Explanations
Her human's shoulder is still her favorite place to be, but sitting on his arm is an acceptable replacement. At least if it means that she gets to stay with him at school, she doesn't see the difference between being in school and home. Other than all of the humans, there are many of them at school, which is why her human wanted her to stay hidden from them. Most humans react badly to seeing her, she doesn't know why that is, if anything it's her who should react badly to humans. They're huge and always out to harm her, she can't remember how many times she's almost been smashed by a human. Then again, she doesn't want to remember, they're not good memories to have. She doesn't have to fear it anymore, her human will keep her safe in the instances that she cannot keep herself safe.
School seems to be a waste of time, there are so many things she could think of that is more interesting than sitting in a room full of loud humans, and look at the slightly larger human at the front of the room that keeps talking and pointing at the white wall behind him. Maybe school is just one of those weird human things that are useful to humans somehow, but that she can't understand for the life of her. At least she is warm and cozy in her human's sleep, and every now and again he will pet her while listening to the talking human. Her human talk as well, but very quietly and only to the human sitting beside him, a female human she thinks. She isn't very good at seeing the difference of the humans, I never mattered to her anyway, but usually, the females have longer hair on their heads than the males. But sometimes they don't, they're very complicated to understand she thinks.
The female human seems to be nice enough, she helps her human keep calm, and they laugh together while doing the things the large human tells them to do. She hears her human tell the female about the Scott human, the one that hurt her human. She tries to listen to what he tells her, but he doesn't say anything new of importance, she does hear the female tell her human that she calls herself Mandy. Names, she thinks, are the things humans use to call on each other to know who they want to speak with. Names aren't things she's ever thought to be necessary, but she doesn't spend as much time with other spiders as the humans do with each other and it's simpler for them to use their silly names. She hears her human respond with his own name. She hadn't thought about him having a name before but she likes it, Stiles, it sounds good. It fits him, but she likes everything about her human. Well everything but his white mouth slime, but not everyone can be perfect all of the time.
She decides to use the rest of the time of school to rest, she taps at her human when she feels his heartbeat too much, to remind him that she's right there, and she will keep him safe. He returns the favor by petting her. Time goes by fast for her, she has a great time and she wouldn't mind going to school again, it's a great place to rest and enjoy her human, Stiles's warmth, and general presence.
Sometime later her human speaks to another male human, that the female brought with her, and she hears that his name is Sean. She wonders who comes up with all of the human names and if there are humans with the same names, or is that prohibited? She guesses that is another thing she'll have to keep wonder about, and wishes again that she could just ask her Stiles her questions about humans. This Sean human also seems like a nice one, she wonders if they like spiders or if they're like the horrible humans who stomp on her kind. She hopes they're not, and if they are, she hopes her Stiles will keep her away from them. The humans walk into yet another room to sit and listen in, so she taps her Stiles and settles in to rest some more.
Before she knows it she startles awake and they're outside. It's just her and her Stiles, and he has pulled up his sleeve so he can see her better. He talks to her then, "Hi there, how are you doing hm?", he says and she barely understands his words because she's in a state just between sleep and awake, but she looks up at him. He gives a small laugh, "Yeah, school is no fun is it? You should get out of there and stretch your legs a bit, cause it's not over yet. We have lunch now, and then there are three more classes before we can go home again" he says. She doesn't want to leave his arm but she does want to move around for a bit, so she moves down his arm and onto the ground where she starts moving around in the grass, and it feels amazing to walk around after being still for so long.
Soon her Stiles's new humans walk over to them and sit down, then they all start their mid-day feeding. Yet another weird human thing, instead of off feeding to last for some time, they feed several times a day. She is very relieved that she is not a human, it seems so complicated and tiresome. She lets them be for a while and keeps walking around looking around, but makes sure she can always see her human and make sure he can see her. Then she grows restless, she wants to be with her Stiles, so she walks over to him but he doesn't notice her right away so she climbs up his back and sits on his shoulder for a while. Then she decides to get a better look at his companions and climbs up to his head and settles down to observe the three humans as they interact with each other.
