A/N: I know things look hopeless for them now, but sometimes you have to deal with the bad things before they can get better. They love each other, you have to know that much.

One Week Later

Stiles had spent the week hanging out with his dad while his throat recovered. He had to get his cast changed yesterday because the stitches in his wrist were due to come out but otherwise he was much better. His dad even let him have some whiskey, said it would be good for his throat.

It was nice to spend time with his dad; it took his mind of the things that were worrying him most. Number one was Derek. According to Scott, he had left Beacon Hills for good with Peter. You could have knocked Stiles over with a feather when he told him.

"No, no he wouldn't. He would never leave with him." He had protested.

"Look, Peter came by and told us-"

"Well he's a liar!"

"Well have you heard from Derek since you woke up?" Scott had said.

He was sitting in his room, just thinking about it and staring at his phone to see if Derek would call and trying to stop himself from sending another text. The last one he sent was yesterday.

After spending the last week off, his dad was now back to work and he was all alone in the big empty house. He heard a knock on the door downstairs and sighed.

For a moment he thought it could be Derek, but Derek would never just knock on the door. He got off his bed and headed out of his room and down the stairs to answer it.

As he opened the door he saw Erica standing on the porch and she turned to him with a smile. He tried to return it but somehow he knew that it wasn't quite sincere.

"Hi Stiles."

"Hey Erica, what are you doing here?" He said as he stepped back to let her in.

"I just wanted to talk to you." She stepped through the door and he walked into the kitchen.

"Uh… did you want a drink or something?" He asked.

"Sure, I'll just have a glass of water." She sat on one of the chairs at the table and Stiles walked to the cupboard to get a glass.

He didn't know why she was here but he wasn't going to turn her away. The pack had been distant lately, he knew that they wanted him to get better and for him to spend time with his dad but with no Derek he had actually been quite lonely.

"Have you… have you heard anything from Derek?" She asked hopefully, having heard nothing from him either.

Stiles swallowed and shook his head. "No, no nothing." He said as he handed her a glass and took a long sip from his.

She looked disappointed. "I'm sorry, I thought you might have."

"Yeah, me too." Stiles sat down opposite her. "So what are you doing here? I mean I don't want to sound like an asshole but… yeah, I think I already did huh?"

She smiled. "I spend a lot of my time with Jackson, okay? I don't think you could sound like any more of an asshole than him."

Stiles scoffed. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

"I just wanted to come down here to thank you for what you did for me." He looked away with a shrug.

"It was nothing, you know, I just did what I had to."

"I could be dead if it wasn't for you, and I haven't said anything yet so I wanted to come down here and say it. I mean, I know I'm a bitch… but I actually thought you and me kind of… got each other, you know?"

He nodded with a little smile. "You know what, I actually do. I mean we are the comedy central of this mismatched little pack."

She laughed and gave him a grin. "I think you mean sarcasm central."

"I don't know, Jackson might give us a run for our money there."

"Yeah but he's an asshole so he doesn't count."

Stiles actually managed to laugh. "Must be pick-on-Jackson day."

"Every day is pick-on-Jackson day." She rolled her eyes.

"I take it you haven't heard anything from Derek either then." Stiles said, looking intently down into his glass.

She shook her head. "Only what Peter said, but I don't trust him."

"I wouldn't either."

"You should get out of the house, you know, try not to think about it." She said.

He sighed. "Well if you can tell me a way not to think about it then I won't."

She pursed her lips and looked away.

"Sorry, sorry, I didn't mean to snap."

"Stiles, it's okay, I get it." She reached out and put her hand on his arm soothingly. "It's not like it would take a genius to see that you loved him."

He closed his eyes for a moment, trying not to imagine the feel of his lips and the warmth of his body sleeping next to him. "Yeah well… clearly he a different idea about things."

She pulled her chair closer to him and put a second hand on his shoulder. "He's protective, I mean he's probably just… I'm not helping am I?" She scrunched up her nose and gave him a 'sorry' face.

He chuckled a little and looked sideways at her. "No, you're not doing too badly." He smiled.

Scott headed down to the clinic that afternoon with Isaac to talk to Deaton. He had been unusually withdrawn over the last ten days and Scott had a weird feeling about it.

"I'm just saying that it's weird that he shuts up around the same time Derek goes missing. Don't you think that means something?" He asked as they walked up to the door.

"I don't know, maybe he's just busy Scott." Isaac said.

"Yeah, maybe." He said as he walked in through the front door.

