Authors Note: HEYO! XD Please tell me what you think; I would love to know XD I own nothing and no one, apart from the following: Zane,Gabriel (Gabe), Mrs Jones.

JUST SO YOU KNOW: like everyone else, I have no idea what Stiles' real name is, I'm going along with what everyone else puts :) I've made his middle name up XD

You guys are all so amazing and I love you all! In a non-creepy non-psycho kind of way XD

Please review XD

Chapter 21

Stiles

Friday, December 20th. School had just finished and it was time to head home. I was pretty much beaming, since that meant I wouldn't have to step foot into that building until January 6th, when Christmas vacation was over.

Which meant I didn't have to see Gabe for a while...

Thank fuck for that!

So, I was walking through the halls with Allison, Erica and Lydia – Erica came to find us after Allison, Lydia and I had finished our English class – trying to move through the mass of students, to get to the school's parking lot. We did this every Friday...well; we didn't when I was avoiding them all, but before that and now we did that every Friday.

It was strange to think that I had fallen so easily into this routine with all of them so quickly, when I always tried to stay as far away from people as possible – and vice versa. But the Pack...they were different. They were kind; caring...they actually wanted me. No one wanted me.

But they did. And they made it very obvious. Especially since Wednesday.

"Five days until Christmas!" Allison squealed, elbowing me slightly. "You excited?"

"Not really..." I mumbled. "Things usually got worse on Christmas day..."

I realised, belatedly, that I shouldn't have mentioned that...especially since it sent the three of them into a fit, yelling about how they had to make it 'the best Christmas ever'. I would have been worried, if it wasn't funny to watch or quite touching that they would do that for me...

Huh... I never thought this would ever happen...

The three of them were going on about...something to do with decorations and getting Derek to agree, just as we stepped out of the building and into the parking lot. I couldn't help but grin over at the guys as they heard what the girls were going on about, seeing their amused faces.

We had just got to the bottom of the stairs and I thought that, maybe, today would be the only day where I hadn't seen Gabriel. He hadn't been lingering in the hallways after any of my lessons or free periods and I hadn't seen him at all. It was like a Christmas miracle!

But then I saw him.

He was leaning against the wall we were just about to pass, pushing off when I walked close enough.

"Hey there, Sexy." Gabriel grinned, falling into step beside me.

"Fuck off." I sighed.

"Oh, Stiles, don't be like that." Erica said, rolling her eyes. "He's only being nice. Give the guy a chance."

It was official, Erica and gone absolutely insane! I told her as such, which caused her to walk off in a huff, followed by Allison and Lydia – well, Allison was dragged...

Why couldn't Derek be here already?!

I only realised I had stopped walking when I turned around, after hearing someone laughing. Gabriel was still standing there, wide smile in place, chuckling a little at the reaction of the blonde.

"You're friends are pretty cool, Angel Face." Gabriel told me.

"Stop it!" I growled. "For the love of God, stop it and leave me alone!"

"There's only one way I'll leave you alone, Bright Eyes."

Gabriel stepped closer to me, which made me take an immediate step backwards. Of course, I hadn't realised we had switched places until my back hit the wall of the school building.

Gabriel didn't stop.

He just got closer and closer.

My heart rate sped up, my throat tightened. All I wanted was to get away, but any time I was put in this position before... Well, it never ended well for me...

"I'm not going on a date with you, Jackass. I don't want to!" I muttered, my voice surprisingly steady. "So, just leave me alone."

"That's a lie, if I ever heard one, Cowboy." Gabriel chuckled, stepping closer still. "I know you want it."

"Leave me alone."

"Come on, Doll Face."

"He said, leave him alone." a voice growled.

Gabriel spun round so fast that he almost fell over. But he didn't. The blonde backed up a little as he came face to face with a pissed off and glaring Derek, his heart beating like a drum.

I let out a relieved sigh and slouched back into the wall, now I knew someone was here to help me. I didn't hear anything that was being said, only a reassuring murmur in my ear before a hand was on my shoulder and steering me away.

The last I saw of Gabriel that day was his leaning against the wall, looking like a ghost.

Yeah, I definitely had feelings for the Big Bad Wolf.

I was actually, surprisingly, very happy when we got home – man, I kept saying that... I mean, the look on Gabriel's face after Derek showed up was priceless! I just wished I had a camera for that moment...

We were all sitting in the living room – the usual place we all congregated – in our usual positions. I had one of my sketch pads out again – seriously, Derek keeps leaving art supplies on the desk in my room, when I'm not around – drawing one of the images I had stowed away in my head.

It was of Talia again, but this time with her husband Oliver and her brother...I think her brother was called Peter. I remember them standing outside their house as they watched mom and I drive up, the three of them smiling easily.

