The Arizona trip is coming to an end. Stiles is trying to be a good guy an support the neighbor boy, but that turns sour. Alex is still planning for the future, an we get a glimpse into his past. (Can contain triggers.) Allison realizes that her future are being planed by others than herself, and she's not perfectly comfortable with that. Stiles is angry and disappointed, and is happy when Derek calls him. He doesn't get much time to explain himself, but promise to call later. After another confrontation with Christian, where the frustration builds up, he finally gets a chance to talk with Derek.

It was fun hanging with his cousins, but Stiles missed Derek every hour of the day. The few phone calls and texts were hardly enough to satisfy him. Tim and Linda had obviously noticed that he was a little distracted form time to time, and they teased him a little about it. They were both eager to hear about his 'girlfriend', and Stiles hadn't said anything to rectify the misunderstanding.

His dad hadn't said anything either, but he was clearly uncomfortable every time the issue was brought up. Stiles wasn't ashamed or anything, but he worried that they would look at him differently. He knew perfectly well that in these parts of the world, homosexuality was generally frowned upon.

The only person he would have wanted to talk to about this was Christian. He wanted to give the guy a hint, just to let him know that if he needed a friend to confide in, Stiles could be that friend.

The week was almost over and Stiles hadn't had as much as a minute alone with the guy, so he'd pretty much given up when the opportunity arose.

Mr Anderson was a pastor, and the family was going to have a luncheon for the congregation at their house. The Stiliskis were also invited, and when Christian was sent to the village to pick up an elderly lady, Stiles volunteered to go with him.

"You've really changed since last year." Stiles was going to try to be subtle. "I mean, the girls must be swarming around you." He chuckled a little and smiled towards the guy. Christian shrugged. "Uh, no, I don't know." He shook his head. "I haven't really noticed."

Stiles decided to just go for it. "My boyfriend works out a lot and I wish I had the stamina to do it myself, but I'm too lazy." Christian shrugged again. "There's not much to do around here... huh, your boyfriend? You mean one of your male friends?"

There was a few seconds of silence before Stiles drew his breath and straightened himself up a bit. "No, I mean my boyfriend, as in, uh... My Boyfriend." He watched as Christian seemed to digest the information. "That's just sick! You are... sick."

Stiles had expected the guy to be a little surprised, but he hadn't expected the hash utterance and disgusted expression on his face. He didn't know how to proceed; maybe he'd got it wrong. Maybe the guy was straight. It was still no reason for him to be so judgmental. "Why? Love is love."

Christian huffed audibly. "You need help. God can help you. We can pray for you." He didn't look at Stiles, he just concentrated on the road. Stiles got a little angry. Not so much at Christian, himself, but at the teachings he'd been subject to. "I do not need any prayers. I'm happy. I love him and he loves me. It's nothing sick about it." He knew he sounded pissed, but didn't care.

Another few minutes went by. Stiles knew he would have kept quiet if he wasn't so annoyed, but he couldn't stop himself. "You don't notice if girls are looking at you, but I bet you notice if a boy does. I'm sure you like it when they admire your body."

The car screeched to a halt. "Get out!" Christian gestured for Stiles to open the door. "You can walk back or wait until I've picked up Mrs Berger." Stiles was about to apologize, but it became clear that Christian was not going to listen. He got out of the car and watched as the guy took of down the road. He wondered if he should start walking back, but that would probably cause someone to ask questions he wasn't ready to answer, so he sat down hoping Christian would be back soon.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-

"I want to go to cooking school." Alex said it more to himself, but he knew that both Derek and Isaac could hear him. He knew he would need his GED to get into any of Culinary School, and he wanted to know what his roommates thought about it.

"What do you need that for? Your food is definitely restaurant quality." Derek shrugged and served himself a third time from the casserole on the stove. "Could they really teach you anything?" He sat down again and dug in. Alex smiled and nodded. "Thanks, and yes they can. What I'm doing is home-cooking, I want to be a professional."

