Author's Note: This story is based off of a request from user STARGIRL4667

Stiles gnawed on his thumbnail as he paced the length of his room over and over. This was bad, and not the typical bad that plagued him all his life. This was extra bad, since it involved his best friend, Scott. And there was no turning back now.

Looking for that dead body had been a terrible idea. It was a pretty on-brand thing for him to do, but he never foresaw these sort of repercussions. He figured they would go out, walk around in the cold for a little while, then go home and talk about how cool it would've been if they'd actually found something. But they did find something. And something found them as well.

"What were you thinking?" Derek shouted, stomping into the room. Stiles winced, knowing he deserved every bit of anger, but hating when Derek was mad at him. He looked up to Derek so much that every time he disappointed him, it felt like a stab to the heart. Lectures from his dad stung, but this was different. They were different.

"I know. I'm sorry," Stiles mumbled, hanging his head low.

"Are you hurt?" Derek demanded, walking up to him and looking him over frantically.

"You know I'm not."

"I'll be the judge of that," Derek huffed, grabbing at him to give him a more thorough check.

"Why did you ask if you weren't gonna believe me?" Derek fixed him with a glare that made Stiles shut up and accept his fate. When Derek got like this, there was no getting out of it. The smartest thing was to let Derek do his thing. Once Derek was satisfied that Stiles had nary a scratch or scrape on him, he pulled him into a crushing hug. This would probably leave a mark, no matter how temporary.

"Don't you ever do something this boneheaded again," Derek chastised, trying to keep his voice stern. Stiles could hear the fear he was trying to mask loud and clear. He hated being the cause of it. "Tell me everything that happened."

"I heard Dad talking about going into the preserve to look for a body. And since we've been working on tracking, I thought I could help."

"Tracking something like a rabbit or a deer! Not a dead body, Stiles!" Derek yelled, pulling back to stare at him incredulously. "And why on earth would you take Scott?"

"Safety in numbers, right?" Stiles argued weakly. Even he knew that wouldn't fly. "I don't know. I thought it would be fun. Or cool. Maybe a bonding moment?"

"Does this look like a reboot of Stand By Me? Someone out there was killed and you and Scott were this close to being added to that list," Derek growled, holding his fingers a millimeter apart.

"I didn't think anyone would be out there. People don't usually hang around where they dumped a body. I wasn't expecting Scott would get hurt. And I didn't think it would be by someone like us."

"It wasn't someone like us! It was an Alpha! Do you realize how easy it would've been for you to be killed?"

"Yes, I think you mentioned that," Stiles muttered. He felt immediately guilty at the sight of Derek's normally hard green eyes shining with tears. Tears he hadn't seen fall since that night six years ago. "Der-"

"Forgive me for wanting to protect what's left of my family," Derek ground out, turning away toward the wall and running a hand down his face.

"I'm sorry. I know that doesn't change anything, but I really am."

"What have you told Scott?" Derek asked in a clipped tone.

"Not much. Just to go home and stay there until I could come by," Stiles sighed, already seeing the signs of Derek shutting down. He had an issue with anger, but he never liked to let that side out in front of Stiles. A yell here or there was one thing, but when the feeling started to overwhelm him, when the anger mixed with fear, it took all of his control to go in the opposite direction. He went silent and broody, only speaking when absolutely necessary. It drove Stiles nuts, but he couldn't complain. This time was his fault. "I have to tell him the truth."

"Stiles."

"I know you don't like that answer, but there's no other choice. It's too dangerous for everyone if he's flying blind," Stiles insisted, softening his voice when he saw Derek's back stiffen. "We can trust him. He's not going to tell anyone about this. About us."

"You don't know that."

"I never did," Stiles reminded him.

"Until now. Until something happened and there was no choice," Derek snapped, shaking his head in disappointment. "I knew we should've done things differently. We shouldn't have pretended all those years that you weren't like us."

"There was no 'we' involved in that decision. And me being an idiot is squarely on my shoulders."

"Don't call yourself that," Derek grumbled, finally turning to face him again. The anger was still clear on his face, but Stiles could see the acceptance too. There was nothing else they could do besides deal with this. "Do you want me to go with you?"

