Present ...
Stiles was woken by a particularly bad jolt from Derek, he hadn't even realised he'd fallen asleep and it took him a few moments to work out where he was and remember what had happened. Stiles tried to sit up but found himself clamped down tightly by the werewolf's arm which was slung over his chest. With a lot of effort Stiles just about managed to squirm out from underneath his arm; he sat up and looked down at Derek who was still deep in sleep. Stiles watched him for a few minutes, his body still trembling and occasionally jolting as he continued to fight off the remnants of the poison. The thought of how close he'd come to losing him terrified him ... almost as much as the thought of having to cut off his arm sickened him.
Stiles detangled his fingers from Derek's and reached over him to replace the cool cloth that had slipped from his forehead. Stiles stilled when he noticed the veins in his arms were tinged with black, he blinked and when he looked again the marks were gone. Had he imagined them? Why would Derek be doing that in his sleep? Stiles slowly eased himself off the bed and tiptoed out of the room so he didn't wake the sleeping werewolf. He felt guilty, Derek had been unconsciously drawing from him when he was supposed to be concentrating on using his energy on getting himself better.
It was late, they must have slept for hours Stiles realised when he stepped into the bathroom and saw the sun had set. Stiles was hot and sweaty from being too close to the burning werewolf for so long, he quickly shed his clothes and stepped into a cool shower.
Stiles closed his eyes against the cool spray and blocked out the thought of Derek and how close he'd come to death. He laid his head against the cool tiles and sighed heavily - what if Scott hadn't have found the bullet? What if he hadn't got to the animal clinic in time? What would he have done if Derek had died?
Stiles drew back from the tiles and scrubbed his face with his fingers - he refused to cry. There was no point. Derek was alive. He was sleeping in the room just down the hall.
Stiles finished washing but found himself just standing under the shower letting the stress and toll of the day wash off him and swirl down the drain.
Stiles found himself thinking again about the moment he'd detangled his hand from Derek's. He hadn't imagined the blackness in his veins he realised but as he pictured what he'd seen he noticed something strange - the blackness had been creeping up his arm. Stiles kept his eyes closed and pictured his fingers wound through Derek's. Suddenly it hit him and his heart beat quickened so suddenly that a felt dizzy.
Stiles jumped out of the shower, wrapped a towel around his waist and raced down the hall. He entered Derek's room, linked his fingers through the werewolf's and stared down at him. Stiles sucked in a sharp breath when a rush of what felt like pins and needles spread up his arm at the same time he felt a wave of emotions rush over him, he groaned slightly as it all overwhelmed him - pain, fear, sadness all hit him all at once. "Derek." Stiles gasped when he realised that all these feelings belonged to him. He could feel what he felt. How did he cope feeling all of this all at once? And was it all of the time?
Stiles stared down at their joined hands and saw his veins had once again turned black; at first he wanted to pull their hands apart, he was scared because it overwhelmed to feel all of this all at once but then he noticed Derek's face soften slightly and a little colour had return to his pale cheeks.
He was helping him.
Stiles screwed his eyes up in concentration and tried to block out the emotions invading his body, focusing instead on Derek and getting him better. Derek had done this for him a thousand times before without a moment's hesitation, the least he could do was repay him a little.
"Stiles?" Derek mumbled, opening his eyes and sitting up. "What are you doing?" But Derek didn't need to be told, one look at Stiles's exhausted face and the blackness flowing through their joined hands told him everything. "Stiles stop!" Derek said wrenching his hand away. "You'll hurt yourself."
Stiles gasped at the sudden loss of the connection and the emotions that drained out of his body as quickly as they'd consumed him. "I - how is it even possible?" he asked flexing his fingers and rubbing at his aching arm.
"You shouldn't do that for too long." Derek said leaping off the bed and forcing Stiles to sit down. "It dangerous, how do you feel?" he asked studying his pale face worriedly.
"Fine, I feel fine." Stiles mumbled, it was almost true - he felt okay apart from the slight dizziness and the ache in his arm.
"Idiot." Derek said with a shake of his head, but the words were said with affection more than malice. "How did you even know you could do that?" he asked.
"I didn't." Stiles said with shake of his head. "I'd been doing it in my sleep without knowing." he told him. "I don't understand, how could I do that ... I mean I'm not like you. Did you know? Why didn't you tell me?" he demanded.
Derek placed his hand on Stiles's forehead, the teenager felt a little warm but nothing too alarming. "I don't know."
Stiles sighed, which ever question Derek had decided to answer it didn't matter because he wasn't getting the truth. "I don't need werewolf powers to know when you're lying." he muttered.
