One step forward two steps back.
I'm exhausted, both physically and emotionally.
Work was one of those days.

And I like to quote, Supernatural, "I'm tired."

*sigh*

This has been written for a while, I just needed to work out the kinks.
After the day I had, I managed to work it out so onward, yeah?

Disclaimer: I don't own Teen Wolf nor do I own the characters.

Derek let a shaky sigh as he hugged Stiles tightly and turned around entered the Stilinski household. He silently gestured to the family room. His eyes telling the guys "stay there, I'll be back." Jackson and Danny gave a hesitant nod as they found places on the couch. Scott however stood at the bottom of the stair case and watched as Derek climbed the steps silently. He waited till they were halfway up, "Derek?" he called up to the Alpha wolf.

"What?"

"If you need anything, just call," Scott said, "okay?"

Derek nodded as he continued walking up the stairs. Scott watched a few more seconds before he made his way to join the others. "I ready for my nap now," Stiles whispered.

"Okay buddy."

"I sorry Der, I sorry I being a bad boy."

Derek stopped walking once he reached the top, "You're not," he said gently, "You are not a bad boy."

Stiles nodded as gripped Derek's shirt tight, "I not listening to you," he breathed, "I wasn't listening."

"Why is that?" Derek asked softly.

"Cause.."

Derek walked a few feet and sat down, back resting against the wall. The walk to Stiles' room would have to wait. He gently pulled Stiles off of him, gripping Stiles' shoulders gently he situated the little boy so that they were looking at each other. Stiles bit at his lip and looked down, refusing to meet Derek's eyes. But Derek wasn't having it, he lifted Stiles' head up, fingers under the preschoolers chin, "Because why?" he asked.

"My head," Stiles whispered as he reached up and grasped his hair, "it was confusing."

"How?"

Stiles bit as his lips as made a fist and hit his head, once, then twice, "Lots going on Der," he whispered as he placed his hands in front of him he clapped his hands together, "confusing," he whispered. He then spread them apart, fingers wiggling, "my brain confused."

"That all?"

"I mad you," Stiles whispered, "I mad you so I decide, I be bad listener."

"Did I do something wrong Stiles?"

Stiles nodded, "You hurt my feelings, you be mean to me."

"How?"

Stiles bit at his lip as he reached up and touched Derek's cheek. The Alpha froze again as he looked into the preschooler's eyes. The brown orbs stared back at him and flashed with hurt. Derek felt his heart stop. It wasn't the four year old that was looking at him, it was Stiles. It was Stiles the day Derek had told the teen that he didn't feel the same way. Derek let out a whimper as he hugged Stiles tightly, "I'm sorry," he whimpered.

The four year old's eyes flashed back and the preschooler was staring at Derek in shock. He threw himself forward, "Don't cry Derek," he whispered, "don't be sad."

Derek shook his head as he let out a sob. Scott was bounding up the stairs at this, Jackson and Danny trailing behind him. Derek's body was shaking as he cried into Stiles' hair, apologizing over and over again. Stiles' too, was crying as he tried to calm Derek down, soothing the Alpha how he usually did, with his little hands running over Derek's hair as he mumbled, "Easy Derek, easy."

"Guys," Scott breathed, "take Derek downstairs or something, I'm going to put Stiles down for a nap."

Scott bent down hands grasping at Stiles' waist as he pulled the four year old away. Stiles eye's widened when he felt himself being pried from Derek's arms. He let out an aguish cry as he reached out to the Alpha. "No!" he screamed, "no Derek!"

Derek was standing up at this, eyes flashing red when Stiles disappeared from his arms. Jackson and Danny flew forward taking hold of their Alpha, "Guys," he roared, the word coming out shaky, "let me go!"

"Easy man," Jackson breathed, "come on, let's take a break."

"Jackson!" Derek barked, "I'm not a child, I don't need to take a break!"

"Derek man," Danny soothed, "easy, easy."

"No," Derek mumbled, "I have to, I-" the Alpha let out an anguish howl causing the walls in the Stilinski home to shake.

"Derek," Danny whispered, "Derek calm down."

"My fault," Derek mumbled as he watched Scott disappear with Stiles into the boy's room. He let out a whimper when heard the four year old calling for him. He thrashed bout in the Beta's grip as he tried to get away. "I-I have to fix it, guys, guys please!"

"Derek!" Danny yelled alarmed, "Derek you need to calm down."

"My fault, my fault," Derek mumbled.

"Not your fault," Jackson told the Alpha, "come on, let's go downstairs."

Derek shook his head, "No," he grumbled as he finally gave up, shoulders slumping, head down.

