Once Hannah was no longer crying, the awkward tension between Stiles and Derek increased tenfold, but neither pulled back from the half-hug that had the little girl squished between them. Neither wanted to cause her any further anxiety or give her yet another reason to cry. So, they stood there silently until Hannah raised her head, and when her bright green eyes locked with Derek's, she said, "Papa, I love you too."
Breathing a huge sigh of relief, Derek managed a smile as he pulled his daughter into an even tighter hug, ignoring the fact that this pulled Stiles much closer as well. Several somewhat peaceful seconds passed before Stiles started squirming just a bit. Realizing exactly what he had just done and how uncomfortable the human teen must be feeling, Derek gently untangled them as he shot an apologetic look at Stiles, who just shrugged like it was no big deal. Derek could see the lines of tension in his shoulders, but it wasn't exactly something they could discuss right at the moment.
"So, are you okay now?" the werewolf asked as he hoisted his daughter up in his arms so that they were face to face. "Can you tell me what's wrong? What happened?"
"I'm just really, really happy," Hannah gasped out, slightly out of breath due to having cried for so long. "Well, a little sad, but right now, mostly happy. Mother never told me she loved me. I don't know that she ever actually did love me, not after sending me to that school for so many years. And she said you hated her, that you would probably hate me. So…" She left the rest of it unsaid, but it was abundantly clear that she had expected to receive no more affection from her father than she had gotten from her mother.
"Well, she was wrong about me hating you," Derek said, as now was probably the worst time possible to comment on his own relationship with Kate Argent. He really didn't want to think about the fact that Hannah would probably want details someday. "I love you, Hannah."
"I know, Papa," she said, getting one last hug before Derek put her down. Glancing back at the Camaro, he mentally cringed away from the offer he was about to make, but that didn't mean he wasn't going to make it. After all, Stiles was a perfectly capable driver; it wasn't the teen's fault that his Jeep was constantly being beat up by the supernatural. Well, it was partially his fault for always getting involved, but that was neither here nor there at the moment. The point was that Hannah meant far more to him than his possessiveness toward any car.
"Stiles, could you," he was about to ask the teen to drive the Camaro so he could squeeze into the back with Hannah, but he never got the chance.
"Hey Hannah," Stiles was leaning over, hands on his knees, to bring himself down to the little girl's level. "Would you like to ride in the front seat with you dad?"
"Don't be silly," Hannah puffed out. Derek smiled when she did so; she was too adorable for her own good. How could Kate not have loved her? "You're too tall to be cramped back there. I'm fine."
"Are you sure?" both Stiles and Derek asked at the same time, causing Hannah to giggle. It was the first time she'd done so in front of them, and Derek felt his heart melt even more as he listened to the beautiful sound.
"I'm sure," she replied, smile remaining firmly in place. "Besides, I have Teddy."
Once they were piled back into the car, Derek got back on the road and was back to wondering what the hell they were supposed to talk about for the next five hours, especially after Hannah's emotional outburst. Because as much as he wanted to get to know his daughter and find out exactly what had gone out at that horrible school, he wanted to give her his full attention when they talked about that stuff, and he couldn't do that while driving. But he was crap at casual chit-chat, and his mind was drawing a complete blank for any appropriate conversation topics. Man, he was pathetic. However, Stiles was exactly the opposite, and after five minutes, he was off on a tangent about some comic book.
For the next three hours, Stiles and Hannah (well mostly Stiles) were discussing the apparently very complex world of comic books. His daughter didn't have much to contribute to the conversation, but she did listen with rapt attention, especially after Stiles promised to lend her some (age-appropriate ones Stiles had assured Derek after the werewolf had growled at him). He wasn't too sure how he felt about the fact that Hannah, with Stiles influence, was certain to grow up to be a geek, but he wasn't going to stop it. Not when she looked so happy that she was getting so much positive attention from an adult. At least, he figured that Stiles seemed like an adult to her since she was so little. And at any rate, it wasn't the worst hobby to have, and he was more than capable of protecting her from anyone dumb enough to tease her for her interests.
