chapter ten; time to make a choice
THEY DRIVE in separate cars, after waiting another ten minutes for Stiles to fully calm down, or rather for his hands to stop trembling. Then they hop into their own cars and ditch the rest of the school day. Stiles says he thinks his dad won't be happy, but Hope promises they'll be fine with skipping school if it means they can see him. He doesn't correct her.
The entire ride there feels like the longest drive of his life, despite it only being ten ish minutes. He wonders if he's gone mad agreeing to hang out with them for an hour. He's excited by the idea of it but worried he's only making another mistake. What will they even talk about? The weather maybe? What if they ask him what he wants to do? Asks him to live with them?
The AC is on and he doesn't realize it until his cheeks are cold and he's still shaking. Probably not just from the cold. This feels like some interview for a job he really wants except its for family. A family that wants him in it and if he says or does something wrong, he could mess it up. Mess everything up.
He wasn't even sure he really cared about having a new-found family but now driving there, about to meet them for real this time. Makes him realize how much he wants this, how badly he wants it to work out.
He parks behind Hopes car, a nice black Bently he feels poor just looking at it. It feels wrong having Roscoe parked here, beside such nice cars.
"We're here," Hope says when he gets out. She drops her arms to her sides with a goofy awkward grin. "Mom and Dad are inside, warning they might be a little overwhelming, but they mean good."
He tries to send her something that resembles a smile. It feels wrong on his mouth. "This'll be awkward, won't it?"
She laughs a little, leading him up to the apartment they've rented for the month and for the next however long they'll be here."Definitely at first, but they'll chill out after a while. Just tell them if they're making you uncomfortable" she tells him.
Stiles isn't sure what to imagine on the other side of the door. Well, he knows what the apartment looks like. The kitchen and living room behind part of the same room. Other than that he doesn't know what else is there. He knows Hayley and Klaus will be there, he's just not sure what to prepare for. Them pinching his cheeks or a dry conversation that makes him want to kill himself.
He doesn't have long to think about it before Hayley opens the door, she'd probably been listening and waiting til they got here.
"Stiles! How are you?" Hayley asks and it's so natural, like they didn't just find out about each other's existence a few days ago. She looks a little better than before,
less pale and with a smile on her face that's so close to Hope's it's funny. She looks like she wants to pull him into a hug but instead she just moves away from the door, letting them walk in.
"Uh, um, good. How about you?" he asks, suddenly remembering they had all seen him butt-naked in the woods a few days ago.
Hayley nods, still staring at him like he might disappear in a minute. "I'm good, thanks for asking-"
"Let the poor boy have a minute to breathe, will you?" Klaus says from the hallway straight across from the front door. Probably leading to the bedrooms and bathroom.
"I'm letting him breathe, shut up" Hayley exclaims, though there's no heat to her words.
Hope lets out a little hmm, "Okay, well why don't we give Stiles a little tour of the place?" she suggests. He's glad she changed the topic, not ready to be the cause of Hayley and Klaus' fight. The apartment isn't huge, but it's more than enough for three people to live in.
"Have you guys always lived here?" He asks before he can stop himself, had they been this close to him his entire life? He remembers Hope saying something about moving from New Orleans but now he's not sure if that was just a cover or something.
Klaus scoffs, "God no, we'd kill each other. We live in New Orleans; you were born there. The Abattoir is at least four times the size of this place, you'll love it." he promises.
He was right, they did want him to decide who to live with. They wanted him to leave Beacon Hills. This was a mistake, coming here is sending the wrong message. How was he supposed to just drop everything and move across the world to New Orleans? How would he still see his dad?
"Klaus," Hayley hisses at him before looking at Stiles like she'd sensed his discomfort. "We won't make you leave here if you don't want to. It would be nice if you came and visited a little, but if you don't want to leave, we're fine with that too." she promises with a reassuring smile. She gives his shoulder a little squeeze before remembering it's all still new.