Danny sighed. The Hawaiian looked up and locked eyes with Jackson over Derek's head. He gestured towards the guest bedroom and both Betas slowly maneuvered their Alpha onto the guest bed. Derek plopped himself down as he buried his head in his hands, "My fault," he whined.

"Derek!" Jackson cried, "none of this is your fault."

"I hurt him," Derek whispered, "I hurt him, I did the complete opposite of what I really wanted to do."

"You didn't hurt him," Danny soothed, "Stiles is fine."

Derek shook his head, "No," he said, as he took in a shaky breath, "Before this, I hurt him."

"Derek, you didn't hurt Stiles, we would've known," Jackson pointed out.

"Not physically," Derek whispered, "I told him I didn't love him."

Danny's eyebrows scrunched in confusion. He bit at his lip and he jumped, "That's why he was so upset that week during our training session."

Derek looked up at Danny, eyes wide, "You know?"

"Not really," Danny breathed, "he just told me that had feelings for you, I didn't know he told you."

"He did," Derek whimpered, "He told me, and I-I," Derek stopped as he raised a fist a slammed it into his thigh, "I'm so fucking stupid, I told him I didn't feel the same way then the I started distancing myself and I started being a total ass hole!" Derek roared, "why the fuck did I do that for!"

"You love him too?" Jackson asked softly.

Derek nodded his head, "I love him so much but I just, I-I…it's too risky," he breathed, "I can't be with him, look at what I am?"

Danny's eyes darkened, "That's bullshit Derek," he said, anger edged in his tone, "Scott and Allison are together."

Derek stood up, eyes a piercing red as he glared at the Hawaiian teen, "I'm an ALPHA!" he roared, "there's a difference!"

"Also bullshit," Jackson pointed out, "Yes you're an Alpha, but you're a damn good Alpha, you rarely lose control, considering your pack is made up of a group of teenagers."

Derek sighed as he plopped himself back down on the bed, "I lost control today."

"But you realized what was happening," Danny reminded him, "besides, you've changed so much, look at this right now, we've yelled at you, what three times already and we're having a touching moment," Danny joked, trying to lighten the mood.

"You tend to stay away from those," Jackson teased, "not your thing, you always say."

"I just don't get why, I mean, what does he see in me."

"Anything and everything," Danny breathed, "that's what he always said when I asked him, the rest just fell in deaf ears, he went on for hours."

"He's in there somewhere," Derek breathed.

"Who?" Jackson asked.

"Stiles."

Jackson rolled his eyes, "Derek of course he's in there."

"No," Derek growled as he reached over and shoved Jackson back, "I mean Stiles, Stiles, teen Stiles."

"How do you know?" Danny asked.

"Lately, anytime I'm looking into his eyes, they always flash with something, with a grin, or a look or something and it isn't four year old Stiles, it's teen Stiles, almost as if he's reaching out."

Scott sighed as he walked around the room still trying to calm down Stiles. He did manage to pick up bits and pieces of the conversation that went on with the other pack members. He sighed as he turned his attention to Stiles. The four year old's eyes would close but then snap open as he desperately tried to keep himself awake. "Want Derek," Stiles whimpered, "please Scott," he whined, "please take me back to Derek."

"He needs a moment," Scott breathed, "now come on go to sleep."

Stiles sighed as he squirmed in Scott's grasp, "You don't know how to do it right," he mumbled, "Der sing song and rock me."

Scott smirked. Oh yeah, Stiles had Derek wrapped around his finger. The lycan took a deep breath as he stopped walking. He sat on the bed and faced Stiles towards him, "Stiles," he said gently, "Can I ask you something then?"

"Yes," Stiles answered with a nod.

"I want you to look me in the eye okay."

Stiles nodded as he focused his attention on his friend's face. The four year old's brown eyes started into Scott's. "Are you there Stiles?" Scott asked softly.

The four year old gave Scott a weird look, "Yes, is me Stiles," he breathed.

Scott shook his head, "No," he said quickly, "I mean, Stiles, are you there?"

The four year old's eyes flashed with something. The flash was quick but Scott recognized the grin in the brown orbs. His best friend, somehow, was also in there with the four year old. "I have a very important question to ask you," Scott said softly , "listen to me carefully, okay Stiles."

The preschooler's eyes flashed again. Scott took in a deep breath, he released it slowly, "Did you tell Derek that you love him?"

Stiles bit at his lip and let out a whine. The little boy's shoulders slumped as he leaned forward resting his head on Scott's shoulder, "No more questions," he whispered, "I tired now," he whispered softly.

"Sleep then," Scott soothed.

