Chapter Four

Starting Point

*Stiles

Stiles dropped his stuff on the ground, glad that they finally found a place to camp. They'd been walking for an hour at least and his crap was heavy, it was definitely not fun trying to lug it all the way out here. Luckily, Derek was nice enough to carry the tent for him.

Stiles let out a huff as he sat down on the ground to rest a moment before he had to set up the tent. "Did we really have to walk this far to find a camping spot?" he asked, kind of breathing heavily.

Derek chuckled softly "No, I suppose we didn't," he said and hid a smirk before dropping his bags as well. He tossed the tent over to Stiles, because he honestly had no idea how to put the thing up. "But I also didn't hear any complaints, so I figured you were good," he said.

"Rapid breathing and sped up heart rate wasn't clue enough for ya" Stiles said sarcastically with a shake of his head before he pushed himself back up onto his feet and grabbed the tent. He pulled everything out of the bag and went about setting it up. "Looked like you knew where you were going," he said and looked at Derek for a moment. "Come here often?" he asked, meaning when he was all wolfed out.

Derek shook his head slightly, "Nah, only once. A very long time ago" he said and shook his head slightly. "It was the first and only time I ever went camping," he smiled before sitting on the ground. "What about you?" he asked, because he honestly didn't want to talk about his experience.

Stiles nodded slightly, "Yeah but not since my mom died," he said and shrugged slightly. "We used to go out every year and make a weekend of it. My dad tried to keep it going after she got sick, and then once she was gone, but it just wasn't the same, so we just stopped doing it," he said and awkwardly started slipping the poles into place. He really wasn't very good at this either. "We used to have a bunch of camping stuff but my dad must have gotten rid of it all, cause this was all I could find," he said and shrugged slightly.

Derek nodded, remembering that Stiles' mom had died from some type of dementia, that he couldn't remember the name of. "How old were you when she died?" he asked, kind of curious.

Stiles thought a moment, "Ten," he said, it was either that or eleven. He went quiet a moment as he went back to working on putting up the tent, almost falling over a few times.

Derek chuckled softly at Stiles' attempts at putting up the tent, it was actually pretty hilarious, and kind of cute…. wait what? Derek shook his head slightly and let out a small sigh. "So, do you remember anything about your mother?" he asked, since Stiles had been pretty young when she died.

Stiles nodded slightly, "Yeah, I remember some," he said with a smile and walked around the tent to stake it down. He really wasn't watching where he was going though, he was kind of lost in thought about his mother. "Though a lot of my memories involve her being sick," he said with a frown, before tripping slightly over one of the corners of the tent. He swore under his breath and sighed before bending down and putting in the final stake.

Derek chuckled softly when Stiles tripped over the tent, but quickly sobered up again, since what they were talking about really wasn't something to laugh about. "What do you remember?" he asked a few moments later.

Stiles walked around the tent and sat on the ground next to his crap, "Ummm, before she got real bad she was the nicest and funniest person I knew," he said with a smile. "I mean, where do you think I got it from? Sure as hell wasn't my father. He ain't funny," he snorted and shook his head. He chuckled softly "When I was really young, she always let me sit on her lap and 'steer' when she was driving in town," he said, putting air quotes around steer, since she was still doing most of the work. "Everytime we went camping, we would light the fire and make s'mores, and once it got dark, she would tell scary stories. Every time it was a different one; and they were always so elaborate and fascinating," he said. "Just the way she spoke when she was telling them could pull you into the storyline," he said and chuckled softly. "It's been over eight years, but I still miss her," he said with a small nod. "I was there when she died, my dad wasn't though, he was working I guess," he said and shrugged slightly as he looked down at his hands for a moment. He didn't really like thinking about his mom, so he quickly changed the subject. "So what was so bad about your camping experience that you never went on another one?"

Derek chuckled at the abrupt change in subject, though he really didn't like the question that had been directed at him. "It was the night my family burned to death," he said with a small sad smile. "I was out camping with a few friends that night. That's why I wasn't in the house at the time."

Stiles frowned, "I'm sorry. You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to," he said. "So, ummm, how old are you?" he asked curiously after several awkward minutes passed. It was the only question that had popped into his head, and, well, he was curious because all he knew was that Derek was a few grades ahead of them.

"I'm Twenty three," Derek said with a small smile, glad for the change in subject and that the awkward silence was over.

"Uh…. five years older," Stiles said and pursed his lips slightly. "For some reason, I thought you'd be older than that," he said and shrugged slightly..

"Gee thanks Stiles, means a lot," Derek said sarcastically.