"No, I should probably do this alone. You being there would probably put him on edge," Stiles sighed. He'd kept Derek and Scott apart as much as possible over the years. Not because he didn't love both of them, but because he was pretty sure they wouldn't be able to love each other. Now they would have to learn to at least coexist. "You know I'm going to have to tell him about everything. From the beginning."

"It's all going to be different now," Derek said in resignation. "Dead bodies, Alphas attacking people. It's like it's starting all over."

"Hey," Stiles murmured, walking over to pull Derek into another hug. While he didn't like to talk about it, Stiles knew Derek still hadn't processed everything that happened in his past. Derek liked to put on a strong front for him. But Stiles wasn't a little kid anymore. Derek wouldn't have to go through it alone. "We'll deal with it together."

"Are you sure you don't want me to go in?" Derek asked again, pulling up outside of Scott's house. Melissa's car wasn't out front, which was a relief. If this talk went bad, he didn't want her caught in the crossfire.

"I'm sure. And I know you'll be lurking around outside, in case I need you," Stiles smirked. Derek didn't bother to argue that point.

"You have to be careful. You never know how someone is going to react to this news," Derek warned.

"This is Scott. I know him better than I know myself," Stiles insisted. Scott would never hurt anyone, especially him.

"He's not the same Scott you knew before. You haven't been around people who have been bitten, especially against their will. They can be unpredictable."

"Not Scott. He'll probably take to all this like a champ."

"We'll see," Derek muttered, wringing his hands around his steering wheel.

"I'll text you when I'm done," Stiles said, opening the car door and climbing out. If he waited any longer, he might chicken out. There was no escaping this though. He walked up to the front door, glancing back at Derek one last time. He was pretending he wasn't watching, but he didn't need to be to know exactly what Stiles was doing. Derek always had an extra sense when it came to him. Too bad it wasn't strong enough to stop him from doing what he did earlier.

Stiles let himself into the McCall house, like he'd done for so many years. This had been his second home for as long as he could remember. He hoped that wouldn't change, after all the stuff he was about to pile on Scott. Although he told Derek that he was confident that Scott would take this all in stride, he was still nervous. This was a lot to deal with and Scott's life would never be the same.

"Scott?" Stiles asked cautiously through his bedroom door. Faster than he could blink, the door was wrenched open and Stiles was pulled into the room. Scott looked haggard, with a wild look in his eyes. Again he was relieved that Melissa wasn't home. She probably would've thought Scott was sick and taken him to the hospital. Little did they know that he was about to be the healthiest he'd ever been. "Hey."

"Stiles! Where have you been? I've been going out of my mind," Scott groaned, raking a hand through his hair. "What was that out there?"

"Uh-"

"And why aren't you freaking out? You freak out if Lydia makes eye contact with you, but now you're calm? What the heck?" Scott asked, staring at him incredulously. There was no avoiding this now.

"I need to tell you something, but I need you to try not to flip," Stiles said, wringing his hands nervously. "This is gonna be a lot and I've wanted to tell you for so long, but I couldn't. You're in it now though."

"In what?"

"I should probably start from the beginning," Stiles sighed, gesturing for Scott to sit on the end of his bed next to him. Scott reluctantly did, before Stiles bounced back up to his feet and started pacing. He couldn't stay still for this talk. "Remember what I told you about my mom? And how she died?"

"She died right after you were born. Of course I remember."

"Well, that isn't actually true. Claudia Stilinski died before I was born. Before I was even conceived actually."

"What?" Scott asked in confusion. Stiles could tell that he was trying to figure out how that was possible in his head, but he couldn't come up with anything.

"My parents decided that would be the easiest thing to tell everyone."

"Your parents? So who are your parents?"

"My dad is my dad. Like, biologically and everything. My birth mother is where things get tricky," Stiles said, biting his thumbnail. He could feel the skin split a little, but it would be healed up before it even had a chance to bother him.

"Who is she? And what does that have to do with what happened tonight?"