Isaac put down his fork and stared at him. "Do you want to open a restaurant or something?" He chuckled a little but stopped short when Alex frowned at him. "Yeah, why not?" He shifted his gaze between the two of them. "A little Italian place. Stiles want's to study economics, he and you..." Alex nodded towards Derek, "could manage the place. Allison would be a perfect Maître d'..."

The other two didn't look convinced, but Alex didn't get discouraged. "It would be like a family business. A pack-business." He leaned back and threw his hands out. "It's a thought, can you at least think about it?"

He couldn't remember when he first thought about opening his own restaurant. As far back as he could remember, he'd always helped his mom in the kitchen. When he was four, she'd made him his own apron. He'd chose the fabric himself and insisted on having lace around the edges of it, and he loved it.

Shortly after that his mom met the man who would become his stepfather. After being taunted about wearing the apron for almost a year, he caved in and hid it in the back of his closet. It didn't help much. His stepfather kept bullying him around, but it took another year before he laid a hand on him.

When he was six, he knew how to cook pasta to perfection. His mom bragged about it, but it didn't sit well with his father. "You're turning him into a sissy. He should be out playing football with the lads."

The first time he got spanked was after he and the girl next door swapped clothes. They were playing house and he'd insisted on being the mom. The girl got tossed out and Alex had a sore butt for days. After that, he got spanked for the most ridiculous reasons. He got locked into the hall-closet for hours if he didn't take the punishment as a man.

The treatment caused him to wet the bed on occasion, and he wasn't more than seven when he had to learn how to use the washer to clean his own linens. In the middle of the night, he had to remove the soiled sheets and remake his bed all by himself as his stepfather hovered over him with a belt twirled around his fist, ready to slap him if he made a wrong move.

At the age of ten he'd concocted his own bread recipe, and at twelve he pretty much took over the kitchen. That's when the abuse escalated. His step-dad loved the food, but it angered him that Alex wasn't interested in sports or cars or anything else that other boys his age liked. He could also jump up in a fit of rage if there was as much as a speck of pasta-sauce on the counter.

His mom worked full time now, and wasn't home till late. Alex was expected to have dinner ready for his dad every day. At the same time, he got verbally abused about hanging in the kitchen instead of playing baseball with his friends. His stepfather's double standards took a toll on him, and his mom did nothing to defend him.

He didn't get spanked anymore, but he really wished he was. When his dad gestured for him to bend over, he at least got a clue to when he'd be punished. The last couple of years before he took off, the beatings took another turn. Out of nowhere, he could get punched in the face or thrown into the wall.

More than once, the punch was so hard that it knocked him off his feet. If he didn't get up fast enough, he got kicked. One time he suffered two fractured ribs when his stepfather's shoe-tip hit his chest. When the teacher started to question his almost permanent black eye and swollen lip, the tactic got changed again. The school never pursued the issue when the abuse wasn't visible anymore, but under his long-sleeved sweaters and long pants, his skin was littered with bruises and scars.

He skipped PE on a regular basis, and when the teacher sent a note home, Alex' mom lied for him and told them that he was sick. He knew perfectly well that she did it to protect her husband. She didn't want anyone to know about the beatings.

One morning, when he could barely get out of bed because his whole body was aching, he packed a bag and took off. After raiding the house for cash and things he could sell, he left a note to his mom telling her that he wouldn't come back until his step-dad was out of the house.

Six months went by. His mom had sent multiple texts begging him to come home. She promised that his stepfather had changed his ways and that the man loved him. Alex realized that she'd never leave him, and he tossed the phone. It was a sad day, but he couldn't go back there knowing that his mom chose to stay with the abuser.

.

-o-o-o-o-o-

Allison and Scott got very surprised when they came to the Hale-house with Chris. It almost looked like a real house now. "Wow, you guys have really been working hard. This is... Wow." Scott looked at Derek. "How long were we gone?"

Derek smiled and pointed to Chris. "We had some help, Chris brought a couple of friends." He gestured for them to come inside. Isaac and Alex was busy with the insulation, but took a break when they noticed the newcomers. "Isn't this awesome."Alex threw his hands out. "It won't take long before we can move in."