Stiles laughed softly before standing up and grabbed all the blankets and pillows that he brought and crawled into the tent. He quickly made the beds 'cause he didn't have anything else to do at the moment, but talk to Derek. "You wanna go and get some wood for the fire?" he asked. He knew the werewolf would be able to carry a lot more than he could.

"Yeah, sure," Derek said and stood up before walking away from their camping site and walking into the trees to find sticks for them to burn. It didn't take him long to get an armful of sticks, in varying sizes, which he was actually kind of glad about. Once he got about as much as he could possibly carry, he brought them back to the camp and dropped them on the ground. He looked around for a moment before shoving all their stuff aside and starting to dig a bit of a hole for the fire. It would be easier to burn that way.

Stiles saw Derek digging the hole and couldn't help but laugh, because he immediately pictured a dog digging a hole in the back yard. He was tempted to say something about it, but he kind figured the werewolf would just threaten to rip his throat out or something. So instead he went down the safer route, "What you doing?" he asked, having to resist another laugh.

Derek looked up at Stiles and just looked at him a moment, kind of guessing what the human was thinking and he didn't like it, "Just making a hole for the fire" he said not explaining himself farther. He quickly finished with the hole and started piling some dry leaves and small twigs at the bottom, before putting the bigger ones on top. "you got a light?" he asked and looked up at the human boy again.

"Oh yeah…... just a second" Stiles said and turned around and studied his bags for a moment before quickly dropping next to one . He looked through the smaller pockets until he found what he was looking for. He made a sound of success as he pulled the lighter out and smiled happily before tossing it over to Derek. "You know what you're doing?" he asked.

Derek nodded, "Yes Stiles," he said and rolled his eyes before lighting the lighter and moving it over the leaves and smaller twigs that he had put at the bottom. Once they were burning, he pulled his hand away and put the lighter in his pocket. "See," he said and gave him a pointed look.

Stiles chuckled, "Okay, Okay, I'm sorry I ever doubted you, oh King of Fire," he said and bowed sarcastically.

Derek rolled his eyes and shook his head slightly before leaning back. "Did you bother bringing food in all that crap you brought?" he asked, since he knew he didn't. He figured the kid would have it covered since it was his idea. That, and he really didn't have that much food in his house.

Stiles froze at the question and looked around. "Uhhhhhh….. noo," he said immediately feeling immensely stupid for it. "Didn't even think of bringing food," he said, sitting down with a huff. "Damn it," he was actually very angry at himself for being so stupid.

Derek chuckled. "Don't worry about it," he said and stood up. "Give me the keys to the jeep" he said holding out his hand. "You stay here and I'll run out and get some" he said with a smile. "It'll be quicker if you don't come with."

Stiles grumbled a moment before handing him his keys, knowing that he was right; He would just slow the werewolf down. "Fine, but if I find one scratch I swear to god-"

"What, you'll make a fur coat out of me?" Derek asked, remembering Stiles had threatened Isaac with something similar a few years ago.

"You know what? , that is exactly what I'll do," Stiles said and looked at him a moment. "Will give it to Lydia as a birthday present," he said with a laugh, also remembering the threat.

Derek chuckled and shook his head slightly before walking away from the clearing and the human boy and into the trees. Once out of sight he started running, faster than any human could ever possibly imagine running.

Stiles watched him go before crawling closer to the fire, still mad at himself about forgetting about food. He shook his head slightly, refusing to think about it anymore, Derek had it covered. So, with that thought in mind, he pulled out his computer and turned on his myfi before surfing the web for anymore legends on the Ahzi.

After about a half an hour of not finding anything, he gave up and put his laptop and the myfi away. He kind of wondered where Derek was, thinking that he probably should have been back by now. Then again, he could still just be at the store. They did need a week's worth of food after all.

"Hello?" called a feminine voice from across the clearing.

Stiles jumped at the sudden voice, he hadn't heard her coming, which was weird even he should be able to hear a human walking through the forest. He looked up and saw a beautiful, red haired women. She was wearing hiking boots and a pair of very short khaki shorts and a light blue tank-top. "Uh, hey," he said nervously and stood up.

The women smiled and walked over to him, "I'm sorry, didn't mean to spook you. Just was on a hike and kind of got lost. You think you could help me?" she asked with a dazzlingly kind smile.

Stiles admired her beauty for a moment before nodding, "Uh yeah," he said and turned around and pointed at the way him and Derek came in. "Just go straight that way and you'll make it to the road in about an hour," he said and turned back to the beautiful girl.

She smiled. "Thank you!" she said. "And my name is Josie, by the way," she said and held out her hand for a hand-shake.