She has been on Stiles's head for a while when the female, Mandy suddenly stops speaking and looks right at her. She had for a moment forgotten that she was supposed to keep hidden from the humans, but her Stiles liked these ones and hopefully, they wouldn't react too badly at her presence. The human Mandy speaks to her Stiles then, "Don't panic Stiles, but I'm pretty sure you have a brown recluse in your hair".
Her Stiles takes a moment to answer her properly, and then he asks Mandy if she looks the way that she does, which she does thank you very much. A brown recluse! What a horrible comparison, she is certainly not one of those menaces! She misses what Mandy answers him, but then her human speaks to her and she starts to pay attention again.
"Alright little lady, come to say hi to my new friends", he says and she steps onto the hand he has placed right in front of her, then her Stiles tells his friends about her. She cannot truly be bothered to listen anymore, the only human interesting enough to her is Stiles and she already knows what he is saying and he isn't saying it to her, so she doesn't feel the need to pay too much attention right now. She pats her human with her pedipalps, to comfort him and to remind him that she is right here and please pay attention to her. She gets rewarded by being petted by her Stiles, and it is a wonderful feeling, she never wants him to stop petting her.
She is brought back to attention by the two new humans leaning forward to look at her, so she looks back at them. They don't look too afraid, maybe a bit cautious, but then she feels the same way about them. When she starts paying attention to what they're talking about again Mandy says, "Yeah, she looks a bit like Lucas the spider, when it comes to cuteness". She hears her human inquire as to who Lucas is, and then before she knows it the three humans are almost smushed together and leaning against the tree. Then Mandy takes out her small talking device and starts a movie-like thing like on the tv she watched with Stiles the day before. In the movie is a small-big spider, it is impossible to see its actual size, and it is talking in human language.
The spider with the name Lucas is fascinating. He is just like she has wished to be herself, to be able to speak. She wonders if the requirement for speaking is to have a name, but then how would she get one of those. She remembers meeting several human pets that have had names, and none of them could speak to their humans either so maybe it doesn't work like that after all. Unless it's a spider thing, if you're a spider and have a name, then perhaps you can speak. Yet another question she has no answer to, school is very tiring, she would like it if one of the talking humans in the rooms could talk about these things instead. While sitting there on her human's shoulder and watching Lucas, she feels him relax and it is the first time since she first saw him that he has been so calm. His heart is beating like a normal human heart, and she thinks she can feel his contentment. Before she knows it they have finished watching Lucas, and are yet again on their way to another talking room and she is zoning out again. With no interest in the talking that is going to happen, she falls in yet another state between sleep and wakefulness just in case her Stiles need her.
In the very last talking room they go to before they go home again, she finally gets a look at the Scott that hurt her Stiles. He is weird-looking, like all humans who aren't her human. She is more than ready to pounce on him but she remembers Stiles telling her to stay hidden, so she waits for a while. It's a good thing she does because her human handles the other human fine on his own, he tells him that he is not needed nor wanted, and she is proud of him for defending himself so well, and when he sits down with yet another human she taps his arm as a comfort and a reward for being a good human. Then the talking begins again and she cannot wait to get back to the Jeep and have her human bring them to his home again, more than ready to leave school for the day.
~~~
When the last class ends Stiles stays in his seat until everyone has left, he doesn't feel like being surrounded by a bunch of people right now. When the room is almost empty ha gets up and walks toward the door, when he gets outside the classroom he sees Scott and his gang all together just on the other side of the hallway. It looks as if they're waiting for him, but he hurries away from them and towards the front doors. On the way outside, he meets up with Mandy and Sean, and they walk outside together making Stiles all but forget about the pack. They chat all the way to his Jeep and then they say goodbye, and make plans for meeting up before class the next morning.
Once in his car, his spider crawls out of his sleeve and up to his arm and takes a seat on his shoulder again. He really needs to find a name for her, but she deserves the best name and he's never been too good at the naming thing. He'll have to do some research on good spider names.
