A/N: Sorry for the delay this time, but I was swamped with the holiday weekend, appointments, my day job and my fun job...it's a crazy time. :-) So without delay, here's the next part. This might end up being 8 chapters instead of 7. Next part...gets a little steamier. ;-)
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Enjoy!
"Hey..."
Stiles stirred at the quiet whisper, but he was so warm and content, he didn't want to move, let alone open his eyes.
"Come on, kiddo...just for a second."
Dad. Stiles knew he couldn't ignore his dad, so he willed himself more fully awake and blinked toward the sound of his dad's voice. Blue eyes formed in front of him, close to the side of the bed. His dad was wearing his uniform and had that confused crinkle to his brow.
"Hey...I'm just heading into work and wanted to make sure you knew I'd left. You boys...gonna be okay today?"
Stiles blinked a few more times in response to the question. Then, all at once, he remembered everything. The witch. Young Derek. Falling asleep with Derek wrapped around him...which he still was, right that second, with Stiles' dad having walked in on them!
Risking a glance to the side, Stiles did indeed find young Derek right where he had left him the night before, curled up close with an arm flung over Stiles' waist, face nuzzled into Stiles' neck, and...even a leg thrown over Stiles' leg as he tightly clung.
Shit.
Stiles figured that his only way out of this was complete and utter nonchalance.
"Yeah, Dad, we'll be, uh...fine. Just gonna hang out. I'll send you a text if we leave the house. Promise." Stiles smiled lazily, having kept his voice low, though he had a feeling Derek was probably already awake and only feigning sleep considering his wolf senses.
The Sheriff nodded, mouth opening and closing a few times like he meant to comment, wanted to comment on how he had found his son on this strange morning, but didn't quite know how to broach the subject.
Apathy worked every time.
"Uh...alright then. You boys...you be good." He nodded again, brow still crinkled and eyes trained on the way Stiles was wrapped up with another boy, but unable to comment more than a small smile of good morning and goodbye at the same time as he slipped back out of the room.
Stiles breathed relief. At some point his dad would bring this up, when he'd had more time to process it and consider his earlier speech about Stiles' wardrobe being a clear sign of straightness, but for now Stiles was safe.
Then he felt Derek stir and nuzzle into his neck like he had the night before, so completely at ease, which Stiles was only pretending at.
"Your dad's pretty cool," Derek whispered.
Stiles wanted to laugh, but he wasn't sure what type of movement would be appropriate right now. "Yeah...isn't he just? You, uh...wanna keep sleeping, or...?" Stiles had had a hard enough time with the 'going to sleep like this' part; the 'waking up to a snuggling Derek' part was much harder.
Among other...harder things. Not that they were curled up in quite the right position for Derek to tell Stiles was a morning person, but Stiles was almost positive he could feel...
Derek rolled away before Stiles could complete the observation. He stretched his arms over his head before sitting up on his elbows, and looked down at Stiles with a wide smile that only slightly betrayed the sadness under the surface. To Derek, he had only just recently lost his entire family, after all, not to mention being several years younger than he should be. Yet he still tried to smile, for Stiles' sake.
Adult Derek barely ever did anything for someone else's sake, though Stiles knew that was more because he didn't trust easily, not because he was selfish or that he didn't care.
The Broadway version of Green Day's "21 Guns" started blaring at the climactic final chorus from Stiles phone. He had never been happier that he had gone with that part of the song rather than the verse that reminded him of Derek. Considering that part was, well...
Did you try to live on your own
When you burned down the house and home?
Did you stand too close to the fire
Like a liar looking for forgiveness from a stone?
Yeah, he was taking that to the grave.
"What's up? Please tell me you found something," Stiles said into the phone as he answered, having seen the caller ID come up as 'Scott'. He kicked his feet back and forth as he sat on the edge of the bed, fidgety now that he could move freely again. Derek came around to stand in front of him, looking on expectantly.
"Um...not exactly," Scott said, with his usual ineloquence.
"What do you mean? You had all night."
"Yeah, and we searched everywhere. But...when we doubled back to check the Hale House, we...well...we found a note."
"A note. From the witch?"
"I think so."
"What did it say?"
"Uhh...just: 'Some things are meant to play out. Have fun'. It was signed 'Glinda'. Erica said she was making a joke."
"Scott. Wizard of Oz."
There was a pause. Then, "Oh!"
Stiles almost smacked his own head in these moments when he wasn't close enough to smack Scott. "So...she split? We can assume, anyway. And we're just supposed to let this play out?"