Stiles took her hand and shook it lightly. "Stiles," he said with a smile. "I hope you make it back okay," he said.

Josie nodded slightly, "Thanks, but hey you mind if I rest here for a while? Been walking for a long time."

Stiles shook his head slightly, "No, not at all," he said and gestured for her to sit down. He watched her sit before actually sitting down as well. Then they just started to talk, and he found that he actually liked her very much. Starting to think that maybe he should ask for her number before she left, unless that would be too creepy. Would that be too creepy?

*Derek

Derek walked down the aisle grabbing random stuff that he liked and tossed them in the cart. He didn't know what Stiles liked so the human would just have to deal with whatever he got. Once he was done getting a bunch of food and different drinks he checked out, paying for it all, Stiles would definitely have to pay him back for this one. Then he drove back to his place and picked up his cooler, why he even had one he didn't quite know, but he did. He packed it in the back with everything else he got.

Derek stopped at the gas station before going back to the forest. He bought some ice, and even put a little bit of gas in the tank, since it was almost empty. He paid and then got back in the jeep and drove towards the forest. It had taken longer than he thought it would, been almost an hour actually. He just hoped Stiles hadn't been mauled by an Ahzi while he was gone.

Derek parked in the same spot as before and got out of the jeep and went around to the back. He pulled everything out and put it on the ground next to the car. Then, he dumped the ice into the cooler before pilling in all the drinks and some of the foods that needed to be at least sort of cold, thinking it would be easier to carry it all that way. Once he was done with that he tossed the garbage in the back of the jeep before locking it up. Then he piled everything into his arms and walked back to the camp. It would take a lot longer this time, probably the entire hour that it would take a human. He had a lot to carry.


Barely less than an hour later, Derek walked into the camp and set everything down next to the tent. "Didn't know what you would want, so I got a bunch of differ…." he said, trailing off when he saw the girl, sitting very close to Stiles. God, the bitch is practically on his lap. He glared at her for a moment before realizing what he was doing and stopped. "Who's she?" he asked.

"It's Josie," Stiles said with a slightly giddy smile. "She was out hiking and got lost. Stopped here to rest before going on the trek to the highway."

Derek nodded slightly and walked over to the fire, adding some of the sticks he'd picked up in the forest before he'd left. As he bent down, he caught a whiff of the girl and his eyes flashed blue when realized she wasn't a human. He ran through his mind why a new werewolf would be here, talking to Stiles. Before he could even fully think through it, he was acting; he grabbed the girl and slammed her into the ground, his claws lightly digging into her throat.

"What the hell Derek!" Stiles said, not understanding the guys reaction even a little bit.

"She's a werewolf, Stiles!" Derek snapped before glaring at the girl again, actually having a real reason to do so this time. "What are you doing in Beacon Hills?" he asked.

Josie squirmed under Derek. "Nothing, just visiting family," she said, fear evident in her voice.

"Did you hear that? That was the sound of you lying," Derek hissed, lifting her up slightly just to slam her back into the ground. "What are you doing in Beacon Hills?" he asked.

Stiles caught onto the link right away, Derek thought she might be the one controlling the Ahzi, and that made sense. He didn't think it was her, she seemed really nice, and he liked her, he didn't want her to be the bad guy.

"Answer the question," Derek snapped, about ready to actually hurt her. "Talk now. Or I'll rip your throat out…. with my teeth," he growled.

Josie didn't flinch under his harsh snap, instead she just smirked. "Oh Derek, always so quick with the threats, can never trust anyone, can you?" she said and sighed before morphing her face into that of a werewolf, her eyes turning a dark blood red. Then, she dug her claws into his side violently and twisted before shoving him off with ease. She jumped to her feet and looked down at him, "It's really to bad you don't have the strength to back it up," she said.

Josie walked over to Stiles her face slowly turning back into her own. She chuckled softly and smiled when she heard his heartbeat pick up. "Don't worry Stiles, I'm not going to hurt you," she said and ran her hand over his cheek slightly. "I have other plans for you," she said with a smirk.

Stiles smacked her hand away, "I'm not scared of you," he said and glared at her. Pissed that he let himself be tricked by her, guess he could join Derek's club of being into homicidal chicks now.

"Hmmmmm," Josie said as she heard his heart rate go up slightly as he spoke. "If you say so," she said and chuckled slightly before turning to look at Derek, who was had just stood up. "I thought we could be friends, but I guess not," she lied and then ran off into the trees.

Derek growled and moved to run after her, not wanting her to get away. His side wasn't completely healed yet and he couldn't move as fast as he liked to. So he really hadn't gotten that far when he heard Stiles yell.