The night seemed like it didn't want to end, Stiles rushed out of his bedroom as he heard his father come home.
"Hey dad." Stiles smiled, trying to keep the jitters to a minimum, but after almost nineteen years of Stiles shit, his dad knew something was up.
Sheriff Stilinski sighed and shrugged off his jacket, hanging it up on the coat rack before turning to Stiles and eyeing him with his 'Don't give me some bullshit look.'
"What is it Stiles." Sheriff sighed once again, he rolled his shoulder, trying to get the kink that had been there all afternoon.
"I was just wondering how your day was." Stiles said, following him like a puppy waiting for treats.
"You want to know about those girls don't you?" He asked, because of course Stiles would want to know about those girls.
Stiles didn't hesitate to nod his head, hoping that his dad would be in the mood to help out.
"Alright what do you want to know?" Sheriff plopped down at the kitchen table and beckoned Stiles to get him a cup of coffee. Stiles busied himself in the kitchen whilst he asked his questions.
"Okay first, has any friends come to see them or to ask about them?" Stiles tried to keep calm, knowing his dad would've had a long day and his patience thin.
"Actually yeah, there was this one kid that came in to ask about Emily."
Stiles heart pounded, "and what was his name?"
"I think it was jo or-"
"-Joseph." Stiles finished for him.
His dad looked up. "Yeah how did you know?"
Stiles gently placed the cup in front of his dad. "Because I suspect him."
His dad used to Stiles by now didn't seem too surprised by this statement.
"What's made you suspect him?" His dad asked, taking a relaxing sip of his coffee, before realising that Stiles hadn't put any sugar in it.
He groaned. "Stiles you forgot the sugar again."
"No, I didn't forget dad, its for your health, you know what Melissa has been saying."
"Melissa is just a nurse, hand me the damn sugar."
Stiles sighed and reluctantly agreed, he wanted information from his dad and if he wanted it, he'd have to be on his good side.
"Melissa may just be a nurse, but you know she's saved our lives countless times."
"Yeah yeah, sugar please."
Stiles plopped the tin on the table and continued his story.
"So, I contacted Derek to get help-" Sheriff raised his eyebrows at this and Stiles just waved away the reaction.
"Anyways so I compiled names of possible suspects, and Derek remembered Joseph because he was known as a complete creep for always following around the popular girls and trying to get with them, so that's why me and Derek are going to see him tomorrow."
Sheriff spoke then. "Woah woah, you're going to see him? if he's a possible suspect than I should detain his ass and interrogate him."
"Yeah and how are you even going to detain him, the only evidence you have is your nineteen-year-old son and a man that used to be wanted for murder."
The sheriff mumbled something that he couldn't quite hear into his coffee, Stiles presumed words that shouldn't be said in front of anyone below the age of twelve.
"Promise you'll stay with Derek the whole time yeah?" The sheriff once again had that worried look to his face, making him look ten years older, Stiles hated it when he made his dad worried.
"Yeah don't worry I will." Stiles smiled, trying to ease his fathers worries. His father seemed to take this and relaxed a bit. But he still worried constantly, there was so many times where he nearly lost his son, too many times.
"What if he is the murderer, what are you going to do?"
Stiles sighed, now that was a good question, because to be honest he had no fucking clue. Derek was different to Scott, Scott didn't want anyone to die, whether innocent or not. However, Derek on the other hand only cared about the innocent, to hell those that murdered.
But what did Stiles think, did even those that took lives, deserved for theirs to get taken away? Or did they deserve it? You have to balance out the universe somehow after all.
Stiles shooed away the thoughts for now, for right now he had to focus on finding Joseph, he wasn't even sure if the dude was a killer after all.
Sheriff finished his coffee and got up with an old man groan, "alright I think I'm going to hit the hay, don't stay up too long alright."
"Yeah yeah, night dad."
"Love ya kid."
Stiles smiled, "love you too dad."
Stiles now with new information sent a quick update text to Derek.
Found out that Joseph went to the station to ask about Emily, maybe he doesn't know he's murdering? like Jackson? not sure yet.
See ya tomorrow, his fingers stopped typing and a small evil smile furnished his face.
Sugarplum. He finished with. With a light snicker he sent the text, already imaging the face that Derek would make upon finishing reading the text.
Derek replied almost immediately.
Okay honeybun
Stiles snorted at the text and replied with a smilie face, sometimes when Derek wanted to be funny, he could be funny.
Now feeling quite lethargic Stiles decided he too should probably go to bed, the jitters had worn off and the adrenalin gone, all he wanted to do now was to curl up in his bed and knock out for a good eight hours.
The dawn broke and Stiles woke feeling well rested. He checked his phone, a missed text sent to him from Scott.
Derek explained everything, if you need me too I'll come there as soon as I can
Stiles felt slightly angry, Derek had no right to tell Scott about everything without his permission, but he began to reason with himself. Both Derek and Scott were adults and they could do what they liked or tell each other what they liked.
