See Chapter 1 for all warnings
Forfeit
21 – Interlude 4 – Withheld Benefits, Partial Truths and Sterek
It's one thing to agree to tell dad about Peter when I'm still hard in my pants and the taste and smell of Peter is all around me. It's quite another to sit in the plain light of day and try to work out how to do it with the minimum of shooting and arrest warrants happening to Peter.
All that annoying bastard has done is tell me he trusts me to tell my dad the right way, and then he's left me to it with the addition of no kissing until I've told dad.
And now the Pack know all about us as mates they've stepped in and are running interference as cocking blocking evil bastards until I've told dad.
There was another incident with a harpy but Peter refused to pay up after I saved him and I may have sulked for like an hour before stomping home and I may have refused to go online to play our game with him for a day or two.
He did send me a few texts but I've ignored them and I know I'm being childish but I want a bit longer with Peter before I have to admit it to dad, to have that conversation where I'm Bi, and that I'm technically seeing a man who's twice my age.
But being Peter's mate means I'm driven towards him and I remember Peter telling Derek and Chris that separating Scott and Allison would cause them harm, my stomach is tight from not seeing Peter, from not hearing his voice, from not being close to him. I can't stay away from him much longer, I'll literally get sick and eventually die from lack of Peter, I'll have all the symptoms of pining.
It's made me have to face a few things like college, I'm not going to be able to go far, I'm gong to have to stay close to Peter, and his little declaration of us moving in might have been a bit out there but now I know it's what I want. I want Peter in my life 24/7.
We've come from him being a murdering bastard who wanted to give me the Bite to being each other's worlds. A world that includes children one day, children I'll father on him, and while the thought of knocking him up excites me I'm terrified I'm going to be a terrible father to my kids.
There's also the thought of his knot, because when he climaxes his dick is going to swell and bind us together so we have to be close and he'll be stuck inside of me.
God that thought should not make my dick get harder, I blame the damn porn I watched about it, and now I want to try it with Peter to be held fast that way. I know in reality we'll have to work up to it, that I'm not ready but the thought of waking up beside him, of morning wood that needs to be taken care of, well that's a damn good thought.
Scrubbing my hand over my face I pick up my phone and dial my dad's favourite restaurant, for once I'm cutting him some slack on the diet, and I'll even let him have a drink or two to buffer the news. I'll be the designated driver that night. And I've picked the restaurant as the place to tell him so he can't make a major fuss in public.
Oh god this is going to be bad.
Dad and I are slowly mending our fences this is either going to build some more or tear down the fragile ones we already have and I'm back to square one.
I make the reservations and then start planning how to spring this on dad so he can't wiggle out. It takes some manoeuvring but then I have then evening free for both of us and it's tonight so I don't have to wait long.
In fact dad is home on time so I ambush him the second he gets in, "Hey dad," I lean innocently against a wall and he stiffens. "We have dinner reservations, my treat."
"What did you do?" His voice is weary and he has files under his arms.
"That's what I want to talk to you about, now go change, I'm driving," I dodge every single question I can and he stomps up the stairs very similar to the way I do, so that's where I get it from.
Tapping on my phone I send Peter a text, "Going to dinner with dad, will somehow grow balls big enough to tell him, hide, I'll keep his gun away from him."
"Eloquent, and you'll be fine, I believe in you Stiles," is his answer and it's not that much help.
The drive to the restaurant is silent and I fidget. I know lots of my dad's techniques for getting me to talk and this is one of them. I grit my teeth and remember that my future with Peter is riding on this and somehow I don't say a word.
Our table is waiting and we're seated, I already know what I'm going to order and get a caffeine free coke, a burger and curly fries.
"I guess the veggie crap," Dad sighs out his order.
"No, tonight you can have what you want," I tell him and his eyes widen as he studies me.
"I'm not going to like this talk am I," It's more of a statement than a question.
"You've wanted the truth for a while dad," I point out, I'm going to give him some of it but not all, "Truth isn't always good."
He sits bolt upright at that and hands the menu back to the waitress, "In that case I'll have a lemonade, a shot of whiskey, no make that two, a burger with extra bacon and double cheese, the processed cheese not the grated crap, and I want extra curly fries."