"You need to lie down." Derek said pressing down on his shoulders. "You're feeling dizzy right?"
Stiles nodded and let Derek push him down on the bed. "Yeah a little, how did you know?"
"I know Stiles." Derek said reminding him of how many times he'd done it for him in the past.
"Then why did you do it?"
"Same reason as you, because I wanted to help you." Derek replied rubbing Stiles's arm to get the circulation going. "Your heart starts to beat fast as all the emotions overwhelm you." he explained. "When the connection breaks it takes a while for the adrenaline to leave your body so it can make you feel breathless and dizzy for a while. Just close your eyes, it will pass."
"Derek you know more about this then you're letting on." Stiles mumbled but he did as he told. "What aren't you telling me? Why could I do that? And why back at school today did I know something was wrong before I saw that you'd been shot."
"You did?" Derek asked his heart beat picking up with excitement. Stiles was starting to show some of the supernatural instincts he would expect if he reciprocated the feelings he had for him. But he couldn't ... he didn't ... did he?
"I was in class and suddenly it just came over me ..." Stiles continued. "I knew something was wrong, I didn't know what but I just needed to find you." he explained. "You were all I could think about, I just knew I needed to find you ... then you walked out in front of my Jeep and I saw you'd been shot."
Derek slid down onto his knees beside the bed and sighed heavily. "Stiles -" he whispered. "You've got to find away to ignore that instinct to find me, you can't come after me it could lead you into all sorts of trouble."
"What are you talking about?" Stiles asked trying to sit up but Derek only pushed him back down again when he saw the teenagers eyes roll, showing that he was still feeling dizzy. Stiles turned onto his side and looked at Derek. "I don't understand, this scares me." he confessed. "It's like I don't have control over myself, like I go on autopilot or something."
"Don't be scared, it's okay." Derek told him. "I'll look after you, I'll show you how to control it. I won't let anything happen to you." he said reaching out and stroking his hand over Stiles's forehead. "Because you're mine." he told himself, he wanted to say the words but fear prevented him from doing so. "You're part of my pack." he said instead.
Stiles's eyes rested on Derek's and he understood now; he'd read a lot about pack dynamics and knew about the mutual bond that existed between pack members - somehow he'd become part of Derek's pack without meaning to ... and more interestingly without being a werewolf himself. Stiles wasn't frightened by this though, in fact he was relieved because Derek was right, he had nothing to be afraid off. They would look out for each other, just as they'd always done.
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Past ...
Derek was sorting through his locker when he sensed someone close by. He recognised the perfume with one sniff and knew who it belonged to. Sure enough when he glanced around his locker door he saw Kate smiling at him. Derek just stared at her knowing he should probably say something but no words seemed to reach his lips - he'd always been stumped when it came to talking to girls.
"So ..." Kate smiled leaning against a nearby locker and clutching her books close to her chest. "I was hoping to arrange another study session? We got on well today didn't we?"
Derek swallowed hard. "Sure." he nodded ignoring the twist in his stomach as he agreed. "Tomorrow lunch?" he asked.
"Well actually ..." Kate said twirling a finger through a golden lock of hair. "I was kind of hoping I could come over to yours?"
Derek's heart started to beat harder in his chest - an Argent in his home - he could never let that happen. "You can't." he said quickly. "But I have an idea of somewhere we can study ... meet me here tomorrow after classes finish?"
Kate nodded enthusiastically. "Sure." she grinned, her blond hair bouncing on her shoulders. "Okay see you tomorrow then." she said pushing herself off the locker and heading off. Derek watched her go, she joined two of her friends who'd been waiting for her and the three off them headed off together giggling and glancing over their shoulders at Derek. Derek couldn't hear what they were saying because his ears automatically tuned into the sound of two familiar heartbeats approaching him. "Hi." Derek said turning to find Stiles and Cora heading toward him. "Are you two ready to go home?"
"What were you doing talking to that girl? I saw you with her in the library earlier too, who is she?" Cora asked nosily.
"That's none of your business." Derek said pushing against his sister to get her walking in the opposite direction to Kate and her friends. "Come on." he said ignoring the curious glance Stiles gave him.
Cora kept glancing over her shoulder but Derek kept her moving, blocking her view of Kate and her friends with his own body. All the way home he had to dodge Cora's questioning and he thought he'd finally managed to shut her up but he was wrong. The moment they arrived home the three of them went into the kitchen. Cora dumped her school bag down and announced. "Derek's got a secret girlfriend."
"I do not." Derek growled at his younger sibling.