Stiles just felt bitter that Derek hadn't communicated with him.
Woah. Stiles back tracked at that thought. Why would he want Derek to communicate with him more, sure they were now working together, but Derek didn't need to tell Stiles everything that he was gonna do, even if it did involve Stiles himself.
Stiles shook the thoughts away. He needed to be focusing on the day that they were about to have, and Stiles wasn't even sure who was going to meeting who.
So, he picked up his phone and sent a quick text back to Derek, chuckling lightly at the last text that he had sent. Derek replied quick enough with a
Ill come pick you up.
If they weren't about to potentially risk their lives, it almost felt like Derek was picking him up for a date.
Almost.
Stiles shrugged out of bed and hissed at how cold it was. He instantly went to his closet and shoved on the warmest hoodie he owned and jeans. He rushed to the bathroom, brushed his teeth and spiked his hair up with a bit of gel.
His father was still sleeping, today his only day off for the week. Stiles sneaked past his bedroom door and made way to the kitchen. He wasn't sure whether or not he felt like toast or cereal. Hey, he was an adult now, why not have both?
Stiles popped in the bread into the toaster and poured some cheerios into a bowl.
"Are you really having cereal and toast?" Derek asked, seemingly materialising from the shadows.
"Holy mother of god." Stiles just about yelled, spilling cereal all over the bench and the floor.
He turned and death glared Derek. "Not cool dude not cool!"
Derek shrugged, "the front door was unlocked."
Stiles continued the stink eye as he rushed around looking for the brush and pan. Finally finding it in the laundry room. He cleared up the mess, now his toast was cold, and his bowl seriously overflowed with cheerios.
"I really hate you sometimes." Stiles groaned; he really didn't feel like breakfast anymore. So, he left everything and went to find his runners.
"You not gonna eat?" Derek called after him, a hint of humour in his tone. Stiles grumbled words that he was sure Derek heard, he quickly gathered last night's socks and slipped them on, then his shoes.
"Alright ready to go." He said as he came back into the kitchen. Derek gave him a once over, which made Stiles blush slightly and he nodded. Stiles huffed and made way for the front door. He wasn't sure why he even needed Derek's approval in clothing anyways, Derek was Derek, and he did not need his approval!
The drive wasn't awkward like Stiles thought it was going to be. The two sat in comfortable silence as the radio played the latest tunes softly in the background. Derek turned a corner and the school came into view.
"Wait hold up, are we going to confront him at school?" Stiles asked, he had presumed they would be going to his house.
"Stiles all we know is the kids class and name, I have no idea where he lives and besides its school hours at the moment so even if we went to his house he wouldn't be home."
Stiles groaned and banged his head back on the seat of the car, he had become so over exited about confronting this kid that he had completely forgot the setting in which it would take place.
"How are we going to get him alone, and I really don't feel like running into my old teachers, especially coach."
Stiles shivered at the thought, yes coach was his favourite teacher, but he really didn't want to go through suspiciously bumping into him in the halls of his old school. He could already imagine the disgusted face that coach would have.
"We could wait until lunch to jump him." Derek offered, but Stiles knew that probably wasn't the best idea.
"We could pretend to be his dad and get him to the office than confront him." Stiles thought instead, yeah that sounded like a much better idea than jumping the kid during lunch time.
Derek seemed to role play the idea in his head, seemingly happy with whatever result he got he nodded his head in approval. Stiles however didn't feel all to confident.
"Derek something just feels off." Stiles whispered, he felt like something was watching, and this something didn't feel very welcoming.
"Stiles cool it, it'll be fine." Derek tried to reassure, but it really did nothing to the weird feeling Stiles now was very conscious of. Stiles breathing soon began to quicken. Wait seriously was he about to have a panic attack right now? He hadn't had one in maybe a year, and now it was over confronting a high school student? But his thoughts did nothing to calm him, and the air he was breathing felt less and less.
"Stiles?" Derek called out, but for some reason his voice felt so distant, even though he was sitting right next to him.
"Stiles hey calm down, I'm with you and I promise I won't let anything hurt you." Derek's consoling however did nothing to soothe Stiles oncoming panic attack.
Derek without thinking too much about it grabbed Stiles hand and shoved it against his neck, right in the spot where his heartbeat could be felt the strongest.
"Stiles I want you to focus on my heart beating, can you do that?"
Stiles nodded and let himself focus on the calming beat of Derek's heart, for some reason it helped and soon Stiles could breathe easier again and Derek didn't seem so far away.
Stiles looked to Derek and his breathe seemed to be taken away again. Derek unusually had a face of concern for Stiles, his hazel eyes bright with worry. Stiles hand still rested on Derek's neck, the heat warming up his hand and his face. Suddenly Stiles became very subconscious as he took his hand away and his heart began racing. He looked away from Derek, knowing Derek would be hearing Stiles heartbeat by now and seeing the light blush splotching his cheek. However, Derek said nothing but.