The drive back home is mostly quiet, but he does talk to his spider, mostly just random things that pop up in his head. When he gets to the house he's surprised to see his dad's cruiser parked in the driveway, he's probably just slept a bit longer than usual and will be on his way back to work before long. Stiles is suddenly surprised by how much he actually misses his dad, he's worked so much lately that he's maybe seen him twice this month. Even then it was just a short hi and goodbye as his dad went to work. Stiles miss their Thursday dinners at Betty's Diner, and their movie nights when his dad gets home from work. he just really misses him, at least he has bribed all of his dad's deputies to make sure the sheriff doesn't eat too much junk. He gets out of the car and walks to the front door, he'll have to try to be quiet if his dad sleeps but he doesn't have too much trouble with that anymore. It's surprising how easy it is to become accustomed to being quiet when you don't have anyone to talk to. He opens the door and walks inside.
"Stiles? Is that you?", he is surprised by his dad's voice, it's so good to hear it again, he is almost overwhelmed by his emotions. He feels pathetic again, he's almost crying just because his dad talked at him.
"Yeah, dad it's me", he answers, "What are you doing home, I thought you were working today", he said and finished quietly in his head, like you do every day to ignore your problems, which just so happens to be me. He starts walking to the kitchen which is where his dad's voice had come from, and there, by the stove is his father in the middle of cooking. Something Stiles hasn't seen his father do in years, and suddenly he's scared what if something has happened, why would his dad become if there wasn't something seriously wrong?
"I thought it was about time we talked kiddo", he says and it does not make Stiles feel any better."Talk about what?", is what he answers.
"I want to start by saying I'm sorry for working so much, but I didn't know what to do Stiles. You keep lying to me and just when I think you're telling me the truth, you lie about something else, and I don't know how to get you to tell me what's going o with you." Stiles feels guilty again for all of the lies, but they were meant to keep his dad safe, and isn't he safer if he's not involved with all of this supernatural bullshit?
"I don't know what to tell you, dad, I'm sorry you don't believe me." Stiles manages to say through his guilt.
"Damn it, Stiles!" his dad exclaims, "I just want my son back, I want you to think that you can tell me about the things that are bothering you. I want to know what's going on in your life that makes you think you have to lie to me all the time!" he continues and Stiles is so close to crying, he just wants to tell his dad everything, and get a hug and have his dad tell him that thing will be okay and they'll deal with everything together."You wouldn't believe me even if I told you", is what he finally tells his dad, he is very tired of lying to his dad after all.
"Why kiddo? Just tell me, just, Stiles please talk to me. Please kid." Stiles breaks, his tears start running down his cheeks and then he thinks fuck it and starts to tell his dad everything.
"Alright, you wanna know the truth, then I'll tell you," he says, he takes a deep breath and feels his spider tapping him on his neck from her hiding spot on his shoulder under his shirt. Then he continues, "You remember that night where you found me in the woods looking for the dead body?" he asks his dad, and the sheriff rolls his eyes a bit" Of course I remember that."
"Well I wasn't alone Scott was with me, and he walked through the forest to get home. On his way, he was attacked and got bitten on his side. He didn't tell anyone except for me because he is an idiot, but he told me that he heard a wolf howl just before the attack. Even though he shouldn't have because we haven't had wolves in California in a really long time." Stiles is shaking, he is about to tell his father that his former best friend is a werewolf, and the chances of being believed are not high. But he has already started and he can't back out now. The sheriff sits in his chair by the kitchen table and he's quietly listening to Stiles, ready to do his best to not ask questions until his son has finished his tale.
Stiles takes another deep breath, feels yet another tap, and calms down slightly. "So when Scott goes to pull his bandage off to show me the bite, it's been completely healed, but the blood on the bandage showed how the wound looked before it healed. And this is Scott if he were gonna prank me then he would have just splashed some ketchup to the bandage, not paint it to look like a genuine bitemark. Besides Scott is a terrible liar, he couldn't lie to me for the life of him." Stiles takes a short break and sits down on the chair opposite his dad, and sneaks a look at his face. It doesn't tell him what his dad is thinking, it's perfectly neutral and Stiles is grateful that he doesn't outright show his disbelief.
