Disclaimer: as previously seen.

Edit: 08/22/2014: Stilinsky-Stilinski.

Last time:

He gave a wary nod, and a look like I was half out of my head and he wanted to edge away, but continued to smile, "So, you'll drive us to Allison's?"

"Sure, yeah, of course. Follow me." This was just what I needed to bring me down from the intimacy high I'd obtained recently. Thank you, world, for always putting me in my place. Lifting my backpack over my head again, I shuffled out into the rain, like a hunchbacked waterfowl leading my two confused ducklings home.

This is going to be just lovely.

Jackson took up a space and a half with his broad shoulders, so he sat in the seatbelt-less back, and I nervously started the car, carefully leaving the parking lot and heading west.

"You don't need directions, huh?" Allison laughed, "Nice memory."

"Well," I shrugged, "I'm pretty good with remembering things by route. As long as I can remember the first step, the others will come." Allison nodded, looking back at Jackson for his reaction, and he smiled at her attention, dropping the expression as soon as she looked away to stare at me in the rearview mirror's reflection. I laughed nervously and tried to think of a different subject. Maybe I could see how close Allison was to figuring out our lovely town's furry little secrets. "So you two were doing research, huh? Family crest sort of thing?"

"Oh," Allison jumped slightly, digging in her pockets, "Maybe you've seen it before?" I glanced away from the road to the pendant she was holding out and back.

"Nope, never seen it. What have you found out?"

Jackson's stare intensified, but his voice sounded congenial as he interjected before Allison could answer, "Aw, come on; that wasn't enough time to identify it, Stilinski. You barely even had time to blink." Fucking. Asshole. He knew what I was doing. Or he thought he did, anyway, and it seemed like he was going to try and work against it if he could. Well, then. I jerked the car into the shoulder and stopped, turning to Allison and holding my hand out for the pendant. She handed it over uneasily, glancing between Jackson and me like she didn't know us anymore.

I took a good look at the damned thing. There was a wolf dead center, with one paw lifted and head held high, but its tail was relaxed and hanging. The entire thing seemed to be made of silver, and there were odd, whimsical designs towards the edges, the most prominent being a sun or starburst, and a chain-like pattern that was welded to the pendant or carved out of it. "It's not a typical family crest," Luckily I did actually know a bit about this, "At all. It's not clean or structured like the type that was usually given to noble families so I have to assume it was either self-assigned or from a more unorganized system than any of the big empires we learn about in school. It's definitely European- probably eastern or northern, not Mediterranean- and suggests some sort of connection with wolves, so maybe a family of shepherds or farmers. Likely not knights, since wolves were not seen as noble creatures but thieves. The chain implies some duty or obligation, and if it was self-assigned, it may be some task your family took up themselves, like shepherding." I passed the pendent back with just a slight stiffness, still irritated with Jackson, but glad to be able to hopefully divert Allison by feeding her a little of the truth.

"Wow, Stiles," Allison had an open-mouthed smile as she accepted back the pendent, shaking her head, "You're smart."

I started up the car again and pulled back into the street with a wry half-smile pulling at one side of my mouth, "I know."

Jackson was looking at me calculatingly again, forcing a laugh, "Yeah, wow. Why didn't you ever bring that out when we were talking plays in lacrosse?" 'Why did you hide this,' you mean? I hadn't really hid how smart I was, I just didn't talk about it. Scott was the only one I knew that just accepted whatever level of intelligence I may have in different subjects without jealousy or condescension, and he already knew about it. Who else would I show? ...Damn, I really should have seen romance in our future.

"I don't want to butt in," I steered the car carefully in the downpour, trying to focus more on my driving than the conversation so as to seem more natural, "I'm actually not that great at strategy. It's too deceptive, you know?"

"I don't know," Jackson pushed, "I think you'd be good at it."

I glanced at Jackson in the rearview mirror, and I knew my gaze was hard. Back off, bastard. "Maybe. Who knows?" I could dip into lying to hide your murder from the cops. "No, I swear I dropped him safely at the Argents'." He shrugged, looking away and I turned my gaze back to the road. Luckily, it had been mostly clear so far, so my distracted driving wasn't having any major consequences yet, but I'd have liked to have a bit more focus while driving in such blinding rain. "So, what did you find about your family, Allison?" I grinned at the windshield, not taking my eyes off the street before me again, "Am I right?"

"There are a lot of stories saying my family hunted wolves," Allison began slowly, "But that they were big, special wolves, and that we hunted because some of our family was killed, and um, taken by wolves."

"Taken?"

"The actual text said, 'converted,'" Jackson put in, regaining confidence and looking at me coldly, "What do you think that means, Stilinski?"