As Stiles looked up at the dark-haired teen before him, he realized that this wasn't as one-sided a conversation for Derek as it would be for most people, considering...super senses. Derek looked pensive, but not entirely upset by what they were learning.
"Okay, so...what now?" Stiles asked.
"Alison. I mean...you now, her dad. I'm not going to say anything about Derek, don't worry. I'll just tell him about the witch in general, see if we can get some extra bodies out there looking for her. In the meantime, we can...hope Deaton shows up and keep following leads 'til we find something, I guess. How's Derek doing?"
Derek's vibrant hazel eyes were locked onto Stiles. He smiled again, small but assuring.
"He's...good," Stiles said. "We're doing good. We'll lie low here and you guys can come over later so we can regroup. Dad already left for work, but I'm sure he'd love the idea of a giant coed sleepover."
Another pause. "Are you joking?"
Stiles really wanted to hit Scott.
"Seriously, because that's...actually a good idea. Maybe we should all stay over there tonight. Erica's the only coed part really. We should be together."
Derek's entire form brightened at Scott's suggestion. He was probably missing all those 'mine' feels and the intrusive sniffing.
Freak, Stiles thought fondly.
Of course, Stiles got the impression that the rest of the pack was feeling the same way. Like maybe they always wanted to be all over each other all the time, but adult Derek kept that kind of behavior in check. Now they had the chance to be as snuggly as they wanted, which definitely didn't make the 'coed sleepover' part sound any better for when Stiles would have to explain it to his dad. Although it could help distract from the whole 'you found me sleeping with another boy' conversation.
"Sure. Giant sleepover it is," Stiles said. "Assuming dad actually goes for that. When do you think you'll be over?"
"Probably not until later. Everyone wants to change and get some rest, then I'll go over to talk with Alison's dad, then we'll come to you. Call if anything comes up on your end, okay?"
Stiles stifled a snort, considering what had been up—a totally normal reaction to morning and not in any way Stiles' fault—had finally dwindled.
"Will do. Just...be careful with Argent, okay?" Stiles said. "He may be playing nice lately, but he did still try to kill several of us on more than one occasion. Or at least maim."
"Yeah, yeah. Talk to you later."
Stiles stared down at his phone as he hung up. A day alone with young Derek. Stiles was actually pretty excited about the prospect, but he didn't want to seem too happy and come off like a creeper. That was adult Derek's job.
"So...as you obviously overheard, we've got nothing to go on right now, but no point in getting all..." Stiles trailed as he looked up at Derek again, taking in the suddenly shrunken and tense boy before him. Derek's face was ashen and blank. "Uh..."
"Did...did you say 'Argent'?" Derek said in a strange, small whisper. "The hunters in town are the Argents? But...but Chris just passes through, he doesn't stay. He promised my dad he wouldn't come here for good as long as no one ever hurt anybody. Did he..." He swallowed and Stiles saw him tightly clench his fists, which somehow made him look younger and smaller, standing there in Stiles' T-shirt and shorts, barefoot. "Is...he the one who...?"
All at once, Stiles understood. "No!" He jumped up from the bed. "Chris Argent didn't...burn down the house. It wasn't Chris. He moved here last year with his daughter, Alison. He was...just trying to stop the killing that started...originally."
Derek seemed to calm somewhat after hearing that, but his fists remained tight. "Then..." He blinked at Stiles with eyes that were now damp. "Who?"
Stiles had foolishly hoped they could avoid this topic entirely, but of course Derek would want to know who murdered his family. The thing was, Stiles wasn't sure how much young Derek might already know. And Stiles didn't know how much worse telling him the details might make, well...everything.
When Stiles didn't answer right away, Derek moved around him to sit on the bed, releasing his fists finally and dropping his face into his hands while taking a few deep breaths. It was like something...practiced, like a routine. Keeping Your Inner Wolf In Check 101. Then Derek looked up at Stiles. His eyes were still hazel. And still damp.
"No one knew the whole truth until recently," Stiles began, moving slowly to join Derek on the bed. He left some space between them as he sat down. "I think you thought it was Chris when it happened, but...it wasn't him. It was...Kate. She's—"
"Kate?" Derek's eyes went wide. "Kate Argent? She...she just came to town last week. She went out of her way to tell me who she was. Not to be threatening, but..." He shook his head as it dawned on him that anything he knew about Kate was now changed. "She's been so...nice to me. Friendly. Like she really wants to get to know me."