When they were just over a little halfway back to Beacon Hills, both Hannah's and Stiles's stomachs started growling at about the same time. Without a second thought on the matter, Derek took the next off ramp that had food advertisements. It pained Derek to do so, but he forced himself to bypass the diners and pull into a fast food restaurant. Although he wanted to treat his daughter well and really didn't want his first mean with her to be so cheap, he was aware that, despite it being summer time, Stiles must have a curfew, and fast food would be infinitely quicker than any sit down restaurant. However, he really need not have worried about disappointing Hannah, because as soon as he pulled into the first McDonald's he spotted, her eyes became alight with obvious excitement.
Smiling at the excitement in her gaze, Derek lifted her out of the backseat, but instantly noticed that she had left her teddy bear there. He also noticed that she was staring at it longingly, like she was afraid if she left it that it would be gone when she got back. There were about a million normal parent-type things he could say, like how it would get dirty if brought in or that she was old enough to go inside without her teddy bear. But Derek didn't care if she got it dirty, because he could always clean it. And Hannah was already far older than any six-year-old should ever be, and he was going to do his best to giver her the childhood that Kate had deprived her of thus far. So when Stiles came over from the passenger's side, Derek passed Hannah over to him and reached into the back to grab the teddy bear. When he handed it to Hannah, her face lit up with joy, and that was worth any little extra bit of scrubbing.
Once inside McDonald's, Derek told the other two to order whatever they wanted. Hannah was content with two different types of Happy Meals, but Stiles ordered so much that, if he hadn't known any better, Derek would think the teen hadn't eaten all day. It was kind of funny, but beyond that, the werewolf didn't really care about how much Stiles had ordered. Smiling at his dinner companions once more before Hannah ran off with Stiles to get their drinks, Derek turned to order about the same amount of food as Stiles, because even though he wasn't a teenager, he was a werewolf with a very high metabolic rate.
"You daughter is absolutely adorable," the cashier said as she started punching in his order.
"Thank you," Derek replied after she had told him his total and he'd handed her some cash, fighting the urge to not frown. Of course, she wanted to engage in chit-chat, which was the last thing he wanted. He'd smelled her interest in him as soon as they'd walked in the door, and in all honesty, Derek had been hoping that the cashier would be like Elizabeth Blackthorn and assume that Stiles was his boyfriend. Then, he wouldn't have to deal with her…politely. That was the kicker. He had to be polite. He was trying to set a good example for Hannah.
"But your boyfriend seems awfully young to have taken on such a huge responsibility with you," the girl (Carmen, according to her nametag) said, trying to sound sympathetic and understanding. But it was obvious that she was fishing for any information that hinted that she might have a chance, and her scent made it quite clear that she didn't actually care if Stiles was his boyfriend. She'd still hit on him. Carmen wanted in Derek's pants that badly. "It must be hard for him, having to share her with her mother."
"Her mother died very recently," Derek said, lowering his voice. It would sound like he was sad, and that was fine. It was somehow easier not to growl when his volume was lower. "It is very fortunate that Hannah and Stiles took to each other very quickly."
"Sounds like everything turned out for the best then," Carmen said with a bright smile, her heart skipping over the obvious lie. Quite reluctantly, she handed over his change and was forced to watch him walk away without another word as she had no other excuses to keep him there and talking.
Quickly getting himself some ice-cold water at the soda fountain, Derek scanned the restaurant for Hannah and Stiles and was unsurprised to find them at the table nearest to the play area. Well, he certainly wasn't going to stop his daughter from running around. It may yet be a few years until it became clear whether she was a werewolf, but she would have more stamina than the average human child either way. Casting the quickest, most overt glance as he could back at Carmen, Derek noticed that she was still staring at him with an extreme intensity. Sighing, the werewolf walked up behind Stiles and hoped the brown-haired teen would continue today's streak of not freaking out at stuff Derek was doing.
"Make sure she doesn't drink too much soda," Derek leaned over to whisper this right in Stiles ear, hoping he would assume that Derek had done it so that Hannah wouldn't hear him. For his part, Stiles jerked a little bit in surprise, but other than that, he just smiled indulgently, like Derek worrying about his daughter's soda intake was the cutest thing in the world. Annoyed at that, the werewolf growled low in his throat, but Stiles's smile just transformed into a smirk.