I had pretty much every single metal case of sketching and coloured pencils next to me, each one of them open with a piece of paper next to them so I could test the shade of each one before I decided which to use. The thing with drawing, for me, is – like music – helps me forget everything for a little while, which in turn made me block out going on around me at the time. It always happened, but I never knew why.

"So... Are you really still a virgin?" a voice close to me asked, snapping me out of my little bubble.

"Huh?" I asked, looking up, stopping the pencil in my hand. "Sorry, what was that?"

"Are you really still a virgin?" Erica repeated.

Sighing, I rolled my eyes as turned my head down towards the pad again, returning the pencil back to the paper. I nodded anyway, answering her question anyway, just so she wouldn't keep bugging me with it – I knew she would, it was obvious.

"How? How can you live like that?" she questioned it.

"Easy. I'm doing it right now." I replied.

"Don't you, I don't know, miss it?"

"You can't miss what you never had. Besides, why would I? You know about Zane and what he tried to pull."

That had the desired effect, she went quiet. Everyone did. They all just went back to watching TV while I turned back to the picture.

"Hey, Stiles, what are you drawing?" Isaac asked from where he was sitting next to me.

"Dude, you can see it if you just lean over." I told him, laughing a little.

"Yeah, but you asked us to stop looking at what you draw."

Oh yeah... How could I forget that? Sighing a little, I turned the – now finished – picture towards him, showing Talia, Oliver and Talia's younger brother Peter standing in front of a house.

Everyone else pretty much gathered around, trying to get a look t it.

Of course, I can't say I expected Peter and Derek's reactions though...

The two Hales tensed up, eyes wide, as they stared at the paper. A scent of pain, anger and sadness washed over the two, for reasons I did not know. The other wolves caught it too looking up at the two older wolves with concern.

Slowly, I closed my sketch pad, suddenly feeling guilty for causing such a reaction.

"A-Are you two alright?" I asked, hesitantly.

The two nodded stiffly, not taking their eyes off of the pad I held in my hands.

"I think you broke them, Stilinski." Jackson muttered.

"Well, I didn't mean to, Whittemore." I mumbled back.

Even though I couldn't see him, I knew Jackson was smirking a little.

"Stiles... Who are those people?" Peter finally asked in a small voice.

"Friends of my mom..." I explained, carefully. "I only met them and their family, about, five times, maybe a little more, but they were nice people. My mom knew Talia – the woman in the picture – when they were in high school, they even went to the same college. Mom knew Talia was a werewolf and Talia knew what mom was... They were good friends. The other two are...were Talia's husband, Oliver, and her younger brother, I think his name was Peter, like yours."

Peter nodded glancing over at Derek. The younger Hale looked as if he had seen a ghost and I still, for the life of me, couldn't figure out why.

Late Saturday morning, when everyone was awake, I decided to go for a run. Of course, I was doing this run a little different. I shifted into my fox when upstairs, trotting down the stairs, making sure someone noticed me leave the house – Danny in this case –, so they knew where I had gone.

I remember it had been strange the first time I had run as a fox, a little freaked out about everything being so low down and seeing things differently to how I usually did. Of course, I had gotten used to that now, embracing the newness of how I saw things, compared to how I did on a daily bases.

I liked the wind through my fur and the earth under my paws. I liked the speed and agility that came with being so small.

I just liked it.

Being like this...I just got to let everything go and run. Give into half of the animal side of me and just not care about anything to do with being human.

I think I may have stayed a wolf or a fox forever, if I didn't have a home or people to go back to now.

It was still strange to me.

Home.

I don't think I was ever going to get used to that. Not ever.

When I got back to the house, a few hours later, I glanced through the window to the living room briefly. I smiled as much as I could as a fox, seeing everyone gathered together.

This was home.

I made my way slowly – as a fox – towards the house, using my paw to softly know the wood, to get one of them to open the door. I didn't have to wait long, since someone opened the door after a few seconds of me standing there.

I looked up into the eyes of Peter, the older Hale smirking down at me.

"Stiles is back." he told the others, as I walked through the door.

I stretched a little once inside the warm house, the lower half of my fox-shifted body bending to the floor. Peter just chuckled before walking back into the living room.

I had just started to walk up the stairs when I caught sight of Derek sitting in his armchair, in the living room, when I looked back at them all. He looked so...sad. Something inside me ached, almost pulling me towards him, telling me to go make everything alright.

That was the last thing I remembered.

When I woke up in the morning, I was human again. I stretched lazily, before padding over to my attached bathroom to brush my teeth and, uh, take care of business.

Once back in my room, I pulled on the pyjamas that I must have forgotten to put on last night – man, that must have been some run –, so I was at least a little presentable to go out of my room.

Looking at the clock in the kitchen, I found that I was up later than normal, but I still had enough time to make breakfast before everyone appeared.

Which was exactly what happened.

