Scott:

I wasn't sure if I recognized the person in front of me. My best friend looked nothing like I remember, even from last month. Gone was the skinny, defenseless, and neurotic, couldn't sit still, geeked to be going to the FBI, kid and before me stood someone else. He still had the same smile, but it was not as easy going as before. His eyes were more alert and harder, and his posture was almost defensive.

Where before his hair was short and styled to his preference, now it was longer and shaggy covering his ears and doing its own thing. He had grown a light mustache and five o'clock shadow that suited him. He wasn't as skinny as he was before but not bulky either. He stood taller and surer of himself. As much as I wondered what had happened to him I was so damn glad to see him at the same time.

"Stiles." I said standing and approaching him, he tensed a little, slowing me down. But then he smiled wider.

"Come on, bring it in." he said waving me forward. I moved but not as fast. There was something going on there, but I could tell it wasn't something he wanted to discuss, not yet. I didn't try to scent him out either. Whatever it was he would talk to me when he was ready. I wouldn't push it.

"Shit man, you had me scared to death that something happened to you. I'm so glad you are here." I said hugging my friend. I flinched a bit at something else that I couldn't help but scent from him. What the hell was going on with him?

"Yeah, sorry about that. This last case I was on was a doozy." He said hugging me back. "I was going to give you a call when I was back on radar but then I got Liam's text about the party and figured, why not just come see you for myself."

"I'm glad you did. Any longer without contact, I would have went tearing off after you, myself." I told him, stepping back.

"Couldn't have that, now could I?" he smirked. "I'm supposed to save your ass not the other way around."

I rolled my eyes, smiling. At least he hasn't lost his sense of humor.

"Stiles?"

We both looked behind me to see his father catch sight of him. I moved out of the way for this reunion but kept a careful eye on Stiles. I watched him try not to tense up as his father marched towards him, wrapping him up in a hug so hard that I heard the air wheeze out of Stiles.

"Hey dad." He said wrapping an arm around him as he did me. It was then that I noticed in his other hand was a cane.

I saw Liam, Mason, Lydia, and Corey start to make their way over to him, but I shook my head at them. I think right now Stiles wouldn't be receptive to being bombarded by a bunch of people, even if they were his closest friends. Malia stepped up next to me and I automatically put a hand on her hip to stop her from approaching them. I could see both Argent and Deaton watching as well and both of them wore a look of understanding. I will ask about that later.

"Damn it boy. Don't you ever scare me like that again. Do you hear me?" Mr. Stilinski growled at him, not looking like he was going to let go anytime soon.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to. It won't happen again."

Finally, he let go and grabbed his sons face looking him in the eye.

"I am so glad you are here. I missed you kid."

"I missed you too. But I'm here for a while, so we have time to catch up." Stiles promised. Before anyone could ask questions a small voice shouted excitedly.

"Cool cane. Dad can I have a cane like that?" Eli said standing off to the side with Derek who was looking at Stiles in a guarded way. Everyone turned to look at the cane in Stiles' left hand as if just seeing it.

"Stiles?" Mr. Stilinski asked. Stiles blinked at Eli, looked up at Derek with narrowed eyes, before smiling back at his dad.

"I'm fine dad. Just an injury from my last case. But I'm good. I promise." He said before slowly making his way over to Eli and kneeling to his level. "Like my cane?"

"Yeah, especially the skull on the end." Eli said pointing to it.

"I know, cool right." Stiles smiled at him. Eli nodded. "What's your name?"

"Eli Hale. What's yours?"

"Stiles Stilinski. Nice to meet you Eli." He held out a hand for a shake which Eli happily gave him, puffing his chest out.

"I know you. Dad's talked about you before." Eli stated. Stiles glanced up to Derek quickly before focusing on Eli.

"Oh yeah. What did he say?"

"He said you helped save his life once."

"I did, but he also saved mine a time or two."

I watched as Derek's jaw clench watching them both.

"Tell you what kid? I think I packed an extra skull topper in my suitcase. If I find it I will get it to you, okay?"

"Really?" he asked excitedly.

"Absolutely."

"Thanks Stiles."

"You're welcome." He said ruffling the top of his head before grunting to a stand. Looking around he noticed people still standing around staring. "Alright people. Enough with the staring. I promise to sign autographs later. This is a party, right?"

People snickered but everyone went back to what they were doing before he came in. Stiles looked to be bracing himself as he turned to Derek. They each seem to take a minute and size each other up as if not sure how to talk to each other. I exchanged a glance with Malia who looked just as confused as me.

"Stiles. Good to see you." Derek's greeting was too formal for the situation.

"You as well. Cute kid you got there." He said about Eli, who was looking between the two of them as were I and Malia, trying to figure out what was silently not being said.

"Yeah, this is him before the sugar kicks in. not so cute when he's running around the house destroying anything in his path." Derek said looking fondly down at his son.

