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: Sam Campbell, Charlie Jones, Zane and Chase.
JUST SO YOU KNOW: like everyone else, I have no idea what Stiles' real name is, so I'm going along with what everyone else puts :) and I've made his middle name up XD
Please, please review XD
P.S. I've been really busy with college, so I won't update as regularly as I used to. It's going to be work-work-work, so bear with me, please :)
You guys are all so amazing and I love you all! In a non-creepy non-psycho kind of way XD
Remember – you are all beautiful in your each individual ways ^_^
Chapter 39
Stiles
Saturday, 12th April, I sat in the living room with a sketch pad on my lap. I didn't know what it was but, recently, drawing seemed to relax me. It allowed me to focus on something other than my thoughts, or emotions, or...whatever. Drawing seemed to be the thing I went to when I needed something to take my mine off of...everything. Well, it felt like everything at times.
Now, I suppose I could have gone upstairs; drawn the view from my window again... But that was getting repetitive. Drawing people, especially when they were unaware, was so much better. You had something different each time, something realistic. They never sat in the exact same position; they never had the exact same facial expression... Something was always different.
After the week I had had, I needed something like this. I needed something that relaxed me. Most of the Pack was outside, enjoying the unusually hot and sunny day, venturing into the forest. Some sat on the porch out the front, while a couple of us sat inside in the nice cool air, provided by one of the most wonderful inventions – air conditioning.
I sat on the floor, leaning against the couch, the coffee table pulled up close to I could use it to lean on as I drew. I was actually wearing shorts this time – burgundy shorts with a baggy, light grey tank top – something I never did... I never liked showing more skin than I had to, especially after Zane... But I had to keep pushing myself. Had to keep trying. No matter how terrifying it was...
I didn't notice I had been sketching Derek as he sat in his armchair, reading a book I had never heard of, until I had to pause to rub out the one mistake I had made so far. I frowned at it for a moment, wondering why I always seemed to go to Derek when I decided to get arty... But, considering how deep I could go with that thought, I decided to say it was just by chance that I drew him. Derek always seemed to be the easiest person to draw. I didn't know why and I didn't know how, he just was. It was kind of scary, actually.
Shrugging slightly, I pushed open the lid to the case of colours I had to my right, on the coffee table. Looking at them all, I noticed how certain pencils had started to shrink because of the frequent use – greens, black, grey... All colours associated with Derek Hale. Again, it was kind of scary.
"I'll get you some more Monday." Derek said, quietly, not looking up from his book.
"You don't need to." I muttered, taking out the colours I needed.
"I know."
That was something I still didn't understand about him. About all of them. Everything they did for me they didn't have to do, yet they still did it, sometimes insisting that they wanted to. I just couldn't understand why. Well, I could, because that was the reason why I did most of the things I did for them. I just didn't understand it when it was someone doing things for me.
"How'd you get into it?" Derek asked, eyes flicking towards me for a second.
"Art classes in first grade. Well, that's when I really got into it." I replied, focusing carefully on what I was doing. "My teacher thought I had a real talent for it, so she gave me this book that taught you how do draw certain things in different ways. From there I've just...expanded. Mom was always wondering how I was so good at it when neither her nor my dad could draw for shit."
In the reflection of the TV, I could see Derek smiling slightly. His smile hadn't changed from when we were kids. It was show a lot less than back then, but it hadn't changed... There were times when I could see snippets of the Derek I used to know, but he had created a wall after the fire, that much was obvious. He was probably better now than he was when the others first met him, but it was still very clear that this was not the same happy-go-lucky Derek I knew.
Derek had to have known I was drawing him. It had to have been obvious, right? I mean, he was the only one in the room and I kept looking up to make sure I got the details right. He had to have known.
But he didn't say anything if he did.
But, then, what was there to say? Apart from him telling me to stop, because it was annoying or something like that.
He would probably do that one day. One day when they all got sick of me...