"Probably the animal activists of the family," I joked, smiling at Allison so I didn't stop the car and throttle Jackson.

"Maybe," she agreed, and then bit her lip, glancing down at me twice before she asked, "Do... Do you and Scott share clothes often?"

Oh, well, now someone notices. At least this was a somewhat safer topic, life-and-death-wise, than Allison's family's hunting habits. "Yeah, we stay at each other's houses so often we lose track of who owns what," I replied nonchalantly, trying to keep from looking back at Jackson so much or glancing at Allison to gauge her reaction. "Why?"

"No reason, I just thought that shirt was Scott's. He wore it the... The first day I met him," She admitted, her arms coming up around herself again, like a self-given hug for comfort, "Sorry. I don't mean to dump my angst on you two. I'm never this dramatic. I mean, it's not like we even went on more than one and a half dates," she laughed at her own joke and Jackson and I forced laughs for her sake, awkwardly trailing off into silence as the rain pounded the roof of the car and the engine rumbled sadly along. She looked out the window for a second, and then brought her gaze back around again to me, "I mean, I did think that maybe he was looking for a long term relationship, and that he might actually be a good candidate for that, but it's not like I was planning on it." She gave a slow, awkward shrug and a half-smile, "I just thought it was an option, you know? But I guess I was the only one."

I hit the steering wheel, surprising Jackson and making Allison jump as I shook my head. "Shit. Alllison, he wouldn't even shut up about you at first. It had nothing to do with you; you were perfect."

"What else could it have been?" She shot back, caving in further on herself, "Even now, I can see that Scott's a nice guy."

"Maybe he's got some weird issue he can't talk to you about; maybe some idiot showed him some other option; maybe-" someone imperfect was what he needed. I shut myself up, and fought not to hit the steering wheel again as Allison and Jackson watched me with wide eyes. "Look, he's a dumbass to do what he did. I don't even know why he would choose-" me. "It's- You're a good person, a sweet girl, and it's not your fault." My two passengers stared at me like I was going to run them off the road or something, and I took a deep breath. "Sorry. I just- sorry."

"You seem to know a lot... About this, Stilinski," Jackson said slowly, as if coming to some revelation, "Why is that?"

Oh, anything to drive a wedge, huh, Jackson? I drew in another deep breath and Allison leaned in a little, one hand landing on my arm as she prompted, "Stiles?"

I turned onto Allison's street stiffly, "Scott's my friend, isn't he? Who else would he talk to about any of this?" She gave an uncertain nod and Jackson opened his mouth as if to say something. "We're here," I interjected, stopping in Allison's driveway. Allison smiled vaguely and thanked me, patting my shoulder as she got out, but when Jackson moved to leave, I locked the doors.

He sat back down warily, "What're you doing, Stilinski?"

"Drop the act, Jackson. I know what you're doing and I'm going to tell you right now," I turned around and locked eyes with him, "I may not be the most powerful player on this field, but if you hurt Allison or Scott with these games you're playing, I will tear you limb from limb." Not taking my eyes off him, I unlocked the doors and Jackson stepped out, shaking his head. Allison called him, and he hurried through the rain to her front door. Both of them got in safely, so I backed out of the driveway to drive home.

When I pulled into my own house, I could see the McCalls' family car in the driveway. Even the short walk across the lawn soaked me, and I opened the door shivering, "Hello?"

"Stiles, we're in the dining room!" My dad called, and I heard a chair scrape and Scott saying something about meeting me at the door. A second later a towel and two warm arms were wrapped around me.

"Well, hello there, handsome," Scott whispered, "You look like you've been enjoying the weather." I leaned back into the embrace and he pecked my cheek, "God, you're freezing."

"Gee, thanks."

He shrugged and reluctantly let me go, fingers lingering before he finally broke contact, "Just telling it like it is."

I let my voice reach a normal volume, "So you're visiting with your mom?"

"Yep," Scott nodded, ducking his head, "Sad, sad occasion."

"Wait- what are you talking about?" I looked from him to the dining room. Was there some unfortunate anniversary I wasn't remembering, or did they lose someone in their extended family? "What happened?"

Scott put a hand on my shoulder, his cheek brushing mine as he leaned in to whisper, "You came too late to have any pie."

"What? You jerks!"

Someone laughed in the dining room and I heard my dad say, "He must've heard about the pie."

-!-!-

"So, I thought you had to get to work," I remarked later, as my father, Ms. McCall, Scott, and I were sitting in the living room.

"So did I," Scott replied, making an aborted movement to put his arms around my shoulders that he turned into an awkward pat, "When I got there the vet sent me home. Said he didn't need the help today. Then, Mom was home and your dad called saying he had some time off, so we ended up here."