Breakfast and coffee was ready just as people walked in and took their seats at the table, yawning slightly as they tried to wake up fully.

"So, Stiles," Peter started, smirking a little, when we were all eating, everyone else – except Derek – giggling. "What was with Derek guarding last night, after your run?"

"My what?" I asked, frowning up at the older wolf.

"Oh, you can't tell me you don't remember!"

"That's what I'm telling you. And you can tell I'm not lying."

Everyone went quiet. Well, as quiet as you could while nine people at the table were snickering.

"What did I do?" I sighed, already knowing I didn't want to know.

Derek: Saturday, December 21st 2013 – After Stiles Got Back From His Run

I couldn't help what I felt after seeing that picture Stiles drew. I mean, it was of my mom, my dad and my uncle!

It was then that I realised why I recognised the black wolf cub Stiles had in his room. It was then that I remembered who was holding it in my memory. It was then I remember the little kid who visited very rarely, but was still my greatest friend, even if he was seven years younger than me.

I had met Stiles before. I knew Stiles and his mom. And Stiles knew me and my family, even if he didn't recognise Peter and me.

I thought about this all the while Stiles was out for his run, even when he came back. Nothing and no one had been able to drag me away from my thoughts.

Well, that was the case. But it seemed like a lap full of Stiles in fox form was enough to drag me out of my head.

He had pretty much curled up on my lap, head facing me. His – purple – eyes were wide, almost sad, his ears drooping slightly like a dog's. I place my hands either side of him, starting to lift him up to move him, when he started to growl viciously.

I looked over at the rest of the Pack, who seemed just as shocked as I did.

"I suggest you put him down, nephew." Peter said. "It seems that Mr Stilinski is not a fan of being manhandled."

Rolling my eyes, I placed the Stiles fox on the floor, beside my chair, before leaning back into the cushions. Of course, then he was back on my lap.

This went on a couple of times: me moving him, Stiles growling, me placing him on the floor, Stiles jumping back onto my lap. This happened for five minutes, before I just gave in and left him, curled up on my lap.

The rest of the Pack had no problem laughing at my expense, since I couldn't move. Though I couldn't help but chuckle slightly whenever Stiles growled at anyone who tried to touch me or him – he almost bit Jackson...

At one point, I noticed that my right hand had dropped, idly stroking the soft, short fur on the top of his head, between his ears. Fox-Stiles leaned into my hand, nuzzling it slightly and licking my wrist sometimes.

It should have been weird. It should have been strange.

But it felt right.

It was when everyone was going to bed that I had a small challenge.

I had to carry Stiles up the stairs, since he refused to let me put him down. So far, everything was fine. I had just placed him on his bed, once I was in his room, and I was about to leave... When he whimpered!

Fox-Stiles whimpered, because I was about to leave the room.

What even was this?!

I made the mistake of looking back, the small fox – a fox that still looked a lot like a cub, except in height – was sat up, shoulders sagged and head bowed. His tail was curled around him, his eyes wide and still looking as upset as they had earlier.

It reminded me of how I had found him Wednesday night... And, after that realisation, I just couldn't leave. Not until I knew he was asleep and wouldn't wake up if I moved him and left.

So, walking back over to his bed, I kicked off my boots, picking up the surprisingly small fox, before lying down with him next to me. Of course, Stiles didn't like that very much, instead hopping onto my chest and curling up into a tiny ball, paws hidden and tail wrapped around him.

He looked kind of cute like this – I will refuse ever thinking that!

And I stayed there, until he was deep asleep and I was able to lay him under the covers of his bed and sneak into my own room.

Stiles: Back to Sunday December 22nd 2013 – Kitchen Table

"It was highly entertaining." Peter chuckled.

To say I was mortified was an understatement. I was glowing bright red and I just wanted to go and hide.

Did what I did last night mean anything?

Monday, 23rd December.

I, along with everyone else, was dragged to the nearest supermarket, so we could start gathering food for Christmas.

Now, you're probably thinking that it was boring and useless and all that stuff, thinking how it should just be the parents – or in this case, Peter and Derek.

But I liked it.

I liked being out and helping make decisions, especially when I was being asked. It was a nice feeling, being wanted. Of course, Jackson complained. Lydia complained. Erica complained.

Everyone complained a little.

Well, everyone but Isaac and me.

We were the only two that really seemed to appreciate the normalcy of just simple food shopping. That was probably why the two of us were so...enthusiastic to help.

We had gone down the fruit and vegetable aisle, when it first happened. This little old woman had been walking down the aisle, when her basket toppled over, everything spilling out.

And no one stopped to help her.

So, putting down whatever I was holding, I jogged over to her, helping to pick up all the things that had fallen out.

"There you go, ma'am." I smiled, once everything was put away again. "Would you like me to help you with the rest of you shopping?"