"I said I was sorry." Eli whined. Derek chuckled.

"I'm sure you were, until the next time it happens. But right now, I need to get you to your appointment."

"Aww, dad do I have to. I hate the dentist."

"Yes you do and if you would stop sneaking candy you wouldn't need to go so often." He told him. Eli pouted and Stiles chuckled.

"Listen to your dad, kid. It's hard to eat anything with no teeth. Best take care of them while you have them."

Eli nodded.

"Come on. Have a nice night." Derek said to Stiles who nodded.

Derek gave me one last hug and told Malia he would see her at work tomorrow before leaving. I looked at Malia realizing I was still touching her and moved my hand. I watch Stiles make his way over to the others getting hugs from everyone. There was definitely something going on there and I really wanted to know what. Those two were never close, not like me and Stiles or me and Derek, they loved to pick at each other, but we had all been through too much together for them to act like this around each other.

"Was it my imagination on was there tension there?" Malia asked.

"Not your imagination. There was definitely tension."

She hummed in agreement. We looked at each other and I think we both twitched in each other's direction before taking a step further away. This is crazy, we should not still have this kind of reaction to each other.

"Uh, I think I'm going to…"

"Yeah, go ahead." She said knowing what I meant.

"We'll talk more, later?"

"Sure." She said giving me a tight smile.

I walked over to the group as they laughed and joked. I could see Mr. Stilinski, standing with Deaton and Argent, watching Stiles concerned but he saw me approaching him and nodded, knowing I would get him to talk if nothing else.

"Hey Stiles." I called when I was within earshot. I didn't think it wise to just walk up behind him. He turned, his smile dimming slightly when he saw my face. Nodding he excused himself and we walked to a booth in the back.

"I know what you're going to ask?" he sighed as soon as we were settled.

"Do you? Because right now I have like a million questions running through my head, and I am honestly not sure where to start." I told him. He nodded.

"Well start with the most important one and work your way backwards." He said tapping his fingers against the tabletop. At least that habit hadn't changed.

"Yeah that question is still too vague. Why don't you start with what you can easily tell me and then we will go from there."

He nodded, thinking about what he wanted to say.

"Boys. I figured you could each use a drink." My mother said setting down two glasses of scotch, one for each of us.

"Actually, can I get an unopened bottle of water?" Stiles asked. Mom nodded and grabbed a bottle from a bucket two tables over setting it in front of him. "Thanks Ms. M, you're the best."

Rolling her eyes, she smiled at him before walking away.

"Not drinking?" I asked.

"Meds." He said shaking his head.

"And the unopened bottle of water?" not that it was too unusual a request, but he specifically asked for it that way and Stiles says nothing by accident.

"A case I was working on a while ago, guy tried to drug me. So now I don't drink anything that I haven't prepared myself or has already been opened." He said picking up the bottle and examining it thoroughly before opening it and gulping down half of it.

"What's going on Stiles? You look rough, not bad just more tense and tired."

"And my scent?"

"I haven't tried. I wanted to talk to you without any preconceived notions on anything." I didn't mention the one scent I didn't need to sniff out from him and I wouldn't mention it unless he did.

"I appreciate that." He said playing with the cap from his bottle.

"So, talk to me. You don't have to tell me everything if you don't want but tell me something."

"Well, the easiest thing to start with is work. I've been put on leave."

"Leave, why?"

"It involves this case I just came off of. Something… happened. I can't tell you about it, at least not yet. But they considered it traumatic enough that I have to be evaluated to make sure I am fit for duty and of course my leg. So, I'm going to be in town for a while." He sighed.

"Do you know how long?"

"Well, my evaluation isn't until next month, and then the process of reporting and meetings to discuss what happened and… it's just a lengthy process that is long and tedious. So, I would say I'm here for a good long while."

"Damn, I'm sorry. Are you doing okay though, other than all that?"

"Honestly, I don't know. I'm so messed up in the head right now, I swear. So many times I just wanted to pick up the phone and call you and talk about everything, but I couldn't. For one it was an ongoing case, and I was right in the middle of it."

"I wish you had said something, even a text. You know I would have dropped everything to be there, even if it was just to give you a reprieve for the day or something."

"I know and I really would have. But I wasn't even in the country. I just got back to the states two days ago."

"Where were you?"

"South America." He said looking at me. My eyes widened as I thought about what that meant. I didn't say a word, but he nodded knowing I understood.

"Wow, okay. So, is that where you got injured?"

"Yep, Bullet right in the thigh. That was as fun as it sounds. So were the two operations I had to have to repair the damage, hence the other part of my evaluation for duty."

"What did the doctors say?"

"That I should recover just fine. I may have a bit of a limp but nothing severe. It will just take time to heal."

"Okay, that's good."

