall was slightly intrigued by the statement. "Try me. I've had to deal with a lot of shit lately... sorry, but it's true. You teenagers don't believe that grown ups can think for themselves even. Tell me what you need."

What Allison told her made her shiver a little. "Do you really think that Stiles is in danger? Does it mean that I'm in danger too?" When Allison nodded slowly and then grabbed her hand, Melissa sighed and shook her head. "I understand. You want me to help you explain to the sheriff why Stiles has to be at Derek's place? Without telling him about the werewolves." She huffed. "I'll do my best, but I can't promise anything."

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

After talking to Scott's mom, Allison went back to the Stilinski-house. She sat down on the front porch waiting for the sheriff to get home. She had no idea what to say, but she relied on her charm to convince the guy that this was the best course of action.

In the meantime, she called Derek and told him about her talk with Mrs McCall. "I hope the two of you can make this story plausible. Scott will come later." After confirming that he'd understood, Derek hung up.

She looked at her phone and realized that all of this had taken less time than she first anticipated. Scott was going to be out of school in about a half hour. He'd hopefully go straight to Derek's place where they could all explain everything to him together.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Scott had no means of getting to Derek's house easily. Under normal circumstances, he would have taken the bus home, but this was far from normal circumstances. He was standing in the parking lot contemplating on calling Allison to pick him up, when Isaac came directly towards him.

"Need a lift?" Isaac waived and gestured towards an old beat-up Toyota. "I'll take you home." He smiled as Scott walked towards him. "I, I'm not going home. I have to go to Derek's place, so if you don't mind..." Isaac's eyes widened a little, but then he just shrugged. "Whatever. Come on."

It was a bumpy ride. Isaac wasn't the best driver and the car was not in mint condition. It didn't help much that it had standard shift. "Sorry, I'm not very good with the stick-shift, and this car is old." Isaac gave Scott a lopsided smile as he did his best to parallel-park outside Derek's place. "I'll get a hang of it eventually, and we did make it here."

Scott jumped out and watched as Isaac locked the car and came towards him. "Thanks for the lift. I'm not sure... I think my life flashed before my eyes." He smiled tentatively, not knowing if Isaac could handle the obvious criticism.

Isaac just walked towards the door. "Yeah, I know. If you need some extra excitement in your life, you should take a ride with me." He pulled the front door to Derek's place open and gestured for Scott to get inside. "Derek got this car for me. It's a piece of crap, but it gets me places."

For a moment, Scott wondered what kind of relationship Derek and Isaac had. It had never been an issue before, but now that he knew that Derek was kind of indifferent to sexual orientation, it was disturbing. Scott forced those unwanted thoughts away and followed Isaac upstairs.

The door to Derek's apartment was locked, and Isaac searched for the key in his pocket. Before he'd dug it out, someone unlocked it from the inside. Derek stepped to the side and let the two of them in.

Stiles was sitting – or rather lying – on the couch partially tucked in a blanket. He was cradling a cup of tea in his hands. "Hi, guys! Welcome." He looked so little and fragile; he had his eyes wide open and a lopsided smile on his lips.

Scott rushed over to him. "What are you doing here? You're supposed to be recovering, at home." He sat down on the edge of the couch and threw a peek at Derek. "What's going on?" Stiles shrugged and rolled his eyes. "I don't even know. One moment I was at home, safe and sound, the next I was here." He chuckled a little, but it was obviously painful to laugh because he scrunched his face. "Sorry, joking. Maybe not completely sound. I just... I was kidnapped."

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

When the Sheriff exited the car, Allison got up and walked towards him. She was still not sure what to say, but relied on her wits. He stopped and greeted her with a worried expression on his face. "Uh, hm. Mr. Stilinski, don't worry, but Stiles is not here." She could see that he got a little thrown off by the statement, but she continued before he managed to say anything. "He had an accident. No, nothing serious. He passed out."

Wide-eyed, the sheriff grabbed her arm. "Is he in the hospital? Why didn't anyone call me? How is he doing?" He looked scared. Allison smiled and shook her head. "No, it's okay. He's at Derek's. He's fine. Mrs McCall, uh, Melissa said it was better that he he had someone look after him around the clock." She had to take a breath. "I mean, Derek offered and Stiles didn't want to go to the hospital."