Stiles nods, managing not to jump at the contact. He's not necessarily scared of them, but they're still technically strangers. It would be a while before he really lets them in, if ever.
"New Orleans sounds cool" he manages to get out, it only sounds a little forced. Part of him feels the urge not to argue with them, just smile and nod and make them happy so they can all get along and he can have a big happy family.
"And you'll have to meet Auntie Bex, too. She'll love you" Hope adds after him.
For some reason the idea of having even more family outside of them never occurred to Stiles. How many new family members did he actually have? What was he getting himself into?
They must see the look of shock on his face because they all give him a funny smile, Hope lets out a small giggle.
"You should know you're a part of a big family." Hayley tells him, "How much do you know about us?" she questions, referring to when he'd mentioned reading about them before.
He'd done some research since then, but nothing was ever 100% guaranteed. He wasn't sure what was real and what was just a folk tale to scare readers. He clears his throat; it suddenly feels dry. "Um nothing for sure. It's a mix of real and fake."
"Okay mom, why don't we show him around first and then tell him everything? Do you want some water, Stiles?" Hope offers.
"Or something to eat?" Hayley adds.
Stiles shakes his head, raises his hands when he talks. "Oh, no, no uh I'm good thank you."
"Don't worry Stiles, there are no tests or anything. If you want you can think of this place as yours, since it is." Klaus clarifies. It's different, he keeps comparing his dad to Klaus, how Klaus is very to himself, not as overwhelming and pushy as Hope and Hayley. Not pushy per say, just...constantly wanting to do something to help him, it's nice but he's used to doing it for others instead.
"I-I'll um try" Stiles responds, though he knows he doesn't sound very confident when he says it.
Nobody seems very happy about his reply, but they don't say anything about it. This is somehow not going as badly as he imagined yet at the same time it sucks not feeling immediately comfortable with them like he dreamed would happen.
They end up going through the hallway, Hope points out the different rooms showing him the bathroom, her room, Klaus's, and Hayley's, even a room that's for him.
"My room?" he repeats after her. He didn't think they would've gotten him a place with a room for him. Coming all the way to Beacon Hills and staying in an apartment in a sketchier part of town, he didn't imagine them thinking about him. Thinking where he would sleep on the off chance he'd want to stay the night. Something about it made his chest warm.
Hayley nodded, "We thought we'd make sure you have a room. Just in case you stayed over. Only if you want to." she assures.
The rooms a decent size for an apartment, there's grey bedding, a big dresser, and a small tv on top of it. It's not fancy by any means, but it's more the thought of them thinking about him. A son they had never met before, and they were thinking about where he'd stay.
"Is that okay?" Hayley says after he doesn't answer.
Stiles gulps, realizing they had been expecting a reply. "Yeah, yeah. I just didn't think...I don't know what I thought" he admits. His answer seems good enough because they conversation ends there; they head back out to the main living room.
"We want to make this as easy as possible for you, Stiles" Hayley says when they stop, standing between the kitchen and living room. "Whatever you want to do we can do it. What are you thinking?"
This is it, they want him to decide. Does he want contact with them? Does he want to try? What does he want? He can't stop thinking about his dad, what he would think about all of this. Should he have told his dad when he found out?
But then there them. A family, a full family with a mother and a father and a sister and god knows who else. Uncles and aunts. He can't help but be curious, he wants to meet his blood. He wants to know what he got from them, what parts of himself were purely from his dad and what parts are from them. And it seems clear right then and there.
"We could just...talk for a bit? Get to know each other?"
a/n: lots of updates! I'm loving writing this, I might end up posting it on my Wattpad. Btw if you want to read any of my other finished stories you can there, my username is adoremikaelson. Also I've decided this will be a long book with lots of slow-burn, family wise and sterek wise and plot wise. Hopefully thats okay with everyone cause I want this to be as real as possible. Thanks for all the love on the story so far! see you next time :)