Sighing, I shook my head, subconsciously moving a little further away from Derek as I continued with the picture.
"Why?" Derek muttered after a while.
"Why what?" I asked, slowly.
"Why have you been acting different towards me, and only me, since that whole thing with Gabriel and Ben?"
Even though the incident with those two happened a month and four weeks ago, I couldn't help but flinch at the mention of their names. Anytime I heard them out loud it gave me this sinking feeling in the pt of my stomach, making me feel as if they were both right behind me.
It was irrational, yes, but I couldn't help it. It was the exact same feeling I had with Zane and my dad... That feeling that they were both there, watching...waiting... I hated that feeling, one of the things that made me wish I wasn't here. And I didn't just mean in the house, I meant anywhere and everywhere.
It was something I wish I could get rid of.
"I don't know what you mean." I mumbled, focusing more on the drawing.
I dragged the sketch pad closer to me, hunching over it even more that before, as Derek sighed and snapped his book shut.
Even though I could hear him, it still surprised me a little when Derek stood up and walked over to the couch I was leaning against, sitting at one end of it, glancing at the drawing before looking to me.
He didn't say anything, just watched me. It was a little uncomfortable, but it wasn't all at the same time... I could feel him watching me, could feel his eyes trained on the side of my face. It was a little creepy – not as creepy as Peter though.
"The truth, Stiles." Derek said, quietly.
Sighing, I stopped the movement of the pencil, clenching my eyes shut as tight as I could
"Everyone I get close to goes bad... I don't want that to happen to you." I told him. "I don't want you to change too."
I will admit, I was fairly surprised when Derek didn't answer...but I was ready for the sudden movement of him moving closer, until I was practically leaning against his leg as he continued to read and I continued to finish the picture.
Sunday, when four of the Betas were at work – Boyd at the bakery, Isaac at the library, Danny at the computer shop, Scott at Deaton's – Peter, Derek and I seemed to be the only ones around. Well, alright, it was quite early for a weekend, so the others were probably still asleep, but still!
For a short while, the three of us had been sitting there in companionable silence... Somehow we went from that silence to me managing to convince them both to make a fort with me, in the living room. Of course, it wasn't as if they could say no – Isaac and Scott weren't the only person who could work the puppy face.
That was why I was upstairs grabbing the duvets and pillows from our rooms – as well as Wolfy – whilst Derek and Peter were arranging the furniture in the living room to the way I had described it. The furniture was being placed in a way so the entrance of the fort would be facing towards the TV and the ceiling fan would be placed directly in the centre. The blankets would be hooked over the fan blades to create a canopy, whilst the base of the fort would be covered with the duvets and the pillows would be placed to create extra cushioning from the floor.
I hadn't built a fort in a long while... It was quite fun making one now.
"I remember the last time we did this there was a thunderstorm." Peter told me as the three of us got comfortable inside the fort. "You were five; spending the night with us, whilst your mother was assisting Talia and Oliver with some business or other. Laura and Cora were asleep upstairs with the rest of the family... You two were the only other ones awake."
"We stayed up all night with you telling us all these stories about other Packs that you and mom had met." Derek nodded with a hint of a smile of his face.
"Why does it feel like I was wrong when I thought I had only met you guys, like, five times?" I asked, frowning.
Derek and Peter were silent for a while. They gave me a look that made me believe that I was missing something and, yeah, maybe I was. It happened a lot after dad started getting violent and I had first gotten drunk – some of my best memories started to fade, being replaced with pain and fear.
"Stiles, you and your mother visited us at least once every month, sometimes a little more." Peter said, slowly. "You saw us a lot more than just five times, my boy."
And, ok, yeah...that wasn't really expected.
"Looks like we have a lot of catching up to do..." I huffed.
The TV was on a random channel, the volume down low as we spoke. Well, by 'we' I mean Peter and Derek talked as I listened. They told me about every time – that they could remember – that my mom and I had visited them, when we lived in Beacon Hills. We would come on birthdays, visit around the holidays... We came to celebrations!