I actually missed the security Scott's arm around me afforded me, but I kept myself from leaning into him, our parents talking seemed so loud and obvious and I wondered why we were keeping this secret even from them. Granted, I'd never talked with my dad about... Homosexuality. I caught Scott's gaze and he gave a weak grin, but his eyes were as intense and steadying as usual, even though I could tell he was thinking of the same thing I was. My eyes traced his strong, crooked jaw, up to his lips and his grin widened, deepened into true feeling. I couldn't help but meet his gaze and smile back. So there we were, smiling at each other like two idiots, and the talk in the room trailed off.

Melisa cleared her throat, "Communicating telepathically now, boys?"

We glanced at our confused parents, and back at each other, and then nervous laughter bubbled up. I couldn't stop and I knew Scott couldn't, either. "Yes," I said, still laughing, "Definitely."

Dad leaned over the arm of his chair, not taking his eyes from us as we laughed, and stage whispered to Ms. McCall, "Teenage boys are weird."

When the McCalls were heading out the door, Scott made a string of odd gestures I didn't understand, but I nodded with an indulgent smile until the end, and he gave me an exasperated puppy-dog look, obviously catching on that I was not. Catching on, that is. "Tonight," he mouthed, "Unlocked," and pointed upwards where my bedroom would be. From that I assumed he meant he wanted my window unlocked tonight, which, of course, gave me the perverse desire to lock it when I thought he might be coming, but... I wanted to see him again that night. I wanted to talk about our parents, and Allison, and werewolf-y things, and... Anything. I just wanted him with me that night, to talk with him and just have him physically near.

"Okay," I mouthed.

-!-!-

"So... Dad..." I started, moving around him to put some dishes in the sink, "How do you feel about... Abortion?"

"Did you knock some girl up?" Dad asked, drying off a spoon.

"No, just... Wondering about your political stances. So...?" I turned the spigot on and tried not to glance too many times at my father's expression.

"I... Think that women should make their own choices about that," he replied, putting the spoon down and picking up a plate.

"What about immigration?"

"It's- It's complicated," Dad put down the plate and the rag, and turned toward me with a frustrated sigh, "Stiles, what is this all about?"

I frowned, my eyebrows going up as I shook my head, "Nothing. Nothing, I just- What do you think about gay rights?"

He returned my frown tenfold, his brow creasing in confusion, "I think they deserve them; Stiles, what's going on?"

"I just realized... That I don't know anything about, you know, how you feel about different things. I just wanted to get to understand my dad better... Because you're important to me."

He stared at my display of complete and total earnestness and snorted, "I don't know what you're up to, but just go to bed. It's not going to work."

"Yeah, love you, too, Dad. Would never unjustly suspect you of ill intent."

"Good night, Stiles."

I was lying sprawled over my bed later that night when I'd given up on Scott's arrival and rolled onto my stomach to try and get some sleep before school tomorrow. Even though I had so much I wanted to tell Scott right then, if he'd shown up at that point, I probably would have just pulled him into the bed, curled up on or around him, and fallen asleep. No sooner had I thought it, my window slid open quietly, feet padded across the floor, and familiar lips pressed once against the small of my back. "Are you awake, Stiles?" Speak of the devil and he shall appear.

Matching Scott hushed voice for hushed voice, I murmured, "Nope." He hummed pensively to himself, and slid his hands up the bare skin of my back with just a bit of pressure.

"I guess you don't have to be," he kissed the back of my neck and moved his hands soothingly over my shoulders, "I just wanted to be near you." His fingers pushed slightly on either side of my spine as he dragged them down my back, and when I sighed contentedly, he repeated the action. For some time, we sat in silence as Scott explored the musculature of my back with big, warm palms and soothing motions that threatened to put me right to sleep. Finally I turned over and caught Scott's hands, intertwining our fingers and blinking up at him sleepily. He leaned in with a wide grin, whispering, "Hello, there," just before covering my lips with his for a long moment.

"I wanted to talk with you earlier," I yawned, trying to keep the words intelligible and quiet.

"I don't think you'll want to much longer," Scott replied, freeing one hand to cup my cheek with a soft expression that I didn't see often on his face, his eyes darker in the shadows and his lips curved into a gentle smile, "You seem about ready to pass out."

"Can't all be th'energizer bunny," I grumbled, squeezing the hand I still held to show no hard feelings, and Scott returned the squeeze languidly.

"Go to sleep," he suggested, the hand on my face smoothing a thumb across my skin, "I'll let myself out after." I didn't remember consciously taking his advice the next morning, but the last thing I recalled was a soft kiss as his thumb ran over my cheek one more time and everything faded.