Allison shrugged. "Well, it's still a lot to do, but I'm really amazed." She panned the room they were currently in. "I guess this will be the living room?" She nodded. "Nice." Alex grabbed her hand. "I'll show you around." He pulled her with him.

"This will be the kitchen." Alex leaned towards her, and after throwing a peek over his shoulder he whispered: "My kitchen." Allison chuckled silently. "I see." She let Alex lead her to the next room. "Here we'll have a small bathroom, and there will be a guestroom." Back in the living room he pointed at the stairs. "It's not quite done yet so be careful."

They walked upstairs and Alex led her directly to a room at the end of the hall. It was big and it looked like it would have a balcony, because there was an opening for a door on the back wall. "We didn't get all the walls up yet, but there will be a walk in closet and a bathroom there." Alex waved towards the left side of the room.

Allison could see pipes coming out of the wall and the floor. "It's still quite big. Who's room is this?" She walked over and looked through the opening in the wall. The view was nice. The woods were not so dense from this angle, and it would be possible to see the sunset on a clear evening. "It's yours." Alex came up next to her. "Yours and Scott's if you decide to come live here."

Allison got a little taken aback. Derek had asked her if she wanted to move in, but the issue had not been mentioned anymore, and she'd thought that the suggestion wasn't for real. "I... It's... I haven't even thought about it." She felt a little uncomfortable. "My dad... I can't..."

Alex started laughing. "Your dad. He was the one who suggested that you'd get this room. He said you liked the sunset." He started to walk away. "Derek and Stiles' room is similar. It's on the other side of the house. Come on."

Allison didn't follow him. She turned around and panned the room, and tried to imagine it furnished. A king-sized bed on the right and a vanity next to the door. Under the window, they could have a desk, and there would be room for a couple of recliners were they could sit and watch the sunset together. She shook her head. She wasn't sure if this kind of collective-household was right for her.

The need to be in a pack had crawled in on her, but she was fighting against it. She didn't want to be dependent on anybody. "Are you coming." She got startled when Alex yelled at her from down the hall, but collected herself quickly. "Sure, I'm sorry."

Alex showed her his and Isaac's room, before he pointed to a ladder leading to the loft. "Eventually we'll do something up there too, but for now it'll have to wait." He walked towards the stairs again. The other rooms up here can be used as offices or maybe eventually a nursery, who knows."

Allison knew she had to give it all a serious thought. She knew perfectly well what Alex was insinuating by mentioning a nursery, and she felt that they all were planing the rest of her life without consulting her. That her dad was in on it wasn't as surprising as it could have been. She knew that he wanted her to be in a pack for her own safety.

-o-o-o-o-o-

"I'm abandoned in the middle of nowhere because of my big mouth." Stiles was bored and was happy when Derek called him as he was waiting for Christian to come back. "I'll be okay, but I'm stuck with a group of religious freaks."

Derek chuckled a little. "What? Your relatives? What happened?" Stiles huffed. "No, not my relatives. Their neighbors." He drew his breath. "One of the guys thinks that my soul needs saving because I have a boyfriend." He paused for a second. "The worse part is that this guy is probably gay himself. I don't know, but I'm pretty sure."

It took a few moments for Derek to reply. "Hm... Is he good looking?" He obviously tried to sound casual, but Stiles caught a little insecurity in his voice. "Actually, yeah. He is. Are you jealous?" He liked that Derek wasn't bothered with jealous thoughts on a regular basis, but it was nice to know that it could happen. It was nice to know that he wasn't taken for granted.

"No, I trust you." Derek sounded sincere. "You know, if you want to be with someone else there's nothing I can do. You are very far away though, and you probably miss a little cuddling." Stiles had to laugh. "I do, I miss cuddling with you." In the distance he could see Christian's car approach. "He's not my type, and if he was, I'd be in for a challenge. He is damaged by his religion and will probably marry a girl eventually. He'll live a lie until he can't take it anymore."

Stiles got up from the ground and waved. "I'm getting picked up. Anyway. I was just trying to tell him that he wasn't alone, but it didn't go around too well. Love you, got to go. I'll call you tonight." He hung up and jumped into the backseat. He didn't even get a chance to buckle up before the car was in motion again. Christian still looked angry and when they arrived at his house, he helped Mrs Berger out of the car, totally ignoring Stiles.