"We didn't think much about it at first, but then he started to change, he got stronger, faster, his senses heightened, and when the full moon happened I had already convinced myself that he was a werewolf and I tried to get him to believe me and stay home instead of going to that party with Allison. But he got angry and pushed and swiped at my computer chair, then he left. That was when I saw the claw marks he left on the back of my chair, and I was a hundred percent sure I was right." He took another breath, and tried to keep his voice from shaking too much, and kept his eyes on the table, not really wanting to look at his dad again.
"When Scott finally accepted that I was right and that he is a werewolf now, I managed o convince him to let me tie him up during the second day of the full moon, so I handcuffed him to the radiator. But the full moon was affecting him so much that he kept saying things to me that I never thought I'd hear him say, not to me at least. He managed to break out of the handcuffs and left through the window. And that bus driver that was killed? Scott was sure that he had done that because he had a very weird and vivid dream about it, but really it was the Alpha werewolf that had done it and tried to control Scott to help him out. To forge a stronger pack bond and loyalty to him." Stiles kept explaining to his dad, he kept some smaller details out but otherwise, he told him everything.
He told him about being trapped in the high school, and thinking that Derek was dead, that Peter Hale was the alpha, and that he had kidnapped Stiles to get him to help Peter, he told him about the dead nurse in the trunk, about Kate Argent, about how he was a part of Peters murder, and how he held Derek up in the pool, and about Gerard and how the old man had kidnapped him and how it was him that had beaten him up after the lacrosse game, and everything else that had happened. When he finished speaking he felt relieved, because no matter what his dad thinks, Stiles finally got to tell his dad everything. Well, almost everything, he still hasn't told him about how Scott ended their friendship, or about his little WOlf Spider friend but he figured he'd see how his dad reacts to this first and then he'll tell him about that too.
He finally looked at his father again and held his breath. What happens if his dad doesn't believe him after all? Can he find a way to convince him without having a werewolf on hand to show him?
His dad looks at him, and his nerves come back and he feels himself start to shake a little again. His spider must notice his discomfort because she is tapping him again, and he feels instantly better.
"You want me to believe that Scott got bitten by a werewolf, and turned into one himself? And all of the Hales are werewolves as well and that is the reason their house was burned down?" is the first thing his dad says.
"Honestly?" Stiles says, "I'm at the point where I don't really care if you believe me or not because I know it's true, and I told you the truth even if it's not the truth you thought it was or wanted it to be." Stiles is suddenly feeling very calm, either the sheriff believes him or he doesn't and there is not much more he can do about it now.
"Alright, can you prove it? Call Scott over and he can show me, or does he only get fur on the full moon?" His dad says, and at the reminder of Scott, Stiles's calmness disappeared as suddenly as it appeared.
"Yeah, no. Werewolves can shift whenever they want, most don't even turn into full wolves they just sort of half shift, their eyebrows disappear and they change eye color, and spout extra fur everywhere. But I can't call Scott to show you." says Stiles and shifts his head away from his dad, he's dreading this revelation more than the supernatural one. He and Scott have been best friends since they were toddlers, and to suddenly know that they're never gonna be friends again hurts so much more than he could ever imagine. He can feel his eyes tearing up again, how many times is he going to cry today.
"Alright, why can't you call him? Can't he use a phone all of a sudden, or is it a strange werewolf thing, to not use phones?" His dad says with a slightly teasing tone mixed with his skepticism.
"No he can use a phone, but he has decided to not want to be friends with me anymore, so I'm sure he doesn't want to help me prove it to you. Besides don't you think I would have called him over at the beginning to make sure you believed me if I could have?" Stiles retorted with a pained smirk.