She takes our order and walks away looking baffled as dad stares at me eagerly, "You know you can tell me anything son."
I fiddle with my napkin and shred it with my fingers, "Yeah, about that," I squirm, "Dad you know how you caught me outside the gay club because of Danny?"
"Son, not this," he's disappointed, "You're not gay, I've seen how you look at girls Stiles."
"I know, I do like members of the feminine sex a lot, because you know, boobs, and girls' smell amazing," I chance glancing up and him and he nods encouraging me, "But I also like some guys at the same time. I've looked it up online and I'm either Bisexual or Pansexual."
His finger is tapping on the table and he's thinking it over, "So all that stuff you were up to with Danny wasn't studying, you were 'experimenting'?" He asks.
"What? No? That was extra credit for Chemistry because Harris is a dick that hates me due to the fact he fucked up and helped Kate Crazy Bitch Argent burn down the Hale house by talking to her about chemicals," I protest, "Danny is so not into me and I'm not interested in him that way, not anymore."
"Anymore? So you were interested?" Dad asks and then we pause for our drinks and thank the waitress.
Sipping my coke I nod, "Yeah, Danny's amazing, everyone likes Danny, even Jackson likes Danny."
"But now you're over Danny, and you've been over Lydia for months too," he's drawing his own conclusions and then he asks, "Is there someone else you're interested in?"
"Yes," my knees are jiggling under the table and my stomach starts to tie itself in knots, "There's a guy. We've not done anything, we can't, I'm underage."
Dad doesn't seem that shocked in fact he seems relieved, "So all this time you've been working out your Bi or Pan, and getting over your crushes." He's smiling and sips his lemonade the whiskey remains untouched, "Okay son, I know you understand the Law, even if you evade it when you can, but I'm glad you and Derek are being sensible about this."
I choke on my coke and spit part of it out, " Derek?" I'm horrified at the thought of me and Derek together, yes he's hot, and yes we get on now, but Derek? And me? It'd be like making out with Scott.
"Hmm, Derek Hale, tall, dark, frowns a lot, you got him arrested, twice," Dad points out pleased he's gotten one over on me, "And while the age gap is big now, once you're eighteen it'll shrink down if you're both serious about each other."
"Dad, it's not Derek," I splutter, "Oh my god, I think I need mind bleach at the thought of doing that with him, eww."
"Really?" Dad's sceptical, "I get a lot of reports of you and him hanging out around town and he's in your car way too much for a guy in his twenties," and now I know my dad's been spying on me, it hurts but with the shit I've put him through I'm not totally surprised. "Come on son, I get the acting out while Kate Argent was muddying the waters for all she's worth and murdering people who helped her kill in the past. I've learnt to look past the Matt thing with Jackson but I'm disappointed you didn't trust me enough to tell me that Matt was blackmailing Jackson and using him, it's good you tried to help the boy but…" He shakes his head, "Don't lie to me about Derek. I've wondered for a while if you were in a cult or something and knowing you have a crush on him and how you've acted over Lydia in the past," he nods now, "It makes sense."
My jaw has dropped and I'm staring at dad as I make strangled noises, "But… It's not Derek… Really… I…"
"Uh-huh, because the only other person you've acted like that with is Scott and I really hope you two didn't get up to anything," Dad gives me a stern look.
"Wait? Scott?" And my brain goes ping, "Oh my god I have a bromance going on with Derek Hale."
This time dad chokes on his lemonade, "You didn't know?" And then he laughs at me, my dad who is supposed to love me is laughing at me, "Oh Stiles, that's so funny."
Glaring at him I text Derek, "Did you know we have a bromance going on?"
Dad's wiping his eyes and snorting when my phone vibrates, we've done our best to teach Derek the ways of technology but he tends to be fairly suspicious about it, he can use it, he just don't like it. The text I get reads, "U = slow."
I can't believe he just sent that to me and I growl vowing to get revenge, though I should be flattered I got more than one word back, he talks as much by text as he does normally. Dad looks up and I hand the phone over muttering, dad laughs some more after reading the message, "And to think you get all those high scores on your tests Stiles."