Deaton walked out from the back and looked slightly taken aback. "Scott, Isaac, I didn't expect to see you. Come in." He opened up the gate and let them pass through into the back. "What can I help you with?"

"Well, Derek's kind of gone missing and we thought you might know something about it." Scott said, getting straight to the point.

"He hasn't spoken to any of you, has he?" Deaton said.

"Nope, he hasn't been back to the loft either. I sort of kind of live there." Isaac said.

"We just need to know what's happening." Scott sighed.

"I assure you that I don't know where he is." Deaton said.

Scott looked at him curiously. He wasn't lying, his heart beat didn't change at all, but somehow it seemed like a lie.

"I'm not sure if I believe you." Scott folded his arms and Deaton sighed.

"I don't know what to tell you Scott, I don't know where he is."

"But you have seen him since Stiles got out of hospital." Isaac asked, knowing that his response wasn't a lie but that he wasn't giving them the entire truth.

Deaton nodded a little. "Yes, I have."

"Well what's going on? He hasn't contacted any of us! Is he leaving Beacon Hills or is he just avoiding the pack?" Scott said, losing his cool a little.

"Scott, calm down. He has his reasons for doing what he has and in this case I agree with them. With some of them anyway."

"Well explain it to us." Scott pleaded.

"I will tell you but only if you respect his decision." Deaton said.

"He left his pack, how do you expect us to respect that?" Isaac said.

"He doesn't intend to leave you for good. Just while he removes the current issues."

"He's avoiding the question on purpose." Scott said to Isaac.

He nodded. "Come on Doc, just help us out here. According to Peter they're both leaving the town."

"If I were you I wouldn't be putting much faith into what that man says. I know you're worried about Derek and that he's your alpha but he needs to do this alone. He doesn't want any more of you to get hurt." Deaton said.

"Oh I don't give a shit about Derek, I care about Stiles and all of this crap is going to kill him. I mean as if the trigger thing wasn't enough, now he's just leaving him alone without any explanation at all." Scott shook his head and Deaton's thoughts locked on one word in particular.

"Did you say… trigger?" He asked.

"Yeah why?" Scott said.

"Interesting."

"Why?" Isaac said, suddenly interested.

"I just wasn't aware that Stiles was a trigger for Derek."

"You know about them?" Scott said.

"Oh yes, yes I'm quite familiar with the concept."

"Does that matter? What the hell is he up to?" Isaac asked.

"We've been working on a way to remove the Maeve from the town without killing her. Derek is determined to keep his word."

Isaac sighed. "Karissa swore she'd kill Stiles if he killed her sister."

"That doesn't mean he gets away with not calling him back." Scott muttered.

"We have a few plans in motion but these things take time. He doesn't want anyone's help because three of you have already been in the hospital. He'll never desert the pack; he just knows that if you all find out you'll try to help. He needs to do this alone." Deaton sighed.

"He doesn't have to." Isaac said.

"No, that might be true, but I agree that this would be better done covertly."

Scott shook his head. "So maybe you should tell Derek that he could have handled this better. And that he's an asshole." Scott said, storming out of the clinic.

"Sorry about that, he's just really worried about Stiles." Isaac said.

"I can imagine. How is Stiles?"

"Well he's out of hospital but uh… well he just doesn't get what's going on with Derek."

"No, he is difficult to decode sometimes." Isaac gave him a little smile and started towards the door. "And Isaac…" He turned around to see what he had to say. "Make sure Scott gets through this without going completely crazy."

Isaac sort of looked away sheepishly as if Deaton knew about the two of them before he followed Scott out.

Derek headed back to the clinic that night where Deaton was waiting for him, he had said that he would be there until Derek showed up and he was always true to his word. Derek walked in through the back and Deaton greeted him without looking up from his work bench where he was finishing his daily paperwork.

"Good evening Derek. Did we have a productive day today?"

"It was fine. Scott and Isaac were here weren't they?" He said quickly, smelling their fresh scents in the room.

"They were looking for you."

"What did you tell them?"

"You know I can't lie to a pair of werewolves Derek."

Derek grunted. "I don't want them involved."

"I know, and I told them exactly that. Isaac was a little more understanding than Scott though."

"That doesn't surprise me."

"He's just worried about Stiles and wanted to know why you don't seem to be." Deaton looked up from under his eyelashes and Derek bit down on the inside of his cheek.

"It's better that I stay away from him."

Deaton nodded silently and waited a moment before speaking up again. "You never told me that he was a trigger for you."