And apparently deciding that whispering in each other's ears was an okay thing now, the human turned his own head to say to Derek, "We need to talk about the pack thing."
His entire body tensed at those words, but Derek forced himself to remain calm. He definitely didn't want to talk about that, but at least, those words explained why Stiles had decided to copy him. That was definitely a conversation that Hannah shouldn't overhear, but it was one that would take a while and one that, at any rate, should not be held in public. So, he growled out one more word in a tone of finality before pulling away and sitting down next to Hannah on the other side of the table. "Later."
"Whatever you say Sourwolf," Stiles said, keeping the smirk on his face so that Hannah wouldn't notice anything had changed as she had started staring at them with a look of innocent inquisitiveness on her face.
As he sat down, Derek cast one last look at Carmen, who scent was now an odd mix of frustration and determination, and saw that she was scribbling what Derek was sure was her phone number on the receipt. Sighing at the girl's inability to give up despite his obvious disinterest, the werewolf turned, asked Hannah about where she'd gotten her teddy bear, and was able to relax a little as he listened to her describe her kind baby-sitter in great detail. When his name was called for their order, Derek went up and shoved the receipt in his pocket immediately without bothering to look at it as a sort of silent message to Carmen to not get her hopes up. But as he grabbed the food and walked back, he still felt his eyes on her, and she smelled of satisfaction. Apparently, she was happy that it was just on his person. Dear Mother Alpha, did this girl not know how to take silent hints? He already knew for a fact that his whispered conversations with Stiles had convinced her that they were a couple. Did he look like the kind of guy who would cheat or something?
Throughout the rest of the meal, Derek did his level best to ignore Carmen and concentrate on his daughter, who switched between randomly running off to play and babbling happily about her summers with the kind baby-sitter while eating. He thought she had said the baby-sitter's name…Ally. Yeah, that sounded right. Hannah seemed to know that now was not the time for heavy conversation, and Derek's heart wept with the knowledge that his barely six-year-old daughter was mature enough to sense that.
Anyway, they finished eating pretty quickly, and Stiles went to watch Hannah zoom around the play structure one last time before getting on the road. When Derek went to throw away the trash, he made sure that Carmen was watching before very deliberately pulling the receipt out of his pocket and tossing it in the garbage bin without looking at it. He could smell the disappointment wash over her, but he didn't wait around to see what she would do about it. Heading straight toward the play area, Derek scooped up Hannah from the end of the slide she had just finished going down backwards and flicked her on the nose. With a giggling Hannah in his arms, Derek followed Stiles out the front door trying not to ignore the smug satisfaction he felt from the knowledge that Carmen had finally gotten the fact that he had absolutely no interest in her.
The remainder of the their time in the car was much more subdued after dinner than before. It wasn't long before the day caught up with Hannah, and she was yawning in the backseat. It wasn't exactly comfortable enough for her to sleep back there, but she did doze a lot. Derek was never forthcoming with conversation, so he said nothing. And Stiles was forcing himself not to talk, because the one thing his brain kept wanting to bring up was basically a forbidden topic.
"Is it later yet?" Stiles had asked once it was clear that Hannah was as asleep as she could be in the backseat, but Derek had shaken his head no. So, Stiles let the subject drop. And while his ADHD meant that new possible conversation topics were introduced to his brain at a constant rate, he didn't trust his brain-to-mouth filter to stay away from the pack thing. So in an enormous show of self-control, Stiles kept his mouth shut, but that didn't stop his body from twitching with a sort of nervous anticipation.
So, the last hour to Beacon Hills was spent entirely in silence, and when they finally pulled into Derek's driveway at about 10:30 pm, both males sagged in relief, almost desperate to escape the awkward tension. After a short, whispered conversation, it was decided that Stiles would carry Hannah and her teddy bear into the loft, and Derek would grab everything else. It would take only one trip, but sadly, his werewolf strength wasn't the only reason for that.