It was a shame I didn't remember them, because the majority of the memories sounded...well, they just sounded so nice. I didn't have a lot of nice memories... I said as much to Derek and Peter – I didn't mean to, it just slipped out. Derek had shifted closer after I had said that, until our shoulders were brushing slightly.
"You'll make new memories. With all of us." Derek said.
"But I want those ones back." I sighed, sadly.
"Maybe you will, one day." Peter mused. "You may have to be a little patient.
I nodded, looking down at the duvets on the floor, creating the base of our fort. I hated that I didn't remember over half of what they were telling me, I hated that my memories had been taken from me...
"Do you remember Derek's tenth birthday?" Peter asked, slowly.
Grinning, I was happy to admit that, yes, I did remember that day.
FLASHBACK: Thursday, November 7th 1998 – Stiles' POV – 4 year old Stiles
Soon, we were pulling up to the house. I liked the Hale house, it was big and nice. As soon as the car stopped, I wriggled out of my seat and jumped out of the car, all before momma had even gotten her seat belt on. Momma took the camera and present from me after she got out of the car, taking my hand as we walked towards the house.
"Claudia, Genim." Talia smiled, opening the front door. "We're glad you both could make it."
"We wouldn't miss this for anything." momma told her.
"Exactly!" I grinned.
"Well, come on in." Talia grinned.
I liked Talia, she was nice. But she could get very angry when she wanted too, and because she was an Alpha werewolf her eyes turned red! It was scary and awesome, all at the same time!
Walking into the living room, I saw Derek standing by the arm of the couch – the one furthest away from me. Perfect. As quietly as I could – after taking my sneakers off – I climbed onto the couch, creeping up behind Derek. I was standing on the arm of couch, behind Derek, about to jump... When he turned around, wrapped his arms around me and lifted me up and away from the couch, keeping a hold of me.
"HAPPY TENTH BIRTHDAY, DER!" I yelled, making all the wolves in the room flinch. "Whoops, sorry."
Derek, as always when I forgot about werewolf super hearing, laughed.
"Thanks, Gen." Derek grinned, hugging me, still not putting me down.
"How do you cope with going to school on your birthday?!" I asked, in a loud whisper type voice...thing. "I would die!"
"It's not that bad. Sure, would be better if I didn't have to go, but it's fine."
"Weird..."
"Your face if weird."
"Your face is weird!"
Derek just kept on grinning. I liked Derek's smile. But I also liked squishing Derek's face... which is what I did...
"Big improvement baby bro!" Laura called over.
"Shut up, Laura!" Derek called back, still grinning.
Laura walked out of the living room, ignoring her brother. I just found it funny. Always had.
A few minutes later – Derek still hadn't put me down, not that I minded – Derek's dad Oliver walked over to us. He was basically a taller and older version of Derek – same eyes, same hair... It was weird... Just like Derek, Oliver ruffled my hair as he put his other hand on Derek's shoulder.
"Hey, boys." Oliver grinned. "You both alright?"
"Yeah, we're ok dad." Derek nodded.
"Yeah!" I grinned, throwing a fist up into the air.
"Good. Derek, your mother wants a quick word with you." Oliver said.
Derek nodded, making to move to the kitchen.
"I don't think Stiles will have much fun in there." Oliver added.
Talia and Derek were the only Hale's left that called me Genim anymore, the others taking to calling me Stiles. At least we knew they all meant me. Derek looked to me, almost like he was thinking about leaving me there.
"No, I'll go." I said quickly, holding on to Derek tighter.
Derek smiled a little, looking back to his dad.
"Ok, you take your Mate with you." Oliver chuckled, walking away.
Derek and I looked to each other, a little confused as to why Oliver kept calling us 'Mates', before shrugging and going into the kitchen.