"Are you okay?"
Stiles nodded his head, "I'm fine, I really don't know what caused that." He chuckled lightly, he felt so stupid for nearly having a full-blown panic attack.
"You can stay in the car if you like?" Derek offered, still holding that concerned face.
"Don't be stupid, I'll be fine." Stiles huffed, he felt flustered with the sudden attention Derek was giving him and he didn't know how he felt about it.
Stiles opened the car door and got out; the morning air frigid. They walked towards the school entrance, a pang of loneliness running through his chest. He really missed his friends, a lot.
Derek followed behind Stiles, sniffing the air. Something was wrong, something was definitely wrong.
Then they heard the scream. Stiles and Derek both looked at each, confirming that yes, they both just heard that, and they rushed towards the school. Stiles kept feeling that feeling, making him rush even faster towards the scream. Once inside the school Stiles turned to Derek.
"Can you smell where its coming from."
Derek took a moment, closing his eyes and focusing his smell, the scent of fear strong in the girl's locker room.
"Looks like it came from the girl's locker room."
Stiles nodded and rushed towards the girl's locker room, there the feeling just kept getting stronger and stronger. Derek pushed Stiles out of the way before Stiles ran in and ran in himself first. Stiles quickly followed. The scene was one that would've made an average person vomit. Blood was splattered all over the walls and there was Joseph, half morphed into what looked like a snake.
Derek growled and shifted into his beta form before charging at Joseph, whilst the two fought with hisses and growls echoing around, Stiles ran towards the girl that lay on the floor in a pool of blood. Stiles could see she was breathing, but it was shallow and weak. He threw off his shirt and tried to put pressure on the large wound that surrounded her stomach, but it was so large that it barely did anything.
"Derek, we need to get her to a hospital!" Stiles yelled. Derek too preoccupied wrestling the very scary looking Joseph made Stiles know that he would have to get this girl help himself.
Stiles picked her up and thanked the gods that he had kept working out after school had ended. He narrowly avoided being whipped by the large reptilian tail of Joseph and he stumbled out of the room. He looked around hoping that there would be a teacher there that could help him, but the school was quiet and empty.
Then it hit him, it was a public holiday and there was meant to be no school today. Stiles quickly rushed out of the school, the girl groaning in pain as he placed her in the backseat of Derek's car. Stiles hesitated, he wanted to go see if Derek was okay, but he wasn't sure how long the girl had left before she bled out all over his new car.
Stiles hissed and slammed the door shut, he just had to quickly check if Derek was okay. He turned and ran as fast as he could back to the girl's locker room, he could hear the two still fighting, and he kept hoping that it was Derek winning the fight. He stormed back into the room, the snake hybrid had its two long fangs out and ready to bite down on Derek's neck.
"Derek!" Stiles yelled, panic and adrenalin pumping through his veins, the snake surprised by the intrusion hesitated, and gave Derek just the chance he needed to manoeuvre behind the snake and snap its neck.
The snap of bones echoed around the room, and the body went limp. The half human half snake fell to the ground and transformed back into its human form of Joseph. Stiles cringed but rushed towards Derek to see if he was okay.
"Are you okay?" He asked. Derek grunted and rolled back his shoulders, there was multiple gashes across his chest and face, but Stiles knew that they would heal.
"Where's the girl?" Derek groaned, then Stiles remembered the dying girl in her backseat.
"Shit!" He swore, before rushing back to the car, Derek right behind him.
"You left her here?" Derek yelled at Stiles, evidently furious.
"I had to see if you were okay." Stiles said. Derek grumbled something that Stiles couldn't hear, before starting the car and speeding towards the hospital. Once there, Derek bundled the girl into his arms and Stiles ran ahead, opening the door to the hospital for him.
"We need help!" Stiles called out, and immediately a nurse was at his side, soon Melissa appeared. The girl quickly got wheeled off to emergency, and Stiles and Derek were left standing there. One covered in blood with no shirt on and the other covered in blood and looking like he just came out of a car accident.
Stiles sat down, suddenly feeling lightheaded and Derek did the same.
"Why didn't you take her straight away?" Derek asked again, this time calmer.
Stiles hesitated but knew that he had no choice but to tell the truth.
"I had to see if you were okay." He said shrugging and refusing to look at Derek.
"You know I had it handled; you could have left without me."
"Pfft you had it handled my arse, that thing was about to bite your head off."
Derek looked away from Stiles and grumbled what Stiles thought sounded like, "I had it."
Stile panicked slightly, why had he really gone back to check up on Derek? He never really had felt the need to do so before. Maybe it was due to the knowledge that it was just the two of them now. No Scott or any of Derek's old pack having their back. It was just them now.
"Stiles what are you thinking?" Derek grumbled; Stiles turned to Derek with his heart thumping even louder.
"I had to, cause it's just us."
Derek's eyes flashed with an emotion that Stiles couldn't read.
"Yeah it's just us."