All of Hannah's worldly possessions fit into two small suitcases and a duffel bag. She had nothing anywhere else, because Kate had only rented the necessary furniture and such for the summers they spent together. Kate hadn't wanted to mess with packing up all of Hannah's stuff every time she had to move, so she just didn't bother. After the little girl had told them this, Derek started to hate Kate Argent even more, and given what the now dead hunter had already put him through, the alpha werewolf hadn't believed it possible. But those feelings of hate intensified with every new sadness and mistreatment of Hannah he learned about. In fact, hearing about the mistreatment of his daughter was somehow actually worse than remembering the fate of the rest of his family.
Once they were inside, Hannah woke up long enough to change into her pajamas and get her good night hugs and kisses from both Stiles and Derek. She had seemed hesitant to ask for them, but at least, this time she looked more hopeful than scared. Then, she had fallen asleep about two seconds after Derek finished tucking her into his bed with her teddy, which left the two males standing alone in a living room that was rife with awkward tension after Derek returned from tucking Hannah in.
"Sooo," Stiles started hesitantly, not really wanting to go home with everything still feeling unresolved but not sure how to go about actually starting this conversation.
"What time is your summer curfew?" Derek asked him, quickly cutting off whatever else he was about to say. The werewolf knew that this conversation (this conversation they really needed to have sooner than later) would take a while.
"Midnight," Stiles replied.
"Okay," Derek said, sighing just a little. "It's later now."
"Time to talk, huh?" Stiles started carefully, afraid to brush Derek the wrong way with this conversation. Not because he was afraid of the older man, because Stiles wasn't actually scared of Mr. Broody Alpha anymore. He just…he didn't want to hurt Derek's feelings. As much as the werewolf wanted to appear to be full of nothing but anger and strength and hate, Stiles knew that Derek's heart was actually very fragile. And pack would always be a touchy subject with him. "So, you told Hannah you consider me pack?"
"Yes," Derek said, offering nothing more. Okay, Stiles could work with that. One-word answer questions only. He just had to be smart about what he asked.
"And you told her the truth? You do actually consider me pack?"
"Yes," Derek replied after a short stretch of silence.
"You didn't want me to know, did you?" Stiles asked as realization dawned on him, finally understanding why it had taken Derek so long to answer Hannah's question earlier. "But you also didn't want to lie to Hannah."
It took Derek even longer to answer this time, and when he did, his voice was very tight. "Correct."
"Were you…" Stiles stepped closer as he spoke as softly and gently as he was able, so afraid to hurt Derek and rupture this tenuous grasp on friendship they had. "Were you afraid I'd…reject you? That I'd only ever consider being with Scott?"
Silence reigned for several minutes after that, and Stiles was sure he'd ruined everything. But he needed this answer from Derek, maybe as much as Derek needed to say it – assuming Stiles's reasoning wasn't just wishful thinking. Slowly, he reached up to place his hand comfortingly on Derek's arm, which tensed under his hold, but eventually, the muscles in his arm began to relax. The alpha seemed to be drawing strength from the physical contact, but he still wouldn't meet the teen's eyes as he said, "I didn't want to hear you say those words."
Oh shit! Derek sounded absolutely wrecked. This subject wasn't just touchy. It was a fucking minefield, and Stiles could hear just how much it cost Derek to admit that.
"Hey, Derek, it's okay," Stiles said, curling his other hand around Derek's bicep – the closest thing to a hug he was brave enough to attempt. "We're friends. I care about you. I can totally be an honorary member of your pack."
A/N: Hello and welcome to the end of chapter 3 of Little Bundle Bereft of Joy. I hope you enjoyed it. I know I had fun. It's seriously fun writing girls like Elizabeth and Carmen, but don't worry, they definitely don't make an appearance every chapter.
I love reviewers, but I do have a request. I would really love for someone to seriously critique my work. It doesn't have to stop at constructive criticism. I'd love for someone to really pick apart my work and tell me every little thing they hated, what needs to be improved, and what parts of my writing they liked best. Believe me when I say I love all reviews, and it's really nice to know people appreciate my work. However, I'm a far cry from being perfect, and there's always room to improve. Also, if I can get better, I can give better fan fiction to my readers. Anyway, thanks again for reading this fan fiction and hopefully you seriously considered my request.