All Talia did was remind Derek actually talk to people – not just me. She said he could take me with him if he really had to, which we both agreed that yes he did, but he had to talk to other people. It's not like Derek and I had to go very far, people were always coming up and talking to us. Especially Laura and Cora. But Laura and Cora always talked to Derek... They kind of had to...
Derek did talk to other people, not a lot though... He would talk to them for a little, and then he would go talk to someone else or they would. I didn't really pay attention though. It was boring some of the conversations Derek had with people, it wasn't fun having to be quiet for a long time... I think that's why Derek didn't talk with them a lot.
That's how we found ourselves outside, after Derek had talked to everyone. We didn't sit on the porch like we normally did; instead we sat underneath one of the trees.
"Why are we out here, Der?" I asked, leaning back to look at him, the top of my head on his chest. "It's your party!"
Derek sighed, grinning, poking my nose. My eyes went all funny – cross eyed, daddy called it – staring at his finger.
"I know it is, Gen." Derek told me. "But I see all of them every day. Sure, I love them and everything, but I like you better."
"I like you better too." I grinned. "You're my snugly puppy wolf."
"Why do you insist on calling me that, Gen?"
"'Cause it's true!"
Derek didn't have a chance in winning... Good thing he backed down, isn't it? I turned round to face him, crawling closer. I leant forward, hugging my all time bestest friend, wrapping my arms around his neck. Lots of the wolves –even Derek – did this thing where they nuzzle each other...mommy said I picked that up from them, so it wasn't my fault when I did it to Derek...
"Happy birthday, Der." I whispered.
"Cheers, Gen." Derek whispered back, tightening his arms around me.
Birthdays were awesome!
(Sometime later)
"I'll pick you up tomorrow, baby. You be a good boy for Talia and Oliver." momma told me.
"I'm always a good boy." I grinned.
Sometimes, if I was really lucky, I got to stay at the Hale house for the night... It always seemed to be Derek's birthday that I was allowed to.
Derek still hadn't let me down, which had some people saying that I was 'forming an unhealthy relationship', with the wolf and that it should be 'put to a stop' before it got 'even more out of hand'... Of course, those people weren't part of the Pack and didn't know us.
Besides, if they didn't want this happening, then they really should have introduced us.
"Yeah, I suppose you are." momma laughed. "I'll see you tomorrow, baby. Love you."
"Love you." I shouted, waving as she got into the car.
It was only when momma's car was gone that we went back inside. Even in there Derek didn't put me down. I wouldn't have let go, even if he tried to.
It was late, so Derek and I went upstairs straight away – we wouldn't go to sleep, but just in case we did at least we'd be on a comfy bed instead of a couch or the floor. I always slept in Derek's bed, so they never had to bring an extra one in, make up the guest bedroom or friend a sleeping bag – or something. All they did was make sure there were enough blankets.
"Der, will you always remember me?" I whispered as we lay in his bed, turning the light out.
"Of course I will; you're my Gen." Derek whispered back. "I love you too much to forget about you."
"Love you, Der."
END OF FLASHBACK – Back to: Sunday, April 13th 2014
"You two were always inseparable." Peter chuckled. "When you were still a baby, Stiles, you would always scream if someone took you away from Derek and you weren't going home. You always seemed to know."
"I just enjoyed being a pain in everyone's ass." I grinned.
"You weren't a pain." Derek argued, immediately.
Peter raised an eyebrow slightly at his nephew, an amused smirk on his face as Derek glared at him.
Hales were strange...
It was Monday, in Art – the last lesson of the day – where we had a substitute teacher yet again. Thankfully, it wasn't Harris, but this one still hated me – admittedly, not as much as Harris. Everything was going fine – everyone was getting on with it, our sub was leaving me alone and I was staying quiet...
But then we got to the end of the lesson.
We all knew another project was coming up. What we didn't know was it was starting that day.
And we had to pair up.
