Chapter Twenty Four:
As soon as the tears had stopped falling, and his heartbeat had settled into a more natural rhythm, Stiles was out like a light- his head cradled against Derek's tear stained shoulder.
Derek didn't really know how to handle…people, well, people who knew him as well as Stiles did. Handling the kids at work, it was different- their tantrums and stories were something altogether unattached to the werewolf part of his life; the part that had made him so inaccessible; the part with Kate and Paige and every fucked up thing in his life that caused him to look in the mirror each day with hate instead of pride.
Stiles, Stiles knew both sides of Derek, even if the kid didn't realise it himself yet. Derek fought, plotted and outright battled alongside him, but in the past few days he'd also freaking cuddled, shared secrets about Laura, talked about feelings. He just- he never really opened up to people like that now, and Derek couldn't decide if letting Stiles in like that had been good or bad. Hell, he actually liked the kid, and while he liked the betas, he found them perpetually getting on his nerves as well. Although Stiles was annoying, the benefits his company always outweighed the minor headache Derek might get from his antics.
When Stiles had been crying, outright sobbing over the mother he'd lost- Derek had plain freaked out…well, internally at least. Externally he'd taken both the initiative and the instinct to hold and console the grieving teen, hugging him in a distinctly non-Derek Hale way and whispering soothing words under his breath and into the boy's hair, rocking back and forth in the way he'd seen people do so many times to the grieving and injured; but he'd never had much practice in himself.
Derek had never been a comforting person; that had always been either Laura or his father, so when his aborted attempts at helping actually worked he probably almost had a heart attack from pure relief.
That relief didn't last long though, not when, a few hours after he had fallen asleep- Stiles' heart rate and breathing increased and then started the dreadful, horrible sound that signalled the start of another wave of pain. Howling screams of agony that should not have made an appearance from a kid so innocent, the plain pain that was evident on his face…and the sudden thrashing were all pretty clear indicators as well.
The Alpha, of course, immediately clutched at the boy- black veins racing up his arms…and Stiles should have settled down after that…should have stopped the horrible nightmarish screams- but he didn't, he just kept tearing out those anguished noises, even as Derek frantically tried leaching the pain.
Why wasn't it working? What was going on?
Stiles was writhing, contorting his body as much as he could under Derek's grip, ripping the sheets up from the mattress and winding them around his body like a shield. His mouth was open in what seemed a never ending tortured plea for help, tearing at both his throat and Derek's ears. Tears tracked down his face, hands clawed at Derek's arms and his head thrashed from side to side as he sobbed in between both shuddering breaths, and howls of pure agony.
Derek- Derek was lost. He didn't know what to do. He didn't know what to do. Leaching pain was the only thing he could do, and it wasn't helping! Stiles was still in pain. Why wasn't it working- it was supposed to be working! This had never happened befo-
Then Derek remembered…back when he was a teen, back when that Druid had gotten bitten and was in the very last stages of his withdrawal from the venom…the last attack. The last wave was the venom's last shot at survival, and it lasted for way longer than usual, the venom making a last chance shot at attacking the body's system.
Stiles was still screaming like a madman, his voice sounding raw and choked, like he'd ran out of both energy and capacity. Derek shifted his position, pulled a thrashing and fighting Stiles up and settled him into the V between his thighs back-to-chest, resting his own back against the headboard. Derek wrapped both arms around the writhing boy's middle, pinning Stiles' flailing arms to his side- and doing the same to his legs by trapping them under the Alpha's calves.
Derek, from this angle, could see the blood on Stiles' thigh…he'd torn out his stitches from all the trashing he'd done, something they'd been able to stop him from doing in all previous attacks.
Derek breathed in deeply and waited, knowing that even though Stiles was in so much pain, so much lasting pain- this was the final wave. The last and final one ever, and when Stiles finally got out of it- it would be over.
Still, the openness of the loft and the fact that Derek had super hearing, made the agonised screams that much more unbearable. But it wasn't like he could do anything about it. Christ- Stiles was there in his arms, writhing in pain and he could do nothing but just sit and wait, it was the worst torture; smelling the tears, hearing the screams- now turned into low sobbing from pure breathlessness, feeling both the sweat covering Stiles' back and the tremors wracking his body…and just the plain knowledge of the fact that Stiles was in such pain.