Derek swallowed. "They told you that?"

"Well they assumed that I already knew."

"It doesn't matter now." Derek turned away, looking for a glass to fill with water.

His thirst wasn't helped by the conversation.

"I beg to differ."

"And what does that mean?" He turned around, a little annoyed that he couldn't just drop it.

If there was one thing that he didn't want to think about, it was Stiles.

"Do you know what a trigger is?"

"Of course I know. Why else would I have called it that?" Derek snapped.

"There's no need to get a temper. What I meant was, do you know the whole story?"

"I know that they're dangerous, they can cause you to lose control of yourself and they make you irrational." He said, thinking of anything but Stiles.

"Yes, well that's part of it, but a trigger is so much more than just a physical reaction to somebody's scent. When you meet someone who becomes a trigger for you it's nature's way of telling you that this person is a match for you, compatible in some higher degree." Deaton said.

"It's a physical response to pheromones. That's all." Derek said.

"That's what most would have you believe, yes. Finding a trigger isn't something that happens to everyone, and some werewolves would do anything to stop their pack members or the wolves around them from sealing the trigger bond."

"Okay, what are you talking about? Sealing the bond? What do you mean?" Derek asked.

"It comes in stages. First, there is the impossible physical attraction, the lust and the anger with yourself that you can't control it, the part that triggers your emotions. If you can make it past that initial stage with a person, without leaving or killing them as it were, you can build something steady on those rocky foundations. Sealing the bond is when both sides acknowledge something pure about it, mostly when both people are conscious to the fact that the other loves them for more than just their pheromone base. The 'trigger' stage ends when the werewolf knows that it's more than just something that connects them physically.

"A sealed trigger bond is where the myth of having a soul mate comes into things. There is no such thing as one true soul mate for every werewolf as far as we can tell, just people who are more suited to one another. You could find yourself feeling the pull of three triggers before you finally give in to one of them. Of course, it can be broken if one side leaves or for some reason things don't work, but when the bond is sealed both sides become stronger, even a human side." Deaton said and Derek filled his glass slowly. "If you'll let me guess, I'd say Peter wasn't too happy about your relationship with Stiles, was he?"

"Like I said, it's dangerous."

"Did you just listen to a word I said?" Deaton huffed.

"I did, and even if I believed you it isn't going to change my mind. Can we get down to business please? I think I may have been able to track her down." Derek said and Deaton shook his head.

"Your mother would throttle me if she knew I'd watch you turn out like this. You're bitter and you refuse to fix that."

"Maybe I don't need fixing and maybe you could leave her out of this for once." Derek snarled.

Deaton backed off, knowing that Derek had his mother's stubbornness and would be harder to break than iron train tracks. "Well I believe I've found a way to block her toxin from penetrating your blood stream. It will hurt, but it will combine with your healing matrix to stop the most severe of its effects."

"So then what? I can't kill her."

Deaton sighed. "Talk to her Derek, though you don't seem to be all that great with words." He received a menacing glare and Deaton tried another approach. "Show her that she can't use her powers against you, if she's as arrogant as the texts portray her to be then it'll spook her and you can try to talk her down after that."

"We don't have much, do we?"

"You're the one who made a deal with the she-devil." Deaton raised an eyebrow.

"Cute. Show me what you've got." Derek said.

Another week went by and Stiles heard nothing back from Derek. He didn't want to think about how much it made his heart ache that he didn't care, or didn't know how much he was hurting. Derek didn't have to make this choice but he did.

Stiles was sick of him feeling guilty about the things in his past and blaming himself for the mistakes that weren't his. He wished that Derek would just believe that things weren't his fault. It frustrated him to no end that he couldn't even talk to him and tell him that he could die tomorrow and he wouldn't care so long as he had spent all this time with Derek.

He said he loved him and Stiles knew that it was real, he knew it. Derek must have known what he was going to say, he must have. So he knew that Stiles loved him and he said he loved him back. It was his only hope of Derek ever coming back to him.

He was afraid that Derek had just said the words because he thought that Stiles was going to die and that he wanted him to hear the words that he had been waiting for before it was all over.

He had been spending a lot of time with Erica this week. He didn't know why she had suddenly become nicer to him but he had to admit that he was enjoying her company. They were a lot more similar than he had thought.

He thought that it must have had something to do with the fact that he had saved her, and something like that goes a long way for Erica. She suffered a lot before she became a werewolf and for Stiles to treat her like a friend, and to put his life in danger for her, it meant a lot.

