Sorry for the wait. Enjoy.

Chapter 4

When Stiles re-entered the room Derek was pulling on a shirt with his back to the room, giving the Stiles a clear view of the tattoo that covered the entire span of his back. Turning to greet the younger boy Derek tried to ignore the bright blush he could see climbing Stiles neck, he didn't want to think what could have caused it. Stiles was also trying to ignore the blush, refusing to accept that it was the sight of Derek getting dressed that had caused it. The two boys refused to meet each other's eyes as they left the room. Neither spoke until they reached the stairs.
"I'll go ask mum if you can have a lift into town but there's a good chance that you'll have to wait a couple of hours for the rain to clear slightly. It can be dangerous to drive in weather like this." Derek said as they neared the bottom of the stairs. "You can go wait in the lounge if you'd like, I'll just be a minute." He continued pushing Stiles in the direction of a room at the far end of the corridor. The younger boy nodded shyly and headed towards the front room where he could hear the TV playing loudly. Peering around the doorframe he spotted Anna sitting in a large, overly stuffed armchair by the window. The young girl noticed him as he stepped into the room, her face lighting up in recognition and she waved her small hand in his direction. As he neared her she jumped to her feet and pushed the older boy into the recently vacated chair. Before he could even think about moving the girl was climbing into his lap and wriggling until she was comfy, her head resting on his shoulder whilst she played with the hem of his oversized shirt, and started watching the TV again.

After Derek had watched Stiles enter the lounge he turned on his heel and headed into the kitchen to find one of his parents. Judging by the smells exiting the room he guessed it was his mother cooking dinner. Slipping silently into the room he snuck up behind her and pecked her on the cheek before jumping up on to the counter. His mother let out an involuntary shriek and turned to smack him around the back of his head.
"How is it that you can sneak up on me? No one else can." She asked her smile contradicting her stern tone.
"Practice?" he replied with a sheepish grin, stealing a piece of carrot from the chopping board.
"If you say so, Is there something you wanted?"
"Oh yeah, I found this guy in the woods and offered him shelter from storm and I, we, were wondering if you or dad could give him a lift back into town?" Derek asked already predicting her answer.
"Sorry sweetheart, it looks like your friend is stuck here for a while. Your dad took the Jeep out of town and the family car wouldn't make it through the storm." She replied
"Yeah, that's what I thought. I'll go let him know. I'm guessing it's okay for him to eat with us then." He asked, again already knowing her answer.
"Of course he can, we can't make our guest starve can we?" she smiled "Why did you bring him here anyway? You've never brought anyone here before, no matter what the reason was." Her statement caused Derek to shuffle awkwardly on the spot as he thought of a response, he still wasn't entirely sure himself.
"He was on our land and, well, I don't know. I guess I was just drawn to him, I had to help him, it wasn't a conscious decision." At his reply his mother's eyes seemed to light up and a secretive smile spread across her face. He wasn't sure he trusted that look; it usually led to some form of embarrassment for either him or Laura, especially when it was directed at him.
"Mum… what is it? I really hate that smile." Derek said taking a step towards the door, ready to make a quick escape if needed.
"Nothing dear, I'm sure you'll work it out for yourself soon. Now why don't you make yourself useful and go catch your little friend up and see if he is allergic to anything?" She said shoving him out of the door. Muttering under his breath about irritating parents he headed towards the lounge.

Entering the room he was surprised to find Stiles and Anna curled up together in Derek's favourite chair. The sight was both endearing and completely bizarre, he had never seen Anna like that with anyone but family and he wasn't sure how to respond to the situation. He settled on taking a seat on the chair nearest to the dozing pair, eyes flicking back and forth between them and the TV. When the program finished and Derek turned the TV off Stiles jerked up, fully alert and Anna only just managed to stay in her seat.
"Sorry if I startled you but I was about to wake you anyway, it's almost time for dinner. There isn't anything you can't eat right?" Derek questioned suddenly realising he hadn't done what his mother had asked.
"No, I eat anything… what happened to my ride home?" Stiles replied hesitantly as Anna buried closer into his chest.
"Dad's stuck out of town due to the storm and he has the Jeep. Mum says the weather is too bad to take out the family car so it looks like you're stuck hear, at least for a few hours." Anna seemed overjoyed by the news and let out a noise that was oddly similar to a cat's purr. The sight of his little sister wrapped protectively around Stiles sent chills racing down his spine for reasons he couldn't name. What was going on with him tonight? He pushed the feeling away as he peeled his sister off the younger teen, throwing her over his shoulder before offering a hand to Stiles to help him out of the chair. When they left the room he placed Anna on her feet and waited for her to head towards the kitchen before turning to face Stiles.
"Just to warn you Laura can get a little… overwhelming so just ignore everything she says." He cautioned, pausing before continuing as he led the smaller boy down the corridor. "Anything she says about me is probably false so again, ignore anything she says." Stiles smirked as Derek finished. It was times like these he was glad he was an only child. They paused in the entrance to the kitchen mentally preparing themselves to face the rest of the family. Derek hoped Laura behaved for once, or at least tried to act normal. For some reason he didn't want to scare Stiles off.

End Of Chapter