Disclaimer: I don't own Teen Wolf.
Thanks so much to my beta FlyingNymphLady
Stiles woke up with a bit of crick in his neck. Stiles groaned as he brought his hand to massage the spot on his neck. Why did he have a crick in his neck? Had he fallen asleep at his computer again? A brief look around disproved that theory. He was in bed, warm and cozy buried under a few layer of blankets, as his house was a bit old and it's heating a lot of times left a bit to be desired. Why did his neck h-
He shot up in bed as he remembered what had happened last night. Being chased and then Derek telling him the truth, then falling asleep downstairs. He hazily remembered Scott helping him up the stairs and helping him to bed sometime during the night. Apparently, not soon enough to stop his neck from hurting, though.
He looked around the room to see if Scott had stayed the night but found it empty. He pulled down the blankets and found himself still in yesterday's clothes. He stared at them for a long moment before sighing and making his way out of bed. It was Sunday, which was nice because it meant that since he had sleep past noon he wasn't going to be in trouble for missing school.
He looked towards the bathroom. Stiles knew that he should take a shower, but decided against it since he was pretty sure that he was just going to crawl back in bed in a few moments after he took care of some things. He took off his shoes and felt his stiff feet. Yes, sleeping in your shoes was apparently not a smart idea. Then again, neither was telling all of your secrets to a wolf who apparently was human as well, he thought dryly. He changed out of his clothes and into a pair of pajamas and after a moment of internal debate decided to brush his teeth. When he was slightly more ready he made his way back into the warm bed and found himself staring at the ceiling.
He had been hoping the sleep would help him, and maybe it had a little but not as much as he had been hoping for. He was still confused, hurt and all those other emotions. He burrowed further into the bed liking the warmth of it even if it didn't overtake all the feelings.
Derek looked up at the ceiling trying to focus on something else , anything else but the urge to go to Stiles. But it was the only thing he could think of. He could feel Stiles's pain through their bond. Derek could feel Stiles's hurt and confusion. The only thing he wanted to do at the moment was to come to his aid. But he had promised Stiles that he would give him some space to think, some space to breath and some time to get his head on straight before he came around again. He hadn't really thought how hard it would be when he had promised that though. He wanted to be there for him, to comfort him the way he had always done in the past, but he couldn't. Derek made sure to stay in his human form because in his wolf form he was sure to go to Stiles even though he had promised. He tended to be a little more instinctual in his wolf form.
He wondered if he should have told Stiles sooner, maybe then Stiles wouldn't be so angry at him. But no, he had wanted Stiles to chose him for him when the time came and not because of their bond. Derek hadn't wanted Stiles to think that there was no other option. In fact, during a good period of time in his teen years he wanted to think that for himself. He hadn't wanted to be bonded to a boy that he didn't know, but over the years he had changed his mind. What if it took years for Stiles to change his mind? What if he never changed his mind? Would he have to go through this every single time that Stiles was hurt with the knowledge that Stiles didn't want him there? If Stiles didn't accept him for the rest of their lives there would be a large hole in both of their hearts.
Derek shook his head, he couldn't believe that he was reduced to this, pathetically pining for Stiles. Part of him wished that he had never been bonded, it was an incredibly rare thing in the first place, but slightly more common in werewolves. As a teen, he had made mistake after mistake with girls and had sworn to himself that he would never trust his heart to anyone again. Not long after he had made himself that promise he came across Stiles in his wolf form. He had known in that moment what they were to each other, that they were bonded, that they were mates.
He had been in denial for awhile as well. It wasn't until Stiles had come for him in the forest when he needed him that he had accepted it. At that point, he had refused to think of it romantically because Stiles had been way too young at the time. In fact, he hadn't at all thought of it romantically until a couple of months ago when he had started to notice Stiles's body. While it wasn't extremely muscular Derek found himself having dreams about it some nights. Those nights made his resolution to wait until Stiles was eighteen to tell him a little harder. Another thing that made it much harder was the fact that Stiles was aware of werewolves now and if he wasn't more careful he might not make it to eighteen. Derek's wolf though, hadn't always been as rigid.
The bond called to him. The urge nagged at him and almost itched as it called at him to change and go to Stiles. Derek had made a promise and he was going to stick to it even if it sucked.
"Stiles, are you still in bed?" his Dad's voice came from the open doorway. When it had been opened Stiles had absolutely no clue. Stiles chose not to answer since it was pretty obvious that the answer was yes.
"Are you sick?" his Dad asked concerned as he crossed the threshold. He made his way towards Stiles with his hand in front of him aimed at his forehead where the hand was going to lay if he didn't answer before then. He considered for a brief moment telling his Dad the truth, except that if he told the truth he would have to explain about werewolves. He wasn't going to do that, at least not today so he just let his Dad put his hand on his forehead.
"You don't seem hot," his Dad said a little puzzled then frowned.
"Stomach bug," he lied. It was an illusion he could keep up pretty easily since he was not hungry in the slightest and hadn't been for the last couple of hours that he had been lying in his bed. His Dad nodded and sat down on the side of his bed.
"Do you want anything?" Stiles shook his head. He wanted something but what he wanted wasn't something that his father could give him, answers about what he was feeling. His father nodded and rubbed the covers above his chest briefly before standing up.
"Let me know if you need or want anything?" Stiles nodded his agreement, although he doubted he would ask his father for anything. He wasn't sick at least not physically so there wasn't anything his Dad could do to fix him well-meaning intentions or not.
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