He was going out to get some lunch with her but first he was stopping by the loft to see Isaac. He just wanted to know if he had heard anything more and part of him hoped that he would just magically run into Derek there like nothing was wrong, like it was any old normal day.

He parked the jeep by the side of the building and headed up in the dingy old lift to Derek's apartment, not that he's lived in it for over two weeks. The music was blaring from upstairs and he figured Isaac must be in his room.

He walked up the spiral staircase and towards the door. Upon opening it he got a bigger surprise than he had expected to get that day.

Scott was sprawled out on the bed with Isaac straddling his hips, both of them shirtless and their lips locked in a tireless tango that only ceased when Stiles let out a strangled sound from the doorway.

"Oh my god I wish I could un-see that and erase it from my brain right now…" He muttered, turning away as they tore themselves apart and Scott started to babble.

"Stiles! I – uh, look, I was going to say something but –"

Isaac actually looked pleased with himself while Scott fumbled over his words and searched frantically for his shirt.

"Look, I honestly don't care what was going on but I think we need to talk." Stiles said, still not looking at either of them.

"Yeah, yeah that's probably a good idea."

"You mind if I talk to Isaac alone?" He asked.

Scott looked dumbfounded and actually a little insulted. "Are you kidding? I'm your best friend and you want to talk to him?"

"Yes, actually I would. Do you mind?" Stiles smiled weakly and Scott's dropped jaw stayed firmly in place as he walked past him and out of the room.

"Seriously?"

"Sorry." Stiles shrugged before he shut the door on him.

As he turned to Isaac he raised his eyebrows with a grin. "So… never going to happen huh?"

Isaac gave him a cheeky grin in return. "Yeah well…"

"How long have the two of you been uh… doing this?"

Isaac thought back to that day in the hospital, a smile creeping onto his lips. "A few weeks."

"Way to go Isaac." He shook his head and Stiles grave him a playful punch in the arm. "do I have to give you the unofficial big brother talk?"

"You might as well, after what happened in the hospital you two are practically brothers."

Stiles shrugged. "Always were, always will be. But seriously, don't take advantage of him or I will hunt you down."

Isaac laughed. "I guess you came here to say something and not just ruin the mood. Thanks for that by the way."

"Oh get over it, do you really think it'll be hard to get him back into bed?"

"No, no I definitely don't." He grinned and Stiles closed his eyes, trying to get all of the horrible, horrible images out of his head.

"Over sharing Isaac. And yeah, I guess I wanted to know if you've heard anything else about Derek." He shrugged, trying not to sound like it was killing him inside to know nothing.

"All I know is what we told you, he's trying to get rid of the Maeve."

"Why doesn't he just find it and kill it?" Stiles said impatiently.

"It's complicated. Look, I'm sorry Stiles, I want him back too. He's my alpha and the pack seems to be pining for him." He sighed.

"Yeah, Erica seems pretty down about it."

"You've been talking to Erica?" Isaac asked.

"Yeah, quite a bit actually. We're going to go get lunch and I'm actually late so I'll let you get back to… defiling my best friend."

Isaac wasn't sure what to think about the Erica thing. He'd have to talk about it with Scott… after they were done obviously.

Stiles left the room and headed down the stairs and Scott walked over to him from the kitchen. "Stiles, can I just say that-"

"Scott, I really don't know what the big deal is, go get him or… you know, whatever. I've got to go but I'll talk to you tonight yeah?" He said, getting into the lift and pressing the buttons quickly, leaving Scott stunned in the living room.

Isaac walked downstairs and put his arms around him from behind, his tongue slipping out to draw in Scott's earlobe. "Come back upstairs." He whispered causing Scott to shiver.

"Was that weird to you?" Scott asked, ignoring Isaac's advances.

Isaac sighed and let go of him, walking around to face him. "He could have reacted the way you did when you found out that he was screwing Derek."

Scott narrowed his eyes. "Hey, it wasn't that bad… and you make me sound so cheap."

Isaac grinned and Scott's lips stretched into a cheeky smile. Isaac put his hands on Scott's hips and pulled him in close, his lips leaving a soft kiss on the corner of his mouth. Scott felt his whole body relax, giving himself in to Isaac and closing his eyes.

"That's a little better." He mumbled through the gaps in their lips and Isaac smiled.

He pulled away and slipped his hand into Scott's, leading him up the staircase without complaint. As far from the front of his mind as it was, he couldn't get the idea of Erica spending her time with Stiles away from his thoughts. He would deal with it after he was done with Scott though, some things just couldn't wait.