Like she really wants to get to know your family's schedules and the perfect time when everyone would be in the house together, Stiles thought bitterly, but he didn't speak.
"Like...she understands there isn't anything bad about being a wolf. I always thought...that Chris was a good man, just trying to protect people. Honorable, you know? If a wolf is killing people, he should be put down. Hunters can be a good thing. But my family..." Derek's eyes filled with moisture, much as he seemed to be trying to hold the tears back. "No one hurt anybody. And there were humans too. Kids..."
"I know," Stiles said, surprised by the softness of his own voice. "And Chris...he really is a good guy, I think. He wants to be. He maybe...forgot the honorable part for a while, that's all. Kate, though..."
Stiles had always assumed Derek and Kate had a thing back before the fire, which seemed even more plausible given that she was being friendly with young Derek from the second she came to Beacon Hills. But, for this Derek, they hadn't gotten beyond a friendly first few meetings. The sexy part must have come later.
Stiles couldn't help feeling a swell of relief to know this, like it kept Derek pure or something, untainted by that conniving psycho and her poisonous touch.
Now was definitely a time when physical contact was practically mandated. Derek was sitting next to Stiles, too far away really, slouched and staring forward into space as he processed this new revelation, trying so hard not to cry.
So Stiles scooted closer. And closer. He turned, waiting for Derek to look at him, and when he did, Stiles moved in and hugged Derek as tightly as he could. Tight seemed to be important in moments like this, because Stiles knew just how much a person could feel like they were falling apart. He remembered that, sometimes, his dad squeezing him so tight he could barely breathe was the only thing capable of keeping a panic attack at bay after Mom...
Wow, Stiles must really suck at this, because now he was crying too. Though, in his defense…only a little bit.
He quickly sniffed the tears back and put on a brave face, because Derek's stone-cold resolve wasn't as rampant right now, and clearly he needed someone else to be the strong one. Stiles could totally do that, albeit maybe not well.
"I wonder…how I got through this the first time," Derek whispered into Stiles' neck.
Laura, Stiles thought, but he didn't want to say that, because then he would have to explain how she had been alive, but then Peter killed her, but Peter's on their side now and…yeah.
"I don't know," Stiles said instead, "but even if you're usually a pillar of strength, you are totally allowed to wallow for a while. For you…it's the first time now."
Derek took in a shuddery breath and pulled away from Stiles, though one hand remained on Stiles' knee and the other on his arm, like Derek needed to touch. "Thanks. It must be weird for you, since you're used to me…years past all this. I really do feel better, though…stronger…just being near you."
Stiles shivered. Because…there was totally a breeze in his room.
Yeah.
"Why don't we grab some breakfast and then I'll introduce you to Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3." Stiles leaned in conspiratorially closer to Derek and whispered, "Deadpool hits opponents with his health bar."
Derek laughed. "Sweet. PlayStation 3?"
"Yep."
"You might have to help me then, since it didn't exist yet in my time." Derek's eyes were clear and his smile was blindingly genuine and sweet.
Stiles wished he could see that smile every day. "Deal."
Later, Stiles sent a text to his dad explaining that they weren't planning on going anywhere, but a few other friends were thinking of coming over for a sort of slumber party—which was so totally normal for high school students. He admitted that the group included one girl, but that they would be on their best behavior.
The Sheriff texted back not long after to say that as long as all of the parents were okay with it, he was too. Stiles figured his dad was probably just relieved he was actually asking to do something that didn't involve showing up at homicides.
After thoroughly wiping the floor with Derek at Marvel vs. Capcom, eating lunch, and talking more comics and bad horror movies, Isaac, Erica, and Boyd showed up, followed a little later by Scott, and finally…Jackson, which was still beyond weird for Stiles—having Jackson Whittemore in his house—but he was dealing.
As this seemed like a good night for pizza, Stiles made sure to order one veggie pizza for when his dad came in and inevitably stole some, and the group spread out in the living room. Since Marvel vs. Capcom was still hooked up, they played a few rounds before talking shop. The clear master of the game turned out to be Isaac, and for some reason, Stiles wasn't all that surprised by this, though the fact that he mainly used Rocket Raccoon was a bit of a shock.
"So…I'm guessing Chris didn't have any insights on the witch," Stiles finally spoke up on the topic at hand. "I assume you would have opened with that if he had."
Scott shook his head, mouth full of pizza, which he only chewed halfway before speaking. "He said he knew she was around, but had been on standby since nothing bad had happened. He asked if she had done anything to the pack, and…I just said we thought she was hanging around our den and that Derek was worried. I think he bought it. He said he'd see if he could track where she was hiding out, but he didn't really have any leads."