"Yeah, yeah," I swipe my phone and tell Derek I'm getting him back for that.
Dad's now relaxing and he asks, "So if it's not Derek, who is now your new BFF," I scowl at him for that comment, "Who is this guy you're interested in?"
"Um," I lick my lips and fidget, "It's not Derek HALE," I emphasis the last name, "It's his uncle Peter HALE."
For a few seconds dad's face goes blank and then he's scowling at me, "Wait the uncle who was in a coma, went missing, than reappeared with no scars and is in his mid thirties? That Peter Hale?" Now he's angry, and this is why I picked here to have this talk because the waitress appears with our order and he can't say anything, though the way he is tearing into his burger speaks volumes.
I'm too nervous to eat and I play with my food rather than eat it, "I told you we can't do anything," I point out, "We have to wait until I'm eighteen," that gets me a grunt and dad is ripping the burger apart, I'm not sure he's even tasting it right now. "Also Peter kinda put his foot down and said he'd avoid me until I'm eighteen unless I told you about us," I'm elaborating here and bending the truth, Peter's just refusing the forfeit part, he can't avoid me anymore than I can avoid him, I get another grunt but dad's slowed his eating and is savouring the burger now.
He chases it down with a shot of whiskey and I wince, I hate it when he drinks. I push my own food away no longer hungry and this is going to go from bad to worse.
Methodically dad eats his fries in silence just staring at me and I slide down the seat upset and waiting for the other shoe to drop. He knocks back his last whiskey and then it's time for me to pay for this disaster of a meal.
The silence on the way home is depressing and oppressive smothering me as I concentrate on driving my jeep.
Walking into the house dad says, "You're grounded for a month, you do not get to see or talk to Peter Hale the whole time," dad is as close to apocalyptic as I've ever seen him. "I will take your phone from you now," he holds his hand out and I have to pass my phone over. "I will drive you to and from school, I will be in the same room as you and have a clear view of your computer while you are doing homework, and you are not getting around this Stiles."
"But…" I try and say something, anything.
"No, you have lied to me, you have sneaked around behind my back, I'm glad your actions around the Hale fire investigation and Matt were innocent, I'm even still amused over Derek Hale. But a guy in his thirties? A guy who was married and had a kid with another one on the way before Kate Argent happened? He should know better, so I'm going to forcefully separate you for your own good."
"Dad, please…" I can't be separated from Peter, not anymore, not without serious consequences.
"No Stiles, I am the adult here, you are seventeen, you have your whole life ahead of you, this is your senior year of high school, you are going to pass your finals and graduate either top of your class or one step behind Lydia because she is a genius too," I have to agree with him there. "And then you are going to college, I want you to go to college and have that experience, the first chance to spread your wings and see the world. You're too good to stay here in this town Stiles, you have the smarts to be pretty much anything you want to be."
"Dad," I try again.
"I haven't finished. You were upset when Scott met Allison and how much he ditched you for her, so you don't get to do that with a guy old enough to be your father," I don't point out that Peter would have had to have started really young to be my dad, "I am not letting you throw your future away for a teenage crush, you will get over this guy and you will move on."
"No I won't," I tell him and it falls on deaf ears, I'm sent to my room and nearly bounce off the walls with boredom.
It's dark when the howling starts up outside and I'm fidgeting in bed, a scratch on my bedroom window with red eyes glinting at me and I hurry over to Derek. The Alpha is such a sight for sore eyes I may impulsively hug him, and then I whisper what happened tonight.
"I can't last without Peter, I'll die without him," and while Derek doesn't really hug me back he does pat my shoulder, gently.
"I'll speak to the Pack," he tells me, "We'll think of something."
He stays for a few hours and then vanishes into the night, it seems really lonely in my room now he's gone. I wish I hadn't cold shouldered Peter, I wish I'd returned his texts, I wish I'd played online with him.
Huddling under my covers I wait for morning to come.
A/N: Sorry for any and all mistakes, I've tried to catch those I could, but I'm only human.