Mr Stilinski pulled on Allison's sleeve. "Where? This is ridiculous. I can take care of my own son." He unlocked his car and gestured for her to get inside. "Take me there." He let go of her sleeve as Allison pointed to her own car. "I will, but I'll go in my own car. You can follow."

Twisting her hands, she hesitated a little. "Mr Stilinski, I'm sorry about this, and it's not like anyone think that you can't take care of him. It's just... we know about the situation at the station. The deputies and the office staff are... well sick, and you have to..."

The sheriff waved a hand in the air and frowned. "Shut up, girl. I will make that decision. Take me to him now!" He practically pushed her away and jumped in his own car. Before he closed the door, he turned to her again. "I'm sure your intentions are good, but... Let's go."

When Allison pulled over outside Derek's place, she got out and waited for the sheriff to catch up. As she was about to open the front door, he stopped her. "Wait a second. Tell me... Who is this Derek? I mean, I know about the Hale family and I've seen him around." He huffed and cleared his throat. "How come he can watch Stiles around the clock? Doesn't he work or study or anything?"

Allison bit her lip. She really didn't know what to say. She had no idea what Derek did when they didn't see him. For all she knew, he could be going to law school between the wolf-fights. He'd sometimes been gone for weeks. "Well, he has money. He doesn't have to work, but I don't..." She looked at Mr Stilinski and soon discovered that her attempt to explain didn't go around well.

"So he's just a kind of playboy type. Partying and..." Allison didn't let him finish. "Oh, no. He's very responsible. He's like, like a big brother. He has no family, we're his family." She knew she was exaggerating a little. She and Derek had never really been friends. "I mean, he, oh please Mr Stilinski, let him explain. I..." She sighed heavily. "I just know that he inherited everything from his parents, and he got a big settlement from the insurance company after the fire. He's rich."

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Scott was pacing back and forth. After he'd received the text from Allison telling them that Stiles' dad was on his way, they'd prepared for the visit as best as they could. Isaac was sent out and told to stay away. Stiles was tucked into bed in Derek's room and pretended to be asleep.

"How on earth are we going to explain this?" Scott stopped pacing for a moment and looked at Derek. "I have a bad feeling. The guy is not... The sheriff, he's, there's no way..." He took up walking again and twisted his hands. Derek was standing by the kitchen counter humming. Humming!? "Derek, seriously. This is never going to go down well, and you are singing. I, I, I have no words."

A little chuckle was heard from the kitchen. "Relax, worst thing that can happen is that Mr Stilinski takes Stiles home again." Derek picked another cup out of the cupboard. "If you can't handle this, you should just leave."

Scott grunted and gave it a thought. Maybe he should leave. He'd been in and out of the Stilinski house since he was a toddler. The sheriff knew him too well and could probably tell if he was lying. "It'll be fine. I'll be fine." Bottom line was that he was extremely curious. He wanted to be there for this. He wanted to be there for Derek's downfall. He wanted to be there when Sheriff Stilinski told Derek off and took his son home.

It was a gentle knock. Derek rushed to the door and let Allison and Mr Stilinski in. "Welcome. I'm sorry. I did what I thought was best. Stiles is sleeping." Derek was disgustingly sweet. Scott could almost feel the nausea coming on. He turned and walked to the far end of the room. There was no way he was going to be a part of this.

"I'll check if his awake. You want some coffee, sir?" Derek was not behaving like himself, and it annoyed Scott greatly. If Stiles' dad was falling for this hypocritical person's ranting, it would surprise him. He tried to stay hidden in the shades to avoid any confrontation. There was no way in hell he was going to be able to pull off the same act as Derek was trying. Scott watched as the sheriff stopped short and grabbed the cup he was handed. "Uh, thanks, but I think..."

Derek smiled a shyly and cocked his head. 'What a fake!' Scott couldn't even believe what he saw. He'd always looked at Derek as the epiphany of cool. Now he was just behaving like a sappy, embarrassing sorry excuse for an Alpha.

Suddenly, Scott became aware of Allison standing next to the door waving and gesturing for him to come over. Moving against the wall while keeping in the shadow, Scott managed to get to Allison unnoticed. "What the... I can't believe you did this. I think..."