The beta reached up and rubbed Stiles' back and soon enough, the four year old was knocked out, snoring softly on Scott's shoulder. Scott was about to lay the four year old when there was a soft knock on the door. "Derek's asleep," Danny answered as he peered into the room.

"Good," Scott breathed, "are the girls here yet?"

Danny nodded, "Yeah, Jackson's downstairs with them."

"I'm going to lay Stiles down and I'll join you guys," Scott whispered.

"Alright, we shall see you in a bit."

Scott watched as Danny made his way out of the room. He turned his attention to Stiles bed and out into the hallway. Letting out a sigh the Beta walked out of the room and towards the guest bedroom. He opened the door quietly and looked around the room. Derek was passed out on the bed. One arm draped across his eyes, the other across his stomach. Scott approached the bed slowly and laid Stiles down next to the Alpha Wolf.

Stiles sighed as he shifted a bit and cuddled in to Derek's side as he if knew that the Alpha was there. Derek woke up at the sudden movement, eyes scanning the room slowly, "Scott," he groaned.

"Shh," Scott whispered, "you'll wake him up."

Derek looked down and he let out a sigh of relief as he put his arms around the four year old, his eyes slowly drifting shut as he fell back into slumber. Scott slipped out of the room quietly shutting the door behind him. He made his way down the stairs and into the kitchen. Scott let out a tired sigh as he approached his mate. Allison smiled softly at him and brought him into a hug, "Everything okay?" she asked.

"I think so," Scott answered.

"What happened?" Lydia asked.

"Derek had a big emotional breakdown," Jackson sighed, "At least I think that's what happened, he was a wreck."

"He just went on, on how it's fault," Danny mumbled, "he passed out after that, I think he's just emotionally tired."

"He didn't hurt Stiles did he, when he wolfed out?" Allison asked concerned

Scott shook his head, "No, just scared him."

"Is Stiles going to be okay near Derek if he's in a state where he can't control his emotions?" Lydia asked.

"He should be, besides, I don't think separating them is a good idea, they both flipped out when we separated them," Scott stated, "Stiles kept on telling me to bring him back to Derek."

"Like I said, Derek was a wreck, he was mad, then he was upset then he was mad," Danny groaned, "he was just all over the damn place."

"What's going on, how come he's losing his cool?" Allison asked softly, "he was doing so well."

Scott sighed, "I think the last lesson is messing with his brain."

Lydia raised an eyebrow, "The last lesson being?"

"Derek is in love with Stiles," Jackson blurted out.

Everyone turned to him and the blonde's eyes widened as he slapped a hand to his mouth. "You know?" Allison asked.

"Well he kind of told us," Danny said, "he, well Stiles…"

"Okay, okay," Lydia shouted, "So back up a bit, you guys all knew about Derek and Stiles!"

"How do you know?" Scott asked.

Allison let out a laugh, "Observation Scott, it was easy to tell that Stiles loved Derek and that Derek loved him back."

Scott groaned as he reached up the scratch the back of head in frustration, "This pack, I tell yah, we just, we tell each other everything but we don't tell each other everything."

"Hey!" Danny shouted, "personal space is needed man."

"We are drifting from the subject!" Lydia shouted.

"Shh!" Scott whispered harshly, "you'll wake up our Alpha and I don't think he'll be happy if you wake up Stiles too."

Silence fell over them as they stared at the kitchen counter. After what seemed like hours, only when it was just minutes Danny spoke, "Derek's been saying he sees Teen Stiles in four year old Stiles," he breathed, "he thinks that, that Stiles is reaching out to him."

Scott's eyes widened, "He said that?"

"Yeah."

"I believe him," Scott breathed, "Our ADHD werewolf expert is in there somewhere."

"How is that possible?" Allison asked, "Is that possible?"

Danny took in a deep breathe, "I don't know," he answered. He sighed as he ran a hand through his hair, "It's, well remember the note, the cloaked guy said he restored his memory?"

Everyone nodded. Scott's eyes widened, "You don't think that when he did, he messed up, thus resulting in my best friend and his four year old self bashing heads in a four year old body?"

"Exactly," Danny breathed.

"So, is Derek supposed to realize he loves Stiles?" Lydia asked, "because according to Jackson, our Alpha loves him, lesson learned if you look at it."

The blonde was shaking his head, "Thing is, Stiles told Derek about his feelings and Derek, well, you know Derek, he went all sour wolf on the guy."

Scott sighed as he looked up at the ceiling, "I think that's the last lesson," he breathed, "cloaked guy is helping Derek realize his mistake."

Thoughts? Yes? No? Leave a review please?