"Her name was Talia. The story as I've heard it is she was separated from her husband for a while and met my dad in a bar. My dad had just lost his wife and was drinking away his sorrows. One thing led to another and voila, me," Stiles explained. "They were never in a relationship and Talia went back to her husband soon after the encounter, for lack of a better term." Stiles didn't like to think about his dad's intimate life, let alone talk about it.

"And that's why they lied about who your real mom is?"

"Yes, but not the main reason. I've known the truth since I was little, but it was safer to keep up the lie."

"Safer? Is your mom dangerous? Is her husband?"

"Yes and no. I never met my mom's husband, but from what I've heard he was a good guy."

"And your mom?"

"A little more complicated than that."

"I'm assuming from your use of past tense that they're…"

"Yeah. For a few years now," Stiles confirmed quietly. It felt weird to mourn so many people he never really knew. He never felt that he had a right to. His dad and Derek had the right, but all Stiles had was the disappointment of missed opportunity.

"I'm sorry."

"I never knew Talia. She gave me to my dad right after I was born. I saw her in passing maybe a handful of times, but that was it. I was never meant to be connected to her or her family at all. And that's how it went, until about eight years ago."

"And what happened eight years ago?"

"My brother found out about me." Stiles winced as Scott's jaw dropped open in shock. A sibling wasn't something you kept from a best friend. And while all this was happening around the time he and Scott were becoming close and that could be an excuse not to talk about it then, there were years of secrets and lies that weren't as excusable.

"Brother? How? And who?" Scott stammered, blinking rapidly as he put the pieces together. "No way."

"Yeah."

"Derek Hale is your brother?"

"Technically half, but yes."

"Stiles."

"It's complicated."

"So explain it!"

"You know how he moved in with me and my dad six years ago, after his family died."

"You said it was because there were no foster homes that could take him, so the sheriff took him in!" Scott exclaimed, shaking his head. "That sounds dumb now that I've said it out loud. I don't know why I believed it."

"Because you trusted me. Why would I lie, right?" Stiles scoffed. Scott deserved so much better than him.

"So if Derek is your brother, that means his family was your family too. And they died. Holy crap, dude."

"I need to go back a little. So, when I was eight and Derek was fourteen, he heard his parents talking about me. Neither of us had any idea about any of it before that. He demanded to hear the story and that's how he found out. Derek wanted to know me and our parents relented. He's kind of hard to say no to, when he puts his mind to something."

"Dude."

"So Derek started coming over to my house to see me. His sister, Laura, knew about me too, but she didn't want to get involved. The rest of his family didn't know."

"You have a sister too?!"

"Kind of. I never got a chance to meet her."

"Wow. This is- wow," Scott muttered. "I'm glad you're telling me all this, but I still don't know what it has to do with tonight."

"We're getting there. Scott, what I'm about to tell you needs to stay between us. Like, life or death levels of seriousness."

"You can tell me."

"I found out something about myself from Derek, after we started hanging out. My dad was so mad when he found out Derek told me. I don't even know the kind of grief Derek caught from his parents."

"What was it?"

"There is something different about the Hale family. And since I'm one of them, there is something different about me too. My dad planned on keeping it from me my whole life, but Derek telling me kind of ruined all that. You have to promise me that you'll never tell anyone what I'm about to tell you. Not your mom, not anyone."

"I promise." Stiles paced a few more times, stalling so he could appreciate a world before everything changed forever. Nothing would be the same after this.

"The Hales are werewolves." Scott stared at him in stunned silence for what felt like hours. Stiles wanted to shake him and ask him what he was thinking, but he knew he needed to give him time to process. This was definitely a lot to take in, especially with all the other stuff he'd just piled on. This was asking him to accept that the whole world as he knew it was a lot more complicated than he thought.

"I thought you were being serious! Is anything you just told me true?"

"Of course it is! I wouldn't lie about stuff like that!"

"Werewolves. Really?" Scott scoffed, looking at him in disappointment.

"Yes."

"And you're a werewolf as well?"

"Yes. Technically half, but that doesn't really matter."

"Come on."