Laura glared at Derek knowing that Cora was talking about Kate, Peter smiled slightly and Talia just looked confused because her son had shown no interest in any girls before so this a little bit of a surprise to say the least. "What's this all about?" Talia asked.
"Cora saw me talking to a girl and jumped to a stupid conclusion." Derek said with a shrug. "She's just helping me with my school work, I'm struggling in a few classes." he confessed, at least this part was true so they couldn't detect he was hiding the truth.
Stiles took a seat at the kitchen counter and grabbed an apple from the fruit bowl; he too had seen Derek talking to the girl who he recognised as Kate Argent, Gerard's daughter and new instantly that Derek was hiding something ... what was he up to?
"She's pretty." Cora continued. "You should go out with her if you're not already."
"I told you I'm not." Derek snapped.
Peter smiled broadly and placed a hand on Stiles's shoulder. Derek instinctively moved closer and glared at his uncle in warning - something that did not go unnoticed by Laura who also stood. Peter was not intimidated by his niece or nephew however and his grip on Stiles's shoulder tightened and he smiled at Derek. "So Derek what's her name?" he asked.
Derek grabbed his school bag and Stiles's arm tugging him away from his uncle's grip. "Come on Stiles, I said I'd help you prepare for your spelling test tomorrow." he said practically dragging a very confused Stiles out of the kitchen.
Laura quickly followed.
Cora stared after them, she'd felt the tension in the room and wasn't sure how she had caused it. She was just having a little fun teasing her brother about the girl she'd seen him talking to. "Mom?" she asked glancing up at her worriedly.
Talia just patted her daughter on the shoulder as she passed. "I want a word, now." she hissed at her brother who just looked up at her innocently.
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Present ...
Stiles did as he was told and rested until he felt the dizziness subsided; by that point his father had returned home and was banging around in the kitchen. "Dad's attempting to cook, I'd better go and make sure the house doesn't burn down." he said slipping off the bed.
"Maybe you should get dressed first?" Derek said getting up from the floor where he'd remained by Stiles's side massaging his aching arm and fingers.
Stiles quickly realised he was still wearing just the towel he'd wrapped around himself after dashing out of the shower; he flushed red and headed to his room to pull on some sweatpants and t-shirt before heading down stairs. Derek chuckled as he followed him into the kitchen and Stiles just glared at him over his shoulder.
"Hi boys." The Sheriff greet them as they entered the kitchen. "Derek good to see you back home." he said clapping him on the shoulder. "Sit down, the food will be ready soon - you look like you could use it." he said frowning at Derek's pale face and dark eyes. "You okay son?"
Derek smiled and nodded. "I've just had a bit of trouble sleeping recently." he replied, which was indeed true but not the reason he looked like crap he thought glancing down at his bare forearm, luckily there was no trace of the bullet wound to catch the Sheriff's eye.
"What is it we're actually having?" Stiles said grimacing a little as he peered down into the pot on the stove.
Derek smiled slightly, he knew Stiles was just steering the subject away from him and the reason he wasn't sleeping so well - Laura - and was grateful for it. "Smells great to me." he replied earning an eye roll from Stiles. Derek just smiled to himself, he knew Stiles found what he described as the "bromance" going on between him and the Sheriff odd and loved to play on it to wind him up.
"It's my speciality, Spagetti a la Stilinksi." The Sheriff declared as he spooned a huge portion into a bowl before setting it down in front of Derek. "Tuck in, there's plenty more where that came from."
"Does a la Stilinksi mean you didn't follow a recipe book?" Stiles asked serving himself a considerably smaller portion. "This doesn't look like any meal I've ever seen before." he added.
"I like to improvise." The Sheriff said nudging his son with his elbow as he sat down at the counter.
Stiles took a small bite with caution and was surprised to find it - whatever it was - tasted pretty good. "Not bad Dad." he said before digging in wholeheartedly. In fact, Stiles finished first and went up for seconds. "Not bad at all." he said sitting back down again.
Derek smiled and watched a playful banter pass between father and son. Stiles's relationship with his father was much like the relationship he had with his own parents and siblings, full of teasing and sarcasm but ultimately affectionate.
Stiles's eyes snapped toward Derek when he felt a pang of sadness from the werewolf. "You okay?" he asked pausing between mouthfuls.
The Sheriff looked from Stiles to Derek curiously.
Derek smiled and nodded quickly. "Yeah, still hungry though." he said slipping off his stool and going up to the stove for seconds. He'd have to teach Stiles how to hide the fact he could feel his emotions, otherwise someone was sure to find out.