Allison just smiled and gave him a gently pat on the cheek. "I did what had to be done. I did it for us." She threw a quick peek over to the kitchen area. "If this works out, you and me can hang out and you wont have to worry about Stiles." They were whispering, so Sheriff Stilinski couldn't hear them.

Scott could easily see that Mr Stilinski was slightly thrown off by Derek's behavior. The guy was holding the cup and seemed to be in lack of words. It didn't last long though. Suddenly, he put the cup down so forcefully that the coffee splattered over the counter. "Take me to him." His voice wasn't more than a whisper, but it had an unmistakable edge. The sheriff was pissed off and was not ready to take any shit from anyone.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Stiles was nicely tucked in inside Derek's bed, and he tried to listen to what went on outside the door. He'd expected some yelling, and was surprised to find that he couldn't hear a word. He spent the time rehearsing his own role in this play. It should be easy. He only had to pretend to be less alert and in more pain than he really was.

There hadn't been much time for him to think through the whole scenario. Stiles was happy to be at Derek's place, but wasn't sure if he was ready to move in. He wanted to be with his wolf all the time, but this wasn't right. If the future showed that him and Derek was made for each other, Stiles would have wanted it to go down differently.

All this secrecy and lying was not for him. Stiles wanted to tell the world and get his dad's approval. He wanted to be able to show Derek off and be proud. Instead, he was forced to keep a low profile and lie to his dad.

The door opened slowly, and Stiles closed his eyes and pretended to sleep. "You awake?" Derek's voice reached his ear before the sound of the door hitting the wall startled him. "Stiles! Son! What is going on?" The sheriff didn't sound particularly happy and when Stiles opened his eyes, he could see his dad pushing Derek away to get to the bed.

"What happened? Did you hurt yourself? I heard you had an accident." Mr Stilinski sat down on the edge of the bed and grabbed Stiles' hand. "I'll take you home. I can... I'll organize someone to be with you."

It wasn't easy to hold back and look drowsy. "Uh, I, what? Where am I? Oh, no. I'm fine." Stiles pretended to rub the sleep out of his eyes before he focused on his dad's face. "I'm fine." He watched as Derek withdrew from the room and left. "Dad, I'm really fine. I just fell over. I didn't want to bother you, so I..."

It wasn't easy to remember everything he was suppose to say. He knew he could get his friends in trouble if he screwed up, so getting it right was crucial. "...so you called Allison? Of all people." The sheriff finished the sentence for him and Stiles was grateful. He did agree with his dad though. Why would he call Allison? "I, she, I mean. Her name came up first. On my phone. Starting on A, I needed to call someone."

The sheriff shook his head and closed his eyes for a second. "I wished you'd called me. You could have called me." He huffed and tilted his head a little. "If you're still... maybe you should be in the hospital. Maybe they sent you home too soon."

Stiles smiled and shook his head. "I don't want to. And this, this is like being in a hotel. I get pampered and I can just order whatever I want. It's kind of exciting." He scrunched his face a little as if he was in pain. "They just made this decision for me, but it's... okay. Melissa, Mrs McCall suggested the hospital, but I'll rather be here, and she okay-ed it sort of." He reached his hand out towards the nightstand. "Can you give me..." He pointed to the little bottle with painkillers. "I just need to sleep, I'm tired, and, and it's painful to talk too much. You can sit here with me."

The truth was that he wanted to pass out to avoid saying anything more. The pain was bearable and he wasn't sure if he should take another pill, but he was afraid that if he continued talking, he would eventually crack and reveal the lies. "Derek can explain. I just want to sleep now." Pushing this over on Derek didn't feel right, but he had no choice. He couldn't remember everything he was suppose to say anyway, so it was for the best.

Mr Stilinski got up and went over to the nightstand. There was a pitcher with water and a cup next to the pills. He picked up the little bottle and read the label. "Okay. If this what you think is best for now..." He got a pill out and handed it to his son before he poured water in the cup. "I need some sleep also." With a sigh, Mr Stilinski sat back down on the bed. "Maybe it is the best way... for now. I really should help out on the night-shift anyway."