Now, you know, we're university students so, obviously, we could handle the simple task of picking our own partner. Yes, no one would want to work with me, but still... Well, that's what I thought anyway.
"But not you, Mr Stilinski. You will be working with Miss Campbell." Mr Richardson – our sub – muttered. "And, no, Sam you can't do this project alone."
Glancing over at the blonde, I noticed her narrowed eyes. She had gone to say something, but the bell had cut her off before she could even begin. I guess that must have been annoying, having ADHD – it was obvious to tell she had it; it was all over her scent, as well as the Adderall.
Now, like I said, this was the last lesson of the day. This meant that Sam and I could, either, go our separate ways or work on the project. Of course, neither of us wanted to bring that up.
We were silent all the way from the room to our lockers and from our lockers to my Jeep. It was only then that the two of us stopped and actually looked at each other. Sam was shorter than most – definitely shorter than me –, hadshort, blonde hair with long bangs blonde hair and blue eyes, now I actually looked at her. I suppose she would be what people would classify as 'pretty' – though, surely, everyone was in their own way – so I guess that's why people mistook her for that stereotypical dumb blonde, weak girl thing. Of course, seeing how she handled Chase, people were very wrong.
"So, I guess we should make time for this." she sighed. "I'm free, pretty much, all the time."
"Same." I muttered.
"I have the house to myself at the moment; my girlfriend's out for the day. We could work there."
Now, I would have been wary about this anyway because, hello, I don't know this person. But after everything with Ben and everything that happened with him at his place...I just started to pain internally.
I don't know what it was, but something must have tipped her off because, next thing I knew:
"Ok, ok, we'll go to your place." she grumbled. "But Charlie too the car, so I need a ride."
That's pretty much how I ended up with Sam as my project partner, in my Jeep, on the way home.
The whole ride was uncomfortably tense and silent, her heart rate steadily picking up as we got closer to the house. By the time I had actually parked my Jeep outside the house; her heart was pounding so much I thought I was standing with my ear to a kick drum as someone hit it as hard as they could.
With my hearing as good as it was – thank you fox and wolf... – it was easy to tell that the others were happy about that.
"So, where's your roo..." Sam started.
"You can work in the living room, where we can...keep an eye on you both." Peter interrupted, walking out of the kitchen.
I think everyone sensed the saddening of Sam's mood, even if she nodded along with what Peter said, following me as I walked into the aforementioned room. I sat on the floor, leaning against the couch, towards the fireplace, whilst Sam sat on the floor, leaning against the couch, further towards the door, the coffee table pulled closer towards us, our bags forming a barrier between us.
There was silence as we both took out our supplies. I think it was a silent agreement that we would be planning it all out in our art books before actually setting to work on the project, just so we knew exactly how it was going to work.
But, first, we actually had to talk.
"I had an idea." Sam mumbled, quietly, glancing at my quickly before turning back to her book. "I made a... rough sketch, but I thought this could look quite cool."
"I think that could work." I nodded, leaning over a tiny bit to look.
Now, our project was on abuse – any type of it, as long as it was abuse. Sam's sketch already started to reflect that. She was right, it was a rough sketch, but I grasped the general idea... We would use our picture of all different mediums – drawings, photos, paintings, etc – and arrange them into the form of a girl and a guy, representing how different abusive situations could make up a person.
It was an interesting idea, one where I could put in my personal experiences without it being too obvious...
"Could... Could I add something to that?" I asked, slowly.
Sam just nodded, not speaking anymore than she had to... I knew the feeling.
"Words could be painted around them, to represent the verbal abuse." I said. "So we have the physical, mental and emotional on the inside, verbal on the out... Like they're surrounded."
"We could do that." Sam agreed.
Well, this was going far easier than I expected it to...
Now, even though Sam seemed to be really getting into the project – kept talking about, getting really excited about it – she still started to shift closer to the door, looking around as if something or someone was going to attack any moment.
Watching her, it made me wonder if that's what I was like when I first moved into the house in September.