-o-o-o-o-

A half hour later most of the guests had arrived. Pastor Anderson started with performing a small sermon. Stiles noticed that Christian was clenching his hands together and stared down on his lap through the speech, and he wondered if the guy was praying for him or if he was praying for himself.

Stiles didn't get a chance to talk to Christian again that afternoon. He wasn't sure what he would have said anyway, so it was probably for the best. They were going to leave in the morning and it would be a year or more till he saw him again.

When he and his dad were getting ready for bed – they were sharing a room – Stiles excused himself. He'd promised to call Derek, but hadn't got a chance until now. "Keep it down." His dad whispered as Stiles was about to sneak out. "What? Are you embarrassed about your queer son? Afraid someone will hear me talk to my boyfriend?" He giggled a little but was actually curious. "No, uh, yeah, maybe. I don't know. I just don't want all the questions. This is a very sheltered community." Stiles shook his head, but he did understand. He wasn't too eager to reveal anything himself.

Derek answered immediately, but asked him to call back in few because he was in the car driving home. Stiles hung up and looked at the clock. It wasn't that late. He stared at the Anderson-house. It was dark and quiet. It seemed like everybody went to bed early around here.

The moon was almost full and lit up the area. A movement at the corner of the neighbors house caught his attention. Sometimes, Stiles had wished he had werewolf senses; this was one of those times. He wondered if there could be a mountain lion or a coyote. Hanging with werwolves, his own senses had evolved somewhat; Derek had taught him how to use them more consciously, so it took only a minute for him to realize that it was human activity he'd noticed.

Stiles was still not able to see who it was or what was going on over there. He moved slowly closer, staying behind the cars so he wouldn't be so visible in the glaring moonlight. He tried to tell himself that it wasn't because he was curious, but if he had to wait a few minutes to call Derek again, he needed something to do.

Still too far away to hear anything, he was pretty sure it was Christian sitting on the darkest end of the porch. Stiles was about to go back – he didn't want to spook the guy – when he tripped in his own feet and landed flat on his face. Cursing silently at his own clumsiness, he heard footsteps approaching.

"Oh, it's you." Christian seemed reluctant to come closer, but then he reached his hand out and helped Stiles up. "You should get inside. Sometimes we have mountain lions here." He took a couple of steps back. Stiles stared at him. It was no doubt that the guy had been crying and he was pretty sure it was his fault. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you earlier. It's just... You called me sick, and I don't tolerate that."

Christian shook his head and walked slowly backwards. "No, I, okay. I shouldn't have said that, but... I can help you." He stopped and cocked his head. "God has a cure, pray with me." Stiles didn't know if he wanted to laugh or cry. This was just too surreal. "A cure for what exactly? I'm not sick." He regretted giving the guy an apology. He wasn't sorry at all.

"He can take away the urges. He can help you fall in love with a girl." Christian didn't sound convincing at all; it was almost like he didn't believe it himself. Stiles nodded to himself before he met Christian's eyes. "Did he help you? Did he take away your urges?" He moved closer to make sure he could see the expression on the guy's face clearly. "I think not."

The fear in the guy's eyes was as real is if Stiles had been a mountain lion. Although, mountain lions were common around here, so they would probably not scare him so much. "Stop it. You can't just come here and stir up things. I was fine. I was dealing." Christian turned his head to avoid Stiles' stare. "You're obviously too damaged to be helped, but for me there is hope."

Stiles grabbed his arm. "There is hope for you. A hope that you'll understand that what you feel in here..." He pointed a finger at the guy's heart, "is real." When his phone started to vibrate in his pocket, he let go and pulled back. "And if you will excuse me, I'm going to take this call from my boyfriend."

The anger he felt inside was overwhelming. Stiles turned away as he pressed the answer-button. "Sorry, I'm here. I just had a small issue to deal with. I miss you so much." He threw a peek over his shoulder and noticed that Christian was still standing in the same spot. "Derek, I love you. You are the only one I want... forever."