Stiles knew he should feel disappointment. After all, Derek had lost years of his life. But…he felt a brief wave of relief instead.
"Maybe she's trying to teach Derek a lesson," offered Erica, on her fourth slice, which Stiles appreciated coming from a girl. "Once he learns whatever it is, he'll just turn back."
"But…how am I supposed to know what lesson to learn if I can't remember anything?" Derek asked.
The others all stared blankly back at him.
Then Jackson spoke up. "Maybe you're not supposed to remember now. Maybe there's a time limit, and…what happens here, when you're younger, is something the older you needs to remember once you've changed back."
Stiles could admire that Jackson knew a thing or two about secrets and lessons to be learned and…inner turmoil.
The others considered that quietly, eating their pizza, none of them certain if they should be concerned or not. Derek wasn't hurt. Their lives weren't ruined or in danger, as far as they knew, but it still seemed wrong to just sit back and accept this. It should feel wrong…
"I think…we should keep doing what we're doing," said Isaac, sitting on the floor beneath Derek, who was on the sofa with Stiles and Boyd. "If Argent or any of us finds a lead on the witch, great, we'll follow it. But maybe we don't have to panic. Maybe…Jackson's right, and we're just supposed to make sure…Derek is okay. Great. Happy. And then everything will turn out the way it's supposed to."
Stiles held back a wide grin; Isaac was such a hopeless romantic. At least now that he was a little bit back to his normal endearing self and not quite so alpha male like when he had first been bitten. Beta male? Stiles shook his head. "I like that plan," he said, smiling down at Isaac.
"Yeah," grinned Scott.
The eager agreement from everyone so had nothing to do with that fact that they all desperately needed a night off. Nope. Not at all.
Stiles had already brought the DVD down from his bedroom. He got up as everyone was finishing off the last of the pizza, and switched out Marvel vs. Capcom in the PS3. "Airplane?" he said as he turned back to the others with a smirk.
No one argued.
They were halfway through Cursed—Scott's suggestion—when Stiles' dad came home, looking relieved to find Stiles actually having a normal night in with friends, and just pizza boxes, no booze or orgy happenings for him to walk in on. Like that night on the lacrosse field, the Sheriff looked proud, and Stiles let himself bask in that since he was pretty proud to be part of this pack too, even if normal came so rarely for them.
Stiles had made sure that only the veggie pizza was left by this point, which his dad reluctantly ate, and then they were all spreading out sleeping bags and pillows in a great mass in front of the TV, changing into clothing to sleep in, and settling in to watch a few more movies before they passed out.
Stiles had never had a lot of friends, so he wasn't really used to this mass bonding and just how good it felt to belong. None of them had had the opportunity to just exist lately; there was always something out there trying to kill them, something to run from, something to fight. But, for tonight, wolves or otherwise, they were all just teenagers.
Leaning back against the couch, with everyone crowded in close and Derek right by Stiles' side, Stiles stole a glance at the young, dark-haired Alpha. He got the feeling that this wasn't exactly normal for Derek and his old pack either. This was just theirs.
Derek's hazel eyes met his, flickering with light from the TV screen. Some of the others were already dozing off, all of them touching in one way or another, even if only just a head lazily resting on someone else's shoulder. They hadn't really set out the sleeping bags normally; there was just a mass of blankets and comfort for them to sprawl over together.
Stiles' dad had already gone up to bed and, as the last movie ended, there was a mutual shift until everyone was lying down. With Stiles and Derek as the center point, the others all curled in close, Scott up against Stiles' back, with Isaac at Derek's back, and Erica, Boyd, and Jackson snuggled around their legs. The couch was like a giant headboard for their massive sleeping bag bed, right behind Stiles' head as he settled in to sleep facing Derek.
For a long while, Derek's eyes were open, just looking back at him with something like gratitude and blissful laziness all wrapped up in something else, something deeper. The sound of the others breathing was the perfect white noise. Stiles didn't even mind that Jackson was snuggling his thigh like a teddy bear.
Stiles fell asleep as content as he had been the night before, maybe even more so, with all of them there, but the thing that soothed him the most was Derek's closeness and the last thing he saw being those adoring hazel eyes.
tbc...
Oh, if you've never heard that Broadway 21 Guns versions, it's gorgeous, regardless of your thoughts on the message of the song. Lately, it always makes me think of Derek...especially that one part.