She kept working, but she just kept shuffling and looking skittishly around the room. Her heart beat increased dramatically and she mumbled things under her breath so quietly that even I couldn't hear what she was saying!
In the end, I just dragged my laptop out of my back, putting my playlist on so it wasn't so quiet.
"All Time Low." Sam said, immediately.
"What?" I blinked.
"All Time Low, the band."
It took me a moment to process what she said, blinking a couple of times before it actually sunk in enough for me to reply.
"Barely anyone that hears my playlist knows this band. How do you?" I demanded.
"They're awesome, why wouldn't I?" she countered. "Can't say I'm surprised you like it."
"No one ever is. It's the rest of the stuff I listen to people are surprised with."
"Try me."
That was, literally, how we ended up forgetting about our project for the next half hour to an hour, talking about music and bands, trying to surprise each other with the stuff we listened to. I guess with the fact both of us had been judged, near enough, our whole live, we had learned to be open minded.
I was very surprised that she had a similar taste in music to me, though...
It was literally after I had that thought that Sam's phone started ringing. She frowned at it for a while before she actually picked it up.
"Hello?" she asked, cautiously.
"Oh my God, you're alright! Fuck, Sam, I was worried sick!" the voice from the other end of Sam's phone rushed. "I thought you were hurt or had been kidnapped or...or...something! Where even are you?!"
"Babe... Babe, calm down, it's not like London, I'm fine. Everything's fine."
"Samantha Deanna Campbell, tell me where you are!"
"I'm at the Hale house – the burnt out place I took you after we started dating. They rebuilt it. I'm working on a project with someone from my art class."
For a moment, there was silence on both sides of the phone, giving me a chance to see the looks on the faces of the Pack, seeing the looks on confusion on their faces – looks I was probably matching right now.
Of course, the silence on the phone never seemed to last long.
"And you couldn't call or text to let me know?" the other girl – Charlie – asked, quietly, sounding tired and panicked.
"I'm sorry; I didn't know we would start today." Sam whispered. "But, Babe, I promise, I'm fine. Everything's alright."
"I'm coming to get you."
"Ok, that's fine. How far away are you?"
"Couple of minutes."
"I'll see you soon. Love you."
"Love you."
Sam started to pack up as soon as the call ended, starting to say how she was sorry. I stopped her before she even finished the first sentence.
"It's fine. We've done a lot today, anyway." I told her.
Charlie – taller than Sam, red long thick hair and quite pretty emerald green eyes, though I preferred Derek's – pulled up in her car not long after the call had ended. The red head cam running up to her shorter girlfriend with a pale, tear stained face, running straight into Sam and hugging her tightly.
Sam returned the just as tight, rubbing the girl's back and whispering in her ear to calm her down, kissing her cheek at random points.
Derek was standing by the door whilst I sat on the steps of the porch and, looking back at him, I could tell by the look on his face that he was questioning what the two had been through if they were like this, just like I was.
I could visibly see Charlie shaking as she hung onto Sam for dear life, appearing to not want to let go. It took a lot to calm her down, but Sam seemed to know exactly what to do and what to say to help the process.
I was surprised that, when she was sure Charlie was calm and collected; Sam actually introduced me to her girlfriend. Of course, understandably, Charlie was quite embarrassed with having an audience for her 'melt down'.
"I'm sorry if I interrupted, I just get...panicky." Charlie mumbled, blushing slightly.
Sam smiled softly at the sight, sliding her arm around her girlfriend's waist and dragging her closer, something I wouldn't have related to her without seeing it as I did now.
"No worries." I shrugged. "We got more than enough done today, anyway."
"I'll make sure to let you know next time... Promise." Sam told her. "But for now, I'm ready for home."
"You and me both." Charlie laughed. "It was nice meeting you, Stiles."
"Yeah, you two." I muttered, heading back in as they pulled away from the house.
Something told me they would be sticking around for a while.
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