"I can't blame you for your reaction. I didn't believe it at first when Derek told me, but it's true."

"Nope. No way."

"Scott."

"Prove it."

"Scott."

"You just told me that you've been lying about your whole life for years. Forgive me if I need more than your word!" Scott snapped. That stung, but Stiles couldn't blame him. He was completely right. And Scott was going to see this eventually, so why prolong the inevitable?

"Don't freak out," Stiles mumbled, closing his eyes and feeling them shift. This was the easiest way to show him and probably the least jarring. All the pointy bits and extra hair could wait. Stiles opened his eyes again, staring at Scott in trepidation.

"You-your eyes. They're yellow," Scott stuttered, backing away from him carefully.

"I prefer to call them gold, but yeah."

"Those are contacts." Stiles blinked again, letting his eyes shift back to their normal hue. "Not contacts."

"Not contacts," Stiles confirmed. Scott opened and closed his mouth a few times like he wasn't sure what to say. He wasn't screaming or crying or trying to attack him, so it was going okay in Stiles' opinion.

"Dude."

"The reason I'm telling you this is because when we were out in the preserve, there was something out there with us. Something like me."

"No, that was a dog. Or a really crazy deer."

"It was a werewolf."

"No, because- no."

"Scott, I'm sorry. If I'd known something like that was out there, I would've never asked you to go with me."

"You're wrong. This is all a crazy dream and we're gonna laugh so hard when I tell you about it."

"Scott, you were bitten by a werewolf."

"I wasn't! These things aren't real!" Scott shouted, panting to the point of hyperventilation. He gripped his chest, glancing around the room wildly. "I need my inhaler. Where's my inhaler?"

"Scott-"

"How am I breathing? Why are my lungs working?" Scott wondered, staring down at his body in confusion.

"I don't think you'll have asthma anymore."

"What?"

"Check your side," Stiles directed, pointing to where Scott had been bitten. Scott looked unsure, but listened anyway. He lifted his shirt and peeled back the bandage he'd taped down, revealing unmarred skin. Scott twisted as far as his body would allow, trying to find the wound.

"Where did it go? It really was a dream?"

"It healed. That's something different about us."

"Holy crap."

"This doesn't have to be a bad thing. It might take some getting used to, but it's not the end of the world."

"Am I going to turn into the thing that attacked me? Am I gonna bite random people in the woods?" Scott asked worriedly, glancing over at the mirror like he expected one of those drawn out shifts from a werewolf movie.

"You'll be able to control it. Derek and I will help you figure it all out."

"How do you control it? How have I known you for so long without any clue?"

"Before I found out about what I am, my dad wanted to do anything he could to keep me normal. There's this strain of wolfsbane I've been taking since I was a baby, to stop me from fully transitioning into a werewolf," Stiles explained. "I only recently convinced my dad to start weaning me off of it, so I can start to develop my abilities. So my senses are sharper and I heal faster, but that's about it."

"Can I have some too?"

"It only works on natural born werewolves. When you're bitten, the transformation is immediate," Stiles informed him regretfully. He wasn't going to mention that the other possibility was a painful death if the bite didn't take, since that wouldn't help anything. Luckily Scott was alive and well.

"That sucks," Scott sighed, staring down at his body again. "So I really don't have asthma anymore?"

"I'm pretty sure you don't."

"Am I gonna start howling at the moon?"

"Not unless you want to."

"Will I still be able to eat chocolate?"

"Why wouldn't you be able to eat chocolate?"

"Wolves can't eat chocolate, like dogs."

"I eat chocolate. Derek eats chocolate."

"That's good," Scott replied, nodding in contemplation.

"You're taking this pretty well. Part of me was worried that you'd hate me and never want to see me again."

"Honestly, I'm scared out of my mind," Scott admitted, before flashing him a small smile. "But I'm glad that if I have to go through something like this, I'll get to have my best friend by my side."

"Me too," Stiles said in relief. He knew there would be times that things were harder, especially closer to the full moon, but he and Scott had gotten through everything else together. What were a few claws and some fangs added to the mix?