"Yeah, that's the best thing that came out of that ordeal. But off of that. What's your other question?" he said switching topics. I could feel him stressing out about whatever he had been through over there and let him.

"Do I even need to ask it?"

Groaning he slumped in his seat, running fingers through his long hair.

"No, you don't. But that story started back to the night before we left Beacon Hills."

"Okay." I said picking up my glass.

"I kissed Derek." He said just as I took a drink and as if experiencing deJa'vu I choked on my drink, spraying a bit of it across the table. Slamming a hand against my chest as I coughed, trying to dislodge what went the wrong way. Stiles lazily wiped off his hands and shirt before handing me a bunch of napkins to clean off the table. A few people looking our way including Malia who smirked and shook her head, remembering when I did the same thing to her.

"You good there buddy?" Stiles asked, deadpan. Nodding I cleared my throat.

"When you say kiss, how do you mean?"

"What do you mean, how do I mean? You know how a kiss works. I kissed him. Full on the lips, tongue, and all. I kissed Derek." He whispered in exasperation.

"How-."

"I swear to God, if you ask me, how do I mean, again…"

"No, how did that happen?"

Looking around quickly, he leaned in so he could talk quieter.

"Remember how buzzed I was when I left here that night?"

"You were drunk." I reminded him.

"No, I wasn't. I was buzzed and probably on my way to feeling drunk. But remember Derek offered to take me home?"

I nodded.

"Well, on the ride there I sobered up a bit more. And…" he stopped looking away from me and pinking up a bit.

"And…" I prompted.

"I have never been attracted to guys, you know that, right?"

"Right, as far as I know you have only ever looked at and been with girls."

"And that's all I had ever been attracted too. But there's just something about him. I don't know what or why. But ever since that whole Monroe thing I started really noticing him. And all those little snide comments we directed at each other started to feel less like bickering and more like… flirting. It's hard to explain. But that night I was watching him as he drove me home and my brain, you know how random and all over the place it is, started thinking about what it would feel like to kiss him."

"Okay, and how did you go from theorizing to practical application?"

"Well when he pulled up to my house I guess he thought I was still drunk because he guided me into the house and to my room. And I had already been turned on from dancing with Lydia, even though I knew nothing was happening there. But that plus what I was already thinking… It's like something in me kind of snapped or clicked or whatever. As soon as we got in my room I turned, grabbed him and just kissed him. It wasn't even planned or anything."

"How did he respond?"

"Well, I caught him of guard so he was frozen for a minute, not really responding but then he… responded and it wasn't by pulling away."

"Okay, wow. I am not sure what to say to that. Was it just kissing or?"

"No, it was just the kiss, nothing else happened that night."

"That night? Meaning that something happened another night?"

"That night after a few minutes of making out I guess; he finally pushed me away and he just left. The next morning, I just chalked it up to the alcohol having an effect and that's probably how he saw it too."

"Okay. I can see why you would think that."

"Yeah. But. About six years ago, I ran into him again. I was starting a case with my superior but I had that night off. I was so nervous because it was technically my first solo case, my boss was just there to evaluate me. And you know me. Being nervous makes me anxious and start to over think things because that's just what I do." He said and I nodded. "So I'm staying at this hotel in New York, and I figure a drink would help me relax a bit. And guess who I run into at the hotel bar."

"Derek."

"Right and it just had to be that hotel, out of the hundreds of hotels in that freaking city and he's right there. I wasn't sure what I wanted to do, I thought about just turning around and leaving but he spotted me. Somehow, we ended up drinking together, catching up and all that like nothing happened that last night." He said flailing his hands around.

There was my Stiles. Hand gestures and a bit manic while explaining. I nodded along letting him talk with no interruptions.

"We were getting along fine, laughing, and reminiscing on Beacon Hills and what we all survived because, of course, nothing bonds people then escaping sudden death, multiple times in the span of 3 years."

I snorted thinking that it was true, but I still wasn't at the point where I could laugh at it. Some of what happened still haunts my dreams.

"Suddenly the conversation turns to that night, and we talked about it. I was on my third drink by then but not drunk and he had been drinking but, shifter. I don't really know how we went from sitting across from each other to sitting next to each other to me inviting him up to my room and then…" he said shrugging. And then…

"Holy fuck." I muttered.

"Yeah. That's what I thought when I woke up the next morning and again he was gone."

"So, both times he just left without a word?"

He nodded and I could see a bit of hurt there.

"Sorry man, Derek's great most of the time but he can still be an ass."

Stiles snorted.

"Have you even talked to him since then?"

"Once, about a year or so ago. Ran into him when I came home for a visit. He apologized for how he handled things and that was that. I didn't even know he had a kid until now."

"This is your first time seeing him?"

"Yeah it is. I remember in some of our talks Malia or you would talk about an Eli but nobody said it was his kid. Who's the mom?"