"Oh, that would be lovely, young man." she replied, taking hold of my arm to help her walk. "You don't get many like you nowadays."

"No, ma'am."

"And so polite too. This is just my lucky day."

For about an hour, I helped Mrs Jones – the old woman – with her shopping. She told me stories of her children and grandchildren, stories about when she was a little girl. It felt nice that she seemed to trust me enough to tell me these things.

She even asked about me. Where I was originally from, what I'm doing now. Things like that. I could sense that it was ok to tell her these things, somehow knowing that she wouldn't be like any of the other assholes around town.

"You are such a delightful young man, helping an old bag like me." she said, as we walked towards the car she had gotten here in.

"You're not an 'old bag', you're a great woman." I told her.

"Oh, such a sweetie."

I couldn't help but smile. The woman reminded me of my own grandma. Well, when she was still alive...

Once we got to the car, I opened the trunk with one hand, since Mrs Jones was still holding onto my other arm. She only let go once I started to load her bags into the trunk of her car and she was leaning on the side of the car.

I was down to the last few bags, listening to Mrs Jones talk about how the town used to be when she was a little younger, telling me about a few good places to go. I thought that I was going to be able to finish helping her without any trouble from anyone.

And then someone – I assume her daughter – got out of the car.

She had obviously only just seen me, which was why she was only getting out now, stalking around to where Mrs Jones and I were.

"Get away from my mother!" the younger woman shrieked. "How dare you harass an old woman."

Of course that would happen...

"Ma'am, I am simply helping your elderly mother with her groceries, since you refuse to." I sighed, continuing to pack away the bags.

Once I was done, Mrs Jones offered me a few bucks for giving her a helping hand, but I refused. I wasn't about to take money from someone because I offered to help them. That just wasn't right...

So, once I had finished up, I said my goodbyes and went back to find the others.

Along my way, I asked a few others if they needed help. Some accepted...others just scoffed and said they'd rather not be associated with the likes of me. I just shrugged it off, saying that was there decision, as I continued on my way to find everyone else.

I found them all picking out a turkey. They were split in half, saying one was better that the other. It was a fairly amusing sight.

"Get both." I chuckled, walking towards them. "We're gunna need them."

"There you are!" Allison sighed. "You just disappeared."

"I was helping someone."

I should have been a little hurt by the look of surprise on their faces... But I just found it funny.

As we continued to walk around the store, I kept helping a few people, earning a thankful yet slightly shocked look from them all. I even caught the Pack glancing my way looking a little more surprised than before.

Of course, people kept scoffing and walking away.

"Why do you keep asking if they need help?" Derek asked, this being one of very few things he had said to me after Sunday.

"No one was around to help me when I really needed it, before I met you guys... So, why not help these people?" I shrugged.

I just carried on down the aisle, leaving them behind a little to dwell on what I had said.

While I waited at the end of the aisle, just looking over a few things on the shelves, I noticed a rather short man trying to reach for something on a shelf he couldn't reach. So, naturally, I walked over and asked if he would like me to get it for him.

"I don't need someone like you doing anything for me!" he spat. "Stay away from me, you disgusting person."

I shook my head slightly, as I turned around, finding the Pack watching on, all of them glaring after the man.

"They don't even want your help, yet you still offer it." Peter mused, looking back to me, his eyes softened a great deal.

"I may not like or trust anyone in here, a part from the end of you of course, but they are still people." I replied. "And you never know when they need a bit of help."

Back home, after everything was put away in the kitchen, I grabbed the few cases of beer I managed to get from the store. When people don't want you around, they never seem to ask for ID...

So, it looked like I was getting drunk this holiday.

Even after all these years, it was hard without mom. Before, I would normally be locked in a basement, too focused on the pain I was feeling to think about anything else... But this was the first Christmas in five/six years that I was actually going to celebrate.

The first time in five/six years that I was going to be able to move around.

The first time in five/six years that I was going to be able to smile and laugh... Instead of cry and be all bloody.

It was a lot to take in.

So I settled for getting pissed.

I had enough to last me until tomorrow as well, so I was going to be one happy camper.

Being part fox didn't just slow down my healing time, but it also allowed for me to get drunk – no high, never high. I had first found out after a week of being with Zane – a friend of his was having a party and I thought I would try it...it ended with me getting plastered, but I was in control of every decision I made.

Sighing a little, I leaned back against the wall of the house, from where I sat on the porch. Looking out and up at the stars I could see in the sky, I lifted the bottle in my hand slightly.

"Miss you mom." I whispered. "I love you and I wish you were here... You would love them all."

Feeling my eyes stinging a bit, I brought the neck of the bottle to my mouth, tilting it back to pour some of the cold bitter liquid down my throat.

I wished my mom was with me... But at least I wasn't completely alone anymore.

Please review XD

Thanks XD