He could do nothing, so he waited. He listened to Stiles sob and felt him writhe, and all he did was wait for it to finish. It was unbearable, agonising and consuming- but he didn't break. Derek sat there with a vice like grip and handled it like he needed to. Like he had always needed to.
Derek could tell immediately when the attack ceased. It was like a wave of calm took over Stiles' entire body, distorting his sobs into sighs, relaxing his shaking and slumping his shoulders, calming both his heartbeat and his breathing…and just- taking all the fight the boy had been putting up- turning him into an almost dead weight in Derek's lap, his head falling forward to his chest in relief. Derek would have been too at the end of it, if it weren't so disturbing to witness how drained the energetic boy had become.
The Alpha relaxed his grip, turning it more soothing instead, and breathed out his own sigh of relief. He could feel Stiles' sweat soaking through both their shirts and into his own skin, but at that moment he didn't seem to care.
"You okay?" He asked the boy panting in his arms, knowing damn well he wasn't.
"Hnnnnggg." Stiles answered in a dry, raspy and cracked hum- sounding like a pack-a day smoker who hadn't had a sip if water in hours. He was obviously pretty out of it, but who wouldn't be after going through what he just did?
"Need something to drink?" Derek asked softly and moved from under Stiles to get up and go to the kitchen.
Stiles whined-high pitch and animalistic, turning in his position to face Derek and throw his sweaty arms around the older-man's neck, clinging to him as tightly as his dwindling strength would allow.
"Stiles, after all that screaming," Derek flinched, "I need to get you some hydration. I'll be back in a second." Derek said it as seriously and commandingly as he could, but Stiles only gripped tighter, whining and shaking his head back and forth- scraping his sweaty hair all over Derek's chin and lips.
Derek sighed. This was a dilemma he was not going to have, he was already having a shit day and he wasn't just going to- Stiles whined when he tried to move again.
"That's it. I'll carry you to the kitchen with me." Derek declared, rolling his eyes and quickly jumping off the bed and pulling Stiles up into a bridal-style carry before he had any time to change his mind.
"NNN… Dizzy!" Stiles muttered throatily and clung to Derek like a life-source. His entire body was covered in warm sweat and even if Derek couldn't smell it, in that position he could certainly feel it.
"Come on." He said, and took off towards the kitchen with Stiles in his arms.
Once they got there, he soon realised there was no way of actually getting Stiles to let go of him…so Derek had to open the fridge one handed,( the other cradling the exhausted teen) and reach into it to grab out a water bottle that he usually kept in there for work-outs.
He then closed the fridge and sat up on the counter- hauling Stiles up into his lap as he did so, his legs around Derek's waist and arms around his neck. Derek was just trying to ignore the weirdness of it all. He thrust the water bottle at the kid in his arms.
"Nnnngh." Stiles groaned, burying his head into Derek's neck in an obvious protest- pushing the bottle away with his elbow weakly. Derek wasn't used to the whole 'caring and nurturing' thing, and had only really gotten any of the experience he had with Cora and Isaac, but even he knew that Stiles needed hydration after the obvious strain he just went through.
"Drink." He demanded forcefully, pushing the water bottle at Stiles, harder and more demanding this time.
Stiles just shook his head and whined like a baby.
"Ugh." Derek complained, popping the cap with his teeth, then tilting Stiles' chin up and forcing the nozzle into his mouth.
Stiles complained at first, choking and sputtering- but it was obvious once he got the feel of cool water mending his throat, he couldn't get enough, and soon he was gulping down heaps and heaps and Derek found himself having to stop him from going too far- else he get a stomach-ache. Though a stomach ache seemed the least of Stiles' issues compared to what he'd just been through.
Once Stiles had downed three-quarters of it, Derek threw the bottle away behind him carelessly, not really giving a shit about where it landed.
"Okay." He said, lifting Stiles up again, but this time in more of a frontwards piggy-back, "Showertime."
"Nuuuuuh!" Stiles moaned, shaking his head and tapping Derek on the ear in an obvious declaration of disagreement.
"Stiles you smell like pain and teenage BO, plus you tore your stitches and you're bleeding all over me." Derek announced -pointedly not sniffing because, now that he was mentioning it- the smell was just harder to ignore…and it wasn't the smell of teenage sweat that was off-putting, it was the blood.