"Remember Braeden?"

"The gun for hire? She's his mom? Where is she?"

"She died about 3 years ago. A mission she was sent out on went sideways."

"Damn. Sorry to hear that. I liked her."

"Yeah, we all did. Wait, you said you were… with him, six years ago?"

Grimacing, he nodded. Groaning I threw back the rest of my drink and grabbed his.

"Yes. When I saw Eli, I put two and two together. It's too much to hope that they weren't together at that time, right?"

"Oh, they were together. They had been together right up until she died."

"I was afraid of that."

"Why didn't you tell me about any of this, the kiss at least, before now?" I asked wondering why this was the first I was hearing of it.

Smirking he looked at me. I did not like that look on his face.

"Yeah, about that. I actually headed to your house that night to tell you about the kiss. I wasn't sure if you were there yet or not, but I was going to wait for you."

"You… you came to my house?" I asked feeling a sudden rise of heat in my face.

"Yep." he nodded slowly smiling widely. "Want to know what I found or heard, rather?"

Closing my eyes, I sighed.

"I don't think I do." But of course, because it's Stiles, he was going to tell me anyway.

"See, when I got about a block from your place I saw the jeep parked there and I was like 'oh good he's home. Let me go vent to him.' but the closer I got the more sounds I heard, and it wasn't until I had one foot on the porch that I heard Malia sounding like she was getting murdered."

"Stiles…" I groaned covering my face with my hand.

"I almost barged in to see what was happening. But then a course of 'oh gods' and 'don't stop' coupled with other sounds and I thought that I should just go back home and crash. Were you trying to kill her Scotty?" he actually laughed but I was feeling way too guilty to find the humor.

"Fuck. I'm so sorry Stiles. None of that was supposed to happen, it just did."

"Why the hell are you apologizing to me? Malia and I had been over for a while by then. I still care about her but don't harbor an ill will against you or her for what you did or do."

"Really?" I asked. He rolled his eyes.

"You really think I would follow that whole guy code of not dating a friends ex. especially in the world we live in. it can't be easy to find someone when you have had so much on your shoulders at that time. But even if that weren't an issue. We are all friends, why would I begrudge my friends any happiness they find with each other." He shrugged.

"I don't know how much happiness we found with each other. It was only one night and only to… release some built up tension before we left." I told him.

"But… Come on Scott, I can hear the 'but' in your voice. What's up?"

I sighed sitting back in my seat scrubbing a hand down my face.

"It's been ten years, you would think I would be able to get her and that night out of my head by now. But I can't. I can't stop thinking about it and I haven't since that night. It's permanently etched in my brain."

"Have you tried dating someone else?"

"Yeah, humans." I snorted while sipping my new drink.

"I take it that didn't go well."

"Well besides the fact that after a couple times calling out Malia's name instead of hers she was done, she was human. Sex with a human isn't as… gratifying. I have to hold back so much that it's almost not even worth it."

"Okay, I can see that being an issue. Super strength has to be tough to regulate when you're… in the mood. Have you thought about just talking to Malia and seeing if there is something else there besides sex?"

"Yeah I have actually. But right now, things feel awkward between us, even though we both agreed to not let it get awkward."

"You know how Malia is. She's not good with emotions. I mean she's better then when she first shifted to human and I'm sure she's even better now. But from what I remember, her feeling anything other than lust or anger, she doesn't handle well. It could be that she is feeling the same way you are but doesn't know how to actually express it. Maybe you should go alpha on her again." He said smirking. I groaned.

"Yeah I heard that too, matter of fact I'm pretty sure all of Beacon Hills heard that." He laughed.

"Why did I miss you again?"

"Because, brother, I bring levity to you humdrum life."

I snorted, finishing my second drink.

"You guys going to hide out here all night? There are other people that want to talk to you." Lydia said coming over and scooting in next to Stiles, pushing him over.

"Nah, I think we are done with the heart to heart for now. How's it going red? Where's the rest of the gang?" Stiles asked.

"Corey and Mason are in a corner somewhere making out, like they don't have an apartment to do that at. Liam is somewhere around here, flirting with some girl and Malia took off about 30 minutes ago." Lydia explained.

"She left?" I asked.

"Yep, said she had an early start tomorrow and wanted to get some rest."

I nodded but I felt like she wasn't telling the truth. She was covering for Malia. It was only going on 5 pm. How early did she open the shop?

"Maybe you should go see her, alpha." Stiles said, his patented evil smile directed at me. Lydia raised an arched brow at him in question.

"You suck, you know that?"

"I know, and I do it well." he said with a wink. I really didn't want to think about that.

"I'm out of here. I'll see you guys later." I said exiting the booth.

I checked with my mom that she could get a ride back home, telling her I need to do something. She assured me she would be fine. Jogging to my truck I punched in Malia's address in my GPS and took off.