Word: Scintillate

...

Stiles doesn't know it, but he shines. Not like sparkly vampires or like glitter or anything, but more like sunlight on a lake, like stars in the night sky. At times, Derek's sure that he scintillates at times, going off like a firecracker in the dark, but Stiles doesn't seem to see it the way he does. He doesn't see the sparks that he sometimes emits when he's angry or even just passionate about something, and he doesn't see how each of those sparks reach out to every one of them, drawing them to him. Scott might be the True Alpha, but it's Stiles who brings them together, who keeps them together. He's their spark and Stiles belongs with the pack.

"You can't leave," Derek says, arms folded over his chest as if he's trying to keep his heart inside his body.

"Yes, I can, actually. I'm not sticking around for something else to possess me and try to kill my friends, all right? I don't expect you to understand, Sourwolf, because everyone knows you don't have any friends, but I want mine to live!" he says, glaring and sparks flying.

"They're not going to live if you go!" Derek snaps, more angry that Stiles thinks he doesn't have any friends - that he's not his friend.

It takes a moment for Stiles, who was obviously gearing up for a fight, to realise what Derek's said, and he kind of stares at him in surprise. "Say again, Sourwolf?"

"You belong with the pack, Stiles, and you can't leave. If you leave, then this pack's just going to fall apart at the seams," Derek admits, his voice softer than before. The pure brilliance of Stiles' sparks hurts his eyes, and he lowers his gaze.

"Yeah, 'cause it's really staying together right now," Stiles scoffs, rolling his eyes. "Allison's dead, Ethan's gone, Danny's avoiding us, half the time Kira looks like she doesn't know if she wants to kiss Scott or kill him, Isaac's disappeared to god knows where with Chris, Lydia hasn't left her house for anything apart from school in weeks - Lydia! - and Scott says he doesn't blame me but he looks at me like he's afraid I'm going to snap and kill everyone in sight. Well, when he's not trying to act as if I'm made of glass, that is. Melissa still flinches before she touches me, and my Dad still won't meet my eyes when he looks at me. I know he's thinking the same as everyone else: what if it's not really me anymore?

"I mean, we don't know what the hell happened between me and the nogitsune, and Kira's mum isn't talking, and neither's Deaton - though, seriously, that's not a big surprise 'cause the guy's got vague and cryptic down to an art - and since no one knows what happened, no one trusts me anymore! I can't live like that, I can't, Derek, so don't ask me to stay and suffer that."

Derek realises that Stiles means every word, and that there's nothing he can say to keep him in Beacon Hills. He nods briefly, his arms falling to his sides. "Fine. Just, wait, all right? Give me a day."

"Why?" Stiles asks warily.

"Because you're my spark, Stiles, and I'm not letting you go," Derek replies firmly.

At his answer, Stiles smiles and shines like the spark he is. This time, Derek can't bring himself to look away.

...

End of word challenge.

Thanks for reading!