Stiles and Erica walked along the path just outside the woods. It was getting closer to evening than it was afternoon and Stiles knew that he would have to get home soon.

"So, do your parents actually know where you are half the time?" Stiles asked.

Erica shrugged. "My dad works away, my mom spends more time at home drinking than she does writing her book. She's an author you know. I mean, she's only published a few times but I guess she thinks that's enough to call herself an author."

"So that'd be a no?"

She smiled and nudged him with her arm. "Mom likes the peace and quiet, I don't think she'd notice if I just wasn't there for a few weeks so sometimes I guess I just stay at – I mean I just crash elsewhere."

"You know you can say 'Derek', it's not like saying his name changes anything." Stiles gave her a warm smile and she looked at him pensively.

"You're taking this better than I thought you would."

"That's because you think I was the girl in the relationship… if you could even call it that."

"Don't lie Stiles, you totally were. Anyone's a girl next to Derek."

"Thanks for that vote of confidence there Erica, great job."

"Hey, you'll still be Batman." She looked up at him warmly and they stopped by the side of his jeep.

He chuckled softly to himself as he pulled out his keys. "Do you need a ride?" He offered.

"I think I'll skip the bat mobile this time." She beamed and leant up to kiss him on the cheek, her lips lingering for a moment before leaving with a warm parting glance and heading back the way they had come.

Stiles couldn't believe the Erica that he had seen over the last few days, she was actually sweet when she wanted to be. He sighed, his dad was probably out working which meant another night alone for him. That was the last thing he wanted.

Erica decided that she would go back to the loft that night, not wanting to be around her mother all that much. Though when she arrived she almost wished she had gone home.

"What are you doing with Stiles?" Isaac asked the second she walked through the door.

She rolled her eyes. "What does it matter to you?"

"It matters because he and Derek aren't over."

"Derek is nowhere to be seen and won't return anyone's calls. I think he doesn't want to deal with us anymore." She pushed past him and into the kitchen but he followed.

"You know that's not true. I told you what Deaton said."

"Yes, and he said that he would come back when he comes back, he can't expect people to just wait around for him to sort his own crap out."

"So do you really think that Stiles would even think about doing something with you?"

She scoffed. "Why does it have to be about that? Do you really think so low of me that you believe I would try and lure him into bed to make him forget about Derek?"

"I don't know, would you?"

She growled. "Maybe I should try, because Stiles won't wait for Derek forever. He hurt him, badly, so he has to face the consequences for that."

"Do you only ever think of yourself?" Isaac yelled.

"No! But that's what everyone thinks so why not go with it?"

Isaac grunted in annoyance and Erica shook her head.

"I'm not trying to seduce him or lure him in; I'm just being a friend. So back the hell off." She snapped and walked past him and up the stairs to the spare room.

Isaac let out an exasperated huff and sat down in one of the stools.

"Fucking hell Derek, why can't you just accept our help?" He grunted.

That night Derek lay awake in his crummy motel bed as he pieced together his plan. Tomorrow night he was going to go after the Maeve, Deaton's potion was ready but there was no guarantee that it would work exactly as he said. All he could do was try.

He needed the town to be safe to keep his pack out of danger, if they still wanted him. Even if they didn't, they would be safe from this creature and wouldn't have to worry about it taking anyone that they loved.

It was a good thing that Derek knew the plan because his mind was elsewhere. It was wrapped up in the arms of a skinny human teenager who was tonight sleeping alone with his window unlocked in the hope that his Sour Wolf would barge through it. There would be no warm embrace for either of them.

Derek bit down painfully hard on his lip to hold back the stinging tears that threatened to fall. He missed Stiles with every part of him but he knew that this would keep him safe. Getting rid of the Maeve and staying away from him would keep him away from danger, because he was dangerous, no matter what Deaton said. He brought bad things down on the people around him and if he had to suffer a lonely life because of it then he would take that on.

He would rather hurt than to know that Stiles was in danger. So he choked back his sobs and forced himself to go over the plan one more time to keep that boy off his mind.

Stiles lay in bed, nearly asleep, with his ears trained to the sounds on the roof outside.

"Sour wolf…" He whispered, remembering all the times he would be out there waiting to come in. "I know you're there sour wolf… you don't need to hide…" He sniffed, knowing that there was no one there, just some leaves blowing in the wind. "I love you." He sniffed again, refusing to believe that it was really over. "Please, please come back. Derek… please come back…"