"That is the most unbelievable thing I've heard today." Says the sheriff and looks closely at Stiles, whose tears have started to run down his cheeks by now. "Ah hell, kiddo. You're serious, Scott said that?" the sheriff asked and stood up and walked over to Stiles, he put a hand on his shoulder and Stiles felt his spider move away and down his arm just as his dad brought him closer to himself for a hug. Stiles starts sobbing like he hasn't done since his mom died, and stands up to be able to hug his dad back. Stiles can't stop crying no matter how good it feels to be in his dad's arms again and to feel his spider tapping on his hand. They stand there in the kitchen with Stiles crying and his father doing his best to comfort him.
When his sobbing starts to wind down he pulls away from his dad just a little, and says, "Scott texted me last night and said that there was no way he could keep being friends with me, because I'm human and weak, and always in the way. He said I'm a liability to him and the pack and that they're all tired of having to save me when they have better things to do. Even though I have saved them more times than they've saved me." He says, " I don't understand Dad, how can he say that to me? After everything we've been through together, from mom dying and Agent Asshole leaving, and everything. But now suddenly what? He's too good for me now? He has superpowers and can't be bothered with the only friend he's had, because now he has a girlfriend and a new cooler best friend, and what does he need poor pathetic Stiles for huh?" Stiles exclaims in anger and pain and clutches his dad's shoulder for comfort.
"I'm sorry kiddo, I don't know what he is thinking, treating you like this. You deserve better kiddo, whether werewolves exist or not, you're the best son I could have wished for. Scott should know that you're the best friend he could wish for, and if he doesn't see that then that is his loss. You can do better than him kid, you deserve a friend that'll stick with you no matter what." It's amazing how comforting it is to have his dad on his side again and to hear him say that Stiles is important to him.
"I think that he thinks he's keeping me safe from supernatural threats if he doesn't actively involve me. But he has been my friend for like a decade, he if anyone should know shutting me out is going to do nothing to keep me away if I don't want to be. There is no way, that ending our friendship is going to keep me from learning everything I can about werewolves and hunters and whatever other kinds of creatures exist." is Stiles's answer to his dad but before the sheriff gets a chance to speak, Stiles continues, "So do you believe me, dad? Or do you just think I'm crazy?" he asks and looks at his father, he really wants his dad to believe him. He is the most important person, well human person, in his life now and if he doesn't believe what Stiles told him, he's not sure how he''ll react. Probably more crying, if the past hour is to go by.
His dad squeezes his shoulder and looks at him, "I've seen and heard your lies for years kiddo, I like to think I can see the difference between your lies and the truth. You're not lying to me now, which doesn't necessarily mean it's true, just that you believe it is." He starts, and Stiles flinched away from him a little because it sounds to him that his dad does think he's insane but before he gets a chance to defend himself his dad starts talking again. "Don't look at me like that kiddo, I do believe you, it is very unbelievable, but after what we went through with your mom and her delusions, I think I would notice if you were truly delusional. So if you say that werewolves are a thing, then I believe you, even if it'd be easier to not do it. I love you kiddo, and we'll figure this out together." he says and Stiles throws his arm around his dad again and hug him as hard as possible, and he can't believe how good it feels to have told his dad the truth and to have him believe it. They stay like that for a few minutes before Stiles remembers that he has one more thing to tell his dad, so he slowly releases his dad from his near-death grip and takes a step back.
"I love you too dad" He starts and takes a deep breath. "I just have one more thing to tell you, then you're all caught up." His dad looks a bit concerned now, "You have more things to tell me? What more could you possibly have to tell me?" He asks incredulity. Stiles gives a small laugh, "Nothing bad, I promise", he says and his father relaxes a bit and gives him a look as if to say 'it better not be anything bad'.
Stiles fidgets a bit and feels his spider move up his arm again, and he feels comforted that he's already told his father the difficult things, he can tell him about the spider he found that just wouldn't leave.
"So yesterday after school I was exhausted so I decided to take a nap, and when I woke up there was a brown spider beside my face on the pillow" he starts and he can see his dad look a bit confused, but before he can continue his father interrupts him, "This isn't the moment you tell me you got bitten by a radioactive spider and became spider-man, is it? Because I have already decided to accept werewolves as reality, but I refuse to accept you becoming spider-man." He says, and Stiles laughs, "Oh my god, no I don't have superpowers and I'm not gonna turn into spider-man, I just found her on my pillow and I looked up different species of spiders and figured out that she is a Wolf spider, and I don't know, it sounds stupid but after Scott sent that text yesterday, she helped me feel less lonely." Stiles answered.
"Besides there is something weird about it, I talked to her all of yesterday and today and I swear she can understand what I say to her, and she listens. When things got overwhelming at school she tapped on my arm and suddenly I felt better. I'm not saying there is something supernatural about her, just that I really like her and she's helped me through school. I'm going to let her stay with me for as long as she wants to, and I guess I just wanted to warn you so that you don't squish her, or something." He finished and his father still looked confused, but also fond.
"So you got yourself a pet spider?" He asks, and Stiles rolls his eyes a bit, "Actually I think it's more her that got a pet human, but sure if you wanna call it that. I årefer to think of it as getting a new, but unusual friend." He says, and it's his dad's turn to laugh, "Well the do I get to meet your new friend or what?" he asks with a fond smile. Stiles smiles back and says, "Alright little lady, you wanna meet my dad?", his dad snorts in amusement, "Little lady?" he asks. "What I haven't had the time to come up with a better name yet, so I just call her little lady, because she's a lady and she's little. It makes sense." Stiles answers a bit defensively but mostly amused himself. Then he puts his hand by his neck where the opening for the neck on his shirt is, and he doesn't even have to tell her to come out, she is already halfway on his hand. Stiles looks at his father as the spider gets fully on his hand, he moves the hand a little bit closer to his da. "Dad, this is my new spider friend. Little lady says hi to my dad." Stiles introduces them, and to both, his and his dad's amusement the spider lifts one of her legs in the air as if to wave hello. Then she turns around and climbs up his arm and settles on his shoulder again, it seems to him that his shoulder is her favorite place to be.
"Hello there, nice to meet you." His dad says, "Thank you for keeping my son company", he finishes with a small smile. Then he turns to Stiles and says, "I know it's only Wednesday, but we've missed a couple of Thursdays lately, which is completely my fault but how do you feel about dinner at Betty's?" He asks and Stiles gives him a big smile. "It sounds great dad, and maybe we can have a movie night when we get back," says Stiles.
"That sounds great kiddo, I'm just gonna get changed and then we'll leave." Says his dad, claps the shoulder without a spider, and walks off to his bedroom.
Stiles sits down on the kitchen chair again, and he feels so much lighter than he has felt in weeks, he's so happy that he decided to tell his dad after all. Sure knowing about the supernatural can make his work more dangerous, but perhaps also make it a little bit safer if he knows to take precautions against supernatural creatures that just so happen to be criminals as well. If not then Stiles will just have to do some extra research on the subject and help his dad to do his job, as safely as possible.
None of that matters right now though, because Stiles is so relieved that his day went as well as it did, other than his one actual conversation with Scott. He feels like he has his dad back and he is going to make damned sure he doesn't lose him to anything ever again. He is going to stop hiding these big things from him, and he has his spider, and he has even made two new friends. Currently, his life is as good as it can be, it might get even better with time to heal from his hurt caused by Scott. But until then he's going to enjoy spending time with his dad, his spider, and Mandy and Sean. Beginning with dinner and movies with his dad. Just as he finishes that thought, his dad comes back into the room and smiles at Stiles and asks if he's ready to go.
Together they get into his dad's police cruiser and makes their way to Betty's Diner, and for the first time in a long time they talk, laugh, and have a great time together, so great in fact that it ends without Stiles having the time for that laundry he planned on doing, and his homework is very much unfinished. But none of that matters either because his day ended great, with his dad, on the couch where they both fell asleep to one of the spider-man movies.