"No. No sssower." Stiles said, his voice still raspy, but sounding about as mature as Isaac's need for Mexican food.
Derek just rolled his eyes and walked to the bathroom, ignoring Stiles' cries of protest and half-hearted bats at his hears in the attempt to dissuade him from bathing.
Once he got into the small room, he used his right arm to slide under Stiles' legs, making sure the teen had a tight grip around his neck, effectively holding him and leaving Derek's left hand free to use.
With his free hand he closed the bathroom door- making the room seem that much smaller and intimate, then proceeded to pull back the shower curtain and started up the water.
Derek then placed a shaky Stiles upright on the fuzzy bathmat, letting the boy grasp his forearms in support and lean back on the basin so that he wouldn't topple over.
"I'm going to take your clothes off now, okay?" Derek asked sternly, but on the inside he was feeling just a tad awkward- as you do when you're about to undress a half-awake boy you've been pining over for months.
"It had to happen like this." Stile muttered, sounding much more lucid- but his eyes were still drooping and his knees still weak, so he was obviously still affected. Derek decided to ignore the comment and take it instead as a signal to go ahead with the de-clothing.
He started with the top layers- feeling like those were the least embarrassing and would maybe give Stiles' more time to adjust to the concept of being naked around him (Derek knew how self-conscious teenagers could be- especially this one), though he still took of the sweaty shirts quickly- not wanting to waste too much water in the de-clothing process.
Of course when he actually took Stiles' shirts off though, he caught himself staring and had to avert his eyes immediately- else he wouldn't be able to get anything else done. Stiles was way more…more than Derek had thought. His shoulders were broad and defined by lines of muscle, he had actual pecs and the beginnings of some serious definition around his arms. Derek didn't even know why he'd though Stiles would have been some skinny kid- he played lacrosse and ran from monsters all the time…Perhaps it was just Stiles' general attitude, and the skinny boy stereotype that went with it?
Derek shook himself out of his thoughts angrily, and continued on with the rest of the clothes- untying Stiles' track pants and ignoring the coil of arousal that action sparked in his belly…now was not an appropriate time.
He pulled the pants down hesitantly, knowing Stiles' thigh would be in pain from the previous act of pulling his stitches.
Then…well- okay, so he then carefully removed Stiles' blood-soaked boxer shorts and while he'd initially promised himself he'd avert his eyes- the siren song of penis called to him. Ugh- that sounded like something Stiles would say- God his inner monologue was getting stuffed up.
He only looked for like, five seconds though- seriously!
"Dude are you gonna get on with it, I'm bleeding all over your bathroom floor here." Stiles groaned, and Derek looked up to see his eyes tight shut, his face pale and sweaty- but tinged a little pink from the obvious embarrassment that nudity brought.
Derek coughed, "Right," he said, letting Stiles go- making the boy independently and nakedly hold himself up on his own against the basin, "Just stay there for a second while I get undressed and then-" Stiles whine cut him short. The boy looked almost physically pained and-oh, yeah…he needed physical contact after a pain attack. Right, Derek could do this…naked, okay, Sure.
Derek stepped forward and put a hand around Stiles' sweaty forearm, "Just for a minute okay?" He asked gently, and Stiles-though he looked like he wanted to protest- nodded, but held onto Derek' offered arm tightly.
Derek stripped quickly, but only down to his boxers. Stiles needed to be naked due to the wound on his thigh- but that didn't mean Derek had to make it awkward by doing the same. Besides, the minimal amount of cloth might actually cover something up if he, ah…noticed anything else about Stiles.
Just as Derek was taking the last of his clothing off- his pants- Stiles let out a whine and grabby hands, indicated he'd waited long enough for the physical contact.
Physical contact that Derek was going to have to maintain…in a shower…with a naked Stiles…the Sheriff's underage son…whom Derek had some serious feelings for.
God this shower was going to be a nightmare, or a dream. Either way Derek wasn't entirely sure he was making it out alive.
Sageandmilk:
Thank you everyone for the lovely comments! Be assured i'm reading them all and they're super awesome.
Feel free to follow and/or talk to me on my tumblr: